National
PM lays foundation stone and dedicates to the nation various projects in Modhera
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated various projects worth over Rs 3900 crore to the nation in Modhera, Mehsana, Gujarat on 09 October 2022.
- The Prime Minister also declared the village of Modhera as India’s first 24×7 solar-powered village.
Various Projects:
Projects dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister include-
Gauge Conversion of Sabarmati-Jagudan segment of Ahmedabad-Mehsana Gauge Conversion project; ONGC’s Nandasan Geological oil production project; Sujalam Sufalam Canal from Kherava to Shingoda Lake; Dharoi Dam Based Vadnagar Kheralu and Dharoi Group Reform Scheme; project of four laning of a section of Bechraji Modhera-Chanasma state highway; project to expand a section of Unja-Dasaj Upera Ladol (Bhankhar Approach Road); New Building of Regional Training Centre, Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA), Mehsana; and Projection Mapping at Sun Temple at Modhera, among others.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of multiple projects that include-
Four laning of a section of NH-68 from Patan to Gozariya; a water treatment plant at Chalasan village of Jotana taluka of Mehsana district; a new automated milk powder plant and UHT milk carton plant at Dudhsagar Dairy; Redevelopment & Reconstruction of General Hospital Mehsana; and Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) for Mehsana and other districts of North Gujarat, among others.
The Prime Minister declared the village of Modhera as India’s first 24×7 solar-powered village.
- This first-of-its-kind project realises the Prime Minister’s vision of solarization of the sun-temple town of Modhera.
- It involved developing a Ground Mounted Solar power plant and more than 1300 Rooftop solar systems on residential & Government buildings, all integrated with Battery Energy storage system (BESS).
- The project will demonstrate how India’s renewable energy prowess can empower people at the grassroots.
Weapon Systems branch in Indian Air Force
⇒ In a historic step for the Indian Air Force (IAF), Government has approved the creation of a new branch, called the Weapon Systems (WS) branch.
About WS branch:
- The creation of WS branch would entail unification of all weapon system operators under one entity dedicated to the operational employment of all ground-based and specialist airborne weapon systems.
- The branch would encompass operators in four specialised streams of Surface-to-Surface missiles, Surface-to-Air missiles, Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Weapon System Operators in twin/multi-crew aircraft.
- The branch will contribute immensely by enhancing the war fighting capability of the Indian Air Force.
International
Ministerial dialogue of US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (USISCEP)
⇒ Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs, led an official and business delegation to Washington DC and Houston, USA, from 6-11 October 2022.
In Washington DC, Hon’ble Minister co-chaired the Ministerial dialogue of US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (USISCEP) held on 7th October 2022 with Ms. Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy, USA.
U.S.-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership Ministerial Joint Statement:
» During the engagements, the two Ministers reviewed progress across the entire spectrum of the energy sector partnership.
- They noted with appreciation the tremendous increase in bilateral energy trade achieved over the last few years.
» India and the United States discussed progress on continued efforts to advance emerging fuels and technologies and electrification and decarbonization of end use sectors.
» The discussions covered hard-to-abate sectors, and the Ministers were informed about various initiatives, including:
Joint research and development on smart grids and energy storage and new collaboration on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, and the potential to explore collaboration on other novel technologies under the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy-Research (PACE-R)
» The Ministers noted the Importance of facilitating increased energy investments to ensure sustainable, affordable, reliable, resilient and cleaner energy systems.
Enhanced bilateral efforts include:
- Strengthening the power grid to ensure reliable, affordable, and resilient clean energy supply including through smart grids and energy storage;
- Assessing grid-integrated buildings, electric vehicles, and other distributed energy resources to support load management;
- Advancing renewable energy development and deployment, including to support India’s goal of achieving approximately 50 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030;
- Advancing energy efficiency and conservation in appliances, buildings and the industrial sector;
- Electrifying and decarbonizing the transportation sector including creating an enabling ecosystem through setting up an Electric Vehicle (EV) financing services facility in India;
- Reducing emissions across the oil and gas value chain including efforts at deploying methane detection and abatement technologies;
- Decarbonizing the industrial sector through efforts at electrification, carbon capture and storage, and deployment of other clean emerging energy technologies;
- Deepening cooperation between Indian and U.S. Department of Energy labs and agencies, like the EIA, and on energy data management, modeling, low carbon technologies.
» Agencies from across the U.S. and Indian governments demonstrated a number of accomplishments across the five technical pillars of cooperation.
The partnership continues to advance energy security and innovation; scaling up emerging clean energy technologies; and deploying technical solutions through 5 pillars:
- Responsible Oil and Gas Pillar
- Power and Energy Efficiency Pillar
- Renewable Energy Pillar
- Sustainable Growth Pillar
- Emerging Fuels and technologies
» The Ministers also reiterated the importance of private sector engagement to facilitate investment, inform policy, and accelerate technology deployment.
- To that end, the United States and India continue to convene public-private tasks forces on hydrogen and biofuels, and announced the launch of a new Energy Storage Task Force to support large-scale integration of renewable energy needed to support the clean energy transition.
Background:
The revamped USISCEP was launched in accordance with U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership announced by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate held in April 2021.
Important Day
Indian Air Force Day
⇒ Indian Air Force Day is celebrated every year on October 8.
- Every year, the Air Force Day is celebrated at Hindon base in presence of IAF chief and senior officials of the three-armed forces.
About Indian Air Force:
- Also known as ‘Bharatiya Vayu Sena’, the IAF was officially established on October 8, 1932, by the British Empire.
- The Indian Air Force was formerly known as the Royal Indian Air Force. Although this name remained till independence. After independence, the word Royal was dropped.
- The motto of the Indian Air Force is ‘Nabhah Spriushm Deeptam’. The motto of the Indian Air Force is taken from the eleventh chapter of the Gita and is an excerpt from the sermon given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra during the Great War of Mahabharata.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian armed forces with the primary mission to secure Indian airspace and conduct aerial activities during armed conflicts.
- Its personnel and aircraft assets rank fourth amongst the air forces of the world.
- The Hindon Air Force Station located in Ghaziabad, UP is the largest in Asia.