National
"Secured Logistics Document Exchange" along with a Calculator for Green House Gas Emissions launched
⇒ With an aim to further improve ease of doing business, Centre on 28 July 2021 launched the “Secured Logistics Document Exchange” along with a Calculator for Green House Gas Emissions.
The SLDE platform is a solution to replace the present manual process of generation, exchange and compliance of logistics documents with a digitized, secure and seamless document exchange system.
The event emphasized on the importance of digital transformation in the logistics sector to achieve the targets of improved India’s ranking in Logistics Performance Index.
The Digital initiative is now set to improve logistics efficiency, reduce logistics cost, and promote multi-modality and sustainability in a big way. These digital initiatives have been launched to fill the gap areas where no action has yet been taken either by private players or any of the line ministries.
5th National Geo-research Scholars Meet (NGRSM)
⇒ The 5th National Geo-research Scholars Meet (NGRSM) was organized through a webinar at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, an autonomous institute of the DST.
Theme:
The 5th NGRSM was based on the theme of “Earth Sciences for Sustainable development”.
Participants
350 participants from various Universities/ Institutes/ Organizations of India participated in the two day webinar during 22-23 July 2021.
The webinar covered presentations of researchers in areas such as Natural Resources, Water Management, Earthquake, Monsoon, Climate change, Natural disasters, River systems, and so on.
Intel collaborates with CBSE to launch the 'AI For All' initiative
⇒ Chipmaker Intel said on 29 July 2021 that it has collaborated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to launch the ‘AI For All’ initiative. The initiative aims to create a basic understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) for people in India.
Based on Intel’s ‘AI For Citizens’ programme, ‘AI For All’ is a 4-hour, self-paced learning programme that Demystifies AI in an inclusive manner. The four-hour open content resource, which is available in 11 vernacular languages, is divided into two sections – AI Awareness (1.5 hours) and AI Appreciation (2.5 hours).
The programme aims to introduce AI to one million citizens in its first year.
International
Pre-Summit Ministerial Roundtable of United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021
⇒ The United Nations, in partnership with the Government of Italy organized the Pre-Summit Ministerial Roundtable of United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 in Rome from 26–28 July 2021.
UN Secretary-General Shri António Guterres, Prime Minister of Italy Shri Mario Draghi along with representatives of various countries, addressed the three-day summit.
Indian Representative:
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar led a fifteen-member Indian delegation to the three-day UN Food Systems Pre-Summit 2021.
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar virtually delivered the Ministerial Statement in the Pre-Summit of United Nations Food System Summit 2021 on 28 July 2021.
Highlights of Union Minister’s address:
» Union Minister emphasized the importance of Agriculture in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 as 12 out of 17 SDGs are directly dependent on agriculture.
» Union Minister listed the creation of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore, formation of 10000 Farmer Producer Organizations, the PM KISAN Scheme through which an amount of 1.37 lakh crore has been credited to the bank accounts of 11 crore farmers.
» He highlighted the “Per Drop More Crop” scheme for irrigation, ‘Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana’ for organic farming as well as the ‘Soil Health Card’ Scheme to conserve water and soil resources.
» India has launched the Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana (PMFBY) to provide insurance protection for covering the risk of farmers.
» India is committed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and in making our agri-food systems sustainable.
» The United Nations accepted the Government of India’s proposal to celebrate the year 2023 as ‘International Year of Millets’.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Ms Shobha Karandlaje virtually addressed the Pre-Summit Ministerial Roundtable on “Transforming Food Systems for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Rising to the Challenge” of United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021.
She said “the UN Food Systems Summit has given us a lead to define the national pathways to transform our Food Systems into economically, socially and environmentally sustainable systems.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi
⇒ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 July 2021.
Secretary Blinken briefed Prime Minister on his fruitful exchanges with EAM and NSA and expressed strong commitment to further deepen India US strategic relations in various sectors including defence, maritime security, trade & investment, climate change and science & technology.
Prime Minister Modi said that the societies of US and India share a deep commitment to the values of democracy, freedom and liberty, and the Indian diaspora in the US has contributed immensely to the enhancement of bilateral ties.
40th World Heritage Site of India
⇒ Recently, India’s nomination of Dholavira, the Harappan City in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat has been inscribed on World Heritage list of UNESCO. It is the 40th World Heritage Site of India.
Read More About India’s 40th World Heritage Site
Important Day
World Nature Conservation Day
⇒ The World Nature Conservation Day is observed annually on July 28.
Theme:
The theme of World Nature Conservation Day 2021 was ‘Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet’.
Significance:
World Nature Conservation Day acknowledges that a healthy environment is the foundation for a stable and healthy society. The occasion aims to create awareness about the need to preserve the environment and natural resources in order to keep the world healthy.