National
NMDC wins two Prestigious Environment Awards
⇒ National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. (NMDC), Country’s largest iron ore producer, a CPSE under Ministry of Steel has bagged Gold Award in Environmental Sustainability category and Kumaraswamy Iron Ore Mine bagged Platinum Award in Environment Management category.
NMDC has been selected for the awards based on its contribution towards implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and Environment Management initiatives at its production projects.
The awards were presented at the 10th conference held in Dehradun.
Organized by:
The function was organized by Sustainable Development Foundation, a unit of EK KAAM DESH KE NAAM.
GOAL Program
⇒ Dr. Teejan Bai, a Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee, addressed the Mentees and Mentors of the GOAL program on 9th October 2021 as part of the Inspiration Masterclass on GOAL Program.
About ‘GOAL Program’:
- Going Online as Leaders (GOAL) Program by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Facebook India aims to provide skilling for tribal youth with a focus on enabling digital presence in addition to strengthening core skills to drive their professional-economical upliftment.
- The program intends to upskill and empower 5,000 tribal youths over the course of next five years to harness the full potential of digital platforms and tools to learn new ways of doing business, explore and connect with domestic and international markets.
- It is designed to provide mentorship to tribal youth through digital mode and envisages to act as a catalyst to explore hidden talents of the tribal youth, which will help in their personal development as well as contribute to all-round upliftment of their society.
Two long haul freight trains “Trishul" and “Garuda"
⇒ Indian Railways has successfully operated two long haul freight trains “Trishul” and “Garuda” for the first time over South Central Railway (SCR).
About “Trishul” and “Garuda” Train:
Trishul is SCR’s first long haul comprising of three freight trains, i.e., 177 wagons. The train was started from Kondapalli station of Vijayawada division to Khurda division of East Coast Railway on 07 October 2021.
Another similar train Garuda was started from Raichur of Guntakal division to Manuguru of Secunderabad division on 08 October 2021.
Long Haul Trains:
Long haul trains are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains.
- It provides a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections.
SCR:
SCR is a one of the five major freight loading railways on Indian Railway.
International
3rd India – UK Energy for Growth Partnership – Ministerial Energy Dialogue
⇒ The 3rd India – UK Energy for Growth Partnership – Ministerial Energy Dialogue was held on 08 October 2021.
Co-chair:
It was co-chaired by Shri RK Singh, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy from the Indian side, and the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng, MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy from the UK side.
Discussion:
- Energy Transition was a major area of discussion in the dialogue.
» The Energy Ministers spoke in detail on the ongoing Energy Transition activities in their respective countries with focus on renewables, including solar, offshore wind, storage, EVs, alternative fuels, etc.
» The sides deliberated and agreed on a Forward Action Plan on Power and Clean Transport, Renewables, Green Finance and Clean Energy Research as part of the roadmap 2030.
- It covers a range of topics including smart grids, energy storage, green hydrogen, charging infrastructure, battery storage and need of mobilizing investments in renewable energy along with other proposals under multilateral collaboration.
» The dialogue concluded with both sides underlining the importance of international cooperation in securing affordable and sustainable energy for the world while setting in motion, concrete action plans for driving the clean energy transition in Power Sector.
Sports
Logo for Soccer’s 2024 European Championship
⇒ Germany has unveiled the logo for soccer’s 2024 European Championship during a ceremony with a light show in the stadium that will hold the final.
About Logo:
The tournament logo is derived from UEFA’s 55 member associations’ flags and their colours, which assemble in various combinations, reflecting the shape of the Olympiastadion roof.
The famous Henri Delaunay Cup features at the centre of the logo, while the 24 coloured slices around the trophy represent the 24 participating teams of EURO.
Host Cities:
Additionally, each host city selected a famous landmark to feature on their respective city logos.
Ten host cities are Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.
Slogan:
“United by Football. Vereint im Herzen Europas” – or “United at the Heart of Europe” is the slogan for EURO 2024.
Schedule of UEFA EURO:
The 51 matches of UEFA EURO 2024 will be held across ten host venues in Germany in June and July 2024. The full match schedule will be confirmed in early 2022.
Important Day
World Post Day 2021
⇒ World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9 October.
Theme:
The theme of World Post Day 2021 was ‘Innovate to recover’.
Aim:
The purpose of World Post Day is to create awareness about the role of postal sector in the lives of people and businesses as well as contribution to the socio-economic development of countries.
Background:
- The day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern.
- It was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969.
World Post Day in India:
- India has been a member of the Universal Postal Union since 1876.
- India Post celebrated National Postal Week from 9th to 15th October, 2021.