National
Low Carbon Cruise on Mahabahu Brahmaputra
⇒ A Low Carbon Cruise on the Mahabahu Brahmaputra was flagged off in the run-up to the India Energy Week 2023 (IEW 2023), held on 6-8 February 2023 in Bengaluru.
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India Shri Hardeep S. Puri ceremonially inaugurated the demo-run of Inland Water Vessel powered by Methanol blended Diesel (MD15) on 24 January 2023.
About Cruise:
- The boat ride was done on a 50-seater motor launch marine vessel named ‘SB Gangadhar’.
- The marine vessel is equipped with two Ruston make diesel engines (each engine of 105 hp). The boat will be run on MD-15 (15% methanol blended HSD).
Other Points:
- Methanol is a low carbon hydrogen carrier fuel produced from high ash coal, agricultural residue, CO2 from thermal power plants and natural gas. It is the best pathway for meeting India’s commitment to COP 21.
- Although slightly lower in energy content than petrol and diesel, methanol can replace both these fuels in the transport sector (road, rail and marine), energy sector (comprising DG sets, boilers, process heating modules, tractors, and commercial vehicles) and retail cooking (replacing LPG [partially], kerosene and wood charcoal).
- NITI Aayog’s ‘Methanol Economy’ programme is aimed at reducing India’s oil import bill, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and converting coal reserves and municipal solid waste into methanol.
- Methanol is a cost-effective alternative marine fuel. It is less costly than other marine fuel and is economical in terms of developing the shoreside storage and bunkering infrastructure.
About India Energy Week 2023:
- IEW 2023 was the first major event under India’s G20 Presidency, which follows the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge at COP26 to cut India’s emissions to net-zero by 2070.
- Held under the patronage of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India, India Energy Week was the only and all-encompassing international energy event supported at the highest level of Indian government, with participation from all the Public Sector Undertakings.
- It was officially supported by the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI).
412 Gallantry awards and other defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel on Republic Day 2023
⇒ The President has approved 412 Gallantry awards and other defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others on the eve of 74th Republic Day i.e. 26 January 2023.
- These include six Kirti Chakras, including four posthumous; 15 Shaurya Chakras, including two posthumous; one Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry); 92 Sena Medals, including four posthumous; one Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) {posthumous}; seven Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry); 29 Param Vishisht Seva Medals; three UttamYudhSeva Medals; one Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal; 52 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals; 10 Yudh Seva Medals;four Bar to Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty); 36 Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty); two Bar to Nao Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty) {posthumous}; 11 Nao Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), including three posthumous; 14 Vayu Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty); two Bar to Vishisht Seva Medal and126 Vishisht Seva Medals.
Full list of the recipients of gallantry and other defence decorations (Official Link)
First India Stack Developer Conference 2023
⇒ The first India Stack Developer Conference was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar in New Delhi on 25 January 2023.
Objective:
As we take India stack to the world, it is important to engage with the developer community to explore ways and means in which we can further develop solutions for societal problems by leveraging artifacts of India stack and to take India stack products to other countries that are interested in replicating some of these solutions.
- With this objective, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and National eGovernance Division (NeGD) organised the India Stack Developer Conference on 25 January.
- It provided a platform for the industry and developer community to explore ways to develop a robust start-ups and innovation ecosystem within the country and also take India stack products to other countries.
Participation:
- The event was participated by than 100+ digital leaders from Industry Associations, Industry, System Integrators and Start-ups, mainly at CXO/MD/Founder level.
- The event also saw participation from delegates of G20 countries.
Discussion:
- New and next-generation services for India Stack Solutions viz Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UPI, UMANG, DIKSHA, e-Sanjeevani were discussed.
- The presentations were made on India Stack Solutions viz. Aadhaar, National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), Unified Payment Interface (UPI), DigiLocker, UMANG, API Setu, DIKSHA, e-Sanjeevani, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) by the respective head of the organization and/or their representatives.
International
India elected as Vice-Chair at the 12th session of FAO’s ITWG on Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
⇒ The 12th Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group (ITWG) on Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) was held at Rome during 18 -20 January 2023.
Discussion:
- In the 12th Session of ITWG, implementation of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, monitoring of AnGR diversity and preparing 3rd Country Report were reviewed.
- Further agenda points on role of microorganisms relevant to ruminant digestion, role of genetic resources in mitigating and adapting to climate change; access and benefit-sharing for AnGR; digital sequence information and potential implications for the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources were discussed.
Vice-Chair:
In the 12th Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group (ITWG) on Animal Genetic Resources, India was elected as Vice-Chair and represented Asia & Pacific region.
- Dr B N Tripathi, Deputy Director General (Animal Sciences), ICAR, and the National Coordinator, vice-chaired the Session and also act as Rapporteur.
About ITWG:
The Working Group, established by the FAO’s Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), functions to review technical issues, advise and make recommendations to the Commission and further implement the Commission’s programme related to AnGR at global level.
» Earlier to the ITWG Session, the Global National Coordinators’ Workshop was held at FAO Head Quarter, from 16-17th January, 2023.
- In the Workshop, Dr B N Tripathi shared the country’s experience in updating data in Domestic Animal Diversity – Information System (DAD-IS) and presented framework for cataloguing native populations including breed registration, notification system etc.
Important Day
National Girl Child Day 2023
⇒ The Ministry of Women & Child Development celebrated the National Girl Child Day on 24th January, 2023.
National Girl Child Day is celebrated with a view to promote awareness about the rights of the girl child to bridge the gender divide and to lay emphasis on the importance of girl’s education, health and nutrition.
Campaign:
- This year, as part of celebration of the Day, the Ministry decided to make this event a janbhagidari, States/UTs and districts were requested to organize activities relating to valuing the girl child from 18th to 24th January, 2023.
- The hashtag for promoting the current campaign on social media platforms was hashtag (#akamceIebratinggirlchildmwcd).
» States/UTs organised various activities/programs in the 5-Day celebrations of NGCD.
About National Girl Child Day:
- In India, the National Girl Child Day is celebrated on January 24 every year with an objective to provide support and opportunities to the girls of India.
- National Girl Child Day was first initiated in 2008 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- The objective of National Girl Child Day is to create awareness about the rights a girl owns and to give girls the opportunities like everyone else, also to support the girl child of the nation and remove gender-based biases.
- Another objective of celebrating this day is to promote awareness about the inequalities that a girl child faces and educate people about girl’s education.