National
108-feet-long bronze statue of Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi unveiled a 108-feet-long bronze statue of Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru on 11 November 2022.
- The Prime Minister paid floral tributes and offered holy water at the statue. He also planted a sapling.
About Statue:
- The statue is built to commemorate the contribution of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the founder of the city, towards the growth of Bengaluru.
- Conceptualised and sculpted by Ram V Sutar of the Statue of Unity fame, 98 tonnes of bronze and 120 tonnes of steel have gone into making this statue.
“Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman” Award-2022
⇒ For the Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman 2022, the Uttarakhand Government had selected five distinguished people of the state in November 2022.
» NSA Ajit Doval, late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat among five distinguished people have been selected for the Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman 2022.
Five distinguished people are:
- National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Kumar Doval
- Lyricist and Central Film Certification Board Chairman, Prasoon Joshi
- Late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General, Bipin Rawat (posthumously)
- Late poet and author, Girish Chandra Tiwari ‘Girda’ (posthumous)
- Late journalist and literature, Viren Dangwal (Posthumous)
About Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman:
- Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman is one of the two highest state level civilian awards apart from Uttarakhand Ratna.
- It is awarded to a person for their extraordinary contribution to any field of human endeavour.
- It was constituted in the year 2021 by the Uttarakhand Government.
- The award was constituted in 2021 by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
- It was constituted on November 9, 2021, on the occasion of the state’s 21st anniversary.
PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit 2022
⇒ The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under the aegis of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India organized the ‘PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit 2022’ on 11th – 12th November, 2022.
- The summit was held at the Deendayal Hastkala Sankul (Trade Centre and Museum) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, brought about greater awareness about the PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan with focus on infrastructure development in the waterways.
The 2-day conference was jointly inaugurated by CM of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal.
Discussion:
- The summit saw plenary sessions on Decoding PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan and Enhanced Multimodal Connectivity to Industrial and Commercial Clusters were held.
- The discussion sessions saw political leaderships and top bureaucrats from the state & central government, industry captains and sector experts deliberate on pertinent topics to strengthen the role of inland waterways in the logistics ecosystem of the country.
- Special Session with Uttar Pradesh and with Nepal & Bhutan were also held to strengthen interstate multimodal connectivity, enhance regional integration, enhance logistical efficiency and explore new avenues for river cruise tourism.
- XX nos MoUs were also signed with representative of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to boost ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies.
- A new website for Trade Facilitation Centre for Inland Water and Coastal Transport was also launched for users of waterways and coastal shipping to access relevant operational and commercial information.
- A MoU between IWAI and Cochin Shipyard Ltd. for Electric-Battery powered hybrid catamarans for Assam was also signed at the summit.
» On the second day of the ‘PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit 2022’, experts discussed in detail the development of inland waterways and increasing their participation in the country’s comprehensive logistics and supply chain.
- Experts hoped the country’s infrastructure would be bolstered and further strengthened with the PM Gati Shakti Scheme, which will reverberate worldwide.
- In the multiple sessions held on the second day of the conference, the experts presented their unique perspectives on the various challenges and solutions for the development and management of fairways for inland waterways transport.
- The session also discussed how to strengthen the infrastructure and what should be its road map.
About PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan:
- The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, aims at providing Multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various SEZs and enhancing logistical efficiency.
- The plan aims to integrate the implementation of all existing and proposed infrastructure development initiatives to support faster and efficient movement of people and goods.
- The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) is a transformative approach for improving logistics efficiency and reducing logistics cost to ensure first and last mile connectivity for seamless movement of people and goods.
- MOPSW had identified 101 projects estimated to cost around Rs 62,627 crore under GatiShakti NMP which are aimed to be completed by 2024.
Woman centric challenges under phase-II of the 2nd edition of the Atal New India Challenge
⇒ Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog launched Woman centric challenges under phase-II of the 2nd edition of the Atal New India Challenge (ANIC) on 09 November 2022.
» ANIC is an initiative by AIM, NITI Aayog targeted to seek, select, support and nurture technology-based innovations that solve sectoral challenges of national importance and societal relevance through a grant-based mechanism of up to INR 1 crore.
Key Points:
- Keeping in mind that “a woman is an architect of society”, ANIC’s Woman centric challenges address the major issues faced by woman from all spheres of life.
- These include driving women hygiene through innovation, innovations to improve women’s safety, professional networking opportunities for women, innovations that make working mothers’ life better, and easing the life of Rural Women.
» The challenge was launched during the annual mentor round table organized by AIM, NITI Aayog to felicitate the exemplary mentors of change.
Annual Mentor India Round Table:
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog hosted a ‘Mentor India Round Table’ on 09 November 2022 to acknowledge the contributions of the Top 35 exemplary Mentors of Change (MoC).
- The top mentors from across the country were invited to participate in the event.
Key Points:
- Mentor India is a strategic national building initiative of the AIM, NITI Aayog which onboards professionals, academicians, industry experts to mentor students in Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and startups. These professionals facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship activities in ATLs and mould a new generation of neoteric innovators in India.
- A handbook called ‘The Gems of Mentor India’ was launched during the event held inside the NITI premise. The book captures best practices that the mentors have been following to foster tinkering among school students.
- With the help of ‘Mentor India’ community, students get to acquire technical and entrepreneurial skills to develop their digital product every year under Atal Tinkering Lab’s flagship bootcamp known as ‘Tinkerpreneur’.
Important Day
22nd Statehood Day of Uttarakhand
⇒ Uttarakhand celebrated its 22nd statehood day on 09 November 2022.
- Several Programs were held in various parts of the state to mark the occasion.
Background:
- Uttarakhand was formed on 9th November 2000, as 27th state of India.
- It was carved out of Uttar Pradesh. The state is divided into Garhwal and Kumoan divisions.