National
5th Helicopter & Small Aircraft Summit (Heli Summit 2023)
⇒ Shri Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel inaugurated Heli Summit 2023 in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh on 25 July 2023.
Organized by:
The 5th Helicopter & Small Aircraft Summit (Heli Summit 2023) was jointly organized by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in association with the Government of Madhya Pradesh, Pawan Hans Ltd., and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Theme:
The theme of the event was “Reaching the Last Mile: Regional Connectivity through Helicopters & Small Aircraft”.
» The event format included an inaugural session followed by a technical session.
The broad objectives of the Summit were:
- Providing a common platform for all industry stakeholders, and policymakers to discuss the growth story of the Indian Helicopter and Small Aircraft industry.
- Enhancing the scope of the UDAN Scheme in remote and hilly terrains and expanding the country’s rural-to-urban connectivity.
- Boosting Helicopter & Small Aircraft connectivity to places with existing and potential tourism hotspots by providing uninterrupted services.
Shri Scindia also launched RCS UDAN 5.2 and HeliSewa-App during the event.
UDAN 5.2:
UDAN 5.2 has been launched for further enhancing the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country and achieving last-mile connectivity through small aircraft such as 1A (<9 seats) and Category 1(<20 seats).
Heli-Sewa mobile application:
- Shri Scindia also launched Heli-Sewa mobile application during the event.
- The HeliSewa Portal is an initiative of the Ministry of Civil Aviation under Digital India to create a common platform to create an ecosystem between the helicopter operators and the district authorities.
- The mobile application will make it more convenient to use in terms of user experience, loading content, and usability of functions.
» Helicopters and small aircraft play an integral role in India’s transportation ecosystem. The 5th Heli Summit brought together industry stakeholders to engage and collaborate with policy makers to implement efficient and rational decisions, thereby further boosting India’s civil aviation industry.
MoU:
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Pawan Hans and Jetserve was signed for advancing the Helicopter and Small Aircraft sector in India.
Foundation stone of 108 feet tall statue of Lord Shri Ram laid in Kurnool
⇒ Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah lays the foundation stone of 108 feet tall statue of Lord Shri Ram in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh through video conferencing on 23 July 2023.
In his address Shri Amit Shah said-
- The foundation stone of the grand statue of Lord Shri Ram to be built at a cost of more than Rs 500 crore has been laid at Mantralayam in Kurnool.
- The 108 feet tall statue of Lord Shri Ram to be installed in Mantralayam will give the message of our Sanatan Dharma to the entire world for many ages and will strengthen the Vaishnava tradition in the country and the world.
- This project is spread over an area of 10 acres in Mantralayam village situated on the banks of Tungabhadra River and would be completed in two and a half years.
- Mantralayam village is very famous for the temple of Raghavendra Swamy. This place has historical significance. The great Vijayanagara Empire was originated on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it restored Swadesh and Swadharma by driving out the invaders from the entire South.
Shri Shah also said that under the Mantralayam Das Sahitya Prakalp, many initiatives like housing, Anna Daanam, Pran Daanam, Vidya Daanam, drinking water and cow protection have been taken.
‘Cannabis Research Project’ of CSIR-IIIM Jammu
⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh visited the Cannabis Cultivation Farm of CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine at Chatha, near Jammu on 23 July 2023.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said, ‘Jammu is going to pioneer India’s first Cannabis Medicine Project’.
‘Cannabis Research Project’ of CSIR-IIIM Jammu is a first of its kind in India initiated under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Private Public Partnership with a Canadian firm. This project has a great potential to put substance of abuse for the good of mankind especially for patients suffering from neuropathies, cancer and epilepsy.
- This project of CSIR-IIIM is also important from the perspective of Atma- Nirbhar Bharat as after getting all the approvals, it will be able to produce export quality drugs meant for different kinds of neuropathies, diabetic pains etc.
- The signing of scientific agreement between CSIR-IIIM and IndusScan was historic not only for J&K but for whole of India as it has the potential to produce those kinds of medicines which have to be exported from foreign countries.
- CSIR-IIIM is the oldest scientific research institute in India with the history of discovering mint way back in 1960s, the centre of purple revolution; and now the Cannabis Research Project of CSIR-IIIM is going to make it more prestigious in terms of scientific research in India.
» Pertinently CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine is the pioneer in the Cannabis research and obtained the first license for cultivation in the country.
- Following this, many other states like Uttrakhand, Utter Pradesh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have started making the policy and rules for use of Cannabis for scientific purpose.
International
G20 Global Food Regulators Summit 2023
⇒ Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurated the maiden Global Food Regulators Summit 2023 on 20 July 2023.
- The Global Food Regulators Summit 2023 was organized in Delhi for the first time, as a G20 event. This was the first time the summit was held outside Rome, Italy.
Organized by:
The summit was organized by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 20th and 21st July, 2023 at Manekshaw Auditorium, New Delhi.
Focus:
The Global Food Regulators Summit 2023 focused on ‘Collaborative Approach on Strengthening Food Safety & Regulatory Framework’.
Objectives:
- To create an opportunity for exchange of information on food product regulatory and safety requirements
- To enable a common dialogue on food safety, harmonization of standards, risk assessment, analytical competence, labelling and mutual capacity building programs.
- To enable the food value chain stakeholders such as food manufacturers, processors, exporters, and importers, as well as government and non-government officials, to understand food safety and regulatory framework in other countries.
Participation:
The Global Food Regulators Summit 2023 brought together food regulators from around the world to exchange perspectives and knowledge on crucial issues related to food safety systems and regulatory framework across the food value chain.
- The Summit witnessed active participation from various stakeholders representing a wide range of countries, international organizations, and national entities.
- Food regulators from G20 member countries attended the summit, demonstrated their commitment to enhancing food safety systems and regulatory frameworks.
- Renowned international organizations, as well as several food research institutes such as the World Health Organization (WHO), CODEX, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) (Germany), the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (USA), Health Canada, the Australian Institute of Food Safety and Technology, etc., contributed their expertise and perspectives to the discussions.
- Furthermore, national stakeholders, including the Department of Commerce, the Ministry of Food Processing, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the Export Inspection Council (EIC), and several others actively contributed to the summit, and showcased their collective effort and commitment to ensuring safe and high-quality food for all.
Technical sessions:
- The Global Food Regulators Summit focused on the crucial aspect of food safety, which needs as much attention as food security. The summit featured keynote addresses and technical sessions focused on global food safety and regulatory frameworks.
- The global summit had various technical sessions focusing on topics such as the roles and responsibilities of global food regulators, challenges and solutions for global food safety, robust standard setting, innovation in food emergency response and more.
Various initiatives during the inauguration ceremony:
Food-o-Copoeia:
» During the event, Dr. Mandaviya released Food-o-Copoeia, a collection of food category-wise monographs and a single point reference for all applicable standards for a specific product category.
- This includes detailed quality and food safety standards, labelling and claim requirements, packaging requirements, test methods and any other regulatory provisions as per the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSRs) that need to be adhered to.
Common regulators platform:
» The Union Health Minister launched the common regulators platform ‘SaNGRAH’ – Safe food for Nations: Global food Regulatory Authorities Handbook.
- It is a database of Food Regulatory Authorities of 76 countries across the world, their mandate, food safety ecosystem, food testing facilities, contact details for food authorities, SPS/ TBT/Codex/ WAHO etc.
- Apart from Hindi and English, SaNGRAH is also available in six regional languages – Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Common Digital Dashboard:
» A Common Digital Dashboard was also launched during the Summit by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare.
- The Dashboard is a common unified IT-portal that provides comprehensive information on standards, regulations, notifications, advisories, guidelines, contamination limits and the latest developments by Food Regulators in India.
Exhibition:
» Dr Mandaviya also inaugurated a two-day exhibition during the Global Food Regulator Summit 2023.
- This exhibition provided an avenue for the exchange of ideas and information on food safety, food standards, food testing capabilities, product reformulation and advancement in food technologies.
- A total of 35 exhibitors including Food Business Operators (FBOs), Rapid Analytical Food Testing (RAFT) manufacturers and esteemed organizations like the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Export Inspection Council (EIC), Spice Board, Tea Board and Coffee Board showcased their expertise and contributions to the field during the two days.
- The exhibition also showcased stalls on Shree Anna (millets).
» The Summit marked a significant step forward in promoting international cooperation, knowledge sharing and cross-learning to create a safer and more sustainable global food system. The shared commitment and expertise exhibited during the summit will undoubtedly drive positive change and safeguard the well-being of consumers worldwide.