National
5th Annual Session of Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM)
⇒ Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh addressed the 5th Annual Session of Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) in New Delhi on September 27, 2022.
Raksha Mantri has called upon the Indian defence industry to identify and manufacture state-of-the-art cost-effective products/technologies to realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of a ‘New India’ that not only caters to its own needs, but also fulfils international requirements.
Theme:
The 5th Annual Session of SIDM was organised on the theme ‘India@75: Shaping for India@100’, with the aim to position India as one of the top countries in defence manufacturing.
Participation:
The session witnessed participation from the top leadership of the Ministry of Defence, Indian Armed Forces, Industry & Foreign Defence Attachés based in India; Chief of the Air StaffAir Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, Vice Chief of the Army StaffLt Gen BS Raju, President, SIDM Shri SP Shukla.
2nd edition of SIDM Champions Award:
On the occasion, Shri Rajnath Singh felicitated the winners of the 2nd edition of SIDM Champions Award.
- Bharat Electronics Limited, Bharat Forge Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd were among the winners who were felicitated in different categories such as Technology Innovation to address capability gaps, Import Substitution and Infrastructure for Design/Development & Testing.
Key Points:
» Shri Rajnath Singh listed out the steps taken to encourage the private sector, including earmarking 68 per cent of capital procurement budget for domestic industry in 2022-23, out of which, 25 per cent has been allocated for the private sector.
- In addition, 25 per cent of defence R&D budget has been earmarked for private industry and start-ups which will pave the way for innovation of new defence technologies in India.
- Other measures include issuance of positive indigenisation lists; unveiling of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020; opening up of opportunities to build Mega Defence Programme including fighter aircraft, helicopters, tanks and submarines through a strategic partnership model and Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative which has created an ecosystem for innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace sectors.
» Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh said:
According to a recent report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2021, world military spending crossed US $2 trillion for the first time.
- It has increased by 0.7 per cent as compared to 2020 and 12 per cent as compared to 2012.
- Our armed forces will also spend a substantial amount on capital procurement in the years to come.
- This shows that the security needs of the world are set to increase.
- India is capable of meeting those needs, both in terms of quality and cost-effectiveness.
- Public sector, private sector, academia and research & development organisations, with SIDM as their nodal point, must continue to work together to achieve this objective.
» The Raksha Mantri appreciated the fact the efforts made by the Government have started to yield positive results as there has been an increase in the number of contracts being awarded to the domestic industry.
- He added that as a result of the efforts, over 10,000 MSMEs have joined the defence sector, with an increase being witnessed in research & development, start-ups, innovation and employment.
» Seven-eight years ago, our defence exports were not even Rs 1,000 crore. They have now crossed Rs 13,000 crore. We have set a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore of defence production by 2025, which includes export of Rs 35,000 crore.
India Tourism Statistics 2022
⇒ Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar released India Tourism Statistics 2022 on 27 September 2022 on the occasion of World Tourism Day, 2022.
Key Points:
- Due to restriction related to COVID-19, The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2021 decreased to 1.52 million as compared to 2.74 million in 2020, registering a negative growth of 44.5%.
- While foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) experienced a negative growth rate in 2021, NRI and ITA arrivals experienced positive growth. Arrivals of NRIs have increased by 52.6% from 2020 to 2021. In comparison to 2020, there was a 10.6% increase in yearly international tourist arrivals in India in 2021.
- For FTAs, air travel is the most chosen mode of transportation. 87.5 % of the FTAs entered India via air routes, 11.8 % via land routes, and 0.7 percent via sea routes. Around 53.6% Foreign tourists arrived in India through the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
- In 2021, the top 15 source markets for FTAs in India were the United States, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, Canada, Nepal, Afghanistan, Australia, Germany, Portugal, France, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Russian Federation, Iraq, and the Netherlands. In 2021, the top 15 nations accounted for approximately 80.9 percent of total FTAs in India.
- Tourism continues to play an important role as a foreign exchange earner for the country. In 2021, foreign exchange earnings (FEE) from tourism were US $ 8.797 billion as compared to US$ 6.959 billion in 2020, registering a positive growth of 26.4%.
- The publication provides information on global and regional tourism receipts as well as International tourist arrivals (ITA). In 2021, tourism grew steadily on a global scale despite the COVID-19 prohibition. According to UNWTO, the number of ITAs in world estimated to rise by 5.3 percent to 427 million in 2021.
- 1.64% of all tourists worldwide comes from India. The top 10 ITA source nations worldwide are France, Italy, Mexico, United States, Spain, Turkey, Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, and Poland. India rose from 25th place in 2019 to 19th place in the world for tourism in 2020.
- In comparison to 2020, there was an increase in Indian Nationals’ Departures (INDs) from India. In 2021, 8.55 million Indian Nationals’ were departed from the country, up from 7.29 million in 2020, a 17.30% increase.
- INDs frequently travel by air, which is also the most common method. The majority of Indian National Departures (INDs) i.e. 98.4% travelled by Air, with the remaining 0.8% travelling by land and 0.8% by sea. The majority of departures by Indian nationals roughly 41.23 percent took place at Delhi and Mumbai airports.
- UAE was the top source nation for INDs in 2021, followed by the USA, Qatar, Oman, the United Kingdom, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bahrain, and Kuwait. In 2021, the Top 10 nations accounted for around 85.93% of all Indian Nationals’ Departures (INDs).
- India received 677.63 million domestic tourist visits in 2021, an increase of 11.05 percent from 610.22 million in 2020. As a result, India received 1.05 million foreign tourist visitors in 2021 than that in 2020 (7.17 million), representing a negative 85.29 percent growth rate.
- The two states with the most domestic tourists visiting are Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, with 140.65 million and 86.12 million, respectively. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have the highest numbers of foreign tourist visits, with 1.26 million and 1.23 million, respectively.
- The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), an accounting methodology used by the United Nations to quantify the goods and services related to tourism, is described in this Publication. Travel and Tourism created 79.86 million (direct + indirect) jobs and 15.34% of jobs in the 2019–2020 year. In terms of GDP during 2019–2020, tourism contributed 5.19 percent (direct + indirect).
- India’s ranking in the global Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) is 54th in 2021.
Important Day
World Tourism Day 2022
⇒ World Tourism Day is observed each year on 27 September to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.
Theme:
The theme of World Tourism Day 2022 was “Rethinking Tourism”.
- It aims to inspire the debate around rethinking tourism for development, including through education and jobs, and tourism’s impact on the planet and opportunities to grow more sustainably.
The day is also celebrated to spread awareness about global challenges outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to underline the efforts the tourism industry can make achieving the sustainable development goals.
History:
- World Tourism Day was designated by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly in September 1979, with the commemoration to commence in 1980.
- This date was chosen to coincide with an important milestone in world tourism: the anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on 27 September 1970.