National
Foundation Stone of Akashvani Dahod FM Relay Station Project
⇒ Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation Stone for Akashvani Dahod FM Relay Station Project in Gujarat on 27 September 2023.
- The foundation Stone plaque for the 10 Kilo watt FM Relay Station was unveiled virtually by the Prime Minister along with other projects at an event in Bodeli in the state.
Key Points:
- This station will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 11.00 Crore and is strategically located to cover approximately a 55 km radius area, encompassing approximately 75% of the tribal district of Dahod.
- Moreover, this transmitter will also partially cover the neighbouring tribal districts of Madhya Pradesh, including Alirajpur and Jhabua.
- With the launch of the Dahod station, over 25 lakh residents of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh will gain access to high-quality FM broadcasts.
In addition to this, Prasar Bharati is also working on the installation of FM transmitters in key locations, including Bhuj, Bhavnagar, Dwarka, Radhanpur, and Dessa with varying power capacities at a cost of more than 39 crores.
- These projects are part of the Broadcast Infrastructure Network Development Scheme funded by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- The projects when completed and made operational will increase the FM coverage in the state to approximately 65% of the state’s area and will enable a reach of about 77% of its population.
- These projects mark a significant stride toward providing quality radio entertainment and information to a broader audience.
Earlier in the month of April 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Ninety One 100 W FM transmitters strengthening Akashvani FM’s presence across the country.
- As of now, Akashvani boasts a total of 613 functional FM transmitters in India, providing FM radio services to approximately 59.2% of the country’s area and serving about 73.5% of the population.
- In addition, the Akashvani AM network operating on medium wave already covers 88% of area and 95% of the population of the country.
Annual Capacity Building Plan (ACBP) of Department of Youth Affairs and Active Citizenship Course- ‘Youth as Changemakers’
⇒ Union Minister Sports and Youth Affairs Shri Anurag Thakur launched Annual Capacity Building Plan (ACBP) of Department of Youth Affairs and Active Citizenship Course- ‘Youth as Changemakers’ in New Delhi on 27 September 2023.
- Government of India has launched Mission Karmoyogi with the aim of building a future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skill and knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
Under this Mission, Capacity Building Commission (CBC) has prepared an Annual Capacity Building Plan (ACBP) for the officials of the Department of Youth Affairs (DoYA) and Active Citizenship Course- ‘Youth as Changemakers’ for the youth.
- The launch also highlighted the importance of fostering and promoting active citizenship and leadership among India’s dynamic young population.
About the course:
- The course for the youth, “Youth as Changemakers” is created by knowledge support of Janaagraha, a centre for citizenship and democracy.
- The course will be disseminated on Yuva Portal to bolster the role of youth in governance, the digital self-learning modules covers 21st-century challenges like waste management, climate change, and gender equality among others.
- The course spreads over 16 modules, available in both English and Hindi.
- It will equip the youth with not just the understanding of 21st-century challenges, but will also impart skills like social entrepreneurship and financial literacy, necessary for active and participatory citizenship.
- This course aims to take the Prime Minister’s call forward for engaging its youth as per the Panch Pran, and enabling them to contribute towards building the nation.
About ACBP:
» Annual Capacity Building Plan (ACBP) focuses on bringing a transformational shift from rule-based to role-based functioning among the officials of the department and aligning their responsibilities with national priorities and promoting people-centric governance.
» The ACBP aligns with the three pillars of Capacity Building, i.e National Priorities, Citizen Centricity and Emerging Technologies.
» The ACBP considers four types of competencies – Domain, Functional, Behavioural and Technological competencies.
- Domain competencies are specific to the department’s expertise in engaging youth as well as empowering them.
- Functional competencies pertain to job-specific technical skills required for working in the government.
- Behavioural competencies encompass personal attributes and the set of behaviours required by employees of the department.
- Technological competencies will equip the officials to adapt to the developments in the realm of technology for effective functioning and being future-ready.
Global Launch of ‘Travel for LiFE’
⇒ On the occasion of World Tourism Day 2023, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India organised the Global Launch of ‘Travel for LiFE’, a sectoral program under Mission LiFE, targeted towards the tourism sector on 27 September 2023 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
- Ministry of Tourism organised the Global Launch of ‘Travel for LiFE’ in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The event saw the launch of the Travel for LiFE program for two different verticals viz.- Travel for LiFE for Cleanliness –
- A national TFL campaign for cleaning tourist sites and monuments in convergence with the Swachhata campaign
- Travel for LiFE (TFL) for Rural Tourism encouraging tourists to explore the rural and lesser-known hinterland promoting sustainable rural tourism thereby empowering rural communities
» The Travel for LiFE program is a pivotal component of Mission LiFE, an ambitious mission aimed at steering our planet towards a sustainable future.
- The ‘Travel for LiFE’ program actions promotes sustainable economic development, encourages sustainable consumption and production and thereby contributes to the SDGs focused on Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Climate Action (SDG 13) and Life Below Water (SDG 14).
- Given the wide range of actions, Travel for LiFE contributes directly and indirectly to almost all the SDGs.
Other Initiatives:
» The event saw the launch of other initiatives like the ‘Tourism for Tomorrow’ Competition, Design Edible Cutlery Competition, Yuva Tourism Club Merchandise and the Swachhata Campaign at 108 Tourism sites across India.
» A national Travel for LiFE competition titled as ‘Tourism for Tomorrow’ for case studies and best practices was also launched during the event, in alignment with the key priorities of Goa Roadmap.
- The ‘Tourism for Tomorrow’ Competition builds upon the five key priorities of G20 GOA Roadmap for Tourism that are Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, Tourism MSMEs, and Destination Management.
» A Design challenge competition for Institutes of Hotel Management affiliated to NCHMCT (National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology) under Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has been planned to develop innovative solutions in the field of edible cutlery.
» On the occasion Best Rural Tourism Village Awards were given for promotion and preservation of their cultural heritage and sustainable development through tourism.
- 35 Rural Tourism Villages were with 5, 10, and 20 villages in Gold, Silver, and Bronze Categories respectively.
List of the Awardee Villages
Important Day
World Tourism Day 2023
⇒ World Tourism Day is celebrated every year on 27 September.
World Tourism Day is the global observance day fostering awareness of tourism’s social, cultural, political, and economic value and the contribution that the sector can make towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.
Theme:
Every year World Tourism Day is celebrated under special theme and hosted by one country.
- The theme of World Tourism Day 2023 was “Tourism and green investment”.
- World Tourism Day 2023 was hosted by Saudi Arabia from 27-28 September.
For World Tourism Day 2023, UNWTO highlights the need for more and better-targeted investments for people, for planet and for prosperity. Now is the time for new and innovative solutions, not just traditional investments that promote and underpin economic growth and productivity.
History:
- To promote tourism as a means of accelerating sustainable development, especially poverty eradication United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTR) decided to celebrate ‘World Tourism Day’ on 27th September every year.
- It was at its third session (Torremolinos, Spain, September 1979), that the UN Tourism General Assembly decided to institute World Tourism Day.
- The first time, it was celebrated was in the year 1980.
- The date marks the anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on 27 September 1970.
- The adoption of the organization’s statutes in 1970 paved the way for the establishment of United Nations Tourism five years later.
Important Facts about Tourism Sector in India (2022):
- Number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India skyrocketed to 6.19 million, a substantial increase compared to the 1.52 million arrivals recorded in the same period of 2021.
- India received INR 1,34,543 crore (USD 16.93 Billion) in foreign exchange earnings, a remarkable increase from the INR 65,070 crore recorded in 2021.
- India’s portion of international tourism receipts, measured in US dollars, stands at 2.08%. India holds the 14th position in the world ranking of tourism receipts.
- Top 3 source countries for Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2022 include United States of America (USA), Bangladesh and United Kingdom (UK).