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Winners of the 4th edition of the India Smart Cities Award Contest (ISAC) 2022
⇒ The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India organized the India Smart Cities Conclave 2023 at the Brilliant Convention Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh on 26-27th September 2023.
- The Conclave witness participation of all 100 smart cities who are leading a paradigm shift in the practice of city development by being at the forefront of urban innovation.
- The event provided a platform for the cities to showcase their exemplary work done under the Mission to help crystallize roadmap for future of urban transformation in the country.
» During the event, President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu felicitated the winners of the 4th edition of the India Smart Cities Award Contest (ISAC) 2022 in Indore on 27th September 2023.
- The ISAC is being organized under the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India since 2018.
- This is one of the important activities initiated under the Mission, where pioneering city strategies, projects and ideas are recognized to award exemplary performance, enable peer-peer learning and disseminate best practices.
- The ISAC recognizes and reward the cities, projects and innovative ideas that are promoting sustainable development across the 100 smart cities, as well as stimulating inclusive, equitable, safe, healthy and collaborative cities, thus enhancing quality of life for all.
ISAC 2022 Award:
» The fourth edition of the ISAC was launched in April 2022 during the ‘Smart Cities-Smart Urbanization’ event in Surat.
The ISAC 2022 award had a two-stage submission process consisting of ‘Qualifying Stage’, which involved overall assessment of the city’s performance, and the ‘Proposal Stage’ which required the smart cities to submit their nominations for six award categories as follows:
- Project Awards: 10 different themes,
- Innovation Awards: 2 different themes,
- City Awards: 2 themes: National and Zonal
- State Awards,
- UT Award, and
- Partners Awards, 3 different themes
Key Points:
- A total of 845 nominations were received for ISAC 2022 from 80 qualifying smart cities.
- Of the total 845 applications received under the five awards categories, 66 final winners have been identified – 35 in Project Award, 6 in Innovation Award, 13 in National/Zonal City Award, 5 in State/UT Award and 7 in Partner Award categories.
- Madhya Pradesh stands first in state awards followed by Tamil Nadu.
List of ISAC 2022 Award Winners
» In the past, the ISAC has witnessed three editions in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
About Smart Cities Mission:
- Smart Cities Mission launched on 25 June 2015, is aimed at providing core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’.
- It is a transformational mission aimed to bring about a paradigm shift in the practice of urban development in the country.
- As on date, 6,000+ projects worth more than ₹ 1.1 lakh crore have been completed and the remaining projects will be completed by 30 June 2024.
10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the programme marking 20 years celebration of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit at Science City in Ahmedabad on 27 September 2023.
Programme marking the celebration of 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit at Science City, Ahmedabad witnessed the participation of industry associations, prominent personalities from the sphere of trade & commerce, young entrepreneurs, and students of higher and technical education colleges among others.
Background:
- The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit was started under the visionary leadership of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi 20 years ago.
- On 28 September 2003, the journey of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit started. Over time, it transformed into a truly global event, attaining the status of being one of the premier business summits in India.
- With about 300 international participants in 2003, the summit witnessed overwhelming participation from more than thousands of delegates from more than 135 nations in 2019.
- In the last 20 years, Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit has evolved from “Making Gujarat a preferred Investment Destination” to “Shaping a New India”.
10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024:
» Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar on 10th January 2024.
- The Tenth edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit was held from 10 to 12 January 2024 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Theme:
The theme of 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 was ‘Gateway to the Future’.
Key Points:
- This Tenth Edition of the Summit celebrated “20 Years of Vibrant Gujarat as the Summit of Success”.
- There were 34 Partner countries and 16 Partner organisations for this year’s Summit.
- Further, the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region utilised the Vibrant Gujarat platform to showcase investment opportunities in the North-Eastern regions.
- The Summit hosted various events including seminars and conferences on globally relevant topics such as Industry 4.0, Technology and Innovation, Sustainable Manufacturing, Green Hydrogen, Electric Mobility and Renewable Energy and Transition towards Sustainability.
» In the Vibrant Gujarat Global Trade Show, companies displayed products made from world class state of the art technology.
- E-mobility, Start-ups, MSMEs, Blue Economy, Green Energy & Smart Infrastructure were some of the focus sectors of the Trade Show.
Bharat Drone Shakti 2023
⇒ Bharat Drone Shakti 2023, a first-of-its-kind drone exhibition cum display was inaugurated by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh at Air Force Station, Hindan in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on September 25, 2023.
- More than 75 drone start-ups from across the country participated in the two-day event held on September 25 and 26, 2023.
Organised by:
Bharat Drone Shakti 2023 was jointly organised by Indian Air Force (IAF) and Drone Federation of India (DFI).
Key Points:
- The drones featured during the event can be employed for a variety of military and civil applications.
- By showcasing their capabilities through a series of aerial & statics demonstrations, the IAF and DFI seek to bolster the Government’s initiative to make India a major drone hub by 2030.
- Drone technology has revolutionised the civil and defence sectors by increasing efficiency, reducing exposure to risk as also by being a capability enhancer.
- The usage of drones in India is also seeing an increase – both, in the military, as well as in the civil domain.
- The IAF uses Remotely Piloted Aircraft extensively for Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance operations.
» The inauguration of Bharat Drone Shakti 2023 was followed by the formal induction of the first C-295 MW transport aircraft into the IAF.
- This medium lift tactical aircraft, which is capable of taking off and landing from unprepared landing grounds, will replace the HS-748 Avro aircraft.
» While the first 16 of the 56 contracted aircraft will be delivered to the IAF in a ‘fly-away’ condition, the remaining 40 would be manufactured in India by Tata Advanced Systems Limited at their facility in Vadodara. The first IAF squadron to be equipped with the aircraft, 11 Squadron (The Rhinos), is also based at Vadodara.