National
Indian Railways starts a new service for ordering food through WhatsApp
⇒ Indian Railways’ PSU, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) started e-catering services through a specially developed website www.catering.irctc.co.in as well its e-catering app Food on Track.
» In a step further towards the making its e-catering services more customer-centric, Indian Railways has recently started WhatsApp communication for the railway passengers to order food through e-catering services.
- Business WhatsApp number +91-8750001323 has been started for the purpose.
Key Points:
- AI power chatbot to handle all queries of e-catering services for the passengers and also book meals for them.
- WhatsApp communication for e-catering services implemented on selected trains and passengers.
- Based on customer feedback and suggestions, the company will enable the same on other trains.
Yuva Sangam (युवा संगम) under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat
⇒ Yuva Sangam is an initiative launched by the Indian Government on 6th February, 2023 to promote the cultural and communion of the Northeast Region with the rest of the country.
- The “Yuva Sangam” registration portal launched at IGNCA New Delhi on 06 February 2023. Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched Yuva Sangam portal.
- The Yuva Sangam is an initiative of Prime Minister to build close ties between the youth of North East Region and rest of India under the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
Conceptualized by:
To strengthen people to people connect and build empathy between youth of the North Eastern States and other States, Ministry of Education, Government of India has conceptualized an initiative of ‘Yuva Sangam’ under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat in collaboration with various other ministries and departments such as Culture, Tourism, Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Youth Affairs & Sports, Home Affairs, Department for Development of North-East Region (DoNER) and IRCTC.
Focus:
- The Yuva Sangam focuses on conducting exposure tours of the youths comprising mainly of students studying in Higher Educational institutions & some off-campus youngsters from across the Nation to various States of India.
- It provides an immersive experience of numerous facets of life, development landmarks, recent achievements and a youth connect in the host State.
- During their visits, the youth have a multi-dimensional exposure under five broad areas – Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development) and Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect), Prodyogik (Technology).
Yuva Sangam Phase 1:
The first round of Yuva Sangam was recently concluded with an overwhelming participation of approximately 1200 youngsters visiting 22 States of India through 29 tours with main focus on North Eastern Region during February-March 2023.
- The participants have had an enriching experience which brought out the spirit of EK BHARAT SHRESHTHA BHARAT in its true sense.
Yuva Sangam Phase II:
The Registrations for Yuva Sangam (Phase II) started on 01 April 2023 through an online portal. Registration is now closed. It envisages participation of 1000 youngsters from 23 States and UTs of India.
62nd Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting
⇒ Geological Survey of India (GSI), under the Ministry of Mines organized the 62nd Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting at ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi on 09th February 2023.
The Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) is an important platform of the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines wherein the Annual Field Season Program (FSP) of GSI is placed for discussion for synergy and to avoid duplication of work.
Chairmanship:
The one-day meeting held under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Mines Shri Vivek Bharadwaj.
- The meeting was also attended by Dr. S Raju, Director General, GSI and other senior functionaries of different Ministries, State Directorates of Mining & Geology, PSUs, representatives from private mining industry, Mining associations and other stakeholders.
Review of follow-up action on the agenda items of 61st CGPB Meeting as well as the new agenda items proposed by the stake holders were discussed amongst the members of the Board during the meeting.
Geological Reports & Memorandums:
- Geological Survey of India has for the first-time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir (UT).
- Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi handed over 16 resource bearing Geological Reports (G2 & G3 stage) of commodities like copper, bauxite, potash, limestone, vanadium, lithium, molybdenum, copper, gold and manganese to the representatives of the State DGMs of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
- Along with this, 35 Geological Memorandums were handed over to the States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana.
- These potential blocks consist of mineral commodities like base metal, bauxite, phosphorite, limestone, graphite, gold, nickel, chromium, iron, manganese and PGE.
- Apart from these, 17 reports of exploration of Coal and Lignite with a total resource of 7897 million tones were also handed over to Ministry of Coal.
- Seven Publications on different themes and intervention areas in which GSI operates was also released during the meeting.
The proposed Annual Programme for ensuing Field Season 2023-24 was presented and discussed during the meeting.
- During the ensuing year 2023-24, GSI is taking up 966 programmes comprising 318 mineral exploration projects including 12 marine mineral investigation projects. Major thrust has been given on the exploration of strategic – critical and fertilizer minerals.
- A total of 115 projects on strategic & critical minerals including 16 projects on fertilizer minerals have been formulated. In addition, 55 programmes on geoinformatics, 140 programmes on fundamental and multidisciplinary geosciences and 155 programs for training and institutional capacity building have also been taken up.
- About 111 programs having high socio-economic impact have been proposed under Public Good Geosciences.
- During 2023-24 out of 966 projects, GSI is going to take up 20 programmes at the request of State Governments. 37 programmes are in collaboration with Universities / agencies / under sponsorship of different authorities.
» Last year, during the ensuing operation for 2023-24, GSI has formulated about 967 scientific programme for the year 2022-23 that includes 319 programs under mineral exploration including 12 marine mineral investigation programs.
About Geological Survey of India:
- The Geological Survey of India (GSI) was set up in 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for the Railways.
- Its main functions relate to creating and updating of national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment. These objectives are achieved through ground surveys, air-borne and marine surveys, mineral prospecting and investigations, multi-disciplinary geoscientific, geo-technical, geo-environmental and natural hazards studies, glaciology, seismo-tectonic study and carrying out fundamental research.
- GSI’s core competence in survey and mapping is continuously enhanced through accretion, management, coordination and utilization of spatial databases (including those acquired through remote sensing).
- GSI, headquartered in Kolkata, has six regional offices located in Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Shillong and Kolkata and state unit offices in almost all states of the country. GSI is an attached office to the Ministry of Mine.
International
First G20 Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) Meeting
⇒ The first G20 Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) Meeting under India’s G20 Presidency was held in Bengaluru from February 05-07, 2023.
- India’s G20 Presidency aims to share, collaborate and build on the sense of trust among the member countries to help build a sustainable future for all.
Participation:
Over 150 participants including G20 member countries, and nine special invitee guest countries took part in the event along with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and many other international organisations.
- Nine special invitee guest countries were Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, UAE and Spain.
The priority areas of ETWG meeting included Energy Transition through:
- Addressing Technology Gaps
- Low-cost Financing for Energy Transition
- Energy Security and Diversified Supply Chains
- Energy Efficiency, Industrial Low Carbon Transitions and Responsible Consumption
- Fuels for Future (3F) and Universal Access to Clean Energy and Just, Affordable, and Inclusive Energy Transition Pathways
The Energy Transitions Working Group while retaining focus on achieving energy transition, also emphasized addressing technology gaps and financing to ensure that it is delivered across countries in a time-bound and affordable manner without compromising the energy needs of the communities.
Day 1:
» Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy Shri R.K. Singh called upon the G20 member countries to join together in countering the challenges posed by global warming and climate change.
- Delivering the keynote address at the first ETWG Meeting, the Minister said that India now stands committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
- He said the country also aims to achieve close to 50 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from nonfossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
Sessions:
- Session 1 of the ETWG meeting deliberated on addressing technology gaps in high-priority & critical technologies, including electrolysis, fuel cells, CCUS, battery storage & SMRs.
- Session 2 of the ETWG meeting discussed low-cost financing for critical clean energy technologies, including offshore wind, green hydrogen, battery energy storage & CCUS.
Day 2:
» India signed MoU with Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle.
- Joint Business Council to further promote adoption of energy efficiency and sustainable practices in the region.
» Delegates were taken to Infosys Green Buildings Campus in the Electronic City of Bengaluru as a testimony to India’s push towards the renewable sector and efforts to mitigate climate change. It is a benchmark site leading on environmental sustainability & innovation in the buildings sector.
Day 3:
» ETWG delegates visited the Pavagada Solar Park in Tumkur, Karnataka. With an installed capacity of 2.05 GW, it is one of the world’s largest solar park facilities.
- A presentation was made on the 2,000-MW capacity of the solar plant spread across 12,000 acres. A demonstration was given on the use of robots for cleaning solar panels.
Side Event:
» On the sidelines of ETWG, a high-level international seminar on ‘Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)’ was organized.
- NTPC ltd, India’s largest integrated Power utility, hosted the seminar under the aegis of the G20 Indian presidency at Bengaluru.
- The seminar focused on underlining the importance of CCUS for achieving “clean energy transition” and subsequently moving towards Net Zero.
- A 3D-Model of the NTPC flagship project on Flue Gas CO2 to Methanol Synthesis was also showcased at the event. This plant is intended to reduce the CO2 emission of the fossil-based Power plant by capturing it and converting it into useful hydrocarbon, i.e., Methanol.
» The 2nd Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting (ETWG) under India’s G20 Presidency concluded successfully in Gandhinagar, on April 3, 2023.