National
12th National Street Food Festival 2023
⇒ The 3-day event 12th National Street Food Festival 2023 was held from 13th to 15th January 2023 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Hardeep S. Puri inaugurated 12th edition of the National Street Food Festival on 13 January 2023.
Organized by:
National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) organized the 12th edition of National Street Food Festival.
Key Points:
- National Street Food Festival is a unique platform for street food vendors to showcase cuisines from every corner of the country.
- With a footfall of over 70 000 people, the mega event was a one stop platform to bring together the promoters of local and traditional foods.
- Street food vendors from 28 states and union territories of India participated in the National Street Food Festival 2023.
- The festival also helped and revived the financial situation of street vendors who faced a lot of problems in the covid period. It also helped in creating good revenue during these 3 days.
- NASVI has, in the past organized the Street Food Festival with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for the 2019 Festival in association with Eat Right Mela.
Speaking at the 12th edition of the National Street Food Festival, the Minister said:
- Speaking about the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) the minister said that the scheme has received an enormously positive response from street vendors across the country, and has become one of the fastest growing micro-credit schemes of the Government of India.
- In the past two years, PM SVANidhi has disbursed more than 40.07 lakh loans worth Rs 4,606.36 crore to 45.32 lakh beneficiaries across two tranches.
- In line with the Digital India vision, PM SVANidhi has also provided a platform for financial inclusion by facilitating the street vendors to carry out digital transactions.
- Street vendors have recorded 37.70 crore digital transactions to the tune of more than Rs 45,000 crore.
- The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has released Rs 23.02 crore as cashback to the beneficiaries to promote the use of digital transactions.
- The Minister further stated that the PM SVANidhi scheme has also helped in providing occupational recognition to street vendors by giving them Letters of Recommendation (LOR) for easy access to loans.
- Further, a Parichay Board has been given to street vendors to provide them with a sense of identity and dignity in their work. These boards serve as a tool to promote ease of doing business for street vendors while protecting them from undue harassment.
First ever district in India for on ground deployment of innovative 5G use cases offered by startups
⇒ Vidisha, an aspirational district of Madhya Pradesh, became the first ever district in India for on ground deployment of innovative 5G use cases offered by startups in January 2023.
- It is a joint initiative by Vidisha District Administration and Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the guidance of Additional Secretary (Telecom) & Administrator USOF.
Key Points:
- To accelerate Digital Transformation across socio-economic verticals, the DoT, Under Telecom Startups & MSMEs Mission & 5G Vertical Engagement Partnership Program have been facilitating collaborations of Digital Communication Tech – startups & SMEs to potential user communities viz State governments, Smart cities, Aspirational districts, vertical industries etc.
- Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), DoT is pioneer in emerging Digital communication Technologies.
Auto Expo-2023
⇒ The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Hardeep S Puri addressed at Auto Expo-2023 on 13 January 2023.
Theme:
The theme of the Auto Expo- 2023 was “Explore the World of Mobility”.
Organized by:
The Auto Expo- 2023 was organised by Automotive Components Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Key Points:
- The event featured more than 100+ companies and 30000+ attendance.
- It also provided a platform for domestic & international investors and other stakeholders.
- It provided a unique opportunity to showcase India as both an engine of global economic growth and a driver for global consumption, supported by a conducive and investment-friendly environment, and a skilled workforce.
Speaking at Auto Expo-2023, the Minister said that for automobile industry, the event is an exposition of our technology, capability and vision of the mobility for tomorrow-safer, cleaner, connected and shared.
- India increased the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 10.17% in 2022, which was well ahead of November 2022 deadline and advanced its target to achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to 2025-26.
- The Minister also said that Government is setting up five 2G ethanol bio-refineries in the country at Panipat (Parali) in Haryana, Bathinda in Punjab, Bargarh (Parali) in Odisha, Numaligarh (Bamboo) in Assam and Devangere in Karnataka.
National Symposium on India’s Roadmap to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF)
⇒ Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya chaired the National Symposium on India’s Roadmap to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 13 January 2023.
Key Points:
- Event was attended by policy makers, senior government representatives, technical experts, research, and development experts.
- The National Symposium served as a platform to highlight India’s progress in eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis and discuss key points of convergence for stakeholders and the Enhanced five-pronged Strategy for the Elimination of LF.
» Four States (UP, Odisha, Telangana, and Bihar) account for ~60% Lymphedema cases, while four States (Odisha, Jharkhand, UP and Bihar,) account for ~80% Hydrocele cases.
During the event, the Union Minister said that for India, Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) is not a neglected disease as may be the case in some other countries, but a priority disease for elimination in a time bound manner.
- India is committed to eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis by 2027, three years ahead of the global target through mission mode, multi partner, multi sector, targeted drive for which we have drawn up the roadmap.
Dr Mandaviya informed about the renewed five-pronged strategy for elimination of LF.
The five pillars are as follows:
- Multi-drug administration (MDA) Campaign twice a year synchronized with National Deworming Day (10th Feb and 10th August)
- Early diagnosis and treatment; engagement of medical colleges for strengthening Morbidity management and disability (MMDP) services
- Integrated Vector Control with multi sectoral coordinated efforts
- For inter sectoral convergence with allied departments and ministries
- Leveraging existing digital platforms for LF and exploring alternate diagnostics
Sports
2023 Hyderabad EPrix
⇒ The 2023 Hyderabad EPrix, also known as the 2023 Greenko Hyderabad ePrix, was held on 11 February 2023 at the Hyderabad Street Circuit in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Key Points:
- The 2023 Hyderabad EPrix was the fourth round of the 2022-2023 Formula E World Championship.
- Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, was a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars.
- The Hyderabad E-Prix, held on Hyderabad Street Circuit, was set up on the banks of the artificial Hussain Sagar Lake.
- Renewable energy major Greenko organised the event with the support of Telangana government.
- This was the inaugural running of a Formula E event at the track, as well as the first time an ePrix was held in India. It was also the first motorsport event hosted by India as part of an FIA-sanctioned World Championship since the 2013 Indian Grand Prix a decade earlier.
Winner:
The seasoned Jean Eric Vergne (France) of DS Penske won an action-packed 2023 Hyderabad E-Prix on 11 February, marking a successful return of a high-profile motorsport event in India.
- Mitch Evans (New Zealand) of Jaguar Racing bagged the pole position but a collision with his teammate Sam Bird on Lap 13 effectively ended the race for the Tata Group-owned team.
- Norman Nato (France) of Nissan covered the fastest lap in 1:14.698 on lap 28.