1. Prime Minister Modi launches Mission LiFE globally in Kevadia, Gujarat
Tags: place in news Government Schemes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) in the presence of the United Nations of the Secretary-General, António Guterres at the Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar, Kevadia on 20 October 2022.
Several world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom's Prime Minister Liz Truss, Georgia Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, and Madagascar President Rajoelina sent video messages for the global launch.
Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister said that the vision of LiFE is to live a lifestyle that is in tune with our planet and does not harm it. And those who live such a lifestyle are called “Pro-Planet People.” Mission LiFE will strengthen the concept of P3 (Pro-Planet People) and join the people of Earth.
LiFE (‘Lifestyle for the Environment)
- The idea of LiFE (‘Lifestyle for the Environment) was given by Prime Minister Modi at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow 2021.
- The idea promotes an environmentally conscious lifestyle that focuses on 'mindful and deliberate utilisation' instead of 'mindless and destructive consumption'.
Strategy of LiFE
According to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) the "Mission LiFE aims at following a three-pronged strategy for changing our collective approach towards sustainability.
First is by nudging individuals to practise simple yet effective environment-friendly actions in their daily lives (demand);
Second is by enabling industries and markets to respond swiftly to the changing demand (supply) and;
Third is to influence government and industrial policy to support both sustainable consumption and production (policy).
2. Sajan Bhanwala becomes the first Indian wrestler to win a Greco Roman medal at the U-23 World Wrestling Championships
Tags: place in news Sports Person in news
Sajan Bhanwala won the first medal for India at the U-23 World Wrestling Championships 2022 being held in Pontevedra, Spain from 17 -23 October 2022. Wrestler who are below 23 years of age participate in the championship.
Sajan Bhanwala won the bronze medal in the Greco Roman 77kg category by defeating Ukraine’s Dmytro Vasetskyi in a closely-fought match on 19 October 2022.
It is for the first time that India has won a medal in the Greco Roman event at the U23 Wrestling World Championship.
Denial of Visa to Indian wrestler
India is competing with a depleted squad at the ongoing U-23 World Wrestling Championship 2022 in Pontevedra after host country Spain denied visas to 21 of the 30 wrestlers chosen to represent India at the meet. According to the Spanish embassy in Delhi these wrestlers were likely to illegally overstay in Spain.
3. National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme held in New Delhi
Tags: place in news Summits
The Union Ministry of Tourism in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) organised the National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme in New Delhi on 19 October 2022.
The conference was addressed by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Minister for Tourism G. Kishan Reddy and others.
Status of Tourism in India
According to the Tourism Statistics 2022 released by the Union Ministry of Tourism;
- The total number of domestic tourists in 2021 was 677.63 million as compared to 610.22 million in 2020, an increase of 11.05 percent.
- Tamilnadu received the maximum number of domestic tourists (140.65 million) followed by Uttar Pradesh (86.12 million).
- Due to restrictions related to COVID-19, the number of Foreign Tourists visiting India during 2021 decreased to 1.52 million as compared to 2.74 million in 2020, registering a negative growth of 44.5%.
- The favourite destination of the foreign tourists in 2021 was Tamilnadu (1.26 million tourists) followed by Maharashtra (1.23 million).
- India received maximum foreign tourists from the United States of America followed by Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Nepal.
- In 2021, foreign exchange earnings from tourism were US $ 8.797 billion as compared to US$ 6.959 billion in 2020, registering a positive growth of 26.4%.
4. PM launches Gujarat government’s Mission Schools of Excellence at Trimandir, Adalaj, Gujarat
Tags: place in news Government Schemes State News
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched Mission Schools of Excellence at Trimandir, Adalaj, Gujarat on 19 October 2022.The Mission will help strengthen education infrastructure in Gujarat by setting up new classrooms, smart classrooms, computer labs and overall upgradation of the infrastructure of schools in the State. During the event at Trimandir, the Prime Minister also launched projects worth around Rs 4260 crores.
Mission Schools of Excellence
It is a five year Gujarat government project that aims to improve the quality of education in the state. It is a World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) funded project.
Budget of the project
The total budget for the mission is Rs 10,000 crore. World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will provide a loan of Rs 7,500 crore for the Gujarat government's Mission School of Excellence project.
Aim of the Project
- It will cover all 35,133 government and 5,847 grant-in-aid schools in the state.
- The funds will be spent on building 50,000 new classrooms, creating 1.5 lakh smart classrooms, 20,000 new computer labs and 5,000 Atal tinkering labs in 41,000-odd government and grant-in-aid schools across the state.
- It is estimated that nearly one crore school students will benefit directly from this ambitious project in the next five years.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
- It is a multilateral development bank which was set up in 2016.
- Its area of operation is in Asia and it provides loans to build Infrastructure of tomorrow -green infrastructure with sustainability, innovation and connectivity at its core.
- However its members are from around the world. At present it has 104 member countries.
- China is the majority shareholder of the bank and India is the second largest shareholder of the bank
- The United States and Japan are not the members of the bank
- AIIB has given maximum loans to India
Current President of the Bank: Jin Liqun of China.
Headquarters: Beijing, China
5. Madhya Pradesh to develop Meghdoot forest in Ujjain
Tags: Environment place in news State News
Madhya Pradesh government will develop land freed from illegal encroachments in and around Mahakal temple in Ujjain as an urban forest called as Meghdoot. It is being built under the second phase of Shri Mahakal Lok project.
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan performed bhoomipujan for the proposed Meghdoot forest in Ujjain on 18 October 2022.
Mahakal Lok project has been launched by the Madhya Pradesh Government to develop the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain on the model of Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi. The first phase of the Mahakal Lok project was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 October 2022.
Meghdoot forest
The Madhya Pradesh government has freed about 7 acres of land around the temple area which was under illegal encroachment. This area will be developed by the Ujjain Smart City as an urban forest named Meghdoot, at a cost of Rs 11.36 crore.
In the Meghdoot forest, there will be a beautiful entrance area, greenery area, walkways, along with seating, restaurant and a beautiful environment on the river banks.
Madhya Pradesh
It is the second largest state area wise in India after Rajasthan.
According to the Indian State of Forest Report -2021, Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country area wise.
25.14 % of its area is under forest cover.
6. Asia's largest Compressed Bio Gas plant inaugurated in Sangrur by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
Tags: Environment place in news Person in news
The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated Asia's largest Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant in Lehragaga, Sangrur, and Punjab on 18 October 2022.
The plant has been set up by German company Verbio AG at an investment of Rs 220 crore. Initially the plant will have the production of 6 tonnes per day of CBG which is likely to be increased to 33 tonnes per day of CBG.
Benefit of the Compressed BioGas (CBG) plant
The plant will procure 1 lakh tonnes of paddy straw from farmers thereby providing them an additional source of income.
The paddy stubble which is burnt by the farmers in the field will now be used in the plant thereby reducing pollution in the surrounding areas.
This Plant will reduce stubble burning of 40,000 – 45,000 acres of fields, translating into an annual reduction of 150,000 tons of CO2 emissions,
The plant will produce about 600-650 Tons of Fermented Organic Manure per day, which can be used for organic farming.
What is a compressed biogas plant?
Waste/Bio-mass sources like agricultural residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc. produce Bio-Gas through the process of anaerobic decomposition.
The Bio-Gas is purified to remove hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapour and compressed as Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG), which has methane (CH4) content of more than 90%.
CBG has calorific value and other properties similar to CNG and hence can be utilized as green renewable automotive fuel.
Thus it can replace CNG in automotive, industrial and commercial areas, given the abundance of biomass availability within the country.
7. 12th Defence Expo dedicated to Indian defence companies to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from 18 October to 20 October
Tags: place in news Defence Summits
India’s flagship exhibition on Land, Naval and Homeland Security systems, Defence Expo 2022 will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from 18-22 October 2022. Earlier the 12th Defence expo was proposed to be held in the month of March 2022 but was postponed due to the logistics problems being experienced by participants. The 11th Defence expo was held in Lucknow in 2022.
Theme of the Defence Expo 2022
The theme of the 12th Defence Expo is Path to Pride
Defence Ministers explains the theme of the defence expo 2022
Speaking at the curtain raiser press conference in Gandhinagar on 17October 2022 ,Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that 'Path to Pride' was not just a theme of DefExpo 2022, but a ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ vision of a ‘New India’.
He said that the DefExpo 2022 during ‘Amrit Kaal’ reflects India's resolve to be among the leading nations in the defence & aerospace sectors in the next 25 years.
First time defence expo exclusively for Indian companies
For the first time only Indian companies have been invited for the defence expo. Foreign defence companies which have set up a joint venture with Indian companies can also participate in the expo. A record 1340 companies are participating in the expo.
For the first time, States/Union Territories (UTs) have been invited to set up pavilions at the event.
International participation
Seventy five (75) countries have confirmed their participation in the DefExpo 2022.
The defence minister will host the second India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) on October 18, while the Indian Ocean Region plus (IOR+) conclave will take place on October 19.
More than 53 African countries have been invited for IADD and 44 for IOR+ conclave.
Defence Expo
It is organised by the Union Ministry of Defence. The main purpose behind the expo is to promote defence exports from India as well as invite foreign companies to explore defence tie-ups and business in India.
Traditionally, the Defence expo has been held in New Delhi every two years
Later it was shifted to Panaji, Goa (2016), Chennai (2018) and Lucknow (2020).
8. 3rd edition of Confederation of Indian Industry’s renewable energy conference starts in New Delhi
Tags: Environment place in news Summits
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India is organising the 3rd edition of the International Conference & Exhibition on ‘Pathways for Global Partnership in Green Energy: Powering Atma Nirbhar Bharat & the World’ in New Delhi from 17-19 October 2022 .
This initiative aims at furthering global partnership and take concerted steps to develop green economy and unified to power a clean and green world.
The Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goel addressed the conference and said that “India has the potential to grow into a global supplier of renewable energy equipment”. He reiterated India’s commitment to achieve 500 GW renewable energy generation by 2030.
PM Modi has announced India’s commitment to carbon net-zero by 2070. Also, India has set a target to achieve 50% renewables in the overall energy mix by 2030.
While Aatmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India focuses on elevating domestic manufacturing capabilities and reinforcing net-zero targets, it also has immense potential to be the global epicentre for renewable energy and green hydrogen ecosystem.
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)
It is a business lobby group of top business houses in India.
It was set up in 1895.
It works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes.
Headquarters: New Delhi
President: Sanjiv Bajaj
9. Maharashtra wins men and women’s team won the 2nd Goalball National Championship
Tags: place in news Sports
Maharashtra’s men and women’s team won the 2nd Goalball National Championship held at Maharishi Dayanand University Rohtak, Haryana. In both the men’s and women’s final played at Rohtak on 16 October 2022, the Maharashtra team defeated the Uttarakhand men and women’s team.
The 3 day (14-16 October) 2nd Goalball National championship 2022 was organised by the Goalball federation of India in Rohtak and saw the participation of 10 teams .
Goalball is a Paralympic sport which is played by blind sportspeople.
10. Harshada Garud sole Indian medal winner at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022
Tags: place in news Sports Person in news
Junior world champion Harshada Garud was India’s sole medallist among the 12-member Indian contingent at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022 tournament which concluded on 16 October 2022 at Manama, Bahrain.
She won the bronze medals in the snatch section and the overall section of the women’s 45kg category. This was Harshada Garud’s first international medal at the senior level.
The Asian Weightlifting Championships was organized by the Asian Weightlifting Federation at Manama, Bahrain from 6 to 16 October 2022.
Asian Weightlifting Federation
It was set up in 1958 in Tokyo, Japan.
It governs the weightlifting sports in Asia.
45 countries of Asia are its member
Headquarters: Bangkok, Thailand
