1. India's first solar city inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh's Sanchi
Tags: Science and Technology State News
Madhya Pradesh (MP) Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated Sanchi in Raisen district as India's first solar city.
An Overview of the News
The initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of developing a solar city in every state by 2070.
About Sanchi Solar City:
Sanchi Solar City has two solar plants - a 3 MW solar plant at Nagauri and a5 MW solar plant at Gulgaon, which cater to the city's power and agricultural needs.
Currently, an 8 MW grid-connected solar plant is under construction within Sanchi city.
Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVNL) acted as the nodal agency for this solar city project.
MPUVNL launched an 'Energy Literacy Campaign' to educate the people of Sanchi about energy-saving practices.
Sanchi Solar City is expected to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 13,747 tonnes, which is equivalent to the effect of planting more than 2 lakh adult trees.
The project is expected to save over Rs 7 crore annually in energy-related expenses for both the government and citizens.
Initiatives under the Sanchi Solar City Project:
Electric vehicle charging stations have been set up across the city to promote the adoption of electric vehicles.
Public establishments have been fitted with rooftop solar systems to harness solar energy.
Individual rooftop owners have also installed solar systems on their premises, thereby reducing their dependence on grid electricity.
National Renewable Energy Target:
India has set a target of generating 40% of its total installed electricity generation capacity from renewable sources by 2030.
About Sanchi:
Sanchi is famous for its Buddhist Stupa, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Great Stupa of Sanchi was built by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC.
Important Point:- In October 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared Modhera village in Gujarat as India's first 24x7 solar-powered village.
About Madhya Pradesh
It is the second largest state of India by area after Rajasthan.
Forests occupy 25.14 percent of its area.
Governor - Mangubhai Patel
Chief Minister - Shivraj Singh Chauhan
Capital - Bhopal
2. Surat sets Guinness World Record for largest gathering on Yoga Day
Tags: State News
A new Guinness World Record was created with the participation of 1.53 lakh people in the Yoga Day event in Surat, Gujarat.
An Overview of the News
Largest gathering for a yoga session at one place, with 1.53 lakh people participating.
The previous record was set in 2018 in Kota, Rajasthan with 1,00,984 participants.
Event Description and Recognition:
Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi announced the new record.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel attended the state level 'International Yoga Day' celebrations in Surat.
The representatives of Guinness World Records presented the certificate to Chief Minister Patel.
The participants were given wristbands with QR codes for accurate counting.
The QR code data confirmed the participation of 1.53 lakh people surpassing the previous record.
Scale and Organization:
2.20 lakh people registered through the online link.
The participants of the Yoga Day event in Surat were accommodated on two stretches of roads spread over 10.5 km.
A total of 135 blocks were built with LED screens and trainers, each accommodating around 1,000 people.
International Day of Yoga was celebrated across Gujarat at 72,000 places with 1.25 crore participants.
Significance and Schemes:
Chief Minister Patel highlighted the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in popularizing Yoga globally.
Yoga and Pranayama played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state government is planning to open 21 "Yoga studios" to promote yoga.
The State Yoga Board has trained 5,000 instructors.
Broad Participation and Location Selection:
Other Ministers, MLAs, MPs and officials participated in the programs organized in various districts.
75 iconic places including Sabarmati Riverfront, Statue of Unity, White Rann of Kutch and Modhera Sun Temple were selected for Yoga Day celebrations.
Yoga Day programs were held in villages, towns, cities, colleges, schools, health centers, police headquarters, jails, police stations and public gardens all over Gujarat.
3. Sun Temple at Modhera, Vadnagar town Rock cut sculpture, Unakoti added to tentative list of UNESCO heritage sites
Tags: place in news National
The Union Ministry of Culture announced on 20 December 2022 that Vadnagar town ,Gujarat, Sun Temple Modhera, Gujarat and Rock Cut Sculptures and reliefs of the Unakoti,Tripura have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
The submissions were made by Archaeological Survey of India, which is responsible for the conservation and preservation of Indian monuments.
With the addition of these three sites, UNESCO has 52 proposals in the tentative list of India.
According to UNESCO, countries are encouraged to submit their Tentative Lists which mentions the properties which they consider to be cultural and/or natural heritage of outstanding universal value and therefore suitable for inscription on the World Heritage List.
The newly included sites in the tentative list;
Vadnagar
Vadnagar also known as Chamatkarpur, Anandpur, Snehpur and Vimalpur is located in the Mehsana district in Gujarat. The city has been mentioned in the Puranas as well by the Chinese traveller, Hieu-en-Tsang (7th century). Vadnagar is famous for its Buddhist sites, torans, a pair of 12th century Solanki-era columns, 40 feet tall and built in red and yellow sandstone to celebrate a war victory.
Sun Temple, Modhera and its adjoining monuments
Modhera is known for the Sun temple situated on the bank of the Pushpavati River. The temple was built after 1026-27 CE during the reign of Bhima I of the Chalukya dynasty. Modhera village is the first solar powered village in the world.
Rock-cut Sculptures and Reliefs of the Unakoti
Unakoti is famous for its massive stone and rock-cut sculptures that have been carved out from the hillside in the Kailashahar Subdivision of Tripura. Surrounded by lush greenery, this place is also a Shaivite pilgrimage site dating back to the 8th or 9th centuries CE.
Unakoti literally means ‘One Less Than a Crore’. According to Hindu mythology Lord Shiva once spent a night here en route to Kashi. He was accompanied by 99, 99,999 gods and goddesses. He had asked his followers to wake up before sunrise and make their way towards Kashi. Unfortunately, none awoke, except for Lord Shiva himself. Before he set out for Kashi alone, he put a curse on the others turning them to stone. And that’s how the site got its name
Indian sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List
There are 32 cultural, 7 natural, and 1 mixed property in the 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites in India. In 2021 Dholavira, an Indus Valley site in Gujarat and Rudreswara temple (Ramappa Temple) at Palampet, Warangal, and Telangana were the 40th and 39th sites respectively.
The first Indian sites to be included in the UNESCO list were Ajanta, Ellora Caves, Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in 1983.
UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN).
- It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, Science and Culture.
- Headquarters: Paris, France
- Director General: Audrey Azoulay
- Founded: 16 November 1945 in London, United Kingdom
- The organisation has 193 members and 11 Associate members.
4. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrives in India for a three day visit
Tags: Person in news
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres arrived in India on a three day (18-20 October 2022) visit. This will be his first visit to India, since he commenced his second term in office in January 2022. He had earlier visited India (in his first term) from 01- 04 October 2018.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Guterres will pay tribute to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai.
He will also deliver a public address at IIT Mumbai on the subject - "India @75: UN-India Partnership: Strengthening South-South Cooperation”.
On 20 October 2022 in Gujarat (Ekta Nagar, Kevadiya), he will join Prime Minister Modi at the launch of the Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) booklet, logo and tagline.
In Kevadiya, the Secretary-General will pay floral tributes at Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity. He will also visit India’s first solar-powered village in Modhera (Gujarat).
United Nations Secretary General
The United Nations Secretary General is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat.
The United Nations Secretary General is appointed by the United Nations General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.
They have a term of five years and are eligible for re-appointment.
The Secretary General of United Nations
First; Trygve Lie of Norway. He was in office from February 1946 to his resignation in November 1952;
Second; Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden. He was in office from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in Africa in September 1961;
Third; U Thant of Burma, now Myanmar. He was Secretary-General from November 1962 to December 1971;
Fourth; Kurt Waldheim of Austria. He was in office from January 1972 to December 1981;
Fifth: Javier Pèrez de Cuèllar of Peru. He was in office January 1982 to December 1991;
Sixth; Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt. He was in office from January 1992 to December 1996;
Seventh; Kofi Annan of Ghana. He was in office from January 1997 to December 2006;
Eight; Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, He was in office from January 2007 to December 2016;
Ninth; Antonio Guterres of Portugal. He has been in office since 2017.
5. PM Modi officially declares 'Modhera village' as India’s first solar powered village
Tags: place in news State News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a three day(9-11 October 2022) visit to Gujarat, officially declared Modhera village in Mehsana district of Gujarat as India’s first 24x7 solar powered village on 9 October 2022.
The Modhera village is provided round the clock electricity by over 1000 rooftop solar power panels installed in the village and also through Battery Energy Storage System at night.
Modhera is the first modern village in India with a solar-based ultra-modern electric vehicle charging station.
Another distinction of this project is that it is India’s first grid-connected mega-watt hour scale battery energy storage system.
Project Modhera
In 2019 the Central government and the state government started the joint project to power the Modhera village in Mehsana district with solar power.
The Gujarat government had allotted 12 hectares of land for development of this project and an amount of Rs 80.66 crore was spent on a 50:50 basis by Centre and state government in two phases,
More than 1,300 1 kW rooftop solar systems have been installed on houses which generate electricity. And electricity is supplied free of cost to the villagers.
Modhera’s Sun Temple
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the 3-D projection facility powered by solar energy for the Modhera’s Sun Temple. The sun temple is a protected archaeological site and heritage lighting has been installed on the temple premise.
The solar-powered 3-D projection will educate visitors about the history of Modhera.
Sun Temple is situated on the bank of river Pushpavati. It was built by King Bhima-I of Chalukya dynasty in 1026-27.
6. PM Modi to declare Gujarat’s ‘Modhera’ as India’s First Solar-Powered Village on 9 October
Tags: place in news Science and Technology State News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will declare Gujarat’s village Modhera as India’s first solar-powered village on October 9, 2022. The village is supplied electricity during the daytime through the rooftop solar panels installed in the village and during night the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) provides power supply to the houses.
In 2019 the Central government and the state government started the joint project to power the Modhera village in Mehsana district with solar power.
The Gujarat government had allotted 12 hectares of land for development of this project and an amount of Rs 80.66 crore was spent on a 50:50 basis by Centre and state government in two phases,
More than 1,300 1 kW rooftop solar systems have been installed on houses which generate electricity. And electricity is supplied free of cost to the villagers .
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate a solar-powered 3-D projection facility for the Modhera’s Sun Temple.The solar-powered 3-D projection will educate visitors about the history of Modhera.
Gujarat Chief Minister : Bhupendra Patel
