“The time has come for a paradigm shift in the international climate regime which has to move from a ‘country-centric’ approach to ‘people-centric’ approach to climate actions.”, said Shri Hardeep S Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs today. He was speaking at the Valedictory Session- ‘Mainstreaming Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience for Collective Action’ of World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2023.

Mr. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mr. Ugo Astuto, Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to India, Shri Nitin Desai, Chairman, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director-General, The International Solar Alliance were among other dignitaries to attend the WSDS 2023. The event was organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) from 22^nd to 24^th  February, 2023.

Talking about his association with the Summit and it’s evolution to its present form, Shri Hardeep S. Puri said, “My association with the Summit goes back to when it was known as the ‘Delhi Sustainable Development Summit’”.  Over 22 years, the Summit has built a distinguished legacy of promoting global sustainable development, especially in its advocacy for the Global South to strengthen commitments at all levels of governance, he said.

The Minister said that the world is recovering from a once-in-a-century pandemic; there are geopolitical conflicts in parts of the world; the three-F crisis (food, fuel, fertiliser) threatens energy security; and economic uncertainty will continue for the next couple of years. These issues are closely linked to the discussions that we are having today on sustainable development, he added.

Shri Hardeep S Puri also talked about India’s presidency of G20 and how it will play important role in shaping global response to the issues faced by world such as climate change. He said that it is imperative that we coordinate and calibrate policy response from the lowest local level to the highest global gathering. He expressed that a stronger commitment to the SDGs and the multilateral agenda are going to be fundamental to the global response. India will give resonance to the voice of the Global South and highlight the common concerns of energy security and climate justice, he said.

The Minister said that the transformational progress in water and sanitation, housing, food, energy access, digital connectivity, and financial inclusion have led to an unprecedented ‘saturation of service’. This approach to development resonates with the ‘leave no one behind’ philosophy of the SDGs, he said.

Calling India’s progress on climate action an inspiration, Shri Puri remarked that despite the pandemic, India has shown remarkable progress on numerous SDG targets without causing any negative spillovers while other countries have stagnated. The SDG Report 2022 highlights India’s particularly rapid improvement on SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

The Minister said that visionary proposals such as the Panchamrit Action Plan that Prime Minister Modi put forward at COP-26 provide the ambitious response needed to push the sustainable development agenda. India has pledged to become a net-zero country by 2070 and is on its way to cut down emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030. Shri Puri also highlighted the LiFE Mission through which Prime Minister has emphasised that environment is not just a global cause, but the personal responsibility of every individual.

Speaking about India’s path towards Green transition, the Minister said that the government is implementing many programmes for transition to a greener economy and efficient use of energy across various sectors. “We have increased ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 10.17% in July 2022, and have advanced our target to achieve 20% ethanol blending from 2030 to 2025-26. India is launching a Global Alliance on Biofuels, along with USA and Brazil, during India’s Presidency of G20”,  he mentioned. He also talked about the India’s Green Hydrogen policy which is a revolutionary shift which is set to make India a global hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia production. India aims to produce 5 MT Green Hydrogen annually by 2030.

Highlighting importance of multilateralism in Sustainable Development, the Minister remarked that India believes in the power of global cooperation. Multilateral processes can ensure equitable and just outcomes to all people and ecosystems.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the first meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under India’s G20 Presidency via video message today.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister underlined that this is the first Minister-level dialogue under India’s G20 Presidency and conveyed his best wishes for a productive meeting. Taking note of the challenges faced by the world in the present day, the Prime Minister said that the participants of today’s meeting are representing the leadership of global finance and economy at a time when the world is facing serious economic difficulties. The Prime Minister gave examples of covid pandemic and its after-effects on the global economy, rising geo-political tensions, disruptions in global supply chains, rising prices, food and energy security, unsustainable debt levels affecting the viability of many countries, and the erosion of trust in international financial institutions due to their inability to reform quickly. Shri Modi pointed out that it is now up to the custodians of the leading economies and monetary systems of the world to bring back stability, confidence and growth to the global economy.

Casting the spotlight on the vibrancy of the Indian economy, the Prime Minister highlighted the optimism of the Indian consumers and producers about the future of India’s economy and hoped that the member participants would draw inspiration while transmitting the same positive spirit to the global level. The Prime Minister urged the members to focus their discussions on the most vulnerable citizens of the world and stressed that global economic leadership can win back the confidence of the world only by creating an inclusive agenda. “The theme of our G20 Presidency promotes this inclusive vision – One Earth, One Family, One Future”, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister observed that progress on Sustainable Development Goals seems to be slowing down even though the world population has crossed 8 billion. He emphasized the need to strengthen Multilateral Development Banks for meeting global challenges like climate change and high debt levels

Highlighting the growing dominance of technology in the world of finance, the Prime Minister recalled how digital payments enabled contactless and seamless transactions during the pandemic. He urged the member participants to explore and harness the power of technology while developing standards to regulate its possible risk of destabilization and misuse in digital finance. The Prime Minister noted that India has created a highly secure, highly trusted, and highly efficient public digital infrastructure in its digital payments ecosystem over the past few years. “Our digital payments ecosystem has been developed as a free public good”, the Prime Minister remarked as he underlined that it has radically transformed governance, financial inclusion, and ease of living in the country. Noting that the meeting is taking place in Bengaluru, the technology capital of India, the Prime Minister said that participants can get first-hand experience of how Indian consumers have embraced digital payments. He also informed about the new system created during India’s G-20 Presidency that allows G20 guests to use India’s path-breaking digital payments platform, UPI. “Examples like UPI can be templates for many other countries too. We would be happy to share our experience with the world and the G20 can be a vehicle for this”, the Prime Minister concluded.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the post-budget webinar on ‘Green Growth’ today. It is the first of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister remarked that all the budgets tabled in the country after 2014 have been forwarding new-age reforms apart from finding solutions to the challenges faced in the present day.

The Prime Minister outlined three pillars for green growth and energy transmission. First, increasing the production of renewable energy; second, reducing the use of fossil fuel in the economy; and finally, rapidly moving towards a gas-based economy in the country. This strategy has underlined the announcements of measures like ethanol blending, PM KUSUM Yojana, incentives for solar manufacturing, rooftop solar scheme, coal gasification, and battery storage in the Budgets of the past few years. Underlining the significant announcements in previous years’ budgets, the Prime Minister highlighted schemes such as green credit for industries, PM Pranam Yojna for farmers, Gobardhan Yojna for villages, vehicle scrapping policy for cities, Green Hydrogen and wetland conservation in this year’s budget. The Prime Minister underlined that these announcements lay the foundation stone and pave the way for future generations.

The Prime Minister said that India’s commanding position in the renewable energy space will ensure a commensurate change in the world. “This Budget will play a key role in establishing India as a lead player in the global green energy market. That is why, today, I invite every stakeholder of the energy world to invest in India”, the Prime Minister said. Referring to the global efforts for diversification of the energy supply chain, the Prime Minister said that this Budget has given a great opportunity to every green energy investor to invest in India. This will also be very useful for the startups in the sector, he added.

“India has been the fastest when it comes to renewable energy capacity addition among major economies since 2014”, the Prime Minister said. He further added that India’s track record shows its capability to achieve the objectives before time when it comes to renewable energy resources. The Prime Minister informed that India achieved the target of 40% contributions from non-fossil fuels in the installed electricity capacity 9 years before the target date. He also mentioned that India achieved the target of 10% ethanol blending in petrol 5 months before time and emphasised that the nation strives to achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025-26 instead of 2030. He underlined that the capacity of 500 GW will be achieved by 2030. Recalling the launch of E20 fuel, the Prime Minister noted the government’s emphasis on biofuels and said that it has brought new opportunities for investors. He observed the abundance of agri-waste in the country and urged the investors to not miss the opportunity of setting up ethanol plants in every corner of the country. “The potential of solar, wind and biogas in India is no less than any gold mine or oil field for our private sector”, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said that under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, India is moving with a target of production of 5 MMT green hydrogen. An allocation of Rs 19 thousand crores has been made to incentivize the private sector in this field. He also touched upon other opportunities such as electrolyzer manufacturing, green steel manufacturing and long-haul fuel cells.

The Prime Minister also informed that India has the potential of producing 10 thousand million cubic metres of biogas from Gobar (cow dung) and 1.5 lakh cubic meter gas which can contribute up to 8% to the city gas distribution in the country. “Because of these possibilities, today the Gobardhan Yojana is an important component of India’s biofuel strategy. In this budget, the government has announced plans to set up 500 new plants under the Gobardhan Yojana. These are not like old-fashioned plants. The government will spend Rs 10,000 crore on these modern plants”, he added. The private sector is getting attractive incentives for producing CBG from agri-waste and municipal solid waste, the Prime Minister informed.

Throwing light on India’s vehicle scrapping policy the Prime Minister stressed that it is a crucial part of the green growth strategy. He informed that the government has made provisions of Rs 3000 crores in this year’s budget to scrap around 3 lakh vehicles owned by Central and State governments that are older than 15 years including police vehicles, ambulances and buses. “Vehicle Scrapping is going to become a huge market”, said the Prime Minister, following the principle of Reuse, Recycle and Recovery. He also emphasised that it gives new strength to our circular economy and urged the youth of India to join various means of the circular economy.

The Prime Minister said that India has to increase its battery storage capacity to 125-gigawatt hours in the next 6-7 years. The Prime Minister informed that the government has come out with a viability gap funding scheme in this budget to support the battery developers to achieve big goals in this capital-intensive sector.

The Prime Minister also touched upon water-based transport becoming a huge sector in India. He informed that India transports only 5% of its cargo through its coastal route today whereas only 2% of cargo is transported in India through inland waterways. He underlined that the development of waterways in India will give rise to many opportunities for all stakeholders in this field.

Concluding the address, the Prime Minister said that India has huge potential to lead the world when it comes to technology for Green Energy. He emphasised that it will forward the cause of global good apart from generating Green Jobs. “This budget is not only an opportunity, but it also contains the guarantee of our future security”, the Prime Minister said as he urged all stakeholders to act quickly to implement every provision of the budget. “The government stands with you and your suggestions”, the Prime Minister concluded.

Background

The webinar led by the Union Ministry of Power will have six breakout sessions covering both energy and non-energy components of Green Growth. Besides Ministers and Secretaries of concerned Central Government Ministries, a host of stakeholders drawn from state governments, industry, academia & research institutions and the public sector would attend these webinars and contribute through suggestions for better implementation of budgetary announcements.

Green growth is one of the seven top priorities of the Union Budget 2023-24 for ushering green industrial and economic transition, environmentally friendly agriculture and sustainable energy in the country. It will also generate a large number of green jobs. The Union Budget has envisaged a number of projects and initiatives spread across various sectors and ministries viz. Green Hydrogen Mission, Energy Transition, Energy Storage Projects, Renewable Energy Evacuation, Green Credit Program, PM-PRANAM, GOBARdhan Scheme, Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres, MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar, Coastal Shipping and Vehicle Replacement.

Each post-budget webinar will have three sessions. It will start with a plenary opening session which would be addressed by the Prime Minister. This session will be followed by separate breakout sessions on various themes which would take place in parallel. Finally, the ideas from the breakout sessions would be presented during the plenary concluding session. Based on inputs received during the webinar, concerned ministries would prepare a time-bound action plan for the implementation of budget announcements.

The government has undertaken several budgetary reforms in the past few years. The date of the budget was advanced to 1st February so that Ministries and Departments get sufficient time for utilisation of the funds on the ground before the onset of monsoons. Another step towards bringing in reforms in budget implementation was the novel idea of Post Budget Webinars. This idea was conceptualised by the Prime Minister to bring together experts from the public and private sectors, academia, industry and practitioners on the field on a single platform and collaboratively work on implementation strategies across sectors. These webinars were started in 2021 in the spirit of Jan Bhagidari and encourage involvement and ownership of all concerned stakeholders in effective, quick and seamless implementation of the Budget announcements.

The webinars will be focussed on synergising efforts of various Ministers and Departments and all concerned stakeholders towards preparation of action plans with quarterly targets so that the implementation is front ended and smooth with the timely achievement of intended outcomes. They are being held virtually to ensure wide participation. They will be attended by concerned Union Ministers, key stakeholders from Government departments, Regulators,  Academia, Trade and Industry associations etc.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today chaired a high level joint review meeting for the preparations of Science-20 meetings of the ensuing G-20 Summit.

The meeting was attended by Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, Dr Ajay Kumar Sood and Secretaries of all the six Science Ministries and Departments, including Science & Technology, Biotechnology, CSIR, Earth Sciences, Space and Atomic Energy.

It may be pointed out that under the leadership of Dr Jitendra Singh, Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is fully geared up to host the “FIRST ANTI CORRUPTION WORKING GROUP MEETING (ACWG) to be held from 1st March to 3rd March 2023 at the Leela Hotel, Gurugram, Haryana. As part of India’s G20 Presidency, there will be a series of nearly 40 meetings and side events back-to-back during this duration.

Apart from preparations for the G-20 Science Meetings, the agenda of today’s meet were the review of Science Awards, Creation of a New Communication structure after the winding up of Vigyan Prasar and Sankalp Meetings.

Dr Jitendra Singh said after the meeting that all the six Science Ministries and Departments under him hive finalized agenda and all kinds of Bandobast for the upcoming G-20 Summit meetings. The Minister also welcomed the topics and subjects assigned to Science Ministries.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that apart from S-20 Summit and Side meetings, another important event assigned to DST is Research Innovation Initiated Gathering (RIIG) with side events.

The Science-20 Summit meeting will be held in Coimbatore from 21^st to 22^nd July, 2023 with the theme of “Disruptive Science for Innovative and Sustainable Growth”. The Sub-themes (side event topics) are- Non-conventional energy for a greener future, Connecting Science to Society and Culture and Holistic Health: Cure and Prevention of Disease.

Meeting schedule and venues for S-20 are as follows- Inception meeting: Pondicherry (30-31 January 2023), Side-event1: Bangaram Island, Lakshwadeep (27-28 February 2023), Side-event2: Agartala (3-4 April 2023), Side-event3: Indore (16-17 June 2023).

The S-20 Secretariat will be chaired by Dr Vijay P Bhatkar of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Prof Ajay K Sood and Prof Gautam Desiraju are also eminent members of the Secretariat.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, DST will also take care of the Research Innovation Initiated Gathering (RIIG) on the subject of “Research and Innovation for Equitable Society”. The Sub-theme/ topics for RIIG gathering will be Materials for Sustainable Energy (CSIR), Scientific Challenges and Opportunities towards Achieving a Sustainable Blue Economy (MoES), Bio-resource/ Biodiversity and Bio-economy (DBT) and Eco-Innovations for Energy Transition (SERB).

Meetings schedule and venues for RIIG are the following: Inception meeting: Kolkata (9-10 February 2023), Side-event1: Ranchi (21-22 March 2023), Side-event 2: Dibrugarh & Itanagar (24-25 March 2023), Side-event 3: Shimla (19-20 April 2023), Side-event 4: Diu (18-19 May 2023) and the RIIG Summit and Research Minister meeting, Mumbai (4-6 July 2023).

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said it is critical to develop a roadmap for greening the shipping sector in India, reduce pollution intensity and evolve strategies to introduce renewable energy and green hydrogen in the shipping sector. Addressing the session on Instruments and Leadership for Inclusive Green Growth at World Sustainable Development Summit 2023 in New Delhi today he said with ‘green growth’ being a priority area in the Union Budget presented in Parliament a few days ago, the focus is firmly on meeting the decarbonization targets for 2030 as well as the net-zero goals for 2070. He said this is applicable to the shipping sector as well. The Budget had also put forth the need to promote coastal shipping as an energy efficient and lower cost mode of transport, both for passengers and freight, through PPP mode with viability gap funding, he added.

Shri Sonowal said with India taking over the G20 Presidency this year and working groups deliberating on clean energy and green transitions, we are re-emphasizing the significance of inclusive green growth as our development strategy. He said to enable this growth we need to pay particular attention to technology transfer which is absolutely essential for green transitions. He said there is also a need to mainstream green transition policies as well as carry out proper assessment of emerging energy and fuel choices.

The Minister said it was a matter of great pleasure for him to be part of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) annual flagship event – the World Sustainable Development Summit. As a research institution working steadfastly to find solutions that will make the planet more sustainable, not only through their work on policy, but also through technology interventions that will enable green transitions, TERI holds a vital place in the green growth ecosystem, he added.

Shri Sonowal said The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways(MoPSW) recently joined hands with TERI to set up the country’s first National Centre of Excellence in Green Port and Shipping at the institution’s field station at Gwal Pahari. He said this National Centre of Excellence brings together the expertise of the Deendayal Port Authority, Paradip Port Authority, VO Chidambaranar Port Authority and Cochin Shipyard Limited and TERI, and will play a key role in developing regulatory framework and alternate technology adoption roadmap for green shipping in India.

Shri Sonowal said as inclusive green growth increasingly becomes the foundation on which future development has to take place, it is imperative to bring in policies, frameworks and systems in place that will enable this transition.

The Minister said the shipping sector is both energy and resource intensive and needs an implementation roadmap to achieve energy and resource neutrality. He said initiatives such as the NCoEGPS will provide decision makers at a national and sub-national level with methodology and framework to implement carbon neutrality measures, and to meet the obligations under the Paris Accord.

Shri Sonowal said at present, about 99% of the energy demand from coastal shipping sector is met by fossil fuels, with fuel oil and marine gas oil (MGO). As per IMO, an unchecked measure may take GHG emissions associated with the shipping sector to anywhere between 50% and 250% by 2050 in comparison to 2008 emission levels. He said the IMO overall vision, adopted in 2018 is to phase out greenhouse gas emissions from the industry as soon as possible in this century. He said in line with the IMO’s objective the MoPSW has set target to reduce GHG emission in Indian shipping sector to 30% by 2030.

The Minister said major air pollutants generated by port activities include carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM). He said various pollution mitigation measures are under place by the Indian major ports such as adoption to mechanised mode of dry bulk handling, increasing green belt coverage, conversion of diesel RTGCs to E/ hybrid RTGCs and several others. Further, the role of NCoEGPS will be transformational in achieving Vision 2030 pollution mitigation targets, he added.

Shri Sonowal said a green shipping sector is the most pivotal element in evolving a sustainable blue economy. He said a thriving blue economy needs a shipping sector that cuts back on emissions and opts for green fuels, With our multiple initiatives the Ministry is looking forth to decarbonize the sectors so that the 2030 and 2070 targets are achieved.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed his happiness over widespread interest in ‘Aadi Mahotsav’. He was responding to the tweet thread by Dr. Bhola Singh, Lok Sabha MP wherein Shri Singh informed about his visit to ‘Aadi Mahotsav’ and said that It has been organized in a very well manner where you will get to see the wonderful presentation of tribal culture from all over India.

The Prime Minister tweeted;

“यह देखकर अच्छा लगा कि आपने ‘आदि महोत्सव’ में इतनी रुचि ली। आदिवासी समाज की संस्कृति और उनके खानपान से जुड़ा आपका अनुभव उत्साह बढ़ाने वाला है।”

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the meeting of 41st edition of PRAGATI, the ICT based multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, involving Centre and State governments, earlier today.

In the meeting, nine key infrastructure projects were reviewed. Among the nine projects, three projects were from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, two projects were from the Ministry of Railways and one project each was from Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. These nine projects have a cumulative cost of over Rs. 41,500 crores and relate to 13 states viz., Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh. Mission Amrit Sarovar was also reviewed in the meeting.

Prime Minister advised the Ministries and State Governments to use the PM GatiShakti portal for planning of infrastructure projects. He insisted on expeditious resolution of land acquisition, utility shifting and other issues for timely completion of projects. He emphasised on ensuring proper coordination between central government ministries and state governments.

During the interaction, the Prime Minister also reviewed ‘Mission Amrit Sarovar’. He also undertook real time view of Amrit Sarovar sites through drones in Kishanganj, Bihar and Botad, Gujarat. Prime Minister advised all Ministries and State Governments to complete Amrit Sarovar work in mission mode before the onset of monsoon. Prime Minister emphasised on block level monitoring for timely completion of the target of 50,000 Amrit Sarovars under the scheme.

The unique idea of ‘Mission Amrit Sarovar’ is working to rejuvenate water bodies all across the country, which will help conserve water for the future. Once the mission is completed, the expected increase in water holding capacity is going to be around 50 crore cu.m, the estimated carbon sequestration will be about 32,000 ton per year and expected increase in ground water recharge is over 22 Million cubic metre. Moreover, the completed Amrit Sarovers are evolving as centres of community activity and participation, thus enhancing the spirit of Jan Bhagidari. Many social activities like Swachchata Rally, Jal Shapath on water conservation, school children’s activities like rangoli competition, celebration of religious festivals like Chatth Puja are being organised on the Amrit Sarovars sites.

During PRAGATI meetings 328 projects having total cost Rs 15.82 lakh crore have been reviewed till now.

Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh today inaugurated various facilities worth Rs 120 Crore at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute ( THSTI), Faridabad, Haryana.

Delivering the Presidential address after the inauguration of facilities including a Medical Research Centre which will be a 50 bedded hospital and will have facilities for conducting clinical research such as observational cohort studies and phase 1 & phase 2 clinical trials, Dr Jitendra Singh said, kind of research happening here has drawn international acclaim.

Dr Jitendra Singh was happy to note that COVID vaccine trials happened in the THTSI labs under partnership with WHO and pointed that it was the 1^st Lab in India to culture Omicron virus.

Dr Jitendra Singh added that India did extremely well during the covid-19 pandemic as it developed own vaccines and provided over 2 billion doses to our people. He said, India also provided excellent medical care and the mortality in India due to covid-19 was among the lowest in the world and for this congratulated THSTI scientists for their excellent science and support for vaccine research and development both to academia and industry.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that THSTI is one of the top institutes under DBT and this institute has done extremely well in many areas of research such as mother and child health, vaccine development, therapeutic molecules against tuberculosis and dengue and newer diagnostic tools. It has world class facilities such as BSL-3 lab, experimental animal facility, a large biorepository and state of the art modern equipment for molecular research, the Minister added.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, Biotechnology is at the core of vaccine, diagnostics and therapeutic development in a cost-effective manner. He also pointed out that the Biotech Industry has grown from 6 billion dollars to 80 billion dollars currently through the efforts of our research institutions, entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Secretary, DBT, Dr Rajesh Gokhale in his address said that THSTI is a young institute but it has done major contribution in the area of health care in India and particularly during the pandemic. He said that Resources, People and Ethos, what make an Institute a Distinct One and the THSTI has all the elements in it. Calling for making Research a Passion, Dr Gokhale said, in the last decade the Institute has made an international mark.

Dr Pramod Kumar Garg, Executive Director of THSTI said in his address that the scientists are committed to develop world class vaccines and prodiucts and in future if there will be a need Human Challenge Model will be adopted. He urged the Union Minister to look into the issue of filling fore vacancies as there is shortage of faculty.

The department of Biotechnology has 14 autonomous institutions across the country which are engaged in various aspects of human health research and agriculture.

The research done at THSTI with regard to durability of immunity to vaccination and natural infection informed national policy.

The Ministry of Science and Technology is committed to further enhance our research prowess and place India among the top Science and Technology countries in the world. The collective effort and brilliance of our scientists will definitely contribute significantly towards our honorable Prime Minister’s vision of make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong participated in the virtual launch of real time payment linkage between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore. Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor of Reserve Bank of India and Mr. Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore made live cross-border transactions to each other using their respective mobile phones.

Singapore is the first country with which cross border Person to Person (P2P) payment facility has been launched. This will help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers/students and bring the benefits of digitalisation and FINTECH to the common man through instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa. Acceptance of UPI payments through QR codes is already available in selected merchant outlets in Singapore.

The virtual launch was preceded by a phone call between the two Prime Ministers, wherein discussions were held on areas of mutual interest. Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Lee for his partnership in taking the India-Singapore relationship forward and looked forward to working with him under India’s G20 Presidency.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with UK Secretary of State for Defence Mr Ben Wallace on February 21, 2023. The conversation was cordial, positive and focused on future growth of the bilateral defence relationship. Both Ministers discussed a wide range of defence and security issues, including regional developments and the Indo-Pacific.

The Ministers briefly reviewed their ongoing defence cooperation and expressed satisfaction at their bilateral military-to-military engagements. They also discussed ways to enhance defence industrial cooperation and identified a few potential areas of cooperation. The Raksha Mantri suggested that UK companies should become part of India’s growth story and participate in co-development and co-production in India.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, the Troika of Space, Drone and Geospatial Policy will propel India as a pre-eminent Technological Power in a few Years from now.

Addressing a National Conference on “Geospatial Policy for National Development” in Delhi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, unlocking of the Space sector for private participation in June 2020, issue of Liberalized Guidelines for Geospatial Data in February 2021 and final approval of Geospatial Policy in December 2022 and Liberalized Drone Rules, followed by Drone Amendment Rules-2022 notified by Ministry of Civil Aviation, all these transformative, game changer decisions came during the 2^nd stint of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after May, 2019.

Dwelling on Geospatial Policy, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this technology is going to be an instrument of change in 21^st Century India as apart from huge revenue generation potential, it will also open huge employment opportunities. He said, as per one industry estimate, Indian Geospatial economy in 2021 employed approximately 5 Lakh people across the country spread across the domestic market (including user industries, government services and export services) which is expected to rise over 10 lakhs by 2025.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, in line with the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India is on the cusp of Geospatial Revolution and a healthy synergy among Government, Industry and Scientific Community will tremendously boost up economic output and would help India becoming a 10 trillion Dollar Economy by 2030. He added that Geospatial information has an important role to play in the sectors like agriculture, environment protection, power, water, transportation, communication and health etc.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, the role of private sector would be very crucial in strengthening the Geospatial infrastructure of the nation and added that actual collection and collation of data and development of data themes have to be increasingly done with private sector participation consistent with Geospatial Guidelines. He emphasized that the needs and requirements of the citizens related to various Geospatial/location-based solutions have to be predominantly serviced by the private sector with SoI and nodal ministries & agencies of various Geospatial Data Themes in a facilitative role. The Private Sector has to play a key role in creation and maintenance of Geospatial and mapping Infrastructures, innovations and process improvements and monetization of Geospatial data, the Minister added.

Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr Chandrasekhar said in his address that the Survey of India will provide the baseline for collection and collation of Data by the private sector for strengthening the Geospatial Infrastructure. He hoped that in coming years more and more Start-Ups will mushroom in this sector, thus opening floodgates of job opportunities. He also underlined that in the next 10 years this sector will be a boomer.

Secretary, DoS, Dr S.Somanath said that with New Generation taking over, Geospatial will be an important arm for converting India into Digital India in various sectors. Referring to the Brainstorming Session convened by Prime Minister in 2015 with ISRO and Line Ministries in Vigyan Bhawan, he said, that meeting was a turning point and today every Ministry/Department of the Central Government has at least one Space Project.

Dr Somanath said, after Space and Drone policies, Geospatial will help in Grand Realization of Transforming India into a Digital Economy.

Shri R.S.Sharma,former Secretary to the Government of India and newly appointed Chairman of Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee (GDPDC) said, Geospatial Policy enables both the Government and Private sector to work in harmony to help India emerge as a true World Power. He said, any technology including Geospatial must be Inclusive, Open( based on API). Cost effective and bring Ease of Living for common man.

Sunil Kumar, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Science and Technology in his welcome address said that Geospatial technology has applications in almost every domain of the economy ranging from agriculture to industries, development of urban or rural infrastructure, administration of land, economic activities of banking and finance, resources, mining, water, disaster management, social planning, delivery services, etc. He said, Geospatial data is now widely accepted as a critical national infrastructure and information resource with proven societal, economic, and environmental value that enables government systems and services, and sustainable national development initiatives, to be integrated using location as a common reference frame.

Some of the important applications of Geospatial Policy-

Digital India Land Resources Modernization Program (DILRMP) of the Ministry of Rural Development has led to creation of huge spatial data with sizeable number of cadastral maps digitized and geo-referenced. India’s leading programme ‘Namami Gange’ uses geospatial technologies for river basin management and regulating the proposed protected and regulatory zones along the banks of the river.

Under the SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the large scale mapping of rural inhabited areas has created durable records of village property holdings which will support comprehensive village level planning.

The urban geospatial database prepared under AMRUT has enabled the State Urban Local Bodies to prepare their city Master Plans and facilitated the development of sectoral plans, infrastructure planning, utility planning, eco-sensitive areas protection & management, encroachment monitoring, geospatial governance, and municipal applications.

PM GatiShakti National Master Plan has been launched by the Government to prosper economic growth and sustainable development of India by providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various economic zones. The plan has been developed as a Digital Master Planning tool and prepared in dynamic Geographic Information System (GIS) platform wherein data on specific action plan of all the Ministries/Departments have been incorporated within a comprehensive database. Dynamic mapping of all infrastructure projects with real- time updation will be provided by way of a map developed by BISAG-N. The map will be built on open-source technologies and hosted securely on MEGHRAJ. It will use satellite imagery available from ISRO and base maps from Survey of India. The comprehensive database of the ongoing & future projects of various Ministries has been integrated with 200+ GIS layers thereby facilitating planning, designing and execution of the infrastructure projects with a common vision.