Latest news with #India-led
Economic Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Economic Times
India's big cat diplomacy grows with 24 nations on board
Twenty-four countries have agreed to join the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), an India-led global initiative to protect seven species of big cats, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Tuesday. According to the IBCA website, 12 countries -- India, Armenia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Liberia, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Somalia and Suriname -- are currently members of the alliance. At an event to mark International Tiger Day, Yadav said the number of tiger reserves in India has increased from 46 in 2014 to 58 at present, reflecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong commitment to protecting the national animal. The minister also announced the launch of a nationwide tree plantation drive under which more than one lakh saplings will be planted across all 58 tiger reserves. Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said India's achievements in tiger conservation are a "milestone" in efforts to protect nature. "And the credit goes entirely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who understands the long-term consequences of protecting the environment and the criticality of the situation today, when we are facing the effects of climate change," he said protecting tigers also means protecting the environment because the tiger is an apex species."If the tiger survives, it means the environment and the ecology down the chain are also surviving," he the IBCA, Singh said many countries have requested India to train their officers in big cat conservation."So, the environment is a very important field. It has international and global implications. It is also an important pathway for international diplomacy, and we are doing very well in that," he said. Asked about plans to bring more cheetahs from Africa under Project Cheetah, Singh said India has concrete plans to source them from similar climate zones such as Namibia. "Those plans are underway. We are doing very well in our cheetah conservation efforts," he added.
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
India's big cat diplomacy grows with 24 nations on board
Twenty-four countries have agreed to join the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), an India-led global initiative to protect seven species of big cats, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Tuesday. According to the IBCA website, 12 countries -- India , Armenia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Liberia, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Somalia and Suriname -- are currently members of the alliance. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Finance CXO Data Analytics Management healthcare Others MCA Data Science Public Policy Technology Cybersecurity Artificial Intelligence Product Management Leadership others Project Management Healthcare PGDM Operations Management MBA Digital Marketing Design Thinking Data Science Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 Months IIM Calcutta SEPO - IIMC CFO India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 7 Months S P Jain Institute of Management and Research CERT-SPJIMR Fintech & Blockchain India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 7 Months S P Jain Institute of Management and Research CERT-SPJIMR Fintech & Blockchain India Starts on undefined Get Details At an event to mark International Tiger Day, Yadav said the number of tiger reserves in India has increased from 46 in 2014 to 58 at present, reflecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong commitment to protecting the national animal. The minister also announced the launch of a nationwide tree plantation drive under which more than one lakh saplings will be planted across all 58 tiger reserves. Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said India's achievements in tiger conservation are a "milestone" in efforts to protect nature. Live Events "And the credit goes entirely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who understands the long-term consequences of protecting the environment and the criticality of the situation today, when we are facing the effects of climate change ," he said. He said protecting tigers also means protecting the environment because the tiger is an apex species. "If the tiger survives, it means the environment and the ecology down the chain are also surviving," he said. On the IBCA, Singh said many countries have requested India to train their officers in big cat conservation. "So, the environment is a very important field. It has international and global implications. It is also an important pathway for international diplomacy, and we are doing very well in that," he said. Asked about plans to bring more cheetahs from Africa under Project Cheetah , Singh said India has concrete plans to source them from similar climate zones such as Namibia. "Those plans are underway. We are doing very well in our cheetah conservation efforts," he added. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Mint
15-07-2025
- Science
- Mint
Watch: Shubhanshu Shukla smiles, waves as he exits SpaceX Dragon capsule after return to Earth from ISS
Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to Earth after an 18-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), in SpaceX Dragon capsule which splashed down in California on Tuesday. He was seen waving and smiling as he exited the capsule. Group Captain Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force officer and test pilot, completed his maiden space voyage as part of the Axiom-4 mission, a commercial spaceflight supported by ISRO and NASA, and operated by Axiom Space. The journey marked a milestone for India: Shukla is the first Indian to step aboard the ISS and only the second Indian to go into space, following Rakesh Sharma's iconic flight in 1984. On board the ISS, Shukla was the pilot on the Axiom-4 mission, alongside commander Peggy Whitson and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. Together, they not only conducted science experiments but also engaged in outreach to students and space communities across the globe. Shukla conducted seven India-led microgravity experiments across diverse domains of life sciences, agriculture, space biotechnology, and cognitive research. A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-member team parachuted into the sea off the coast of California at around 2:30 a.m. PDT (0930 GMT) following a fiery reentry through Earth's atmosphere that capped a 22-hour descent from orbit. The return flight concluded the fourth ISS mission organised by Texas-based startup Axiom Space in collaboration with SpaceX, the private rocket venture of billionaire Elon Musk headquartered near Los Angeles. The mission finale, return flight was carried live by a joint SpaceX-Axiom webcast. Two sets of parachutes, visible through the darkness with infrared cameras, were expected to slow the capsule's final descent to about 15 mph (24 kph) moments before its splashdown off San Diego. Minutes earlier, the spacecraft had been streaking like a mechanical meteor through Earth's lower atmosphere, generating enough frictional heat to send temperatures outside the capsule soaring to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,927 degrees Celsius). The astronauts' flight suits are designed to keep them cool as the cabin heats up. (With inputs from agencies)
Indian Express
11-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Knowledge Nugget: Why Global Biofuels Alliance and CDRI Matter for UPSC Prep
Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up on your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget for today on India's led alliance and initiatives. (Relevance: India-led initiatives are important from the exam perspective. In the UPSC Prelims of 2016, a question was asked on the International Solar Alliance (do check it in the post-read question). Also, these India-led global initiatives showcase India's stature on the international platform, which can be used in your Mains answer writing across the General Studies papers.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Namibia on Wednesday (9th July), the last stop of the 5-nation tour (Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, and Brazil) that started on July 2. This was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the resource-rich southern African nation in almost three decades. PM Modi and Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah meeting ended with the announcements on launching the Digital Payment System in Namibia later this year, setting up an Entrepreneurship Development Center in Namibia, and the entry of Namibia to the global initiatives led by India, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the Global Bio Fuel Alliance. In today's knowledge nugget, let's learn about these two India-led initiatives – CDRI and Global Bio Fuel Alliance. 1. On the sidelines of the G20 summit hosted by India in 2023, the Global Bio Fuel Alliance was launched. The alliance is aimed at facilitating international cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, along with facilitating global biofuels trade and technical support for national biofuel programmes. 2. The GBA, the effort for which was spearheaded by India, the United States, and Brazil, was launched with nine initiating members–India, the US, Brazil, Argentina, Bangladesh, Italy, Mauritius, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates–while Canada and Singapore are observer countries. According to the official site of the Global Bio Fuel Alliance, as of July 2025, there are 29 countries and 14 international organisations that are members of this alliance. 3. Biofuels refer to renewable fuels derived from biomass, from plants or agricultural, animal, domestic, and industrial biowaste. Biofuels are significantly cleaner than conventional fossil fuels. The two most common types of biofuels in use today are ethanol and biodiesel, both of which represent the first generation of biofuel technology. 4. A whitepaper was published by the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) in February 2025 on the global non-grain-based (NGB) biofuels market, which is creating an attractive opportunity for the Indian NGB biofuels sector. 'NGB biofuels are defined based on feedstock, and refer to biofuels produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks (e.g., agricultural and forestry residues), industrial wastes and residue streams, and other feedstocks which do not compete with food crops for land use,' mentions the paper. 5. According to the International Energy Agency's Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE), sustainable biofuels play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector, along with electric vehicles, more efficient engines, changes in transport modes and other clean fuels such as hydrogen. 6. The CDRI is an international organisation launched by PM Modi at the U.N. Climate Action Summit in September 2019. It is a partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development. 7. In simple words, CDRI is an attempt to bring countries together to share and learn from the experiences of one another to protect their key infrastructure — highways, railways, power stations, communication lines, water channels, even housing — against disasters. It promotes the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development. 8. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the mission is to drive US$10 trillion of new and existing infrastructure investments and services to be resilient to natural hazards and climate change, and overall well-being for more than 3 billion people worldwide by 2050. 9. The ten major initiatives as outlined by the CDRI focus on: Small Island Developing States; enhancing data and early warning systems; urban resilience; finance and governance, critical and social infrastructure; mountain regions; Africa; major events; research; and capacity building. 10. The Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) was launched by PM Modi under CDRI during the COP26 held in 2021. Climate change and extreme weather events such as sea level rise, coastal flooding and erosion, tsunamis, and storm surges have made the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) highly prone to disasters. IRIS aims to equip SIDS with the knowledge, tools, and partnerships needed to achieve disaster and climate-resilient infrastructure. These are some of the important India-led initiatives that have been at the forefront. 1. International Solar Alliance (ISA): It was established following the Paris Declaration at the UN Climate Change Conference on November 30, 2015. It was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande. It aimed at uniting efforts to combat climate change by implementing solar energy solutions. Its mission is to unlock $1 trillion in solar investments by 2030 while reducing technology and financing costs. As of July 2025, 106 countries are members of the ISA. 2. International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA): Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the IBCA in April 2023 during the 50th year celebrations of Project Tiger. It is an India-led initiative to focus on global conservation of seven big cats —the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar, and cheetah. On June 16, the first Assembly of the IBCA was held in New Delhi. It aims 'to facilitate collaboration and synergy among stakeholders, consolidating successful conservation practices and expertise and replicating them in range countries.' 3. Green Credits Initiative: It was launched by PM Modi on the sidelines of COP 28 as an initiative within the government's Lifestyle for Environment or LIFE movement. It focuses on generating Green Credits through the plantation on degraded wasteland. It encourages taking voluntary environment-positive actions that result in the issuance of green credits. It is independent of the carbon credit under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme 2023. Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2016) 1. The International Solar Alliance was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015. 2. The Alliance includes all the member countries of the United Nations. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 (Source: Modi, President Ndaitwah hold talks: Namibia to roll out UPI, World Biofuel Day – All you need to know for UPSC Prelims and Mains, Why is Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) important for UPSC exam?, UPSC Special- How India's biofuel potential complements its leadership in sustainable aviation fuel) Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X. 🚨 Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for June 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at Khushboo Kumari is a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She has done her graduation and post-graduation in History from the University of Delhi. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. She holds experience in UPSC-related content development. You can contact her via email: ... Read More
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India-Namibia relations deepen: From Project Cheetah to defence, trade and beyond
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic state visit to Namibia, the first by an Indian PM in 27 years elevated bilateral ties with key agreements on digital payments (UPI), defense, health, critical minerals, and climate collaboration. Namibia joined India-led global platforms like the Global Biofuel Alliance and CDRI, as both nations pledged deeper cooperation for the Global South and reaffirmed shared democratic and environmental values. Show more Show less
