Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said consensus has been built on New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit Declaration and announced its adoption. The Prime Minister, who is chairing the G20 sessions, congratulated the Sherpas and ministers who had worked towards forging the consensus. "I have received good news. Due to the hard work of our team, consensus has been built on New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit Declaration. My proposal is to adopt this leadership declaration. I announce to adopt this declaration. On this occasion, I congratulate my Sherpa, ministers, who worked hard for it and made it possible,” he said. The announcement of adoption of the declaration was welcomed with thumping of desks.   In his opening remarks at the Summit, the Prime Minister said that the 21st century is a time that has the potential to give a new direction to the entire world. “It's a time when years old challenges demand new solutions from us. Therefore, we must move forward by fulfilling all our responsibilities with a Human Centric approach,” he said.

Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology, Government of Bangladesh, Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma jointly laid the foundation stone of the Knowledge Park at Chattogram on 27 August 2023.  The IT park at Chattogram is part of project for establishment of IT/Hi-Tech Parks in 12 districts of Bangladesh under Government of India’s concessional Line of Credit worth nearly US$ 250 million.  In his address at the event, High Commissioner Verma highlighted the project’s importance in India-Bangladesh cooperation in ICT sector, and hoped that it will propel economic and technological partnership between the two countries to newer heights. The project will also advance the goal of Digital Bangladesh and the vision to transform from Digital to Smart Bangladesh by 2041. High Commissioner Verma expressed confidence that these IT parks will go a long way in promoting the IT industry and IT-enabled services in Bangladesh by helping in establishing standards, creating hubs and incubation centres, developing entrepreneurship, and building capacity in new and emerging technologies like Internet of Things, machine learning, robotics, artificial intelligence, extended reality and other advanced and cutting-edge subjects.  He added that, the IT Parks will nurture a technologically-skilled workforce that is crucial for rapid growth and development of our economies in the 21st century. ​ Each Park is expected to generate direct employment for 3000 people and train over 1000 people every year. The direct and indirect benefits from the parks will, therefore, be transformative.  It is also notable that this project will involve construction of Green Buildings, which are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.   Going beyond trade and transport connectivity and energy connectivity, digital connectivity is a rapidly emerging dimension of India-Bangladesh partnership. In this context, High Commissioner highlighted new initiatives being taken such as the recently launched India-Bangladesh Startup Bridge to connect the Startup communities of India and Bangladesh, as well as proposals to link digital payment systems of the two countries.  The foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by government officials, local leaders and IT professionals, women entrepreneurs, mediapersons and other stakeholders.

India on Wednesday became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole. "India is on the moon," S. Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said as the Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander made a "soft landing" on the lunar surface. "This is a victory cry of new India," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who watched the final moment before touchdown from Johannesburg where he is attending the BRICS summit. Modi hoped mission success would spur investment in private space launches and related satellite-based businesses. Joy as spacecraft touch down The successful landing comes just days after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after losing control. India's previous attempt to land on the moon failed in 2019, but on Wednesday, scientists and officials clapped at the country's cheered and hugged each other as the spacecraft landed. DW's bureau chief in New Delhi, Amrita Cheema, reported that the response in India was "euphoric." "India has a young, vibrant and very aspirational population and they take great pride to be part of a country which is going towards the future and able to compete at the international level and part of the big league even in its space program," she said.  The mission was launched nearly six weeks ago, and people across India were glued to television screens and said prayers as the spacecraft approached the surface. Chandrayaan-3's mission The south pole of the moon has potential as a source of oxygen, fuel, and water for future missions and a moon colony. Chandrayaan-3 is expected to explore it for two weeks, running a series of experiments to determine the mineral composition of the lunar surface. Several countries, including the United States, China, Israel and Japan, aim to set up a base on the moon. Only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface. Other space agencies took note The European Space Agency (ESA) director general Josef Aschbacher was among the first to congratulate India's ISRO. "What a way to demonstrate new technologies AND achieve India's first soft landing on another celestial body. Well done, I am thoroughly impressed," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Senator Bill Nelson, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)  administrator, also congratulated India. "We're glad to be your partner on this mission!" he wrote on social media.   NASA and ESA provided tracking support to the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The G20 also has the unique opportunity of advancing financial inclusion and productivity through Digital Public Infrastructure to encompass farmers, small businesses, and to build a framework for a global ecosystem, the PM said. The G20 nations must have conviction, commitment, coordination and collaboration to face challenges of security threats in the digital economy and responsible use of artificial intelligence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the G20 working group of ministers on digital economy on Saturday. “As the digital economy spreads globally, it will face security threats and challenges. In this context, it is important to build consensus on the G20 high-level principles for a secure, trusted, and resilient digital economy,” Modi said in a virtual address. “We can also develop a framework for safe and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We can build an entire ecosystem of technology-based solutions to address the challenges faced by humanity. All it needs from us are the four Cs — Conviction, Commitment, Coordination, and Collaboration.” The G20 also has the unique opportunity of advancing financial inclusion and productivity through Digital Public Infrastructure to encompass farmers, small businesses, and to build a framework for a global ecosystem, the PM said. Modi welcomed the efforts of member-nations to create a G20 virtual Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository and said it will “help create a transparent, accountable, and fair digital ecosystem for all”. He said, “I also welcome your efforts to develop a road map to facilitate cross-country comparison of digital skills and set up a virtual centre of excellence on digital skilling. These are important efforts to meet the needs of a workforce which is future-ready,” he said. Modi said India has a lot to offer the G20 nations in terms of knowledge in creating Digital Public Infrastructure on account of the Digital India initiative of the government to achieve financial inclusion. Source: Indian Express

New policies to classify green investments would help spur an energy transition in India that’s likely to need spending of $200 billion a year, according to REC Ltd., a key lender to the nation’s power sector. The company, controlled by state-run peer Power Finance Corp., is aiming to increase its own exposure to renewable energy and sees a role for legislators and regulators in helping attract other investors, REC Chairman Vivek Kumar Dewangan told Bloomberg Television in an interview. “The main challenge is how to bring down the cost of financing,” Dewangan said Tuesday. “India is in the process of finalizing a green taxonomy, which will be very crucial. The regulatory framework and policy framework needs to be in place to attract investments.” India has established an expert committee to examine issues including a green taxonomy, the nation’s reserve bank said in a May report. Since last month, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed lenders to raise so-called green deposits in an effort to encourage more financing of projects tied to clean energy or climate action. To be on track for net zero emissions by mid-century, the nation would need investments averaging $221 billion a year to 2030, including for renewables, electric vehicles, hydrogen and carbon capture, according to BloombergNEF. About $17 billion was spent on those technologies last year, BNEF data shows. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is seeking to hit net zero by 2070 and to almost triple the share of non-fossil fuel power generation capacity by the end of this decade. Source: bloomberg.com

Chandrayaan-3, which is slated to make a soft landing on the Moon’s surface next month, is currently going around the Earth in elliptical orbits, sequentially raising the heights of these orbits.    India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft moved into a new, higher, orbit around the Earth on Thursday after the successful completion of the fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. “India celebrates the International Moon Day 2023 by propelling Chandrayaan-3 a step closer to the moon. The fourth orbit raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound perigee firing) is performed successfully from ISTRAC/ISRO (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network), Bengaluru,” the ISRO tweeted. Chandrayaan-3, which is slated to make a soft landing on the Moon’s surface next month, is currently going around the Earth in elliptical orbits, sequentially raising the heights of these orbits. The spacecraft is supposed to make five such orbit-raising manoeuvres to continuously move into higher and higher orbits before beginning to move directly towards the moon. Once there, it would do similar exercises to slowly get into lower and lower orbits around the moon before eventually reaching a circular orbit about 100 km from the lunar surface. It is from this circular orbit that the final descent to the Moon’s surface would take place on August 23 or 24. Chandrayaan-3 is taking a circuitous route in its journey, rather than travelling directly to the Moon, in order to economise the entire travel. A direct trip to the Moon, which takes about four days, would require much heavier rockets, and huge amounts of fuel, to leave the space further into space. Instead, Chandrayaan-3 was taken to a near Earth orbit, from where it has been utilising the force of gravity to gain momentum, and then fire thrusters to accelerate and reach a higher orbit. This process involves burning of a much lesser amount of fuel but takes a longer time to reach the Moon. The fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre in the earth orbit is scheduled to take place between 2 pm and 3 pm on July 25, the ISRO stated.   Source: INDIAN EXPRESS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday invited French universities to set up their campuses in India. "We invite French universities to set up their campuses in India," PM Modi said while addressing a press meeting alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris.  French President Macron said that they want to send 30,000 French students to India by 2030.  "We can't forget the youth...By 2030, we want to send 30,000 French students there (to India)...For the young Indians who want to pursue higher education in France, we want to make a conducive visa policy," Macron said.  PM Modi also expressed delight and said that India sees France as a natural partner.  While addressing the Indian community at La Seine Musicale in Paris on Thursday, PM Modi said that we will open a new Indian consulate in the city of Marseille in the south of France. PM Modi said, “We welcome the decision to grant long term visas to people of Indian origin studying in France.” PM Modi also congratulated France President Macron for successfully organizing Olympics which are going to be held next year in Paris and will see Indian athletes’ participation.  "Next year, all the Indian athletes are very keen for the Olympics to be held in Paris. I congratulate President Macron and his entire team for its successful event. I congratulate President Macron and his team for successfully organizing this," PM Modi said. "We are celebrating 25 years of our strategic partnership. We are making a roadmap for the next 25 years on the basis of the strong foundation of the previous 25 years. Bold and ambitious goals are being set for this. People of India have taken the resolve to make ourselves a developed nation. In this journey, we see France as a natural partner...," PM Modi added.  Furthermore, he said that there has been deep people to people contact between India and France for a long time. "Our discussions today will further strengthen this relationship," PM Modi said.  On the behalf of India, PM Modi further said, "I and all Indians are very eager to welcome you (President Macron) in India during the G20 summit this year.  Underlining the natural partnership between India and France, PM Modi highlighted the shared vision and goals that will shape the future trajectory of the bilateral relationship. “PM Modi attending July 14 Bastille Day celebrations as the guest of honour in Paris “is a sign that India and France's strategic partnership is very close. It is very strong and its role will increase in the coming times, not only for both of us, not only for Europe and India but also for the whole world,” the Indian Ambassador to France said. PM Modi, who is in France for a two-day visit, on Friday attended the lunch hosted by President of France's National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet in Paris.Earlier on Friday, PM Modi attended the military parade on France’s National Day as the Chief Guest. The Bastille Day Parade took place under bright and sunny skies at Champs-Élysées in Paris.PM Modi took the ceremonial salute from the Indian contingent as they marched at the Champs-Elysees. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met thought leaders and some prominent business people during the second day of his visit to France. He met prominent aerospace engineer and pilot Thomas Pesquet and Chanel CEO Leena Nair. He also met Charlotte Chopin, a yoga practitioner who will turn 100 soon.