The Central government of India launched 'E-Amrit', a web portal on electric vehicles (EVs), at the ongoing COP26 Summit in United Kingdom's Glasgow. According to a statement issued by the NITI Aayog on Wednesday, E-Amrit is a one-stop destination for all information on electric vehicles--busting myths around the adoption of EVs, their purchase, investment opportunities, policies and subsidies. "The portal has been developed and hosted by NITI Aayog under a collaborative knowledge exchange programme with the UK government and as part of the UK-India Joint Roadmap 2030, signed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries," the statement said. E-Amrit intends to complement initiatives of the government on raising awareness on EVs and sensitizing consumers on the benefits of switching to electric vehicles. In the recent past, India has taken many initiatives to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport and the adoption of electric mobility in the country. Schemes such as FAME and PLI are especially important in creating an ecosystem for the early adoption of EVs. NITI Aayog intends to add more features and introduce innovative tools to make the portal more interactive and user-friendly. The launch was attended by UK High-Level Climate Action Champion Nigel Topping and NITI Aayog Adviser Sudhendu Jyoti Sinha. Source: ANI

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Glasgow on Sunday (local time) for a two-day visit to participate in the crucial 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-26) on climate change and hold other meetings. COP-26 is being held from October 31 to November 12 under the Presidency of the UK partnering with Italy. The high-level segment of COP-26, titled the World Leaders' Summit (WLS), will be held on November 1-2. The Summit will be attended by Heads of State/Government of more than 120 countries. This comes after PM Modi participated in the G20 summit and in the Summit on Global Supply Chain Resilience, on the sidelines of the G20. He also met outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Rome. The Indian Prime Minister Modi on Sunday described the G20 Summit as "fruitful" and said, "During the Summit, we were able to have elaborate deliberations on issues of global importance such as fighting the pandemic, improving health infrastructure, boosting economic cooperation and furthering innovation." Earlier on Saturday, world leaders including PM Modi kicked off the first session of the G20 Rome Summit and discussed the global economy and health. On the sidelines of G20, PM Modi interacted with several world leaders including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Among other dignitaries that he was seen greeting included Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. PM Modi had also met Pope Francis on Saturday and presented him a silver candle stand and a book on India's commitment to the environment during their meeting at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Prime Minister also invited Pope to visit India during a "very warm" meeting at the Vatican City which lasted for an hour. He also met his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. PM Modi will hold numerous bilateral meetings on the sidelines of COP-26, including with the Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson. COP-26 was originally slated to be held in 2020, but was deferred to 2021 in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. On Thursday, addressing a special briefing on the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UK for COP26, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla noted that India is taking ambitious action on expanding clean and renewable energy. He said that the country will work towards mobilisation of climate finance and for action to strengthen climate adaptation technology development at COP26 in Glasgow. He said Prime Minister will deliver a national statement at the World Leaders Summit of COP26 on November 1. PM Modi will participate in a leader's event organized by the COP26 presidency around the themes of climate change, mitigation, adaptation and building resilience, clean technology innovation. Prime Minister last attended the COP-21 in Paris in 2015, when the Paris Agreement was concluded, and whose implementation commences this year. At COP-26, the parties will work to achieve the completion of Paris Agreement implementation guidelines; the mobilisation of climate finance; actions to strengthen climate adaptation, technology development and transfer; and keeping in reach the Paris Agreement goals of limiting the rise in global temperatures. Source: ANI  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's role in upcoming COP26 as Climate vulnerable Forum's chair (CVF) would be crucial while the summit is expected to set the global course in negating the climate change impacts, foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said in the capital on Saturday.   "Bangladesh, as the president of CVF, have been playing a strong role while honarouble Prime Minister will chair a 'CVF-COP26 Leaders dialogue' on the conference sidelines (as well)," Momen told a media briefing.    The Bangladesh premier is scheduled to leave for the UK on Sunday to join the COP26 where, Momen said, she would address the high-level meeting of COP26 on November 1 in Glasgow.    The summit's main host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier said the event must be a "turning point for humanity" while Sheikh Hasina would hold an exclusive meeting with him coinciding with the COP26 dialogue.     Momen said the 48-nation CVF dialogue was expected to yield 'Dhaka-Glasgow Declaration' focusing on climate mitigation, adaptation and financing.     He said sheikh Hasina would also hold bilateral talks with Prince of Wales Prince Charles and other global leaders including Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.    He said on November 1 Sheikh Hasina would also attend as the chief guest a joint meeting of CVF-Commonwealth.    The CVF that comprises 48 countries considered as most climate vulnerable nations.    According to Momen on the next day she was scheduled to join a meeting titled 'Action and Solidarity-the critical decade' on the British premier's invitation and another discussion titled 'Women and Climate'.   The Bangladesh premier's Glasgow tour would be followed by a visit to France from November 9 to 13 to join some UN hosted programmes.     Besides, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will present a paper titled 'A call for Climate Prosperity' to the Scottish lawmakers at the Scotland Parliament.    According to the premier's schedule from November 3 to 8, she would visit London where deliver a speech to the British lawmakers at West Minister Place  marking the 50-year anniversary of Bangladesh.     She would also virtually join an investment summit organized by Bangladesh Security Exchange Commission and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority  (BIDA).    Sheikh Hasina is expected to unveil newly published books on classified documents on Bangabandhu under the auspices of Bangladesh High Commission in London.    On November 9, Bangladesh premier will go to Paris from London for a five-day visit to participate different programme of UNESCO.     During her Paris visit, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to hold bilateral meeting with the French president and prime minister.     Momen said it is expected that after the bilateral meeting between Bangladesh Prime Minister and French president numbers of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Letter of Intent will be signed between the two countries.     On November 11, UNESCO will confer the "UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy' award.     Momen said it is a pride for the entire nation that UNSECO introduced the international award after the name of Bangabandhu marking the Birth Centenary  of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.     It is expected that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the able successor of his father Bangabandhu will attend the ceremony in person and hand over the awards to the winners in Paris.   Besides, UNESCO invited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend a high level meeting marking its 65th anniversary on November 12.     The Premier will highlight the universal ideals of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as well as her own vision on the importance of universal, quality and science-based education and healthy and inclusive culture in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).     Besides, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay during her stay in Paris.    Environment, forest and climate change minister Md Shahab Uddin, state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam and foreign secretary Masud Bin  Momen were also present at the briefing.  Source: BSS AH