GUJARAT
Slower economic recovery slows vehicle sale in Gujarat
Even though the demand for passenger vehicles including cars and two-wheelers has been improving month-on-month, the recovery in sale appears to be slow in Gujarat against the national average. While two-wheeler registrations fell by 16% pan-India in February 2021 year-on-year, the decline was at a steeper 22% in Gujarat. Similarly, two-wheeler registrations grew 0.8% in Gujarat against a handsome 10.6% pan-India growth during the same period.
According to FADA, two-wheelers continued to see sluggish demand as the new wave of Covid in certain states kept customers away.
Enquiry levels also narrowed as many educational institutions were still reluctant to open. Fuel prices are at its historic high and has put a dampener in sentiments. This in-turn has pressed brake on sale of entry level price sensitive category.
INTERNATIONAL
World Hearing Day: 03 March
World Hearing Day is a campaign held each year by the Office of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness of the World Health Organization (WHO) on 03 March.
The day aims to commemorate the power of hearing, spread the message to take timely action to protect auditory nerves, and adopt preventive measures.
The theme of the campaign for 2021 is Hearing Care for All.
World Wildlife Day: 03 March
The World Wildlife Day is observed every year on March 3 to celebrate and raise awareness about the world’s wild fauna and flora.
The day was proposed by Thailand and recognised in 2013 by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
March 3 has been chosen as it is the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973.
Theme 2021: “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet”.
NATIONAL
State of Environment Report 2021 – CSE
The Center for Science and Environment (CSE) released the ” State of Environment Report, 2021 “. Highlights: Impact by Covid 19:
The biggest concern: India will usher in a “pandemic generation”, 375 million children (from newborns to 14 years old) may suffer long-term effects.
Challenges can range from underweight, stunting and rising child mortality, to a decline in education and work efficiency.
More than 500 million children are forced to drop out of school globally, and India accounts for more than half of them.
The epidemic may plunge another 115 million people into extreme poverty, most of whom live in South Asia.
In terms of sustainable development, India ranks 117th out of 192 countries, which is currently second only to all South Asian countries except Pakistan. State of environment:
Between 2009 and 2018, India’s air, water and land pollution became more serious.
Among the country’s 88 major industrial clusters, 35 showed deterioration in the overall environment, 33 showed deterioration in air quality, 45 had serious water pollution, and in 17 had land pollution worsened.
Tarapur in Maharashtra has become the most polluted area.
These data clearly show that for many years, even in areas that have been identified as severe or severely polluted, there has been a lack of actions to control and reduce pollution. Performance of various states:
When ranking based on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals:
The best performing States are Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
The worst performing states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh.
Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) Jal Shakti
The Ministry of Jal Shakti announced the selection of 12 sites, which will be transformed into “Swachh tourist Destinations” in the Phase-IV. Highlights:
The Swachch Iconic Places initiative under the Swachch Bharat mission is a special cleanup initiative that focuses on specific iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country.
This initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, and the relevant state governments.
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has now selected another 12 sites to be included in the SIP programe (phase IV).
The 12 sites are: ♦ Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra ♦ Sanchi Stupa, Madhya Pradesh ♦ Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan ♦ Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan ♦ Ramdevra, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan ♦ Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana ♦ Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha ♦ Rock Garden, Chandigarh ♦ Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir ♦ Banke Bihari Temple, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh ♦ Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh ♦ Kalighat Temple, West Bengal ♦ The initiative aims to improve the experience of domestic and foreign tourists by improving the sanitation and cleanliness standards of the site and its surroundings.
City Innovation Exchange (CiX) Urban Ecosystem
Initiated the City Innovation Exchange (CiX) to promote the innovation of the urban ecosystem. About City Innovation Exchange (CiX) Platform:
The City Innovation Exchange (CiX) connects cities with innovators in the national ecosystem, designing innovative solutions for the urgent challenges they face.
The platform will simplify the discovery, design and verification of solutions through robust, transparent and user-centric processes, which will reduce the barriers for innovators and cities to find suitable solutions.
Based on the concept of “open innovation”, the platform will facilitate the exchange of ideas “‘outside in and inside out ” and enhance the skills and capabilities required to realize smart urban governance.
Through interaction with academia and companies/startups, the platform will enable the transfer of ideas from the “laboratory” to the actual environment, thereby benefiting the city.
Similarly, by helping urban governments interact with citizens, the platform will ensure the adoption of proven solutions that are impactful and sustainable.
The platform has more than 400 start-ups, 100 smart cities, more than 150 challenge statements and more than 215 solutions at the time of its launch.
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