Mission Innovation Ministerial
- Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate Change Dr. Harsh Vardhan will be leading an Indian delegation for participation in the Mission Innovation Ministerial.
- The Mission Innovation Ministerial is being held at Malmo-Sweden during 22-23 May, 2018.
- Mission Innovation is a global platform of 23 countries and European Union aimed at accelerating clean energy innovations through enhanced Government funding, greater public-private sector partnership and enhanced global cooperation.
- India is founding member of Mission Innovation and part of the Steering Committee besides co-lead of innovation challenges on smart grids, off grids and sustainable bio-fuels.
- During the visit, Minister will show case India’s commitment to clean energy through research, development and demonstration programmes initiated in partnership with Mission Innovation countries in various domains of clean energy.
- Besides participation in Mission Innovation Ministerial, Dr Harsh vardhan will also hold bilateral meetings with his counter parts from Denmark, Sweden, Canada and European Commission.
Workshop on “Ganga and its Biodiversity”
- Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a day-long workshop.
- It was organized by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on the theme “Ganga and its Biodiversity: Developing a Road Map for Habitat and Species Conservation”.
- A database of Ganga Praharis’, a self-motivated cadre, being created by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) was also launched by the Minister.
- The Ganga Praharis’, a self-motivated volunteer cadre from local communities have been trained and taken on board by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to make Clean Ganga Mission a mass movement.
- This cadre has been created to ensure the sustainability of efforts in conservation of the biodiversity in river Ganga.
- So far, 427 Ganga Praharis across five main stem Ganga basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal have been involved in this project.
- The first-of-its-kind report “Status of Conservation of Select Aquatic Species” which was released by the Minister present the status of select species of river Ganga.
Foreign Tourist Arrivals
- Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) & FTAs on e- Tourist Visa on the basis of information received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI).
- The following are the important highlights regarding FTAs and FTAs one-Tourist Visa during the month of April, 2018:
- FTAs in April 2018 registered a growth of 4.4% and tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa registered a growth of 37.2%.
- The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India during April 2018 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (24.32%).
- The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India during April 2018 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (28.75%).
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