17th Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2023 announced
17th Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award
2023 announced
Why In News
17th Pravasi
Bharatiya Samman Award: 27 Indians living overseas have been chosen by the
Indian government for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA), for
outstanding achievements both in India and
Key Points
17th Pravasi
Bharatiya Samman Award: 27 Indians living overseas have been chosen by the
Indian government for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA), for
outstanding achievements both in India and abroad. The award is the highest
honour conferred upon Indians living abroad, including Non-Resident Indians
(NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) or organisations/institutions
established and run by them.
The jury that
selected the recipients comprised Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar as its
chairman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar as its Vice-Chair, among
other distinguished dignitaries from different fields. The awards will be
conferred upon the recipients by President Droupadi Murmu during the 17th
edition of the PBSA, which is scheduled to be held from 8-10 January in Indore,
Madhya Pradesh.
Theme
As per the Ministry
of External Affairs, the theme for Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2023 will be
“Diaspora: Reliable Partners for India’s Progress in Amrit Kaal”. This theme
highlights the importance of the Indian diaspora in contributing to India’s
progress.
List of Overseas Indians Chosen for the Honour
Person Country Field
1 Jagadish Chennupati
Australia Science
& Technology/ Education
2 Sanjeev Mehta Bhutan Education
3 Dilip Loundo Brazil Art & Culture/Education
4 Alexander Maliakel John Brunei Darussalam Medicine
5 Vaikuntam Iyer Lakshmanan Canada Community Welfare
6 Joginder Singh Nijjar
Croatia Art & Culture/Education
7 Ramjee Prasad Denmark Information Technology
8 Kannan Ambalam Ethiopia Community Welfare
9 Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay
Germany Community Welfare/Medicine
10 Mohamed Irfaan Ali (Guyana President) Guyana Politics/Community Welfare
11 Reena Vinod Pushkarna Israel Business/Community
Welfare
12 Maqsooda Sarfi Shiotani Japan Education
13 Rajagopal
Mexico Education
14 Amit Kailash Chandra Lath
Poland Business/Community
Welfare
15 Parmanand Sukhumal Daswani Republic of Congo Community Welfare
16 Piyush Gupta Singapore Business
17 Mohanlal Hira South Africa
Community Welfare
18 Sanjaykumar Shivabhai Patel
South Sudan Business/Community Welfare
19 Sivakumar Nadesan Sri Lanka Community Welfare
20 Dewanchandrebhose Sharman Suriname Community Welfare
21 Archana Sharma Switzerland Science & Technology
22 Frank Arthur Seepersad
Trinidad & Tobago Community Welfare/Education
23 Siddharth Balachandran
UAE Business/Community Welfare
24 Chandrakant Babubhai Patel
UK Media
25 Darshan Singh Dhaliwal
USA Business/Community
Welfare
26 Rajesh Subramaniam
USA Business
27 Ashok Kumar Tiwary Uzbekistan Business
Pravasi Bharatiya
Samman
The Pravasi Bharatiya
Samman (Overseas Indian Honour/Award) is the highest Indian award for
Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India or an organisation or
institution established and run by Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian
Origin, constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of
India in conjunction with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Non-Resident Indian Day),
to honour exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen
field/profession. The award is given by the President of India. Since 2016, the
Government of India has doubled the number of awardees each year to 30 after a
decision to grant the award once every two years.
Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (PBS) is conferred for
outstanding contributions in any of the following areas:
·
“Social
and humanitarian causes in India or abroad”
·
“Better
understanding of India”
·
“Support
to India’s causes and concerns in a tangible way”
·
“Building
closer links between India, the overseas Indian community and their country of
residence;”
·
“Welfare
of the local Indian community”
·
“Philanthropic
and charitable work”
·
“Eminence
in one’s field or outstanding work, which has enhanced India’s prestige in the
country of residence; or”
·
“Eminence
in skills which has enhanced India’s prestige in that country (for
non-professional workers).”
Cabinet Approves Rs 19,744 Cr for National Green Hydrogen Mission
Cabinet Approves Rs 19,744 Cr for
National Green Hydrogen Mission
Why In News
The Union Cabinet
approved an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore for the National Green
Hydrogen Mission.
Key Points
The Union Cabinet
approved an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore for the National Green
Hydrogen Mission. Addressing the nation on its 75th Independence Day in 2021,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a national mission for green fuels in
line with the Centre’s stated target of making India energy-independent before
completing 100 years of Independence. The mission will have four components
that aim at enhancing domestic production of green hydrogen and
promote the manufacturing of electrolysers — a key constituent for making
green hydrogen.
The initial outlay
for the mission will include Rs 17,490 crore for strategic interventions for
green hydrogen transition (SIGHT) programme, Rs 1,466 crore for pilot projects,
Rs 400 crore for research and development (R&D), and Rs 388 crore towards
other mission components.
The Govt Aims:
The initial target is
to produce 5 million tonnes (mt) of green hydrogen annually. It will include
two financial incentive mechanisms for the domestic manufacturing of
electrolysers and the production of green hydrogen.
The mission will also
support pilot projects in emerging end-use sectors and the production pathways.
Regions capable of supporting large-scale production and/or utilisation of
hydrogen will be identified and developed as green hydrogen hubs.
An enabling policy
framework will be developed to support the establishment of the green hydrogen
ecosystem.
The Ministry of Power
notified the green hydrogen/ammonia policy at a production of 5 mt of green
hydrogen by 2030. The same target remains in the final mission as well.
According to the
policy drafted by the Ministry of Power, green hydrogen/ammonia manufacturers
can set up green energy projects or procure the same from energy
exchanges. Several waivers, including interstate transmission charges, ease of
getting open access, and transmission connectivity, were provided under the
policy.
Every leading
conglomerate with interest in the energy sector — from new-age renewable energy
companies to automotive makers — has announced either investment or consumption
plans for green hydrogen.
The nodal department
for the mission will be the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. To meet the 5
mt target, it is expected an associated renewable energy capacity of close to
125 gigawatt will be required. The Centre expects close to 50 mt per annum of
carbon emissions to be averted by 2030.
Green Hydrogen:
It is a colourless,
odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and highly combustible gaseous substance.
Hydrogen is the
lightest, simplest and most abundant member of the family of chemical elements
in the universe.
Future
hydrogen: The colour — green — prefixed to it makes hydrogen the “fuel of
the future”.
The ‘green’ depends
on how the electricity is generated to obtain the hydrogen, which does not emit
greenhouse gas when burned.
Production: Green
hydrogen is produced through electrolysis using renewable sources of
energy such as solar, wind or hydel power.
India’s Green
Hydrogen production:
India has just begun
to generate green hydrogen with the objective of raising non-fossil energy
capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
Recently, India’s
first 99.99% pure green hydrogen pilot plant was set up in eastern Assam’s
Duliajan, at the petroleum exploration major’s Jorhat pump station.
It was in keeping with
the goal of making the country ready for the pilot-scale production of
hydrogen and its use in various applications
Research and
development efforts are ongoing for a reduction in the cost of production,
storage and the transportation of hydrogen.