Prime Minister Narendra Modi Receives High Honors from Guyana and Dominica
▪ These awards were presented in recognition of his contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic period and outstanding service to humanity. With this, the number of foreign high honors awarded to
Prime Minister Modi has increased to 18.
▪ During his Nigeria visit, the Prime Minister was honored with that country’s highest award, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger.
▪ He engaged in bilateral talks with leaders of various countries including the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Brazil, and South Africa.
ISRO Signs MoU with Australian Space Agency for Gaganyaan Mission Implementation
▪ ISRO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Space Agency regarding the implementation of India’s human spaceflight Gaganyaan mission. ISRO, which has designed the Gaganyaan mission to send humans to space, is entering into agreements with various countries’
space agencies for implementing this project.
▪ The plan is to send 3 astronauts to low Earth orbit and bring them back to Earth after 3 days. The agreement has been made to track the Gaganyaan spacecraft while it orbits in space and exchange information during emergencies.
Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi Receives Honorary General of Nepal Army Title
▪ During his four-day visit to Nepal, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi was honored with the title of Honorary General of the Nepal Army by Nepal’s President Ram Chandra Paudel.
▪ The exchange of visits between army chiefs of Nepal and India and conferring honorary general titles to both army chiefs has been a tradition since 1950.
▪ Nepal shares a 1,850 km border with five Indian states: Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
India’s Renewable Energy Generation Capacity Increase
▪ India’s renewable energy generation capacity increased by 24.2 gigawatts in October.
▪ The country’s renewable energy generation capacity, which was 178.98 gigawatts in October 2023,
has increased by 24.2 gigawatts (13.5 percent) to 203.18 gigawatts in the same month this year.
▪ In October alone, an additional 1.72 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity was installed.
▪ As of October, large hydroelectric power stations contributed 46.93 gigawatts to the country’s
renewable energy generation capacity. Nuclear power stations’ contribution was 8.18 gigawatts,
according to the report.
Climate Change Performance Index
▪ India has ranked 10th among more than 60 countries evaluated for their efforts to combat climate change.
▪ The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI-2024) rankings were released at the annual UN Climate Conference being held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
▪ The rankings were released by think tanks ‘Germanwatch, New Climate Institute, and Climate Action Network International’
▪ According to the rankings, the first three places remain empty as no country performed adequately in all index measurements.
▪ Following that, Denmark (4th), Netherlands, and Britain are in subsequent positions as countries with high performance and low emissions.
India in 10th Place:
✓ India ranks 10th among countries with high performance in climate change actions.
Below Global Average
▪ Although India is the world’s most populous country, its per capita emissions and energy use are comparatively low.
▪ India’s per capita CO2 emissions are 2.9 tonnes, which is significantly lower than the global average of 6.6 tonnes.
▪ As the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitting country and a rapidly growing major economy, India has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
▪ India also aims to achieve 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
▪ China and the United States, the world’s largest emitters, rank very low in performance at 55th and 57th places respectively.
▪ Russia (64th), United Arab Emirates (65th), Saudi Arabia (66th), and Iran (67th) are at the bottom of the rankings.
