International Solar Alliance (ISA) : Daily Current Affairs

International Solar Alliance (ISA)

India and France get re-elected as President and Co-president of ISA on 14 th October 2020 and International Solar Alliance ISA’s Diwakar Solar Award 2020 were honoured on 16 th October 2020.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has informed that India has been re- elected as President while France as the Co-President of International Solar Alliance (ISA) at the virtual meeting of ISA’s Third Assembly. The tenure will be for a time period of two years.
The Third Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA) was attended by 34 ISA Member Ministers. 53 member countries and 5 signatory and prospective member countries also participated in the assembly.

The Third Assembly of ISA approved the initiatives of the ISA Secretariat in institutionalizing the International Solar Alliance’s engagement with the public and private corporate sector through the Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (CSCA).
10 public sector organizations in India also presented a cheque of USD 1 million each at the assembly.
Alok Sharma, the President of the 26th edition of the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-26) also recalled the commitment of the UK to fight climate change.
Solar awards were conferred for the very first time on the countries of the institutions as well as regions working for solar.
During the meet, four new Vice-Presidents were also chosen, the four new Vice- Presidents to represent four regions of ISA-
1. The representatives of Fiji and Nauru have been chosen for Asia Pacific Region.
2. Niger and Mauritius for Africa Region.
3. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have been chosen for Europe and other regions.
4. Cuba and Guyana have been chosen by the assembly for Latin America and the Caribbean Region.

Arushi from Bhopal bagged International Solar Alliance (ISA) Diwakar Solar Award 2020 in a virtual award ceremony organised on 16 th October 2020.
As part of its efforts to recognise exemplary efforts by organisations in India, the ISA is instituting the Diwakar Solar Award (Divyang Akshay-urja Puraskar).
The ISA- Diwakar Solar Award has been institutionalized with the gracious support of Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry Government of India.
This award was established for organisations run for children with special needs, that have adopted solar energy applications or run on power derived from solar energy to encourage the value of an inclusive society. This award is presented to two organizations in the country out of which one is Arushi.
The Awards Screening Committee found Arushi’s contribution to the Solar Energy Sector very impactful and creditworthy.
Arushi has a solar energy plant of 15 Kilo Watt which helps in generating electricity for the whole building. This plant was installed with support of State Bank of India in 2016 and was inaugurated by lyricist Gulzar who is a senior volunteer of Arushi.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an initiative that has been launched by PM Modi and former President of France Francois Hollande on November 30, 2015, in Paris on the sidelines of the COP-21.
Its objective is to collectively address the major challenges to scale up solar energy in the member countries of ISA. The alliance also aims to undertake joint efforts required to reduce the cost of technology and finance, pave the way for future technologies adapted to the needs and mobilize investments that are needed for the massive deployment of solar energy.