Tamil Nadu, UK launch Heat Resilience Centre to tackle rising extreme heat conditions
Chennai(PTI): Tamil Nadu government and the United Kingdom government on Friday jointly launched a "Heat Resilience Centre" for the state, aimed at strengthening the capacity to address rising extreme heat conditions.
A Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed between Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, Supriya Sahu and Seema Malhotra MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Government of the United Kingdom, according to a statement.
The Heat Resilience Centre would serve as Tamil Nadu's nodal institution to coordinate heat-risk management across sectors.
It would establish a scientific and institutional governance framework, build technical capacity across departments, including health and urban development, among others.
The centre would also generate evidence, climate data and policy-relevant tools. It would also support city and district-level heat action planning, an official release said on Friday.
The initiative is supported through the UK's flagship Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme, and it is being implemented in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Resources Institute. The programme would run till September 2026.
With this initiative, Tamil Nadu has become one of India's first states to create a dedicated institutional mechanism to address extreme heat, the release said.
Commenting on the occasion, Supriya Sahu said, "Accurate heat maps and clearly defined heat-risk zones should be an essential foundation for climate readiness in the State. Tamil Nadu is taking a science-first approach to identify heat risk zones in every city, so that planners, health systems, and local bodies know exactly where vulnerabilities lie."
"With high-resolution satellite data and ground sensors, we should be able to map heat the way we map floods or air pollution. This will enable us to redesign neighbourhoods, guide construction, strengthen ventilation corridors and create pockets of thermal safety," she added.
Seema Malhotra MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Government of the United Kingdom, said, "Extreme heat is one of the most urgent climate challenges we face. Without targeted action, the impacts of heat stress will continue to grow, affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the region."
"The United Kingdom is proud to partner with Tamil Nadu in this pioneering effort. The state has already demonstrated visionary leadership by being the first Indian state to establish a Green Climate Fund and recognise heatwaves as a state-specific disaster," Malhotra said.
"Today's launch of the Heat Resilience Centre marks an important milestone in this leadership journey," she added.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
