Addressing an event organised by the Ministry of Earth Sciences to celebrate World Earth Day here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh reiterated the “LiFE” (Lifestyle for Environment) movement launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, India is committed to furthering sustainable development in line with our culture of living in harmony with nature.

United Nations Ambassador and Grammy Award Winning Indian music composer and environmentalist, Rickey Kej was the special guest of the day whose new music composition on ‘Earth and Environment’ was launched by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh.

Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) Movement in June 2022 and stressed that the need of the hour is to solve the challenge faced by our planet using human-centric, collective efforts and robust action that further sustainable development.

Earth Day is an annual event observed on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first held in 1970. The theme for World Earth Day 2023 is ‘Invest In Our Planet. This ongoing theme encourages us all to invest in a better future for our planet by tackling environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and waste reduction.

The Minister mentioned that the idea of LiFE was introduced by the Prime Minister during COP26 promotes an environmentally conscious lifestyle that focuses on ‘mindful and deliberate utilisation’ instead of ‘mindless and wasteful consumption’.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) holistically addresses all the aspects relating the Earth System Science for providing weather, climate, ocean, coastal state, hydrological and seismological services. The services include forecasts and warnings for various natural disasters like tropical cyclones, storm surge, floods, heat waves, thunderstorm and lightning; alerts for Tsunamis and monitoring of earthquakes etc. In addition, the ministry also has the mandate of making ocean survey and exploration for living and non-living resources and exploration of all the three poles (Arctic, Antarctic and Himalayas).

The Minister added that the services provided by the ministry are being effectively used by different agencies and state governments for saving human lives and minimizing damages due to natural disasters.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Ministry of Earth Sciences has been supporting celebration of Earth Day / Ozone Day for the purpose, of spreading awareness and sensitizing the general public on the issues concerning to Earth and Earth Sciences in the country. MoES is also supporting celebration of Earth Day at more than 75 places / schools / colleges / Institutions across the country with a focus on Girls students / Differently abled students and aspirational districts.

The Minister said the across India, more than 7500 students / volunteers are participating in the activities comprising sowing the seed and seeing then grow as plants / plantation / slogan / rallys / paintings, etc. as part of Earth Day 2023. Moreover popular lectures are being organized at different Institutes including at MoES HQ.

Dr M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, also spoke on the occasion and reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to furthering “LiFE” movement and sustainable development in India