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PM Modi to Receive Top Honours from Guyana, Barbados

The award, presented by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, honours PM Modi for his leadership and the improvement of India-Nigeria relations….reports Asian Lite News

Guyana and Barbados are poised to bestow their highest national honours upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, increasing his total count of international accolades to 19.

Guyana will present ‘The Order of Excellence,’ while Barbados will grant the esteemed ‘Honorary Order of Freedom of Barbados’ to the Prime Minister.

Prior to reaching Guyana, Prime Minister Modi wrapped up his trip to Nigeria, where he engaged in fruitful bilateral talks with President Tinubu. During this visit, Nigeria awarded the Prime Minister its top distinction, the ‘Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger’ (GCON).

The award, presented by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, honours PM Modi for his leadership and the improvement of India-Nigeria relations. Notably, the Prime Minister is only the second foreign dignitary to receive the GCON, a recognition that was first given to Queen Elizabeth II in 1969.

“Nigeria values its excellent relationship with India, and we work to deepen and broaden the same to the mutual benefit of our two friendly countries. You represent a very strong commitment to democratic values and norms. You have been doing a good job historically; winning three consecutive elections in a complex society is a feat that we respect so much,” said Tinubu.

“I will confer on you today, the Prime Minister of India, Nigeria’s National Honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger. This to signify Nigerian appreciation and commitment to India as a partner,” he added.

Earlier this week, Dominica announced its highest national honour, the ‘Dominica Award of Honour,’ for PM Modi in acknowledgement of his pivotal support during the Covid-19 pandemic and his commitment to fostering India-Dominica relations.

Dominica’s President Sylvanie Burton is set to confer the award during the India-CARICOM Summit in Guyana, which Prime Minister Modi will be attending personally in the coming week after wrapping up his engagements in the G20 Summit at Rio de Janeiro.

This would eventually take the number of civilian honours received by PM Modi to a record 17, highlighting his leadership and India’s growing stature on the global stage.

It is also a reflection of India’s strengthened diplomatic relationships and the country’s expanding influence.

PM Modi has been conferred highest civilian honours in Saudi Arabia (King Abdulaziz Sash, 2016), Afghanistan (State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan, 2016), Palestine (Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award, 2018), UAE (Order of Zayed Award, 2019), Russia (Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, 2019 – received by PM Modi in July 2024), Maldives (Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin, 2019), Bahrain (King Hamad Order of the Renaissance, 2019), US (Legion of Merit by the US Armed Forces in 2020), Bhutan (Order of the Druk Gyalpo, 2021) Papua New Guinea (Ebakl Award, 2023), Fiji (Companion of the Order of Fiji, 2023), Papua New Guinea (Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, 2023), Egypt (Order of Nile, 2023), France (Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 2023), Greece (Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, 2023).

In addition to these highest civilian honours, PM Modi has received several prestigious awards from renowned global organisations.

In 2018, he was awarded the Seoul Peace Prize by the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation in recognition of his contributions to global harmony and world peace.

In the same year, the United Nations honoured PM Modi with its highest environmental accolade, the Champions of The Earth Award, for his bold environmental leadership.

In 2019, PM Modi received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award, which is annually awarded to leaders who demonstrate outstanding national leadership.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded PM Modi the Global Goalkeeper Award in 2019 in recognition of his efforts to transform India’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan into a mass movement for cleanliness.

In 2021, PM Modi received the Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award from Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) in recognition of his leadership on global energy and environmental sustainability.

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Mia Mottley Chosen for UN’s 2021 Champions of Earth Award

Since its inception in 2005, the annual Champions of the Earth award has been awarded to some of the world’s most dynamic environmental leaders…reports Asian Lite News.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados was among those chosen by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as its 2021 Champions of the Earth — the world body’s highest environmental honour.

The announcement was made by UNEP on Tuesday for the transformative impact of the champions on the environment and their leadership in advancing bold and decisive action on behalf of people and the planet.

Besides the Prime Minister, a scientist, indigenous women, and an entrepreneur have been shortlisted for the award.

Since its inception in 2005, the annual Champions of the Earth award has been awarded to some of the world’s most dynamic environmental leaders.

So far, it has been awarded to 101 laureates, including 25 world leaders, 62 individuals and 14 organisations. This year, UNEP received a record number of nominations from all over the world.

“As we enter into a decisive decade, to cut emissions and protect and restore ecosystems, UNEP’s Champions of the Earth demonstrate that all of us can contribute. Every single act for nature counts. The entire spectrum of humanity has both a global responsibility and a profound opportunity,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“This year’s champions are women who not only inspire us, but also remind us that we have in our hands the solutions, the knowledge and the technology to limit climate change and avoid ecological collapse.”

UNEP’s 2021 Champions of the Earth are: Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, honoured in the Policy Leadership category for her powerful voice for a sustainable world from the global south, consistently raises the alarm about the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States due to the climate emergency.

The Prime Minister is a driving force for climate action across the Latin American and the Caribbean region — the first to agree on the action plan for the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

Under her leadership, Barbados has adopted ambitious renewable energy targets, committing to a fossil-fuel free electricity sector and transport by 2030. At the same time, Barbados is implementing numerous conservation and restoration projects, from forests, through cities, to the coastline and the ocean.

She also co-chairs the One Health Global Leaders’ Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.

The Sea Women of Melanesia (Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands), honoured in the Inspiration and Action category, train local women to monitor and assess the impacts of widespread coral bleaching on some of the world’s most endangered reefs using marine science and technology.

Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (Uganda), honoured in the Science and Innovation category, was the first-ever wildlife veterinarian of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, and is a recognised world authority on primates and zoonotic diseases.

As the founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), she leads the implementation of three integrated strategic programs using the aOne Health’ approach.

Maria Kolesnikova (Kyrgyz Republic), honoured in the Entrepreneurial Vision category, is an environmental activist, youth advocate and head of MoveGreen, an organisation working to monitor and improve air quality in Central Asia.

Under Kolesnikova, MoveGreen developed an app called AQ.kg, which collects data every 20 minutes from the two largest Kyrgyz cities, Bishkek and Osh, about the concentration of pollutants in the air, including PM2.5, and PM10 and nitrogen dioxide.

By amplifying the significant work being done on the environmental frontlines, the Champions of the Earth awards aim to inspire and motivate more people to take to address the triple planetary crisis — climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution, chemicals and waste.

This year’s awards highlight the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which runs until 2030, coinciding with the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

By halting and reversing the degradation of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the world can prevent the loss of one million endangered species. Scientists say restoring only 15 per cent of ecosystems in priority areas and thereby improving habitats can cut extinctions by 60 per cent.

There has never been a more urgent need to revive damaged ecosystems than now. Ecosystems support all life on earth. The healthier the ecosystems are, the healthier the planet — and its people.

Ecosystem restoration will only succeed if everyone joins the #GenerationRestoration movement to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide.

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-Top News London News UK News

Barbados to leave the Crown seduced by Beijing’s billions

Just last week, China announced it was building a $274 million ring-road for Jamaica’s second city, Montego Bay, the report said…reports Asian Lite News.

British media is posing the question if Barbados will live to regret kicking out the Queen and being seduced by Beijing’s billions.

The Prince of Wales will be guest of honour as one of the world’s smaller democracies formally severs its connections with the Crown and proclaims itself the republic of Barbados, Daily Mail reported.

As of Tuesday morning, soldiers, police officers, judges, civil servants and all the other apparatus of the state in what many regards as the ‘most British’ of the Caribbean nations (some still call it ‘Little England’) will no longer owe allegiance to the Queen.

There is a new imperial powerhouse in the Caribbean: China, the report said.

Shiny new cricket stadia and hotel developments are all sprouting, courtesy of Beijing.

Just last week, China announced it was building a $274 million ring-road for Jamaica’s second city, Montego Bay, the report said.

Announcing the deal, its Chinese ambassador, Tian Qi, issued the usual platitudes about ‘greener development’, before telling Jamaicans: ‘To get rich, build roads first’. By contrast, Britain’s promise to spend £2.8 million on marine research in 17 small island states across the Caribbean and Pacific does not cut much mustard.

Just days before the start of the pandemic, Barbados signed a new Memorandum of Understanding, making the country a new member of China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, enjoying new benefits in ‘shipping, aviation, infrastructure and modern agriculture, the report said.

There is, of course, no such thing as a free lunch. The debts for the country’s new Chinese buses, buildings, roads and hotel complexes must be repaid in some way, it said.

When one UK journalist did manage to broach the subject with the prime minister in Barbados a week ago, the response was a thinly-veiled charge of racism.

It was ‘a reflection of unconscious bias’, Mia Mottley told the Sunday Times, to question the country’s links with China: ‘It suggests we can only exist as pawns of someone and if it is not the British empire it must be the Chinese empire.’

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