Prime Minister Narendra Modi had the honour of awarding the inaugural National Creators Award at Bharat Mandapam in the capital city, recognizing achievements across twenty distinct categories.
Who is Pankti Pandey
Pankti Pandey, a distinguished former scientist with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was bestowed with the Green Champion Award. Her efforts have significantly contributed to promoting Mission LiFE’s ideals, encouraging individuals to perform “waste audits” of their household refuse to embrace a zero waste, sustainable way of living.
Pankti Pandey, an Ahmedabad-based influencer with a following of 255K on Instagram, champions the “zero waste” lifestyle and advocates for “slow fashion.” Through her platform @zerowasteadda, she shares her personal experiences and offers easy-to-follow DIY tips and tricks, empowering her audience to make eco-friendly decisions in their everyday lives.
Pankti recommended that people analyze their waste and perform a trash audit of the discarded waste from their homes in an effort to achieve zero waste. The Prime Minister asked Pankti to conduct a detailed study on Mission LiFE and reminded her of his clarion call to make their lives environmentally friendly.
In an interview with Femina.in Pankti Pandey defines sustainability as prioritizing the planet and its well-being, extending beyond human interests to encompass the environment and its diverse species. Her journey towards sustainability began when she stumbled upon an article on landfills during her pregnancy.
This realization prompted her to shift towards a low-waste lifestyle. Pankti initiated her journey with a waste audit of her household, exploring composting through trial and error. Despite facing skepticism about the impact of individual actions, she remained focused on sharing her journey through her platform, Zero Waste Adda.
PM Modi tells humorous train anecdote
In a light-hearted moment during the event, PM Modi shared a well-known tale from his youth about the city of Ahmedabad, despite his disbelief in the story. He engaged the audience, inquiring if anyone hailed from Ahmedabad, before recounting the anecdote: “A train pulled into a station, and a curious passenger from the upper berth leaned out to ask a local on the platform, ‘Which station is this?’ To which the local cheekily responded, ‘I’ll only tell if you give me char anna.’ The passenger, undeterred, retorted, ‘No need to tell me, it must be Ahmedabad,’” eliciting a wave of laughter from those gathered.
Concluding the interaction, the Prime Minister encouraged Ms. Pandey to delve deeper into Mission LiFE and reiterated his passionate appeal for everyone to lead an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Narendra Modi today presented the first-ever National Creators Award at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi and interacted briefly with the winners. They envision the award as a launchpad for using creativity to drive positive change.
The committee gave the 'New India Champion' category award to Abhi and New. The Prime Minister inquired about their methods of maintaining audience interest when presenting dry facts. They responded by saying that like the Prime Minister's presentation style, if the presenter delivers the facts with energy, the audience acknowledges it. The Prime Minister admired them for venturing into a challenging but extremely important field.
Keep Reading
How Forest rules tweaked to mine Pink stone for Ram Temple?
These homes in hottest places don’t need air conditioning, Why?
New York: Currently ranks as world’s most polluted major city
Record levels of carbon emissions from fossil fuels in 2023
Follow Ground Report for Environmental News From India. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Koo App, Instagram, Whatsapp and YouTube. Write us on [email protected] and subscribe our free newsletter.
Don’t forget to check out our climate glossary, it helps in learning difficult environmental terms in simple language.