by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs,M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing at the inauguration of the Smart City Mission Regional Workshop for 13 States, at Kolkata. The Minister of State for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation,Babul Supriyo is also seen.
Kolkata:(IANS) Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday turned down West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim’s request for increasing the number of Smart Cities in the state.
Off the 98 proposed Smart Cities, West Bengal has been allotted four – New Town and Bidhannagar on the city outskirts, Durgapur in Burdwan district and the port city of Haldia in East Midnapore district.
“May I request the Indian government to consider Kolkata for inclusion in the list of smart cities because it is our capital and has high potential. I would also request the minister (Naidu) to increase the number of Smart Cities in the state and to consider all municipal towns under AMRUT,” Hakim publicly appealed to Naidu during a workshop on Smart Cities here.
Hakim said the extension of AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) will help the state government in curbing migration of rural people to the cities for better earning opportunities.
“Jitna aata hai, utni roti hi milegi (You can only get as much bread as you have flour),” Naidu replied.
The minister said the selection and development of the Smart Cities will be based on the creditworthiness of the city, the development it has undergone, the vision which has been projected by the relevant authorities among others.
“After pre-qualification, one has to prove its capacity to build a smart city – what are the plans, ideas, creditworthiness, finances, vision,” he said.
Later talking to mediapersons, Naidu said the centre’s support was subject to performance.
“If you don’t perform, you will not get support. I give money, the centre gives money, if you don’t perform, that is not done,” he said.
Naidu said the “race for the first 20 Smart Cities” has begun and each of the proposed centres need to come up with their projected worthiness and assessment of developmental projects to get shortlisted in this year’s agenda of developing these cities.
The centre will be taking up 20 shortlisted cities for smart transformation this year, another 40 next year and the rest in 2017.
The union minister said India first needs to create and generate wealth and thereafter venture into other projects.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodities, Commodities News
Chennai:(IANS) Union Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday called for not imposing any restriction on inter-state movement of food grains.
“I feel that thre should not be any restriction with regard to the movement of food grains with the country and there should be one food zone as it existing during the regime of Morarji Desai,” he said at the ‘International Conference on Science, Technology and Public Policy to achieve Zero Hunger Challenge’ organised here by the M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).
Naidu said the central government is keen about second phase of ‘Green’ (agriculture production) and ‘White’ (milk production) Revolutions while giving a fillip to ‘Blue’ Revolution (marine products).
He said Indian farmers need to be encouraged and empowered to produce more to meet the growing and diversifying food needs.
According to him the central government’s approach is to ensuring four ‘Is’ – irrigation, infrastructure, interest rates and insurance.
“The first year of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government focused on revival of the economy with a thrust on infrastructure and this year it had decided to focus on agriculture, particularly irrigation,” Naidu said.
He said the government has allocated Rs 50,000 crore for irrigation, but this was not sufficient.
According to him there is an urgent need to look at the agriculture income insurance scheme which the central and state governments have to jointly work on.
Naidu said the central government is moving in the direction of furthering the objectives of the Zero Hunger initiative of the secretary general of the United Nations with five fold objectives viz (a) zero stunted children less than two years old (b) 100 percent access to adequate food all year round (c) sustainable food systems (d) 100 percent increase in small holder productivity and income and (e) zero loss or waste of food.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate finance
The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu and the Vice Chairmen of NITI Aayog, Shri Arvind Panagariya at the International Conference on Sustainable & Inclusive Urban Development in India, in New Delhi on August 01, 2015
New Delhi:(IANS) Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said Rs.50,000 crore have been earmarked to develop 100 smart cities in the country, with each selected city to get annual central assistance of Rs.100 crore for five years.
Naidu, the union urban development minister, was speaking at an international seminar on sustainable and inclusive urban development organised by the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and Department of Urban and Regional Planning of the University of Florida here.
The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing at the International Conference on Sustainable & Inclusive Urban Development in India, in New Delhi on August 01, 2015 (Photo:PIB)
“Special emphasis will be given to citizen participation while developing these smart cities. To recast the urban landscape of the country and make lives of urban people comfortable is the need of the hour,” he said.
Stating that “sustainable and inclusive urban development is the main focus of the government and there is a need to go for reforms in a big way”, he said, “rapid urbanisation poses grave challenges for sustainability of the human race”.
“To ensure that urban development is sustainable, the government is going to promote rainwater harvesting, replace green buildings with conventional buildings, replace conventional power with solar power, replace conventional lights with LED lights for conserving energy and create community toilets to ensure access to toilets for all,” the minister said.
Stating that “Smart cities need smart leadership”, Naidu said, “The smart city movement was classified as a mode of making life more comfortable for everyone, connecting the smart city initiative with the inclusive development mindset.”
“Good urban life also requires housing, office space and good transportation. Biggest challenge in the country has been one of creating space for cities and availability of land,” NITI Aayog vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya said at the event.
Naidu also launched the online e-learning portal for Clean India which would impart training and education to field functionaries and workers involved in helping realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream to ensure a clean India.
