Environment, Forest and Climate Change

The Vision of this Ministry is to provide the citizens of India a clean, green and healthy environment with peoples’ participation and to support higher and inclusive economic growth through sustainable utilization of available natural resources. This Ministry has achieved different milestones to plan, promote, co-ordinate and oversee the implementation of India’s environmental and forestry policies and programmes related to conservation of the country’s natural resources including its lakes and rivers, its biodiversity, forests and wildlife, ensuring the welfare of animals, and the prevention and abatement of pollution. The major achievements during year 2021 are as follows: –

Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav:

Green Good Deed of the Week campaign: In order to commemorate the 75thyear of independence, the country is celebrating a 75 week-long “Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav”. An outreach programme for promoting sustainable lifestyle –“Green Good Deed of the Week” campaign is being organized as a part of this Mahotsav through Eco-clubs since 12th March 2021. State Nodal Agencies and Eco-clubs organized various activities to promote sustainable lifestyle like cleanliness/ plantation drives, painting/ slogan/ essay competitions, awareness on single-use plastics, awareness on environment-friendly ways of celebrating festivals, etc.

Iconic week celebration: The Iconic Week of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) as a part of the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav was celebrated from 4th to 10thOctober, 2021. The major themes identified for activities of the week were lake/ wetland conservation, curbing of use of single-use plastics, wildlife conservation, forest conservation and coastal conservation. Activities like Green Pledge, webinars, promotion of Green Good Deeds and screening of videos on the identified themes were organized in schools/ colleges across the country in co-ordination with Department of School Education & Literacy and SNAs.

Swachhta Campaign from October 2 –November 1, 2021

The Swachhta Campaign was observed for one month starting from 2nd October – 1st November, 2021. During the campaign, a big number of files have been reviewed by the various divisions in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change which comes to a huge total of 45,154 files. Out of which around 41,758 files have been weeded out which has resulted in generation of paper waste of approximately 9 tonnes. A heavy duty shredder machine was specially brought to do the huge task. A revenue generation of Rs. 18 thousand has been generated out of the process of disposal of the waste generated by weeding of the files. A sufficient clear and open area in the Indira Prayavaran Bhawan appx 3000 sq.ft. has been reclaimed.
The Ministry has organised an auction of the e-Waste to dispose of all obsolete items including computers, printers, photocopiers and other electronic equipment. The e-waste bid has already been finalised at a price of Rs. 5.21 lakh to M/s. Clean Waste Management, Burari, Delhi. The shifting of e-waste material has been completed.
The Ministry has also organised an auction to dispose of all obsolete furniture items including tables, chairs, almirahs, side racks, sofa sets and other waste furniture items. The furniture waste bid has already been finalised at a price of Rs. 6.80 lakh to M/s Patel scrap.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The UN General Assembly in its 70th Session considered and adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and associated 169 targets for the next 15 years. The 17 SDGs came into force with effect from 1st January, 2016. Though not legally binding, the SDGs have become de facto international obligations and have potential to reorient domestic spending priorities of the countries during the decade ending 2030. The SDG 13, 15 and 12 have been mapped majorly to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Significant strides have been made in achieving SDG 13 (Urgent action to protect against Climate Change and its impact) as 24% reduction in emission intensity of GDP against 2005 levels has been achieved in 2016 itself. India has emphasized that Climate Finance from developed countries as promised in the Paris agreement is integral to achieve this goal. Similarly, country’s pledge on land degradation neutrality and intense afforestation are helping the country move towards SDG 15(Sustainable use of terrestrial Ecosystems and prevention of Biodiversity Loss). The commitment of the country in implementing the Extended Producer responsibility in plastics and ratification of Basel Convention to monitor hazardous substances is a remarkable step in moving towards SDG12 for ensuring sustainable production and consumption patterns. The 2030 Agenda also underscored that quality, reliable and disaggregated data will be needed for measurement of progress and to ensure that “No One is Left Behind”. MoEF&CC is strengthening its data systems for realistic monitoring of progress on the sustainable development goals.

Climate Change

As a responsible member of the International community of nations, the Government will continue to engage in a meaningful way with deliberations in the International fora/ UN climate summit duly keeping in mind the national developmental goals and priorities through the various international meets and at present India is a president of UNCCD.

Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change took part in the 26th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP-26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom for green net zero program The National Statement in the World Leaders Summit was delivered by the Hon’ble Prime Minister at COP-26, which the following mainly discussed and highlighted during the summit
- India’s non-fossil energy capacity to reach 500 GW by 2030
- India will meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements with renewable energy by 2030.
- India will reduce its total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now to 2030.
- India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 per cent by 2030, over 2005 levels.
- By 2070, India will achieve the target of net zero emissions.

The transfer of climate finance and low-cost climate technologies have become more important for implementation of climate actions by the developing countries. The ambitions on climate finance by developed countries cannot remain the same as they were at the time of Paris Agreement in 2015 and the Indian Delegation led by Hon’ble Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change attending the COP Summit through multilateral negotiations with major countries for adoption of greener norms in the global scenario.
The Glasgow Climate Conference adopted decisions, which inter-alia, include adoption of an overarching decision titled “Glasgow Climate Pact” that stresses the urgency of enhancing ambition and action in relation to mitigation, adaptation and finance in this critical decade to address the gaps in the implementation of the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Glasgow Climate Pact also noted with deep regret that the goal of developed country Parties to mobilize jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 has not yet been met. The COP 26 outcome also include completion of work related to rules, procedures, and guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement including that for cooperative approaches, mechanisms and non-market approaches referred to in Article 6, enhanced transparency framework, and common timeframes for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and it was discussed with Ministers and Representatives from United Kingdom, Scotland, South Korea, Australia, BASIC countries, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, France, Canada, Brazil, USA, UAE, Germany, Norway, Singapore, Jamaica, Sweden, and Japan. Hon’ble Minister also held meetings with the Ministers of Like Minded Developing Countries and also with representatives from United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and Green Climate Fund.
For strengthening impact, the Indian Delegation also participated in side events on the side-lines of COP 26 which include South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme, International Solar Alliance, CDRI, Leadership Group for Industry Transition and Namami Gange.

PARIVESH

In order to streamline the procedure for early grant of Clearances under this Ministry PARIVESH portal has been simplified for grant of Environmental Clearances which is now been reduced to 70 working days..

In pursuant to the spirit of ‘Digital India’ and capturing the essence of Minimum Government and Maximum Governance, a Single-Window Integrated Environmental Management System named PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Single Window Hub) has been developed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for complete online, expeditious and transparent system for environment, forest, wildlife and CRZ clearances in the country. The facility is operational for processing of applications for Environmental Clearances (ECs), Forest Clearances(FCs), Coastal Regulatory Zone Clearances (CRZ). Over the years, the existing system of ‘PARIVESH’ has undergone numerous modifications and customization in alignment with statutory provisions and requirements.

Ministry in recent times has automated various processes through PARIVESH such as development of online module in PARIVESH for dispensation for requirement of EC for expansion / modernization with no increase in pollution load, aligning the EIA Notification with MMDR Amendment Act 2021, Online generation of EC with unique identification number etc.

Due to the above initiatives along with other Policy reforms, the average time taken for grant of EC in all the sectors has reduced significantly from more than 150 days in 2019 to less than 90 days. In some of the sectors, the ECs are being granted even within 60 days also accordingly, ECs for 7787 projects was granted under EIA Notification in 2021.

Ministry has decided to upgrade the existing PARIVESH to provide a “single window” solution for administration of environmental regulations. Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) has been proposed to be set up in the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change. Upgraded PARIVESH will not only strengthen the clearance processes but also encourages ease of doing business in the country. Know Your Approval module with inbuilt decision rules in the envisaged system will guide the Users about the applicability of clearances to the proposed project activity. In addition, it will minimize repetitive efforts of the Users and the same time will ensure single version of the truth across all applicable clearances. Further, in the envisaged system redundancies in the process flow will be minimized to maximum extant.

DPR of the project proposal has been approved. Total time line for overall development of modules is 64 weeks, however modules for critical major clearance processes would be made live in 42 weeks from the date of on boarding of NIC’s system integrator.

Nagar Van Yojana:

Ministery is implementing Nagar Van Yojana and revised its guidelines in October 2021 with an aim at developing 400 Nagar Vans and 200 Nagar Vatikas with the objective to significantly enhance the tree outside forests and green cover in cities leading to better environment, enhancement of biodiversity and ecological benefits to the urban and peri-urban areas apart from improving quality of life of city dwellers. The scheme will be funded from the National Fund under CAMPA at a total cost of Rs. 895.00 crore during the period 2020-21 to 2024-25.

School Nursery Yojana: Ministry is implementing School Nursery Yojana with an aim to associate students in the process of raising plantations as part of their learning and by providing an environment for the students to understand and appreciate the significance of plants in maintaining and sustaining the natural ecosystem. The scheme ‘School Nursery Yojana’ is proposed to be implemented for the period of five years..

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)

The “National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority” (National Authority) came into existence in place of the Ad-hoc CAMPA with effect from 30.09.2018; the day the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016 and CAF Rules, 2018 came into force. Hon’ble Minister, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India is the chairperson of the Governing Body of the National Authority. The National Authority manages and utilises the “National Compensatory Afforestation Fund” (National Fund), which has been created under the public account of India. The other fund at the State/UT level is known as “State Compensatory Afforestation Fund” under the public accounts of respective States/UTs. CAF collected against approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 is distributed in the ratio of 90:10 between the concerned State Fund and National Fund and are made available to the National Authority and respective State Authorities through budgetary process. Until 07.10.2021 funds amounting to Rs 6,63,63.12 crore was transferred from state specific bank accounts maintained at New Delhi to the public Account of India and Rs. 48,606.39 crore was disbursed from the National Fund to 32 States, who have created their public accounts and completed reconciliation. Until now, twenty-eight schemes amounting to Rs 1329.78 crore has been approved from the National Fund. Similarly, Annual Plans of Operation (APOs) of 31 States/UTs worth Rs 9,926.48 crore have been approved from the respective State Fund during current financial year. The activities included in the APOs are mostly related to forestry and wildlife management. At national level, achievement of compensatory afforestation (CA) in 9,06,583 Ha against the target of 10,63,031 ha is major achievements of CAMPA. The average survival percentage of CA has been reported to be 73 percent.

Wildlife

The project Dolphin and the project lion have been initiated and the associated environmental impact of this are also strengthen at the major sanctuary and forest areas for cleaner Environmental Protection of endangered species.

The Protected Area coverage in the country has been steadily increasing. The coverage of Protected Areas which was 4.90% of country’s geographical area in 2014 has now increased to 5.03%. This includes an increase in Protected Areas in the country from 740 with area of 1,61,081.62 sq.kms. in 2014 to present 981 with an area of 1,71,921 sq.kms.
Population of several species like Tiger, Asiatic Lion, Greater one Horned Rhinoceros, Asian elephants, etc. increased. Wildlife health is being addressed to aggressively monitor zoonotic diseases.
India has taken a leadership role in conservation of migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway and had organized a two day workshop in October 2021, with Central Asian Flyway (CAF) Range countries on conservation of migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway.
The Ministry has released ‘Guidelines for sustainable ecotourism in forest and wildlife areas-2021 in October 2021. These guidelines emphasise on participation of local community in ecotourism activities.

Biodiversity Conservation

India enacted the Biological Diversity (BD) Act in 2002, and notified the Rules in 2004, through an extensive consultative process initiated in 1994. India was one of the first few countries to have enacted such a comprehensive legislation on biodiversity.

The Act is implemented through a three-tier institutional mechanism, at national, state and local levels: The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the national level set up by the Government of India, State Biodiversity Boards set up by the State Governments at the State level, and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) constituted by the elected bodies at the local level.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will hold its second part of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) in Kunming, China in 2022 in which delegates will come together to adopt a “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”. The vision for proposed framework is that “By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people. 2021 is viewed as a decisive year on biodiversity action. India joined High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People which calls for protecting at least 30 percent of world’s land and ocean by 2030 where India has already reported about 27% of area as conserved under Aichi Target 11 to CBD.

The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is being introduced to simplify, streamline and reduce compliance burden in order to encourage conducive environment for collaborative research and investments, simplify patent application process, widen the scope of levying access and benefit sharing with local communities and for further conservation of biological resources, without compromising the objectives of United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol and also national interests.’

National Biodiversity Authority

National Biodiversity Authority, a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change established to implement the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 has ensured that 28 State Biodiversity Boards, 8 Union Territory Biodiversity Councils and 2,76,156 Biodiversity Management Committees have been constituted in all local bodies to implement the provisions of the Act. NBA has accorded approvals for over 3000 applications to access biological resources and traditional knowledge for undertaking research, commercial utilization and patents. The BD Act envisages its implementation through consultation with local communities living in forest and rural areas. India is a leading country in issuing Internationally Recognized Certificate of Compliance (IRCC) which recognizes stakeholders for legally accessing biological resources. Till date, out of the 3297 IRCCs issued globally, 2339 IRCCs have been issued by India. Besides, 22 Biodiversity Heritage Sites have been notified by 12 State Governments and 159 plants and 175 animals have been notified as threatened species in 18 states and 2 Union Territories. Seventeen institutions of national importance have been recognized as national Repositories for preserving voucher specimens of biodiversity

Wetland

The number of Ramsar sites (Wetlands of International Importance) in India have increased to 47 covering an area of 10,90,230 hectares which include 21 new sites designated during 2019-2021. India has the largest number of Ramsar sites in South Asia. A dedicated web portal for wetlands has been developed and was launched on 2nd October, 2021 (Gandhi Jayanti). The portal indianwetlands.in is a publicly available information and knowledge platform to facilitate knowledge sharing, information dissemination, host capacity building material, and provide a single-point access data repository.
Health cards prepared for 500 wetlands under the four pronged approach for conservation of wetlands.

Vienna Convention, Montreal Protocol to Protection of Ozone

The Ozone Cell of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the national ozone unit for implementation of the Montreal Protocol in India and phase out of substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol.

After successfully phasing out chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, halons, methyl bromide and methyl chloroform for controlled uses, India is now phasing out hydrochlorofluorocarbons as per the accelerated phase out schedule of the Montreal Protocol

The Government of India ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down Hydrofluorocarbons on 27 September 2021 after approval by the Union Cabinet. Hydrofluorocarbons are used in air conditioners, refrigerators, aerosols, foams and other products, which even though do not deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, they have high global warming potential ranging from 12 to 14,000. As per the Kigali Amendment, to the Montreal Protocol, India will complete its phase down of Hydrofluorocarbons in 4 steps from 2032 onwards with cumulative reduction of 85% of production and consumption of HFCs by 2047. In line with the Cabinet decision, National Strategy in consultation with all the stakeholders will be developed by 2023 and funding for preparing the strategy has been secured from the Multilateral Fund

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has developed and launched the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) during March 2019, to provide an integrated vision towards cooling across sectors encompassing inter alia reducing cooling demand, refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency and better technology options with a 20-year time horizon. Space cooling in buildings being the most important and can significantly contribute to achieving the goals in the ICAP, has been prioritized for implementation of the recommendations given in the ICAP. Action points for implementation of the recommendations for Space Cooling in Buildings was finalized and launched on the World Ozone Day held on 16th September 2021 and widely disseminated

Following studies were completed as part of non-investment component of HCFC phase out Management Plan Stage-II (HPMP Stage-II)

a) Application of non-ODS and low GWP alternatives in Cold Chain Sector in India

b) Public Procurement Policies for Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Equipment Using Non-ODS based refrigerants

c) Good servicing practices and Energy efficiency in RAC sector

The above studies were published and launched on 16 September 2021 on the World Ozone Day and were widely disseminated

Preparation of Stage-III of HPMP has been initiated, to the implemented from 2023-2030, after securing funding from the Multilateral Fund for preparation of project proposal.

National Clean Air Program

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is implementing National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for reducing levels of air pollution in non-attainment cities (NACs) of the country since January 2019. NCAP is implemented in targeted 132 cities.

A Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has been constituted by enactment of an Act by Parliament for better coordination, research, identification and resolution of problems surrounding the air quality index and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Avoiding Use of Single Use Plastics and Efficient and Effective Management of Plastic Waste.

To enhance the efficacy implementation of PWMR, the Ministry has notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 on 12th August 2021 which also prohibits identified single use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, by 2022.
As per the notification, the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of 12 identified single-use plastic items including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st of July, 2022.
The thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from fifty microns to seventy-five microns with effect from 30th September, 2021, and to one hundred and twenty microns with effect from the 31st December, 2022.
The Ministry has organized “Awareness Campaign on Single Use Plastic – 2021”.
The States/UTs have been requested to constitute a Special Task Force under Chairpersonship of Chief Secretary/Administrator for elimination of single use plastics and effective implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. 31 Task Forces have been formed.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the draft Regulations on the Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging under Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, as amended from time to time on 6th October 2021 for public consultation.

Combating the Land Degradation, Desertification and Drought:

India committed to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality and restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, which includes 21 million hectares of Bonn Challenge and additional commitment of 5 million hectares as voluntary commitment. India presently holds the Presidency of UNCCD COP for 2 years till April 2022.
Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi graced the High level Dialogue on desertification, land degradation and drought of United Nations General Assembly, held on 14th June 2021 highlighting the initiatives taken by India on combating Land Degradation.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Blue Economy is one of the thrust area of the Government for sustainable development of coastal resources. The development will in due consideration of Conservation & protection of coastal and marine resources, Pollution abatement measures, Management of coastal and Marine ecosystem, Livelihood enhancement with security of coastal community, Capacity building and will also comprehend Sustainable development goals.

10 beaches in 7 States and One Union Territory, have been developed at par with international Standards and has been conferred with prestigious Blue Flag certification for its environmentally sound management and ecological sustainable infrastructures with adequate safety measures. This has resulted in better waste management, maintaining bathing water quality, self-sustaining solar energy-based infrastructure, containing marine littering, enhancing local level livelihood options and increased tourist based economy.

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highlights of the Union Ministry of Culture

The major highlights of the Union Ministry of Culture during the year 2021 are as follows:

Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav launched from Sabarmati Ashram:

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a mega celebration of 75 years of country’s Independence. The Amrit Mahotsav was launched on 12th March from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He also flagged off the Dandi ‘Padyatra’ on the occasion.

The Prime Minister launched the website of India@75 on the occasion. He also launched the ‘Atmanirbhar Incubator’ programme of Ministry of Culture in partnership with Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust to preserve the skills and arts of artisans/crafts persons on the verge of extinction. A unique Charkha Campaign was also started by the Prime Minister to promote ‘Vocal for Local’.

The Vice President, Sh M. Venkaiah Naidu graced the colourful closing ceremony of the 25-day long commemorative Dandi Padyatra as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav near National Salt Satyagraha Memorial, Dandi, Gujarat on April 6, 2021.

Commemoration of 125th Birth Anniversary Year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose launched on Parakram Diwas on January 23, 2021 from Kolkata

In one of the first major events of the year 2021, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched the commemoration of 125th Birth Anniversary Year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Kolkata on 23rd January, 2021. He presided over the inaugural function of the ‘Parakram Diwas’ celebrations at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.

‘Nirbhik Subhas’ (‘Irrepressible Subhas’)- ‘A multimedia exhibition’ celebrating the 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose- A Permanent Exhibition, a 3D Projection Mapping Show on Netaji, unveiling of book ‘Letters of Netaji” and Release of Commemorative Coin and release of Stamp in the memory of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, by the Prime Minister of India were some of the other highlights of the commemoration programme.

Several other programmes were also organised to mark the day including a special programme organised at Haripura at Surat in Gujarat. An exhibition by NGMA of Ministry of Culture was organised comprising of the famous Haripura panels made by Nand Lal Bose for the Congress session at Haripura where Netaji was made the President.

The South-Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur under the Ministry of Culture organised a special cultural programme under Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat (EBSB) to commemorate the 125th Birth Anniversary Year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. As part of the celebration, a play named “Bose” and different patriotic songs and dance programmes were performed by Nagpur-based social organisation, Prayas. Similarly, Odia artists have also performed folk songs and dances during the celebration. Odisha is paired state of Maharashtra under EBSB.

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav: Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav, the flagship festival of Ministry of Culture organized since 2015 with the active participation of Seven Zonal Culture Centres has been playing a pivotal role to take the vibrant culture of India out to the masses instead of confining to auditoria and galleries. It has been instrumental in showcasing, folk and tribal art, dance, music, cuisines & culture of one state in other states reinforcing the cherished goal of “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” and at the same time providing an effective platform to the artists and artisans to support their livelihood. The eleventh edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was being held between 14th to 28th February, 2021 in West Bengal at Cooch Behar (14th to 16th February, 2021), Darjeeling (22nd to 24th February, 2021) and Murshidabad (27th to 28thFebruary, 2021).

Udaipur Science Centre inaugurated at Udaipur, Tripura.
It is the 22nd Science Centre developed by NCSM of M/o Culture under Scheme for Promotion of Culture of Science.

e-Auction of gifts and mementos received by the Prime Minister, from 17th September to 7th October 2021:

It was the third edition of auction of gifts and mementos received by Prime Minister. The memorabilia included sports gear and equipment of the medal winning Olympians and Paralympians, replica of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, Chardham, Rudraksh Convention Centre, models, sculptures, paintings, angavastras among others. Proceeds from the e-Auction go to the Namami Gange Mission aimed at conserving and rejuvenating the Ganga. 1348 mementos were put up for e-auction , Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra’s javelin received the highest bid of Rs 1.5 Cr.

Special programme for trainee officers at the two-day Geographical Indication (GI) Mahotsav organized at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie: This special programme for the trainee officers of LBSNAA was meant to be an overview into the world of artisans, design and GI products. The sessions covered topics ranging from legal implications of GI, artistic & design collaborations with GI crafts and more, and witnessed participation from legal, academic and design luminaries.

Vesak Global Celebrations on Buddha Poornima organised which was addressed virtually by the Prime Minister on 26th May 2021. The Virtual Prayer Event saw the participation of heads of Buddhist Sanghas from around the world. Buddha Poornima celebrations were held through a virtual congregation owing to the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic across the globe. This year the Buddha Poornima is dedicated to Global Peace and Relief from the Pandemic- Covid 19.

Ministry of Culture in partnership with International Buddhist Confederation also celebrated Asadha Poornima Dhamma Chakra Day through day long events on July 24, 2021.

Abhidhamma Day at the Mahaparinirvana Temple in Kushinagar: A solemn ceremony was organised in the premises of the Mahaparinirvana Temple, Kushinagar, where a three-day Buddhist congregation was inaugurated by the Prime Minister along with exposition of Holy Buddha Relic from Shri Lanka. An exhibition of Buddhist glory excavated by ASI was also organised on the side-lines where Buddhist antiquities from excavation sites including Vadanagar was displayed. Besides this 110-member high level Sri Lankan delegation, the event was attended by a large number of prominent National and International Buddhist Sanghha, Ambassadors, Central and State officials etc.

Gandhi Peace Prize for 2019 and 2020: The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2019 has been conferred on Late Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said of Oman; and Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 on Bangabandhu Late Shiekh Mujibur Rahman. Gandhi Peace Prize for 2020 was awarded by Prime Minister of India to Late Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujibur Rahman (posthumously) in Dhaka on 26th March 2021.

Two Meetings of National Committee on Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav chaired by Prime Minister held : The first meeting of National Committee was held on 8th March, 2021 in the run-up to the launch of the flagship programme and the second meeting was held on 22nd December 2021. In the first meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted the 5 pillars that have been decided for the celebration of the 75 years. These are Freedom Struggle, Ideas at 75, Achievements at 75, Actions at 75 and Resolve at 75. All these should include the ideas and feelings of the 130 crore Indians and the programme should be organised with Jan Bhagidari.

At the second meeting, the Prime Minister presented his vision for the commemoration and how India should lead in the Post Covid World Order. He also emphasised that as we observe Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we should surge ahead with a focused approach setting new targets for ourselves for 2047. Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav should sow the seed of a sense of duty among the youth, the Prime Minister urged.

Celebration of International Day of Yoga: The Union Culture Ministry celebrated ‘International Yoga Day’ on June 21, 2021 under the ‘Yoga is an Indian Heritage’ campaign. Demonstration of Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) at 75 heritage monuments across the country along with cultural performances was organsied. To celebrate the event, National Council of Science Museum (NCSM) also organised various online programme /activities at its various units.

Culture Ministry launches a unique programme to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav on Independence Day 2021: A unique initiative , connected with the National Anthem, was taken up by the Ministry of Culture for celebrating Independence Day this year to instill pride and unity among Indians all over the world. In this, the people were invited to sing the National anthem and upload the video on website www.RASHTRAGAAN.IN. More than 1.5 crore Indians from India and across the world recorded and uploaded their videos.The compilation of National Anthem was shown live on 15th August, 2021 during celebrations at Red Fort.

Renovated complex of Jallianwala Bagh Smarak at Amritsar dedicated to the nation: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated the renovated complex of Jallianwala Bagh Smarak at Amritsar to the nation through video conference. During the event, he also inaugurated the Museum Galleries at the Smarak. The event showcased the multiple development initiatives taken by the government to upgrade the complex.

Nation pays homage to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on Shahidi Diwas on March 23, 2021: Ministry of Culture organised various programmes at several places on ‘Shaheedi Diwas’ as a grateful nation proudly remembered the exceptional courage & martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. A joint Shraddhanjali Sabha was held in honor of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru at Shaheed E Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Museum Khatkar Kalan, (Village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh), in Punjab, by Sangeet Natak Akademi. Homage was also paid to Shaheed Sukhdev at his ancestral house at Mohalla Naughra while a similar ceremony was held at the ancestral house of Shaheed Rajguru at Rajguru Wada, Rajguru Nagar, Pune.

Anniversary of the formation of Azad Hind Government by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose celebrated, events held across India and South -east Asia: As part of Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, events were organized in the run up to and on 21st October in India and South East Asia to commemorate the Anniversary of the formation of Azad Hind Government by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Bringing to life the whole of government approach, Ministry of Culture spearheaded the organization of an integrated program calendar across regions and geographies with participation from various Ministries, States and Union Territories of India and and in SSingapore.. The commemorative programs saw participation from INA veterans, school students, local communities and others making a true embodiment of the idea of Jan Bhagidari.

In a unique initiative to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Union Culture Minister Sh. G.K Reddy launched the Amrit Mahotsav Podcast. The first series, Zara Yaad Karo Qurbani, went live with an episode based on the Indian National Army.

Culture Ministry has launched three unique competitions to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav: Ministry of culture is holding a nationwide competition as #UnityInCreativity for Deshbhakti Geet writing, Lori Writing and Rangoli Making rightfrom Tehshil/Taluka level to National level. This initiative aims to encourage participation so as to ensure substantive ‘Jan bhagidaari’.

UNESCO World Heritage Tag : (i) Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana (2021) and (ii) Dholavira: A Harappan City (2021) under protection of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have been inscribed on World Heritage List in the 44th Extended World Heritage Meeting virtually held in Fuzhou, China taking the number of World Heritage properties in India from 38 to 40.

Ramappa Temple

Celebration of “Destination Northeast India” by the National Museum, New Delhi from 1st November, 2021 to 7th November 2021: As part of the celebrations of #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav to commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glory of its people’s culture and achievements, the National Museum, New Delhi celebrated the rich heritage of North East India, under the Ministry of DoNER & NEC’s initiative titled #DestinatioNorthEastIndia. NM organised a week-long series of cultural performers, online lectures and tours of the Northeast Lifestyle Gallery to highlight the diverse artistic traditions and communities of the North-eastern states.

PM lays foundation stones and dedicates to the Nation various development projects in Kedarnath on November 5, 2021. On the occasion, programmes were organized at Jyotirlingas & Jyotishpeeth including Char Dham across the country.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid foundation stones and dedicated to the Nation various development projects in Kedarnath. He inaugurated Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi and unveiled the statue of Adi Shankaracharya. The Prime Minister also offered prayers at the Kedarnath Temple. Prayers were offered and celebrations held at 12 Jyotirlingas and 4 dhams. Programs were organized simultaneously at 11 Jyotirlingas , 4 Jyotishpeeth and Char Dhams(Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameshwaram) also. The programmes included the customary morning Aarti followed by Vedic chanting. Ministry of Culture organized cultural events at either premise of Jyotirlingas /Jyotishpeeth or nearby venue. Culture Minister Sh G. Kishan Reddy led the programme at Kalady, Kerala which is the birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya.

M/o Culture Shri G. Kishan Reddy formally hands over Idol of Goddess Annapurna to Uttar Pradesh Government in presence of several Union and State ministers.

18th Century Idol of Goddess Annapurna retrieved from Canada, was handed over to UP Government on 11th November, 2021 and was placed at its rightful place at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on 15th November, 2021.

Retrieval of Antiquities by ASI : Antiquities Section of ASI has been constantly engaged in effective retrieval of antiquities from abroad. In the month of September, 2021, a team of experts from ASI went to the USA to examine a lot of 258 art objects, as per the communication received from CGI, New York. Out of this entire lot, 94 objects had been identified as “Antiquity” as per the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972. In 2019, a team of ASI had verified 63 objects as antiquities and now total 157 antiquities are ready for retrieval, presently in CGI, New York.

The Ministry of Culture holds ‘Vande Bharatam- Nritya Utsav’, an All-India dance competition as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

The objective of this competition was to select dancers who will perform during the cultural programme at the Republic Day Parade of 2022 at Rajpath, India Gate. Vande Bharatam final Competition was held in New Delhi on 19th December 2021. A total 36 teams won in the final round which will participate in the Republic Day Parade 2022

Ministry of Culture launches Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav mobile app: Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs, Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi launched the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav mobile App to enable all single point access to all information related to the 75th anniversary celebrations of India’s independence. The app available in android and iOS has details of all the activities and events happening under the AKAM banner. It is a free for download app with no age restrictions

A three-day festival ‘Kashi Utsav’ organised in Varanasi from 16th -18th November as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the classic heritage and culture of Kashi especially the centuries-old luminaries who are Goswami Tulsidas, Sant Kabir, Sant Raidas, Bhartendu Harishchandra, Munshi Premchand and Shri Jaishankar Prasad. The festival was based on the themes ‘Kashi ke Hastakshar’; ‘Kabir, Raidas ki Bani aur Nirgun Kashi’ and ‘Kavita aur Kahani – Kashi ki Zubani’.

Kala Kumbh Artist Workshops: The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi has organised Kala Kumbh– artist workshops for painting scrolls representing the heroic lives and struggles of unsung heroes of India’s freedom movement, as an integral part of the Republic Day celebrations 2022 in collaboration with Ministry of Defence. The first workshop was organised from 10th – 17th December, 2021 at Bhubaneswar to creatively showcase the legacy of India’s freedom struggle and our national pride on five scrolls of seventy five meters. Similar workshops are being held in other parts of the country.

India’s biggest drone show organised in Lucknow as part of Amrit Mahotsav series of events on First War of Independence of 1857.

India’s biggest drone show was organised in Lucknow on December 20, 2021 as part of Amrit Mahotsav series of events on 1857.More than 500 drones took part in this show.

Prime Minister chairs the first meeting of High-Level Committee to commemorate 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo: The Committee comprises 53 members from various walks of life. The Prime Minister suggested that 150 universities across the country should be involved in writing papers on different aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s life and philosophy and the 150 papers to be published on the occasion.

National Archives of India (NAl) has appraised the 2,076 Records of Rehabilitation Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi and 1498 files entries made in AIMS Package of Rehabilitation Division, M/o Home Affairs.

Exhibitions Under AKAM

Some of the important exhibitions organized as part of Amrit Mahotsav as are as follows:

Exhibition to mark the 79th anniversary of ‘Quit India Movement’

Culture Minister Shri G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated an exhibition to mark the 79th anniversary of the ‘Quit India Movement’ at National Archives of India in New Delhi on August 8, 2021.

Culture Minister, Shri G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated an Exhibition Katha Kranthiveeron Ki, an exhibition of revolutionaries with a dedicated painting exhibition on Alluri Seetharamaraju and exhibits of paintings of Shaheedi Diwas, Champaran Satyagraha and Jallianwala Bagh at Lalit Kala Galleries, Rabindra Bhawan in New Delhi as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ being celebrated to commemorate 75 years of Independence.

Weeklong Exhibition ‘Bharatmata Ewam Bharat Ke Nayak’by Lalit Kala Akademi Inaugurated by MoS Culture, Smt Meenakashi Lekhi. The exhibition depicts portraits by eminent artist Sh. Pawan Verma “Shaheen”. The exhibition showcases portraits of stalwarts like Rabindranath Tagore, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8th March 2021, Salarjung Museum organized a Painting exhibition and also a special photo exhibition on 75th years of Independence on AZADI KA AMRUT MOHOTSAV.

MoS Culture, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal inaugurated the exhibition “Azad Ki Shaurya Gatha” focused on the life of immortal martyr ‘Chandrasekhar Azad’ as part of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” at Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi.

Culture & International Cooperation

The Ministry participated in Culture Working Group virtual meeting of G20 countries hosted by Italy on 22nd – 23rd Feb,2021.

Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State for Culture participated in the G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting on 30 July, 2021 hosted by Italy during their ongoing Presidency of G20 in 2021.Discussion was held on Protection of Cultural Heritage; Addressing the Climate Crisis through Culture; Building Capacity through Training and Education; Digital Transition and New Technologies for Culture; and Culture and Creative Sectors as drivers for growth.

A meeting through Video Conferencing was held on 13th May, 2021 between Culture Minister of India and Culture Minister of Mongolia to discuss on promoting bilateral cultural and spiritual ties, and ways to implement Cultural Exchange Programme signed between the two countries.

MoS, Culture, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, participated in 18th SCO Culture Ministers’ Meeting through virtual mode on 18th August, 2021 hosted by the Tajikistan. In the meeting, the regulations of Gala Concert of the Arts Festival of SCO Member States and the Protocol of 18th Meeting of SCO Cultures Meeting was agreed upon and signed by all heads of delegations of SCO Members. In the meeting, the Draft Agreements on Cultural Cooperation in the field of Protection of Cultural Heritage and the Vocational Education in Culture and Arts were also finalized and are proposed to be signed at the meeting of the Council of Heads of States (CHS) of the SCO Countries, to be attended by Hon’ble Prime Minister.

A Cultural Exchange programme between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on Cooperation in the field of Culture and Arts was signed on 11th October, 2021.

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Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy of ‘Revolution’ and ‘Evolution’

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today chaired the first meeting of the High Level Committee (HLC) which has been constituted to commemorate 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo in a befitting manner. The notification of HLC was issued on 20th December, 2021. The Committee comprises 53 members from various walks of life.

Secretary (Culture), Shri Govind Mohan, gave a presentation on the Road Map for the celebration of the Commemoration and sought the advise of the esteemed members for celebrating 150th Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo in a befitting manner.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the esteemed members for their valuable thoughts and suggestions on Sri Aurobindo’s Commemoration. The Prime Minister said that the two aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy of ‘Revolution’ and ‘Evolution’, are of key importance and should be emphasized as part of the commemoration. The youth should be encouraged towards the concept of greatness as embodied in the philosophy of Nar to Narayan to create a MahaManav as propounded by Sri Aurobindo, he added.

The Prime Minister further added that it is the responsibility of India as a spiritual leader of the world to contribute in terms of spiritualism to nations across the globe. He suggested that 150 universities across the country should be involved in writing papers on different aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s life and philosophy and the 150 papers to be published on the occasion.

The Prime Minister proposed to launch the commemoration celebrations of Sri Aurobindo from Puducherry coinciding with the celebration of National Youth Day. This will encourage the youth to visit Puducherry and learn about his life and teachings, where Sri Aurobindo spent his life from 1910 to 1950. The Prime Minister fondly recalled his discussions and deliberations as Gujarat Chief Minister with Shri Kireet Joshi, who was a disciple of Sri Aurobindo. He said that these discussions enriched him with the thoughts of Sri Aurobindo, which were deeply reflected when he was working on preparing the National Education Policy.The Prime Minister stated that the literature of Sri Kireet Joshi on Sri Aurobindo should be disseminated widely across the world.

The Home Minister profusely thanked the participants for their valuable suggestions and time and closed the meeting.

Today’s meeting of HLC was held in a hybrid mode. 16 distinguished members were present physically and 22 members participated through Video Conference (VC). The Home Minister Shri Amit Shah welcomed the distinguished participants. Members gave their suggestions at the meeting. All the members expressed the opinion that the concept of integral education of Sri Aurobindo should be a part of the New Education Policy and should be included in the curriculum at the college and university levels.

UNESCO inscribes ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

In an important announcement, the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has inscribed ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 16th session being held at Paris, France from 13th to 18th December 2021. The Committee commended Durga Puja for its initiatives to involve marginalized groups, and individuals as well as women in their participation in safeguarding the element.

The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DONER, in a tweet said that this is a recognition of the confluence of our rich heritage, culture, rituals and practices and a celebration of the feminine divinity and the spirit of womanhood.

Durga Puja not only is a celebration of the feminine divinity but is a consummate expression of dance, music, crafts, rituals, practices culinary and cultural aspects. The festival transcends the boundaries of caste, creed and economic classes and joins the people together in its celebration.

With the inscription of Durga Puja in Kolkata, India now has 14 intangible cultural heritage elements on the prestigious UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity. In recent years, the ICH elements that saw inscriptions areKumbh Mela (inscribed 2017), Yoga (inscribed 2016) among others. India is a signatory of the 2003 UNESCO Convention which aims for the Safeguarding of the Intangible of theIntangible Heritage along with traditions and living expression. Intangible cultural heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated with them that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as a part of their cultural heritage. Furthermore, its importance is not in the cultural manifestation itself, but in the wealth of knowledge, know-how and skills that are transmitted from one generation to the next.

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Ministry of Culture help generate indirect employment for people associated with Indian Art, Literature and Culture

The mandate of the Ministry of Culture is preservation & conservation of cultural heritage, protection, development & promotion of literature, music, dance, visual arts and drama. However, the activities carried out through various organizations under the Ministry generate indirect employment for a large number of people associated with Indian Art, Literature and Culture. There are several academic, fellowships, scholarships and training programmes organized by the autonomous bodies of the Ministry of Culture which help the artists to find an employment in their field of expertise.

Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), another autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, is running a scholarship scheme called “Award of Scholarships to Young Artistes (SYA) in different cultural fields (18-25 Years)”.

Kalakshetra Foundation (autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture) has a unit named Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts where training is imparted in the different classical art forms of South India like Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music and fine arts. This helps students to establish themselves in the respective fields.

Lalit Kala Akademi provides scholarships to 40 young artists every year. All these academic programs help the youth to find employment in their area of interest. Government of India organizes several programs to promote women in the field of art, culture and literature. Women are engaged as writers, translators and resource persons in various events.

The preservation of ancient and medieval literature of the country in Indian languages attracts the youth of the country. This is evident in the academic programs on ancient and medieval literature of Kalakshetra Foundation, wherein the youth are enrolled.

Sahitya Akademi carries a number of programs for youth and confers several awards to promote literature, local dialects among the young generation. Some of the awards are: Sahitya Akademi Award, Yuva Puruskar, Bal Sahitya Puruskar, Translation Prize, and Bhasha Samman. Sahitya Akademi also runs programs titled, Yuva Sahiti & Avishkar, to encourage young writers writing in different Indian languages. The Akademi offers travel grants to young writers for traveling to other states to get acquainted with literary ambience of another language. These programs attract youth in large numbers.

40 ancient temples have been rediscovered, restored and beautified

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi on 13-14 December. At around 1 PM on 13 December, Prime Minister will visit Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple and offer prayers, after which he will inaugurate phase 1 of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham, constructed at a cost of around Rs 339 crores.

It was the vision of the Prime Minister for a long time, to facilitate the pilgrims and devotees of Baba Vishwanath, who had to encounter congested streets and surroundings with poor upkeep, when they practiced the age-old custom of taking dip in the holy river, collecting Gangajal and offering it at the temple. To realise this vision, Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham was conceptualised as a project to create an easily accessible pathway to connect Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple to the banks of the River Ganga. To kickstart the work for this pious endeavour, the foundation stone of the project was laid by the Prime Minister on 8th March 2019.

Prime Minister took a keen and active interest at all stages of the project. Regular briefings, reviews and monitoring was done by the Prime Minister himself, and he constantly gave inputs and insights to improve the project and make it more accessible for pilgrims, including for the disabled. The project was designed to provide easy access for the disabled and old age people with provision of ramps, escalators, and other modern facilities.

A total of 23 buildings will be inaugurated in the phase 1 of the project. They will provide a variety of facilities to the pilgrims visiting Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple, including Yatri Suvidha Kendras, Tourist Facilitation Centre, Vedic Kendra, Mumukshu Bhavan, Bhogshala, City Museum, Viewing Gallery, Food Court, among others.

The project involved purchase and acquisitions of more than 300 properties around Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Prime Minister’s vision to take everyone along was the principle based on which mutual negotiations were done for these acquisitions. In this endeavour, the rehabilitation of around 1400 shopkeepers, tenants and homeowners were done amicably. The testimony of the success is the fact that there is no litigation pending in any court of the country regarding acquisitions or rehabilitation related to the development of the project.

Prime Minister’s vision was also to ensure that all heritage structures be preserved during the course of development of the project. This foresight came handy when, during the process of destruction of the old properties, more than 40 ancient temples were rediscovered. These temples have been restored and beautified, while ensuring that there is no change in the original structure.

The scale of the project was such that the project is now spread over a massive area of about 5 lakh square feet, whereas earlier premises was limited to just around 3000 square feet. Despite the Covid pandemic, the work on the project has been completed as per the planned schedule.

During the visit to Varanasi, the Prime Minister will also visit Kaal Bhairav Temple at around 12 noon and witness Ganga Aarti while on board a Ro-Ro Vessel at around 6 PM on 13 December. On 14 December, at around 3:30 PM, Prime Minister will attend the 98th anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan at Swarved Mahamandir in Varanasi. During the two-day visit, Prime Minister will also participate in a conclave of Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with Deputy CMs from Bihar and Nagaland. The conclave will provide an opportunity to share governance related best practices and is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of furthering team India spirit.

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‘EK BHARAT SHRESHTHA BHARAT’ EXHIBITION; EXHORTS PEOPLE TO LEARN ABOUT ART AND CULTURE OF THE PAIRED STATES

The Hon’ble Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated an exhibition on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ (EBSB) at Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University in the city today. Organised by the Regional Outreach Bureau, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, this exhibition highlights the various interesting aspects of the paired states of Haryana and Telangana like art forms, cuisine, festivals, monuments, tourism spots etc, The exhibition will be open for viewing from 12th to 14th December, 2021 at Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University Campus, Nampally, Hyderabad. Noteworthy books brought out on the themes of art and culture have been put up on display by the Publications Division at the exhibition.

Sharing his thoughts on the occasion, Shri Naidu said that such initiatives will go a long way in propagating the rich cultural heritage of the paired states and promoting people-to-people contacts. He complimented the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for this initiative that brings people from the both States together and creates awareness about our rich & diverse cultural heritage.

Telangana State Home Minister, Shri Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Vice Chairman, Telangana State Planning Board, Shri B. Vinod Kumar, attended the event. The senior officers of Ministry of I&B from ROB, PIB, DPD and AIR were present on the occasion.

The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme is a unique initiative by the Government to promote the spirit of national integration and to strengthen the fabric of emotional bonds between the people of our country. The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) programme was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 31st October, 2015 on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who played a significant part in the unification of the country post-independence.

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KALA KUMBH ARTIST WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ARTS

The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi is celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav with Kala Kumbh– artist workshops for painting scrolls representing the heroic lives and struggles of unsung heroes of India’s freedom movement, as an integral part of the Republic Day celebrations 2022 in collaboration with Ministry of Defense. The workshop is being organised from 10th – 17th December, 2021 at Bhubaneswar to creatively showcase the legacy of India’s freedom struggle and our national pride on five scrolls of seventy five meters. Similar workshops will also be held in other parts of the country.

Kala Kumbh workshop intends to showcase our rich cultural heritage of indigenous and contemporary visual art practices, focusing on diverse geographical locations of India. Inspiration will also be drawn from the creative illustrations in the Constitution of India wherein the artistic elements painted by Nandalal Bose and his team have imparted a distinctive appeal. It will be an embodiment of progressive aspects of India’s socio-cultural, political and economic identity, represented on the scrolls as per the artistic vision of Sri Adwait Garanayak, Director General, NGMA.

As the entire program focuses on a collaborative effort, the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi has joined hands with Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Silicon Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar for this artists’ workshop. The narratives would reflect the tales of valor from Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, North Eastern parts of India and Andhra Pradesh with artistic expressions reflecting the indigenous forms of art such as Pattachitra, Talapatra chitra, Manjusa, Madhubani and Jadupatua to name a few. As NGMA, New Delhi takes these workshops to other parts of the country, many other forms of indigenous art will be woven into the stories of the unsung heroes of India’s freedom movement as a befitting artistic tribute to their struggles.

Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences launches eOffice

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), the largest Research Council under the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India has initiated the use of eOffice for its official purposes. The Council in its quest for becoming a paperless organisation, has launched the application developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on 3rd January, 2022.

In the presence of higher officials and staff of the Council, Dr. N. Srikanth, Director General, CCRAS processed an e-file through the application to formally launch the platform for the Council. While addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Director General emphasized the need and advantages of using electronic platforms for office work. He also urged the officers and staff to utilize the application to its full potential as it aids all spheres of office procedures. He also informed that the Council has already been taking many IT based initiatives including the NAMASTE Portal, Ayush Research Portal and many other for the welfare and use of Ayush stakeholders.

The eOffice platform is a digital workplace solution comprising a suite of products and features that support efficient and transparent governance by streamlining all workflow and making all procedures paperless. While appraising the Director General, CCRAS and gathering of officials and staff about the development, Dr. Radhe Krishan, In Charge, IT Cell at CCRAS mentioned that the Council has implemented and initiated the use of eOffice for employees and staff. He also informed that with the integrated software SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window), the concerned officials will be able to process their annual performance reports online.

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PM Modi To Inaugurate Projects Worth Over ₹ 42,750 Crore In Punjab Today

PM Modi In Punjab: PM Modi will inaugurate the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway; four laning of Amritsar – Una section; Mukerian – Talwara New Broad Gauge railway line; PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur and two new medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur,

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ferozepur in Punjab today to lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than ₹ 42,750 crore.

These projects include the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway; four laning of Amritsar – Una section; Mukerian – Talwara New Broad Gauge railway line; PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur and two new medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur, according to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The consistent endeavour of the Prime Minister to improve connectivity all across the country has led to multiple national highway development initiatives being taken up in the state of Punjab. It has resulted in more than doubling the total length of National Highways in the state from about 1700 kilometres in 2014 to more than 4100 kilometres in 2021, said the PMO.

In continuation of such efforts, the foundation stone of two major road corridors will be laid in Punjab. This will also be a step towards fulfilling the Prime Minister’s vision to enhance accessibility to major religious centres, it added.

As per the PMO, the 669-kilometre long Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will be developed at a total cost of about ₹ 39,500 crore. It will halve travel time from Delhi to Amritsar and Delhi to Katra.

The Greenfield Expressway will connect key Sikh religious sites at Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran and the holy Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi in Katra. The expressway will also connect key economic centres like Ambala Chandigarh, Mohali, Sangrur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Kathua and Samba in the three states/UTs of Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

The four-laning of the Amritsar – Una section will be done at the cost of around 1700 crore. The 77-kilometre long section is part of the larger Amritsar to Bhota corridor spanning across the longitudinal expanse of Northern Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, connecting four major national highways, namely Amritsar-Bhatinda-Jamnagar Economic Corridor, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, North-South Corridor and Kangra-Hamirpur-Bilaspur-Shimla Corridor, stated the PMO.

It will help in improving the connectivity of religious sites at Ghoman, Shri Hargobindpur and Pulpukta Town (home to the famous Gurudwara Pulpukta Sahib), added the PMO.

Eriksen targets 2022 World Cup spot with Denmark

The midfielder has been out of action since collapsing at Euro 2020, but he insists he is back to full fitness

Christian Eriksen has made it clear that it is his intention to return to playing football and wants to represent Denmark at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Eriksen has been sidelined since suffering a cardiac arrest during a match at Euro 2020 and subsequently having to be fitted with a defibrillator.

Now a free agent, the midfielder says he is back to full fitness and wants to prove to his national team boss that he still has what it takes to line up for his country.

Can we fix our Ozone layer? The Montreal protocol

Imagine that one day our Ozone layer was disappeared. What will happen? How long can we survive without it? The Ozone layer is a region of Earth’s atmosphere that contains a high concentration of Ozone (O3). Ozone is a highly reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms. It is found in the lower portion of Earth’s atmosphere. It absorbs 97 to 99 percent of the Sun’s ultraviolet rays. Direct exposure to UV rays can cause serious skin problems including sun burn, skin cancer, premature ageing of the skin, solar elastosis. It can also cause eye problems and can ruin our immune system.

The depletion of ozone layer was first observed by a Dutch chemist Paul crutzen. He described the Ozone depletion by demonstrating the reaction of nitrogen oxide with oxygen atoms which slowing the creation of Ozone (O3). Later in 1974, American chemists Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland observed that chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) molecules emitted by man-made machines like refrigerators, air conditioners and airplanes could be the major source of chlorine in the atmosphere. One chlorine atom can destroy 100,000 ozone molecules.

Not all chlorine molecules contribute to ozone layer depletion; chlorine from swimming pool, sea salt, industrial plants, and volcanoes does not reach the stratosphere. The ozone hole in Antarctica is one of the largest and deepest depletion which was discovered by the British scientists. This became worldwide headlines after that. According to NASA scientist Paul Newman, if this depletion continues in this rate our ozone layer can be likely disappeared in 2065. If that happens UV rays from sun directly reach earth and cause severe health issues, Humans can last 3 months and plants may die in 2 weeks because of heavy UV radiation. Thus Earth will become inhabitable.

Fortunately in 1987, Montreal protocol was made that bans chlorofluorocarbon and other chemicals that cause ozone depletion. Surprisingly it works, researches made in 2018 tells that the ozone layer is repairing itself at a rate of 1% to 3% per decade since 2000. Still it will take at least 50 years for complete recovery. The greenhouse effect allows the short wave radiation of sunlight to pass through the atmosphere to earth’s surface but makes it difficult for heat in the form of long wave radiation to escape. This effect blankets the earth and keeps our planet at a reasonable temperature to support life. Earth radiated energy, of which about 90 percent is absorbed by atmospheric gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, nitrous oxide, and others. Absorbed energy is radiated back to the surface and warms earth’s lower atmosphere.

The gases have come to be called greenhouse gases because they hold in light and heat, just as a greenhouse does for the sake of the plants inside. Greenhouse gases are essential to life, not only at an appropriate balance point. These gases increased during the 20th century due to industrial activity and fossil fuel emissions. For example, the concentration of carbon dioxide I the atmosphere have recently been growing by about 1.4 percent annually. This increase in greenhouse gases is one of the contributors to be observed patterns of global warming. On September 16th world ozone day, we can celebrate our success. But we must all push to keep hold of these gains, in particular by remaining vigilant and tackling any illegal sources of ozone depleting substances as they arise, says UN ozone-secretariat. So without the Montreal protocol, life on earth could be a question mark, so keep working hard. “OZONE FOR LIFE”.

The incredible journey of Elon Musk’s SpaceX – The engineering masterpiece

The Falcon super heavy launch vehicle was designed to transport people, spaceships, and various cargos into space. Such a powerful unit wasn’t created instantly and it also had its predecessors. The history of the Falcon family of vehicles began with the creation of the Falcon 1- a lightweight launch vehicle with a length of 21.3 meters and a diameter of 1.7 meters and a launch mass of 27.6 tones; the rocket could carry 420 kilograms or 926 pounds of payload on board. It became the first private device that was able to bring cargo into low earth orbit. Construction of the Falcon 1 of only two stages, the first of them consisted of a supporting element with fuel tanks, an engine and a parachute system. They chose kerosene as the fuel and liquid oxygen became its oxidizing agent.

The falcon heavy side boosters landings -SpaceX
The second stage also contains fuel tanks and an engine; though the latter had less thrust compared to the one in the first stage despite the huge launch cost $7.9 million. Totally five attempts were made to send the Falcon 1 beyond the of our planet nut not all of them were successful. During the debut launch of the rocket, a fire started in the first stage engine; this led to a loss of pressure which caused the engine to shut down in the 34th second of flight. The second attempt to start the Falcon 1 incurred a problem with the fuel system of the second stage fuels stopped flowing into its engine at 474 second of flight it shut down as well. The third time of the Falcon 1 went on a flight, it wasn’t alone of the serious cargo the rocket carried onboard the trailblazer satellites and to NASA micro-satellites. In phase one with the first stage he flight went normally but when the time came to separate the stages, the first hit the second when it started engine, so the second stage couldn’t continue its flight.

The fourth and fifth launches showed good results but that wasn’t enough. The main problem with Falcon 1 was low demand due to its low payload abilities. For this reason, they designed Falcon 9; this device can carry on onboard 23 tons of cargo. It’s also a two stage launch vehicle and uses kerosene and l liquid oxygen as fuel. The device is currently in operation and the cost of its launch is equal to $62 million. The first stage of the rocket is reusable; it can return to earth and can be used again. The Falcon 9 is designed to not only launch commercial communication satellites but also to deliver dragon 1 to the ISS. Dragon 1 can carry a six ton payload from the earth, this drone supplies the ISS with everything they needs and it also takes goods back.

The prototype of SpaceX starship had its first free flight on July 25, 2019
The dragon 2 is designed to deliver a crew of four people to the ISS and back to earth. Now there is an ultra heavy launch vehicle with a payload capacity of almost 64 tones. It is the most powerful and heavier device called the Falcon heavy. This rocket was first launched on February 6th 2018 and the test was successful. The rocket sent Elon Musk’s car into space- a red Tesla Roadster. After this debut subsequent launches were also conducted without problem. The launch cost is estimated to $150 million.

The first stage of the Falcon heavy consists f three parts. There are three blocks contain 27 incredibly powerful engines in nine each one. The thrust created when takeoff is comparable to 18 Boeing 747s at full power. The second stage is equipped with a single engine. It is planned that the device would be used for missions to the moon and mars. Currently, SpaceX working on the star-ship manned spacecraft. According to its creators, this device will be much larger and heavier than all of the company’s existing rockets. This device will able to deliver cargo into space weighing more than a hundred tons. The launch of star-ship into pace is planned for 2022 to mars with a payload. Who knows, one of the mankind’s largest dreams may come true within the next year.

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk

Ideas to change your life!

“People don’t like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.” – Helen Keller

Think big, act small

Never let anything hold you back when you think of ideas.
You’ve got nothing to lose. Just make sure you act small. Put in the work and stay practical.

Problems are unanswered questions

Every time you experience stress over a problem, you’re sabotaging your life.
A problem is nothing but an unanswered question. So stay calm. And figure out the answer.

firm foundation for relationships

Wrong reasons to start relationships include money, fear of being alone, abuse, needing attention.
The foundation of all relationships should be based on love, respect, support, trust, patience, good company, laughter, sadness, and more support.

Nothing in life is free

You always pay for something with money, time (the most valuable thing you have), or other resources.
Life is a business. And smart business people spend their resources wisely.

Never be afraid of making decisions

Waiting, postponing, doubting, researching too much — it’s all not useful. Get your act together, and decide firmly whenever you have to make one.
And when you made the wrong decision, own it, apologize, and make another decision.

Decide to become a leader

Being a leader also has nothing to do with your title.
When everyone looks at each other because no one wants to take responsibility, decide that you will take responsibility.

Productivity yields results

There’s only one thing that helps you to go from nothing to something: You have to put in the work.
Make sure you value effectiveness over everything. Results matter. Get things done and move on to the next thing.

See yourself as a salesperson

In almost everything you do, you’re selling yourself.
When you sell, be transparent, honest, and to the point. Don’t waste your time on people who don’t like you anyway.

Improve your skills

To improve your self-confidence.
You only improve your self-confidence by becoming good at something: By learning, doing, seeing results, and repeating that process for years. Your confidence will grow slowly every day.

Value your friends

We’re social animals. When we’re alone, we die early.
So be nice to each other. And respect that your friends also have lives of their own.

Don’t believe everything you see

Don’t believe all the success stories you see everywhere. YouTubers, Instagram models, millionaire entrepreneurs: They seem perfect. But you only see the outside.
You don’t have to be a cynic. Just don’t take appearances for facts.

Learn to love criticism

It’s fuel for you. You can use criticism to improve yourself, your product, or your service.
Or, if the criticism makes no sense, it can make you angry, which is also a good thing. That type of anger is useful. “I’ll show them!”

Take care of your body

If you can’t take care of your body, you can’t take care of anything.
You can influence your health by eating healthy, exercising, and treating your body with respect.

Happiness is a choice

You control your thoughts. That means you decide what you do with your life. If you’re unsatisfied, angry, or frustrated, that’s all you.

Create something

Make yourself useful.
Instead of consuming so much information, products, and entertainment from others, spend a fraction of that time on creating something yourself.

Reference

https://observer.com/2017/02/i-have-15-ideas-to-change-your-life-do-you-have-five-minutes/

MoHUA Schemes and Missions help boost the Make in India and AtamNirbhar Bharat Initiatives

Various schemes and Missions run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during 2021 have helped boost the Make in India and AtamNirbharBharat initiatives in many ways. The schemes and Missions have directly influenced the AtamNirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives directly or indirectly.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), launched to address urban housing shortage including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to eligible urban households by the year 2022, the technology used to build the houses at faster speed was innovative, specially the Light House projects as part of Global Housing Technology Challenge – India (GHTC -India) initiative, in six States .The initiative led to a new era in the construction technology in India, thus giving impetus to Make in India initiative. Bringing people and technology together, LHPs will pave the way for a new eco- system where globally proven technologies will be adopted for cost-effective, environment friendly and speedier construction. Advantages of these LHPs are many, the primary ones being durability, climate-resilient, affordability, safety and speed.

MoHUA also launched the Enrolment Module for TECHNOGRAHIS including students from IITs, NITs, engineering, planning and architecture colleges, faculty members, academicians, and stakeholders for registering themselves to visit Live Laboratories at six LHP sites for learning, consultation, generation of ideas and solutions, experimentation, innovation, and technical awareness. This helped them in getting a first-hand account of the technologies being used and in turn, they can adapt and adopt them as per their requirements in the construction sector for a ‘Make in India’ approach.

A Technology Sub-Mission (TSM) was set up to facilitate the adoption of innovative, sustainable, eco-friendly and disaster-resilient technologies and building materials for low-cost, speedier and quality construction of houses. TSM not only aims to ensure speedier and safer delivery under PMAY-U but also has the potential to bring a paradigm shift in the overall housing construction sector in the country.

Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) Scheme under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package addresses the vision of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ significantly by creating a sustainable ecosystem of affordable rental housing solutions and to achieve overall objective of “Housing for All” encompassing the need of affordable rental housing for urban migrants/poor. ARHCs will provide them dignified living with necessary civic amenities near their place of work.

Under Smart Cities Mission(SCM), the City Innovation Exchange (CiX) platform was launched for innovative practices in cities. The platform was a significant addition to the growing innovation ecosystem of India and focuses on fostering innovative practices in cities. CiX, through an ‘open innovation’ process, engages with innovators to design-test-deliver on solutions to pressing urban challenges. This initiative is among the ongoing efforts of the Government to realise Prime Minister’s vision of New and AtmaNirbhar Bharat, by making cities more self-reliant and enabled to meet the needs of and provide services to their citizens. Another step towards making the SCM targets easier, a SmartCode is a platform was launched by MoHUA that enables all ecosystem stakeholders to contribute to a repository of open-source code for various solutions and applications for urban governance. It is designed to address the challenges that ULBs face in the development and deployment of digital applications to address urban challenges, by enabling cities to take advantage of existing codes and customising them to suit local needs, rather than having to develop new solutions from scratch. The India Urban Data Exchange has been developed in partnership between the Smart Cities Mission and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. A New smart cities website & Geospatial management information system GMIS for project monitoring was also developed to implement and proper scrutiny of the projects under SCM.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Transport4All, aiming to bring together cities, citizen groups, and start-ups to develop solutions that improve public transport to better serve the needs of all citizens. It also started the EatSmart Cities Challenge which aimed to motivate Smart Cities to develop a plan that supports a healthy, safe and sustainable food environment supported by institutional, physical, social, and economic infrastructure along with the application of ‘smart’ solutions to combat food related issues.

National Urban Digital Mission will create the ideal space to harness immense synergies from the domain of urban and technology towards creating a citizen-centric governance that reflects Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’. The National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM) will create a shared digital infrastructure for urban India, working across the three pillars of people, process, and platform to provide holistic support to cities and towns. It will institutionalise a citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach to urban governance and service delivery in 2022 cities by 2022, and across all cities and towns in India by 2024.

For making the street vendors AtmaNirbhar, Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, MoHUA has entered into MoU with Zomato, one of the largest online platforms for ordering and delivery of food in India, to onboard street food vendors on its food-tech platform. It has given street food vendors online access to thousands of consumers and help these vendors grow their businesses. Further, MoHUA launched the Mobile Application for PM SVANidhi se Samriddhi- Socio-economic profiling of PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their families to link them to various Central Government Schemes

Under AtmaNibhar Bharat initiative, DAY-NULM scheme has focussed on equipping the urban poor women with adequate skills and opportunities, and to enable them to promote sustainable micro enterprises. It mobilises women from urban poor households into SHGs and their federations to create a support system for these women. Over 5.7 lakh SHGs have been formed across various States/ UTs, with almost 60 lakh members. Many of these SHGs are engaged in livelihood activities, producing goods such as handicrafts, textiles, toys, eatables and so on. These were being sold primarily in local neighbourhood markets and often faced barriers in achieving visibility and wide market access.

Under Urban Transport Mission, the metro coaches which were earlier imported from Spain, South Korea, and China, are now being manufactured within the country. Their quality is at par with international standards and also being exported to Australia and Canada.

Under the Central Vista project, the new Parliament Building is an intrinsic part of the vision for Azadi@75 and symbolises our commitment and efforts towards building AatmaNirbhar Bharat. The new Parliament has been designed and is being built by Indians using Indian materials. It will be the first Indian Parliament built by the people, of the people, and for the people.

To enable the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for New Urban India, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organised Azadi@75 Conference-cum-Expo in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh along with an exhibition themed on transforming urban landscape across the country.

Achievements and initiatives

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U)

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) was launched on 25th June, 2015 to address urban housing shortage among the EWS/ LIG and MIG category, including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to eligible urban households by the year 2022.

Against the total assessed demand of 1.12 Cr houses, 1.14 Cr houses have been sanctioned. Of these, total of 91.5 lakh houses were grounded for construction and 53 lakhs houses were completed / delivered, as on 12th Dec’ 2021.
A total of 17.35 Lakh beneficiaries have availed subsidy on housing loans through Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), out of which 6.15 Lakh beneficiaries are from Middle Income Group.
A total of 6,368 houses in Light House Projects are being constructed involving project cost of ₹790.57 crore.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

Against total SAAP size of ₹77,640 crore, 5818 projects worth ₹80,713 crore have been grounded. Of the grounded projects, works worth ₹57,414 cr. have been physically completed (inclusive of completed projects worth ₹22,756 cr.) and expenditure of ₹50,118 cr. has been incurred so far.

Sector-wise progress of AMRUT projects is as below:

Sector	Projects completed		Projects ongoing		Total Projects Grounded
Sector	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount
Water Supply	740	11,530	586	30,320	1,326	41,850
Sewerage &Septage	370	8,259	483	25,074	853	33,332
Storm Water Drainage	612	1,114	187	1,829	799	2,943
Non-motorised urban transport	218	397	131	626	349	1,023
Parks & Green spaces	1,943	1,130	548	435	2,491	1,565
Total	3,883	22,430	1,935	58,284	5,818	80,713

AMRUT 2.0 was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 1st October 2021 with the aim of making the cities ‘water secure’ and providing functional water tap connections to all households. The total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is ₹2,77,000 Cr including central share of ₹ 76,760 Cr for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.In the water supply sector, contracts for 1,326 projects worth ₹41,850 crore have been awarded of which 740 projects worth ₹11,530 crore have been completed. In addition, 18 projects worth ₹358 crore are at various stages of tendering. The target is to provide 139 lakh water tap connections to achieve universal coverage. So far 118 lakh water tap connections have been provided through AMRUT and in convergence with schemes.

Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U)

Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) was launched on 2nd October 2014, with the vision to make India open defecation free. Under the mission, 31 cities have been self-declared as ODF and 58 have been certified as ODF since 1st January 2021. ODF+ certified cities increased by 1,828 and ODF++ certified cities increased by 472 since 1st January 2021. Number of Individual Household toilets constructed increased by 20,892 and Community/ Public Toilets constructed increased by 17,866 till date. Under solid waste management, 100% Door to door collection has increased to 86,403 wards and 100% Source Segregation has increased to 77,415 wards resulting in increase of the total waste processing to 70% as against 68% till 1st January 2021.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0: Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 on 1st October, 2021 with an outlay of about ₹ 4.4 Lakh Crore to adopt ‘Universal Approach’ and make a move towards ‘Saturation’ in sanitation and water availability in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)

The DAY-NULM is a flagship scheme which aims towards alleviating urban poverty through building strong community institutions, providing skill training, access to affordable credit for self-employment, support for street vendors and shelters for the urban homeless. Since inception, it has covered 28 states, 7 UTs and 3,806 Towns creating 25.60 livelihoods. Under the scheme, 1.30 lakhs shelter spaces were created for urban homeless and 66.70 lakhs women members were mobilised into 6.4 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs).

Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were implemented with e-commerce giants like Amazon & Flipkart for selling over 2,000 products made by 5,000 SHG members on e-commerce portals across 25 States/ UT.‘SonChiraiya’ brand was launched with the aim to provide increased visibility and wider market access to the local ethnic products viz. handicrafts, food, apparel, decorative, etc.The Mission has provided 26.50 lakh Certificate of Vending (CoV) to urban street vendors to safeguard their rights. Mission has streamlined the process for payments of training fees to skill training providers through PAiSA Portal, which is centralized electronic platform for processing payments to the beneficiaries under the Mission.

AZADI KA AMRUT MAHOTSAV: As a part of the ongoing “AzadikaAmritMahotsav” of MoHUA, Revolving Fund (RF) support to Area Level Federation (ALF) i.e. federation of Self Help Groups through PAiSA Portal was operationalised on 30.09.2021.

PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)

The PM SVANidhi was launched to empower street vendors, making them independent and self-sustainable. Under “SwadishtVyanjankiAadhunikDukaan (SVAD)”, MoHUA has signed MOU with Swiggy and Zomato providing a digital platform for Street Food Vendors (SFVs). Presently, over 8,486 SFVs have been onboarded and have generated sales of over ₹4.9 Crores.

Tie up with Digital Payment Aggregators (DPAs) like BharatPe, Mswipe, PhonePe, Paytm, Aceware were done to issue UPI ids, QR codes and digital training to the beneficiaries. Around 24.5 Lakh Street Vendors (SVs) have been onboarded digitally out of which 9.8 lakh vendors are Digitally active who have conducted 10.9 Crore Digital Transactions till date.

More than 42 Lakhs Eligible Loan Application under 1st Tranche and 773,986 Eligible Loan Application under 2nd Tranche were submitted. Out of these, more than 30 Lakhs loans under 1st Tranche and 46,931 loans under 2nd Tranche were sanctioned and more than 27 Lakhs loans under 1st Tranche and 33,471 loans under 2nd Tranche were disbursed. The loan total amount disbursed under 1st Tranche is ₹2656.97Crores and under 2nd Tranche is ₹66.62 Crores.

Urban Transport

One metro project i.e. Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase 2A & 2B of length 58.19 kms at the completion cost of ₹14,788 Cr has been sanctioned in June, 2021. 31 kms of metro rail lines have been commissioned in the cities of Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur.Under Make-in-India initiatives, the Ministry, in January, 2021, has issued a list of items where public procurement shall be done only from local suppliers. With driverless train operation on 94 km on Delhi Metro’s network, India is at 4th position in the elite league of world’s metro systems which operate drives less trains.

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Think big, act small

Problems are unanswered questions

firm foundation for relationships

Nothing in life is free

Never be afraid of making decisions

Decide to become a leader

Productivity yields results

See yourself as a salesperson

Improve your skills

Value your friends

Don’t believe everything you see

Learn to love criticism

Take care of your body

Happiness is a choice

Create something

Reference

Rate this:

Rate this: