Shah lauds Mission Million Trees, flags off EV buses

Bharatmala-I has outlay of Rs 5,35,000 Cr

The Bharatmala Pariyojna Phase-I was approved at an estimated outlay of Rs. 5,35,000 Crore. A total of 24,800 kms length of National Highways have been considered in Phase-I as well as 10,000 km residual road works under NHDP. Under this program, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has identified stretches for development of about 9,000 km length of Economic corridors, about 6,000 km length of Inter-corridor and feeder roads, about 5,000 km length of National Corridors Efficiency improvements, about 2,000 km length of Border and International connectivity roads, about 2,000 km length of Coastal and port connectivity roads, about 800 km length of Expressways. No road project in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has been envisaged under Border and International Connectivity roads component of this programme. Total 17 nos. of road projects having an aggregate length of about 701.4 km have been approved under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I till March, 2019 in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Out of 17 nos. projects, 15 nos. of road projects having an aggregate length of about 631.7 km have been awarded till March, 2019 in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

However, under Border Roads and International Connectivity Roads component of Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, 07 nos. of road projects with an aggregate length of about 1,042 kms and total cost as Rs. 4,916 crores (approx.) have been awarded till March, 2019 in entire country. Under Coastal Roads and Port Connectivity roads component of this programme, 05 nos. of road projects with total length of about 163 kms and total cost as Rs. 2,469 crores (approx.) have been awarded till March, 2019 in entire country. Progress of all the projects is monitored electronically for ensuring completion of projects as per schedule.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin J Gadkari in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

News source: Press Information Bureau.

Swachh Bharat good for ground water: Study

Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that Swachhata affects all aspects of the environment – be it groundwater, surface water, soil or air – as well as health and well-being of the communities in ODF regions. Praising the Swachh Bharat Mission for bringing a reduction in ground water contamination, he said, the WHO 2018 study had estimated that the Swachh Bharat Mission will save over 3 lakh lives by the time India is Open Defacation Free. Releasing two independent third-party studies conducted on the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), the Minister said, the Mission will continue to positively impact people’s lives for a long time to come.

These studies, commissioned by UNICEF and the Bill and Melinda Gates, were aimed at assessing the environmental impact and communication footprint of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) respectively. The full reports as well as the summary reports of both the studies can be downloaded from mdws.gov.in and sbm.gov.in.

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar highlighted the significance of launching these studies on World Environment Day. He said that the United Nations, aware that the protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue which affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world, designated 5th June as World Environment Day. He added that it is only fitting that UNICEF has chosen this day to release its findings on the positive impact the Swachh Bharat Mission has had on the environment of rural India.

Secretary, Government of India, Parameswaran Iyer, in his opening remarks, shared that the rural sanitation coverage in the country had crossed the 99% mark and that the Mission was in the final stretch of its completion with 30 States and Union Territories already having declared themselves free from open defecation. He said that the Mission is focusing on sustaining the gains of this progress and to extend the momentum to the ODF-plus phase which includes solid and liquid waste management.

Summary of the study findings

Under the “Environmental impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission on Water, Soil, and Food” by UNICEF, groundwater samples were collected and studied from ODF and non-ODF villages of Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal. The study found that, in terms of faecal contamination, non-ODF villages were, on average:

11.25 times more likely to have their groundwater sources contaminated (12.7 times more from contaminants traceable to humans alone)
1.13 times more likely to have their soil contaminated
1.48 times more likely to have food contaminated and 2.68 times more likely to have household drinking water contaminated.
The study findings indicated that these substantial reductions may potentially be attributed to the improvement in sanitation and hygiene practices, as well as supportive systems such as regular monitoring and behaviour change messaging, which have all been critical aspects of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).

IEC footprint study by Gates Foundation

The “Assessment of the reach and value of IEC activities under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen)” conducted by Dalberg, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, estimated the scale of IEC activities within the Mission and assessed associated monetary and in-kind costs, and outputs such as reach. The study found that:

SBM mobilized a spend equivalent worth INR 22,000 to 26,000 crores in monetary and non-monetary IEC activities.
Of this spend equivalent, cash expenditure on IEC activities spent by the Government, private sector, and the development community was estimated to be between INR 3,500 – 4,000 crores.
Of this cash spend, ~20% (~INR 800 crores) was spent by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), ~35% (~INR 1,250 crores) by the State Sanitation Departments, ~25% (~INR 1,000 crores) by other government ministries, and the other ~20% by the private sector (CSR and business expenditures) and the development sector collectively.
An average person living in rural India was exposed to between 2,500 – 3,300 SBM related messages over the last five years.

Gadkari takes charge of transport ministry

Nitin Gadkari took charge of the office of the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways in New Delhi today. He also holds the portfolio of the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Gadkari was Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in the previous government.

Gadkari is a member of Lok Sabha since May, 2014. He was earlier a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council during 1989-2014. He was Minister for PWD in Maharashtra Government during 1995 to 1999.

Climate Change: Javadekar takes charge

Prakash Javadekar today assumed charge as the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change here today. He was greeted at the office at Paryavaran Bhawan by Environment Secretary Shri C K Mishra and other senior officials of the ministry. Babul Supriyo also assumed charge as Minister of State.

Briefing the media after assuming the charge, the Union Minister said it is like a home coming for him as he already served in the ministry for two years in the first term of NDA government. He stressed that we will strongly reinforce that this ministry is seen as a facilitator and not merely as a regulator. “Economic growth and environment protection should go simultaneously, and we need to work with an increased impetus towards that”, said Javadekar.

After assuming the charge, the Minister also held a meeting with the senior officers of the Ministry where he was briefed on the key initiatives and policy issues of the Ministry.

Infosys Foundation Opens Aarohan Awards 2019

The awards would recognize solutions that could positively impact the underprivileged in India. (Representative image)

Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic and CSR arm of Infosys, has announced the launch of the second edition of the Aarohan Social Innovation Awards. The award is aimed at accelerating innovation in the social sector. The Aarohan Social Innovation Awards 2019 seek to recognize and reward individuals, teams or NGOs developing unique solutions that have the potential to positively impact the underprivileged in India, at scale.

Speaking at the launch of the second edition of the awards, Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murty said, “The Aarohan Social Innovation Awards 2018 was a huge success. Infosys Foundation witnessed a very good response from social innovators across the country and eventually, 12 leading innovators were recognised and awarded. The overwhelming response we got last year, has reaffirmed my belief that there are innumerable innovators across India who are looking up to this platform to give wings to their passion by scaling their innovation and impacting millions of lives. With the second edition of the awards, we hope to discover these hidden social innovators across the country and help them scale the power of their social innovations”

The awards will accept submissions across six categories, namely, Healthcare, Rural Development, Destitute Care, Women’s Safety & Empowerment, Education & Sports, and Sustainability.

The submission process for the second edition of these awards commences on July 15, 2019 and will continue till September 30, 2019. Participants can submit entries describing their work in the form of videos that can be uploaded on the Aarohan Social Innovation Awards website. The entries must be of a fully functioning prototype, not just a concept, idea or mock up. Additionally, the project must not be an established commercial venture.

Aarohan Social Innovation Awards will also offer winners an opportunity for residential technical mentorship at the IIT Hyderabad campus for up to 12 weeks to help them further develop and scale their solutions.

A panel of distinguished judges will evaluate and select the winners whose submissions will be assessed on five broad criteria – application to a social problem or need, innovative use of technology, originality of ideas, ease of use and the quality of presentation. The jury will comprise Prof. Trilochan Sastry, former Dean, IIM Bangalore; Padma Shree Arvind Gupta, an Indian toy inventor and science expert; Prof. Anil Gupta, visiting faculty member, IIM Ahmedabad, a globally renowned scholar of grassroots innovations and founder of the Honey Bee Network; Prof. GVV Sharma, Faculty member of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Coordinator, Teaching Learning Centre, IIT Hyderabad; Sumit Virmani, Senior Vice President and Global Head – Marketing, Infosys, and Infosys Foundation Chairperson, renowned author and philanthropist Sudha Murty.