IISc finds two natural compounds to treat cancer

A breed of natural cures for cancer has now been found in Quercetin and plant Vernonia Condensata

Turmeric’s uses in treating various types of cancers have gained ground in the last few years. A similar breed of natural cures for cancers has now been found by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, in Quercetin, a compound, and the plant Vernonia Condensata.

Quercetin is found in foods such as green tea, apples, whole grains and several other fruits and leaves. Vernonia Condensata is used as a nature cure in the treatment of cough, pneumonia, stomach ache, digestive and liver problems, snakebite and diarrhoea.

Use of these natural extracts has significantly reduced tumour sizes and increased longevity, two separate IISc studies have found.

These findings become relevant in the backdrop of the increasing incidence of cancer across the globe. The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates there were 14.1 million new cases of cancer worldwide in 2012, eight million of them from developing countries. The World Health Organisation projects that the number of cancer cases will go up by 70% in the next two decades.

The most common causes of cancer deaths are lung, liver, stomach, colorectal, breast and oesophageal cancer. The widely used methods of treatment include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

“All these methods of treatment carry considerable side effects and, thus, treating with naturally occurring compounds is the most desirable way,” said S.C. Raghavan, associate professor, Department of Biochemistry, IISc.

Quercetin is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, but the mechanism by which it works against cancer was not known until now. The researchers at IISc studied the anti-tumour potential of a potential drug on mice models of cancer and cells in culture.

“The anti-cancerous potential of quercetin was very high in comparison to other naturally occurring compound like ellagic acid. Treatment with quercetin showed a significant reduction in the size of tumours and five-fold increase in the life span of Swiss albino mice having cancer,” the study found.

Quercetin does so by inducing apoptosis, a process by which cells commit suicide, in a controlled manner in high stress conditions. It halts the multiplication of cancerous cells by blocking the process of cell division. “It also interacts with the genetic material in organisms. Binding to DNA is one of the mechanisms by which anti-cancerous drugs cause DNA damage, which eventually leads to destruction of cancerous cells,” the study said.

Quercetin was found to be useful even in killing the highly aggressive leukemia (or blood cancer) cell line K562, which is typically resistant to most anti-cancerous drugs. And in killing the cancerous cells, the compound was not seen leaving any significant adverse effects on non-cancerous cells of the body.

In another independent study, IISc also found that the extract of the plant, Vernonia Condensata, too aids in cancer treatment. In this study, the plant extract prevented the growth of cancerous cells and increased the survival chances (of the mice used in experiments) by 60%.

The extract used in the treatment of cancer, caused an imbalance in mitochondrial membrane potential, eventually leading to the destruction of cancerous cells.

“With these findings, there is finally some hope to treat cancers through natural products and in the most safe way. The chemicals used for cancer therapy suffer from significant side effects. Quercetin is a good chemotherapeutic agent and it might show even better effect when used in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents,” said Raghavan.

India, Iran and Afghanistan ink trade corridor pact

Signed during PM Narendra Modi’s Iran visit, the pact will open an alternative trade route for Kabul, bypassing Pakistan

India, Iran and Afghanistan on Monday signed a trilateral connectivity pact that will potentially open up an alternative route to world markets for Afghanistan. For India and Iran, it offers a strategic advantage as Pakistan has restricted Afghanistan’s trade with India by not fulfilling the terms of a previous land route agreement.

The three-nation transport and transit corridor pact was signed in the presence of visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Iranian host, President Hassan Rouhani, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who reached Tehran on Monday to be present at the signing ceremony.

Modi is on a two-day bilateral visit to Iran, the first by an Indian prime minister to that country in 15 years.

Earlier in the day, India and Iran signed a pact to develop the Chabahar port situated on the Gulf of Oman. Chabahar port is less than 100km from Pakistan’s Chinese-constructed port of Gwadar, built as part of a plan to open up an energy and trade corridor from the Gulf to western China.

Click here for enlarge

India also signed a pact with Iran to “provide requisite services for the construction of Chabahar-Zahedan railway line, which forms part of transit and transportation corridor in trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan”.

The plan is simple: to connect Chabahar by rail to Zahedan in Iran to Zaranj in Afghanistan and there onwards into Delaram which is also in Afghanistan. If Afghan goods come up to Zahedan, they can be transported by a 1,380-km rail link to Chabahar and shipped to India.

“We wanted to prove that geography is not our destiny. With our will, we can change geography,” Ghani said after the pact was signed.

Underlining the strategic importance of the trilateral pact, Arvind Virmani, a former economic adviser to the Indian government, said on Twitter: “Landlocked country breaks out of hostage situation created by a militarized neighbour for its strategic purposes.”

At present, Afghanistan uses Pakistan’s Karachi port for its exports.

Media reports in recent months have spoken of rising tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan given the spike in attacks by a resurgent insurgent Taliban, believed to be controlled by Pakistan. As a result, Afghan exports through Karachi had declined by about 40%, according to media reports.

In his comments, Modi described the trilateral pact as having the potential to “alter the course of history” of the region.

“It is a new foundation of convergence between our three nations. The corridor would spur unhindered flow of commerce throughout the region. Inflow of capital and technology could lead to new industrial infrastructure in Chabahar. This would include gas-based fertilizer plants, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and IT,” Modi said.

In an oblique reference to tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Modi noted that the location of Chabahar at the mouth of Gulf of Oman is of great strategic significance.

“Afghanistan will get an assured, effective and a more friendly route to trade with the rest of the world,” Modi said.

The “watch-words” of international relations were “trust not suspicion; cooperation not dominance; inclusivity not exclusion”, he said, adding that “motives of economic growth and empowerment would drive it. It will build our security without making others vulnerable. It would break barriers among our nations”.

When linked to the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chabahar-Zahedan-Zaranj corridor would connect South Asia on one hand and Europe on the other, Modi said. INSTC is an ambitious multimodal transportation established in 2000 by Iran, Russia and India to promote transportation cooperation. It is to connect the India Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea through Iran and then onwards to St. Petersburg and northern Europe through Russia.

In his comments, Rouhani said that Tehran, Delhi and Kabul had underscored the message that “the path of progress goes through cooperation and the utilisation of regional opportunities” by signing the pact.

“Countries of this region need to utilize opportunities provided... to expand regional cooperation,” Rouhani said.

In a bid to allay any potential Pakistani fears or suspicions that the pact was aimed against it, Rouhani said that third countries could join the trilateral arrangement in the future. The pact was “not against any other country... it is beneficial to the entire region” and will contribute to peace and stability, he said.

Modi described the Chabahar pact as a “milestone”.

India and Iran had agreed to look at developing the port in south-eastern Iran in 2003 during a visit to India by then Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, but the venture has not made much progress.

“The bilateral agreement to develop the Chabahar port and related infrastructure, and availability of about $500 million from India for this purpose, is an important milestone,” Modi said.

A note put out by the Indian foreign ministry on its website said, “The (Chabahar) contract envisages development and operation for 10 years of two terminals and five berths with cargo handling (multi-purpose and general) capacities”.

A preliminary pact between the EXIM Bank of India and Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization on current specific terms for the Chabahar port project was also signed, according to the ministry, which is “intended for the purpose of extending $150 million credit for Chabahar port”.

Another preliminary pact between India’s EXIM Bank and the Central Bank of Iran to extend credit of up to Rs.3,000 crore for the import of steel rails and implementation of Chabahar port was also signed.

A fourth accord between India’s IRCON (the specialized constructions organization associated with the ministry of railways) and the Construction, Development of Transport and Infrastructure Co. of Iran was also signed for the rail link connecting Chabahar and Zahedan.

“Services to be provided by IRCON include all superstructure work and financing the project (around $1.6 billion),” the note said.

New crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

New crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

In January earlier this year, in a move aimed at reducing the recurrence of agricultural distress without having to effect hefty hikes in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP), Narendra Modi led National Democratic Alliance government had announced a crop insurance scheme named Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

Under the new scheme being implemented from Kharif season of 2016, the premium paid by farmers had been reduced to 2% of the insured value for the more rain-dependent kharif crop and 1.5% for the rabi season, compared with 3.5-8% charged for the two earlier schemes ---- National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). In the case of horticultural crops, farmers’ premium burden will be 5% of the sum assured or 50% of the total premium.

NAIS and MNAIS have been discontinued from Kharif 2016, but the ongoing Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) and Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme would continue to operate while premium to be paid under WBCIS has been brought on a par with PMFBY.

Later while unveiling the operational guidelines for the PMFBY at a massive farmers' rally in Sehore in Madhya Pradesh in February this year, Prime Minister Modi had noted that new crop insurance scheme would provide a solution for the farmers problems, in times of difficulty. He said care had been taken to eliminate the shortcomings of previous crop insurance schemes, and create trust among farmers with regard to crop insurance. He said technology would be used extensively with this scheme to ensure early settlement of claims, and exhorted farmers to take benefit of this scheme.

Under the PMFBY, there would be no upper limit on government subsidy provided by centre and state governments. “Even if the balance premium (after farmers’ contribution) is 90%, it will be borne by the government,” according to an agriculture ministry statement.

In the earlier schemes, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. Officials said that this capping on premium was done to limit the government outgo on the premium subsidy. “This capping has now been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction,” an official said.

This would ensure that farmers get the full sum insured without any reduction or hassles from the 11 designated insurance companies if natural calamities ravage their crops. Officials said that the following roll out of PMFBY, the crop insurance coverage is set to rise from 45 million hectares or 23% of the area under cultivation at present to 50% of the crop area by 2018-19.

Another benefit to farmers under the new crop insurance scheme is that losses incurred by them at any stage of the farming activity — from the sowing to the post-harvest season — would be covered. Earlier, only post-harvest losses can be offset by the insurance facility under the two existing schemes. Also, even those farmers who haven’t taken bank loans will be eligible for insurance cover under PMFBY.

“The new scheme will increase farmers’ income and resultant increase in rural demand,” an agriculture ministry official said. The subsidy would be borne by the Centre and the state government concerned equally. For PMFBY, finance minister Arun Jaitley had allocated  Rs 5,501 crore in 2016-17 while Rs 2,995 crore was allocated for various crop insurance schemes in the previous fiscal.

The biggest thrust of PMFBY has been the use of technology which would be encouraged to a great extent. “Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments,” an official said.

In the earlier schemes, only 20 million of an estimated 120 million farmers in the country — earning for a population four to five times as many — had crop insurance cover in 2014-15, even as the facility was just against the cost of cultivation and barely provided any income protection.

According to the agriculture ministry data, most of the farmers who earlier took crop insurance were in Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In terms of the value of the farm output, the MNAIS and the Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme — fared even more dismally, with a coverage of only around 5.5%.

Progress so far

Since the launch of  PMFBY in January, states such as Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarkhand have already awarded contracts to empanelled insurance companies for providing crop insurance coverage to large number of farmers in forthcoming kharif season. 

However states like Punjab and Haryana are yet to decide on rolling out the new crop insurance scheme so far. “The Punjab government has decided not to implement PMFBY while the state government is still discussing about implementing Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) whose premium has been brought on a par with PMFBY,” an official.

In case of Haryana, the State Level Coordination Committee on Crop Insurance meetings were held recently and state government is yet to decide on rolling out mega crop insurance scheme. However, Maharashtra, which had received deficient rainfall during last couple of years leading to fall in crop output, the state cabinet recently gave a nod for implementation of PMFBY.

In Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the bidding process of identifying insurance companies have been completed and notifications are expected to be out shortly. The roll out of crop insurance would commence in Tamil Nadu and Assam after the state elections.

The Agriculture ministry has empaneled state-owned Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC) and 10 private companies including ICICI-Lombard General Insurance, HDFC-ERGO General Insurance, IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance and SBI General Insurance, for implementation of the mega scheme.

“The expansion of the crop insurance scheme would depend on the number of farmers voluntarily opting for it. Lower premium rates might encourage more farmers to take up crop insurance,” Ajay Vir Jahkar, chairman, Bharat Krishak Samaj, said

Meanwhile, the government has decided to entrust more responsibility on banks for covering more number of farmers under the PMFBY, a senior Agriculture ministry officer has said.

“Banks will be squarely responsible. In case there is crop loss to a loanee farmer who is not insured, the bank will have to make good the losses. The onus is now on banks and insurance companies to deliver”, Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Joint Secretary, Agriculture ministry recently said. He said that the government is trying to bring non-loanee farmers such as share-croppers too within the PMFBY fold. "There is a separate committee of the government looking into the land leasing policy and we should be able to address the aspect of sharecropper also getting the benefit of crop insurance,” he noted.

Experts say that PMFBY if implemented properly across the country would mitigate farm distress to a large extent especially when the erratic climates have become a norm rather than exception. 

UNESCO World Heritage Site, Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park,

अतुल्य भारत !!

• चंपानेर-पावागढ़ पुरातात्विक उद्यान एक युनेस्को विश्व धरोहर स्थल है। यह गुजरात के पंचमहल जिले में स्थित है। यहाँ ऐतिहासिक एवं जीवित सांस्कृतिक धरोहर सम्पत्ति की बहुतायत है। इसमें एक प्राचीन हिन्दू राज्य की राजधानी का एक महल व किला व सोलहवीं शताब्दी के गुजरात प्रदेश की राजधानी के अवशेष हैं। यहां किले, प्रासाद, धार्मिक इमारतें, आवासीय अहाते, कृषि चिह्न व जल आपूर्ति निर्माण कार्य के आठवीं शताब्दी से लेकर चौदहवीं शताब्दी तक के अनेक स्थल हैं। पावागढ़ पहाड़ी पर बना कालिका माता मंदिर को अति पावन स्थल माना जाता है।

Incredible India !!

• UNESCO World Heritage Site, Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, is located in Panchmahal district of Gujarat. The park's landscape includes archaeological, historic and living cultural heritage monuments such as a hill fortress of an early Hindu capital, chalcolithic sites and remains of the 16th-century capital of Gujarat. The Kalika Mata Temple, located on Pavagadh Hill, is an important Hindu shrine. Pavagadh Hills are also called as the “hill of hundred pools”. The Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park with its ancient Hindu and Jaina architecture, temples and special water retaining installations together with its religious, military and agricultural structures represents cultures which have disappeared. Champaner is located at a distance of 50 km from Vadodara 

Harnessing Solar Power: Rajasthan Leads the Path

Harnessing Solar Power: Rajasthan Leads the Path 

   India is running the largest renewable capacity expansion programme in the world. The government is aiming to increase share of clean energy through massive thrust in renewables. At Global Conference “REINVEST 2015” in February2015, Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi’s statement “India is graduating from Megawatts to Gigawatts in Renewable Energy production”, set up the higher expectation of clean energy generation in the country. The government has up-scaled the target of renewable energy capacity to 175GW by the year 2022 which includes 100 GW from Solar power. The government has revised the National Solar Mission target of Grid connected Solar Power Projects from 20,000 MW by 2022 by five times to generate 1,00,000 MW solar power by 2022. The target will principally comprise of 40 GW Rooftop and 60 GW through Large and Medium Scale Grid connected Solar Power Projects.

            To achieve these targets, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has initiated several projects like scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects; Scheme for Development of Solar PV Power Plants on Canal Banks/Canal tops; Scheme for setting up 300 MW of Grid connected Solar PV Power Projects by Defence Establishments under Ministry of Defence and Para Military Forces with viability Gap Funding ; Scheme of setting up 1000 MW of Grid connected Solar PV Power Projects with CPSUs with Viability Gap Funding; Scheme for setting up of 15000 MW of Grid connected to achieve the target; setting up of 2000 MW Grid connected solar power with Viability Gap Funding through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Another ambitions Scheme has been launched by the Ministry for Roof Top solar installations.

            Rajasthan shines on the solar energy map of India with 300-330 clear sunny days comparable to the deserts of California, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona. Within the state the districts such as Barmer, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur are the key regions with best solar radiation. Rajasthan is endowed with two critical resources that are essential to solar power production: high level of solar radiation (6-7 kwh/m²/day) and large tracts of relatively flat, undeveloped land.

            Rajasthan came at number one place in the country with 1766 million unit power production during the year 2015-16 in the field of solar power. This year, there has been a growth of 1.6 percent in solar power production. During 2015-16 on an average, 4.83 million unit power was produced daily in Rajasthan. At present, the total commissioned capacity of solar power is 1284 MW in the state.

            Special efforts have been made in Rajasthan for increasing the production of Solar Power in the State. Roof top SPV systems are being promoted in a planned manner and work is on for setting up of 6 MW of Roof Top SVP systems in the state. 1.50 lakh solar power domestic units have been set up in rural and urban areas of the state. 13,943 Solar Pump sets have been installed all over the state. Ministry of New and Renewable sources of Energy, Government of India has sanctioned 3 Solar Parks - 2180 MW capacity in Village Bhadla of Jodhpur, 750 MW in Phalodi-Pokaran and 1500 MW Solar parks in Fatehgarh Phase I B in Jaisalmer district.

            According to Solar Power Policy 2014 of the state, Government of Rajasthan is giving preference to Public Private Partnership in establishment of Solar Power Parks. One such project is the unique 1 Megawatt India One Solar Thermal Power Plant being set up by the World Renewal Spiritual Trust, a registered Charitable Trust/solar research centre and a sister organisation of the Brahmakumaris, at Mount Abu in Rajasthan. The thermal solar plant built jointly by the World Renewal Spiritual Trust and Germany’s Fraunkhofer institute (ISE) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s support of the project under its R&D Scheme with 12.6 crores. Being built with the cost of almost 100 crores the plant will start generating power in a year. The thermal solar power plant will be the first of its kind in the world in dish technology in direct steam generation mode, with full thermal storage for 16 hours continuous operations for base load.

            With Public Private Participation and active follow up on the Solar Power Policy in the State, the day is not far when Rajasthan will become self-sufficient and a surplus state in terms of solar power.

INS Tarmugli Joins the Indian Navy

INS Tarmugli Joins the Indian Navy

The Indian Navy today commissioned the highly maneuverable Fast Attack Craft INS Tarmugli at the hands of Vice Admiral HCS Bisht AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command at a formal ceremony held at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam. INS Tarmugli is being based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh) and would be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast of India.

Built by M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), INS Tarmugli is the first Follow-on Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC), is an improved version of WJFAC, earlier constructed by GRSE. Conceived, designed and built indigenously, the commissioning of this ship completes the addition of another chapter to the nation’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and indigenisation efforts in the field of warship design and construction.

Named after a picturesque island in the Andaman group, the 320-tonne INS Tarmugli, measuring 48 meters in length, can achieve speeds in excess of 30 knots. The ship is manned by a team comprising four officers and 41 sailors with Commander Sreejith S Nair at the helm as Commanding Officer. The ship is capable of operating in shallow waters at high speeds and is equipped with enhanced fire power. Built for extended coastal and offshore surveillance and patrol the warship is fitted with advanced MTU engines, water jet propulsion and the latest communication equipment.

The ships armament consists of a 30 mm CRN 91 gun manufactured by Ordnance Factory Medak. An electronic day-night fire control system namely Stabilised Optronic Pedestal (SOP) manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) controls the gun. The ship is also equipped with two 12.7 mm heavy machine guns (HMG) and multiple medium machine guns, besides shoulder-launched Igla surface-to-air missiles to combat aerial threats. 

Lucknow tops Fast Track competition; 13 more Smart Cities announced

Lucknow tops Fast Track competition; 13 more Smart Cities announced

Warangal, Bhagalpur, Raipur, New Town Kolkata, Port Blair, Imphal, Ranchi among the winners

Tie between Meerut and Rai Bareilly in UP and Jammu and Srinagar to be resolved

Urban renaissance set in motion as part of country’s transformation, says Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu

5 year action plans for cities for the first time, competition among urban bodies, citizen participation, outcome based planning mark the revival, asserts Minister

Water taps to all urban households, adequate water supply in urban areas by 2019

Housing sanctions based on land availability, options to beneficiaries to ensure Housing for All

Central assistance to improve urban infrastructure hiked manifold, says Minister

Total investment potential under new schmes-Rs.18 lakh cr; approved so far-Rs.1,48,093 cr

            Central Government today announced 13 more smart cities from as many States. Lucknow topped the list of winners of the Fast Track competition conducted for 23 cities from as many States and Union Territories. Announcing the winners at a media conference on the occasion of two years of the Government in office, Minister of Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu said that the cities that participated in the competition improved the quality of smart city plans by up to over 25% to become eligible for selection. With the selection of these 13 cities, 25 States/UTs are now covered under Smart City Mission

            On the occasion, Shri Naidu released a publication ‘Urban Renaissance : May,2014-May,2016’ giving a detailed account of paradigm shift in attitudes and approaches to urban planning and governance and the major drivers of urban revival and transformation set in  motion during the last two years.

            Shri Naidu informed that Lucknow that missed the list of first 20 smart cities improved the quality of its smart city plan by 19% to make it to the select list. Other winners of Fast Track competition were ; Warangal, Telanagana (13%), Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh (27%), Chandigarh (9%), Raipur, Chattisgarh (25%), New Town Kolkata (11%), Bhagalpur, Bihar (25%), Panaji, Goa (9%), Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands (26%), Imphal, Manipur (27%), Ranchi, Jharkhand (27%), Agartala, Tripura (25%) and Faridabad, Haryana(12%).

            These 13 cities were selected based on the marks scored by them in the Fast Track competition and the bench marks set by the top performers in the first round of Smart City Challenge competition in which the first 20 cities were selected from among 98 mission cities.

            Shri Naidu stated that the 13 cities have substantially improved their smart city plans by addressing the deficiencies identified in the first round of competition by ensuring better profiling of respective cities in terms of infrastructure gaps and baseline service levels, ensuring consistency between citizens’ aspirations and action plans, more feasible resource mobilization plans and coordinated and integrated picture of how individual projects will contribute to area level changes.

            Other cities that participated in Fast Track Competition were : Namchi, Sikkim and ranked 14, Aizawl, Mizoram(15), Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh(16), Dehradun, Uttarakhand(17), Kohima, Nagaland(18), Oulgaret, Puducherry(19), Silvassa, Dadra, Nagar & Haveli(20), Kavaratti, Lakshdweep(21), Diu, Daman & Diu(22) and Shillong, Meghalaya(23). These cities can submit their revised smart city plans for evaluation in the second round of regular competition underway by the end of June.

            Shri Venkaiah Naidu informed that the tie between Meerut and Rai Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Srinagar in J&K will be resolved by allowing them to participate in the smart city competition and one city from each of these two States will be selected based on the quality of smart city plans. Seven capital cities left out of Smart City Mission will also be allowed to participate in the competition. These cities are : Patna, Shimla, Naya Raipur, Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala).

            The Minister said that as a part of efforts for country’s transformation towards higher levels of social and economic development, renaissance of urban sector has been set in motion through a paradigm shift in policies and programmes. “The new approaches introduced, the new churning at the level of urban local bodies and States/UTs, the new spirit of competition among cities and Stated to do better than others, the new enthusiasm and vigor being demonstrated, the new clarity of thought about outcomes and actions to be taken and the new beginning towards urban transformation in a more purposeful and holistic manner marked the process of urban renaissance” he said.

            Extensive stakeholder consultations and citizen participation, selection of cities based on competition and other objective criteria, full autonomy to cities and States/UTs to formulate, appraise and approve projects, replacing project based sanctions of the past to area and outcome based planning, convergence based implementation of schemes and substantial enhancement in Central assistance are the major drivers of urban revival, said Shri Naidu.

            Giving an account of the gains of new initiatives and approaches, Shri Naidu said that for the first time in the country, 98 smart cities and 497 Atal Mission cities accounting for over 70% of urban population now have long term five year action plans based on comprehensive analysis of infrastructure gaps. Other positives the Minister stated include : Atal Mission cities acquiring technology platforms for transparent and accountable governance and citizen engagement, about 100 cities initiating action for obtaining Credit Ratings necessary for resource mobilization, approvals for plans for providing water taps to the unconnected 25 million urban households besides ensuring water supply at the norm of 135 litres per head per day to all urban households by 2019, smart city development benefitting 130 million urban people, streamlining approvals for building permits in urban areas, efforts for sanitation benefitting all 80 million urban households, well considered initiatives to ensure affordable housing for all the urban poor etc.

            Shri Naidu further informed that Central assistance for improving basic infrastructure in urban areas has been increased to Rs.1,13,143 cr under new urban missions as against only Rs.33,902 cr during 2004-14.  For affordable housing for urban poor, Central assistance of Rs.10,050 cr has already been approved as against only Rs.17,889 cr during the previous ten years.

            6.84 lakh houses have already been sanctioned for Economically Weaker Sections under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) accounting for more than half of 13.70 lakh houses sanctioned during 2004-14 out of which only 8.04 lakh houses could be built. Availability  of  land is being ensured before agreeing to  fund housing schemes besides giving four options to the beneficiaries to choose from based on their needs and incomes to enable targeted construction of affordable houses, the Minister observed.

            Shri Venkaiah Naidu informed that the new urban sector initiatives of PMAY(Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Start City Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) have a total investment potential of Rs.18 lakh crore. Of this, an investment of Rs.1,48,093 cr has already been approved. This include ; Affordable housing-Rs.43,922 cr, Atal Mission-Rs.20,882 cr, Smart City Mission-Rs.80,789 cr, Swachh Bharat Mission-Rs.2,000 cr and HRIDAY- Rs.500 cr.