The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, chaired the second meeting of the Steering Committee on the Northern Metropolis today (April 11).
During the meeting, members of the Steering Committee discussed and provided comments on the planning of San Tin Technopole, a major development project in the Northern Metropolis with strong synergy with the key innovation and technology (I&T) development cluster in Shenzhen that can drive Hong Kong’s development as an international hub for I&T. It would also become a new community for quality, healthy and green living.
The meeting also noted the progress of bureaux and departments in putting forward initiatives and proposals for formulating the action agenda and implementation plan for the Northern Metropolis to be released later this year.
The meeting noted the work so far of the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis chaired by the Financial Secretary and the Task Force for Collaboration on the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy led by the Deputy Financial Secretary on the Hong Kong side with Shenzhen, both having held their first meetings. The meeting also provided steer on ways to better promote and engage the public on the Northern Metropolis.
The Steering Committee on the Northern Metropolis, chaired by the Chief Executive involving key political officials, was established in December 2022 to provide high-level policy steer and supervision for the development of the area.
A meeting of the Consultative Committee for Ministry of Mines and Coal was held today in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The meeting was chaired by Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Mines, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs and was attended by Members of Parliament; Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary ,Mines, Shri Amrit Lal Meena, Secretary ,Coal and other Senior officers.
Consultative Committee for Ministry of Mines and Coal has been constituted by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to provide a forum for informal discussion between the Members of the Parliament and the Union Minister on the policies and the working of the Ministries.
Agenda of the meeting for the Ministry of the Mines was Mining Reforms and their Impacts and Action Plan for auction of 500 mineral blocks by 2023-24. After the introductory remarks by Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, a brief presentation on the subject was made by Dr. Veena Kumar Dermal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines.
She highlighted that since the landmark reforms made in 2015 to introduce auction as the method of allocation of mineral resources in the country, 214 mineral blocks have been auctioned. It was also informed that Number of blocks auctioned per year has increased three times since 2021 amendment. As compared to auction of 108 blocks in six years from 2015 to 2021, 106 blocks have been auctioned in one and half years since April, 2021.
The auctioned blocks which have been operationalized have resulted in increase in revenues of the States such as Odisha, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Although, number of working auctioned mines is miniscule (36) in comparison to working non-auctioned mines (405), the premium collection from auctioned mines is surpassing the royalty collection from all the working mines. For 2021-22, total auction premium from the auctioned mines was Rs. 21,148.04 Crores in three States (Odisha, Karnataka & AP) as compared to Rs.21,267.64 Crores from royalty of all the working mines. The same trend could be seen for the current financial year also.
The amendment in the Act also removed restrictions on transfer of mineral concessions which has enabled transfer of mining leases in nine cases. This has enabled transfer of mining leases in case of disinvestment of PSUs for example, Nilachal Ispat Ltd. was disinvested Rs.12,100 Crore and it is also facilitating merger and acquisitions in the sector.
National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) has been established to provide necessary financial support to mineral exploration in the country. Till July, 2022, Rs. 1,809.42 cr. has been approved for various projects and Rs. 477.16 cr. has been spent from NMET fund in various exploration activities. In the year 2021-22 alone, record amount of Rs.751.43 cr. was approved and Rs. 124.71 cr. was spent in exploration of mineral resources.
It was also briefed to the Members of the Committee that till September, 2022, Rs. 70,107 cr. has been collected in District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) and 2,52,995 projects worth Rs. 63,534 cr. has been sanctioned for various activities for welfare of persons and areas affected by mining related operations.
Members of the Parliament appreciated the efforts made by the Ministry of Mines in reforming the sector. They also gave valuable suggestions regarding the guidelines related to DMFs for effective utilization of funds for mining affected areas and the inhabitants. The Minister of Mines assured the members that all the suggestions would be deliberated for further necessary action.
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) organised the 44th meeting of the Executive Committee yesterday under the chairmanship of Shri G. Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG. In the meeting, 13 projects pertaining to geo-mapping in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi, sewerage management in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, river front development works in Uttarakhand, wetland conservation, Arth Ganga and refurbishment of gates of Belia Circular Canal in Kolkata were approved. The estimated cost of these projects is around Rs. 818 crores.
For scientific geo-mapping of River Ganga and its tributaries, 3 projects were approved. These include ‘Fluvial Geomorphology mapping of Hindon River Basin’ by NEER. Hindon River is a second-level tributary of the Ganga River. The mapping of point sources of pollution as well as fluvial geomorphological changes brought about by anthropogenic activity or natural factors will aid in tributary river rejuvenation and bring about a bottom-up approach for maintaining the health of the main river systems. The prime objectives of this project are delineation of fluvial geomorphological features along the Hindon river basin, identification of decadal changes in fluvial geomorphological, delineation of stream network and suitable recharge zones, delineation of point sources of pollutant input close to the confluence of the Hindon river analysis and GIS, architectural interventions on Sustainable River Embankment Strategies and identifying potential zones for ghat development. The estimated cost of this project is Rs. 16.4 lakhs. A similar proposal for Dehradun – ‘Geo-Ganga: Space-based mapping & Monitoring of Ganga River’ using UAV/Survey and remote sensing techniques costing Rs. 5.4 crore was also given the go ahead in the meeting. This project will be implemented by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun.
Another project for ‘Provision of Services for acquisition, processing & delivery of high resolution images, thematic layer of drain, sandmining, illegal dumping, encroachment inriverbed, land use/land cover map using airborne LiDAR & optical sensor’ was approved. This will be done in NCT Delhi and parts of Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Baghpat of Uttar Pradesh and Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand costing about Rs. Rs.12.65 crore.
For sewerage management in the Ganga basin, 5 projects were approved. These include STP and I&D works in Supaul Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs. 57.09 crore involving development of 3 STPs (STP-1: 8.9 MLD; STP-2: 1.9 MLD; STP-3: 1.1 MLD), 6 drain tapping, 6 I&D structures for the drains etc. Another STP and I&D project for Bihar was sanctioned for Ramnagar town that includes 2 STPs of 4.5 MLD capacity each and interception & diversion works costing Rs. 56.97 crore.
A big project for Mathura on River Yamuna was also sanctioned costing around Rs. 282 crore involving construction of a new 60 MLD STP, 4 I&D structures, I&D network laying of 1.97 km etc. One project in Uttarakhand including interception & diversion, STP works for Muni Ki Reti, Neelkanth Mahadev, Jonk Swargashram at Rishikesh was approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 91 crores.
Another big sewerage management project for construction of a new 65 MLD STP at Garden Reach in Kolkata, West Bengal was also approved by the EC at an estimated cost of Rs. 275.07 crore. Other works in this project include upgradation/repair of 8 SPS, civil and E&M work, construction/repair of approach road to the STP etc.
For river front development, two projects for Badrinath in Uttarakhand were approved that includes construction of Plaza Promenade and Parikrama including new ghats, public amenities, EV track, signages, landscape, pavilions, toilets, drinking water facility, shopsat a total cost of Rs. 27.57 crore.
A project on “Capacity Building Programme for Leveraging of Community Resources and Appropriate Local Resources Based on Technology to Adopt Arth Ganga Model” by HESCO, Dehradun was also approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 5.20 crores. The objectives of the proposal include establishing Arth Ganga Training Centre at HESCO Gram to be used as a common platform for various Ganga based economic activities for the rural community, creation of Ganga Resource Centres across the Ganga Basin which would cover around 500 families and related resource based economic activities like fruit farm, mushroom cultivation, vegetable cultivation, rural energy, water recharge, home stays, etc. to enhance entrepreneurship among the people on the banks of River Ganga and identification of voluntary organizations with strong credibility and experience. Arth Ganga Centre would act as an institute equipped with all necessary knowledge and technology, its responsibility will be to make the linkage between GRC and other research institutes. It will also conduct sector-wise meetings with stakeholdersespecially panchayat, local media persons, Voluntary Organisations etc. A total of 1500 families would be directly trained and indirectly 20000 community members will be exposed to its benefits.
Wetland Conservation has been on priority under Namami Gange Programme. 23 out of 64 Ramsar Wetlands sites are in the Ganga Basin. A project titled ‘Conserving and Sustainably Managing Udhwa Lake Bird Sanctuary’ in Sahibganj District, Jharkhand was approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 50 lakhs under Namami Gange Mission-II. The project is aimed at providing a replicable and scalable template for integrating conservation and management of Udhwa lake bird sanctuary and conserve, restore and develop this important wetland. It envisages Integrated Management Plan for Udhwa lake bird sanctuary based on stakeholder consultation & baseline hydrological assessments. The interventions seek to conserve Udhwa lake, enhanced aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity and productivity, conservation of important birding area and sustainable floodplain for the better flow of ecosystem services of Ganga Riverscape.
Another project for installation of 5 new sluice gates along the Bank (Eastern & Western) of Beliaghata Circular Canal, refurbishment of 28 existing sluice gates etc. was approved for around Rs. 4.25 crore. This project is essential to stop the leakage of penstock gates and stop the drains to discharge the wastewater in the river in Kolkata, West Bengal.
The Executive Committee meeting NMCG was attended by Shri S.P. Vashishth, ED (Admin.), NMCG, Shri D.P. Mathuria, ED (Technical), NMCG, Shri Himansu Badoni, ED (Projects), NMCG, Shri Bhaskar Dasgupta, ED (Finance), NMCG and Ms. Richa Misra, JS&FA, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Giving the background of ‘DIGI YATRA’, the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said that it is a project conceived to achieve contactless, seamless processing of passengers at Airports, based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT). The project basically envisages that any traveller may pass through various check points at the airport through a paperless and contactless processing, using facial features to establish the identity which would be linked to the boarding pass. He said that the privacy issues have been taken care of in the system. It provides for decentralized mobile wallet-based identity management platform which is cost effective and addresses privacy/data protection issues in implementation of Digi Yatra. After approval of the revised Digi Yatra guidelines, an AIC (Aeronautical Information Circular) has been published by DGCA on 18.04.2022.
Digi Yatra Foundation (DYF) has been set up as a joint venture (JV) company in 2019 under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 whose shareholders are AAI (26% shares) and BIAL, DIAL, GHIAL, MIAL and CIAL. These 5 shareholders equally hold the remaining 74% of the shares. The Foundation was formed, with the objective of creating the Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem (DYCE). Digi Yatra Foundation will be a pan-India entity and the custodian of the Passenger ID validation process. It will also develop consensus amongst the Aviation Stakeholders in India. It would also define the criteria for compliance and guidelines for the local airport systems. The JV will conduct regular audits, of the various compliances and guidelines (including guidelines on security, image quality, data privacy) defined by the Digi Yatra guidelines for the local Airport Biometric Boarding Systems (BBS).
In first phase, Digi Yatra is proposed to be rolled out at two Airports namely Varanasi and Bengaluru in August 2022 and at five Airports namely Pune, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad by March next year. AAI will identify their airports where Digi Yatra would be implemented in phased manner.
The High Level Committee (HLC), under the Chairmanship of the Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, has approved additional Central assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), to six States, which were affectedby floods, landslides and cyclones during 2021. This shows the resolve of the Union Government under the leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to help the people of the six states who faced these natural disasters.
The HLC approved additional Central assistance of Rs. 3,063.21 crore from the NDRF:
For Cyclone ‘Tauktae’- 2021, Rs.1,133.35 crore to Gujarat;
For Cyclone ‘Yaas’- 2021, Rs.586.59 crore to West Bengal;
For floods/landslides during the South West Monsoon, 2021, Rs. 51.53 crore to Assam, Rs. 504.06 Crore to Karnataka, Rs. 600.50 crore to Madhya Pradesh and Rs. 187.18 crore to Uttarakhand.
This additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the States in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at the disposal of the States. During the financial year 2021-22, the Central Government has released Rs. 17,747.20 crore to 28 States in their SDRF. Further Rs. 3,543.54 Crore has been released to 7 States from NDRF.
In the aftermath of Cyclone ‘Taukte’ and ‘Yaas’, Rs. 1,000 crore was released in advance from NDRF to Gujarat on 20.05.2021and Rs. 300 crore to West Bengal on 29.05.2021.
During the year 2021-22, the Central Government had deputed 22 Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) immediately after natural calamities, without waiting for the receipt of a Memorandum from the affected State Governments.
