The National Commission for Women organized a Workshop on Gender Responsive Governance for elected women representatives (MLAs) from six States under ‘She Is A Changemaker’ project, a pan-India capacity building programme of the Commission for improving leadership skills of women representatives at all levels.
Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana and Lt. Governor of Puducherry participated as Chief Guest in the inaugural ceremony. Chairperson, National Commission for Women Ms Rekha Sharma and Disha Pannu, Deputy Director Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) also graced the occasion.
In her inaugural address, Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan motivated the women MLAs with her valuable experiences and appreciated their efforts towards the nation and the public. She said that women have come a long way from being a homemaker to becoming a changemaker and though it is not an easy task but women have dedicated their lives to serve the country and humanity. She also said that it was not an easy job to be a people’s representative and no matter the number of challenges but women must be confident and consistent in their hardwork and they will achieve their goals. She also said that there is a need to prepare men to live with strong women.
While delivering her inaugural address, Chairperson, NCW, Ms Rekha Sharma said that the workshop has been conceptualised and developed with an aim to promote capacity-building for women leaders. She said that every woman is a leader and all that they need to do is polish their skills.
The three-day workshop has been organised in Udaipur, Rajasthan in collaboration with National Gender and Child centre, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). During the workshop, the women MLAs will be trained on gender-responsive governance in different sessions such as ‘Effective Leadership’, ‘Inclusive Governance’, ‘Understanding Gender-Based Violence, ‘Gender Sensitive and Inclusive Communication’, ‘Strengthening Legislative Traditions’ and ‘Digital Literacy & Social Media Training, etc. The workshop is being attended by 25 participants from the states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
The primary objective of the workshop is to sensitize and assist the Elected Women Representatives to build on their identified strengths and increase the levels of self- awareness in a manner that would help them in managing different and challenging paths ahead, in line with the overall ‘She is a Change maker’ programme.
Under ‘She Is A Changemaker’ project, the Commission has organised capacity building programme for women representatives in association with region-wise training institutes with an aim to improve their decision making, communication skills, effective management, etc.
NHAI organised a day-long stakeholder consultation workshop on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based tolling in India. The objective of the workshop was to seek input and suggestion from various industry experts and stakeholders on different aspects of the GNSS-based tolling system. The workshop will help strategise and design the future roadmap for free-flow tolling system in India based on GNSS technology.
Various stakeholders including relevant government departments, ISRO, NIC, and industry players such as Vehicle Manufacturers, AIS-140 On-Board Unit (OBU) manufacturers, Global GNSS service providers, Banks, Payment Aggregators/Gateway Service providers were invited for deliberations on GNSS based tolling system. Sessions and presentations were held with consultants & industry experts on global best practices for GNSS based tolling, discussions were held on the findings of the pilot carried out by NHAI on Delhi – Mumbai corridor and various aspects of GNSS architecture, payment settlement process, proposed enforcement measures and discussion on legal framework requirements were also discussed.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Giridhar Aramane, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said that “The stakeholder consultation is important to discuss various issues involved in GNSS based tolling deployment and seeking suggestions. We have to ensure that the process of toll collection is seamless. To achieve this objective, we need to have a technology framework that will enable us to operate in an efficient way, is economical and acceptable to various stakeholders.”
In her address NHAI Chairperson Smt. Alka Upadhyaya said, “We are pleased to organize this session and deliberate with stakeholders on what could be the likely way forward on deployment of GNSS based tolling in India. This session will help us to get inputs from the experts who have come from other parts of the world and will help us to address various challenges that we may face in planning and rollout of GNSS based tolling across the country.”
In the proposed GNSS technology-based tolling system, the NH stretch will be geo-fenced and shall consist of virtual tolling points. Whenever a vehicle fitted with GNSS OBU shall pass through this virtual tolling points, information on distance travelled will be calculated based on satellite signals from multi-constellation such as NaVIC, GPS etc. and applicable fee shall be computed by the central GNSS software system and deducted from the users’ bank account linked to the OBU.
Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to Govt. of India, inaugurated a Brainstorming Workshop on 22nd June 2022 at India International Centre, New Delhi to kick start an ambitious National Mission on “National Air Quality Resource Framework of India (NARFI)” developed by the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru with the support from the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (O/o PSA) to the Government of India. The framework will provide an all-inclusive guide to collecting air quality data, studying its impact and implementing science-based solutions.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Sood stressed the need to bring together all stakeholders from government, industry and citizens. “[Tackling pollution] is a complex and multi-dimensional problem which will require researchers, government officials and citizens to come-together. Solutions to the problem will require an integrated, multi-sectoral science and technology approach, while also addressing the social aspect of the problem” remarked Prof. Sood.
The inaugural function was also graced by Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Director, NIAS and former Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, Dr. (Mrs.) Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary O/o PSA, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director AIIMS, New Delhi, Prof Gufran Beig and Dr. M. Mohanty the Project Coordinators of NARFI. The workshop saw participation of delegates from government and non-government agencies, scientists, industry and start-up representatives.
While presenting the overview of the mission, Prof Gufran Beig emphasized the absence of authenticated and integrated information on air quality in the country. To fulfil this vacuum, a science-based integrated air quality resource framework is needed. NARFI, supported by O/o PSA and implemented by NIAS is a timely step in the right direction. The NARFI is an information mechanism to help decision-makers in government, municipalities, start-ups and in the private sectors to address air pollution issues in different climatic zones of India. Research-based audited Information and industry-oriented solutions will be shared in an easy-to-understand format. The short-term basic training modules tailored for different groups such as active ground level staff in government establishments, implementers, media and policymakers, would be an integral part of the framework. All this can help enrich communication and enhance general awareness, leading to self-mitigation. The NARFI will evolve around the following five modules:
THEME-1: Emission Inventory, Air Shed, and Mitigation
THEME-2: Impacts on Human Health and Agriculture
THEME-3: Integrated Monitoring, Forecasting and Advisory Framework
THEME-4: Outreach, Social Dimension, Transition Strategy and Policy
THEME-5: Solutions, Public-Industry Partnership, Stubble Burning & New Technologies.
It was stressed that there is a need to have close cooperation between researchers and industries in order to get faster solutions. Linking reduction of air pollution in the health and agriculture sectors is important for citizens to understand the gravity of the situation and solutions for the same.
“We are largely dependent on the models created in the west to tackle this problem. The NARFI will enable knowledge creation, developing infrastructure and industrial structures and studying its effects on human health in the country” remarked Prof. Shailesh Nayak about the goal of NARFI.
For queries on the workshop please write to: gufranbeig@gmail.com
The National Commission for Women (NCW) organized a Workshop on Gender Responsive Governance for elected women representatives (MLAs) under ‘She Is A Changemaker’ project, a pan-India capacity building programme of the Commission for improving leadership skills of women representatives at all levels.
The three-day workshop has been organised in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh in collaboration with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) and the National Gender and Child centre of LBSNAA from 22nd to 24th June, 2022. During the workshop, the women MLAs will be trained on gender-responsive governance in different sessions such as ‘Effective Leadership’, ‘Inclusive Governance’, ‘Overview on Gender-Based Violence with a Special Focus on Trafficking of Women & Adolescents’, ‘Gender Sensitive and Inclusive Communication’, ‘Emotional Intelligence’, etc. The workshop is being attended by 29 participants from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel participated as Chief Guest in the inaugural ceremony, today. In her inaugural address, she motivated the women MLAs with her valuable experiences and real-life examples. She stressed on the importance of discipline in the life of a public representative and said that better coordination with officials at the grassroot level especially the gram panchayat was extremely important to promote effective development to every person of the society. She reiterated the commitment of the government and told the participants to strive towards, ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’.
While delivering her keynote address, Chairperson, NCW, Ms Rekha Sharma said that the workshop has been organised with the thought of ‘Empowered Women Leadership, Empowered Democracy’. This program was conceptualised and developed with an aim to promote capacity-building of women leaders, she said.
Under ‘She Is A Changemaker’ project, the Commission has organised capacity building programme for women representatives in association with region-wise training institutes with an aim to improve their decision making, communication skills, effective management, etc. The Commission has organised 49 training batches in eight states under which around 1700 women representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions/Urban Local Bodies have been given training so far.
The Department of Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is conducting a National Workshop on ‘Vision for an effective, speedier and hassle free Consumer Dispute Redressal’with President and Members of the National Commission, Presidents and Members of the State Commissions and Presidents of selected District Commissions along with Principal Secretaries of the States on 20th June, 2022 at New Delhi.
Hon’ble Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Textiles and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal will inaugurate the workshop.
The purpose of the Workshop is to discuss and deliberate on effective and speedy consumer disputes redressal. The Workshop aims at understanding core issues faced by various consumer commissions across the country in the process of disposal of consumer disputes and address these concerns with the support of legal provisions and technology.
The key issues to be discussed in the Workshop are: Status of vacancies & pending cases in the State and District Commissions and prescribing a framework for effective and speedy redressal consumer grievances.Status of e-filing in State and District Commissions and suggestions for making e-filing preferred option for the consumers for grievance redressal.Status of Mediation in State and District Commissions and suggestions for putting in place an effective mechanism for mediation as prescribed in Consumer Protection Act 2019. Status of infrastructure in State and District Commissions and suggestions for improving the same.
The key issues shall be deliberated by way of panel discussions and representatives from various State Commissions, State Governments and District Commissions will put forth their challenges, views and suggestions in achieving the holistic goal of effective and speedy consumer dispute redressal.
Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Hon’ble Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Hon’ble Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Rural Development and Mr. Justice R. K. Agrawal, Hon’ble President, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission will also grace the occasion and address the participants.
