India, Singapore win 2014 UN 'Water for Life' award

March 21, 2014

Tokyo, Mar 21: India and Singapore won the 2014 edition of the UN-Water "Water for Life" Best Practices Award for their sustainable practices of water resources, authorities said Friday.

Water_for_Life_awardThe award was announced by the United Nations Office during an official UN ceremony here to mark World Water Day 2014 Friday, reported Xinhua.

"The winners this year are excellent examples of two organizations that tackle future challenges in a sustainable way," said Michel Jarraud, chair of UN-Water at the ceremony held in the United Nations University.

The prize is awarded yearly for "best water management practices" and "best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices". Each year's special emphasis is in line with the theme selected for UN World Water Day, which focuses on "Water and Energy" in 2014.

This year's "best water management practices" went to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)-Tata Water Policy Programme (ITP), a project based on water scarce across India.

ITP has made progress in filling the gap between research and policy action by simultaneously engaging with scientists and policy makers to tackle the socio-economic environmental challenges related to the improvement of the energy-irrigation nexus, according to the jury.

Singapore-based "NEWater programme", which can meet 30 percent of Singapore's daily water needs, won the "best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices" for its strong social component and enduring partnerships in its manifold and remarkable water management practices.

"One of the merits of the winning projects is how they have been able to integrate and scale-up practices to be able to improve access, efficiency and sustainability in water and energy and to do so in partnership with local and national actors," said Josefina Maestu, director of the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication.

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: People of Delhi have explained the true meaning of nationalism through their mandate, AAP's prominent face Manish Sisodia said as he clinched victory on the Patparganj seat.

Sisodia, who retained his seat for the third time, said the BJP indulged in "politics of hate", but people refused to be divided.

"I am happy to have won the Patparganj seat again. The BJP indulged in politics of hate, but I thank the people of Patparganj. Today, Delhi's people have chosen a government which works for them and explained the true meaning of nationalism through their mandate," he told reporters.

Sisodia, who was the Deputy Chief Minister and led the government's education reforms agenda, defeated BJP's Ravinder Singh Negi by a margin of over 3,500 votes.

The initial trends saw a seesaw battle between Sisodia and Negi.

In 2013, Sisodia had won by a margin of 11,000 votes and in 2015 by over 28,000 votes.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday met JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh here at Kerala House on Saturday.

This meeting comes at the backdrop masked mob violence by miscreants who entered the university campus recently and attacked the students and professors with sticks and rods.

"I thank the Kerela government for standing by us and extending solidarity. Its fight Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) shows how standing is standing for its secular ethos. Students Union takes the inspiration from this struggle," said Students' Union President in a statement after meeting Kerala CM.

She also thanked "the youth and comrades of Kerela" and quoted Pinarayi as saying, "go on we will take this fight ahead."

More than 30 students, including Ghosh, were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch investigating the case of violence in JNU had identified and released photographs of nine suspects, including that of Aishe Ghosh.

Earlier on Monday, Kerala CM had said that the "Nazi-style attack" on the students and faculty is an appalling display of intolerance running amok.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Kashmir, Jan 9: US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster along with envoys from 15 other countries arrived in Srinagar on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, the first visit by diplomats since the abrogation of the erstwhile state's special status in August last year.

The Delhi-based envoys arrived in Srinagar by a special chartered flight at Srinagar's technical airport where top officials from the newly carved out union territory received them, officials said.

Later in the day, they would be going to Jammu, the winter capital of the newly created Union Territory, for an overnight stay. They will meet Lt Governor G C Murmu as well as civil society members, they said.

Besides the US, the delegation will include diplomats from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Norway, Maldives, South Korea, Morocco, and Nigeria, among others.

Brazil's envoy Andre Aranha Correa do Lago was also scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir. However, he backed out because of his preoccupation here, the officials said on Wednesday.

Envoys from the European Union (EU) countries are understood to have conveyed that they will visit the union territory on a different date and are also believed to have stressed on meeting the three former chief ministers -- Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- who are under detention.

Officials said envoys of several countries had requested the government for a visit to Kashmir to get a first-hand account of the situation in the Valley following the August 5 decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 and bifurcate it into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

This is the second visit of a foreign delegation to Jammu and Kashmir since August 5. Earlier, Delhi-based think tank International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, a Delhi-based think tank took 23 EU MPs on a two-day visit to assess the situation in the union territory.

The government had distanced itself from the visit with Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy informing Parliament that the European parliamentarians were on a "private visit".

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