PEOPLE IN THE NEWS IN MAY 2013

PLACES IN THE NEWS

NAGPUR IS THE MOST LIVEABLE INDIAN CITY; NASHIK BEST TOURIST FRIENDLY CITY

At the ABP News-IPSOS Best City Survey and Awards 2013 event in New Delhi on March 6, 2013
Nagpur won the award for most liveable Indian city. Delhi was declared as the best city for primary education and roads. Nagpur won the award for most liveable Indian city for top health care services, green cover as well as best public transport. Rajkot was declared as the city with the best law and order. This city also ranked at the top most position in terms of cleanliness and sanitation as well as women safety.
The city with best traffic management was Pune. Madurai was adjudged the city was most affordable
housing. Nashik became the best tourist-friendly city while Mumbai was adjudged as the city with best power availability.

INDIA’S 20 MOST LIVEABLE CITIES

In the list, the most  liveable  cities  were Nagpur, Bhopal, Varanasi, Rajkot, Agra, Madurai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Surat, Pune, Patna, Nashik, Amritsar, Jaipur, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
The awards were given for the first time. These awards were based on the surveys which evaluated as well as identified cities that have a population of more than 10 lakh. These cities were adjudged on 13 main
parameters which are as follows :
• Affordable Housing
• Public Transport
• Roads   
• Power Availability
• Efficient Traffic Management   
• Health Care Services
• Cleanliness and Sanitation   
• Law and Order
• Green City
• Primary Education
• Women Safety   
• Tourist Friendly City
• Overall Best City to live in


The Awards given were as follows :

Name of the Indian City

Nagpur    -    Most Liveable Indian City
Delhi    -    Best City for Primary Education and Roads
Rajkot    -    City with the Best Law and Order Best City for Women Safety
Pune    -    City with Best Traffic Management
Madurai    -    City with Most Affordable Housing 
Nashik    -    Best Tourist-Friendly City
Mumbai    -    City with Best Power Availability
Nagpur    -    The Greenest City

TRIPURA, MANIPUR AND MEGHALAYA

Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur on March 23, 2013 got their own High Courts. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, Judge of Chhattisgarh High Court took oath as the first Chief Justice of Manipur High Court on March 23, 2013. Gurbachan Jagat Governor of Manipur administered his oath for the office in Imphal, Justice Deepak Gupta along with three other judges would be administered the oath to the High Court of Tripura by the Governor of Bihar and Tripura Dr. D. Y. Patil. Ashwini Kumar, the Union Law Minister will open the High Court of Manipur in Presence of Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir on December 25, 2013. With the opening of the three high Courts in the North Eastern states of India, The total number of high Courts in India has gone up to 24 from previous 21.

OKHLA COMPOST PLANT

The composting plant of South Delhi Municipal Corporation in Okhla, New Delhi became the first in India to receive the carbon credits from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The civic body was given Rs. 25 lakh as an advance against the Carbon Emission Reduction (CER) earnings from this plant. The Okhla plant became operational in 2008. Since 2008, around two lakh tonnes of the waste has already been processed. In the future, the amount of waste processed everyday would be increased. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has outsourced this operation to IL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.), which in turn is also working on the programme for upgradation of this plant.

PORT BLAIR

NTPC Ltd. on March 30, 2013 commissioned a 5 MW Solar Photo-voltaic Power Project at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The new Solar Photo-voltaic Power Project is the first grid-connected project in these islands and also the first greenfield renewable solar PV project of NTPC. The project was commissioned in record time of six-and-half months sweeping over serious challenges like skilled manpower and machinery and inclement weather conditions. The project was basically executed by Photon energy Systems. Skilled manpower and equipment were arranged from the mainland through road, rail and sea route. Around 10 hectares of land was given by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration on lease to NTPC at Garacharma Hills Village in Port Blair in September 2012 for setting up the project.