Mr Kamal Nath, Minister of Urban Development, Govt. of India gave away the Environmentally Sustainable City Awards (ESCA), 2011 to the cities of Mysore and Vijayawada at the 5th Euro-India Summit on 13 October 2011 at Leuven, Belgium.
ESCA awards are based on the efforts made by the cities for the conservation of Water, Air, Habitat, Energy and Earth.
The Mysore[1] Municipal Corporation has implemented a pilot project on zero waste management (ZWM) at Kumbarakoppalu. The inorganic waste is brought to the ZWM by Self Help Groups and subjected to aerobic treatment and vermi composting. The project has enhanced community participation and provided employment opportunities to the low income families.
Vijaywada[2] Municipal Corporation has been chosen for implementing the energy saving Project for Street Lighting on ESCO basis. The average energy consumption before the project implementation was 12 million KWH which has reduced now to 4.8 million KWH.
Earlier, in Brussels, Minister Nath addressed the Plenary Session of the European Union Committee of Regions (COR) on Wednesday. This is the first occasion when a Minister of a non EU has addressed the COR. Speaking on the occasion Minister Nath invited the EU to come forward and partner with India in the area of capacity building and invited investment in the Urban Sector, including through Public Private Partnership mode.
The COR is the political assembly of local and regional authorities who are drawn from 27 EU Member States. The COR was set up in 1994 and its purpose is to give local and regional representatives a say in the development of new EU laws.
Related facts
[1]First Anglo-Mysore war (1766-69): Haider Ali defeated the British. The
Treaty of Madras (1769) signed.
[2]Hazrat Bal Mosque, a site of religious significance is in Vijayawada . A holy relic of Prophet Mohammad is kept here and displayed once a year.
Today in History
| 14-October-1956 | Dr. Bhimrao Ramji, Ambedkar and about two lakh scheduled caste men and women |
| 14-October-1998 | Prof. Amartya Sen was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize for Economics. He became the sixth Indian, by birth or citizenship, to win a Nobel. |
source:pib.nic.in category:national
