15-Apr-2019: Vice President Inaugurates 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific (RCAP) Congress 2019
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has called upon town planners to make sustainable solutions such as harvesting solar energy, enhancing green cover and water conservation an essential part of town planning.
Shri Naidu, while addressing the 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific (RCAP) Congress 2019 organized by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), asked municipal administrators to accord priority to tree plantation, solid waste management, protection and rejuvenation of water bodies.
Observing that a massive migration from rural to urban areas has become a reality, the Vice President said that education, entertainment, enhanced medical facilities and employment were the main drivers of such migration. He asked for collaborative efforts of governments at state and centre to reduce the divide by providing urban amenities in rural areas.
Opining that economic growth must take environmental protection into consideration, Shri Naidu observed that dependency on fossil fuel must be reduced and new forms of energy sources such as solar must be explored. It cannot be business as usual as far as development is concerned.
The Vice President called upon all the representatives of provinces and cities of various countries presented to adopt multi-dimensional and innovative approaches to ensure low emissions oriented development. He urged them to promote public transport in cities to reduce congestion and air pollution.
Observing the green infrastructure was the need of the hour, he stressed the need to promote resource efficiency to achieve climate resilient urban development. Moving away from traditional metrics of measuring development, Shri Naidu called for new urban infrastructure that was low-carbon, green and climate resilient. He also called for measures to ensure that urban solid waste is converted wealth by learning from the best practices followed globally.
Saying that one must draw inspiration from our cultural roots, especially the civilizational values that revered and urged us to protect natural resources, the Vice President said that adopting green solutions, providing good governance and building urban resilience was the way forward.
Observing that rise in global temperature was going to result in several aspects of human activity including farming, Shri Naidu wanted planners to factor in changing climate and its likely impacts in all development strategies. He called for up-scaling climate mitigation measures to reduce climate-related risks in the future.
Pointing that more than 60% of the world’s population resides in Asia and the region was most affected by natural disasters, the Vice President said that governments in Asia must build climate resilient habitats. He further said that Asian cities must emphasize biodiversity and healthy, functioning ecosystems. With pollution reaching hazardous levels in cities, utmost priority needs to be accorded to promote clean and green technologies.
The 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific (RCAP) Congress 2019 organized by the organized by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) in association with South Delhi Municipal Corporation witnessed the presence of more than 200 delegates from around 30 countries.
The Chargé d'affaires, Embassy of Switzerland in India, Ms. Tamara Mona, the Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to India and Bhutan, Mr. Raimund Magis, the Deputy Secretary General of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, Shri Emani Kumar, the Commissioner, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Shri Puneet Kumar Goel, Town planners, Mayors from countries such as Bhutan, Japan, Switzerland, Malaysia, Nepal, Mongolia, Vietnam, European Union, China and other dignitaries were present at the venue.
25-Feb-2019: India hosts ‘4th Global Digital Health Partnership Summit’
Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the ‘4th Global Digital Health Partnership Summit’, in the presence of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Union Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology and Health Ministers from several countries. The global intergovernmental meeting on digital health is being hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP).
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Union Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology spoke about the use of technology innovations in transforming healthcare. He highlighted the various initiatives of the Government towards digital healthcare. He said that India is committed to reaching the last man in the line through digital health interventions and digital inclusion. Digital governance is good governance and bridging a digital divide must be achieved through technology that is low cost.
Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare said that the entire healthcare system in India and the world is undergoing a rapid transformation. The way we know of healthcare being delivered and accessed is poised to change for better. The digital health interventions are accelerating this transformation. It has a huge potential for supporting Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for which Government of India is committed.
India under the leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji is committed to securing Universal Health Coverage for the underprivileged and deprived section of our society with the launch of a comprehensive healthcare scheme by the name of Ayushman Bharat, with the twin pillars of Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) at primary and secondary levels of healthcare and PM-Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) at the tertiary level. After the roll-out of ‘Modicare’, in merely 155 days, nearly 1.3 million people have availed the benefits of more than Rs.16 Billion under this scheme.
Ayushman Bharat is primarily dependent on maximising the use of digital tools for effective implementation and monitoring. The scheme is completely digital wherein all the processes from beneficiary identification to hospital empanelment and settlement of claims are done electronically. Hence all the benefits of the scheme are delivered in a mode that is cashless, paperless & completely transparent for all stakeholders.
Through robust digital interventions the government has ensured that continuum of care across primary, secondary and tertiary facilities get delivered. We have embraced digital health to achieve the targets of UHC. A “National Resource Centre for EHR Standards has also been set up in order to augment facilitation for adoption of the notified EHR Standards. Indian government has notified health informatics standards and approved Metadata & Data Standards for enabling seamless exchange of information across care providers to make these systems interoperable and to build electronic health records of citizens.
India took the world stage at the 71st World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland by successfully introducing and unanimous adoption of Resolution on Digital Health. This resolution highlighted global attention to the potential, challenges and opportunities of Digital Health interventions and the need for closer collaboration on the issue globally for countries achieving health-related SDG targets as well WHO's implementation of 13th General Program of Work.
The Health Ministry is in the process of establishing an Integrated Health Information Platform for interoperability amongst various health IT systems and a pan-India exchange of Electronic Health Records of citizens ensuring privacy, security, and confidentiality of data. The same is to be supplemented by a pan-Indian network of disease surveillance, tele-medicine and tele-radiology and tele-education.
The Ministerial Conclave discussed the implication of digital health interventions to health services accessibility, quality and affordability and explores ways of leveraging digital health technologies to strengthen the healthcare delivery systems globally.
The Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP) is an international collaboration of governments, government agencies and multinational organisations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of their citizens through the best use of evidence-based digital technologies. Governments are making significant investments to harness the power of technology and foster innovation and public-private partnerships that support high quality, sustainable health and care for all. The GDHP facilitates global collaboration and co-operation in the implementation of digital health services.
11-Feb-2019: World Government Summit 2019
The World Government Summit organization aims to shape the future generation of governments. This core mission stems from the need for governments to evolve, as mandated by the technological advances of the last few decades. The Summit brings the public and private sectors together to collaborate with world-renowned experts in order to help create a positive impact for citizens worldwide.
In 2019 edition, the agenda was shaped around thematic tracks and themes such as Post Conflict Governance, The Future of Trade, Happiness and Wellbeing, The Interplay of Politics and Society, Design to Transform Government, What is the New in News, and The World’s next Resources.
In addition, The World Government Summit hosted three guest countries in 2019 represented by their leaders exploring the best of practices. Estonia, Europe's Digital Leader, shared their best practices in digital transformation. Costa Rica, shared their best practices in sustainability, and Rwanda shared their best practices in Tourism and Agriculture.
The program also included a series of forums such as the Global Policy Platform, the Global Dialogue for Happiness and Wellbeing, the Future of Government Communication Forum, the Global A.I. Governance Forum, the Government Services Forum, the Gender Balance Forum, the Climate Change Forum, the Women in Government Forum, the Advanced Skills Forum, and the Future of Jobs Forum.
We continue to co-curate forums with our strategic partners. We hosted the SDGs in Action in partnership with the UN, the Government Capacity Building Program in partnership with the World Bank, and the Arab Fiscal Forum in partnership with the IMF.
11-Feb-2018: 6th World Government Summit
The World Government Summit is a knowledge exchange platform at the intersection of government, futurism, technology, and innovation. It functions as a thought leadership platform and networking hub for policymakers, experts and pioneers in human development. It also showcases innovations, best practices, and smart solutions to inspire creativity to tackle these future challenges.
The Summit is organized under the leadership of His Excellency Mohammad Abdulla AlGergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future – United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Chairman of the World Government Summit Organization.
Partners of the Summit include: the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the UN, the Organisation for Economic Co-0peration and Development (OECD), the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Dubai Municipality, and El Centro Latinamericano de Adimistracion para el Desarollo.
The World Government Summit was formed by a team of experts from different disciplines to bring government, business and civil society together with the goal of improving the future for the seven billion people on the planet.
The first World Government Summit was held in Dubai in 2013, and has been held annually since then.
The theme for 2018 World Government Summit include artificial intelligence and happiness.