Articles by "Hardeep Singh Puri"
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Hello Jammu News at 5:45:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Sep 6: A day after Arvind Kejriwal expressed his sadness over Delhi metro becoming out of reach for common man, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Thursday said the Delhi Chief Minister should instead look at the state of public transport system that comes under his government which lacks 7,000 buses.

Addressing the 13th Sustainability Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Puri said Delhi today has the fourth largest metro system in the world, it is a first class asset and most affordable metro anywhere in the world.

"My good friend - the chief minister of Delhi - was expressing sadness that so many people have moved away from the metro. The report has been produced by people who are reasonably credible but they have an agenda where they are not comparing an orange with an orange. What they end up doing was completely falsifying the facts," he said.

"If somebody wants to be sad, they should be sad about the fact that the other public transport in Delhi which comes under the government which has a sanction of 11,000 buses is about 7,000 short," Puri said.

A recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had found that after the fare hike last year, Delhi metro has become the second-most unaffordable service in the world among the cities that charge less than half a US dollar for a trip.

Reacting to the study, Kejriwal Wednesday said it is "very sad" that an important means of transport has become out of reach of common man.

Taking a further dig at Kejriwal, Puri said the ridership at any point of time before the hike was 27 lakh and today the ridership has crossed 29 lakh. The study of 2016 which said the ridership would increase to 32 lakh took into consideration the Phase-3 which has not become operational as yet, he added.

The Delhi Metro on Wednesday termed as "misleading" the CSE report which also claimed the Delhi Metro has received nearly 32 per cent less than the number of daily passengers it had hoped to serve this year, saying its earlier projection included Phase-3 which has not become operational as yet. (PTI)

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Hello Jammu News at 2:19:00 PM 0

New York, Jul 18: The success of the ambitious 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by world leaders to achieve a healthy, equitable and peaceful world, will depend on India, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.

The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship development programmes are "game-changers" and through these, India has embarked upon the world's largest and most comprehensive programme of planned urbanisation undertaken anywhere in the world.

"The Millennium Development Goals succeeded largely because China lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. The success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends entirely on India and we are determined to (achieve that), Puri told here.

"I have no doubt on the India success story. We will deliver it in a green and resilient manner. But the SDGs were not made for India, they are a global set of goals. India will succeed and therefore SDGs will succeed because India's success will impact 1.25 billion people, he said.

Puri was in the city to attend the United Nations High-Level Political Forum, which is reviewing progress towards several of the SDGs.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Goals were adopted by world leaders in September 2015 as a blueprint for creating a healthy, equitable and peaceful world.

In adopting the development agenda, world leaders had resolved to end poverty and hunger everywhere; to combat inequalities within and among countries; to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies; to protect human rights and promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls by 2030.

India's urbanisation agenda entails building 700 to 900 million square meters of urban space every year, Puri said, adding that India will have to build a new Chicago every year from now till 2030 to meet its urban demand. He added that in 1947, when India became an independent country, 17 per cent of its population, on a base of 350 million, lived in urban areas.

At present, over 30 per cent of India's population, on a base of 1.2 billion, lives in urban centres. By 2030, when work is completed on the 2030 Development Agenda, nearly 600 million Indians, or 40 per cent of the country's population, will reside in urban spaces.

Puri stressed that the new urban infrastructure India builds for 2030 will have to be green and resilient. He added that under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the government aims to build 11 million affordable homes for urban Indians by the year 2022.

"We have already sanctioned over 5 million and are confident of meeting the targets by middle of 2019, he said.

Puri, who is also President of the Governing Council of UN Habitat, the UN programme focussed on promoting socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements, said his "most pressing preoccupation" is the concern that the urbanisation narrative by itself and the climate change and urbanisation narrative is not resonating enough in the international community.

"What my concern as President of the Governing Council of UN Habitat is that the international community and the multilateral system anchored in the UN has parts of it dealing with climate change, environment and habitat but together it is not resonating in terms of the task at hand, he said.

Puri, who met with UN Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner, UN Environment Programme head Eric Solheim and UN Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif during his visit, said he stressed in his meetings with the top UN officials that there is a need to put our heads together, put together a process that will ensure that we optimise the attention and resources to make sure the climate change and habitat together get the kind of attention it needs.

Underscoring the important role of the private sector and civil society, Puri said the "development paradigm needs to focus much more sharply on urbanisation.

He said as the President of UN Habitat, he is absolutely determined to get a new discourse on urbanisation and climate change in India that includes greening and using technology to produce ease of living.

Puri said as people move to urban areas in India, it has to be ensured that the system is able to deal with that magnitude and scale of demographic shifts taking place.

"I think we are up to it. You need to build in a green and resilient manner, you need to ensure that instead of getting urban sprawls which are horizontal you focus on the vertical, you need to put in better sewage treatment plants, he said.

Amid concerns of cities running out of water, Puri said if nations don't address these concerns, there is a danger" lurking there.

India has no shortage of coastline and rivers. What India needs is a very comprehensive strategy to recycle and reuse water and water treatment. We should be acutely conscious of this concern, he said, adding that as water tables fall around the world, nations must conserve rainwater and have efficient water treatment plants. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:02:00 PM 0

United Nations, Jul 12: India will have to build a new Chicago every year to meet its massive urban demand as 40 per cent of the country's population is projected to reside in urban areas by 2030, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.

Addressing the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development here yesterday, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs asserted that India's development goals will be met in an inclusive manner anchored in the human rights.

Puri said nearly 600 million Indians will reside in urban areas by 2030, the target year for achieving UN's ambitious development agenda.

"To lay further emphasis on India's urban prospects - from now till 2030, India has to build 700 to 900 million square meters of urban space every year. In other words, India will have to build a new Chicago every year from now till 2030 to meet its urban demand," Puri told the UN forum attended by diplomats, top UN officials, civil society member, urban planners and national stakeholders.

He stressed that India still had to build 70 per cent of the new urban infrastructure required by 2030 and this has to be green and resilient.

Puri linked the success of the 2030 Development Agenda to India's national success in achieving the Sustainable Development goals, saying that "if India succeeds, the 2030 Agenda will succeed.

"The Millennium Development Goals succeeded because China was able to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and I say with equal conviction," that India is well on its way to achieve its 2030 Agenda.

"India's national development goals...policy initiatives for inclusive development converge well with the SDGs, and India will play a leading role in determining the success of the SDGs, globally," Puri said.

He asserted that India will achieve its development goals, including the SDG Goal 11 of sustainable cities and communities, in an inclusive manner anchored in human rights.

"We will resettle people in slums on an as-is-where-is basis, that is they will be resettled where they are living," he said.

At present, over 30 per cent of India's population, on a base of 1.2 billion, lives in urban centres, as compared to 17 per cent of the population living in urban areas at the time of India's independence in 1947.

Addressing the session on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, Puri said flagship programmes implemented by the Indian government were moving in a direction to ensure that India succeeds in the 2030 Agenda.

Puri, who is also President of the Governing Council of UN-Habitat, told the forum that India was implementing some of the world's largest and most ambitious national schemes for social inclusion, economic growth, and environmental sustainability, through silo-breaking approaches.

He, however, highlighted that urban areas in India faced multi-pronged challenges and a complex ecosystem in ensuring housing for all, technology-based solutions to enhance service delivery, better mobility and greener transport, smart governance and in doing more with less.

"By promoting cooperative federalism, ensuring integrated planning through convergence, and focusing on an outcome-based approach compared to a project-based approach, we have embarked upon the most ambitious and comprehensive programme of planned urbanisation ever undertaken in the world," he said.

More than 90 per cent of the global urban growth is occurring in the developing world and India, China and Nigeria will together account for 35 per cent of the growth in the world's urban population between 2018 and 2050.

"It would not be an overstatement to say that India's urban agenda will constitute one of the defining projects of the 21st century," he said.

Outlining the various ambitious programmes launched by India, Puri said the country's international commitments are mirrored in the national development goals.

Puri said the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or the Prime Minister's scheme on Affordable Housing for All is the world's largest housing programme for the poor under which the government aims to build 11 million affordable homes for urban Indians by the year 2022.

"We have already sanctioned over 5 million and are confident of meeting the targets by middle of 2019. Giving a fillip to gender empowerment, the title of each home under the Mission is under the lady of the house, or co-jointly," he said.

India is in the process of creating 100 Smart Cities to strengthen urban infrastructure by applying smart solutions, he said.

"With India striving to meet its national socio-economic development targets, achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 169 targets linked to them will be a major success story of the millennium affecting more than a billion persons all at once," he said.

Established in 2012, the HLPF meets annually under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

It is the main United Nations platform on sustainable development and has a central role in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs at the global level.

The Agenda with its 17 Global Goals was adopted in 2015 by UN member States and aims to protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 6:33:00 PM 0

 Pitches for inclusion of more towns under AMRUT, Seeks 90:10 funding pattern of Smart City Project
NEW DELHI, MAY 28: Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Sat Sharma today met the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr. Hardeept Singh Puri and flagged several important issues relating to the Housing and Urban sector in the State.
Sat Sharma while discussing the implementation of the smart city projects in the State called for changing the funding pattern from the existing 50-50 (50 state and 50 centre) to 90:10 wherein the centre would be providing 90% of the funding and the state share would be 10%. He said that the same would ensure that the speed of the implementation of the scheme is speeded up and it is completed within the stipulated time frame.
The Minister also called for inclusion of more towns of the state under the flagship scheme of AMRUT so that the holistic development of the Jammu and Kashmir can be undertaken and people provided with quality facilities of modern housing needs.
Mr. Sat Sharma also apprised the Union Minister about the critical issues of the Housing sector and pleaded for extension of more central schemes and funds to the state so that pace of development in Jammu and Kashmir gets a flip. He said that the Union government has been quite liberal in sanctioning of developmental funds to the state especially in the Housing and Urban Development and hoped that the same would continue.
He also extended an invitation to the Union Minister for visiting the state in the month of June and also undertaking a comprehensive review of the schemes being implemented in Housing and Urban Development sector and also the projects completed.  
Financial Commissioner Housing and Urban Development, Mr. K. B. Aggarwal was accompanying the Minister.

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Hello Jammu News at 3:30:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Jan 3: Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri filed nomination for the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Mr Puri submitted the nomination form to Assembly principal secretary and returning officer Pradeep Dubey. 
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, UP BJP president Mahendra Pandey and other senior party leaders accompanied him to the Vidhan Bhawan.
Election to the Rajya Sabha was necessitated after former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar resigned and became Chief Minister of Goa. The term of this seat ends in November, 2020.
Mr Puri is a 1974-batch Indian Foreign Service Officer who served as permanent representative of India to United Nations from 2009 to 2013 and chairman of United Nations Security Counter-Terrorism Committee.  UNI
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