Achieving agricultural sustainability

The Madhya Pradesh government and Central Nodal Department on Saturday organised workshops on Urban infra, urban transport, roads and logistics, informed a Finance Ministry press release. “The in-person workshop on Track 1 – Urban Infra, Urban Transport, Roads & Logistics, Power, and Industrial Infrastructure of Sub-Theme 2 – Infrastructure & Investments under Pillar 1 – Growth and Job Creation, in the run-up to the 2nd Conference of Chief Secretaries, was organised by the track-lead State of Madhya Pradesh and the Central Nodal Department i.e., the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India,” the Ministry of Finance said in the release.  As per the release, the workshops witnessed participation from 16 State Governments and Union Territories. The workshop saw participation from over 60 senior officials from the State Governments and Union Territories and also representatives from industry and academia. The workshop was inaugurated by the Chief Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Iqbal Singh Bains, and Secretary, DEA, MoF, GoI, Ajay Seth.  They suggested utilising this opportunity to enable a centre-state and inter-state discussion on ideas, potential solutions and exchange of learnings and best practices. They also emphasised the need to bring forth practical recommendations that are of utmost relevance to the State/UTs and aligned to the theme for this year’s conference – ‘Viksit Bharat – Reaching the Last Mile’, the release added. In his context-setting address, Principal Secretary, of the Urban Development and Housing Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Neeraj Mandloi, apprised of the background and steps leading to today’s in-person workshop, such as preparation of concept notes, background paper and video conference meeting held earlier this month.  As per the release, the session also witnessed the launch of the scheme guidelines for the financial support for Project Development Expenses of PPP Projects – India Infrastructure Project Development Fund (IIPDF) Scheme (The Scheme was notified on 3rd November 2022). During the workshop, presentations were made by representatives from industry and academia, State Governments and Union Territories followed by an open house discussion on major implementation models, ideas and experiences across projects, schemes and the way forward, the Ministry further stated. (ANI)

In a conversation with The Fifth Estate before Building Circularity, chief executive and co-founder of Coreo, Ashleigh Morris, delved into her passion for accelerating the transition to a circular economy, how she elevated a busy street out of its waste woes, and why food scraps should be the new way of creating energy. Starting out at the hyperlocal level, on a grungy coastal Queensland street, businesswoman and conservationist Ashleigh Morris has built a growing circular economy consultancy that’s now collaborating with Lendlease, Mirvac, Rio Tinto, universities and the Brisbane and Sydney councils.