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India is not historically responsible for the climate crisis but it should not emulate polluting practices of the West from the 19th century during its development, Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland has said. In an interview with PTI, Scotland said India has the opportunity to lead a just and equitable energy transition by sharing expertise and technology within the 56-nation club called Commonwealth, which represents 2.7 billion people. She also said that India can exemplify a new, clean and safe development model that can serve as a beacon of hope for the Global South. "India is a developing country, which was not historically responsible for creating this (climate) crisis. So, India is in a similar position to many of the Global South countries. And that is absolutely true," the Commonwealth secretary general said. Despite not causing the crisis, she said, India is suffering from severe climate consequences, including extreme heat, floods and intense monsoons, and
India's technical assistance is critically important to the Commonwealth, the Secretary General of the 56-member organisation said, asserting that it gives a huge amount of hope to many of the developing states to leapfrog the developmental challenges which have already been undertaken and surpassed by India. Patricia Scotland's remarks came as she hosted the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers meeting in London on the theme of Driving Resilience, Equity, and Skills for an Inclusive Future. Scotland welcomed India's willingness to share technological developments with the Commonwealth in an open-source way and hoped for greater commitment towards the organisation's educational goals. At the two-day meeting at the Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House headquarters in London which opened on Thursday, she called on ministers to help eliminate the barriers that impede access to education, harness technology and encourage lifelong learning. India has made it clear t
India's centralised public grievance redressal system has been recognised as best in practice across the Commonwealth following a meeting of top civil servants from the 56 member countries this week. The Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) was highlighted in the outcome statement of the Third Biennial Pan-Commonwealth Commonwealth Heads of Public Service meeting held between Monday and Wednesday at the Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House headquarters in London. The meeting was themed as Institutionalisation of Smart Government to enhance public service delivery under which the government of India's administrative department made a presentation. The Indian presentation on the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) was made by Shri V Srinivas, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), on April 23, 2024, and received commendation from Commonwealth member countries as a global best
Four Indian young leaders are among 50 social entrepreneurs, environmental champions, innovators, and human rights activists from across the Commonwealth shortlisted for this year's Youth Awards. The young people, aged between 15 to 29, are all involved in initiatives that make tangible contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). From India, Akshay Makar has been shortlisted under SDG13 Climate Action, Soumya Dabriwal SDG 5 Gender Equality, Kaushal Shetty SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Shrutika Silswal SDG 4 Quality Education. Each year, I am always amazed by the innovative and transformative work these young people are undertaking to create a better world for us all, Baroness Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General. I am particularly proud that 50 young leaders are being honoured in this Commonwealth Year of the Youth. I have always been of the view that development should be youth-led. Those who have been shortlisted prove that