Sustainable Development Goals

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday expressed confidence that India can achieve its developmental goals by embracing modern advancements while preserving and promoting its rich cultural heritage. Speaking at 'Koti Deepotsavam,' a mass deepam lighting event held during the Hindu month of Kartik, the President emphasised India's progress towards "holistic and inclusive development." "To achieve this vision, we must move forward together and contribute to building a 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India)," Murmu said. She encouraged citizens to light "the lamp of the resolution", symbolising a commitment to continuous progress, adherence to truth and dharma, and a focus on the welfare of the underprivileged. The President expressed her happiness at attending the event, which she described as a "celebration of Telugu art, culture, and heritage". Murmu highlighted the significance of lighting lamps as a message of moving from darkness to light and ignorance to knowledge. She noted that the

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged the G20 grouping to accelerate efforts to ensure a cleaner and more sustainable future for all. In an address at a session on sustainable development and energy transition at the G20 summit, Modi said it is essential for developed countries to fulfil their commitments to provide technology and finance in a timely manner to the developing nations. India is sharing its successful experiences wit all friendly countries, particularly with Global South, he said. On challenge of climate change, the prime minister said India is the first G20 country to have fulfilled the commitments made under the Paris agreement ahead of time. Our efforts are based on traditional Indian thought which is both progressive and balanced, he said. The summary of Modi remarks were posted on 'X' by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. During the New Delhi G20 summit, we had adopted the Varanasi Action plan to accelerate achievements of the SDGs

The new initiative aims to help governments, businesses, financial institutions, and local communities to make informed decisions, support sustainability and manage risks

Jaishankar participated in a discussion organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) titled Tiger's Tale: Crafting a New Development Paradigm

Driven by the Centre's efforts, India's EV sector shows promise but challenges remain. At present, EV adoption in the country stands at 2% for passenger vehicles and 6% aross all categories

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday said developing countries need more than USD five trillion to meet their climate goals by 2030, and the USD 100 billion promised earlier by developed nations is "too small" an amount. Addressing the 19th Sustainability Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Yadav said that developed countries, which are historically responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions and appropriating a large share of the global carbon budget, had pledged USD 100 billion and technology transfer to help developing nations combat climate change. "But they failed on both fronts... Now, developing countries need more than USD five trillion. USD 100 billion is too small an amount," he said. He added that if poorer nations, such as Ethiopia, were to adopt the consumption patterns of developed countries, humanity would need the resources of seven Earths to meet the global demands. Yadav also said the consumption patterns in India ali

Given the current level of public debt and deficit, India's public finances will need deft management both at the Union and state levels

In its ESG report 2023-24, ICICI Bank says it has allocated Rs 5.19 billion for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in financial year 2024, up from Rs 4.63 billion the previous year

Markets regulator Sebi has proposed expansion of the sustainable finance framework in the securities market by introducing a new category of financial instruments. This category will include Social Bonds, Sustainable Bonds, and Sustainability-linked Bonds in addition to the current green debt securities. It aims to provide issuers with flexibility in raising funds for projects that align with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives. In a consultation paper released on Friday, Sebi proposed that issuers, in addition to existing green debt securities, be allowed to raise funds through issuance of social bonds, sustainable bonds, and sustainability-linked bonds. These bonds will collectively be known as ESG Debt Securities. This will enable issuers to raise money for more sustainable projects, assisting in closing the funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals. Sebi said it received representations from market participants including the Confederation of Indian ..

27 per cent of global cases of the disease are found in the country, according to estimates

India, through its efforts, has been an important contributor to progress across the Sustainable Development Goals, Vice Chair of the NITI Aayog Suman Bery said. These remarks by Bery were made on Monday. He is representing India at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), taking place at the UN headquarters from July 8 to July 17, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. The theme is Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions'. Through its efforts, India has been an important contributor to progress across these SDGs and it has succeeded through successful delivery of physical and digital infrastructure at scale, targeted social national safety net programmes with digital delivery to minimise fraud, improved women's agency, attention to program delivery in the least developed administrative jurisdictions, and strengthened local and .

Report highlights gains in health, education; gaps remain in wage equality, waste

As part of its renewable energy strategy, Maruti Suzuki India has initiated operations at a biogas facility within its Manesar plant in Haryana, using its food waste and Napier grass

Progress on other development indicators including adolescent pregnancy

All 96 constituencies likely to miss 2030 anaemia target for women

The UN SDGs comprise 17 goals that span everything from the eradication of poverty to ensuring access to clean water. More than $4 trillion will be needed each year to meet the targets

The government is proactively exploring collaborative partnerships with UN agencies and international foundations to leverage their expertise and resources for the betterment of tribal communities in the country, officials said on Wednesday. Senior officials of the tribal affairs ministry held a crucial meeting with representatives of UN agencies, including World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Environment Programme, on Tuesday to explore potential collaborations and partnerships in different sectors to enhance tribal development. Vibhu Nayar, the secretary in the ministry, said these partnerships are crucial to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in India. The meeting sought to identify key areas of intervention where UN agencies and international foundations can contribute to tribal development. The participants discussed potential projects and initiatives that can be undertaken in the health, education, ...

Kamboj noted that India is on track to surpass the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target 1.2 before 2030. She stated that India is significantly focusing on women-led development

The electrification push by the government comes as the Indian Railways has set a target to become the world's largest green railway by 2030

The Indian Railways has set a target of becoming a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030 and is committed to taking steps for energy conservation, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday. Talking about the initiatives taken to achieve the target, Vaishnaw said, "Broad gauge networks of 60,814 kilometres have been electrified up to November 2023. Of these, 39,013 kilometres have been electrified during the period from April 2014 to November 2023 against 5,188 kilometres during 2004-14." He presented zone-wise details of the electrified network, according to which the Northern Railway -- at 6,799 route kilometres -- has achieved the highest electrification. Vaishnaw was responding to questions from MPs Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Pritam Gopinath Munde, who wanted to know whether the Indian Railways was working towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 to become the world's largest "green" railway. They also wanted