Indore tops in govt's Smart City contest, followed by Surat, Agra
New Delhi, Aug 25: Indore on Friday bagged the best "National Smart City Award", followed by Surat and Agra.
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry announced the India Smart Cities Awards for 2022 on Friday. The awards would be presented by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony in Indore on September 27.
Among the 66 winners in different categories, Madhya Pradesh has won the best 'State Award' and Tamil Nadu bagged the second spot. Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were on the third spot jointly.
Chandigarh has been ranked the number one in the Union territory category. It has also emerged a winner in the best governance category for its e-governance services, according to the ministry.
Among the 100 cities being developed under the Modi government's Smart Cities Mission, Indore bagged the top spot, Surat in Gujarat the second place and Agra the third spot.
In October last year, Indore was adjudged India's cleanest city for the sixth time in a row.
In the 'built environment' category, Coimbatore was ranked the best city for its model roads, and restoration and rejuvenation of lakes, followed by Indore while the third spot was shared by New Town Kolkata and Kanpur.
Jabalpur has emerged as the winner in the 'Economy' category with an incubation centre while Indore and Lucknow followed it on the next two spots.
According to the ministry, Chandigarh has been adjudged the best city in the mobility category for "Public Bike Sharing (PPP) along with cycle tracks", followed by New Town Kolkata and Sagar.
Indore has also won the best city award in the 'urban environment' category for "air quality improvement and Ahilya Van along with vertical gardens". Shivamogga and Jammu, in the same category, were awarded for their initiatives in "development of conservancies" and e-auto for the old city respectively.
The ministry said that the 'Smart Cities Mission' (SCM) launched on June 25, 2015, is aimed at providing core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to citizens through the application of "smart solutions".
This is a transformational mission aimed to bring about a paradigm shift in the practice of urban development in the country, it added.
Of the total proposed projects under SCM, 6,041(76 per cent) projects worth Rs 1,10,635 crore have been completed and the remaining 1,894 projects worth Rs 60,095 crore will be finished by June 30, 2024.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
