The National Panchayat Awards 2024 honored 45 exceptional Panchayats for their contributions to sustainable and inclusive development in rural India. Held on 11th December 2024 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, the event was presided over by Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, with Hon’ble Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh.
During the prestigious ceremony, 45 Panchayats from diverse regions were honored in recognition of their exemplary work in rural development. A booklet titled ‘Best Practices on Works of Awardee Panchayats’ was unveiled, documenting the innovative and impactful practices implemented by the award-winning Panchayats.
Additionally, the digital transfer of award money to the winning Panchayats was successfully executed during the event. The ceremony also featured a short film highlighting the exceptional efforts of some award-winning Panchayats, with a special focus on the pivotal role of training institutes in enhancing the capabilities of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
The National Panchayat Awards are usually celebrated on April 24th every year, in conjunction with National Panchayati Raj Day (due to the General Elections to the Lok Sabha held earlier in 2024, the award ceremony was rescheduled to 11th December this year.).
This day commemorates the enactment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, which came into effect in 1993 and granted Panchayats constitutional status as institutions of local self-governance. It is a day to recognize the importance of Panchayats in India’s democratic structure and the crucial role they play in rural development.
The National Panchayat Awards 2024 are awarded under several categories, with the primary focus on recognizing grassroots governance, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. The categories are as follows:
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP):
This award recognizes the top 3 Gram Panchayats (GPs) under each of the 9 Localization of Sustainable Development Goal’s thematic areas.
Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar: Awarded to the top 3 GPs, Block Panchayats (BPs), and District Panchayats (DPs) with the highest average score across all 9 themes.
Gram Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar: Awarded to the top 3 GPs for their significant contributions to adopting and utilizing renewable energy sources.
Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar: Given to the top 3 GPs for their efforts in achieving net-zero carbon emissions.
Panchayat Kshamta Nirmaan Sarvottam Sansthan Puraskar:
Awarded to the top 3 institutions that have provided exemplary institutional support to Panchayats in achieving the Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs).
The awards also emphasize the role of Panchayats in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular focus on the Localization of SDGs (LSDGs).
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has entered into a strategic partnership with Flipkart, a leading Indian e-commerce platform, by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster and support the development of technology-driven startups across the country.
This collaboration aligns with the government’s vision to strengthen India’s innovation ecosystem and complements Flipkart’s ongoing efforts through its USD 100 million venture fund under the Flipkart Leap and Ventures initiative.
The partnership is designed to empower startups with access to critical resources, including industry reports, research publications, datasets,
and other relevant studies published by government authorities. Additionally, the MoU aims to expedite patent application processes for startups, ensuring timely access to opportunities and enhancing their competitive advantage in the market. Flipkart has invested in 20 startups and remains committed to identifying and nurturing ventures with significant growth potential.
ICICI Bank has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to enhance support for customers engaged in the Australia-India business corridor. The MoU was signed by Rakesh Jha, Executive Director of ICICI Bank, and Mike Vacy-Lyle, Group Executive of Business Banking at CBA.
The collaboration aims to foster deeper economic ties between the two nations by exploring several initiatives, including:
Introducing corporate and institutional customers to opportunities for investment or business expansion in India and Australia.
Facilitating trade between corporate customers in both countries through banking services and cross-border trade guidance.
Assisting customers relocating to India or Australia with seamless banking services.
Developing customer-centric solutions for efficient cross-border payments.
Rakesh Jha, Executive Director- ICICI Bank
Mike Vacy-Lyle, Group Executive of Business Banking- CBA
Universal Sompo General Insurance has collaborated with Child Rights and You (CRY) to enhance educational opportunities for children in marginalized communities in Andhra Pradesh. This partnership aligns with Universal Sompo’s inauguration of its new corporate office in Mumbai and underscores its commitment to fostering social impact through education.
The initiative focuses on establishing Remedial Tuition Centres for 10th and 12th-grade students, providing targeted academic support in critical subjects like Mathematics and Science. Over a three-month period (January to March 2025), the program aims to prepare students for board examinations, ensuring their readiness and encouraging professional and,
encouraging professional and science-based education streams. The project will benefit 114 students and 82 families, offering career counselling to help students make informed decisions about pursuing engineering, medical, and other professional courses.
Sharad Mathur, MD & CEO- Universal Sompo
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowered India’s growth forecast for the financial year 2024-25 to 6.6 per cent, S&P Global retained it’s forecast at 6.8 per cent.
S&P Global’s projection has comes at a time when GDP growth has slowed to 5.4 per cent in the July-September quarter, prompting various agencies to slash full-year projection.
Meanwhile, the government is hopeful of better growth for the full fiscal, dismissing Q2 number as one-off.
India‘s economy grew 8.2 per cent in 2023-24.
The Geological Survey of India will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with The Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection of the National Research Council (CNR-IRPI), Italy for collaboration in Landslide Forecast and Early Warning. The Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 06.12.2024 approved the proposed MoU between GSI and CNR-IRPI.
This partnership aims to enrich the knowledge and acquire skills in landslide forecasting and early warning through collaborative research. It is crucial to enhance and scale up India’s Landslide Early Warning Systems (LEWS) to international standards, enabling better prediction and mitigation of landslide-related damages, and overcome the situation like Wayanad Landslide.
GSI has established a state-of-the-art National Landslide Forecasting (NLFC) facility at GSI, Kolkata to develop and operationalize the regional Landslide Early Warning Systems (LEWS) in all the landslide prone States/ UTs in India within a planned timeline to reduce landslide risks in India.
The Union Government has released the Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during Financial Year 2024–25, for Rural Local Bodies in Himachal Pradesh, 2nd installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.70.40 crores along with the withheld amount of 1st installment of Untied Grants for Financial Year 2024–25 amounting to Rs.11.4716 crores.
These funds are for all eligible 12 District Panchayats, all eligible 81 Block Panchayats and all eligible 3615 Gram Panchayats. XV FC Grants during Financial Year 2024–25, for Rural Local Bodies in Goa, 2nd installment of Untied Grants of the Financial Year 2022–23 amounting to Rs.9.69 crores have also been released.
These funds are for all eligible 191 Gram Panchayats of the State.
Government of India through Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation) recommends release of Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants to States for Rural Local Bodies which are then released by Ministry of Finance.
The allocated Grants are recommended and released in 2 installments in a Financial Year.
The Untied Grants will be utilized by Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)/ Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) for location-specific felt needs, under the Twenty-Nine (29) Subjects enshrined in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs.
Kyndryl, the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, has announced a strategic partnership with The Co-operative Bank to migrate the bank’s existing applications from on-premise environments to AWS Cloud. This initiative aims to provide a flexible IT infrastructure, enhancing operational efficiency and service delivery while reducing ongoing costs.
The partnership builds on a long-standing relationship between Kyndryl and The Co-operative Bank. The transition to AWS Cloud marks a significant milestone in the bank’s digital transformation journey, positioning it to meet evolving market demands and drive innovation.
To increase awareness of the importance of mountains in preserving the natural balance of the world and the welfare of people, International Mountain Day is celebrated on December 11 every year.
This day, which was instituted by the UN in 2003, emphasizes the need for protecting mountain ecosystems and sustaining the means of subsistence for mountain populations.
This International Mountain Day 2024 (IMD 2024) focuses precisely on the capacity and needs of its people through a triple approach: “Mountain solutions for a sustainable future – innovation, adaptation and youth.”
