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In a surprise to India, the United Nations on Sunday selected Uttar Pradesh's Noida and Greater Noida to participate in its Global Sustainable Cities 2025 initiative, officials said.
The twin-cities in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, adjoining the national capital, have been selected in the "University City" category ahead of Mumbai and Bengaluru as the only invitee from India, a senior UN official said.
Overall 25 cities across the world have been selected in five categories by the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) cities initiative, Senior UN Advisor and CEO UN Global Sustainability Index Institute Roland Schatz told reporters here.
Schatz formally extended the invitation Sunday to Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh in the presence of Shubhro Sen, the principal advisor, India, SDG Initiative.
The SDGs, otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
"This is a proud moment for Noida and Greater Noida to be selected for this exciting global showcase. Now I will forward this invitation to the Uttar Pradesh government which is very positive about development works," Singh said.
In the "University City" category, Noida-Greater Noida will be competing with elite university cities such as Cambridge, Palo Alto and Heidelberg.
UNGSII's Sustainable Development Goals Commitment Report (SCR) overcomes the limitations of current evaluation systems, such as inadequate transparency on evaluation criteria and methodology, inexperienced analysts, backward looking analysis with limited prognosis, and potential conflicts of interest.
( With inputs from PTI )
