Latest news with #SCM
Business Standard
11-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Government has disbursed nearly 99.44% of Smart Cities Mission's total budget outlay
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs issued advisory for Repurposing of Smart City Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs). Launched in 2015, the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) promoted city-level innovation and integrated infrastructure delivery. Over the past decade, SPVs have demonstrated the ability to deliver complex, multi-sectoral projects with agility and innovation. As of March 2025, over 93% of the 8,000+ projects under SCM have been completed, with the Government of India having disbursed nearly 99.44% of the Missions total budget outlay of Rs 48,000 crore. In the process, the SPVs have cultivated a robust institutional capacity to manage high-value urban projects efficiently. Recognising the strategic investments made in establishing and strengthening SPVs and ICCCs, and their growing relevance in supporting Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to address complex and evolving urban challenges, the Government of India is of the considered view that these entities should continue to operate beyond the completion of the Smart Cities Mission on 31.03.2025.
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Centre issues fresh advisory to states on Smart Cities Mission
New Delhi: The union government has issued an advisory to states to ensure that special project vehicles (SPVs) and Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) are operational in all 100 cities under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) and urging them to develop policies so that they can charge a fee as a consultant agency and for services delivered by them. In the advisory, the centre has asked states and union territories to integrate SPVs and ICCCs into their long-term governance frameworks, ensuring that the 'gains made under the Mission continue to benefit urban India'. 'Looking ahead, the advisory underscores the Government of India's firm view that the institutional and technical capacity built within the SPVs should be repurposed to meet emerging urban challenges. To support this transition, the advisory articulates a clear vision for repurposing SPVs as agile, multi-functional institutions aligned with evolving city and state-level priorities,' a government release said. The advisory said the SPVs can support cities in managing cyber hygiene, analytics, and data systems and ICCCs can be leveraged as city operating systems and state analytical hubs, with operational control preferably retained by the urban development departments. Further, the advisory said that SPVs are positioned to drive city-level economic development by supporting project structuring, procurement, and stakeholder coordination across tiers of government. While the success of the ₹48,000 crore mission remains mixed with varied rates of success, HT in May had reported that such an advisory was in the works as the mission came to an end in March. According to the government, as of March 2025, over 93% of the 8,000+ projects under SCM have been completed, with the Centre having disbursed nearly 99.44% of the mission's total budget of ₹48,000 crore.
The Herald Scotland
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Legal aid crisis: Solicitors boycott new Scottish Government scheme
The country's sheriff courts are expected to face extreme pressure and court backlogs are anticipated to mount up as a result. It was reported yesterday that solicitors staffing the Scottish Legal Aid Board's hotline could also be set to walk out after backing strike action over changes to their rota. The Herald has now been told by the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) that solicitors will withdraw from the new scheme which will lead to 'active disruption' nationwide from June 26th. The SCM — which has been piloted in five sheriff courts — covers non jury cases, typically involving offences such as domestic abuse, assault, drink or drug driving and breach of the peace. These are heard by a sheriff or justice of the peace and can result in prison sentences of up to 12 months and fines of up to £10,000. They can be time intensive and costly as often the accused will initially plead not guilty. The SCM aims to streamline the justice process by disclosing evidence to the defence earlier, encouraging early guilty pleas and reducing the number of trials and court appearances. However, the ability to deliver such a scheme has been dealt with a hammer blow as solicitors are expected to boycott it as emails seen by The Herald reveal the Scottish Government appeared to backtrack on updating legal aid pay rates for solicitors. In an email from a Scottish Government official to the SSBA dated May 22 addressing an update to legal aid rates, it stated: "I don't have authority to make a firm offer yet, hopefully we wont have too much longer to wait. "But, I don't think we will be far away from that when we are able to make a formal approach." Yet, since then, in written correspondence between the Scottish Government and the SSBA, Victims Minister Siobhian Brown said she was 'not in a position to make any formal offer' on the rate of pay in legal aid cases. READ MORE: Legal aid crisis sparks sheriff court boycott fears Scottish lawyers ramp up SCM boycott over legal aid crisis Beyond Breaking Point: Scotland's Legal Aid Crisis – all articles here The minister said this was because "due process' to seek approval for spend 'within our current challenging financial position' was not yet complete. Her response comes as the level of summary legal aid fees presently sits at nearly 5% below what they were in 1998/99. In a letter to the Sheriff Principle yesterday seen by The Herald, Paul Smith, the president of the Edinburgh Bar Association stated: 'Then, the average cost of a summary case was £820. In 2023/4 it was £780. That is unacceptable.' Last year, The Herald's series: Beyond Breaking Point explored the issue of legal aid in crisis. During the series, the paper highlighted that a key concern from the sector was the number of practitioners walking away from legal aid work with the rate of pay singled out as the main reason for this. The SSBA, the representative body for criminal solicitors, has been involved in negotiations with the Scottish Government over legal aid rates since their inception in 2021. Their president Simon Brown told The Herald 'enough is enough' when it comes to the Scottish Government's approach to legal aid. Mr Brown said: 'With rates virtually unchanged in real terms over more than 25 years, it is proving increasingly difficult to retain lawyers to work in the sector, with much better paid employment available elsewhere. 'In the last month alone, I am personally aware of four criminal solicitors who have left defence work. Two, who were both at a senior partner level, have gone to the Crown, and one girl astonishingly has left law entirely to start better paid work as cabin crew. 'The most heart-breaking was a young lawyer who left crime to move to personal injury. I met them recently and asked if they were enjoying the new job to be met with the response 'No, I hate every minute of it, but it pays 30% more than I could hope to get in crime' 'The number of lawyers providing criminal law cover at any meaningful level in the whole of Scotland is less than 500, and that is not a sustainable number.' The total legal aid budget for all forms of legal aid in 20223-24 was £151 million, with £85 million of that spent on criminal legal aid. In contrast, the budget for COPFS in 2023-24 was £200.8 million, projected to rise to £249 million by 2026. Addressing the difference in investment, Mr Brown said: "This is not equality of arms. "The government has tried direct alternatives with the implementation of the PDSO [Public Defence Solicitor's Office], which is now de facto the biggest criminal firm in the country, but according to latest figures it's running at a loss well into the hundreds of thousands each year. 'Solicitors care very much about our clients, quite frankly we couldn't do this job if we didn't, and we do not take lightly a decision to disrupt their cases, but enough is enough.' In a letter dated June 6, the Victims and Community Safety Minister Ms Brown told the SSBA: 'I am disappointed that you feel further disruptive action is necessary. 'As I explained in my letter of 30 May, we must follow due process in making decisions that will increase pressure on the public purse, and this is particularly necessary within the very constrained current financial position. 'This process is being followed as a matter of urgency and I will make a firm offer without delay when I am able to do so. I remain committed to resolving this position as soon as possible and my officials will maintain contact with you.' However, this has been met with frustration and anger from solicitors. In his letter to the Sheriff Principle, the president of the Edinburgh Bar Association, Mr Smith, pointed out that recruitment and retention of staff has been an issue in the profession 'for years' which he said has been 'exacerbated' by the salaries offered to newly qualified staff by COPFS, 'whose spending per case has increased by 235% between 2016/17 and 2023/24.' Mr Smith added: 'This demonstrates the SG has resources to fund the Justice System. It is choosing not to properly resource the defence.' In an open letter to the Justice Committee, the Edinburgh Bar Association said the minister is 'at best' being 'wilfully blind' to evidence that COPFS recruitment is affecting numbers of defence agents. In a letter to the Sheriff Principle yesterday, Mr Smith stated: 'On 27th May 2025 the SSBA received communication from the SG (Scottish Government) that led us to believe an offer was to be made on the level of the summary fixed fee. 'We engaged with SCM in good faith in the anticipation of an offer being made. No offer has been forthcoming. The last communication from the SG on 6th June makes it clear that no offer will be made.' Mr Smith added: 'Significantly more is expected of us for significantly less remuneration. 'The number of Solicitors registered to provide criminal legal assistance is at its lowest since registration was introduced. "The SG is aware of this and does nothing to act." The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
IOL News
03-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Witness in Zandile Gumede trial prefers waste pile over irregular expenditure
Former mayor of eThekwini, Zandile Gumede, with her supporters outside the Durban High Court. Image: Nomonde Zondi In the R320 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender fraud case involving former eThekwini municipality mayor Zandile Gumede, a State witness has told the Durban High Court that she would prefer not to have a pile of rubbish picked up than to deal with irregular expenses for not following due process. The witness, who cannot be named as per court order, is currently being cross-examined by advocate Jimmy Howse SC, who is counsel for Sandile Ngcobo, a fifth accused who was a deputy head of supply chain management (SCM) in eThekwini. Gumede, Ngcobo, and 20 others are facing numerous charges, including money laundering, racketeering, fraud, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act relating to the tender. The witness told the court that waste collection is not an emergency, but a critical service. The court has heard that the Durban Solid Waste Unit had sought authority in December 2017 to get experienced service providers to collect waste from January 2018. This is because the contract of service providers was going to expire on December 31, 2017. In November 2017, the unit advertised a tender for waste collection, but they claimed that they received a lot of submissions and needed extra time to go through all of the proposals.. The witness during this time worked at the tenders and contracts unit. Part of her job included issuing letters of award to those who had won tenders. She said that after the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) gave the DSW the go-ahead to get service providers and approved the quotations, that decision needed to be reviewed by the Executive Acquisitions Committee (EAC), which was established by former city manager Sipho Nzuza to advice him. The BAC-approved quotations are subject to compliance checks, and then letters of appointment will be issued to the service providers. Howse asked her if it made sense that the EAC had to consider this on January 29, 2018, when the service providers should start collecting waste on January 1, 2018. The witness said that had she been instructed to do otherwise, she would have. "I was following due processes," she said. Howse asked her if she had approached any of her supervisors to tell them that there were not going to be waste management services in January, considering the email that was sent by a DSW contract administrator stating that this was an emergency. She said no and added that this was not the only contract she was dealing with. Additionally, Howse asked her if the SCM policy had any distinction between critical and emergency. She said it was her view that this was not an emergency and she continued to refer to SCM policies. She said the DSW Unit had a sole mandate to ensure contracts for waste management and illegal dumping. 'Failure to have those contracts does not result in an emergency. That is a failure to properly plan. In my view, Mr Howse, this was not an emergency,' she said. On December 28, 2018, the witness said Ngcobo had asked her to prepare the letters of award for the contractors, who were going to collect waste in January 2018. Howse said this was after his client received a call from the city manager enquiring about the letters of award.
Business Upturn
29-05-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
Kinaxis Brings AI-Powered Supply Chain Breakthroughs to Tokyo at Kinexions 25
By Business Wire Published on May 29, 2025, 10:14 IST TOKYO, Japan: Kinaxis® (TSX: KXS), a global leader in end-to-end supply chain orchestration, today announced it will host Kinexions Japan 25 on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Tokyo. This year's event will spotlight new product capabilities and customer strategies designed for complex, fast-changing supply chain environments. Part of the global Kinexions event series, Kinexions Japan brings together supply chain leaders, business decision-makers, and industry experts to reveal how organizations are accelerating decision-making, improving collaboration, and scaling operations with greater resilience. With pressure mounting from disruption, sustainability demands, and economic uncertainty, this year's event delivers practical insights, customer success stories, and strategies that are helping organizations take action today. Attendees will get an early look at Maestro™ features, including faster scenario modeling, integrated planning, and real-time coordination across global operations. 'Kinexions Japan 25 is where forward-thinking companies come to exchange ideas and see what's truly possible with modern supply chain orchestration,' said Masa Kogure, president of Kinaxis Japan. 'This year's event will provide in-depth insight into transformation stories, sustainability, and AI-driven orchestration with real-world examples, hands-on sessions, and practical takeaways for supply chain teams. Executives from leading organizations will share how they've improved planning cycles, reduced risk exposure, and increased supply chain visibility. Some of the event highlights include: Kazuya Saito , general manager of SCM, Fujirebio Inc. – sharing a transformation journey to align planning processes, streamline decision-making, and gain end-to-end visibility using Maestro. , general manager of SCM, – sharing a transformation journey to align planning processes, streamline decision-making, and gain end-to-end visibility using Maestro. Masashi Onozuka , partner, Roland Berger – offering insights on the future of risk management and sustainability through connected supply chain platforms. , partner, – offering insights on the future of risk management and sustainability through connected supply chain platforms. Masa Kogure , president, Kinaxis Japan K.K. – delivering the welcome address and opening the event. , president, K.K. – delivering the welcome address and opening the event. Mark Morgan , president, commercial operations, Kinaxis – sharing the latest company and global strategy updates. , president, commercial operations, – sharing the latest company and global strategy updates. Phillip Teschemacher , president, APAC, Kinaxis – providing a regional outlook and APAC business update. , president, APAC, – providing a regional outlook and APAC business update. Isao Sugiyama, director of business consulting, Kinaxis Japan – leading a product roadmap session focused on AI-driven orchestration and upcoming Maestro innovations. Discussions will focus on real-world strategies for managing complexity, adapting to shifting demand, and improving multi-tier collaboration. Topics to be explored include: The shift from linear supply chains to agile, web-based networks Orchestrating global and regional operations in real time How concurrent planning with Maestro is unlocking speed, agility, and collaboration Using AI and digitization to advance sustainability and risk management Kinexions Japan 25 will spotlight how organizations across Japan are using real-time scenario modeling, concurrent planning, and end-to-end visibility to make faster, smarter decisions and build more resilient supply chains. The event will include live Maestro demonstrations, interactive product sessions, and expert-led roundtables for peer learning and networking. Register now and explore the full agenda: About Kinaxis Kinaxis is a global leader in modern supply chain orchestration, powering complex global supply chains and supporting the people who manage them, in service of humanity. Our powerful, AI-infused supply chain orchestration platform, Maestro™ combines proprietary technologies and techniques that provide full transparency and agility across the entire supply chain — from multi-year strategic planning to last-mile delivery. We are trusted by renowned global brands to provide the agility and predictability needed to navigate today's volatility and disruption. For more news and information, please visit or follow us on LinkedIn. View source version on Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. Business Wire is an American company that disseminates full-text press releases from thousands of companies and organizations worldwide to news media, financial markets, disclosure systems, investors, information web sites, databases, bloggers, social networks and other audiences.
