Venkaiah Naidu

"Cities in the past were built on riverbanks. They are now built along highways. But in the future, they will be built based on availability of optical fibre networks and next-generation infrastructure.

Earlier in the day, addressing the Congress' 'Jan Vedna Sammelan', Rahul said "achhe din" (good days) will come when the Congress comes back to power at the Centre in 2019.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu feels that the coming together of the Opposition on the demonetisation issue is a non-starter and not a threat to the BJP-led government and rules out any real political realignment before the next Lok Sabha elections.

Demonetisation was to bring attitudinal change among people, like what major initiatives Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken in the last two and half years including Swachh Bharat mission aimed at, says Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu.

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present in Parliament for the remaining two days of the winter session.

Opposition parties are observing 'Black Day' today to mark completion of a month of the demonetisation announcement.

Flanked by Governor Vidyasagar Rao, Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Pon Radhakrishnan and others, Modi placed a wreath on the body which was lying in state at Rajaji Hall.

"They (opposition parties) should come back to Parliament to discuss and debate and give valuable suggestions so that the country can move forward," said Naidu, who holds Information and Broadcasting, Urban Development, and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministries.

Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned for the day as the Opposition locked horns with Treasury benches over demonetisation and demanded Modi's presence during the discussion on the issue.

Earlier, Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu told CNN-News18 that the Opposition can't digest Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic move of demonetisation to fight black money.

During a meeting with a Swedish Business delegation led by Enterprise and Innovation Minister Mikael Damberg, Naidu stressed that a joint working group had already been set up between the two countries and "it is time to move forward".

The apex court decided to post the matter on December 5 after NDTV's counsel and senior advocate Fali S Nariman and Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said there was no real urgency as the decision to ban the transmission on November 9 has been put on hold by the government.

Stressing that the severe pollution level in the NCR region is due to neglect of environment over a long period of time, he said everybody needs to do "their bit" to tackle the situation.

The central government has drafted a new education policy with accessibility, equity, quality, accountability and affordability as its cornerstones, he said.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the Phase-III auction of radio channels, which started in July last year, is likely to bring in an estimated USD 390 million revenue to the government.

Citing the example of Singapore, where people found littering are fined, the Urban Development minister said a three-pronged approach --change of mindset, creating infrastructure and bringing in legislation to fine people-- was required to keep the cities clean.

"The Prime Minister has given a mantra of reform, perform and transform for bringing change in the country and there is a need to implement this at a faster pace in view of the rising population in urban areas," Naidu said addressing a workshop on urban development here.

"In the near future, payments under MGNREGA and Sukanya Samruddha Yojana will be made through post offices," Venkaiah Naidu said, adding the Centre's objective is to ensure welfare funds reach the beneficiaries directly without any pilferage.

Speaking at 'Swachhagraha', organised as part of screening of short films on 'Swachh Bharat' drive here, Venkaiah said public movement has to be built to maintain cleanliness.

Chandigarh and Mysore were felicitated for 'Clean Cities in million plus population category' and Gangtok for 'Cleanest Tourism Destination'.