1) Digital `Guddi-Gudda Board` innovated by Jalgaon District of Maharashtara adopted as a Best Practice under BBBP scheme.
Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has adopted the ‘Digital Guddi-Gudda Board’ as a Best Practice under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme on the occasion of Digital India Week being observed from 1st July to 7th July, 2015.
The digital Board has been popularized in the district of Jalgaon, Maharashtra and works as a platform for dissemination of IEC Material on BBBP as well as updating monthly birth statistics.
It displays audio video material as well as still frames for disseminating information.
2) Prime Minister launched Digital India Week to spread awareness about Digital India Programme.
- Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched the Digital India Week in New Delhi.
- The Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) is the nodal agency for implementing the Digital India Programme in close cooperation with other departments and ministries
In order achieve the above objectives, several projects/ products were already launched by the Union Government and Public Sector Enterprises or ready to be launched as indicated below:
- Digital Locker System: To minimize the usage of physical documents and enable sharing of e-documents across agencies.
- Mobile app for MyGov: MyGov.in has been implemented as a platform for citizen engagement in governance, through a "Discuss", "Do" and "Disseminate" approach.
- Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Mobile app: Used by people and Government organizations for achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission.
- eSign framework: Allow citizens to digitally sign a document online using Aadhaar authentication.
- e-Hospital system: important healthcare services such as online registration, fee payment, fixing doctors` appointments, online diagnostics and checking blood availability online.
- The Online Registration System (ORS): This application provides important services such as online registration, payment of fees and appointment, online diagnostic reports, enquiring availability of blood online etc, the government claims.
- National Scholarships Portal: one stop solution for end to end scholarship process right from submission of student application.
- Digitize India Platform (DIP): large scale digitization of records in the country that would facilitate efficient delivery of services to the citizens.
- Bharat Net: High speed digital highway to connect all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of country.
- Broadband Highways` as one of the pillars of Digital India to address the connectivity issue while enabling and providing technologies to facilitate delivery of services to citizens.
- BSNL has introduced Next Generation Network (NGN): To replace 30 year old exchanges, which is an IP based technology to manage all types of services like voice, data, multimedia/ video and other types of packet switched communication services.
- BSNL`s large scale deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country.
- Electronics Development Fund (EDF): To promote Innovation, R&D, and Product Development and to create a resource pool of IP within the country to create a self-sustaining eco-system of Venture Funds.
- National Centre for Flexible Electronics (NCFlexE): Initiative of Government of India to promote research and innovation in the emerging area of Flexible Electronics.
- Centre of Excellence on Internet on Things (IoT): joint initiative of Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), ERNET and NASSCOM.
3) Union Government notified dates for Compliance Window under Black Money Act.
- The Central Government has notified the 30th day of September, 2015, as the date on or before which a person may make a declaration in respect of an undisclosed asset located outside India under the compliance provisions of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (‘Black Money Act’).
- The last date by which a person must pay the tax and penalty in respect of the undisclosed foreign assets so declared shall be the 31st day of December, 2015.
- People availing this one-time compliance window will be required to pay a tax of 30 per cent and a penalty of a similar amount.
- The Act provides for separate taxation of undisclosed foreign income and assets. Stringent penalties and prosecution, including rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years and penalty equal to three times of the tax have been prescribed for violation.
4) Maharashtra government signed MoU with Blackstone and Panchshil SPV for three projects.
The Maharashtra government signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Blackstone and Panchshil SPV for three projects worth 4500 crore and generation of some 50000 jobs.
They are:
- Blackstone will invest 750 crore rupees in developing EON Free Zone SEZ.
- 1200 crore rupees in developing Hinjewadi Phase - 3.
- 1500 crore rupees in IT Park in Central Mumbai and 1050 crore rupees in other IT parks in Mumbai.
5) Mhara Gaon - Jagmag Gaon Scheme launched in Haryana.
- Haryana Government launched the Mhara Gaon- Jagmag Gaon scheme, aimed at providing 24 hour uninterrupted power supply to rural domestic consumers in a phased manner with their active participation.
- With this, Haryana became the first state in the country to launch such an innovative voluntary scheme.
- The state will bear an additional expenditure of 15 to 20 lakh rupees per village for implementation of this scheme.
6) Cabinet clears setting up of online national agriculture market.
- Government approved the setting up of an online national agriculture market that will provide more options to farmers for selling their produce.
- Currently, farmers are restricted to selling their produce at mandis or market committees that charge various taxes on producers. But, now an online platform would be set up wherein farmers will be able to sell and buy fruits, vegetables and other produce from across the country.
- An agency would be set up to oversee online trading and to ensure that transactions take place smoothly.
- It will also focus on creating godowns and facilitating transportation of the farm produce after the online trade.
7) Punjab CM launches ePMS portal.
- Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal launched the State Portal - ePMS (Electronic Projects Management System) - to fast track infrastructural development.
- The project was Started to enhance efficiency, bring transparency, boost the investor confidence, revive the investment cycle, eliminate the human interaction and improve the communication between industries to Government (B2G), State to Centre (G2G), and vice versa (G2B).
- The portal was developed and managed by the Cabinet Secretariat Informatics Division of National Informatics Centre (NIC), Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.
8) India launches online system – eMigrate for foreign employers.
- India launched online registration system named eMigrate system (www.emigrate.gov.in) for foreign employers (FEs) who wants to recruit Indian workers, including nurses. Under the system, FEs will have to register in the eMigrate system.
- eMigrate project is a transformational initiative of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Government of India, to automate the current emigration processes and eco-system.
- Using this employer can raise the demand for Indian workers in the eMigrate system and seek a permit to recruit either directly or through recruiting agents online.
- The filled registration application will be vetted by the Indian mission.
- The new system will be implemented in phases.
Conditions for Foreign Employers (FEs):
- Foreign employers recruiting more than 150 Indian workers are required to register online with immediate effect in order to raise demand and seek a permit to recruit directly or select RAs.
- Foreign employers recruiting between 50-150 Indian workers are required to register online before 30 June 2015.
- Foreign employers recruiting between 20-50 Indian workers are required to register online before 31 July 2015.
- Foreign employers recruiting less than Indian workers are required to register online before 31 August 2015.
9) National Skill Development Mission.
- Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for the institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission.
- The National Skill Development Mission will provide a strong institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country.
About National Skill Development Mission:
- The Mission will have a three-tiered, high powered decision making structure.
- Mission’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will provide overall guidance and policy direction.
- Steering Committee, chaired by Minister in Charge of Skill Development, will review the Mission’s activities in line with the direction set by the Governing Council.
- The Mission Directorate, with Secretary, Skill Development as Mission Director, will ensure implementation, coordination and convergence of skilling activities across Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.
- National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Directorate of Training will function under the overall guidance of the Mission.
- Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) provides a natural home for the Mission, organically linking all three decision making levels and facilitating linkages to all Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.
10) Union Government launches App to know gram panchayats assets.
- Union Government has launched mobile App to know gram panchayats assets. It was launched by Union Rural Development and Minister Ch Birender Singh.
- The main purpose of the app is to provide people with the information related to assets of the gram panchayats.
- Citizens can use this mobile app to capture photographs and geographical coordinates of various public assets in gram panchayats, like schools and hospitals etc.
- Besides providing information to the general public, the App will also be useful for planning purpose at the Panchayat and State level.
11) Microsoft to develop digital villages, cyber-security centre, `smart MIDC` in Maharashtra.
- Software major Microsoft has agreed to support `digital villages` in Maharashtra and develop a `smart MIDC` apart from setting up a cyber-security centre in Pune.
- The information was given by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after his meet with India-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in Miscrosoft’s office in Seattle. Fadnavis is on a week-long visit to the US.
- Microsoft is also looking to develop `Safe Maharashtra` mobile application which would track vulnerable people so as to provide security.
12) Rajasthan to replicate Maharashtra`s Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan.
- Maharashtra Government’s programme Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan that was launched with an aim to make Maharashtra a drought-free state by 2019.
- The Abhiyan came in news as Rajasthan government is planning to replicate the programme in the state.
- Under the programme, rainwater will be harvested within the village boundaries, which may help in increasing ground water levels. It will also encourage micro-irrigation systems encouraged for proficient use of water.
13) `Operation Shiva` to Ensure Safety of Amarnath Yatra.
- To provide security to those devotees taking part in the 59-day-long annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir Indian Army launched Operation Shiva.
- The operation was launched on the basis of intelligence report suggesting that a group of 15 terrorists are likely to attempt a strike.
- The operation will include Rashtriya Rifles unit, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance of Yatra route and cave shrine, combing of forests located along the Yatra track, Infantry Unit of Army, companies of Paramilitary Forces, CRPF and BSF.
14) Uttar Pradesh first to have vehicle tracking system.
- Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has become the first State transport corporation to have a vehicle tracking system for inter-city buses, which has led to a reduction in accidents and deaths as drivers are wary of crossing the speed limits.
- In a passenger-friendly IT initiative, UPSRTC is also in talks with Delhi Transport Corporation and State transport undertakings in Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal to have a common bus travel card, apart from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
- To ensure that the smart cards used by UPSRTC passengers (issued by State Bank of India and ICICI Bank) become interoperable with these Metro rail systems and buses.
- UPSRTC has 9,600 buses and 51,000 employees, including on contract.
15) SC ruled unwed mother can be child`s guardian without father`s consent.
- The Supreme Court of India ruled that an unwed mother can be the sole legal guardian of a child without the consent of the father.
- A bench led by Justice Vikramjit Sen held that the mother can decide on the parentage of the child without discussing with the father.
- The apex court further held that it was not required of the mother to disclose the identity of the father and include him as a party to the guardianship petition in certain cases.
- According to the current law, a notice has to be sent to the child`s father for his consent for guardianship.
- The Supreme Court has now said that the mother can be the sole guardian of the child.
16) SC issued notice to Union Government, EC on petition seeking to bring political parties under RTI.
- Supreme Court of India issued notices to the Union Government, Election Commission (EC) and six political parties and asked why it should not be brought within Right to Information (RTI) ambit to make them more accountable to public.
- A bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu issued notice to all six national political parties including BJP, Congress, BSP, CPI and CPM seeking their response to declare them public authorities under the transparency law.
- The petition has demanded that a direction be issued to all political parties to disclose their details about their income and expenditure under the law.
- Similar petitions had also been filed earlier by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) founding member Jagdeep S Chhokar and RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal.
- They had filed the plea through senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, seeking transparency and accountability in functioning of recognised national and regional political parties.
17) Four World-Class Broadband Products developed by C-DOT launched under Digital India Programme.
- Union Minister for Communication and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the products in the presence of his Kenyan counterpart, Cabinet Secretary, ICT in a function organized at C-DOT Campus, New Delhi.
Four World-Class Broadband Products developed by C-DOT They are:
- Long Distance Wi-Fi
- Solar powered Wi-Fi
- Suteerva
- Next Generation Network (NGN)
- C-DOT stands for Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and is an Indian Government owned telecommunications technology development centre.
- SUTEERVA: It’s a 100 Gbps Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) link system that addresses the telco’s requirement of optimizing communication transport backbone in smart cities, IT parks, Industrial Complexes, Inter City Traffic, Data Centres etc. It offers ease of deployment, lesser shell space and lower power consumption, and saves on the high cost of laying fiber for each individual user.
- Next Generation Network (NGN): It is an advanced Internet Protocol (IP) based network which is designed to replace existing TDM network in BSNL and MTNL. It provides a centralized remote control to the operators to manage the exchanges thereby providing better services to the end subscribers.
18) NDDB launches mobile app for dairy farmers.
- National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) launched a mobile application that will recommend a balanced diet for cows and buffaloes to help boost dairy farmers` income by raising milk yield and cutting feed cost.
- The mobile application, named `Pashu Poshan`, was launched by the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.
- The application will be available on both web and android platforms. It can be accessed by registering on the INAPH portal.
- To use this application, the farmer needs to provide complete animal profile, including breed, age, milk production, fat content in milk apart from food items being currently fed to the animal along with the cost in order to formulate the balanced ration formula.
About NDDB (National Dairy Development Board):
- The National Dairy Development Board is an institution of national importance set up by an Act of Parliament of India.
- The main office is in Anand, Gujarat with regional offices throughout the country.
- It was founded by Dr. Verghese Kurien.
- NDDB empowered millions of small and marginal farmers through village dairy cooperatives.