Centre plans to provide WiFi to all villages:
Centre plans to provide Wi-Fi to all villages with connectivity between 10Mbps to 100 Mbps speed under the GramNet initiative. The announcement was made by Minister of State for Communications Shamrao Dhotre at the 36th Foundation Day celebrations of Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), Delhi on 26 August.
Other Launches:
- Dhotre also launched the latest innovations of C-DOT including:
- C-Sat-Fi (C-DOTSatellite WiFi)
- XGSPON (10 G Symmetrical Passive Optical Network)
- C-DOT’s Interoperable Set-Top Box (CiSTB)
BharatNet:
Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BharatNet) has also announced that it is to provide 1 GBPS connectivity. It can expand up to 10 GBPS.
BharatNet has been set up by the Government of India. It functions under the Department of Telecommunications. It aims to establish, manage, and operate the National Optical Fibre Network to provide a minimum of 100 Mbit/s broadband connectivity to all 250,000-gram panchayats in the country.
The announcement by the BharatNet will highly support and achieve the Centre`s plan `Wi-Fi to all villages` under the GramNet initiative.
Seventh Community Radio Sammelan to be held in Delhi from 27 to 29 August
- Seventh Community Radio Sammelan will be held at Dr. BR Ambedkar Bhawan, New Delhi from 27th to 29th August 2019. It is organized by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting will witness the participation of all operational Community Radio Stations across the country.
- The theme of this year’s Sammelan is ‘Community Radio for SDGs’. The representatives of the Community Radio Stations will discuss experiences and possibilities of programming for better public awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The Sammelan witness discussion on various flagship schemes of the Government like the Jal Shakti Abhiyaan and efforts for Disaster Risk Reduction. Research, production, broadcasting, dissemination of social welfare messages through Social Media and content management for Community Radio Stations discussed.
- Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar will give awards to Community Radio Stations for their achievements in broadcasting development programs in various genres including Promotion of Local Culture, Most Creative and Innovative Content, Community Engagement Awards, among others.
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers launched Janaushadhi Sugam was launched
The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers launched a mobile application Janaushadhi Sugam. It was launched by the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda. The Ministry has also announced that Jan Aushadhi Suvidha Oxo-Biodegradable Sanitary Napkin will now be available at only One Rupee per pad.
Aim:
The Janaushadhi Sugam app will help the people to search for Janaushadhi generic medicines and the stores in the nearby location. A report said that in India about 28 million girls are leaving education because of lack of availability of good quality Sanitary Napkin pads at a reasonable cost. It ensures the health security of underprivileged Indian women who still use unhygienic aids during menstrual period due to non-affordability of sanitary pads available in the market.
MHRD launched National Digital Library of India
National Digital Library integrated with Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) App and users can register through www.ndl.gov.in or through the mobile app.
There are more than 3 crore digital resources available through the National Digital Library.
Human Resource Development Ministry under its National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology, NMEICT launched the National Digital Library of India project to develop a framework of virtual repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility.
As of now, there are more than 3 crore digital resources available through the National Digital Library. The contents cover almost all major domains of education and all major levels of learners. More than 50 lakh students have registered themselves in the National Digital Library with about 20 lakh active users.
National Digital Library has been integrated with UMANG App and users can register through www.ndl.gov.in or through the mobile app.
(UMANG) App
The Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance, is a Government of India all-in-one single unified secure multi-channel multi-platform multi-lingual multi-service freeware mobile app.
Operating system: Android, iOS, Windows
Available in: 13 Languages of India.
Union Government mulling Rs 5,400 crores funding to Northeast gas grid
The second instance of providing funds for a gas pipeline the government considering shelling out about ?5,400 crore in viability gap funding for a proposed Northeast gas grid.
The 1,656-km North-East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid connect Guwahati in Assam to major cities in the region such as Itanagar, Dimapur, Kohima, Imphal, Aizawl, Agartala, Shillong, Silchar, Gangtok, and Numaligarh.
The absence of anchor customers, the ?9,000 crore pipeline is not economically viable.
A viability gap funding of 60% of the project cost.
The oil ministry is supporting the proposal and it is likely to be considered by the Cabinet soon, he said.
The Northeast pipeline grid is to be implemented by Indradhanush Gas Grid, a joint venture of state-owned GAIL India, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL).
The consortium pitched for a 60% funding support from the government and would raise the rest via equity and debt, the official said.
This is the second time that a gas pipeline project in the country would be funded by the government.
The government provided a capital grant of ?5,176 crore, or 40% of the project cost, of the 2,655-km Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra (JHBDPL) gas pipeline project, which GAIL is currently executing.
GAIL
GAIL a 750-km line from Barauni to Guwahati as part of the ?12,940 crore JHBDPL project. It is also known as the `Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga` project. This is proposed to be connected to the Northeast via the Indradhanush grid.
All other pipelines in the country have been funded by public or private sector companies.
The oil companies will not be able to execute the Northeast grid project without the viability gap funding.
The project is critical towards implementing the government`s Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for Northeast. The Vision envisages the development of the region by leveraging its hydrocarbon potential, enhancing access to clean fuel and accelerating the growth.
This is a part of a broader goal of the government to raise the share of natural gas in the country`s energy mix to 15% by 2030 from current 6.2%.
The government has envisaged developing the National Gas Grid. At present, about 16,788 km natural gas pipeline is operational and about 14,239 km gas pipelines are being developed to increase the availability of natural gas across the country.