|
     |
 |
 |
 |
 News
The Panchayati Raj Ministry of India has allocated 10800 million rupees to connect 240, 000 panchayats (rural government bodies) to the Internet. This will be done with the intention to give a fillip to e-governance initiatives of the Government. This has recently been announced as a 'mission mode project', with a provision of 1000 million rupees for training half a million panchayat staff, taking two members from each panchayat.The project is expected to be completed by October 15, 2007.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) of India to introduce fast-paced on-line government recruitment UPSC is planning to put to select government jobs on a fast-track recruitment by intorducing on-line application and processing. Following a visit to London, the UPSC Chairman has proposed to introduce this system in order to reduce the current recruitment time of nine months for appointing civil servants. However, the Chairman was of opinion that it will not be feasible to completely switch over to on-line recruitment, as a majority of rural Indians still do not have proper access to Internet.
Indian Judicial system to be modernised through IT infrastructure Government of India has announced a comprehensive plan to modernise the Judicial system of the country by using IT infrastructure. Government has drawn up this programme involving a review of judicial manpower at all levels in consultation with Chief Justice R C Lahoti. There are plans for complete computerisation of all Judicial offices across the country and inter-linking them using connectivity technologies. Apart from that the term for the existing 1,562 fast-track courts have been extended by five years to March 2010 for clearing the huge pendency of cases at district level.
Indian Railways to begin on-line issuing of Railway Receipts for freight booking Indian Railways is in the process of introducing the facility of on-line issuing of Railway Receipt (RR) for booking freights and goods. Under this facility customers would be able to print and issue their RRs at select destinations. This facility is already available in the Southern, South Central and East Central Railways and very soon it will be available to all Zonal Railways. As of now, RRs are issued manually at goods sheds where the customer pays for his goods and later uses the true receipt (not a copy of it) at the destination end to claim the goods. Thus, RRs have to be physically couriered to the destination so that it can be handed over at the receiving end. Once the system is introduced, the customer would no longer need to courier the RR at the destination, as the destination station officials can access the receipt online and get a print-out if necessary.
Oracle India launches data hub to store information on government employees 28 June, 2005 Oracle India has created a model for a networked data hub that will serve as a single source of information regarding a person for different government departments. The citizen data hub will provide all information relating to a person to the different government departments and public utility services. Once operational, this hub will house citizen data from different government bodies like the transport office, water boards, electricity boards, income tax department, police records, land records and public distribution system. The product could also be used by large organisations to create a repository of employee information and help manage its human resources better. Oracle India's Senior Director S. P. S. Grover said that the data hub is a concept developed by the Oracle-HP e-Governance centre of excellence. The hub will create a unified repository of citizen information by integrating and managing information from various departments. This involves not only managing duplicate data but also using Source: The Telegraph
AP government goes for setting up broadband network 28 June, 2005 In India, the Andhra Pradesh (AP) government's ambitious project to set up a broadband network in the state gone underway with the contractor, Aksh Optifibre, stating that the optical fibre cables for the first phase of the project would be delivered within nine months. An Aksh Optifibre release said that this network will be the backbone for the IT kiosks to be set up in the villages, which will provide various services in an online, offline and interactive mode for both voice and data and will be connected to the district data-centres and the state data-centre. Source: The Asian Age
State government of Kerala to make ICT an integral part in school education 23 June, 2005 In Kerala, India, the state government is planning major initiatives in making ICT an integral part of school education in the state. The Education Minister E. T. Mohammed Basheer has said that about 23,000 computers would be made available to government high schools and higher secondary schools so that there would be one computer per three students. The schools would have freedom to choose the operating system for teaching. The government has already provided training to teachers in using free software. He also said that virtual classrooms would be set up in 50 schools in Palakkad, Wayanad and Malappuram districts using `receive only terminals.' Source: The Hindu
Department of Information Technology issues guidelines for e-Governance under NEGP 14 June, 2005 In India, the Department of Information Technology (DIT) has issued guidelines for capacity building and institutional framework for e-Governance under the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) and called for a programme steering council to provide the overall vision and broad policy direction. Planning Commission has allocated funds as Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to the tune of $3 billion to all states for initiating NEGP as communicated by the Commission. It has issued broad guidelines for the use of ACA indicating the first priority is capacity building. The norms said that the ACA allocation should be first utilised for capacity building. The remaining amount including ACA of subsequent years will be utilised for project implementation. For the ongoing e-Governance projects, the ACA funds could be used to set up for project mission mode. Source: The Economic Times
HRD Ministry's new effort to bridge the digital divide in India 14 June, 2005 Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is hoping that the third attempt to bridge the digital divide between private and government schools succeeds where the earlier two endeavours of Computer Literacy and Studies in Schools (CLASS) in the 1980's and revised-CLASS of 1990's failed. HRD Ministry is optimistic about the new approach named as Information and Communication Technology@Schools Scheme and hopeful that universalisation of computer literacy would percolate to students in small towns and the subordinate divisions of a district in India. The scheme has four main components such as partnership with state governments and union territories for providing computer-aided education to secondary and higher secondary government schools; establishment of two self-monitoring analysis and reporting technology (SMART) schools in each state which would be technology demonstrators; universalisation of computer literacy through the network of Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti to incorporate computer literacy to 10 neighbouring schools; and financial assistance to State Institutes of Educational Technologies under the project mode so that they become self-sufficient. HRD officials feel that the new scheme would enable pupils to acquire necessary skills required for both higher education and employment. Source: The Times of India
Prime Minister launches e-Society Development Initiative to boost up ICT in rural Sri Lanka 15 June, 2005 The launch of the e- Society Development Initiative (e-SDI) by the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) under the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will take Sri Lanka into a new era where all sections of the society would reap the benefits of the developments of ICT. The overall goal of the e-SDI, is to facilitate access to ICT amongst the most vulnerable groups in Sri Lanka, and ensure that the benefits of ICT development flow to these groups. By facilitating a more balanced access to information within Sri Lankan society it is envisioned the e-SDI will assist in closing the development divide between urban and rural areas, help to integrate post conflict regions and thereby contribute to the broader national objectives of development, growth and peace. The key feature of the e-SDI will be the e-Society Fund through which two types of grant mechanisms will be operated over the next four years. The e-SDI Community Assistance programme is characterised by a 'bottom up' approach where vulnerable groups will first be made aware of ICT and the range of benefits which ICT may bring to their lives and then provided technical assistance to identify their own priorities for development which are acquiescent to an ICT solution. The ICTA has appointed a Process Consultant to manage the day to day activities of managing the fund. The Process Consultant would also work at grassroot level creating awareness and building capacities of communities for developing proposals for e-SDI assistance. All proposals will be reviewed by a careful chosen review panel and the final decision on the award made by a grants Board appointed by the ICTA. Source: http://www.icta.lk
|
 |
|
|
