UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 03-07-2021
iasparliament
July 05, 2021
Digital India Abhiyan
Launched in 2015, it is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MietY) with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
It is transformational in nature and would ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically.
This programme is centred on three key vision areas,
Digital Infrastructure as a Core Utility to Every Citizen
Governance & Services on Demand
Digital Empowerment of Citizens
The overall scope of this programme,
To prepare India for a knowledge future,
On being transformative that is to realize IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information Technology) = IT (India Tomorrow),
Making technology central to enabling change,
The programme weaves together a large number of ideas and thoughts into a single, comprehensive vision, so that each of them is seen as part of a larger goal,
Common branding - The Digital India Programme will pull together many existing schemes which would be restructured and re-focused and implemented in a synchronized manner.
Digital India aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely
Broadband Highways
Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity
Public Internet Access Programme
e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology
e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services
Information for All
Electronics Manufacturing
IT for Jobs
Early Harvest Programmes
With the help of Digital India; DigiLocker; One Nation, One Ration Card scheme; One Nation, One MSP; e-NAM portal; eSanjeevani; National Digital Health Mission; Aarogya Setu; COWIN app; PM-WANI scheme; One Nation, One Card; are being implemented.
Common Service Centre
The Common Services Centre (CSC) program is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY).
CSC are Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access points created under the National e-Governance Project.
These access points deliver various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.
They enable community participation and collective action for engendering social change through a bottom-up approach with key focus on the rural citizen.
CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme. The services provided are,
Agriculture Services
Education & Training Services
Health Services (Telemedicine, Health Check-ups, Medicines)
Commercial(DTP, Printing) and Entertainment Services
Utility Services (Bill Payments, Online bookings)
CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd is a Special Purpose Vehicle incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 by MeitY to monitor the implementation of the CSCs Scheme.
It provides a centralized collaborative framework for delivery of services to citizens through CSCs, besides ensuring systemic viability and sustainability of the scheme.
Through computer and Internet access, the CSCs as a kiosk provide multimedia content related to e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment, and other government and private services.
DigiGaon or Digital Village conceptualized as the connected village where the citizen can avail various e-services.
They are change agents that promote rural entrepreneurship, build rural capacities and livelihoods through community participation.
The aim of the program is to turn each village into a self-sustaining unit.
DigiLocker
It is a flagship initiative of MeitY under ‘Digital India’ programme.
It is a platform for issuance and verification of documents & certificates in a digital way, thus eliminating the use of physical documents.
Indian citizens who sign up for a DigiLocker account get a dedicated cloud storage space that is linked to their Aadhaar (UIDAI) number.
Organizations that are registered with Digital Locker can push electronic copies of documents and certificates directly into citizens’ lockers.
Citizens can also upload scanned copies of their legacy documents in their accounts. They can access it through their mobile number.
These documents can be electronically signed using the eSign facility.
Apart from e-documents, DigiLocker can store a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) link of e-documents issued by various issuer departments.
eSanjeevani
Telemedicine service platforms of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched two variants of eSanjeevani namely,
Doctor to doctor (eSanjeevani AB-HWC) and
Patient to doctor (eSanjeevaniOPD).
eSanjeevani AB-HWC - It is a doctor to doctor telemedicine system, being implemented under the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) programme.
AB-HWCs are envisaged to be the platform for delivery of an expanded range of primary health care services closer to the communities.
It seeks to connect all 1,50,000 HWCs using the hub-and-spoke model by 2022. Under the model, a network will be established comprising,
Hub - An anchor establishment, which offers a full array of services,
Spokes - Secondary establishments that will complement the anchor establishments. They offer limited services, routing patients needing more intensive services to the hub for treatment.
E-Sanjeevani OPD (out-patient department) - It is a telemedicine variant for the public to seek health services remotely.
It was rolled out in April 2020 during the first lockdown in the country.
It enables virtual meetings between the patients and doctors & specialists from geographically dispersed locations, through video conferencing that occurs in real-time.
At the end of these remote consultations, eSanjeevani generates electronic prescriptions which can be used for sourcing medicines.
BHIM App
Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is a mobile payments application based on National Payment Corporation of India’s (NPCI’s) Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Developed by the NPCI, it is an initiative to enable fast, secure, reliable cashless payments through your mobile phone.
It is based on UPI to facilitate e-payments directly through bank. It is interoperable with other UPI applications, and bank accounts.
Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is an instant payment system built over the IMPS infrastructure.
It allows you to instantly transfer money between any two parties’ bank accounts.
National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)
It aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country.
It will be launched with four key features - Health ID, personal health records, Digi Doctor and health facility registry.
It is a part of the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB).
It is implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
NDHB aims to enhance the healthcare delivery by setting up a core e-health database of international standards. It allows patients to have control over their health data.
It envisages creating a national health ID for every Indian. It uses technology to streamline processes such as record-keeping, sharing of healthcare data and similar healthcare processes.
Deciding Defection Petitions
The Supreme Court of India put on hold a petition to frame guidelines for fixing time limits by which the Speakers of Parliament and the Assemblies should decide defection petitions against MLAs.
It said the court cannot legislate i.e. cannot fix time limits. It said that this is the prerogative of the House.
However, it gave lawyer for the petitioner time to study a judgment of the Supreme Court in the Karnataka MLAs’ case on the point.
The 2019 Karnataka judgment had said Speakers who cannot veer away from their constitutional duty to remain neutral don’t deserve the chair.
The court had urged Parliament to re-consider strengthening certain aspects of the Tenth Schedule [anti-defection law], so that such undemocratic practices are discouraged.
Vaccine Hesitancy
The Vice President of India stresses the need to address vaccine hesitancy in some sections of the population, especially in rural areas.
According to the WHO SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy, vaccine hesitancy refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccine services.
It is complex and context specific varying across time, place and vaccines.
It is influenced by factors such as complacency, convenience and confidence.
Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor
Minister of Commerce & Industry chaired a meeting for the review of 20 large-scale critical infrastructure projects with issues enlisted for resolution, with the Project Monitoring Group (PMG).
Among the projects reviewed, a few notable names are as follows:
Dedicated Freight Corridors
Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)
AKIC is being developed along the alignment of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) traversing seven States.
[Seven States are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.]
Objectives of AKIC to,
Optimise the present economic and employment potential of the region,
Stimulate investments particularly in the manufacturing, agro-processing, services and export oriented units and
Promote overall economic development of the area through creation of high standard infrastructure and an enabling pro-business environment.
Short Span Bridging System
The first production lot of 12 Short Span Bridging System (SSBS)-10 m, designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been inducted into Indian Army.
The SSBS-10 m plays a crucial role of bridging the gaps up to 9.5 m as a single span providing a 4 m wide, fully decked roadway, ensuring faster movement of the troops and enhance the mobilization of resources.
Research & Development Establishment, Pune, a premier engineering laboratory of DRDO, has designed and developed the system.
The 12 bridges are part of 102 SSBS-10 m from M/s L&T Ltd, which is the production agency.
The Project Short Span Bridging System involved the development of
Two prototypes of 5 m SSBS on Tatra 6x6 chassis and
Two prototypes of 10 m SSBS on Tatra 8x8 re-engineered chassis.
This system is compatible with multi span Sarvatra Bridging System (75 m), where the last span requires covering gaps less than 9.5 m.
The deployed bridge is of the load classification of MLC 70.
Number of mechanised mobility solutions has been developed by DRDO for the Indian Army like Single Span 5 m and 10 m, Short Span Bridging System, 46 m Modular Bridge, Sarvatra Bridging System etc.
Manually launched 34.5 m Mountain Foot Bridge was also developed by DRDO earlier.
