Important Facts for Prelims (22nd February 2019) | 22 Feb 2019

Digital India Awards

  • The National Informatics Centre (NIC) to organize the fifth edition of Digital India Awards on February 22, 2019.
  • The Digital India Awards recognizes the digital presence and e-Governance efforts of various Government institutions across the country.
    • Central Government Ministries/ Departments/ Offices/ Institutions, State Government Departments/ Offices/ Institutions, District Administrations and Indian Missions Abroad are eligible to apply for the Digital India Awards.
  • The awards instituted in 2009 are one of a kind in India for honoring the efforts of different Government entities in the digital realm.
  • Since its inception the Digital India Awards have seen four editions, beginning from 2010, and biennially being conferred in 2012, 2014, & 2016.

National Portal of India

  • The Portal has been developed as a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) of the Government. The portal was launched in November 2005.
  • It is designed, developed and hosted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a premier ICT organization of the Government of India under the aegis of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
  • The objective behind the Portal is to provide a single window access to the information and services being provided by the Indian Government for citizens and other stakeholders.

National Informatics Centre

  • National Informatics Centre (NIC) is a premiere S&T institution of the Government of India, established in 1976, for providing e-Government / e- Governance Solutions adopting best practices, integrated services and global solutions in Government Sector.

National E-Governance Plan (NEGP)

  • The Government approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), comprising of 27 Mission Mode Projects and 8 components in 2006.
  • In the year 2011, 4 projects - Health, Education, PDS and Posts were introduced to make the list of 27 MMPs to 31 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs).
  • Within NeGP, "mission mode" implies that projects have clearly defined objectives, scopes, and implementation timelines and milestones, as well as measurable outcomes and service levels.
  • The 31 mission mode projects (MMPs) are further classified as state, central or integrated projects. Each state government can also define five MMPs specific to its individual needs.

BharatNet

  • Recently the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the inter-ministerial panel of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has given in-principle nod for monetisation of fibre assets of BharatNet.
  • These assets will be offered to the private telcos through auction, lease for 20 years or by outright sale.
  • This comes against the backdrop of concerns over poor utilization of digital infrastructure that has been created across more than 100,000 gram panchayats in the country.
  • Earlier, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had also urged the government to sell off these fibre assets to private players.
  • BharatNet is a flagship mission to connect 250,000 gram panchayats with broadband being implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL), a special purpose vehicle set up under DoT in February 2012.
  • National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) which was launched in October, 2011 was renamed as Bharat Net Project in 2015.