500 POST OFFICES TO BE MODERNISED
New Delhi
The Economic Times (Delhi edition)
The government plans to upgrade and modernise 500 post offices across the country with an investment of Rs 65 crore, a senior official in the ministry said. “Project Arrow is now being extended to 500 more post offices, under phase- III, to upgrade and modernise these post offices,” minister of state for communications and information technology Sachin Pilot said on Tuesday.
Project Arrow was launched by the department of Post last year as part of efforts to provide world-class service to customers. In phase-I of the flagship programme, the postal department identified 50 post offices for upgradation on a pilot basis with an investment of Rs 12.85 crore. In the second phase, upgradation of 450 post offices have already been completed and the third phase is expected to be completed by August end this year.
While reviewing the progress of the implementation of the Project Arrow in post offices of Delhi and NCR, the minister said: “The objective of the project is to make a visible, tangible and a noteworthy difference to the services of the post offices that matter to the common man.
FINANCE MINISTRY LAUNCHES ONLINE CUSTOMS TARIFF DATABASE
New Delhi
The Hindu Business Line The Times of India
The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in the Finance Ministry is getting tech-savvy by the day. It has gone in for an electronic database of Customs tariffs to equip itself for better policy making on the import tariff front.
The electronic database, which would also be accessible to trade through the Internet soon, covers 11,000 tariff codes, import policy, non-tariff barriers, country preferences and import and export values and quantity for the two years 2006-07 and 2007-08. However, the online access of the database would come only at a price for trade and industry.
Launching the database, in a CD version, here today, the Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Virmani, said that the online database project was a step in the direction of the DEA’s overall attempt to improve the inputs for policy formulation.
“An online database will make it easier for us to analyse as data is available conveniently. Many a times the requirement is urgent and looking at many published resources (books) was time consuming,” Virmani noted.
The online database on Customs tariff is a public private partnership (PPP) project involving the DEA and the Academy of Business Studies. The Government has paid for the digitisation of the Customs tariffs and would benefit from free updates on a daily basis. There will also be royalty income to the Government on any income generated by Academy of Business Studies by allowing access of the database to trade and industry.
“The online database will be based on published data (DGCIS) available on imports and exports. It is not going to generate data on imports or exports. It is only putting the data there along with tariff data for research and analysis purposes to make it convenient. Earlier, you could get all this in different books. Now you will get it online. That is the advantage,” Dr Virmani told reporters here.
MAURITIUS KEEN ON AP’S EPROCUREMENT PLATFORM
Hyderabad
The Hindu Business Line
Mauritius is keen to share the eProcurement platform of Andhra Pradesh.
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has agreed in principle, to the proposal of the IT&C Department for sharing of the platform with Mauritius, subject to finalisation of business modalities for transaction revenue.
WE ARE BIDDING FOR ALL MAJOR INDIAN PROJECTS
The Financial Express
So far, contracts for only two mission mode projects – MCA-21 under the ministry of corporate affairs and passport e-seva, under the ministry of external affairs – have been awarded out of the total 27. Both these contracts have been bagged by TCS. Infosys Technologies, India’s second largest software firm, on Tuesday bagged the 10-year contract for the implementation and maintenance of the e-biz project under the ministry of commerce and industry, also one of the mission mode projects. It will add another feather in its cap as far as the deals in the domestic market are concerned. In an interaction, Binod HR, senior vice-president and head, India business unit, Infosys Technologies, speaks on how the company plans to go about the task and about other emerging opportunities in the domestic space.
What is the total size of the e-biz project?
The contract is worth Rs 15 crore, which is the fixed part of it. This money will come to us for our investment in hardware and software services. Apart from the fixed part, the model of the project is based on transaction-based pricing. Once the portal goes live, we will be paid for every service that is offered.
So, what is the revenue sharing arrangement with the government?
There is a certain threshold level we have set in terms of volumes that are generated online. We will be paid accordingly. Once the threshold level exceeds, we will share the revenues with the government.
What are the opportunities in the domestic market?
We are a big system integration player and we are bidding for all the major deals in the India market. The mission mode projects have now started rolling out. There was a lull in government spending owing to the elections, but we are expecting it to resume now.
What are the big projects you have bid for?
We have bid for BSNL’s Oss/Bss systems contract. In the defence sector, there is an airforce deal, which involves ERP implementation. In Indian Railways, though we have already bagged the integrated coach management system (ICMS) contract in the last quarter, there are several others coming up. We are also active in the accelerated power development reform programme (APDRP) space in the power sector.
NILEKANI TO LOG INTO UID PROJECT TOMORROW
New Delhi
The India Express
Having accepted the daunting task of heading the UPA government’s ambitious Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) project, its chairperson Nandan Nilekani is keen to begin his new assignment. He is likely to formally begin it on Thursday. Nilekani, a renowned corporate stalwart, has already held formal deliberations with the Planning Commission top brass including its deputy chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, recently to ascertain the progress made so far and the way forward on the crucial task entrusted to him by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“We have given a formal presentation to him (Nilekani) on the progress made so far in the UID project," a senior official of the plan panel said. The commission is understood to have briefed Nilekani on favouring establishing links between UID and the National Population Registry (NPR) databases, gathering photographs and fingerprint biometrics with the NPR schedule and thereafter incorporating them to integrate the UID database for various user organisations.
INSURANCE COS EYE UIDS TO RAISE MKT PENETRATION
New Delhi
Mail Today
Even before he has managed to get himself proper office space, customers are already lining up for Nandan Nilekani’s unique identity (UID) project.
The latest claimant is the insurance industry, which wants the unique identity card, yet to be developed by the newly set- up authority headed by the ex- Infosys honcho, to be used in its business.
It wants the new national identity to be allowed to be used by the insurance sector to meet ‘ know your customer’ or KYC norms. “ We could leverage the unique identity number project for spreading awareness and penetration of various services offered by insurance companies.
The identity number could be used for knowing the customers and their identification under know- your- customer policy,” said V. Vaidyanathan, managing director and CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd.
That could transform the penetration of insurance in the country, since the vast segment of population which currently misses out because it lacks the kind of documentation and financial history required by insurance companies, could now be covered. “ Compared to the spend on insurance in developed countries and other developing nations, Indians spend a very small amount on any kind of insurance,” Vaidyanathan pointed out.
INFOSYS BAGS E-GOVERNANCE PROJECT WORTH RS 5,000 CRORE
Thanuja BM, Bangalore
Hindustan Times DNA (Mumbai edition) The Statesman
Infosys Technologies has won a new e-governance project with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the ministry of commerce and industry, beating its peers such as TCS, Wipro and HCL.
Called the eBiz project, the contract is among the 27 central, state and integrated mission mode projects (MMPs) under the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP). The firm declined details on the size of the deal, but industry trackers say that it is worth about Rs 5,000 crore.
Infosys’ scope of work under this agreement includes designing and developing the eBiz platform, establishing the support IT infrastructure, implementing, maintaining and expanding the eBiz solution and services for the next 10 years.
Binod H R, senior vice-president and head-India business unit of Infosys, said this is a significant achievement. “Through this project, we will be partnering with the government of India to create better governance, transparency and ease of use for businesses in India,” he said.
Union minister of commerce and industry Anand Sharma said the ministry is taking this ambitious project to encourage and develop a conducive business environment in India.
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