KERALA CM TO GIVE AWAY E-GOVERNANCE AWARDS TOMORROW
Thiruvananthapuram, December 7, 2009
The Hindu Business Line
The Chief Minister, V. S. Achuthanandan, will give away the Kerala State e-Governance Awards at a ceremony to be held here on Tuesday. Vishal Dhupar, CEO, Symantec South Asia, will be the keynote speaker at the function, an official spokesman said here.
Instituted by State Government, the selection of the awards was coordinated by Institute of Management in Government (IMG), an autonomous body.
The awards intend to recognise and appreciate the efforts of various e-Governance projects that have been implemented till last year (2008).
Nominations were invited in the categories ranging from online services and e-filing; best website; e-payment services; m-Governance; best implementation of the Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK); and local language content development to maximum utilisation of Akshaya Centers.
The IMG received 33 nominations in all which were screened by a high-level jury. It comprised of V. Ramachandran, former chief secretary, Government of Kerala and Member, Administrative Reforms Committee, Government of India; Anand Parthasarathy, Consulting Editor, The Hindu; Upendra Verma, Director, IMG; and Dr Ajay Kumar, Principal Secretary (IT), Government of Kerala.
“E-Governance projects in various departments were started years back when computer as a tool had not yet gained popular acceptance among the average Government or public sector employee,” said Dr Ajay Kumar.
PAN TO BE LINKED WITH UNIQUE ID NUMBER
Surabhi, New Delhi, December 07, 2009
The Financial Express
Banking heavily on the use of biometrics, the ten-digit Permanent Account Number (PAN) and the 16-digit Unique Identification (UID) Number are set to be linked up. The government has decided to link the plan for biometric PAN cards with the UID project. The finance ministry has already begun talking to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in this regard. “We are having discussions with the finance ministry. Both projects will be using biometrics, so it is a good choice,” UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani said.
The move comes at a time when both the income tax department and the UIDAI propose to use biometrics to verify the identity of citizens and avoid duplication of cards. More importantly, it would help the UIDAI get easy access to the nearly 70 million PAN cardholders.
Under the proposal, the PAN card infrastructure will be used by the UIDAI for data collection and enrollment of citizens. Further, the UID number will be embedded in new PAN cards, while earlier PAN cardholders will be sent a letter with their UID number.
For the Biometric Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards, tax authorities were planning to capture the fingerprints of four fingers of an individual—two from each hand; along with the face (with the eyes fully visible), the UIDAI is expected to use only fingerprints.
While the Central Board of Direct Taxes has been planning to launch biometric PAN cards for over three years, it was just this year that it actually floated a tender for it.
Seven firms including Infosys, HCL, Tata Consultancy Services and its subsidiary CMC and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, ITI and Bharat Electronics were shortlisted for the project.
In the initial years, the department plans to issue biometric PAN cards to new applicants and those seeking a re-issue. It would be extended to existing cardholders later. Nilekani has said that once all new applicants move to the UID-backed platform, existing PAN card holders can be given a specific timeframe of say, two years, to migrate.
But the cost of the card remains an issue and the department officials are staying silent about for now. At present, PAN cards come at a fee of Rs 67. The biometric cards are likely to cost about Rs 200 to Rs 300. Sources said the fee was likely to be hiked marginally, while the tax department too would chip in and bear part of the costs. However, higher fees could pose as a detriment to new applicants.
WHEAT E-AUCTION SOON TO CLEAR STOCKS
Sandip Das, New Delhi, December 07, 2009
The Financial Express
After a lukewarm response to the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) for wheat, the government has decided to launch e-auction of its stocks in select states.
Sources said that the e-auction would be launched in Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana this month and is expected to bring down prices of wheat offered under the OMSS. “Through online bidding, we intend to sell wheat in open market,” official sources said.
CAB DRIVERS: ID CARDS WITH IN-BUILT MICROCHIP SOON
Pune, November 07, 2009
The Indian Express
Come January and all cab drivers in the city would be seen sporting a uniform, either sky-blue or grey. In April, these drivers would also get identity cards from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) that will have an inbuilt microchip and general packet radio service (GPRS) system to track the vehicle.
The decision was taken at a meeting held by State Transport Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil with the cab-operators in the city on Saturday. Another important decision taken at the meeting was that henceforth if a cab driver was found involved in a crime, the permit of the cab owner, too, would be suspended.
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