National
National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment
⇒ A National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment was conducted by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in association with its knowledge partners, viz NASSCOM and KPMG in 2021.
This is a periodic assessment intended to improve the effectiveness of States/Union Territories and the Central Government in delivery of their online services to citizens.
All Government portals that were evaluated were divided into two main categories:
- States/Union Territories/Central Ministry portal
- State/Union Territory/ Central Ministry Services Portals
There were four main parameters of assessment:
- Accessibility
- Content Availability
- Ease of Use and Information Security
- Privacy for Central Ministry Portals
» An additional three parameters were also used for the Central Ministry Services Portals – End Service Delivery, Integrated Service Delivery and Status and Request Tracking.
Key Points:
- After the evaluation results which were released recently, the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been ranked at 1 under the Central Ministries Portal and the Digital Police Portal has been placed at 2 under the Central Ministry Services Portal.
- In this exercise, the service portals were evaluated along with their parent Ministry/Department’s portal.
- In respect of MHA, the Digital Police portal of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was shortlisted for the evaluation under the Services Portal.
- Correspondingly, the main website of the Ministry of Home Affairs was shortlisted as the parent Ministry portal for evaluation.
“Jagriti”, a mascot for empowering consumers
⇒ The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has launched “Jagriti”, a mascot for empowering consumers and generating awareness of their rights.
Jagriti will be projected as an empowered consumer who is spreading awareness about consumer rights & addressing solutions to the problems faced by the consumers.
The “Jagriti” mascot will be used to generate consumer awareness about various themes of the Department like- provisions of Consumer Protection Act 2019, Hallmarking, National Consumer Helpline toll free number 1915, provisions of weights & measures Act, decisions of the Central Consumer Protection Authority and testimonials by consumers on grievance redressal.
» By bringing the Jagriti Mascot, DoCA aims to strengthen its consumer awareness campaign presence in digital and multimedia and reinforce a young empowered and informed consumer as a top-of-mind consumer rights awareness recall brand.
» Jagriti mascot shall be shown along with tagline “Jago Grahak Jago” in all its media campaigns.
NHPC signed two MoUs
⇒ NHPC signed two MoUs for the development of “Pilot Green Hydrogen Technologies” in line with the country’s resolve to reduce the carbon footprint in the Power Sector in Leh and Kargil districts of Union Territory of Ladakh on 14 July 2022.
» As per MOU signed for Leh district, NHPC shall consider the development of Pilot Green Hydrogen fuel cell-based Microgrid including Hydrogen production to meet the power requirement of the NHPC guest house at Nimmo Bazgo Power Station (Leh) within NHPC premises.
» According to the MOU signed for the Kargil district, the hydrogen generated in Kargil will be used in fuel cells for mobility which will be capable to run two buses for up to 8 hrs in the local area of Kargil.
These two Pilot projects will create a roadmap for future development of Green Hydrogen & subsequent reduction of carbon emission in the transportation/heating sector. It will also attract long-term investment in the Hydrogen economy creating different revenue streams & job opportunities for the youth of UT of Ladakh.
About NHPC:
NHPC Limited (erstwhile National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) is an Indian government hydropower board under the ownership of Ministry of Power, Government of India that was incorporated in the year 1975.
International
2022 World's Greatest Places
⇒ Time Magazine released the list of 2022 World’s Greatest Places. The range of extraordinary destinations included in this list is from the Galápagos Islands to the International Space Station.
» Two Indian places, Ahemdabad in Gujarat and the southern state of Kerala also placed in the top 50 list.
- India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City, Ahmedabad has been listed in the “World’s 50 Greatest Places of 2022”.
- On the southwest coast of India, Kerala has been also listed in the “World’s 50 Greatest Places of 2022” because, with spectacular beaches and lush backwaters, temples, and palaces, it’s known as “God’s own country” for good reason.
Some other places are:
Doha, Qatar; Nairobi; Queenstown, New Zealand; Devon, England; Bali, Indonesia; Miami; San Francisco; Istanbul; Toronto etc.
2nd meeting of Ministers of Industry of the SCO
⇒ The 2nd meeting of Ministers of Industry of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held in Uzbekistan on 15 July 2022 with Uzbekistan being the host nation.
Union Minister Heavy Industries, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey virtually attended the 2nd meeting of Ministers of Industry of the member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Uzbekistan.
- He said, India is determined to boost cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
» SCO has China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India & Pakistan as full- time member nations.
» During the meeting, the Minister highlighted that India will continue to play an active, positive and constructive role in the organisation.
- He also reiterated India’s commitment to collaborate with industrialists of SCO member countries to explore mutually beneficial opportunities.
- The Minister further stated that by walking together and with mutual cooperation, we can give new direction to socio-economic and industrial development in the region.
- He said that it is because of this desire for the development of the SCO region; India has prepared the ‘Draft Program for Promotion of Industrial Cooperation among Business Worlds of SCO Member States and the Regulations for the Organization and Organizing of Exhibition Programs’ at the Industry Ministers’ Session of the SCO Member States.