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OverviewThe year 2006 witnessed a revalidation of the Indian InformationTechnology – Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) growth story, drivenby a maturing appreciation of India’s role and growing importance inglobal services trade. Industry performance was marked by sustaineddouble-digit revenue growth, steady expansion into newer service-linesand increased geographic penetration, and an unprecedented rise ininvestments by Multinational Corporations (MNCs) – in spite oflingering concerns about gaps in talent and infrastructure impactingIndia’s cost competitiveness. The sector looks set to close the year atrecord levels, with the revenue aggregate growing by nearly ten timesover the past 10 years.

The software and ITES exports from India grew from US$ 12.9 billion inthe year 2003-04 to US$ 23.6 billion in 2005-06. It is estimated thattotal software and ITES exports from India will exceed US$ 31.3 billionduring the year 2006-07. Software and services exports are likely tobeat forecasts and exceed 32 per cent in dollar terms during the year2006-07.

While the US and the UK remain the dominant markets for software andITES exports, contributing to 67 per cent and 15 per cent of total exportsrespectively, firms are also keenly exploring new geographies forbusiness development, and to strengthen their global delivery footprint.Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, and Technology (Hi-tech//telecom) are the main verticals, accounting for nearly 60 per centof the total; Manufacturing, Retail, Media, Utilities, Healthcare andTransportation follow-also growing rapidly.

India offers a unique combination of attributes that have established itas the preferred offshore destination for IT-BPO. Over 2001-06, India’sshare in global sourcing is estimated to have grown from 62 per cent to

Common Service Centres (CSCs)

The Government has approved a scheme, as part ofNeGP, to establish 100,000 broadband-enabledInternet Common Services Centres (CSCs) in ruralareas of t he country to connect the citizens of ruralIndia to the World Wide Web. The scheme has beenapproved with a total outlay of Rs. 5,742 crore and isbeing implemented in Public Private Partnership (PPP)model and is expected to create one lakh direct jobsand 2-3 lakh additional indirect jobs. The CSCs are oneof the infrastructure pillars of the National e-Governance Plan and would serve as the physical frontfor delivering government and private services at thedoorstep of the citizen.

State Data Centre

State Data Centre (SDC) has been identified as anotherimportant element of the core infrastructure forsupporting e-Governance initiatives of NeGP. UnderNeGP, it is proposed to create State Data Centres forthe States to consolidate services, applications andinfrastructure to provide efficient electronic delivery ofG2G, G2C and G2B services. These services can berendered by the States through common deliveryplatform seamlessly supported by core ConnectivityInfrastructure such as State Wide Area Network(SWAN) and Common Service Centre (CSC)connectivity extended up to village level. Revised\guidelines for technical and financial support forestablishment of State Data Centre (SDC) were issuedduring January 2007.

State Wide Area Network (SWAN)

Government has already approved a scheme for theestablishment of State Wide Area Networks (SWANs)at a total outlay of Rs.3,334 crore over a period of 5years. These SWANs will extend data connectivity of 2Mega bits per second up-to the block level in all Statesand Union Territories in the country. The block levelnodes in turn, will have a provision to extendconnectivity further to the village level usingcontemporary wireless technology. Under the scheme,proposals from 24 States/UTs have already beensanctioned.

E-District

In the budget of 2006-07, it was announced that ‘It isGovernment’s intention to bring a number of servicesonline’. Most of these services are provided at thedistrict level and they serve as the primary interfacebetween citizens and the Government. Accordingly,the Department has approved 2 pilot e-District projectscovering 6 Districts in UP and 2 Districts in Assam. Theobjective is computerize the backend workflows at the

District level with appropriate Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), to reduce the work load at thedistrict level, ensure fast processing ofcases/grievances, enable better monitoring of variousgovernment schemes.

Special Incentive Package Scheme forSemiconductor Fabrication and Micro andNanotechnology Manufacture Industry

The Government has accorded approval to the SpecialIncentive Package Scheme to attract investments forsetting up semiconductor fabrication and other microand nanotechnology manufacture industries in India.The incentive would be 20% of the capital expenditureif the units are set up in the Special Economic Zones(SEZs). For units set up outside SEZ, the incentivewould be 25% of the capital expenditure plusexemption from countervailing duty (CVD). ‘Fab units’with threshold Net Present Value (NPV) investment ofRs. 2,500 crore would be covered by the SpecialIncentive Package Scheme. For other units in the eco-system, there would be a threshold NPV investment ofRs. 1,000 crore. The details to implement the schemeare being finalized.

Integrated Modern Townships for IT/ ITES /Electronic hardware industries

A Group consisting of Secretary IT, Secretary UrbanDevelopment, Secretary, Department of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion (DIPP) and Joint Secretary (PMO)has been set up to draw up a scheme for setting upIntegrated Modern Townships in consultation withNASSCOM.

Review of Information Technology Act

The Information Technology Act, 2000 provided a legalframework for transactions carried out usingcomputers and the internet technologies. As thetechnology is an ever-evolving process for providingefficient and cost effective options, it was felt that afresh look to the technology driven law needs to begiven. With proliferation of e-governance and otherInformation Technology applications, security practicesand procedures relating to such applications need tobe strengthened.

There is also an emerging view that IT laws should be technologically neutral in line with therecommendations made by UNCITRAL Model Law onElectronic Signature. Such approach will promotedevelopment of alternative technologies forauthentication of electronic records and will notwarrant legislative changes each time a new andequally effective technology is evolved.

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65 per cent for IT and 39 per cent to 45 per cent forBPO. The visibly higher preference for India is driven byits unmatched superiority when measured across arange of parameters that determine the attractivenessof a sourcing location.

The outlook for Indian IT-BPO remains bright, and thesector well on track to achieve its aspired target of US$60 billion in export revenues by 2010. Key factorsunderlying this optimism include the growing impactof technology-led innovation, leading the increasingdemand for global sourcing and the gradually evolvingsocio-political attitudes.

The process quality and expertise in service delivery hasbeen a key factor driving India’s sustained leadership inglobal service delivery. Since the inception of theindustry in India, players within the country have beenfocusing on quality initiatives, to align themselves withinternational standards. Over the years, the industryhas built robust processes and procedures to offerworld class IT software and technology relatedservices. Today, India-based centres (both Indian firmsas well as MNC-owned captives) constitute the largestnumber of quality certifications achieved by any singlecountry. As of December 2006, over 440 Indiancompanies had acquired quality certifications with 90companies certified at SEI CMM Level 5 – higher thanany other country in the world.

The Indian IT-BPO sector is committed to extending itsunmatched reputation in quality, to informationsecurity and is working on a four-pronged programmeto achieve this objective. This comprises: a) engagingkey stakeholders (policy makers, industry players,enforcement agencies, etc.) to build a commonunderstanding of the key issues relating to informationsecurity – in the context of global service delivery; b)educating industry constituents about developmentsin information security policies and practices; c)enactment of policy reform required to ensurecompliance; and d) addicting in the effectiveenforcement of policy frameworks by encouraging thepractice of periodic security audits and certification,developing and maintaining an incident responsedatabase and facilitating greater cooperation withenforcement agencies.

Notwithstanding the strong fundamentals (of largetalent pool), there has been growing concern aboutparts of the available pool being unsuitable foremployment. The Indian IT-BPO sector has taken theleads in ensuring that requisite remedial actions areundertaken in time to avoid any form of a talent crisis.

Training has become a regular and significantcomponent in the induction process of all IT-BPO firms.Several firms have also established dedicated facilitiesand terms, for employee skill enhancement initiatives.

The total number of IT and ITES-BPO professionalsemployed in India is estimated to have grown from284,000 in 1999-2000 to 1,630,000 in 2005-06,growing by over 340,000 in the last year alone. Inaddition, Indian IT-ITES is estimated to have helpedcreate an additional 3 million job opportunitiesthrough indirect and induced employment. Indirectemployment includes expenditure on vendorsincluding telecom, power, construction, facilitymanagement, IT transportation, catering and otherservices.

The domestic software market is also picking-up,showing definite signs of braking out of the trend ofhardware linked growth with the contribution ofsoftware and services exceeding that of hardware forthe first time in 2005-06. The total size of thedomestic market is expected to cross to Rs. 37,800crore in 2006-07, a growth of 28 per cent over 2005-06. Indian firms are gradually gaining ground and arein neck-to-neck pace with the MNCs. The Indian ITand ITES sector contribution to the national GDP isestimated to rise from 1.2 per cent during the year1999-2000 to 5.4 per cent during 2006-07.

National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)

The National Common Minimum Programme adoptedby the Government accords high priority to improvingthe quality of basic governance and in that context hasproposed to promote e-Governance on a massive scalein areas of concern to the common man.

In accordance with this mandate on June 14, 2006, theDepartment of Information Technology in a majorinitiative unveiled various components of theambitious National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)covering 27 Mission Mode Projects and eight supportcomponents to be implemented at Central, State andLocal Government levels, at an estimated cost of Rs. 23,000 crore over the next five years. At the State-level the Mission Mode Projects (MMP) would includeservices around road transport, land records,commercial taxes, employment exchanges, agriculture,civil supplies, treasuries, land registration, policy andeducation, while at Central level, it will cover areassuch as insurance, Central Excise, National ID,pensions, e-Posts, banking, passport, visa and income-tax.

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Industry ProfileThe Department of Information Technology (DIT) in the Ministry ofCommunications and Information Technology is inter-alia responsiblefor formulation, implementation and review of national policies in thefield of Information Technology. All policy matters relating to siliconfacility, computer based information technology and processingincluding hardware and software, standardization of procedures andmatters relating to international bodies, promotion of knowledge basedenterprises, internet, e-commerce and information technologyeducation and development of electronics and coordination amongst itsvarious users are also addressed by the Department.

Policy Measures

The Department of Information Technology has been makingcontinuous efforts to make India a front-runner in the age ofInformation revolution. The Indian software and services Industry hasgiven India formidable brand equity in the global markets. The industryhas been moving up the value chain as well.

Special Incentive Package Scheme for Semiconductor Fabricationand Micro and Nanotechnology Manufacture Industry

The Government has accorded approval to the Special IncentivePackage Scheme to attract investments for setting up semiconductorfabrication and other micro and nanotechnology manufactureindustries in India. The incentive would be 20% of the capitalexpenditure if the units are set up in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs).For units set up outside SEZ, the incentive would be 25% of the capitalexpenditure plus exemption from countervailing duty (CVD). ‘Fab units’with threshold Net Present Value (NPV) investment of Rs. 2,500 crorewould be covered by the Special Incentive Package Scheme. For otherunits in the eco- system, there would be a threshold NPV investment ofRs. 1,000 crore. The details to implement the scheme are beingfinalized.

The Information Technology Amendment Bill wasintroduced in the Parliament on 15 December 2006and has been referred to the Parliament StandingCommittee.

Indian Language Technologies

India is a multilingual and multi script country. Thereis, therefore, a need to provide user friendly and cost-effective tools, applications and contents that enableaccess to ICT infrastructure in Indian languages. TheDepartment is addressing the issues relating tolinguistic data resource, content creation, languageprocessing tools, and such technologies as opticalcharacter recognition, text-to-speech, speechrecognition, cross-lingual information retrieval, andmachine translation in multi-lingual environment. Tomake available the fruits of IT development to thecommon man in all Indian languages, the Departmenthas launched a process of dedicating in phasedmanner the tools and fonts for public use in Indianlanguages. As a step in this direction, software toolsand fonts for ten Indian languages namely Hindi, Tamil,Telugu Assamese, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi,Oriya, Punjabi and Urdu languages were released inpublic domain for free use by the masses. Similarsoftware tools and fonts for other languages are likelyto be released during 2007.

e-Readiness Index of the States and theGovernment Departments

The Department of Information Technology has beenpublishing the e-Readiness Reports on the Index of theStates and the Government Departments for the pasttwo years to enable informed decision making andpolicy formation. The e-Readiness Assessment Study2005, which was conducted through the NationalCouncil of Applied Economic Research (NCEAR), hasbeen submitted and released. The report incorporatesoutput and employment multipliers of the IT sector atthe State level. It also does an inter-temporal analysisof the State rankings and provides state wisesuggestions to help states improve capacities to utilize ICTs.

Medical Linear Accelerator

The indigenous 6MeV Medical Linear Accelerator(LINAC) developed by SAMEER, Mumbai incollaboration with CSIO, Chandigarh and twoindustrial partners has been installed andcommissioned at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute forMedical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra. Foundationstone for establishment of laboratory and batch

fabrication facility for Linear Accelerator (LINAC) tubesand linear accelerator machines for treatment ofcancer patients with radiotherapy has been laid atSAMEER Campus, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai on 22ndMay, 2006.

Internet Promotion

The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)Secretariat of the Internet Corporation for AssignedNames and Numbers (ICANN) has been set up in theDepartment of Information Technology and isoperational from July 1, 2006. The GAC is an AdvisoryCommittee comprising representatives of nationalgovernments, multinational governmental and treatyorganizations, and distinct economies. The GAC is thekey forum to discuss the public policy issues relating tothe Internet (standardization, protocols andtechnology) and affecting the social and economic lifeof the countries.

ELITEX 2007

Electronics and Information Technology Exposition2007 (ELITEX 2007), an exhibition and seminar toshowcase technologies, products and servicesdeveloped under the aegis of the Department ofInformation Technology, was held during 10-11January 2007 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Thisevent provided an opportunity for close interactionbetween academia, R&D institutions and industries.Three technologies developed by the Departmentinstitutions were transferred to industries forcommercialization and 16 new products/technologieswere released during the Exposition.

National Informatics Centre (NIC)

For faster and timely delivery/retrieval of information,NIC has connected all the State Centres with leasedline / fiber optics of capacity ranging from 2-45 Mbpswith backup links in 19 States. The districts have beenprovided 2MBPS leased lines. e-Filing of cases hasbeen started in the Supreme Court. IT basedAttendance Recording System has also beenimplemented for all Supreme Court employees.AGMARKNET portal (http://agmarknet.nic.in) providesdaily market information on commodity prices andarrivals in respect of about 300 commodities and2,000 varieties from over 2,700 markets. NIC hasextended computerization of land records to 582districts and 4536 tehsils. NIC has created portal for allCentral and State government agencies to host theirdata related to public information.4

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Electronics/IT Hardware Manufacturing

India has the potential to develop and manufactureElectronics/IT Hardware for the global markets andgain higher global share besides meeting thecountry’s future requirement in the converging areasof information, communication and entertainment.However, the growth of Indian Electronics/ITHardware industry has not been consistent with themarket potential. The industry suffers disabilityfactors on account of high incidence of duties/ taxes;inadequate infrastructure; high cost of finance,transaction cost, freight and power; low volumes ofproduction and inverted customs duty structure insome products, etc., In view of the specialcharacteristics of Electronics/IT Hardware and theimplementation of ITA-1 of WTO, this sector needs aspecial sectoral treatment rather than being governedby general policy framework.

The Government has identified growth of Electronicsand IT Hardware manufacturing sector as a thrustarea. In order to address the concerns ofmanufacturing sector, in general and IT Hardware, inparticular, the Government has set up NationalManufacturing Competitiveness Council.

Department of Information Technology had prepared“A Discussion Paper on the Conceptual PolicyFramework to Promote Growth of Electronics/ITHardware Manufacturing Industry” in consultationwith the stakeholders.

The main objectives of the proposed package ofincentives for the Electronics/IT HardwareManufacturing Sector are as follows:

• To make the industry globally competitive

• To attract more FDI in the industry

• To bring down the prices of the end products

- To bring down the production cost

- To increase volumes to take advantage ofeconomies and efficiencies of scale

• To increase the demand

• To compensate for disabilities until the basicinfrastructure constraints that the nation faces areremoved, and

• To move towards total taxation level of 12 - 15%over a period of 3 years.

A Task Force was set up by the PMO to examine the

proposals/ suggestions contained in the aboveDiscussion Paper and the existing Governmentpolicies/ procedures and recommend suitableamendments/ measures/ incentives so as to makeIndia a Hub for Electronics/IT Hardwaremanufacturing. The Task Force constituted a smallGroup under the Chairmanship of Member Secretary,Planning Commission to look into all relevant aspectsof the matter and give its recommendationsregarding appropriate fiscal as well as other benefitsfor the Electronics/IT Hardware Industry forconsideration of the Task Force. The Group met anumber of times and also took a presentation fromthe Electronics/IT industry associations. The Group isin the process of finalizing its report for considerationof the Task Force.

Customs

• Peak rate of customs duty is 10%.

• India is a signatory to the Information TechnologyAgreement (ITA-1) of the World TradeOrganization and w.e.f. 1st March, 2005, thecustoms duty on all the specified 217 tariff lineshas been eliminated.

• All goods required in the manufacture of ITA-1items have been exempted from customs dutysubject to Actual user condition.

• Information Technology (IT) Software is exemptedfrom customs duty.

• Customs duty on specified raw materials / inputsused for manufacture of electronic componentsor optical fibres / cables is 0%.

• Customs duty on specified capital goods used formanufacture of electronic goods is 0%.

• Customs duty on MP3 players and MPEG4 playersis 5%.

Central Excise

• Excise duty on computers is 12%.

• Microprocessors, Hard Disc Drives, Floppy DiscDrives, CD ROM Drives, DVD Drives / DVD Writers,Flash Memory and Combo-Drives are exemptedfrom excise duty.

• Parts, components and accessories of mobilehandsets including cellular phones are exemptedfrom excise duty.

• Excise duty on MP3 players and MPEG4 players is 8%.

Other Policy Measures

Supplies of Information Technology Agreement (ITA-1) items and notified zero duty telecom/electronicitems in the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) by ElectronicsHardware Technology Park (EHTP)/Export OrientedUnit (EOU)/ Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units arecounted for the purpose of fulfillment of positive NetForeign Exchange Earnings (NFE).

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are being set up toenable hassle free manufacturing and trading forexport purposes. Sales from Domestic Tariff Area(DTA) to SEZs are being treated as physical export.This entitles domestic suppliers to Drawback/ DEPBbenefits, CST exemption and Service Tax exemption.100% Income Tax exemption on export profits isavailable to Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Units for 5years, 50% for next 5 years and 50% of ploughedback profits for 5 years thereafter.

Impact of Promotional Measures

As a result of various steps taken by the Governmenton a continuing basis, India is now very high on theagenda of several leading global Electronics and IThardware manufacturers. To capitalize on the growthpotential, a number of reputed companies inElectronics/IT/Telecom hardware manufacturing haveeither set up their units or are coming forward toinvest in the country. These include world-renownedcompanies like Nokia, Motorola, FoxConn,Flextronics, Aspcom, Samsung, LG, Elcoteq, Ericsson,Alcatel, Tessolve and DELL.

Production Profile

The software and services industry continue to be thedominating factor in the overall growth of the Indianindustry. In 2005-06, the Indian software and servicesindustry exports witnessed a healthy growth, its totalexports reaching Rs. 104,100 crore (US$ 23.6 billion),an increase of 33 per cent in dollar terms and 30 percent in rupee terms over the previous financial year.This segment will continue to show a robust growthand the total value of software and services export isestimated at Rs. 141,800 crore (US$ 31.3 billion) in2006-07, an increase of 36 per cent in rupee termsand over 32 per cent in dollar terms. The BusinessProcess Outsourcing (ITES-BPO) sector has emergedas a key driver of growth for the Indian software andservices Industry. As export revenues from ITES-BPOestimated to grew from US $ 6.3 billion in year 2005-

06 to US $ 8.3 billion in year 2006-07, a year-on-yeargrowth of over 31 per cent was achieved. Consumerelectronics sector is estimated to achieve a productionlevel of Rs. 20,000 crore during 2006-07, ascompared to Rs. 18,000 crore in the year 2005-06,thus achieving a growth over 11 per cent. The fastgrowing segments during the year were colour TV,DVD players, home theatre systems. The colour TVproduction has shoot up to over 12 million unitsduring the year 2006-07. The flat segment CTVs nowaccounts for more than 50% of the total domestic TVproduction. The PC sales are expected cross 6.5million units during the year 2006-07. The highgrowth in PC sales was attributed to increasedconsumption by Industry verticals such as Telecom,Banking and Financial Services, Manufacturing,Education, Retail and BPO/IT-enabled services as wellas major e-Governance initiatives of the Central andState Governments. The production and growthtrends during the last 5 year have been as follows:

Year Production Growth(Rs. Crore) (%)

2001-02 80,124 16.4

2002-03 97,000 21.1

2003-04 118,290 18.2

2004-05 152,420 28.8

2005-06 190,300 24.9

2006-07 245,600 29.1

Consumer Electronics

During the year 2006-07, the consumer electronicsindustry continued its growth path. The totalproduction of consumer electronics is projected toincrease to over Rs. 20,000 crore during the year2006-07, registering a growth of about 11 per cent,compared to the previous year. Consumer electronicsis a major sector and it contributes to more than 35%of the total electronic hardware production in thecountry. The Colour TV segment is the largestcontributor. During the financial year 2006-07, thedomestic market of CTV is expected to cross 12million units. The total production of CTV sets is alsoprojected to be about 12 million. The healthy growthin CTV segment is because of growth of DTHbroadcasting and also because of sports events suchas Cricket and Football World cups during the currentFinancial Year. The flat segment CTVs now accountsfor more than 50% of the total domestic TV

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production. The Hi-end products, particularly LiquidCrystal Display (LCD) TVs have registered 400%growth in this financial year, though on a smallerbase, in 2006-07. Total market for the LCD TV isprojected to be over 150,000 and the Plasma TV50,000 in the financial year 2006-07. The LCD TVprices have continued to fall sharply in this year. Asthe prices are falling, the sale of bigger sizes LCD TVsis increasing. The popular size in this financial yearwas 32” LCD TV against 26” in last year and it isexpected that the next year the popular size wouldbe 42” LCD TVs. Though, no production of LCD TVsis taking place presently, some of the MNCs andIndian companies have announced their intention tostart production of LCD TV in India, because of rapidlyincreasing sale of this product.

There has been a good growth in the Home Theatersegment. This has also been fueled by theintroduction of DTH by one more private operator, inthe country. We expect this trend to continue.

There has been exponential growth in the STBmarket, due to introduction of CAS and DTH in thecountry. However there is a very little production ofSTB taking place in the country and most of therequirement is being imported. Presently, customsduty on STB has been made zero, againstrecommendation of the industry. Industry has

recommended customs duty on STBs at par withother consumer electronic products. If thisrecommendation is accepted, STB production in thecountry will take off and we expect that in 2007-08more than 2.5 million STBs would be produced in thecountry.

Black and white TV continues to register negativegrowth. Most of manufacturing has now shifted togrey market due to high level of taxation on thisproduct which is meant for rural masses.

Analog Audio segment also continues with negativegrowth due to explosive growth of DVD/VCD/CDPlayers. DVD Players segment continued to grow,though the rate of growth has slowed down. DVDPlayer market is estimated at about 6 million sets.

Some investment has taken place in tax exemptedregions, mostly by SMEs doing OEM work for reputedBrands. Samsung Electronics is setting up productionunit for Colour TVs and Monitors in Tamil Nadu. LGElectronics has also announced investment andmaking India hub for exports.

Computer Industry

The Desktop PC market (including Notebooks)grossed 2.96 million units in the first half of 2006-07(April-September 2006), registering a growth of 19%

over the same period last fiscal. The buoyant mood inIT consumption was led by significant growth innotebook sales, which grew by 180 per cent, whileconsumption of desktops grew by 8 per cent. PC salesare projected to cross 6.5 million units in fiscal 2006-07, given the strong macroeconomic conditions andbuoyant buying sentiment in the market, led bydemand from various industry verticals.

The high growth in PC sales was attributed toincreased consumption by Industry verticals such asTelecom, Banking and Financial Services,Manufacturing, Education, Retail and BPO/IT-enabledservices as well as major e-Governance initiatives ofthe Central and State Governments.

The southward trend in pricing continued during theyear due to technology reasons. Further, significantconsumption in the small and medium enterprisescontributed to the industry growth and consumptionin the home market remained buoyant.

Software and Services

Global trade in services has entered a new era, withthe growing and widespread acceptance of the IT-based global delivery model. Internationalbandwidth and powerful workflow management ITsoftware and services sector today is more easilypenetrating into the fabrics of the society than everbefore. IT is now possible to disaggregate anybusiness process, execute the sub-processes inmultiple centers around the world, and reassemble it,in near –real time, at another location. India hasalready registered its mark on the globe in ITES-BPOsector.

These developments are driving fundamentalchanges in the global IT services scenario. Vendorsand customers are redefining the levels of valuecreation in the industry. Keeping pace with the globaladvances in technology applications, India’s.Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services(ITES-BPO) continue to chart remarkable growth.

The Indian software and services exports includingITES-BPO is estimated at US$ 31.3 billion (Rs. 141,800crore) in 2006-07, as compared to US$ 23.6 billion(Rs.104, 100 crore) in 2005-06, an increase of 36 percent in rupee terms and over 32 per cent in dollarterms. This segment will continue to show robustgrowth in future also.

The Indian ITES-BPO sector also continues to growfrom strength to strength, witnessing high levels ofactivity – both onshore as well as offshore. Last yearwitnessed vendors moving up the value-chain to offerhigher – end research and analytics services to theirclients. Attrition levels also remained high, between25-40 per cent, as demand for trained talentoutpaced supply.

As export revenues from ITES-BPO estimated to grewfrom US $ 6.3 billion in year 2005-06 to US $ 8.3billion in year 2006-07, a year-on-year growth of over31 per cent was achieved.

High offshore component of delivery and superiorexecution in multi-location delivery continue to bekey differentiators. Broad-based industry structure; ITled by large Indian firms, BPO by a mix of Indian andMNC third-party providers and captives, reflects thedepth of the supply-base. While the larger playerscontinue to lead growth, gradually increasing theirshare in the industry aggregate; several high-performing SMEs also stand out.

India offers a unique combination of attributes thathave established it as the preferred offshoredestination for IT-BPO. Over FY2001-2006, India’sshare in global sourcing is estimated to have grownfrom 62 per cent to 65 per cent for IT and 39 per centto 45 per cent for BPO. With the BPO going strong forthe past few years, the Knowledge ProcessOutsourcing (KPO) – which maybe be called thehighest level of the BPO – is still at a nascent stage ofdevelopment in the country. This evolution of themarket to the KPO will drive trends that will ensurevery high-value services, in off-shoring. Theseopportunities in the KPO will help the Indian marketclimb the global value and knowledge chain.

With a large pool of skilled manpower – charteredaccountants, doctors, MBAs, lawyers, researchanalysis – India would be able to add value to theglobal KPO business and its high-end processes likevaluation research, investment research, patent filing,legal and insurance claims processing onlineteaching, media content supply, among others.Skilled manpower and multi lingual capabilitiescombined with the advantages of lower costs, canhelp the country emerge as a front runner in KPO,globally.

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There is always a ‘first mover’ advantage. Countrieslike Ukraine, Hungary, Belgium, the Czech Republicand the Philippines offer BPO services at lower rates;and it is probable that India may lose its low costadvantage. So developing KPO becomes imperative –it will not only ensure that we move up the valuechain but also increase marginal revenue vis-à-vis theBPO units.

The transition from the BPO to the KPO offering ahigh quality of human capital and ICT enablement,can be relatively smooth. Since out IT-ITES companiesare already very well established.

The overall Indian IT success story has also highlightedIndia’s attractiveness as on investment destination.Another key impact of the global sourcing modelpopularized by the growth of IT-ITES has been thereversal of the brain drain – as people of Indian origin(who were earlier constrained to go abroad in pursuitof their careers), as well as young expatriates, nowfeel motivated to work in India itself.

The growth of software exports also has trickle downeffect in the domestic market as well. The revenuefrom the domestic market (IT software and ITES-BPO)

is also expected to grow to about Rs. 37,800 crore(US $ 8.335 billion) in the year 2006-07, as comparedto Rs. 29,600 crore (US$ 6.72 billion) in 2005-06, ananticipated growth of about 24 per cent. The growthforecast for the domestic market is relatively lower ascompared to exports. However, with progressivederegulation and rising competition, companies areincreasing their focus on the domestic market;especially on emerging sectors such as retail, logistics,telecommunications and SMEs. There is stillsignificant untapped potential exists in the domesticmarket. The rapid adoption of IT services and smallbase likely to result in high growth (rate) in domesticBPO as well.

Indeed, the phenomenal growth of the Indian ITSoftware and Services and ITES-BPO sector has had aperceptible multiplier effect on the Indian economy asa whole. In addition to the direct positive impact onNational Income and Employment generation, thesector has spawned the mushrooming of severalancillary industries, triggered a rise in direct-taxcollections and propelled an increase in consumerspending, thanks to the significantly higherdisposable incomes.

The rapid expansion of ITES-BPO services, and the ITindustry as a whole, has had a profound impact onthe socio-economic dynamics of the country. Thesector has grown to become the biggest employmentgenerator with the number of jobs added each yearalmost doubling, has catalyzed the growth of anumber of ancillary businesses such astransportation, real estate and catering, and hascreated a rising class of young consumers with highdisposable incomes.

Over the past six years, the industry’s contribution tothe national economic estimated to increased from4.8 per cent in the year 2005-06 to 5.4 per cent in2006-07. The total number of IT and ITES-BPOprofessionals employed in India has grown from284,000 in 1999-2000 to over 1.287 million in 2005-06. The total IT Software and Services employment toreach 1.63 million mark as of March 2007. Theindirect employment attributed by the sector is about3.0 million.

Control, Instrumentation and Industrial Sector

This area continues to be a very major one forapplication of electronics and informationtechnology. Manufacturing of related hardware intechnology areas like PLC, Distributed Control

Systems, UPS, various Power Electronic equipmentand systems has been increasing in the country.Newer technologies involving wireless sensors andsensor networking are rapidly emerging as potentialapplication in the field of industrial automationtechnologies because these are inexpensive and easyto install.

However, still there is almost complete dependenceon imported hardware and software for this sector.Many of the subsystems that constitute a knowledgeenabled enterprise control system are available todayin the country as independent packages, but lack ofinter-operability is a major problem when integratingthese modules that have been developed by differentvendors using varied interfacing and communicationstandards.

Realizing this, the Department has conceptualizedand planned for a national collaborative developmentinitiative on next generation AutomationTechnologies to bring out an open standards basedflexible control system, in a holistic manner.

During the year 2006-07, production in this sector isestimated to be Rs. 10,500 crore, as compared to Rs.8,600 crore in 2005-06, showing a phenomenalgrowth of over 22 per cent.

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Communication and Broadcasting Sector

The communication technology has taken a big leapforward and received the national recognition as thekey driver for development and growth. The grosstelephone subscribers in the country reached toabout 190 million as of December 2006. (mobiletelephone subscribes about 150 million ) The over alltele-density reached 17.16% in December 2006.India is now one of the largest in the world andsecond largest in Asia. During the year 2006, morethan 65 million subscribers were added. Broadbandconnections have continued to grow since beginningof 2006. Total broadband connections in the countryhave reached 2.10 million by December 2006. Atarget of 250 million telephones (tele-density ofabout 22%) and broadband connectivity of 10million subscribers have been set to be achieved byend of 2007. The expectation by 2010 for broadbandsubscribers is around 20 million.

India has taken a leading position in the mobilehandsets market. Some of the world renownedmobile set manufacturers have set up productionbase for mobile hand sets in the country and manyothers are planning to set up their manufacturingbase in India to meet local demands and serviceinternational markets.

DTH (Direct to Home) broadcast service grew furtherduring 2006 as compared to 2005. It is availablethrough National Broadcaster and private DTH serviceproviders/TV broadcasters. For better quality of TVreception (Digital Video Broadcasting – DVB) is

available to the people of India on their TV sets just byadding a small dish antenna and a DTH Set Top Box(STB).

Strategic Electronics

In today’s scenario, technology applicable to Strategicsector as well as strategic technology for civilian anddefence sector are not available off the shelf and inmost of the cases, there is technology denial. In orderto ensure acquisition of the state-of-the-arttechnology, it is desirable to focus on production inthe strategic electronics sector and there has been aconsistent growth in production annually and it isestimated that during the year 2006-07, productionis expected to be about Rs. 4, 500 crore.

Electronic Components

The total production of components is expected to beRs. 8, 800 crore during 2006-07. The componentswith major share in the exports are CD-R, CPTs, PCBs,DVD-R, connectors, semiconductor devices, ferritesand resistors.

The world’s top five mobile handset makers - Nokia,Motorola, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson and LG havestarted their manufacturing in India. Presence ofGlobal EMS Majors like Flextronics, Jabil, Elcoteq, iscreating potential for a quantum jump in HardwareManufacturing in India and should have adownstream effect by greater demand forcomponents and assemblies. Companies likeFlextronics, Nokia and Jabil Circuit have committedinvestments to the tune of $100 - 150 mn over the

next 2-3 years which will largely cater to domesticdemand for Communication and IT products. Theaverage sales of mobile handsets are about 5 millionper month. This huge demand is expected to sustainfor a long period because of the great Indian middleclass which has already crossed the US population.

After announcing its plans to enter in the highgrowth Photo Voltaic business in 2005, Moser Baerhas made initial investment of US$ 75 million (Rs. 339crore) to set up a PV cell and module manufacturingproject with an 80 MW capacity in India’s firstrenewable energy SEZ at Greater Noida, UP.

One of the manufacturers of LEDs has developed aseries of high power LEDs. The released UNIVA andPOLYVA series of LEDs were a long time demand ofIndian solid state lighting market. These LEDs of 1watt, 3 watt and 5 watt are tailor made for use insolar lamps for home lighting and ideally positionedto meet the Remote Villages Electrification program.

One of the manufacturer of speakers for televisionhas developed Neodenium Magnets which are tentimes more powerful compared to the conventionalferrite magnets, consequently magnet system sizes ismuch reduced. It is the demand of continuouslyshrinking size of color television to have slimmerspeaker system.

An Indian research house has developed a hardwarechip for realizing the functions of a remote terminaland bus controller in FPGAs for MIL STD 1553Binterface and communication. This product increasesefficiency by consuming 20% less energy and costshalf as compared to other commercial products.

A low cost 5.5 inch B/W TV with AM/FM radio hasbeen developed by a domestic company for the massmarket and this product can be used for cars andother vehicles and is cost competitive as compared toother international models.

A PC based Flyback Transformer Tester has beendeveloped which costs about 1/3rd of importedtechnology being used for this process.

Electronics Exports

During the year 2006-07, electronics and IT exportsare estimated to be Rs. 153, 300 crore, as comparedto Rs. 113,725 crore in 2005-06, showing aphenomenal growth of about 35 per cent. Thesoftware and services industry continues to show arobust growth and the total value of software andservices export are estimated at Rs. 141,800 crore(US$ 31.3 billion) in 2006-07, as compared to Rs.104,100 crore (US$ 23.6 billion) in the year 2005-06,an increase of over 32 per cent in dollar terms and 36per cent in rupee terms.

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Initiatives inInformationTechnology SectorE-Governance

e-Government denotes a paradigm shift in the interactions governmenthas with its citizens, business and even within government itself. One ofthe areas in which ICT is having a profound impact is the wayGovernments function and the manner in which Government servicesare made available to citizens. As such e-Governance projects areexpected to harness the capabilities of ICT to increase efficiency,enhance effectiveness and improve quality of the government services.Adoption of e-Governance is a highly complex process requiringprovisioning of hardware and software, networking, process re-engineering and change management. In that context, the Governmentapproved the vision, approach, strategy, key components andimplementation framework for National e- Governance Plan (NeGP),comprising of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPS) and 10 components,with the following vision:

‘Make all Government services accessible to the common man in hislocality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency,transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realisethe basic needs of the common man’

National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)

The Government’s National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP)accords priority to improving the quality of basic governance and in that

context proposes to promote e-Governance on amassive scale in areas of concern to the commonman. As part of the NCMP commitment towardsintroducing e governance on a massive scale, theGovernment has approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). An Apex Committee,headed by the Cabinet Secretary, is constantlymonitoring the progress of implementation of all themission mode projects (MMPs) and the Departmentof Information Technology is serving as the secretariatof the Apex Committee.

State Wide Area Networks- SWAN

The Government has approved a scheme forestablishing State Wide Area Networks (SWANs)across the country in 29 States / 6 UTs at a total outlayof Rs. 3,334 crore with Central Assistance componentof Rs. 2,005 crore over a period of five years. Thescheme envisages to provide Central Assistance toStates / UTs for establishing SWANs from State / UTsHeadquarters upto the Block level with a minimumbandwidth capacity of 2 Mbps. SWAN proposals from24 States / UTs have been sanctioned so far, with atotal outlay of Rs. 1,738 crore and Rs. 361 crore hasbeen released. 15 States have already initiated theaction for identifying Network Operator by floatingRequest for Proposal (RFP) on SWAN. Feasibility studyand preparation of SWAN proposals for remainingStates/UTs are in progress.

State Data Centres

State Data Centres has been identified as one of theimportant element of the core infrastructure forsupporting e-Governance initiatives under NeGP. It isproposed to create data repositories/data centres invarious States so that common secured data storagecould be maintained to serve host of e-Governanceapplications. The broad policy guidelines for technicaland financial assistance to the States for setting up ofthe Data Centres have been formulated. NecessaryGovernment approvals for the Scheme are beingprocessed and Scheme will be taken up forimplementation during 2007-08. It is proposed toestablish and operationalise Data Centres in 20 Statesacross the country within a period of one year.

Common Service Centres (CSCs)

The Government has approved a scheme forfacilitating establishment of 100,000 broadbandinternet enabled CSCs in rural areas of the country.With a total cost of Rs 5,742 crore to be implementedin Public Private Partnership, the CSCs are one of the

three infrastructure pillars of the National eGovernance Plan and would serve as the physicalfront end for delivering government and privateservices at the doorstep of the citizen. Proposals for11 States have been sanctioned by the EmpoweredCommittee at a total cost of Rs. 877.63 crore and thefirst installment of Government of India contributionof Rs 109.71 crore has been released to these States.Three States have floated the Request for Proposal(RFP) for selection of Service Centre Agencies (SCAs)and the other States are in the process of finalizingthe RFPs.

Unique ID for BPL Families

The UID Project is a Planning Commission initiativewhich is being currently being implemented by theNIC under the overall supervision of the Departmentof Information Technology. The objective of the firstphase of the project is to create a core database of allresidents of the country and assign a unique IDnumber to all such residents over 18 years, in order tofacilitate better targeting of government socialwelfare schemes and poverty alleviation initiatives.Under the project, the Electoral Roll database is beingused as the initial database which would be used toform the core database. The project has beensanctioned at a total cost of Rs 46.7 crore and isunder implementation.

e-District

In the budget of 2006-07, it was announced that ‘Itis Government’s intention to bring a number ofservices online, in a web-based mode, includingapplications under the Right to Information Act,applications for house sites, ration cards, transfers ofteachers, inclusion in the electoral roll, filing of policecomplaint, and issue of birth/death certificates andcopies of land records’. Most of these services areprovided at the district level and they serve as theprimary interface between citizens and theGovernment. Accordingly, the Department hasapproved 2 pilot e District projects covering 6 Districtsin UP and 2 Districts in Assam. The objective is tocomputerize the backend workflows at the Districtlevel with appropriate Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), to reduce the work load at thedistrict level, ensure fast processing of cases /grievances, enable better monitoring of variousgovernment schemes. The backend computerizationwould also enable these services to be providedthrough the Common Service Centre Scheme. Theproposal for UP has been approved at a total cost ofRs. 18.91 crore and for Assam for Rs 6.56 crore. The

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project consultant selection process for the e-Districtproject is currently under way.

Capacity Building for Implementing National e-Governance Plan

The States and UTs are the prime stakeholder fortaking forward, the National e-Governance Plan.Therefore, the important issue is whether States areadequately equipped in terms of personnel and theskill-sets needed to handle the challenges that arelikely to face as a consequence of Mission ModeProjects implementation under NeGP. A team ofexperts in areas like Change Management,Technology, Financial Management and ProgrammeManagement are considered to be essential forproviding technical support to the Policy Makers,Executive Bodies and Implementing Authorities at aState level.

The Government has taken initiative in capacitybuilding for States and UTs. The Department ofExpenditure has released Rs 17 crore and Rs 21croregrants during 2004-05 and 2005-06, respectively asAdditional Central Assistance (ACA) to all the Statesfor taking Capacity Building initiative. Under theNational e-Governance Plan (NeGP) for facilitatingsuch initiative, this Department in consultation withPlanning Commission, has issued the CapacityBuilding and Institutional Framework Guidelines to allthe States and UTs. While States utilized ACA fundallocated to them, DIT provided financial support toall UTs for preparation of Capacity Building proposalincluding e-Governance Road Map.

The Capacity Building Scheme covering all States andUTs has been submitted for obtaining Governmentapproval.

Horizontal Transfer of Successful e-GovernanceInitiatives

The Department of Information Technology launcheda major countrywide initiative ‘Horizontal Transfer ofSuccessful E-Governance Initiatives’ aimed atpervasively spreading the benefits of e-Governanceacross the country. One key component of this multi-pronged initiative is to identify and replicate majorsuccesses that have been achieved in some States. Inthe first phase, projects on Land Records, Transportand Registration were taken up as they have potentialfor improving significantly Government-to-Citizenservices. The details are as follows:

• Land Records Computerization Projects : PilotProject implementations have been completed in

the State of West Bengal, Tripura, HimachalPradesh, Punjab, Pondicherry and Gujarat.Rollout in PPP model is being carried out in theentire State of West Bengal, Punjab andPondicherry. Implementation of computerizationprocess has been progressing well in the States ofUttranchal, Orissa, Haryana, Sikkim, Assam,Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. New pilotproject has been initiated in Mizoram andJharkhand.

• Computerization of Property Registration : PilotProject implementations have been completed inthe state of West Bengal, Punjab, HimachalPradesh, Tripura, Pondicherry and Rajasthan.Rollout in entire state on PPP model is beingcarried out in West Bengal, Pondicherry andPunjab. Implementation of computerizationprocess has been progressing well in the States ofOrissa, Uttranchal, Sikkim. Assam, and Goa. Newpilot project has been initiated in Mizoram.

• Computerization of Transport System at RTOs :Pilot Project implementations have beencompleted in the state of Himachal Pradesh,Kerala, West Bengal, Tripura and Punjab, Pilotproject is working satisfactorily and rollout inentire state on PPP model is being carried out inKerala, and Punjab. Pilot site has gone operationalin Delhi.

India Portal

India Portal is a Mission Mode Project in theintegrated service category under the NeGP. ThisPortal is envisaged to be a unified portal that willprovide ‘single window access’ to information andG2C services to be electronically delivered from allstate sector institutions and organizations.

The first version of the Portal was launched by theHon’ble Union Minister for Communications and IT,Thiru Dayanidhi Maran in a public function on 10thNovember 2005. The National Portal of India is aCitizen Centric portal catering to all the citizens ofIndia, hence the information and services providedthrough the portal also caters to the women, SC/ST,weaker sections and North-East region.

The achievements made under this project during2006-07 are summarized below:

• Awards: The National Portal (http://india.gov.in)received the Best e-Governance Award inTechnology at national level announced byComputer Society of India (CSI) 2006.

• National Portal Coordinators (NPCs) have beenidentified from 32 States and 63 CentralMinistries/Dept who are responsible for thecontent development, compilation andmaintenance.

• A web based Content Management System(CMS) interface has been developed to facilitatethe contribution of government information andservices on to the National Portal by the NationalPortal Coordinators (NPCs) for the contents intheir respective domains.

• India Portal would be providing Multilingualcontent. The Hindi version of the India Portal isready for the launch and the other languagewould follow subsequently.

• Live web-cast of all national events and otherimportant functions done.

• Online Services: There has been an attempt by theNational Portal to bring together all onlineservices offered by the Central and StateGovernment under a single umbrella for differentcategories of services like G2G, G2E, G2C andG2B. Around 296 new services offered bydifferent State Governments have been added.

• Rules/ACTS: About 145 new rules/Acts of variousStates have been contributed to the NationalPortal.

• One of the major mandates of the Portal is toprovide a platform for inviting public participationin the process of governance. The followinginitiatives were added on to the National Portalcatering to the public participation:

– Sixth Central Pay Commission - Through theportal the Commission has invited allinterested persons/people to send their views,suggestions and comments. A number ofreports are also generated online to facilitatethe Commission efficiently and convenientlyanalyze the responses.

– Draft Public Service Bill - A new sub-sectionhas been added under Citizen Module of theportal. Citizens are enabled to participate insending their suggestions and comments onthe draft bill to the Department of Personneland Training for further action to be taken byDOPT.

Standards for e-Governance

Standards in e-Governance are a high priority activity,which will ensure sharing of information andseamless interoperability of data and e-Governanceapplications under NeGP.

The achievements made under this project during2006-07 are summarized below:

• An ‘e-Governance Standards Division’ has beenconstituted in NIC and STQC to steer the processof evolving the standards.

• Portal on e-Governance Standards has been developed and hosted athttp://egovstandards.gov.in/.

• An Apex Body and PRSG have been constitutedunder the chairmanship of Secretary, DIT.

• The 6 Working Groups have been constituted,namely, i) Network and Information Security, ii)Metadata and Data Standards for ApplicationDomains, iii) Quality and Documentation, iv)Localization and Language Technology Standards,v) Technical Standards and E-GovernanceArchitecture, vi) Legal Enablement of ICT Systems

• Constitution of Task Force on ‘E-Forms’ and‘Identity Management’ to evolve policyguidelines.

• Formulation of initial set of standards underprogress. Drafts on Standards FormulationProcedure, Network and Information Security,Generic Data Elements, Enterprise Architecturefor e-Governance Applications and GatewayMessaging Standards are ready.

National e-Governance Service DeliveryGateway (NSDG)

NSDG is one of the 27 Mission Mode Projects underthe National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). The Gatewaywill enforce standards based messaging enablingIntegrated Service Delivery and Interoperability.

The pilot implementation of the Gateway has beensuccessfully completed. The following GatewayStandards and specifications based on XML andSOAP have been evolved:

• Interoperability Interface Specification (IIS)• Interoperability Interface Protocol (IIP)• Gateway Interconnect Specification (IGIS)• Gateway Common Services Specification (GCSS)

These are the messaging standards for a coreinfrastructure, which will enable Integrated ServiceDelivery (ISD) and sharing of data across the backenddepartments and front-end in various public domainsthrough a Secure Message Delivery format.

The project has been approved by Standing FinanceCommittee (SFC) in August 2006. DIT is nowimplementing the functional gateway (NSDG) at

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national level. C-DAC has been identified as theimplementing agency along with a consortium ofpartners.

e-Governance Conformity Assessment Centre(eGCA)

The eGCA project envisage to create a nationalinfrastructure (region-wise) in terms of skills,knowledge and experience with technical and legalexpertise in the areas of Information Security,Software Quality, IT Service Quality, Legal and ethicalissues of web sites etc. Also with ConformityAssessment Framework in place, compliance withapplicable requirements and regulations can beassessed by independent Third Party rather thanrelying solely on the assertion of developers andservice providers.

The project has been approved by Standing FinanceCommittee (SFC) in March 2006 and is beingimplemented by STQC IT Centre at Chennai asHeadquarter and Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi,Kolkata, and Pune/Mumbai as Satellite Centres.

• Testing of e-Governance Solutions forMunicipalities: Software packages from 11different suppliers have been received in variouseGCA centres. The testing for the same hasbegun.

• Trainings: Trainings on End-to-End testing of theNational e-Governance Service Delivery Gatewayand Testing and Test Control Notation (TTCN)required for testing of protocol compliance havebeen held.

e-Assessment and e-Readiness

e-Assessment is one of the important components ofNeGP. It is planned to list out all the e-Governanceprojects running across various States and at Nationallevel and undertake summary assessment of theseprojects in respect of their impact on citizens. AWorking Group has been constituted to provideoverall guidance and steer the e-Assessmentprogramme. Summary Assessment of 39 identified e-Governance projects has been compiled and thereport has been put up in public domain on the DITwebsite.

e-Readiness Assessment Study (Report) 2005 for theStates and Union Territories has been compiled.

For the first time, output and employment multipliersof the key States in India for the software, hardwareand ICT composite segments have been calculated to

assess the catalytic effect of ICT on economicdevelopment in those States. The report also bringsout the comparative analysis of e-Readiness status ofthe States over a three year period (2003 to 2005).The key findings of the e-Readiness Assessment Study(Report) 2005 for the States and Union Territories are:

Our analysis of the e-readiness of the states revealsthat the southern states like Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have remainedleaders over the three-year period, while the northernstates of Chandigarh, Haryana, and Rajasthan haveshown vast improvements. Apart from these, Sikkimfrom the north eastern region has done exceedinglywell.

The output and employment multipliers calculatedfor key Indian states show that ICT plays an importantrole in states, irrespective of their stage ofdevelopment. Developing states like Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh have a high employment multiplierand low output multiplier indicating the existence ofhigh involvement of skilled labour in the IT servicesarea, whereas the high “vertical linkages” in thedeveloped states of Maharashtra and Gujarat isshown by the high output multiplier and lowemployment multipliers.

Another important observation is that oldtechnologies are demand driven and take time topenetrate whereas new technologies like ICT aremore supply driven in the sense that the rate ofdiffusion is very high in this technology in bothdeveloped and developing regions and thus proactiverole of government in all states will yield positiveresults in economic development. Therefore, there isgreater scope in these technologies for diffusionagents to influence the diffusion process, implyingthat the outlay for the ICT sector should be increasedsubstantially in order to achieve maximum benefits ofICT.

The Department has also initiated e-Readinessexercise for the year 2006 by National Council ofApplied Economic Research.

Awareness and Communications

Common man in the country is largely unaware ofthe benefits and potential of ICT in his day-to-day life.The benefits of e-Government applications aregenerally unknown. There is a tremendous need toupdate the citizens to demand better services fromthe Government. The challenge is to build awarenessamongst people regarding the Common Goals ofNeGP and as such increased participation frompeople.

A massive awareness campaign has therefore beenplanned to educate people about what NeGP can doto improve their lives as well as empower them. Themain objectives of the National NeGP campaign are i)create awareness about NeGP and its components; ii)to undertake a national level Behaviour ChangeCommunication campaign on various aspects of thee-governance in India.

UNDP

Under the UNDP sponsored project ICT forDevelopment (ICTD), four themes for ICT applicationsin development sector were identified, namely,integrated citizen services, enhancing rurallivelihoods, transforming governance and women’sempowerment. In line with these themes, 12 pilotprojects were approved and provided initial financialsupport. These projects are now at advanced stagesand a few of them are in implementation stage. Oneof the projects viz. Bangalore One (B1) has alreadybeen commissioned and is providing variousGovernment services to local citizens through itsnetwork of 16 B1 centres spread across Bangalore.This initiative has been conferred the CSI Nihilent e-Governance award in 2006 for being best e-governance project in service orientation. The otherpilot initiatives are scheduled to be completed byDecember 2007.

India Development Gateway (InDG)

India Development Gateway (InDG) project is fundedby the Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) andDepartment of Information Technology and is being

implemented by C-DAC. InDG seeks to provideresponsive and credible information products andservices in local languages catering to the needs ofrural communities. It catalyzes the use of Informationand Communication Technologies for collaborationand information sharing among stakeholders fromGovernment, civil society, academia and privatesector through a portal developed for this purpose.

Other Projects

Rural Area Development Monitoring andInformation Systems (RAIMS)

This system implemented at Pudukkottai District,Tamil Nadu that has been developed and executed byMaduri Kamaraj University Maduri under the activeguidance of Rural Development Department, Thesystems are working satisfactorily at various sites ofTalluka and District Head Quarter. It is basicallyMultipurpose Information System and SpatialDecision Support System built in GIS environmentwith advanced Geodatabase.

LAN/WAN in UP Secretariat Buildings

The project has been completed to integrate allsecretariat building with Yojana Bhavan as a controlcenter for UP NICNET. It is expected to bring theefficiency and transparency in government with thehelp of Local Area Network established in variousSecretariat buildings.

Setting up of Nine Computer Laboratory in UPSecretariat

The project has been completed for training ofgovernment employee, which would help theGovernment of Uttar Pradesh to implement e-governance in the state.

Creation of citizen-ID and database for RuralDigital Services (RDS) in Karnataka

This has initiated on pilot scale in two talukas Maddurand Mandya in Karnataka for database creation toprovide a friendly, speedier, greater transparency,

efficient interface between the Government and thepublic with a cost effective and self-sustainable modelas well to provide a single window for Governmentservices at village level.

Land Resources Information System (LRIS) inMysore district, Karnataka

This is being implemented by Karnataka StateRemote Sensing Application Center, Bangalore incollaboration with Department of IT andBiotechnology, Government of Karnataka fordemonstration at Mysore district. In this project aparcel level up-to-date comprehensive landinformation system and digital cadastral map will beprepared in support of a broad range fordevelopmental and managerial requirements.Presently digital cadastral map of few villages withthe help of Quick Bird Satellite imagery has beenprepared.

Setting up of LAN and Biometric IdentificationSystem at Ahmedabad and Vadodara CentralJails

This is being implemented by NIC in collaborationwith Jail Department, Government of Gujarat tomake foolproof of prisoners entry and outgoing inthe jail and bring transparency/ efficiency in prisoninmate information handling system for all theprisoners lodged in its prison complex.

Panchayat Empowerment and communicationwith the Government in Local Language inSikkim

This has been completed for sending and receivingthe message/information in local language i.e.Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha in Sikkim towardsempowerment of Panchayat.

eG- SWARAJ

This is an e-Governance initiative for creation ofdigital database of multiple thematic layers and development of decision support system for variousnatural resources management.

e-Kalyan

This is an e-Governance initiative for welfareDepartment in Jharkhand State for development ofweb based Management Information System (MIS)and Budget Creation System.

Computerization of Finance, Revenue andExpenditure Department of Governmentof Sikkim

This has been initiated to computerize the Finance,Revenue and Expenditure Department with aim tohave centralized processing for the final accounts ofthe State and preparation of consolidated monthlyreport.

Cyber Security

The operational stability and security of criticalinformation infrastructure is vital for economicsecurity of the country. The IT infrastructure’sinterconnected computers, servers, storage devices,routers, switches, and wire line, wireless, and hybridlinks increasingly support the functioning of criticalnational capabilities such as power grids, emergencycommunications systems, financial systems, and airtraffic control networks. As the fabric of connectivityhas broadened, the volume of electronic informationexchanged through what is popularly known as“cyberspace” has also grown dramatically andexpanded beyond traditional traffic to includemultimedia data, process control signals, and otherforms of data. New applications and services that useIT infrastructure capabilities are constantly emerging.

Department of Information Technology’s initiatives tosecure cyberspace are essentially Promotional/Advisory/ Regulatory in nature and includestrengthening of cyber laws, early watch andwarnings, protection of networks and systems criticalto national security, protection against organizedattacks capable of inflicting debilitating damage tothe economy, skills/competence development, userawareness and forensics and attack attribution,research and development of new concepts,technologies, prototypes, and trained personnelneeded to spur on security solutions. DIT’sachievements in this emerging area are brieflydescribed below.

Indian Computer Emergency ResponseTeam (CERT-In)

CERT-In is a functional organisation of Department ofInformation Technology with the objective ofsecuring Indian cyber space. CERT-In providesincident prevention and response services as well assecurity quality management services. CERT-Inprovides: 2120

• Proactive services in the nature of Advisories,Security Alerts, Vulnerability Notes, and SecurityGuidelines to help organisations secure theirsystems and networks

• Reactive services when security incidents occur soas to minimize damage

CERT-In creates awareness on security issues throughdissemination of information on its website(www.cert-in.org.in) and operates 24X7 IncidentResponse Help Desk. CERT-In is establishing theNational Cyber Security Assurance Framework forprotection of critical information infrastructure. Aspart of this, CERT-In has empanelled 57 ‘SecurityAuditors’ for auditing, including vulnerabilityassessment and penetration testing of computersystems and networks of various organisations of thegovernment, critical infrastructure organisations andthose in other sectors of the Indian economy. Theseaudits enable CERT-In to assess the vulnerabilities inCritical Information Infrastructure systems and devisesuitable corrective actions and response capabilities.Implementation of security measures as per ISO27001 has been mandated for all governmentorganisations. A comprehensive database of CIOs ofCritical Infrastructure organisations has beendeveloped and training programs have beenconducted to form a network of CIOs and encouragethem to implement best practices to secure theirsystems.

The activities carried out by CERT-In comprises:

Activities 2006

Security Incidents handled 557

Security Alerts issued 48

Advisories Published 50

Vulnerability Notes Published 138

Security Guidelines Published 1

White papers Published 2

Trainings Organized 7

Indian Website Defacements tracked 4175

Open Proxy Servers tracked 1885

CERT-In plays the role of mother CERT in the countryand helping formulation of sectoral CERTs in varioussectors such as Defense, Transportation, Finance.CERT-In is regularly interacting with the cyber securityofficers of sectoral CERTs to advise them in the matterrelated to cyber security.

To facilitate its tasks, CERT-In has initiated steps tocollaborate with IT product vendors and securityvendors in the country. Security Cooperationagreements and MoUs have been signed withMicrosoft, Redhat, Cisco, eBay, Computer Associatesand Trendmicro. This collaboration will facilitateexchange of information on vulnerabilities in relevantproducts, developing suitable countermeasures toprotect these systems and providing training on latestproducts and technologies.

CERT-In is collaborating with international securityorganisations and CERTs to facilitate exchange ofinformation related to latest cyber security threatsand international best practices. CERT-In becamemember of Asia Pacific CERT (APCERT) and Forum ofIncident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) and is apart of the international CERT community. As part ofthis collaboration, CERT-In participated in the APCERTInternational Incident Handling Drill 2006, which heldon 19th December, 2006 involving CERTs from 13countries of Asia Pacific region. CERT-In is interactingwith other international CERTs to exchange advanceinformation regarding vulnerabilities and maliciouscode, responding to incidents involving attackers andvictims of international jurisdiction. Functionalrelations are being established with internationalCERTs from USA, Japan, Korea, Australia, Brazil, etc.To create awareness and to enable them toimplementing best practices, CERT-In is organisingworkshops and training programmes on focusedtopics for targeted audience such as CIOs, financialand banking sector officers, ISPs, etc. Experts fromindustry are delivering lectures in these workshopsapart from CERT-In. CERT-In has conducted trainingprogram on Information Systems Security for SystemAdministrators of ASEAN countries in August 2006.CERT-In has also organised the ASEAN RegionalForum (ARF) Cyber Security Workshop in September2006 involving participants from 20 ARF countries.

Future Outlook

The thrust is to make CERT-In the most trustedreferral agency in the area of information security inthe country. CERT-In will focus on building a networkof CIOs of Critical Infrastructure Organisations andinteracting with them to ensure security of the criticalsystems, collaboration with IT product and securityvendors to mitigate the vulnerabilities in varioussystems, providing guidance for developing and

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augmenting sectoral CERTs, cooperation withinternational CERTs and security organizations oninformation sharing and incident response, promoteR&D activities in the areas of Artifact analysis andCyber Forensics and security training and awareness.CERT-In is developing a mechanism to issue advancewarnings and alerts on cyber attacks and providecountermeasures by analyzing Internet trafficpattern. CERT-In is also developing separate securityweb portal for Government and Critical informationinfrastructure organisations and home users. Thisweb portal will publish information on latest threatsand their countermeasures alongwith security bestpractices.

IT Act /Certification

The Information Technology Act 2000 was enacted,primarily to create an enabling environment for e-Governance and to boost e-Commerce in thecountry. The Act provides a legal framework fortransactions carried out electronically, creating trustin the electronic environment.

Over the last couple of years, with several new formsof computer crime, misuse and fraud taking place,concerns have been raised, both within the countryas well as by the customers abroad, regarding theadequacy of the Act. A need was felt to strengthenlegislation pertaining to data protection and privacyas well as security practices and procedures followedby body corporate and other organizations relating tosuch applications. There was also an emerging viewthat IT laws should be technologically neutral, in-linewith the recommendations made by UNCITRALModel Law on Electronic Signature, to promotedevelopment of alternative technologies forauthentication of electronic records so that legislative

changes will not be warranted each time a new andequally effective technology is evolved.

Keeping the above in view, the Department ofInformation Technology had set up an ExpertCommittee under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DITwith members from Government, legal experts,representatives of IT Industry, service providers, etc.The recommendations of the Expert Committee, afterdue analysis and based on the suggestions andcomments received from others, were finalized andthe IT Act (Amendment) Bill, 2000 was draftedmaking new legislative provisions for new types ofcyber crimes, strengthening the existing legalframework and addressing various other issues. Withthe approval of the Cabinet, the InformationTechnology (Amendment) Bill, 2006 was introducedin the Lok Sabha on 15th December, 2006 during theWinter Session of the Parliament. The Bill has beenreferred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The Information Technology Act 2000 facilitatesacceptance of electronic records and DigitalSignatures through a legal framework for establishingtrust in e-Commerce and e-Governance activities inthe country. Seven Certifying Authorities (CA)licensed under the IT Act, 2000 issue Digital SignatureCertificates, which are used for authenticatingdigitally signed electronic records. The seven CAsinclude Safescrypt, Institute for Development andResearch in Banking Technology (IDRBT), NationalInformatics Centre (NIC), Tata Consultancy Services(TCS), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL),Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and (n)Code Solutions – a division of Gujarat NarmadaFertilizers Corporation.

The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in the country hasthe Root Certifying Authority of India (RCAI) set up bythe Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) as theroot of trust for authentication of electronictransactions. The National Repository of DigitalSignatures Certificates (NRDC) which hosts the DigitalSignature Certificates issued by the licensed CAs andthe website cca.gov.in are the technical infrastructurethat has been established and is being operated bythe CCA. The total number of Digital SignatureCertificates issued in the country grew from around70,000 in 2005-06 to about 3,50,000 by the end of2006.

Efforts were continued to promote the use of digitalsignatures. Special focus was given to the integrationof digital signatures in the MCA’21 project of the

Ministry of Company Affairs, more so after the launchof the project in March 2006. Digital SignatureCertificates are also being used in a number of otherapplications including Income Tax, e-procurementand Import-Export licensing by the DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

.IN Internet Domain Name

In order to bring about a substantially increasedproliferation of .IN Domain Name, a new .IN Internetdomain REGISTRY HAS BEEN SET UP IN January,2005. The opening of the .IN Registry hassignificantly improved and broadenED the availabilityof the domain names . The registration of the .INdomains has crossed 200,000 names byDecember,2006. Presently, more than 45 Registrarshave been accredited to offer .IN domain nameregistration worldwide to customers.

Internationalized Domain Names –Implementation for Indian Languages

In order to proliferate Internet to the commonmasses, there is a dire need to broaden the scope ofDomain Names supporting local languages andscripts in the Internet Domain Names. The process ofimplementation of Internationalized Domain Namesin Indian Languages includes the tasks of drawing out

the Language character Tables, Variant Tables,Normalization Tables and language rule sets inaddition to the formulation of registration policies.These tasks have been completed for Tamil andMalayalam languages (respective Scripts) and willsoon be launched. Similar tasks for the domain nameregistration in the languages of Hindi-Marathi, UrduBangla and Assamese languages (respective scripts ofDevnagari, Perso-Arabic, Bangla and Assamese) areunderway. Similar activities for implementation ofMultilingual Domain Names known asInternationalized Domain Names (IDN) for all otherIndian Languages (Scripts) are underway.

Migration to IPv6 from IPv4

The Department has initiated several steps towardsIPv6 readiness among the network and serviceproviders and related IT industry experts,technologists and users. As part of demonstrating theIPv6 implementation benefits, the EducationResearch Network (ERNET) backbone connectingpremier academia has been upgraded to supportIPv6. Applications like Mail Relay, Domain NameServer have been installed and trial run ofapplications on E-mail and Multicasting on IPv6 hasbeen carried out. The ERNET network and a projectfor examining IPv6 for mobility, security and Qualityof Service as well as for interoperability aspects isunderway.

Establishment of Nationwide Quality ofService (QoS) Network Test Bed

The project envisages Establishment of a NationwideQuality of Service (QoS) Network Test bed that willprovide Quality of Service (Qos) assurances to variousapplications The network topology of the ERNETbackbone has been upgraded and configured toMulti Protocol Level Switching (MPLS) and DiffServbased for the Quality of Service (QoS) Test bed runQoS enabled applications and services to offerservices to users. This will demonstrate the advantageof statistical multiplexing or MPLS traffic Engineeringi.e, Congestion avoidance based on Weightedrandom early detection (WRED); CongestionManagement based on bandwidth and boundeddelay; MPLS Class of Service networks; VPNconfiguration, etc, for applications viz., Voice overInternet Protocol (VoIP), Distance Learning and VideoConferencing are underway. The test bed will be usedby ERNET to provide IP based QoS services and willalso serve as a vehicle for collaborative R&D amongthe academia and for distance education.

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Indo-EU Proposal: Connecting ERNET Indiawith European Research Network GEANT

An agreement has been signed under India EUCooperation on Information Society Technologies(IST) Programme, for 34 Mbps connectivity betweenIndia and GEANT Network in Europe for collaborationbetween ERNET and Delivery of Advanced NetworkTechnology to Europe Limited (DANTE) to produce areliable and efficient connectivity between the tworesearch communities so that the various networkresources can be shared. Presently a bandwidth of 45Mbps connectivity was made operational fromAugust, 06 and providing partnership in the area ofInformation Technology, Life sciences, genomic,biotechnology, material science, environmentalscience, etc.

India’s active participation and visibility inInternational forums and its relatedagencies

The Department has dealt with World Summit onInformation Society (WSIS) relating to various aspectsof Internet Governance, Intellectual Property, CyberSecurity, ICT for bridging Digital Divide; InternationalCorporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN); is a member of the Governmental AdvisoryCommittee (GAC); Asia Pacific Network InformationCentre (APNIC)-setting up of Root servers;Component of Internet and Internet based services inInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU); UNICTTask Force for development and deployment of ICTtools for bridging the Digital Divide, etc.

Awareness programmes

Various Workshops and training programmes on theissues of for Registrars, Internet Service Providers,Network Service Providers, Technology developers,Human-Machine interface developers, Users havebeen organized, etc.

Programmes related to the following have also beenorganized to spread awareness.

i) IPv6 concerning deployment and applicationoriented projects,

ii) National Internet Registry establishment in thecountry,

iii) .IN Domain Name Registration – registry processand policies, dispute resolution policy, etc.

iv) Domain Names in Indian Languages - registryprocess and policies, dispute resolution policy, etc.

Establishment of Governmental AdvisoryCommittee (GAC) Secretariat in DIT, NewDelhi

A Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)Secretariat of the Internet Corporation for AssignedNames and Numbers (ICANN) has been set up in theDepartment of Information Technology. The GAC isan Advisory Committee comprising representatives ofnational governments, multinational governmentalorganizations and treaty organizations, and distincteconomies. It is the key forum for discussing thepublic policy issues relating to the Internet concerningthe standardization, protocols and technology andaffecting the social and economic life of thecountries.

The Semiconductor Integrated CircuitsLayout-Design Act 2000

The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-DesignAct (SICLDA) 2000 provides for protection ofSemiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Designsand for the matters connected therewith or incidentalthereto. As per the provisions made under SICLDA, aRegistry known as the Semiconductor IntegratedCircuits Layout-Design Registry (SICLDR) has to beestablished to facilitate examining the received chiplayout-design, IPR applications and issuing theregistration to qualifying layout-designs.

During the year, further work on establishing ofSICLDR progressed. The civil utilities and electricalworks of the new office set up were tested and put into operation. PC network connectivity wascommissioned. The office equipment procured forRegistry office were installed and made operational.Technical equipment needed for creation of newSICLDR resource- Inspection and Verification Facility -were identified and procurement actions started.Diffusion of information on Act matters was given toacademic, R&D and industrial groups and oneworkshop on chip IP matters seeded. Queries fromM/o Commerce and Industry on WTO/TRIP matterswere attended to. Interfaced with DIT XI Plan studyteam on R&D on setting new mission activity“National Institute on IPR Semiconductor LayoutDesigns“ and strengthening the Registry statutoryactivities and these were recommended in XI PlanR&D report of the Department.

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Media Lab Asia

Media Lab Asia was set up by Government of India as a not-for-profitorganization under Section 25 of Companies Act with a vision ofleveraging the information and communication technologies and otheradvanced technologies for the benefit of the common man. Media LabAsia works with academic and Rand D institutions, industry, NGOs andGovernments in the endeavor. In addition, research, development anddeployment projects have been taken up. Media Lab Asia is alsoestablishing field test sites near the research organizations and otherlocations and working with State and local governments, NGOs, andother organizationsl in this endeavor.

Media Lab Asia’s application development is focused on use of ICT forhealthcare, education, livelihood generation, empowerment of thedisabled and providing rural connectivity. The Media Lab Asia projectsare generally centered around these themes. The research themes ofMedia Lab Asia include technologies for broadband rural connectivity,affordable computing and access devices, and advanced interfaces.

Achievements during the year 2006-07

Media Lab Asia initiated several projects in the identified thrust areas atits research hubs at IITs, NGOs, IIIT and its lab at Delhi. Some of theprojects have been taken for the field trial and pilot deployments.Highlights of some of the projects are described below:

ICT for Healthcare

Ca:Sh: The system aims at developing a model for IT based healthservices at grass root level by strengthening the health data collectionand information systems. Handheld device based data collectionmethods are being developed and tested in this project. The health

Technology andApplicationDevelopment

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modules have been designed and the developmentactivity is in progress.

Digital Health at Every Door Step-Using WirelessCommunication Network: The system aims todevelop affordable, biomedical and public healthcarediagnostic devices for rural healthcare. The projectwill address the issues of bandwidth constrainedcompression, standards-compliant formatting andintegrated multimedia transmission, etc. The projectwill test deploy these devices in a WiFi wirelessnetwork for providing rural medical services using amobile telemedicine vehicle. This project has beenrecently initiated.

Adaptive Automatic Insulin Pump: The systemaims to develop low-cost technologies for infusion ofdrugs and medication to patients using MEMS(Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) based micro-fluidic delivery system. The objective is to makeavailable drug delivery system like insulin pumps, etc.,at a lower cost. This project has been recentlyinitiated.

Sehat Saathi: This project is developing a ruraltelemedicine platform for Primary Healthcare delivery.A modular development approach with an interfacebuilder kit was adapted in the project where the userscan select/create modules as per their requirement.The dermatology and ophthalmology modules areready. The dermatology module is being tested withHallet Hospital in Kanpur. Discussions are underwaywith Ministry of Health and Family Welfare foradoption of the technology for tele-ophthalmology.Test deployment of Sehat Saathi is being undertakenjointly with NGOs and other organizations.

Polysensors: Poly Sensor is a portable, easy to use,low cost water quality monitoring instrument whichcan tell whether water is fit for consumption byhuman being. Currently, it can measure seven typesof impurities in water viz. pH, Chloride ion, Nitrateion, Electrical Conductance (EC), Total DissolvedSolids (TDS) , Fluoride and Salinity (amount of NaCl).

The instrument is a direct read out and little technicalexpertise is required for determining the water qualityand its contamination. The instrument is batteryoperated and can be easily taken to remote sites inrural areas. This is one instrument, which canmeasure many parameters. This instrument is fullyindigenous and easily repairable (any technician can

repair). It has 64 KB EEPROM and serial data uploadfacility. The lower limit of sensitivity of the instrumentis as low as specified by WHO. The instrument isunder field trial at several places.

ICT for Livelihood Generation

Digital Ecosystem for Agriculture and RuralLivelihood: The project is providing a multimediaplatform for creation, sharing and dissemination ofagricultural information among farmers and experts.It has created an ontology based agriculturalvocabulary database in Hindi with more than 28,000agricultural terms. This agricultural knowledgerepository can be utilized by agricultural extensionscientists and farmers on various matters related toagriculture and also by the research Engineers forenhancing the relevance of research results in theagricultural sector. A Kisan Blog for accessing offarming information by farmers including an Audioblog has been developed. Digital Agronomy Portal fordecision support is being developed. Testing of thetechnologies in field is being done in collaborationwith ICAR, KVK’s, entrepreneurs and NGO’s.

e-Sagu: The project is an IT-based personalizedagricultural advisory system. The advice by theexperts is provided at the farmers door step onregular basis from sowing to harvesting. This helps toreduce the cost of cultivation and increases the farmproductivity as well as quality of agro commodities.At present the system is deployed in Andhra Pradeshcovering 5000 farms in 38 villages for crops such ascotton, chillies, rice, groundnut, castor, red gram andfish. A revenue model with collection of subscriptionfrom farmers has been implemented for testingsustainability. The project evaluation was done bythird party organization and found that the farmergains Rs 3850/- per acre on average. A project hasbeen taken up for optimization, productization of thee-Sagu and development of a business model. Pilotdeployment of e-Sagu in the Ashwini infrastructurehas been taken up at about 32 centres coveringabout more than 75 villages. An ISO model is beingdeveloped. An application has been filed forpatenting the technology. e-Sagu has been awarded‘The Best e-Governance Project’ award by the CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards for 2005-06. e-Sagu isselected as one of the worldwide latest novel Internetapplications in the book ‘Innovative Application Casestudy 2006’ by Institute for Information Industry,Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan.

Digital Craft Revival: CHIC focuses on theLucknow Chikan Embroidery and uses ComputerAided Design (CAD) to develop a library of traditionaland new motifs and composition of past Indian andPersian design motifs. CHIC is ‘cost-effective’ andless ‘time-consuming’ as compared to the existingtraditional methods and can help in creation of betterdesigns. This system is being field tested in UttarPradesh in collaboration with an NGO. A project istaken up for development of CAD based tools forcarpet design to help the people involved in thecarpet industry. This project is developing user-friendly software in which designers can develop newdesigns based on the basic motifs stored in the libraryand compose maintaining the spirit of the tradition oftheir own.

aAQUA: aAQUA (almost All Question Answered) is asmart, effectively an online, yet archived, web-baseddiscussion forum, allowing users to create, view andmanage content in their native language. It provideseasy and fast retrieval of contextual information,documents and images using various keyword searchstrategies with the held of query expansion andindexing techniques. Using this, a farmer can ask aquestion on aAqua from a kiosk (cyber-café); expertsview the question and answer back, providingsolutions to the problem. It is available in English,Hindi and Marathi. Being Unicode compliant system,it can support other languages also.

aAQUA has been deployed at many kiosks in Pabaland Rajguru, Shirur and Haveli taluka region inMaharashtra. It has been developed at Media LabAsia research hub at IIT Bombay. The development iscomplete and is ready for deployment.

ICT for Empowerment of the Disabled

Sanyog: Sanyog is a multilingual augmentativecommunication system to serve individuals withspeech impairment and neuro-motor disorders. Itallows the individuals to form and vocalize their ownmessages. A prototype system is being tested at the(IICP), Kolkata and at Action for Abilities,Development and inclusion (AADI), Delhi. The systemprovides i) facility to construct simple sentences byselection of icons, ii) creation of more complexmessages using on-screen soft alpha-numerickeyboard iii) provides a facility to easily access pre-stored messages, and iv) to personalize the icons withassociated meaning, reflected in iconic interface. The

natural language processing techniques are used togenerate grammatically correct sentences and theText to Speech engine produces speech output. Thesystem has been tested in Bengali, English and Hindilanguages.

Shruti: A TTS engine in Hindi and Bengali has beendeveloped at MLAsia hub at IIT, Kharagpur. This isavailable for WINDOWS, LINUX and embeddedsystem running WINCE and ARM Linux. Facility hasbeen provided to enter text in ITRANS using whichthe Indian language text can be entered using Romancharacters. Shruti is being used and field-tested withSanyog. Shruti and Sanyog have been deployed atIICP-Kolkata, AADI-New Delhi, Monovikas Kendra-Kolkata and NIMH-Hyderabad for field trials.

VAANI: VAANI is an iconic communication devicethat provides simple navigation mechanisms to serveindividuals suffering with cerebral palsy. The idea ofVAANI came up with a target of developing an easyto operate, portable hand held device with a facilityto store and play a large number of audio messagesand display images which can be partitioned indifferent contexts. The device has a graphic LCDdisplay, configurable keyboard, suitable indicatorsand USB support. It comes with user friendlyGraphical User Interface to customize the deviceaccording to need of different users. It has beendeveloped at Media Lab Asia, Delhi and test deployedat ‘Action for Abilities, Development and Inclusion(AADI), New Delhi’.

Virtual Physics Lab: The objective of the project is todesign and develop Virtual Physics Lab for the ruralschool children, which do not have access to thePhysics lab infrastructure in their schools. The projectincludes training the teachers of rural schools increating multimedia content for Physics lab. Morethan 100 teachers have been trained through thisprogram. Virtual experiments have been developedso far include Ideal and Compound Pendulum,Bouncing Ball, Simple Harmonic Motion, Pulley, 2DCollision, Inclined Plane, Lever, Rotation and Optics.

Samvidha: The project ‘Samvidha’ is a personalizedcontent access and presentation for education andliteracy for adults and rural children. Samvidhaprovides functional literacy in a non-functional way, itmay be used to provide supplementary education torural school children, healthcare, environmentalawareness and general awareness contents and as a

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scope of participatory authoring, self test support.The following features have been incorporated in theproject:

• Offline Internet Access• Personalized Information Filtering

– Ontology Representation and Population

– User Modeling• Local Search

• Multi-lingual Search Interface

The project has been deployed at Bhalopahar,Galudihi, Purulia, whereas deployment is in progressat Bankura and Ashok Nagar districts of West Bengal.

Shravan: It is an empowering tool for visuallyimpaired to enable them to read/write electronicdocuments through listening using computers.Shravan (a low cost PC for visually impaired) is an in-house project of Media Lab Asia. It has a standardmother board, 40 Gb hard-disk, standard CD-ROM,normal key board and a specially designed ShravanBox which can give the status of the PC in case ofpower failures and malfunctioning of hard-disk.

Screen Access for All (SAFA): A screen readingsoftware in Hindi and English to enable the visuallyimpaired persons to use PC is developed incollaboration with National Association for the Blind.SAFA is currently being field tested at a number ofschools and is ready for deployment.

Content Generation for Capacity Building ofPersons with Blindness or Low Vision: The projectaims to generate e-text, Braille, large print and audiobooks at graduate/post graduate level in English andHindi for visually impaired persons. The project isbeing implemented by National Association for theBlind. The conversion of 700 books into e-Text andaudio recording is in progress.

ICT for Education

Multimodal Participatory tutoring system forthe Rural Children: The objective is to develop anintelligent tutoring system (ITS) and authoring systemthat will provide the teachers with a facility to authorthe content in accordance with local needs. IIT-Bombay has developed a sample courseware for class8 students. IIT-Bombay has also conducted a facultydevelopment programs to train the teachers, developcourseware websites to help knowledge transfer, andITS to adapt itself according to the needs of thestudent.

ICT enabled Teaching in Rural Schools: The objectiveof the project is to deploy ICT in classroom teachingon a pilot basis in a few selected schools in Karnatakaand to evaluate the effectiveness of the same forimproving the quality of classroom teaching. Theteachers of 15 rural schools were trained on the useof software content for teaching science subjects.The project has been undertaken in collaborationwith Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Rural Connectivity

Ruralnet ( Digital Gangetic Plains II): The projectaims development of a robust, cost-effective, highperformance solution for point to multipoint andmesh networks based on broadband wirelesstechnology for rural internet connectivity.Technologies for modification of MAC layer protocolsof IEEE 802.11b standard appropriate for longdistance broadband wireless connectivity and faulttolerant mechanisms have been developed toautomatically route the transmissions throughalternate antennae and to ensure the linkconnection’s always ON in case of failure of particularcritical links. The technologies developed in theseprojects are being used/tested in the Ashwini projectdeployment.

Ashwini: The project is establishing a broadbandwireless network based on 802.11 b/g technologyconnecting about 32 village centres in East Godavariand West Godaviri districts of Andhra Pradesh with ahub at Bhimavaram town in point to multi-point andmesh configurations. This project is delivering highquality services such as agriculture, healthcare,education, livelihoods training and e-governance toabout 5 lakh people in villages and is providingconnectivity backbone for rural BPO’s in GramITproject and e-Sagu project in this region. Multi-sitevideo conferencing is effectively used on this networkto provide expert interaction with the people in thevillages in the areas of healthcare and agriculture andprovide high quality education to the students,conduct literacy and spoken English programs forwomen and provide training to livelihood generation.H.E., the President of India visited the project andappreciated the work and value of the project. e-Saguproject is adapted to deploy in project Ashwinicovering more than 75 villages. A revenue model isbeing implemented in the Ashwini project.

Peer-to-Peer Mesh Networks: A three channelbroadband wireless router card has been developed.Prototypes of the device have been fabricated and are

being tested at IIT-Madras. Plans are made for testingof these devices for crating wireless mesh networks invillages. The technology is being transferred toIndustry.

GramPatra: GramPatra is a asynchronous store andforward message delivery system for remote rurallocations where on-line connectivity is not available.A prototype system has been developed and is beingfield tested in Karnataka in collaboration withBhoomi project. This Technology was presented at theIFIP World Information Technology Forum 2005(WITFOR 2005) at GARBORNE, Botswana. WITFOR2005 GABORONE declaration included GramPatra asan example technology for infrastructure creationwhere online internet is not available.

Gramin Gyan Kendra: A project has been taken upto develop models for use of ICT to improve socialinfrastructure and public interaction for the emergingknowledge based society and integrated ruraldevelopment for employment generation andlivelihood security. Multimedia programs would bedeveloped for applications in agriculture, carpetindustry, local art and craft, horticulture, chunarceramic works, cultural heritage, Banarasi saree,embroidery, primary healthcare, i) stone sculpture,ayurvedic and traditional medicines, folkliterature/music and local culture, looms andweaving. The multimedia programs would containvideo content and text based material covering theaspects of raw material, sources, technical know-how, potential markets and various cost components.

Gramin Gyan Kendra’s (GGK) would be establishedusing self help groups in rural areas of Vindhyaregion around Mirzapur district for creating access toinformation and aspects of self-sustainability ofGGKs would be looking into by setting up businessmodels. The content would be disseminated throughweb enabled services.

Technology Development for Indian LanguagesProgramme (TDIL)

The world is in the midst of a technological revolutionnucleated around Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT). Advances in Human LanguageTechnology will offer nearly universal access toinformation and services for more and more people intheir own language. India is multilingual country with22 official languages and 10 scripts. It is thereforeessential that tools for information processing in locallanguages are developed and be made available for

wider proliferation of ICT to benefit the people atlarge and thus paving the way towards ‘Digital Uniteand Knowledge for all’ and arrest the sprawlingDigital Divide.

Language technology development in India has todayreached a stage, where it has a potential to generateutility applications, benefiting the masses, which willenable people to access and use IT solutions in theircommon language. Department of InformationTechnology (DIT) has further encouraged users anddevelopers of Language Technology solutions byproviding certain basic information processing toolslike fonts, open office, e-mail client, internet browser,dictionary, conversion utilities, etc., free of cost,which will motivate users to use them to solve theirbasic problems and help developers to buildadvanced solutions. This will definitely boost up andleapfrog Indian language technology developmentand their deployment in a very fast way. So far, CDscontaining such software tools for ten languages viz.,Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Urdu, Kannada,Malayalam, Marathi, Assamese and Oriya languageshave been released in public domain. These softwareand tools are also free-downloadable from thewebsite http://www.ildc.gov.in. Similar fonts andsoftware tools for other Indian languages are beingdeveloped /consolidated and expected to be releasedduring the next year.

TDIL Programme

Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL)is a programme with vision as ‘Enabling masses tobuild knowledge society’. This programme envisagesto achieve ‘Communication without language barrierand moving up the knowledge chain’. The majorobjectives of the programme are:

• To develop information processing tools tofacilitate human machine interaction in Indianlanguages and to create and access multilingualknowledge resources/content.

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• To promote the use of information processingtools for language studies and research.

• To promote use of Information processing tools inSocio-economic sectors e.g. e-governance, e-ruralprosperity and e-learning.

• To consolidate the developed Indian languagestechnologies into innovative user products andservices.

• To promote collaborative development offuturistic technologies leading to innovativeproducts and services.

Focus Areas

• Translation Systems– English to Indian Languages (E-IL) and Indian

Language to English Machine TranslationSystem (MT)

– Indian Language to Indian Language (IL-IL)Machine Translation System

• Cross Lingual Information Access andRetrieval– Development of Cross Lingual Information

access and retrieval in Indian languages andEnglish

• Linguistic Resources such as– Parallel corpora, multilingual dictionaries,

Word-Net, speech corpora, glossaries, etc.

• Human Machine Interface systems– Printed Text Document Recognition– On line Handwriting Recognition– Speech Processing i) Speech to Text system, ii)

Text to Speech System

• Language Processing and Web Tools

– Fonts, Key-board Drivers, Word Processors andOffice Suite, Spell Checkers, TransliterationTools, Converters, Browser Plug-ins, E-mailclients etc.

• Localization and Content Creation

– Adapting IT tools and solutions in Indianlanguages , digital library

Standardization

– ISCII (Indian Script Code for InformationInterchange), UNICODE, World Wide WebConsortium (W3C)

Achievements during 2006-07

Technology Development through Mission ModeProjects

Mission Mode projects were conceptualized in theRoadmap for Technology Development for Indian

languages to develop time-bound development ofcritical technologies.

Five Mission mode projects in consortium approachhave been initiated for the development of:

• English to Indian Languages Machine TranslationSystem (Domains: Tourism and Health). Thelanguages pairs involved will be English-Hindi,English-Marathi, English-Bengali, English-Oriya,English-Tamil and English-Urdu.

• Indian Language to Indian Language MachineTranslation System (Domains: Tourism andHealth). The language pairs are Tamil-Hindi,Telugu-Hindi, Marathi-Hindi, Bengali-Hindi, Tamil-Telugu, Urdu-Hindi, Kannada-Hindi,Punjabi-Hindi, Malayalam-Tamil.

• Cross-lingual Information Access (Domains:Tourism and Health). The languages involved willbe Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Teluguand English.

• Printed Text OCR for Indian Languages forBengali, Devnagari, Malayalam, Gujarati, Telugu,Tamil, Oriya, Tibetan/Nepali, Gurmukhi, Kannadawith Font and point-size independent recognitioncapability.

• On-line handwriting recognition system forDevnagari, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,Malayalam scripts.

The mission mode projects would result indevelopment of prototype technologies in these areaswith the potential for further evolution towards mass-market products by industry.

National Roll-Out Plan

Under National Roll-out Plan, software tools andfonts for Indian Languages are being released inpublic domain for free use by the masses. So-far CDscontaining such software tools for Hindi, Tamil,Telugu, Punjabi, Urdu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi,Assamese and Oriya languages have been released inpublic domain. These software and tools are tools arealso free-downloadable from the websitehttp://www.ildc.gov.in. Similar fonts and softwaretools for other Indian languages are being developed/consolidated and expected to be covered during2007.

Human Machine Interface System

Speech Corpora: Annotated Speech Corpora ofapproximately 50 hours has been developed for 6

Indian languages namely Hindi , Marathi , Punjabi,Bengali, Assamese and Manipuri. Speech Corpora for4 South Indian languages namely Tamil, Malayalam,Telugu and Kannada are under development. Usingthe speech corpora, TTS for various Indian Languagesare being developed.

Text to Speech (TTS) : Text-to-Speech system isavailable for Hindi with natural speech output. TTSprototype for Bengali has been developed by C-DAC,Kolkata. Prototypes of Text-to-Speech for Assamese,Tamil, Malayalam, Bangla, Telugu and Kannada areunder development.

Development of Open-Type fonts

A project to develop open type fonts for 11 Indianlanguages has been initiated. So far, 227 open typefonts for various Indian languages have beendeveloped under the project. Under this project,unique font entitled ‘sakal-bharati’ has beendeveloped which maintains font-size and shape inIndian languages.

Human Resource Development in LanguageTechnology

Under this programme, masters level programme inthe domain of Knowledge Engineering /Computational Linguistics has been introduced andbeing conducted at four national level institutionsnamely , IIIT-Hyderabad, Anna University, Utkal

University and C-DAC-Noida (in collaboation withMahatma Gandhi Aantarashtriya HindiVishwavidyalaya) and Post Graduate Diplomaprogramme in localization are being conducted atfour institutions namely BIT-Mesra , C-DAC-Noida, C-DAC-Kolkata and C-DAC-Thiruvananthapuram.

Localization efforts

Based on the recommendations of ParliamentaryCommittee on Official Languages RajbhashaInformation Technology Application Programme(RITAP) has been initiated. Under the project, C-DAC-Pune has localized the dynamic National Train Enquiry System website of Railways(http://www.trainenquiry.com/Hindi) in closecoordination with CRIS.

C-DAC Noida is developing customized MachineTranslation System (Anglabharti) for official domainof Department of Information Technology.

Standardization

W3C : The Project ‘Web Internationalization Initiative’has been initiated with the objective of adequaterepresentation of Indic scripts in the Web TechnologyStandards being evolved by World Wide WebConsortium (W3C). DIT, C-DAC and MAIT-CoIL Techare members of W3C. With DIT support andguidance W3C Office has been set-up in India at C-DAC-Noida. Efforts have been taken to incorporate

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adequate representation of Indic scripts in theemerging web technology standards.

An International Conferences on Web Technologies’was organized during August 2006 at New Delhi andBangalore to create awareness about the futuristicdevelopment in the web technologies amongstIndian IT community, researchers and institutions toleapfrog to products and services based on W3CStandards accepted internationally.

UNICODE : Unicode Standard is a 16-bit encodingstandard, which is widely being used internationallyby the Industry for the development of multilingualsoftware. Department of Information Technology isthe voting member of the Unicode Consortium toensure the adequate representation of Indic scripts inthe Unicode Standards. DIT finalized the changes inthe Unicode Standard and majority of changes havebeen accepted and incorporated in UnicodeStandards version 4.0. Initiatives have been taken toincorporate additional languages/ scripts such asLepcha and additional characters and symbols ofVedic Sanskrit.

Information Dissemination

TDIL Web-site : The TDIL website(http://tdil.mit.gov.in) is bi-lingual UNICODEcompliant (English and Hindi) and provides access toIndian scriptures, standards (Indian scripts, keyboardlayout, font layout, etc., articles and reviews. Thewebsite also provides downloadable software andtools in Indian Languages.

Technical Journal of Indian Language Technologies:The VishwaBharat@tdil is a technical journal ofIndian language Technologies, which consolidates inone-place information about products, tools,services, activities, developments, achievements inthe area of Indian language software. It serves as ameans of sharing ideas among technology developersand creates awareness in the society of the languagetechnology resources available in the country. All theissues are accessible through TDIL web site.

Convergence Communication andBroadband Technologies

Convergence is an emerging revolutionaryphenomena and has become the prime catalyst forcreating major changes and new value for the endusers in the Information, Communication, Broadbandand Strategic sectors. The convergent technologies of

voice, data and visual communication offer a widerange of possibilities for delivering e-commerce, e-governance, e-learning, tele-medicine and e-entertainment services effectively. The growingcommunication needs and business processesdemand for faster Internet access and innovativeinteractive content which is being enabled throughreliable and efficient Broadband infrastructure. Theyear 2007 has been declared as the Year ofBroadband in India. Broadband penetration in thecountry has a direct bearing on its GDP. Efforts arebeing made to increase the Broadband penetrationthrough introduction of affordable technologies,reduction in the price of PC, availability of richcontent and applications, which are importantconstituents for overall growth of broadband servicesin the country. The deployment of Next GenerationNetworks (NGN) based predominantly on IPTechnology, will also mark the beginning of phase outof legacy networks. The migration to NGN will alsoherald the emergence of new business models andnew revenue streams (value added services). WithNGN triple play may become a basic service. At thesame time, globally efforts are to ensure that thebenefits of ICT reach the largest section of thepopulation. Rand D is the driving force in harnessingthe technologies and facilitating cost effectivedeployment of ICTE for the benefit of economy andsociety.

The programme is aimed at supporting anddeveloping capability in Rand D in ConvergenceCommunications, Broadband technologies andmission critical applications. The indigenous effortsare aimed at facilitating developments in emerging,next generation wired/wireless broadband network,

broadcast and strategic technologies leading to theircost effective deployment bringing not onlyeconomic benefits but also contribute to e-inclusion,provide safety, security and improve life.

Achievements

A number of technology development projectssupported at various institutions across the country inthe areas of Communication, Networking andBroadcasting were successfully completed. Some ofthese are TETRA Based Digital Mobile Radio, BlueTooth Adapters, Set Top Box for conditional access,Tele TV Conferencing System, Call Centre Equipmentand application software with multilingual capability,and Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone. A number ofother strategic applications products like GlobalPositioning System (GPS), Differential GPS, Non-linearJunction Detector Multienergy Conveyorised parcelviewer were also developed. Wi-Fi campus widenetworks with managed security services as test bedwas established.

As part of India Wireless initiative, a Centre forExcellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT) fordeveloping Next Generation Mobile wireless systemwas set up in collaboration with IIT-Chennai. Issueslike standards, protocols, and spectrum requirementwill be considered for indigenously designed systemmanufacture and deployment. Phase-I of the activityis likely to be completed by March 2007.

Under strategic electronics, projects have beenevolved at various R & D institutions in the area ofOcean water column parameter detection, intelligentbuoy system for detection and identification ofphysical presence of an object in ocean andautonomous explosive handling robotic vehicle.Besides, action have been initiated regardingcompact antenna test range establishment and milli-meter wave system/ subsystem testing/validationfacilities at Sameer-Kolkata in the mission mode.

Ongoing R & D Activities

Following are the on-going projects in progress:

• TETRA radio network for Kerala Police.• RF shield for the mobile handset.• Decision support system for district planning.• Secure decentralized disaster management

information network.• RF Bug Detector.• Wireless communication for underground mines.

• Assessment of WiMax technology forperformance, interoperability on campus area testbed.

• Development of autonomous buoy system forradio acoustic positioning and Tracking.

• Design and development of wireless sensornetwork for real time remote monitoring.

• Development of autonomous vertical profier forwater columns in coastal areas.

• Establishment of MMW facility.• Establishment of compact antenna test range

facility.• Establishment of electronic design centre for SoP.

• Development of server driven video messagingapplications.

Future Outlook

R&D projects proposed to be undertaken during thenext year will be in the following areas:

• Next generation communication, broadcast andconvergence technologies (e.g B3G/4G wirelesscommunication, MIMO/OFDM technologies,software defined radio/software radio, ultra wideband transceiver and antenna, smart antennas)

• Wireless sensor networks (e.g. communicationalgorithms, protocols, RFID applications)

• Fixed mobile convergence, consumer premisesequipment and converged access devices

• Affordable broadband connectivity for urban-rural masses (WiFi, WiMax, broadband on powerline, optical/hybrid networks),

• Development of IP based products/ services (e.gVoIP/IPTV, SIP based IP telephone) and netappliances

• ICT applications in strategic/ mission modeactivities with focus on safety, security, andsurveillance and navigational aids onland/air/under water communications duringemergencies

• Setting up Centre of Excellence in sensor networktechnologies (to be explored)

• Advanced robotics for defence/strategicapplications

• Initiate studies in cutting edge technologies anddevelopment of road map for the country

• Support to next phase of Centre of Excellence inWireless Technology (CEWiT)

• Convergence of fixed/mobile networks

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• Affordable broadband connectivity for urban-rural masses - Broadband on power line (BPL)modem development

• Development of IP based products/ services (e.gVoIP/IPTV, SIP based IP telephone and multimediaover IP)

• UWB chipset with Applications, UWB networking

• Fibre to Home Access technologies

• Development of low cost SIP server

• Development of convergent technologies forstrategic application.

Strategic Electronics TechnologyDevelopment

Under this programme, development of integratedICT technologies are pursued catering to Strategicapplications as well as impetus is made to achieveexcellence in development of ICT enabled strategictechnologies for civilian as well as defence sector.Major area of focus are as follows : -

• Secure communication and networking

• Navigational aides (air/land/underwater)

• Surveillance (air/land/underwater)

• Application of Linac (medical/nuclear/testing)

• Application of Electro-magnetics

• Advanced robotics

• Development of Intelligence systems forsurveillance

• Development of Intelligent sensors using bio-metrics lasers etc.

• Development of underwater data collectionwhich has application in naval communicationsystems, validation of satellite mapping system aswell as pollution monitoring etc.

• Development of fibre-optic sensors for safety andsecurity application

• Strategic application of RFID

• State-of-the-art technology development formodern warfare systems

Keeping in view the aforesaid thrust areas, some ofthe specific projects evolved are as follows :

• Development of RF Bug Detector for detectingany active device in a particular enclosed space, byCSIO, New Delhi

• Development of Autonomous Vertical Profiler forWater Columns in Coastal Waters by NIO-Goa

• Development of Autonomous Mobile Vehicle forhandling hazardous objects by C-DAC,Thiruvananthapuram

• Development of Autonomous Buoy System forRadio Acoustic Positioning and Tracking by CUSAT– Cochin

• Development of Compact Antenna Test RangeFacility (Testing Calibration and Development ofdifferent types of Antennas) at SAMEER – Kolkata

• Development of Millimeter wave TestingCalibration and Development Facility at SAMEER –Kolkata

• Establishment of Electronics Design Centre forSystem on Package at SAMEER – Chennai

Technology Development Council (TDC)

The aim of Technology Development Council (TDC) isto promote applications of Emerging IT technologiesfor indigenous, efficient and cost effective solutionsfor product and processes developments in theindustrial sectors. Other areas considered andsupported under TDC includes FOSS and Bio-informatics. Some of the projects completed duringthe year are:

Ayusoft

Ayusoft deals with knowledge capture from fourclassical Samhitas and other accepted AyurvedicGranthas with a decision support system using datamining techniques. Ayusoft deals with eight branchesof specialities called Ashtang Ayurveda, whichincludes Kaya Chikitsa (Internal medicine), KaumarBhartiya (Paediatrics), Grah Chikitsa (Psychiatry),Shalkya (Eye and ENT), Shalya Tantra Surgery), VishaTantrta (Toxicology), Rasayana (Geriatrics) andVajkarana (Science of Virility). The system providesconstitution assessment, disease diagnosis and lifestyle advice.

This system can act as a diagnostic and research toolfor medical practitioners, patient informationsystem with provision of easy consultancy andexchange of data. The system is available in threeforms i.e Internet based, Intranet based for use byhospitals and on a CD for use by private clinics.

The system has been given to various hospitals andclinics in India and field trials have been conducted.These results and other feedback responses are beingcompiled.

Under Vehicle Scanning System

This system has been developed to be used bysecurity agencies for installation in sensitive areas tosafeguard against the entry of unauthorized vehiclesand also to detect any dangerous device plannedunder the vehicle. During the year, technology hasbeen transferred to industry.

Ongoing projects include Innovation/ IncubationSupport Scheme. This is being implemented at sixpremier institutions in the country i.e., five IITs (Delhi,,Madras, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Bombay) and IISc-Bangalore. Support to start up companies is providedas part of this program. As a result, so far 23 start upcompanies have been set up. These companies havestate of the art innovative technologies in theirproduct profile such as strategic equipment, softwarefor structures, computational fluid dynamics, RFID,anti piracy solutions, simulation software, datamining, library automation software, etc.

A pilot project on RFID has been recently initiated atC-DAC Noida and IIT-Kanpur for joint developmentand deployment of one pilot application using RFIDtechnology. As a part of this project, preliminary workon setting up of a state of the art RFID lab in thecountry will be progressed with an objective to makethis lab as the 8th auto ID lab in the world. Anotherproject initiated is on software of Schwartzdistributions.

Industrial Electronics PromotionProgramme (IEPP)

For the benefit of the textile industry, a novelElectronics Aid for Maintenance of Spindles in TextileSpinning Mills has been successfully developed andfield tested at the Ahmedabad Textile IndustryResearch Association (ATIRA). The technology hasalso been transferred to a prospective manufacturer.

A low cost Supply Chain Management System meantparticularly for the SME sector has been successfullydeveloped and completed after several industry trials.The product has been released for commercial use.

Problem of quality of electric power is well known inthe country and many important users like criticalprocess industries, IT installations, medical equipmentusers, etc., find it difficult even to assess the quality ofpower that they are getting. A low cost state-of-artPower Quality Analyser has been successfullydeveloped and packaged suitably at CSIO, Chennai.

This will enable to assess the quality of electric powerbefore the remedies are decided upon.

A challenging project on design and development ofan Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) at NIO,Goa has been successfully completed after therequired sea trials. The scientists involved in thedevelopment have shown tremendous ability todesign such a critical hardware and control systems inthe field of marine robotics. This autonomous vehicleis expected to help in the study of ocean-bed near thecoast.

During the year, the project on WebNC, which isbasically an engineering software meant for internetbased collaborative design and manufacturingutilizing a remote CNC facility has been successfullycompleted and demonstrated at IIT-Bombay.

Transport and Power ElectronicsProgramme

The project, on Area Traffic Control System (ATCS) forPune city, demonstrating the benefits of IT has beensuccessfully completed during the year. 38 busyjunctions of the city are being controlled byindigenously developed traffic controller hardwarefrom a remote Central Control Room where datacommunication takes place through leased telephonelines. The unique feature of the system is that thesignal timings are optimized through detection ofvolume of the traffic by embedded detectors underthe road. Indigenously developed applicationsoftware controls all the aspects of signallingensuring synchronized traffic flow. An independentevaluation carried out both before and after theimplementation of the new system has indicatedvarious improvements like reduction indelay/stoppage time, expected fuel saving, etc. Thesame technology is now being replicated at Jaipurand Shillong. Some other cities are also exploringadoption of the same. The Department hassuccessfully transferred the technology to prospectivemanufacturing companies.

The National Mission on Power ElectronicsTechnology (NaMPET) has progressed further. TheHigh Power Electronics Laboratory at the nodalagency, i.e., C-DAC, Trivandrum has been fullyupgraded and is operational now. Such upgradationof infrastructure at the selected academic institutes isalso nearing completion. The second Industry-Academic meet was held at IIT-Kanpur with verysatisfactory participation from industry and user

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agencies. The first hardware outcome of the project,i.e., the Universal IGBT Gate Driver, has enteredmarketing phase after thorough testings done. Thedevelopment of the Real Time Full Spectrum PowerElectronics Simulator has progressed considerablyand the first prototype is expected shortly forevaluation tests.

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics has gained the status of anindependent and indispensable discipline in LifeSciences. Due to the overwhelming progress that hasbeen made in the fields of Bioinformatics andBiotechnology, various sub disciplines like genomics,proteomics, pharmacogenomics, and cellinomicshave developed. Developments in these fields havedirect implications on key issues related to healthcare, medicine, discovery of next generation drugs,development of agricultural products, renewableenergy, environment protection, etc.

Alterations in the genome at specific positions can beassociated with particular disease states, reduced orincreased sensitivity to particular drugs etc.Bioinformatics experts are at the forefront of effortsto collect and analyze such data thus facilitating fastdrug discovery. In the Asia Pacific region agriculturalbiotechnology has a major role to play for cropimprovement and production.

This growth of Bioinformatics as a discipline has madeit necessary to have state of art research inBioinformatics and to have trained Bioinformaticianswith specialized skills to further and assert India’spotential as a Global player in Post Genomic Researchleveraging India’IT Advantage.

Achievement upto 2006-07

• A project Bioinformatics Resource and ApplicationFacility ( BRAF phase II) has been launched atCDAC, Pune wherein Bioinformatics applicationswould be developed to utilize the Garuda gridinfrastructure and a grid-enabled BioinformaticsResources (Computing Power, Databases and theSoftware)will be provided to industry, academia aswell as Research Community with teraflopcomputing power, terabyte storage and 10 Mbpsbandwidth BRAF The project has been launched inMarch 2006.

• Conceptualization of Centres of Excellence forResearch Areas- Software Tools for GenomicResearch, target based drug designing,biodiversity preservation and databases forbiodiversity preservation and drug designing.

• A project for development of A Web-enabledProtein Structure Prediction Software has beenlaunched at IIT Delhi.Since most of the drugtargets for clinically important diseases are proteinmolecules , protein folding problem occupies thecentre stage in the field of therapeuticmedicine.The cost and time limitations ofexperimental techniques for the determination ofthree dimensional structures of proteins serve tohighlight the importance of in silico methods.Computational methods/algorithms have nowreached the point where they can predict thestructure of a small protein with a relatively highdegree of accuracy. The project provides forcreation of a 128 processor Bhageerath webserver for protein folding.

• A project has been launched for developing webbase software tools for digitization andidentification of RET (Rare Endangered andThreatened species) and varieties at NationalBotanical Research institute, Lucknow . It aims to(i) update and upgrade web enabled IndianBotanic Garden Network.(ii) finalize standards,compile, data on medicinal and RET plant varietiesgrowing in Indian Botanic Gardens.(iii) developOS(Operating System) independent software fordigitization of data base on rare endangered andthreatened (RET) species and varieties. (iv)develop tools for automated identification ofmedicinal and RET plant species and varieties and(v) facilitate exchange of information amongIndian Botanic Gardens.

• A project has been conceptualized fordevelopment of Computational Workflow forHigh throughput Genome based Drug Discoveryto be implemented by CDAC , Pune The objectiveof this project is to build a high-throughput drugdiscovery pipeline using workflow environment.This software workflow would consist ofbioinformatics software that will be loosely tiedtogether in a coordinated system to execute a setof analyses tools in series or in parallel.

• Initiatiation of Research Projects in areas

– Algorithm for Sequence Alignment of Proteinsand RNAs

– Tool based on Chaos game theory forsequence visualization

– Developing a software to predict expressionpattern of specific genes

• Conceptualization of Agri-bioinformatics Initiativeto be jointly implemented with ICAR foragricultural product conservation and productenhancement.

IPR Promotion Program

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in Electronics andInformation Technology sector have become of greatconcern to all concerned in view of their increasingimportance for enhancing the inventiveness,creativity and business entrepreneurships leading toenhancement in the meaningful new products andservices and thus the national economy.

The Patents and IPR Division of the Department ofInformation Technology is engaged in creatingawareness, providing facilitation services andconducting special IPR Clinics, Seminars, Symposia toenable the country to absorb modern IPR culture andits benefits. The IPR clinics are organized 4 times in ayear at premier R&D Centres wherein across the tablediscussions are made to clarify all points of IPRconfusions of the Scientists/Engineers and guidance isprovided for timely IPR protections of their IPRs.Similarly, the facilitation services are being providedby filing Patents (including International Patents),Copyrights, Designs and Trademarks in respect ofcreativities / innovations of DIT scientific societies andinstitutions implementing R&D projects.

Outcome

• 4 IPR Clinics were held in different part of thecountry. These include, IIT-Kanpur, IBDRT-

Hyderabad, CDAC- Thiruvanthapuram and AnnaUniversity- Chennai.

• Lectures on IPR were delivered at variousnational/international platforms. These includeHigh Court Judges Refresher Course on IPRAdjudications, National Judicial Academy Bhopal;Refresher Course for Archival Professionals-National Archives, New Delhi; National Workshopon IPR and Broadcasting - IIIT Allahabad; TheKnowledge Summit - CII Bangalore; InternationalConference on Digital Libraries TERI New Delhi,IPR and the Development Agenda – WIPO,Geneva, etc.

• 18 ICT patents were filed making the total nosfiled so far 80, Out of these 3 patents have beengranted during the year making the total 11.

• 15 software copyrights have been filed makingthe total as 160. Out of these 53 have beenobtained including 15 during this year.

• The total no of designs filed so far has been 4 outof which 2 have been obtained. The totalnumber of Trademarks filed so far were 32 out ofwhich 9 were obtained so far including 2 duringthe year.

• A project on providing e-Promt to concernedIndian Parties the watch reports on National andInternational ICT Patents have been completed byCDAC, Pune.

• A digital video-watermarking algorithm has beendeveloped at IIIT& M, Gwalior.

Free Open Source Software

As a part of initiatives in Free and Open SourceSoftware (FOSS) area, a National Resource Centre forFree and Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) has beenset up in Chennai jointly with C-DAC and AnnaUniversity (KBC Research Centre). The Centre isengaged in contributing to the growth of Free/OpenSource Software in India through research anddevelopment, human resource development,networking and entrepreneurship development, aswell as to serve as the reference point for all FOSSrelated activities in the country. The Centre ispursuing design and development of FOSS productsand technologies with emphasis in the areas of e-governance, school education and SMEs. NRCFOSSportal is operational with domain namewww.nrcfoss.org.in. Towards developing humanresources (HR) in this area, a number of trainingprograms/ workshops have been organized includingfive Teachers’ Training programs.

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NRCFOSS has developed a localized Indiandistribution of GNU/Linux called Bharat OperatingSystem Solutions (BOSS) with an objective to enablepeople of India to work on Free/Open source platformwith a variety of languages in addition to English.BOSS Linux is certified by Free Standards Group , USA.The BOSS CD has been released during Elitex 2007 atDelhi. BOSS Linux is expected to meet various needsincluding development of e-governance applicationson BOSS.

As a part of NRCFOSS objectives of cooperation andcollaboration with national/international institutionsand research labs, MOUs have been signed withleading industry partners namely INTEL, FreeStandards Group (FSG), International BusinessMachines (IBM), Satyam and United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP), InternationalOpen Source Network.

Medical Electronics Program

6 MV Integrated Medical Linac System forCancer Treatment

The first 6 MV medical linac which was fabricated andinstalled in Mahatma Gandhi Institute of MedicalSciences, Wardha under 1st phase of Jai VigyanMission project has got the type approval fromAtomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). Treatmentof cancer patients has been started on this machine.

The second unit of the type approved 6MV medicallinac is due for installation at Cancer Institute, Adyar,Chennai. As a part of quality assurance plan, thediligent operation of the machine and stability ofdose and other parameters have been tested over aperiod of two months. Beam profile measurementsand mechanical QA tests have been carried.

Facility for Batch Fabrication of Linac Tube andLinear Accelerator Machine

The project has been initiated to establish a facilityfor batch fabrication of linac tube and linearaccelerator machines to meet the demand of linactubes which will be needed for the manufacture ofindigenously developed linear accelerator machinesfor cancer treatment. The land for the project hasbeen acquired and the activities for setting up thefacilities in SAMEER, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai havebeen initiated.

Hand Held Scanner Based Hindi and English TextReading Machine for Visually Impaired Persons

The project is being implemented by Central ScientificInstrument Organization (CSIO), Chandigarh and C-DAC, Noida.

The hand held scanner has been developed andEnglish Optical Character Recognition (OCR) andEnglish Text to Speech (TTS) has been integrated. Theprototype was demonstrated in an exhibition held inChandigarh in November 2006 organized by Ministryof Social Justice and Empowerment. The integrationof the scanner with other Indian languages is inprogress.

Re-design and fabrication of Motor Wheel Chair

The electronically controlled motor wheel chair isbeing developed by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram incollaboration with M/s Webel Mediatronics Ltd.,Kolkata. Presently, electronically controlled motorwheel chairs that are imported are costly. Theelectronically controlled motor wheel chair that isbeing developed will be available commercially at amuch lower price. The wheel chair will be field testedshortly at National Instruments for OrthopaedicallyHandicapped (NIOH), Kolkata.

Internet Access and Rehabilitation for VisuallyHandicapped

Text to Speech system for Bangla and Hindi has beenintegrated with the screen reader developed by WML,Kolkata for Internet access and various otherapplications. The software is being tested at NationalAssociation for the Blind (NAB), Delhi.

Development of High Speed Interpoint BrailleEmbosser

The high speed interpoint Braille embosser is requiredby the blind schools for preparing large volume of

reading material for the education of visuallyimpaired children. At present, high-speed interpointBraille embossers are not available indigenously andthe imported ones are costly. The indigenousdevelopment and manufacture of high speed Brailleembosser would make them available at anaffordable price. The project has been initiated in thecurrent year.

Feasibility study, design and development ofproof-of-concept for a compact camera alongwith image acquisition and processing systemfor medical endoscopic application.

This project has been initiated in the current year forthe development of swallowable pill camera foracquisition of images of those portions of gastrointestinal tract, which are presently difficult tovisualize directly and cause discomfort. The systemwill help in the early diagnosis of GI pathology. Theproject has been initiated in the current year.

Telemedicine

The telemedicine facilities set up under DIT sponsoredprojects in various parts of the country such as WestBengal, Tripura, Kerala, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkimand Himachal Pradesh are being utilized by thedoctors for consultation with the specialists fortreatment of patients. The project on thedevelopment of advanced hospital managementsystem has been completed. The system is beingused by Mahatma Gandhi Institute of MedicalSciences, Wardha.

Some of the ongoing projects are listed below :

• Setting up Telemedicine and Tele-educationfacilities in Kerala.

• Deployment of Telemedicine facilities at fivereferral hospitals and nine district hospitals ofWest Bengal.

• Development and Implementation of HumanResources Portal for Department of Health,Government of Kerala jointly funded bygovernment of Kerala and DIT.

• Customised development and implementation ofTelemedicine application for rural and remoteareas of Himachal Pradesh.

• Setting up of Telemedicine centres in the capitalsof North Eastern states (Mizoram and Sikkim)connecting super speciality Apollo Hospital, Delhiwith hospitals in the states.

• Setting up a telemedicine network in the state ofTripura using the technology already developed byWebel, Kolkata.

• Advanced Hospital Management Systemincluding PACS for Regional Institute of MedicalSciences, Imphal.

The following projects have been initiated in thecurrent year :

• A web based image processing system andsetting up of Telemedicine Network for CancerInstitute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai.

• Setting up of Telemedicine facilities in Tamil Nadu.

• Customized development and implementation ofTelemedicine Application for rural areas of Punjab.

The Department is involved in deliberations of theNational Task Force on Telemedicine in India set up byMinistry of Health and Family Welfare andcontributed significantly in the preparation of thereport on Telemedicine Standards.

Electronics Components and MaterialsDevelopment Programme

In today’s highly competitive electronic and ITindustry, manufacturers are constantly challenged tofind ways to cost-effectively make faster and smallerelectronic devices. One of the most important aspectsof achieving these challenges is to depend on thedevelopment of advanced materials and relatedprocess technologies. Nowhere is the ability toproduce new materials more crucial than in theelectronics and IT industry. Electronic componentsand critical materials are the key elements ofcontinued scientific and technological advances inthe 21st century. Many of these materials havealready been used and will be the most importantcomponents of the semiconductors and photonicsindustries, information processing and storagedevices, solar cells, batteries, light-emitting diodes,flat panel displays including liquid crystal displays,magneto-optic memories, recordable compact discs,molecular electronic devices as well as otheremerging cutting edge technologies. The rapidprogress in the area of development of componentsand materials has entered an era of designedmaterials/multi function miniaturized components.The development of multi-functional and adaptablematerial’s new technologies is finding ways to reduceenergy, and material inputs.

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The level of scientific understanding and theavailability of research tools are facilitatingcomprehensive research in many areas such asorganic opto-electronic materials. Research frontiersinclude development of artificially structuredmaterials with tailor-made optical properties enabledby epitaxial growth, micro lithography, and self-assembly. Concerted efforts are also underway todevelop and commercialize organic/polymer-basedLEDs, thin film transistors, photovoltaic, andelectrically-pumped laser diodes for which high-quality electrical contact and materials stability will becritical.

The electronics components industry uses a largevariety of materials and there is continuous up-gradation required in technology for thedevelopment of these materials to meet the stringentquality requirement. This necessitates advancedmaterials development and processing technologiesto be developed to keep pace with the advancementin the electronics and IT hardware sector. The Rand Don electronics components and materials has thusbeen focused mainly to consolidate and strengthenactivities where capability and infrastructure havealready been developed to bring the sub-optimalRand D efforts to pilot/commercial level. Beside thisemphasis is also to carry out basic fundamentalresearch on futuristic materials leading to technologyup-gradation.

Nine ongoing projects are in different stages ofimplementation. During the year, a project ondevelopment of liquid crystalline polymers at Instituteof Advanced Study in Science and Technology-Guwahati has been initiated and few new projectshave been recommended for funding by theWorking Group set up by the Department.

Microelectronics and NanotechnologyDevelopment Programme

Invention of the transistor in 1948 and integratedcircuits in 1959 both Nobel Prize winning effortsmarked the beginning of Microelectronics. Thedevelopment of microprocessor in 1971 with 10micron technology made microelectronics heart ofthe ongoing IT revolution. The technology has sinceprogressed as per Moore’s Law which states thatnumber of components per chip doubles every 18-24months. The present 65-nanometer technology isoffering new challenges to the chip designers forpacking more and more applications in a single chip

such as cell phones, iPods, etc. MicroelectronicsDevelopment Programme has played a major role indevelopment of capabilities in the country in the fieldof Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), VLSI(chip) design, fabrication and testing. Today, India hasemerged as a significant player in VLSI and embeddedsystem design with most of the leading globalcompanies having established their Design Centres inthe country and has reached the threshold ofattracting global foundries to set up theirmanufacturing facilities in India. The programme alsosupports specific application oriented Rand Dprojects. Currently, the projects ‘Design andDevelopment of a Digital Programmable HearingAid’, ‘Design, Simulation, Development andFabrication of secured 32 KB ROM Microcontroller forElectronic Voting Machine (EVM)’ and ‘Developmentand Fabrication of Gas Sensors based on MEMSTechnology’ are at various stages of implementation.Further, siliconization support has also been extendedto various chip designers in the country through ‘IndiaChip Programme’. Besides the above ongoingprojects, six new projects have been evolved andrecommended by the ‘Working Group onMicroelectronics’ for initiation in the areas ofApplication Specific Instructions Set Processor,Embedded Processor for Smart Camera Systems, VLSICircuit Testing, Cooling Strategy for ElectronicsComponents and Routing of High-PerformanceCircuit Interconnects.

Nanotechnology is an emerging, disruptive andinterdisciplinary technology involving development ofnanomaterials, devices and systems, findsrevolutionary applications in almost all fields ofscience and engineering. Widely regarded as the nexttechnological revolution, Nanotechnology hasattracted the attention of scientists and engineers allover the world and is likely to have a profound effecton almost all industry sectors and application areas. Itis expected that the nanoscale manufacturingtechnologies in due course will allow us to arrangeatoms and molecules to create materials, devices andsystems of desired functionalities. Cognizant of thepotential of nanotechnology, governments in thedeveloped countries have been funding Rand D inthis area for quite some time.

Starting in the year 2004, DIT has initiated tenprojects with a total budget outlay of over Rs. 126crore so far. These include two major researchprojects at national level : i) Nanoelectronics Centres

– a joint project at IISc-Bangalore and IIT-Bombaywith an outlay of Rs.99.80 crore for a duration of 5years; and ii) Nanometrology Centre at NPL, NewDelhi with an outlay of Rs.11.308 crore for a durationof 4 years. At Nanoelectronics Centres 55multidisciplinary faculty members would worktogether on different components of the project. Theproject also includes teaching and research at PhD,M.Tech and B.Tech level. The Nanometrology Centreat NPL, New Delhi will provide calibration andtraceability for line width, step height, surface texturemeasurement; and calibration of low voltage[nV(nano Volt), n=10-9] low current [pA(picoAmpere); p= 10-12] and electric charge[fC(femtoCoulomb); f=10-15]. The centre will participate ininternational intercomparisons and round-robin tests.The facilities available at these Centres would also beavailable to other researchers, institutions andindustry.

Besides these, eight medium and small projectsnamely: investigations and development of nanosilver oxide for optical memories; development oftechnology for quantum structures and theirapplications in futuristic silicon based nanoelectronicdevices; fabrication of organic thin film transistors;synthesis of nanoparticles of noble and transitionmetals for application in electronic packaging andoptoelectronics; large-scale generation of nanosizedmetals/metal-oxides/metal-nitrides in a transferredarc plasma reactor; development of quantum-wellinfrared photodetectors in wavelength range 8-14µm using Si/SiGe nanotechnology; development ofnanocrystalline silicon MEMS pressure sensor forvacuum and low pressure applications; andinvestigation of alignment and characterization ofcarbon nanotubes for targeted drug delivery havebeen started at various institutions. These projects areprogressing well and three patent applications havebeen filed. One new project namely synthesis ofnanocrystalline SnO2 by ultrasonic spray pyrolysistechnique and fabrication of nanostructured SnO2based gas sensors has been approved for initiation.

Photonics Development Programme

The short-term objective of Photonics DevelopmentProgram is to nurture photonic technologies,including those which have special relevance inInformation Technology and optical communicationsuch as optical fibers, optical amplifiers,optoelectronic packaging, WDM sources, etc. Thelong-term objective of the programme is to ensure

that India has a presence as a technology developer inthe broader application domains of photonics thatinclude polymers for photonics, biophotonics,nanophotonics, photonic crystal fibers, etc., besideshaving a presence as an optical communicationtechnology developer.

The project on optical amplifier (EDFA) being carriedout jointly by IIT-Delhi and Tejas Networks IndiaLimited has been completed. Optiwave PhotonicsLtd., Hyderabad has shown interest in building up theEDFA module based on the designs developed underthis project. A prototype module was exhibited at thePhotonics 2006 International Conference held inDecember 2006 at Hyderabad.

The application of photonics for medical diagnosticand therapy has become a very important area ofphotonics. A project ‘Development of ElastographicImaging System for Early Detection of Cancers inHuman Breast’ has been initiated at IISc-Bangalore.The work aims to build up prototype instruments tomap the linear visco-elastic properties of the humanbreast through interrogation by laser beam.Theoretical studies and simulation work have beentaken up. Experimental work including constructionof the phantom made of Poly Viny Alcohol (PVA) hasbeen carried out and intensity auto correlationmeasurements done. Further work is in progress.

Based on the discussions at the Specialist Group onPolymers for Photonics, several projects were evolved.The projects in the area of polymer for photonicsinitiated, so far, include Polymers basedPhotodetectors and Development of Pixelated LineSensor Phase-II at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre forAdvanced Scientific Reaseach (JNCASR) Bangalore;Doped Polymer Materials for NLO Applications atNational Institute of Technology, Surathkal,Karnataka and Polymer Waveguide Based OpticalPower Splitters at Birla Institute of Technology andScience, Pilani. Under the project at JNCASR deviceshaving various geometries including patterned topmetal electrode, patterned bottom ITO electrode,patterned polymer device, etc., have been fabricatedand tested. Various active organic materials such as p-type conjugated polymers and bulk heterojuctionwith n-type polymer have been made. Measurementsand data analysis as well as discrete circuit elementmodeling for simulation of Schottky interface usingspreading impedance approach has been carried out.The pixel specifications are comparable at present toexisting low-end commercial sensors. Under the

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project at BITS, Pilani the investigation of design ofsingle mode channel waveguides on polymers anddesign of 1xN powers splitters has been carried outand some of the results obtain in the design werepresented at the Photonics 2006 Conference.

In the area of III-V materials, under the projects at TataInstitute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai;the MOVPE System capable of growing two-inchwafers has been operationalised. InGaAs strainedquantum well structure has been successfully grown,laser action obtained and device characterized. AtCalcutta University, besides the GaSb and GaSbNlayers grown earlier, layers of GaInAsSb have beengrown successfully at growth temperature of 5300C.Characterization has been carried out and technologyfor LPE growth standardized.

The complete equipment required for the NationalCentre for Packaging of Photonic Devices at SAMEER-Mumbai has been procured and installed. Theactivities under phase-I have been completed and theautomated fibre pigtailing of passive devices is beingcarried out. There has been interaction for packagingwith users such as CEERI-Pilani, C-DOT-Delhi, NeST-Cochin, IIT-Chennai, C-MET-Pune, CELETRON-Mumbai, etc. Besides glass and lithium niobate baseddevices the packaging technology has been extendedfor Silica-on-Silicon power splitters of CEERI-Pilani.The environmental testing facility has beenoperationalised. The active device packaging facilitybased on laser welding is in the last stages of testingand will be made available to users very shortly.

VBG (Volume Bragg Gratings) combine theadvantage of simplicity of fabrication and economyas found in thin film filters with the accuracies of FBG.A collaborative project ‘Design and Development ofVBG for Optical Communication’ is ongoing at C-DIT,Trivandrum with NeST, Cochin as the industry partner.The theoretical simulation of a uniform sinusoidalgrating has been completed. The Design of a 4 -channel CWDM using uniform type sinusoidal VBGhas been completed, Procurement and installation offrequency-doubled Ar-ion laser, vibration isolationtable, opto-mechanical components, electronicshutter and coated optics have been completed.

To spread the knowledge about FBG and its variousapplications among students at engineering collegelevel, a project entitled ‘Fiber Bragg Grating SensorFor Engineering Measurements’ was supported at

NIT, Warangal. NIT, Warangal has demonstrated anapproach for simultaneously measuring strain andtemperature using a hybrid sensor consisting of along period grating (LPG) and two FBGs in series on aSM fiber. Efforts were also made to develop asoftware for simulation of the above effects. Five PGstudents as well as two research scholars weretrained. The project exposed several members of thefaculty to this type of work.

A project entitled ‘Long Period Waveguide GratingBased Integrated Optic Wideband Tunable NotchFilter using Silica-on-Silicon’ has been initiated atCEERI, Pilani. The targeted specifications of theproposed device have been chosen for importance ofC and L-band wavelength region of optical windowand depending on choice and property of silica-on-silicon materials and characterization of the device.

While FBG are commercially available, they are stillvery expensive and this has been the reason for themnot been used as would be expected. It is felt that theeconomics of fabrication can be improved upon by‘development of an unified approach for realizingFiber Bragg Grating with long term stability’ Theproject being executed jointly by IIT-Madras and IISc-Bangalore aims at developing of a model thatdescribes the decay behavior of Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG) by observing the growth of refractive indexduring FBG fabrication. Accelerated agingexperiments will be performed to determine the long-term stability of gratings and deduce the distributionof the defects as a function of their activation energy.Using such information, pathways for achievingthermally stable FBGs are expected to be realizedeither through modified fabrication processes oroptimization of material parameter or both.

A project ‘Development of Index Guided PhotonicCrystal Fibres for Special Applications’ is being carriedout at Central Glass Ceramics Research Institute,Kolkata. The aim of the project is theoretical studyand design and fabrication of Index Guided PhotonicCrystal Fibres (PCF) with realization of process steps.Attempts would be made to characterize developedfibers. The aim is to work out methodology toincorporate a variety of co-dopants into core forapplications in PCF based fiber amplifiers and lasers.

The experimental set up including gas arrangementsfor drawing of PCF, the stacking of the capillariesinside the silica tube, placement of the perform

assembly inside the furnace, etc., has beencompleted. Some preliminary PCFs using thesearrangements have been drawn. In the first few runseveral problems were faced such as collapse of thecapillaries, non-circular profile etc. These sampleswere studied and analysed to obtain feedbackregarding pressure, drawn speed etc. To validate thecharacterization set up PCF fibres have been obtainedfrom JENA and have been characterized at CGCRI.

The development of an improved and more reliableprocess of making rare earth (RE) doped optical fiberis of great interest in view of the increasing demandof the fibers for applications in amplifiers, fiber lasersand sensors. Fibers with high concentration of REs,especially Er, Yb and Nd are the key components ofhigh power amplifiers and lasers. Large mode area(LMA) fibers containing the RE are the best choice forhigh power lasers with output to the tune of a fewKWs.

The project ‘Fabrication of Rare-Earth Doped Fibersneeded for Fiber Lasers’ was initiated at CGCRI. Theproject proposes to carry out fabrication of opticalperform/fibers doped with high concentration(~5000 ppm) of rare-earth (Er/Yb) in the core andwork out the selection of suitable codopants/host

glass composition for reduced clustering andimperfections in the doped region. This developmentwould be a step towards fabrication of claddingpumped RE doped fibres.

e-Commerce and Information Security

Information Technology (IT) has been growingsteadily in India as a powerful agent for socio-economic transformation and has become an integralpart of every enterprise including criticalinfrastructures. Information Security, i.e., security ofinformation assets, processes and data,communication network and devices, assumed agreater importance and is of concern to everyorganization using IT. Indigenous Rand D is anessential component of national information securitymeasure due to various reasons: a) export restrictionson sophisticated products by advanced countries, b)to build confidence that an imported IT/securityproduct itself does not turn out to be a veiled securitythreat, c) creation of knowledge and expertise to facenew and emerging security challenges, d) to producecost-effective tailor-made indigenous securitysolutions.

The programme on ‘E-Commerce and Info Security’aims to promote indigenous technology developmentand test bed applications in identified thrust areasthrough specific projects at recognized Rand Dorganizations to develop national capability and skill.Broad research thrust categories identified to addresse-security issues are a) Cryptography and Cryptanalysis, b) Network and Systems Security, c) SecurityArchitectures, d) Vulnerability and Assurance and e)Monitoring, Surveillance and Forensics.

During the year 2006-07, on-going projects fallingunder the thrust categories supported under theprogramme at various Rand D organisationsprogressed well. Seven projects have been completedresulting in the development of elliptic curvecryptography techniques, end system securitysolution for UDP based applications, prototype toolsfor network monitoring of data as well as VoIP, datamining techniques for cyber security, enterprise-wideintrusion detection system as well as prototypesystem for collection of electro- magnetic signaturesfrom digital equipment. During this year, two newprojects were initiated covering protocols for securecommunication and dynamic fusion techniques forpersonal identification using multimodal biometrics.

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The activities in the programme would be carriedforward during 2007-08 to promote Rand D in thethrust categories specifically development ofcryptography techniques, network security andprotocols, malware research, security architectures,monitoring techniques and forensic tools, with focuson facilitating basic research, technologydemonstration, proof -of-concept and R&D test bedprojects.

E-Commerce has a significant potential to improvebusiness efficiency and quality of life and startedplaying a major role following enactment of IT Act2000. Major organizations include those in transport,communication and baking sectors have adoptedvarious e-commerce technologies to meet the citizenaspirations and growing demand. The Departmenthas taken up an initiative to promote mobile e-commerce (m-commerce) keeping in view thepenetration of mobile phones in the country and itspotential to benefit masses particularly in rural India.

Digital Library

Libraries are a storehouse of knowledge. Theymaintain the book and other knowledge resourceavailable - mostly in printed form. However, with theadvent of digital technology and Internet

connectivity, the library scenario is changing fast.Data available in physical form can be preserveddigitally in Digital Library. Digital Libraries have theability to enhance access to information andknowledge through Internet connectivity. They alsobridge barriers of time and space.

In the past, initiatives have been taken by variousMinistries / Departments / Organizations for digitizingand preserving data available in physical form.However, this activity has been restricted mostly in thearea of the work / interest of the Organization.

Department of Information Technology hassupported projects in the past in the area of DigitalLibraries. Books, manuscripts, theses etc., weredigitized through 4 Mega Centres, 9 scanning centresand 7 other projects supported by DIT under theDigital Library Initiatives. This also includes initiativestaken in collaboration with Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore and Carnegie Melon University, USA,under Million Book Universal Digital LibraryProgramme. Most of the data scanned under theprojects supported by DIT has been web enabled andhyperlink to this data has been provided on DIT website.

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The fast growing IT sector has created a huge career opportunity in itswake. The profiles of the career opportunities keep dynamicallychanging as newer and newer technologies emerge and the globalmarket requirements change.

All along at the initial stages of the growth of IT industry the formalsectors was predominantly meeting the manpower requirement of thissector. The formal sector education system focuses on thefundamentals, concepts in different subjects and bring-out engineerswith excellent basics and strong foundation over which the superstructure could be built. However, the need and demand placed by thefast technological changes and the emerging global market trends thatare marking the growth of Indian IT industry brings out the demand forcomplementing and supplementing the formal sector through the non-formal sector of education and training. The need is in the form ofcontinuing education for training the existing professionals and theteaching faculty to keep pace with the demands of the industry as wellas technological changes. The burgeoning demand for the ITprofessionals has marked the growth of non-formal education sector.

To retain our position as a major player in the IT arena over a period oftime, there is a need to address the human resource requirement of theindustry on a continuous basis.

A Study Team was set up by the Department of Information Technologyto give recommendations in the area of HRD pertaining to IT includingElectronics to formulate the Eleventh Five Year Plan for IT Sector. Thereport discusses the opportunities arising out of demographicimbalances; strategy for providing highly skilled manpower; constraint interms of shortage in supply of suitable talents; approach to supplementskills in existing pools; long term socio-economic and cultural impact ofIT/ITES Sector growth; and new technology trends and need for

Human ResourceDevelopment

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seamless continuum of formal and non-formalsectors of education. The report also discusses thetransition of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) toKnowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), HumanResource needs of the Hardware sector, EmbeddedSystems and VLSI Design, etc.

The recommendations of the Study Team includesspreading the concept of Finishing Schools/BridgeCourses in various educational institutions across thecountry through a capacity building programme,promotion of e-learning – as a alternativemechanism, setting up of Centres of Excellence inemerging areas, introduction of vocational courses inITIs, integration of formal and non-formal educationsystem by introducing a concept of virtual universitythrough introducing credit system and crossrecognition of credits, inclusion of education in SEZ,institutionalization of industry-academia interaction,evolving of a common benchmarking system takinginto account the quality of output from institutions,broadband connectivity at concessional rates tostudents, industry feedback, etc.

e-Learning

e-Learning is one of the thrust areas identified by theDepartment of Information Technology for impartingeducation using educational tools andcommunication media. The educational tools areused to enrich the courseware content withmultimedia features ensuring better understandingand retention of the subject where as the delivery ofthis courseware is through communication media.Advances in digital electronics have made e-learningpossible because digital data can be accessedrandomly. It can be retrieved fast, manipulated andless storage space is required.

A number of academic Institutions / R&D Labs havebeen financially supported by DIT to carry out R&Dprojects in the field of e-Learning. DIT has providedgrant-in-aid for R&D projects in the area of contentdevelopment, R&D / technology developmentprojects, human resource development projects andfaculty training to improve literacy through distanceeducation using information and communicationtechnology (ICT) tools (computers, multimedia andthe web). e-Learning facilitates the learning anddelivery process for both the teachers and students.The vision of e-Learning is to bring high qualityaccessible e-learning to everyone in the country.

The following projects were completed during theyear:

Multimodal Digital Distance Education for IT andOther Critical Technologies

The main objective of this project was to evolveappropriate engineering courseware methodology atreasonable cost in a short time to remove obstacleand carry out field experiment in distance educationand to carry out field experiments with differentmodes of Digital Distance Education and henceobtain better insights about the suitability of differentdigital distance education modes leading to costeffective and academically rich multi-modal digitaldistance education systems. Keeping this as anobjective, the following achievements were made:

• PG Course in 6-semester M.Tech. IT (CoursewareEngineering) has been designed, developed andoffered through Multimodal Digital distancesEducation format since January 2005

• 6 semester ME in “Software Engineering” coursein Multimodal Digital distances Education format(Eleven module have been designed, developed)

• 4 semester M.Tech. IT (Courseware Engineering)course has been designed, developed and offeredthrough face-to-face mode since July 2004

• 4 semester PG Diploma course on “Multimediaand Web Technology” has been designed,developed and offered through MultimodalDigital distances Education format since January2005.

Training of Teachers in e-Learning at DOEACCCentres

The main objective of this project was to introducefundamentals of e-learning, hardware and softwareand train teachers for implementing e-Learning forthe better educational methodologies. For thisproject, the following achievements were made:

• 240 teachers trained (120 from each centre) inuse of e-learning in education.

• Trained teachers will now be able to create theirown content in e-learning and will act as mastertrainer for their parent institute.

• Create multiplier effect to use ICT technologiesand create awareness about the usage ofinformation tools, blending it with traditional

skills to enhance quality and productivity ineducation.

Enhancing Competency of IT Teachers andIndustrial Professionals

The main objective of the project was to enhancequality of service in the remote/VSAT reception inorder to enhance competency of IT Teachers andindustry professionals i.e. to enhance quality ofservice (QoS) in the Remote/VSAT centre reception oflive video/audio broadcast from central classroomstudio in IIT’s ongoing Distance Education Program.The Distance Education programme (DEP) has so farconducted 43 semester long courses, 14 short termcourses and numerous guest lectures which havebenefited over 6000 participants. The projectimplementation has led to the following:

• Improvement in the quality of visuals (sharpness,contrast, resolution) as well as quality of sound(audio). This resulted in better acceptability ofprograms both for live transmission as well asrecorded version re-broadcast for students ondemand.

• Currently, 9 organizations have requested to availof this facility, which include Engineering Collegesas well as IT Industries.

• All India Institute of Speech and Hearing atMysore under the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare has shown interest to replicate thisprogramme.

Development of Content Delivery Tools

The main objective of this project was to augment anexisting IT based education support system based onexisting web technology to a much better andmanageable system. For this project, the followingachievements were made:

• Developed an open source free LearningManagement System (LMS) named as Brihaspati.

• The project has been registered withsourceforge.net for using their high-speed serverfor distribution of code worldwide. Alsoregistered with freshmeat.net and eduforge.orgto give better visibility.

• At present, 72 institutes/organizations have eithershown interest or have been using this software.

On-going Programmes

Data Compression Techniques and itsApplication to e-Learning/Education

The main objective of this project is to develop agroup of data compression techniques that can beapplied to images, scanned documents and videos;and hence creating a system that adapts itself to thequality of services (QoS) offered by the Internet(Network) connection instead of expecting a specificQoS on the Network. So far the followingachievements have been made:

• Artificial Neural network, wavelet transform,Hybrid and standard based on color imagecompression methods have been completed.

• Also Statistical Theory based image compression,data coding, post decoding at decoder side, etc.,have been completed.

Interactive Learning material on Animation andMultimedia

The main objective of this project is to developinteractive digital multimedia content on“Introduction to Animation and Multimedia” inresponse to the rapidly growing demand forutilization of self-paced learning material onanimation and multimedia. So far, the followingachievements have been made:

• Finalization of specification completed

• 85% of Software and Hardware procurement andinstallation completed

• Resource mobilization and storyboard preparationare in progress

• Content development is in progress.

Content Based Streaming and Real-Time-Regional Language Captioning of e-LearningVideo Data

The main objective of this project is to develop newstandards and algorithms for e-learning adaptivestreaming applications to optimize the bandwidthutilization. A Regional language captioning isproposed for complementing the end user’scomprehension of the lectures delivered in English. Astandard Media Markup language will be designed toapply the principles of the Web to multimedia,creating continuous Media Web. In the project, main

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technologies to be developed include a new e-learning video CODEC, providing a video interface forusing the CODEC, developing standards for thestreaming protocol and also providing framework fornetwork bandwidth optimized content deliverysolutions.

Quality Assurance Framework, Quality Metrics,and Prototype Tool for Evaluation

The main objective of this project is - to develop aframework for formal quality assurance of e-Learningcontent; develop quality metrics for quantifyingquality parameters of e-learning tools and content;develop a prototype for deriving quality metrics tomeasure effectiveness of a tool; and training ofteachers in e-Learning through one week trainingprograms.

On recommendation of Working Group on e-learningR&D projects, the following two projects wererecently approved by the competent authority forfinancial support from DIT :

1 Brihaspati phase-2: Development of Open sourcecontent delivery tools with advanced features atIIT, Kanpur

2 Design and Development of e-learning contentsfor e-security solution developers at C-DAC,Noida.

Information Security Education AndAwareness Project

The Information Security Education and AwarenessProject is aimed towards development of humanresource in the area of Information Security. Thisactivity is presently being implemented through 5Resource Centres (RC) as mentoring institutions and34 Participating Institutes (PI). The project also has acomponent on awareness programmes for theindustry, educational institutes and the masses. Theproject also aims at imparting training to GovernmentOfficers on issues related to Cyber / InformationSecurity.

So far, two Faculty Training Programmes for the PIshave been conducted. The syllabus and the coursestructure for various courses at the levels of B. Tech.,M. Tech., etc., have been prepared and the RCs/PIshave taken action to launch these academic courses.A new M. Tech. course in Information Security hasalso been initiated at six institutions. The setting upof a Lab on Information Security at the RCs/PIs is

under process. Three batches of 20 candidates eachhave also undergone Master Trainers Programme.Short-term training programmes for Governmentofficers are being organized.

Task Force on Human ResourceDevelopment on IT

Considering the strength of Indian ITeS industry andits potential to place India as global R&D hub as wellas most favoured destination for Business ProcessOutsourcing (BPO) and contract research, a Task Forceon Human Resource development in IT wasconstituted with the objective to analyse the presentmanpower delivery mechanism in terms of quantityand quality as well as skilled set vis-à-vis global ITeSrequirement during the 10th and 11th Plan Period.The Task Force in its recommendations suggestedmeasures for skill generation and deployment forboth IT and non-IT professionals along with fiscalpolicy measure required. The recommendations arebasically on the following lines:

• Attracting resources into IT/ITeS

• Educating/developing requisite skills

• Certifying Skill Levels of resources

• Deploying trained/certified resources

• Monitoring and guiding efforts related to IT/ITeSand R&D

During the year 2006-2007, the Sub-Committee ofthe Standing Syllabus Committee of the DOEACC forITeS-BPO banking vertical has finalised the coursestructure and timelines for undertaking paper basedexamination in Phase-I. The learning material in printform has been initiated.

The outcome of these efforts would result ingenerating quality manpower to meet partialrequirement of Banking vertical of ITeS-BPO sector.

Productivity and Employment Generation

ICT impacts Productivity. It generates productiveworkforce. Therefore, the Department endeavor topromote the penetration of ICT tools in differentsectors of economy to enhance productivity andgenerate employment. The Department has initiatedactivities in manufacturing and service sectorsincluding banking and tourism. In the service sector,new initiative has been taken by deployingconsultancy software in the field of civil engineeringand road/highway construction. Accordingly, the useragencies were approached and the software vendors

who have submitted their proposal to DIT have beenrequested to demonstrate the potential of these toolsin respective sectors. In response, the department hasreceived requests for consultancy and bankingsoftware from State Governments for providing onefree demonstration package to establish its credibility.Once this has been proved, the State Governmenthas agreed to deploy these packages at otherlocations at their own cost. Accordingly, departmentis establishing the first demonstration bankingsoftware in four State Governments. Efforts are beingmade for similar establishment in the consultancysoftware.

It is proposed to establish common facility centres indifferent States to effectively show the power of ICTtools and also to facilitate the users with these toolson pay to use basis.

With the active interest and promotional role playedby DIT in the above programme, major ICT industrialhouses like Microsoft, Intel, TCS and Oracle, etc.,have responded very positively and announce aeconomical software tools and packages for SMEs.The financial institutions like SIDBI and ICICI are alsopromoting the same. SSI and NMCC have alreadyannounced a programme in collaboration withMicrosoft India for the promotion of using ICT toolsin SMEs.

Fresh proforma for vendors and Industrial/ClusterAssociations has been developed internally. The samehas been uploaded on the DIT Website for on-lineregistration of the companies and Industrial/ClusterAssociation.

Special Manpower Development for VLSIDesign and Related Software

With a vision to make India high-end VLSI designdestination, so as to access a larger share of theglobal market in this sector of knowledge-basedindustry, the Department has initiated a SpecialManpower Development Programme in the area ofVLSI Design and related software for generating thekey-catalyst ingredient for this sector. Thisprogramme has been initiated at 7 Resource Centres(RCs) and 25 Participating Institutions (PIs) with atotal outlay of Rs.49.98 crore for a period of fiveyears. The major elements of the project are:

a) Instruction Enhancement Programme (IEP) for thefaculty of PIs.

b) Establishing VLSI Design Laboratory equippedwith contemporary Electronic Design Automation(EDA) Tools at all RCs and PIs.

c) Creation of VLSI Design Resource website andMirror sites at RCs.

d) India Chip Project for siliconization of design doneby students of RCs and PIs.

e) To Introduce teaching of various courses on VLSIdesign and related software to generate varioustypes of manpower as listed below:

i Ph D in VLSI Design and related software(Type-I Manpower)

ii ME/M.Tech programmes in VLSI Design (Type-II Manpower)

iii ME/M.Tech Programmes in Electronics,Computer Science with VLSI elective (Type-IIIManpower)

iv BE/B.Tech Programme with VLSI electives(Type-IV Manpower)

During 2006-07, DIT initiated upgradation of VLSIDesign Laboratory in all the 32 institutions byproviding each institution with contemporary EDATools and Hardware platforms. In order to enhancethe VLSI teaching activity at 25 PIs, DIT, through its 7RCs, conducted IEP in the area of “Digital IC Design”,“Low Power VLSI Design”, “Semiconductor DeviceModeling” and “RF IC Design”. About 100 facultiesof PIs were trained in the process. Informationdissemination in the area of VLSI Design through acentralized website has been contemplated under theSMDP-II Programme. The Project ImplementationMatrix will continue to be updated throughconduction of ZOPP Workshop. Siliconization ofdesigns undertaken at RCs have been supported.

DIT also supported the activity of conductingspecialized workshop at RCs with the involvement ofeminent international scientists and researchers. Inthis regard, the workshop involving eminent facultyfrom TU Delft University, The Netherlands, was invitedas an International Expert to conduct five-dayworkshop in the area of Low Power Analog Designscovering 3 RCs.

Development of Weaker Section

The DOEACC Society is contributing towardsupliftment of under privileged sections of the Societyby encouraging women, SC/ST and othereconomically weaker sections candidates to undergo

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the Society’s courses. The society has got a largenumber of candidates belonging to the SC/ST/OBCand other weaker sections of the society includingfemale candidates enrolled and qualified in thecourses. DOEACC Society is following a scheme forfinancial assistance to the Women/SC/ST/OBC andother weaker sections of the Society.

Scholarship Scheme to SC/ST/PhysicallyHandicapped and Female Students

The Society has introduced a Scholarship Scheme forSC/ST/Physically Handicapped and Female Studentswho are pursing O/A/B/C Level of courses of theDOEACC Society as a full time course through anAccredited Institute authorized to conduct theDOEACC Courses. The candidates shall have to clearall the papers in the first attempt and the income ofthe parents of the students should not be more thanRs.1 lakh per year from all sources.

The amount of scholarship shall be four times of theexamination fee paid per module paper i.e. Rs.350/-as at present as under:

‘O’ Level - Rs.5,600/- (in two installments)

‘A’ Level - Rs.14,000/- (in three installments)

‘B’ Level - Rs. 21,000/- (in four installments)

‘C’ Level - Rs. 21,000/- (in three installments)

The number of SC/ST and female candidatesregistered during April, 2006 to December, 2006 are12,411 and 287, respectively.

Gender Issues

Under ITES-BPO Customer Support Programme,some of the DOEACC Centres including the Centresof NE Region offered a course of 160 hours durationconsisting of Computer Skills, Soft Skills and EnglishLanguage Skills. Till date, the Society has trainedabout 3,500 candidates including about 1,300

Women and about 1,350 including 675 Women havebeen placed. The DOEACC Centre, Aizawl hastrained 210 Nurses in Soft and English Skills andTelemedicine concepts. 110 out of 210 have alreadybeen placed in the leading Hospitals in India andabroad.

Initiatives taken for the welfare ofDisabled Persons

Vocational Centres for Skill Creation for theChildren with Disabilities in the area ofInformation Technology: ERNET has set up 20vocational centres in schools - 10 in State of TamilNadu and 10 in NCR Delhi region. These are forDifferently-abled children to build high degrees ofself-reliance, self-esteem and confidence and acquirelife-long learning skills (learning to learn) in anenvironment that allows them to transfer thislearning to real-life situations. The vocational trainingcentres are to enhance computer skills of disabledchildren, personality development and provide job-oriented training for employment in IT and IT enabledservice industry. Specialized agencies have been hiredfor providing the basic training as well as job-orientedtraining in association with the industry. Anarrangement has been made with IT / ITES and BPOcompanies to provide BPO and ITES related training tothe children with disabilities to enable these childrento get employment. These centres have beenequipped with computer peripherals which arespecially designed for student with disabilities likeblind and deaf to provide job-oriented training todisabled children – blind, low vision and deaf& dumb.These equipments include Talking Software, ScreenMagnification, Talking Typing Teacher and BrailleEmbosser, OCR and Scanner, CCTV Print Magnifierdevice with TV for blind, and Assertive ListeningDevice and Hearing Amplification device for deaf.The infrastructure at schools is connected to LAN andInternet to explore the World Wide Web.

Community Information Centres (CICs)

Department of Information Technology (DIT) has taken the initiative forsetting up of Community Information Centres (CICs) in the hilly, far-flung rural areas of the country to bring the benefits of ICT to the peoplefor socio-economic development of these regions and to bridge thedigital divide between urban and non-urban areas. The initiative whichwas as a follow up to the special package announced by PM to theNorth Eastern States (487 CICs at Block Level with projected outlay ofRs 242 crore and additional 68 CICs at newly created Blocks withprojected outlay of Rs 8.42 crore) has been extended to Jammu andKashmir (135 CICs at Block Level with projected outlay of Rs 40.67crore), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (41 CICs in Govt. Schools) andLakshadweep Islands (30 CICs in Govt. Schools) with projected outlay ofRs 22.25 crore. The CIC project in North Eastern States and Jammu andKashmir has been implemented by NIC / NICSI while the project inAndaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands is being implementedby ERNET India.

CICs in North-Eastern (NE) States

555 CICs in 8 North Eastern States

Various State Governments have been pursued for operation andmaintenance of CICs including providing citizen-centric services;development of local content, application development andcustomization to maximize the utilization of CICs for making them self-sustainable. 487 CICs established in the North Eastern States under themain project are providing service delivery. 68 additional CICs in thenewly created blocks of North East include the CIC set up at NathulaPass in Sikkim near the Indo-China border which is the highest internet

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kiosk. These CICs are a citizen interface for IT enablede-government services and training. The CICs providee-mail, internet access, citizen centric servicesthrough CIC portal (www.cic.nic.in) and web-basedservices such as agri-market information, hospitalbookings and board examination results. The variousservice facilitation softwares developed by NIC suchas e-Suvidha (a one-stop service facilitation windowapplication for G2C services), Block CommunityPortals (BCP) using Enrich framework, Rural Soft(web based monitoring system of community andrural development schemes), and HospitalManagement Information System are being fullyutilized by State Governments. ASHA agribusinessportal (http://www.assamagribusiness.nic.in)developed jointly by NIC and ASFAC (Assam SmallFarmers Agri-business Consortium) using CICs waslaunched for facilitating agribusiness in the State ofAssam.

Education and training are a major source of earningof CICs. 8,441 candidates have been trained throughCLP (Computer Literacy Program) of IGNOU (IndiraGandhi National Open University) using CICs. 1,368candidates were trained for appearing in theDOEACC CCC (Course on Computer Concepts)examination, out of which 983 have passed through273 accredited CICs. A total of 974 persons wereemployed under the project. Average data transferper month is 600 GB.

Evaluation of CICs was carried out by NationalCouncil for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) on‘Social cost-benefit analysis of CICs’. A two daysworkshop on ‘Sustainability of CICs’ was conductedat Gangtok, Sikkim. A meeting of the Inter-MinisterialTask Force on monitoring the utilization of CICs wasalso held at Gangtok, Sikkim.

CICs in Jammu and Kashmir

127 CICs in J&K have been made operational and areproviding IT-enabled e-government services andtraining as in North Eastern States. Internet services,computer education and training is provided to localcommunity, government officials and school children.Web portals of all CICs have been developed andhosted. CIC Operators have been trained andpositioned to load local content and e-governancepackages for providing citizen-centric services. 108CICs have been approved for conducting CCC(Course on Computer Concepts) of DOEACC. A

revenue of Rs 35 lakhs has been generated duringthe year 2006. Average data transfer per month overCIC network is 120 GB. 246 persons have beenemployed under the project so far.

CICs in Andaman and Nicobar and LakshadweepIslands

The CICs in these islands would serve the dualpurpose of imparting ICT based education andtraining as well as citizen-centric services to thepeople of the region as in North East and J&K States.41 CICs in Andaman and Nicobar islands and 30 CICsin Lakshadweep islands have been made operational.CICs at Car Nicobar and Campbell Bay in Andamanand Nicobar islands have been visited by HisExcellency President of India.

Standardization, Testing and QualityCertification (STQC)

Introduction

Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification(STQC) Directorate has been a major infrastructureprogram of national importance and functions as anattached office of the Dept. of InformationTechnology. STQC has network of laboratories in thecountry, which provide test, calibration, training andcertification services to industry in the field ofelectronics and IT. STQC has established itself as apremier organization for Quality Assurance andManagement in Electronics and IT in the country.Many national and international accreditations /recognitions have made STQC services widelyaccepted at international level also.

Besides providing services in a professional manner,STQC also supports government policies, initiativesand programs concerning Standardization andQuality Assurance / Management. A number ofprojects sponsored by the Department of IT in thearea of Software Quality Assurance, InformationSecurity Management, Quality Assurance of IndianLanguage Technology and Products have beensuccessfully executed because of which STQCDirectorate is finding itself in a unique position withinthe Ministry/ Department, Electronics and IT industryand user organizations.

For setting up the STQC infrastructure, an Indo-German Technical Co-operation Programme hasalso made significant contribution. Under this co-operation programme, the German government

provided technical and financial support to STQC inestablishing state of the art testing, calibration,training and certification infrastructure in the countryand in achieving international accreditations. Basedon the effective implementation of earlier projects,Govt. of Germany has agreed to contribute approx Rs24 Crore (Euro 4 million) w.e.f. 1st January 2007 forfour years for technical support of ‘e-Governanmentfor Business Development (TC)’ project. The objectiveof this project is to promote SMEs through the use ofe-Governance opportunities. The project willcomplement the large investment of Govt. of Indiaand strategic decision to make intensive use of e-Governance.

STQC Infrastructure

To provide services related to Security and Quality inthe IT area, six IT service centres at Kolkata, Delhi,Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai have beenoperational. In addition, the STQC Network atpresent has 14 testing and calibration laboratories(four Electronics Regional Test Laboratory and 10Electronics Test and Development Centre), 5 Centresfor Electronics Test Engineering (CETE), 4 RegionalCertification Centres located at major cities all overthe country. Besides, the Indian Institute of QualityManagement (IIQM) at Jaipur and Centre forReliability (CFR) at Chennai has been renderingspecialized services in the respective areas.

Achievements During Financial Year 2006-07

The activity-wise achievements, both in terms ofproviding services as well as major technicalcontributions are enumerated below.

STQC IT Services

STQC IT services, which were conceptualized andinitiated three years back, have been fullyoperationalized and a number of new projects andschemes have been initiated and executed. Some ofthe major achievements are as follows:

Software Testing and Evaluation

Software testing and evaluation activities haveprogressed significantly. Testing of e-Governancesolutions and defense applications were the mainachievements. Land Records Information Systems ofUttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Assam weretested and certified. Software Solutions from various

vendors for Municipalities were also tested. CriticalTesting and verification of projects like Sanjay andNishant for Ministry of Defence were undertaken.

Testing and audit of MCA 21 Project of Ministry ofCompany Affairs (e-Governance - MCA21 Project) forQuality and Security aspects has been completed.This is the first e-Governance service project whereend-to-end assurance service was provided by STQC.Support to Naval Physical and OceanographicLaboratory, DRDO, Kochi for software verification andvalidation activities was provided in respect of Designand Development of a SONAR.

Under DIT initiative of Indo-Asean Cooperationprogram for ASEAN countries, STQC provided inputsto develop training modules in Software QualityEngineering. Scope of smart card testing is expandedfrom transport sector applications to National ID Cardtesting.

Information Security

STQC is a pioneering organization in introducingSecurity Management System Certification concept inthe country and is the first accredited CertificationBody in India to introduce ISMS certification and hascertified many organizations in India and abroad.Various Certified / training programmes have beendesigned and delivered for Information SecurityProfessionals and Auditors. These courses areaccredited by international agencies. The activities ofapplication security audit, IT infrastructure audit,vulnerability assessment and penetration testing arebeing carried out for both govt. and private sector.

One of the STQC Scientists is a Permanent Memberrepresenting India, in the Security Audit Team (SAT)and is periodically conducting Information SecurityAudits of the Technical Secretariat of Organization forthe Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)located at Hague thus significantly contributing tothe overall confidentiality regime of the Organization.

A programme for setting up a Common CriteriaSecurity Test/ Evaluation Laboratory as well as aCertification scheme based on Common Criteria (ISO15408) standard has been initiated recently. India hasbecome a signatory to Common Criteria RecognitionArrangements (CCRA). The project aims to meet theneeds of the Government and industries forevaluation and certification of IT security products.

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Indo US Cyber Security Forum (IUSCSF)

Under Indo US Cyber Security Forum, the WorkingGroup on Information Security Assurance was co-chaired by the Director General, STQC along withProgram Director, NIST, USA. STQC is working closelywith NIST, USA for development and review ofSecurity Standards and Guidelines. This will facilitateIndian Organizations to comply with US InformationSecurity requirements for trade in network economy.The guest research joint program of STQC-NIST isplanned in 2007 to study and work out the securitycontrol, auditing and risk assessment.

IT Services Management (ITSM)

With a view to improve the quality of IT services suchas Web services, Facility Management, Internet, BPOServices and Telecom Services, a certification scheme,accredited by itSMF, UK, based on internationalstandard ISO / IEC 20000-1 has been introduced.Additionally, ITSMF accredited training programs forISO 20000 auditors have also been conducted bySTQC both in India and abroad.

STQC is the only Indian Agency proving both theaccredited certification and the accredited trainingprograms within the country. support services on ISO20000 to DOHA Bank, Qatar and Training programson software testing to Kofi-annan institute at Ghanawere also provided.

Setting up e-Governance conformity AssessmentCentres

Recognizing the importance and focus for e-Governance, an initiative has been launched tosupport DIT for assessing conformity with standardson quality and security. DIT has awarded a projectentitled ‘Establishing an e-Gov ConformityAssessment Centre’ with an outlay of around Rs. 25Crore for three years. Six conformity assessmentcentres have been established under this project.Infrastructure tools and test environment have beenupgraded to meet the requirements of industry andthe NEGP.

Workshop under NEGP Mission Mode Project –Municipalities was organized on 7th Nov 06 at Delhito explain software testing and evaluationrequirements to demonstrate conformity withMinistry of Urban Development (MoUD) requirement.The workshop was well attended by officials of DIT,MoUD and various solution providers like WIPRO,SAP, Oracle, e-Gov foundation, etc.

e-Governance - Standards Formulation

The responsibilities for standards formulation onquality and documentation were assigned to STQC.A working group has brought out procedure forstandard formulation, guidelines for preparing RFPand guidelines for writing SLAs. ConformityAssessment Framework and Quality AssuranceFramework are at finalisation stage.

Test and Calibration Services

Test and Calibration services have been provided toSMEs, Govt. organisations, industries and users in theareas of Electronics and IT. To meet the growingdemand of users, facilities have been upgraded in thearea of EMI / EMC, Safety, Climatic and Durability,High precision calibration and Fibre Optics / Opto-electronics.

Special emphasis has been given to invest inautomation of test facilities to improve the quality ofservice and customer satisfaction. Majorachievements of some of the laboratories are asfollows.

ERTL (North) has established High Precision DeadWeight Tester for pressure measurement, upgradedGTEM Cell for radiated immunity measurements upto3 GHz and automated the Energy Meter test facility.The Laboratory has developed competence for Safetytesting of Laminated picture tube. NABL hasaccredited ERTL (North) against ISO / IEC 17025:2005Standard. Further, the Laboratory has also

implemented STQC Laboratory InformationManagement (SLIM) software for efficientfunctioning and automation of its activities.

ERTL (W), Mumbai has established a 3 m anechoicchamber for compliance testing for emission andimmunity measurement as per national / internationalEMC standards. Calibration facilities for Opto-electronic instruments such as Optical Power Meter,OTDR, Optical Source Power and Energy upto 50 ppmaccuracy and for humidity meters have been added.Durability test facility related to Vibration testing uptotwo-ton capacity has been installed. The laboratoryhas provided services for CE mark to various Indianmanufacturers as well as to BOSE, USA, and Marshall,UK by evaluating their products for CE compliance.

ERTL (East) carried out Fail Safety Assessment of LEDSignal Lights for railway applications as per EuropeanStandards (EN) for several manufacturers in thecountry. The Laboratory entered into a prestigiousMutual Recognition Agreement with EXAMGermany, a reputed European Notified Body for ATExCertification in Europe. This mechanism will allowIndian manufacturers of explosion-protectedElectronic products to get ATEx certification forexport to Europe. To support the rapidly expandingtelecom industry, particularly the fiber opticnetworks, the laboratory provided on-site calibrationservices for fiber-optic measuring instruments at anumber of industrial locations all over the country.Besides testing support to a number of manufacturersfor CE marking of their products for export to Europewas also provided. Full testing facility for Self-ballasted Compact Fluorescent Lamps has beenestablished at the laboratory and approval of Bureauof Indian Standards has been received. This will helpthe CFL industries to get BIS marking which is nowmandatory in the country.

ETDC, Chennai has installed Combinedenvironmental system comprising of 5-ton VibrationMachine and a Temperature Cyclic Chamber with arate of change of 15º Celsius per minute. The facilityis being used for carrying out highly accelerated lifetests on products to bring out latent defects, theremoval of which will lead to reliability improvement.The EMI/EMC facility established in the Centre hasbeen utilized extensively both for testing as perstandards as well as developing new products by theindustries such as TCS Secunderabad, SatyamInfotech, Wipro Pondichery, Acer, TVSE, AshokLeyland, etc.

CFR, Chennai has successfully conducted reliabilitystudies for a project of NPOL, Kochi concerningsoftware reliability modeling and analysis. Reliabilityimprovement projects were taken up during the yearfor industries such as NIOT-Chennai, L&T - Mumbai,Crompton Greaves - Dhar (MP), Phillips Electronics -Bangalore, Merlin Hawk Aerospace - Bangalore, etc.The centre, jointly with IIT, Kharagpur has organized3-day International Conference on Reliability andSafety Engineering - INCRESE 2006 at Chennai duringDec. 18-20, 2006. Eminent Reliability professionalsfrom the country, Japan, USA, TAIWAN, Singaporeand France attended the Conference. More than 100participants attended the workshop. 15 invited talksand 65 papers were presented during the workshop.

ETDC, Bangalore has established a 3 m anechoicchamber for compliance testing for emission andimmunity measurement as per national / internationalEMC standards. The laboratory has been accepted astest laboratory for CE mark by various Indianmanufacturers as well as by BOSE, USA and NokiaUSA for evaluation of their products for CEcompliance. Laboratory has upgraded its Climate testfacilities with rate of change of 5 Deg.C/min. to testComponent/Equipment as per IEC, IS & MILstandards. International recognition for PV modulestesting as per IEC 61215 and BIS approval for Energymeter testing has been obtained. HPCC Centresuccessfully organized PT programme on AC/DCCurrent in collaboration/ association with NABLwherein 18 laboratories participated.. The RFmeasurement capability of HPCC was augmented to26.5 GHz and RF Impedance measurement facility to40 GHz to facilitate the calibration of high end RFequipment such as Spectrum analyzer, Networkanalyzer etc. Optical Calibration facility for calibrationof Optical source, Optical power meters, attenuatorsat 1310 nm and 1550 nm and Optical Time DomainReflectometers was also established.

ETDC, Hyderabad established EMC facilities fortesting as per National and International Standards.This centre has provided development assistance andtesting of CNC machine to comply with the CE markrequirements. Technical solutions have been given toM/s ECIL for EMC compliance of PresidentialElectronic Voting machine. Laboratory carried out theCrucial Tropical Exposure Test on spare parts of MIGaircraft to study ageing effect. Thermal Cycling teston equipment installed at Remote Sensing SatelliteEarth Station, Algiers was also carried out.

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ETDC PUNE has set up a state of art. EMC testlaboratory It is equipped with GTEM cell and can carryout tests like Emissions (CE, RE) and Immunity (ESD,EFT, Surge, Dips, conducted RF, Magnetic field efc).Test support was extended to Siemens, Honeywell,Forbes Marshall, DB Power etc have availed thesefacilities. Laboratory also provides CE Markingassistance and safety testing /Evaluation.

ETDC, Goa organized Onsite calibration camps andtraining programs on Quality Management System,Environment Management System, statistical ProcessControl, Information security and LINUX OperatingSystem.

ETDC Jaipur is providing Entrepreneurs Developmenttraining courses for the benefit of youngentrepreneurs, in association with State Govt. in thearea of maintenance of (i) PC Hardware andNetworking and (ii) U.P.S, Inverter and VoltageStabilizers. This has benefited unemployed youth andweaker sections of the society.

Training Services

“Knowledge-based skill-oriented”

CETEs established under the Indo-German TechnicalCooperation programme provided training in thefield of Electronics, Test Engineering and IT coveringthe areas like Industrial Automation, Electronicmanufacturing Techniques, EMI / EMC, Networking,Agri-electronics etc. Special courses for the benefit ofSC/ ST/OBC, weaker section of the society andwomen are also conducted. CETEs undertookfollowing additional major activities.

A post-diploma course on “Advanced BiomedicalInstrumentation” has been launched at CETE Kolkatain association with Kolkata University. “Project BasedTraining” in Industrial Automation and EmbeddedSoftware was provided to more than 300 Engineeringstudents from 15 engineering colleges in WestBengal. In association with Quality Council of Indiaseries of courses on Six-Sigma, LaboratoryAccreditation and Calibration System Managementwere also conducted.

CETE, Bangalore designed and organized one year(two semester) “Certified Computer Trainer” courseby which 75 candidates are groomed to work as ITprofessionals for independent entrepreneurship.Two-month course on “Embedded Systems” and

Project works on embedded systems covering RTOS,ARMS and VX WORKS was launched by which 55Engineering students / job seekers have been trained.Network laboratory has been established to conductcourses on Network management, Embeddedsystems, MCSE / CCNA / ORACLE / RHCE / Vx Works/ ARMS and CCT (Certified Computer Trainer).

Training facilities for EMC and Agri electronics havebeen established at CETE Pune. GTEM based EMCtraining facilities upto 3 GHz have been upgraded atCETE Noida and Kolkata.

CETE, Noida extended training support on ‘ComputerNetworking’ and ‘Information Security Management’to various Government Departments includingCabinet Secretariat, Intelligence Bureau, Ministry ofDefence and CSIR etc. A new course on ‘PowerQuality’ has also been introduced.”

Indian Institute of Quality Management (IIQM), Jaipurhas been acting as an apex Institute to providetrainings in the area of Quality Management, QualityTechnology, Laboratory and EnvironmentalManagement. The International Registrar ofCertificated Auditors (IRCA), UK has, now approvedIIQM for conducting ‘ISO 9000 Series Foundation andInternal Quality Auditor’ course, in addition to LeadAuditor courses, approved earlier, for ISO 9000 andInformation Security Management Systems. IIQM issuccessfully conducting these three training courses.It is further striving to get approval for few morecourses through IRCA, UK. Since 1998, IIQM hasbeen conducting MSQM - two year off-campus postgraduate Quality Management Program (MSQM) incollaboration with Birla Institute of Technology andScience (BITS), Pilani, for practicing engineersworking in quality management and related areas.This course is becoming quite popular in industry,including software and IT sectors. Till date, nearly 400students have successfully completed this course andhave been awarded degrees by BITS, Pilani.

Certification Services

STQC Certification group is providing InternationallyAccredited Certification services for ISO 9000 (QualityManagement System), ISO 14000 (EnvironmentalManagement System) and Product Safety to about850 customers in India and abroad. STQC is alsooffering International Certification services for safetyof electrical products under IECEE-CB and for

electronics components under IECQ system. Some ofthe major Govt. clients/ PSUs served by STQC forcertification services include ISRO, DRDOLaboratories, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL),Telecom Training Centre, Military EngineeringServices and Interim Test Range under DRDO apartfrom a number of private sector units and SMEsincluding Philips and Tata Group of companies.

Services in the North-East Region

STQC, through ETDC, Guwahati and ETDC, Agartalais providing test, calibration and training service tothe industry in the North East region. With a highaccuracy Power Energy Calibration System,sophisticated Power Energy Monitoring andAnalyzing System, Poly-phase Relay Test System,Breaker test System, Power Analyzer, this laboratory isproviding highly essential service to all Powerdepartments, Power generating and transmittingstations, etc., as well as other industries.

Initiative has been taken to establish e-GovernanceConformity Assessment Centre at ETDC, Guwahati.Facility for software testing with state of the arttesting tools has been created. This conformity centreis in operation and has started providing service to theindustry.

Calibration facility for Opto-electronic instrumentsupto to 50 ppm accuracy has been installed at ETDC,Guwahati and test facilities in the area of medicalelectronics has been upgraded. The office building atETDC, Agartala is being renovated.

Organizations like ONGC Ltd., IOCL, NRL, BRPL, OilIndia Ltd., NEEPCO Ltd., PGCIL, Airport Authority ofIndia, HPCL, Hindustan Lever, Maruti ServicesStations, Coca Cola and other MSI / SSI units haveutilised the services of the two laboratories in the NEregion.

STQC Overseas Services

STQC has been providing overseas services in theareas of Product Safety, EMI / EMC, ExplosiveAtmosphere Compatibility, Inspection andCertification, Calibration and Training on QualityManagement and IT Services.

Officers of STQC have been recognized by CMU, USAfor eSCM evaluation and by IRCA, UK for ISMS / QMSLead auditor training courses. eSCM evaluation

services were provided for approx. 140 man days inSouth Korea and Singapore. Additionally, ISMS andITSM facilitation and evaluation services wereprovided in DOHA Singapore and USA.

Testing, Calibration, Training and Certificationservices have been provided to various organizationsin countries like USA, UK, Germany, France, SouthKorea, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE,Qatar, etc.

Growth in Revenue Earning

One of the major initiatives taken during the financialYear 2006-07 was to gear up STQC IT serviceskeeping the Policies and Programs of the Departmentof IT. These services included certification and trainingin the area of Information Security ManagementSystem, Software Quality Assurance and IT ServiceManagement. At the same time conventional STQCservices like testing, calibration, certification andtraining were consolidated and expanded. Due tothese initiatives, revenue earning has continued togrow. The revenue earning, which was Rs.35 Croreduring 2005-06 is expected to grow to Rs.40 Croreduring 2006-07. This growth has been achieved inspite of reduction in manpower due to retirementand employee depletion through improvement inproductivity, gearing up of IT service and upgradationof infrastructure and facilities.

National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)

A state-of-the art National Internet Exchange of India(NIXI) has been set up to ensure that the Internettraffic which originates within India and also hasdestination in India, remains within the country,resulting in improved traffic latency, reducedbandwidth cost and better security. Four InternetExchange Nodes have been operationalised at Noida(Delhi), Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and as manyas 28 ISPs connected with these nodes and traffic of1.2 gigabit per second is exchanged.

Setting up of Bio-IT Park

The Department of Information Technology inconjunction with the Software Technology Parks ofIndia (STPI) and Industry is setting up a state-of-the-art ‘Bio-IT Park’ at a total outlay of Rs.95.82 crore overa period of five years. The park would address the ITrelated needs of the global life sciences industry andis expected to attract investments (both domestic andforeign) in the related areas. Potential tenant group in

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the park include Global pharmaceutical companies,Drug discovery companies, Healthcare organizations,Contract Research companies (Pre clinical andclinical), IT Software/tool companies, IT Hardwarecompanies, Genomics and biotech companies. TheBio-IT Park would be equipped with adequateinfrastructure and facilities to provide therequired/desired services to its tenants by providingfacilities of High end super computing; Wet lab; Datacommunications; Business Centre Services; NationalResource Centre – Library (physical and virtual),Connectivity with global bio-informatics/life sciencescentre of excellence across the globe; Team of globalknowledge stewards; IPR Facilitation cell; Networkingand consulting services; Service apartments andrecreational facility, etc.

Establishment of Three (3) Root Servers inthe Country

DIT and Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has installedthree mirror Internet Root Servers at Delhi, Mumbaiand Chennai. The root servers form a critical part of

the global Internet infrastructure. The installation ofthese root servers in the country will help in reducingthe expensive international bandwidth load, increasethe internet resilience by bringing down ourdependency on root servers hosted abroad andimprove host name resolution from hundreds ofmillisecond to under-ten millisecond.

Campus Network at Arunachal University,Itanagar

DIT has set up Campus LAN at Arunachal University.The project has been completed and being used bythe faculty and students of the University. GigabitFibre backbone has been laid connecting academicbuildings/offices/admin spread across the Campus.Cat6 UTP cable has been laid within the buildings toprovide connectivity to the users PCs. The conferencerooms have connectivity through 802.11 g wirelesstechnology. Hardware firewall and Server based Anti-virus system has been deployed to protect thenetwork from unauthorized access and viruses.

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Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is thepremier R&D organization of the Department of InformationTechnology (DIT), Ministry of Communications and InformationTechnology (MCIT) for carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and associatedareas. Having established itself as the premier national institution forhigh-end R&D in IT and Electronics area, C-DAC continues to constantlyinnovate and leverage its expertise to develop and deploy IT andelectronics products and solutions for larger societal and economicbenefits of the nation.

The core technology areas that C-DAC deals with include HighPerformance Computing and Grid Computing; MultilingualComputing; VLSI, Embedded and Real Time Systems; SoftwareTechnologies; Cyber Security; and Health Informatics. More than adecade and a half of R&D effort of C-DAC in these areas has resulted inseveral enabling technologies, which form the core of C-DAC’s technicalstrength. These enabling technologies have been further used by C-DAC to develop a wide range of products and solutions, many of whichhave been successfully deployed and are in use in many key sectors ofthe economy like, Science and Engineering, Power, Defence, Telecom,Health Care, Agriculture, Industrial Control, Broadcasting,Entertainment, Education and e-Governance. Through its Educationand Training programmes, C-DAC also actively contributes towards thenation’s growing demand for trained IT professionals. It offers variousMasters, Post-graduate Diploma, Diploma and Certificate courses inmultiple disciplines of IT and Electronics.

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The key achievements of C-DAC during the year areas follows:

High Performance Computing (HPC) and GridComputing

High Performance Computing (HPC) is now widelyconsidered to be a strategic asset for the nation andthe Supercomputing Institutes that created thiscapability are often a source of national pride. Withits proven track record of having successfullycompleted its first three HPC Missions, C-DAC hasmatured as an R&D Institute for HPC TechnologyDevelopment and HPC Solution Provider.

During the year, C-DAC carried out technologydevelopments in the areas of interconnecttechnologies, system software, ReconfigurableComputing Systems (RCS), Grid middleware, andvarious areas of scientific and engineeringapplications. It also continued its efforts towardsbuilding the National Grid Computing infrastructureand creating awareness among the potential users ofgrid technologies.

Significant achievements during the year in the areaof High Performance Computing and GridComputing include the following:

• An HPC system having peak computing power ofhalf Teraflop was delivered to NCMRWF alongwith necessary application support. The system isbeing used by NCMRWF exclusively foratmospheric science applications.

• A PARAM system, named PARAM Sarita, wasdesigned and developed for Video on Demand(VoD) services through Public-Private-Partnershipwith DiviNet Access Technologies Ltd. The systemhas been commissioned at the NetworkOperation Centre (NOC) in Pune and is currentlyunder live testing.

• The performance speedup possible with theindigenously designed and developed RCS(Reconfigurable Computing System) platform was

demonstrated for Bioinformatics (Smith-Waterman algorithm for sequence search) andCryptanalysis applications. Speedups of the orderof 40 to 80 times were demonstrated.

• The design and development of 10 Gbps, PCIExpress based System Area Network (SAN)including C-DAC’s Communication coprocessor(CCP) reached an advanced stage. It will form animportant indigenous component of next PARAMsystem that C-DAC will launch in 2007.

• Significant progress was made towards finalizingthe system architecture of the next PARAM systemto be launched by C-DAC in 2007.

• Atmospheric-Ocean coupled model wasdeveloped in collaboration with IISc.

• Commissioning of high-speed communicationfabric with 100/10 Mbps access networkconnecting 45 institutions was completed.

• Grid middleware components were developedand packaged as “Garuda Sigma”. The same hasbeen implemented at various grid nodes includingboth C-DAC’s own nodes and grid-partner nodes.

• Grid Monitoring and Management Centre(GMMC) was commissioned and madeoperational at C-DAC, Bangalore. State-of-the-artdisplay wall and advanced software developed atC-DAC, like Paryaveekshanam, was deployed atthe GMMC.

• Selected applications of national importance,including Disaster Management application (withSAC, Ahmedabad), and Bioinformaticsapplication were demonstrated on the gridinfrastructure.

• Grid Strategic Users Group has been set-up.

• Two Grid Partners meet were held and workshopsand conferences conducted by C-DAC to

integrate, increase participation and collaborativeefforts among participating institutes.

• C-DAC joined the EU-India Grid Consortium. Theprincipal goal of EU-India Grid is to supportinterconnection between European and Indiangrids.

Multilingual Computing

C-DAC’s Language technology mission has helped tocreate a framework for the coexistence of the livinglanguages of the world with diverse scripts onstandard computers. In this initiative, C-DACcontributed towards proliferating the benefits ofInformation technology to the vast and diversifiedmultilingual population of India.

C-DAC’s language technology products and solutionscover a wide range of applications such as publishingand printing, word processing in Indian languages,office application suites with language interfaces forpopular third party software on various operatingplatforms such as Windows, Linux, and so on,electronic mail in Indian languages, machinetranslation using artificial intelligence techniques,language learning, video and television andmultimedia content in Indian languages for subtitling,newsroom automation, multi prompter systems andonline titling. Several of these have been developedand marketed not only for Indian languages but alsofor foreign languages like Tibetian, Bhutanese, Thai,Perso-Arabic and so on.

Significant achievements during the year inmultilingual computing include the following:

• After the successful launch of Tamil, Hindi andTelugu CDs containing fonts and software toolsfor these languages last year, C-DAC workedtowards the preparation of similar CDs for other

Indian languages during this year. The CDs forPunjabi, Urdu, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada,Assamese, and Oriya were launched.

• IDN for .IN Registry-implementation support forMalayalam and Tamil has been completed.

• OCR tools for Hindi and Marathi were put inpublic domain.

• Urdu spellchecker prototype has been included inthe Nashir product.

• Localisation of Central Railway InformationSystem (CRIS) Website to Hindi under the aegis ofRITAP Project. This involved development oflocalisation framework inclusive of dynamicallyconverting database to Hindi.

• Urdu dictionaries for the administration, technicaland general domain have been integrated in theNashir product.

• LILA, Mantra and other commercial products werecustomized for mobile handsets. LILA HindiPrabodh on Mobile Phone was launched by HomeMinister in Official Hindi Day.

• Several language technology products wereintegrated into e-governance applications.

• Speech Corpora for Assamese, Bengali andManipuri were completed and released at Elitex2007.

• Commencement of Consortium mode deliveryoriented research projects (OCR/OHR, MAT, CLIR)was announced.

VLSI and Embedded Systems, Real Time Systemsand Professional Electronics

Initiatives in the area of VLSI Design and EmbeddedSystems, Power Electronics, Agro-electronics and RealTime Systems are targeted towards realizing themission to make India a global player in the powerelectronics technology and to convert India’scompetitive advantage in agriculture and informationtechnology to the prosperity of our farmingcommunity. In the area of power electronics, thetechnology development efforts are focused towardsdesigning of tools and components for powerdistribution, power quality improvement, powersupply modules, energy meters, remote inspectiondevices, etc. On the other hand, in the area of agro-electronics, the technology development efforts arefocused towards development of tools for online,real-time quality estimation for food and agroproducts and automation of post-harvest processing

of these products. Otherinitiatives in the areas of Real-time Systems, EmbeddedSystems and VLSI Designinclude sensors and sensornetworks, embedded systemsfor multilingual and industrialapplications and next-generation controllers.

Significant achievements during the year in the areaof VLSI and Embedded Systems, Real Time Systemsand Professional Electronics include the following:

• Three wheeler hybrid vehicle prototype wascompleted and is currently under field testing.

• Vehicle Mounted and Hand portable TETRADigital Mobile Radio with voice, data and directmode capabilities has been developed.

• Development and testing of prototype of liquidlevel sensor has been completed.

• Prototype system development for interceptingthe Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic on the Internet hasbeen completed.

• Export of TETRA Protocol Stack Software forMobile Stations to UK continued and export toChina also got added.

• Electronic Nose and Electronic Vision for Teaquality assessment has been developed andconsultation meeting with industry was held.

• Road Traffic Control System has beencommissioned in Pune and technology has beentransferred to Webel Mediatronics with signing ofagreement and payment of first installment of feeat Elitex 2007. Technology Transfer to BEL andKeltron are also scheduled.

• Prototype development of Digital ProgrammableHearing Aid has been completed.

Software Technologies

India’s strength in software product development andoffering of software services has already been provedand established globally. The IT software industry islargely manpower oriented and the skills of Indiansoftware professionals are globally recognized. Tocapitalize on this skill set of Indian softwareprofessionals, software technologies is naturally a keyfocus area of C-DAC. C-DAC’s initiatives in this areainclude, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS),software tools and applications, software productsfor addressing digital divide, software products andsolutions for e-Governance.

Significant achievements made during the year in thisarea include the following:

• Under the newly set up National Resource Centrefor Free/Open Source software (NRCFOSS) at C-DAC, Chennai, development of desk-topOperating System (BOSS), compliant to FSGcertification, has been completed. Release of thesame for Indian distribution was launched at Elitex 2007 by Honourable Minister forCommunications and Information Technology,Thiru. Dayanidhi Maran.

• FOSS based Tools and Applications have beendeveloped and put into initial use (e-Learning, e-Governance, SOA framework, Open Office,Browser and Mail Agent for Indian Languages).

• Several software products for addressing digitaldivide (such as Vyapar, ECKO, Vartalaap, CMS4Cetc.) have been developed and deployed atmultiple kiosks and MOUs signed for largedeployment.

• GIR (Geographical Indication Registry) workflowautomation and online transaction solution forIPO has been executed.

• Initiatives for development of several other e-Governance projects, some under Missionmode NeGP, were also continued or commenced.

Cyber Security

Department of Information Technology (DIT),Government of India has taken lot of R&D initiativesin this area of national importance. C-DAC with wideexperience in R&D has chosen cyber security as one of

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the priority areas and proposes to delivermultilevel/multilayered security solutions to safeguardthe Government Infrastructure. Solutions alreadydeveloped in this direction are Cyber Forensics tools,Adaptive Intrusion Detection System, End systemssecurity solution, document security solutions,Steganographic tools etc. These solutions cannot bestatic as the attacks keep growing with changingtimes and technologies. Thus C-DAC continues toexplore delivering the need of the hour (just-in-time)Cyber Security Solutions.

Significant achievements made during the year in thisarea include the following:

• Research Infrastructure for Stego-analysis wasestablished.

• A security solution for steganography wasdeveloped and packaged as “stego-check v.2”.The same was released during the year.

• Courseware design for one year diploma courseon Cyber Security has been finalized. The coursewill be very useful for law-enforcement agencies.

• Development of Cybercheck v.2 tools werecompleted at the Cyber Forensics lab.

• Adaptive Intrusion Detection, analysis andresponse system product (N@G) was completedand deployed at strategic user locations includingNIC, ERNET, and Garuda. N@G Enterprise Editionwas released at Elitex 2007.

• Development of components of a framework forweb services addressing security issues(authentication, authorization, privacy, trust andconfidentiality) has been completed.

Health Informatics

Provisioning of good and economical health servicesfor its citizens has always been a priority area for theGovernment in any nation. Health Informatics dealswith the integrated usage of information,communication and electronics technologies foroffering better health services. C-DAC being apremier R&D organization of Government of India,involved in the design, development and deploymentof electronics and advanced information technologyproducts and solutions, Health Informatics hasnaturally been a focus area of C-DAC’s R&D agenda.During the last few years of its R&D efforts in thisarea, C-DAC has developed a range of products andsolutions for better health care services. Theseinclude Hospital Information System (HIS), Systemsand Solutions for Telemedicine and Tele-education,Decision Support Systems (DSS) for Oncology andAyurveda, and Software Libraries for Medical Systemsand Standards.

Significant achievements during the year in this areainclude the following:

• The Onconet project for linking cancer centres inthe state of Kerala was successfully completed.

• A project proposal for Onconet India, for linkingof cancer centres across the nation, has beenprepared and submitted for approval.

• Deployment of Mercury telemedicine solutionwas done at Addis-Ababa and Nekempte inEthopia, also connecting CARE hospital inHyderabad for tele-consultancy and tele-diagnosis.

• A new project for the development of libraries forDICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications inMedicine) and HL7 (Health Level Seven) standardswas initiated and has been started.

• The development of a Decision Support System(DSS) for Ayurveda has been completed andlaunched as a packed product named AyuSoft atWorld Ayurvedic Conference at Pune in 2006.

Education and Training

Indian software industry and IT industry in general aresuffering from huge shortage of skilled manpower.This shortage is more prominently felt in specializedareas like VLSI, Embedded Systems, Mobile

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Computing, Bioinformatics – to name a few, as IndianIT industry strives to move up the value chain. C-DAC’s Education and Training divisions at its variouscentres continue to build and mobilize high qualityand skilled manpower to address this requirement tothe extent possible with its available resources. Arange of specialized courses catering to the needs ofthe IT sectors including VLSI, Embedded SystemsDesign, Information Technology, Enterprise SystemManagement, System and Database Administration,Electronic Product Design, Bioinformatics,Geoinformatics, Digital Multimedia, InternetTechnologies, Software Technologies and SoftwareDevelopment are offered. C-DAC also conducts PostGraduate Degree programmes like M.Tech and MCAin affiliation with universities at select centres.

During the year, C-DAC continued to offer itsCertificate, Diploma and Post Graduate DegreeProgrammes in the areas mentioned above. C-DAChas also set up state-of-the-art training Centres in ITin few countries abroad including those at Ghana,Uzbekistan, Tazekistan and Mauritius. TheJawaharalal Nehru Centre of Excellence in Tashkent,Uzbekistan was inaugurated by the HonourablePrime Minister in the year 2006.

C-DAC continues to strive hard to further establishand maintain its leadership position in R&D in theareas mentioned above. It also continuously exploresnew areas of R&D in IT and Electronics. In thisendeavor, C-DAC is already spearheading severalefforts at the national level in cutting-edge, futuristictechnology areas such as Speech Technologies, NextGeneration Internet Technologies, Grid Computingand Ubiquitous Computing.

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)

The idea of setting up dedicated Software TechnologyParks was born in the wake of the policy adopted in1986 by the Government of India, identifying IT as apotential growth driver and focusing on “Software

Exports, Software Development and Training” as akey area for strategic development. Furtheridentification of the constraints in the growth of thesoftware industry, led to the announcement of the“Software Technology Park” (STP) scheme in order toencourage and enhance software exports from thecountry.

The policy framework of STPI covered the followingkey aspects :

• Simplification / rationalization of procedures;

• Providing single-point contact services to theindustry;

• Providing basic amenities needed for exportoperations with very short gestation periods; and

• Sharing of captive infrastructure facilities likecomputing resources and data communicationservices in a cost-effective manner.

The framework evolved in a manner aimed atfacilitating the software export industry in generaland Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) inparticular, thereby accelerating the economic growthof the country by maintaining a competitive edge inthe global market. Software Technology Parks of India(STPI) was set up to implement the STP scheme forthe promotion and development of software industryand enhancement of software exports by providinginfrastructure facilities including High Speed DataCommunication (HSDC) links.

Software Technology Parks of India was establishedand registered as an Autonomous Society under theSocieties Registration Act 1860, under theDepartment of Information Technology, Ministry ofCommunications and Information Technology,Government of India on 5th June 1991 with theobjective to implement STP/EHTP Scheme, set-up andmanage infrastructure facilities and provide otherservices like technology assessment and professionaltraining.

Objectives of the Society

The objectives of Software Technology Parks of Indiaare:

• To promote development of software andsoftware services.

• To provide statutory services to the exporters byimplementing STP/EHTP Scheme.

• To provide data communication services includingvarious value added services to IT industries andcorporate houses.

• To provide Project Management and Consultancyservices both at national and international level.

• To promote small and medium entrepreneurs bycreating a conducive environment in the field ofInformation Technology.

• To promote Bio-informatics/Bio-technology, NanoTechnology, industries by providing incubationand other infrastructural and statutory support.

High Speed Data Communication Facility

One of STPI’s remarkable contributions to thesoftware-exporting sector is provision of High-SpeedData Communication (HSDC) services. SoftNET,state-of-the-art HSDC network, designed anddeveloped by STPI is available to software exporters atinternationally competitive prices. STPI has set up itsown International Gateways at 47 locations forproviding HSDC links to the software industry.

Local access to International Gateways at STPI centresis provided through Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint microwave radios for the local loop, whichhas overcome the last mile problem and enabled STPIto maintain an uptime in the tune of 99.99%. Theterrestrial cables (fiber/copper) are also used wherever

feasible. These communication facilities immenselycontribute to the development of offshore softwareactivities and act as the backbone for the success ofthese enterprises.

STPI is having working arrangement with majorinternational telecommunication operators, namely:AT&T, MCI, Sprint, British Telecom, IPSTAR Thaicomand premium satellite service providers like Intelsat,New Skies Satellite, etc.

STPI provides the following HSDC services through itsnetwork:

• International Private Leased Circuits (IPLCs)

• Shared Internet Services

• VSAT Services

• Value added services.

SoftPOINT

The SoftPOINT service is the provisioning of“International Private Leased Circuit” (IPLC). IPLC’sare digital circuits available for international datacommunications, which are used for datatransmission, communication etc. Secure andexclusive to the user, IPLCs are ideal for companiesthat have high volume of International datatransmission.

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It provides efficient, reliable and secure Point-to-Pointconnection to business clients 24 hours a day,anywhere in the world. Wide range of datatransmission speeds further allow expanding theservices as required. The services are also offered onSatellite and Fiber.

SoftLINK

Internet is now emerging globally as the principalmedium of communications for every country. Anexceptional growth can be seen in the percentage ofpeople wanting to get connected to the web. QualityInternet connectivity has become a necessity forsoftware exporters and many software enterpriseswork on a Global IP Platform.

SoftLink is a service offering Internet access on ashared and dedicated basis. The service was launchedto cater to the rising demands of the industry forbetter quality and committed services. Today SoftLinkservices enjoy a large customer base amongst STPI’sdatacom services.

International Fiber Capacity

STPI has acquired International and Domestic fiberbandwidth, in order to meet the customer demandsfor the services on Fiber. With this, STPI is able toprovide Internet Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) and IPservices on fiber.

STPI is offering IPLCs on full circuit basis completelyon fiber between Indian company and USAcustomers with attractive tariff. As it is one stopsolution to the customer, it facilitates single point ofcontact, ease of coordination. Implementation ordeployment of the service is faster when compared toconventional bilateral services. The up time in theseservices is very high with minimal restoration time.The bandwidth is provided in multiples of nx64Kbps,nxE1 or 1xDS3.

To provide better Quality of Service (QoS) to thecustomers in terms of latency and reliability, STPI istied up with Tier – 1 Service providers in USA forInternet backbone. The customers who are availingSTPI’s Internet Service get connected to Tier – 1Service provider’s backbone in USA through STPI’sInternet Gateway. The bandwidth is provided inmultiples of nx64Kbps or nxE1.

Access Network/ Last Mile Connectivity (LocalLoop)

With the evolution of the IT industry in the early days,there was an escalated demand for greaterbandwidth. While international bandwidth wasavailable, there was a shortfall in the last mileconnectivity. To address this shortfall, STPI has set upits own digital Microwave networks using Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint microwave networks,which cater to the primary needs of the customers.With the addition of Point-to-Point radio networks,the network was further strengthened enabling thedelivery of a 2 Mbps, NxE1 links over the last mileunder the STPI’s overall control.

Besides last mile connectivity on radio, STPI alsoprovides the last mile on fiber wherever feasible.

Leased Internet Access Using ISDN Lines

STPI also provides Internet Services to the customersthrough ISDN. This service is presently available forISDN BRI and leased connection is for 64 Kbps or 128Kbps. ISDN services are also sometimes used as abackup to the leased line connectivity.

Other Value Added Services

Web hosting services, Network Consultancy, Roof TopSolution, Collocation of Servers, etc., are some of theother value-added services provided by STPI to theconstituent companies, apart from IPLC and Internetservices.

Performance STP Units

During the year 2005-06, 1052 new units wereregistered under STP Scheme. As on 31st March2006, 6383 units were operative out of which 5116units were actually exporting. The remaining unitsare at various stages of gestation as the schemeallows three years for companies to start commercialproduction.

Exports

There has been an impressive 36.40 per cent increasein software exports through STPI units in the yearunder review, from Rs. 74, 019 crore in 2004-05 to Rs100, 965 crore during 2005-06. At the national level,STPI units account for around 97% per cent ofsoftware exports – out of the total national figure of

Rs 104540 crore, STPI units exports accounted for Rs.100,965 crore to the overall export revenue fromsoftware operations in the country. It is estimatedthat STP units software export would be about up toRs 1,30,000 crore during the year 2006-07,registering a growth of about 28.75% above 2005-06.

Activity of the STPI Centres

STPI, Bangalore

CCC Network – Present Project

This project envisages networking of Check Postsbelonging to various departments like CommercialTaxes, Forest Department, RTO and Department ofExcise. Implementation will involve a setup of onepilot site further expanded to 26 locations acrossstate. This integrated check post will reduce the timeinvolved to inspect vehicle and to bring in thetransparency in commodities checking.

Present Status

STPI is in the design stage of the network.

STPI’s Role

• Project Management and consultation

• Identification of Infrastructure and theirprocurement

• Coordination for Licensing and RegulatoryActivities

• Implementation of entire network

• Operations and Management of the network

‘Nirmala Nagara’ Project

‘Nirmala Nagara’ project envisages creation of e-governance system for the payment of PropertyTaxes, attending to Public Grievances, issue of Birthand Death certificates, collection of Water Tax, issueof Trade Licenses, monitoring ward works andaccounts coming under the jurisdiction of variousMunicipal corporations across the state of Karnataka.

STPI’s role

STPI-B has to provide Project ManagementConsultancy services for Data Centre for this project.

Current Status

STPI–Bangalore has submitted the proposal andreceived the order for carrying out feasibility analysisfor WAN connectivity and the same was submitted toDMA. Further STPI was issued an order to provideoffsite O&M support for the Mini data centre at Unitybuilding where the pilot servers are maintained.Besides, DMA asked STPI to do POC(proof of concept)and analyze the online data .

Local and Wide Area Networks for KarnatakaState Financial Corporation (KSFC)

Karnataka State Financial Corporation (KSFC),Bangalore is the premier fast track term lendingfinancial institute in the country under stateGovernment of Karnataka. KSFC gives financialassistance to set up tiny, small, medium and largescale industrial units in the Karnataka state.

Karnataka State Financial Corporation has requestedSTPI to provide the Consultancy services to revampthe building LAN, wireless LAN (optional), designingof WAN, video conferencing solution, ITinfrastructure and related software application upgradation and UPS requirement.

STPI’s role

STPI-B has to provide Project ManagementConsultancy services in identifying right technologyand economical solution to revamp the building LAN,explore the possibility for wireless LAN, designing ofthe WAN network, video conferencing solution and ITinfrastructure sizing and up gradation plans forsoftware application and UPS at Head Office locatedin Bangalore.

Current Status

Currently STPI-B is in the process of preparing itsfeasibility study report and proposal.

National Institute for Smart Government (NISG)

National Institute for Smart Government (NISG),Hyderabad is a not-for-profit company incorporatedin 2002 with NASSCOM (National Association ofSoftware and Service Companies), Central and Stategovernments being the principal promoters. NISG isbeing shaped as an institution of excellence in thearea of e-Governance with focus on developing

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appropriate architectures and standards, providinghigh-level consultancy services and capacity buildingat the national level. NISG is constituted under a PublicPrivate Partnership model with a view to combine theimmense potential and resources of the private sectorwith the principles of accountability and transparencyof the public sector. The goal of NISG is to lead thenation to a preeminent position in providingintegrated online services to the citizens andbusinesses.

National Institute for Smart Government (NISG),Hyderabad has requested STPI to provide consultancyservices to set up Programme Management Unit(PMU) for the National e-Governance Plan at DIT,Electronics Niketan, New Delhi. This project hasplanned in two stages; one is general infrastructureand second is IT infrastructure.

STPI’s role

STPI-B has to provide Project ManagementConsultancy services in identifying right technologyand economical solution to procure IT infrastructureslike Laptops, desktops, projectors, fax and printers,video conferencing solution, servers, softwarepackages which includes project management tool.STPI will support in configuring the servers andidentifying the servers and related applications alongwith the vendor.

Current Status

Currently this project is under progress, total projectmay get over by end of May 2006.

Karnataka State Wide Area Network (KSWAN)

The GOK has setup the state Data centre in Bangaloreand intends to roll out e-governance applications uptothe village/hobli level. In order to facilitate the rollout,GOK has identified setting up the core networkconnectivity as a mission mode project. The proposedstate wide area network envisages establishing video,voice and data communication across the state,district and taluk using hybrid technologies like leasedlines, VSAT, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max etc.

Current Status

STPI has bid for the Tender for consultancy services forKarnataka State Wide Area Network (KSWAN). Thetender evaluations have been completed and STPI hasbeen awarded the tender.

Bangalore IT.in 2006

Asia’s largest IT and Telecom event – Bangalore IT.In2006- an initiative of the Karnataka Government inpartnership with Software Technology Parks of IndiaBangalore (STPI-B), was inaugurated by Shri DharamSingh, then Chief Minster of Karnataka.

Software Technology Parks of India has been regularlyparticipating in Bangalore IT.in since 1998. During theyear 2006, STPI was the co-host of the event.

About 300+ companies, 15 countries and 15 statesparticipated in the event. Around 160,000 generalvisitors and 50,000 business visitors visited the show.

STPI Pavilion at Bangalore IT.in

STPI had taken a whole pavilion under name “STPI”for STPI member units. The objective in doing so wasto provide ample opportunity to the units, especiallythe SMEs , to grow and showcase their strengths andachievements and promote their products and servicesto the visiting Business Delegates and General Public.

Conferences and Trade Seminars

The event also featured 6 major conferences cover in4 days which attracted over 1500 conferencedelegates for the sessions. STPI-B had coordinated forall these conferences in association with GOK.Highlights of this year’s event was Conferences andSeminars on “Beyond Bangalore”, “Emerging New ITClusters”, “IT Clustering in the UK”, “IT ServicesManagement”, “HR in IT: Managing People – DrivingBusiness”, “Bridging Barcelona and India”,“Innovating in India for India by India” in associationwith Tiecon and “Accelerating Technology Incubationin the Semiconductor Space” by Indian Semi-Conductor Associates (ISA) .

STPI, Chennai

• STPI-Chennai has organized the preliminarydiscussions with the IT industry and theDepartment of Information Technology for theformation of IIIT (International Institute ofInformation Technology) in Chennai.

• Hon’ble Minister, MCIT has laid the foundationStone for the STPI Facilities centre at Chennai on10th February, 2006. Approximately 1.0 lakh sft.of state of the art incubation space is underconstruction and expected to be completed byDecember 2006.

• A two day seminar on Embedded System inAutomotive and Industrial automation organizedby STPI Chennai and ESAI, Embedded SystemAssociation of India (Formally EFI) on 24th and25th February, 2006.

• STPI Chennai has coordinated the formation ofeWit(Empowering Women in InformationTechnology) for better participation of Women inIT and organized a meeting on Enhancing theShare and sustainability of Women in InformationTechnology on 8th March, 2006 (World women’sDay).

• STPI-Chennai has organized seminars onEnhancing Students Absorbability through PSP anOverview Seminar and Discussion on Industry –Institute Partnership was held in Trichy inassociation with Software Quality instituteChennai.

• Conducted a Seminar and Selection of studentsfor Medical Transcription Business and e-Publishing at Chenai, Vizhupuram, Namakkal,Trichy in association with e-Mitraa and e-Lipi theconsortium nurtured by STPI-Chennai.

• Organized a one day workshop for IT industry on“Towards Zero Defect delivery, the PSP/TSP way”in association with SQI on 23.03.06.

• Participated in India soft 06 conducted during themonth of February, 2006.

• Visit of Mr. Robert Bosch to STPI IT ParkCoimbatore and MOU signing of CTS to take upspaced in the IT Park.

STPI, Noida

• Development and Marketing Activities for “TradeNet Portal”

• STPI – Noida has launched TradeNet Portal inMarch-2006. STPI being neutral player has comeup with idea of an electronics marketplace –TradeNet for SMEs in IT and ITES, so they cancome together and share the benefits of thebusiness delivery model. Trade Net provides asimple, convenient, and automated solution tofind, evaluate, buy, sell bid online, manage andpay online for outsourced services, deliveringcompliance, visibility, performance improvementand savings.

• Publication of Quarterly Newsletter for promoting“Trade Net Portal”

• For dissemination of information among TradeBodies, IT/ITES and STPI-Centers, a quarterlynewsletter for promoting Trade Net is designed by

STPI-Noida. Its inaugural Volume – 1 is titled as“Future of SMEs in BPO” which is focused onthose SMEs who are venturing into BPO Sector.

STPI, Hyderabad

• On 27th January 2006, a Road show was held atJNTU kakinada to explore the potential of ITIndustry at Kakinada, East Godavari district,Andhra Pradesh.

• Fourth Pravasi Bharatiya Divasa (PBD) was held inHyderabad from 7-9 January 2006 at theHyderabad International Convention Centre(HICC).

• STPI-Hyderabad participated in GITEX, held on 11-13th January 2006 at Hyderabad InternationalConvention Centre (HICC).

• As a promotional and branding initiative STPI,Hyderabad in Association with the StateGovernment of Andhra Pradesh has released a CDto highlight the IT Industries performance in theState of Andhra Pradesh. This would showcasethe contribution made by STPI, Hyderabad forfurther investments and growth of IT Sector in theState.

STPI, Rourkela

The centre has been promoting IT in this region byorganizing various seminars and workshops fromtime to time including Career fair with Internet mela,seminar on Looming Security Challenges, workshopon Cisco networking. The STPI Patna and STPI Ranchiproject implementation is successfully looked after bythis centre.

STPI, Ranchi

STPI Ranchi centre is operational since January 2004with fully functional HSDC facility. Now the STPIInternational Incubation Facility Centre (IIFC) buildingconstruction is complete and the facility is ready forinauguration. The STPI Ranchi IIFC is having 150-seater incubation with modern computing facility,office automation, business centre and high-speeddata communication.

The ready to use facility is in high demand as the unitgets high end computing facility, server facility, 24hour electricity with DG backup, 24 hour security,common office facilities like all types/sizes color/blackwhite printer/plotter, EPABX, Fax, Copier, Videoconferencing, Fax, good working environment,refreshment and recreation facility under one roof.

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Such modern infrastructure will enable the start upunits to start their business with nearly zero capitalinvestment and operate from day one.

STPI, Kolkata

Inauguration of STPI-Siliguri: STPI-Siliguri wasinaugurated on 14th, February 2006 by Hon’bleMinister, Shri. Manabendra Mukharjee, InformationTechnology and Environment Depts, Govt. of WestBengal.

STPI, Bhubaneswar

• STPI-Bhubaneswar started first commercial VSATservices in the State and bagged a couple ofprestigious VSAT projects. STPI has successfullyimplemented VSAT Networks at 15 locations ofOrissa Mining Corporation (OMC), Bhubaneswarfor roll out of their ERP Projects where all of theirremote mines are connected with their HeadQuarter, Bhubaneswar as per their “Go LiveProject”.

• STPI-Bhubaneswar has also successfullycompleted VSAT connectivity of connecting all 30district Head Quarters of Orissa for Orissa PrimaryEducation Program Authority (OPEPA) for their “e-Shishu Projects.

• Conducted Workshop on “International CallCentre and BPO’’ for facilitating SME and start upunits during the year 2006.

• During this period, a new infrastructure wasadded in STPI facility. An Incubation Centrecomprising 10 modules of different sizesequipped with Internet, UPS, EPABX, AccessControl and other modern facilities was madeoperational at Fortune Towers Office. The facilitygot good response from industry as theIncubation Centre is 100% occupied by SmallSTP units.

New STPI Centres

STPI opened a new centre at Berhampur in Orissa incollaboration with Governement of Orissa.

International Projects

National Data Centre Project- Lao PDR

Under the bilateral cooperation agreement on ICTbetween Government of India and Government ofLao PDR, various ICT projects have been taken up in

Lao PDR with financial and technical assistance fromIndia. National Informatics Centre (NIC) was the nodalagency for establishing National data centre atVientiane, Lao PDR which was one among the agreedcooperation.

STPI’s Role

STPI acts as implementating agency to setup NationalData Centre at Lao PDR.

Current status

STPI carried out the feasibility study at Lao PDR forestablishing the Data Centre. Subsequent to theFeasibility Study and its acceptance by NIC, STPIinitiated the procurement through InternationalTendering. The tendering was completed during theyear 2004-05 and the project implementation wasstarted in the month of March 2005. The project forsetting up of National Data Centre at Lao PDR wascompleted and operational during the month of June2006.

BIO – IT Park

• The Department of Information Technology (DIT)and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT),Government of India (GOI) are promoting India asa global hub for IT solutions (products andservices) within the health sciences sector byencouraging activities in the Bio-IT sector.

• The objective of setting up the Bio-IT Park is toaddress the IT related needs of the health sciencesindustry and to attract investments (domestic andforeign) in the related fields. STPI has beenidentified as a nodal agency by DIT forimplementation of the project.

• The Bio-IT Park is being implemented in the formof Public Private Partnership model. The privatepromoter would be a majority stakeholder in thepark. The STPI on behalf of DIT and Dept ofBiotechnology would be a minority stakeholder ofthe park. The concerned State Governmentwould also be a stakeholder in the park. The parkis proposed to be set up in an area of around 100acres.

• The selection of the private promoter to partnerwith STPI for setting up of Bio-IT Park has beenundertaken through a two stage selection processof RFQ(Request for Qualification) and RFP(Request for Proposal). The selection process hassince been completed and the Evaluation

Committee has short listed the bidder to partnerwith STPI for setting up the park.

India. in

STPI is implementing the project for ‘India.in’ portaland associated services including free email and webhosting services. The free e-mail service under theIndia.in portal would be provided in Indian regionallanguages along with Hindi and English.

Objectives of India. in.

• To make www.india.in the portal of choice for allthose seeking India related information. It will bea citizen centric portal offering citizen centricservices like Free E-mail, Basic Web hostingservices.

• To provide cyber identity to every citizen of Indiairrespective of English literacy.

• To provide free web-based my name@india.inemail services that would give visibility and Indianidentity to the Indians in cyberspace.

• Economic development of the SME Communityby offering low-cost business mail services,information repository, web-hosting,application/data hosting, content provisioningetc.

• The services will be menu/template driven basedapplications Hosting, Communication tools,Shopping cart, Marketing tools, CRM making ithassle free for web business.

• The portal services would include menu / templatedriven based applications hosting,communication tools, shopping cart, marketingtools, CRM etc enabling it to provide hassle freeenvironment for web business. The portalapplications would include discussion forums,chat rooms, news updates, search engine and e-commerce functionality.

• STPI has formed a Joint Venture Company withMahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL),named MTNL-STPI IT Services Limited toimplement the India.in portal and associatedservices. MTNL with its huge customer basewould bring in the requisite expertise inmanagement and servicing end users which isvital for the success of India.in.

The necessary formalities for the creation and the JVhas been completed and STPI is working in close co-

ordination with MTNL to implement the portal andmake it a success in achieving its objectives.

National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)

A state-of-the art National Internet Exchange of India(NIXI) has been set up to ensure that the Internettraffic which originates within India and also hasdestination in India, remains within the country,resulting in improved traffic latency, reducedbandwidth cost and better security. Four InternetExchange Nodes have been operationalised at Noida(Delhi), Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and as manyas 28 ISPs connected with these nodes and traffic of1.2 gigabit per second is exchanged.

Society for Applied Microwave ElectronicsEngineering and Research (SAMEER)

SAMEER was set up in the year 1984 under the thenDepartment of electronics, Government of India witha broad mandate to undertake R&D work in the areasof RF/Microwave Electronics, ElectromagneticTechnology and its related areas.

At present SAMEER has three Centres – one each atMumbai, Chennai and Kolkata specializing in theareas of RF and Microwaves, Communication,EMI/EMC, Antenna and Millimeter wave technologyrespectively. Since its inception, SAMEER has focusedits activities in various areas of microwaveengineering and electromagnetic technology.SAMEER has already been working in industryoriented developmental work on microwave andelectromagnetic technology in the light ofglobalization policy of the Government of India.

It has been the endeavour of SAMEER to be a centreof excellence in the area of its interest. Its focus is oncreating expertise in the area of core competence. Itcontinues to focus on the core R&D through in-housetechnology development keeping abreast withtechnology in today’s relevant global scenario. At thesame time the expertise attained is put to use bytaking up sponsored activities for generation ofwealth for the nation.

Some of the state of art areas of research includesHigh energy Linear Accelerators, Radar SystemsMicrowave and RF Systems, High Power Systems,Communications, Atmospheric Remote Sensing,Photonics, EMI/EMC, Millimeter wave, ThermalEngineering and Antenna.

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Acheivements during 2006-07

Multi Frequency Phased Array Sodar for NARLGadanki : SAMEER has developed a newmultifrequency phased array sodar system forprofiling of atmospheric boundary layer wind andturbulence. It transmits ten frequencies starting from1880 Hz to 2500 Hz with frequency increment of 80Hz to improve the height coverage. This systemtypically gives wind profiles upto 800m with aresolution of 20 m. It can measure maximum windspeed upto 30m/s. SAMEER has designed developedand installed the system. It makes use of specialantenna and acoustic enclosure design for cluttersuppression as well as for protection from rain andweather.

Six MV Medical Linear Accelerator Machine : TheType Approval for the 6 MV Medical LinearAccelerator machine JV-1 was received from AtomicEnergy Regulatory Board (AERB) in august 2006 Thetype approval was given on the basis of the safety andperformance compliance as per IEC InternationalStandard for radiation and non-radiation aspectsafter the Radiation tests and measurements werecarried out by RP&AD - BARC and AERB. The 6 MVMedical Linac Integrated Oncology System installedby SAMEEER at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of MedicalScience (MGIMS) hospital at Sevagram, Wardha hasreceived authorization for clinical use from AERB. Theclinical use of the machine has commenced fromOctober 2006.

15 KW RF Dryer : SAMEER has developedtechnology for Radio frequency Dryer. The frequencyof operation is 27.12 MHz. SAMEER has conductedextensive trials on the machine for differentapplications and have proven the effectiveness of thistechnology for various applications like dehydrationof vegetable, drying of raw materials for instant foodmixes, tobacco leaves, chemical powder, noodles,drying and aging of raw rice etc. A RF dryer for foodprocessing with 15 KW capacity has been developedfor Ministry of Food Processing industries (MFPI) andis installed at Laxminarayan institute of Technology(LIT) Nagpur.

Packaging of Photonic Devices : The infrastructurefor packaging of optoelectronics devices isestablished. The laser weld equipment for packagingof laser diodes is installed. Initial trials on the laserdiode packaging and process optimization are inprogress. Optoelectronic devices like optical power

splitter, modulator and laser diodes are packagedusing the established facility. The 1x8 optical powersplitter based on silica on silicon technology anddeveloped by CEERI, Pilani was packaged. In addition,research group from IIT Chennai was providedtechnical support in fiber attachment of their devices.

Optical Waveguide on Polymers : Polymers areone of the most promising materials for photonicsapplications due to its ease of processing and lowcost. The scope of the activity is to carry out study ofpolymers useful for optical waveguiding, fabricatethe optical waveguides and characterize them. Thepolymer materials can be used for fabricating passiveas well as active (thermo-optics and electro optics)photonics devices. Straight Channel Waveguides inSU-8 as core and PMMA as cladding are fabricated onsilicon substrate. The measured propagation loss is ofthe order of 3dB/cm at 1310 nm wavelength. Thissort of waveguides would be more useful inapplication like waveguide sensors for antibodydetection, enzyme analysis where loss is of secondaryconcern.

Design and Development of hardware andsoftware for collection of Electromagneticsignatures for Digital equipment : Theelectromagnetic emanations from devices andequipments were viewed as hazardous subjects butthe theory that, they can actually carry informationhas been contemplated in the world war time. Therehave been ingenious demonstrations to prove thatEM emanations can be tapped for information. Theproject undertaken starts with the consideration ofEM radiations as EM signatures, which can be minedfor information. Both on-line and off-line approach ofeavesdropping emanations from VDU has beendemonstrated. A wide band EMI Receiver has beenused for on-line approach of eavesdropping. A high-speed digitizer and embedded controller were usedfor off-line analysis. The hardware required for EMsignature processing and the software for signatureanalysis and data re-construction have beendeveloped by SAMEER.

Four MV Medical Linear Accelerator : Typeapproval for 4 MeV Medical Linear Acceleratormachine Jeevan Jyoti-2 has been received fromAtomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) ofDepartment of Atomic Energy (DAE). The Jeevan Jyoti-2 machine has been commissioned in GMCH,Chandigarh.

Development of Ultra Wideband MultiridgeWaveguide and Horn antenna: Conventionalrectangular waveguides are known to givebandwidth of 1.5: 1. This bandwidth being limited,ridged waveguides have been developed for widerband operation. Depending upon the type ofapplication such waveguides are known to offerbandwidths much wider than conventionalrectangular waveguides. Standard double-ridgedwaveguides offering 2.4:1 and 3.6:1 bandwidths areavailable today which are used for design of double-ridged horn antennas. Based on theoretical studies,multiple ridges (3 Pairs of ridges) were incorporated instandard 2.4:1 bandwidth double ridged waveguide,and a prototype model of multi ridge horn antennawas designed, fabricated and experimentallyevaluated. The bandwidth extended to 8.22:1 thusenhancing the existing bandwidth by about 3.5 timesfor the same aperture. The concept is thus verified.The operational bandwidth is from 1.8-14.8GHz.

Digital Signal Processing Laboratory Facility :Digital Signal Processing is key component of any RFcommunication system. A state of DSP infrastructurelab catering to current technology like complexFPGA/CPLD systems and high-speed DSP processorssystems has been set up. Under this activity thefollowing have been developed a) FPGA basedlauncher control board b)MIL 1553 RT protocolimplementation in DSP TMS5502 and c)Frequencyhopping synthesizer for 902-928 MHz band.

Technical assistance to L&T for C and S-bandtransmitter : One C-band radar and one S-bandradar are proposed for up gradation of the trackingnetwork of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.The Radars are being built by L & T for ISRO. SAMEERis providing technology and would be associated forthe development and manufacturing of the highpower IRIG coded Transmitters with L&T. The hardtube modulator has been tested on dummy load for35 KV/50A pulsed conditions. Integration ofprototype C-band transmitter system has beencompleted.

Differential phase shift circulators : A Highpower 4-port S-band ferrite circulator capable ofhandling 6MW pulse power and 5KW average powerhas been designed and developed indigenously. Thehigh power tests have been completed and resultshave been very encouraging.

25 KW RF Dryer for textile industry : SAMEER hassuccessfully completed the development of 25 KW RFdryer for textile industry and installed at M/S MAMCOltd, Bhiwandi Maharashtra for yarn processing. Thissystem is fully automatic; user friendly and recently1000 hrs of continuous operation was achieved. Theefficiency of this design is 25% more than the similarimported machine.

Study on Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) forout of band antenna RCS reduction : Differentgeometries of FSS have been designed, fabricatedand tested for pass band characteristics around 10GHz. Test results are in agreement with thetheoretical results. A conical shaped radome has alsobeen designed, fabricated and tested. Test results areencouraging.

X – band Monopulse Comparator : A project hasbeen undertaken for design , development anddelivery of a X- band comparator for use in LCA. Thecomparator has been designed , simulated andfabricated.

Indium tin oxide coating on glass and plastics:SAMEER has developed technology and pilot plantfacility for coating Indium Tin Oxide on glass andplastics for providing EMI shielding. This technology isused to reduce the EM radiation from the monitors.

Projects Continued/Initiated

Linac Infrastructure at Kharghar, SAMEER NaviMumbai : The linear Accelerator based cancertreatment equipment (Medical Linac) has beenSAMEER’s strength. Preparing to meet the increasingdemand for more machines, SAMEER is establishing aseparate facility for the Medical Linac at the KhargharCampus of SAMEER at Navi Mumbai. Foundationstone was laid for the Medical Linac laboratory at NaviMumbai by Secretary, Department of InformationTechnology on 22nd May 2006. This laboratory willfacilitate assembly, integration, testing and qualityassurance of Linac Tubes.

EMI/EMC : SAMEER has a strong presence in thearea of EMI/EMC. SAMEER offers both facilities suchas CE,CS,RE & RS and for testing to standards as wellas consultancy services in this area. This is continuingactivity at all the three centres.

Compact Antenna Test Range Facility at SAMEERKolkata : A project has been approved by Dept. of

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Information Technology for establishment ofCompact Antenna Test Range (CATR) facility atSAMEER Kolkata. The CATR facility is a high techantenna measurement facility needed for accuratecharacterization of antenna subsystem for differentapplications. Establishment of the CATR facility willhelp SAMEER to provide antenna test andmeasurement services for civilian and defenseapplications including production agencies where alarge number of high performance antennas arerequired to be evaluated. The CATR facility willenhance the R & D potential of antenna groups inSAMEER and will enable us to undertake complexdesign problems in antennas, radome and RCSstudies. Government of West Bengal has allotted aland for construction of laboratory to accommodateCATR facility.

Millimeter Wave R & D Facility at SAMEERKolkata : A project has been approved by Dept ofInformation Technology for establishment ofMillimeter Wave R & D facility at SAMEER Kolkata.This will be a very important R &D facility for designand development of critical millimeter wavesubsystems and systems. The aim at this project is toestablish design, simulation, fabrication andmeasurement facilities for MMW subsystems andsystems and creation of a core expert group inmillimeter wave technology to undertake research,design and development work in the millimeter wavearea.It will also Provide design, development, testmeasurement and consultancy services in millimeterwave technology for important applications.

Six MV Medical Linear Accelerator Machine :Siddharth –2 The 6 MV medical linear acceleratormachine has been integrated and tested at SAMEER.The machine will be installed and commissioned atAdyar Cancer Institute Chennai. Approval has alreadybeen obtained for commissioning of this machine.

DOEACC

DOEACC Society, an autonomous body ofDepartment of Information Technology has 10Centres at Aizawl, Aurangabad, Calicut, Chandigarh,Gorakhpur, Imphal, Srinagar/Jammu, Kohima,Kolkata and Tezpur/Guwahati and 3 Branch Offices atDelhi, Lucknow and Shimla with its Headquarters atNew Delhi. DOEACC Society is the only professionalexamination body in India, which accreditsinstitutes/organizations for conducting coursesparticularly in the non-formal sector of IT Education

and Training. It is primarily engaged in thedevelopment of industry oriented quality educationand training, establish standards for Examination andCertification in the field of IECT.

The IECT education and training programmes of theDOEACCare categorized as follows:

• IECT Education and Training for fresh students

• Continuing Education (Refresher training /retraining / upgradation) for workingprofessionals through Short-Term / Long-TermCourses.

• Training of Trainers at all levels and

• New courses in emerging areas of IECT.

DOEACC Centres : Erstwhile CEDTI Centres havebeen conducting long-term courses, which are notoffered by the Universities/Institutions in the formalsector. These courses are at Post-Graduate level inElectronics Design and Technology and Diploma Levelin Electronics Production and Maintenance, ElectronicEngineering Courses affiliated to various Universitiesare also being offered. DOEACC Centre, Imphal, inthe North-Eastern Region, offers DiplomaProgrammes approved by respective StateGovernments in Electronics Engineering andComputer Science and Engineering. The Centres arealso conducting short and long-term programmes tomeet the need of respective regions. DOEACCCentres at Kolkata and Chandigarh have beenengaged in activities relating to IT education andtraining, data processing, software development andconsultancy projects. Almost all the DOEACC Centresare engaged in long Term and short Term courses inthe emerging areas and are per the local needs.

DOEACC Society has a total strength of about 610employees at 10 Centres and 3 Branches at 15different locations. Most of the DOEACC Centres arelocated in under developed region of the country andhave strength in infrastructure and delivery apartfrom examination and certification activity.

The Objectives of the Society inter-alia includes:

• To generate quality manpower and develop skilledprofessionals in the area of Information,Electronics and Communications Technology(IECT) and allied, by providing world-classeducation and training and accreditation services.

• To provide continuing support to learners and

trainers through active design and developmentof innovative curricula and acquisition of contentaligned with the dynamically changing IECTscenario.

• To establish a quality system of examination andcertification that is globally recognized andprovides a fair assessment of the competency ofstudents.

• To establish standards in the areas of IECT and todevelop markets in the emerging areas.

• To develop entrepreneurs and provide IECT basedservices to users.

• To encourage and nurture industry academicinteraction through inter-disciplinary cooperationamongst scientists, technocrats, administratorsand entrepreneurs.

e-Governance Implementation in DOEACC

DOEACC Society has been practicing e-Governancefor both its internal as well as external clients. TheSociety has already computerized its internalprocesses for data processing such as processing ofstudents registration and examination applicationforms; processing of results; processing of applicationfor accreditation, etc.

A new website of DOEACC (www.doeacc.edu.in.www.doeacc.ac.in ) was made operational in October2005 based on open source JAVA. The website hasmade provisions for students and institutes to viewthe details of examination time table, examinationvenues, admit card details, examination roll numbersand examination results. Besides, norms for DOEACCaccreditation, the Rating status of the accreditedinstitutes and the detailed list accredited institutes arealso available on the website with provisions for usersto query the details of Institutes on location basis. Afacility for development of a database on theemployment status of DOEACC qualifiers is alsoavailable at the DOEACC website.

DOEACC Scheme on Computer Courses

The DOEACC Society, since its inception in 1994 hadthe mandate to implement the DOEACC Scheme onComputer Courses, a joint scheme of the thenDepartment of Electronics (DoE), now DIT and AllIndia Council of Technical Education (AICTE), togenerate qualified manpower in the area ofInformation Technology at the National Level byutilizing the facilities and Infrastructure available withthe institutions / organizations in the non-formal

sector. Under the Scheme the following ComputerCourses are offered:-

‘O’ Level Foundation Level Course

‘A’ Level Advanced Diploma Level

‘B’ Level MCA Level

‘C’ Level Equivalent to M.Tech Level

(under consideration of AICTE)

O/A/B Level courses are recognized by MHRD for thepurpose of employment.

Till date about 5.8 lakh candidates have registered,and about 1.14 lakh candidates have qualified thevarious DOEACC Computer Courses at O/A/B & CLevel.

The Long Term Courses offered by DOEACCCentres are as follows:-

• M.E / M.Tech in Electronics Design Technology (2 years) (Aurangabad, Gorakhpur, Calicut)

• M.Tech in Embedded Systems (2 years) (Calicut)

• Masters in Computer Applications (MCA) (Calicut)

• 3 year Diploma in the following areas:

– Electronics Production and Maintenance(Aurangabad)

– Electronics Engineering (Imphal)

– Computer Engineering (Imphal, Aizawl)

– O/A/B/C Level courses under DIT-AICTEScheme

The continuing education programmes (Short-Termcourses) offered by DOEACC Centres area-wise arelisted below:-

• Electronics Design Technology

– Embedded System

– VLSI Design

– PCB Design and Fabrication

– Surface Mounted Device Technologies

– Fiber Optics

• Information Technology

– Computer Science and Applications

– Computer Hardware and Networking

• Manufacturing Technologies

– CAD and 3D Modelling

– CAM / CAE Tools

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– Maintenance Engineering

– Consumer Electronics

– Telecom and Office automation

• Process Control etc

Entrepreneurship Development Programmes

Under this programme, the Society is training about9500 candidates annually. The new initiativesundertaken by the DOEACC Society during the XthFive Year Plan are as follows:-

• ITES – BPO Courses in Customer Support

• (DONER in NE, DIT in J&K, Self-Supported –Gorakhpur and Kolkata)

• Online exams- Course in Computer Concepts(CCC)

• (Jointly with NIC)

• Bioinformatics - O / A / B level

• Computer Hardware Maintenance andNetworking Scheme – O/A Level

• (Jointly with MAIT)

• Regional Institute of E-learning andInformation Technology (RIELIT), Kohima

• (DIT Supported under PM programme)

– Computer and Soft Skills for Nurses

• (DONER Supported)

• Training of teachers in E- learning

• (DIT Supported)

• Embedded System Design / VLSI Design

• (DIT Supported)

• Animation and Multimedia – O / A level

• (DIT Supported)

• Information Security (Short term)

• (DIT Supported)

• Information Storage and Management

Under ITES-BPO Customer Support Programme,some of the DOEACC Centres including the Centresof NE Region offered a course of 160 hours durationconsisting of Computer Skills, Soft Skills and EnglishLanguage Skills. Till date, the Society has trainedabout 3500 candidates including about 1300Women and about 1350 including 675 Women havebeen placed. The DOEACC Centre, Aizawl hastrained 210 Nurses in Soft and English Skills andTelemedicine concepts. 110 out of 210 have alreadybeen placed in the leading Hospitals in India andabroad.

The Society has also initiated online examination ofCourse in Computer Concepts (CCC) jointly with NIC.The examination is open to all. 387 CICs in NorthEastern Region have been accredited andapproximately 30,000 candidates have beenqualified. About 5000 candidates are appearing inthe examination, conducted thrice a year. Some ofthe State Governments i.e. Government of Gujaratrecommended this course for their employees.

The Society has also launched the DOEACC Schemeon Bio-informatics courses in August, 2003. Underthis scheme 1290 candidates have registered at O/Aand B Level and around 340 candidates have qualifiedthe various Bio-informatics courses at O & A Level and55 candidates have been placed till date.

The DOEACC Centres Aurangabad and Kolkata havetrained 120 teachers each in Phase-I under theprogramme “Training of Teachers in e-learning”,which was supported by DIT. The same programmeshall be replicated at DOEACC Centre, Calicut,Gorakhpur and Imphal in Phase-II.

The courses in Embedded System Design and VLSIDesign have been launched at some of the DOEACCCentres.

DOEACC Scheme forSC/ST/OBC/Female/Physically Handicapped andother Economically Weaker Sections

The DOEACC Society is contributing towardsupliftment of under privileged sections of the Societyby encouraging women, SC/ST and othereconomically weaker sections candidates to undergothe Society’s courses. The society has got a largenumber of candidates belonging to the SC/ST/OBCand other weaker sections of the society includingfemale candidates enrolled and qualified in thecourses. DOEACC Society has implemented thefollowing scheme for the financial assistance to theWomen/SC/ST/OBC and other weaker sections of theSociety.

Scholarship Scheme to SC/ST/PhysicallyHandicapped and Female Students

The Society has introduced a Scholarship Scheme forSC/ST/Physically Handicapped and Female Studentswho are pursing O/A/B/C Level of courses of theDOEACC Society as a full time course through anAccredited Institute authorized to conduct theDOEACC Courses. The candidates shall have to clear

all the papers in the first attempt and the income ofthe parents of the students should not be more thanRs.1 lakh per year from all sources.

The amount of scholarship shall be four times theexamination fee paid per module paper i.e. Rs.350/-as at present as under:-

‘O’ Level - Rs.5,600/- (in two instalments)

‘A’ Level - Rs.14,000/- (in three instalments)

‘B’ Level - Rs. 21,000/- (in four instalments)

‘C’ Level - Rs. 21,000/- (in three instalments)

The Number of SC/ST and female candidatesregistered during April, 2006 to December, 2006 are287 and 12, 411 respectively.

Projects in North Eastern Region

Regional Institute of E-learning and InformationTechnology (RIELIT), Kohima

The Regional Institute of e-learning and InformationTechnology (RIELIT), Kohima was inaugurated onOctober 29, 2003 ; with an outlay of Rs. 20 crore,with land provided by the State Government ofNagaland. Presently RIELIT is functioning from rentedpremises in Lerie Colony, Kohima. The own buildingof RIELIT is coming up on 15 acres of land in Meramavillage adjacent to Nagaland University. Theconstruction work is being taken up on priorityduring the current year.

The Regional Institute of e-learning and InformationTechnology (RIELIT) has the prime objective to createquality manpower in the area of Computer Scienceand Information Technology and related disciplines inthe non-formal sector, making available industryready professionals and to promote and facilitateeducation in e-learning mode. The Institute will offertraining programme to improve employmentopportunities and facilitate availability of quality ITmanpower, which will lead to enhanced employabilityof the local youth pursuing the IT courses in NERegion.

The Institute is planning to have State-of-the-artinfrastructure for providing e-learning solutionsincluding content development and delivery, with afacility to train about 500 students per annum by2006-07. A Placement Cell to take care of therequirements of placement of the local youthengaged in IT profession has also been set up.

Courses offered at the Institute

– DOEACC ‘O’ & ‘A’ Level Courses

– Course on Computer Concept (CCC)

– IT Enabled Services (ITES) / Business ProcessOutsourcing (BPO) Training – Customer Care.

– Short term training programmes for industryready professionals.

– ‘C’ & ‘C++ Programming and JAVA

– VB6 Programming

– PC Assembly and Maintenance

– Multi-Media

Computer Lab and Internet Facilities

Presently, the institute has one of the bestinfrastructure including state-of-the-art Computerfacilities. It has got two laboratories. The Institute ishaving 3 Xeon servers (1 Linux server, 1 Windows2003 server and 1 Proxy server). All the servers are ofIBM make e225 series. The Institute has its ownIntranet. It is also equipped with VSAT connectivity of128 kbps from ERNET for access to Internet 24 hrs aday, 7 days a week and 365 days in a year. WirelessLAN for internet connectivity has been provided using802.116 protocol.

e-learning

To facilitate students to undertake the DOEACC ‘O’Level course at their own suitable speed and time; ‘O’level course material has been provided on intranetdeployed over “MOODLE” Learning ManagementSystem (LMS) a free shareware. The course materialhas been developed by IISC, Bangalore for DOEACC.

e-learning Advantages

– Reachability

– Localisation

– Affordability

– Increased Retention

– Just-in-time

– Quality Content

– User Friendliness

– Security

The institute has been offering following coursesfrom July, 2004 onwards through rented premises:

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Long Term Courses

a) DOEACC “O” Level Course (67 studentscompleted and 27 students undergoing training)

b) DOEACC “A” Level Course (15 studentsundergoing training)

Short Term Courses

• ITES-BPO Call Centres Agents TrainingProgramme (102 students completed training)

• “CCC” Course on Computer Concepts (146students completed and 37 students areundergoing training)

• “C” Language programming (4 studentscompleted training)

• Core JAVA (2 student completed training)

• Internet Web Designing (03 students completedtraining)

• PC Assembly and Maintenance (48 studentscompleted training)

Placement of Qualifiers

So far, about 406 students have been trainedincluding 102 students for ITES-BPO. About 47qualifiers have already been placed in ITES-BPOCentres across the country. ITES-BPO industries havebeen placed in various BPO centres across thecountry.

RIELIT Extension Centre at Nagaland, GandhiAshram, Chuchuyimlang, Nagaland.

RIELIT Rural Extension Centre at Nagaland wasinaugurated on 7th August, 2006. DOEACC ‘O’ level(7 students) and CCC courses (20 students) are beingconducted at the Extention Centre. Internet facility isbeing provided to the local public and SBI,Chuchuyimlang for transfer of data facility.

ITES / BPO Training at Jammu and Kashmir

Under the reconstruction plan drawn up for the Stateof Jammu and Kashmir, it was envisaged to supportthe training in ITES / BPO under same lines as in NorthEast region through DOEACC Centres at Srinagar andJammu. 2400 students would be trained in 3 yearsperiod (800 per year) covering all the 14 districts ofJ&K State. In the first year, 800 students, in batchesof 25, are being imparted training through a trainingprogram of 160 hours duration, conducted two anda half hours a day, over a period of 3 months. The

training programme has been launched since 24stFebruary 2005 at Srinagar and 28th February 2005 atJammu.

Status at J&K Centres of ITES-BPO TrainingProgramme for the year 2006-07

Trained - 556

Placement - 72

Total Outlay : Rs. 288 lakh

DIT Contribution : Rs. 216 lakh (for a period of 3years)

Funds released : Rs. 144 lakh (Rs. 72 lakh each inJan 2005 and Jan 2006)

Scheme on Hardware courses

According to Manufacturers’ Association forInformation Technology (MAIT) the apex bodyrepresenting - Ernst and Young Study 2003 thecomputer hardware professionals currently in Indiaare estimated to be 0.24mn, while the computerhardware professionals required by the year 2010 is2.4 million. Hence there is likelihood of a wide gap ofhardware professionals, which needs to be bridged.Further, PCs are entering in a big way in Class B andClass C cities in Offices, Banks and Postal services inIndia, apart from huge demand in the home segmentthereby necessitating more and more hardwareprofessionals.

A new scheme under DOEACC for computerhardware courses has been launched by DOEACCSociety in line with existing DOEACC scheme inComputers and experience of CEDTI FranchisingScheme (CFS) of erstwhile CEDTI in hardware courses.The scheme has been launched during 2006-07 inassociation with MAIT.

The objective of the scheme is to generate qualitymanpower for computer hardware maintenance andnetworking by utilizing the facilities and expertiseavailable with training institutes/ organizations in thenon-formal sector.

The eleven DOEACC Regional Centres will be offeringthese courses in addition to the private sectorcomputer training institutes/ organisations, subject tomeeting norms and criteria. They would be grantedaccreditation for specified levels of courses rangingfrom Diploma in Computer Hardware Maintenance(CHM) – ‘O’ Level and Advance Diploma in Computer

Hardware Maintenance and Networking (CHM) – ‘A’Level.

Centre for Materials for ElectronicsTechnology (C-MET)

Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) was set up as a registered Scientific Societyin March 1990 under the then Department ofElectronics (now Department of InformationTechnology) as a unique concept for development ofviable technologies in the area of materials mainly forelectronics. C-MET is operating through itslaboratories situated at Pune, Hyderabad and Thrissurwith Headquarters at Pune. The objectives of C-METare to:

• establish technology upto pilot scale for a rangeof electronic materials and transfer the same toindustry for commercialization.

• establish relevant characterization facilities.

• undertake applied research activities in the area ofits operation.

C-MET’s mission is to develop knowledge base inelectronics materials and their processing technologyfor the Indian industry and become a source of criticalelectronic materials, know-how and technical servicesfor the industry and other sectors of economy.

During the 10th Plan period, C-MET continued towork in the selected areas namely Ultrahigh PureMaterials and Electronic Packaging and emergingarea namely Optoelectronic materials and Sensorsand Actuators to develop unique expertise in India.

The salient features of C-MET achievementsduring 2006-07 (till December, 2006) are

Ultra-high Purity Materials

• Four cycles (1 cycle = 15 passes) of Cadmium zonerefining has been completed.

• The samples given to NCCCM, Hyderabad forICPMS analysis for the estimation of impurities.

• The process parameters will be studied afterobtaining analytical results.

• Process parameters optimized upto sodiumreduction and optimization continued for powderprocessing.

• CV of 15000 – 16000 ÌFV/gm and DCL of<0.0005 MA/ ÌFV achieved on repeating basis.

• 25 Kg Tantalum powder supplied to DMRL.

Electronic Packaging

• Optimized LTCC tape casting slurry compositionand prepared defect free trial tapes.

• The tapes were co-fired with 100% Ag paste andits compatibility has been studied. Prepared tapesof 6” x 6” size.

• Optimized 250g batch high dielectric compositionsystems based on PTFE/rutile/ microfibre glassthrough sigma mixing process.

• Fine tuning of the microwave dielectric propertiesof cu-cladded high K substrates have been carriedout through ring resonator method.

• 250g batch low dielectric low loss compositesystems optimized through sigma mixing processusing PTFE as the matrix, fused quartz as theparticulate filler and micro fibre glass as thereinforcing agent.

• Cu-cladding over thermo- laminated low Ksubstrates has been carried out throughelectroless and electroplating process.

Optoelectronic Materials

• The Filter of OG-515 type in 25mm dia wasobtained from 50mm blank. The samples sent toISRO for testing.

• Preliminary experiment on GG-495 glasscompleted successfully and now the optimizationis in progress.

• Optical grade Poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA)was synthesized by free radical polymerization at50 gm batch size and prepared non linear optical(NLO) chromophore i.e., m -Nitroaniline (0 to 30wt.%) doped PMMA films (thickness = ~80Ìm) bysolvent cast method.

• Second harmonic generation (SHG) study of thefilms was carried using Nd:YAG laser set-up. Thefilms were poled above the glass transitiontemperature of PMMA for 15 minutes by applying10-30 V poling voltage.

• CdS/PMMA was completed and quantum dots ofsize less than 5 nm were prepared.

• Self supported films of CdS and CdSe /PMMAwere prepared and tested for photoluminescence.

The process for preparation of blue, yellow andorange lights was optimized.

Sensors and Actuators

• Inter digital pattern was made on whichpolyaniline derivatives was spin coated.

• This sensing device was found to be a very goodHumidity Sensor.

• The PMN-PT powder was prepared and the phasepurity was confirmed using XRD.

• Developed multilayer electrostrictive actuator,evaluation of the same is under progress.

• The LTCC fabrication process is fully developed. Aprototype pressure sensor package has beendesigned and fabricated. A multilayer testpackage has been delivered to the sponsoringagency.

Electronics and Computer Software ExportPromotion Council (ESC)

Electronics and Computer Software Export PromotionCouncil (ESC), an autonomous organisation underthe Department of Information Technology hasemerged as the premier nodal agency to promotetrade of information technology and Electronicsbetween India and the rest of the world.Headquartered at Delhi, the Council has regionaloffices at Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata as well asa representative office in Dubai. ESC has amembership base of over 2300 manufacturers andexporters covering the entire gamut of Electronics,Telecom and Software Industry (these sectors include:consumer electronics, electronic components,instrumentation, telecommunication hardware andservices, computer hardware, computer software andinformation technology enabled services). Starting in1989, with an export performance of US$ 200million, ESC has successfully steered the direction ofIndia’s Electronics and Software Export to achieve theexport volumes of US$ 25.8 billion during 2005-06.Under the aegis of the Council, the exports havereached to more than 198 countries across the worldestablishing the hallmark of India’s quality andcompetitiveness. It is indeed a matter of pride thatESC’s members together contribute around 14.33 percent in India’s total export earnings.

ESC provides member exporters the following :

• one-stop source of information on Trade relatedinformation and trade facilitation

• Helping hand to members for participation in

i) International trade fairs

ii) Exhibitions

iii) Buyer-Seller meets

iv) Catalogue shows

v) Business delegations abroad

• A platform between the industry and thegovernment to help members in Policy andprocedural related matters

• Implementation agency for the promotionalprogrammes assisted by the Government such as

i) MDA : Marketing Development Assistance

ii) MAI : Market Access Initiative

iii) LRMAFI : Language Related Market AccessFacilitation.

ESC New Initiatives in the InformationTechnology Sector

ESC will be setting up incubation-cum exportfacilitation and business support centre in New Yorkand Chicago. These initiatives of ESC will provide 20Indian IT / ITES companies an opportunity to markettheir products and services in USA.

ESC’s Initiatives for ICT Small and MediumEnterprises

With a wide array of membership, primarilycomprising of exporting SME’s the Council, has beenlaying emphasis on facilitating the interaction of IndiaSMEs with potential buyers in global market. TheCouncils delegation to global market in various tradefairs, expositions, buyer seller meets, etc., have SMErepresentation in large number.

During the year, the Council emphasized on marketdevelopment for small and medium enterprises as afocused effort towards market diversification of ITexports.

ESC continues to actively support exports by smalland medium enterprises in the Electronics and ITsector in a big way. The Council creates awareness inforeign markets to highlight the capabilities of IndianSMEs, conduct market studies/ surveys, participationin exhibitions / conferences, organising road shows,buyer-seller meets, etc. The ultimate goal is to assistIndian SMEs in the IT sector to graduate to beingglobal players.

ERNET India

There was a vision that educational institutions in thecountry would have same technologies for

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communication and connections as educationalinstitutions in the developed countries of the worldhave. It was a vision to look at sophisticated toolssuch as advance Internet resources, use of WorldWide Web, video-conferencing and Virtual classroomand other and technologies to support connectivityfor those tools ranging from fibre optic to satellitenetworks.

ERNET over the period has strived to realize the visionin its true spirit and have continued to extend itspresence across the country and extended its frontiers to the PAN European Educational andResearch Network. During the year, the vision wasdemonstrated. ERNET has geared around forinnovation through the deployment of easy to use,dependable technology designed to provideinnovative way of connectivity. The applications likevirtual single classroom, high speed connectivity,video conferencing on Internet protocol have beenimplemented and available to educationalinstitutions. ERNET has been able to create a climateof change in the network usage in educationalinstitutions in the country. The goal is to deliver theservices and content on demand. The average dailytraffic on the network is 300 GB.

The structure of ERNET is a simple, highly effective,sustainable and operational structure. The resourcesgenerated are being used to upgrade theinfrastructure regularly both in terms of technologyand capacity. The drive has been to provide securenetwork to users. The systems installed in differentDe-Militarized Zones have been created according todesired security levels for different services. Thenetwork has been made secure by installing IntrusionPrevention System and SPAM filters. The initiativeshave been taken to expand the reach of network andsetting of Points of Presence at cities which areemerging as education Hub in the country. Ourcollaboration with the premier educational andresearch institutions has resulted in a winningformula that benefit all educational and researchinstitutions in the country.

ERNET’s unique abilities, specialized domainknowledge and passion for excellence have allowedus, year after year, to make significant progress in thegrowth of our organization. As we continue toleverage the full power of our relations with theeducation and research community, we recommit to,consistently exceeding expectations of our userswithin the framework of strong business ethics andquality deliverables.

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Informatics Centre (NIC) of the Department of Information Technologyis a Central Government organization providing network backbone ande-Governance solutions to Central Government, State Governments,UT Administrations, Districts and other Government bodies. It offers awide range of ICT services including Nationwide CommunicationNetwork for decentralized planning, improvement in Governmentservices and wider transparency of national and local Governments.NIC assists in implementing Information Technology Projects, in closecollaboration with Central and State Governments, in the areas of (a)Centrally sponsored schemes and Central sector schemes, (b) Statesector and State sponsored projects, and (c) District Administrationsponsored projects. NIC endeavors to ensure that the latest technologyin all areas of IT is available to its users. One of the major strengths ofNIC lies in the area of producing quality software at low cost. NIC isworking at the grass root levels of the development administration andits expertise is not limited only to software engineering but also lies inthe area of implementing it in various sectors of the economy. NIC isconstantly in the pursuit of developing state-of-the-art applicationsoftware related to various sectors, which is customized to the usersneeds. NIC has also provided IT support to neighboring countries byundertaking various projects related to capacity building, framing e-governance action plan and setting up of data centre.

NICNET- A Government Informatics Network for E-governance

All the 141 blocks in Jammu and Kashmir are connected throughSkyblaster VSATs under CIC Jammu and Kashmir project. 68 Treasuryand sub treasuries in Chhattisgarh under e-Kosh project are connectedwith the Skyblaster VSATs to enable the state to carry the onlinetransactions.

NationalInformatics Centre

162 blocks and the institute of rural development inChhattisgarh are connected with Skyblaster VSATs to carry the e-governance application under e-Panchayat project. Skyblaster360E VSATs are beinginstalled in 91 SDM locations in North Eastern statesunder SDM North East project to enable theconnectivity at the remote SDM offices. VSATs at 172NIC districts have been upgraded by DVB VSATs sothat they get better performance. Networkinfrastructure is established over Skyblaster VSATnetwork under SDO (7) Lakshdweep for e-governance and district high court (18) projects forupdating the cause list and the daily orders. E-learning and LMS (Interwise) over the VSATnetwork (VSATs under CIC, NIC and Gramsat projects)and integration with WAN of NICNET has been testedthoroughly before implementing and many e-lecturesare delivered using the same. For setting up a DisasterRecovery Centre at NIC Hyderabad for the backupDAMA order has been placed.

The NIC- ICT infrastructure comprises:

• The satellite based Wide Area Network has about3000 nodes.

• Integrated Network Operations Centre (I-NOC)for round the clock monitoring of NICNET.

• Internet Data Centre at NIC Hq. with storagecapacity of 60 Tera Bytes for hosting websites anddatabases.

• Data Centres at State capitals for their localstorage needs having storage capacity from 2-5Tera Bytes.

• National long distance high speed (4/8/16/34/45Mbps) leased data circuits connectingall state capitals.

• Connectivity from State to Districts using 2MBPSleased circuits.

• Metropolitan Network with high speed RF andleased lines.

• About 30,000 nodes of Local Area Networks in allthe Central Government offices and StateGovernment Secretariats.

• Video conferencing facilities in state capitals anddistricts. Total number of locations is 490.

• Internet Gateway bandwidth enhanced to 418Mbps for incoming and 384 Mbps outgoingtraffic with multiple alternate paths.

• NICNET peering with NIXI with a bandwidth of 68MBPS.

• Certifying Authority for Digital Signature in G2Gdomain.

• Training facilities at NIC Hqr. and StateGovernment Secretariats.

• Network Security.

• DR Centre at Hyderabad.

Cyber Security

National Informatics Centre(NIC) provides necessarysecurity for NIC network, servers and applications byintroducing security appliances at the critical networksegments of NICNET (using network firewalls,Intrusion Detection System/Intrusion PreventionSystem, Application Firewalls), formulation of NICNETSecurity Policies, restructuring of the network atvarious levels (headquarters, Ministries and StateCentres) to incorporate security at network,introduction of Patch Management and Anti-virusServices, Secure Communication Establishment overVirtual Private Network(VPN)/Secure SocketsLayer(SSL), Scanning of servers for vulnerabilities andhardening, Application Penetration Testing andAuditing and hardening, etc.

Video Conferencing

NIC has set up high quality videoconferencing facilityin 490 location using cost effective solutions. VideoConferencing has been extended to districts ofAssam, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar.This facility is extensively being used for monitoring ofvarious projects and discussions. Video Conferencingfacilities are being used for conducting remoteinteractions, inaugurations and for deliveringspeeches on more than 50 occasions. MPGovernment has conducted 390 VC sessionsbetween Government Secretariat and districts and it

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has been published as a national record in Limca bookof records.

Certifying Authority

NIC has set-up a “state-of-the-art” CertificationAuthority (NIC-CA) with secure infrastructure withbiometric sensors, surveillance system at its Hqrs. TheCA has been upgraded with the “Tata Dhruvam 3.5CA Software” to enable the implementation ofRegistration Authorities (RA) and Sub-CA. SymmetricKey Infrastructure to issue DL & RC Authority Cardsfor State Transport Authorities has also been Co-hosted and established in the common NIC-CAinfrastructure.

Land Records

Computerization of Land Records has been extendedto 582 districts and 4536 Tehsils. Project is fullyoperational in terms of on demand distribution ofRecord of Rights (ROR) and mutation updation in3115 Tehsils so far. There are ten States, which haveprovided G2C interface through internet for citizensto view their ROR. Number of ISO certified landrecords application software variants has increased to16 from the previous year of 10. Land Recordsapplication software implemented in Tamil Nadu,Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh havereceived national recognition at various forum. ARegional workshop on “CollabLand” was conductedat Chennai for ten states. Usage of simputers/mobiledevices has been experimented for Land RecordsApplication.

Government Informatics TrainingProgramme

Trainings and courses were conducted to NIC officersto upgrade their skills on latest technologies andtrends namely Management Development throughIIMs, Technology Updates through IITs. Virtualtraining solutions have been used for widerdissemination of programmes using NICNET.International programmes were also conducted toparticipants of neighboring countries in the areas ofNetwork Management and Security, .Net and PortalDevelopment, Quality systems to share NIC’sexperience and expertise to promote internationalcooperation with developing nations. Undersponsorship of DoP&T, various courses have beenconducted for Government staff. Workshops on e-Governance were also conducted.

North East Informatics Services

The last module of NLCPR MIS application had beendeveloped and is ready for deployment. It will enable

complete monitoring of NLCPR projects from projectproposal stage to completion. All 209 Sub-divisionoffices of North Eastern region were connected. Withthis, all levels of government are on the network inNE. The framework for the website for NEC has beendeveloped and data is being uploaded.

Bibliographic Information Services

NIC further strengthened its existing services forbiomedical/medical professionals with launching ofOpenMED archive with 1400 submissions with over800 users. This Archive (Open Access) serves as ajournal repository to select journals. The IndianMedlars web page (http://indmed.nic.in) is ranked the1st Indian health website by Google Directory. TheUnion Catalogue of Biomedical Periodicals web page(http://uncat.nic.in) had new features added to it withdetailed information of over 180 medical libraries inthe country. OpenMED Archive was nominated forthe Stockholm Challenge 2006 award in Healthsector.

Intellectual Property and Know-how

NIC provides global patent information(bibliographic, abstract and patent documents) toIndian industries, R&D Organizations, consultants,patent attorneys, scientists, researchers andinterested public. Further data on EPIDOS-INPADOCbibliographic patent of over 65 countries is keptupdated on our website patinfo@hub.nic.in to globalusers from all over the world.

Computer Aided Design

CollabCAD Project – The major activities carried outare : Content Management with Work Flow / PLM forDesign and Manufacture (SLIDE / OpenWFE / BONITA:Free and Open Source Solution), Integrated throughCheck In / Check Out, Manufacturing ResourcePlanning, Customer Relations Management, SupplyChain Management, e-Commerce (OFBIZ: Free andOpen Source Solution: Integrated through Bill ofMaterial {BOM}), Fixes to Open Cascade Geometry

Kernel as a part of NIC-Tata Technologies Agreementvalid for one year fixes to Open Cascade GeometryKernel as a part of NIC-Tata Technologies Agreementvalid for one year, Integration of Virtual RealitySolution. SESAM Project , A project proposal hadbeen sent to BARC, Mumbai to integrate the in-house Non-linear solver programs at BARC with aCommon Graphical User Interface. HP StateElectricity Board, Sundernagar, HP proposes to getthe 110 MW Underground Power House of SavdaKhud Project on Babbar river, a tributary of Sutlejanalysed by NIC using SESAM software. TwoBenchmark problems i) Seismic Analysis of a BatteryStand and ii) Seismic Analysis of a Chimney Stackwere proposed by Nuclear Power Corporation ofIndia Ltd., Mumbai in September, 2006. EducationalLicense of SESAM Software installation and 3-dayonsite training at Civil Engg. Department , NIT,Calicut carried out.

Geographical Information System andRemote Sensing (GIS & RS)

Creation of Spatial Data Infrastructure for Multi-layerGIS for Planning Commission has been created.Further Data Infrastructure has been set upintegrating topographic data, different resolutionsatellite data (Wiff, Awiff, LISS-III, PAN etc.) andresource data related to forest, agriculture, waterbodies, wasteland, watersheds, demography, villageamenities , transport network, rivers and drainagesetc. GIS based projects have been completed in theareas of GIS for Poultry and Dairy Development, GISBased Mapping System for Public and PrivateMedical/ Health Facilities at village level completed(revised), Web Based GIS for Total SanitationCampaign (TSC), National Soil Mapping at the scaleof 2,50000 at national level initiated, Developmentof National Highways, Railway lines and RailwayStations, database administration for raster datahandling and development of web based applicationfor Toposheet archival , Watershed atlas incorporatedin NSDB National Agricultural Marketing Atlas(NAMA), Web based GIS application for informationrelated to agricultural mandis like market prices,commodity arrival etc.

Utility Mapping

Under the Computer Aided Digital Mapping Projectfor Six Cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai,Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, the necessaryhardware, software, GIS software and LAN itemshave been procured and delivered in each of the six

utility agencies of the six cities. Lease line connectivityand LAN installation process is in progress. Base mapcompilation of Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabadis in progress. The aerial photography of Bangalore,Chennai and Kolkata is being undertaken. The digitalbase map is being accessed by various agencies ofDelhi Government. Updation of digital base mapcompiled from aerial photography of the year 2002 isin progress. The main control grid established forDelhi City is being strengthened by fixing thedisturbed and destroyed control points using GPS.Missing flyovers in the existing base map are beingpicked up in the field using GPS. The updation ofdigital base map compiled from aerial photography ofthe year 2002 is in progress.

Content ASP (GISTNIC Programme)

Value added service is provided on NICNET relating tovarious sectors/areas such as Indian economy, health,education, etc. The system provides EnvironmentInformation Services. (EIS), Education InformationServices (EdIS), Citizen Information Services (CIS),Government Information Services (GovIS), BusinessInformation Services (BIS), Finance InformationServices (FIS), Socio-economic Information Services(SEIS), Tourism Information Services. (TIS), ITInformation Services. (ITIS), Health InformationServices (HIS).

Courts Information Systems-COURTIS

E-Filing of cases has been started in the SupremeCourt. IT based Attendance Recording System hasimplemented for all Supreme Court employees. CaseStatus on IVRS implemented in the High Courts ofNainital, Nagpur, Madras, Bombay, Goa, Jabalpur,Gwalior, Indore, Delhi, Orissa and Bangalore. TheCapital City Courts of Nanital, Chandigarh, Bhopal,Raipur, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Thiruvananthapuram,Hyderabad, Jammu and Jodhpur have beencomputerized. In the Delhi High Court Digital Display

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Boards information system, giving details of the casehearing status in each court is made available on theCourts web site for the benefit of the advocates toattend in time. Also WI-FI based LAN for all the 33Judges across three floors of the High Court buildingis established. The Case Status Information Systemsof the High Courts of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Gujarat,Bombay, Goa, Calcutta, Kerala, Guwahati, Jabalpur,Gwalior and Shimla have been implemented and thesame is available on Internet for the benefit of thelitigants. The judgments and orders of the HighCourts of Bombay, Madras, Goa, Allahabad,Guwahati, Bilaspur and Kerala are made available onthe High Courts Web Sites for the benefit of thelitigants and advocates.

e-Learning

E-learning infrastructure has been set up over theNICNET for LMS (Learning Management System) andVirtual Classroom environment. During the year,more than 500 Class Room sessions and over 1000Meetings have been held on various technologyupdates and projects. The CCC CAPES Exam wassuccessfully taken by 30000 candidates at 100centres across the country including exam at 33Community Information Centres in North East

DISNIC Plan

The implementation of this scheme in pilot districts ofthe State of Haryana (Jhajjar District) and Goa (Northand South Goa Districts) has been initiated. Throughthe National level Consultation Process and State levelWorkshops, the Draft Dataset on Village LevelInformation System has been published on internet(http://disnic.gov.in) and circulated to SectoralDepartments at the State and district Level forlocalization of their Input requirements. Consultationprocess for implementation of the project with theState/District authorities, institutions, NGOs, etc., hasbeen initiated in almost all the States. Dataset forVillage Level Requirements, as per the localrequirements, has been finalized for Haryana StateUnit. Detailed Progress Report (DPR) received fromnearly 22 states for pilot phase implementation of theproject in the identified backward district. Remainingstates are in the process of preparation/receivingconsent from the concerned state/districtgovernment departments.

NIC Web Services and Data CentreInfrastructure

NIC has extended a comprehensive WWW services toGovernment Ministries and Departments with respectto; consultancy, web design and development, web

hosting, value added web services for promotion ofweb sites, enhancement of web sites and training.NIC designed, developed and maintained the majorPortals like National Portal, Government of IndiaWeb Directory, Districts portal, Examination Results,Government Policies Portal, Tenders Portal, Portalrelated to: President of India, Prime Minister Officeand National Advisory Council. In addition, NIC hashosted over 4000 websites and portals related toGovernments and its agencies. NIC also provided“Value Added Services” such as web castibg ofPresident’s Address to the Nation; President's addressto 6th Mizoram Legislative Assembly Session; PrimeMinister's Address to the High level Plenary Meetingof 60th United Nations General Assembly; PrimeMinister's Address to the National IntegrationCouncil; Republic Day Celebration; IndependenceDay Celebration; ELITEX. The National Portal,http://india.gov.in has been offering on citizen centricinformation and services related to sectors such asHealth, Rural Development, Land Records,agriculture, transport employments, examinationresults etc.

Data Centre Infrastructure

NIC has set up a state-of-the-art Data Centre at itsHeadqurters at Delhi which has been extensively usedfor providing basic value added Internet Services tothe government at centre, states and districtadministrations levels. Besides major e-governanceapplications in the domain of Transport, LandRecords, Passport, Post and Telecommunication, GISwere also hosted at this Data Centre. Data Recoverycentre has been at Hyderabad.

GOV.IN Domain Registration Services

NIC is authorized registrar for GOV.IN Domainregistration for government departments andorganization at all levels. Online domain registrationscan be done through http://registry.gov.in. So fararound 2500 domain names have been registeredwith more than 300 fourth level domain names.

Community Information Centre (CIC)

About 500 CICs continued to provide all basicservices like internet access, e mail and trainings tolocal populace in North East. Further, 141 blocks ofJ&K have been operationalized under the project.Host of e-Governance services related to certificateissuance, forms etc are being provided through e-Suvidha system. About 209 Sub-division offices inNorth East have been brought under NICNET domainto automate sub-division level services and offerlinkages to CICs and Districts.

E-governance standards

The need for having a standards-based integratedframework to facilitate moving away from isolateddevelopmental environments to a coherent andtransparent one with suitable policies, guidelines andspecifications has become increasingly important tofacilitate faster proliferation of e-Governanceapplications. A website http://egovstandards.gov.inon Standards has been constituted which apart frompublishing the various activities being carried out bythe NIC, Working Groups and other players alsofacilitates closed collaboration and interaction withthe various stakeholders.

Natural Hazards Management InformationSystem

An application shell is designed for DisasterInformation System with five major modules. TheGeneral Information module development iscompleted. For any selected district/ state/International boundary of the country, theneighbouring district/state names can be extracted.Buffering analysis feature is incorporated. Pastdisasters and their impact details databasedevelopment is in progress.

Support to Elections

Assembly Elections were held for the states of Assam,West Bengal, Kerala, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu inMay 2006. The result data from NIC election Serverwas sent directly to CPC for graphics generation andthen relayed on the Doordarshan channels. Hostingthe websites of 35 States Election Commissionwebsites, Provision of VPN Network, support to CEOsin states for Electoral Rolls Generation were carriedout.

Library Services

NIC has come out with a low cost solution e-Granthalay - Library Management Software(http://egranthalaya.kar.nic.in) for automation andnetworking of libraries. The software has been installed in many libraries in India. With amission to identify possible areas of convergenceamong the Departments viz. Department ofTelecommunications, Department of Post andDepartment of Information Technology in theMinistry to optimize usage of mutual resources andstrengths, a Consortium of Libraries of the Ministry ofCommunications and Information Technology hasbeen formed. Further to increase the usage of worldclass digital resources and making the library users

aware about the services, various workshops havebeen conducted. Regular training programmes forworking librarians in India on Implementation ofeGranthalay Software were organized at NIC Centresas well as user premises. During the recent workshopthe latest version of eGranthalay was released.Discussion forums at https://lsmgr.nic.in are availablefor the users of eGranthalay and Consortiummembers for sharing views. NIC Library(http://library.nic.in) provides Current Awareness andSDI services to the users including document lending,Inter Library Loan, and Reference services. Onlineservices like Research Reports from GARTNER,Science Direct from Elsevier Science, NewspaperClippings Service-NEWSNIC, Web browser access toBooks Catalogue, Articles database, Journalsholdings, etc, are provided to NIC officials up todistrict level.

Property Registration

The project which encompasses to automate theprocess of property and land registration has beenfully implemented in the states of Andhra Pradesh,Haryana and Punjab. The project has beenimplemented in some Sub-registrar offices in theStates of Gujarat, Orissa, Delhi, Uttranchal, Himachal,Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The States of Chhatisgarh,Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim have customized thesoftware and entered the master codes. Thecomputerized system takes care of system workflowstarting from acceptance of documents, valuation,document admission, photo and signature capturing,verification and document scanning for issuance ofcertified copy of deeds. ISO certification regardingsoftware functionality, reliability and maintainabilityhas been evaluated as per international standards forCARD (AP) and PRISM (Punjab). 1602 out of 4022Sub Registrar Offices have been computerized. About100 SR offices in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh each arelikely to be operational by the end of this financialyear.

Analytics and Modeling

All India Fertilizer Demand Forecasting for theEleventh Plan 2007-12 has been completed. Adetailed data analysis has been carried out before theactual forecasts and the data has been cleaned. Themacro level N, P and K forecasts for all India has beenderived from the micro level forecasts of N, P and Kfrom all the five zones. The zone-wise and all Indiaforecasts of major nutrients viz. N, P and K exercisewere carried out using neural network methodology.

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A number of analysis reports and graphs have beengenerated and a detailed analysis report submittedto the user ministry. Data warehouse on SankhikiyaPatrika Data for the State Planning Department,Government of UP has been taken up. Data on majorparameters pertaining to all the districts of UP areconsidered for inclusion in the warehouse. The majorsectors of economy like agriculture, industry,transport, education and health have been includedin the first phase of the project.

Common Integrated Police Application(CIPA)

The development of the CIPA software for PoliceStations has been completed, consisting of themodules on Registration ; Investigation, Seizure ofProperties, Witness Statements recorded etc, and alsofacilitate entering the text of his Case Diary;Prosecution ; Information ; State SpecificRequirements; General/Daily Station Diary ; Reports/Registers/ Queries . CIPA Software rollout at 10% PSs(1300 approx.) in all the States has been completed.State Development Teams are now working on thedevelopment of Local Customization requirements.

International Cooperation

NIC has been undertaking ICT projects abroad underbilateral agreements. A state-of-the-art National DataCentre has been established and made operational atLao PDR for implementation of e-Governanceapplications and various other services like messagingservices, National Portal of Lao PDR etc. UnderCapacity Building Programme, training on “WebServices, Portal and Content Management” for 150Government officials of Lao PDR has been conductedat Vientiane in 6 batches. e-Governance action planfor Government of Lao PDR has been prepared andfinal report submitted to Government of Lao PDR andthe Government of Lao PDR has approved the planfor implementation by various agencies. Initiatedpreparatory activities for conducting Masters inComputer Applications (MCA) Programme for 30 Laostudents in India from academic session of 2007. Forthe establishment of five Rural Tele Centres in variousProvinces of Lao PDR along Mekong river for ICTpenetration in Agriculture, Health and RuralDevelopment feasibility study conducted and reportfinalized.

Right to Information Portal

NIC has provided support to the Government forspeedy and effective implementation of Right to

Information Act 2005. NIC has created portal for allcentral and state government agencies to host theirdata related to public information. RTI Request &Appeal Management Information System (RTI-MIS) isbeing implemented in all Ministries / Departments /Organizations of Government of India for processingand monitoring RTI Requests and Appeals. RTI relatednewly designed and developed websites i.e.www.rti.gov.in, www.righttoinformation.gov.in andwww.cic.gov.in along with RTI-MIS software wereshow cased in the Annual Convention of CentralInformation Commission held during November,2006.

Open eNRICH - Community SoftwareSolution Framework (http://enrich.nic.in)

Open eNRICH is a Community software solutionframework which has features of Portal generation,Content management, Collaboration andKnowledge Management. The framework wasconceptualized by NIC in collaboration with UNESCOand developed the initial version. The initial versionshave been used in CMC project of UNESCO, AkshayaProject of Kerala, CIC project of NIC/DIT in N-E statesto generate the dynamic Portals of grass-rootagencies(such as village, block etc). The product hasalso been used to generate 2,40,000 dynamic portalof all PRIs across the country under NationalPanchayat Portal(http://panchayat.nic.in). The OpeneNRICH 4.0 (fourth version, based on open sourcetools and technology) has also been used in manyrural tele-centre projects of countries such asSriLanka, Thailand, Africa etc in. The national portalof Lao PDR, portal of ministries/department anddistricts have also been generated using OpeneNRICH. The product is particularly useful for ruralkiosks environment to manage and exchange thecontent where availability of skilled computerprogrammer is rare. The product is Unicode enabled.

NIC Services to Central GovernmentMinistries and Departments

Accounts

New upgrade 4.5 and new version 5.0 of COMPACT,a computerized software package for Pay andAccounts Offices, have been released incorporating anumber of new functionalities. E-Lekha, a web basedfiscal management system has upgraded to includeall the reports for controller level and summaryreports of accounts for the Government of India.Daily data abstract is regularly uploaded into the e-

Lekha application from over 275 Pay and AccountsOffices. This facilitates monitoring of accounts andanalysis of the fiscal and revenue figures by respectivecontrollers. CDDO2PAO software has beendeveloped for CDDO Offices. The software generateselectronic files in the formats of COMPACT. CPFMsoftware has been implemented for the new DefinedContribution Pension Scheme. Reconciliationsoftware for the Appropriation accounts section wasdeveloped and implemented. Comprehensive DDOpackage is at the advanced stage of development,which will integrate Composite Payroll System with allother kinds of bills/functions of DDOs. NIC continuedto support for Inclusion of Appropriation Accounts,Budget Reconciliation and Finance Accounts withinthe scope of e-Lekha. Several Training programs havebeen organized to impart training to resource personsfrom various PAOs on various applications developedby this division.

Agriculture

NIC has developed more than six portals and 40websites for the Department of Agriculture andCooperation (DAC) and its field offices/Directoratesunder the DACNET (an e-governance model for DAC)and Development of Agriculture Informatics andcommunication (DAIC) projects.

AGMARKNET portal (http://agmarknet.nic.in)provides daily market information on commodityprices and arrivals in respect of about 300commodities and 2000 varieties from over 2700markets. The project was selected as finalist in theStockholm Challenges award – 2006. It was alsoawarded Microsoft e-Governance awards 2006.More Markets and varieties are being covered during

Eleventh Plan Period. Conversion of this portal intodifferent languages is in progress.

DACNET (http://dacnet.nic.in) aims to provideinformation and services to the faming community ona number of specific subjects. It includescomprehensive portal on oilseeds which providesinformation on production programmes / schemes,varieties, crops, seeds availability, diseases related tooilseeds, information on all India prices of oilseeds,etc. Separate portals of Crops Directorates provideinformation on seed varieties, pest management,quality standards, other related topics andgovernmental schemes relating to rice, wheat,sugarcane, millets, pulses, cotton, jute, tobacco andhorticulture crops. Plant Quarantine InformationSystem facilitates adoption of uniform procedures inissuance of phyto-sanitary certificates, importpermits, and import release orders; fast issuance ofcertificates on pre-printed stationery; etc.

The INTRADAC (http://intradac.nic.in) portalfacilitates information dissemination within the DACrelating to personnel, Administration, Directorates,field units, conferences, seminars, officecirculars/notices, agricultural news etc.

Under the Development of Agricultural Informaticsand Communication (DAIC) major activities are :portals such as SeedNet Portal, Data-warehousing,RFS and Watershed Development, digitization of SoilMapping Data, ICT in Extension Reforms, Mass Mediasupport to Agricultural Extension, Farm womendatabase for National Gender Resource Centre forAgriculture (NGRCA), etc., ICT in AgricultureExtension plan was prepared for strengthening theICT infrastructure at Directorate of Extension (i) Thework for establishing 2 Mbps NICNET link,interlinking KVB and KVS buildings and videoconferencing is in progress. (ii) The Mass Media portalwas developed and implemented at National, 18Regional Kendras and 36 Narrow-casting clusters ofDoordarshan and 96 FM stations of All India Radio forcapturing and dissemination of AgriculturalProgramme Schedules under mass media support toagriculture extension. (iii) The development of farmwomen database for National Gender ResourceCentre for Agriculture (NGRCA) is in progress. (iv)Web based applications for ICT extension reformshave been developed to monitor the progress up toDistrict level. Development of Horticulture InformaticsNetwork has been taken up to facilitateimplementation of National Horticulture Mission.

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Agricultural Resources Information System(AgRIS): Agricultural Resources Information System(http://agris.nic.in) project is envisaged to createcomprehensive database on various parametersrelated to land use, water use, inputs etc; developdecision-support systems on production practices andsystems for strengthening advisory services to farmersin adopting agricultural production practices.Content Development Strategy for development ofPortal on Buffaloes has been prepared. Institutionallinkages with Sardar Krushinagar AgriculturalDantiwada Agricultural University Palanpur, IndianInstitute of Management Ahmadabad, WorldBuffaloes Trust and ICAR Institutes have beendeveloped for the project implementation. NIC isexecuting National Project on Computerization ofAgricultural Census 2000-01 and Input Survey 2001-02 with a project cost estimate 8.69 Crore for theDepartment of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministryof Agriculture in similar lines with the earlier censuscompleted with project cost estimate of 9.40 Crore.The third phase which deals with the data onconsumption of various agricultural inputs by majorsize groups of holdings is in progress and is expectedto be completed within six months. The data for theearlier census at National, State, District and Tehsillevels are made available through web for widerdissemination (http://agcensus.nic.in).

Activities in North-East Region: Under theDACNET, the following offices in the North-EasternRegion have been covered: Directorate of Marketingand Inspection at Guwahati and Shilliong, CentralIntegrated Pest Management Centres at Guwahati,Aizawal, Dimapur, Gangtok, Regional OrganicFarming Centre at Imphal and North Eastern RegionalFarm Machinery Training and Testing Institute,Sonitpur, Assam.

Agricultural Research Informatics SystemNetwork (ARISNET)

Local Area Network at IVRI Izzatnagar and CentralAgricultural University, Imphal has been strengthenedto provide access of information available withinstitution as well as on Internet to scientists andstudent community. Video Conferencing facilities arebeing established at the six campuses of CentralAgricultural University. Website of DARE has beenredesigned to provide better services to research,student and farming community. Web basedapplication have been developed to provideinformation related to service matters for technical

manpower in ICAR system. Support on ScientistsProgress Monitoring System and Network services hasbeen continued. Use of E-Learning, VideoConferencing and other IT tools have been promotedto be taken up under NAIP Project.

Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries

A web based system for Sanitary Import Permit (SIP)has been developed and implemented to facilitateonline submission and tracking of Applications forIssuance of Import Permit of list of Livestock Productsto the Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying andFisheries by the importers of Livestock products andGrand Parent Stock of Poultry through the website ofthe Department http://dadf.gov.in/sip. TheDepartment LAN has been extended to meet theadditional requirements with security featuresenabled. Web sites of the Department of AnimalHusbandry Dairying and Fisheries (http://dadf.gov.in)is being updated on daily basis.

Audit

New website was launched for AG(Audit), Delhi.Software for Online Submission of Application of C.Afirms for PSU Audit has been developed. Developedweb based software for Returns of administrationfunctions of the software, rationalization of variousreturns/reports received from field offices. Softwarefor Empanelment and allotment audit of CA firms forPSU Audit has been modified with added features.Result processing system for Examinations has beenimplemented.

Central Excise

New version of SERMON software i.e. SERMON 6i.0.4has been released for the Filed Formations of CentralExcise All over India. The same software is also loadedon the central server for online users for filing theMonthly Central Excise Returns. The ER1 Return hasbeen modified as per the new requirement tocompliance the LTU (Large Taxpayer Unit) needs. TheEASIEST (Electronic Accounting System In Excise andService Tax) Project pilot testing is extended fromsingle site to multiple sites. E-STAX (Electronic filingof Service Tax Return) and offline version ofSTREMS(Service Tax Revenue Monitoring System) hasbeen redeveloped due to the revision of ST-3document by CBEC and released to users for usage atthe Field level. A software package is developed forthe requirement of the Directorate of DataManagement (DDM) and is to be released for testing

and auditing. A portal site is developed and launchedfor the Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) project. ElectronicMonitoring of Customs, Excise and Service TaxSupreme Court cases (EMCESS) system has beendeveloped and audited. It has to be released forusage to all the Field Formations of CBEC.

Central Record Keeping and Accounting Agency

Creation and Maintenance of Central database ofNew Pension Scheme (NPS) entrants joiningGovernment of India on or after 1st January 2004completed. Launched Website for Interim CRA(http://i-cra.gov.in) for viewing and printing thereports at Government Ministries Accounting units.Design and development of Interest calculation andAnnual Statement generation module for NPSemployees. Database of more than 1.35 lakhsemployees and their contribution details has beencreated.

Central Vigilance Commission

NIC continued to provide support to Commission foroperation of Vigilance Cases Monitoring System,Departmental Inquiry Information system,Complaints lodging and tracking in addition tomaintaining database for Chief Vigilance Officers.NIC has also implemented File Tracking System,Payroll system and hosting data related to RTI. TheCommissions Website in Hindi has also beenredesigned and hosted, as per the new requirementand as desired by the commission, on the NIC WebServer. The 24 hours connectivity for Internet accessand Email is provided to commission’s LAN Providedthru Leased line with Fallback thru RF Link. Apartfrom this, NIC has been providing System Backup, Lansupport Maintenance of Application Server, ProxyServer and Email accounts, etc., of CVC.

Civil Aviation

Software for monitoring applications under RTI Actmade operational. NIC continued to provide supportto the existing applications like OPA,CPS, ParliamentQuestion and Web updation. As part of thecomputeriasation project in DGCA, computerized feecollection system and expenditure monitoringsystems were implemented. Web based domesticairlines schedule information system and Airtransport traffic statistics information system hasbeen developed and are under implementation.

Commerce and Industry

On-Line System for Submission/ Approval ofDocuments, Upgradation of monitoring System offunds to States for creating Infrastructure for theDevelopment and growth of Exports (ASIDE),Personal Information System and Web site areimplemented for Department of Commerce.

The 9th United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitationand electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) ForumMeetings and Workshop on United Nations electronicTrade Documents (UNeDocs) was held during 2nd -6th October, 2006 at New Delhi to focus on thedevelopment and simplification of Electronic DataInterchange, e-Business and Administrative process inpublic and private sector.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and itsthirty three (33) regional offices spread across thecountry have been connected with a facility for webbased online / offline electronic filing integratingDigital Signature (DS) along with electronic datainterchange (EDI) with banks and Customs. This hashelped in bringing down transaction cost and timefor all stakeholders.

In the O/o Directorate General of Supplies andDisposal (DGS&D), e-Procurement system covering e-Tendering, e-Inspection and e-Payment has beenlaunched for mandatory use from April, 2006.

In Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP), web based system for Industrial Approval andForeign Direct Investment has been implemented forpromoting investment and Joint Ventures. A systemhas been designed developed and implemented forautomating the Patent Administration process in thearea of Intellectual Property.

A computerised system has been introduced forElectronic Filing and Approval in Ministry of Steel toencourage paperless working. A web based systemfor monitoring various schemes is implemented forhandloom sector in Ministry of Textiles.

In Department of Public Enterprises(DPE), a webportal for Counselling, Retraining and Redeployment(CRR) of rationalized employees of Central PublicSector Enterprises (CPSEs) is developed for facilitatingthe implementation of CRR Scheme. The Portal willserve Nodal agencies, CPSEs, DPE and all the VRSoptees. The portal facilitates delivery of informationand monitoring of the scheme by various agencies.

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Culture

Digitisation of rare collection of arabic persianmanuscripts at Khudabaksh Oriental Public LibraryPatna has been successfully completed. 100,000(one lakh) pages of about 4000 books are digitised.

Automation of Archival Information System (AIMS)for National Archives of India (NAI) has beenundertaken. The software protytype has beensuccessfully demonstrated to NAI which facilitatesonline retreival of millions of archived files byscholars, government agencicies in an intranetenvironment called e-reading room.

File monitoring System has been implemented in theMinistry and its associated /subordinated offices invarious locations of India.

Drinking Water Supply

Online monitoring systems for Accelerated RuralWater Supply Programme (ARWSP) Swajaldhara andTotal Sanitation Campaign Nirmal Gram Puraskar arebeing used for monitoring at the habitation level,which is a cluster of families within a village. TheIntegrated system enables monitoring of progress ofcoverage through various funding categories(ARWSP, Swajaldhara, State MNP, MPLAD/MLALAD,External Agencies, Finance Commission Grants etc.)in the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector, as awhole. These systems are accessible in the onlinemonitoring page of the department website.

Energy

NIC implemented various E-Governance applicationsnamely PGRAMS, CPS, FTS, PIS and OPA in Ministry ofPower (Mop), Coal (MoC), Petroleum and NaturalGas (MoP&NG), New and Renewable Energy (MNRE),Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals(DC&PC), Central Electricity Authority (CEA) andassociated PSUs. It designed and developed webportal as well as web based solutions for RuralElectrification scheme under Rajiv Gandhi GrameenVidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), a key component ofBharat Nirman portal. Implemented E-Granthalaya,Phase-I of COALNET project (SCPC DAMA VSAT atCIL and its subsidiary companies along with VCfacility), Board Level Appointment system, ECS for e-disbursement of salary, Web based systems forelectronic notice board, leave details, complaintsmonitoring, Coal library, consumer management,bilingual system for demand of grants for annual

budget, system for Receipts and dispatchesmonitoring, Production Monitoring system, webenabled system for Telephone bill paymentmonitoring, on line pay slips, incumbencyMonitoring, QPR Monitoring, RTI query disposals, online fillable and printable PDF forms.

Environment and Forests

The project on GIS for ISBEID has been implementedfor the states of Maharashtra, North Eastern States,Madhya Pradesh and Orissa on eleven broadenvironmental areas namely Ecology, Climate,Demography, Agriculture, Hazardous waste, Landutilization, Forest Resources, Water Resources,Pollution (Air, Water and Noise), Biodiversity, WasteDisposal and Tourism. Project on GIS for EmergencyPlanning and Response has been implemented forthe states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengaland Assam. Web based National Hazardous WasteInformation System implemented for all the statepollution boards. It encompasses the monitoring ofhazardous waste across the country. Web basedsoftware application for the Indian Forest ServicesCadre management was implemented. Intra-MEFPortal has been developed by using open sourcetechnologies (Linux, Zope and Plone) that are costeffective and highly customizable with an aim toprovide comprehensive, accurate, and reliable andone stop source of information to the Staff andOfficers of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.Training was conducted for ISBEID in North EasternStates at Guwahati highlighting the themes taken onthe basis of State of the Environment report.Implementation and training of GEPR in Punjab,Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka,Kerala, West Bengal and Assam also took placeduring this period.

External Affairs

Provided support to all the 31 passport offices in Indiaand 11 Indian Missions Abroad in addition to theoffice automation. Computerized Visa IssuanceSystem implemented at Paris, Madrid, Muscat,Kuwait and Chittagong. A new version of the webenabled application of Passport Management Systemhas been introduced in the Mallapuram PassportOffice. Machine Readable and Machine PrintedPassports and Passport File Scanning Facility madeavailable in all the Passport offices. Maintenance ofCentral System with over 60 Million PassportApplicant details released to all RPOs, Indian Missions

and Immigration Check posts. Support has beengiven for the issuance of OCI card and universal Visathrough web enabled application from OnlineRegistration till delivery of the Document to theapplicant. As of today more than One LakhDocuments have been issued so far. Online PassportRegistration System has been made operational in 20Passport Offices. The implementation of HagueApostille Convention (HAC) for attestation ofeducational certificates issued in India by MEA is inprocess. The Automation of office of the Protector OfEmigration in India has been undertaken.

Fertilizers

A closed user group (FERTNET) on FertilizersInformatics Network has been developed by NIC forthe Department of Fertilizers. This is a Web-basedinformation system that provides information relatingto fertilizer movement, production, distribution andsubsidies paid to different fertilizer producers,equated freight fixation and payment handling forfertilizer imports. It has become easier to plan thewidespread distribution of fertilizers based on theinterrelated informatics support on demand andsupply positions. This in turn helps in reducingtransportation costs and demand-supply gap, andoptimizes the use of stocks. Use of ICT in IntegratedPlant Nutrient Management focusing on theconjunctive use of organic, inorganic and biologicalnutrient sources in a cropping system and climaticsituation has been taken up on priority to achieve andsustain the optimum agricultural yields and toimprove/ maintain the soil health for food security.

Finance

Network upgradation in Ministry of Finance wascompleted. Network Operation Centre wasestablished to facilitate monitoring of network trafficand status. WAN connectivity was upgraded to 34MBps fiber optic link through Power GridCorporation. Document Management InformationSystem for online tracking of file movement wasimplemented in Department of Economic Affairs,Department of Expenditure and Department ofRevenue. Comprehensive Payroll Software was fullyoperationalised in Department of Expenditure andDepartment of Revenue. Manpower ManagementSystem was developed and implemented for PayResearch Unit, Department of Expenditure tofacilitate monitoring of pay and allowances and inposition/vacant posts in various Government Offices.

E-Purti Software for inventory monitroing and VIPReference Monitoring software were implemented inDepartment of Expenditure.

Food and Supply

CONFONET project is ‘Computerization andComputer Networking of Consumer forums in India’under which a standardized Case Monitoring Systemis being deployed at all consumer fora. The relatedcomputer infra-structure , training, networking arealso undertaken on turnkey basis. The IISFM projectdone for FCI is operational and captures StockAccounting information from all districts. While theDepot level transaction application is underimplementation. The scheme is extended to coverstate warehouses and Agency operations in ninemajor decentralized procuring and distributing states.Data centre set-up over MPLS VPN is beingimplemented for secure data flow.

Health

More than 650 PCs of the Ministry are connected tothe Local Area Network (LAN), which in turn,connected to NICNET through RF Link and leased linecircuits. NIC has developed software for eligiblewoman survey for NGO division. The data-entry s/whas been distributed to the mother NGOs throughRegional Resource Centres, on all India basis.

NIC has undertaken computerizing all functions ofthe dispensary such as Registration, Doctors’prescription, Pharmacy Counter, Stores, Laboratoryand Indent. The pilot project has been completedsuccessfully in the Laxmi Nagar CGHS Dispensary.Subsequently 3 VIP dispensaries viz. North AvenueDispensary, South Avenue Dispensary and ParliamentHouse Annexe Health Post have been computerized.NIC had initiated the development of a portal for theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare. The serviceslike Pay slips, user profile, Birthday Greetings, FileMovement System, Project Monitoring System, News,Events, Notices and Circulars, Photo of the week etchave been incorporated. File Movement system isbeing accessed by various sections of the Departmentof AYUSH and Department of Health and FamilyWelfare.

For the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP)the creation of District and State Health Data Centresfor the Surveillance Units and networking of 800nodes with Broadband and operating District HealthTraining Centres through Video based Distance

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Learning with heterogeneous network consisting ofVSAT and Broadband based network is beingoperationalized by NIC. In addition, Early WarningSystem for Disease incidence and call centre basedinformation collection being designed by NIC is partof the above project. NIC will do the facilitymanagement of all 800 nodes across the country.

A web based Court Cases Monitoring System hasbeen developed by NIC with password protectedaccess to the authorized users across the country. Theupdating rights are given to different level of users.

A web based Personnel Information System for theCentral Health Services Doctors has been developed.The website http://chsmohfw.nic.in is going to belaunched soon.

A computerized system has been developed to keeptrack of GIA to the institutions and organizations andreconciling the receipt of UCs from them.

Website for Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC)has been developed to develop comprehensivemonographs for drugs to be included in the IndianPharmacopoeia, including active pharmaceuticalingredients, excipients and dosage forms as well asmedical devices, and to keep them updated byrevision on a regular basis.

NIC is providing expertise in designing appropriatenetwork for National Cancer Control Programme,National Programme for Control of Blindness andTelemedicine/Continued Medical Education (CME)projects of Ministry of Health and FW.

The software for Schemes and Grant Monitoring forDepartment of AYUSH is being customized to suitthe requirement, using Dot Project Framework (anopen source tool). The software has been designed toenable farmer submit the project proposal online, thestatus of the project at the SMPB and NMPB isreflected to the farmer online.

Home Affairs

The New web based Immigration Control System(ICS) Application software has been successfullycommissioned at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore,Chennai, Calicut, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad,Jaipur, Mangalore, Mumbai, Thiruvanathapuram 13international air check posts, Attart and Munnabo 2international rail check posts and Haridaspur and

Wagha 2 international land check posts. A totalnumber of 60 full-page and 296 2/3 lines passportreading machines has been installed at immigrationcounters in various ICPs. Network connectivitybetween above mentioned ICPs has been establishedwith CFB, Delhi. Hardware along with SAN storagehas been set up at CFB, R K Puram. Infrastructure set-up is being upgraded for new web based ImmigrationControl System (ICS) application software at Cochin,Goa, Kolkata 3 international sea check posts,Kolkata, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Gaya, Lucknow,Nagpur, Pune, Portblair, Varanasi and Trichy 10international air check posts and JS(F) office.Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) hasbeen developed and implemented for Air India atIGIA, Delhi. The facility is hosted at official website ofMinistry of Home Affairs (http://mha.nic.in).

Human Resources Development

Technical and development support has beenprovided to AIEEE based Counseling for CentralCounseling Board from 16 Counseling Centreslocated in various States. A Web based onlinecounseling for Haryana State, Centralized onlinecounseling for Delhi State have also been successfullyexecuted. NIC has designed and developed one stopeducation portal, SAKSHAT, a prototype of which hasbeen launched by His Excellency, the President ofIndia on 30th October 2006. Preparation of SRS forSarva Shiksha Abhiyan for the development of webportals for managing the operations of the schemehas been completed. Redesign, development andlaunching of education portal with URL:http://education.nic.in has been completed. SeventhAll India Educational Survey has been successfullycompleted. SRS reports have been prepared andsubmitted to the Ministry for Mid Day Meal SchemeOperations and All India Teacher InformationManagement System.

Information and Broadcasting

A new website for 37th International Film Festival ofIndia (IFFI) was set-up and software for OnlineDelegate Registration was developed. More than sixthousand delegates were registered, nearly 500 paidonline and Delegate Cards were printed for all invitedand other delegates in-house. Application enabledsmooth conduct of delegate registration during theIFFI in December 2006. Facility for accepting onlineapplications for renewal of Press Cards by journalists

was built into the website of PIB. This was put to usefor media accreditation during IFFI 06. A new AudioVisual section was created in the website of PIB. Thisenabled PIB to disseminate A/V content created by anew in-house facility (Two camera persons plus twoNon Linear editors)installed in consultation with NIC.A new service has been set-up on the PIB website todisseminate Ministry wise content to beat journalists.

Jail Computerisation

Visitors management system was implemented torecord and keep audit trail of all visitors to Tihar jail.Prison Management System (PMS) was implementedat Alipore central jail. Feasibility study was conductedfor Chandigarh jail. PMS System was implemented atAhmedbad, Vadodara and Hotwar Jail Ranchi. LANwas created at Rohini Jail and PMS implemented. VCset-up was created in all the 7 Jails in Tihar.

Labour

NIC has developed and implemented a NationalEmployment Service portal with the application forRegistration of unemployed, employer, notifyingvacancies, screening and drawing list of suitablecandidates, Employment market information , on-linevocational guidance and career counseling. Theproject is under implementation in all states. Theother major project is “ComprehensiveComputerisation of Employees’ State InsuranceCorporation”. The project has medical insurancecomponent, dispensary automation and hospitalautomation. All the components are integrated. Theproject is implemented as a pilot in 22 branch offices,2 regional offices and 7 dispensaries in the states ofHaryana and Delhi.

Information Technology

Continued to provide management and operationalsupport for various Databases such as FinancialAccounting (Payroll Processing, Tax processing andcalculation, Financial Accounting, BudgetPreparation); Personal Information System (PIS);Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System;File Tracking System (OPA), Project MonitoringSystem, Expenditure Monitoring System, UtilizationCertificate Monitoring System, LIPS InformationSystem containing information on Electronics and ITIndustry and PAO2000, etc. The services/ Portlets ofIntraDIT are fed by some of these backend systems.

National Human Resource Commission

Compliant Management System was implemented atRwanda national human rights commission in Frenchand web site was re-launched.

Official Language

NIC has developed department’s portal bilinguallywith latest state-of-the-art technology (Unicodeenabled). The Office Procedure Automation(OPA) hasbeen converted in Hindi and is operational.Continued to support result processing system forHindi Prabodh, Praveen, Pragya, Typing andShorthand, Monitoring of Quaterly Progress Report,Central Secretariat Official Language Service-Seniority List, Networking in the Department and itssub-ordinate offices, online Hindi learning package –LILA – Prabodh, Praveen and Pragya and English toHindi Translation solution MANTRA-RAJBHASHA.

Panchayat Raj

NPP framework hosts dynamic portals for PanchayatiRaj Institutions (approximately 550 DisitrictPanchayats, 6096 Intermediate Panchayats and2,39,000 Village Panchayats across the country), isbeing maintained by PID. It provides a simple and easyto use interface to Panchayats to upload content intotheir respective portals without requiring anytechnical support. The portals can be accessed either through Ministry’s web page(http://panchayat.gov.in) or directly through theirindividual URLs. A proposal has been submitted to theMinistry to fund the training programmes. This portal;would act as front end for all PRIs and backend wouldbe state specific being prepared under ePRI missionmode project.

Parliament

Major activities carried out are : Web basedApplication for Bills office under .NET framework,Web Portal for Joint recruitment Cell, Parliament ofIndia, New Website of Lok Sabha under .NETframework, Precedence Monitoring System-RajyaSabha, Committee S/W - Lok Sabha Secretariat under.NET, WHOs Who of Members under .NETframework, Web casting of LSTV on 24 * 7. DebatePublishing on Website(Lok Sabha) under .NET,Question Answer Retrival (Lok Sabha) under .NET,WHOs Who of Constituent Assembly Members,Bilingual Website of MPA, Inventory MIS-MPA,

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Assurances MIS-MPA, Implementation of CPS in MPA,Consultative Committee MIS-MPA, Implementationof Personnel MIS, MPs in Hospital MIS.

Pension and Pensioners Welfare

Continued to maintenance of Central PensionerAccounting database and its web sitehttp://cpao.gov.in. Reengineered PensionAuthorization Application software and developedusing latest Oracle tools (Oracle 10g database and10g Application server), implemented and e-PPOProject for Electronic transfer of PPO data from PAOto CPAO to Banks, and e-Scroll Project for Electronictransfer of Scroll data from banks to CPAO

Personnel and Public Grievances

Annual Return Information System has beendeveloped and implemented for submitting to CICthe Annual Returns on RTI requests/Appeals handledby all Ministries / Departments Government of India.RTI Request and Appeal Management InformationSystem (RTI-MIS) is being implemented in allMinistries / Departments / Organizations of Govt ofIndia for processing and monitoring RTI Requests and Appeals. RTI related newly designedand developed websites i.e. www.rti.gov.in,www.righttoinformation.gov.in and www.cic.gov.inalong with RTI-MIS software were show cased in theAnnual Convention of Central Information.

A Centralized web-enabled Public Grievances Redressand Monitoring System (PGRAMS) was developed soas to facilitate the Public Grievance (PG) Officers ofvarious Ministries/Departments/Organizations tologin and view the grievances forwarded by D/oAdministrative Reforms and Public Grievances (ARPG)in order to redress the same. They can also sendonline report/reply back to D/o ARPG. D/o Pensionand Pensioners’ Welfare. As a part of NeGP MissionMode Project of Government of India, Pensioners’Portal has been designed and developed forproviding online pension related information tocentral government pensioners spread across thecountry.

Planning Commission

Village Planning Information system (VPIS)http://pcserver.nic.in/vpis is a web-based retrievalsystem enabling retrieval of analytical information

relating to demography and 9 types of amenitiesavailable in 638,439 inhabited villages, which belongto 35 States and 593 districts of India, as per Census2001. District Planning Information system (DPIS)http://pcserver.nic.in/dpis is also a Web-basedretrieval system enabling retrieval of analyticalinformation relating to demography and 9 types of amenities available that belong to 35 States and 593 districts of India, as per Census 2001. MIS for the Flagship Programmes includingcomponents of Bharat Nirman has beenoperationalized http://pcserver.nic.in/flagship. Non-Government Organization (NGO) Databasehttp://pcserver.nic.in/ngo Website for FinancialResources and State Plan Division of the PlanningCommission NIC (YBU) has been designed anddeveloped an Intranet website for the FinancialResources (FR) and State Plan Divisions of thePlanning Commission. The scheme of Spatial DataInfrastructure for Multi-Layered GeographicalInformation System (GIS) for Planning has also beenoperational which is a new Central Sector Scheme(CS) sponsored by the Planning Commission andexecuted with the support of National InformaticsCentre (NIC).

Posts

The Instant Money Order (IMO) service has beenlaunched in 2006 for sending money of minimumvalue of Rs.1000 and maximum value of Rs. 50000 to

a person across the country who can collect it fromthe nearest post office within a few minutes. The iMOsoftware has inherent capabilities to developmanagerial reports and accounting and pairing of thebooked and paid transactions.

The ePost service is being extended to cover APS(Army Postal Service) with provision for

confidentiality. The software has been modified toaddress some of the shortcomings of the originalversion of ePost which will be launched soon.

The software to receive the application forinformation or appeal under the RTI Act for CentralAssistant Public Information Officer (CAPIO) andforwarding the same to the Central PublicInformation Officer (CPIO)/ Nodal officer or theCentral Information Commission (CIC) has beenimplemented. This module is integrated with the CICdatabase for maintaining integrity of the CPIO details.

A state-of-the-art National Data Centre (NDC) forDOP has been set up to integrate the existingelectronic applications and hosting new applicationsfor providing network driven value added counter,mail, financial and banking services leading to bettercustomer satisfaction. A proposal has been preparedto establish Network between National Data Centreand Department of Posts Field and Administrativeoffices across the country.

Programme Implementation

The computerized central project monitoring systemmaintains a live database of more than 800 largecentral projects and generation of regular FlashReport, Quarterly Status Report, Exception Report,PMO reports and various ad-hoc reports. Thecomputerized Infrastructure Monitoring System wasalso strengthened. An integrated MPLADS FundsSanction, Expenditure and Works Monitoring systemwith distributed data entry at the district level wasfurther enhanced including regular updation ofdynamic website http://mplads.gov.in. Thecomputerized Twenty Point Programme whichmonitors various performance indicators with adistributed data entry facility at the state level wasfurther strengthened. Action was initiated for anintegrated Personnel Information System andIntraMPI portal.

Road Transport and Highways

Applications developed/ implemented during the yearinclude IntraRTH, the IntraOffice Portal for theDepartment, streamlining access of information onpersonnel, Administrative and miscellaneous servicesto the officers and staff of the Department. TheWebsite of the Department has also been enrichedwith Road Safety Awareness campaign as well asinformation disbursal in Audio and Audio visual form.

Downloadable Road Safety Games have also beenuploaded. Other Application Systems implementedinclude Composite Payroll, Inventory Management,DMIS, leave management etc. RTI Software has beenimplemented and PIOs/ de facto PIOS of theDepartment have been trained on its use.

Rural Development

A portal has been developed for informationexchange and learning from others experience. Itprovides a gateway to around 150 websites atInternational/National/State/District level. It providesdetails of shemes of MRD, News related to MoRD,Circulars of public interest, information regardingevents, tender/notices, e-mail Address of officers,Vacancies etc. House Hold Survey system has beencomputerised to uniquely identify a family and all themembers of the family at national level. It has beenimplemented in the whole of India and in the sameformat. Other computerized projects are : NationalPortal for National Rural Employment Guarantee, asingle Window access to all information. It is gettingimplemented in 200 districts, 8000 blocks and about80000 Gram Panchayats in local languages, IntranetSite Daily, computerized systems for administrationand finance, CAPART computerization, enrich,PRIAsoft, etc.

Science and Technology, Biotechnology andOcean Development

Implemented the Software PROBE (Participation ofyouth in Real-time Observation to Benefit theEducation), which targets the students,meteorological department and research institutionsin Uttaranchal and National Capital Region in DST. E-granthalaya implemented in library of Ministry ofEarth Sciences (MoES). Intranet for Department ofScientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) andDepartment of Biotechnology (DBT) has beenimplemented. File Tracking System (FTS) has beenimplemented in MoES, DBT and DSIR. Web basedProject Management System is under developmentfor MoES and DBT. Web based application forevaluation of applicants for international seminars,conferences has been implemented in DST. E-Purtiand Asset Management implemented in MoES. Inputmodel for the Patent Information System database inDBT completed. A website was launched for theATCM-2007 (Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting2007) in MoES.

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Shipping

IntraShip, the IntraOffice Portal of the Department ofShipping has been designed, developed andimplemented. Store Inventory Management Systemhas been implemented to monitor issue and stockposition in General and Technical Stores of theDepartment. The LAN has been strengthened andextended. Web based File Tracking System DMIS isnow used by all sections of the Department. Thewebsite of Department of Shipping has beenenriched with new features such as emerginginvestment opportunities in port development, majorprojects in the offing etc. Updated Information onIndian Shipping Industry and Ports were compiledand released. RTI Software has been implementedand CPIOs and Appellate authorities of theDepartment have been trained on its use.

Social Justice and Empowerment and MinorityAffairs

Inventory Management System has been designedand developed for inventory management. It consistsof Stock Entry and Issuance part for variousConsumable and Non-consumable and providesvarious MIS reports. Portals for National Commissionfor De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes(NCDNSNT) and Ministry of Minority Affairs havebeen designed and launched. DocumentManagement Information System (DMIS), ACCVacancies Monitoring System, PAO-200 SoftwarePackage, RTI Annual Return Information System,Parliament Questions and Answers, etc., have beendesigned/operationalized. VPN Set-up and WebPublishing have been carried out for Office of ChiefCommissioner for the Persons with Disabilities andNational Commission for Denotified, Nomadic andSemi-Nomadic Tribes.

Telecommunications

A web based application software has beendeveloped to facilitate electronic submission andsettlement of claims of various service providers forsubsidy from the Universal Service Fund against thetelephone facility provided by them in the villages ofIndia using different technologies.

Another web based application software has beendeveloped to monitor the progress of 250 milliontelephone connections going to be provided byvarious service providers across the country by 2007.

Operators have to feed their yearly and monthlytarget figures along with their monthly achievementfigures in respect of Landlines, WLL Cellular andBroadband Connections. This system generatestimely MIS reports to enable the planners/administrators to identify delays and problems andtake corrective action.

To map telecom infrastructure on country-wide basisfor information dissemination for planning anddecision-making purpose at national, state anddistrict level including local bodies and Members ofParliament, a GIS based information system has beenundertaken. It will be used for planning and strategicdecision making for the installation of core indicatorsand to monitor the existing area as well as todetermine the potential growth in the country.

Tourism

Hotel Classification system has been developed andimplemented. It generates reminders on expiry ofsuch classfication.

An Intra Tourism Portal has been designed andimplemented for the Ministry.

A Project Monitoring System (PMS) has beenimplemented to monitor the progress made indifferent projects and also provide online access tothe executing agencies for progress report updateand utlisation certification update etc.

UPSC

The SOAP software facilitates the Union Public ServiceCommission (UPSC) to make use of IT and Internet ina big way to launch a G2C E-Governance applicationfor submission of application by the candidates onlinefor various examinations. The most important featureof the software is that the same software can be usedby the candidates for submitting the applicationforms online for different examinations conducted byUPSC. The software is so designed that the rules andregulations of all the examinations are modeled in asingle window. The software is designed on LAPPplatform. Linux ES 4.0 is used as server O.S andPostgreSQL 7.4.6 as backend RDBMS and PHP.

Urban Development

eAwas - Government Accommodation ManagementSystem (GAMS) (http://eawas.nic.in) was successfullyused for General Pool Residential Accommodation in

Delhi by the Directorate of Estates. The applicationhas also a citizen interface hosted on the website of the Directorate (http://estates.nic.in). Itsimplementation in regional offices of the Directorateat Kolkata, Chennai, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Shimla,Faridabad and Ghaziabad was started with itsinauguration for Chennai on 20th December 2006 bySecretary (UD). Computerization of GuestAccommodation for MPs and Ministers at WesternCourt, New Delhi, and Holiday Homes and GuestAccommodations in different locations wereundertaken. eDharti - Land Management InformationSystem (LMIS) was completed to help L&DO in variousactivities related to Lands and property under L&DOsuch as Conversion, Substitution, Mutation, SalePermission, Mortgage Permission, Gift Permission,Inspection, Demand Calculations, Payments andRefunds. It also provides online status of applicationthrough L&DOs website.

Water Resources

A project proposal for computerization of 4th MinorIrrigation Census data has been submitted to Ministryafter successfully completing 3rd MI Census. Detailedproject proposal for WEB-based application formonitoring the flood forecasting data has beensubmitted to Central Water Commission. ApplicationSystem for monitoring the physical and financialprogress of the irrigation project has beenimplemented in open source. Vacancy Monitorapplication has been developed for designationprofile management. Network services have beenstrengthened with 140 additional nodes in theMinistry. NICNET/INTERNET connectivity has beenextended to Central Ground Water Board, Faridabadthrough leased line. Bilingual Website for the Ministryhas been redesigned. (http://mowr.gov.in).

Women and Child Development

National Resource Centre for Women(http://nrcw.nic.in) portal has been inaugurated bythe Hon’ble Minister for Human ResourceDevelopment. An online Complaint RegistrationSystem for Women has been developed andlaunched for National Commission for Women.Software application for State Level Monitoring ofSwayamsidha Scheme has been designed and madeoperational and also organized video-conferencingsessions for 900 cluster leaders of Scheme. A trainingprogramme was organized at Srinagar in J&K duringthe workshop organized by department for the

implementation of the above software application.NGO Grant-in-Aid application was designed anddeveloped for the Ministry. So far, more than 20,000records have been entered which includes NGOdirectory, Projects sanctioned and their details alongwith GIS based projections of the actual impact hasbeen provided to have greater visibility of actualimplementation and to take necessary steps for activeinterventions to ward off imbalances. Tracking andMonitoring of Missing children has been taken up fordesign and development for a National andInternational roll out. Design and development ofLoan Operations Management System has beentaken up for Rashtriya Mahila Kosh for itsimplementation in five states on pilot basis.

Youth Affairs and Sports

IT Action Plan prepared by NIC for Sports Authority ofIndia(SAI) has been approved and got implemented.For the visits of Hon’ble Minister for Sports, amultimedia CD on the sports activities has beendesigned and developed along with a colourfulbrochure. Websites for SAI, Ministry and NYKS havebeen designed and launched. Local Area Networkhas been designed and established for SAI at JawaharLal Nehru Stadium. IntraSAI portal has been preparedand launched. A workshop on sports databases hasbeen conducted to elicit the requirements of sportspersons.

States

Andhra Pradesh

Internet Gateway has been enhanced to 34 MBPS.STM1 link, channelised E-1 link and CISCO 7609 havebeen installed. 5 MNIC centres in Medak made fullyoperational.10 MBPS links commissioned to Chennai,Bangalore, Tiruvananthapuram. DR link to Delhiupgraded to 45 MBPS. 6 AP districts, High Court, NIN,INCOIS provided with 2MBPS leased circuit. Action

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initiated for VSAT DR Hub at Hyderabad. Actioninitiated for connecting remaining districts of AP with2 MBPS leased link. Under e-Panchayat, workshops,training programs were conducted in all the districtsof AP for Panchayat Staff and system has beenimplemented in 250 Panchayats. The CARD servicesare web enabled to disseminate registrationinformation to public with a provision for callingobjections. Support was extended to Card project ona continuous basis. An SMS based application toinform citizens about land details was launched inHyderabad District in 2006. Integrated ManagementSystem for Pay and Accounts (IMPACT) has beenimplemented at 2 PAO Offices (State Government) inHyderabad. A complete work flow automation of allactivities of PHED – RWS schemes has beencompleted. A EDI based message exchanging systemamong air cargo trading partners for cargoexport/import was developed for State tradingcorporation. This facilitates exchange of airway bills,cargo details etc over internet.

Arunachal Pradesh

Implementation of Web based MIS package for PHEDhas been completed. GPF has been computerised andimplemented in Directorate of Accounts andTreasuries. CIPA project is being implemented andnecessary training has been given to Police Staff.Employment Exchange Management system hasbeen implemented and data entry work related toregistered candidates is being done. TransportComputerisation Project (Sarathi and VahanSoftware) has been implemented in Yupia and Tezudistricts. NICNET is being extended to 23 sub-divisions. All districts have been have been providedwith video conferencing.

Assam

NIC Assam State Centre played a major role in theimprovement of the basic ICT infrastructure throughimplementation of the Sub-divisional network,commissioning of high-speed lease (MLLN) circuit infive pilot districts and establishment of videoconferencing in all districts of Assam. Some of themajor projects undertaken during the period weresupport to State Election department and the districtlevel RO and ARO during State Assembly elections;MoU for SLA for Election Department finalized and tobe signed by NIC for future support; Pragati (the e-Governance package for district administration)developed by NIC extended to more number of

districts and also to Meghalaya. Consultancy andSupport is being provided to 33rd National GamesSecretariat. VPN connection has been provided to alldistrict Centres for content uploading of websitesthrough secure channel. Arogya system has beenimplemented in B. Barooah Cancer Institute (BBCI).Immigration Control System (ICS) has beenimplemented for Lokapriya Gopinath BordoloiInternational Airport, Guwahati.

Bihar

SCORE – (System for Computerized Registration) - anovel ICT Software Solution for e-Registration ofproperties in Bihar has been implemented at 105registry offices of the state in the record time of threemonths on Hire Basis Hardware (HOHB) modelyielding increase in state revenue. Chanakya –University activities pertaining to the students,teachers, course management, evaluation of answerscripts, and publication of timely results are the cruxof ideal University/ institution. Well managedUniversity shows exemplary management of theseissues and map the University as an ideal Institution inthe canvas of education and learning globally. The e-KHAZANA (Treasuries) system introduced as rescuerand generated online fund management,reconciliation with budget, timely submission ofclassified accounts. VICTORY (VAT InformationComputerization to Optimize Revenue Yields) hasbeen implemented in the State for tax evasion bymicro and macro analysis by adopting integration oftop-down and bottom-up approach using HIT andWindfall. RACE - (Revenue Administration throughComputerized Energy billing)- Provides qualityservice to more than 3 lakhs of energy consumers atPatna was more than a challenge for the Bihar StateElectricity Board where the demand of energyoutpaces the generations and its supply.

Chhatisgarh

The MIS development of PHED has been completed.The testing and implementation is in progress. TheNREGA of Rural Development is being implementedsuccessfully. Under e-Return Digital Signatures arebeing issued to the vendors of Commercial Taxdepartment through NICCA. Under the NICNETexpansion program, 5 new districts have beenconnected through 2 Mbps Leased Line. Another 5districts are under process of installation. All the 73APMCs(Mandis) of the state have been providedhardware under AGMARKNET project for entering

the daily data of market for arrivals. District Courts ofBilaspur and Raipur have been totally computerizedalong with LAN in court premises and daily cause listof cases is being uploaded on net for general public.Towards the implementation of CIPA in state, 32police stations have been provided the systems. Thesoftware has been tested, the feedback from thepolice department have been incorporated. e-Kosh isrunning smoothly in all the 17 district treasuries and46 sub treasuries over NICNET. e-Challan has beenintroduced for online submission of Challans in banksfor treasury use. e-Karmachari (Employee Database inlocal language) entries are over and database is beingkept updated. Land Records is being extended toVillage level is currently in progress. Computers aregiven in phase 1 to Patwaris of 43 Tehsils across thestate.

Delhi

SWAN connecting 34 locations of Delhi Governmenthas been operationalized. Property Registration hasbeen implemented in 8 SR offices. PAO-2000 s/w hasbeen implemented in 18 PAOs, Centralized PaySoftware for Delhi Government implemented by 700DDOs, GPF Information Monitoring Systemimplemented for all PAOs of Delhi Government,Online RoR under Land Records computerizationstarted from 6 Districts, Mutation moduleimplemented in 2 Districts. File Monitoring System,Letter Monitoring System, E-Purti S/w, Software forprocessing of Information for Recruitment of HomeGuards has been implemented for variousDepartments of State Government.

Goa

INFOGRAM was successfully rolled out in the entirevillage Panchyats of GOA. The Hardware wasprocured by the Government of GOA and thesoftware and training for the trainers was provided byNIC, Goa State unit. The new Version of Land recordsSystem has been developed and tested. The newversion of Muncipal Administration Software inprogress. The web enabled application will providefacilities to maintain centralized database of all themunicipal councils and provide citizen servicesthrough mahithighras. Web based reconciliationsystem for directorate of accounts has beenimplemented. Mines information system had beenimplemented for the directorate of mines andgeology. All the courts upto taluk level are taken upfor computerization. The Government of GOA is

financing the project by providing connectivity,hardware.

Gujarat

With the introduction of Gujarat State Wide AreaNetwork (GSWAN), the state of e-Governance hasgathered fast momentum in Gujarat. GSWANreaches to all districts and taluks. All e-governanceinitiatives in the State are monitored by theDepartment of Science and Technology (DST).NICNET and GSWAN are integrated. StateGovernment server farm and NIC SAN servers are inplace. G2C applications like Land Records (e-Dhara),One Day Governance, Ration Card, Registration ofDocuments (ReD), BPL List, Chief Ministers GrievanceRedressal System (SWAGAT), Employment ExchangeManagement System (EEMS), Comprehensive CaseInformation System at High Court , ITI admissions,Panchayat Portal, Pension and Provident FundSystem, Inventory Management system for CentralMedical Store Organization, Sale license applicationfor Food and Drugs Control Administration, Marketvalue and stamp duty calculation on Internet,Passport Status and Application filing etc., are someof the major projects successfully implemented byNIC. SWAGAT ensures that the grievances areredressed at the lower administrative functionarieslevel itself and those still to be addressed are onlybrought to the CMs Jansampark office along with theapplicant and is resolved there itself by the Hon. CMin consultation with the concerned authorities fromdepartments / district offices through videoconference. The CIPA implementation has beeninitiated at 47 Police stations.

Haryana

Out of State’s 11 Mission Mode Projects, OnlineTreasury Information System (OTIS) and HaryanaRegistration Information System (HARIS) has beenimplemented in all locations of the state. Data ofLand Records (HALRIS) of 76 Tehsils has been kept onthe website. Road Transport Regulatory (DrivingLicense/ (Sarathi and Vehicle Registration/Vahan hasbeen implemented at 35 SDM offices. E.Health.nethas been implemented in the State. NREGA systemfor registration has been implemented in Narnaul andSirsa. IDSP (Integrated Disease SurveillanceProgramme) is under implementation in all districts.E-Panchayat has been implemented to take care ofvillage level development works. Workflow basedJustice Delivery and Judicial Information System has

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been implemented and Network of more than 700PCs and NMC has been set-up at High court ofPunjab and Haryana.

Himachal Pradesh

Land Records Computerization madeonline/operational at 109 Tehsil Centres. Property(Land Deeds) Registration (Him-Ris) has beenoperationalized in at least 45 Tehsils by March 2007.Transport Permit (Vahan) is being implemented in allthe RTO offices. ePraman(Certificate Issuance Systemhas been operationalized in all the tehsils(109) and40 Sub-divisions. HP IPH Computerization, all 14software modules are ready and under testing. OLTIS-Treasuries has been extended to 20 additional Sub-Treasuries Computerization. Integrated Pay andAccounts system implemented in 45 IPAO offices.NIC has provided Web-based interfaces for onlineaccess to HP AG office information pertaining toDepartments, Employees and Pensioners. DoubleEntry Accounting System SW implemented in in fivepilot Panchayats. Implementation of CIPA in 40 PoliceStations in HP by March 2007. ePension has beenimplemented in all the districts.

Jammu and Kashmir

124 CICs have been made functional in the State ofJ&K. Data Centre has been set-up at SMC Srinagar.Computerized issuances of Birth and Death certificateat SMC Srinagar and at Municipal Council Anantnaghave been started. Entire electoral rolls have beenprepared in Urdu and Hindi and with dynamic searchfacility provided at election department website.Common Integrated Police Application is underinstallation at 17 police stations. Video Conferencingfacility has been installed at 11 locations.

Jharkhand

Computerisation of Treasury(2 tier) has beenimplemented in all the treasuries and sub-treasuriesalong with operation of a web based networkmanagement system. A new application(3 tier) hasbeen implemented at four locations at pilot basis.Smart card based driving license and registrationsystem implemented at 12 DTOs. Web based VATComputerisation has been made operation in all the28 circles. GPF/CPF computerization has beenimplemented along with integrating with treasuryschedules on pilot basis. Under the Lands RecordComputerisation : Khatian, Register-II has been

implemented at the pilot site of Jamshedpur. A videoconferencing has been set up between District Courtand Jail. Prisoner Management Information Systemimplemented at Birsa Munda Central Jail, Ranchi.

Karnataka

Bhoomi (Land Records Information system) wasenhanced to support Podi (division of land) andassigning new survey numbers, facilitating banks toupdate the liabilities information on the RTC throughweb based system with PKI integration. Bhoomi hasbeen integrated with Kaveri (Registration software.RTC has been further integrated with Rural DigitalServices for delivery of RTCs through 800 telecentreson a PPP model. State wide rollout of ‘Vahan’ and‘Sarathi’ has been completed by assisting thedepartment to prepare RFP (Technical details) on aPPP model. Rural Digital Services (RDS) Version 2.0renamed as ‘Nemmadi’ was launched by the Hon’bleChief Minister of Karnataka. The State wide rollout ofthe software for delivery of digital services like casteand income certificate, RTCs, birth/death certificateetc in the rural areas has commenced on a PPP modelwith NIC’s software delivering the serviceselectronically. VAT system is under implementation.Development of water supply billing and collectionsoftware for KUIDFC has been completed and beingimplemented at 4 municipal corporations (Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Mysore and Gulbarga) duringthe financial year 2006-07. Integration ofcomprehensive display system with the High courtcase monitoring system has been completed to helpthe advocates and litigants to know the status of thecases being heard in different court halls. Onlinemarket computerization for bidding has beencompleted for 5 commodities in Mysore market.

Kerala

Generic template has been designed for anydepartment of Government of Kerala based on thewebsite development policy of Government ofKerala. This template uses the Joomla framework,using which the content management can be doneby the individual department including the usermanagement of content providers within thedepartment. The template is accessible athttp://oss.kerala.nic.in/goktemplate/ . TreasuryManagement System - 100% Completed in alltreasuries of Kerala : Trainers trainee programme forthe Master Trainers identified from the Treasury

Department was given for a week who in turn willtrain all the staff of Treasury department in Kerala.BHUREKHA Version 1.0 software forComputerization of Land Records in Taluk Officescompleted the STQC certification procedures andoverall software quality was assessed as “Very Good”with score of 82.9%.

Madhya Pradesh

Samadhan on-line- A grievance redressal system forChief Minister Office has been implemented, whereNIC’s Network, VC, web services are extensively used.A web based system to monitor the performance ofthe various departments has been implemented atCM Office. E-PDMS (Public Distribution MonitoringSystem) has been implemented having data of about20,000 Fair Price Shops. Result Processing System hasbeen used for processing and dissemination of resultfor Class V and VIII of MP Board. IDC and iNOC hasbeen established at Bhopal providing 24X7operations. GIS based system has been developed forMadhya Pradesh Vidyuth Vitharan Company Ltd andbeing used as Power Distribution Monitoring System.2MBPS connectivity provided to 14 districts.Connectivity has been provided to Directorate ofInstitutional Finance, Fisheries, Department ofEconomics and Statistics, Directorate of Training; to1120 users; conducted seven training programmesincluding DOL sponsored, e-governance relatedsponsored by DOPT and over 165 persons trained.390 VC sessions of VC were conducted betweendistricts and State Government Secretariat It has beenpublished as national record in the Limca Book ofRecords.

Maharashtra

VPN facility has been provided to all (35) DistrictWebsites for secured updation. Storage capacity ofSAN Centre has been upgraded. Driving Licence(Sarthi) and Vehicle Registration System (Vahan) hasbeen implemented. NREGA Portal for districts ofMaharashtra. Commissioning of Web site for displayof Land Record data of all (357) tehsils. CIPA has beenimplemented in 127 Police stations. Aerialphotography has been completed for Mumbai underUtility mapping project and installation ofComputers. STM1 connectivity has established fromMumbai to Delhi, Pune, Gandhinagar andChandigarh. RF network has been set up at Districts.Digital Signature certificate has been implementedfor instant money order project. 2MBPs connectivity

has been provided to 8 districts Centres of NICMaharashtra.

Manipur

District Courts of Cheirap Court Complex andLamphel Court Complex have been computerized.Online treasuries systems have been implemented at3 locations. Property registration has beenimplemented in Imphal district. PersonnelInformation Database has been prepared for Govt ofManipur. Computerized Energy Billing has beenstarted at 8 Electricity sub-divisions. Computerizationof Vehicle Registration and Driving License started at6 RTOs. Land Records Computerization projectextended to 4 SDC offices. Monitoring system hasbeen developed for Technology Mission Projects.Video Conferencing has been set up in all 9 districts.

Meghalaya

VAHAN and SARATHI has been implemented in all theDistrict Transport Offices. TreasuryNET is beingcustomized for local requirements and pilotimplementation in Shillong South Treasury. e-Granthalaya has been installed for State CentralLibrary, Shillong, District Libraries and Libraries invarious Colleges and Government Institutions. Webbased PHED MIS Software for Role Management,Personnel Information System, Scheme andProgramme, Finance and Work Accounting,Equipment Information System, Material and Store isready and being tested.

Mizoram

NIC along with the Government of Mizoram hastaken up many initiatives in facilitating andpromoting e-governance in various sectors such asTransport, Land Record, Public Health Engineering,and Accounts and Treasuries etc. NIC has completelyrolled out VAHAN and SARATHI in Mizoram (6 DTOs).Various training programmes have been organized byNIC(Mizoram) on Vahan and Sarathi for the officialsof the Transport Department to acquaint them withthe different modules of the software. Completedsite preparation, installation of hardware, UPS, LANfor City Court Computerization. CICA as it isabbreviated is implemented at Aizawl DistrictMizoram as a pilot project. It facilitates issue ofvarious citizen centric certificates such as Tribe, Birth,Income etc.

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Nagaland

Video Conferencing facility has been set up for 11sites. 41 RF sites have been established connecting tothe state departmental directorates. Installation for38 sites of Sub-Division Network in Nagaland is inprogress. Setting up of I-NOC Centre, Data Centreand Training Centre has been carried out during theyear. Infrastructure for National Multilayer GIS projectand BPL-Unique ID Project is being established at thestate Centre. Sarathi has been implemented atRegional Transport Office, Kohima and testing ofVahan software is in progress. MoU for PHEDcomputerization project under RGNDWN has beensigned between the State Government and NIC.Update and publish Daily Naga News Bulletin on dailybasis in the State Website.

Orissa

State Portal Official has been launchedhttp://www.orissa.gov.in, covering 38 departments ofGovernment of Orissa. Land Records is nowoperational in 166 tehsils with online updation ofROR in regional language. Land Registration Systemhas been implemented at 15 registration offices.Treasury Accounting system is operational at 28District Treasuries. Janavani - Public GrievancesRedressal system made operational at Khurda district.E-Sahayata - implemented at 5 districts to offer onestop service centre. RuralSoft and Priasoftimplemented at Block level offices. Portal of all 3-tierPRIs created using eNRICH. Online monitoring ofNREGS made operational from 2nd February 2006,has 24.00 Lakhs registrations where as 16,02,199 JobCards has been issued. AGMARKNET operational at58 RMCs and e_granthabali implemented at StateMuseum under National Manuscripts Mission Project.e-Soochana for tracking of petitions implemented atState Information Commission. e-RTI enables thePublic Information Officers of all 38 departments tomonitor the status of applications received.Integrated Information System for Food grainManagement implemented. Sarathi and Vahanimplemented at 6 RTOs

Punjab

SUWIDHA 2.0 has been extended to 56 SDM Officesapart from all districts. E-kiosk has been set up atNawanshehar and Mukatsar districts for static as wellas dynamic status dissemination for varied services.

PRISM has been implemented in 130 Sub-RegistrarOffices (SROs) including Distrcts, Tehsils and Sub-tehsils. Social Security Information system (SSIS) hasbeen developed for pension disbursement. Variouscertificate have been computerized for DC officenamely Marriage Registration Information System,Marriage-ability Information System, CertificateIssuance System, Courts Information system, BusPasses Issuance System, Identity Card IssuanceSystem, Birth and Death Certificate Issuance system,Handicap Certificate Information for DC offices.Treasury Information System of Punjab (TISP) projecthas been implemented in all District and Sub-Treasuries of Punjab. Embossing Information system(EMBOSSIS) for Commissioner’s office has been put inplace. Official E-mail Server of Punjabhttp://punjabmail.gov.in with more than 1200accounts has configured. RTI Contents has beenuploaded at http://rti.gov.in for more than 60organizations of Punjab.

Rajasthan

For finance department, Cheque System has beenimplemented in 38 Treasuries and 110 independentsub treasuries. This reduces processing time,minimizes chances of forgery, etc., BPL data has beenfinalized for the entire state with the technicalsupport from NIC. The rural BPL list has been releasedin September 2006. Data would soon be madeavailable on the internet.Monitoring software forNational Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme hasbeen implemented at all 6 locations where the NREGShas been implemented. An internet based system formonitoring Routine Immunization programme hasbeen developed and implemented for Medical andHealth department. Rajasthan assembly is the firststate assembly to have the daily proceedings in Hindionline supported by NIC. Judgements of RajasthanHigh Court Principal seat Jodhpur and Jaipur benchhave been made available on the web site of HighCourt (http://hcraj.nic.in). Licenses have been givento Cyber cafes for issuing RoR. Copy of record of rightcan be obtained from the cyber cafes. ITinfrastructure has been created at all the SDM officesand ACM offices (Total 201 locations).2 mbpsmanaged leased lines have been commissioned fromJaipur secretariat to the divisional headquartersincluding Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur and Bikaner. Thesame is also being commissioned at Ajmer. CIPA hasbeen inaugurated.

Sikkim

ORCHID Online registration of certificates Handlingand Insurance Delivery System has been developedfor automation of certificate handling system in theDistrict Collectorate for issuance of OBC, SC ST,employment and death certificates. Software for landregistration is complete and being tested. VAT systemconnecting 9 check posts has been successfullyimplemented in Income and Sales tax department.Under Multilayer GIS project, training on ARC VIEWwas given and along with the software GIS divisionhas been given data for Sikkim for 10 layers and restis being collected by NIC Sikkim State Unit.

Tamil Nadu

The system developed for National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme was implemented at 3830 VillagePanchayats. Integrated System developed under RajivGandhi National Drinking Water Mission Programmewas implemented for Tamil Nadu Water Supply andDrainage Board under Municipal Administration andWater Supply Department. Tamil Nilam system wasenhanced with two new modules - Two Acre LandAssignment System and Taluk Assurance andAcknowledgement System. Vahan and Sarathi systemwas implemented in 25 more offices during this year.Extensive support was given during AssemblyElections and Local Body Elections. Electoral Roll dataof all 234 Assembly Constituencies were hosted withprovision for getting online applications for inclusionin the list. Candidates nomination details and VotesPolled details were captured through web basedsystem for more than 2 lakh candidates in the LocalBody Elections. A web based system wasimplemented for monitoring Vehicular EmissionControl data of more than 240 active PUCC (Pollutionunder Control Certificate) centres in the state.CollabLand System was approved by Government ofTamil Nadu for implementation in all taluks based onpilot implementation in two taluks. Single Windowcounselling system was used during admissions tomore than 390 Teachers Training Institutes. LandManagement system for Defence Estate Office atChennai was implemented. The system was taken upfor implementation at other Defence Estate Offices inthe country.

Tripura

Tripura Registration Information System (TRIS) forRegistration of Documents has been implemented in

West Tripura District covering 3 (three) Sub-RegistrarOffices. Land Records Management System has beendeployed in 5 (five) Revenue Circles. Smart Cardbased Driving License and Registration Certificate hasbeen introduced in West Tripura District of JTC office,Agartala. A comprehensive Hospital ManagementSystem has been deployed in Agartala GovernmentMedical College and GBP Hospital Site preparationand procurement of ICT Infrastructure for Statewiderollout of Energy Billing System has been completed.Training provided for CIPA operational staff.Successful deployment of workflow based HospitalManagement System IN AGMC and GBP Hospital.Smart Card based Driving License and RegistrationCertificate has been introduced. Tripura RegistrationInformation System (TRIS) has been successfullydeployed and operational in multiple locations inWest Tripura District.

Uttarakhand

Land Records Computerization has beenimplemented in all tehsils and sub-tehsils of the State.Property Registration has been implemented at 6 SRoffices. Computerization of Jal Sansthan has beendone including Resource Management, Water QualityManagement System, material and Storemanagement system, Finance and Works AccountingSystem, Pension System, Office Automation Systemetc. MIS has been prepared for Transport andRevenue. Online module for collection of Prices ofdifferent commodities and Wage rates of differenttype of labours has been implemented.

Uttar Pradesh

UP State Unit implemented many e-GovernanceApplications in the area of G2G, G2C and G2B. Theseapplications (Lokvani, Bhulekh, Prerna, Vahan,Nagarsoft, Pensioner Database etc.) have broughtabout a major change in the citizen service deliverymechanism and helped in extending the fruits of ITenabled services to the remotest parts of the state.Online counseling for UP Technical University hasbeen a big success. The G2G services ranged fromCM Office (CM 39 and Janta Divas) to UP Treasury,Niyukti Online/Niyukti Seva for IAS and PCS officers ofthe State, File and Letter Monitoring System, GISbased Planning Atlas, Revenue Case MonitoringSystem and many more. The other services includedWebsite development, extending email and Internetconnectivity to various government departments etc.

West Bengal

Agricultural Integrated Management System (AIMS)towards development of Farmer Centric Applicationsin the Department is being developed to cater to therequirements of fertilizer control, project monitoringweather forecast, soil and water conservation etc.The software helps the administration extend allfinancial assistance given to SC/ST/OBC category ofpeople under different schemes. This has beendecided to be implemented at all districts. ExciseProgram for Effective Revenue Tracking (xPERT) forthe Excise Department has been completed in case ofImport Pass and will be implemented in all Bonds andDistilleries by March 2007. Transport Pass is also in thefinal stages of completion. Commercial Tax Systemhas been extended to 7 Check Posts and Interfacewith States of Sikkim and Meghalaya established. TheComputerization of Registration of Documents(CORD) software is too implemented in 50 Sub-Registration Offices in the state by March 2007.CORD is being customized for implementation inMizoram.

Andaman and Nicobar

During the year 2006 A & N UT Centre has taken upvarious new projects. Provided the Internetconnection to many Government organization andalso maintained and monitored the ongoing projects.The Seat Allotment Software for allotment ofProfessional and Non-Professional seats to thestudents of A & N Islands in the various colleges inmainland was used in 2006-2007. It was highlypraised by the A & N Administration. The DweepBhoomi software has been developed and beingimplemented in one Pilot Tehsil of South AndamanDistrict. This software takes all the input of landowners and performs the activities like Sub-Division,Mutation, etc., with proper work flow and fullsecurity. After the Earthquake and Tsunami, theDepartment of Relief and Rehabilitation has startedconstruction of around 10000 permanent shelters forthe victims in 10 islands having 80 locations. NIC hasdeveloped a web based information system tomonitor the status of Construction of PermanentShelter at various locations in A & N Islands.

Chandigarh UT

To strengthen eGovernance activities for providingmore and more services for the benefit of citizens onemore eSampark centre was opened from where 17

G2C and 3 B2C services are being provided. Otherdelivery channels are Mobile sampark and Portal(https://chandigarh.gov.in). Pilot testing of IVRS is inprogress which shall soon be made available. JanSampark centres have been established from whereinformative services are being provided and also thesecentres are facilitating in Grievances redressal andacceptance of RTI applications. An Intranet Portal hasbeen developed which is being accessed by variousdepartments for multiple applications. It is also beingused for various G2E services. Some of theapplications are Meeting Manager, Court Cases MIS,File Tracking MIS, Scheme and Budget Monitoring,Visitors MIS, Tenders and Quotations, Rent ControllerMIS etc

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

“VAHAN” a computerised G2C RTO servicesinaugurated and dedicated to the people of Dadraand Nagar Haveli UT by Hon. Shri. R. K. VermaAdministrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Damanand Diu UT on 11/08/2006. “Sarathi” is alsoimplemented in O/o RTO, Silvassa. Up till now 6000number of beneficiaries have availed computerizedservices in the year 2006. District CourtComputerization was started in Dadra and NagarHaveli district court. An application s/w on opensource (LAMP) platform is being used in gearing upjudicial administration and providing court caseinformation to stake holders. Single Window systemhas been put in use in District Collectorate providingsupport to Collector/DM in effectively and in timebound manner addressing public grievances anddelivering G2C services to the citizens.

Daman and Diu

VAHAN- a computerized G2C RTO services forRegistration of vehicles is running smoothly at RTOoffice, Daman since December 2004. The VAHAN isalso being implemented at Diu.. The registrationcertificate for a new vehicle and tax collection receiptsfor old/new vehicles are issued to the vehicle owners.As a leap towards the e-Governance at village level,the Birth and Death registration has beencomputerized and implemented at all the villagepanchayats (14 Village Panchayats) of the UT. Anintroductory session to the Panchayat and statisticalofficers and officials was also organized. About50,000 records across all village panchayats areentered. Ration Card system is in use at Civil SuppliesDepartment at Collectorate, Daman. The application

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is also replicated at Diu district. About 22,000computerized new ration cards have been preparedand distributed in Daman and fair price shop wisefood grain demand is estimated. Water Billing forPWD Department and Electricity Bill for ElectricityDepartment has been implemented.

Lakshadweep

The SDO-NET- a VSAT network interconnecting all thesub Divisional offices in all islands(developmentblocks) in Lakshadweep completed. VideoConferencing facility provided to all the sub divisionaloffices by installing video phones and plasma screen.The automation of RTO office Lakshadweepcompleted by implementing VAHAN and SARATHIsoftware. A web-enabled permit system introducedfor the issue and monitoring of entry permits toLakshadweep. GPS/ETS cadastral survey of two blockof Kavaratti island completed and the spatial dataintegrated with the non-spatial land records data. Aweb-enabled consumer management and consumerbilling system developed and implemented for theDepartment of Electricity. A web-enabled integratedinventory and cargo management system developedand implemented for department of electricity. TheLakshadweep Islands Resident Identity Card System(LIRICS) implemented and the basic resident databasewas created for Lakshadweep. INTRALAK, theIntranet for the Administration of U.T. ofLakshadweep developed and implemented.Implemented web-enabled employment exchangeservices in District Employment Exchange, Thecomputerization of District court, Lakshadweep andstate consumer redressal forum and District forascompleted.

Puducherry

e-Pathiram and Nilamagal workflow applications hasbeen developed for Revenue Department for rolloutto all taluks. The ePathiram version -1 is installed in allSRO offices during 2006. The LR software Pilot –‘NILAMAGAL’ was fully implemented at one pilottaluk and accepted by Revenue Department and isdue to be implemented at all other taluks of

Puducherry. The external project consultants havebeen M/s PWC. Vahan and Sarathi fully implemented.Property Taxes of Municipal areas in Puducherry,Oulgaret, etc., (updated back office data baseprepared and web based data and Property taxcalculation work sheet displayed). New websitesdevelopment and hosting done for Directorate ofTourism, Central Excise, Puducherry, JawaharNavodaya Vidyalaya and Union Territory ofPuducherry Legal Services Authority. Testing relatedto procurement of systems by NIC is being doneregularly. Conducted trainings on eGovernance andRTI related at Puducherry Secretariat for 40 officers.

LBS National Academy of Administration

NIC Training Unit, LBS National Academy ofAdministration, Mussoorie provides Communicationand Information Technology related training to theofficers of All India Services during all the trainingprogrammes conducted at the Academy. During 79thFoundation Course, 50 training sessions wereconducted. 54 sessions were conducted for IASProfessional course.

National Informatics Centre ServicesIncorporated (NICSI)

NICSI provides one-stop IT solution to CentralGovernment and State Government departments,Public Sector Undertakings and other governmentbodies and institutional. It is a section 25 companyunder NIC. NICSI specializes in procurementhardware, software and support services atcompetitive prices. It has executed large number ofprojets in the e-Governance area; spread over variousstates. Some of the important projects are StateWide Area Network in Tripura and Sikim,Government of NCT of Delhi and Chandigarh UT. It isalso supporting several large projects to theDepartment of Information Technology, Governmentof India such as Universal Identification of FamilyProject, e-Governance replication project and e-District project. It has implemented IT projects forvarious states such as Kerala, Bihar, UP, NE States,Karnataka, Maharashtra, NCT of Delhi, etc.

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International Co-operation and Bilateral Trade

International Cooperation and Bilateral Trade Division of thisDepartment is regularly interacting with the foreign governments andagencies and our ‘Mission abroad for bilateral cooperation in the ITsector.

During the year 2006-07, focus of activities was primarily on activatingthe MOUs and the arrangements agreed upon in previous interactionswith the foreign dignitaries, foreign governments and delegations witha view to undertaking joint ventures, sharing of expertise anddeveloping a common approach towards emerging issues in this sector.

India is always willing to share its experience and expertise with othercountries of the worlds, specially the countries of the developing world.In this backdrop, the Indian Government takes an initiative forcooperation in the field of Information Technology and projects onsetting up an IT Centre in the following countries are being set up withtechnical and financial assistance of India.

A Trilateral Commission of three countries of India, Brazil and SouthAfrica (IBSA) Dialogue Forum was build up by foreign Ministers of threecountries. The Framework of IBSA on the Information Society hassigned during 1st IBSA Summit held in Brazil on 13th September 2006.Identification of joint projects in the area of agreed upon and Plan ofAction established.

NIC has signed MOU on I-Community project between NIC andOperations Management Department of Kasetsart University, Bangkok,Thailand in April 2006 at Bangkok.

EU-India Joint Working Group on Information Society has beenestablished to work on information society frameworks, regulatory

PromotionalMatters

frameworks, Information and network security,cybercrime, digital signature, privacy and dataprotection, SPAM, e-Government, e-health, 4G, RFID,Internet governance, broadband rollout, etc., Nextmeeting of the Working Group will be held firstquarter of 2007. A National Contact Point (NCP) hasbeen established in DIT.

India - EU projects implemented includes :

Interlinking European GEANT - A connectivity projectbetween ERNET and GEANT – A PAN EuropeanEducation and Research Network on 34 MbpsInternet private leased circuit, under its FP6programme was established on 2nd August 2006.

ERNET India is implementing a project proposal,‘Bridging Europe’s Electronics Infrastructure toExpanding Frontiers”(BELIEF)’, funded by EU’s underIST of 6th framework Programme (FP6). The projecthas been initiated in November 2005 and would becompleted by October 2007.

ERNET, India is involved in implementing EU’s fundedproposal FP6 programme, 'EU-IndiaGrid', which is aneInfrastructural Research proposal supportsinterconnection between the most relevant EuropeanGrid infrastructure (EGEE) and Indian Grid to make acommon infrastructure to support data processing foreScience application areas where strongcollaborations already exist between Europe andIndia. The project has been initiated in October 2006and would be completed by September 2008.

The fifth India-French Joint Working Group meetingon Information Technology and Telecommunicationswas held in Paris on 19 - 20 September 2006. TheWorking Group identified following areas for jointaction : policy and regulation, Internet Governance,ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, 2006 (PP-06), WorldRadio communication, Conference, Frequencymanagement, E-applications, Internet/IPV6, SMEsand ICT, Smart cards, Media and networks,

Component, NGN, WIMAX, and Open SourceSoftware.

A high level Indian delegation visited Sofia, Bulgariaduring 30-31 May 2006, and signed a Memorandumof Understanding on Information andCommunications Technology. A protocol was alsosigned on the future deliverables of focus areasincluding High-Tech Parks, Industrial Cooperation,High Performance Computing, E-Governance,eLearning and ICT Education, e-Commerce and e-Business.

A project proposal of ‘Promotion of Industrialservices and Employment’, has been sanctioning byGovernment of Germany. The project was initiated inJanuary 2005 and will be continued till 31.12.08.Another project proposal on ‘Establishing an e-Government Quality Assurance Institute (eGQI)’, hasbeen sanctioned by Government of Germany, whichhas been initiated in January 2007.

An IT Centre at Tashkent, Uzbekistan has been set upwith technical and financial assistance of India,Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singhinaugurated the IT Centre in Tashkent on 26 April2006. The IT centre has been named after our firstPrime Minister as ‘Jawaharlal Nehru India-UzbekistanCentre for Information Technology (JNIUCIT)’.

An MOU was signed between Government of Indiaand Government of Tajikistan in November 2003 forsetting up of an IT centre at Dushanbe. While theland, building and operational cost was born by Tazikside, the indian side provided technical infrastructure,course curricula and training etc. The centre has beeninaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister ofTajikistan on 18 July 2006. The Centre be namedafter Mizra Abdul Qadir Bedil, an Indo-Persian Poet,who lived in 17th / 18th century in India.

Two meetings of Joint Working Group under theframework of India-Japan ICT forum were heldwherein programs/projects in the area of Broadband,E-governance, R&D, etc., were identified for jointventure between India and Japan. The NationalGigebit backbone Network – a super high way for thenational traffic and an infrastructure with 10 gigabitbandwidth for video, voice and data communication,was the important joint venture project conceive sofar been implemented under JBIC assistance. Theproject is also capable of providing voice

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communication through VOIP and videoconferencing to ensure better health, educationfacilities and other e-governance applications.

‘i-Burst Technology’ a contemporary wirelessbroadband technology developed by Kyocera Japanwas put to a field trial at Gurgaon by BSNL and wouldbe considered for deployment in India subject to thetechnical feasibility and cost effectiveness. Otherprojects in the area of R&D such as Machine AssistedTranslation and Retrieval System in English, Japaneseand Hindi have also been identified forimplementation in India as a Joint Ventureprogramme. Two more projects viz. ‘AmbientAssisted Leaving for the aging society’ i.e. creation ofan Intelligent Home for disabled and old, and ‘Facialfeature extraction and human behaviour analysis fora dialogue system’ are also under consideration forjoint venture.

WTO-GATS Services negotiations

Services negotiations under General Agreement onTrade in Services (GATS) of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) in the area of Computer andRelated Services (IT Software and Services includingITES and BPO) are going on to ensure liberal marketaccess and national treatment to the Indiancompanies by the WTO member countries by way ofundertaking binding commitments in the GATSschedule of commitments.

As per the negotiating guidelines finalized by theWTO Council for Trade in Services, Request-Offershave been sent to the member countries forimproving their existing commitments under GATSand the same are being negotiated bilaterally andplurilaterally.

The key objectives of the Request-Offers madeby India are as follows

To achieve agreement on a broad based classificationof Computer and Related Services and undertakingbroader commitments with a view to have flexibilityto accommodate evolving services due totechnological developments and convergence oftechnologies.

To achieve full liberalization in all the four modes ofservices delivery i.e. mode 1: cross border supply ofservices, mode-2: consumption abroad, mode-3:commercial presence and mode-4: movement ofnatural persons by removal of tariff and non-tariff

barriers to trade, permitting foreign directinvestment, introducing simple and flexible visaregime enabling easy movement of professionals andbringing in transparency in the domestic regulations.

Lectures on Topics of Current Interest in IT

• “World Information Society Day” on 17th May2006 Speaker: Dr. F.C. Kohli, TCS

• “Solar Technologies” on 28th June 2006 Speaker:Dr. Charlie Gay ,M/S Applied Materials, USA

• “Create opportunity–anytime, anywhere–withfast, secure access to critical resources” on 4thAugust,2006 Speaker : Citrix Systems Inc.

• “Gender issues” on 13 September 2006 speaker;Economic Adviser, Ministry of Women and ChildDevelopment.

• SEMINAR ON “Mobile Phones: Security, Crimeand Investigations” on November 23, 2006Speakers: Prof.Bhaskar Ramamurthy IIT-Chennai,Ms Manisha Sood Country Manager Sandisk,New Delhi, Shri Vakul Sharma, Shri Samir Datt,Director, Foundation Futuristic Technologies(P)Ltd., New Delhi, and Shri Arun Pandey.

• “Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS)” onJanuary 25th, 2007 Speaker: Mr. Rajgopalananand team CDAC Chennai.

ELITEX 2007

DIT has been supporting the research anddevelopment effort is the areas of electronics andinformation technology at various institutions. Todisseminate information on these technologies andproducts developed through this effort among theusers and the industry, the Department has beenorganizing, an annual interaction Electronics andInformation Technology Exposition (ELITEX). Thisevent provides an opportunities for close interactionsbetween academia, R&D institutions and industries.

ELITEX 2007 was held during January 10-11, 2007.The event was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Ministerfor Communications and Information Technology,Shri Dayanidhi Maran on January 10, 2007. Thekeynote address was delivered by Dr. V.Krishnamurthy, Chairman, National ManufacturingCompetitiveness Council. Dr. V. Krishnamurthyappreciated the efforts made by DIT in organizingELITEX 2007 and showcasing their achievements interms of products and services for commercializationand advised if the scope can be enlarged to all thetechnologies developed in India.

The following products/technologies weretransferred and released:

Technologies Transferred

• An intelligent and adaptive Area Traffic ControlSystem developed by C-DAC,Thiruvananthapuram. The technology washanded over to Shri Gautam Burman, CEO, WML.

• Electronic Aid for Maintenance of Spindles inTextile Spinning Mills. The technology washanded over to Shri Rajesh Belwalkar, ManagingPartner of M/s Orion Electronics, Mumbai.

• Tantalum Powder + Offshoots: The technologydeveloped by C-MET was handed over to Shri J.Vijayakumar, Managing Director, Anabond Ltd.,Chennai.

Products released

• Bharatiya Operating System Solutions (BOSS)developed by C-DAC, Chennai.

• E-SAVYA – A low cost Supply Chain ManagementSoftware developed by C-DAC, Hyderabad.

• Radio Sonde Transmitter developed by SAMEER.The technology was handed over to Dr. R.C.Bhatia, Acting DG of IMD.

• Project Ashwini developed by Media Lab Asia andByrraju Foundation.

• Technology for ITO coatings: Technology forIndium Tin Oxide (ITO) coating developed bySAMEER.

• Digital Signature Security software Packagedeveloped at SAMEER

• Data Interface Module: developed at SAMEER.

• N@G-ESS (Network at Guard – Enterprise SecuritySolution) developed by C-DAC.

The Seminar theme of ELITEX 2007 were ‘ProductivityEnhancement using ICT’ including E-Governance:Towards Service Delivery; Convergence, Broadbandand Strategic Electronics; ICT for GrassrootDeployment; E-Governance: Standards andInteroperability; Fostering India ICT to Global Reach;Web Technology Standards: Unicode and W3C;Innovation, Knowledge Management andProductivity; IT/Electronics Application in Core

Sectors; Enhancing Productivity – NIC’s Technologyand Services; and Internet Technologies andGovernance. Besides creating awareness about DITtechnologies, ELITEX 2007 promoted R&D industrylinkages essential for the absorption of indigenoustechnology by the industry and for stimulatinginnovations. The Seminar deliberations wereavailable online via direct webcasting onwww.elitexlive.nic.in and www.elitex.in and also at allthe video-conferencing centres of NIC. Some of theSeminar sessions had Question/Answer throughvideo conferencing.

A compilation on 479 “Technologies/Productsdeveloped under DIT Funding”, with a brief write upon each of the technologies, was distributed fordissemination of the information about thesetechnologies. Department has, so far, filed 240 IPR forpatent/copyright/trademark and design relatedapplications. Out of these, 75 (53 copy rights, 11patents, 9 trademarks and 2 design) have beengranted.

The Centre for Development of AdvancedComputing (C-DAC) was given the Best ExhibitorAward among Large stalls, Gujarat were selected forthe Best Exhibitor among States, and ATIRA,Ahmedabad among Individual TechnologyDevelopers.

Computer Literacy Excellence Awards

The Department of Information Technology (DIT) inthe year 2002 instituted an award scheme forExcellence in Computer Literacy and InformationTechnology in Schools. The initiative was undertakento create IT awareness among schools and toencourage Computer Literacy and Literacy throughComputer usage in the school environment amongstudents in early stages of their schooling. Allrecognized schools in India, Government and Private,teaching Computers and Information Technology intheir schools are eligible to compete for the award.The qualifying criteria is based on the performance ofthe school in Computer Literacy, availability of ITinfrastructure, Trained faculty and participation ofschools in IT events at District/State/National Levelamongst other activities related to the developmentof the schools in the field of computer literacy and IT.The evaluation of the nominations for National/Statelevel Excellence Awards is done on a scale of 1 to 100.The awards are given at both the National and StateLevels. The Awards are given under two separatecategories viz. Category A: Private/Govt. Aided

113112

Schools and Category B: Govt./Municipal Schools.From among the State award winners the NationalAward winners are selected based on a furtherevaluation by a National selection committee. Theawards have since been distributed thrice in theconsecutive years of 2003, 2004 and 2005 by HisExcellency, Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam, and President ofIndia. For the year 2002, 21 schools were awardrecipients of State and National Awards for the year2003, 53 schools were award recipients of State andNational Awards for the year and for 2004, 51schools were award recipients of State and NationalAwards.

Support to Conferences / Seminars

The Conference support programme of DIT has beendesigned to facilitate academia, research anddevelopment institutes, registered professionalbodies and NGOs registered under the SocietiesRegistration Act of 1860 to receive grant-in-aid fororganizing conferences / seminars / workshops/symposia, etc., at regional / national / internationallevel to provide a platform for bringing togetherexperts from industry/academia/R&D and other usercommunity to discuss and share their expertise abouttechnology trends in electronics and ICT sector. Theinformation related to the events, supported by DITthrough Grant-in-Aid, have been listed on DIT’swebsite (www.mit.gov.in/giaconference.asp) alongwith the guidelines and proforma for widedissemination of the information/ objective of theConference support programme.

During the year about forty proposals from variousOrganizations like R&D Institutions and academiafrom all over the country were approved under thescheme. Through these events the latest trends inhigh tech areas like Computer Vision, Graphics andImage processing, Bioinformatics, Digital Libraries,Artificial Intelligence, Nano-materials, Cryptology,Photonics, Network Security and AdvancedComputing, etc., were shared by the experts and thepapers were presented about the latest work beingcarried out in the related areas by International/National experts.

Office Automation

The Office Automation Cell continued to providesupport services related to annual maintenance ofComputers, Printers, LAN Servers, AttendanceRecording Systems, Laptops and Scanners etc. It isalso providing the services related to repair,

maintenance and installation of Personal Computers,Network support for Lotus Notes, Internet, etc., andnecessary advise on the technical specifications withregard to procurement of technical stores.

The OA Cell also maintains and validates thePersonnel and Finance databases and facilitates forfurther improvement of these databases. VariousOffice Orders/ periodical reports (Annual/ Half yearly/Quarterly/ Monthly) are generated from the abovedatabases.

Most of the forms used by Administrative Divisions inDIT (i.e. Personnel, Administration and Finance) havebeen made available on Intra DIT Portal, many ofthese forms are now in dynamic form for theconvenience of employees. Centralized arrangementfor regular hosting of all Office Orders, Notices,Circulars on Intra DIT have been made. LANoperational, for a long time in DIT, has beenrevamped so that DIT users are now being providedby 100 mbps speed. OPA System (on-line file /documents tracking system) has been introducedsuccessfully.

For Introducing of e-Leave/e-Tour in the Department,Digital Signatures Certificate are being obtained fromconcerned CA. As part of e-Leave, submission andprocessing of on-line applications for CL and RH havebeen introduced and applications for easy calculationof medical reimbursement claims – pensioners duesas also for monitoring status related to ACRs/APRshave been developed.

Public / Staff Grievances Redress

A total of 38 cases relating to public / staff grievanceswere received during the year, out of which 27 caseswere settled / disposed off.

Electronics Information and PlanningJournal

The monthly techno-economic journal ‘ElectronicsInformation and Planning’ published by theDepartment of Information Technology is in its 34thyear of publication. The journal has a wide readershipamong the Industry and Users. Its coverage includesall aspects of promotion of Electronics, includingtechnology developments, applications, policies anddata.

During the year, the journal covered in-depth analysisreports/articles by professional on the latesttechnology, such as, Potential of MEMS, RFID,

Information Security, IT Act 2000 and PKIInteroperability, Challenges in BioMEMS, VehicleTheft Prevention, Competitiveness of Indian ITSoftware and Services Industry, Intelligent HighwaySystem, e-Passport, Next Generation Call/ContactCentres, Software Defined Radio, Report of theWorking Group on Information Technology Sector forthe Eleventh Five Year Plan, etc. In addition, statisticson Indian Electronics and IT Industry productionprofile was also covered in the journal.

To streamlining the distribution and accountingsystem, a computerized data base for the subscriberis being maintained.

Electronics Industry Information System

The data pertaining to production, exports,approvals, foreign collaborations, manufacturers andproduct directory and other macro level statisticsrelated to electronic industry are maintained in aninformation system, called, ‘LIPS Information System’by the Data Bank and Information Division (DBID) ofthe Department of Information Technology. The time-series (item-wise and unit-wise) production andexport data is available since 1981. The manufacturerand product directory provides up-to date andreliable information and serves as a Buyer/SellerGuide. It provides manufacturer’s information such asaddress (both office/factory), telephone, telex, fax,gram, name and office of the executive, year ofestablishment, brand, manpower employed, sector,product range and export product range, etc. It alsoprovides manufacturers and exporters for a givenproduct.

CD on Indian Electronics and IT Industry

The Data Bank and Information Division (DBID) of theDepartment of Information Technology brought outlatest edition of the CD to provide comprehensiveinformation on Indian Electronics and IT Industry.

The CD covers :

• EIIS Package : An user-friendly package providesinformation on Manufacturers Directory, ProductDirectory, Export Product Directory, Time-seriesProduction and Exports data, ForeignCollaboration, etc. Information can be retrievedon many keys such as Party, Item, Year, City, State,Collaborator, Country, etc.

• Guide to Electronics Industry : Covers policies andinfrastructural facilities that are relevant to theelectronics and IT sector besides otherinformation.

• Annual Reports of the Department for the last 4years

• IT Act 2000

• Information on DIT and its organizations, etc.

IT in Parliament

During the year 2006, a number of ParliamentQuestions on various issues in InformationTechnology and Electronic Sectors like Growth in I.T.Sector, National e-governance plan, CommunityInformation Centre, Formulation of a Semi-conductorpolicy, Hardware and Electronic Manufacturing inIndia, Software Technology Parks, Data Protection,Policy on critical infrastructure protection, terror oninternet, Cyber crime, Outcome of InternationalConference, Policy on critical infrastructureprotection, Super Computer for Research andDevelopment, Road Map for Becoming and IT SuperPower, Special Economic Zone IT, Setting up of BIO-ITPark, Availability of low cost computers, Manpowerfor IT Sector, Promotion of Internet in Rural Areas,etc., were answered in both the Houses ofParliament. During the Winter Session, 2006, theInformation Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2006 wasintroduced.

The Consultative Committee attached the Ministry ofCommunications and Information Technologydiscussed the subjects matter on Hardwaremanufacturing in IT Sector and TechnologyDevelopment in Indian Languages during the year2006.

During the year 2006, the Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Information Technology took evidenceof the representatives of DIT Besides, the Committeediscussed the subject “e-governance” during theyear. The Committee presented its reports to theParliament on Demands for Grants (2006-07); ActionTaken/ proposed to be taken on Demands for Grants2005-06; and e-governance respectively.

In compliance of directions of Speaker of Lok Sabhaand Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Hon’ble Minister ofCommunications and Information Technology madestatements on status of implementation of eachrecommendation made by the Standing Committeeon I.T. on Demands for Grants 2005-06 and e-Governance.

The Annual Reports 2005-06 and Audited Accountsof all Societies under the Administrative Control ofthe Department of Information Technology were laid

115114

on the Table of the Houses of Parliament during theWinter Session, 2006.

Use of Hindi and Requisite TechnologyDevelopment

During the year, the Committee of Parliament onOfficial Language visited the Centre for Developmentof Advanced Computing (CDAC), Mumbai,Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification(STQC) Headquarters, New Delhi and the Units ofNational Informatics Centre (NIC) at Kavaratti andMumbai to oversee the progress with regard toimplementation of OL Policy of the Government. TheCommittee had also invited the Department ofInformation Technology, CDAC, DOEACC, ERNETIndia and STPI for oral evidence. Various suggestionsgiven by the Committee are being implemented.

Meeting of the reconstituted Hindi Salahakar Samitiwas held during the year under the Chairmanship ofHon’ble Minister of State for Communications andInformation Technology.

Under the scheme of National Awards for originalbooks on Electronics and IT in Hindi instituted by theDepartment, one book was selected for the award offirst prize out of the over 7 proposals received duringthe year.

MOUs for cooperation in the field of InformationTechnology were continued to be signed during theyear in bilingual/trilingual form with variouscountries.

Hindi books worth over Rs. 1,77,000/- werepurchased during the year for the library of theDepartment.

Hindi fortnight was organised and messages from theHon’ble Home Minister and the Cabinet Secretarytogether with an appeal from the Secretary,Department of Information Technology werecirculated among all officers and staff of theDepartment on Hindi Day i.e. September 14, 2006.Various competitions were also organised on theoccasion and prizes awarded.

Subordinate offices of the Department were visited toreview the progressive use of Hindi and guide themon implementation of various provisions of OLAct/Rules.

S&T Cooperation

S&T cooperation with ASEAN was actively pursued.Under this cooperation two training programmes,namely “IT Training Programme” for ASEAN and“HRD Programme in the Area of ComputerNetworking” for CLMV countries were organized atC-DAC NOIDA. A few other projects are beingpursued to strengthen the cooperation

Appendix - I

Electronics Production (Calender Year) (Rs. Crore)

Item 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

1. Consumer Electronics 12,300 13,580 14,850 16,500 17,500 19,500

2. Industrial Electronics 4,480 5,400 5,980 8,300 8,600 10,100

3. Computers 3,520 4,180 6,600 8,680 10,500 12,500

4. Communication and Broadcast Equipment 4,450 4,800 5,150 4,770 6,300 9,200

5. Strategic Electronics 1,750 2,330 2,670 2,850 3,070 4,500

6. Components 5,650 6,510 7,450 8,700 8,530 8,600

Sub Total (HW) 32,150 36,800 42,700 49,800 54,500 64,400

7. Software for Exports 34,000 44,000 55,000 75,000 97,000 135,000

8. Domestic Software 10,600 12,000 15,500 20,500 27,000 34,000

Total 76,750 92,800 113,200 145,300 178,500 233,400

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Appendix - II

Electronics Production (Financial Year) (Rs. Crore)

Item 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07*

1. Consumer Electronics 12,700 13,800 15,200 16,800 18,000 20,000

2. Industrial Electronics 4,500 5,550 6,100 8,300 8,800 10,400

3. Computers 3,550 4,250 6,800 8,800 10,800 12,800

4. Communication and Broadcast Equipment 4,500 4,800 5,350 4,800 7,000 9,500

5. Strategic Electronics 1,800 2,500 2,750 3,000 3,200 4,500

6. Components 5,700 6,600 7,600 8,800 8,800 8,800

Sub Total 32,750 37,500 43,800 50,500 56,600 66,000

7. Software for Exports 36,500 46,100 58,240 80,180 104,100 141,800

8. Domestic Software 10,874 13,400 16,250 21,740 29,600 37,800

Total 80,124 97,000 118,290 152,420 190,300 245,600

* Estimated

Appendix - III

Electronics Export (Financial Year) (Rs. Crore)

Item 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07*

1. Consumer Electronics 700 750 825 1,150 2,000

2. Industrial Electronics 950 1,400 1,515 1,500 2,300

3. Computers 1,800 550 1,440 1,200 1,025

4. Communication and 150 500 165 350 500

Broadcast Equipment

5. Components 2,200 2,400 3,755 3,800 3,800

Sub Total 5,800 5,600 7,700 8,000 9,625 11,500

6. Computer Software 36,500 46,100 58,240 80,180 104,100 141,800

Total 42,300 51,700 65,940 88,180 113,725 153,300

* Estimated

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Appendix - IV

Summary of Audit Observations

Functioning of Internal Controls – Department of Information Technology

(Para No.5.2.2.1 of Report No.12 of 2006 for the year ended March 2005 (Performance Audit)

Irregular flow of expenditure resulted in rush of expenditure during the last quarter and in themonth of March every year: The Department did not observe the instructions of Ministry of Financeon flow of expenditure resulting in rush of expenditure during last quarter and March of the respectiveyears.

Action taken:- Action Taken Note has been sent to the Office of the Principal Director of Audit, ScientificDepartments, New Delhi for vetting intimating that the instructions have been issued to convene SFC/EFCmeetings well in time. Further to this the concerned project coordinators have been advised/instructedto avoid such re-occurrence in future. Circulars reiterating the instructions in this regard have also beenissued stating that there will be no expenditure more than 33 per cent of provision for scheme/project inthe last quarter. And result of the same can be seen during 2005-06. Monthly Progress of expenditurestatement is monitored at AS&FA level, quarterly review meetings are chaired by Secretary for smoothflow of expenditure and to avoid rush of expenditure is the last quarter of Financial year.

(Para No.5.2.3 of Report No.12 of 2006 for the year ended March 2005 (Performance Audit)

Internal Audit: DIT did not set up an Internal audit wing and did not prepare internal audit manual.

Action taken:- Action Taken Note has been sent to the Office of the Principal Director of Audit, ScientificDepartments, New Delhi for vetting intimating that due to shortage of staff the Internal Audit Wing couldnot be established. Action has been taken. Now the Internal Audit Wing has been established by drawingexisting staff. Annual Audit programme has been prepared to conduct the Audit of all the ChequeDrawing DDOs yearly and that of Non Cheque Drawing DDOs once in two years. Internal Audit Manualhas been prepared.

(Para No.5.2.4.3 of Report No.12 of 2006 for the year ended March 2005 (Performance Audit)

Shortfall in O&M activities : Substantial shortfall in O&M activities prescribed by the Central SecretariatManual of Office Procedures was observed.

Action taken:- Action Taken Note has been sent to the Office of the Principal Director of Audit, ScientificDepartments, New Delhi for vetting. The update status in continuation of status provided in the ATN forthe said para is that as regards recording and reviewing of the old files/records it is stated that MS (O&M)had launched a Special Drive on Record Management aspect with reference to the O&M activities to beperformed by all the Sections/Units in DIT. The status of progress would be reviewed in April, 2007 andwould also be brought to the notice of competent authority. Though the Annual Inspection Programmefor 2005-06 in respect of all the 30 Sections/Units in DIT has already been completed, the AnnualInspection Programme for 2006-07 will however be formulated and carried out in due course. As regardsAnnual Inspection Programme for 2005 in respect of attached offices of the STQC, it is stated thatinspections of 12 Centres (out of 17 Centres including one closed centre) of STQC has already beencompleted till date. Implementation of the Programme was got extended with the approval of Secretary,DIT. As regards Annual Inspection Programme for 2006-07, DG(NIC) had been requested to draw the saidProgramme.

(Para No.5.2.5.4 of Report No.12 of 2006 for the year ended March 2005 (Performance Audit)

Non-constitution of Staff Inspection Unit: DIT did not constitute the Staff Inspection Unit. It also didnot frame recruitment rules for S&T staff.

Action taken:- Action Taken Note has been sent to the Office of the Principal Director of Audit, ScientificDepartments, New Delhi for vetting. The update status in continuation of status provided in the ATNfor the said para is that the Department had already set up a Standing Core Committee (SCC) in theDepartment (i) Evolve work-norms for scientific and technical (S&T) posts, and (ii) assess the work-loadof S&T personnel in DIT. Since the Committee had felt that it was not feasible to submit the report intime due to the magnitude of work involved, the time limit for submission of the Report by the SCC hasbeen extended twice i.e.(i) first time upto 20.9.2006 and (ii) second upto March 2007. Consequent uponthe setting up of the SCC, the Committee had already held a no. of meetings i.e. on (i) 9.3.2006 and (ii)17.5.2006. Hence, the SCC is engaged in its assigned responsibilities. Since the Report of the earliercommittee set up in DIT in June, 2003 for carrying out similar studies for S&T personnel is still awaitedand is also needed by the current SCC, the same has already been followed up by various reminders. Asregards study of non-S&T posts in DIT, DIT had already requested SIU (M/o Finance) to conduct the workassessment of non-S&T in DIT and accordingly requested them to include the name of DIT in their nextAnnual Programme of Studies. SIU had subsequently informed that in accordance with the provisionscontained in DST’s O.M., there was no scoped to divide the study into two parts i.e. non-scientific/technical area and scientific/technical area but the “S&T Department as a whole has to beentrusted to the SCC set up for the purpose. Consequently, keeping in view the fact that the study ofnon-S&T posts depends upon the outcome of the study of S&T posts and therefore clubbing of both thestudies to carry out simultaneously by SCC would not be feasible. Accordingly, with the approval ofcompetent authority, a decision has been taken that the issue of work assessment of non-S&T posts inDIT be kept in abeyance till the current SCC concludes its on-going status/ task.

(Para No.5.2.6.1 of Report No.12 of 2006 for the year ended March 2005 (Performance Audit)

Inadequate monitoring resulting in non-recovery of Rs.76.31 crore: Rs.76.31 crore was given asloan and refundable grant-in-aid by DIT was pending recovery due to inadequate monitoring.

Action taken:- Action Taken Note has been sent to the Office of the Principal Director of Audit, ScientificDepartments, New Delhi for vetting intimating that the Finance Division is coordinating between thesanctioning authority of loan and Refundable Grant in aid and PAO, DIT. Efforts are being undertaken torecover the outstanding loan from the defaulters by way of issuing letters to concerned sanctioningauthorities, on the basis of statements of PAO, DIT. It is informed that the administrative control of SCLhas been transferred from Department of Information Technology to Department of Space with effectfrom 1st March, 2005. ET&T has been winded up vide High Court’s order issue on 9.5.2005. OfficialLiquidator took charge and sealed all records and premises on ET&T on 6.7.2005. ET&T ceases to exist ason date. So far as others are concerned, efforts are being made to recover the outstanding loan fromthe entities/institutions where the cases are not sub-judice. The remedial action is being taken to obtainthe same from the defaulters by way of issuing letters to concerned sanctioned authorities.

(Para No.5.2.6.2 of Report No.12 of 2006 for the year ended March 2005 (Performance Audit)

Inadmissible payment of Transport Allowance: DIT paid Rs.12.38 lakh as transport allowance to itsstaff though they were allotted government accommodation within one kilometer of the office premises.

Action taken:- Action Taken Note has been sent to the Office of the Principal Director of Audit, ScientificDepartments, New Delhi for vetting. Ministry of Finance was requested to consider the findings of theCommittee constituted for the purpose and concur in the proposal for regularising the TransportAllowance. Ministry of Finance has clarified that it is upto the Ministries/ Department to satisfy themselvesabout factual distance and take decision to pay or not to pay Transport Allowance. On the basis ofclarification received from Ministry of Finance, action is being taken by DIT for regularising the transportallowance.

Appendix - V

EMPLOYEES STRUCTURE (TOTAL AND SC/ST) As on 01.01.2007

(Department of Information Technology including its Attached and Subordinate Offices)

Group/ Permanent / Total SC % age of ST % age of

Class Temporary No. of Total Total

Employees Employees Employees

GROUP A Permanent

(i) Other than lowest 2255 155 6.87% 55 2.43%

rung of Class – I

(ii) Lowest rung of 696 45 6.46% 30 4.31%

Class - I

Temporary

(i) Other than lowest - - - - -

rung of Class – I

(ii) Lowest rung of Class I - - - - -

GROUP B Permanent 503 33 6.56% 19 3.77%

Gazetted Temporary - - - - -

GROUP B Permanent 464 76 16.37% 24 5.17%

(Non Gazetted) Temporary 241 32 13.27% 28 11.61%

GROUP C Permanent 613 160 26.10% 40 6.52%

Temporary 17 3 17.64% 1 5.88%

GROUP D Permanent 316 138 43.67% 23 7.27%

(Excl. Sweeper Temporary 22 9 40.90% 1 4.54%

& Farash)

Sweeper Permanent 52 48 92.30% 3 5.76%

Temporary 4 4 100% - -

Farash Permanent 10 3 30% 1 10%

Temporary 14 3 21.42% 1 7.14%

TOTAL 5207 709 13.61% 226 4.34%

Appendix - VI

Department of Information Technology - Annual Plan 2007-08 (Rs. Crore)

SCHEMES Budgetary Support

I. R&D PROGRAMMES

1 SAMEER 22.00

2 Microelctronics and Nano-Tech Dev Prog 29.00

3 Technology Development Council 32.00

4 Convergence, Communications and Strategic Electronics 22.00

5 Components and Material Development Prog 10.00

6 C-DAC 75.00

7 Electronics in Health and Telemedicine 18.00

8 Technology Dev. For Indian Languages 11.00

9 IT for Masses ( Gender, SC/ST) 9.00

10 Media Lab. In Asia 10.00

R&D Sub-Total 238.00

II. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

11 STQC 50.00

12 STPI and EHTP 0.50

13 Digital DNA Park 0.10

14 Electronic Governance 800.00

15 Cyber Security (including CERT-In, IT Act) 33.00

16 ERNET 0.10

17 Promotion of Electronics/IT Hardware Mtg. 1.00

Infrastructure Sub-Total 884.70

III. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

18 DOEACC 0.50

19 Manpower Development 43.00

20 Facilitation of Setting-up of Integrated Townships 1.00

HRD Sub-Total 44.50

IV. OTHERS

21 Headquarter (Secretariat and Bldg.) 12.80

22 NIC 320.00

Grand Total 1500.00

121120

Government of IndiaMinistry of Communications & Information Technology

Department of Information Technology

Electronics Niketan, 6, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003, India.

Tel: 91-11-24364565Website: http://www.mit.gov.in