Wednesday, November 7, 2018

SEP 18 ECO 11 12 Ease of Living Index Digital Communications Commission

Ease of Living Index

Why in News?

Pune is the best city to live in India, while Delhi is among the worst cities in terms of economic prospects, according to the Ease of Living Index rankings published by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs.

About Ease of Living Index

•   It is an effort to assess the Ease of Living standards of 111
Indian  cities  against  global  and  national  benchmarks,
which  includes  cities  identified  under  the  Smart  Cities
Mission, capital cities and a
few    more    cities    with    a
population of over 1 million.
It  seeks  to  assist  cities  in undertaking a 360-degree assessment  of  their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
It captures the breadth of the quality of life in cities across
4  pillars  and  15  categories using 78 indicators, of which
56 are core indicators and 22 are supporting indicators.
The core indicators measure those   aspects   of   ease   of living  which  are  considered
‘essential’    urban    services.
The supporting indicators are




2018 Ease of Living Index Results
Top 10 Liveable Cities in India according to report are Pune, Navi Mumbai, Greater Mumbai, Tirupati, Chandigarh, Thane, Raipur, Indore, Viyaywada and Bhopal.
The top positions in each of the sub-indices are occupied by the top 5 cities in the overall rankings: Navi Mumbai scores the highest in the Institutional sub-index, Tirupati in Social sub-index, Chandigarh in Economic index and Greater Mumbai in Physical sub -index.

used to measure adoption of innovative practices which are considered desirable for enhancing ease of living.


How Ease of Living Index is helpful?

It improves cities' decision making and ensure efficient allocation of resources based on gap areas.
It  enhances  the  quality  and  comparability  of data collection.
It  identifies   best  models   for  achieving   the desired transformation in ease of living, by enabling learnings across cities over time.
•   It improves  the quality  of electoral  discourse


More in News
Andhra Pradesh has topped the chart in the 'Ease of Living Index' rankings among the states under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) focuses on providing basic civic amenities like water supply, sewerage, urban transport, parks. The emphasis of the mission is on infrastructure creation that has a direct link to quality of urban life.

and improve accountability of elected representatives at the city level and serves as a basis for dialogue between citizens and urban decision makers.
It  will  encourage  all  cities  to  move  towards  an  "outcome-based"  approach  to  urban  planning  and management towards sustainable urbanization and promote healthy competition among cities.
It catalyses actions to achieve broader development outcomes including the Sustainable Development Goals and improving the quality of life in Indian Cities. Of the 17 SDG goals, 8 goals are directly linked to India’s ease of living assessment framework with SDG 11 (make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable).
•   It assesses the outcomes achieved from various urban policies and schemes.



3.12. Digital Communications Commission

Why in News?

Recently, Union Cabinet approved the National
Digital  Communications  Policy-2018  (NDCP-
2018) and re-designated Telecom Commission
as the “Digital Communications Commission”.

Need of the new policy:

NDCP– 2018 has been formulated to cater to the needs of modern technological advancements in the Telecom Sector such as – 5G, IoT, Machine to Machine (M2M)


Telecom Commission (now Digital Communications Commission) It was set up by the Government of India via resolution to deal with various aspects of Telecommunications. The Telecom Commission is responsible for:
Formulating the policy of Department of Telecommunications for approval of the Government;
Preparing      the      budget      for      the      Department      of Telecommunications  for  each financial  year  and  getting  it approved by the Government; &
Implementation   of   Government's   policy   in   all   matters concerning telecommunication.

learning, etc. that required a ‘customer focused’ and ‘application driven’ policy for the Indian Telecom Sector.
It seeks to overcome shortcomings of previous National Telecom Policy, 2012 in areas such as enhancing rural tele-density, optical fibre network to gram Panchayats, minimum broadband speed, etc.
This policy can form the main pillar of Digital India by addressing emerging opportunities for expanding the availability of Telecom services and also Telecom based services.
Through NDCP-2018 government wants to focus on socio-economic growth of the country with the help of the telecom sector instead of seeing it as source of revenue generation.

Strategies for Three Missions

1. Connect India

Establishing a ‘National Broadband Mission – Rashtriya Broadband Abhiyan’ to secure universal broadband access
o Implementation      of      the      following broadband initiatives, to be funded through USOF and Public Private Partnerships:
✓   BharatNet   –  Providing  1  Gbps   to
Gram Panchayats upgradeable to 10
Gbps
✓   GramNet  – Connecting  all key rural
development   institutions   with   10
Mbps upgradeable to 100 Mbps
✓   NagarNet – Establishing 1 Million public Wi-Fi Hotspots in urban areas
✓   JanWiFi – Establishing 2 Million Wi-Fi Hotspots in rural areas
o Implementing a ‘Fibre First Initiative’ to take fibre to the home, to enterprises and to key development institutions in Tier I, II and III towns and to rural clusters.
o Establishment of a National Digital Grid by:
✓   Creating National Fibre Authority.
✓   Creating  a  collaborative  institutional  mechanism  between  Centre,  States  and  Local  Bodies  for
Common Rights of Way.
o Other components include - Enabling Infrastructure Convergence of IT, telecom and broadcasting  by restructuring of legal, licensing and regulatory frameworks, creating a Broadband Readiness Index for States/ UTs, facilitate the establishment of Mobile Tower Infrastructure etc.
Recognizing Spectrum as a key natural resource for public benefit to achieve India’s socio-economic goals, ensure transparency in allocation and optimise availability and utilization.
•   Strengthening Satellite Communication Technologies in India. This includes
o Revising licensing and regulatory conditions that limit the use of satellite communications, such as speed barriers


o Optimise Satellite communications technologies in India, by reviewing SATCOM policy for communication services, along with Department of Space, to create a flexible, technology-neutral and competitive regime
o Making available new spectrum bands (such as Ka Band) for satellite based commercial communication services.
o Develop an ecosystem for satellite communications in India, with focus on: Promoting participation of private players, with due regard to national security and sovereignty
•   Ensuring Inclusion of uncovered areas and digitally deprived segments of society by channelizing the Universal
Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
Ensuring Customer Satisfaction, Quality of Service and effective Grievance Redressal by establishing Telecom Ombudsman and a centralised web-based complaint redressal system, focusing on public health and safety standards etc.

2. Propel India

Catalysing Investments for Digital Communications sector  by  according Telecom Infrastructure the status of Critical and Essential Infrastructure, reforming the licensing and regulatory regime to catalyse Investments and Innovation.
Ensuring    a   holistic    and harmonised approach for harnessing Emerging Technologies by creating a roadmap for emerging technologies and its use in the  communications sector, such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Establishing India as a global hub for cloud computing, content hosting and delivery, recognizing Digital Communications  as  the core of Smart Cities etc.
Focussing     on    R&D    by creating a Fund for R&D in new technologies for start- ups and entrepreneurs, Establishing Centres of Excellence, Fostering an Intellectual Property Rights regime that promotes innovation.
Local Manufacturing and Value Addition by Rationalising taxes, levies and differential duties to incentivize local manufacturing of equipment, Introducing Phased Manufacturing Program for identified product segments, Preferring domestic products and services with domestically owned IPR in the procurement by government agencies etc.
•   Other strategies include Capacity building, strengthening of PSUs, create a roadmap for transition to Industry
4.0 by 2020 etc.


3. Secure India

Core strategies  include establishing  a strong, flexible and robust Data Protection  Regime,  assuring  Security of Digital Communications by formulating a policy on encryption and data retention, Instituting a sectoral Cyber Security Incidence Response System (CSIRT).
Developing a comprehensive plan for network preparedness, disaster response relief, restoration and reconstruction  components  of which include –
o Framing  and  enforcing  standard operating procedures to be followed during disasters and natural calamities,
o Enhancing  the  Public  Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) plan for India by:
✓   Facilitating  the  establishment
of  a   Pan-India   network   for
Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR)
✓   Making necessary spectrum available for PPDR including by establishing INSAT satellite-based mobile communication systems.

Concerns

Some of the major targets listed in the 2012 policy are still to be achieved. For example, the minimum broadband speeds are set at 512 kbps at present even though the 2012 policy had envisaged minimum broadband speeds of 2Mbps by 2015. Instead of delving into why these targets were missed and how things can be improved, the National Digital Communications Policy 2018 lists out more and new targets.
Further, it neither spells out how it plans to achieve the stated objectives nor gives a specific timeframe to implement the various proposals.

Significance

•   The essence of the NDCP lies in its innate vision to transform the face of India’s ICT industry by leveraging the
principles of Design, Innovation and Creativity-led Entrepreneurship (DICE).
•   It is praiseworthy to note that this policy focuses on end-to-end solutions along the entire ICT value chain
under the core themes of ‘Connect India, Propel India and Secure India’.
Overall, the vision is great and the policies are created with the best of intent, however, we cannot fall behind this time around on the implementation front.

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