The National Development Council (NDC) has praised the Eleventh Plan Year plan. In the first year, the Eleventh Plan envisages an average nine per cent GDP (gross domestic product) growth and a growth of 10 per cent during the terminal year 2011-12.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has announced the first set of global standards for Internet Protocol TV (IPTV). ITU has built these standards with technical contributions from leading service providers and manufacturers from the ICT sector.
The Bulgarian Government has launched a national e-Health portal in partnership with “Information Technologies in the Healthcare System”.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has entered into an agreement with the European Commission (EC) for massive investment in ICT enabled applications. EC has allocated Euro 8 million grant from the European Development Fund, while ITU will grant USD 500 000 fund from its own resources.
Soon, citizens of Delhi will get traffic alerts on their mobile phones via SMS. The Delhi Government is planning to install a hi-tech traffic information system (TIS), which will give alerts about traffic jams and help them in avoiding jams.
The electronic governance model of Nigeria has been endorsed by the United Nations (UN). According to UN, electronic version of e-Governance model is a viable option for successful deployment of e-Government services across the world.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is granting &21.2 million for the development of ICT in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal by improving the availability of affordable broadband Internet connections.
The Government of India has opted for WiMax technology to connect rural India for the common service centres, as part of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP).
Finally, the Asian Development Bank has approved US $500,000 fund for Indian Government for deploying innovative information and communications technology in order to support e-Governance services in Assam.
The Department of Telecom may not increase the spectrum fee beyond the prescribed INR 1,651 crore for an all-India licence as it feels mobile tariffs could go up if operators have to pay higher charges. The Government had kept the fee for an all-India license at INR 1,651 crore, which comes bundled with start-up spectrum, so that operators could roll out services faster and at affordable prices. This objective has not been accomplished as most of the rural areas are yet to get connected.
