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2 | informatics.nic.in | April 2014

informaticsVolume 22 No. 4 April 2014

INFORMATICSIs Published by National InformaticsCentre, Department of Electronics &Information Technology, Ministry ofCommunications & InformationTechnology, Government of IndiaA-Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,New Delhi-110003

PRINTED AT:-CIRRUS GRAPHICS PVT. LTD.

B-62/14, Naraina Industrial Area, Ph-II,New Delhi-110028 (INDIA)

aunch of Cloud Servicesby NIC is a majormilestone in the timelineof e-governanceinfrastructure in India. Set

up with the state-of-art technologies andpowerful infrastructure, National Cloudhas transgressed some of the existedconventional boundaries to provideseamless services for eGov applications.NIC Cloud Services shall enableGovernment Ministries andDepartments to have flexibility inavailing and scaling the data centre resources as and when required leadingto resource optimization and a lot of cost savings. Our lead story this timefocuses on National Cloud Services launched by NIC under the Meghrajinitiative of the Government.

In our E-Gov Products & Services section this time, we bring out someof the significant ICT initiatives implemented in diverse sectors andgeographical spheres of the nation. ICT in Tribe Certificate VerificationProcess in Maharashtra, Stores & Supply Management System, RegionalElectronic Clearing Service (R-ECS) in Pension Payment System, OpenGovernment Data (OGD) Platform, e-Tourism, DHARANI are thehighlights of this section.

Technology Update section accentuates on the relevance of AppBuilder,Use of Metadata and Data Standards in e-Governance, Failover Clusteringfor databases and Leveraging Emerging Technologies in PropertyRegistration & Land Records domains.

In our District Informatics section, we highlight the exemplary e-governance initiatives in the districts of Sirsa, Pakur, Kannur and Shimla.Our regular sections- International e-Gov Updates, Cyber Governance andIn the News would apprise you on the latest developments in e-governancearena.

Happy Reading

Editor-in-ChiefRoom No-375, 3rd Floor, NIC-HQA-Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi RoadNew Delhi-110 [email protected]

EDITORIAL

L

We invite your valuable articles and write-ups for Informatics.

Please send your inputs/contributions to our State Correspondents or else directlyto us at the address below:

NEETA VERMA

PATRONDr. Shefali S. Dash

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFNeeta Verma

ADVISORY PANELC.S.R Prabhu

Anjana ChoudharySanjay GahloutP. Krishna Prasad Ajay Rampal

EDITORIAL BOARDR. Gayatri

Vivek VermaRubaiyat AliAnshu Rohatgi

Mohan Das ViswamPrashant Belwariar

WEB VERSIONLokesh JoshiRitu Ghai

PRINT, CIRCULATION & DISPATCHA K AggarwalAnita Arora

Anita BhardwajJasvinder Kaur

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCEBhuvan Chopra

GRAPHICS ASSISTANCEPrabir Bera

Anand Kumar

Page 02_Informatics 4/16/2014 11:29 AM

April 2014 | informatics.nic.in | 3

LEAD STORY

4-8 National Cloud Services of NIC

E-GOV PRODUCTS &SERVICES9-11 ICT Enabled Tribe Certificate

Verification in Maharashtra

12-13 Stores & Supply ManagementSystem

14-15 Regional Electronic Clearing Service(R-ECS) in Pension Payment System:Ensuring efficient payment toPensioners

16-18 Open Government Data (OGD)Platform

19-20 e-Tourism: Streamlining Tourismusing ICT

21-22 Dharani – Digitally Signed LandRecords of GoaC

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

23-24 AppBuilder: A Tool & A Framework

25-26 Role of Metadata and DataStandards in e-Governance

27-28 Leveraging Emerging Technologies inIntegrated Property Registration &Land Records SolutionIICT TICS

29-30 Achieving High Availability ofDatabases through FailoverClustering for databases usingMicrosoft SQL Server 2008

DISTRICT INFORMATICS

31-32 SIRSA: Revolutionizing Governancethrough ICT

33-35 PAKUR: Empowering Citizensthrough e-Governance

36-38 KANNUR: ICT for the Land ofLooms and Lore

39-40 SHIMLA: Bringing ICT at thedoorsteps of the Citizens

CONTENTS

29-30 39-40

04-08

41-42 INTERNATIONAL E-GOV UPDATE

43-44 CYBER GOVERNANCE

45-48 IN THE NEWS

21-22

Page 03_Informatics 4/17/2014 3:28 PM


Lead Story

NATIONAL CLOUD SERVICES OF NICEdited by

MOHAN DAS VISWAM

loud computing has alarge role in optimizingData Centre resources.One of the majoradvantages is that the

Departments of government need nothave to pre-allocate extrainfrastructure and resources forunforeseen requirements. There isnow a flexibility to scale infrastructureresources based on current need. Bythis, the user departments need tobother less on resources allocation andfocus more on strengtheningapplication systems to deliver betterservices. The freedom to choose andavail the optimum ICT infrastructureresources strengthens user confidenceand benefits cost efficiency.

NIC, being a frontrunner in facilitatinge-Governance initiatives of the

government, has setup a state-of-artand secured Government Cloud underthe umbrella of MeghRaj. NIC CloudServices spans over the latest ICTinfrastructure built at the NationalData Centres. Through the portalhttps://cloud.gov.in, the Cloud Servicesare now available for all ministries anddepartments of the Centre and States.

MEGHRAJTo harness the advantages of CloudComputing, Government of India hasembarked on a highly significant andambitious initiative called “GI Cloud”.With a personalized name ‘MeghRaj’,this initiative is focused on activities,establishment of various componentsand mechanisms of governance toensure successful implementation ofCloud in Government. One of the keyobjectives of GI Cloud is to ensureoptimum allocation and utilization ofinfrastructure resources and enable

With the emergence of Cloudcomputing and its power tofoster efficiency in Governance,there has been a paradigm shiftin the setting up andmanagement of ICT services inIndian Government. ThroughCloud services, the provision ofICT infrastructure to variousdepartments and organizationsof the government can now becost effective, agile, sustainableand rapidly deployable forquicker services delivery.

HEMANT CHOPRA Systems Analyst

[email protected]

VIJAY KUMARVISHWAKARMA Technical Director

[email protected]

ANUPAM JOHRI Senior Systems Analyst

[email protected]

C

Page 04-08_Informatics 4/17/2014 3:42 PM


Lead Story

swift development and deployment ofe-Governance applications.

NIC CLOUD SERVICE OFFERINGSNational Cloud is built using state-of-art technology and infrastructure,secured with efficient design withfeatures such as generic architecture,usage simplicity apart from havingvarious self-service portal components.

Currently, the Cloud Services offeredare Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),Platform as a Service (PaaS), Softwareas a Service (SaaS) and Storage as aService (STaaS).

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) IaaS provides basic virtual compute

infrastructure resources like CPU,Memory, Disk Storage attached toblank VMs allowing users to installOS, using ISOs, from scratch andcustomization. In this service, the usersneed to have legal licenses for OS andApplication software as applicable.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) PaaS provides pre-installed web anddatabase servers so that users canpublish and run webs applicationwithout botheration of server setup.The servers are pre configured andready with basic security hardening.PaaS service can be availed for rapidlydeploying servers so as to publish webapplications by the users. The OS andApplication Software licenses areprovided by National Cloud (NC) aspart of this service.

Software as a Service (SaaS)SaaS provides on-demand softwareservice. This is a software deliverymodel where the users need not beresponsible for supporting theapplication or any components. Theserver infrastructure, OS and softwareare managed by cloud services. If theuser owns a web application andlegally eligible to distribute to otherusers, then delivery of SaaS can bemade through Cloud Service.

NIC has remained at the forefront inintroduction of information &communication technologies to thegovernment. Launch of first NationalCloud by NIC under MeghRaj initiative ofthe Government is an importantmilestone in the history of e-governanceinfrastructure in the country.

National Cloud of NIC, set up with stateof art technology, is secure by design &generic in architecture. To cater tovariety of ICT requirements ofgovernment, a three tier ICTinfrastructure is put up under theNational Cloud to provide appropriateservices with optimal use infrastructure& associated resources. Cloud Servicesare packaged in line with therequirements of GovernmentDepartments making it easier for themto make the right choice.

Launch of National Cloud by NIC shallfacilitate departments to availinfrastructure on demand and scale uptheir resources any time. They need notspend their time & energy on long cyclesof procurement of ICT Infrastructure.They can now focus on development,implementation & rollout of e-governance applications. Cloud shall alsohelp government in innovating &introducing new models of delivery ofcitizen services.

Graphic representation of Multi-location Cloud

NEETA VERMADEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL, NIC



Lead Story

Storage as a Service (STaaS)STaaS provides need-based storagesolution. This service providesexcellent alternative to the traditionalon-site and dedicated storage systemsthus reducing the complexities ofdeploying and managing multiplestorage tiers. STaaS can be used tomitigate risks in disaster recovery,enable long-term retention for recordsand enhance both continuity andavailability.

To keep it easy for the departments,Cloud Services (IaaS/PaaS) have beenpackaged into simple offerings. Thecatalogue of Cloud Service offeringsprovide options for the users to choosefrom preconfigured web, applicationsand database servers with

Commercial/Open Source SystemSoftware or Blank Servers and Storage.Application Systems those are genericin nature for the use of multiplegovernment organizations are offeredunder SaaS model.

SALIENT FEATURES l Servers provided under PaaS serviceare preinstalled with software andhardened as per government securityregulations. These are simple, ready touse machines and which are made togo live by installing applicationsoftware.

l Designed in line with project lifecycle of any e-gov project. Variousphases of a project like developmentand testing stages requires different

requirements of infrastructure in termsof security as well as network. Cloudhas dedicated environments for thedevelopment, staging and productionto meet these needs.

l Provides various models of tieredstorage namely Gold, Silver andBronze provides right type of storagefor a particular application and thusoptimizing cost and time involved.

l Provides a complete workflowsystem to assist and guide the userstep-by-step for the activation of any e-gov application with accomplishmentof various tasks such as VulnerabilityAssessment (VA) of servers, SecurityAudit Status of any application, DNSentry etc.

Cloud Resources Infrastructure - Architecture



Lead Story

l The Cloud provides framework tomanage multiple projects by keepingthe respective Cloud space separatealong with allocation of certainresource quota.

l National Cloud is designed formulti-location Cloud. It has been setup completely at Data Centres in Delhiwhereas in Hyderabad it is functionalwith certain limited capacity.

HOW TO AVAIL NIC CLOUD SERVICES?Following are the procedures to availthe NIC Cloud Services:

l Visit the portal https://cloud.gov.into apply and register for services.

l On successful registration, users willreceive acknowledgement on theiremail.

l On satisfying eligibility conditions,users will receive a “Welcome Mail”for Sign up. Login for signup isallowed only with GoI email accounts.

l On successful signup, users willreceive T&C document to their emailaccount. Users are required todownload this document and submitthe duly signed and stampeddocument to NIC Cloud Teamthrough their concerned NICHODs/SIOs.

l Once document is received the Signup process is complete, users can thenrequest for variety of Cloud Servicesbeing offered by NIC.

In the operation process of CloudServices, each department is requiredto nominate a Cloud Coordinator. TheCloud Coordinator is then required toenroll on the Cloud on behalf of therespective department and then placerequisition for various services. Theseinclude choice of web-server, databaseserver, blank server etc. Subsequently,



Lead Story

the Coordinator needs to comply withthe first four steps mentioned above.Further, he will be provided with “MyCloud”, which is a Cloud Dash Boardover secured channel. The CloudCoordinator has to set up all therequired configurations. Using theCloud Dash Board, maintenanceoperations can be carried out.

TECHNOLOGY & ROLL OUTNational Cloud (NC) is built usingstate-of-art-technology with a securedesign, generic architecture and simpleuser interface through a self-serviceportal. While designing, it has beenensured of not having a singletechnology vendor at the back end toavoid any vendor-locking situation infuture.

National Cloud has been designed tobe a multi-location Cloud. NationalData Centre (NDC) nodes at Delhiand Hyderabad locations have beenalready added in the first phase,whereas NDC Pune and upcomingNDC Bhubaneswar would be addedsubsequently. All these nodes aremade accessible through the commonCloud Portal over a highly securechannel using VPN.

SUMMARYNational Cloud Services ensure thatthe departments need not provisionICT Infrastructure in advance. Thefacility of rapid elasticity is madeavailable to the individual projectswhile the pooling of resources ensuresoptimal utilization and cost savings forthe government.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Vijay Kumar Vishwakarma

Technical Director & HOD,

Web Hosting & Cloud Computing Services

Division, NIC Delhi

E-mail: [email protected]



E-Gov Products and Services

Edited by ANSHU ROHATGI

n applicant belongingto the Scheduled Tribewho seeks for thebenefits from thereservation, needs to

obtain the Schedule Tribe Certificatefrom the competent authorities(Tehsildar, District Magistrate, SubDivisional Officer etc). The benefits ofreservation – for the employment,education and election – areadmissible for the backward categoryindividuals in Maharashtra only if therespective Tribe Certificate is validatedby Scheduled Tribe CertificateScrutiny Committee(s) set up for thepurpose. There are 8 Scheduled TribeCertificate Scrutiny Committees(TCSC) in Maharashtra located at

Pune, Nashik, Thane, Aurangabad,Nagpur, Amaravati, Nandurbar andGadchiroli covering all 35 districts ofMaharashtra. The procedure forissuing and validating the ScheduleCaste/Tribe Certificate is given in theCV Act 2000 of Maharashtra

With the advent of web technologiesthe status tracking mechanisms andverification processes have beensimplified and it was decided todevelop a web based workflow systemwith options to -

l monitor the pendency of the cases ofthe committees located in the differentplaces.

l know the status of the case at anypoint of time by the committee staff aswell as by the applicant/sponsoringagency.

The ICT based solutions areevidently effective whenimplemented wholesomelyfor each and every process ofan application. Therefore,state of Maharashtra,introduced ICT based solutionto verify issued Tribecertificates in order to arrestmalpractices and to ensurethat benefits should reach theunderprivileged communities.However, manual verificationsystem often fall prey tonepotism and favoritism. Toget rid of this, Online TribeCertificate verificationprocess has been introducedin Maharashtra.

SANJAY G KULKARNIPrincipal Systems Analyst,[email protected]

A

ICT ENABLED TRIBE CERTIFICATEVERIFICATION IN MAHARASHTRA




l generate the Standard MIS Reportstimely and Query based reports as andwhen required.

l automate the workflow of tribe/casteverification process to achieve theabove objectives.

PROCESS As the number of pending cases forverification started piling up andtracking those cases became tedious,the Tribal Research & TrainingInstitute, Pune, responsible for theverification process decided tocomputerize the process. It consists ofthe following activities –

l An applicant desirous of getting avalidity certificate applies to theScrutiny Committee through theSponsoring Agency in the prescribedformat (Form – E).

A Sponsoring Agency could be aprospective employer/an educationalinstitute or an election office.

l The case is registered/in-warded andacknowledged to the applicant and thesponsoring agency.

l The committee scrutinizes thedocuments submitted by the applicant,based on which the committee eitherissues a Validity Certificate or refersthe case for further investigation to avigilance cell.

l The vigilance cell submits anEnquiry report along with crucialdocuments containing caste/tribedetails of the applicant or applicant’srelatives collected from the nativeplace of the applicant.

l Based on the report, thecommittee may issue validitycertificate or issues a Show Causenotice to the applicant and call foran explanation.

l On receipt of the reply to theShow Cause notice, the committeecalls the applicant for a personalhearing.

l Based on the proceedings duringthe hearing, the committee takes thefinal decision on the case.

l If found valid, the committeeissues Validity Certificate.

l If found invalid, the committeeconfiscates the original caste/tribecertificate of the applicant and issues

The System Architecture of the TCVIS




an Order of Invalidity to the applicant,the sponsoring agency as well as theauthority who had issued the originalcertificate.

SOFTWARE FEATURESl Use of Web based Open SourceTechnology

l Client uses only browser to use theapplication.

l UNICODE Compliant supportsdata entry in local language.

l Privilege based access to the systemusers (Committee Users)

l Authenticated level users of thesystem, password security with saltedmd5 encryption

l Committee work-flow has beenautomated.

l Case status can be viewed byapplicant/ sponsoring agency online

l MIS and query based reports(Statistics + Details) can be generatedat a click of button.

l Utilities for viewing/printing stagewise cases and detail report

l Access log of external visitorsviewing case status, list of decidedcases etc.

l Common/Centralized Database forall the committees

l Letters generated to the applicantsuch as acknowledgment letter, showcause notice, hearing letter in locallanguage etc.

TECHNOLOGY USED The Open Source Platform Linux,PHP, Apache, and PostgreSQL wereused to save the cost to the departmentand to avoid vendor locking. High endservers with 8 GB RAM connected tothe Internet have been deployed forthe implementation of the application.While at the committee level, clientswith browsing facility are provided forsmooth functioning of the interface.

RECOGNITION & AWARDS The Project received the Skoch“Certificate of Merit” as one of the“100 Best ICT Projects” for the year2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Sanjay G KulKarni

Principal Systems analyst,

Email:[email protected]

Pre-deployment Post-deployment

Registers were being maintained inorder to know the exact status of case.

There is no need to maintain so manyregisters, except the Inward andOutward Registers; that too withprintout from the system.

Reports needed to be compiledmanually and required efforts and time;there was no guarantee about theaccuracy. The data manipulation waspossible to show good result in reports.

The system generates MIS reports inno time with high accuracy. Thefactual information can be viewed, nochance to manipulate the report toproduce forged results.

Applicants/Sponsoring agency had toapproach the committees to know thestatus of their cases.

There is no need to come to TCSC forknowing the status of cases, which canbe viewed on Internet 24X7.

The list of decided cases in the previousmonth has to be placed on the noticeboard of the TCSC. To view the list theapplicants, one had to physically arriveat TCSC.

The list of cases decided in theprevious month can be viewed on theInternet; there is no need to visitTCSC for this purpose.

The actual pendency of the number ofcases was not known.

The pendency can be known at theclick of a button.

Only Standard Reports to be sent wereprepared. The ad-hoc Query basedReports required to reply to theAssembly questions, RTI, Agenciesinvolved in the upliftment of weakersections, which is time consuming andadversely affects day to day work.

The Standard and Query basedReports are now generated in no time,thereby saving time and humanefforts.

Sharing of information among thecommittees for cases received wasdifficult.

With this system, it is possible to viewdetails of any case of any committee

Monitoring individual cases was difficultas the information was stored indifferent registers.

Monitoring of cases is a simpleexercise now days.

Applicant submitting an application forverification could not be validated forearlier invalidations.

It is possible to identify/check suchcases at the registration stage itself.

Table -Pre and Post Deployment Comparison





t was conceived that ManualProcess of managing thestores should make a way formodern and commodiouscomputerized system.

LBSNAA prepared a comprehensivetechnical plan to implement the“change”. Following are theprerequisites required for driving thischange:

REQUIREMENTSl Software should be based on client-server technology

l User/Employee can view theavailability of the items in store, so that,s/he can demand a particular item ifavailable, ensuring transparency inworking of stores & supply.

l The working of the software shouldfollow demand and supply modelwherein a user/employee makes arequisition containing the required itemswhich goes to the stores & supply sectionand then finally the officials of S&S issuethose items demanded by the employee.

l User Interface must be as simple andeffective that virtually there is no trainingrequired at both ends (User end andAdministration end).

SOLUTIONIn order to make the interface as simpleand comfortable as possible and to keepemployees/users at ease in operating, astudy was carried out to figure therequirements of the end-user by visitingemployees. We also studied the oldmanual system of the stores and supplysection to simplify the process ofmigration from old system to the newone. After completing the above process,we designed the prototype of the desiredsystem according to the requirementsstudied.In this prototype, we provided the veryinteractive and self-explanatory interfaceto the user. An interactive list of the itemswith the detailed information about theitems availability along with thecoloured indicators were provided tothe users to enable quick and easyrequisitions. This widget (front-end) iswritten in the popular JavaScriptframework called jquery and thebackground processes are handled usingthe Dot Net Framework.

Information Technology based e-Governacetools have been changing the livesdrastically in India. Even before that, itbrings unimaginable innovative comfort tothe administration in order to strengthen thepublic service delivery mechanism. Buzzaround “change management” is noisierthan the actual change that has beenenvisioned. Lal Bahadur Shastri NationalAcademy of Administration went under thesame upheavals in introducing moresystematic methodology in managing itsinventory and supply chain. An institute,which has been ham-handed due to old-fashioned management system, was foundin a dire need of radical changes in itsinventory management and supply chain.Implementation of e-Office in the instituteinspired the much needed change inmanaging the inventories.

AMARJEET SINGHDUTTSystems [email protected]

AZAD SINGHSenior Systems Analyst

[email protected]

I

STORES & SUPPLYMANAGEMENT SYSTEM

M. CHAKRABORTYSenior Technical [email protected]

Login Screen

-13_Informatics 4/16/2014 2:05 PM Page 12



WEB INTERFACE OF THE SOFTWAREAfter successful login user will get theinterface according to his/her role.

FEATURESIt was well understood that interface ofthis web based solution has to be simpleand user friendly in order to oblige to theskills and caliber of the employees.Therefore, users need not to punch thename of the items in this interface.Instead, all the items are available in awidget, where users can search or filteraccording to item’s category and simplytype the quantity of a particular item toadd that item to the requisition. Colourindicators and details about the itemsimprove the interactivity between theuser and the system. In addition, a draftfacility is provided to the user to make itmore convenient for the user to requestitems with large number or recurringitems. User can view the status of his/herrequisition any time. A user can send therequisition to the higher authorities forapproval.At the admin/stores end, they will get alist of all requisitions made by the users.The facility of partial issuance of items isprovided to the stores personnel to makethe process simple flexible so that thenon-available items can be kept pendingfor later issuing. An Excel like keyboardnavigation feature and inline editing isadded to the delivery interface to speedup the working of issued items process.

SCOPEOne of the major works to be done is theDead Stock Module. For this QR code orBAR codes for the items are beingconsidered. We are also considering theDatabase portability so that the systemadministrator can select the database asper his/her convenience. Also, there is abig scope for improvement and we areexpecting the valuable suggestions fromexperts and the users.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:M. Chakraborty

Senior Technical Director

NIC Training Unit, LBSNAA, Mussoorie.

Email: [email protected]

Received Requisitions

Requisition Interface

Issue Interface




Edited by RUBAIYAT ALI

BACKGROUNDThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) isdoing its best to encourage electronicpayment which will bring security andefficiency to payment systems thusrendering the whole process easier forbanks. RBI has also encouraged allbanks and individuals to embrace e-payment.There are around 43,700 pensioners inManipur whose saving accounts havebeen opened and are being operatedin 10 banks with 48 branches. Paymentof monthly pension to pensioners hasbeen automated in Manipur fromApril 2007, and all the treasuries arecrediting pension to the pensioners’account on monthly basis bygenerating a monthly advice list in softcopy (EXCEL format) and hard copyfor the bank concerned. However,there has always been some delay inthe disbursement of pension in thepensioners’ bank account as there is aneed for obtaining clearance from thesponsor bank (SBI, Imphal) by thedestination banks. This process is slowand inefficient and there is always

inordinate delay at the destinationbanks in crediting the money into thepensioner’s savings account.It was against this background that theState Government of Manipur, inconsultation with RBI, Guwahaticontemplated introducing theRegional Electronic Clearing Service(R-ECS) in the existing PensionPayment System of Manipur witheffect from August 1, 2013.

OVERVIEW OF REGIONALELECTRONIC CLEARING SERVICE(R-ECS)R-ECS is a region-wise mode ofelectronic funds transfer introduced byRBI. R-ECS facilitates bulk transfer ofmoney from one bank account tomany bank accounts or vice versausing the services of a RegionalClearing House. There are two typesof R-ECS i.e R-ECS (credit) and R-ECS (debit). The turnaround time fordata submission by the user is two daysprior to settlement date. Returns areprovided on the next working day ofthe settlement date. R-ECS facilitatesthe coverage of all core-banking-enabled branches in a state or group ofstates and can be used by

The payment system is one of themost important elements of afinancial system and Governmentalways looks for innovative waysof making hassle-free payments toindividuals. Since electronic meansof payment are both safer andmore efficient, efforts are beingmade continuously to effect achange in the mode of paymentfrom paper to electronic. For thebenefit of pensioners in the stateof Manipur, the State Governmentin consultation with RBI,Guwahati contemplatedintroducing the RegionalElectronic Clearing Service (R-ECS)in the existing Pension PaymentSystem from August 1, 2013.

L. DHANESHWARSINGHPrincipal Systems [email protected]

O. TOMBI SINGHSystems Analyst

[email protected]

REGIONAL ELECTRONIC CLEARING SERVICE(R-ECS) IN PENSION PAYMENT SYSTEM:Ensuring Efficient Payment to Pensioners

Sample R-ECS file




organizations within the state or groupof states. The system takes advantageof the core banking system in banks.Accordingly, even though inter-banksettlements takes place centrally at onelocation in the state, the actualcustomers under R-ECS may havetheir accounts at various bankbranches across the length and breadthof the state or group of states.

R-ECS PAYMENT SYSTEMThe R-ECS Payment System is aclient-server-based software developedby NIC Manipur as an add-on to thePension Payment System alreadyimplemented at all the pensionprocessing treasuries of Manipur.Certain key information pertaining toTreasury Officer such as user number,user name, sponsor-bank branch sortcode, etc. are collected from RBI usingE-1 mandate and captured in the R-ECS Payment System.The Electronic Pension Advicegenerated by Pension Payment Systemis ported to the R-ECS PaymentSystem to generate a 156 columnsequential file in RBI formatcontaining header/credit contra andcredit records. The credit contra is thefirst record in the file and contains thedetails of the user such as user number,user name, sponsor-bank sort code, theupper limit of the individual creditentry, the total value of all the credititems, etc., which acts as controlinformation while processing thecredit records. Certain keyinformation in the credit contra recordare repeated in all the credit records tomake each credit record self containedwith both credit and debit particularsof the transaction. Sample R-ECS filegenerated by R-ECS Payment Systemis as follows:-This sequential file along withmandate E-2 is sent by the TreasuryOfficer to the sponsor bank (SBIImphal) by email. The sponsor bank

uploads this validated file through thesecured web server of RBI. TheNational Clearing Center (NCC) ofRBI, Guwahati retains the mandate (E-2), processes the data, arrives at thesettlement, generates destination bankwise data/reports and makes availablethe data/reports through secured web-server to the destination banks. The destination banks carries outposting to the individual accountsmaintained on their different CBS-enabled branches on the samesettlement date through CBS. Thedestination banks generate a file E-3for returning the uncredited items tothe NCC, RBI, Guwahati, which inturn generates a combined list ofuncredited items for each branch (R-7).Item-wise Destination Ledger Report(R-5), Initial Sponsor Bank SettlementReport (R-6) and R-7 are forwarded byNCC, RBI, Guwahati to the sponsorbank for further submission to theTreasury Officer concerned as well asfor reconciliation with the AG office.

IMPACT OF R-ECSl No more enquiry at treasury andbanks regarding credit of monthlypensions

l Cost-effective – Enormous savingsin Treasury Office for printing,dispatch and reconciliation of paperdocuments

l Efficient payment mode ensuringthat the pensioners get credit on thesettlement date irrespective of thelocation of the bank in which theaccount is available

l Pensioner need not make frequentvisits to the bank

l Banks running R-ECS practicallyconverts to paperless handling

l Eliminates the need for customers togo to the collection centres/banks andstand in long queues for payment

CONCLUSIONWith the adoption of the R-ECSPayment System, the monthlypensions are credited to thepensioners’ saving account on the firstworking day in 29 CBS (Core BankingSolution) enabled bank branches(Participating Branches) in Manipurand other North-eastern states.

Basic workflow of R-ECS Payment System

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:L. Dhaneshwar Singh

Principal Systems Analyst





Edited by MOHAN DAS VISWAM

o implement theNDSAP, the NationalInformatics Centre(NIC), Department ofElectronics and

Information Technology (DeitY) has setup the OGD Platform (data.gov.in) as asingle point of access to all governmentdata resources such as datasets, apps andsoftware tools. The key objective of theOGD platform is to democratisegovernment data in order to fostertransparency, citizen engagement and

public participation in creating ideas andinnovations to strengthen goodgovernance.

IMPORTANT PHASES IN THETIMELINE OF OGDPl October 1, 2012: Beta versionlaunched with the publishing of fourdatasets provided by the Ministry ofStatistics and Programme Evaluation.

l August 8, 2013: The Union Ministerofficially launched the portal.

l February 18, 2014: Version 2.0 ofOGDP launched with unified interface

The National Data Sharing andAccessibility Policy (NDSAP)(Gazette notified on 17thMarch’12) was formulated toenable and establish openaccess to all data generatedfrom Ministries, Departmentsand related Organisations ofGovernment of India. The policymandates these entities of thegovernment to voluntarilyrelease datasets in openformats which are updatableperiodically. As a result, aplethora of valuable datasetsare being released on the OpenGovernment Data (OGD)Platform India -http://data.gov.in

ALKA MISHRASenior Technical [email protected]

D. P. MISRAPrincipal Systems Analyst

[email protected]

T

OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA(OGD) PLATFORM

A screen interface of OGDP Ver.2.0




enabling rich user experience for visitors,data providers and platform usercommunity.

OGDP VER 2.0: KEY FEATURES1. Well organized with cataloging ofrelated and similar resources(Datasets/Apps) E.g.: Time seriesdatasets of Consumer Price Index aregrouped under a single catalog.2. Maintains catalog and resourcerevisions with timestamp3. Built with Responsive Web Designconcept, enabling rich user experienceequally on desktops, handheld andmobile devices. In such a design, thepages layout adapts to various viewportsizes (Elaborated in the October 2013edition of Informatics).4. Improved look and feel through sleekand clean Interface design 5. Enhanced features to search dataresources6. Application Programming Interfaces(APIs) to Query Datasets. Registeredusers have the option to generate theirAPI Key to access data within datasets.7. Registered users have the options toenable SMS and Email Alerts.8. Additional options for searching/filtering resources by frequency, sectors,coverage etc.9. Resource Description Framework(RDF) support for catalogs10. Enhanced Visualization Platformand an exclusive Visualization Galleryfor time series based browsing ofVisualization of the Day (VoDs)11. Dedicated events section forcontests/challenges with FeaturedApps section showcasing community-contributed apps12. Separate instance for the demo sitewith role based credentials to have afirst-hand feel of the workflow

INNOVATIONS IN THE PRODUCT:l Quick Response Code (QR) – QRenabled catalogs available on data.gov.incan be captured and read throughadvanced imaging devices such as digital

photo cameras and smart phones.

l Metadata & Its Vocabularies –Datasets are published along with a setof standard metadata based on DublinCore. It uses controlled vocabularies ongovernment sectors, jurisdictions, datasettypes, access mode etc. Besidesfacilitating easy access to datasets, itwould also be extremely useful in futurefor federation/integration of datacatalogs for the entire country. Thesestandard vocabularies are published ona dedicated website http://vocab.nic.inthrough Representational State Transfer(REST) and Simple Object AccessProtocol (SOAP) based APIs/WebServices for further utilization for any ofthe e-Gov initiatives.

l Citizen Engagement andCommunity Collaboration – TheOGDP has a robust enablement forcitizen engagement, where the citizenscan express their views and suggestions.Besides, they can also rate the datasetsbased on its Quality, Accessibility andUsability in a scale of 5. Embedding anydataset to a user’s blog or website is alsopossible. One can write to the respectivedata controllers seeking information or

clarification on any dataset available onthe platform. There is also a facility tosuggest datasets/apps for publishing. TheIt gives an idea to the departments aboutthe kind of data people seek andaccordingly they can prioritize release ofdata. Moreover, citizens with specificinterest areas can build communities onthe Platform, which facilitates knowledgesharing through utilities such asdiscussion forums and blogs.

l Tool for Intra-operability of Dataformats – APIs have been developed toconvert the source datasets from originalpublished format to five differentformats. It helps developers to consumethe datasets directly in theirapplications/tools.

l Metrics – Dashboard has beendeveloped to give a bird’s eye view ofthe contributed catalogs/resources onthe platform, along with its popularity,usage and visitors statistics.

l Visitor Relationship Management– Feedback/suggestions received for anycatalog/resource is forwarded to thedashboard of the data controller forfurther action.

Screen Interface of http://SaaS.data.gov.in




PROCESS INNOVATION -SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SaaS)As per NDSAP, the government entitiesare required to publish their dataresources on the OGD Platform India(data.gov.in). Now, the StateGovernments, District Administrations,Municipal Corporations, Public SectorUndertakings apart from entities &projects of government can also havepersonalised OGD Platform. Thisplatform is also offered through Softwareas a Service (SaaS) model to set upcustomized data portal according to anyspecific requirement. Besides providingtechnical assistance, NDSAP-Programme Management Unit (PMU)also offers infrastructure support forhosting and maintenance to governmententities for active implementation ofNDSAP.

The OGD Platform is being offeringany or combination of the followingservices:

l The Entire Platform with dashboardon Analytics, Metrics, Visitor Statistics

l Any of the Modular Components –Content Management System, DatasetManagement System, VisitorRelationship Management System,Community Management System

l Visualization Engine Service

As per the requirement of theGovernment of Maharashtra, the entireplatform was offered to setupMaharashtra’s State Data Portal(https://data.maharashtra.gov.in). TheOGD Platform V-1.0 has also beenoffered to the African countries such asGhana and Rwanda to develop their

National Data Portals. The OGDPlatform V-1.0 code base has also beenused to deploy NIC App Store, arepository of various applicationsdeveloped by NIC.The OGD Platform India,http://data.gov.in features advancedsearch options for government’s dataresources and various data usages. Theplatform is also intended to help variousgovernment entities to streamline theirdata gathering and processingprocedures. This is a step towardspromoting innovations and supports thedevelopment of data-driven solutions tobenefit citizens.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Alka Mishra

Senior Technical Director,

NIC Hqrs. Delhi,


NIC FELICITATES WINNERS OF#OPENDATAAPPS CHALLENGE;LAUNCHES 'OPEN GOVERNMENTDATA PLATFORM INDIA V.2.0'The winners of the #OpenDataAppsChallenge were felicitated by NIC, DeitYon 18th of February 2014 at the SCOPEConvention Centre, CGO Complex, NewDelhi.

Cash prizes of ` 1,00,000 each to thethree winners and ` 50,000 each to thethree runners-up were awarded andCertificate of Merit were awarded tothe finalists. Entrepreneurs, Innovators,

Start-ups, Developers, Civil Society andIT industry were invited to createunique, innovative and useful Apps forcross platform and multi devices usingOpen Government Data. The devicesand systems ranges from Smartphones,Tablets, Web, SMS to Voice basedapplications. The important objectivesof this initiative were to encouragedata-driven innovations and engagestart-ups & developer community toinvolve and build a healthy open dataecosystem.

Of the 331 proposals received from all

over the country, 99 completed appsmade for various operating systems viz.Android, iOS, Windows, SMS etc. onsectors such as Agriculture, Postal,Governance and Health were evaluatedto shortlist 20 finalists for furtherdeciding the challenge winners.

Details of the #OpenDataAppsChallenge finalists can be referred athttp://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Opendataapps_challenge_finalist.pdf andhttp://data.gov.in/event/ opendataapps-challenge.

Group photo with a winning team of the #OpendataApps Challenge




Edited by VIVEK VERMA

aryana has been a front-runner in highwaytourism. HaryanaTourism Corporation(HTC) operates 42

Tourist Complexes spread all over thestate. The Corporation offers 785 roomsthrough these complexes for lodging oftourists. Due to non-availability ofinformation related to room occupancyposition, there was a great shortfall inrevenue. Citizens access to importantplaces like Kurukshetra, Pinjore andother destinations was very limited as aresult of which tourists were deprived ofaccess to cheap state tourismaccommodation and were fleeced byprivate hotels.Since, most of the business is fromcurrent booking, a tourist had to visiteither the resort or to the booking officesat Chandigarh or Delhi to book theroom in advance. The management wasnot able to monitor the room occupancy.Tourists from abroad were not able tobook room while scheduling their travelplan to India and Haryana in particular.The customer base was limited and thecustomers were not able to avail theschemes launched by the corporation. To expose the potential of tourism inHaryana to the world, a web portal(http://haryanatourism.gov.in) withintegrated ‘Online Rooms BookingSystem’ and ‘Online e-Ticketing forSurajKund International Crafts Mela’was inaugurated by Tourism Minister on4th August, 2009. Visitors from all overthe world can book rooms and ticketsusing debit/credit cards and internetbanking of 26 Nationalised Banks.‘Surajkund International Crafts Mela’ isorganised every year from 1st Februaryto 15th February. ‘Online e-TicketingSystem’ is developed for booking entrytickets for the Mela. The system has the

facility to book rooms in any of theresorts of Haryana Tourism employingany of the following modes:l Using Payment Gateway: As thesystem is web based, tourist can bookaccommodation from anywhere,anytime using debit/credit card.

l Blocking of accommodation:Tourists who do not have credit/debitcard can make bookings by blocking therooms and payment on account of tariffcan be deposited in the Axis Bankaccount of respective tourist resort fromanywhere.

l At Resort counter: Tourist can alsobook room in any resort of HTC fromfront office counter of that resort.

l Tourist Agents: HTC has madeagreement with 30 private tourist agents.Interface is provided to agents forbooking accommodation for any resort.

l System also provides e-Ticketing facilityfor Surjkund International Crafts Mela.

PROCESSES COMPUTERISED l Advance Booking

l Current Booking

l Concessional Booking

l Discounted Booking

l Blocking of Rooms

l Confirmation of Blocking

l Cancellation of Booking

l Check-in

l Check-out

l Change Rooms

l Change accommodation type

l Making changes in tariff, Destinations,User Creation

l Publishing special discount

l Taking out accommodation frombooking for repair/ maintenance

l Room Chart

Haryana is one of the mostindustrialized states inIndia. It is also known allover the world for itsculture and religious &historical events likeMahabharta. Tourists andbusinessmen from all overthe world visit this state. Toexpose the tourismpotential of Haryana to theworld, streamline theaccommodation bookingprocedures and thwartfraudulent and corruptpractices in the existingsystem, e-Tourism initiativehas been introduced.

DEEPAK BANSALSenior Technical [email protected]

YASHPALSenior Systems Analyst

[email protected]

H

e-TOURISM:Streamlining Tourism Using ICT




l Monitoring finances and OccupancyReporting

l E-Ticketing, checking of tickets at theEntry gate.

OBJECTIVES & ACHIEVEMENTS1. Transparency: The system ensurestransparency by providing informationon all types of accommodation of allHTC resorts on web, so that thecustomers are able to book the room asper availability. 2. Efficiency: Processing of completeroom reservation in a time boundmanner and displaying the status on webadds greater efficiency to the process.3. Elimination of Fraudulent &Corrupt Practices: Non-entry invisitor’s register is expected to bereduced with the system.4. Timeliness: Due to automation ofmajor manual processes, the wholeexercise can be completed withinshortest possible time.

5. Cost-effectiveness: With theimplementation of Online RoomReservation System, more business isexpected to be generated from all overthe world.l With the help of the system andautomated communication, every touristcomplex can now manage a largercustomer base.

l Information related to location, modeof transport, facilities to visitors, visitingspots is now easily available.

6. e-Ticketing at SurajkundInternational Crafts MelaMore than 10 lakh visitors from all overthe world visit the Surajkund Mela everyyear. Keeping in mind the botherationthey go through while buying the tickets, e-Ticketing facility is the need of the hour.Foreign visitors who visit India to see thisMela will also be benefitted with systemas it facilitates them to see the details ofthe event and book e-Ticket for melaentry and rooms in the nearby resort.

BOOKING STATISTICS The total collections generated from thesystem is more than ` 98,27,72,567through 4,90,000 bookingsaccomplished since its commencementon 4th August, 2009.

REPLICATIONl The software is provided to NIC,Tripura and NIC, West Bengal tocustomise it for their respective StateTourism Departments.

l Customization of the software for guesthouses of Indian Council for AgricultureResearch, New Delhi (ICAR) is beingdone at NIC, Haryana.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:State Informatics Officer

National Informatics Centre

Room No.G01

New Haryana Secretariat Building,

Sector 17 Chandigarh

Ph. No. 0172-2711642

Web Portal of Haryana Tourism Corporation - http://haryanatourism.gov.in





any states in Indiastarted the process ofdigitizing the landrecords. However, Goais one of the first few

states in country to complete 100%digitization of land records. TheIntegrated Textual Land RecordsManagement System, which is namedas a “Dharani” offers comprehensiveand wholesome solutions. Thecomputerization process started wayback in 2001 and was inaugurated bythe then Minister of RuralDevelopment, Government of India.Subsequently, manual process was

terminated in mid 2002 withimplementation of mutation process.

KEY FEATURES OF DHARANIl Management of Rural (Form I &XIV) and Urban (Form D) LandRecords – includes complete mutationprocess, management and updations.

l Dharani for Crop survey, a “clickonce” based application with web-services to enable the 187 talathis ofGoa to conduct the survey of standingcrops during Kharif and Rabi seasonsand capture the cultivation details inForm XIV.

l Web enabled Touch Screen KioskInterface for direct access by public

Digitally Signed Land Records of GoaEven in the 21st century India,social status is very muchdefined by the piece of land oneowns. Therefore, it is theobligation on the governmentsto have an efficient as well asan analytical mechanism toascertain the ownership, type,and nature as well ascultivation pattern of the land.Manual records of land werenever accurate and had beenthe reason of much discordancein the society. To tackle suchsituations computerization ofthe land records is the onlyanswer.

G.H. SUBHASHSenior Systems [email protected]

M. B. CHENNABASAPPAScientific [email protected]

DHARANI:

Mutation Counter

M




l Mahiti Ghars providing copy ofROR to public

With advancement in technology,what was introduced as a textual(Record-of-Rights) RoR has beenenhanced with modern technologyknown as digital signature. All-inclusive SWAN network, GoaBroadband Network (GBBN) providesrobust connectivity through all thedistrict collectorates as well as talukasof the state. Simultaneously, NIC DataCentre hosts the applications, webservices and land records databases.

MUTATION PROCESS AMENDMENTSl A ‘No Objection’ in the form of anaffidavit from all the existing co-owners of the seller if submitted canwaive off the notice service andmutation can be completed within aday’s time.

l No notice service and no mutationfees for cases processed by virtue ofTenancy and Mundkar declaration/purchases.

l No notice service for mutationsprocessed by virtue of a Revenue courtorder passed under Corrections,Partitions, Amalgamations, LandConversions and Land Acquisitions.

DIGITAL SIGNATURESIn the earlier scenario, an electronicRoR was not admissible in the court oflaw. In order to give legal sanctity tothe electronic RoR, digital signatureswere introduced. The digital signaturehas been adopted to ensureauthenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation. Furthermore, it alsofacilitates authenticity verificationthrough Directorate of Settlement &Land Records (DSLR) website(http://dslr.goa.nic.in) for citizens andother stakeholders.

A digitally signed extract of RoR is

available for citizens through DharaniRural v3. At present, repository ofRural RoR is available for one taluka.The digitally signed ROR are beingissued by the Mamlatdar’s Office sinceJan 2013.

DSC ENABLED DHARANI l The RoR is digitally signed by theMamlatdar.

l Authenticity Verification Servicemade available at DSLR website forcitizens and interested agencies.

l Integrity check of digitally signeddocuments done each time whilegenerating RoR, failed cases arelogged and RoR preview prevented.

l Digitally signed RoR & XML SOAPbased web services extended toDHARNAKSH portal(http://www.dharnaksh.com) ofGovernment of Goa for generation ofForm I & XIV and integrated cadastralmap with RoR information (Form J,Form XV).

DHARANIRURAL V3 COMPLIANCEWITH NATIONAL E-GOVERNANCESTANDARDSl XML Signatures with theenhancements of XADES which is aW3C specification was adopted fordigital signatures.

l Adopted SHA256 and RSA-SHA256 algorithms for signingprocess as recommended by CCA

l e-Governance MDDS location codesadopted

l XML SOAP based web servicesused for communication with discrete

and independent land record systemsmanaged by multiple vendors

l UNICODE 5.0 as the character setencoding standard to storemultilingual land records data

l SQL SERVER REPORTINGSERVICES (SSRS) - 2008 is beingused to render the RoR

INTEGRATION OF PROPERTYREGISTRATION WITH MUTATIONSIn order to ensure the seamlessmutation process after registration ofproperties at Sub Registrar’s Offices,Dharani & GAURI s/w of RegistrationDepartment have been integrated aspart of NLRMP (National LandRecords Management Program).

ACCOLADES FOR DHARANIThe Directorate of Settlement & LandRecords, Goa bagged the CSI NihilentE-Governance “Award of Excellence”under best “Department Category” for2009-2010 for its initiatives underDharani project.

In this age of ubiquitous connectivity,it is vital to not only deliver servicesanywhere, anytime, but also to ensurethat they are legally acceptable. DigitalSignatures is one such answer towardsthe same.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:JJR AnAnd

State Informatics Officer,

National Informatics Centre,

Goa State Centre,

H-Block, Paraiso-De-Goa Porvorim Goa


1 Number of RoR issued/viewed 28,74,985

2 Number of Digitally signed RoR issued 8,513

3 RoR Digitally signed while authorizing mutations 6,376

Usage Statistics till March 2014



E-Gov Products and ServicesTechnology Update

ppBuilder is a code-generation software(and also aFramework) that auto-generates some of the

application objects (e.g. Forms,Business Logic, Data ManagementMenus etc) using Database Metadata.With a well-designed database, a lot ofdetails are already available in theDatabase Metadata, which can verymuch be used to generate applicationobjects. Once a table is added to adatabase, a number of details are to bemandatorily defined, namely- Name ofthe Table, Name of the Columns, theirtype, length (if applicable) etc. Aproperly designed database containsother additional non-mandatoryinformation like Descriptions (i.e. notonly cryptic names) of Tables andTable Columns, definitions of Primary

Keys, Foreign Keys and UniqueConstraints. All these metadata detailsare available through various systemviews and tables. In order to generatea simple menu for table management,the descriptive names for tables aregood enough as Menu Options. Forgenerating a Form for a table withCRUD and other features, one needsto know the Column Descriptions,Length, Type (for display andvalidation), Foreign Keys and UniqueConstraints for creating Drop-down-lists. An effort also has been made togenerate application objects with anObject-Oriented (OO) approach.

AppBuilder generates applicationobjects such as Menus and Forms forTable Management. It is presentlyavailable in its best shape forJEE/PHP and MySQL/PostgreSQLdatabase; but it is available under

Software developers quiteoften come across situationswhere fast prototyping of asoftware becomes absolutelyessential. Most of thesesoftware are database-centricand CRUD (create, retrieve,update, delete) functionalitiesform about 30%-40% of thetotal development effort (ifnot more). Therefore, it will beof great help if forms withCRUD functionalities can begenerated using some tools.AppBuilder is a code-generation software (and alsoa Framework) that auto-generates application objectssuch as Menus and Forms forTable Management.

DEEPAK GOSWAMISenior Technical Director & [email protected]

APPBUILDER:

A

A form generated with AppBuilder with a few modifications

A Tool & A Framework




various stages of development for.NET and MS SQL Server 2000 and2005 databases.

A Table Management Form for a tableis created with the name<tablename>Form.php, it displays allthe columns of the database table;normal columns are displayed with aLabel (showing the ColumnDescription if available, otherwise theColumn Name) and TextFieldcombination (TextField has properlength restriction); a Date Column isshown with a TextField and aCalendar control; all not-nullablecolumns are marked with a * toindicate these cannot be left blank; aForeign Key Column is shown with aDrop-down List. The Drop-down Listin such cases is created by using thePrimary Key Column and the UniqueColumn of the referred table. Thisapproach has been adopted on thebasis of the author's observation of alarge number of softwares that Drop-down Lists in Forms always refer toForeign Keys; also the Text part (i.e.the part shown in such a list as distinctfrom the Value part which is normallynot shown) of a Drop-down Listalways refers to the Descriptive part ofa table row, which preferably shouldbe unique (i.e. some kind of alternateor candidate key). In case such aUnique Column (apart from thePrimary Key) cannot be defined for atable because of syntactic reasons, themost appropriate Column needs to bemanually inserted in the generated Code.

The basic CRUD operations aredefinitely parts of such a Form;Insertion, Retrieval, Updation andDeletion of a Record are basic featuresof such a Form; in addition, it providesa facility to list all records or listselectively depending on some filtercriteria. While listing records, allForeign Keys are replaced by theiractual Descriptive Columns (e.g. ADistrict Code will be replaced by theDistrict Name). Such forms also have

server-side default validation on thebasis of data type, length as well asSQL Injection validations; in the caseof Retrieval and Deletion, only thePrimary Key values are validated (asthese are the only inputs required forthese two operations). For Insertionand Updation, all Column values arevalidated. For Filtered List Record, allcolumn values are validated since filtercriteria can set any column value.

For any application with a largenumber of database tables,AppBuilder can definitely reducedevelopment time to a great extent asall data management Forms can begenerated in no time with thenecessary business logic.

COMPONENTS/MODULES OFAPPBUILDERAppBuilder provides a rich library ofclasses; these are:

l DBManager: Wrapper Class togeneralise database accessindependent of the actual databaseused

l FileManager: Utility Class tomanage File Input/Output

l HTMLUtil: Class with usefulmethods to generate HTML controlswith data

l MySQLDBManager & PGDBManager: Actual database-managerclasses for MYSQL & PostgreSQLdatabases; contains a large number ofuseful methods. It also contains otheruseful methods like querying forstructure of tables with foreign keydetails, generating denormalised tablestructures etc.

l Validator: Class with necessaryvalidation methods for different typesof data

The methods available in these classescan be used in any application. Thisallows AppBuilder to be used also as aFramework.

For each database table, it generatesfollowing application objects:

l The Form, which contains theHTML tags (View) as well as theController part of the code requiredfor processing user inputs.

l Table Manager Class which takescare of the CRUD operations andvalidations. The complexities involvedin CRUD operations (e.g. Selectedretrieval with filters, Retrieval withreplacement of foreign key codes withappropriate values, Insertion andUpdations with blank fields etc) areproperly handled.

It also has limited configurationfeatures in the sense that the dateformat can be chosen and parametersfor validations like SQL Injection canbe redefined.

APPLICATIONS DEVELOPEDUSING APPBUILDER TOOLThis tool has already been used tobuild up several projects in NICAssam, notable amongst them beingMIS for Small Tea Growers, GovPIS(a Personnel Information System forGovt of Assam), ERP for Assam Co-operatiove Jute Mill Ltd etc.

UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE INITIATIVENone of the Code-generation softwaretreat Foreign Keys the way thepresent tool does. Automaticallygenerating relevant Drop-down Listsand maintaining them during thelifetime of a Form requires quite a lotof effort. Also the code generated bythis tool is much easier to understandand modify.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Deepak Goswami

STD�&�SIO

National�Informatics�Centre

Assam�State�Centre

Guwahati-781006

E-mail:�[email protected]




Edited by MOHAN DAS VISWAM

METADATA & DATA STANDARDSData Standards are those documentedagreements and norms onrepresentation, format, definition,structuring, tagging, transmission,manipulation, and use of data. DataStandards enable consistent recording ofinformation and are fundamental toefficient sharing and exchange ofinformation. They provide the rules forstructuring information, so that the dataentered into a system can be reliably

read, sorted, indexed,retrieved,communicated andshared betweensystems. Metadata takes itsimportance oncethe Data Standardsare in place.

Metadata is the datathat defines and describes another dataor information. It is used to manage data,information and knowledge. Metadata isthe structured information that describes,explains, locates or otherwise makes iteasier to retrieve, use or manage aninformation resource. A Book Catalogue in a Library is asimple example of Metadata. Thedifferent data elements of informationpertaining to a book such as Title of theBook, Author’s name, Publication Date,Publication Language, Name ofPublisher, Subject, Category, Keywords,etc. are describing and defining the

attributes of a book. Hence, theseconstitute the metadata of the book.An integrated service in a typical e-Governance system would involvemultiple domains, and deal with itsvarious entities. Each of these entities isdefined with the attributes called dataelements. Similar kind of data elementsare defined by different domains basedon their own preset descriptions, dataformats and data sizes. For example, theattribute “Date”related to a particularevent may be represented in differentformats such as dd/mm/yyyy,mm/dd/yyyy, or dd-mm-yyyy in otherapplications. Applications that aresharing data in such formats mayinterpret values differently, resulting inmisinformation and unreliable data. Thisposes a major challenge in sharing dataand information among the variousapplications.It is also critically important to defineeach of the data elements as anindependent unit and provide it with acontextual definition. For instance, thedata element ‘Plant’ may be referred asa ‘Green plant/herb/grass’ byAgriculture domain, whereas it may beperceived as ‘ManufacturingUnit/Industrial Plant’ by the Industrydomain. Hence, achieving interoperability amongdomain applications, especially incontext to e-Governance,standardization of commonlyaccepted context-based datadefinitions and metadata of variousdata elements forms a vital parameter.

Dr. MEENAKSHIMAHAJANSenior Technical [email protected]

ROLE OF METADATA & DATASTANDARDS in e-GOVERNANCE Seamless sharing andintegration of data amongvarious applications within andacross the domains in e-Governance system augmentsits efficacy. In our country, alarge number of the e-Governance applicationsdeveloped within variousdomains are still being used insilos as they failed to be inter-operable. A key technologicalchallenge for effectiveinteroperability among systemsis to ensure that the precisemeaning and pattern of theexchanged data are preserved,accessed and perceived in anorganized manner.Standardization of data andsystematic development ofvarious interoperableapplications are thus vital tothe successful eco-systems of e-Governance.

Metadata is keyto ensure that adata will surviveand continue tobe accessible inthe future.




METADATA REGISTRY (MDR)As a part of the activity forstandardization, DeitY has identifieddomains of 12 MMPs to work towardsthe formulation of Domain specificMetadata and Data standards (MDDS)through Domain Committee in eachdomain. Each domain requiresstandardization of its terms and entitiesto ensure semantic interoperabilityamong e-Governance systems. Domainslike Panchayati Raj, Health, DrinkingWater & Sanitation and Agriculture areactively working in this direction. Each of the domains will create andmaintain domain repository of itsstandardized data elements along withtheir metadata. A Central MetadataRegistry (MDR) will be created tomaintain standardized generic data

elements common across domainapplications and their metadata. ThisMDR will provide theindexing/linking to different domainrepositories and promote standarddescriptions, common understanding ofdata definitions, synchronization,management and re-use of data indifferent contexts.

INITIATIVES BY GOVERNMENT OFINDIAa. Metadata and Data Standards –Demographic v1.1 (Notified in Nov2011)Data Elements have been defined andstandardized for two domains; Person(identification) and Land Region(Codification) as a part of domainspecific MDDS. The common generic

data elements specific to twodomains are also identified.Moving ahead, these commongeneric data elements will bestored in Centralized MDR.Controlled values of some ofthese data elements are definedin the form of CodeDirectories. List of notifiedgeneric data elements alongwith their metadata and XMLSchema is available onhttps://egovstandards.gov.in,

which is being used by variousapplications.

b. Institutional Mechanism forformulation of Domain specificMetadata and Data Standards(MDDS)This document describes the mechanismto be followed by different domainswhile formulating their MDDS alongwith roles and responsibilities ofDomain Committee and otherstakeholders involved. This will enableuniformity and consistency in theprocess undertaken by differentdomains.

CONCLUSION Achieving semantic interoperability isfunctionally an important aspect in e-Governance in order to enable andprovide single-window solution tocitizens across the country. For this, it isessential that the various applications forinformation and service delivery need toadopt standardization in data definitionsand metadata of its data elements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Dr. Meenakshi Mahajan

Senior Technical Director

e-Gov Standards Division

NIC Hqrs., New Delhi


AWARENESS WORKSHOPS ON MDDSl Awareness Workshop on Domain specificMetadata and Data Standards was organized atDeitY on 18th of October 2013 in which theofficials from NIC & DeitY and representativesfrom different ministries/departments haveparticipated.

l During the Workshop, training was impartedto the participants on formulation of Domainspecific MDDS.





any innovativeinitiatives incomputerization ofproperty registrationand land records have

been taken up by the Government ofHaryana. The property registration workhas been computerized using theHARIS (Haryana RegistrationInformation System) software,developed by NIC –Haryana, which isworking at all 122 SRO (Tehsils & Sub-Tehsils) offices across Haryana andproviding the property registrationservices in efficient manner. Generalpublic is getting diverse services likestamp duty evaluation and registrationacross the counter in the tehsil. Thephotographs of witnesses are also takenalong with the sellers and buyers on-line.This has reduced the incidents of wrongwitnesses, which was prevalent beforethe implementation of this system. Toenhance the transparency in the deedregistration work, AppointmentManagement System (AMS) of giving

appointments for deed registration hasbeen introduced with the help of NICHaryana. This is a Queue Managementat HARIS centres for deed registrationin First In First Out order. Now thecitizens know beforehand whatcharges/fee they are required to pay.Collector rates are also available onhttp://jamabandi.nic.in website. Thesefeatures have helped in elimination ofthe middlemen, who were the mainsource of corruption in the process.

The major land records documentsuch as Jamabandi and Mutation havebeen computerized using the HaryanaLand Records Information System(HALRIS) software, developed by NIC.HALRIS provides a workflow-basedapproach for the management of theland record documents and it haschanged the delivery model frompatwari centric to tehsil centric, where allthe revenue related services are providedfrom tehsil/sub-tehsil level centers.

For integrating the digitized maps withthe Record of Right and Mutation, Bhu-Naksha software is being used. All thethree i.e. HARIS, HALRIS and Bhu-

LEVERAGING EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES ININTEGRATED PROPERTY REGISTRATION &LAND RECORDS SOLUTION

MEmerging technologies likebiometric authentications, DSCs,2-D Bar Code along with QR Code,OTP, Web services based datareplication, SMS, Web basedaccess and AMS etc. have beenincreasingly employed in PropertyRegistration and Land RecordsSolutions to ensure secure &authenticated access, enhancedquality & hassle free servicedelivery with appropriateinformation security to thegeneral public. This articleintrospects on how these noveltechnologies have been integratedwith the HARIS – HALRIS softwaresolutions to facilitate the citizensto access their Records-of-rightson anywhere, anytime basis.

G.S.SAINISenior Systems Analyst

[email protected]

G.S.BANSALDeputy Director General

& [email protected]

Copy of Record of Right (Jamabandi)


Naksha seamlessly integrated to providea platform for dynamically integratingthe property registration, land recordsand Cadastral Maps.For ensuring secure & authenticated

access, enhanced quality & hassle freeservice delivery with appropriateinformation security to the generalpublic, a number of emergingtechnologies (like biometricauthentications, DSCs, 2-D Bar Codealong with QR Code, OTP, Web servicesbased data replication, SMS, Web basedaccess and AMS etc.) have beenintegrated with the HARIS – HALRISsoftware solutions, facilitating the citizensto access their Records-of-rights onanywhere, anytime basis and helping inreduction of litigations and frauds, aswell as elimination of middle men fromthe service delivery process.

SYNCHRONIZATION OF TEHSILLEVEL SERVERS WITH STATEDATA CENTER

Solution to synchronize theJamabandi Web Nakal data hosted atState Data Center within 15 minutes ofthe occurrence of any transaction likedeed registration, mutation etc attehsil/sub-tehsil level is implementedusing a set of .Net based windows andweb services. Solution can run usingdifferent connectivity modes like SWAN,

NICNET, and broadband in a verysimplified manner.

Digitally signed Record of RightTo provide the digitally signed copies

of ROR ( Jamabandi Nakal), digitalsignature certificates of the patwariesposted in HALRIS centers have beencreated. Nakal module of HALRIS hasbeen enhanced to generate the nakal inpdf format and digitally signed using theDSC token of the patwari on duty. Everydigitally signed Nakal carries a 15 digitunique ID and copy of the Nakal istransmitted to State Data Center so thatit can be verified using the unique IDfrom jamabandi.nic.in.

Digital Signing of ROR Database Revenue department decided to

digitally sign the ROR data stored atState Data Center. Main idea behind thisis to provide the ROR copy fromdigitally signed database on web.Database Signer application isdeveloped to digitally sign & verify thedatabase record by record. Windowsservice responsible for datasynchronization of tehsil server with datacenter is also enhanced to transmit thedigitally signed records.

Mobile app for project monitoring Android based mobile apps has been

developed to fetch the implementationstatus of HARIS and HALRIS by giving

the tehsil code as input. It uses a webservice to fetch the status of the selectedtehsil from the data center. Thisapplication is useful for monitoring theproject implementation by the SeniorRevenue Officers.

User access through mobile-based OTPJamabandi website is enhanced to

authenticate the users using the SMSbased OTP. This OTP basedauthentication is required to access theROR generated from digitally signeddatabase, scanned deeds and mutations.

Two Dimensional bar coded RORs Jamabandi nakal module of HALRIS

is enhanced to print the 2-D bar codeusing PDF 417 format, XML andhashing techniques. This solution hastwo main components - first isgeneration of 2-D bar code and secondis bar code verification. The mainobjective of devising this solution is togenerate the copies of ROR that can beverified to check any kind of tampering.

QR Code on ROR generated from webJamabandi website is enhanced to

print the QR Code on the copies ofROR. Smart phone users can easily getthe ROR issued from the website byscanning the QR code.

Biometrics based Access &Authentication Biometric based authentication is

provided in HALRIS and all critical savepoints in HALRIS like mutationsanctioning and incorporation etc can beaccessed by biometrics only.“Dynamic Integration of Property

Registration, Land Records andCadastral Maps” has received NationalSilver Award on e-Governance 2013-14under the category “IncrementalInnovation in Existing Project”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:State Informatics Officer


Room No.G01

New Haryana Secretariat Building,

Sector 17 Chandigarh

Ph. No. 0172-2711642


Team with the award






Edited by R. GAYATRI

BACKUP & RESTOREGenerally Backup and Restore facility isnot considered as a feature of availability.However, at some point, a need forrestoring a backup always arises.

Important l Know where backup is located.

l Test the backup randomly whileperforming a restore.

DATABASE MIRRORING Database mirroring is one of the solutionsto increase the availability of a SQLServer database and minimize or avoidserver downtime. Mirroring requirescreation and maintenance of redundantcopy/copies of a database. DataRedundancy ensures that at least a copyof database is always available and

remains accessible during the failure ofprimary database. It is recommended to use AlwaysOnAvailability Groups since mirroring willbe removed in future versions.

LOG SHIPPING Log shipping is considered as a techniquethan a technology. Database availabilitythrough log shipping is achieved bymaintaining a backup server that canreplace production server in the event ofany failure at the Primary. The processincludes-sending of transaction log backupsfrom a primary database to one or moresecondary databases automatically andrestoring them at the receiving end there bybringing synchronization between theprimary and the secondary database(s). Anoptional monitor server instance keepsrecording the history and status of backupand restores operations. It raises alerts ifthese operations do not occur as scheduled.

P. GAYATRITechnical [email protected]

ACHIEVING HIGH AVAILABILITY OF DATABASESTHROUGH FAILOVER CLUSTERING USING

One of the major challengeswhich IT systems face today is‘System Availability’. Availabilityis critical in terms of componentsviz., Web Server, Database Server,and Network. Without availability,services fail, SLAs exceed, revenueis lost and finally a bad publicitycan leave a lasting effect on end-users. Availability of an IT systemis being measured in currency, notin time anymore. Right strategies have to beadopted to make systems HighlyAvailable. For a database, it’s notjust availability but preservationwithout loss of data (till the pointof failure) which is very important.SQL Server 2008 provides variousHigh Availability technologies likeBackup, Clustering, Mirroring, Logshipping and Replication. This paper gives an overview ofHigh Availability technologies withprimary focus on the DatabaseFailover Clustering.

Figure 1 – Active/Passive DB Clustering

MICROSOFT SQL SERVER 2008




REPLICATION Definition (Source: MSDN):Replication is a set oftechnologies for copying anddistributing data and databaseobjects from one database toanother and thensynchronizing betweendatabases to maintainconsistency. SQL Serversupports various types ofDatabase Replication viz.,Snapshot Replication,Transactional Replication,Transactional Replication withUpdatable Subscriptions andMerge Replication. In anyreplication, there areimportant components calledPublisher (Source Database),Subscriber (Destination Database), Article(Information to Replicate) and Distributor(Information Delivery Agent).

DATABASE CLUSTERINGSQL Server Failover Clustering isdesigned to provide high serveravailability. It helps keep applicationsonline most of the time. When doneproperly, it makes the database highlyavailable. Termed as Microsoft ClusterService (MSCS), this works at thedatabase level. Two systems areconnected and configured in a Cluster. Ifprimary server fails or is purposelybrought down, SQL Server processingswitches to the clustered system. Thisswitch is known as Failover. Failover is

designed to minimize system downtime.Once a failover occurs, the failed systemmay be restored, brought back online,and then it is possible to switch processingback to the restored system – this is calledFailback.

HOW CLUSTERING WORKS?In traditional setup between web anddatabase servers, hardware/networkfailure on database side brings the wholeservice to a standstill. Figure 1 gives Clustered Database Setup.This solution operates in active/passive(with Cluster Node 1 active and ClusterNode 2 passive) mode, which means thatat any point in time only one of the nodesin the cluster is active.The active node keeps writing data to a

location on the shared drives calledQuorum. Quorum is used to share stateinformation whenever the cluster fails-over from one node to next. Quorum isbasically a log file (like database logs). Itspurpose is to record every change madeon the active node. Thus, every recordedchange in Quorum gets applied to passivenode during active node failure. A signalcalled Heartbeat is periodically sentacross the private network connectionbetween servers. The passive node checksfor Heartbeat and whenever owningresource is unavailable, it takes ownershipof cluster resources and starts readingstate information from Quorum.Figure 2 shows Failover state where activenode experiences failure and passivenode takes over (ensuring minimumdisruption). The failover is automatic andmanaged by Failover Cluster Manager.Once Node 1 is repaired and ready foruse, Failback can be initiated fromFailover Cluster Manager.To conclude, there are situations whereClustering holds high importance andalso situations when Clustering does nothave a role.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:P. Gayatri

Technical Director,

NIC, Hyderabad


Figure 2 – Failover Scenario

Situations where Clustering is of Use Situations where Clustering has no role

l Hardware failures l Doesn’t impact system performance

l Applying security patches, WindowsUpdates

l Transparent to calling application

l All databases, logins, agent jobs inFailover come-up together as single unitwithout scripting or configuration

l Clustering is additional tool introubleshooting toolkit

l No guarantee for storage availability.Doesn’t save space, effort for backups,maintenance. All maintenance to go as usual.

l SSRS(SQLServer ReportingServices)not “Cluster-aware”

l No guaranteed 100% availability. Therecould be downtime when SQL Serverinstance is “failing over” or movingbetween nodes.



District Informatics


IC District Centre Sirsa,established in 1988, hasbeen instrumental inimplementing various e-Governance projects &

ICT initiatives with full dedicationand zeal. It has been its continuousendeavour to efficiently delivercitizen centric services.

KEY ICT PROJECTSl e-Disha Centres: New building ofDistrict Level e-Disha Centre wasinaugurated by Hon’ble ChiefMinister Haryana which has beenrenovated by providing airconditioned waiting hall for publicwith AQMS.l Land Records MMP: Sirsa wasthe pilot district towardscomputerization of land records inHaryana and the project wasformally launched by the thenHon’ble Chief Minister Haryana onNovember 1, 2003. l Nakal (RoR) Issuance Centre atKanungo Circles: Sirsa is the onlydistrict in Haryana where JamabandiNakal Issuance Centres have beenestablished at 3 Kanungo Circlesusing SWAN connectivity.l National Land RecordsModernization Programme:Hon’ble Chief Minister Haryana laidthe Foundation Stone for ModernRecord Room at Tehsil Rania.Various revenue documents arescanned under DMS. Cadestral

Maps of all villages have beendigitized for further linkages. l Digital Signature Certificates:DSCs have been procured fromNICCA for various officers of thedistrict for the projects requiringDSC authentication.l e-Tendering: District Sirsa is thefront runner in implementation of e-

Sirsa is said to be one of theoldest places of Northern Indiaand its ancient name wasSairishaka, which finds itsmention in Mahabharata, Panini'sAshatadhayayi and Divyavadan. Itmust have been a flourishing cityin the 5th century B.C. asmentioned by Panini. Sirsa formsthe extreme west corner ofHaryana and has bagged thehonour of having the secondhighest cotton acreage across thecountry. Spread over an area of4277 sq. kms and formed onNovember 1, 1975, District Sirsa islocated at a distance of 255 Kmsfrom National Capital on NH-10and 250 Kms from the StateCapital-Chandigarh.

SANJAY SAWHNEYAdditional DistrictInformatics Officer

[email protected]

SAT PAUL GOYAL District Informatics Officer

[email protected]

SIRSA:Revolutionizing Governance Through ICT

NI would like to place on record theexcellent work, devotion to duty andoutstanding sense of responsibility ofthe NIC Team in District Sirsa inpromoting Informatics Culture andimplementing G2C Services downupto tehsil level. This has resulted inbringing significant transparency &efficiency in the whole system.

Apart from various other e-Governance projects, NIC Team hasalso played a vital role in providing ICTsupport during the recent visit of Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, the formerPresident of India to District Sirsa onJuly 6, 2013.

I really look forward for NIC Team atSirsa to act upto highest level by theirsincere and strenuous efforts.

Dr. ANSHAJ SINGH, IASDeputy Commissioner



E-Gov Products and ServicesDistrict Informatics

Tendering system at MunicipalCommittees. l Property Registration: HaryanaRegistration Information System(HARIS) with Biometricauthentication and online capturingof photographs has beenimplemented at all tehsils and sub-tehsils. l VAHAN & SARATHI: Nationallevel software have been successfullyimplemented in all threesubdivisions and RTA Office.l Website of District Sirsa: TheOfficial website of District Sirsadesigned and developed by NIC wasinaugurated by the then Hon’bleChief Minister Haryana on October31, 2000. The website acts as onepoint source of information to accessvital information.

OTHER ICT RELATED PROJECTS l Full ICT support during KrishiVasant Webcast/VC

l CSCs - VLE Selection towardsestablishment

l HARSAMADHAN

l JANSAHAYAK

l Certificates Issuancel NADRSl e-Court MMPl Treasury MMPl Revenue Court cases Monitoringl Rural Informatics and e-PanchayatMMPl Online BDMIS and IDSP l Pension and Senior. Citizens IDCardsl National Food Security Ordinance-2013l Smart Card based Ration Card atblock Sirsal CM’s Announcements l Electionsl CIPA & CCTNS l AGMARKNET

ICT RELATED CENTRES IN THEDISTRICTl e-Disha Centres at all Subdivisionsl Tehsil Service Centres at all tehsils& sub-tehsilsl Jamabandi Nakal Issuance Centresat 3 Kanungo Circlesl ICT Training Lab. at District Hqrs.l e-Aadhaar Centre at District Hqrs.

l Video Conferencing Centre at NICand Conference Halll DNMC & BNMCs under SWANl Judicial Service Centre &Computer Server Room in Courts

VISIT OF Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAMDr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Former

President of India visited CMK GirlsPG College Sirsa on 06/07/2013 andinteracted with the students of Govt.& Private Schools wherein NIC wasentrusted to provide the ICTSupport for the event.

AWARDS/APPRECIATIONS The efforts of NIC District Team

have been continuously applaudedby District Administration and theteam has dozens of appreciationsand awards to its credit.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:District Informatics Officer


Sirsa – 125055 (Haryana)

E-Mail : [email protected]

The spirit and enthusiasm withwhich the projects are managedand activities are carried out isreally commendable. I furtherappreciate the challenging tasksthat NIC has taken-up in framingnew dimensions.It is but an expression of my

total faith in NIC and itsprofessionals.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam interacting with Deputy Commissioner Sirsa

ARUN KUMAR GUPTA, IAS




Edited by PRASHANT BELAWARIAR

he district website -http://pakur.nic.in is arich repository ofinformation for variousstakeholders. The

bilingual website is also high in termsof navigation. The website offerscontent related to profile andadministration of the district, tourism,education, health, District Gazette etc.The Citizen corner provides links torecruitment, land valuation and pressreleases while the Employee cornerhas links for DDO Level Bill Entryalong with PRAN details check andGPF statement view facility for theemployees. Various circulars and linksfor online services are also available.

E-GOVERNANCE ACTIVITIES OFTHE DISTRICT AT A GLANCEl e-Nagrik Seva (http://jhr.nic.in/csc)

An Online Citizen Centric System - e-Nagrik Seva was launched by Dy.Commissioner of Pakur for onlineissuance of various types of certificateslike caste, residence, income, date &birth in affiliation of Common ServicesCentres (CSCs). It is a web-basedsystem for tracking the applications fordifferent types of certificates. A user-friendly interface is provided forsubmission, tracking and monitoringof applications. Downloadable forms,information on required enclosuresand guidelines makes the system veryhelpful, while certificates are generatedafter proper verification by theconcerned officer in-charge. Thefacility has proved to be a major

Situated in the north-easterncorner, Pakur is one of thetwenty four districts of theJharkhand state and istopographically divided intothree distinct regions – hilly,rolling and alluvial. Thedistrict is predominantlyagricultural based and themain occupation of thepeople is cultivation. Kharif &Rabbi are the mainagricultural seasons. Thereare two main tribal groups-the Santhals and the Pahariasand their ratio is 42% & 15%.The district has a largenumber of stone mines, coalmines and crushers. Thequality of Pakur black stonechips is famous all over theworld and is excellent forconstruction purposes.

KISHORE PRASAD DIO, Pakur

[email protected]

PAKUR:Empowering Citizens through e-Governance

T

Pakur District website – Home page




milestone in bringing governmentservices at the doorsteps of the citizensthus realizing the larger goal of e-Governance.

Major Benefits1. Citizens can easily apply for thecertificates from home.2. Citizens can easily track the status oftheir application online. They can alsoknow about the inadequacies of theirapplication while it is still underprocess. 3. Certificates are generated on firstcome first serve basis and can be easilyreceived through the kiosk.4. The new initiative ensureselimination of middleman & freedomfrom unnecessary hassles.

l e-Swikriti

It is a G2G web enabled applicationdesigned and developed in Asp.net-2005 & MS-SQL Server as a backend.It is hosted on a local server accessiblethrough SWAN. Purpose of the systemis to provide greater transparency andaccountability towards sanctioning ofnew schemes proposed from differentline departments in the district. The module covers extensive schememanagement like scheme entry,sanctioning, rejection, suspension &revocation. A unique Scheme No. isautomatically generated when ascheme is finally scrutinized andapproved. The work progress underthe scheme can be checked with

various parameters like work category,work type, Village-wise Plot No.,Previous Scheme Status andAssociated Plot No. which ismentioned exclusively according toeach village. The system automaticallydetects duplicity when any particularcategory of work is already sanctionedor running on a particular plot no.

l e-Awkash

e-Awkash is a G2G web enabledapplication for leave management thatstreamlines leave sanctioning betweenAdministration and officers at thedistrict level. Designed & Developedby NIC Pakur using Asp.net & SQLServer, e-Awkash ensures that all thepreviously taken leaves and requestsfor the leaves in future are properlymonitored. The officers/staff canapply and view leave records throughtheir desktop using local intranet

without hassles and delays of goingthrough the admin staff.Leave approver can see the leaverequest initiated by his/hersubordinate officer on his owndashboard as soon as any leave hasbeen applied. The approver holds theright to approve or disapprove anyleave with remarks. Officers canautomatically download their leavesanction or rejection form using theapplication.e-Awkash application incurs thefollowing benefits:

l Leave approver can see the leavehistory of his officers beforesanctioning any further leave.

l Offices are not required to send leaverequests manually.

l Officers can also their previous leaverecords at any given time.

l Maintenance of leave records hasbeen made easier and hassle-freethrough the system.

l MIS on Social Security

An initiative for the payment of oldage pensions at the doorstep of thepensioners in coordination with thebanks has been implemented in Pakurdistrict. The beneficiaries get theirpension directly in their bankaccounts. Government has madearrangements with some of the banks

e-Nagrik Seva Kiosk at Circle Office, Pakur

E-Swikriti –At District NIC Centre




to appoint ‘Business correspondents’ todeliver the pension at the doorsteps ofthe pensioners. About 28,300pensioners of the district are beingbenefited by the new initiative. Theinitiative has ensured transparencyand effective service delivery and canbe availed at http://jhr.nic.in/pension.

l Jharkhand Samadhan

An online public grievance & redressalapplication designed & developed byNIC Jharkhand State Centre is fullyoperational in Pakur district wherecitizens can lodge their grievances,give reminders, clarifications and viewaction status. Grievances of citizensunder various departments of DistrictAdministration are compiled by thesystem. It is available at the URLhttp://jharkhandsamadhan.nic.in

l Unique Contractor AccountNumber (UCAN)

The system facilitates to registercontractors at district level andmaintain their details for monitoringtheir work performance. Through thesystem the declared bid capacity of acontractor is assessed and the futurework is allotted accordingly. Also, all

the details of contractor’s ongoing andcompleted work can be easily verifiedthrough the system. This helps inoverall assessment of a contractorbefore a new work is allotted.Any new contractor can registerhimself/herself and can check his/heracceptance/rejection status. Forregistration, PAN No. is mandatory

and thereafter a new UCAN is allotted.The application can be accessed athttp://164.100.150.7/ucanjhr/

l National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme

This scheme has been implemented atall the six blocks of the district. Therole based software captures data atgrass root level for rural employmentgeneration, issuance of Job Cards &Muster Rolls, employment details,work status, expenditure details anddetails of perspective plan & socialaudit. It can be availed through districtweb portal. Recently, e-Muster Rollhas also been implemented.

l e-PDS

Designed & developed by NIC StateCentre, this initiative is fully functionalin the district to capture beneficiaries& dealer details for ration cards.Presently, one lakh BPL e-Ration Cardshave been generated by the system.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Kishore Prasad

DIO, Pakur

E-mail: [email protected] UCAN System




Edited by R. GAYATRI

ince the formation ofDistrict Centre inKannur, NIC has beenfacilitating districtadministration with its

state-of-the-art ICT services so as toleverage the e-Governance scenario inthe district. The centre is equippedwith NICNET infrastructure having100 Mbps redundant leased lineconnectivity to NIC Trivandrum witha backup line of 34 mbps. A Collectorate Data Centre isoperational on a 24x7x365 basis whichhosts various district level web servicesover Intranet and Internet. NIC hasspearheaded many ICT projects in the

district since its inception in 1988 andhas played a significant role in most ofthe successful projects.The official website of Kannur,

http://kannur.gov.in, designed anddeveloped by NIC District Centre is arepository of important informationrelated to the district.

THE LANDMARKS IN THE ICTMAP OF KANNURl e-District

e-District is one of the MMPs underthe NeGP. Kannur district is the first inKerala to implement the e-District with23 services of Revenue Department inall its taluk and village offices (129villages and 4 taluks). The project wasrolled out in the district in December

HUMAIDA BEEVI K KADIO, NIC Kannur

[email protected]

ANDREWS VARGHESE DIO, NIC Kannur

[email protected]

KANNUR:ICT for the Land of Looms and Lore

SIt is assumed that the nameKannur has derived from oneof the deities of the Hindupantheon ‘Kannan’ (LordKrishna) and ‘Ur’ (place)making it the place of LordKrishna. The district is knownas the ‘Land of Looms andLore’. Earlier the district wasnamed ‘Cannanore’ which isanglicised from of Kannur.The district has 1 RevenueDivision, 4 Taluks, and 129Revenue Villages. It comprisesof 6 Municipalities and 81Grama Panchayats under 11Blocks.




2010. As on March 2014, around13,07,000 applications have beensubmitted through CSCs and about11,83,000 digitally signed certificateshave been issued by the VillageOfficers/ Thasildars.

l RTPerMS

The Road Trenching PermitManagement System (RTPerMS) is anonline workflow based system formanaging the permission for diggingof roads by various agencies likeBSNL, KWA, KSEB, etc. The projectcould help the administration tooptimally plan the trenching activitieswith minimum hardships to citizens aswell as to the government.

l eSAND/Nirman

This is a system for neutraldistribution of river sand to the citizensfor the construction work. NIC hasdevised an e-Governance solution

which helps the administration foreffective implementation of the ‘Keralaprotection of river banks andregulation of removal of Sand Act2001 & Rules 2002’A web service is in place to reflect

the transaction count in the eTaalPortal. SMS service and mobileapplication for token status are valueadditions to the project.

l eHajar

eHajar is an electronic attendancemonitoring system with biometricbased attendance register which hasbeen implemented at the Collectorate.The leaves, tours and movements ofthe employees can be managed at alllevels using eHajar.

l DCPGMS

District Collectors Public GrievanceMonitoring system is implemented tokeep track of the grievances submitted

Inauguration of RTPerMS by Chief Secretary , GoK

I wish to put on record, the ICTservices rendered by Nationalinformatics Centre for goodGovernance in Kannur Disrict. The e-Governance initiatives taken up byNational Informatics Centre havehelped the District Administration toimprove their service delivery to thecitizens as well as the G2G services.

The roll out of eSand/Nirman, RoadTrenching Permit Management System(RTPerMS), Touch Screen basedinformation kiosk, DCPGMS and eHajarwere a few major projects which couldmake the district to be proud on their e-Governance initiatives. The e-Districtmodel implemented in the district wasthe best model in the country whichcould not be a success without thetremendous efforts by NIC.

I am grateful for the support renderedfor the various other district activitieslike Video VC among Revenue Officers,Collectorate Surveillance System,DC*Suite, Taluk Suite, RR Online, LINK,District website management and manyother activities involving ICT support.NIC has played a major role in theimplementation of various State/Central Government initiated e-Governance solutions such as DBTapplication, e-Hospital, e-Courts, Jail-Court VC, FMPDS, Civil Supplies,Fisheries, MGNREGS, CONFONET,NADRS, etc.

Expecting continued support in future,I wish NIC all the best in theirendeavours.

P. BALA KIRAN, District Collector




directly to the District Collector. Morethan 11,200 PGs received by theCollector are available in this system.The system was inaugurated byHonb’le Chief Minister of Kerala inApril 2012.

l Touch Screen based InformationKiosk

A touch screen based informationkiosk has been setup whichdisseminates district specificinformation and status. This includesgeneral information about the district,disaster management equipmentavailability, eSAND/Nirman tokenstatus, Revenue Officers/Officessearch, DCPGMS, File/Tapal status,etc.

l LINK

LINK (Land Information Networkfor Kerala) is a web application whichcould build a land informationdatabase using the physical dataspread over various Revenue Offices.Database contains details of surplusland, AW land and Ajmash register.

l DC suite

DC*Suite is a workflow based suiteof applications for the District

Collectorates in Kerala. DC*Suite isreplicated in Kannur district after thepilot implementation in Palakkad. Itcontains the following features:

l Touch Screen kiosk for File/Tapalstatus

l DC*Suite Services on internet(http://dcsuiteservices.nic.in)

lDC*Suite File/Tapal status throughSMS

l Connectivity to DC’s Camp officeand Taluk Offices

l Taluk Suite

This is a suite of applicationdeveloped in line with DC*Suite forimplementation in Taluk offices. Theonline file/Tapal transfer fromDC*Suite to Taluk Suite is facilitated.

l RR Online

Software solution for submitting theRevenue Recovery Requisition onlineby various Requisition Authorities isimplemented. RR Online is linked toDC*Suite and Taluk Suite.

l Other Initiatives & State/CentralProjects

Video VC has been enabled for VCamong Revenue Officers in thedistrict. Support for DBT, e-Hospital,e-Courts, NADRS, Jail-Court VC,MGNREGS, CONFONET, PDS andFMPDS, Real Craft, etc is beingprovided for the efficientimplementation of these projects. Thewebsites for various KendriyaVidyalayas in Kannur district havebeen developed and maintained byNIC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Dr. K S Raman

DDG & SIO Kerala.


DCPGMS Home Screen of Administrator

Citizen at the Touch Screen Kiosk in Collectorate, Kannur





ince its establishment in1988, the NIC DistrictCentre, Shimla hasplayed a pivotal role inspreading IT across the

district. It has provided technicalsupport to the District Administration& various departments and is alsoinvolved in software development,implementation of various Nationaland State level IT Projects. DistrictCentre has latest ICT infrastructureand robust network for better deliveryof services. The centre also has34Mbps lease line connectivity. ADistrict e-Governance Society hasbeen created by the administration forthe delivery of citizen services at subdivisions and tehsils through SugamCentres. Technical manpower hasbeen placed in each centre for smoothfunctioning.

KEY ICT SERVICESl Citizen Centric Services throughSUGAM CentresThe SUGAM Centres are operationalin Collectorate, Sub-Divisions andTehsil offices. The main objective ofthese centres is to provide hassle freeand quality services to the citizensunder one roof. The main servicesprovided are:l Driving License Issuance andrenewals

l Vehicle Registration and relatedworks

l Issuance of Land Records, Nakals

l Payment of Electricity Bills

l Issuance of 14 type of certificates likebonafide, agriculture etc

l Registration of deeds

l Registration of voters

l Issuance and renewal of ArmsLicense

l Issuance of Senior Citizen Cards

l Issuance of Disability Cards

l Issuance of Permits

l Aadhaar Registration and issuance ofduplicate Aadhaar Cards

Shimla, popularly known asthe “Queen of Hills”, is thecapital of Himachal Pradesh.It is famous worldwide as apopular tourist destination.Shimla has witnessed manyhistorical events duringBritish rule and in post-independence period. Thetown of Shimla is built overseveral hills and connectingridges. The elevation of thedistrict ranges from 300 to6000 metres. The topology ofthe district is rugged & toughand 70% area of the districtis in the snow line.

DEEPAK KUMAR,District Informatics Associate,

[email protected]

PANKAJ GUPTA District Informatics Officer

NIC District Unit, Shimla

[email protected]

SHIMLA:Bringing ICT at the doorsteps of the Citizens

S

The District Centre of NIC at Shimla isdoing excellent work in associationwith District Administration inspreading IT culture in theCollectorate and Revenue Offices atsub-division and tehsil level. It isthrough e-Governance that we canbring transparency and efficiency inadministrative system and can servethe society effectively. ShimlaAdministration is pioneer in thisdirection and have setup SugamCentres at all the Revenue Offices inthe district. I would like to have apaperless office in future.

DINESH MALHOTRA, IASDeputy Commissioner




l Land Records ComputerisationThe HimBhoomi project has beenimplemented in all the 18 tehsils of thedistrict. The project has benefitted therevenue staff in timely preparation ofrecords and public has been facilitatedby easy availability of RORs at TehsilSugam Centres or at the LMKs (LokMitra Kendras). The ROR isgenerated in real time by accessing thetehsil servers. Citizens have beengranted access to view the land details.

l Registration of DeedsHimachal Registration InformationSystem (HIMRIS) is operational in allthe 18 tehsils of the district. All typesof deeds are registered by the systemladen with features to capturebiometrics data. The input data isvalidated with online land records databefore the deed gets registered. TheHIMRIS software is integrated withland records; transactions related toproperty are recorded immediately onthe land records database and reflectedin the ROR. The SRO offices are nowable to return the registereddocuments on the same day and thishas enhanced their work efficiency.

l Arms Licensing(http://admis.hp.nic.in/shastr)The arms license software, e-Shashtr,is operational in the collectorate andsub-divisions of the district. Thesoftware is web based and role based.The license once entered in the systemcan be validated online. The softwarehas feature of capturing biometrics andauto generation of SMSes. The ArmsLicence is issued in the shape ofpassbook and every endorsement ismade in it by the use of a passbookprinter.

l Public Grievance Redressal SystemIn the e-Samadhan software, thegrievances are entered by public eitheronline or through the Grievance cell of

the collectorate. Each grievance hasbeen categorized and given a fixeddisposal time otherwise auto-alerts areraised. The status of the grievance isavailable online to the concernedofficers and to their superiors,secretaries and ministers. Theimplementation of this system hasensured transparency and timelydisposal of the grievances.

l District Website(http://hpshimla.nic.in)The website of district Shimla isencumbered with latest informationfor the benefit of various stakeholders.The website offers content on differenttypes of services which have beengrouped under separate sections.Special emphasis has been laid onG2C and G2G activities. The websiteis used in-house for the internal ordersand circulars on Intranet. The websitealso provides information on Tourism,Fact File, Temples, Fairs & Festivals,Disaster Management etc. in thedistrict.

l IVFRT ProjectThe Immigration Visa ForeignersRegistration and Tracking Project hasbeen implemented at FRO Shimla.The modules in use are cFRO, C-Form and S Form. The Foreignershaving a stay of more than 6 months

are getting themselves registered onthe centralized FRO module at the SPOffice. The details of foreignersstaying in hotels and students studyingin educational institutions are enteredin the C Form & S Form modules.Besides these, the following NationalLevel Projects have been implementedin the district:

l e-Courts – e-Courts MMP Projectimplemented in all the Sub-ordinatecourts.

l NADRS - National Animal DiseaseReporting System has beenimplemented at Veterinary Hospitalsin the blocks.

l Kanoon Vyavastha - Thesoftware is operational in all theThanas of the district. Online DataUpdation module for KanoonVyavastha has been integrated with it.

l AGMARKNET – Five Whole SaleMandis are using this software.

l NDAL – National Database on ArmsLicences has also been implementedin the district.

Sugam Centre at DC Office, Shimla

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:District Informatics Officer

NIC District Unit Shimla

DC Office Shimla-171001(H.P)


Phone: 0177-2658905



International e-Gov UpdateInternational e-Gov Update

mmigration Global Management System, or IGMS,an initiative from Immigration New Zealand (INZ)is on track to complete the majority of functionalityby the end of 2015. This includes functionalities suchas online visa applications and processing,

automation of simple tasks, the use of electronic documents,access to the system by approved third parties along withsignificant improvements in identity management.

The initiative that has came to fore in February 2012intends to assist the visa applicants by enabling them toapply online for their visas. With total project budget of NZ$91.5 million, the new initiative is being implemented byMinistry of Business, Innovation and Employment, whichincludes Immigration New Zealand. Datacom is the primecontractor for the IGMS project.The system will enhance the use of biometrics

(fingerprints, photographs etc.) which will further improvethe integrity of the immigration system by providing greatercertainty that a person arriving in the country is the sameperson that was issued a visa offshore. The system alsointends to ensure strong intelligence and risk managementtools, and strengthened international data sharing oncriminality and immigration fraud.To gain safe access to the IGMS, applicants and third

parties such as immigration agents and education institutionsare required to have a RealMe logon which is theGovernment’s online identity verification service. Anadditional layer of security further determines what thelogged-in user can see and do, once the access is granted.

For Further Information http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

NEW ZEALAND’S IMMIGRATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ONPATH TO COMPLETION

new map based app that utilizes GeographicInformation System (GIS) technology hasbeen launched by Urban RedevelopmentAuthority (URA), Singapore. The new apphelp the users with information related tobuying or leasing a property besides

information on the approved use and storey height of thebuilding, approved use of the surrounding properties etc. The new app promises easy retrieval of information on

property for professionals and general public alike. Usersonly have to click on a building or type in an address andthe app will retrieve information from URA records relevantdecisions on any new building erection, change of use,alteration of structures etc. For the users which have registered online, this app comes

totally free of cost. A processing fee of $30 has been appliedin the past for downloading the detailed records of decisionnotices for development applications. At present, GIStechnology has been extensively deployed to provideinformation related to conserved buildings and property

market. Plans are in pipeline to develop an app for enquirieson development charge rates on similar lines.

For Further Informationhttp://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/

GIS-BASED PROPERTY APP LAUNCHED IN SINGAPORE

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International e-Gov Update


International e-Gov Update


he UK Department of Transport has revealedits plans to invest an amount of £30,000(US$49,000) for developing a mobile app fortracking and reporting the potholes.

Developed by National Cycling Charity and known as 'Fillthat hole’, the app can be easily downloaded by over 9million iPhone users of the country for reporting thepotholed roads to their councils. It is expected that the newapp could boost that figure to over 26 million and is infunctional state at the start of ‘pothole season’ when thewinter damage to roads is at its peak.The app sends local authorities up-to-the-minute

information about potholes which the council may nototherwise know about, allowing them to identify troublespots needing fast action. Roads Minister Robert Goodwill said,"the government is

serious about tackling potholes. At best they are an irritationbut at worst they can damage vehicles and pose a seriousdanger to cyclists. That is why they want people to tellcouncils where to find them so they can fill them in. Thisapp means more people are going to be able to reportpotholes more easily".

For Further Information https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport

UK DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT TO HANDLE POTHOLE PROBLEMTHROUGH SMARTPHONE APP

overnment Cloud Platform (GovCloud) waslaunched in Hong Kong to enable the hostingof common e-government services for shareduse by various bureaus and departments ofgovernment. GovCloud is the Government's

first major private cloud computing initiative and isimportant central information technology (IT) infrastructurewith full cloud computing functions. It aims at more swiftand cost-effective delivery of common e-governmentinfrastructure through resource sharing. The new platformwill also assist in time saving through streamlinedprocurement and system implementation, and on-demandservice provision. The platform generates demands for various types of IT

professional works and services. It also catalyzes thedevelopment of local IT industry in strengthening therelated professional skills and business models in cloudcomputing. Designed and implemented with reference to international

best practices of cloud computing, GovCloud is housed inlocal data centres and functions in full compliance withstringent government security requirements. The platforminitially supports the development of electronic record-keeping and collaborative working systems for shared use

by bureaus and departments. Plans are in place for furtherroll out for supporting more e-government services. A totalof $242 million has been earmarked to implementGovCloud services in the coming five years.

For Further Informationhttp://www.ogcio.gov.hk/

GOVCLOUD PLATFORM LAUNCHED IN HONG KONG

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Cyber Governance


MOBILE SEVA- THE NATIONAL MOBILEGOVERNANCE INITIATIVEMobile Seva is an innovative initiative which aims at

mainstreaming the mobile governance or m-Governance inthe country. It provides an integrated platform to variousgovernment departments and agencies in India for easydelivery of services to the citizens and businesses usingmobile devices. It aims to widen the reach of and access tovarious public services to the stakeholders by harnessing theinnovative potential of mobile applications in dispensingpublic services. Mobile Seva deploys all possible mobilebased channels such as IVRS, SMS, USSD and mobileapplications for delivery of services. The ingeniously designed website of Mobile Seva comes

rich in up-to-date content. The website offers content onMobile Seva and its various subsystems, citizen services,departmental services (Register Pull Service, Register PushService, eSMS), resources, tenders and contact information.The website displays the exact statistics and current statusof Department/Agencies Integrated, No. of Push SMSTransaction, Push SMS Integration, Pull SMS Integration,m-App Development etc. The useful links to Mobile SevaApp Store, Mobile Seva Services, Notified Framework forMobile Governance etc. are also featured. The latest newsand notifications are displayed in What’s New section whileMedia Gallery features photos and videos related to MobileSeva. The website has a well laid Site Map besides explicitly

stated Disclaimer, Website Policies and AccessibilityStatement. The site can be viewed in multiple languagesincluding English, Hindi. The feedback section of the siteinvites important comments and feedback from the users.The links to YouTube, twitter and Facebook along withHelpline number are provided to enhance interactivity withusers. The site is best viewed with IE7+, Firefox 17.0+,Google Chrome 25.0 at screen resolution of 1024x768.

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (MHA)The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible for

maintaining internal security of the country. Besides this,MHA has been also entrusted with maintenance of centre-state relations, para-military forces, border management,disaster management etc. The information rich website of MHA has been

conscientiously designed with clear identity elements andharmonious mix of colours. A Search button on the top rightcorner of the homepage ensures quick and easy navigationbetween the pages. The website is available in both Englishand Hindi languages. The header region featuresinformation related to acts & rules, notifications, circular forpublic, Right to Information and Crime Statistics in India.The header region also displays various images portrayedwith the help of an image slider.The left side of the site provides information on

Organizational Setup of the Ministry, Departments,Divisions of MHA, schemes & budget, policies & guidelines,phone & e-mail directories, annual reports, action plan,online ID card, awards & medals etc. The content rich sitealso contains content boxes featuring information related toMHA, Union Home Minister, e-Governance services,Current Affairs, Information for job employment, citizens,foreign nationals, Citizen Charter etc. The importantnotifications of the Ministry are displayed in What’s Newsection in the form of a ticker. The website has a well laid Site Map besides explicitly

stated Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Hyperlink Policyand Accessibility Statement along with FAQs and importantdownloads. The website can be viewed in both English &Hindi languages. Also, it is compatible with all majorbrowsers.

https://mgov.gov.in/home.jsp

CONTENT: HHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHHDESIGN: HHHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HHHH

http://www.mha.nic.in/

CONTENT: HHHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHHDESIGN: HHHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HH

Cyber Governance


Cyber Governance


TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA (TRAI)The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was

established by an Act of Parliament, called the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, to regulate telecomservices, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecomservices which were earlier vested in the CentralGovernment. The mission of the authority is to create andnurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in thecountry by providing a fair and transparent policyenvironment which promotes a level playing field andfacilitates fair competition.The visually appealing website of the authority deploys

judicious use of colours that are sober in nature. The websiteis rich in content, which is well laid and regularly updated.The header region contains information on the history,structure, organization of TRAI, various regulations,directions, recommendations, consultations, notificationsand information for the consumers. This region also displaysvarious images transitioned with the help of an image slider.The content boxes placed below the image furnishinformation on News & Updates, latest consultations andreleases. The footer region highlights information on RTI,related links, Website Policies, Archives, Disclaimer etc.The use of navigation menus, elaborated Sitemap andSearch button assists in quick and easy navigation betweenpages.

The website provides Screen Reader Access and isavailable in Hindi and English languages. In terms ofinteractivity, the users can provide their feedback andsuggestions in the boxes provided inside the Feedbacksection. The site is compatible with all major browsers butcan best viewed at screen resolution of1024 X 768.

RAJYA SABHAThe Rajya Sabha or the ‘Council of States’ is a

nomenclature that was announced by the chair in the Houseon the 23rd August, 1954. Rajya Sabha has played aconstructive and effective role in the polity of the country.The house works in spirit of cooperation with Lok Sabha asper the Constitutional mandate and its performance in thelegislative field and in influencing the Government policies

has been quite significant. Rajya Sabha has prevented hastylegislation and helped in upholding the federal principle. Asa federal chamber, it has worked for the unity and integrityof the nation and has reinforced the faith of the people inparliamentary democracy. The diligently designed website of Rajya Sabha is also a

rich repository of latest information. The left corner ofhomepage features content related to Rajya Sabha, debates,questions, members, committees, procedures, events,secretariats, press releases, RTI etc. The information onMedia Advisory Committee, tenders, Official Sites, usefullinks, Railway Budget 2014-2015, Union Budget 2014-2015,Bills with the Committee, publications and resolutions arealso featured on the homepage. There is dedicated sectionfor Audio Visual that provides footage of Rajya Sabhaproceedings along with Live Webcast of Rajya Sabha TV. The website has a well laid Site Map besides clearly laid

Website Policies and Terms & Conditions. The websiteprovides screen reader access and can be viewed in Englishand Hindi languages. It also has a feedback section forobtaining important suggestions and feedback from users.The site exhibits high compatibility with all major browsers.

http://www.trai.gov.in/

CONTENT: HHHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHHDESIGN: HHHHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HHHH

http://rajyasabha.nic.in/

CONTENT: HHHHHNAVIGATION AND BROWSER COMPATIBILITY: HHHHDESIGN: HHHHINTERACTIVITY ELEMENTS: HHHH

CONTRIBUTED BY: LOKESH JOSHIPrincipal Systems AnalystE-mail: [email protected]


In the NewsIn the News


TRAINING ON FORM-S UNDERIVFRT CONDUCTED AT JAIPUR

one day trainingprogramme wasorganized to implementFORM-S modules underIVFRT-MMP at Suresh

Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur on 13thFebruary, 2014. The main objective ofthis programme was to createawareness among the Institutes andFRO officials on IVFRT Modules.The training programme was jointlyconducted by FRO, Jaipur and NIC-IVFRT team, Jaipur. The trainingprograms were formally inauguratedby Hon’ble Vice Chancellor Dr. D.N.Rao, Suresh Gyan Vihar University,Jaipur, Smt. Indu Gupta, DDG & SIO,NIC Rajasthan, Shri Yogesh Goyal,FRO Jaipur, Shri Suresh Arora, Dy.Registrar and Dr. Dinesh Goyal,Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur.In the inaugural session, they stressedon the need for mandatoryrequirement of on-line submission offoreigners’ stay details as per the Govt.of India notification and BOI

directions. The NICofficials demonstratedthe web-based workflow on C-Form &Form-S in detail alongwith various salientfeatures of theapplications. FRO Office& NIC also handoverthe first authorization letter of FORM-S registration to Suresh Gyan ViharUniversity, Jaipur. FORM-S is one ofthe very important ApplicationModule of IVFRT-MMP. FSIS(Foreign Students Information System)is used to capture information aboutforeign students admitted in Indianeducational institutions. It ismandatory for all educationalinstitutions in India admitting foreignstudents for various courses to registerthemselves first. After their user-idapproved by the competent authorityi.e. FRRO/FRO concerned, the saidinstitution will be able to fill the detailsof foreign students in both c-Form andFSIS. NIC IVFRT team comprised ofShri Rajeev Arora, SSA and Shri M.

Yaseen Husain, SSA imparted lectureson topics like Overview of IVFRT-MMP, Online registration procedurefor C-Form & S-Form submission andRegistration ofHotel/Dharamshala/Institute/GuestHouse, Application Processing ofonline services like Foreignersregistration and VISA extension etc.,Dynamic reports generated on C-Form & S-Form modules. Shri YogeshGoyal, FRO Jaipur & Shri Mohan Lal,Dy. SP interacted with all participantsin the feedback session along withNIC officers and answered all theirqueries. The training programme wasattended by delegates from majorinstitutes of Jaipur along with fiveFRO officials.

Chandan Sen, Rajasthan

AIVFRT Sensitization in progress with Smt. Indu Gupta, SIO & DDG,NIC Rajasthan and other officials

In the News

COLLECTOR’S INFORMATIONSYSTEM (COLIS) AWARDED WITHNATIONAL AWARD (SILVER)DURING NATIONAL CONFERENCEON E-GOVERNANCE 2013-2014

ollector’s InformationSystem (COLIS) is a webbased District Administrationapplication for Collectoroffices of Maharashtra

State developed by NIC DistrictCentre Kolhapur. The application isused for critical administrative workfor Revenue Administration at District,Sub Division and Tehsil level offices.COLIS also brings transparency inRevenue Court Case Proceeding andinformation about revenue court casesare made available on website. It also

has modules forother districtadministrativefunctions such ase-Godown (Food-GrainDistribution), e-Web Publication,e-Govt Recovery,e-Pension, e-Election etc.

COLIS washonoured withNational Award(Silver) during theNationalConference on e-

Governance held atKochi on 30-31January, 2014 underthe category,"BestDistrict LevelInitiative in Citizen-Centric ServiceDelivery throughICT". The award wasgiven to the teamheaded by ShriChandrakant Mugaliby Hon’bleGovernor of Kerala,Shri Nikhil Kumar.

Moiz HusainAli,Maharashtra

The Award

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eOFFICE LAUNCHED IN HEALTH & IT DEPARTMENTS OFCHANDIGARH UT

hri Anil Kumar, IASHome Secretary-cum-Secretary Health, UTChandigarh launchedeOffice in the Health

and Information TechnologyDepartments, UT Chandigarh at UTSecretariat on 15th January 2014. Alsopresent on the occasion were Ms.Prerna Puri, IAS Secretary IT, Dr. SK Bhalla, Director Health, Mr. UpkarSingh, Director IT and other officersfrom Health and IT Department.Giving details about the eOfficesolution, Shri Ajay Rampal, StateInformatics Officer, NIC UTChandigarh informed that it is a state-of-the-art enterprise software solutionthat would create a paperlessenvironment. Apart from making theworking in Government officessimplified, effective and responsive itwould make the information available

on the click ofmouse on anytimeanywhere basis.The eOffice solutionis an integratedsolution comprisingof File ManagementSystem(eFile), KMS-KnowledgeManagementsystem, eLeave –Leave ManagementSystem, eTour – Tour ManagementSystem, Personnel Information Systemand Collaboration & MessagingService. As a first step towardsimproving efficiency in file handling,eFile a part of e-Office product suitewill help to conduct the decisionmaking on files electronically in orderto achieve a simplified, responsive,effective and transparent working inall government offices. eFile is aworkflow based system that replacesthe existing manual handling of fileswith a more efficient electronic system.

It would shortly be rolled out in all thedepartments of ChandigarhAdministration. In the new system thefiles would move electronically rightfrom the dealing hand to the highestapproving/decision-making officer.Secretary Health stressed the need toswitch over to eOffice solution inorder to make the system moretransparent and efficient and advisedHealth and IT Department officials tocompletely switch over to the solutionwith immediate effect.

Vivek Verma, Chandigarh

Shri Anil Kumar, IAS Home Secretary-cum-Secretary Health,UT Chandigarh launching the eOffice solution

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NIKSHAY BAGS GOLD AWARDDURING THE NATIONALCONFERENCE ON E-GOVERNANCE2013-2014 AT KOCHI

IKSHAY – A web basedsolution for monitoring ofTB Patients was honoredwith Gold Award duringthe National Conference

on e-Governance held at Kochi on 30-31 January, 2014 under categorySectoral Award – Healthcare. The award was given by Shri NikhilKumar, Hon’ble Governor of Kerala.The gold award was received by Dr.(Mrs.) Shefali Dash, Director General,NIC, Shri Sunil Kumar, SeniorTechnical Director and HoD, HealthInformatics Division, NIC-HQ, Dr. R.S. Gupta, Deputy Director General,Central TB Division (CTD),Directorate General, Health Servicesand Dr. Kiran Rade, NationalConsultant, CTD.NIKSHAY was developed andimplemented across the country in a

record time of 6 monthswith the team efforts ofNIC and Central TBDivision of DirectorateGeneral, HealthServices, Ministry ofHealth & FamilyWelfare. The technicalteam led by Shri SunilKumar, STD includedShri Anil Rathod,Systems Analyst fromNIC-MP, Shri AtulVerma, Scientific Officer, NIC-HQ,Ms. Mala Mittal, STD, NIC, Ms. SoniSinha, Senior Programmer, ShriGourav Mehta, Programmer and Ms.Megha Gupta, Scientific Assistant-B,Shri Shashank, Assistant Programmer.The implementation team led by Dr.Niraj Kulshrestha, Additional DeputyDirector General included Dr. KiranRade, National Consultant, CTD.Continuous guidance and support wasprovided by Dr. (Mrs.) Shefali Dash,DG, NIC, Shri A. Mohan, the then

Director General, NIC, Shri RajeshGera, Deputy Director General, NIC,Dr. R. S. Gupta, Deputy DirectorGeneral, CTD and Dr. Ashok Kumar,the then Deputy Director General,CTD. The implementation ofNIKSHAY has been made possiblebecause of active support ofconsultants, State TB Officers, DistrictTB Officers and functionaries atTuberculosis Units and Data EntryOperators across the country.

Ms. Vandana Arya, Delhi

Dr R S Gupta, Deputy Director General, Central TB Division, ShriSunil Kumar, Senior Technical Director, NIC and Dr. Kiran Rade,National Consultant, CTD after receiving the award

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Website of Ministry of Health &Family Welfare launched in anew avatar

hri Keshav Desiraju,Secretary, Department ofHealth & Family Welfare,Government of Indialaunched the redesigned

website of Ministry of Health & FamilyWelfare on 20/01/2014. The redesignedwebsite is user friendly, well-organized &content enriched. It has a number ofspecial features for visually challengedusers and is accessible to allcitizens/persons with other disabilities. Ithas been designed keeping in view allother mandates of Guidelines for IndiaGovernment Websites (GIGW).During the launch ceremony, Shri R KJain, Additional Secretary & DG (CGHS),also the Chairman of Web MonitoringCommittee of the Ministry explainedabout the website content and efforts

invested in re-designing thewebsite. WebMonitoringCommittee hasapproved webpolicies andthe same willbeimplementedby Shri G.Narayan,Director, BoP,who has beendeclared WebInformationManager forthe website.The ceremonywas attendedby Joint Secretaries, Members of the WebMonitoring Committee and DivisionalHeads. Secretary, Department of Health &Family Welfare appreciated the efforts ofNIC officers for re-designing the website,

Web Information Officer and DivisionalHeads for providing and organizing thecontent for the website.

Ms. Vandana Arya, Delhi

S

MOBILE BASED WASTE BINCLEARANCE MONITORINGSYSTEM LAUNCHED IN CHENNAI

Mobile based WasteBin ClearanceMonitoring Systemwas launched by theHonorable Mayor ofChennai Corporation

on 05/11/2013. Android based mobilesloaded with the application weredistributed to 200 ConservancyInspectors during the launch.The Application has been developed

for Corporation of Chennai by NIC,Tamil Nadu State Centre to monitorthe timely clearance of waste bins inChennai Corporation Area. There are15 Zones, 200 wards and 29864 streetsin the corporation. Every street hasbeen provided with waste bins (groupor single) and each bin is given aunique number. The geo location(latitude and longitude) along withphoto of all the bins are captured usingAndroid based phones and stored inthe central server of ChennaiCorporation through web services. The Conservancy Inspectors are

provided with user id and passwords.They are linked to a ward of a zone in

backend applicationdeveloped by ChennaiCorporation. Whenthey successfully logonto the server frommobile, all the localitiesand streets along withbin numbers aredownloaded on theirmobile based on theiruser-id. This mobile

application has thefacility to take thephotograph of the wastebins along with the Geo-coordinates ofthe location from where the photo hasbeen taken along with the time-stamp.The inspector can upload thisphotograph immediately to the centralserver maintained by the ChennaiCorporation. A GIS based interface developed by

NIC, Tamil Nadu State Centrefacilitates the senior officials ofChennai Corporation in visualizationof the bins on the open street map withdifferent color coding to know thestatus of the bins on a particular day.Green color on the location of the binindicates the garbage cleared status,

orange color indicates uncleared statusand red color indicates non-visiting ofConservancy Inspectors to the binlocation on that day. A separate mobile application would

shortly be released for citizens whichcan be downloaded by them on theirmobiles. The mobile application canbe used by citizens to capture thephotograph of any uncleared bin andupload it to the server through webservices in Corporation of ChennaiServers. These complaints aremonitored by designated officials forand followup action.

R. Gayatri, Chennai

Chennai Map showing locations of dustbins

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In the News


PRIMARY AGRICULTURECOOPERATIVE SOCIETIESWORKSHOPS OF NICSICONDUCTED FOR RURAL MASSESIN JAIPUR

series of workshopswere conducted tobenefit the ruralpopulation ofRajasthan on 6th, 7th

and 8thFebruary, 2014 under NICSI’sCorporate Social Responsibility. Theaim of these workshops were to spreadawareness about benefits of financialstability & financial inclusion and howsocio-economic development in ruralareas can be achieved throughcomputerization of grass-root financialorganizations like Primary AgricultureCooperative Societies (PACS). ThePACS e-learning portal developed byNICSI was demonstrated in these

workshops. The soon to be launchedportal is being built as a one-stop-shopfor all the information of PACS.Special emphasis has been given toprovide online training to rural massesin their native language regardingPACS related activities through thisportal.The event received enthusiasticparticipation from District Co-operative Banks & PACS officials.Participants have shown their keeninterest in manner in whichcomputerization may help to achievefinancial inclusion and monitoring offunds under various schemes at apexlevel. Key officials providing guidanceand vision to this event includes Smt.Indu Gupta, DDG & SIO-Rajasthan,Shri Rajesh Bahadur, MD-NICSI,Shri IPS Sethi, STD, NIC, Shri

Sanjeev Gahlaut, GM, NICSI andShri A.K. Singh, Consultant CoreBanking. Shri R.K. Puri, MD and ShriC.M. Bhardwaj, DGM, RajasthanState Co-operative Bank extendedtheir full support in making this eventsuccessful. The participants appraisedthe efforts of RSCB & CCBS teams forconducting these workshops.

Chandan Sen, Rajasthan

Workshop in ProgressA

eIPO FACILITY LAUNCHED FORINDIAN CITIZENS LIVING ININDIA & ABROAD

IPO is a facility topurchase an Indian PostalOrder electronically bypaying a fee on-line. It is

available through e-Post Office Portali.e. https://www.epostoffice.gov.in.The web based s/w has been designed,developed and implemented by s/wdevelopment team of NIC –DakBhavan under the guidance of Dr.(Mrs.) Shefali S. Dash ,DG(NIC). e-IPO (Electronic Indian Postal Order )was launched on 22nd March 2013 tofacilitate Indian citizens abroad acrossthe globe to purchase an e-IPO bypaying the fee online to access theinformation under the RTI Act, 2005from the Central Public Authorities .After completing a one-timeregistration on the portal, RTIapplicants abroad can use their creditor debit cards to purchase an e-IPO.The site will generate a unique e-IPOnumber after each purchase, which theapplicants can take a print out of and

quote in their RTIapplication.It was then brought tothe notice of thedepartment that Indiancitizens living abroadwere facing difficultiesin payment of fees foraccessing informationfrom IndianMissions/Posts abroadas the facility of e-IPOwas not available tothem. In order tofacilitate obtaininginformation under RTIAct,2005 by the Indian Citizen livingabroad from Indian Missions Postsunder Ministry of External Affairs, thefacility have been extended from 27th.September 2013 to cover 176 IndianMissions Posts across the globe. Withthis addition, e-IPO (Electronic IndianPost Order) facility will now cover2,492 Public Authorities in India andabroad under Central Ministries,Departments, UTs and NCT Delhi. As

of now more than 100 (hundred)Indian Missions across the globe haveposted 'ePost Office Portal' link ontheir websites.On 13th, Feb 2014 this service gotextended to Indian citizens living inIndia & was launched by Secretary(Posts), Department of Posts along withtwo other enhancements carried outby NIC Team.

Dr. Rakesh Gupta &Ravi Kumar, Delhi

NIC-DOP Team with Ms.P.Gopinath, Secretary (Posts), Dr. (Mrs.)Shefali S. Dash, DG (NIC) on the eve of Launch Function held at DOP-Dak Bhavan on13th. Feb 2014. Standing From Right to Left – ShriVineet Kumar, Shri Ravi Kumar,Dr. Rakesh Gupta, Ms. Pooja Sethi,Ms. P.Gopinath, Dr. Shefali S. Dash, Shri Mukesh Kumar Aggarwal,Shri Sudidhi Das, Ms. Harsimran Kaur

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