 Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched a “Multi Location Claim Settlement” facility. The “Multi Location Claim Settlement” facility will cover claims such as provident fund, pension, partial withdrawal and claims and transfer claims. The “Multi Location Claim Settlement” facility will enable EPFO offices to settle online claims from any of its regional offices, across the country. The recently launched facility will reduce any delay in claim settlement cycle. By introducing this facility, EPFO has moved away from the existing system of geographical jurisdiction for claim processing, hence reducing the delays by uniformly distributing the claim settlement related workload nationwide. |
“e-Office” application has been launched in over 500 CGST and Customs offices across India by the Chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), M. Ajit Kumar. With the launch of application, CBIC has become one of the largest Government departments to automate its internal office procedures. The “e-Office” is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance of India. “e-Office” has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and is supported by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). The launch of “e-Office” application will remove the manual handling of files and paper movement with automated internal office procedures, hence introducing fundamental changes. This is another step of the organisation in leveraging technology for providing a ‘Faceless, Contactless and Paperless’ indirect Tax administration.
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 India has joined the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI or Gee-Pay) as a founding member. GPAI was launched by a group of leading economies namely UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Italy, Japan, USA, Mexico, New Zealand and India. This partnership among the leading economies aims to guide the responsible development as well as use of AI, grounded in human rights, diversity, innovation, inclusion, and economic growth.
GPAI is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative is a first initiative of its type to evolve better understanding of the challenges along with opportunities around AI by using the experience and diversity of participating nations. This would be achieved by uniting leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to promote responsible evolution of AI. As a founding member of the initiative, India will actively take part in the global development of Artificial Intelligence, leveraging upon its experience around use of digital technologies for inclusive growth. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will host a Secretariat in Paris, in order to provide support to the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). It will also have two Centers of Expertise: one each in Paris and Montreal.
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 Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan has launched the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX). IGX is the first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform. The trading platform will enable market participants to trade in standardised gas contracts. IGX is fully automated with a web-based interface and it provides seamless trading experience to the customers. The new electronic trading platform for natural gas is an indicator of the centre’s progressive policy. This will help the nation move towards free-market pricing of natural gas. IGX has been incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), which is India’s energy market platform. |
 A CSIR National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal named as “Aarogyapath” has been launched. “Aarogyapath” is an information platform developed by CSIR in partnership with Sarvodaya Infotech and institutional users and manufacturers / authorized suppliers of healthcare essentials. The portal has been launched with a vision of “providing a path which leads one on a journey towards Aarogya (healthy life)”. The platform is expected to fill the critical gaps in last-mile delivery of patient care within India via improved availability and affordability of healthcare supplies. The “Aarogyapath” portal will ensure single-point availability of key healthcare goods which would be helpful to customers in addressing various issues such as time-consuming processes to identify good quality products, lack of awareness about the latest product launches, dependence on limited suppliers, etc. The platform would serve manufacturers & suppliers to reach a wide network of customers efficiently by reducing the gaps in connectivity between them and potential demand centers. Hence it will facilitate a real-time availability of critical healthcare supplies. |
 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has launched its flagship programme “Turant Customs”. Turant Customs is a mega reform for the ease of doing business. The programme has been launched at Bengaluru and Chennai to take a leap forward to take advantage of the technology for faster Customs clearance of imported goods. With the initiation of programme at Bengaluru and Chennai, it marks the first phase of the All India roll out which would get completed by 31st December 2020. Under the “Turant Customs” programme, importers will avail benefits with the elimination of routine interface with the Customs officers which will provide uniformity in assessment across the country. The Customs officers located outside the port of import will clear the goods from Customs after doing faceless assessment remotely. Under this programme, the goods imported at Chennai may be assessed by the Customs officers located at Bengaluru and vice versa, as assigned by the Customs’ automated system. |
 Tech Mahindra has signed a joint declaration with UN Global Compact and hence joined 155 global companies in calling for policies to build resilience against future shocks by supporting the activities targeted to hold global temperature rise to within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in order to reach net-zero emissions before 2050. Tech Mahindra seeks to reduce carbon footprint and emissions by moving towards a zero-carbon resilient economy. It will achieve its objective with the use of new-age technologies such as internet of things, artificial intelligence and blockchain. These 155 global companies from across 34 sectors have a combined market capitalization of more than $2.4 trillion, representing five million employees. The business voices of the above signatories will be convened by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and its business ambition for 1.5°C campaign partners, the UN Global Compact and the We Mean Business coalition. |
 Union Minister Jitendra Singh has launched ‘COVID BEEP’ app, India’s 1st indigenous wireless physiological parameters monitoring system facilitated for COVID-19 affected patients. “COVID BEEP” stands for Continuous Oxygenation & Vital Information Detection Biomed ECIL ESIC Pod. ‘COVID BEEP’ has developed by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) medical college, Hyderabad in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad and the Department of Atomic Energy. The COVID BEEP has incorporated NIBP (non-invasive blood pressure) monitoring, ECG (electrocardiogram) monitoring and the respiratory rate. It will greatly reduce the transmission risk as well as help save resources like personal protective equipment (PPEs). |
 Indian Air Force has indigenously designed, developed and manufactured an Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT). This pod will help for the evacuation of critical patients with infectious diseases including COVID-19 from high altitude area, isolated and remote areas. The system has been formed as a lightweight isolation system made from aviation certified material. The ARPIT Design requirements have been evolved and are based on the guidelines issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) and Centre for Disease Control (CDC), USA. The ARPIT pod has been developed at a cost of Rs. 60,000. |
 Government of India has launched “The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP)”. This programme is an initiative of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of HRD, and Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. TULIP programme aims to provide internship opportunities to fresh graduates in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) as well as Smart Cities across the nation. The programme would also facilitate practical experience to the students of India and hence help in infusing fresh ideas and innovative thinking into the working of Urban Local Bodies and smart cities. An opportunity will be provided to the youth of India via TULIP programme in order to generate news ideas to reform Urban local bodies with the help of modern techniques and innovative methods. Hence, it will help in improving the value-to-market of Indian graduates and help in the creation of a potential talent pool in diverse fields such as transport engineering, environment, urban planning, municipal finance etc. |
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