PIB Summary- 15th April, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)

Context: Three new initiatives of the National Internet Exchange of India inaugurated.

The details of the three new initiatives are as below

• IPv6 Expert Panel (IP Guru): IP Guru is a group to extend support to all the Indian entities who are finding it technically challenging to migrate and adopt IPv6.
• NIXI Academy: NIXI Academy is created to educate technical/non-technical people in India to learn and relearn technologies like IPv6 which are normally not taught in educational Institutes. The easy-to-use platform helps network operators and educators understand networking best practices, principles and techniques; manage Internet resources better; and use appropriate Internet technologies more effectively.
• NIXI-IP-INDEX: It is an IPv6 index portal for the Internet community. The portal will showcase the IPv6 adoption rate in India and across the world. It can be used to compare IPv6 Indian adoption rate with other economies in the world.

About NIXI

• NIXI is a not for profit organization under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, formed in 2003.
• NIXI was set up for peering of ISPs (internet service providers) among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country, instead of taking it all the way to US/abroad.
  • This results in better quality of service (reduced latency) and reduced bandwidth charges for ISPs by saving on international bandwidth.
• NIXI Activities
  • Spreading internet technologies to Indian citizens through
    • Internet Exchanges through which the internet data is exchanged amongst ISPs and between ISPs and CDNs.
    • IN Registry: managing and operation of IN country code domain and भारत IDN domain for India.
    • IRINN: managing and operating Internet protocol (IPv4/IPv6).
  • INRegistry
    • .IN is India’s Country Code Top Level domain (ccTLD).
    • The Govt. of India delegated the operations of INRegistry to NIXI in 2004.
    • The INRegistry operates and manages India’s .IN ccTLD.
  • IRINN is a division functioning under NIXI and provides allocation and registration services of Internet Protocol addresses (IPv4 & IPv6) and Autonomous System numbers to its Affiliates.
    • Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers (IRINN) in India provides allocation and registration services of IP addresses and AS numbers.

OCI Cards

Context: Government simplifies process for re-issue of OCI Cards.

Details

• As per the extant law, a foreigner of Indian origin or a foreign spouse of an Indian citizen or foreign spouse of an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder, can be registered as an OCI cardholder. OCI card is a life-long visa for entry into and stay in India with a number of other major benefits attached to it which are not available to other foreigners.

New changes in the process

• Presently, the OCI card is required to be re-issued each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age, in view of biological changes in the face of the applicant.
• With a view to facilitate the OCI cardholders, it has now been decided by the Government of India to dispense with this requirement.
• A person who has got registration as OCI cardholder prior to attaining the age of 20 years will have to get the OCI card re-issued only once when a new passport is issued after his/her completing 20 years of age, so as to capture his/her facial features on attaining adulthood.
• If a person has obtained registration as OCI cardholder after attaining the age of 20 years, there will be no requirement of re-issue of OCI card.
• The OCI cardholders have to upload a copy of the new passport containing their photograph and the latest photo on the online OCI portal each time a new passport is issued prior to attaining the age of 20 years and once after completing 50 years of age. They may upload the documents within three months of receipt of the new passport.
• However, those registered as OCI cardholder as foreign spouses of Indian nationals, or foreign spouses of OCI cardholders have to upload a copy of the new passport, the latest photograph along with a declaration that their marriage is still subsisting each time a new passport is issued.

Why is OCI in the news?

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently announced that it is dispensing the need for the re-issue of the OCI card by the Overseas Citizen of India every time a new passport is issued in their names. Now, it has to re-issued only once when a person gets a new passport after he/she completes 20 years of age.

Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) – Introduction

The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme was introduced by amending the Citizenship Act, 1955 in August 2005 in response to demands for dual citizenship by the Indian diaspora, particularly in developed countries. It was launched during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention at Hyderabad in 2006.

Who is called an Overseas Citizen of India?

An Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) is a person who is technically a citizen of another country having an Indian origin. They were citizens of India on 26th January 1950 or thereafter except who is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country.
Multi-purpose and life-long visa are provided to the registered Overseas Citizen of India for visiting India and are also exempted from registration with Foreign Regional Registration Officer or Foreign Registration Officer for any length of stay in India.

What is an OCI Card?

Launched in 2005, under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the OCI card was introduced for fulfilling the demands for dual citizenship among the Indians living in different developed countries. The OCI card provides Overseas Citizenship of India to live and work in India for an indefinite period of time but does not provide the right to vote, hold constitutional offices or buy agricultural properties.

Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card: Eligibility

A person must meet the following eligibility criteria before applying for the OCI scheme:

• He/She is a citizen of another country having an Indian origin. He/She was a citizen of India on or before the commencement of the constitution; or
• He/She is a citizen of another country, but was eligible for the citizenship of India at the time of the commencement of the constitution; or
• He/She is a citizen of another country and belonging to a territory that became a part of India after the 15th August 1947; or
• He/She is a child/grandchild/great grandchild of such a citizen; or
• He/She is a minor child, whose parents are both Indian citizens or one parent is a citizen of India and
• is a spouse of foreign origin of an Indian citizen or of an OCI cardholder

Any person having citizenship of Bangladesh or Pakistan is not eligible to apply for the OCI card. Even a person having a background of serving any foreign military are also not eligible for the scheme.

OCI: Conferment of Rights

The registered Overseas Citizens of India are not entitled to several rights that are conferred on a citizen of India.

• Right to equality of opportunity under article 16 of the Constitution with regard to public employment.
• Right for election as President and Vice-President under article 58 and article 66 respectively.
• They are not entitled to the rights under article 124 and article 217 of the Constitution.
• Right to register as a voter under section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950(43 of 1950).
• Rights with regard to the eligibility for being a member of the State Council/Legislative Assembly/Legislative Council.
• For an appointment to the posts of Public Services and Union Affairs of any State.

Challenges launched by the Housing & Urban Affairs Ministry

Context: The Ministry launched the EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge.

EatSmart Cities Challenge

• The EatSmart Cities Challenge is envisioned as a competition among cities to recognize their efforts in adopting and scaling up various initiatives under Eat Right India.
• This unique challenge, in partnership with Smart Cities Mission will create an environment of right food practices and habits, strengthen the food safety and regulatory environment, build awareness among the consumers and urge them to make better food choices in India’s major cities and can set an example for other cities to follow.
• The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States/UTs, and cities with a population of more than 5 lakh.
• At the end of first phase of the challenge, 11 cities will be selected for deeper engagement for an extended period to implement their vision.

Transport 4 All (T4All) Challenge

• Transport 4 All challenge has been launched in collaboration with Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).
• The Challenge aims to bring together cities, citizen groups, and start-ups to develop solutions that improve public transport to better serve the needs of all citizens.
• The first edition of the Challenge focuses on digital innovation.
• Cities and start-ups will receive guidance to develop and test various solutions, learn from them, and scale them to build people’s trust in public transport and enhance their mobility.
• The solutions will make public transport—formal as well as informal— safe, convenient, and affordable for all.
• All the Smart Cities Mission cities, capitals of states and union territories (UTs), and all cities with a population of over 5 lakhs are eligible for the Challenge.
• Three stages of the challenge:
  • Stage I PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: Cities, with the support of NGOs, identify key recurring problems that citizens and public transport operators face.
  • Stage II SOLUTION GENERATION: Start-ups develop prototypes of solutions to improve public transport with inputs from cities and NGOs.
  • Stage III PILOT TESTING: Cities engage start-ups for large-scale pilots and refine the solutions based on citizen feedback.