Indian Railways is planning to roll out Smart card based for automatic fare collection using automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs) across various cities in India (phase 1 includes New Delhi, Secunderabad, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Pune).
The project is expected to go live this September (source)
Mumbai’s First Digital Library Launched
A significant move, – Mumbai’s first ever digital library has been launched (State Central Library Digital Centre) enabling people to read digital content across different formats.
Other than digital content via CD/DVD-ROMs and the Internet, this Digital Library also houses select books on various topics like art, politics, history, technology, history, etc. The library houses an an Xbox 360, a multimedia-capable computer for kids to view digital content (Encyclopedias, movies, games, study material) from the selection available. (source)
Mobile phone to authenticate your identity – UID Project
Mobile phone will be used to verify your credentials, for authentication at banks, gas connection centres or while providing rural jobs, as per Unique Identification Authority chief Nandan Nilekani.
“Once the numbers are issued, we will go for online authentication. Lets say, you are asking for a job under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The authorities will send your number to the designated points through mobile. A message will be returned saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’,” – source
Recommended Read:National Government ID Project – Leapfrog or Catch-up? SIM card vs Smart Card?
I sure hope they have thought this through. I have so many questions on this that I do not even know where to begin.
1> What happens if you are not in coverage area?
2> What about roaming charges?
3> What if you go out of country for over a year, IT people do that? Do you still have to pay for your mobile phone just to keep the number?
4> Will all my data be linked to UID and by extension my mobile number? If so what happens if my cell phone is stolen?
There are so many others. Instead of just coming out with 1 line statements I think they should set up a website, where you can interact with them.
I am disappointed. I guess I was hoping for more transparency from Mr. Nilkeni.