On October 21, 2019 the Union minister of law & justice, communications, electronics & Information Technology(IT), Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad unveiled new initiatives by the Ministry of Electronics & Information (MeitY) in the first MeitY Start-up Summit 2019 held in New Delhi.The summit is seen as a step forward to bring all key stakeholders and startups under one roof. Some of the important events in the summit are as follows
Initiatives launched:
BHIM 2.0 with new functionalities:
BHIM 2.0 (Bharat Interface for Money 2.0) with additional functionalities were launched during the summit. They are as follows
- Additional languages: BHIM 2.0 apart from the existing 13 languages, now supports additional languages namely Konkani, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi.
- ‘Donation’ gateway, increased transaction limits for high value transactions, linking multiple bank accounts, offers from merchants, option of applying in IPO, gifting money are the other features.
Hub portal:
MeitYStartup Hub(MSH) portal was launched in the summit. The portal is a collaborative platform for technology incubation centres, Centres of Excellence (CoEs), mentors, Venture Capitals(VCs) supporting tech startup ecosystem.
- Software technology parks of India (STPI), an organisation under MeitY, works on the implementation of MSH in the country. The STPI has also signed 4 Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Intel India Pvt limited, IIM(Indian Institute of Management) Calcutta Innovation Park, Pontaq and IBM for hub promotion.
Indian software products registry:
Indian software products registry, was launched. It acts as a single window portal to collate(collect and combine) Indian software product database.
Digital achievements made so far:
The law minister discussed about the advancement and achievement made by MeitY. They are as follows
- Indian flagship programmes namely Make in India, Digital India, Startup India created/are creating achievements in digital technology.
- JAM(Jan DhanYojana, Aadhaar and Mobile number) Trinity also paved the way for digital inclusion with 1.24 billion aadhar cards, 1.2 billion mobile phones.
- 1.25 Lakh Gram Panchayats have been connected by optical fibre. Currently 1 Lakh digital villages are connected with wifi and CSCs(Common Service centres).
- TIDE scheme: The Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs(TIDE) had made remarkable achievements in promoting startups and has now emerged as TIDE 2.0.
Awards given: Shri Prasad awarded selected fintechs and Banks that promoted digital landscape in the nation and also awarded outstanding women tech entrepreneurs.
About BHIM app:
Bhim app is a payment app, with UPI(Unified Payments Interface)
Developer- National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Launched- December 2016.
It is named after BhimraoRamjiAmbedkar (BR Ambedkar).