Cabinet approves ₹2,400-crore project to upgrade to 4G services in Left Wing Extremism-hit areas

• The Project envisages upgrading 2,343 left Wing Extremism Phase-I sites from 2G to 4G mobile services at an estimated cost of Rs.1,884.59 crore (Excluding taxes and levies).
• This includes O&M for five years. However, BSNL will maintain the sites for another five years at its own cost. The work will be awarded to BSNL because these sites belong to BSNL.
• The Cabinet also approved funding of operations and maintenance cost of LWE Phase-I 2G sites by BSNL for an extended period beyond the contractual period of five years at an estimated cost of Rs.541.80 crore.
• The extension will be up to 12 months from the date of approval by the Cabinet or commissioning of 4G sites, whichever is earlier.
• The upgradation will enable better internet and data services in these LSW areas. The proposal is in line with the goal of providing mobile connectivity in rural areas.
• It shall also fulfil the communication needs of the security personnel deployed in these areas.
• In addition, delivery of various e-governance services, banking services, tele-medicine; tele-education etc. through mobile broadband shall be possible in these areas.

Cabinet nod to MoU with Chile for cooperation in disability sector

• Chile is a country in the western part of South America.
• It occupies a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It shares land borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the north-east, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south.
• It is the world's southernmost country, the closest to Antarctica, that is geographically on the mainland. The country's capital and largest city is Santiago

India Chile relations

• The year 2019-20 marked 70th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• Bilateral relations have strengthened over the years with exchange of high-level visits, which include two visits of the Hon’ble President of Chile in 2005 and 2009.
• Chile was the first country in South America to sign a trade agreement with India, in 1956
• The Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two sides came into force in 2007. In 2016, both countries signed an agreement to expand the India- Chile PTA.

NHA launches nurse module of Health Professional Registry

• The module for doctors from all systems of medicines and their onboarding is already in place in the Health Professional Registry.
• Now with this nation-wide roll out of the Nurse Module, nurses providing health services across modern and traditional systems of medicine can also enroll on Healthcare Professional Registry.
• Going forward, NHA plans to enroll more categories of health professionals like Para-medicals, grass-root level community health workers (ASHAs), medical support staff, allied healthcare professionals etc. in the registry.

Health Professional Registry (HPR)

• Health Professional Registry (HPR) is a comprehensive repository of all healthcare professionals involved in delivery of healthcare services across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.
• HPR is a core building block of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
• Through HPR, healthcare professionals can onboard onto India’s digital health ecosystem and connect to patients to healthcare providers or vice versa with last mile coverage.
• Benefits of HPR include unique and trustable identity, online presence and discoverability along with telemedicine and unified digital services.

National Health Authority (NHA)

• The National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body of the Government of India leading the implementation for Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in coordination with different ministries/departments of the Government of India, State Governments, and private sector/civil society organizations.
• NHA also implements the flagship scheme, Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).