CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -BharatNet Phase-I, connecting 100, 000 village councils covering 300, 000 villages, was completed by December 2017. BharatNet Phase-II will be completed by 31 March 2023 to connect the remaining 150, 000 village councils covering 325, 000 villages in 16 states (July 2021 update).

Detailed explanation-2: -Objective is to enable access providers like mobile operators, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Cable TV operators, content providers to launch various services such as applications like e-health, e-education and e-governance in rural and remote India. The project has been approved by Union Cabinet on 25.10. 2011.

Detailed explanation-3: -Broadband Connectivity to Villages –Under the BharatNet Project 1, 77, 550 Gram Panchayats (GPs) have been made service ready till June 2022. The scope of BharatNet on 30.06. 2021 has been extended upto all inhabited villages beyond GPs in the country. Timeline of the BharatNet Project is upto 2025.

Detailed explanation-4: -BharatNet project is being implemented in all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages of the country to provide high speed internet and broadband, Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

Detailed explanation-5: -BharatNet Project was launched by the government of India in 2011 as NOFN or National Optical Fibre Network, and later in 2015, it was renamed Bharat-Net. It was implemented for India’s rural population to enhance the high-speed broadband connectivity of 2.5 lakh gram panchayat and approx 6 lakh villages.