National Portal of India: eNewsletter

The month of March is here with warm sunshine, refreshing flowers and holy festivals. The spirit of rejuvenation is in the air.

The festival of colors Holi is around the corner. Observed in springtime, Holi is celebrated all over the country with great enthusiasm. Also, this month devotees worship Lord Shiva on Maha Shivaratri.

We at the National Portal of India assure you to keep providing with a unique gateway to your every need related to India and its diverse facets. Our constant endeavour is to make your visit to the Portal a more fulfilling experience. We wish to get your kind support as we have had been receiving so far. Do write to us, if you have any suggestions or feedback.


	Union Budget 2011-12 Read through the Spotlight to get complete details of the Union Budget 2011-12, apart from the Economic Survey 2010-11 and the Railway budget. You can also watch the presentation of the Union Budget by the Finance Minister in the Parliament (available as video on demand) in our Webcast section. Visit the website for: Economic Survey 2010-11 Railway Budget 2011-12 Full text of the Budget speech Budget highlights Analysis of the Union Budget Key to Budget documents Memorandum Receipt Budget Expenditure Budget Customs & Central Excise The Macro Economic Framework Statement The Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement etc. The National Portal also offers you complete details of previous years' Union Budgets, Economic Surveys, Railway budgets and State budgets. The Parliament of India India is a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic with a parliamentary system of governance. The Parliament is the supreme legislative body in India. Get to know all about the institution that comprises the President of India and two the Houses – the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) in the portal on March 15.


	What's new This section highlights the changes or updates carried out in February and the new content to be provided in March in the portal. Citizen: This section provides detailed information on important topics such as Health, Education, Housing, Employment, Rural Indians, etc. We will get useful information regarding e-Governance in rural development under the Rural Indians section shortly. Development of rural people is one of the key areas of consideration in the government policy formulation Also, read about various government measures on poverty alleviation, better livelihood opportunities, basic amenities and infrastructure in the rural sector. Special Interest Groups (SIG): We will add Environmentalists as a Special Interest Group under the Citizen section soon. The SIG will provide detailed and up-to-date information on efforts made by the government to protect the environment. It will also highlight various plans, programmes, policies, services and facilities that environmentalists may like to access or avail. States and Union Territories: This section speaks of all the States and Union Territories in the country. Get new and updated content on a number of Services offered by various government agencies to the people of Tripura in this section shortly. How Do I?: This section provides useful information regarding various Citizen Services being provided by the Central & State/UT Governments in India. Know about the recently launched Mobile Number Portability (MNP) scheme in this section of NPI. The MNP facility allows users to switch to a new Mobile Service Provider in the same Licensed Service Area (LSA). Under the scheme, the new Mobile Service Provider provides a new SIM card to the consumer while retaining his/her existing mobile phone number.


	Guidelines The National Informatics Centre (NIC), in accordance with the Department of Administrative reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), has developed a set of guidelines i.e. Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) that address the entire lifecycle of a website, web portal/application right from its conceptualisation to design, development, maintenance and management of Government websites. Workshops on GIGW One day training program for Officials of Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India organised on 1st February 2011 at New Delhi. Workshop for Principal Secretaries/Secretaries of Uttarakhand Government organised on 28th January 2011 A two-day orientation-cum-training program organised from 27-28 January 2011 at NIC, Software Development Unit, Pune A two-day orientation-cum-training program organised from 19-20 January 2011 at NIC, Rajasthan State Centre, Jaipur A two-day orientation-cum-training program organised from 14-15 January 2011 at Institute of Management in Government, Govt of Kerala, Thiruvananthapurm


	Greetings Greet your near and dear ones by sending them some of the beautiful e-cards available on the portal. Holi: Holi is the festival of colors. On the eve of the festival, people light bonfires to mark the triumph of good over evil. The next day, people greet family and friends by rubbing 'gulal' and 'ajeer' of various colours on each other. Specialties like gujia, thandai and bhang are prepared at homes. Maha Shivaratri: Devotees worship Lord Shiva on Maha Shivaratri to gain release from this cycle of death and rebirth. Fast is observed with devotion and religious fervor.

	Latest Government Press Releases Get information about the latest government press releases in Hindi as well as English on our press releases page. View photographs of the latest events and functions held by the government in Photo Gallery. You can also subscribe to the Press Informatics Bureau (PIB) Press Releases of selected Government Departments.

	Did You Know? You can register online complaints with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). Look through our How Do I? Section for details about this and other online services designed to bring the Indian Government closer to its citizens.

Newly launched/revamped Government websites

The following are some of the Government websites that have been launched/ revamped recently:

To know more on recently launched websites, do visit GOI Web Directory.

Forward this newsletter to your contacts to notify them about the latest activities of the Government. Register yourself with portal to always be the first person to learn about new happenings.

You can also view the Visitor Summary report for the National Portal of India. Do write to us about other features that you would like to see introduced on this portal. We always welcome views and suggestions of our readers. Hope your visit to the National Portal of India is an engaging and useful experience. Wishing you all very Happy New Year.

This is a monthly newsletter sent to you by the National Portal of India.