Digi Yatra | Latest Burning Issues

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UPSC PERSPECTIVE

PSC CSE Syllabus for General Studies Mains paper 3

Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

UPSC 2015 PRELIMS

With reference to the use of nano-technology in health sector, which of the following statements is/are correct?

Targeted drug delivery is made possible by nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology can largely contribute to gene therapy.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

(C) BOTH 1 AND 2

Targeted drug delivery is made possible by nanotechnology. Medical nanotechnology can largely contribute to genetic therapy and improvement.
Diseases can be easily treated if approached at the genetic level. So instead of treating diseases based on the symptoms, nanotechnology will help medical practitioners treat the problem by looking at the root cause.

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY WHAT IS DIGI YATRA INITIATIVE?

Air passengers can soon use facial recognition technology to enter any airport in the country under the recently unveiled Digi Yatra initiative by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY

WHAT IS DIGI YATRA INITIATIVE?

The initiative seeks to promote paperless and hassle-free air travel.
There would be one-time verification at the departure airport while travelling for the first time using the ID.
After successful verification, facial recognition biometric would be captured and stored in the Digi Yatra

GRADUAL ROLL OUT

With this initiative, the civil aviation ministry is looking to make ticket booking, airport entry and boarding pass security checkin digital.
The technology will soon be operational at Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to roll out the initiative at Kolkata, Varanasi, Pune and Vijayawada airports by April next year, as per the ministry.

KEY FEATURES

1. Centralised registration system for passengers and each of them would get a unique ID on booking the tickets
2. ID can be created by sharing name, e-mail id, mobile number and details of any identity proof, including Aadhaar
3. The airline would share the passenger data and the ID with the airport from where the passenger would be flying out

THE SOFTWARE USED WILL BE PRIVATE

Hari Marar, CEO of Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), which operates KIA, and Miguel Leitmann, CEO of Vision Box, a Portuguese software firm, signed an agreement to this effect in Lisbon on September 5 to introduce face recognition technology at the airport from 2019.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Indian-origin Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa and India’s Ambassador to Portugal Nandini Singla.

WHY WE NEED THIS?

Airports in India — from the busiest like Delhi and Mumbai to smaller ones in Patna and Guwahati — have become synonymous with queues, delays and congestion
India has recorded double-digit growth in domestic air passenger traffic for the past 42 months, shows data from International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade body of global airlines. Passenger traffic at Delhi airport grew 14% in 2017 compared to the previous year, making it the fastest growing airport in the world, according to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), a global consultancy firm.

TOO MANY PEOPLE

Hyderabad airport was meant to handle 12 million passengers per annum, but footfalls crossed 18 million in 2017.
Last year, Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport handled 19.5 million passengers — the terminal can manage 20 million passengers and will run out of space this year. Even at Patna airport, passenger traffic hit 29 lakh last year — a 48% increase over 2016 numbers — when the airport can handle just 7 lakh passengers a year.

WHAT IATI SAID

International Air Transport Association IATA anticipates India will be the third largest aviation market by 2024. To make this a reality, airport capacity needs to be augmented