In a bid to counter China’s high-speed cellular connectivity in areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Ladakh administration has amended the Communication Connectivity Infrastructure Rules 2020 (LCCIR) to accelerate upgradation and expansion of telecom networks and speed up the rollout of 5G services in the cold desert region that is witnessing a long stretched standoff on its borders with China.

A meeting of the 5G working committee was held in Leh on Friday under the Chairmanship of Advisor Umang Narula to review and discuss the amendments to the LCCIR and Right of Way Policy, Ladakh.

The move has come amidst complaints of poor cellular connectivity in far-flung villages, whereas China has installed latest communication infrastructure in the shephard villages that have come up along the LAC in the past two years.

In the meeting presided by Narula, it was informed that the LCCIR-20 lays down guidelines for implementation of over-ground (Mobile Towers, Cells on Wheels, etc.) and underground (Optical Fiber Cable) infrastructure establishment in the Union Territory.

Advisor Narula noted that the amendments would pave the way for the installation of 5G services in the Union Territory.

Principal Secretary, Information Technology Department, Sanjeev Khirwar, gave a comprehensive presentation to the participants on the proposed amendments to the LCCIR, 2020.

He stated that these rules were made to introduce transparency and to ease out the entire process of applying for approval, installation, and maintenance of telecom infrastructure across the Union Territory in a time-bound manner to ensure quality telecom service in Ladakh. He shared that no charges would be levied for the mobilization of small cells and telegraph lines using street furniture.

Further, he informed that the LCCIR-20 will also be integrated with the central Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal.

The meeting was also attended by the Principal Secretary, Planning and Revenue Department; Commissioner/Secretary, Rural Development Department; DDG (Rural), Chief Engineer, PWD, Telecom Enforcement & Resource Monitoring Cell, J&K; General Manager BSNL, Ladakh, and officials of the IT Department, Ladakh.

New Delhi, Nov 12: India saw a single day rise of 833 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,46,65,643, while the active cases declined to 12,553, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The death toll has climbed to 5,30,528 with eight fatalities which includes three reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprises 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.78 per cent, according to the health ministry website.
A decrease of 199 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,22,562, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry’s website 219.79 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.
Five new deaths reported in a span of 24 hours are two from Maharashtra, one each from Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Karnataka. (Agencies)

Himachal Pradesh, Nov 12: Jairam Thakur, the Himachal Pradesh CM urged voters to come out in big numbers and enthusiastically participate in the voting process on Saturday. He stated that every vote in the election would help to build a prosperous Himachal Pradesh.
“First vote, then refreshments. Dear fellow state residents, today is the day of voting.
“My humble request to all the voters is to participate in this festival of democracy with full enthusiasm,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
“Vote in huge numbers, your one vote will help build a prosperous Himachal,” he added.
The chief minister also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Twitter urged the people to enthusiastically participate in the polling.
Thakur said on Modi’s call, the people of Himachal will create a new voting record.
“Hearty greetings respected prime minister ji. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the voters of Devbhoomi Himachal about voting.
“Certainly, according to your call, voters in the state will create a new record by participating in the polling and are going to create a new ‘riwaaz’ (trend). Warm greetings to you,” Thakur said in another tweet.
The BJP is seeking to change the trend of not re-electing incumbent governments in the state, while the Congress is asking people to follow the tradition and vote out the BJP.
The polling began at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm in all 68 assembly constituencies. (Agencies)

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has for the first time supplied a rocket system to support a private launch vehicle built in India.
Chennai-based space technology startup Agnikul Cosmos received its first flight termination system (FTS) on November 7 from ISRO, with the support of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre), a single-window autonomous government agency to promote, permit, and oversee private sector space-based activities.
“The official handing over event happened marking the culmination of multiple rounds of interactions about interfacing, handling and using these systems on Agnikul’s launch vehicle ‘Agnibaan’, the national space agency headquartered here said in a statement on Friday.
“This also marks the first time that a system that has been used for ISRO’s vehicles is being supplied for supporting a private launch vehicle built in India. The package will be used for their fully controlled sub-orbital launcher, scheduled to launch from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota,” it said.
According to Agnikul, Agnibaan is a highly customisable, 2-stage launch vehicle.
On November 4, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the lead Centre of ISRO for the development of launch vehicles, facilitated the hot testing of a rocket engine developed by Agnikul Cosmos.
VSSC successfully conducted the 15 seconds hot test of Agnilet Engine at its Vertical Test Facility, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), Thiruvananthapuram.
The test was carried out as part of an MoU signed between ISRO and Agnikul Cosmos to provide opportunity for Indian space start-ups to use facilities of ISRO through IN-SPACe. (Agencies)