Finance Minister launches IT initiatives ICEDASH and ATITHI

News:Finance minister has unveiled two new IT initiatives ICEDASH and ATITHI.

Facts:

Why were these initiatives launched?

• These initiatives aims at improving monitoring and pace of customs clearance of imported goods.
• They will also facilitate arriving international passengers with e-filing of baggage and currency declarations.

About ICEDASH:

• ICEDASH is an ease of doing business(EoDB) monitoring dashboard of the Indian Customs helping public see the daily customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and airports.
• It will be an effective tool that can help businesses compare clearance times across ports and plan their logistics accordingly.
• The dashboard has has been developed by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) in collaboration with National Informatics Centre(NIC).

About ATITHI:

• ATITHI is a mobile app for international travelers to file the Customs declaration in advance.
• Passengers can use this app to file declaration of dutiable items and currency with the Indian Customs even before boarding the flight to India.
• The app would in particular create a tech-savvy image of India’s customs and would encourage tourism and business travel to India.

Additional information:

About CBIC:

• Central board of Indirect taxes(CBIC) was established in 1944.It is the nodal national agency responsible for administering Customs, GST, Central Excise, Service Tax & Narcotics in India. 
• It is part of the Department of Revenue under Union Ministry of Finance. It is headquartered in New Delhi.

About National Informatics Centre(NIC):

• The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is an institute set up by the Indian government in 1976 to drive its technology and e-governance initiatives in the country.
• The institute is part of the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Department of Electronics & Information Technology.
• NIC has the mandate to set up, implement and support all the information technology led-programs of the central and state governments and other government organizations in In