To cement India's position as a preferred global outsourcing destination, the government on Wednesday liberalised guidelines for voice-based BPOs removing the distinction between domestic and international units as well as permitting interconnectivity between all types of OSP centres. Broadly, the rules would allow global companies, say an airline, with a voice-based centre in India to now serve global and domestic customers with common telecom resources, something that required dedicated, separate infrastructure previously. Moreover, the restrictions on data interconnectivity between any BPO (business process outsourcing) centre of the same company, a group company or any unrelated company has been done away with, allowing for massive flexibility in resource management for BPO operations.
In significant push towards a less-cash economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced starting a biometric payment system using Aadhar platform within two weeks even as he exhorted citizens to adopt digital currency from the new year.
On paper, as many as 136 members should have opposed the Bill in a House of 241 members, reports Archis Mohan,
IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday slammed Twitter for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the country's new IT rules, which has led to the United States giant losing its intermediary status in India and becoming liable for users posting any unlawful content.
"Over a dozen Islamic countries such as Pakistan, Tunisia, Morocco, Iran and Egypt have regulated triple talaq. If Islamic countries can regulate the practice by enacting law, and it has not been found against sharia, then how can it be wrong in India, which is a secular country?" Prasad said.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said they must offer good services to the customers if they want any help from the government.
WhatsApp limited the number of times a frequently forwarded message can be sent further to only one chat at a time. This resulted in 70% plunge in viral forwarded messages globally, WhatsApp told GoI.
Top officials of the firm called on Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and expressed keen interest in expanding their Chennai plant.
A probe has been initiated to determine the source behind the editing of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's profile.
Suggesting the bill is in line with the apex court judgment, Prasad said people of India have accepted Aadhaar. The bill proposes to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar number for authentication and identity proof in opening of bank accounts and procuring of mobile phone connections. The Bill also seeks to give a child an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of age, while stipulating stiff penalties for violation of norms set for use of Aadhaar and violation of privacy.
In a multi-pronged attack on the government, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Surjewala alleged that it was managing headlines to deflect attention from issues such as the death of 39 Indians in captivity in Iraq.
The amended bill also provides for a stiff Rs 1 crore penalty and a jail term for private entities for storing Aadhaar data.
Nearly 45 per cent of this value is likely to be delivered by 3 sectors - consumer goods and retail, agriculture and banking and insurance, the Nasscom report said.
'Losers who cannot influence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by the BJP and RSS'
Asked whether the bill on triple talaq would be brought again, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Obviously. (The issue of) triple talaq is part of our (BJP) manifesto. Why not?"
Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar also attacked the Congress, which had not opposed the bill in Lok Sabha but voiced its strong opposition in the Upper House.
A three-member crew will be sent to space for at least seven days.
Rajya Sabha MP and Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter, along with her husband Shailesh Kumar, are alleged to have entered into benami deals for purchase of a farm house in Delhi.
Receiving Ganga water by post could be a reality soon as the government endeavours to tap the e-commerce platform to bring the holy water at the doorsteps.
Ignoring objections by political parties, the government on Friday introduced a bill in Lok Sabha to clear legal hurdles in appointment of former Telephone Regulatory Authority of India Chairman Nripendra Misra who joined as principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than a month back.
In an advisory, the Home Ministry has urged the states and UTs to 'keep a watch for early detection of rumours of child lifting and initiate effective measures to counter them'.
An agency which helps Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) enroll citizens for Aadhar has over enthusiastic shared the personal details of ace cricket Mahendra Singh Dhoni on social media.
An embarrassed government promised to investigate the matter saying this was not its stand and neither of the Sangh.
Performance is considered a major reason why Ravi Shankar Prasad might have had to leave telecom.
The Opposition, which had been demanding that the bill be referred to a 'joint select committee', staged a walkout when its demand was rejected by the government.
Roads account for the second largest amount of bad loans.
The BJP hopes to highlight the "insulting" Congress meme on social media that had described the PM as a 'chaiwala', reports Archis Mohan.
The suspense over the possible composition of the National Democratic Alliance cabinet seems to be nearing climax as sources informed that a list of names is being finalised to be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee on the sidelines of Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony.
The new rules are aimed at providing a strong impetus to the industry and positioning India as one of the most competitive IT jurisdictions in the world.
A ministerial committee has been set up to propose a suitable legislation or amend existing penal provisions, which would make instantaneous triple talaq an offence, government functionaries said on Tuesday.
Congress party compromised national security for political purpose, said the BJP over Ishrat Jahan case.
Opposition parties on Thursday launched a vociferous attack on the Centre over its handling of the farmers' agitation, callings its dialogues with the protestors 'monologues', even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party defended the new laws asserting that its government is committed to the welfare of peasants and increase their incomes.
"Under this circumstances, what should we do? Should we allow Muslim women to be continued to be exploited," he said.
His second term as solicitor general was renewed recently.
Allaying concerns of the Bharatiya Janata Party that their leaders were under threat, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday assured the party that they will be provided security.
Prasad said the Bharatiya Janata Party never linked the Ram Mandir issue with polls.
Online booking started on February 18 but the site soon crashed.
"I want to clarify one thing that the BJP is not going to take the support of Kanda," he told reporters in Chandigarh.
'In politics, not everything is spoken and there are a lot of messaging done very discreetly.'
Notwithstanding L K Advani's resignation, BJP President Rajnath Singh made it clear that there will be no going back on the decision to appoint Narendra Modi as campaign committee chief.
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