To check digital frauds, the government has disconnected 70 lakh mobile numbers so far involved in cybercrime or financial frauds, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi said on Tuesday. Emerging from a meeting to discuss issues related to financial cyber security and increasing digital payment fraud, Joshi, who chaired the meeting, said banks have been asked to strengthen the system and processes in this regard. More such meetings would take place, he said, adding the next meeting is scheduled in January.
Amid outrage over a plan to give powers to its arm Press Information Bureau to police fake news on social media, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday said that the government will hold discussions next month with stakeholders before the proposal is implemented.
It also issued notice to chairman of Sudarshan News, Suresh Chavhanke, Odisha Television Limited, Pittie Media LLP, Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited which is the owner of The Organiser, Voice of the Nation'.
He said that fact-checkers are a reference point to fight against misinformation and rejected arguments that it will adversely impact "free speech".
The government on Thursday tweaked curbs on imports of laptops and computers as it allowed importers to bring in shipments of IT hardware from overseas on a mere 'authorisation' upon detailing quantity and value. The new 'import management system' is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets and computers into the country without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime. The announcement is likely to provide relief to companies in the IT hardware segment in India as they had flagged concerns over the imposition of a strict licensing regime for importers.
"Government has decided to notify an entity through Meity and that organisation then would be the fact checker for all aspects of content online and only those that are related to the government," Chandrasekhar said. Talking about rules for online gaming, the minister said that there will be multiple self-regulatory organisations (SRO) which will decide on permissibility of online games based on the framework.
CERT-In has started its probe in the Apple threat notification issue raised by opposition MPs, and a notice has been sent to the company, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Thursday.
The development came two days after Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that a decision has been taken to provide security to the farmers who will start the cropping season.
Hours after Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday said the government might get the Digital Data Protection Bill classified as a money bill, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw refuted the charge and termed it a "normal bill".
Noting that Gandhi had claimed that armed forces can restore peace in the state within days if allowed, BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wondered if he wanted what his grandmother and then prime minister Indira Gandhi had done by ordering the Air Force to drop bombs in Aizawl in the 1960s.
MeitY had stated there was a need to set up GACs as grievance officers hired by the platforms often did not address issues satisfactorily.
The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) in its 101-page statement of objections before the Karnataka high court has termed the microblogging platform Twitter of being defiant to the laws of the land.
The government will investigate a claim that WhatsApp accessed the microphone of smartphone users while the phone was not in use, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday.
The networking giant said it has taken steps to reduce the visibility of hashtags containing harmful content, which included prohibiting them from trending and appearing as recommended search terms.
The draft policy proposes the launch of a non-personal data based India datasets program and addresses the methods and rules to ensure that non-personal and anonymised data from both government and private entities are safely accessible by the research and innovation ecosystem.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Twitter on Monday online, argued the company was following the rules laid out in the Information Technology Act.
"Muzzling the Internet and censoring online content through PIB is the Modi government's definition of 'fact checking'," Pawan Khera alleged.
The government has approved Rs 357.17 crore for Apple's vendor Foxconn India and Rs 58.29 crore for Dixon Technologies subsidiary Padget Electronics under the Production-Linked Incentive scheme for mobile phones. This is the first time the government has cleared an incentive of a global company engaged in electronics manufacturing in the country. "Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development Pvt. Ltd is the first global company that has been approved under the target segment 'Mobile Phones' (in the category of invoice value of Rs 15,000 and above) to receive incentive under mobile manufacturing for the period 1 August 2021-31 March 2022 based on its incremental investments and sales figures.
As per sources, the MHA recommended the MeitY this week to ban and block these apps, and the ministry subsequently initiated the process as per communication.
The new mantra was to align Apple's ambition with the government's, focusing on Modi's favourite themes of Make in India, employment generation and India as a high-tech export hub.
The guild said that already multiple laws exist to deal with content that is found to be factually incorrect.
The government wants a collaborative model with a public-private partnership to fact-check social media content.
The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) in a press release revealed that the Ministry's Secretary, in a virtual interaction with Twitter officials, expressed his deep disappointment to Twitter leadership about the manner in which it has unwillingly, grudgingly and with great delay complied with the substantial parts of the order.
The government has identified nine key focus areas in the AI national programme, including agriculture, education, Indian languages, smart cities, cybersecurity, transportation, and finance.
The SFJ pushed for Sikh Referendum 2020 as part of its separatist agenda. It openly espouses the cause of Khalistan and in that process challenges the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, another official said.
National artificial intelligence unit stuck for lack of anchor department
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Monday reported multiple irregularities in the accounts of units under the IT and telecom ministries, including purchases of hardware and software worth Rs 890 crore by NICSI in contravention of rules. In its audit report for financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged anomalies in the decision taken by state-run telecom firm BSNL, C-DoT, the Department of Posts, ITI Limited and CDAC that had adverse financial implications. "NICSI procured hardware and software costing Rs 890.34 crore through the 'Strategic Alliance' route in contravention of General Financial Rules, 2005 and departmental instructions and thus failed to ensure transparency and competitiveness in the procurement process," according to the CAG report tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday.
The single-judge bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit which dictated the operative portion of the judgement also imposed a cost of Rs 50 lakh on Twitter and ordered it to be paid to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority within 45 days.
WhatsApp has made the statement before Justice Yashwant Varma who was hearing a lawsuit by one of the aggrieved parties whose identity was earlier allowed to remain concealed by the court.
A Twitter spokesperson said they remain committed to working with the Government of India and that they respect the sensitivities involved, duly acknowledging the letter.
NITI Aayog had been asking for Rs 7,500 crore for three years to set up an AI framework.
Gaming platforms will also be required to display a warning after a certain time of usage to reduce the risk of addiction.
The Centre Thursday told the Delhi high court it has set up an appellate mechanism to deal with grievances of the users arising from the decisions of social media platforms.
Over 600 social media accounts of the central government were hacked in the last five years, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
'The message is not clear whether we are wanted.' 'All this could adversely impact our strategy in India and also investments.'
Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani on Friday India is well-placed on the government and businesses fronts to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) in unique ways to solve challenges and tap into opportunities. Nilekani noted that over the last few years, the government has focussed on how to make transactions more efficient and effective, which has driven digitisation across the board. He added that as a byproduct of this, huge data now across systems has been generated and that the time is right to apply AI across the board to India's most challenging issues across areas like healthcare and education.
Their favourite alternatives: Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Note, India is missing from that list. And this is despite an attractive financial incentive scheme for OSAT players. The reason, said a senior executive of a US chip company who had a meeting in Taiwan just a few weeks ago, is that "they want more predictability in government policy because they plan to put in big money."
Information Commissioner, in a terse order, pointed out that the website of the application mentions that the content on it is "owned, updated and maintained" by MyGov and MeitY
The submission was made before Justice Yashwant Varma who was hearing a batch of petitions concerning the suspension and deletion of accounts of several social media users, including Twitter users.
The action was taken under Section 69A of the Act that empowers the government to block any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence.
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