Tech and startup industry bodies have again pushed back against calls by telecom operators to bring over-the-top (OTT) services under a licensing regime similar to telcos, and open them up to taxation. Ahead of public consultations on the issue later this week, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Nasscom and the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), among others, have written to the government arguing against such efforts.
The strong message from the prime minister is of continuity of policies he considers right with strong emphasis on execution, points out T N C Rajagopalan.
Semiconductor makers need thousands of engineers and technicians, and though India has one of the largest pool of engineers in the world, they do not have experience in the semiconductor manufacturing space.
The swindled amount is nearly half of WazirX's total assets.
Messages sent through Internet-based messaging service providers such as Whatsapp, Signal, and Telegram, as well as those which are encrypted, are understood to be within the Act's ambit.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology has called on Twitter to appear before the panel in Parliament Complex on June 18 at 4 pm and give representation on how to prevent misuse of social media and online news.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday directed X Corp and Google Inc to remove prima facie defamatory social media posts against Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) officer and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter Anjali Birla.
The government is planning to tweak its procurement policy to give a fillip to domestic manufacturing. The industry department has floated a proposal to raise the minimum local content requirement for public procurement for Class-I and -II suppliers from 50 per cent currently to 70 per cent, and 20 per cent as of now to 50 per cent, respectively.
In a jolt to the Centre, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notification setting up a fact-checking unit under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to identify fake news about the Union government.
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.
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.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met top officials of the finance and corporate affairs ministries to review the implementation of various announcements of the Union Budget FY24. "The finance minister underlined the importance of continuous assessment of progress to ensure that various announcements are implemented in a time-bound manner," the finance ministry said in a tweet. Sitharaman also discussed in detail various issues on the digital competition laws with Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the minister of state for entrepreneurship, skill development, electronics and technology.
BJP members of the panel who were present in the meeting room didn't sign the attendance register in protest leading to a lack of quorum required for holding the meeting.
The industry came under scrutiny after the proliferation of games like cards, casinos, and fantasy sports among young people led to addiction and financial losses, with some reported cases of suicide.
More than 6,000 URLs, accounts or websites were blocked in 2021, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
The high court of Karnataka on Tuesday observed that it would be suitable if an age limit was introduced for using social media akin to the legal age for drinking alcohol.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
"Muzzling the Internet and censoring online content through PIB is the Modi government's definition of 'fact checking'," Pawan Khera alleged.
The agenda for the meeting is 'Evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Communication (Department of Telecommunications) on the subject of 'Citizens' data security and privacy'.
For 2015-16, the planned outlay for the department was Rs 2,568 crore.
To boost domestic manufacturing under the Make in India initiative and reduce dependency on imports, the government is expected to announce in the Budget an increase in the minimum local content requirement for public procurement, with certain sectors being granted exceptions. Currently, firms producing goods, services, or works with at least 50 per cent local content are classified as Class-I local suppliers and are preferred the most in government procurement.
'It is in electronics that the gap between where we are and where we need to be is most obvious and most persistent.' 'It is not only a national security issue, but also a commercial issue,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
Apple Inc has requested the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) to give it 18 to 24 months' exemption to comply with the European Union (EU) regulation of putting an USB charging port in all its older smartphones, mainly iPhone 13 and iPhone 14, which are assembled, exported and also sold in the domestic market. Apple's stance is different from that of Samsung, which has been pushing for an immediate implementation of the EU regulation. All smartphones by the South Korean giant already comply with the EU rules.
The Centre on Wednesday told the Bombay high court it was extending till July 10 its earlier statement that it won't notify its fact-checking unit to identify fake news against the government on social media, even as two new petitions were filed challenging the recently amended IT Rules.
The Budget announcement of zero tax for earnings upto Rs 12 lakh per annum and the rejig of tax slabs across the board should prompt more than 90 per cent of individual taxpayers to embrace the new tax regime as compared to the about 75 per cent as of now, CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal said. Agrawal also highlighted the government's focus on "non-intrusive" tax administration through enhanced use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and simplified tax processes for common taxpayers. He emphasized the benefits of the new tax regime (NTR), which offers simple calculations and allows taxpayers to file their ITR without professional help. The CBDT chief stated that the Budget provisions related to income tax payment benefit all income earners, not just those earning Rs 12 lakh per annum, creating a positive sentiment in the economy and propelling growth. The department is also harnessing technology, including AI and data analytics, to widen and deepen the tax base, resulting in increased compliance and tax revenue. Agrawal further highlighted the positive impact of data availability and simplified tax processes on compliance rates, citing examples of taxpayers filing revised returns and paying taxes after being prompted by the department's data analysis.
The parliamentary panel on information technology will question government officials on allegations relating to suspected phone tapping of politicians, journalists and others using Pegasus spyware, the committee chairman and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, and asserted that it is the "most important issue" for many members.
The Tata group is close to acquiring Wistron's $600-million factory in southern Karnataka by next month, according to reports. The Wistron unit makes iPhones for the Cupertino-based company. Sources said that Wistron will continue to provide the Tatas technical know-how on assembling the phone and keep back some personnel during the transition process.
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 matter came up before Justice Subramonium Prasad who listed it for hearing on October 16.
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'.
'The idea is to frame the ToR quickly, so that Trai can begin its consultations with industry stakeholders.'
The government will assist citizens in filing FIR against social media platforms for violation of IT rules in case they are aggrieved from objectionable content like deep fakes.
The government on Tuesday blocked access to 43 more Chinese mobile apps, including Alibaba Workbench, AliExpress, Alipay Cashier, CamCard and WeDate, for being prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and defence of the nation.
Kumar, a 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, is currently an additional secretary in the ministry of electronics and Information Technology.
The government on Wednesday informed Parliament that there is no proposal with the Information Technology ministry to set up a regulator for social media.
Despite the robust growth in this country, Apple's India share in its overall global sales remained modest -- constituting 1.5 per cent of its overall turnover of $389 billion in FY23.
The government wants a collaborative model with a public-private partnership to fact-check social media content.
According to the notification, publishers of online curated content displaying tobacco products or their use will be required to display anti-tobacco health spots each of a minimum of 30 seconds at the beginning and middle of the programme.
The Lok Sabha ethics committee has cited the threats India faces from State and non-State cyber actors to indict Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra for sharing her log-in credentials with businessman Darshan Hiranandani, noting that he has residency rights in Dubai and has close relatives who are foreign nationals.
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