Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The visit by Cook to open the first official company-owned outlets in Mumbai and New Delhi this week underscores Apple's growing ambitions for India

"The fact-checking unit will flag misinformation and patently false information pertaining to the government," the Minister posted in a tweet

The government has no plan to use Aadhaar data for census, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Lok Sabha on Wednesday. "The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India has informed that there is no plan to use Aadhaar data for census," he said in a written reply. According to the Unique Identification Authority of India, more than 136 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued by it till the end of February. "... after adjusting for the estimated number of deaths, the estimated number of living Aadhaar number holders is 130.2 crore, which is over 94 per cent of the total projected population for 2022," Chandrasekhar said in reply to questions by Congress member Adoor Prakash. Further, the minister said there is is no mechanism to receive the Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons from the Registrars appointed by state governments under the provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 for the registration of births and ..

The cumulative investments under the scheme have increased to Rs 5,124 crore as of December 2022 from the earlier FY2022-23 target of Rs 3,726 crore

Ethical hacking of computer systems or networks done with the permission of its owner does not attract any liability under the IT Act, Parliament was informed on Friday. The Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology in response to a question on the guidelines for ethical hacking shared that liability for compensation and punishment under provisions of the IT Act arises if anyone gains access to a computer system without the permission of its owner. "Any act, including an act of ethical hacking, undertaken with the permission/ consent of its owner does not attract liability under the said or other provisions of the Act," Chandrasekhar said. He said that Section 43 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, provides that if any person, without the permission of the owner or other person in charge of a computer, computer system or computer network, among other things, accesses or damages or disrupts such computer etc., he shall be liable to pay damages by way of ...

Says Indian financial sector should be preferred banking partner for start-ups

We are not aware of any such incident in which a US-based tech firm was authorised by the Kerala government to collate, collect, manage and handle the health data of the people

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that India might ask smartphone makers to allow the removal of pre-installed apps and mandate screening of major operating system updates

Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said that with US Government's latest action on Silicon Valley Bank, the looming risks to Indian startups have passed, as he added that the learning for Indian startups from this crisis is to trust Indian banking system more. The Biden administration has announced that depositors of the failed Silicon Valley Bank will have access to their money from Monday. Chandrasekhar tweeted, "With this US govt action, looming risks to Indian Startups have passed. Learning for Indian Startups from this crisis - trust Indian banking system more." He added: "Thank u to PM @narendramodiji, FM @nsitharaman n @RBI for their continuous leadership n monitoring durng this." The failure of Silicon Valley Bank last week left many startups, tech companies, entrepreneurs and VC funds nervous and jittery, and the US Government's latest statement has given hope to depositors who had accounts with the crisis-ridden bank. California-based Silicon Valley

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar will meet representatives of start-ups this week to assess the impact of their exposure to Silicon Valley Bank which was deeply entrenched in the tech startup ecosystem. According to various industry players and experts, most Indian software-as-a-services startups with a presence in the US and firms linked to incubator Y Combinator are among entities that will feel the heat of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse but the impact is likely to be short-term. "The SVB_Financial closure is certainly disrupting startups across the world. Startups are an imp part of NewIndia Economy. I will meet wth Indian Startups this week to understand impact on thm n how @narendramodi govt can help durng this crisis," Chandrasekhar tweeted on Sunday. SVB was deeply entrenched in the tech startup ecosystem and the default bank for many high-flying startups; its abrupt fall marked one of the largest bank failures since the 2008 global financial ..

In the past, the government has cautioned social media platforms that they could lose safe harbours for not complying with Indian laws

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday held the first-ever consultation on the proposed Digital India Act and discussed rules to handle data captured by invasive gadgets like spy glasses and wearable devices. The draft of the Digital India Act will be firmed up after two more rounds of discussion with stakeholders, the minister told PTI in a virtual interview after the first consultation in Bengaluru. He said that the draft is likely to be issued in April and it will be followed up with more rounds of public consultation for about 45-60 days before being placed in the Parliament for final approval. "We have undertaken for the first time ever consultation around the principal architectural design of legislation. The outcome of this consultation will be a draft. The draft in turn will be consulted extensively for a period that will be not less than 45 to 60 days," Chandrasekhar said. Based on the timelines for consultation, the draft bill is likely

It will be one of the world's largest publicly available datasets and aid next generation of entrepreneurs, says minister

Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that PM Modi has laid out a vision that India would play a significant role in the global electronics supply chain and manufacture $300 billion ectronics goods by 2026

Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday said there is a fundamental reset underway in semiconductor, electronics and innovation world order post-COVID, and like-minded nations need to work together on a cooperative framework to shape the future of technology. To safeguard citizens from online user harm, India has defined the boundary conditions of openness, safety and trust as well as accountability for platforms and companies to operate on the Indian Internet, the minister said and hoped that with global cooperation these principles will find a wider play among other nations. Chandrasekhar was speaking at a panel discussion on 'Democracy's Eleven: Protecting our Technology Future' at the Raisina Dialogue 2023. To a question on internet shutdown in India, the minister said that the internet shutdowns as percentage of the total number of online users in India as also the diversity or enormity of content ecosystem, is among the smallest in the world. Moreover, any .

The new draft will allow cross-border transfer of some users' data with "certain notified countries and territories"

The government is working on a Digital India Act to incorporate new rules for stopping internet-aided circulation of illegal, criminal and child sexual abuse material, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar said on Friday. Addressing a conference on 'Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)', hosted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at the Vigyan Bhawan here, the minister of state for electronics and information technology, said this will make internet service providers (ISPs) and other intermediaries more accountable for hosting offensive content. He said the existing Information Technology Act does not address the challenges of the present times. "Hence, the government formed the IT Rules, 2021, and amended it in 2022 to make intermediaries liable, and it is also proposing to bring a digital technology law," Chandrashekhar said. The minister said the government is committed to encouraging the use of internet by people as a tool for their empowerment but it also wants it to be

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday asserted that freedom of speech cannot be a cover for criminality, illegality and user harm, and emphasised that intermediaries have to be accountable for the content on their platforms. The minister was addressing the valedictory session of the National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) organised by the National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi. Chandrasekhar made it clear that safety and trust cannot be sacrificed at the altar of freedom of speech and privacy, according to an official release. "For decades the model that was followed was that intermediaries were not accountable about the content on their platforms, and encouraged anonymity to prevent traceability of the illegal content. This helped the proliferation of child sexual abuse and other illegalities on the internet," Chandrasekhar said. An intermediary wanting to do business in India is under obligation to carry out due diligence

Chandrasekhar said that artificial intelligence (AI) is a "kinetic enabler" of the digital economy and the government will infuse more of this disruptive technology into its 'India Stack'

The Minister recalled how it was common to see Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Larry Ellison in the Intel company cafeteria sharing doughnuts and discussion