Page 2 - It Ministry

Govt focussed on semi conductor industry: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Minister for Electronics, Railways and Telecom Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said that the government is focussing on the semi conductor industry for India

PM Modi is laser-focussed to help startups: MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on Tuesday interacted with over 100 startups and venture capitalists (VCs), and assured them that the Narendra Modi government

Govt planning to set up index to track states on their digital initiatives

The index will establish better coordination among states for learning from each other's work in the domain

SVB resolution reassuring, will bring relief to startups: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Amid US administration's move to protect depositors of Silicon Valley Bank, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said that the SVB resolution is "reassuring" and will bring relief to startups. The Biden administration has announced that depositors of the failed Silicon Valley Bank will have access to their money from Monday. "SVB resolution is reassuring. (It) will bring relief to startups," Vaishnaw told PTI. US President Joe Biden on Monday sought to reassure Americans that they can have confidence that the US banking system is "safe" and vowed stricter bank regulation after a string of bank failures raised concerns about the nation's financial stability. Federal regulators have stepped to back all Silicon Valley Bank deposits. The failure of Silicon Valley Bank, last week, left many startups, tech companies, entrepreneurs and VC funds nervous and jittery. California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th largest bank in the United States, was closed on Friday by the Calif

Meity forms task force to draft roadmap for IndiaAI ecosystem by April end

The Ministry of Electronics and IT on Monday set up a task force for framing a draft roadmap for the artificial intelligence ecosystem by end of April. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar after consultation with startups and IT companies working on artificial intelligence announced setting up of an IndiaAI platform which will focus on boosting research and facilitating tools required for the start-up community for growth. "IndiaAI platform will focus on promoting Indian Startups, Research and Innovation. I expect task force to come up with design of IndiaAI by end of April," Chandrasekhar said. According to estimates, AI is expected to add USD 967 billion to the Indian economy by 2035 and USD 450500 billion to India's GDP by 2025, accounting for 10 per cent of the country's USD 5 trillion GDP target. IT industry Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh during the discussion asked the government to prepare a roadmap based on sectors like clean tech, biotech, and spa

Online crime: MeitY urges adjudicatory system in Digital Bill presentation

Govt likely to make amendments to IPC and CrPC in tandem with the enactment of the Digital India Act to effectively deal with new types of cybercrimes

Govt developing platform to update DigiLocker documents using Aadhaar

The IT ministry plans to first approach departments that issue important documents such as driving licenses, ration cards, voter ID cards, etc. Passports are likely to be brought in later

Online gaming sector hails govt's move to make IT ministry as nodal agency

The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports hailed the Union government's move to appoint the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as the nodal point for regulations in the online gaming sector. In its meeting here on Friday, the FIFS, formed in 2017 to create a thriving ecosystem for users and operators of fantasy sports, said it will help the sector, which contributes extensively to the country's economy. The meet was attended by Goa transport minister Mauvin Godinho, FIFS chairman Bimal Julka, director general Joy Bhattacharjya, and heads of several online gaming firms. Addressing the meet, Godinho said Goa was keen on attracting investments from the online gaming sector as the state is the best place for innovation. The meet deliberated on regulations for the online gaming industry in the Union Budget, the future of the Animation-Visual Effects-Gaming-Comics (AVGC) sector, and the appointment of MeitY as the nodal ministry for skill-based online games, an FIFS

Electronics, innovation undergoing change, nations must work together: Govt

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 .

No doubt on DPDP Bill, being readied for Parliament approval soon: MoS IT

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

MoS IT launches Grievance Appellate Committee to ensure safe internet

"The move is to make sure that the internet remains open and safe for users in the country. These are early days for the committee and it will keep evolving as days progress," the minister said

Graded KYC for online gaming platforms likely to receive MeitY approval

Platforms must follow verification procedure as prescribed under RBI's directions for entities regulated by it

UIDAI starts security mechanism for faster detection of spoofing attempts

UIDAI under the Ministry of Electronics and IT has successfully rolled out a new security mechanism for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication and faster detection of spoofing attempts

Govt to approve upto 2 chip manufacturing units this year: Chandrasekhar

The government expects to approve up to two applications this year to start building electronic chip manufacturing plants in the country, minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday. While speaking on the sidelines of the SemiconIndia Future Design Conference, the minister told PTI that the current situation of slowdown in the electronic chip business will not have any impact on India's semiconductor programme as the impact is cyclical in nature but the programme has been conceived with long-term vision. "The year 2023 will be an important milestone. We will cross Rs 1 lakh crore in mobile phone exports this year. We will be certainly announcing one to two fabs in India to be commencing construction," Chandrasekhar said. The government has received proposals from five companies for setting up electronic chip and display manufacturing plants with investments of Rs 1.53 lakh crore a year ago. Vedanta Foxconn JV, IGSS Ventures and ISMC propose to set u

Telangana targets $250 bn life sciences ecosystem by 2030: Minister KTR

Aiming to position Hyderabad as the "Health-Tech Mecca" of the world, Telangana Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao on Friday said the government targets to triple the life sciences sector ecosystem in the state to USD 250 billion by 2030 from the existing USD 80 billion. Speaking at the 20th Edition of BioAsia 2023, a three-day life sciences conclave which began here today, KTR said the state is home to over 1,000 life sciences companies globally, including the top 10 pharma firms, in their innovation journey. He said the ecosystem value has already touched USD 80 billion in 2022 which represents a phenomenal ecosystem value growth in Telangana at a mind-boggling 23 per cent over the last two years compared to the national average of about 14 per cent. "We have a unique opportunity to help reshape the future of the life sciences industry. We need to dream big. I envision that by 2030, the value of the life sciences ecosystem will cross USD 250 billion," he said. He further

What are deepfakes, and why is the world finding it hard to detect them?

Deepfakes' realism is their strength, but it is what makes it a headache for tech companies and the world in general

Tamil Nadu to revisit policy on cyber security: IT Minister Mano Thangaraj

The Tamil Nadu Information Technology Department was working in upgrading its policy on cyber security and was holding discussions with various stake-holders in this connection, Minister T Mano Thangaraj said here on Tuesday. The Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services appealed to the industry experts to ensure adoption of technology by various government departments. "We are revisiting the cyber security policy. We have convened a meeting asking all the people from the information technology sector to give us any recommendation and suggestions whatever they need...," he said. Thangaraj was addressing the members of various industry associations on 'UMAGINE CHENNAI' here organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Tamil Nadu. He said there was huge potential on the use of technology among government departments. Referring to his recent visit to Finland, Thangaraj said he was not able to see a single policeman to regulate traffic as everything was automated.

Digital space can't be dominated by few large cos: MoS IT Chandrasekhar

India will not allow domination of digital space by 1-2 big players and boundary conditions of openness and fair choice to users will have to be followed, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Saturday as he outlined how the country is racing full steam ahead towards its trillion dollar digital economy goal. Addressing the Economic Times Global Business Summit 2023, the Minister agreed that time has come for clear standards to be defined for new-age technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning), and asserted that innovation cannot be a reason to escape scrutiny and accountability. The upcoming Digital India Act, which is set to replace the 22 year old IT Act (currently regulating the internet), will address this area, he said. As many as 80 crore Indians are now online, and by 2025 that number will rise to 120 crore (1.2 billion), making India the largest connected country in the world and the largest presence on the global internet. India will be .

Data embassies may only be allowed to store non-personal information

A senior govt official says MeitY plans to draft a separate Policy for Data Embassies, instead of including it in Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022

Kissht to LazyPay: Centre revokes order blocking seven loan apps

Decision taken after presentations from the platforms and reviewing documents justifying compliance, says official