It is an unpalatable truth for prime minister Narendra Modi. The government still doesn’t have a coherent plan on how it’s going to pipe in high-speed internet broadband connectivity to every single house. The truth no doubt has a bitter taste, but it needs to be ingested if at all Modi’s ambitious digital dreams of connecting every single Indian to a broadband pipe is ever to
Indian government’s flagship programme `Digital India` is directed more towards the poor than the elite, said union minister for information technology and communications, Ravi Shankar Prasad at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum 2015, held in Mumbai. “With broadband connectivity as our priority, we are in the process of connecting 2,50,000 villages within the&n
Technology is a boon for the society and governance, and it is there to stay. But technology is like salt in food. It has to be in right proportion: while one can manage with less salt, one cannot have food that has overdose of it. I was quite amused by this analogy given by the IT secretary of one of the largest states in India, but he set me thinking about the whole Digital India initiative t
It’s rare to find good Wi-Fi hotspots, let alone 100 percent Wi-Fi connectivity in an entire area in India. Yet, Malegaon village is showing how 100 percent connectivity can be achieved in an extremely affordable manner, by using community resources and deploying sheer ingenuity and pluck. The move is already changing the lives of the people in the village, which is around 30 kilometres f
The prime minister’s office (PMO) has setup a high-level committee to take a ‘comprehensive look’ at the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) project and propose an implementation strategy. NOFN aims to provide optical fibre connectivity to 2,50,000 gram panchayats and is considered to be the backbone of prime minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Digital India programme.
Security agencies are handicapped in keeping an eye on internet. No Indian agency – either civilian or military – has the ability to intercept the encrypted traffic which flows in and out of the country. In January 2014, the government introduced an internet monitoring system, called Network Traffic Analysis aka Netra, for capturing dubious traffic flowing through the internet servi
In today’s technology-enabled era every form of interaction, from personal to governmental, is being transformed. In the face of new and emerging technologies, it has become imperative to transform the face of government services to make them more effective and accessible. The main reason why India needs a chief information officer, or CIO, is to lend a hand to the government to deliver i
Agartala has revamped its municipal corporation, introducing e-governance to speed up its many processes. Take the example of the building plan approval system. The new system, initiated in 2013, aims to streamline the building plan approval in the municipality. In the past, the process took anywhere between two days to two years. Now, citizens apply for the approvals online and the who
The UPA government had an ambition of connecting all gram panchayats with optical fibre. On October 25, 2011, it approved setting up of the national optical fiber network (NOFN) to provide connectivity to all 2,50,000 gram panchayats in the country by ensuring broadband connectivity with adequate bandwidth. This was to be achieved by utilising the existing optical fibre cable and extendin
To make manufacturing sector an engine of growth, the government had committed itself to increase the share of manufacturing in the GDP to 25 percent by 2022. This, however, could only be achieved through promotion of small and medium enterprises (SME), increasing the adoption of information technology to enhance the productivity in manufacturing and infrastructure sector. The same was
A mechanical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology-Varanasi and an alumnus of IIM-Bangalore, Puneet Gupta has over 19 years of experience in technology and government sector and is credited with setting up IBM’s public sector business and making it profitable. In his present role as Director in Cisco he leads the company’s public sector business across India
Eleven convictions in last nine years – across the country. This figure for cybercrime conviction in India cries for the need for a legal mechanism to fight cybercrime. “Committing a cybercrime is very easy, it is more difficult to investigate and much more difficult to prove it,” said Loknath Behera, IGP Bureau of Police Research and Development, at the International
“Since its inception in the year 2000, Information Technology Act has not been correctly implemented, leading to increased instances of cyber security lapses. Though Appellate Authority has huge powers under the Act, slackness on the central government’s part has failed to give prominence to the role of Cyber Appellate Tribunal in establishing cyber courts according to the intention
Avake’s software division- Instatac recently showcased some of their products which will have a positive impact in the field of video surveillance in India. The company showcased the Avake ULIS surveillance camera, based on Sony technology, which has recently been installed in Jalalabad and Afghanistan to keep a track of terror attacks, mentioned a press release issued by the
To connect villages through internet and create a communication link with district government centres to share data and critical information such as agriculture stock movement, latest information on government subsidy etc, Acer, the main infra provider to states, has given the responsibility to Uniline. Uniline has earlier participated in state government led Rajya Shiksha
The national cloud, “MeghRaj,” was launched by Kapil Sibal, union minister of communication and information technology on Tuesday. The cloud is being implemented by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). To avail the maximum benefits of cloud computing, the Government of India has launched the initiative, “GI Cloud,” which was renamed as “Megh
BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has launched a mobile application, “India272+” in view of the recent mandate issued during the recent state assembly elections and to achieve the magic figure of 272 in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The application is available on the Google Play Store and can also be downloaded for free for Android phones, mentioned a
As of December 1, 2013, both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have become the first states to implement the Immigration, Visa, Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVERT) system. The IVERT system is a part of the national e-governance project, that will facilitate integrated visa and immigration services to foreigners and capture information about visiting foreigners, mentioned a repor
The Lucknow district administration will organise free online registration for skill development of people in the age group of 14 - 35 years on January 10 under the skill development mission of the Uttar Pradesh government, according to a report in the Times of India. Around 7014 unemployed youths are likely to undergo skill development exercise. The registration, for 283 courses under
Sakala project of the Karnataka government has been conferred silver award by the national award on e-governance co-organised by the departments of administrative reforms, personnel and grievances and electronics and information technology, government of India, according to a report in the Times of India. Sakala, which means `at the right time`, is the name given to a sche
