Advertisements on TV and FM channels, a web portal, Facebook, and roping in of Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia - the Trinamool Congress has gone hi-tech in its campaign for the West Bengal Assembly polls. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has herself penned a one-minute jingle, `Bodla noy, Amra bodol chai`, (We don`t want revenge, we want change) being aired both on TV an
The government has issued draft of proposed National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP) that identifies indigenous development of IT products essential for curbing threats from imported hi-tech products. "Indigenous research and development is an essential component of national information security measures due to various reasons -- a major one being export restrictions on sophist
A city-based software firm has come out with a commercial website offering election-related data, analysis and consultancy. The website, www.partyanalyst.com, was launched today by Lok Satta President and MLA N Jayaprakash Narayan, and MLC Chukka Ramaiah. Ashok Dakavaram, CEO of IT Grids (India) Pvt Ltd, which has produced the portal, said that it was a "one-s
An online campaign against the film `Dum Maro Dum` is gaining momentum on networking sites. A Goa-born youngster, presently living in Tanzania, has started a campaign against the "wrong portrayal" of Goa in the movie on the facebook. There are similar groups on Orkut too. Trailers of DMD (film stars Abhishekh Bachchan, Dipika Padakone and Bipasha Basu), h
The Russian security service is proposing to ban Skype, Hotmail, and Gmail as their "uncontrolled use" may threaten Russia`s security, a service official said during a government meeting today. The Federal Security Service (FSB) is "increasingly concerned" by the mass use of these services, which use foreign-made encryption technology, said head of the FSB`s i
Amid introduction of illegal online forex trade by certain companies, the Reserve Bank has asked credit card issuing companies to not permit payments for such transactions. The regulations under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, do not permit resident Indians to trade in foreign exchange in domestic or overseas markets. The RBI`s instruction comes in th
Against the backdrop of Radia tapes leak controversy, a 15-member Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) has been constituted for recommending effective monitoring of provisions of telephone tapping and curtailing its leakage to the public at large. The Union Home Secretary will chair the IMG which will have secretaries of Defence, DoT, IT, Revenue, Personnel and Legal Affairs as among th
Terming Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir as inseparable parts of the country, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot today said that thinking of seceding these two states from a 1.21 billion strong country is a farce. Pilot was speaking in a function here organised by Hind News group, for the distribution of funds for martyrs` family. "No one ca
The US government`s colour- coded warning system is being replaced with a more specific and informative plan that would offer two levels of alerts -- elevated and imminent. According to a draft Homeland Security Department plan obtained by The Associated Press, the public could see the warnings on Facebook and Twitter. The colour-coded system has been one of the go
The Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the telecom policies on grant of licenses and spectrum today invited suggestions from the public in general, experts and organisations on the issue. The Committee, headed by Congress MP P C Chacko, has sought views and suggestions from various stakeholders on the subject within two weeks. The JPC has also asked those will
The Himachal Pradesh government today signed an MoU with Gujarat for setting up a centre in the hill state to facilitate use of geo spatial technologies for decision-making and planning of development activities. The Aryabhatta Geo-Informatics and Space Application Centre would be set up in collaboration with Bhaskaracharya Institute, Gandhinagar. Himachal Chief Mi
The government has asked BSNL Board to act on an enquiry report, which looked in to wimax deals of the state-run telecom operator and submit its reply to the Department of Telecom (DoT) by April 30. "Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has written to the BSNL Board, asking them to take action on the committee report, which looked into allocation of WiMax deals of BSNL and submit it
A government body has recommended that state-run BSNL should merge its counterpart MTNL and telecom equipment manufacturer ITI with itself, a move that will help turn around the loss-making telecom giant. "The board strongly recommends the merger of ITI Ltd with BSNL, or its takeover by BSNL as a separate subsidiary, thereby ensuring strategic vertical integration. This shou
The United States on Thursday asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to allow full vetting of issues through public consultations so that it is able to determine whether or not RIOs (Reference Interconnection Offers) need to be updated or amended. "Such a process will help ensure the important gains India achieved when it decided to mandate non-discriminatory
Facebook has presented an Internet-obsessed world with a gift -- greener, cheaper data centers to more efficiently power online services. The social networking star custom-designed hardware, power supply, and architecture of a new US data center that is 38 percent more power efficient and costs 24 percent less than the industry average. Schematics and designs for F
With a view to leverage the impact of social networking, leading insurer Max New York Life Insurance is mulling an initiative whereby its customers can connect with the company through SMS to get the complaints resolved. "Social media has become an effective tool to increase networking and business development efforts. To leverage the impact of social networking on businesse
The government today informed the Supreme Court that it will set aside its order directing scam-hit information technology (IT) firm Satyam Computer to pay Rs 617 crore as income tax and will give a fresh hearing to the firm`s plea challenging the tax demand. Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati, appearing for the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), told the apex court that it w
Anna Hazare`s indefinite fast against corruption has set abuzz the cyberspace with messages of support for the social activist from netizens across all sections pouring with the common refrain being--`NOW is the time to get together`. A suggestion was also made by a blogger today that all people going to stadiums across the country during IPL matches--which has a huge TV audience
A new undersea telecommunications cable to boost Africa`s Internet access will land this month, mobile service provider MTN said today, calling it the continent`s largest data pipeline yet. The 14,000-kilometre West Africa Cable System (WACS) fibre optic line is scheduled to reach South Africa`s Western Cape province on April 18, linking the continent`s Internet providers directl
Hackers behind what computer security experts believe could be the biggest data theft in US history may be planning to sell the information to cyber criminals for targeted scams. And while the tens of millions of names and email addresses swiped from online marketing firm Epsilon do not appear to have been used yet for cyber crime, experts said it may just be a matter of time.
