An error in the software employed by the Goa Electricity department here has left around 60,000 consumers in lurch after it generated faulty bills. State power minister Aleixo Sequeira conceded that the error has affected several consumers here following which the electricity department has decided to scrap its contract with the provider software firm. He said the software was p
The government today said the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has suggested formation of a working group with participation of market regulator SEBI to work out modalities for recognising `Aadhaar` for Know Your Client purposes in securities market. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said that SEBI has constitut
Tax refund benefits relating to domestic transactions, considered as deemed exports, will now be processed electronically, the government said today. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Commerce Ministry, has asked its regional authorities to disburse Deemed Export Drawback claims as well as terminal excise duty online. The move would help in
An e-payment service system, which helps people to make payments to local government bodies via online, has been launched in Kerala. The system will enable people to remit any kind of payments to civic bodies, especially property and professional taxes, without visiting the respective offices. It is part of efforts of Information Kerala Mission (IKM), a flagship e-
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will open as many as 77 passport seva kendras (passport facilitation centres) across the country by the year end to facilitate faster processing of applications, a top MEA official said today. After the opening of the new centres, passport investigation will be done online and the data will be transferred electronically, said K N Shrivastava
Eighty per cent of the fresh opportunities for India`s IT and ITeS sector in the current decade (2011-2020) is going to come from new geographies, verticals and customer segments, an industry veteran said today. President of the industry lobby group NASSCOM (National Association of Software & Services Companies) Som Mittal said growth has come back to India`s IT and ITeS indu
Terming the possibility of blanket ban on prepaid mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir as regressive, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today blamed the service providers for dragging their feet on verification. "It`s the mobile service providers who are dragging their heels regarding verification and creating a problem for everyone else," Omar said on the micro-blogging sit
The National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) today said it has been appointed as a Registrar by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for implementation the UID project. The Registrar is required to enrol residents following the protocols, standards, processes and guidelines laid down by the UIDAI. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect
A day after China used force to squelch a mysterious online call for a "Jasmine Revolution", a media report here today claimed that Beijing`s response to the call for protests inspired by pro-democracy demonstrations in the Middle East highlighted the country`s "nervousness". "The outsize government response highlighted China`s nervousness at a time of sp
A computer geek fooled the CIA into handing over 13 million pounds by convincing the US spy agency that he had developed a software to stop al-Qaeda terror attacks, a media report said. In fact, CIA officials were so convinced by Dennis Montgomery that, acting on a tip-off from him, former US President George Bush ordered passenger jets flying from London to be turned back over t
Cricket fever has hit not only the crazy fans world over but also the cybercrooks, who will try to swell their own bank accounts by tricking innocent internet users to fall prey to cyber attacks, say experts. Cricket World Cup is one of the most viewed sports after FIFA World Cup and Olympics and cyberscammers will try to dupe online users through offers like free match tickets,
Inspired by people-power revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, Myanmar`s long-suffering opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she wants to join other pro-democracy activists by using Twitter and Facebook. For most of the past 20 years until her release from house arrest in November, virtually all communication with the outside world had been denied the Nobel peace laureate by the milit
"JPC might include ISRO and Adarsh scams. Congress has nothing to hide because what`s hidden will never be found." This is what a tweet by "Sonia Gandhi" says. But hold your breath, this is fake. There are several such postings one can find from sham accounts of politicians and top celebrities on popular social networking sites such as Twitter
Computer hackers infiltrated some Canadian government computer systems but were not able to access the classified data they were seeking, government officials. Stockwell Day, president of the Treasury Board, which is a federal administrative agency, said the attacks were significant but that Canada`s cyber security systems detected the intrusions and blocked them.
Defence Minister A K Antony today asked the armed forces to be vigilant against the emerging cyber warfare threat and gear up their infrastructure to tackle the security challenge. Antony was addressing defence officials during the centenary celebrations of the Corps of Signal. He also highlighted the Corps` effort in tackling cyber threats. "The contribution
HDFC Bank aims to increase its mobile banking share, which is below 5 per cent currently, to 10 per cent in Andhra Pradesh once 3G services are fully rolled out in the state, said a senior official. The leading private lender is also set to open 34 new branches in the state before the end of this financial year, taking their total number to 137. "It (mobile ba
After creating a name for itself in software, India is now keen to replicate the story in electronic manufacturing space, taking a leaf or two out from success stories of China and Korea. The government recognises opportunity of converting India into a global destination for electronic hardware manufacturing, not just for select high investment projects, but for the whole value c
With an aim to resolve investors` grievances and educate them about markets, the regulator Sebi plans to start a nationwide toll-free helpline and launch awareness campaigns through newspapers, radio and TV channels. Initially, the helpline would assist investors across the country in English and Hindi and the facility would be subsequently expanded to as many as 14 languages.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today said it will recommend June 2014 as the last date for completion of cable TV digitalisation in India to the government. "We will send our roadmap to ministry of I&B (Information and Broadcasting) on Monday. We will ask for sunset date of June 2014 and preferably December 2013 (for cable TV digitalisation)," TRAI Chairm
Hong Kong businessman who sent a hoax e-mail warning of a Pakistani terrorist bomb plot on a container ship that shut down a California port for 10 hours was sentenced today to a year in prison. Luk Wa sent the e-mail in a desperate attempt to stop a shipment of toys from reaching a buyer who refused to pay. US border authorities and the Coast Guard closed the Port
