News Analysis India

Tag: MeitY

  • IT Ministry, NIXI To Unveil BhashaNet Portal To Boost Digital Inclusion |

    New Delhi: In a bid to advance the vision of digital inclusion, the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are set to launch the BhashaNet portal on Thursday.

    The launch, on the occasion of the Universal Acceptance (UA) Day, is scheduled to take place at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in the capital. MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan will be the Chief Guest at the event.

    “Universal acceptance is a pivotal aspect in our journey towards digital inclusivity. Through UA Day, we reinforce our commitment to bridging linguistic divides and ensuring every voice is heard in the digital sphere,” NIXI CEO, Dr Devesh Tyagi, said. (Also Read: Meta Offers To Almost Halve Facebook, Instagram Monthly Fees)

    The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Internet Governance division, MeitY, are actively supporting the UA Day. The event will feature engaging sessions, including keynote addresses, panel discussions and technical workshops, led by distinguished speakers from various sectors.

    National Internet Exchange of India and @GoI_MeitY to unveil BhashaNet portal at Universal Acceptance Day for Digital Inclusion across the nation

    Read here: https://t.co/BVmOuRbtdS
    — PIB India (@PIB_India) March 20, 2024

    These discussions will focus on the significance of UA and the steps needed to achieve widespread acceptance, said the IT Ministry.

    Set up on June 19, 2003, the NIXI is tasked to increase internet penetration and adoption in the country by facilitating various infrastructure aspects to enable the internet ecosystem to be managed and used by the masses. (Also Read: What Is WhatsApp Honey Trap Scam? How To Get Out Of It With Ease)

    It offers IXPs towards building Internet Exchange Points, the .IN Registry towards building the .in domain digital identity, IRINN towards IPv4 and IPv6 addresses adoption, and Data Centre services under NIXI-CSC towards data storage services.

  • Shashi Tharoor-led parl panel questions MeitY officials on Pegasus, hacking of PM’s Twitter handle

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Top officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) were on Monday queried about the hacking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter handle and the Pegasus issue by a parliamentary panel led by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, sources said.

    The officials deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on the subject of safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms, including special emphasis on women security in the digital space.

    During the course of the proceedings, panel chairman Tharoor questioned about the alleged hacking of phones using spyware Pegasus, to which the officials responded that the matter is subjudice, sources said.

    “When Tharoor sought their cooperation, officials simply ducked the question by saying that they have nothing to say on Pegasus,” a source claimed.

    Members of the panel also questioned MeitY officials about the hacking of Prime Minister Modi’s Twitter handle, but sources claimed the officials appeared clueless about the issue and stated what was already available in the public domain.

    Prime Minister Modi’s Twitter handle was briefly hacked on Sunday and a tweet claiming that India has “officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender” was put out from it.

    The Prime Minister’s Office later said the account was immediately secured after the matter was escalated to Twitter.

    According to reports, Twitter has stated that it is directly in touch with PMO over the issue.

    This is not the first time that a Twitter handle associated with the prime minister has been compromised.

    In September 2020, the handle of his personal website was hacked and even then tweets promoting bitcoin, seen to be linked to a scam, were posted from @narendramodi_in.

    Modi’s accounts are not alone in being targeted by hackers for pushing bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, as handles of several noted public personalities, including Barack Obama and Bill Gates besides those from fields like entertainment, have been targeted in the past.

  • Social media teams of all central ministers to be trained in enhancing government outreach

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The BJP-led central government, facing tough challenges from the opposition on various fronts, has decided to further enhance the impact and outreach of all ministries in the masses through wider usage of digital platforms across various social media.According to a letter issued to all ministers, as part of ‘Azadi Ka Digital Mahotsava’, at least two personal staffs of all ministers, who used to handle the digital platforms of social media on behalf of the concerned ministers or their ministries, would be trained on the wider applications of various digital platforms of social media at a workshop, scheduled to be organised on December 4 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).“Today, digital communication is one of the major sources of information dissemination of government. It is requested that two members from the minister’s personal staff and social media teams may be nominated to attend the workshops on December 4 on improving the impact and outreach of governmentcommunication”, stated the official communication issued to the ministers.

    The decision to equip the staff and social media teams of the ministers with the latest developments in the fields of social media-driven communication has come at a time when the parties in opposition are putting challenges and questioning the government’s claims on achievements and policies through digitalplatforms of social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Youtube and others on a war-footing level ahead of the next 2024 LS elections.

    The trained staff or members of ministers’ social media teams will also be trained on various modalities for effective outreach in the masses through almost all digital platforms of social media.

    As per the letter, written by MyGov CEO Abhishek Singh, IAS, to all ministers’ offices, the presence of social media teams of the ministers at the workshop will go a long way in promoting the civic engagement of the government.

    The important dignitaries and industry partners of government will also give a keynote address on the wider usage of social media at the workshop after conducting interactive sessions and panel discussions.

    As a conservative estimate, more than 150 staff and members of ministers’ social media teams will be trained further on enhancing government outreaches to the masses.  At present, there are 78 ministers in the Narendra Modi-led NDA government including the Prime minister.

    A larger chunk of the Indian population spends more than 3 hours daily on social media with a rise of internet users to 624 million. “ So keeping the emerging larger population connected with the social media as an important mode of information dissemination in today’s rapid digital advancements, the government would like to enhance its outreach and influence sharing achievements and policies with the people”, said a staff of a minister, preferring anonymity.