Apple recently broke the thousand dollar barrier in the US and the 1 lakh barrier in India with the iPhone X. Over the years, every iteration of the iPhone has launched in India pricier than its predecessor, which has become a norm for every other smartphone maker. However, comparing the price of iPhones in the US and India brings out the image of how inflated the price of an iPhone in India is.
This news might not be good for future iPhone aspirants. With the implementation of GST this year, it was obvious that all mobile phones will become expensive even if they’re made in India. But, the government’s duties on phones and their components imported into [...]
The Indian government has continued its effort in curbing the danger that some apps on the internet might possess. The Indian intelligence agencies have listed about 42 mobile applications that have the potential to carry out a cyber-attack against the country. The agencies have reportedly issued a warning to the Indian Army and paramilitary against their usage.
As per reliable inputs, a number of Android/IOS apps developed by Chinese developers or having Chinese links are reportedly either spyware or other malicious ware. Use of these apps by our force personnel can be detrimental to data security having implications on the force and national security.
Army personnel [...]
India is planning to roll out 5G internet services by the year 2020. In order to complete this task successfully, the government has set up a high-level forum which will evaluate all possible roadmaps to make sure that 5G internet becomes prominent in the country. For the said objective, the ministries of telecom, information and technology, and science and technology have been included in the forum. A budget of Rs 500 crore is set aside for research and development of 5G technology by the government.
The minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha said:
We missed the opportunity to participate when the standards were being set for 3G and 4G, but don’t want to miss [...]
Frequent call drops in the middle of the conversation must have caused anguish within customers, and telecom operators are accountable for this. The Indian Government is taking notice of the inconvenience caused to its people and has cautioned telcos to minimize call drops and strengthen its mechanism.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated in a press conference –
Call drops need to be minimized. Private operators need to reinforce their mechanism. I have directed officials in the telecom department to work on a disincentive architecture (for the operators) to address the [...]
BJP said the internet is a crucial part of one’s life, and should be governed very carefully without the need to compromise the freedom of speech and expression.
Speaking at an Internet governance event organised by industry chamber Assocham, BJP National Spokesman, Sambit Patra said,
Internet is extremely important and since it is extremely important for governance also, because every person is within the ambit of government, Internet has to be governed in a way that does not take away basic essence of Internet which is freedom of speech and expression.
He also stated that the government had formed a community along with TRAI on Net Neutrality. He [...]
The much heated issue of Net Neutrality now has the Centre’s support. The government hasn’t come out with a final verdict on the same, but is committed to keeping the Intenet open and evenly accessible to everyone. Standing up in support of free internet, Telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a firm voice said that the practices of blocking and deliberately slowing down or speeding up of lawful content on web should not be allowed.
While responding to a discussion on Net Neutrality in Rajya Sabha, Prasad commented –
Government stands for ensuring [...]
Net Neutrality is currently a heated issue amongst the people of India. Recently, Bharti Airtel has received a lot of flak for its contentious “Airtel Zero” plan from social media users. Following the reports of Airtel’s preferential treatment for websites, the government has reportedly decided to intervene and has said that it plans to keep a close watch on the company’s developments.
According to a report by the Times of India, the Department of Telecom (DoT) is looking into the Airtel’s Zero plan to give special privileges to some websites and confined access to the others. A high-rank official stated about the [...]
The software markets around the world are dominated by US based products. With the revelation of the NSA snooping on the data of major companies like Google, Microsoft and other players, the governments around the world have become vary of using such products. The Indian government too is taking measures to reduce the dominance of US based products in its workflow and hence has introduced a new Open Source Software(OSS) Policy.
With the use of open source software, the government intends to bring greater transparency. It is also looking to invest in propriety software for official functions. The development costs of [...]
The app-based taxi services have made it possible for us to travel with ease. What more can one expect than a car waiting at your doorstep? But the question still hovers around their registration issues.
Recent news points out that the Union Information Technology Ministry has been asked by the Delhi Government to block the mobile applications of Ola, Uber and Meru Genie taxi-hailing companies. That means soon these taxi service providers are going to cease their operations, unless they receive their licence in time.
This nationwide ban was issued for all unregistered web-based taxi [...]
Twitter today inaugurated a tweet-powered digital media service called ‘Twitter Samvad’ in India in association with the Narendra Modi government. The new service allows users to get daily updates via tweets and SMS on their handsets.
Through Twitter Samvad, anybody who is registered for the service can get updates on government policy, services, and activities from the government and national leaders’ Twitter handles. Anyone who owns a mobile phone can sign up for Twitter Samvad with each of the 16 launch partners. The signup process is easy and doesn’t rely on internet. Anyone with or without a net pack can register [...]
Starting the day on the right note, the Supreme Court today deemed Section 66A of the Information and Technological Act as unconstitutional. This Act granted police the power to arrest anyone for sending out offensives messages from computers, mobiles or any other communication portals. The law had a maximum penalty of 3 years for the offenders. The Court stated that freedom of expression was directly affected by the Section 66 A of the IT Act and hence the law needed to be quashed.
Commenting on its decision, Supreme court said that such law hampers with the freedom of expression which is one of the pillars of a [...]
The present Indian government has put stress on connecting India to pave the path for the country to become a powerful force in the digital age. But there are major hindrances in that path. The backbone of the infrastructure, the cables that connect the country together are in poor shape. Along with that, 26 percent of India’s population is illiterate. A new study by The Pew Research Center says that only 20 percent of Indians have access to Internet. This report takes the government’s target of connecting all Indians even further away.
The study says that 20 percent of Indians had occasional access to the [...]
