Daily News – Page 66 – Digital Rights of India and South Asia, DEF

Violation of RTI Act: Info panel slapped Rs 8.8 lakh fine on govt officials – See more at: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/violation-of-rti-act-info-panel-slapped-rs-8-8-lakh-fine-on-govt-officials/#sthash.taPnYxl7.dpuf

During the year 2014-15, Gujarat Information Commission had fined total 69 government officials or officials of government authorities for their deficiencies in providing information under the provisions of Right to Information Act (RTI). The total amount of such fine slapped on government officials for violation of RTI Act comes around Rs 8.8 lakh. This has…

March 23, 2016 Leave a commentDaily NewsBy wp-admin

Google, Like Facebook, Should Admit They Were Wrong About Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is a really stupid, anti-capitalism policy – that outlaws on the Internet several basic, fundamental free market tenets that are in practice in every other sector of a functioning economy. How anti-capitalism? College communications professor and avowed Marxist (please pardon the redundancy) Robert McChesney wrote: “(T)he ultimate goal is to get rid of…

March 23, 2016 Leave a commentDaily NewsBy wp-admin

TRAI to finalise net neutrality in ‘a couple of months’

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) expects to finalise its view on net neutrality in “a couple of months”. “DoT has sought a comprehensive view from us on net neutrality. It should be done in a couple of months,” TRAI Chairman R.S. Sharma said on the sidelines of an event of the CASBAA India…

March 22, 2016 39 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

Indian driver detained in Saudi Arabia for seeking help online

An Indian worker from Karnataka was detained twice by Saudi Arabia after he sent a video to a social activist and sought help for leaving the country due to harsh working conditions, BBC Trending reported on Saturday. Abdul Sattar Makandar, 35, was detained on March 15 and again on March 18 under a Saudi law…

March 22, 2016 33 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

A New Internet: Ideas in India

The hydrocarbon powered Boeing jet touches down with a squeal of tires. Turbines whine down and we step off of the plane into another world completely. It is dark out. Over 20 hours on a plane and you begin to question reality. We find ourselves in the pickup zone of Bangalore International Airport. Uber and…

March 22, 2016 992 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

Unused TV Bandwidth Could Bring Over a Billion in Rural India Online

The digital divide here in the United States has nothing on India, where a billion-plus residents remain un- or under-served by telecoms. In some large part, this is a feature of the country’s growing rift between its relatively small urban upper-crust and rural everyone else. Some 70 percent of the country lives in diffuse villages…

March 22, 2016 33 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

Internet Censorship: Regulating India’s Internet

Content regulation on the Internet is at the forefront of discussion in India due to a build up of events over the past 12 months. Last August the Department of Telecommunications tried to prevent telecommunication providers from allowing their customers to access 857 pornographic websites. This mandate was immediately appealed and subsequently overturned by the…

March 22, 2016 42 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

Aadhaar debate: Why you should care about privacy even if you have absolutely nothing to hide

On March 11, the Aadhaar Bill was passed by 73 of the 545 members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, after three hours of discussion. It sanctions the bulk collection and centralisation of biometric and demographic data by the government and private businesses. Many people argue that the controversial Bill contains inadequate…

March 22, 2016 39 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

Government looking to give services to deserving and plug leakages after passage of Aadhaar Bill

Aadhaar forms the backbone of the current government’s JAM (Jan Dhan frills-free bank accounts, Aadhaar, Mobile phones for transactions) trinity to deliver public services and entitlements such as student scholarships and cooking gas, food and fertiliser subsidies which currently amount to a little less than 2% of India’s GDP. For decades, India has poured many…

March 22, 2016 34 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

Rajasthan celebrates first IT Day, launches connectivity network

On the occasion of Rajasthan’s first IT Day on Monday, the State government launched RajNET — a wide area network connecting the State capital with all 9,894 gram panchayats and 183 municipal areas — to strengthen connectivity and allow the inclusion of remote areas through Information Technology. “Built as a multimode connectivity network (through VSAT…

March 22, 2016 34 CommentsDaily NewsBy wp-admin

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