1. Which themes should be addressed in the inter-sessional work of IGF 2015? Access Issue should be taken through inter-sessional work. In terms of access, affordability, mobile technology is inclusive in terms of existing infrastructure, affordability, wide-range of communication medium, etc. On the same line, wireless plays an important role in providing the last mile…
“Freedom of expression can be defined in three aspects: Discussion, Advocacy and Incitement.” This historic statement was made today by Justice Nariman, declaring the complete victory of freedom of speech in India. Today – 24 March 2015 – we got a landmark decision from the Supreme Court, when it struck down Section 66A of the…
A final draft resolution at the United Nations, passed in July 2014, has focused on the UN General Assembly’s review process of World Summit on the Information Society outcomes implementation. India has been lauded for its leadership in producing this document which calls information and communication technologies (ICTs) ‘enablers and drivers for the achievement of…
In a passionate letter explaining his government’s failure to coordinate relief efforts in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated that a breakdown in connectivity due to unprecedented flooding caused a ‘missing government’ in a time of crisis. Recounting the chain of events in a newspaper, he wrote: ‘Initially I was relieved to find that…
IMPACT RESEARCH STUDY: OWNERSHIP, USABILITY, ACCESSBILITY & ACCESS TO RIGHTS USING ICT TOOLS & APPLICATIONS Report on Survey Research for IMPACT DEF research team, Rahul Choudhary, Maubani Dutta, and Bijo Abraham, visited Jhansi and Kaushambi in the State of Uttar Pradesh in India to conduct survey research. The team visit the Kaushambi district out of Allahabad, Uttar…
A senior State Department official says top diplomat John Kerry will push Malaysia to redouble efforts against human trafficking on an upcoming visit for regional security talks.
Kerry’s visit, starting Wednesday, comes a week after the department faced a storm of protest for lifting Malaysia off its trafficking blacklist. U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists say the decision was intended to smooth the way for a trade agreement among 12 Pacific rim nations, including Malaysia.
The official maintains there’s been progress in Malaysia’s performance but that it needs to do much more. The official was briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department.
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Writing 2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu declared in his military treatise The Art of War: “Supreme excellence consists of breaking enemy’s resistance without fighting”. It is a tribute to the Chinese military strategist’s genius that his dictum holds good even today after a couple of millennia, guiding nations, organisations and individuals in gaining control of…
The city would have had a CCTV surveillance system in place much earlier had the civic body not been caught in connectivity issues. The Pune Municipal Corporation has been struggling for the last seven years to operate its Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), which also has surveillance cameras, even as the city police started its…
A number of mutual fund houses are focusing on ‘direct plan’ mode to sell their schemes, a move that may maximise the returns for the investors as against regular plans involving distributors. Under the direct plan mode, investors can directly invest in mutual fund schemes without involving distributors or agents. They are required to visit…
Online shoppers are expected to increase from 20 million in 2013 to 40 million in 2016, as an additional 200 million Indians will access the Internet in the next three years, with majority of them coming online through smartphones, indicates a new joint study by Assocham and Grant Thornton. According to the study, a significantly…