In his letter, Patnaik requested the Centre to take an early decision regarding establishment of the HC benches in the western and southern Odisha to fulfill the aspiration of people of these regions.
“There is overwhelming public demand for establishment of permanent HC benches in both Western and Southern Odisha and the people of these areas are persistently agitating for the same. The agitations have affected the functioning of courts and other government offices in the regions," wrote Patnaik.
Assuring that the State government will provide all requisite resources for establishment of the HC benches, Patnaik said the Government of India has authority to decide about the creation of separate benches of the HC other than the principal seat.
"The State government is aware of various decisions of the Supreme Court as well as the recommendation of the Justice Jaswant Singh Commission for establishment of the HC bench away from its principal seat. All requisite resources for establishment of High Court benches in these regions will be provided by the State government," Patnaik added.
It is pertinent to mention here that several bar associations in western Odisha have been demanding establishment of the HC bench since long.
The response of the Union Minister came a week after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, through a letter, urged him to expedite the formal process for setting up the HC benches.
Prasad’s letter further stated that the state government should work out the details including provision of land, building for High Court and residential accommodation for Judges and staff of the proposed Bench in consultation with the Chief Justice.
"Once the state government conveys the proposal with due preparation along with the consent of the high court, which would, obviously include the location and jurisdiction of the proposed benches, the Union Government would take further necessary action,” mentioned Ravi Shankar Prasad in the letter.
Meanwhile, senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya termed the letter of the Union Minister as another farcical act of the Centre to pass on the responsibility back to Odisha government.
Earlier in the day, the High Court Bar Association decided to continue the ongoing cease-work stir till Monday in connection with non-fulfillment of their previous demands and alleged thrashing of a lawyer by a police officer.
"A representative group of the association met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal demanding fulfillment of various demands; the next course of action of the association will be chalked out on Monday," said Association president Srikanta Kumar Nayak.
Prasad said that this data centre in Bhubaneswar is of global standards. Emphasizing the significance of the new national data centre, Prasad stated, “Data centre is important because data sanctity is vital and in the IT ecosystem, it adds to the digital clout of a State or location and raises its global profile.”
National Data Centre at Bhubaneswar will boost the digital development of Odisha. This world class digital infrastructure has been developed by NIC. #DigitalIndia pic.twitter.com/FSkWoOL5Ar
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) May 28, 2018
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who was also present on the occasion, said that the NDC would further enhance the range of Data Centre-related services offered by NIC.
National Data Center will provide better job opportunities to the youths of Odisha. We have huge human resource in Digital Entrepreneurship, IT, Digital Governance & Digital Economy. pic.twitter.com/dbmjuxhdHU
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) May 28, 2018
"With a slew of Government apps including mygov, eWay bill, public finance management system, eHospials all being hosted by NIC, the demand for computing and storage has increased many folds," Neeta Verma, Director General of NIC said at the launch.
NIC currently has 4,500 people across India in its various operations and will hire 800 professionals in the next one year, including for 355 cyber security experts, to tackle the rising risks of cyber security. NIC also provides technology support to all governance services and hosts nearly 10,000 websites of the Government, sources said.
The new cloud-enabled National Data Centre aims to offer round-the-clock operations with secure hosting for various e-governance applications of Central and State Governments and has the ability to support 35,000 virtual servers.
It will also provide benefits like on-demand access to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure for easy availability and quick deployment of applications and standardized platforms of deployment. In the traditional model, departments have to budget and procure infrastructure at the commencement of the project, leading to either over-provisioning of infrastructure or under-sizing of the requirements whereas the cloud service offerings of NIC would allow departments to provision infrastructure and add to the computing capacity ‘on demand’.
Speaking to mediapersons on sidelines of the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) building in Cuttack, Prasad said, “Tribunal formation to sort out the Mahanadi issue is a legal process and both the States should adopt it than resort to blame game. This should not thaw the rapport between the States.”
On filling up vacancies for judge post in high courts, Prasad stated, “In 2016, 126 HC judges were appointed. Similarly, 106 judges have been recruited in courts so far and the process is on.”
Earlier in the day, Prasad attended the ITAT building foundation stone laying ceremony in presence of Supreme Court Chief Justice Dipak Mishra and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The three-storey ITAT building will be completed by August 2018.
https://youtu.be/682cT6QaWN0
Shah said Narendra Modi is the most popular leader today due to his extraordinary connect with the people, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad briefed media persons during the party's national executive meet in the Capital city.
"To blame the electronic voting machines for defeat during the elections is like disrespecting the Election Commission," Shah said.
Earlier in the day, Modi had led a roadshow and broke security protocol to step out of his vehicle to wave and shake hands with a frenzied crowd as he arrived here to attend the two-day BJP national executive meeting with saffron expansion in Odisha being its key agenda.
"India wishes to express its strong reservation regarding the treatment of equity in the global stock-take decision," India's lead negotiator Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Saturday at the plenary.
"Equity is specifically mentioned in Article 14 of the Paris Agreement. It is the basic principle of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement along with the common but differentiated responsibilities," he said.
"The entire global stock-take exercise will be lopsided if the process, input, the technical assessment and output of the global stock-take does not fully address equity.
"Equity demands that the vulnerabilities, problems and challenges of the poor and marginalised be prioritised to ensure climate justice," Prasad said.
Nearly 200 nations agreed to enforce rules on implementing the Paris Agreement.
Negotiations at the UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP24, dragged on into the final hours of Saturday, one full day beyond the original deadline, suffering some holdback due to certain objections of Brazil and Turkey.
The talks finally ended with the 133-page Paris rulebook being unanimously adopted in the Polish city of Katowice.
The Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also provided for a longer lease tenure of up to 99 years from the previous 45 years.
According to Prasad, the name of the agency would be Indian Railway Stations Development Corp Ltd (IRSDC). Calling the Cabinet decision a progressive move, Prasad said: "IRSDC shall be the nodal agency for the development of railway stations across the country."
Developing railway facilities will not only benefit the commuters but also help the Indian Railways make use of its unused or under-used properties.
"It was a decisions based on the feedbacks collected from the government's earlier railway modernisation attempts," Prasad said.
The Minister said redevelopment of major stations across the country is planned by leveraging commercial development of land and air space in and around the station, saying "this program will help provide state-of-the-art amenities for passengers, generate additional revenues and will be overall at least cost neutral to Ministry of Railways over a basket of stations."
"Furthermore, redevelopment of railway stations across the country will have a multiplier effect in the economy with increased job creation and improved economic growth."
"IRSDC being the nodal agency will prepare the overall strategic plan and business plans for individual or a group of stations ensuring cost neutrality of this programme. Upon approval of business plans by Ministry of Railways, IRSDC or other project development agencies will take up the work of station redevelopment," Prasad said.
He said that Railway/RLDA/IRSDC will be planning and development authority for Railway land in consultation with urban local bodies, DDA or other Union Territories, to transfer land on free-hold basis to Railways. This would enable Ministry of Railways to accelerate the redevelopment of major stations across the country on an overall cost neutral basis. These redevelopment efforts will lead to creation of state-of-the-art smart stations that will function as mini smart cities.
"Railway passengers and Industry shall be benefited at large. Passengers will now get amenities at par with international railway terminals and a large number of local job creation is expected as a positive external outcome of this program," he added.
A Cabinet approval was obtained on June 24, 2015 to redevelop ‘A1' and ‘A' category stations by Zonal Railways through Cabinet approved procedures and for a lease period of 45 years. However, insufficient interest was visible amongst the prospective bidders.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all notified winter-grown crops for 2018-19, which will ensure additional returns of Rs 62,635 crore to farmers.
The decision comes ahead of the coming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which have seen farm distress in the recent past.
In case of gram (chana), the government has increased the MSP by Rs 220 to Rs 4,620 per quintal.
While the government said that the return over the production cost is 112.5 per cent for wheat, the year-on-year hike is just 6.1 per cent. Similarly, the annual hike is 5 per cent for gram even as the return claimed by the government is 75.2 per cent.
The government has approved the MSP based on 'A2+FL' factor -- one of the input cost fixation formula devised by the M.S. Swaminathan Commission -- when the farmers have been demanding the MSP using comprehensive 'C2' factor.
Compared with the MSP announced last year, the assured prices for this rabi season has been increased by Rs 845 for safflower (year-on-year hike of 20.6 per cent), Rs 200 for rapeseed and mustard (5 per cent), Rs 30 for barley (2.1 per cent), Rs 225 for masur or lentil (5.1 per cent).
Addressing a press conference here, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said for barley, the MSP is Rs 1,440 per quintal as against the production cost of Rs 860 per quintal, which gives a return of 67.4 per cent. It was Rs 1,410 per quintal last year.
For gram, the cost of production is Rs 2,637 per quintal whereas the new MSP is Rs 4,620 per quintal, giving a profit of 75.2 per cent.
The MSP for masur will be Rs 4,475 per quintal as against the production cost of Rs 2,532 per quintal, a profit of 76.7 per cent.
For rapeseed and mustard, the MSP is Rs 4,200 per quintal as against the production cost of Rs 2,212, a return of 89.9 per cent.
For safflower, the cost of production is Rs 3,294 per quintal whereas the MSP is Rs 4,945 per quintal, ensuring a profit of 50.1 per cent.
According to the government estimates, the target production of rabi crops is pegged at 142.50 million tonnes in 2018-19.
These crops will be harvested in March next year and be ready for procurement in April.
In the press conference, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the "historic" Cabinet decision embodies commitment of the Modi government to farmer welfare and ensuring them additional income.
The MSP announced includes all paid-out cost such as those incurred on account of hired labour, bullock and machine, rent paid for leased land, expenses on inputs like seeds, fertilisers, manures, irrigation charges, depreciation on implements and farm buildings, interest on working capital, diesel/electricity for operation of pump sets, miscellaneous expenses and imputed value of family labour.
Briefing reporters here following a Cabinet meeting, Prasad was responding to queries on petrol prices in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai having already reached unprecedented levels, and setting new benchmarks every other day.
Under the dynamic pricing regime, petrol in Mumbai touched Rs 84.99 a litre on Wednesday. In Chennai, price of the fuel breached the Rs 80 a litre mark on Wednesday and was priced at Rs 80.11 per litre.
In Delhi, petrol inched higher to a new record of Rs 77.17, and in Kolkata, it cost Rs 79.83, almost a five-year high.
"The issue of the frequent hike in fuel prices has become a matter of discussion and concern and the government is involved in the whole process of concern and uncertainty," Prasad said.
Diesel prices, which have already reached unprecedented levels, set new records across the country. In Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, diesel was sold at Rs 68.34, Rs 70.89, Rs 72.76 and Rs 72.14 per litre, respectively.
Responding to a query on the comments of former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday that the government can reduce excise on petrol by Rs 25 per litre but is unwilling to do so, Prasad said the Centre is considering a long-term view on the matter in "view of the frequent fluctuation in fuel prices".
He pointed out that petrol has been deregulated since a few years and that at times of fall in global prices in the past, the government passed on the benefit to consumers.
"In view of the global uncertainty on oil prices, the government is looking at the desirability of taking a long-term view to deal with the issue of volatility and the frequent ambiguity arising out of the fluctuation in prices," he said.
"There is a compelling need for a long-term structured solution to the problem in which the government is actively engaged."
The Minister also said the taxes on petrol and diesel go to fund development work that benefits both the Centre and the states, citing the example expenditure on works such as highways, digital infrastructure, education and creating medical institutes.
According to Minister for Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, the decision was taken by the Union Cabinet at its meeting held here.
"There was a long standing demand from the communications sector of the country -- that they be allowed to install their towers and systems on defence lands," Prasad said at a press briefing on the cabinet decisions.
"Today, the cabinet took a policy decision that through a transparent mechanism, defence lands can be given to the mobile and internet service operators for having shared towers to further enhance connectivity."
The tendering mechanism will facilitate in allotment of defence land on lease to companies registered with DoT (Department of Telecommunications) for setting up of shared communication towers and allied infrastructure.
Prasad further said that permission to set up cellular towers will be granted after all security related concerns are taken care of.
"The decision will not only enhance cellular connectivity in the country but also improve mobile signal reception in the cantonments," Prasad said.
Presently, due to security related concerns, defence land is not given to operators to set up towers. This has not only hampered signal strength in areas surrounding cantonments but also inconvenienced defence personnel.
"We are strengthening our cyber security. After talking to Microsoft, we had asked people to install patch system in March. This ongoing attack not only had minimum, but nearly zero per cent impact, in India. We are strengthening our areas," the minister told India TV in Hindi at its conclave "Samvaad".
On March 14 this year, Microsoft released a security update which addressed the vulnerability in the 16-year-old Windows XP operating system that the hackers behind the massive ransomware attack exploited and created havoc in 150 countries.
After infecting over two lakh computers in several countries, the global virus attack continued for the third day on Monday, with more reports of hacking pouring in from India, China and Japan as offices re-opened after a tumultuous weekend. The ransomware locks up the computer with the group which carried out the attack asking for $300 payment in bitcoins to send an unlock key.
The virus attacks the system after a person, whose computer has not been protected, opens up an unsuspecting mail, often from people known to him or her.
In Kerala, computers of two village panchayats were hit, with messages demanding $300 in virtual currency to unlock the files.
Officials who opened the computer at the Thariyode panchayat office in the hilly district of Wayanad found that four of their computers had been hacked.
Likewise, another village panchayat at Aruvapulam near Konni in Pathanamthitta district got a similar virus message when their computer was switched on. IT experts were working on these systems.
In West Bengal's West Midnapore district, at least eight computers of the state-run electricity distributor were affected. Experts were ascertaining whether it was the same malware virus behind the world's biggest ransomware attack.
The government on Sunday said it has activated a "preparedness and response mechanism" to prevent any major cyber damage from the ransomware.
According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), it has activated a "preparedness and response mechanism" by instructing CERT-IN (Computer Emergency Response Team) to gather "all the information of the reported ransomware".
"MeitY has initiated contact with relevant stakeholders in public and private sector to 'patch' their systems as prescribed in the advisory issued by CERT-IN. MeitY has also requested Microsoft India to inform all their partners and customers to apply relevant patches," the ministry said in a statement.
On May 13, CERT-IN had issued an advisory for both reactive and preventive actions to deal with the ransomware.
Of the 58 members elected from 15 states in elections last month, 41 took oath of affirmation. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was re-elected to the Upper House from Uttar Pradesh, as also members elected from Rajasthan, Telangana and Odisha did not take oath today.
While almost all the members belonging to the ruling NDA took oath by swearing in the name of god, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was re-elected to the Upper House from Maharashtra, took oath affirming his alligence to the Constitution of India.
TMC's Mohammad Nadimul Haque, who was re-elected from West Bengal, swore in the name of 'Allah', while Union Minister Tharwar Chand Gehlot took oath in Sanskrit.
While members one after the other walked up to a specially put up microphone right below the presiding officer's chair to take oath, BJP's Saroj Pandey was allowed to take oath from her seat due to a fracture in her leg.
Members after taking oath walked up to Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu who warmly welcomed them with a hand shake.
Thereafter, they signed the members' register and then greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other senior ministers and opposition leaders present in the House.
Naidu said as many as nine languages were used to take oath, reflecting India's linguistic heritage. He hoped the newly elected members and re-elected members would raise people-oriented issues and enhance the dignity and prestige of the House.
Lawyer-turned-politician Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress, who got elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal with the support of TMC, was among those who took oath today.
Among the Union Ministers who took oath included Mansukh L Mandaviya from Gujarat, Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda (elected from Himachal Pradesh), Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan (elected from Madhya Pradesh), Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (elected from Bihar) and HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar (elected from Maharashtra).
Those who took oath included TDP's C M Ramesh and K Ravindra Kumar from Andhra Pradesh, JD(U)'s Mahendra Prasad and Bashistha Narain Singh, RJD's Ashfaque Karim and Manoj Kumar Jha (all from Bihar), BJP's Purshottam Rupala and Naranbhai Rathwa and Amee Yajnik of Congress (from Gujarat).
BJP's Devender Paul Vats, elected from Haryana, took oath in Hindi. Former telecom entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who was elected from Karanataka on a BJP ticket, took oath in Kannada.
However, three members of Congress elected from the state, including L Hanumanthaiah, did not take oath today.
From Madhya Pradesh, Rajmani Patel of Congress and BJP's Ajay Pratap Singh and Kailash Soni took oath.
Shiv Sena's Anil Desai, re-elected to Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, took oath in Marathi, so did NCP's Vandana Chavan. BJP's Narayan Tatu Rane and V Muraleedharan and Congress' Keshav Chintaman Ketkar also took oath.
From Uttar Pradesh, Anil Agarwal, Ashok Bajpai, Anil Kumar Jain, Kanta Kardam, GVL Narasimharao, Sakaldeep, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and Harnath Singh Yadav (all BJP) took oath.
Jaya Bachchan, who was re-elected on SP ticket, did not take oath today. BJP's Anil Baluni, elected from Uttrakhand, took oath in Hindia. TMC's Subhasish Chakraborty, Abir Ranjan Biswas and Santanu Sen took oath.
The minister, talking to media persons on the completion of one year of prime minister Narendra Modi's government, said the issue of net neutrality was being discussed internally in his ministry and a final decision will be taken soon by the union cabinet.
"Call drops need to get minimised. We are in discussion for a structure to incentivise or disincentivise it," Prasad said, when asked what the government was doing to check this irritant.
The minister said there were many ongoing campaigns regarding the adverse impact of mobile tower radiation. "If someone comes to me with a problem, I am ready to look at it...."
But he mentioned that if people complained about the ill-effect of mobile towers and asked for pulling them down, then they should not be complaining about call drops as both things do not go hand-in-hand.
Reacting to the minister's view, Rajan S. Mathews, director general of the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), told IANS: "Our greatest incentive would be to put up towers without any challenge. Getting permission to put up towers in various states is a big challenge."
He said that in the last two years, mobile subscriber counts have gone up by 70-80 percent, whereas the number of telecom towers in the country have decreased substantially, which is resulting in call drops.
In April 2015, India crossed the 100 crore-mark in phone connections.
Prasad said BSNL has installed 15,000 new towers in one year to do away with call drops.
Talking about the controversial net neutrality issue, the minister said the committee set up by the Department of Telecom has submitted reports to the government. "The final decision on it will be taken by the government and the cabinet."
He said BSNL's revenue grew by 2.1 percent in 2014-15 reversing the trend of negative growth in previous years. The state-run service provider also added 47 lakh active subscribers during that period.
BSNL and MTNL have launched unlimited free local calls from landlines to any landline or mobile during night hours effective from May 1, 2015.
Listing the achievements, Prasad said foreign direct investment in the telecom sector had topped $2.85 billion in 2014-15 and that this was the highest in recent years -- $1.31 billion in 2013-14, $304 million in 2012-13, $1.99 billion in 2011-12 and $1.66 billion in 2010-11.
Talking about the Digital India programme of the government, the minister mentioned that it is for the poor and marginalised in the country. "It is party neutral and ideology neutral."
Alluding to the 2G telecom cases pending before the various courts for alleged improper allotment of spectrum and graft, the minister said he had taken over the reins of the ministry when it was making news for wrong reasons for a variety of factors.
"When I took over a year ago the department was in news for all reasons. But now we have faith, hope and confidence and there is collective will to work in a transparent way. There is no place for lobbyists and middlemen in the telecom, IT and India Post departments," he said.
Chairing a review meeting on the issues relating to setting up of post banks, mail delivery, and e-commerce at Dak Bhawan, Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also said he will pay a surprise visit to a branch post office in National Capital Region in the coming weeks.
With a vast network of post offices at its disposal, the proposed post bank should become a game-changer in Indian banking sector, the minister said.
While reviewing the performance of the department in the field of e-commerce parcel delivery, he appreciated 36 percent growth in parcel revenue in the last one year.
"The department has collected more than Rs.500 crore for COD (cash-on-delivery) articles of major e-commerce players such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Yepme, Naaptol, etc., in 2014-15," the statement added.
“In 2010 3G auction, the government fixed Rs.700 crore per MHz reserve price and in the auction the then government earned Rs.3,350 crore per MHz, almost 8 times of the reserve price,” he told reporters after a meeting here of the union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The 2100 MHz is a very techno-savvy band for data and video transmission. This time we have fixed a reserve price of Rs.3,705 crore. We have taken the market potential of this band,” he added.
Earlier, the Telecom Commission had suggested a base price of Rs.3,705 crore per MHz for 3G spectrum base price.
The base price suggested by the panel is around 11 percent higher than what telecom companies paid for in the 2010 auction.
It is also 36 percent higher than Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendation of Rs.2,720 crore per Mhz.
The list also includes former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and celebrities from sports to film fraternity like Sunny Deol, Ravi Kishan, Gautam Gambhir and Hans Raj Hans.
There are many in the list like Pratap Singh Sarangi (Balasore), Tejasvi Surya (Banglore South), Rajdeep Roy, Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato (Purulia) who have emerged from humble backgrounds and have won unexpected victories in the elections.
Some seers like Balak Nath (Alwar) and Jai Siddheshwar Shivacharya Swami (Solapur) also made it to the lower house of parliament.
Controversial Pragya Thakur, a Hindutva hardliner and an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, also became a lawmaker.
Among the first timers, most are from Uttar Pradesh (20) where the BJP won 62 of the 80 seats.
Bhojpuri film star Ravi Kishan won from Gorakhpur, the seats represented by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He won with a margin of over 3 lakh vote against the SP-BSP alliance candidate Ram Bhuwal Nishad, who belongs to the dominant fishermen caste.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, a minister in the Yogi government won from Allahabad and endured her first entry to Lok Sabha. Ramapati Ram Tripathi, the former state unit President won from Deoria, the seat earlier represented by former union minister and BJP veteran Kalraj Mishra.
Among others who registered their first Lok Sabha victory are Sanghmitra Maurya, daughter of UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya (Badayun), Jai Prakash (Hardoi), Rajvir Diler (Hathras), Anurag Sharma, a well known industrialists (Jhansi), Arun Kumar Sagar and Pradeep Kumar.
After Uttar Pradesh, maximum number of first time Lok Sabha members are from West Bengal, which witnessed a fiercly fought battle between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Barring Babul Supriyo, S.S. Ahluwalia and Saumitra Khan, 15 are the first timers. The BJP won for the first time a total 18 out of 42 seats in the state.
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP won 28 of the 29 seats. Among the 28 winners, 12 are first timers including a giant killer K. P. Yadav, who defeated Congress' Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna.
Guna has gone back to the BJP after two decades, even though the saffron party's candidate was an outsider. The BJP had last won the seat in 1999, when Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia -- Jyotiraditya's grandmother -- was the MP. After that, her son Madhavrao Scindia won as a Congress candidate. Thereafter, Jyotiraditya became MP in 2002, after his father Madhavrao's death in a plane crash in September 2001.
Dhal Singh Bisen, Durga Das Uike, Sandhya Rai, Mahendra Singh Solanki, Vivel Narayan Shelwalkar, Himadri Singh are the other prominent faces one who their seats and reached Lok Sabha.
Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in Malegao blast case, remianed in controversy throughout the election but finally she defeated senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh from Bhopal by a huge margin of over 3 lakh votes.
In Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP chief, 10 out of the total 26 elected MPs are the first timers.
Shah, a Rajya Sabha member who contested Lok Sabha polls for the first time, won from Gandhinagar by a record margin.
The first timers from the state also include Hansmukh Bhai Patel, Mitesh Bhai Patel, Parbat Bhai Patel, Gita Ben Rathava, Sharda Ben Patel, Ratan Singh Rathore, Debhi Bharat Sinh, Ramesh Bhai Dhadhuk and Munjapara Mahendra.
Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharastra, where the BJP did almost a sweep, elected nine first time MPs each.
In Chhattisgarh, the BJP had denied tickets to all its sitting MPs. Out of the 11 seats, the BJP won nine. All the nine are first timers. They are Arun Sao, Vijay Baghel, Mohan Mandavi, Chunni Lal Sahu, Guharam Ajgalley, Sunil Kumar Soni, Santosh Pandey and Renuka Singh.
Among the first timers, a prominent name is of Siddheshwar Shivacharya Swami, who defeated Congress heavyweight Sushil Kumar Shinde in Solapur.
Sujay Radhakrishna, Sunil Mendhe, Bharti Pravin Pawar, Unmesh Patil, Sudhakar Tukaram, Ranjit Singh Nimbalkar, Manoj Kotak and Pratap Rao Chikhalikar are among others who registered their first Lok Sabha victory.
Among those from Karnataka, who won the polls for the first time, are Tejashvi Surya, Y. Devendrappa, V. Srinivas Prasad, B. N. Bache Gowda, Anna Saheb Jolle, A. Narayanswami, S. Muniswamy and Raja Amareshwara Naik.
Assam sent seven first time MPs while Odisha six, Haryana and Telangana each sent four MPs, Bihar three and Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Delhi and Punjab each sent two first time MPs.
Among three new entrants from Bihar, the most prominent name is of Ravi Shankar Prasad. Fighting a high-stakes battle, Prasad emerged victorious in his first Lok Sabha election, defeating his colleague-turned opponent Shatrughan Sinha by more than 2.84 lakh votes.
A four-time Rajya Sabha MP, Prasad has held various ministerial portfolios, including that of Law and Justice, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Atal Bihari Vajpayee governments.
Singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir won North West Delhi and East Delhi repectively while cine star Sunny Deol won from Gurdaspur in Punjab. He defeated sitting MP and state Congress President Sunil Jakhar.
Pratap Chandra Sarangi, a grassroots worker of BJP, defeated Biju Janata Dal's incumbent Rabindra Jena by 12,956 votes. Except for 1998, 1999 and 2004, the seat had never been in the account of BJP. Sarangi had been elected as MLA from the Nilgiri seat in 2004 and 2009, but lost to Jena in 2014.
Speaking to media after taking charge, he asserted: "I will not be a post office as the Law Minister. Both, the minister and the ministry, as a stakeholder, play a major role. And, while doing this, we give due regard and respect to the Supreme Court Collegium system."
"We will work in fast-tracking judicial appointments.... we will pursue it in a constructive manner in consultation with the Supreme Court and high courts."
The Law Minister's observations on the judicial appointments is very significant, especifically in the light of opposing views on the elevation of judges between the government and the Supreme Court Collegium, comprising its senior-most judges. Last month, the government had opposed the elevation of Justice Aniruddha Bose, who was the Chief Justice of High Court of Jharkhand, and Justice A.S. Bopanna, who was heading the Gauhati High Court to the apex court, but the collegium did not pay heed and reiterated the appointments. The judges were administered oath at May-end.
Nearly a year ago, Prasad had made a similar comment - that the government was not a "post office" and had right to bring forth its difference of opinion with the Supreme Court collegium. His remarks had come during a controversy on the government's refusal to approve the elevation of Uttrakhand Chief Justice K.M. Joseph to the top court, reportedly for his decision quashing the President's rule in state.
Justice Joseph was eventually elevated, as the final decision of the Collegium is technically binding on the government.
Similar opposing views surfaced during the elevation of senior advocate Gopal Subramanian to the top court in June 2014, and in many instances, the government and the collegium had differing views.
Prasad also cited his other priorities, which included fast-tracking judicial appointments and establishing the All India Judicial Service.
He said that the ministry will conduct consultations with all stakeholders across India on the judicial service. "We like to build a system where the selection is based on merit and the best talent is absorbed," he added.
Queried on prioritizing the passage of the Triple Talaq Bill, which has yet to be passed by parliament, Prasad said: "Why not? Triple Talaq has been mentioned in our manifesto."
The party has appointed Union Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot as leader and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal as his deputy in the Rajya Sabha. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has been made the government chief whip, according to an official release.
Minister of State (MoS) for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal will be the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, and Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan chief whip in the Rajya Sabha.
All these leaders will be part of the 50-member parliamentary party executive committee. Balasubramanyam Kamarsu will continue as the parliamentary secretary.
BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has been appointed in-charge of parliamentary party office.
Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Arjun Munda, Narendra Singh Tomar, Smriti Irani and senior party MP Jual Oram will be special invitees from the Lok Sabha.
Union Ministers J.P. Nadda, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Prakash Javadekar and senior MP Om Prakash Mathur will be special invitees in the committee representing the Rajya Sabha.
The party has appointed 18 whips in the Lok Sabha, including three women MPs and six in the Rajya Sabha.
Absence of 4G services and high employee costs are hitting at the competitive strength of the public sector companies - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) - at a time when private carriers are offering data services at near to the ground tariffs, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Lok Sabha, while adding that proposals to revive the deeply-stressed companies was being prepared.
"For BSNL and MTNL, stiff competition in mobile segment, high employee cost and absence of 4G services (except in few places for BSNL) in the data-centric telecom market is eroding their competitive strength," the Minister said in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
He said revival plans of BSNL and MTNL are underway currently.
"Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Deloitte were engaged to facilitate the preparation of the revival or restructuring plan of BSNL and MTNL, respectively. Pursuant to their recommendations and approval of respective Boards, a comprehensive revival plan for BSNL and MTNL is under preparation," the Minister added.
Requests from the carriers to grant additional spectrum with government support for providing 4G services is also included in the revival plan, and the telecom requests from the carriers to grant additional spectrum with government support for providing 4G services is also included in the revival plan, and the telecom department is taking steps, such as providing contracts to install services in Left Wing Extremist and low connectivity areas and hotspots in rural areas.
Prasad clarified that no proposal for closure of both PSUs was under consideration of the government. As of May-end, BSNL had 1.63 lakh employees and MTNL had 21,679 employees.
Prasad also pointed out the total employee cost of MTNL and BSNL far outweighed the total employee cost for private telcos. The employee cost for BSNL is 75.06 per cent while for MTNL the employee cost is 87.15 per cent of the total income.
Employee cost for private telecom companies varies between 2 to 5 per cent of the total income. "We want to take care of employees and revive PSUs because for fair competition in market, it is important to have these PSUs."
Many MPs in Parliament had raised the issue of the ongoing crisis in BSNL -- its poor financial status as well as network problems.
Responding to the allegations, Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "We want BSNL to survive and work effectively. As far as their balance sheet is concerned, we are looking into the matter."
The minister said there is no proposal for closure of both PSUs was under consideration of the government. As of May-end, BSNL had 1.63 lakh employees and MTNL had 21,679 people on their rolls.
Separately, the government said that the quantum of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India's telecom sector have plunged to $2.66 billion in FY19 from over $6.21 billion in FY18, but argued that the sharp fall could not be attributed to either financial stress in the industry or regulatory uncertainty.
On the controversial issue of 5G trials involving Huawei, Prasad said that the Chinese vendor's participation would hinge on the recommendations of a panel looking into 5G security issues. A committee headed by the principal scientific advisor (PSA) has been recently constituted to give recommendations on security relating to 5G technology and trials in India.
The government has received six proposals for 5G trials, including those from Huawei and China's ZTE. The minister added that 5G field trials would be undertaken only through licensed telcos "in a restrictive, limited geographical area for specific use cases".
The government is yet to take a call on Huawei's participation in 5G trials and eventual deployments even while telcos have sought clarity before taking a long-term view on investment decisions and Huawei is seen a cost effective telecom vendor.
Moving the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019, aiming to set up an autonomous and independent institution for better management of arbitration in the country, for passage, Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Bill would also consider the acquisition and transfer of undertakings of the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution and to vest them in the new centre.
The Bill also seeks to declare the proposed arbitration centre as an institution of national importance, he added.
A similar Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 4, but it lapsed with the dissolution of the house.
Citing the Supreme Court's 2017 verdict striking down the illegal practice and asking Parliament to bring a law over the issue, the Minister moved The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 to protect the rights of married Muslim women and to prohibit divorce by pronouncing talaq by their husbands.
Prasad said that women were being divorced by 'talaq-e-biddat'.
He said the Supreme Court had noted that 20 Islamic countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia had outlawed Triple Talaq.
And if they could do it, why cannot it be done in India which is a secular country, he asked.
"The Supreme Court has said that Triple Talaq is arbitrary and unconstitutional and asked Parliament to make a law. When we come up with a law, it is opposed. What should our Muslim women do in this situation?
"The question is what should be done in this situation. Should our Muslim sisters be left (in this situation)?"
He said the Indian Constitution's core philosophy was gender justice. "The Indian Constitution is equal for all daughters. So the Bill is needed."
The Minister said that three ordinances had so been promulgated as a similar Bill moved by the previous Modi government could not get parliamentary approval.
A fresh Bill was introduced by the new government in June.
Under the Bill, divorcing through instant Triple Talaq would be illegal, void and attract a jail term of three years for the husband.
Prasad rejected fears that the proposed law could be misused and asserted that certain safeguards had been put in it including provision for bail before trial.
While the Bill makes Triple Talaq a non-bailable offence, an accused can approach a Magistrate before trial to seek bail.
In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted at the police station.
A provision has been added to allow the Magistrate to grant bail "after hearing the wife", the Minister said.
As per data available with the Telecom Ministry till May 2019, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have provided an aggregate of 757 Internet connections to members of Parliament.
All connections are high-speed Wi-Fi Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections. The MTNL alone has provided 728 of these connections.
According to the MTNL, on each Wi-Fi connection (ranging from three to six numbers) provided to MPs during 2015-16, it incurred an average cost of Rs 1.7 lakh, including annual maintenance charges for four years after three years warranty. But the charges levied upon individual MPs for each Wi-Fi connection was Rs 1,500 per month, excluding GST.
The BSNL said each FTTH connection to MPs cost the company Rs 25,000, but it could charge them only Rs 2,200 per month, exclusive of GST for the services.
While the MTNL offers speeds of 100 Mbps up to 500 GB and 10 Mbps thereafter, the BSNL offers connections at a speed of 10 Mbps. The two corporations have received a cumulative number of 1,054 complaints in the last two years.
Speaking at the curtain raiser event of the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2019, he stressed that 5G, along with Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), must lead to transformation.
"My vision and ambition is not just specific to roll out of 5G services but also creation of Indian IP and patents in 5G technology," he said
Prasad invited industry leaders, brands, innovators, academia and the policy makers to IMC 2019 which will be held here October 14-16. "We are hopeful that with the concerted efforts, from all corners, celebrating the true spirit of digital India, this event will be a grand success," he added.
The event, jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India, will have over 40 participating countries, more than 300 exhibitors and over 250 speakers this year.
Introducing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that though the practice had been banned in many Islamic countries, India had not done so despite being a secular nation.
BJP ally Janta Dal (United) staged a walkout during the discussion.
"With all humility, I will neither speak in favour of the Bill nor support it. There are reasons for it. Every political party has its ideology and they have the freedom to move on that," said Bashishta Narain Singh of the JD-U.
Congress member Amee Yajnik supported the Bill but urged the government to take out the criminal angle from it.
She said that while the Minister quoted the Supreme Court's judgment while tabling the Bill, he forgot to mention the two words the court stressed on: "thoughtful consideration".
"An already distraught woman will now be made to deal with criminal justice system, jostle in Magistrate's court to seek bail for her husband, seek maintenance, custody of children. SC never asked for such a remedy," the Congress leader said.
The Bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
Replying to a debate on The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2019, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad India is qualified to have a centre of international arbitration as it has enough qualified lawyers, and has skill and training facilities.
Prasad said Indians and Indian companies involved in international arbitration have to move to centres like London, Singapore or Paris.
Considered a major clean-up act of the statute book by the Modi government, the move is set to ensure smooth administration and good governance.
Replying to the debate on the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2019, Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said there was a need to periodically review and scrutinise laws which serve no purpose in the country.
The Bill to repeal the archaic laws has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
Introducing the Bill in the Upper House, the Minister said that 1,428 bills including various amendments have so far been repealed. The process would continue to repeal more such laws.
"I would urge the House that this is the initiative in the right direction. I would urge this House and through this House the entire country and state governments that periodic review of obsolete and irrelevant laws must become a part of good governance," the minister said.
The laws proposed to be repealed include those from 1860 and 1870.
The Law Minister said that the country should not be burdened with obsolete laws. Further continuation of such laws affects ease of doing business, ease of living and ease of governance.
The government had earlier set up a committee which identified the laws to be repealed.
Prasad was addressing a press conference here to mark the National Democratic Alliance government completing 100 days in office after being sworn in for a second consecutive term on May 30.
"I want to say that in Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Patel was right and Jawaharlal Nehru was wrong," Prasad said.
The minister said Article 370, which gave special status to the northern state, was a "historical blunder" and by scrapping that special status, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown "immense courage and corrected that historical wrong".
WhatsApp had categorically said in the past that the government's demand to trace the origin of messages on its platform is not possible as it "undermines the privacy of the people".
Clegg who was the UK's former Deputy Prime Minister before joining Facebook, visited India last week and met several senior government officials, including IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, and offered to assist law enforcement agencies in all possible ways like Artificial Intelligence-driven data analytics and access to "meta-data".
"Facebook cares deeply about the safety of people in India and Nick's meetings this week provided opportunities to discuss our commitment to supporting privacy and security in every app we provide and how we can continue to work productively with the government of India towards these shared goals," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Last December, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) proposed changes to Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
The proposed regulations require a company to "enable tracing out of originators of information on its platform as required by legally authorised government agencies".
The end-to-end encryption feature in WhatsApp makes it difficult for law enforcement authorities to find out the culprit behind a misinformation campaign.
The mobile messaging platform with over 400 million users has already called the proposed changes "overbroad".
"Attributing messages on WhatsApp would undermine the end-to-end encryption, and its private nature, leading to possibilities of being misused," a company spokesperson had earlier said.
WhatsApp's parent company Facebook has over 300 million users in India.
WhatsApp in February stressed that some of the proposed government regulations for social media companies operating in India are threatening the very existence of the app in its current form.
"Of the proposed regulations, the one which concerns us the most is the emphasis on traceability of messages," Carl Woog, WhatsApp's Head of Communications, had told IANS.
Meanwhile, Facebook has filed a petition to transfer the case looking at enforcing traceability on WhatsApp to the Supreme Court. It is currently sub judice in the Madras High Court.
Tamil Nadu, however, is aiming to get Facebook's transfer petition dismissed by the Supreme Court.
A professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras recently stressed that the issue can be easily resolved without diluting end-to-end encryption and affecting the privacy of users.
"If WhatsApp says it is not technically possible to show the originator of the message, I can show that it is possible," said V. Kamakoti.
When a message is sent from WhatsApp, the identity of the originator can also be revealed along with the message.
So the message and the identity of the creator can be seen only by the recipient.
"When that recipient forwards the message, his/her identity can be revealed to the next recipient," he said, adding that as per the court ruling, those who forward a harmful message can also be held responsible in certain cases.
The Union Cabinet had last month approved a revival package for BSNL and MTNL which includes a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for their staff. The aim is to reduce the employee cost of the two companies by offering VRS to their staff aged 50 years and above based on the Gujarat model with some modifications.
The government has set January 31, 2020 as the last date for employees opting for VRS. It will give Rs 17,160-crore for VRS settlements and another Rs 12,768 crore towards retirement liabilities.
BSNL has 1.76 lakh employees, of which some 1.06 lakh are over 50 years of age. The telco is keen that 80 per cent of the employees should opt for the VRS.
MTNL has around 22,000 employees. BSNL's employee cost is 75 per cent of its total income and MTNL's employee cost is 87 per cent of its total income.
The financial health of both PSUs depend on the success of the VRS, the implementation of which would take a minimum of 90 days.
"The Minister on Friday met the boards of both BSNL and MTNL and conveyed to them that the scheme must be implemented with a proper dialogue with the employees, and by presenting them with questions and answers," sources said.
"He told the boards of the two PSUs that it was the finest VRS announced by any PSU, and BSNL and MTNL must be proactive to make it a success," said the sources.
Employees above the age of 53.5 years will get 125 per cent of their salary, which they could have earned in balance period of their service. Employees in the age bracket of 50 to 53.5 years opting for the VRS will get benefit in the range of 80 to 100 per cent of the remuneration to be paid in the balance period of their service. For employees currently more than 55 years of age, on opting for VRS, the pension will be commuted only when they attain 60 years of age (the current retirement age). For the employees, currently of age 55 years and less, on opting for VRS, the pension will be commuted in the sixth year 2024-25.
Prasad also asked the PSUs to take proactive measures to monetise their assets and complete everything in a time-bound manner. "He said there will be strict monitoring, and BSNL/MTNL will have to deliver," sources pointed out.
Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has already said that the government plans to soon introduce the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 in Parliament after public consultations.
The draft bill was released last year and was immediately opposed by several global technology companies. Their contention was that it would affect their business in the country apart from driving the cost of operations. The proposals are mostly out of a report submitted by Justice B.N. Srikrishna in July 2018. The final draft of the bill is still not known.
But the draft bill which was made public last year for comments said businesses were required to seek explicit consent for the data they collect on consumers, mandatorily obtain consent from consumers to use their data sparingly and only for the purposes stated, apart from storing sensitive consumer data only within Indian borders. It did not mention what will be sensitive information in legal terms.
In recent times several cases of user privacy intrusion cases have come to light, including WhatsApp data-protection failure and privacy breach, creating public outrage and debate over data security in the country.
The bill suggests a fine of up to Rs 15 crore or 4 per cent of the firm's turnover in the case of a breach and setting up of a data protection authority.
Recently at the Commonwealth Law Ministers Conference in Colombo, Prasad said: "In India, we view privacy seriously and informational privacy is also integral to that. It means a person must have control over his data and its commercial usage."
According to the minister, any data protection law should be technology agnostic, must be based upon the element of free consent, no abuse of consent beyond the permissible limits, requisite data protection authorities, and a fair mechanism for data processing.
In October WhatsApp confirmed that Indian human rights activists and journalists were among those targeted by an Israeli spyware and the government had asked the company to explain the breach that had targeted Indians amongst others.
Those targeted by the WhatsApp hacking in India included human rights activists who were arrested over their alleged involvement in the Bhima-Koregaon Dalit riots near Pune in January last year and some journalists. Of 1,400 affected users, over 20 are academics, lawyers, Dalit activists and journalists from India.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Prasad said the government had issued notice to Israeli technology firm NSO Group, which created Pegasus, on November 26, seeking details about the malware and its impact.
The minister also said digital players must erect appropriate security walls or be ready to face action.
He was replying to a special mention by Congress MP Digvijay Singh on the use of the spyware against some Indians.
"During the high-level engagements like meeting of CEO Will Cathcart and VP Policy Nick Clegg of WhatsApp that took place with the ministry on July 26, 2019 and September 11, 2019, no mention was made by the high-level WhatsApp team regarding this vulnerability," Prasad said in a statement.
According to the minister, when reports about the breach came in media, CERT-IN (Computer Emergency Response Team) on September 9 sought submissions from WhatsApp, including a need to conduct an audit and inspection of WhatsApp security system and process.
"The response from WhatsApp was received on November 18, 2019 and further clarification and technical details have been sought on November 26, 2019.
"CERT-IN has also sent a notice to NSO Group on November 26, 2019 seeling details about the malware and its impact on Indian users," he said.
Prasad also said that the government is committed to ensure safety and security of online platforms such as WhatsApp.
He also said that the government is also working to strengthen the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011.
The minister asserted India would never compromise its data security.
Replying to concerns raised by some members, Prasad said the global business community is welcome to do business in India but they would also have to acknowledge and understand that safety and security of Indians is indeed of prime importance.
"You can come to India for business, but there are sensitive and hypersensitive data and India would claim its right over that," Prasad said, adding he would discuss in detail once the Data Protection Law comes into force.
The minister said the Bill will be introduced in Lok Sabha soon.
According to WhatsApp, the spyware was developed by Israel-based NSO Group and had been used to snoop on about 1,400 users globally, including 121 users from India.
The Indian Computer Emergency Team (CERT-In) "has clearly said that we want to audit your (WhatsApp) entire system... we have told them that we want to conduct an audit and inspection of WhatsApp's security systems and processes," Prasad said in reply to a short duration discussion in Rajya Sabha over the spying controversy.
He, however, did not give a direct reply to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's repeated query if the government had bought Pegasus spyware from Isreali firm NSO.
To Singh's question on Home Minister having met WhatsApp officials, Prasad said WhatsApp representatives keep meeting government officials and they "may have met Home Minister as well. After all, WhatsApp has its biggest operations globally in India."
WhatsApp, last month, sued Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, accusing it of helping those buying its spyware Pegasus break into the phones of roughly 1,400 users across four continents.
The targets of the hacking included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists, along with military and government officials. In India, 121 users are believed to have been compromised.
Prasad said cybersecurity agency CERT-In had sought information from WhatsApp including the need to conduct an audit and inspection of WhatsApp's security systems and processes on November 9, and further clarifications and details have been sought on November 26, following response from WhatsApp on November 18.
Stating that WhatsApp CEO had made no mention of vulnerability in their system by Pegasus spyware during his meeting with the Ministry, Prasad also warned digital players that they must erect appropriate security walls, failing to which appropriate action would be taken.
"During the high-level engagements like meeting of CEO Will Cathcart and VP Policy Nick Clegg of Whatsapp that took place with the Ministry on July 26, 2019 and September 11, 2019, no mention was made by the high-level Whatsapp team regarding this vulnerability," said Prasad in a statement.
The Indian cybersecurity agency has also sent notice to NSO group on November 26, 2019 seeking details about the malware and its impact on Indian users, he said.
According to Prasad, WhatsApp reported an incident to CERT-In, wherein it mentioned that it had identified and promptly fixed a vulnerability that could enable an attacker to insert and execute code on mobile devices and that the vulnerability can no longer be exploited to carry out the attack.
Moreover, he also said that the government along with the USA, UK and Australia is in discussion with WhatsApp to identify the source of the message and videos which have violence.
"If there is provocation from any messages or communal violence happens, then you would have to tell the origin, who have started it. We are having discussions with them," said Prasad asserting that they would have to tell the law enforcement agencies about the origin of the rogue message.
The minister also said that several of such messages originated from Pakistan.
"I want to inform you that several times, many things start from Pakistan. Due to security reasons, I would not be able to share details," he said.
According to the minister, when the discussion was on, NSO espionage happened and this was a coincidence.
Prasad also said that the Supreme Court has upheld privacy as a fundamental right. However, the apex court has also stated that a terrorist and a corrupt person has no right to privacy.
He also said that there is a need to balance "competing interest of privacy and security" of the country.
"In the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, intercepts can be made of the people including their computer resource but this has to be authorised by the home secretary of the government of India," he said.
The minister also informed the Upper House that the work on Data Protection law is on progress and would be introduced very soon in Parliament.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma asked as to whether there have been any unauthorised intercepts by the Government agencies.
"Besides authorised, have the government agencies made unauthorised use of this Pegasus spyware. Do you have any information? If yes, then please share the information with the house," Sharma asked.
Assuring him, the minister said that any violation of the established procedure in this is "actionable".
"To the best of my knowledge, no unauthorised interception has been done," Prasad said adding " If anyone is having a problem, then let them file an FIR."
The Minister also said that India would never compromise its data security.
Replying to the concerns raised by the members, Prasad said digital companies are welcome to do the business in India but they would also have to acknowledge and understand that safety and security of Indians are of prime importance.
Shanmugam of DMK said that it is a threat to privacy. While MD Nadimul Haque of AITC said that wanted to know whether the government give permission to the authorities to encrypt the WhatsApp messages.
KK Ragesh of CPI M alleged that the government is hiding information on that and asked the government to table a report.
"I would urge the CJI and other senior judge that now there must be a mechanism to monitor the disposal of these cases so that India's stature as a proud country governed by rule of law must be restored at the earliest," Prasad said, and assured government funding for it.
"The women of the country are under pain and distress. They are crying for justice," he said.
The minister said there are 704 fast-track courts for heinous offences and others and the government is in the process of setting up 1,123 dedicated courts for POCSO and rape offences.
"In the law relating to women violence, we have already laid down capital punishment and other severe punishment including completion of trial in two months time," he added.
He also said India's judiciary, be it the Supreme Court, high courts or subordinate courts, has upheld the principles of the rule of law. But, he stressed, the need to attract more talent in subordinate judiciary.
"We need to reflect more on having attraction of talent in our subordinate judiciary. We should have a good talent pool of judges. The time has come that we need to have greater induction of talent in the judiciary," he said.
The minister was speaking at a function for inauguration of a new building of the Rajasthan High court in Jodhpur.
(PTI)
"We have already connected 1.3 lakh gram panchayats through BharatNet optical fibre network... Our target is to take this to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. To promote utilisation of BharatNet services, we will provide WiFi free in all villages connected through BharatNet till March 2020," the minister said.
Currently, 48,000 villages connected under the BharatNet project have WiFi access.
The minister said all common service centres (CSCs) will offer banking services. As such, CSCs act as access points for delivery of digital services and the number of these centres has increased from about 60,000 in 2014 to 3.60 lakh currently. Haryana itself has 11,000 CSCs offering an array of 650 services.
CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd is implementing the Digital Village initiative in rural and remote areas of the country. Overall, one lakh villages are set to be transformed into digital villages.
Gurawara village in the Rewari district of Haryana has been developed as a digital village by CSC. The CSC unit there, operated by village level entrepreneur Sonu Bala, facilitates access to government-to-citizen services through the digital seva portal.
CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd CEO Dinesh Tyagi said, "The Digital Village scheme has the potential to truly transform the village economy and reduce the digital divide."
A DigiGaon or digital village was conceptualised as a connected village where citizens can avail various e-services of the central government, state governments and private players.
These villages are projected to be change agents, promoting rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods through community participation and collective action.
The scheme focuses on empowering the entire village community by providing access to education, health or financial services through the digital medium.
In a digital village, residents are encouraged to become digitally literate. Residents can avail quality healthcare through tele-medicine consultations under allopathy, homeopathy and ayurvedic systems.
The digital village also promotes a financially inclusive society by providing banking, insurance and pension services at the doorstep of citizens. In addition, the entire village is WiFi-enabled, so residents are digitally connected.
Such villages are also equipped with an LED assembly unit, a sanitary napkin unit, a paper bag-making unit and a rural BPO to promote employment among the youth.
(PTI)
A day after Kerala Assembly passed a resolution seeking withdrawal of the citizenship law, Prasad said there is no escape from the implementation of the law, and emphasised such a procedure is against the Constitution.
"I want to gently remind these parties (who oppose the law), to seek proper legal advice. Article 245, 256 and other provisions state that Parliament has the complete power to pass laws regarding naturalization and citizenship," said Prasad.
The Chief Ministers of nine states, including Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, have opposed the law and refused its implementation.
According to the Article 256 of the Constitution, the states are obliged to comply with the laws made by Parliament, cited Prasad. He also added that due to vote bank politics many state governments are claiming that they would not implement the citizenship law.
The law, for the first time, introduces religion as a test for the citizenship.
The government says the law will help minorities in the three Muslim-dominated neighbouring countries - Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- to avail citizenship if they flee the country and seek safe haven in India due to religious persecution.
Whereas the opposition parties say this is a deliberate discrimination against the Muslims and violates the essence of the secular principals of the Constitution.
Prasad said that both houses of the Parliament discussed the law and then passed it, and the law has to be implemented.
"All governments talking about not implementing the law, need to know that once they have taken oath, they are bound by the Constitution," he added.
59 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of this law. The Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing on the matter on January 22.
(IANS)
The JPC has been constituted under the chairmanship of New Delhi MP Meenakashi Lekhi for examination and report.
"It has been decided to seek views and suggestions on the Bill from individuals and associations and bodies concerned," the Lok Sabha Secretariat said in a statement on Thursday.
Those desirous of submitting their views and suggestions to the Committee may send two copies of their written memoranda and suggestions either in English or Hindi on the subject to the Director, Lok Sabha Secretariat or e-mail at jpc-datalaw@sansad.nic.in or at meenakashi.lekhi@sansad.nic.in within three weeks from the date of publication, the statement said.
The memoranda submitted to the committee would form part of the records of the committee and would be treated as "confidential and would enjoy the privilege of the committee", it said.
"Those who wish to appear before the Committee, besides submitting Memoranda, are also requested to specifically indicate so. However, the Committee's decision in this regard shall be final."
Union Electronic and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, while introducing the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, in the Lok Sabha on December 11, announced that the draft Bill empowers the government to ask companies including Facebook, Google and others for anonymised personal data and non-personal data.
"By this data protection, we (government) is safeguarding the rights of Indians. As per the architecture of the Bill, if data is taken without consent of the individual, you will suffer a penalty," Prasad said.
There was a buzz when the Bill's latest version was introduced in the Lok Sabha, especially the provision seeking to allow the use of personal and non-personal data of users in some cases, especially when national security is involved.
Several legal experts have already red-flagged the issue and said the provision will give the government unaccounted access to personal data of users in the country. It is learnt that the Bill defines personal data as information that can help in the identification of an individual and has characteristics, traits and other features of a person's identity.
(IANS)
Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also said that pornography, particularly child pornography, is a "serious menace" and measures are being taken to curb it.
"Revenge porn is also rising in the country", he told Lok Sabha during Question Hour.
According to him, the government has taken several steps to keep a check on the spread of fake news, pornographic and anti-national content via social media platforms.
"There is no proposal with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to link social media profiles of users with their Aadhaar number(s)," Prasad said in a written reply.
His response was to a question on whether the government proposes to formulate any policy to link the social media profile of users with their Aadhaar numbers.
Speaker Om Birla said there has to be a serious discussion on issues related to social media.
Agreeing with him, Prasad said there has to be a discussion on the issue in the House on social media misuse.
While replying to a supplementary on blocking websites that are spreading fake news and pornography, the minister also said that India should not be compared with China or the Middle East, adding, "We are a democracy".
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi wanted to know whether the government issued directions to Facebook as the first shooter at Jamia had live streamed certain things through the social media platform.
The minister said he would not comment on it since the police investigation is going on.
(PTI)
Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will declare the remaining 5 IIITs-PPP along with the existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology in public-private partnership mode as 'Institutions of National Importance' with powers to award degrees.
This will entitle them to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Master of Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance. It will also enable the Institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.
Introduction of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020; for amending the principal Acts of 2014 and 2017 to grant statutory status to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public-Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur and declare them as Institutions of National Importance along with already existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology is under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017.
The objective of the approval is for formalization of IIITs at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur. These IIITs are already functioning as Societies registered under Societies Registration Act of 1860. They will now be covered under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017, similar to the other 15 IIITs established under the scheme in PPP mode.
Further, IIITDM Kurnool has been established as per the IIIT Act, 2014 and is functioning with the other 4 IIITs namely IIIT Allahabad, IIITM Gwalior, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIITDM Kancheepuram. The post of Director and Registrar in these IIITs are already existing and the present proposal merely formalizes them without any additional financial outgo.
IIITs are envisaged to promote higher education and research in the field of Information Technology. Under the scheme of setting up of 20 new IIITs in Public-Private Partnership (IIT PPP) mode as approved by the Union Cabinet in 2010, 15 IIITs are already covered by the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017, while remaining 5 IIITs are to be included under the Schedule of the Act.
(IANS)
Reminding letters written by Ashok Gehlot and Tarun Gogoi advocating citizenship for the persecuted, the BJP asked Sonia Gandhi to introspect.
Re-discovering the phrase 'Raj dharma', Prasad asked, "You talked about 'aar par ki ladai' from Ram Lila ground. Isn't that incitement? What kind of Raj dharma is this?"
Commenting on Priyanka Gandhi's remarks, Prasad accused Gandhis of inciting people. "Sonia Gandhi, please don't preach us Raj dharma. your track record is full of twists and turns for political reasons," said the Law Minister.
He also reiterated how the Congress had earlier supported NPR, but which the party is objecting to now.
Earlier, Congress delegation led by Sonia Gandhi met President Ram Nath Kovind to urge him to remove Amit Shah as the Union Home Minister for allegedly failing to prevent the violence in the national capital.
Without taking names, the BJP leader also referred to AAP councilor Tahir hussain's alleged role in Delhi violence. But he again stressed that peace has returned to the national capital.
Asking whether the Congress condemned statements such as "cutting off Assam from the rest of India", Prasad alleged that the Congress played a part in Delhi violence.
Asked about controversial statements made by certain BJP leaders, the party disassociated itself from them once again.
Answering a question on transfer of Justice Muralidhar, Prasad who is also the Law Minister, repeated that it was "part of the process" and a "routine" transfer as per recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium.
Justice Muralidhar was transferred on Wednesday when he made strong observations on alleged hate speeches by politicians.
(IANS)
The deadline for the easier norms was to end on April 30.
Industry body Nasscom said the decision to extend the timelines on relaxed norms for other service providers (OSPs) to facilitate 'work from home' will help IT and BPO firms plan their strategy of bringing back workforce to offices, in a gradual and phased manner.
Earlier on Tuesday, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, "I have relaxed norms for working from home...it was to end on April 30, I have extended it to July 31".
Also Read: COVID19 Lockdown: Odisha Issues Health Advisory For People Working From Home
In March, the DoT relaxed certain norms for OSPs till April 30 to facilitate work from home (WFH) amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This included exemptions in requirement of security deposit and agreement for WFH facility for OSPs (primarily IT and IT-enabled services companies). Earlier, companies were not allowed to connect office Virtual Private Network to home infrastructure, a rule that was subsequently relaxed in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Given that work-from-home is going to be a new normal for sometime, the decision to extend timelines is a welcome move. It will help companies plan their return-to-office strategy in a phased manner. Now that the deadline is being extended to July, companies too can plan their workforce returning to office, in the same way," Nasscom Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer Sangeeta Gupta told PTI.
Currently, over 90 per cent of IT workforce is working from home and only those performing critical functions are going to offices.
Meanwhile, during his interaction with states to discuss COVID-19 challenges, tech innovations and roadmap for the IT and electronics sector, Prasad also urged states' IT ministers to move swiftly and promote electronics manufacturing through pro-investment initiatives, to tap a "great opportunity" that now beckons India, in view of changing business dynamics due to COVID-19.
The minister also directed that data from Aarogya Setu app should be made available online to the states right up-to district officials, in line with suggestions made by states. Prasad said states have been highly-appreciative of Aarogya Setu app, and that a similar solution for feature phones is in the works, and will be launched shortly.
Wish to clarify that it is not extension of #WFH.
In response to IT Industry’s request to facilitate WFH for OSPs, @DoT_India had relaxed terms & conditions for VPN till 30.4.20.
After discussions with IT Ministers this relaxation in terms & conditions is extended till 31.7.20 https://t.co/UwSH704xc5— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) April 28, 2020
The meeting was attended by chief ministers of Haryana and Sikkim, deputy chief ministers of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, who are also in charge of the IT department in their respective states, an official release said.
Later while speaking to reporters, Prasad said his ministry is constantly monitoring spread of fake news on social media platforms and that companies have told the government of strong progress they have made in removing such content. He cautioned that any inaction by companies in clamping down on fake news would be met with consequences at the Centre and state levels, as well as police action.
The minister said products coming from any country, particularly China, should be subject to stringent security audit and verification.
Also Read: Covid-19 Odisha: State Govt Orders 14-Day Home Quarantine For 78K Migrant Workers
"One thing is clear... we are not against any country, we are only pro-India, we are committed to India and will take measures to create opportunities for India. As regards security initiative...any product coming from any country, particularly China, we expect proper security audit and verification," Prasad said replying to a specific query on India's stance on Chinese products.
The minister also underlined the government's commitment to promote electronics manufacturing, in a big way.
"A great opportunity beckons India, and we already have policies in place. This is India's opportunity, where Centre and States Government should move together. I have urged state IT ministers that they should also undertake pro-investment initiatives," he said.
The minister noted that three schemes -- Production Linked Incentive 2.0, Electronics Manufacturing Clusters, and Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) -- have been notified by the Centre in order to attract investments in the electronics manufacturing sector, and appealed to states to supplement these with their schemes.
(PTI)
He wrote that as a transnational digital platform, Facebook must not only be fair and neutral but also "visibly seen to be so, to users of diverse beliefs and ideologies".
Prasad, who also holds the Communications portfolio, said: "I have been informed that in the run-up to 2019 General Elections in India, there was a concerted effort by Facebook India management to not just delete pages of substantially reduce their reach but also offer no recourse or right of appeal to affected people who are supportive of the right-of-center ideology."
He said that dozens of emails written to Facebook management received no response.
Describing the instances as bias and inaction, the minister said that it is the outcome of the "dominating political beliefs of individuals in Facebook India team".
Interestingly, the development comes a day after the Opposition Congress attacked the Centre citing a media report which claimed that the Facebook executive Ankhi Das had expressed support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 general election results.
The Congress on Monday demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and a criminal investigation against the company's executives in India. The party said the interference by the social media giant 'is an assault on India's electoral democracy'.
Prasad, on the other hand, wrote to the Facebook CEO that individuals working in an organisation may have their individual likes or dislikes, but that must not have any bearing on the public policies and performance of the organisation.
Citing "credible" media reports, Prasad, who is also India's Law Minister, said that Facebook India team, right from the India Managing Director to other senior officials, is dominated by people who belong to a "particular" political belief.
Pointing towards the Indian National Congress, he wrote: "People from this political predisposition have been overwhelmingly defeated by the people in successive free and fair elections."
He suggested that the Opposition is trying to discredit India's democratic process by dominating the decision-making apparatus of important social media platforms.
Facebook is the "latest tool in their arsenal" to stoke internal division and social disturbances, alleged the Union Minister.
He also said that it is problematic when Facebook employees are on record abusing the Prime Minister and senior cabinet ministers while still working with India at important positions.
Saying that a certain act may be acceptable as per social norms in a particular country but may not be conducive to the social norms of another country, he advised that the Facebook Community Guidelines acknowledge this aspect of diversity and respect it.
"To respect the social, religious, cultural and linguistic diversity of India, Facebook should put in place country-specific Community Guidelines," the letter said.
(IANS)
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The Union Minister informed this in response to a matter raised by BJD MP Prasanna Acharya during a discussion in Rajya Sabha earlier this year.
In his letter, Prasad said that the High Court Benches are established in accordance with the recommendations made by the Jaswant Singh Commission and judgment pronounced by the Apex Court in W.P.(C) No.379 of 2000 and after due consideration of a complete proposal from the State government and the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court along with the consent of the Governor of the concerned State.
"The Odisha government has requested for setting up of Orissa High Court Bench in Western and Southern region of Odisha. In this regard, the Central Government has requested the High Court of Orissa to provide its views which have not been received. The Central Government has also apprised Odisha government on various occasions, but, the Centre has not received any communication from the state government about its readiness of infrastructure facilities required for setting up of High Court Bench," Prasad mentioned.
In view of the above, it is not possible for the government to further proceed in this direction, Prasad said.
Pradhan questions Odisha govt’s Rs 5 crore- allocation for HC bench
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has sent three notices to Twitter, the latest one asking the company to block 1,178 accounts believed to be linked to Khalistan sympathisers and those backed by Pakistan.
"Safety of our employees is a top priority for us at Twitter. We continue to be engaged with the Government of India from a position of respect and have reached out to the Honourable Minister, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for a formal dialogue," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.
The company said that an acknowledgement to the receipt of the non-compliance notice has also been formally communicated.
"We review every report we receive from the government as expeditiously as possible and take appropriate action regarding such reports while making sure we hold firm to our fundamental values and commitment to protecting the public conversation," the Twitter spokesperson said.
In the first notice, MeitY asked Twitter to block 257 accounts using the #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide hashtag amid the farmers' protest, under Section 69A of the IT Act.
Twitter had suspended some high-profile accounts earlier this month, only to unblock them in a few hours saying that the "content is free speech and newsworthy".
The IT Ministry then took cognizance of a clear attempt to polarise India when international celebrities with hardly any expertise on Indian affairs extended their support to the protesters agitating against the three new farm laws.
The government also took a serious note of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey "liking" a Tweet asking for an emoji for the hashtag #FarmersProtests.
"An update is shared through our established channels of communication with the government. We strongly believe that the open and free exchange of information has a positive global impact, and that the Tweets must continue to flow," the company spokesperson said.
"There is freedom of speech but Article 19A says that this is subject to reasonable restrictions," said Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
"We respect social media a lot, it has empowered common people. Social media has a big role in the Digital India programme. However, if social media are misused to spread fake news and violence, then action will be taken on the misuse of social media in India whether Twitter or else," said Prasad.
He said all the social media platforms will have to adhere to the constitution of India. The Indian constitution allows criticism of the government and the Prime Minister, but spreading fake news will not be allowed, he said.
Prasad said, "We have flagged certain issues to Twitter and social media has to take into consideration of the Indian Laws if they want to do business in the country.
"Different parameters can't be allowed for different countries. It can't be different for the Capitol Hill incident and some other parameters and for the Red Fort incident."
The Indian government on Wednesday expressed displeasure over Twitter's delayed compliance on its order to remove "provocative" tweets amid the ongoing farmers' protests.
IT Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney expressed Centre's displeasure to Twitter's management.
An official statement issued late Wednesday night said the Secretary told Monique Meche, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Jim Baker, Deputy General Counsel and Vice President Legal of Twitter that delayed compliance to lawfully passed orders are "meaningless".
"Lawfully passed orders are binding on any business entity. They must be obeyed immediately. If they are executed days later, it becomes meaningless," Sawhney was quoted as saying in the statement.
The official expressed his deep disappointment to Twitter leadership about the manner in which Twitter has unwillingly, grudgingly and with great delay complied with the substantial parts of the order, the statement said.
He also told Twitter that in India its Constitution and laws are supreme.