Articles by "Ravi Shankar Prasad"
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Hello Jammu News at 9:39:00 AM 0


New Delhi, Sep 10 : Internet major Google is learnt to have agreed to follow the RBI's local data storage norm for payment services but wants time until December to comply with, according to a government source.

"Google during the US visit of Law and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad conveyed to him that they are ready to comply with RBI rules but want two months more to comply with data storage rule," a government source told reporters.

Prasad visited Google headquarters in California in August-end where he met Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Google runs digital payment services in the name 'Google Pay'. The company has claimed 22 million people use the platform every month and 750 million transactions have been made with USD 30 billion in annual run rate of transaction value.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed all companies running payment services to store data in India by mid-October.

When contacted, a Google spokesperson said that cross border data flows today are ubiquitous and an essential phenomenon for global economic activity and universal access to information.

"Soaring data flows generate more economic value and hence the socio-economic impact of restricting data flows must be thoroughly considered while framing any policy. There is a need to find practical and contemporary solutions to policy issues in line with global best practices. we have nothing to add at this point of time," the spokesperson said.

Pichai on September 5 wrote to IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad pushing for free flow of data across borders and said such a step will encourage global companies to contribute to India's digital economy as well as benefit Indian startups that are looking at expanding globally.

Amid concern around data security, the Reserve Bank of India has asked payment services firms to provide an update on action taken by them to store transaction data in the country in every fortnight.

The directive of the RBI has seen resistance from foreign firms.

The banking regulator had further said that at present "only certain" payment system operators and their outsourcing partners store the payment system data either partly or completely in the country.

The order was issued at the time social media major Facebook faced a global backlash over breach of user data.

Google operates cloud region in India - which comprises three data centres and offers services like big data, storage and networking. Google competes with the likes of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft in this space. However, the company has not explicitly states if the payment related of Indian consumers are stored in these data centers.PTI
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Hello Jammu News at 6:07:00 PM 0

New York, Aug 30: Google's plans for enabling access across India and the role of technology in empowering Indian users were discussed as IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad met the internet giant's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai.

Prasad visited Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California yesterday, according to a statement from Google.

During the visit to the Google Campus, Prasad met senior members of the leadership team at Google to discuss the role technology can play in empowering Indian users and addressing challenges unique to India.

Prasad was briefed about Google's plans in India for enabling access, Indic language computing, Artificial Intelligence solutions for social good and capacity building of startups and Small and Midsize business.

Prasad was also shown demonstration of cutting-edge innovations on the Google Campus, along with a glimpse into upcoming features in popular Google products.

"Digital payments have played a pivotal role in India's growth story and they are driving the digital revolution in India," Prasad said, adding that companies like Google are an integral part of the Indian government's efforts to digitally empower India's citizens.

At the meeting, Pichai said it was great to discuss with the Indian leader the country's "exciting digital transformation that's bringing lots of new opportunity to the region. It's a privilege to be a part of it."

During his visit to California, Prasad held discussions with several leading technology and business CEOs and senior executives including venture capitalists focused on the Indian market.

The meetings discussed the need to work collectively to better manage technology challenges like data privacy and security issues, especially in the context of next-generation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, according to a statement by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).

NASSCOM President Debjani Ghosh said expressed confidence that the digital transformation opportunities in India, as outlined by Prasad, "will open doors for investors to establish and participate in India's rewarding growth story.

"With innovation and digitisation at the heart of both the countries' DNAs, we are sure that our synergies with the business community in California, will lead to a long and fruitful symbiotic relationship."  (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 5:05:00 PM 0

Patna, Aug 1: Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik has shot off letters to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, terming the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur as "heart-rending" and suggested measures for preventing recurrence of such incidents in the future.

According to highly-placed sources today, the governor has called for trial of cases relating to harassment of girls, boys and women living in such state-funded homes by fast track courts.

Malik has also written to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Chief Justice of the Patna High Court Rajendra Menon in this regard.

The governor has, however, praised the state government for its quick action in the Muzaffarpur incident and its decision to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the sources said.

The case relates to mental, physical and sexual exploitation of the girls residing at Balika Grih, Muzaffarpur.

In his second letter to the chief minister, Malik has called for immediate and intensive probe into reports of mismanagement of other such short stay homes that have appeared in the media of late and a mechanism for their continued monitoring, they said.

Malik has also stressed the need for developing an institutional mechanism which ensures that social audit, by competent institutions, of these shelter homes takes place on a permanent basis, the sources said.

He has also called for implementation of recommendations of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai in this regard, they said.

The governor has asked the chief minister, whom he called an "efficient administrator" and a popular leader known for taking initiative in such matters, to invite suggestions from the intelligentsia, the sources added.

The matter had come to light earlier this year when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by TISS.

The audit report stated that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse. A special investigation team was formed to probe the complaints.

The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 5:12:00 PM 0

New Delhi, July 20: The Government is serious about protecting Aaadhar data and has appealed to people not to give social platforms a blanket consent to their data, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.

Prasad also said that the government is awaiting a report by a committee of experts on data protection chaired by Justice B N Srikrishna.

"Aadhaar today is backed by a proper law passed by Parliament which contains robust security measures and protects privacy...The UIDAI continues to update security architecture to ensure there is no breach of data," he said.

Even the World Bank and IMF have recognised Aadhaar as a fine instrument of governance and delivery, he said.

Prasad said, "A Committee of Experts on Data Protection, chaired by Justice BN Srikrishna has been constituted to look into aspects pertaining to data protection. The Committee has out with a white paper for wider public review and...has also conducted stakeholders' consultation meetings and is in the process of finalising its report on data protection framework in India."

He said there should be a pragmatic blend of issues of privacy aand emergence of digital power.

"Today, India is emerging as a digital power. While we completely acknowledge the right to privacy ... privacy cannot become the plea of terrorists and the corrupt. This we have to acknowledge. ...While respecting the mandate of privacy, India is emerging as a big power in digital field that should not be compromised."

He also noted that the government has issued a stern warning to Facebook and Cambridge Analytica against use of data and they had apologised.

The minister appealed to consumers not to give social platforms blanket permission to use their data.

Aadhaar, he said, has evolved as an instrument for promoting good governance and enabling the poor to rightfully secure their due benefits through Aadhaar linked bank accounts which number 60.22 crore as on June 30, 2018.

Aadhaar has been issued to 121.65 crore people and "we do daily authentication of 3.5 crore Aadhaar", he said.

Stressing that Aadhaar has become a platform for good governance, he said, some people wanted a technological alternative so that they are not required to use Aadhaar for authentication.

"The government took thier suggestion seriously."

Prasad said for those using virtual ID, authentication is done without using Aadhaar.

"We have taken a pragmatic view - those who want to use virtual ID they can and those who cannot operate should be given the freedom to use Aadhaar," he said.

He said virtual Id (VID) is a temporary, revocable 16- digit random number mapped with the Aadhaar number and the Aaadhar number holder can use VID in lieu of Aaadhar number for authentication purposes.

The UIDAI has directed all entities to upgrade to VID system. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 11:54:00 AM 0

Srinagar, Jun 23 : National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah today said the NDA government's claim that more militants were killed in Kashmir during its rule than in the UPA dispensation actually tells how it allowed militancy and violence to re-emerge in the Valley.
Actually minister sahib this tells the story of how your government allowed militancy & violence to re-emerge in J&K forcing the security forces to kill more terrorists, Omar wrote on Twitter.
The former J&K chief minister was reacting to Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's tweet and statement that more militants were killed under the NDA government than in the UPA rule.
Prasad said security forces had killed 72 and 67 militants in 2012 and 2013 under the UPA and the figure rose to 110 in 2014 when the BJP-led NDA came to power at the Centre.
He said the forces killed 108 militants in 2015, 150 in 2016, 217 in 2017 and 75 till May this year.
Omar said the increase in the number of militants killed was not an achievement.
You should be embarrassed by these statistics not be claiming them as some achievement, the NC vice president wrote.PTI

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Hello Jammu News at 2:54:00 PM 0
 Bengaluru, May 15 :  BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said
Congress president Rahul Gandhi should be held accountable for the saffron party's resounding
victory and grand old party's defeat in Karnataka polls and maintained an effort is on to save
Mr Gandhi from accountability.
"Rahul Gandhi should be held accountable today.....But accountability is the last thing in the Congress
narrative," Mr Prasad told a television channel.
He said there is a "conscious design" to change the narrative of the poll results in keenly contested
elections in Karnataka.
"There is also an attempt to deny BJP its moments of glory....So they are saying, we will not accept defeat,"
he said.
The Union Minister claimed Congress refusal to accept 'defeat' in high decibel Karnataka polls was -
"surprising and bizarre".
Earlier in the day, Mr Prasad and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have attributed party's stunning performance
in the polls to the intense campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also that the mandate was an endorsement
of Mr Modi's developmental agenda.
He said people's mandate came across the board irrespective of caste and religion affiliation and also
cutting across urban-rural divide.
Making a veiled attack on the Leftists, he said some political elements are in "subdued" tone on BJP
our victory but wondered they were "conspicuously silent about political violence" in Mamata Banerjee-ruled
West Bengal - where the communists are also in the opposition. UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 1:58:00 PM 0
New Delhi, May 15 : Reacting to the latest counting trends for the Karnataka assembly election which showed the BJP heading towards a victory in the state, Union Ministers and senior BJP leaders--Nirmala Sitharaman and Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday attributed the success of BJP in the state to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for development and party president Amit Shah.
Talking to a news channel after the counting trends showed the BJP ahead, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the latest counting trends shows that it is the Congress which indulges in 'polarisation'.

Mrs Sitharaman said the good showing by the BJP is the result of the hard work by the BJP booth workers over the one year.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for development and lifting people from all levels has been favoured. People did not go by the Congress' divisiveness and polarisation,' she said.
'The lead that the PM gave and the strategy of party president have all worked together,' the Defence Minister added.
Talking to news channel, Law and IT Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said,'it is a day of victory for the strategy that our president laid out. It is a day of our gratitude for the people of Karnataka.
The people of the State rose above the caste divide.'
'It is a historic day. With full honesty, we will take the state forward on the path of development,' he said.
As per the latest trends, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be heading for a simple majority on its own in Karnataka,.
The party was ahead in 115 constituencies out of 222 seats for which trends were available from the Election Commission.
The ruling party Congress is ahead in only 63 seats followed by JD(S) in 40 and its alliance partner BSP one and others two.UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 12:33:00 PM 0
 Bengaluru, May 15 (UNI) A jubilant BJP on Tuesday termed the party's spectacular
win in Karnataka as "historic" and asserted that the people of Karnataka has rejected
the "toxic and negative politics of Congress".
"This is a historic victory ....and the victory of Narendra Modi-led campaign and people of Karnataka
irrespective of caste and creed reposing their faith in Prime Minister's programmes and policies,"
Union Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.

Sharing similar sentiment, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "The people of Karnataka have
lauded the developmental plank of Prime Minister and decisively rejected the divisive,
toxic and negative politics of Congress party".
Mr Prasad said the BJP is indebted to the people of Karnataka as all sections of people have voted
in favour of developmental agenda of the Prime Minister.
"Prime Minister's intense campaign on the plank of development has yielded results," Ms Sitharaman said.UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 7:38:00 PM 0
New Delhi, May 14 : The government is aiming to take the country’s digital economy to Rs one lakh crore with the active participation of village level entrepreneurs (VLEs), IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said here on Monday.
Addressing the VLEs at a two-day training workshop on “Tele- Centre Entrepreneurship Course”, the IT Minister said VLEs have played a major role in revolutionizing Common Service Centre (CSC) movement in the country.
He said in next few days, expansion of railway reservations would be done through Common Service Centres (CSCs). CSCs has opened 31 BPOs in India and the plan is to open more such BPO in CSC.
He appreciated the efforts of the enterprising VLEs in providing key services at the grassroots level and announced introduction of rewards at both central and regional level for the best performing entrepreneurs.
He said next year onwards best performing VLE will get cash reward of one lakh rupee. These awards will also be on regional basis and there will be 5 activity based awards.
Appreciating the strength of VLEs in mobilizing rural citizens under Digital India mission, the Minister said CSCs are training auto drivers for using BHIM and encouraging them for Cashless India movement.

Hailing the VLEs who for running Sanitary Napkin manufacturing units in various part of country and contribution in women’s health and hygiene, Mr Prasad said. Swachh Bharat and Swastha Bharat will be mass movement through CSC.

The main objective of the Telecentre Entrepreneur Course (TEC) is to inculcate the skills of entrepreneurship among the VLE and train them on various government and other services provided by CSCs.
The Minister also asked to explore the possibility of involvement of CSCs in health insurance scheme and support the citizens in availing this unique initiative of the government.
The Minister also presented awards to VLEs who successfully passed Tele-centre Entrepreneurship Course exam. On the occasion, a special publication highlighting Top 500 transacting VLEs of CSC and film on Rural Entrepreneurship through CSC was also launched by the Minister.
UNI
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