-The Hindu Local firms will be at a disadvantage if big tech companies are given plum roles Since early last year, WhatsApp has busily piloted its payment system in India. WhatsApp Pay relies on the Indian government’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system to facilitate inter-bank transactions. Regulatory approval that would allow its nation-wide introduction is stuck on one point: the Indian government has asked WhatsApp to localise all data processing related to...

-PTI Bench issues notice to Union government on a plea against the project to track “digital media chatter from all core social media platforms” The Supreme Court on Friday took a strong note of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s decision to set up a social media hub for monitoring online data, observing that it would be “like creating a surveillance state”. The court said the government wanted to tap citizens’ WhatsApp messages and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi is understood to have expressed serious concern over data leaks and alleged manipulation of user information by global internet and social media giants. According to top sources, the PM has instructed that data sharing should be regulated and servers be located within the country.   The issue came up for discussion during a recent meeting of the Union Cabinet, where the episode of data...

-PTI New Delhi: Social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and others are rapidly changing the reading and viewing habits of an increasing number of people, mostly youngsters, according to Assocham. Based on an analysis of responses from just 235 families, the industry body claimed that Indians residing in big cities are now spending less than half the time reading newspapers and watching television as compared to 3-4 years ago. “While it is...

-Outlook The Press Information Bureau (PIB) today launched a blog to mark the country's 69th Independence Day. The blog, https://pibindia.wordpress.com has posts and articles by Union Ministers of Rural Development Birender Singh and of Environment and Forest Prakash Javadekar and also other ministries highlighting achievements of the government. A colourful factsheet on the government's activities is also embedded in the blog. "The move is a part of its overall shift towards more interactive...