$200 mn for Cyber Security infrastructure in 4 years :India Govt

New Delhi: The government Tuesday said that it will invest around USD 200 million in next four years to strengthen cyber security infrastructure.

"We have 1.2 billion people and will be largest in terms of population country in the world in years to come. This (cyber crime) affect us perhaps much more than any other country in the world," Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal said on sidelines of 3rd Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit.

The Minister added that priority for India at present is to protect its infrastructure like nuclear, aviation, banking infrastructure, among others.

"I presume multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral infrastructure will be established in different area. In the Department of Electronics and IT (DEITy) itself we must have investment of USD 200 million in next four years to create necessary infrastructure. We are working on that," DEITy Secretary J Satyanarayana said.

No mobile Connection For Foreigner More than 3 Months:Govt

To check misuse of SIM cards, the government has asked Telecom Service Providers not to provide mobile connection for more than three months to any foreign tourist visiting India.

According to the fresh guidelines, which have come into effect recently, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has told the service providers that the proof for issuance of a mobile connection to any foreigner would be the passport having a valid visa.

"Any mobile connection issued to a foreigner should not have a validity beyond the validity of the visa. In case of foreign tourist, the validity of connection should not be beyond the visa period and also not exceed three months at a time even if the validity of the visa is beyond three months," the fresh guidelines, which have been vetted by Union Home Ministry, said.

Ban on Bulk SMS-es and MMS-es Withdraw by indian govt

The government has withdrawn with immediate effect the ban on sending bulk SMS-es and MMS-es, a notification issued by the Home Ministry said today.

The ban was imposed on August 17, after reports emerged that threatening SMS-es were being sent to students from the North-East in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad. It was aimed at checking the spread of rumours, which had fuelled panic.

The government had then said that for 15 days, cellphone users would be allowed to send only five messages a day. Later on August 23, the limit was increased from five to 20.

According to the government, since the clashes in Assam, misleading information and hate messages were being spread through SMS-es and MMS-es. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were also reportedly used to circulate morphed images.

Along with the restrictions on SMS-es and MMS-es, the government had also banned hundreds of web pages.  Source-NDTV

(With Inputs from PTI)

Govt.Increases SMS Limit 20 Per Day

The government today increased the SMS limit per day from five to 20 with immediate effect, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Communication. From today, the mobile customers in the country, which is more than 930 million, can send a maximum to 20 SMS-es in one go and more than 25 KB of data through mobile phones.

Mobile users were restricted to sending only 5 SMS-es per day from last Saturday to check spread of rumours, which fuelled panic among people from the North-East.

"We have banned bulk SMS-es and MMS-es for 15 days," Union Home Secretary RK Singh had said last week.

According to the government, since the clashes in Assam, misleading information and hate messages were being spread through SMS-es and MMS-es that led to panic among the people from the North-East. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were also reportedly used to circulate morphed images.

Along with the restrictions on SMSes and MMS-es, hundreds of web pages have been banned by the government since last week.  Source-NDTV

Twitter may face govt axe in India

Twitter might face legal action if the popular microblogging site does not comply with Indian government's demand to censor objectionable content posted by its users. 

Stung by the misinformation campaign thatspread like wildfire through SMS, Facebook,YouTube and Twitter in past weeks, the Indian government now seems to be moving ahead with its initial threat to tighten the noose around social media. 

Indicating this, a senior government official has said that Twitter has already been told that legal action may be taken against it as it had failed to cooperate with the Indian government in its efforts to find the source of and curtail the inflammatory messages against north-east citizens.

Indian government banned bulk SMSes and MMSes for 15 days

5 SMS per day limit comes into effect.The restriction does not apply on the transaction SMS related to Banking, Financial Institutions and Railway alerts.

 

NEW DELHI: To check spread of rumours which has led to exodus of northeastern people from certain states, government banned from today bulk SMSes and MMSes for 15 days across the country.

"We have banned bulk SMSes and MMSes for 15 days," Union Home Secretary RK Singh told PTI.

The decision was taken after reports of widespread circulation of SMSes and MMSes containing misleading information about Assam violence, threats to people of northeastern origin living in other parts of the country and doctored videos.

The Home Ministry has asked Department of Telecommunications to implement the order through the telecom operators.

From today onwards, no one will be able to send more than 5 SMSes in one go and more than 20 KB of data through mobile phones during the ban period. Though the limit on SMS is on bulk messages, some operators have reportedly levied this cap on person-to-person SMSes as well.

The ban came into force after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that spread of rumours by miscreants had led to people belonging to the north east to flee from Bangalore, Pune and some other parts of the country.

Noting that the guilty should be brought to book, the Prime Minister said that at stake was not just unity and integrity of the country, but also communal harmony.

"Any miscreant fanning rumours should be brought to book," he said.

PTI | Aug 18, 2012, 02.16PM IST

Source-TOI