The Standing Committee on Science and Technology recently submitted its report on the DNA Bill. Several concerns have been raised over the report, with two Committee members filing dissent notes. We decided to provide an explainer that breaks down the key issues with both the report and the Bill.
Given recent media reports and parlimentary responses, we wrote to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asking them to publicly detail any potential amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 and engage in extensive consultations over the changes.
The PM-WANI scheme aims to increase internet connectivity across the country by implementing a decentralised system of public access points. We created an explainer in which we discuss how, while a step towards the right direction, the scheme faces both foundational and implementational challenges.
Recent events regarding the blocking of pro farmer protests Twitter accounts reek of government censorship. Furthermore, the process by which MEITY initiated the blocks is excessively opaque. We wrote to the Ministry asking them to make the orders publicly available so as to increase transparency.
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting may be considering regulating online content on Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms. We wrote a letter to the Ministry, in which we detailed potential harms, asked for clarity, and requested a thorough implementation of the pre-legislative consultation policy.
Budget 2021-22 is a mixed bag. Though it contains praiseworthy allocations towards programs such as Digital India and the USOF and provides a stimulus to R&D, allocations towards the PMGDISHA remain low, while concerns remain that signficant capital expenditure may not take place.