Tag: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Amit Shah steps into Bihar’s political dangal

MUMBAI: When it comes to Bihar, the battle is always bigger, the banter sharper, and the stakes sky-high. News18 India’s Sabse Bada Dangal Bihar 2025 promises just that, a full day of political punchlines, fiery face-offs and candid confessions, live from Patna.

As the state gears up for its much-awaited assembly elections, union home minister Amit Shah will headline the conclave, decoding Bihar’s development priorities, political pulse and the broader national vision. His appearance is set to be the showstopper of the event, offering viewers an inside track on the BJP’s strategy and outlook ahead of the polls.

Kicking off with a charged debate featuring Waris Pathan (AIMIM), Abhay Dubey (Congress) and Ajay Alok (BJP), the day’s discussions promise no shortage of fireworks. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Pawan Khera will bring their own political flavours to the mix, dissecting Bihar’s governance, leadership and future course.

The conclave’s star-studded lineup also features Chirag Paswan, Rajneet Ranjan, Samrat Chaudhary, Keshav Maurya, Mukesh Sahani, and Bhupesh Baghel, among others. Each session aims to go beyond election rhetoric, tapping into the hopes, challenges and choices shaping Bihar’s tomorrow.

With voices across party lines, Guru Prakash Paswan, Divjyoti, Rajiv Ranjan, and journalist Kanhaiya Bhelari, joining the fray, expect sparks to fly as politics meets perspective.

Closing the day on a reflective note, JDU’s Sanjay Jha will share his insights on Bihar’s evolving political landscape and development journey.

Sabse Bada Dangal Bihar 2025 is more than a pre-election spectacle. It’s where power meets people, politics meets purpose, and Bihar’s heartbeat is felt, loud, live and unfiltered.

October 29, 2025
Bihar turns centre stage as India News Manch 2025 fuels poll fire

MUMBAI: Democracy had its loudest drumroll in Patna as India News Manch 2025 lit up Hotel Maurya with a day-long spectacle of fiery speeches, charged debates, and political one-upmanship. Billed as Bihar’s grandest political conclave yet, the event didn’t just host discussions, it set the narrative for the state’s fiercely awaited 2025 assembly elections.

From the opening mantrochchar by Pandit Dr. Ranjit Narayan Tiwari to the final curtain call, the conclave was a political marathon that gripped audiences both in Patna and nationwide. The dais was nothing short of a power parade: Deputy CMs Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, veteran voices Ravi Shankar Prasad and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, challenger-in-chief Tejashwi Yadav, strategist Prashant Kishor, and a chorus of leaders including Mukesh Sahani, Upendra Kushwaha, Ashok Choudhary, and Shambhavi Choudhary.

Each session packed in headlines of its own. The debate titled “क्या PK का परचम लहराएगा?” turned into a spirited battle over Prashant Kishor’s political roadmap. The NDA vs INDIA clash lived up to its billing, with sparks flying as party representatives went head-to-head. And Sachchidanand Rai’s session, rooted in his IIT and industrialist background, struck a chord as he spotlighted youth, industry, and Bihar’s developmental trajectory.

But the Manch wasn’t just politics, it was culture too. Bhojpuri stars Ritesh Pandey and Gunjan Singh brought the flavour of Bihar’s art and entertainment into the mix, reminding the audience that the state’s identity is as much about music and cinema as it is about manifestos and mandates.

“This conclave shaped narratives and presented Bihar’s politics in its raw, unfiltered form,” said India News managing editor for input Rakesh Singh adding that Patna had never before seen such a convergence of power and ideology. Echoing this, Dr. Aishwarya Pandit Sharma, Founder of Itv Foundation, called it “a democratic celebration like no other,” emphasising how the conclave connected citizens directly with decision-makers.

With India News Manch 2025 drawing over a dozen heavyweight leaders and thousands of engaged viewers, the conclave has firmly cemented Patna as the crucible of India’s electoral pulse, a place where not just Bihar’s, but the nation’s political future is being scripted.

September 17, 2025
Bihar call as India News Manch 2025 puts politics centre stage in Patna

MUMBAI: When Bihar speaks, India listens and this September, the microphone will be turned up to full volume. India News Manch 2025, the flagship political conclave from Itv Network’s India News, is set to storm into Patna’s Hotel Maurya on 12 September 2025, bringing together the who’s who of Indian politics just months ahead of the state’s high-stakes election.

Now in its legacy-making run, the Manch has built a reputation as one of the nation’s most influential forums. This year’s edition is particularly charged, with Bihar’s verdict expected to ripple far beyond its borders, shaping alliances, governance strategies and even the national democratic roadmap.

The conclave will see a powerhouse line-up of more than 20 leaders, including deputy CMs Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, BJP stalwarts Ravi Shankar Prasad and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Congress MPs Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Rajesh Ram, RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, VIP’s Mukesh Sahani, Jansuraaj’s Prashant Kishor, RLM’s Upendra Kushwaha, and LJPR MP Shambhavi Choudhary. From Pappu Yadav to Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, the conclave ensures every major party and ideology has a voice on stage.

Beyond the political star power, the agenda is just as weighty: governance, economy, youth aspirations, equity, policy reform, and India’s global standing. With Patna as its stage, the forum will drill into how Bihar’s decisions could once again alter the balance of power across India.

“The future of Bihar is inseparable from the future of India,” said India News managing editor for Input Rakesh Singh. “This Manch will bring those voices to the national stage.” Echoing him, ITV Foundation founder Aishwarya Pandit Sharma noted: “By putting leaders and citizens on one platform, we bridge the gap between governance and grassroots voices.”

As anticipation builds, one thing is clear: this isn’t just another conclave. With Bihar at the crossroads of history, India News Manch 2025 promises fireworks, frank talk, and a front-row seat to democracy in action.

September 9, 2025
Big Cabinet Reshuffle: Prakash Javadekar steps down as I&B minister

New Delhi: Prakash Javadekar has stepped down as the union minister of information and broadcasting, here on Wednesday. The decision is part of one of the biggest cabinet reshuffles during the second term of PM Narendra Modi-led government.

Apart from Javadekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad who held the portfolio of the ministry of electronics and information technology (meity) also submitted his resignation along with ten other ministers. The list also included the union minister of health and family welfare Harsh Vardhan. Javadekar also held charge for the ministry of environment, forest, and climate change.

Later in the evening, as many as 43 new ministers took oath at Rashtrapati Bhawan, however, the new portfolios are yet to be announced. A total of 15 individuals were sworn in as ministers in the Union Cabinet and another 28 as ministers of state (MoS). The cabinet has now grown in strength from 54 to 78 ministers which include several new names, and representation from states like Karnataka, Rajasthan, and north-eastern states.

There are 11 women in the new cabinet. Nisith Pramanik (35), the Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar, is the youngest minister to be sworn in, while the oldest member in the council of ministers is 72-year-old Som Parkash. There are 78 members in the council of ministers now.

July 7, 2021
CCI orders probe on WhatsApp’s new privacy policy

NEW DELHI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has launched an investigation into WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, amid the raging debate over users’ privacy on social media platforms.

The antitrust body has taken a prima facie view that the messaging app’s new policy is in contravention of India’s Competition Act. "…the Commission is of the considered opinion that WhatsApp has prima facie contravened the provisions of Section 4 of the Act through its exploitative and exclusionary conduct, in the garb of policy update,” said the order passed by the CCI, as reported by legal website LiveLaw.

The development comes days after the Centre urged the Delhi high court to restrain the Facebook-owned platform from implementing its controversial new privacy terms, stating that the terms are not in alignment with 2011 IT rules.

The controversial policy was initially expected to come into effect on 8 February but was later deferred to 15 May amid severe backlash from users. The app plans to make it mandatory for users to agree to its new data-sharing norms, a key point of which is allegedly sharing data from WhatsApp business chats with Facebook. Since there was no opt-out option, there were apprehensions about privacy which led people to migrate to alternate messaging apps, like Signal and Telegram.

On 19 January, the CCI took a suo motu cognisance of the potential impact of the policy and terms for WhatsApp’s users and the market. In its statement, WhatsApp had stated that it “remains committed to protecting people’s personal communications with end-to-end encryption and providing transparency about how these new optional business features work.”

According to media reports, CCI has pinpointed several other concerns with the new privacy policy, including aspects such as the “opacity, vagueness, open-endedness and incomplete disclosures” hiding the actual data cost that a user incurs for availing WhatsApp services.

India is also the messaging app's biggest user base, with over 400 million users across the country. Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had also asserted that any digital platform must maintain the sanctity of personal communication and not infringe upon the rights of Indians who operate it.

March 26, 2021
‘No proposal with MEITY to appoint a regulator for social media

KOLKATA: Amid the babel over increased regulation of social media in the country, the government has revealed there is no proposal with the ministry of electronics and information technology (MEITY) to appoint a regulator for social media.

“In order to provide enhanced user safety as also accountability of social media platforms, government has released the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 under the Act (IT Act) that specifies the due diligence to be followed by all the intermediaries including the social media intermediaries. The social media platforms are enjoined to develop a robust grievance redressal system,” Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the Parliament today.

When asked if the Centre has conducted any study regarding the impact of its control over social media, Prasad stated that no such study has been undertaken. However, he reiterated his oft-mentioned remark that the government welcomes criticism, dissent and also the rights of people to ask questions on social media.

“This needs to be acknowledged that the fundamental right of speech and expression under article 19(1) is also subject to reasonable restrictions under article 19(2) of the Constitution which can be imposed in the interest of security, safety and sovereignty of India, public order, friendly relations with foreign countries etc,” he noted.

Prasad mentioned that it is equally important that social media should not be abused or misused to defame, promote terrorism, rampant violence and compromise the dignity of women. It is for these challenges that the intermediaries are expected to remove or disable content as and when brought to the knowledge of intermediaries either through a court order or through a notice by appropriate government or its agency or when directed under section 69A of the IT Act 2000, following due process of law, he detailed.

On 25 February, the Centre notified new, stricter guidelines for social media intermediaries which enables setting up of grievance redressal mechanisms and makes these platforms more pliable in assisting government agencies in investigation as well as taking down unlawful or fake content. Experts, while lauding the new "well-intended" rules, noted that these guidelines could undermine the principles of open and accessible Internet and violate the right to privacy and free speech of users, particularly in the absence of robust data protection law.

It's worth recalling that the new rules came close on the heels of a tussle between the government and Twitter over removal of certain content related to the ongoing farmers’ protests.

March 17, 2021
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Randi Zuckerberg, NG Subramaniam, Debjani Ghosh, Anant Maheshwari amongst others headline the 6th Edition of Times Network’s Digital India Summit 2020

Mumbai, December 02, 2020: India’s premium broadcast network, Times Network that’s been championing India’s digital transformation agenda with its flagship property, today announced the 6th Edition of Digital India Summit 2020 (DIS). Taking cognizance of the new reality of the world disrupted by COVID-19, the summit in its latest edition will drive the theme ‘Enabling the New Normal’ and sets the agenda to define a sustainable and superlative ecosystem to accelerate and shape India’s digital future. A foundation for driving India’s evolution into globally recognised digital economy, DIS enables conversations and discourses in the search for digitally empowered solutions for present and future challenges. The summit hosted virtually this year is scheduled to telecast from December 05, 2020, every Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm on TIMES NOW, TIMES NOW WORLD, ET NOW and on the Network’s digital news destination, Timenownews.com.

Envisioned with the purpose to accelerate India’s digital transformation by defining an action plan for progress, Digital India Summit 2020, a seminal leadership platform will witness insightful sessions, fireside chats, panel discussions with key policy makers, thought-leaders and tech pioneers, who are at the forefront of India’s digital transformation. Addressing a diverse spectrum of topics including how technology has enabled Government to fight COVID-19, impact of the virus on the digital world, digital transformation across sectors and living with the new normal, the 6-week long virtual summit will see leading voices including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology and Communications, NG Subramaniam, COO – TCS, Randi Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO – Zuckerberg Media, Anant Maheshwari, President – Microsoft India, Randeep Guleria, Director – AIIMS, Debjani Ghosh, President – NASSCOM, Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice President and Country Head – Amazon India and S.K Gupta, Secretary – TRAI amongst others.

The summit will launch with an exclusive chat between Randi Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Zuckerberg Media and Mihir Bhatt, Chief Editor – IPs, Times Network and the engaging conversation will bring forth interesting insights on topics like new ways of working, ecommerce, changing supply chain dynamics, education, entrepreneurship, role of social media, the digital divide and the importance of digital detox.

MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network said, “While COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented challenge worldwide, it has undoubtedly been an agent of radical change, to rethink and reimagine businesses and lives. One of the consequential implications have been an accelerated adoption of digital technology and solutions across businesses and services that has paved way for quicker digital transformation. Digital India Summit 2020 takes centre stage at an opportune time where Covid-19 has reemphasized the importance of building a robust digital ecosystem to support the nation’s growth. I am confident that collaborative discussions between eminent technology leaders and policy makers will shape decisive strategies in crystalizing the nation’s digital future and support the transformation shift, an imperative in the post Covid-19 future."

Digital India Summit 2020 is Co-Presented by Tata Consultancy Services, Associate Partners – Amazon, Builder.ai, SAP and Infrasoft Technologies and Tech Partner – One Plus.

December 3, 2020
Govt to connect Andaman & Nicobar with high-speed internet

MUMBAI: Information and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad yesterday flagged off the ship at Chennai, which will start the work of laying undersea internet cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The work of laying of more than 2,300 km of undersea cable is funded by Department of Telecom and executed by BSNL

The minister on LinkedIn said, “The work of laying undersea Internet cable between Chennai and Port Blair will be completed by June 2020. It will provide high-speed Internet connectivity to the entire cluster of islands in Andaman and Nicobar.”

January 11, 2020

Govt launches National Broadband Mission; to cover all villages by 2022

MUMBAI: The Minister for Communications, Law & Justice and Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the National Broadband Mission (NBM) which will aim to cover all Indian villages by 2022. The aim is to “fulfil all aspirations of the people and enable fast track growth of digital communication infrastructure”.

The vision of the NBM is to fast track growth of digital communications infrastructure, bridge the digital divide, facilitate digital empowerment and inclusion and provide affordable and universal access of broadband for all. Some of the objectives of the mission which is structured with a strong emphasis on the three principles of universality, affordability and quality are:

· Broadband access to all villages by 2022

· Facilitate universal and equitable access to broadband services for across the country and especially in rural and remote areas

· Laying of incremental 30 lakh route km of Optical Fiber Cable and increase in tower density from 0.42 to 1.0 tower per thousand of population by 2024

· Significantly improve quality of services for mobile and internet

· Develop innovative implementation models for Right of Way (RoW) and to work with States/UTs for having consistent policies pertaining to expansion of digital infrastructure including for RoW approvals required for laying of OFC

· Develop a Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) to measure the availability of digital communications infrastructure and conducive policy ecosystem within a State/UT.

· Creation of a digital fibre map of the Digital Communications network and infrastructure, including Optical Fiber Cables and Towers, across the country

· Investment from stakeholders of USD 100 billion (Rs 7 lakh crore) including Rs 70,000 crore from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)

· Address policy and regulatory changes required to accelerate the expansion and creation of digital infrastructure and services

· Work with all stakeholders including the concerned Ministries / Departments/ Agencies, and Ministry of Finance, for enabling investments for the Mission

Snapshot of growth in Telecom Parameters

Year	2014	2019
Mobile Subscribers (in millions) 30% Growth	907.42	1173.75
Internet Subscribers(in millions) 165% Growth	251.59	665.31
Broadband Subscribers(in millions) 530% Growth	99.2	625.42
Tele-density (%) 20% Growth	75.23 %	90.52 %
Rural Tele-density (%) 31% Growth	44.01 %	57.59 %
Data Consumption (in GB per subscriber per month) 1120% Growth	Less than 0.80 GB	9.77 GB

December 18, 2019

WhatsApp offers to track ‘dubious’ individuals for Indian govt

MUMBAI: Facebook vice president of global affairs and communications Nick Clegg met home minister Amit Shah, national security adviser Ajit Doval, IT and communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and commerce minister Piyush Goyal regarding the dispute over traceability of messages in WhatApp. However, it remained unresolved.

According to an ET report, Clegg offered to track WhatsApp communication activities of persons deemed “dubious or suspicious” by government agencies. However, Facebook will only do this for persons identified by the government from now on. The company also does not want to break end-to-end encryption, which is at the core of the traceability issue.

Clegg also informed that instead of message content, Facebook could help with metadata. His discussion with Shah was around protecting end-to-end encryption as well as sharing different forms of signals in response to legal requests that can be helpful.

Clegg also commented that data localisation will create "balkanisation" of the internet and make it unlikely that the next Facebook or Google will come from India.

On Friday, the Supreme Court asked the government for an update on the proposed intermediary guidelines which mandate traceability for social media companies such as Facebook when content is deemed officially to have created law and order problems.

September 15, 2019