New Delhi (The Hawk ) : Alkesh Kumar Sharma assumed charge as Secretary, Ministry of Electronics &amp; Information Technology (MeitY) here today. He is an Indian Administrative Services Officer of 1990 batch, from Kerala cadre.Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma has earlier served as Additional Secretary and Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. In addition to other responsibilities given to him, Sharma was looking after the cabinet proposals of all infrastructure, economic, finance, industry, Agriculture and allied ministries of the Central Government.&nbsp;Sharma worked as Chief Executive Officer &amp; Managing Director of the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC) (earlier DMICDC) from October 2015 to September 2019.&nbsp;He was also CEO of National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT). The Industrial Corridors are being developed by the Government of India as global manufacturing and investment destinations by setting up investment regions supported by the world-class infrastructure and enabling policy framework. He was also member of the Task Force on Programme/Project management set up by NITI Aayog, Govt. of India.As Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India for three years (2012-2015), he handled matters relating to National Highways Planning, land acquisition, forest and environment clearances, review and monitoring of National Highways Projects, coordination with Railways, Defence and other agencies and all matters related to toll and toll policy on the national highways. He was also Chairman of the Indian Highways Management Company Ltd. and implemented FASTAG system of toll collection.Sharma worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for three years(2006-09) as National Project Director, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.&nbsp;In the State of Kerala, he worked as the Managing Director of Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., Kochi and Additional Chief Secretary (Special Projects-Infrastructure) &amp; Industries from September 2019 to March 2021, where&nbsp;he monitored the implementation of mega infrastructure projects like Semi-High Speed Rail, Airport, Ports, Smart Cities, Multi-modal Transport Hub, Waste to Energy Projects, Kochi-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and Development of Industrial Townships and Integrated Smart Manufacturing Clusters in Kerala.Sharma also worked as the Managing Director of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation; Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation; Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited; Malabar Cement Limited and Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation. He also worked as Director, Kerala Tourism and as Secretary, Industries and Investment Promotion in Government of Kerala.&nbsp;Sharma played a key role in branding and promoting Kerala Tourism as ‘God’s Own Country’ during his two tenures spanning over seven years, in Kerala.

 Alkesh Kumar Sharma assumed charge as Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) here today. He is an Indian Administrative Services Officer of 1990 batch, from Kerala cadre.

Alkesh Sharma assumes charge as new Secretary for Ministry of Electronics & Information Tech

New Delhi (The Hawk): To enhance digital adoption, MeitY is focusing on providing digital literacy to the citizens across the country especially in the rural areas. In line with this, the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was approved by Union Cabinet in February 2017 to usher in digital literacy in rural India with a target to cover 6 crore rural households (1 person per household) across the country.So far, a total of around 6.15 crore candidates have been enrolled and 5.24 crore have been trained, out of which 3.89 crore candidates have been certified under the PMGDISHA Scheme.The PMGDISHA scheme is being implemented across the rural India including the state of Madhya Pradesh. Against the indicative target of 37.84 lakh, so far, 45.42 lakh candidates have been trained, out of which, 33.51 lakh candidates have been duly certified in Madhya Pradesh under the scheme.Government has carried out, three impact assessment studies for PMGDISHA scheme. The last impact assessment study of the scheme was carried out by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in FY 2020-21. IIPA, after the comprehensive and methodological evaluation of scheme, concluded in the report that PMGDISHA as a digital literacy programme plays an indispensable part in not only bridging the digital gap in the country but also transforming it into a knowledge economy and society.There seems to be a good demand for acquiring digital literacy in the rural areas as can be seen by the number of enrolments to the tune of more than 6.15 crore under the PMGDISHA scheme.This information was given by the Minister of State for Electronics &amp; Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

To enhance digital adoption, MeitY is focusing on providing digital literacy to the citizens across the country especially in the rural areas.

Digital Literacy In Rural Areas

New Delhi (The Hawk): Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative was conceptualised with the mission to spread awareness about cyber-crime and build capacities of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT officials, across all government departments, for ensuring adequate safety measures to combat the growing menace, and for organizations to defend their digital infrastructures and become future-ready in tackling cyber-attacks.
Operating on the principles of awareness, education and enablement, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), under its Capacity Building scheme, organised the 30th CISO Deep-Dive training programme from August 22-26, 2022. Held at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi, the intensive 5-day training programme was designed for designated CISOs from Central and State/UT Governments, subordinate agencies/PSUs, including public sector banks and insurance companies, technical wings of police and security forces, CTOs and members of technical/PMU teams; as well as officers responsible to observe security of IT systems in their respective organisations.
The deep-dive training specifically aimed at educating and enabling CISOs to understand cyber-attacks comprehensively and thoroughly, get necessary exposure in latest technologies of safeguard, and translate the benefits of a resilient e-infrastructure to individual organizations and citizens at large. The training also focussed on providing a holistic view of legal provisions, enabling CISOs to formulate policies in the domain of cyber security and build concrete cyber crisis management plans.
The inaugural session of the programme was attended by eminent dignitaries - Shri Abhishek Singh, P&amp;CEO, NeGD, Shri S.N. Tripathi, DG, IIPA, graced the occasion. Stressing upon the importance of cyber security in the present scenario of growing cyber-attacks, Shri Tripathi encouraged CISO officers to think innovatively and futuristically while supporting cyber security endeavours of their organisations. In his address, Shri Abhishek Singh insisted on the need of robust cyber security conduct at an individual level, and requested all CISO participants for use of properly licensed software. He also reminded them of various GOI initiatives in the said domain, particularly highlighting the very responsive National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) to address potential cyber threats on critical infrastructure.
The training programme brought together an array of subject matter experts from the industry, the academia and the government to speak on key domain issues of cyber security, such as, Governance Risk and Compliance, Emerging Cyber Security Trends, Landscape of Cyber Security Products in India, Network Security, Cyber Crisis Workplace Plan, Application and Data Security, Cloud Security, Mobile Security, Cryptography, Cyber Security Testing and Audit, Cyber Security related Provisions of IT Act and ISMS Standards including ISO 27001. An interactive presentation session by towards the programme’s culmination by participants enabled learnings from one another.
Launched in 2018, the CISO training is the first-of-its-kind of partnership between the Government and industry consortium under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. Since June 2018, these programmes have capacitated 1,224 senior officials to secure digital infrastructure and systems of their respective organizations.

 Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative was conceptualised with the mission to spread awareness about cyber-crime and build capacities of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT officials, across all government departments, for ensuring adequate safety measures to combat the growing menace, and for organizations to defend their digital infrastructures and become future-ready in tackling cyber-attacks.

NeGD, MeitY Organises 30th Batch Of CISOs' Deep Dive Training Programme

New Delhi (The Hawk): MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) in collaboration with Meta will launch a program to support and accelerate XR technology startups across India.
The program will be announced on 13 September 2022. Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics &amp; Information Technology, and Skill Development &amp; Entrepreneurship and Joel Kaplan, Vice President, Global Policy, Meta, will be present on the occasion.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
This collaboration is part of the Government’s efforts for skilling in emerging and future technologies.
India is uniquely placed to play a pivotal role in the metaverse with a large talent pool of creators, developers and a vibrant technology ecosystem. The world looks to it for supply technology, innovation and talent to cater to the greater demand for digital products.
The MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of MeitY, is a national platform focused on promoting technology innovation, start-ups, and the creation of intellectual properties.
Today, it has around 3000+ tech startups supported, with a vision to ramp it up to more than ten thousand startups in the next three to five years.

MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) in collaboration with Meta will launch a program to support and accelerate XR technology startups across India.

MeitY Startup Hub & Meta Collaborate To Accelerate XR Technology Startups In India

New Delhi: Apple's cyber security executives from the US are expected to meet officials of CERT-In this month regarding the show cause notice issued to the company in the wake of several opposition MPs receiving a warning notification on their iPhones.
Last month, several opposition leaders claimed they have received an alert from Apple warning them of 'state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise' their iPhones and alleged hacking by the government.  CERT-In, which comes under Meity, had issued a show cause notice to Apple in this regard.  On Friday, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that Apple has to reply to the notice which needs to be done by their global cyber security team.  "They have to come here and answer those questions. Basic issue is ongoing," the minister told reporters.  He said that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT-In has met local representatives of Apple but the issue is beyond their capability to respond.  "It is their cyber security people who have to come and meet CERT-In and they will come all the way from the US," the minister said.  When asked about the deadline given to Apple to submit its response, the minister said he is not certain about the dates but expects the team to meet Cert-In officials sometime this month.  A Meity official said that the Apple cyber security team will come this month only if they get a visa on time.  Meanwhile, the Members of Parliament (MPs) who received the warning notification on their iPhones include Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Shashi Tharoor, Pawan Khera, K C Venugopal, Supriya Shrinate, T S Singhdeo and Bhupinder S Hooda; Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.  Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and some aides of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also received the notification.
—PTI

Apple's cyber security executives from the US are expected to meet officials of CERT-In this month regarding the show cause notice

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Alkesh Sharma assumes charge as new Secretary for Ministry of Electronics & Information Tech

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Alkesh Sharma assumes charge as new Secretary for Ministry of Electronics & Information Tech

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