31-May-2022: India is poised to play a leadership role in global digital revolution: Shri Devusinh Chauhan at World Summit of Information Society (WSIS) 2022

Minister of State for Communications, Shri Devusinh Chauhan, attended the opening ceremony of World Summit of Information Society (WSIS) 2022, being organized by International Telecommunications Unions(ITU) at its headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland from 30th May to 3rd June, 2022. It’s beginning of 4 days event where India will showcase its telecom prowess during multilateral & bilateral engagements.

Speaking about India’s focus on inclusive development during the event, Shri Devusinh Chauhan said that the Digital inclusion is at the heart of financial inclusion and inclusive economic development. The government is putting conscious and consistent efforts to provide reliable ICT infrastructure in this endeavor. Over six hundred villages are being connected on Optical Fibre cable, with nearly 175,000 already connected. Villages left out of 4G connectivity are being covered through Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

Shri Devusinh Chauhan, further added, “Given the difficulty in laying optical fibre networks in hilly and mountainous terrains, our focus is on the use of technologies that can accelerate development and bridge this divide, like using E band wireless carriers, LEO and MEO satellite connectivity among others.” He said that we have issued the first service license for LEO/MEO connectivity and hope to harness the technology to enable digital inclusion in remote areas.

Elaborating the role of new technologies in bridging digital divide, the Minister said that affordable broadband accessibility is the essence of digital inclusion. Developing 5G test bed, indigenous 4G and 5G stack, development of Indian 5G standards and setting up of 6G innovation forum are the initiatives to reduce cost, facilitate faster 5G spread in rural area and eliminate dependency on specific vendor. He further said that India is a vast country with large rural and remote areas. The Telecom Standards Development Society of India – India’s Standards Development Organisation, along with IITs have developed the Low mobility Large Coverage Standard (earlier called 5Gi) using a new waveform that enables 5G towers to cover wider areas in rural and remote areas. These standards were among the first 5G standards, which have been approved by the ITU and have also become part of Globally harmonized 3GPP Release 17 standards. These will be immensely helpful for countries with similar geographical spread. India is poised to play a leadership role in global digital revolution.

Shri Devusinh Chauhan held bilateral meeting with  Secretary General of ITU, Mr. Haolin Zhou. He apprised him with India's developmental achievements in the field of Telecom, 5G Technology, Atmanirbhar Bharat, customized 5G standards and the plan to take fibre and mobile communications to all 600,000 villages. The minister also thanked him for opening of ITU area office in India. Mr Haolin Zhou was very appreciative of ICT initiatives of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He termed them exemplary for entire world.

The participation comes with India contesting the re-election to the ITU Council, for the term 2023-2026. India has been a member of ITU, since 1869 and has been continuously participating, actively in the works, and activities of the Union.

The Communications sector under the leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has grown leaps and bounds with multiple policies and schemes like Digital India, BharatNet - taking optical fiber to Six Hundred Thousand villages, National Broadband Mission, to ensure high-speed internet. India is ensuring a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The nation has made significant strides in domains of digital health, education, financial translation, e-governance, etc.

Recently in an event, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the 5G Test Bed for startups at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Minister of Communications, Railways and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the 5G test bed at IIT Madras and successfully test tested a 5G call on an indigenously-developed network.

Shri Devusinh pointed out that earlier Indian companies had to go abroad for testing mobile network use cases as there were no testing facilities in the country. But now, because of the indigenous technologies, they are able to develop the new technology faster and at a lower cost.

24-May-2022: Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, participated in the 7th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting

Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs participated in the 7th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting on 24 May, 2022 hosted by the People’s Republic of China through video conference with participation from all BRICS Member Nations.

Discussion was held for advancement and expansion of cultural activities amongst BRICS countries under the theme “Establishing a Cultural Partnership Featuring Inclusiveness and Mutual Learning among BRICS”. The areas of focus of the discussion were promoting the development and cooperation on cultural digitalization, strengthening cooperation on cultural heritage protection and advancing the building of cultural exchange platforms of BRICS countries.  The Ministers adopted the BRICS Action Plan 2022-2026 to further strengthen the cultural cooperation and implement the BRICS Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed in 2015.

The Minister presented India’s perspective and brought forward the following points in her address:

1. India with its diverse cultural expression ensures to provide a platform to the BRICS countries to familiarize cultural values through exchange programmes/activities in the field of music, theatre, puppetry, various tribal art forms and dance forms especially classical and folk.
2. The crucial role of digital technologies in overcoming the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic restricting physical movements during last two and half year and the importance of virtual channels in getting life going on all fronts, including culture.
3. India’s priorities to digitize valuable collections in the field of cultural heritage and presenting them in open information space as it provides long-term storage and provision of wider access to the cultural content stored in cultural institutions such as museums and libraries. Through virtual exhibitions of BRICS Countries, the rich cultural heritage of BRICS countries can be explored.
4. India believes in diversity of cultural heritage and intercultural dialogue. It strongly advocates sustainable and resilient environment integrating heritage and traditional knowledge into innovative and culture-based solutions to environmental concerns.
5. The art of India is an amalgam of its own rich legacy and its modern history. It has undoubtedly placed India as an active and creative entity which is an integral part of the art world today.
6. In light of today’s environmental, social and economic challenges, working towards an inclusive, and culturally sensitive development paradigms is of utmost importance.  Need of the hour is a roadmap which should integrate cultural heritage, cultural and creative industries and an understanding of the innate imagination and collective intelligence of people

She thanked the Chair and wished for progressive and comprehensive BRICS cooperation in all fields.

At the end of the meeting, the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Agreement between the Governments of the BRICS States on Cooperation in the field of Culture (2022-2026) was agreed and signed by the Ministers of Culture of all BRICS Nations.

2-Jul-2021: Shri Prahlad Singh Patel chairs 6th meeting of BRICS Culture Ministers through video conference

The Minister of State (I//C) for Culture and Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel hosted 6th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting on Friday through video conference.  The delegates from Culture Ministries of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa participated in the meeting.

Discussion was held for advancement and expansion of cultural activities amongst BRICS countries under the theme Bonding and Harmonizing Cultural Synergy.

Minister of State for Culture addressed participants of the meeting and presented India’s perspective to strengthen the cultural cooperation within BRICS. Taking the cognizance of the Covid 19 conditions world has been facing for last one and half year,  Minister.

Minister of State for Culture addressed participants of the meeting and presented India’s perspective to strengthen the cultural cooperation within BRICS. Taking the cognizance of the Covid 19 conditions world has been facing for last one and half year,  Minister showed his concerns for the adverse effects of the pandemic on all fields of life including the cultural dimension.  He commented the use of digital techniques and its acceptability in the prevailing conditions.

Minister emphasized on collaborations in the field of online exchange of cultural experiences on knowledge of tangible and intangible heritage amongst BRICS countries. He highlighted the importance of the role of culture for establishing vibrant international humanitarian dialogue. He appreciated the efforts of cultural organizations of BRICS countries for conducting online cultural activities in the fields of museums, arts, theatres etc. With the intent of utilizing the invaluable treasure of information contained in our manuscripts, Minister proposed for formation of BRICS Alliance in the field of conservation, preservation and digitization of ancient manuscripts.

Shri Patel further highlighted the need to protect our tangible and intangible cultural heritage through mutual help and support within the BRICS framework in addition to the compliance of prevailing UNESCO Conventions.  He also shared the historic occasion of commencement of celebrations of 75 years of India’s freedom which commenced in March 2021 under the aegis of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsava Programme’.

Shri Patel also mentioned the aptness of India’s theme for BRICS Chairmanship “BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consciousness in context of promotion of BRICS cultural cooperation.

In the Declaration of the meeting, it was agreed upon to strengthen and enhance cultural cooperation amongst BRICS Nations in the fields of museums, art galleries, theatre, libraries and promote use of modern technologies to conduct online events to overcome the adverse effects of pandemic like situations.

At the end of the meeting, the Declaration of the VI Meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Culture was signed by all the representatives of Member States.

4-Sep-2020: Union Minister of State (I//C) for Culture and Tourism Shri Prahlad Singh Patel virtually attends 5th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meet

Union Minister of State (I//C) for Culture and Tourism Shri Prahlad Singh Patel virtually attended 5th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting on September 3, 2020. The 5th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting was held  through video conference under the Chairpersonship of Russian Federation.   The delegates from Culture Ministries of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa participated in the meeting.

During the meeting the discussion was held on the impact of the epidemiological situation on the cultural sphere in the BRICS countries and review of the possible implementation of joint cultural online-projects within BRICS. The Minister of State for Culture addressed participants of the meeting and presented India’s perspective to strengthen the cultural cooperation within BRICS through alternative mechanisms of sharing and organizing cultural events in online format given the prevailing pandemic situation.

The Minister stated “Covid-19 has been a sad experience for us. But it has again showed us that nature does not discriminate among countries. It does not differentiate between people on the basis of caste and creed. Humans have divided the countries and defined borders by putting fences.  But culture is the bonding force above all manmade demarcations and connects people through love and harmony.  Therefore when we meet through such programs, we come back more enriched than before.”

Some suggestions/events proposed by Indian side in Culture Minister’s address are as below:

• To explore possibilities of hosting a Digital Online Exhibition on a Shared theme towards end of 2021 under the auspices of BRICS Alliance of Museums.  And to extend full cooperation and content sharing for website envisaged under the BRICS Alliance.
• Opening the BRICS Corner under the auspices of BRICS Alliance of Libraries proposed to be inaugurated during the India’s BRICS Presidency in 2021.  The Corner will disseminate information related to the history and culture of BRICS countries. The corner will display the books, periodicals and other e-resources gifted by the BRICS countries, viz, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.
• The National Gallery of Modern Arts, New Delhi will host the BRICS Joint Exhibition titled ‘Bonding Regions & Imagining Cultural Synergies’ under the auspices of the BRICS Alliance of Art Museums and Galleries. The exhibition is proposed to be organized in 2021 coinciding with the BRICS event that India would be hosting in 2021. The exhibition aims to present around 100 works of art from the five prestigious institutions under the BRICS Alliance.
• At the end of the meeting Declaration of the V Meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Culture was agreed upon and signed by all the representatives of BRICS Nations.