Cabinet approves new telecom policy, aims broadband for all
New Delhi, Sep 26 : The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new telecom policy -- National Digital Communications Policy 2018 -- designed to provide "broadband to all", Union Communications Minister Manoj Sinha announced.
The policy, aimed at providing universal availability of 50 mega bits per second (Mbps) and attracting investments worth $100 billion, was approved by the Telecom Commission in July after the government came out with a draft policy in May.
Sinha, addressing the media after the cabinet meeting, said that among other targets the policy aims to "provide broadband to all and create 40 lakh jobs". It also aims at providing a "ubiquitous, resilient, secure and affordable" digital communication services.
Further, the policy aims at providing 1 Gbps (giga-bits per second) connectivity to all "Gram Panchayats" by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022.
It plans to propel India to the top 50 nations in the Information and Communication Technology Development Index of the International Telecommunication Union from 134 in 2017, enhancing the country's contribution to global value chains and ensuring digital sovereignty, he added.
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Trump confronts South African president over killing of white farmers
Washington, May 21 (AP): President Donald Trump used a White House meeting to confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing his country of failing to address the killing of white farmers.
“People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety," said Trump, who at one point dimmed the lights in the Oval Office to play a video of a communist politician playing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer. "Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they're being killed."
Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump's accusation. The South African leader had sought to use the meeting to set the record straight and salvage his country's relationship with the United States. The bilateral relationship is at its lowest point since South Africa enforced its apartheid system of racial segregation, which ended in 1994.
“We are completely opposed to that,” Ramaphosa said of the behaviour alleged by Trump in their exchange.
Experts in South Africa say there is no evidence of whites being targeted, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.
