Urgent need to collaborate on digital security to contain risks: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said the global interconnectedness has created shared security risks requiring the urgent need to collaborate on digital security.
Addressing the G20 Digital Economy Working Group Ministers Meet, Vaishnaw said three priority areas have been selected by the Indian presidency for the digital economy Working Group, which will help in the democratisation of technology.
"Global interconnectedness creates shared security risks. Therefore the need to collaborate on digital security has become more urgent," the Minister, who holds Railways, Electronics and IT portfolios, said.
Appreciating the efforts of the digital economy working group of G20, he said the group has been diligently engaged in discussions for steering the member nations towards common ground.
In this context, Vaishnaw said, "The three priority areas selected by the Indian presidency for the digital economy Working Group are digital public infrastructure (DPI), security in the digital economy and digital skilling."
The Union Minister said these priorities reflect the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who believes in democratisation of technology.
Underlining that the benefits of technology should reach every citizen regardless of her or his socio-economic status, Vaishnaw said digital public infrastructure has a significant role to play in democratisation of technology.
According to him, India's digital payments platform UPI is a vibrant example of the public-private partnership approach.
"The platform was created using public funds, then the private participants joined the platform. Over 70 banks, more than 50 million businesses and more than 335 million users joined this platform," Vaishnaw said.
The result is that there were USD 10 billion instant transactions in the month of July 2023. On an annualised basis, the value of these transactions now exceeds USD 2 trillion, he added.
Vaishnaw also told the audience that several such solutions have emerged in multiple sectors including healthcare, digital document verification, education and insurance.
"The next frontier will be digital credit, where well established banks and financial institutions would compete for a loan of ticket size as small as one USD and a tenure of as small as two days. That is the kind of solution we are looking at so that the people at the bottom of the pyramid, can get the same level of financial services that the rich and prosperous people get," the minister explained.
The second priority area, according to Vaishnaw, is security in the digital economy since establishing trust in technology is critical to its adoption.
The increasing frequency and volume of digital transactions necessitated to focus on promoting security in the digital economy, the Union Minister said, adding this can be achieved through awareness building measures and education.
The priority area, Vaishnaw said was to further the creation of a future-ready workforce. In this regard, investing in talent was critical.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
