Just 25% adults use Internet in India: Pew survey
San Francisco, June 20 : Despite talk of Digital India, only one-in-four in the country reported using the Internet in 2017, which is among the lowest in the world, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.
South Korea stands out as the most heavily connected society, with 96 per cent of adults reporting Internet use, showed the the survey conducted in 37 countries.
While majorities use the Internet in much of the world, sub-Saharan Africa and India has much to catch up with, according to the results released on Tuesday
Smartphone ownership among adults in India went up from 12 per cent in 2013 to 22 per cent in 2017, while social media use went up from eight to 20 per cent during the same period.
That means 78 per cent of adults in India do not own a smartphone and a whopping 80 per cent of the population in the country have no clues about Facebook or Twitter.
While the gap in Internet use between emerging and advanced economies has narrowed in recent years, there are still large swaths of the world where significant numbers of citizens do not use the Internet, the study said.
Internet penetration rates -- as measured by Internet use or smartphone ownership -- remain high in North America and much of Europe, as well as in parts of the Asia-Pacific.
Yet, others are not far behind. In Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, the US, Israel, the UK, Germany, France and Spain, roughly nine-in-ten report Internet use.
Regionally, sub-Saharan Africa is one of the least wired parts of the globe.
However, among people who use the Internet, those in developing countries often turn out to be more likely than their counterparts in advanced economies to network via platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
In 2015-16, roughly four-in-ten adults across the emerging nations surveyed said they used social networking sites.
As of 2017, 53 per cent use social media. Over the same period, social media use has been generally level in many of the advanced economies surveyed.
The report also showed that there has been a steady increase in Internet use over the past five years among the 19 emerging and developing economies surveyed.
In 2013, only 16 per cent adults in India reported using the Internet. The percentage of adults using the Internet in India went up to 25 per cent in 2017.
Between 2013 and 2014, a median of 42 per cent across the emerging and developing economies said they accessed the Internet at least occasionally or owned a smartphone.
By 2017, a median of 64 per cent were online. Meanwhile, Internet use among the 17 advanced economies surveyed has remained relatively flat, with a median of 87 per cent across these nations using the internet at least occasionally in 2017, similar to the 86 per cent who said this in 2015 or 2016.
Similarly, in 2013-14, about a quarter of people in emerging and developing economies reported owning a smartphone.
By 2017, that share had risen to 42 per cent. Among the advanced economies, 72 per cent report owning a smartphone in 2017, the same rate as in 2015-16.
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Man booked for duping firm of Rs 6 cr by posing as Infosys CSR official
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against a man and his accomplices for allegedly cheating a firm of Rs 6 crore by falsely claiming to be associated with an IT company and promising to facilitate CSR funds for its projects, police said on Friday.
The crime is said to have taken place between September 1, 2025 and March 20, 2026, and after consultation with legal experts the company decided to file a complaint at the Devanahalli police station here, they said.
The FIR was registered on March 30 following a complaint by Mysore Mercantile Company, alleging that a person named Gagan N Deep approached them, posing as the Regional Head (CSR) at Infosys Ltd, they said.
According to the FIR, Deep claimed he reported to senior officials - Harsh J, Senior Regional Manager - Infrastructure, Facilities Operation, Public Relations and CSR Works, and Niladri Prasad Mishra, Senior Vice President and Head - Global Infrastructure and Climate Action.
The FIR alleged that the accused expressed interest in the activities of their associated trust, Heggunje Rajeeva Shetty Charitable Trust, Bangalore, and assured facilitation of CSR funds from Infosys Ltd.
It further stated that the accused sent a team of four to five individuals representing Infosys, including persons identified as Chethan and Tejas, to Udupi, Mangaluru and other places to verify the trust’s activities.
According to the complaint, the accused subsequently induced the complainant to pay an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to alleged regular vendors of Infosys as a condition for approval of CSR grants.
The complainant stated that a total amount of Rs 6 crore was paid, including Rs 1.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of Anitha Ventures and Rs 3.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of ANS Engineerings, apart from an additional cash payment of Rs 30 lakh allegedly handed over to the accused through his driver near Nandi Upachar Hotel in Devanahalli, as per his instructions.
The FIR further alleged that the accused issued a purported sanction letter dated October 21, 2025, allegedly from Infosys bearing the signature of Mishra, and executed a grant agreement dated January 8, 2026 between Infosys and the charitable trust for the construction of more than 855 houses across Karnataka with a total grant of Rs 179 crore.
Another grant agreement dated January 13, 2026 was also executed for construction of primary health care centres across the state with a total grant of Rs 178 crore, it stated.
However, the complainant later suspected that the representations made by the accused were false, the documents were fabricated, and the entire transaction was fraudulent in nature, as the accused dishonestly induced them to part with substantial amounts under the pretext of EMD for CSR grants.
"Despite repeated follow-ups neither has any grant materialised nor have the amounts been returned, and the accused is now unresponsive and deliberately avoiding communication," the FIR added.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), Section 319(2) (cheating by personation), Section 336(3) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), police said, adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.
Efforts are being made to nab the suspects in the case, they added.
