I&B Ministry
Arun Jaitley’s portfolio as I&B minister had many gems
MUMBAI: Former union minister and one of the most senior and popular BJP veterans, Arun Jaitley died earlier this morning. He was undergoing treatment at AIIMS Delhi for the past several weeks.
A lawyer by profession, Jaitley had quite a prolific career as a politician as well. He held several posts in the union ministry under the BJP government, including minister of information and broadcasting, minister of law, justice, and company affairs & shipping, and minister finance.
The veteran will be remembered as a strong politician and policymaker for his contribution to the ministry of finance as well, which he led in the previous Modi government. The stalwart was lauded by the cable television industry when he exempted custom duty in several parts and components of electronic equipment including set-top boxes (STBs) for television or the internet, thus boosting the digitisation process for the TV industry.
In his term as the union minister of information and broadcasting between November 2014 and July 2016, Jaitley was responsible for many important government initiatives, including phase III of FM auctions, new business policy for publications divisions 2016, setting up of Film Facilitation Office (FFO), and introducing revised guidelines for advertisements in print and on websites.
The FFO, which acts as a single-window facilitation and clearance mechanism for filmmakers, was constituted with a view to promote and facilitate film shootings by foreign filmmakers in India. The services rendered by the FFO were later extended to Indian filmmakers as well. The body also gives out ‘Most Film Friendly State’ awards every year with the aim of promoting India as a filmmaking destination.
Under his leadership, a new business policy for Publications Division with the objective to streamline business practices in line with the contemporary trends prevailing in publications industry was also set up. One of the key highlights of the policy included promoting online readership by pricing the digital version of the publication at 75 per cent the price of printed version.
Jaitley also worked on promoting transparency and accountability in advertisement policies. The new print media advertisement policy introduced incentives for the newspapers who have better professional standing and get their circulation verified by ABC/ RNI among other important measures taken to streamline the print advertising paradigm.
He also focussed greatly on the growth of the digital ecosystem within the country during his tenure and revised the web advertising policy as well.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
