I&B Ministry
Digital dreams take flight: IDS 2025 is around the corner
MUMBAI: Get ready to plug into the pulse of innovation!
If you’re a tech enthusiast with an insatiable curiosity for all things digital, mark your calendars. The India Digital Summit (IDS), the crown jewel of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), is back for its 19th edition. Slated for 16-17 January 2025 at the vibrant hub of Aerocity, New Delhi, this year’s summit promises to be a game-changer. With the theme “Bharat’s Digital Path: Empowering Future Innovators”, the event is set to chart the course of India’s digital revolution.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and digital India, this powerhouse conference will bring together the brightest minds, cutting-edge tech, and transformative ideas to fuel the next wave of innovation.
Get ready to witness the future unfold, one byte at a time!
IDS is India’s largest and oldest digital ecosystem conference, bringing together policymakers, senior executives, academicians, and industry experts to discuss opportunities and challenges across digital sectors. This year’s summit will host over 300 sessions across 17 tracks, addressing domains such as advertising, artificial intelligence, eCommerce, education, and tech innovations for health, rural areas, and sports.
The event will feature more than 15,000 delegates and include a 100-stall exhibition where over 50 leading digital brands will showcase cutting-edge innovations. Attendees can participate in diverse activities like workshops, masterclasses, hackathons, roundtables, and industry meet-ups, creating a unique blend of insights and networking opportunities.
A special focus on startups will highlight startup street and startup pitching sessions. These initiatives will allow emerging entrepreneurs to present live demos, engage with investors, and seek funding and partnerships.
IDS 2025 will also host the prestigious India Digital Awards (IDA), adjudicated by a panel of over 40 industry leaders. Now in its 15th edition, the awards will honour digital excellence across four categories and 47 subcategories. Additionally, the Digital Responsibility Awards (DRA) will return for its second year, recognising significant contributions to bridging India’s digital divides.
Gold partners for IDS 2025 include PhonePe, Australia Trade and Investment Commission, IDA Ireland, Jagran New Media, and Exotel, while Route Mobile serves as the cloud communications partner. Silver partners include Shiprocket, Times Internet, and TV9 Network.
Speaking about the summit’s significance, IAMAI underscored its role in driving India’s digital narrative while addressing persisting challenges in bridging the digital divide.
For further details, visit: India Digital Summit
I&B Ministry
PIB Fact Check Unit flags 2,913 fake claims, blocks 1,400 URLs
Government steps up misinformation fight with FCU and IT Rules framework.
MUMBAI: In the age of viral forwards and deepfake déjà vu, the government’s fact-checkers are working overtime to separate fact from fiction. India’s Press Information Bureau Fact Check Unit (FCU), operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has flagged a total of 2,913 instances of fake news and misinformation linked to the Central Government, highlighting the growing scale of the information battle in the digital era.
Tasked with identifying misleading content from AI-generated videos and deepfakes to forged notifications, letters and spoofed websites, the FCU verifies claims using authorised sources before publishing corrections across its social media channels. These include platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Threads and WhatsApp, turning the government’s digital presence into a real-time myth-busting network.
But the effort is not just top-down. The FCU has also been nudging citizens to play detective, encouraging users to report suspicious content for verification. The idea is simple: in a landscape where misinformation travels faster than facts, crowd-sourced vigilance can act as an early warning system.
The scale of intervention became particularly visible during Operation Sindoor, when the unit identified and countered a surge of misleading and hostile narratives circulating online. Alongside publishing verified information, the Ministry directed the blocking of more than 1,400 URLs on digital platforms, an aggressive move aimed at containing the spread of false and potentially harmful content.
The broader regulatory backbone for this effort lies in the Information Technology Rules 2021, which set out a Code of Ethics for digital publishers and establish a three-tier grievance redressal mechanism. The framework is designed to hold publishers of news and online curated content accountable, even as the ecosystem grows increasingly complex.
The update was shared in the Lok Sabha by L. Murugan, minister of state for information and broadcasting, in response to a question raised by V. K. Sreekandan.
Together, the numbers tell a clear story: misinformation is no longer a fringe problem but a mainstream challenge. And as the lines between real and manipulated content continue to blur, the battle for credibility is being fought not just in newsrooms but across every screen in the country.
