-PTI Bench issues notice to Union government on a plea against the project to track “digital media chatter from all core social media platforms” The Supreme Court on Friday took a strong note of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s decision to set up a social media hub for monitoring online data, observing that it would be “like creating a surveillance state”. The court said the government wanted to tap citizens’ WhatsApp messages and...
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Cut their shackles: Why usual methods to rescue farmers will fail, and what can work in their stead -Prerna Sharma Singh
-The Times of India blog Dozens of farming groups determined to stall supply of fruits, vegetables and dairy products to major Indian cities is a clear indicator of growing rural discontent that the Modi government has been struggling to deal with for quite some time, amidst supply glut and depressed farm produce prices. Worried that unhappy farmers could cost BJP dearly in upcoming state and national elections, the government has promised to...
More »Govt to hire social media monitors for all 716 districts -Swati Mathur
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After its plan to penalise journalists identified as purveyors of fake news was nixed by the PMO, the I&B ministry has now decided to set up a social media communication hub and deploy executives to monitor online content across each of India’s 716 districts. The monitoring mechanism, once in place, will be able to read, contextualise and respond to content in most Indian and foreign languages...
More »MGNREGA: Honest labour's love lost as government makes payment process complex -Sakina Dhorajiwala
-The Economic Times In over a decade, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been instrumental in providing employment to rural households. One of its key provisions is that once the work week is completed, the worker must be paid within 15 days. Millions depend on the timely payment of these wages. The payments process has made many strides in the last decade, from cash payments to wages being...
More »Misdirected war against criminals in UP: Police must uphold and not undermine rule of law -Sankar Sen
-The Times of India Backed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh police has launched a vigorous crackdown on criminals. Some criminals have been killed in encounters and many, out of fear of being gunned down, have surrendered. According to data sourced from police headquarters as many as 1,142 encounters were recorded between March 2017 and January this year, and 38 alleged criminals were killed. Encounter specialists in the police are...
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