Fake news row: Social media won't be allowed to abuse polls, says Prasad

Fake News - At a time when the government is engaged in a row with WhatsApp over tracing of fake messages, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said spread of radical thought through digital means should be addressed by better regulations as well as international cooperation.

Prasad, speaking at the plenary of the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial meeting in Salata, Argentina, on August 23-24, also said that India has taken serious note of reported data misuse of social media platforms and such tools would never be allowed to abuse the election process for extraneous means.

“Use of the cyber medium to spread radical thought is a challenge that needs to be addressed both domestically by better regulations as well as international cooperation,” he said in a statement.

The minister added that the purity of the democratic process should never be compromised and India would take all required steps to deter and punish those who seek to vitiate this process.
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Rahul vs Modi: Congress and BJP fight over Rafale deal in Lok Sabha

The Congress party on Monday fielded former defence minister A K Antony in the Lok Sabha to demand the Narendra Modi government make public the price at which Rafale fighter jets are being purchased.

Countering Antony’s charges, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad termed it a “collective singing of falsehood” to defend Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Prasad said Gandhi was “prima facie guilty of breach of privilege for misleading” the Lok Sabha.


The Congress chief had raised the issue of the price of Rafale in the Lok Sabha on Friday, during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the government. In the discussion, Prime Minister (PM) had termed Rahul’s accusations “childish”. Some of the members of parliament (MPs) of the BJP have also moved a privilege motion against the Congress chief.

On Monday, the Congress accused the PM and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of “lying” in Parliament on the Rafale deal. The party said there was no secrecy clause in the 2008 Indo-French pact.

The Centre, however, has argued that the agreement binds the government from revealing price details. The Congress might even move a privilege motion against the PM and Sitharaman for “misleading” the Lok Sabha.

UIDAI blacklists agency that leaked M S Dhoni's Aadhaar details for 10 yrs

Taking a serious view of public sharing of Aadhaar details of M S Dhoni, the Unique Identification Authority of India has blacklisted for 10 years the entity that had enrolled the ace cricketer.

The UIDAI has also ordered an inquiry to determine any possible involvement of others and take action as per the Aadhaar Act.

"We have blacklisted VLE (Village Level Entrepreneur) who enrolled M S Dhoni for leaking Aadhaar receipt which carried his personal information. At UIDAI, we are very strict on the privacy issue. We have ordered further inquiry on the matter and action will be taken against all those involved in the leak," UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey said.

He also said action will be taken even against those involved in tweeting the picture of the receipt through the official Twitter account (CSCeGov) of the state-run CSC e-Governance Services.

The UIDAI crackdown came after Dhoni's wife Sakshi flagged the matter and complained about it to Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who promised swift action.

The agency's Common Services Centre (CSC) through its handle @CSCegov posted a tweet on Tuesday saying "ace cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his family get their Aadhaar updated at VLE Mariya Farooqui's CSE at Ranchi, Jharkhand".

Prasad was tagged in the tweet. It included a photograph of the cricketer with a CSC representative and another of his personal details on what appeared to be the Aadhaar website.

The tweet with the information was later removed.

"Is there any privacy left? Information of Aadhaar card, including application, is made public property," Sakshi had tweeted.

While thanking Sakshi for bringing up the issue to his notice, Prasad said, "Sharing personal information is illegal. Serious action will be taken against this." (READ MORE)

Apple inching closer to iPhone assembly in Bengaluru

The government of Karnataka said on Thursday it welcomed a proposal from Apple Inc to begin initial manufacturing operations in the state, in a sign the tech company is slowly moving forward with plans to assemble iPhones in the country.

"Apple's intentions to manufacture in Bengaluru will foster cutting edge technology eco system and supply chain development in the state, which are critical for India to compete globally," the government of the south Indian state said in a statement.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters, however, that no deal, or memorandum of understanding had so far been finalised with the Karnataka government.

The person, who asked not to be named, said if Apple did go ahead with plans to begin assembling the iPhone, it was likely to do so initially at a plant being set up by its Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron Corp at Peenya on the outskirts of the tech hub of Bengaluru, Karnataka.(Read More)