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Lok Sabha polls: EC to monitor social media activity of leaders and political parties

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Lok Sabha polls: EC to monitor social media activity of leaders and political parties

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Introducing some new features and guidelines to ensure fair play in Lok Sabha election 2019, the Election Commission of India (EC) has laid down some regulations for social media usage by political parties and their leaders when the electoral process is on.

The EC announced the schedule for 17th Lok Sabha elections yesterday (Sunday, March 10). Polling will be held in seven phases beginning April 11.

The ECI said the candidates will have to furnish the details of their social media accounts at the time of filing their nominations.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said all political advertisements on social media will need pre-certification. The EC has asked Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to verify all the political advertisements coming from various political parties.

The CEC also announced that the model code of conduct would apply to content posted by the candidates and they would be required to provide details of their social media accounts to the panel. All political advertisements on social media will also require pre-certification, he added.

“The intermediaries, viz Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube, have committed in writing to ensure that any political published on their platforms will be certified from MCMC [Media Certification & Monitoring Committees],” Arora said.

He added that the social media platforms have assured the commission they would appoint grievance officers to take “necessary and prompt” action against any poll-related violation and check fake news and hate campaigns.

The CEC informed that IT giants have promised to take action against hate speech. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) has informed the commission that it is formulating a code of ethics for polls, “which is a work in progress”, the CEC said.

In a decision taken earlier, EC had also asked political parties to “desist from displaying photographs of defence personnel”. This came after complaints against BJP posters showing a hoarding with images of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman along with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as other leaders of the party.

All expenditure on campaigning advertisements on social media is to be included in the election expenditure account, said Arora.

Stringent monitoring of all events on election days will be done using information technology, he said.

He also mentioned the C-Vigil app which was launched last year by the EC. The app will help citizens to confidentially report any violation of the election code of conduct and any malpractices.

“By using the cVIGIL app, citizens can record on his Android mobile and report promptly to election authorities report any violation of Model Code  of  Conduct,  any  incident  of  intimidation  or  inducement  within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to go to the office of the returning officer,” the EC said.

All that one has to do is to simply click a  picture  or  to  take  a  video  and  briefly  describe  the  activity  before uploading it on the cVIGIL mobile application. If the complainant desires to remain  anonymous  he  has  the  option  to  do  so.  cVIGIL  provides time-stamped  evidentiary  proof  of  violation of Model Code of Conduct / Expenditure Violation.

The District Control Room allocates cVIGIL cases to the Flying Squads etc. through GIS-based  platform.  Flying  Squads  investigate  the  matter  and  the  Returning Officer takes the decision. The status of cVIGIL is shared with the cVIGIL complainant within 100 minutes.

The EC said it has also set up a Voter Helpline Mobile app to provide to all Citizens convenience of finding names in the electoral roll, submitting online forms, checking the status of the application, filing complaints and receiving the reply on their mobile  app.  All  forms,  results,  candidate  affidavit,  press  notes,  Voter awareness  and  important  instructions  are  available  through  the  mobile app. This popular app is available at Google Play Store.

Persons with Disabilities  (PwDs)  can  request  for  new  registration,  change  in  address, change in particulars and mark themselves as PwD through the use of the mobile  application.  By  simply  entering  their  contact  details,  the  Booth Level  Officer  is  assigned  to  provide  doorstep  facility.  PwDs  can  also request for a wheelchair during polling. The app is available at Google Play Store.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

India News

On completing nine years in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he’ll continue to improve lives

The BJP has planned a special contact campaign across the country.

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On completing nine years in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he'll continue to improve lives

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government, which completed nine years in office on May 30, will continue to take decisions to improve the lives of people like it had over the last nine years.

In a tweet, the PM said he was filled with humility and gratitude on the ninth anniversary of his government. He said he would continue to work harder towards the vision of a developed India.

The BJP has planned a special contact campaign across the country. The party said in a statement the country had seen unprecedented growth and development in every sector with the mantra of Nation First over the past nine years. It was due to the efforts of the government that the world was saying the 21st century belongs to India.

Comments on the tweet have not stopped coming in. One user said PM Modi’s vision had made India the fifth largest economy in the world. Many infrastructure projects had been pushed, toilet, gas and water connections were on the priority list of the Modi government. Article 370 had been revoked in Jammu & Kashmir and women had been empowered during the time.

Not to to be outdone, a critic of the government noted the Modi government had gifted India the highest unemployment rate, the highest cost of living and the highest debt. The user said women’s empowerment was hypocrisy as women wrestlers were being treated like criminals for protesting against the wrestling body chief, who continues to enjoy support of the Modi government.

But overall, the mood has been congratulatory with the odd critique here and there. On May 28, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building while the Opposition boycotted it. He described the new Parliament as a temple of democracy, felicitated some workers involved in its construction.

The real test of the Modi government will come next year when the country will vote in the next Lok Sabha.

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India News

Please don’t go: Go Air ready to pay Rs 1 lakh more to pilots, Rs 50,000 more to first officers in retention effort

This retention allowance will be effective June 1. The offer will also be extended to those who had left the airline and willing to return, if they rescind their resignations before June 15.

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Please don't go: Go Air ready to pay Rs 1 lakh to pilots, Rs 50,000 to first officers in retention effort

Go Air, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, is taking the retention allowance route to prevent its employees from leaving en masse. It has announced an increase in salary of Rs 1 lakh a month for captains and half that for first officers to retain employees.

This retention allowance will be effective June 1. The offer will also be extended to those who had left the airline and willing to return, if they rescind their resignations before June 15.

Not just this, the company, which had undergone a rebranding exercise from Go Air to Go First a few years ago, will also offer a longevity bonus to staff who had served longer with the airline. Reports said Go Air Pilots get approx Rs 5,30,000 a month, which is much less when compared to pilots of Spice Jet, who draw Rs 7,50,000 a month since a double hike in their salaries in recent months.

With a month’s deadline from the airline industry regulator on revival plan submission, Go Air is pulling out all stops to present a working face. In its email sent to employees, the airline said it had put together a plan for progress and if everything goes as per plan, then it would not be too long before it would return to the skies that and would return to being regular on salary payments.

Staff from Go Air have plenty of options elsewhere since there has been a shortage of airline staff after the Coronavirus pandemic globally. For instance in India, India’s largest carrier IndiGo is looking to hire 5,000 workers in 2024 and Air India, under the ownership of the Tata Group, plans has some 4,200 cabin crew jobs and needs 900 pilots this year.      

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India News

How dare you disturb my sleep: Retired BSF man shoots at UP sanitation worker for playing Swachhta song, arrested

The accused has identified as Tauheed Ali, 48, a resident of Kanchan Park, Ghaziabad is a retired Border Security Force personnel, was later arrested by the police.

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How dare you disturb my sleep: Retired BSF man shoots at UP sanitation worker for playing Swachhta song, arrested

In an eerie turn of events, a man in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad allegedly shoots two sanitation workers over the disturbance of his sleep by the Swacchta song being played in their waste collection vehicle.

The incident took place on Sunday morning when the accused came out complaining disturbance from the song and fired several round on the cleaning staff.

The accused has identified as Tauheed Ali, 48, a resident of Kanchan Park, Ghaziabad is a retired Border Security Force personnel, was later arrested by the police.

An FIR under section 307(attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against Ali.

The victim have been identified as Rohit Kumar and co-driver Raj Kumar.

As per the police, the incident took place at around 7:30 am when a waste collection vehicle was passing by Ali’s house and the vehicle had two cleaning staff driver Rohit Kumar and Raj Kumar.  

Rohit said, Ali had earlier requested him to turn the song when the vehicle passes by his house.

Rohit said, when the vehicle was passing Ali’s house, he objected to it and after several attempts to explain him that turning off the jingle would prevent other residents from informing about the vehicle, he did not understood and  started abusing him and Raj.

He added, Ali then went inside his house and came back with a revolver in his hands to fire two rounds on them, on which they fled from the scene leaving the vehicle.

Assitant Commissioner of Police Rajneesh Kumar Upadhyaya said Ali used his licensed revolver and informed that the police will recommend to revoke his arms license.

ACP Upadhyaya said Ali to be a retired BSF man and he claimed disturbance from the song played by waste collection vehicle.

Swacchta song is a jingle usually played in every waste collection vehicle, it helps to alert the neighborhood to come out of their homes and throw garbage into it.

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