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Setting up hub to monitor social media will create surveillance state: SC

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Acer confirms data breach in India

The Supreme Court on Friday, July 13, said that Modi government’s decision to set up a social media hub for monitoring online data is “like creating a surveillance state”.

The remarks came when a Supreme Court bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud was hearing a PIL moved by a Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra against the Central government’s proposed move to set up a ‘Social Media Communication Hub’.

Under the proposed move, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B Ministry) is to set up a mechanism at the district-level for collecting and analysing digital and social media content.

Appearing for TMC MLA Mahua Moitra, senior advocate AM Singhvi said the government has issued a request for proposal and the tender will be opened on August 20. “They want to monitor social media content with the help of this social media hub,” PTI quoted Singhvi as saying.

Singhvi said this would give government access all data on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and emails and the move was completely violative of the right to privacy and would be invasive of the fundamental rights.

Justice DY Chandrachud then observed: “Tracking and regulating social media content will transform us into a surveillance state.”

Subsequently, the bench agreed to examine the matter and sought assistance of Attorney General KK Venugopal. It also issued a notice, calling for a formal reply from the Ministry concerned.

The Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the I&B ministry, had floated a tender to supply a software for the creation of a Social Media Communication Hub. “A technology platform is needed to collect digital media chatter from all core social media platforms as well as digital platforms such as news, blogs… In a single system providing real-time insights, metrics and other valuable data,” the tender document said

Under the project, media persons would be employed on contractual basis in each district to be the “eyes and ears” of the government and provide real-time updates from the ground. According to the tender document, the platform is expected to provide automated reports, tactical insights and comprehensive work-flows to initiate engagement across digital channels.

“The platform maybe used to disseminate content and hence, should support publishing features,” the document says, adding the platform needs to power a real-time New Media Command Room,” the tender document said

It said it will enable the ministry “to grasp the effect of various social media campaigns conducted on various schemes run by the Government of India” to “improve the scope” of such campaigns and “to make a specific theme trending”.

It is to be noted that the issuing diktats against the media has become a regular affair at the I&B Ministry. Not very long ago, the ministry had to pull out a notification mandating punishment to journalists on the basis of mere allegations of “fake news” through withdrawal of their accreditation – a government-issued badge that allows them access to government ministries and other offices.

A separate matter relating to WhatsApp licensing policy is also pending in the Court where the moot contention is again about letting the service provider read the content before passing it on to the recipient.

In that batch of matters, the Court had observed that the 2017 ruling on the right to privacy will have a huge impact on any attempt to regulate social media.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on August 3.

India News

Mohan Yadav to take oath as next Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh

Prior to this, his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan insisted he was not running for the position of chief minister.

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Days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) overthrew the Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and stormed back to power in the state, Mohan Yadav Is named chief minister of Madhya Pradesh on Monday. In the three states, this is the second announcement.

A BJP legislative party gathering in Bhopal was held, ten days after the election results were declared, selected him for the position. Prior to this, his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan insisted he was not running for the position of chief minister.

Narendra Singh Tomar, the union minister who resigned after being elected to the house, is appointed as the new assembly speaker. 

The outgoing deputy chief ministers are Jagdish Devda, the finance minister and two-time Mandsaur MLA, and Rajendra Shukla, the outgoing MLA for public relations from Rewa.

After being named as the next CM of Madhya Pradesh, Mohan Yadav said, he is a party employee of modest size. He also said, he want to thank the central leadership as well as the state leadership. Yadav futher mentioned, he will try to fulfil his responsibilities with your love and support. I am the chief minister-elect, he added.

The winning MLA-elects received information on the names by BJP observers, which included national secretary Asha Lakra, BJP OBC Morcha president K Laxman, and Haryana state minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Under the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet, Mohan Yadav was the minister of higher education and was supported by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Once sworn in, Yadav would follow Sunderlal Patwa, Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the fifth chief minister from the BJP. Chouhan was the CM for more than 16 years out of these.

In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, Mohan Yadav was re-elected, marking the beginning of his political career. He was first elected as an MLA in 2013.

On July 2, 2020, Yadav took the oath of office as a cabinet minister in the government headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, thus solidifying his position of influence within the political landscape of the state.

Mohan Yadav was born in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, on March 25, 1965, and has long been connected to the BJP. In addition to his political pursuits, he has a successful business-related career.

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Supreme Court upholds Centre’s decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, PM Modi reacts

Additionally, the Election Commission of India was ordered by the Supreme Court to schedule assembly elections for Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024.

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The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed the Center’s decision to revoke Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir unique status.

Additionally, the Election Commission of India was ordered by the Supreme Court to schedule assembly elections for Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also today celebrated the decision of the Supreme Court against the Center’s plan to repeal Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The Supreme Court rendered a decision on an array of appeals contesting the constitutionality of the legislation’s removal of J&K’s special status. 

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, PM Modi wrote, today’s Supreme Court verdict on the abrogation of Article 370 is historic and constitutionally upholds the decision taken by the Parliament of India on 5th August 2019; it is a resounding declaration of hope, progress and unity for our sisters and brothers in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

PM Modi also said, the Court, in its profound wisdom, has fortified the very essence of unity that we, as Indians, hold dear and cherish above all else.

The verdict today is not just a legal judgement; it is a beacon of hope, a promise of a brighter future and a testament to our collective resolve to build a stronger, more united India, he added.

JP Nadda, national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said the party was happy with the high court’s ruling.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling on Article 370. The Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench has upheld the decision to abolish Sections 370 and 35A, as well as the reasoning behind it, Nadda wrote on X.

Separatism and stone-pelting are now things of the past, according to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who said that following the abrogation, the rights of the impoverished and downtrodden have been restored.

Now, pleasant music and cultural tourism reverberate across the entire area. The integrity with Bharat is intact, and the ties of oneness have become stronger. Once more, Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh are and always will be part of our country, Amit said on Twitter.

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Article 370: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti put under house arrest ahead of Supreme Court verdict

According to officials, police prevented media from congregating close to the homes of National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah in Gupkar.

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Former CM Jammu and Kashmir and the president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti, was placed under house arrest on Monday, December 11.

Her party said that before the Supreme Court’s decision on an array of cases contesting the repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted Jammu and Kashmir special status, their chief had been kept under hosuse arrest.

Taking to X account (formerly Twitter) of PDP, her party twitted, even before Supreme Court judgement is pronounced, police has sealed the doors of the residence of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and put her under illegal house arrest.

According to officials, police prevented media from congregating close to the homes of National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah in Gupkar.

Journalists were not permitted anywhere near the NC leaders’ home, and a posse of police officers had been stationed at the Gupkar Road entrance.

Omar Abdullah moved out of his official house in October 2020 and now resides with his father.

However, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha referred to the reports as baseless and denied that Mufti and Omar Abdullah had been placed under house arrest.

This is completely unfounded. In Jammu and Kashmir, no one has been detained or placed under house arrest for political purposes. It’s a rumor-mongering attempt, he said.

Farooq Abdullah, Srinagar’s Member of Parliament (MP), is in Delhi for the current session of Parliament; his son is in the valley.

After the Centre enacted measures to deprive Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and divide the former state into two Union Territories (UTs)—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh—Mufti, Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah, and other leaders of the Kashmiri community were taken into custody on August 5, 2019.

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