Tag: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

  • Kerala Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Voting Timings, Key Candidates And Phase 2 Polling Constituencies, Counting Date, rahul gandhi shashi tharoor |

    Kerala Lok Sabha Elections 2024: 25.61% of polling was recorded  till 11 am in Kerala’s 20 Lok Sabha seats for the 2024 general election after commencement of voting at 7am on Friday. People began arriving at the state’s over 25,000 polling booths early in the morning to avoid the expected hot weather later in the day. During the election, over 66,000 security personnel were deployed and a webcasting system was used to monitor the process.

    Voting began with a mock poll that included votes for all candidates, including NOTA, listed on an EVM.
    According to the EC’s instructions, at least 50 votes were cast in the mock poll, and actual polling began after the EVMs were cleared. Around 2.77 crore voters will decide the fate of the 194 candidates contesting the state’s 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.

    Will the BJP’s drought in Kerala end? Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sharp attack on the Congress boost turnout after a relatively muted voter enthusiasm last week? These are some of the questions on people’s minds ahead of the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.

    Key Candidates In Fray In Kerala Lok Sabha Elections:

    Among the notable candidates contesting in this phase are Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad, where he faces the CPI’s Annie Raja and state BJP chief K. Surendran, and Congress’ Shashi Tharoor vs BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram.

    Two union ministers, the majority of sitting MPs, a state minister, three actors, and a few MLAs were among the candidates who tried their political luck this time in Kerala, where the CPI(M)-led ruling LDF, the Congress-led UDF, and the BJP-led NDA all ran active and aggressive poll campaigns.

    The BJP is relying on actor Suresh Gopi, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Anil Antony, the son of veteran Congress leader A K Antony, to establish a presence in Kerala, which has never elected a BJP MP. Chandrasekhar faces three-time Congress MP Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram.

  • Shashi Tharoor denies receiving defamation notice sent by BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar ‘Not received…’ – The Economic Times Video

    Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), April 11 (ANI): Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor on April 11 denied receiving any defamation notice sent against him by BJP’s LS Candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Shashi Tharoor said that he hasn’t received the notice yet and when it shows up it will get a suitable reply. He said, “I have not received the notice. God knows which address he sent it to…At some point, it will show up and it will get a suitable reply. It should be pointed out that I at no stage made any specific allegation. I merely said that this is the talk of the town, not just of the town but the coastal belt as well and that people are talking about this practice happening…I’ve heard this from various people, including people of some prominence in the local community…I have an election to fight. If this is the way they or somebody on their behalf wants to do it, all I can say is I’m glad they’re pumping money into Thiruvananthapuram’s economy.

  • LS Polls 2024: ‘Not just an election for me but a mission…’ says Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar – The Economic Times Video

    While speaking on his preparations for 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that it’s not just an election for him but a mission. He said that he aims to set Thiruvananthapuram, the constituency from where is contesting from, on a path forward to start gaining benefits of schemes of PM Modi’s governance.He further said, “It’s not just an election for me but a mission where I can put Thiruvananthapuram at a path that it can move forward and starts gaining benefits of schemes of PM Modi’s governance. This election is about the performance of the sitting MP and about which govt has delivered. Opposition parties don’t want to discuss performance, the economy but everything else.”

  • Yediyurappa shows clout as Jagdish Shettar returns to BJP

    Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar returned to the BJP on Thursday, months after quitting BJP. Shettar’s return is seen as an indication of Yediyurappa and son, Karnataka unit president Vijayendra, reestablishing their hold over the party, after the humiliating defeat BJP suffered in the May assembly polls.

    Shettar joined BJP in the presence of Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Yediyurappa and Vijayendra. Yediyurappa, also a BJP Parliamentary Board member, said the party had got a boost with Shettar’s return.

    Shettar who kept a low profile in the Congress, resigned from the primary membership of the party and legislative council membership. There was speculation that BJP may field him in one of the seats in the Mumbai-Karnataka region for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.The development seemed to have caught Congress leaders by surprise. Chief minister Siddaramaiah told the media in Virajpet that his party treated the veteran with respect, and Shettar had told him he was not going back to the party which humiliated him. KPCC president DK Shivakumar said Shettar had told him even on Wednesday that he was not going back. Shivakumar later met another former BJP leader, Laxman Savadi and expressed confidence that no other leader would quit the Congress. Savadi clarified that he would not be join BJP. “Shettar made it clear that his resignation was personal, and he is doing politics according to his wishes,” he said.

    Shettar and Savadi had joined Congress when BJP denied them MLA tickets. Shettar lost the Hubli-Dharwad seat, but Savadi won from Athani. The two Lingayat leaders from North Karnataka may have provided Congress a boost in the support from the community during assembly polls.

  • Govt to examine WhatsApp’s breach of privacy: Minister

    This followed a claim that WhatsApp accessed a user's microphone while he was sleeping. NEW DELHI:  The government will investigate a claim that WhatsApp accessed the microphone of smartphone users while the phone was not in use, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday.

    In a tweet, the minister said the government will examine the alleged breach of privacy even as the new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill was being readied.

    This followed a claim that WhatsApp accessed a user’s microphone while he was sleeping.

    “WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background, while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6 AM,” Foad Dabiri, an engineering director at Twitter said on Saturday. “What’s going on?”

    Replying to Dabiri’s tweet, Chandrasekhar said, “This is an unacceptable breach and violation of privacy.”

    “We will be examining this immediately and will act on any violation of privacy even as the new Digital Personal Data Protection bill is being readied,” he added.

    This is an unacceptable breach n violation of #Privacy

    We will be examinig this immdtly and will act on any violation of privacy even as new Digital Personal Data protection bill #DPDP is being readied.@GoI_MeitY @_DigitalIndia https://t.co/vtFrST4bKP
    — Rajeev Chandrasekhar

  • DPDP bill achieves objectives of data protection, ease biz, national security: MoS IT

    The bill comes in place of the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 which was withdrawn by the government from Parliament in August.

  • Algorithms of social media platforms should not violate fundamental rights: Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: No algorithm of any social media platform should violate fundamental rights of Indians, and the laws and jurisprudence would need to evolve continuously to keep pace with the changing nature of internet, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said.

    The remarks by the Minister of State for IT come amid allegations of Facebook’s system and algorithms fuelling hate speech and fake news.

    Recently, revelations by whistle-blower Frances Haugen have led to global concerns that Facebook allegedly put profit before public good, and did not do enough to shed its ‘growth at all costs’ culture that propelled its rise to capture 2.

    91 billion monthly active users globally, including over 400 million in India.

    When asked about what action the Indian government would look at in the backdrop of the allegations made by the whistleblower, Chandrasekhar said there are algorithms that are replacing human intervention and are also prone to failure.

    “We understand that there are algorithms that are replacing human intervention and those algorithms are also prone to failure, which may be just unconscious failure or it could be deliberate bias and that there is a need for algorithms to be designed by these platform that are not infringing the rights of our Indian citizens to Article 14 (non-discrimination), Article 19 (freedom of speech), and Article 21 (right to privacy),” he told PTI.

    These are fundamental rights of Indian citizens and “no algorithm of any platform should be able to violate that, that we are aware of”, Chandrasekhar said.

    Noting that the government is very much aware of the issues of algorithmic bias, Chandrasekhar said he was personally aware about it and had also spoken about the same in 2019 in Parliament.

    There is a “basket of user harm issues” arising every day in online space, the minister said, adding that “there is a need for our laws and jurisprudence to continuously evolve and keep up with the changing nature of the internet and all of the good and the bad”.

    “Now, that is a process that our legal rules and laws, as they evolve, will start addressing like I said, there is a basket of user harm issues that are arising every day. IT Act is from 2008 and 2000. The rules are more recent,” he observed.

    According to him, the government and the IT Ministry understand the constantly evolving nature of cyberspace and the internet, and will continuously engage with industry and users on the issues.

    “We will constantly be trying to evolve a framework where consumers are protected, they find that the internet is safe and trusted for them and that the intermediaries are accountable. This, we will continue to do, and whether it is on algorithms or on any other issue, we will continue to make our efforts in doing that,” Chandrasekhar said.

    Haugen, an employee of the Facebook integrity team until May 2021, leaked tens of thousands of internal documents, including many from employee discussion sites, company presentations and research papers, that have unveiled the inner workings of Facebook.

    She has suggested that Facebook made changes to its “dangerous” algorithms that contributed to divisiveness in society, and realised these tweaks kept people returning to the platform.

    She has also filed complaints against the company with the US securities regulator.

    Following the revelations, the ministry reportedly wrote to Facebook asking for information around the algorithms and processes used by the platform and sought details of steps taken to safeguard users.

    Facebook has recently rebranded itself as Meta.

    As per data cited by the Indian government earlier this year, there are 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers and 21 crore Instagram account holders in the country.

    Earlier this year, India enforced new IT intermediary rules aimed to bring greater accountability for big tech companies, including Twitter and Facebook.

    The rules require social media platforms to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and set up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.

    Social media companies are required to take down posts depicting nudity or morphed photos within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

    Significant social media companies — those with over 50 lakh users — also have to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken as also details of contents removed proactively.

    According to Chandrasekhar, the IT Ministry is also planning a massive outreach next year in the form of a dialogue with public, consumer forums, academia, industry and others on fast-evolving online space and what more needs to be done to ensure that internet is open, safe and trusted.

  • Centre releases FAQs on IT intermediary rules

    NEW DELHI: IT Ministry on Monday released a set of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (FAQs) around the intermediary guidelines to enable better understanding of goals and provisions of the new rules among internet and social media users.

    Releasing the FAQs, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar asserted that internet must remain open, safe and trusted for users. Cyberspace cannot be a place where criminality finds refuge, he said.

    The FAQs comprise questions that people ask about the rules, and are geared to make it easier for users to understand the norms around internet and social media in the country.

    India enforced new IT intermediary rules earlier this year, aiming to bring greater accountability for big tech companies, including Twitter and Facebook.

    The rules require social media platforms to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and set up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.

    Social media companies are required to take down posts depicting nudity or morphed photos within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

    Significant social media companies — those with over 50 lakh users — also have to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken as also details of contents removed proactively.

  • IT ministry to issue FAQs on intermediary guidelines soon: Sources

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The IT ministry will soon release ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ around the intermediary guidelines to enable better understanding of the goals and provisions of the new rules among various stakeholders, including users, sources said.

    Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar is learnt to be spearheading the initiative on the proposed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which are expected to be issued in a matter of days.

    The FAQs will drive the overall objective of ensuring that Indian internet is seen as safe for consumers and attractive for investments by investors, the sources added.

    Simply put, the FAQs would comprise questions that people ask about the rules, and are geared to make it easier for users to understand the norms around internet and social media.

    Typically, questions could range from what the guidelines mean for public and intermediaries to how they safeguard users, who to approach in case of complaints, and the role of compliance and grievance officers.

    It will also create awareness about rights of users, and obligations of platforms.

    Once released, the FAQs on IT rules and intermediary norms will be placed on the ministry’s website, and widely-publicised.

    Separately, the ministry is working on Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) around the IT rules and intermediary norms.

    The SOPs are expected have details of the appropriate agencies who will have the authority to issue takedown notices to platforms.

    The SOPs are still ‘work in progress’ and could take some more time before they are announced, the sources indicated.

    India enforced new IT intermediary rules earlier this year, aiming to bring greater accountability for big tech companies, including Twitter and Facebook.

    The rules require social media platforms to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and set up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.

    Social media companies are required to take down posts depicting nudity or morphed photos within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

    Significant social media companies — those with 50 lakh users or more — also have to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken, as also the contents removed proactively.

    As per data cited by the Indian government earlier this year, there are 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram users, while 1.75 crore account holders are on microblogging platform Twitter.

  • Twitter non-compliant with IT Rules on May 26, named officials as contingent arrangement later: MoS IT

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Twitter was non-compliant with the IT rules on May 26 when the new regulations came into effect but the microblogging platform has subsequently appointed a chief compliance officer and a resident grievance officer as a contingent arrangement, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

    Twitter has also informed the IT Ministry about its physical contact address in India, and has published a compliance report for June 2021, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

    Chandrasekhar also said the statement made by Twitter earlier in May expressing concerns over potential threat to freedom of expression and staff safety was possibly an effort to divert attention from its non-compliance to IT Rules and Indian laws at that stage.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 notified on February 25, 2021 have become fully effective from May 26, 2021, including for additional due diligence to be followed by Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs), he said.

    “On that day, Twitter was non-compliant. Subsequently, they have appointed Chief Compliance Officer and a Resident Grievance Officer as a contingent arrangement and have also informed the Ministry about physical contact address in India. They have also published the compliance report of June 2021,” he said.

    The minister went on to add that major digital platforms, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, have informed this ministry regarding appointment of chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer as well as their physical contact addresses in India.

    They have also started publishing a monthly compliance report, he informed the Upper House.

    “In case of non-compliance with the Rules, the intermediaries including SSMIs shall lose their exemption from liability under section 79 of IT Act and rule 7 of the above said Rules becomes applicable,” Chandrasekhar said.

    On a question about Twitter’s statement on May 27 airing concerns over potential threat to freedom of expression and safety of its employees in India, Chandrasekhar asserted that freedom of speech and expression is a constitutionally guaranteed Fundamental Right and the company’s statement was “possibly an effort to divert the attention” from the non-compliance to the Information Technology rules.

    “The statement of Twitter was possibly an effort to divert the attention from the non-compliance to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and Indian laws at that stage,” he said.

    The minister emphasised that the government is committed to the growth of a vibrant technology and internet ecosystem in the country.

    “Government has also assured that representatives of social media platforms, including Twitter, remain safe in India and there is no threat to their personal safety and security,” he pointed out.

    To another question on whether the government would reconsider the guidelines that suggest indirectly the breaking of end-to-end encryption of messages, Chandrasekhar said the rules “do not seek breaking the end-to-end encryption”.

    Neither the IT Act nor the new social media rules contravene freedom of speech and expression or right to privacy, he added.