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BJP has mastered the art of influencing voters through WhatsApp: Shashi Tharoor

Agencies
May 20, 2019

New Delhi, May 20: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mastered the art of influencing voters via social media platforms in Lok Sabha elections and WhatsApp has been their favourite medium simply because of its massive reach, Congress Party leader Shashi Tharoor has said.

In a commentary piece in Channel News Asia on Sunday, Tharoor said WhatsApp is the favoured medium because 82 per cent of India's mobile phone users have downloaded the app, and because it's targeted to specific people. 

"The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the master of this technique, running an estimated half-million WhatsApp groups across the country. Its IT cell head, Amit Malviya, declared in March that, 'The upcoming elections will be fought on the mobile phone ...In a way, you could say they would be WhatsApp elections,'" wrote Tharoor.

"The BJP benefits from vast armies of people, some paid and some volunteers, whose job is to feed the voracious appetites of these WhatsApp groups," the Congress Party leader claimed.

A political party, Tharoor stressed, "can create groups defined by their interests, caste, or religious identity, or by a specific issue or cause, and bombard them with messages to reinforce their biases and convince them the party is with them".

Despite tall claims made by Facebook that it is removing 10 lakh fake accounts a day in India, a recent survey by online startup Social Media Matters and New Delhi-based Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics revealed that one in two Indians receives fake news via Facebook and WhatsApp.

Facebook and WhatsApp are the leading platforms being used to disseminate misinformation. The survey stated that 96 per cent of the sample population received fake news via WhatsApp.

According to Tharoor, "Twitter, the most 'political' of social media, has only 30 million active users in India. It is dwarfed by Facebook and WhatsApp, with over 240 million active users each".

Given parliamentary constituencies of some two million people each, Twitter is of little help in political mobilisation.

"Unlike the US, Twitter would be useless for organising a mass rally, or even convening a large public meeting. It cannot be a substitute for conventional campaigning.

"Nonetheless, political parties have been turning to social media extensively this year," Tharoor wrote.

Media reports last week claimed how political activists and digital marketers are bypassing restrictions on forwards by using counterfeit versions of the popular messaging app and other software tools costing as little as Rs 1,000.

WhatsApp said it had sent cease and desist letters to companies claiming to offer such services.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

New Delhi, May 31: Indian aviation regulator DGCA on Saturday said the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights will continue till midnight on June 30, hours after the Home Ministry announced fresh guidelines pertaining to the countrywide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is once again reiterated that foreign airlines shall be suitably informed about the opening of their operations to or from India in due course," the circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

Domestic passenger flight services resumed in the country from Monday after a hiatus of two months since the lockdown was announced on March 25, when all scheduled commercial passenger flights were suspended in India. International flights continue to remain suspended even now.

The Home Ministry on Saturday said 'Unlock-1' will be initiated in the country from June 8 under which the nationwide lockdown effectuated on March 25 will be relaxed to a great extent, including opening of shopping malls, restaurants and religious places, even as strict restrictions will remain in place till June 30 in the country's worst pandemic-hit areas.

International air travel shall remain suspended, the MHA order said, adding that a decision on when to resume it would be taken after making an assessment of the situation.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

New Delhi, Aug 9: Indian on Sunday achieved a grim milestone after recording the highest single-day spike of 64,399 coronavirus cases, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 861 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative toll to 43,379.

With the new cases, the country's coronavirus count has reached 21,53,011 including 6,28,747 active cases and 14,80,885 cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra has 1,47,355 active coronavirus cases, the highest in the country.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 7,19,364 samples were tested on August 8 while over 2.41 crores samples so far have been tested in the country.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Guwahati, Jan 26: Four powerful grenade explosions--three in Dibrugarh and one in Charaideo districts--rocked Assam Sunday morning as the country celebrated Republic Day, police said.

In Dibrugarh district, an explosion took place at Graham Bazar and another beside a gurudwara on A T Road, both under Dibrugarh police station.

Another explosion rocked the oil town of Duliajan whose details are still awaited, police said.

Another explosion rocked Teok Ghat under Sonari police station of Charaideo district, they said.

Senior officials have rushed to the explosion sites and details of casualty are awaited, police added.

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