That’s not a selfie, says union minister after his pic with coffin of braveheart draws flak

Agencies
February 18, 2019

New Delhi, Feb 18: After drawing flak for allegedly posting a selfie with the mortal remains of a slain CRPF soldier, Union Minister KJ Alphons alleged that some miscreants circulated his photograph on social media to reduce his reputation.

In a letter written to Kerala's Director General of Police (DGP), the Union Minister said that he was attending the last rites of Vasantha Kumar at Wynad on February 16.

"I attended the last ceremonial rites of Vasantha Kumar, who sacrificed his life for the nation, on February 16 at Wayanad. Some person had taken my photographs standing near the coffin. My media secretary had put the same on Facebook," Alphons said.

"Alleging that the photo was a selfie taken by me, some miscreants had spread false news against me on social media. The act of those miscreants reduced my reputation in the public, which is an offence punishable under the provisions of IPC," he added,

Saying that it was "uncharitable", "unbecoming and illegal" to spread false news regarding a sensitive issue involving a CRPF soldier who laid down his life for the nation, Alphons said appropriate action should be taken against the culprits under the law.

"It's uncharitable, unbecoming and illegal to spread false news when I, representing the nation as a Union Minister, was paying homage to a jawan who laid down his life for the nation. Kindly take appropriate action against culprits and bring them before the law," he urged.

A photo of Alphons standing next to the coffin of a CRPF soldier who was killed in the Pulwama terror attack had gone viral, with many condemning the minister for choosing to click a selfie at the funeral of a jawan.

Wayanad-based Vasantha Kumar was among the 40 CRPF personnel who were killed in Awantipora in an attack orchestrated by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora on February 14.

Deleted tweet of KJ Alphons:

Comments

kumar
 - 
Monday, 18 Feb 2019

I think in the picture he is not Alphons.   This person from bjp is too much desh bhakt learned from his party.  BJP is the only deshbhakt party and all the members are shocked by phulwama tragedy.   Sakshi maharaj was seen crying  during funeral of one jawan.   His assistance was seen carrying bundle of tissue paper to wipe his tears.   The phone showing him smiling is also fake.    None can even dream that such a deshbhakat can smile at the time of tragedy.   Many pictures showing bjp leaders joking and laughing during funeral of jawans is also not true.   BJP is the only 100 percent pure deshbhakt party and only bjp can save indian soldiers as it has been doing for the last 5 years.   We lost finger countable jawans during last 5 years of well organised government of bjp.  Amit shah has sacrificed a lot for the nation and he has offered himself int he service of public. 

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, June 13: A quarantine notice pasted outside former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 3, Motilal Nehru Place residence has raised speculations among media and political circles.

According to reports, the daughter of a domestic help who works at Singh’s residence has tested positive. She and her family, who live in the servant quarters, have been quarantined.

Singh, who has not been keeping well for some time, is slowly getting active. Congress leaders said the former Prime Minister attended a meeting of the party’s consultative committee on Thursday through video conference.

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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: With an increase of 10,974 new cases and 2,003 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count reached 3,54,065 on Wednesday while the toll due to the virus stands at 11,903.

This includes 1,55,227 active cases and 1,86,935 cured, discharged and migrated patients, according to the Union Health Ministry.

While the spike in the number of cases has stayed below the 11-thousand mark, the death toll has increased manifold today as compared to the 380 death reported on Tuesday.

Maharashtra with 1,13,445 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 50,057 active cases while 57,851 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 has crossed the five thousand mark and reached 5,537 in the state.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 48,019 and the national capital with 44,688 confirmed cases.

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Agencies
July 23,2020

Expressing concern over the ban imposed on TikTok by the government of India, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly called the development in the south Asian country “worrisome”.

TikTok was amongst the 59 Chinese apps that were banned in India but why it hogs the maximum limelight because TikTok had the second-largest user base in India with over 200 million users.

As per The Verge writer Casey Newton, Zuckerberg was worried about TikTok’s India ban. Although it soon cashed into the opportunity and released a TikTok clone “Reels”, the government’s reason behind banning the app in India wasn’t received well by Mark Zuckerberg. 

He had said that if India can ban a platform with over 200 million users in India without citing concrete reasons, it can also ban Facebook if something goes amiss on the security and privacy front.

Why Mark finds it particularly worrisome because Facebook is already involved in a lot tussle with the governments across the world involving national security concerns. 

“Facebook already faces fights around the world from governments on both the left and the right related to issues that fit under the broad umbrella of national security: election interference, influence campaigns, hate speech, and even just plain-old democratic speech. Zuckerberg knows that the leap from banning TikTok on national security grounds to banning Facebook on national security grounds is more of a short hop,” the report by Casey read.

Facebook till now has not faced any kind of issue in India but considering the debacle with the other governments, it is not entirely wrong to worry about its future in India if any national security issue arises. Back in 2016, Facebook’s Free Basics service, which means a free but restricted internet service, was banned in India by the telecom regulators. 

The TRAI had said that the Free Basic services were banned in India because it violated the principles of net neutrality. With Free Basics services, Facebook had planned to bring more unconnected users online. But since 2016, there has been no major tussle between the Indian government and Zuckerberg due to national security issues.

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