In this district you need to get permission for running WhatsApp group

Agencies
July 1, 2018

Jammu, Jul 1: In a bid to curb the spread of rumours via social media platforms, the Kishtwar district administration near here has asked the netizens having WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages to get their antecedents verified by police and seek their permission within ten days to continue running them.

In a stern measure, the netizens have also been asked to give an undertaking to the authorities that they would be personally responsible for the contents uploaded on their social media platforms and be liable to face legal consequences for possible breach of law by such contents.

The order, issued by District Development Commissioner (DDC) Angrez Singh Rana on Friday, has also warned netizens that they may be liable to prosecution under various laws, including anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, besides other penal provisions like the IT Act, the Ranbir Penal Code and the Cyber Crime laws.

The officials said the order was issued by the DDC in response to a letter written by Kishtwar's Senior Superintendent of Police Abrar Choudhary to him on June 22.

The letter by the SSP said a large number of WhatsApp groups including news group have come up in the district and have often been found transmitting and circulating "rumours, false information and unconfirmed or half-baked information in the form of videos, audios and text material resulting in every apprehension of law and order problem." 

“In order to prevent any untoward incident or law and order situation in the district, there is an immediate requirement to prevent the circulation of false information and rumours through WhatsApp news or other groups and other social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter etc," the officials said, quoting the DDC's order.

“While the freedom of expression through social media is important, the same comes with a responsibility and reasonable restrictions. Therefore, social media group administrators with the ownership of the group should be ready to bear the responsibility,” the officials said quoting the order. 

The officials said through the order the district magistrate has asked each WhatsApp group administrator to register his or her group with NIC's district office in-charge within 10 days and furnish an undertaking to own responsibility for the content uploaded on the social media platforms.

The order asked the group administrators to deny any baseless information with the potential to cause religious disharmony on the group and forthwith remove the member for uploading such content, take a screenshot and report the same to the nearest police station, the officials said.

They said the order warned action against the group administrator in the event of inaction on his or her part and would be liable for action under law in case any untoward incident or law and order situation arises due to the unconfirmed information. 

The order also warned "action under relevant provisions of law including the IT Act, the Ranbir Penal Code, Cyber Crime law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and any other law in force at the time of the violation," the officials said.

On the procedure for seeking permission to run any group or page, the officials said the interested person need to apply to the district magistrate through concerned district NIC officer.

The district magistrate would seek a report of character and antecedent through the SSP concerned and a clearance report by state CID organisation, the officials said, adding that an individual interested in forming a WhatsApp news or other group would have to submit a declaration as well, they said.

In the declaration form, the applicant will have to declare that he or she would provide details of all the members of the group or page including those living abroad and will be personally accountable for any information uploaded on the group or page.

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News Network
November 18,2024

Advisors to US President-elect Donald Trump have instructed his allies and associates to refrain from using the inflammatory language they previously employed when discussing issues related to migrants and the deportation of asylum seekers, in a bid to avoid “looking like Nazis.”

US media reports said that Trump’s associates had been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to accommodate migrants rounded up in deportation operations across the country.

The reports said the US president-elect’s allies had been ordered to stave off such charged terms as they would bring to mind “Nazis,” and be used against Trump.

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told American monthly magazine Rolling Stone.

“Apparently, some people think it makes us look like Nazis.”

The presidential advisers also cautioned surrogates and allies to keep racist terms, which have dogged Trump’s campaign, out of their remarks.

They said with Trump’s heated rhetoric that used to compare undocumented immigrants to “animals” and his slight that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” detractors did not need to reach too far to find parallels to Nazi Germany.

Stephen Miller, who Trump tapped to be his deputy chief of staff of policy, specifically used the word “camps” to describe holding facilities that he hoped the military could put together for immigrants.

Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is chosen by Trump to be in charge of the US borders, was no stranger to such language.

“It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

Becoming a little more forthright about the new government’s aggressive deportation plans, Homan likened the early days of the Trump administration to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” he said. “You’re going to see us take this country back.”

Trump made immigration a central element of his 2024 presidential campaign but unlike his first run, which was mainly focused on building a border wall, he has shifted his attention to interior enforcement and the removal of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

People close to the US president and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.

The businessman-turned-politician deported more than 1.5 million people during his first term.

The figure do not include the millions of people turned away at the border under a Covid-era policy enacted by Trump and used during most of Biden’s term.

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News Network
November 10,2024

gazajournalists.jpg

The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 19,2024

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The Karnataka Police’s Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) achieved a major breakthrough on Monday night by eliminating Vikram Gowda, one of Karnataka’s most wanted Naxal leaders for over two decades. The encounter occurred in the dense Kabbinale forest of Udupi district, marking a significant victory against Naxal insurgency in the region.

Who Was Vikram Gowda?

Hailing from Hebri in Udupi, Vikram Gowda, 44, was a prominent figure in the Naxal movement. He went underground in 2002, initially serving as a courier and fund collector before rising to lead a breakaway Naxal group. Despite having only a fourth-grade education, he was a staunch advocate for tribal rights and a key player in the movement’s survival in Karnataka.

Bounty: ₹3 lakh from Karnataka and ₹50,000 from Kerala.

Legacy: The last major Naxal leader in Karnataka after the 2021 arrest of B G Krishnamurthy.

The Encounter

Police revealed that Gowda and his team visited Kabbinale village to collect groceries on Monday night. Acting on a tip-off, ANF ambushed the group. When the Naxals opened fire, ANF responded, leading to Gowda's death.

Escapees: Three Naxals fled, including prominent members Latha (aka Mundgaru Latha) and Raju.

Significance: This was the first Naxal casualty in Karnataka in over two decades.

Home Minister G. Parameshwara confirmed the operation, stating, “Gowda was elusive for 20 years, escaping multiple encounters. His death is a critical step in dismantling Naxal operations in the region.”

The Decline of Naxal Activity in Karnataka

Karnataka's Naxal movement has been dwindling, with members seeking refuge in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The group’s strength had reduced to just 19 members by 2018, but recent sightings indicate attempts at revival:

2023 Activity: Reports of Gowda-led movements in the Kodagu and Hassan districts reignited concerns.

Political Heat: The BJP criticised the Congress government, alleging it created a “safe haven” for Naxals.

A Glimpse into Gowda’s Past

Personal Life: Gowda’s ex-wife, Savitri (alias Rajita), was arrested in 2021. She was a senior Naxal commander involved in insurgency since 2004.
Rehabilitation Efforts: Since 2013, Karnataka’s rehabilitation policy has seen 14 Naxals surrender and reintegrate into mainstream society.

A Milestone in Karnataka’s Fight Against Insurgency

The operation signifies a decisive blow to Naxal resurgence in the Western Ghats. While the ANF continues its search for escapees, the Karnataka government reaffirmed its commitment to offering rehabilitation to those willing to surrender.

As Karnataka celebrates this triumph, the message is clear: there is no room for insurgency in the state.

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