New Delhi Feb 27 PTI Learning a lesson from COVID-19 pandemic and the disruptions caused by it power discom BSES has digitalised its entire bouquet of customer services to ring fence the consumers in case of such eventualitiesApart from ensuring reliable power supply the discom has launched a host of digital services for consumer convenience These services are designed on various digital platforms so that the users continue to get BSES services while following government guidelines of battling the infection a company official saidSocial messaging platform WhatsApp is the latest arsenal in BSES digital portfolio for offering hassle-free consumer services Besides registering no supply complaints self meter reading and downloading and paying electricity bills the customers can avail a host of services including applying for new connections through WhatsApp he saidBSES has been promoting the use of digital technologies for a while now The push towards digitisation has come in handy for the discom during the Covid pandemic the official notedCustomers can connect with the discom and apply for a host of services including new connections or registering complaints from the comfort of their homes and offices using mobile application website and social media platforms like Facebook Twitter and WhatsApp In fact there is no need for a BSES consumer to visit a BSES office for availing any service he addedSince the advent of the coranavirus crisis in 2020 BSES had launched BSES Aapke Saath - a programme of online RWA meetings -- for the safety of employees and consumersSince the start of the initiative online interactions have been organised with around 3000 RWAs the official saidBSES is encouraging more consumers to use its digital platforms and offerings During the lockdown around 90 per cent of BSES consumers paid their bills online he addedPTI VIT SRY

New Delhi Feb 23 PTI A Delhi High Court judge on Wednesday recused himself from hearing pleas by internet and social media giants Facebook Twitter and Google challenging an order directing them to remove block or disable on a global basis links to a video containing defamatory allegations against yoga guru RamdevThe matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet SinghJustice Sanghi who was heading the bench recused from hearing the pleas and said they be listed on March 21 before another bench of which he is not a memberFacebook Twitter and Google have challenged the single judges October 23 2019 order directing them and Googles subsidiary YouTube to forthwith remove block or disable on a global basis links to the video containing defamatory allegations against RamdevThe single judge had held that merely geo-blocking or disabling access to the defamatory content to viewers from India as agreed to by the social media platforms would not be sufficient as users residing here can gain access to it by other meansThere is an obligation upon the intermediary social media platforms to disable access which would have to be read as meaning to completely disable access and not partially disable access the court had saidObserving that the race between technology and the law could be termed as a hare and tortoise race - as technology gallops the law tries to keep pace the court had said the provisions of the Information Technology law have to be interpreted in a manner so as to ensure that judicial orders are effective and not toothlessThe court had directed the social media platforms that all the offending material which has been uploaded from within India on to the computer network of the platforms would have to be disabled and blocked on a global basisThe court issued the direction after the social media platforms had said that while they have no objection to blocking the URLs and disabling the same insofar as access in India is concerned they were opposed to removalblockingdisabling the defamatory content on a global basisThe defamatory video contained excerpts of a book on Ramdev that were ordered to be deleted by the high court in September 2018The high court had on September 29 2018 restrained the publisher and author of the book Godman from Tycoon from publishing it till the offending portions were deleted the judge had notedIn the October 23 2019 judgement the court had said Thus the content of the video to the extent it contains paraphrasing of content which was directed to be removed from the book is held to be defamatory A perusal of the video transcript and the offending portion of the book show the clear similarity and prima facie establish that the video is derived from the book and hence is defamatory In any event this issue is moot in as much as the video begins by stating that it is based on the book Thus the defamatory nature of the video cannot be disputed PTI SKV SA

Dehradun Jan 25 PTI With Covid curbs in place and less than a month to go for the February 14 Assembly polls both the BJP and the Congress in Uttarakhand are making the optimum use of social media to reach out to voters Amid the ban on poll rallies the BJP has already held 18 virtual meetings through its two studios set up in Dehradun and Haldwani partys IT head Himanshu Sangtani told PTI The meetings have been addressed by a host of party leaders including Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami state BJP president Madan Kaushik Union Minister of State Ajay Bhatt former Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Vijay Bahuguna he said The chief speaker and the candidate join the electorate through these studios at these virtual meetings and we stream the address live through Facebook Twitter and YouTube he said Each of the virtual meetings held so far got around one lakh views on an average Sangtani said With Covid curbs likely to be eased from February 1 more virtual rallies to be addressed by the partys star campaigners like Prime Minister Narendra Modi Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda will be held he said The schedule of the programme of the partys star campaigners is being worked out in Delhi he said Social media platforms like Facebook are also being used by the party to connect with the electorate party functionaries here said There are around 35 lakh Facebook users in Uttarakhand and we have reached out to about 20 lakh of them BJPs internet media cell head Shekhar Verma said When asked whether candidates have a disadvantage due to the restrictions on actual poll rallies Verma said though there can be no substitute to actual meetings that help the candidates connect directly with voters with the smartphone in almost all hands the option of social media outreach has also become hassle-free The Congress has also deployed its team of 400 social media volunteers to spread the partys message via around 1500 party workers using Facebook Twitter Instagram and around 150 of its official WhatsApp groups partys media cell coordinator Amarjeet Singh told PTI A team of 50 content creators conceives and designs the matter to be floated in the form of audio-video clips or cartoons to take the failures of BJP government and the achievements of previous Congress governments to the masses through social media platforms he said For example around 50000 users joined the partys campaign of Char Dham Char Kam which was trending across social media platforms on Monday Singh claimed The Congress launched the theme song of the partys election campaign Char Dham Char Kam in Dehradun on Monday making four promises to people if elected to power The promises included Rs 40000 per annum to five lakh families in the state and not letting the LPG cylinder price cross Rs 500 The party has not held many virtual meetings so far except the few addressed by Harish Rawat from Delhi for Almora and Didihat constituencies as most prominent party leaders were in the national capital until recently he said Now most of them are back and the process will pick up momentum in the coming days Easing of Covid curbs likely from February 1 will also bring some relief to us as larger rallies of around 500 people will be possible he said PTI ALM RDK RDK

New Delhi Sep 17 PTI The National Investigation Agency NIA said on Friday that it has so far arrested 168 people in 37 cases of terror attacks conspiracy and funding which have been inspired by the Islamic State IS ideology in the country It said charge sheets have been filed in 31 of the cases the most recent of which was registered in June and that 27 accused have been convicted after trial Investigation by the NIA has revealed that IS Islamic State is trying to spread its tentacles in India through continuous propaganda online Gullible youths are targeted on open social media platforms such as Facebook Twitter and Instagram a spokesperson of the agency said The NIA said once a person shows interest he or she is then enticed to communicate with online handlers based abroad using encrypted social media platforms Depending on the gullibility of the person the handlers then use the person for uploading online content translation of IS texts to local language conspiracy preparation of a module collection of arms and ammunition preparation of improvised explosive devices IEDs terror funding and even attacks the spokesperson said The NIA appealed to the public to bring into its notice any such activity on the internet PTI SKL SMN