Delhi Confidential: In Karnataka, CM, BJP spar over fact checking

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s direction to the state police to crack down on fake news mechanisms and people who spread misinformation on social media has given ammunition to the Opposition BJP to attack him. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, tweeted on Tuesday that the Central government’s move to “bring in ‘Fact Check’ as part of IT rules” was criticised, but “there’s stoic silence” over the Karnataka government’s move. “Hypocrisy thy name is Congress,” he added. The minister also mentioned the arrest of BJP state secretary S G Surya by the cybercrime police in Tamil Nadu. Although he did not refer to similar arrests in BJP-ruled states, Chandrasekhar in his tweets clarified that “use of police arrest for tweets/posts is real & total overreach n violation of right to due process of law n free speech”.

New House, Old System

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Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the New Parliament building on May 28, the question among MPs and officials has been — when will operations of Parliament shift to the new building? Although the Monsoon Session of Parliament in July is expected to be held in the new building, sources say finishing touches are still underway. The government is yet to announce the dates and venue of the session. Logos used for official website and social media handles of the Lok Sabha still have the old building’s outline, though tweets about various committee meetings now carry the new triangular building’s outline. This, according to sources, is a one-off since a decision on whether to use the new building on social media, stationery and other communications is yet to be taken.