The Evening Wrap: Congress-BJP war of words over Facebook

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today Sunday 16, August 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [Here are the biggest news stories of the day]( [alt_text]( Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. War of words between Congress and BJP over Facebook report A [report in The Wall Street Journal](, alleging that Facebook and companies it owns including Whatsapp and Instagram, ignored hate speech by BJP leaders caused a war of words between the Congress and the BJP. The WSJ article says that top Facebook executives in India had opposed applying hate speech rules to posts by at least one BJP politician for fear of ruining the company’s relationship with the ruling party. “BJP & RSS control Facebook & Whatsapp in India,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, tagging the article. “They spread fake news and hatred through it and use it to influence the electorate. Finally, the American media has come out with the truth about Facebook.” Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back at Gandhi, calling him a “loser”. “Losers who cannot influence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by BJP & RSS,” he tweeted. “You were caught red-handed in alliance with Cambridge Analytica & Facebook to weaponise data before the elections & now have the gall to question us?”, he tweeted Changes afoot for Monsoon session of Parliament The impending Monsoon session of Parliament will be marked by [several firsts](, including the use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation system and polycarbonate separators, with the arrangements being in compliance with the social distancing norm under the Covid-19 induced restrictions. Use of the chambers and the galleries of both the Houses for holding the session will be the first in the history of Indian Parliament since 1952. The Parliament has to meet by September 23. [ A view of the Parliament house, in New Delhi. File ] A view of the Parliament house, in New Delhi. File In keeping with the requirements, four large display screens in the chamber of the Rajya Sabha, six small screens in its four galleries, audio consoles in the galleries, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, special cables connecting the two Houses for transmission of audio-visual signals and polycarbonate sheet separating the official gallery from the chamber of the House are being installed. Rajya Sabha Chairman M.Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had held a meeting on July 17, after detailed examination of various options for holding the Monsoon session. They decided that chambers and galleries of both the Houses would be used for conducting the session under the prevailing restrictions. Telephone services resume between UAE and Israel after peace agreement [Telephone service between the United Arab Emirates and Israel](began working on Sunday as the two countries opened diplomatic ties. Associated Press journalists in Jerusalem and Dubai reported being able to call each other from both landline and cellular phones. Also today, Israeli news websites that had previously been blocked by UAE authorities, like the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post and YNet, could be accessed without using means to bypass internet filtering in the Emirates. The connection of phone service represents the first concrete sign of the deal between the Emiratis and Israelis. Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday they are establishing full diplomatic relations in a US-brokered deal that required Israel to halt its contentious plan to annex occupied West Bank land sought by the Palestinians. 13-year-old girl raped and killed in U.P. The Uttar Pradesh government has come under fresh criticism after a [13-year-old girl was raped and strangulated to death]( in a field in Lakhimpur Kheri district. Talking to media, the victim’s father had claimed that upon discovering the body in a sugarcane field, he saw it was mutilated. However, the district police chief on Sunday said the reports of mutilation were “completely false.” The post-mortem report only confirmed rape, said Satendra Kumar, SP Kheri. Mr. Kumar, however, said that while the body had some blood stains near the eye, she may have received cut marks from the sugarcane leaves. And the tongue getting pressed between the teeth was a sign of strangulation, Mr. Kumar said. Two accused, both locals, were arrested and police said they were being booked under the stringent National Security Act. The girl's body was found in a sugarcane field hours after she had stepped out to answer the call of nature, police said. Chetan Chauhan succumbs to Covid-19 Former Indian cricketer and Uttar Pradesh Minister [Chetan Chauhan died]( at Medanta hospital in Gurugram today. He was 73. Mr. Chauhan was admitted to hospital on July 17 after he had tested positive for COVID-19. [ Former Indian opener Chetan Chauhan. File ] Former Indian opener Chetan Chauhan. File He succumbed to COVID-19 around 5 p.m, hospital sources said. Mr. Chauhan was put on a ventilator after he had developed kidney and blood pressure problems and his condition deteriorated. Airlines shift focus from passengers to stay airborne Our Aviation Correspondent has a report today on the measures being taken by various Indian airlines as they struggle to stay afloat after their business was severely hit by months of lockdown. “Except IndiGo, most of the airlines have no cash and are totally dependent on their promoters. The financial impact is very severe and demand risks will continue. Airlines have to recapitalise and fund next two years of operations and without massive recapitalisation, I don’t see some airlines surviving,” Kapil Kaul, India-CEO at Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) told The Hindu in an email. Do read the rest of the report [here](. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stands at 26,39,603 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 50,938. India on Friday recorded 63,490 new cases. [Implementation of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently through a plethora of measures have contributed to the existing high level of recoveries, the Health Ministry said.]Implementation of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently through a plethora of measures have contributed to the existing high level of recoveries, the Health Ministry said. The health ministry said India’s case fatality rate is one of the lowest in the world and stood at 1.93% as of Sunday. “The steady rise in recoveries has ensured that the percentage caseload of the country is reducing,” a statement by the ministry added. The ministry added that the recovery rate in 32 states and Union Territories has exceeded 50% and more than 18 lakh people in the country have recovered from the disease so far. In brief: The Uttar Pradesh government has extended the detention of Dr Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act by three months, the Press Trust of India reported today. Khan has been in jail since January 29 for delivering an allegedly provocative speech at a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 10. Khan was arrested on January 29 and granted bail in the case by a court in Aligarh district on February 10. However, he was not released from the Mathura jail. Instead, the NSA was invoked against him three days later and his detention continued. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [alt_text]( [SPB’s health: Will definitely heal, recover and get back to us, says S.P. Charan]( [alt_text]( [You will always be my captain: Kohli to Dhoni]( [alt_text]( [Dinesh Karthik urges BCCI to retire jersey No.7 donned by Dhoni]( [alt_text]( [Watch | Why did gold prices spike in July?]( You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0b40yx6bbf2f90kauhrxfebysa8hkhv@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. 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