Facebook parent Metaâs Indian team delayed action against an organised propaganda and misinformation operation led by the Indian Armyâs Chinar Corps in Jammu and Kashmir for a year, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing former employees at the company. According to the report, Army officials met representatives of Twitter and Facebook and defended the operation as a counter against Pakistani misinformation networks. The report cited members of Metaâs Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) team for Facebook, whose brief was to flag fake profiles and networks of accounts that artificially amplified messages on the social network around the world. When the CIB flagged the Chinar Corpsâs alleged operation, Meta staff in India reportedly âwarned against antagonising the government of a sovereign nation over actions in territory it controls,â and expressed concern that local employees âcould be imprisoned for treason,â the Post reported. It is unclear what the Chinar Corpsâ network was posting, but the report cites âdisinformation that put Kashmiri journalists in danger,â adding that many CIB employees at Facebook quit the company after Indian Meta staff stymied any pushback. The operation reportedly targeted Srinagar-based media outlet The Kashmiriyat and its editor Qazi Shibli. The Hindu has reached out to Army representatives for comment. âAs a global company, we operate in an increasingly complex regulatory environment and are focused on keeping people safe when they use our services and ensuring the safety of our employees in a manner consistent with applicable laws and human rights principles,â Meta said in a statement shared with The Hindu, adding that it prohibited coordinated inauthentic behaviour on its platforms. This is not the first time the social media firm has been accused of allowing propaganda networks in India to go unchecked. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that posts by Telangana BJP MLA T. Raja Singh calling for violence against Rohingya immigrants from Myanmar were not taken down, in spite of warnings from Meta staff in the U.S. CJI agrees to list the Chandrababu Naiduâs petition on October 3 after Justice Bhatti recuses himself from hearing case Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Wednesday agreed to list a plea by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for quashing a First Information Report (FIR) registered against him in the skill development scam case on October 3, the next working day for the apex court after back-to-back holidays and the weekend. Earlier in the day, Justice S.V.N. Bhatti, the Associate Judge on the Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, recused from hearing the case. The case had been listed for hearing before this Bench on Wednesday. As soon as the case was called, Justice Khanna conveyed Justice Bhattiâs reservations about hearing the case to senior advocates Harish Salve and Siddharth Luthra, who appeared for Mr. Naidu. The petition, filed through advocate Guntur Pramod Kumar, said the FIR was âan orchestrated campaign of regime revenge to derail the largest Opposition in the Stateâ. âThe petitioner (Mr.. Naidu) was suddenly named in the FIR registered 21 months ago, arrested in an illegal manner and deprived of his liberty, motivated only by political reasons. Even though there is no material against him, the petitioner is being made to suffer an illegal and motivated investigation in clear violation of his fundamental rights,â the special leave petition said. The High Court had declined to quash the criminal cases filed against Mr. Naidu. It had also refused to set aside the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) courtâs order to remand him. The High Court, in its September 22 order, said the probe agency had initiated criminal action against Mr. Naidu after conducting extensive examination of witnesses and collection of documentary evidence following the registration of the crime in 2021. The investigation was at its final stage, the High Court had said. The case involves alleged misappropriations made in the process of establishment of skill development institutions by Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation in collaboration with private companies. Supreme Court asks Centre, Delhi government to file common compilation of arguments in services row The Supreme Court on September 27 ordered a common compilation of submissions be filed by both the parties in a petition by Delhi government challenging the Central governmentâs law establishing pre-eminence of the Lieutenant Governor over the elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation in controlling services in the national capital. A Bench comprising Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud and justices J. B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, that the matter be listed before a five-judge Constitution Bench for urgent hearing. âI canât express the agony of the (Delhi) administration,â the senior lawyer said. âThere are older Constitution Bench matters. We are listing and there are two seven-judge Bench matters also coming up. All these are also important and are pending for years,â the CJI said, adding it may be listed after some time. The Bench, however, asked Singhvi and Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain to sit together and decide the legal questions to be decided by the Constitution Bench in the services row. âWe will appoint Shadan Farasat as nodal counsel. We will ask for the common compilation to be prepared. Prepare your submissions in four weeks and then you can mention it (for listing),â the Bench said. Earlier, the top court on August 25 had permitted the Delhi government to amend its petition challenging the Central governmentâs Ordinance establishing pre-eminence of the Lieutenant Governor over the elected dispensation in controlling services. Amending the petition became necessary after the Ordinance was replaced by a law. It had taken note of the submissions of Singhvi that earlier the challenge was directed against the Ordinance which has now become a law after it was cleared by the two Houses of Parliament and got Presidential assent. âThe interim application seeks amendment to the writ petition by which the NCT Ordinance was challenged. Now, it has been replaced by an Act (the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023). We have heard the counsel. âThe Solicitor General says they have no objection. The application for amendment is allowed. The counter-affidavit (reply of the Centre) if any, may be filed within four weeks,â the Bench had said. Parliament recently cleared the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023, also known as the Delhi Services Bill, that gave the Lieutenant Governor sweeping control over service matters. After the President gave her assent, the Bill became a Law. Prior to this, the top court had referred to a five-judge constitution Bench the Delhi governmentâs plea challenging the Centreâs May 19 Ordinance which took away the control over services from the city dispensation and set off a fresh tussle between the two power centres. The Centre had on May 19 promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 to create an authority for transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi. The AAP government termed it a âdeceptionâ with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services. The matter is still pending in the Supreme Court. Before the Ordinance was promulgated, a five-judge constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice, in a unanimous verdict, had sought to put an end to the eight-year-old dispute between the Centre and the Delhi government triggered by a 2015 Home Ministry notification asserting its control over services, holding the National Capital Territory administration is unlike other union territories and has been âaccorded a âsui generisâ (unique) status by the Constitution. Against the backdrop of frequent run-ins between the AAP government and the Lieutenant Governor, the apex court had asserted an elected government needs to have control over bureaucrats, failing which the principle of collective responsibility will be adversely affected. The new law has envisaged a National Capital Civil Service Authority for transfer, posting and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Civil) Services (DANICS) cadre. The Chief Minister is one of the three members of the Authority, while two others are bureaucrats. The decisions by the Authority are to be taken by a majority and, in the event of a dispute, the matter will be referred to the LG whose decision will be final. Transfer and posting of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the LG before the May 11 top court verdict. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren writes to PM Modi, seeks recognition of Sarna religious code for tribals Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking recognition of Sarna religious code for tribals. In the three-page letter, Soren stressed that the population of tribals in the State has declined from 38%to 26% in the last eight decades. He also said that decline in the population would have an adverse effect on the policies of tribal development under the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Soren has urged the Prime Minister to pass the Tribal/Sarna dharma code in the interest of the tribals. People of tribal society were worshipers of ancient traditions and nature and considered worshiping trees, mountains and protecting forests as their religion. He said that according to the 2011 Census, there were around 12 crore tribals in the country out of which Jharkhand had more than one crore tribals. âA large population of Jharkhand follows Sarna religion. The living scriptures of this oldest Sarna religion are water, forest, land and nature. The culture, worship method, ideals and beliefs of Sarna religion are different from all the prevalent religions. The concern of protecting the traditional religious existence of tribals based on nature is certainly a serious question. The demand for Tribal/Sarna religious code is being raised so that this nature-worshipping tribal community can be confident about its identity,â Soren said. The Chief Minister pointed out that not only Jharkhand but the tribal community of the entire country had been struggling for the last several years to protect their religious existence and demanding the inclusion of nature worshiping tribals/Sarna religion followers in the census. âWhen the demand for Uniform Civil Code is being raised by some organisations, positive initiative on this demand of the Tribal/Sarna community is absolutely necessary for their protection. You are aware that there are many such groups in the tribal community which are on the verge of extinction and if they are not protected on the principle of social justice, then their existence along with their language, culture will also come to an end,â Soren said. âThere is a continuous decline in the percentage of their population, as a result of which it is natural to have an adverse effect on the policies of tribal development under the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. In view of the circumstances, a separate tribal / Sarna code is necessary to identify the Sarna or nature worshiping tribals as distinct from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain followers and to protect their constitutional rights,â he said. Earlier, the Jharkhand Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution for the inclusion of âSarnaâ as a separate religion in the census. However, this resolution is currently pending for decision at the Central government level. Soren reminded that there was a provision of a separate code for them in the census column of 1951, but due to certain reasons, this arrangement was abolished in the subsequent decades. He stressed that Sarna code was very necessary for the proper development of the tribal community. âI am proud to be a tribal and being a tribal Chief Minister, I humbly request you in the interest of the tribals not only of Jharkhand but of the entire country that you agree to the long-awaited demand of the tribals for Sarna religious code. Please take a positive decision as soon as possible. Today the whole world is worried about the increasing pollution and protection of the environment, in such a time, recognition of the religion whose soul is protection of nature and environment will spread the message of love for nature not only in India but in the entire world,â Soren said. IAS officer, who emptied Delhi stadium to walk dog, compulsorily retired by government An IAS officer serving in the Arunachal Pradesh government has been compulsorily retired by the government, sources said on Wednesday. Rinku Dugga, a 1994-batch AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre officer, was posted as Principal Secretary, Indigenous Affairs in Arunachal Pradesh. She and her husband Sanjeev Khirwar, who is also a 1994-batch IAS officer and is currently posted in Ladakh, were transferred out of Delhi last year following a newspaper report that they emptied a stadium of athletes to walk their dog. Dugga has been retired compulsorily under the Fundamental Rules (FR) 56(j), Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (CCS) Pension Rules, 1972 after an assessment of her service record, the sources said. The government has the right to retire any government servant âif it is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do soâ, they said. In Brief: The Manipur government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 for another six months starting October 1, in all parts of Manipur except 19 police stations in seven districts. The Disturbed Area declaration under AFSPA in Manipur (except Imphal Municipality area) is in operation since 2004. In April 2022, AFSPA was removed from 15 police station areas in six districts and from April 1, the Disturbed Area notification was withdrawn from four other police stations. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 27 September 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Metaâs India team delayed action against Army-led misinformation operation in Kashmir: Washington Post report Facebook parent [Metaâs Indian team delayed action against an organised propaganda and misinformation operation]( led by the Indian Armyâs Chinar Corps in Jammu and Kashmir for a year, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing former employees at the company. According to the report, Army officials met representatives of Twitter and Facebook and defended the operation as a counter against Pakistani misinformation networks. The report cited members of Metaâs Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) team for Facebook, whose brief was to flag fake profiles and networks of accounts that artificially amplified messages on the social network around the world. When the CIB flagged the Chinar Corpsâs alleged operation, Meta staff in India reportedly âwarned against antagonising the government of a sovereign nation over actions in territory it controls,â and expressed concern that local employees âcould be imprisoned for treason,â the Post reported. It is unclear what the Chinar Corpsâ network was posting, but the report cites âdisinformation that put Kashmiri journalists in danger,â adding that many CIB employees at Facebook quit the company after Indian Meta staff stymied any pushback. The operation reportedly targeted Srinagar-based media outlet The Kashmiriyat and its editor Qazi Shibli. The Hindu has reached out to Army representatives for comment. âAs a global company, we operate in an increasingly complex regulatory environment and are focused on keeping people safe when they use our services and ensuring the safety of our employees in a manner consistent with applicable laws and human rights principles,â Meta said in a statement shared with The Hindu, adding that it prohibited coordinated inauthentic behaviour on its platforms. This is not the first time the social media firm has been accused of allowing propaganda networks in India to go unchecked. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that posts by Telangana BJP MLA T. Raja Singh calling for violence against Rohingya immigrants from Myanmar were not taken down, in spite of warnings from Meta staff in the U.S. CJI agrees to list the Chandrababu Naiduâs petition on October 3 after Justice Bhatti recuses himself from hearing case [Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Wednesday agreed to list a plea by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu]( for quashing a First Information Report (FIR) registered against him in the skill development scam case on October 3, the next working day for the apex court after back-to-back holidays and the weekend. Earlier in the day, Justice S.V.N. Bhatti, the Associate Judge on the Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, recused from hearing the case. The case had been listed for hearing before this Bench on Wednesday. As soon as the case was called, Justice Khanna conveyed Justice Bhattiâs reservations about hearing the case to senior advocates Harish Salve and Siddharth Luthra, who appeared for Mr. Naidu. The petition, filed through advocate Guntur Pramod Kumar, said the FIR was âan orchestrated campaign of regime revenge to derail the largest Opposition in the Stateâ. âThe petitioner (Mr.. Naidu) was suddenly named in the FIR registered 21 months ago, arrested in an illegal manner and deprived of his liberty, motivated only by political reasons. Even though there is no material against him, the petitioner is being made to suffer an illegal and motivated investigation in clear violation of his fundamental rights,â the special leave petition said. The High Court had declined to quash the criminal cases filed against Mr. Naidu. It had also refused to set aside the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) courtâs order to remand him. The High Court, in its September 22 order, said the probe agency had initiated criminal action against Mr. Naidu after conducting extensive examination of witnesses and collection of documentary evidence following the registration of the crime in 2021. The investigation was at its final stage, the High Court had said. The case involves alleged misappropriations made in the process of establishment of skill development institutions by Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation in collaboration with private companies. Supreme Court asks Centre, Delhi government to file common compilation of arguments in services row The [Supreme Court on September 27 ordered a common compilation of submissions be filed by both the parties in a petition by Delhi government]( challenging the Central governmentâs law establishing pre-eminence of the Lieutenant Governor over the elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation in controlling services in the national capital. A Bench comprising Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud and justices J. B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, that the matter be listed before a five-judge Constitution Bench for urgent hearing. âI canât express the agony of the (Delhi) administration,â the senior lawyer said. âThere are older Constitution Bench matters. We are listing and there are two seven-judge Bench matters also coming up. All these are also important and are pending for years,â the CJI said, adding it may be listed after some time. The Bench, however, asked Singhvi and Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain to sit together and decide the legal questions to be decided by the Constitution Bench in the services row. âWe will appoint Shadan Farasat as nodal counsel. We will ask for the common compilation to be prepared. Prepare your submissions in four weeks and then you can mention it (for listing),â the Bench said. Earlier, the top court on August 25 had permitted the Delhi government to amend its petition challenging the Central governmentâs Ordinance establishing pre-eminence of the Lieutenant Governor over the elected dispensation in controlling services. Amending the petition became necessary after the Ordinance was replaced by a law. It had taken note of the submissions of Singhvi that earlier the challenge was directed against the Ordinance which has now become a law after it was cleared by the two Houses of Parliament and got Presidential assent. âThe interim application seeks amendment to the writ petition by which the NCT Ordinance was challenged. Now, it has been replaced by an Act (the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023). We have heard the counsel. âThe Solicitor General says they have no objection. The application for amendment is allowed. The counter-affidavit (reply of the Centre) if any, may be filed within four weeks,â the Bench had said. Parliament recently cleared the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023, also known as the Delhi Services Bill, that gave the Lieutenant Governor sweeping control over service matters. After the President gave her assent, the Bill became a Law. Prior to this, the top court had referred to a five-judge constitution Bench the Delhi governmentâs plea challenging the Centreâs May 19 Ordinance which took away the control over services from the city dispensation and set off a fresh tussle between the two power centres. The Centre had on May 19 promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 to create an authority for transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi. The AAP government termed it a âdeceptionâ with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services. The matter is still pending in the Supreme Court. Before the Ordinance was promulgated, a five-judge constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice, in a unanimous verdict, had sought to put an end to the eight-year-old dispute between the Centre and the Delhi government triggered by a 2015 Home Ministry notification asserting its control over services, holding the National Capital Territory administration is unlike other union territories and has been âaccorded a âsui generisâ (unique) status by the Constitution. Against the backdrop of frequent run-ins between the AAP government and the Lieutenant Governor, the apex court had asserted an elected government needs to have control over bureaucrats, failing which the principle of collective responsibility will be adversely affected. The new law has envisaged a National Capital Civil Service Authority for transfer, posting and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Civil) Services (DANICS) cadre. The Chief Minister is one of the three members of the Authority, while two others are bureaucrats. The decisions by the Authority are to be taken by a majority and, in the event of a dispute, the matter will be referred to the LG whose decision will be final. Transfer and posting of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the LG before the May 11 top court verdict. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren writes to PM Modi, seeks recognition of Sarna religious code for tribals Jharkhand Chief Minister [Hemant Soren on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking recognition of Sarna religious code for tribals](. In the three-page letter, Soren stressed that the population of tribals in the State has declined from 38%to 26% in the last eight decades. He also said that decline in the population would have an adverse effect on the policies of tribal development under the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Soren has urged the Prime Minister to pass the Tribal/Sarna dharma code in the interest of the tribals. People of tribal society were worshipers of ancient traditions and nature and considered worshiping trees, mountains and protecting forests as their religion. He said that according to the 2011 Census, there were around 12 crore tribals in the country out of which Jharkhand had more than one crore tribals. âA large population of Jharkhand follows Sarna religion. The living scriptures of this oldest Sarna religion are water, forest, land and nature. The culture, worship method, ideals and beliefs of Sarna religion are different from all the prevalent religions. The concern of protecting the traditional religious existence of tribals based on nature is certainly a serious question. The demand for Tribal/Sarna religious code is being raised so that this nature-worshipping tribal community can be confident about its identity,â Soren said. The Chief Minister pointed out that not only Jharkhand but the tribal community of the entire country had been struggling for the last several years to protect their religious existence and demanding the inclusion of nature worshiping tribals/Sarna religion followers in the census. âWhen the demand for Uniform Civil Code is being raised by some organisations, positive initiative on this demand of the Tribal/Sarna community is absolutely necessary for their protection. You are aware that there are many such groups in the tribal community which are on the verge of extinction and if they are not protected on the principle of social justice, then their existence along with their language, culture will also come to an end,â Soren said. âThere is a continuous decline in the percentage of their population, as a result of which it is natural to have an adverse effect on the policies of tribal development under the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. In view of the circumstances, a separate tribal / Sarna code is necessary to identify the Sarna or nature worshiping tribals as distinct from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain followers and to protect their constitutional rights,â he said. Earlier, the Jharkhand Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution for the inclusion of âSarnaâ as a separate religion in the census. However, this resolution is currently pending for decision at the Central government level. Soren reminded that there was a provision of a separate code for them in the census column of 1951, but due to certain reasons, this arrangement was abolished in the subsequent decades. He stressed that Sarna code was very necessary for the proper development of the tribal community. âI am proud to be a tribal and being a tribal Chief Minister, I humbly request you in the interest of the tribals not only of Jharkhand but of the entire country that you agree to the long-awaited demand of the tribals for Sarna religious code. Please take a positive decision as soon as possible. Today the whole world is worried about the increasing pollution and protection of the environment, in such a time, recognition of the religion whose soul is protection of nature and environment will spread the message of love for nature not only in India but in the entire world,â Soren said. IAS officer, who emptied Delhi stadium to walk dog, compulsorily retired by government An [IAS officer serving in the Arunachal Pradesh government has been compulsorily retired by the government]( sources said on Wednesday. Rinku Dugga, a 1994-batch AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre officer, was posted as Principal Secretary, Indigenous Affairs in Arunachal Pradesh. She and her husband Sanjeev Khirwar, who is also a 1994-batch IAS officer and is currently posted in Ladakh, were transferred out of Delhi last year following a newspaper report that they emptied a stadium of athletes to walk their dog. Dugga has been retired compulsorily under the Fundamental Rules (FR) 56(j), Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (CCS) Pension Rules, 1972 after an assessment of her service record, the sources said. The government has the right to retire any government servant âif it is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do soâ, they said. In Brief: The [Manipur government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 for another six months]( starting October 1, in all parts of Manipur except 19 police stations in seven districts. The Disturbed Area declaration under AFSPA in Manipur (except Imphal Municipality area) is in operation since 2004. In April 2022, AFSPA was removed from 15 police station areas in six districts and from April 1, the Disturbed Area notification was withdrawn from four other police stations. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [Sign up for free]( Todayâs Top Picks [[EAM Jaishankar says âenormous possibilityâ for India and U.S. to enhance each otherâs interests] EAM Jaishankar says âenormous possibilityâ for India and U.S. to enhance each otherâs interests](
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