Supreme Court strikes down the draconian Section 66A of IT Act

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

Mukesh Kumawat, MBA 2014-16, Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur
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The Supreme Court of India struck down the controversial section 66A of the IT act, reported Business Standard on 24^th Mar 2015. The act passed in 2009, criminalizes “causing annoyance or inconvenience” online or electronically.

The court said that the act violated the fundamental right to freedom of expression guaranteed to all citizens in Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution. The court further commented that the provision introduced in 2009 to the original Act of 2000, used expressions “completely open-ended and undefined”. Every expression used is “nebulous” in meaning.

This is a sane move by the apex court. Curtailing the freedom of speech on a popular medium like media and internet was uncalled for. The freedom to voice your opinion was suppressed. The act which claimed to punish people for offensive content was very vague. There can be no definition of offensive content. What may be offensive for one can be humor or sarcasm for the other.

The law has been used in a number of instances to crack down on those who posted critical or divergent political views. A girl in Palghar, Mumbai was booked for her harmless post on the death of Bal Thakrey. Most recently, a class 12^th student from UP was booked for posting offensive content about Azam Khan, a minister in the state government.

We live in a time where the freedom of speech, opinion and criticism is indispensible. The internet has given people the medium to broadcast their views to the world. Any attempt to curtail the freedom of speech of the citizens reflects the orthodox and regressive outlook of the government. The Supreme Court has done the right thing by being modern and liberal in its thinking.

References:

http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/sc-strikes-down-sec-66-a-of-it-act-says-unconstitutional-violates-freedom-of-expression-115032400177_1.html

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/what-was-section-66a-749154

Manmohan Singh to approach Supreme Court for relief

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

Mukesh Kumawat, MBA 2014-16, Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur
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The Hindu on 15^th March 2015 reported that Manmohan Singh has no option other than approaching the Supreme Court for relief from a summon by the Delhi High Court in relation to the Coalgate scam.

A July 25, 2014, order by the Supreme Court leaves former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and five others with no option but to move the Supreme Court for relief. BJP had then raised an objection to this. Manmohan Singh along with Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and former union coal secretary PC Parakh have been accused of criminal conspiracy and breach of trust in the allocation of a coal mine in 2005 and asked to appear before a Delhi court on April 8, reported The Economic Times on 12^th Mar 2015. The court also summoned D Bhattacharya, the MD of Hindalco, the Aditya Birla Group company which was allocated the mine, and Group Executive President Shubhendu Amitabh.

The High court rejected the closure report filed by CBI before it saying that “there was a conscious effort” on the part of Singh to “somehow accommodate” Hindalco in obtaining a share of the output of Talabira-II coal block. The crux of the court order is that the 82-year-old former PM, in his capacity as coal minister, allegedly ignored “the words of caution” of two PMO officers.

The entire congress top brass including Sonia Gandhi turned up at Singh’s house to express solidarity with him and assured him of the services of top legal eagles from the party.

This is the first time that an ex-Prime Minister has been summoned by a court. The court is doing its job well. This news has increased the faith of the people in the judiciary of India.

References:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/manmohan-has-no-go-but-to-move-sc/article6994285.ece?homepage=true

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-03-12/news/60047862_1_talabira-ii-coal-scam-case-closure-report

PepsiCo and Coca-Cola start packing their bags in Russia

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

Mukesh Kumawat, MBA 2014-16, Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur
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Wall Street Journal on 2^nd Mar 2015 reported that PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are closing one plant each in Russia, citing a plunge in the value of the Russian ruble and an unfavorable economic situation.

The clouds of an economic recession are looming over Russia. The falling crude oil prices have hit Russia badly. It relies on energy revenues to drive growth. As of 2012 the oil-and-gas sector accounted for 16% of the GDP, 52% of federal budget revenues and over 70% of total exports.

These two companies are the latest to join the other food and drink companies to cut production in Russia. Carlsberg, a Danish brewing giant announced to close two of its plants in Russia.

Russia forms the second biggest market for PepsiCo after U.S. in revenues which are about 7% of the total revenue. Its revenues fell 10% to $4.41 billion in 2014. PepsiCo has plans to fire about 400 staff members out of around 23,000 in Russia. Coca-Cola said the company would cut 100 production jobs out of 13,000 existing in Russia.

These signs are merely the tip of the iceberg. The entire economy of Russia can fall to shreds if Putin doesn’t take this seriously and start putting efforts for revival.

References:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/pepsico-coca-cola-hellenic-to-close-russia-plants-1425330133

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other internet companies jointly launch ThreatExchange

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

Mukesh Kumawat, MBA 2014-16, Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur
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The biggest of the internet giants like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest , Yahoo, Dropbox and Tumblr have come together to battle botnets by launching ThreatExchange, reported theguardian.com on 12^th Feb 2015.

Botnets are nothing but malware and cyber-attacks. ThreatExchange will allow these companies to exchange information about cyber threats with greater ease. Cyber security has become one of the most important concerns of these web giants. Facebook has created this mini social network for cybersecurity specialists.

According to Facebook, the roots of the project lie in a “malware-based spam attack” targeting several of the companies just over a year ago. These spam attacks have become a major headache for these companies.

Data privacy is of utmost importance for users as well. Users who create accounts on these websites trust them with their private information and any leak of it is unacceptable. The launch is good news for the internet community as a whole. Companies can make their websites safer by sharing information about cyber threats and phishing attacks.

In 2012, Facebook had already begun developing a proprietary security system called ThreatData — a framework for importing information about badness on the Internet in arbitrary formats, storing it efficiently, and making it accessible for both real-time defensive systems and long-term analysis, reported Fortune.com on 11^th Feb 2015.

Let’s hope ThreatExchange provides some respite to the users from phishing and cyber attacks.

 

References:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/12/facebook-twitter-web-botnets-threatexchange

http://fortune.com/2015/02/11/facebook-security-threatexchange/