JOIN USNaidu’s moderation
Social media is now under the scanner, with the government engaged in a war of wits with Twitter. The farmers’ agitation and related posts had led to the stand-off with the social media giant, initially not implementing the government orders. Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah has now called for a ‘principle of moderation’ to avoid controversies surrounding the use of social media. Speaking to journalists during an informal interaction after Rajya Sabha adjourned after the first leg of Budget Session, he emphatically made the point that he is “against controlling” social media. On the ongoing farmers’ agitation too, he had advice to the warring groups. He said taking extreme or maximalist positions would not help in resolving the issue. Here too, he believes that a maximalist position is not going to do any good.
Shemin Joy, New Delhi
Krishna’s humour
Mumbai politician Krishna Hegde’s sense of humour was at his best when he targeted the BJP-led Centre over the hike in fuel prices. Hegde, a Congressman-turned-BJP man-turned-Shiv Sainik, said, “I request BCCI and selectors to induct two players who have averaged over 90+ and 80+in the domestic circuit for six years, due to excellent coaching from BJP,” the former MLA said. “These two players Shri Petrol and Shri Diesel should be inducted into the team for the second Test immediately as they will score centuries soon.”
Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai
Closed forums
As the Kerala Assembly election is approaching, all political parties are trying to connect with the people. One such programme by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was an interactive session with university students. During an interaction at MG University, a student raised concerns over allegations of backdoor appointments and stressed the need for transparency in appointments to government services. The Chief Minister seemed quite unhappy over the allegation of backdoor appointments. The concern raised by the student also made news. Video footage of Vijayan stopping a student from asking further questions also went viral on social media. It could be for this reason that the media was not allowed to cover the next interactive session held at Kannur University on Saturday.
Arjun Raghunath, Thiruvananthapuram
An omission?
In the corridors of Parliament, there are whispers that RSP’s lone MP N K Premachandran has never missed a comma or full stop in a Bill and takes the government to task. The President’s speech to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the first day of Budget Session also did not miss the Kollam MP’s sharp eyes. This time, he has pointed out the “democratic backsliding” and referred to one specific instance. He said President Ram Nath Kovind referred to the commencement of construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya following a Supreme Court judgement but omitted another thing. The judgement was not in respect of the construction of the temple alone but with the construction of a mosque too. He said it was “quite unfortunate to say that nothing is mentioned about the construction of the mosque as per the judgement...I repeat that nothing is mentioned about the construction of the mosque in the disputed site as directed by the Supreme Court; only a mention of Ram Temple is there.”
Shemin Joy, New Delhi
Going viral
The dance moves of Surajit Tripura, a 19-year-old tribal boy from Tripura’s remote Sabroom district has become a talk of the town after popular dancer Raghav Juyal shared a video in his Instagram post recently. Surajit, who idolises Juyal, works in a popular restaurant in Guwahati, Assam. The video has become so popular that the same is pulling many to the restaurants now. “I never thought I would ever get recognition from my idol Raghav Juyal, but when he shared my video on his Instagram status, that moment made my day. This gesture has encouraged me to take my passion seriously so that one day I share the same stage with Raghav sir,” Surajit said.
Sumir Karmakar, Guwahati