During a discussion on the Bill to prevent malpractices in examinations, Congress MP M K Vishnu Prasad said if computers can be hacked during examinations, the same can happen with EVMs. He said the government should bring a separate legislation to ensure fair polls, adding that examinations and elections are equally important. To this, Union minister Jitendra Singh, who was piloting the Bill, said, “You are touching a very sensitive topic.”
The CRPF brass has recently issued a gag order on its personnel, asking them not to share any confidential information such as operations details with journalists, and warned them of “disciplinary action” . They have been told not to bring journalists into the officers’ mess and other offices where they are likely to get access to various operations information. From now on, no journalist would be allowed access to the ops room or any such area of the unit HQs or coy HQs where operational information is disclosed, said sources.
A WhatsApp group of the Janata Dal (United) for the media in Delhi went silent around January 22. It sprang back to activity a couple of days ago, after the party returned to the BJP-led NDA again. After the phase of silence, the tone and tenor of the JD(U), which was critical earlier, changed seamlessly to supporting the NDA, much in sync with the political changes in Bihar.