Facebook arrests: Sena calls for bandh as two cops are suspended, magistrate shifted

The Shiv Sena has called for a bandh in Palghar town tomorrow after two police officers, including the police chief of Thane (rural), were today suspended for the arrest of two young women over a Facebook post criticising the shutdown for Bal Thackeray‘s funeral, while the judicial magistrate who remanded them in custody was shunted out.

Superintendent of police Ravindra Sengaonkar and senior police inspector Shrikant Pingle have been suspended and a departmental inquiry ordered against them, Maharashtra home minister RR Patil told reporters.

He promised that the departmental inquiry would be completed in the shortest possible time.

Patil said additional SP Sangram Nishandar has been “warned in writing and reprimanded” for dereliction of duty.

“Wrong sections were applied against the girls. There was no need to take hasty action [against the girls],” Patil said, adding that senior officers will probe what charges can be dropped.

Earlier, the Bombay high court transferred judicial magistrate RG Bagade who first remanded Shaheen Dhada and Renu Srinivasan in custody and later granted them bail for a surety of Rs15,000 each.

The two young women were arrested on November 19 after the former posted a Facebook status lamenting the November 18 shutdown and the latter “liked” it.

Though Dhada had not named Thackeray, a local Sena activist complained against the women and police arrested the duo on November 19, sparking an outrage. A hospital owned by Dhada’s uncle was also vandalised despite her apology for having hurt the sentiments of Thackeray’s followers.

The arrest had set off a debate with some legal experts maintaining that instead of remanding and then enlarging the girls on bail, Bagade should have discharged them from the case as they had been booked wrongly.

Bagade’s transfer order issued yesterday by the registrar of the Bombay high court said, “JMFC at Palghar RG Bagade is hereby transferred in the same position to Jalgaon with immediate effect.”

Patil said SP Sengaonkar was placed under suspension for disobeying his superiors, who had advised against arresting the girls. Inspector Pingle invited action for charging them under wrong sections and preparing faulty records, he said.

source : PTI

India’s Shame: World Reacts to FB Post Arrest

The arrest of 21 year old Shaheen Dhada for posting anti-Bal Thackeray comments has not only outraged Indians. The story has been picked up and reported across international media as well. Though they may not be aware of the complexities of Indian politics, the fact that young girls were arrested for an FB post has got them questioning the dwindling tolerance for the freedom of speech in India.

The Wall Street Journal warns ,’You better think twice before ‘Liking’ your friends’ comments on Facebook.  It may land you in jail.’ The article quotes Pranesh Prakash, policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society saying “Bal Thackeray had violated the same provisions in his lifetime,” with reference to Mr. Thackeray’s inflammatory speeches against the South Indians and Muslims.

The BBC put a question mark on India’s commitment to freedom of speech by citing recent examples of the arrest of a cartoonist like Ravi Srinivasan, a 46-year-old businessman in the southern Indian city of Pondicherry, who was arrested for a tweet criticising Karti Chidambaram, son of Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

UK’s Daily Mail, says ‘So much for freedom of speech’ and questions the IT act which led to the arrest.

In a New York Times article, Pranesh Prakash questioned the arbitrariness in the application of the law saying ‘There were thousands of people on Facebook, Twitter and in person who were saying the exact same kinds of things that this girl is alleged to have said’. The article also stated that Shiv Sena has a history of banning books, movies and other popular culture that are critical of the political party.

Mashable noted that several dissenters had taken to Twitter to speak out about the arrest including Milind Deora, the government minister of state, communications and information technology, who showed support for Dhadha and Renu with this tweet:

It also asked ‘Do you think Facebook is a good place to voice political opinions?’

The Christian Science Monitor calls the incident ‘the latest in a string of crackdowns on Internet speech in the world’s largest democracy’. It says, ‘The other cases have included arrest of a resident of Chandigarh who complained on the Facebook page of Chandigarh police that they were not doing enough to find her stolen car; a cartoonist who posted work online protesting corruption scandals by the central government; and a professor in Kolkata who merely forwarded an email with a cartoon that was critical of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.’ The article also mentions Shaheen Dhada’s uncle, Dr. Abdullah Ghaffar Dhada stating that he had incurred losses of two million Rupees due to the ransacking of his clinic by angry Shiv Sainiks.

விரதமே மகத்தான மருத்துவம்!

இயற்கை மீதான பேரன்பும் உடல் மீதான அக்கறையும் எந்த வயதிலும் ஒருவரை இளமை குறையாமல் வைத்திருக்கும் என்பதற்குச் சாலச் சிறந்த உதாரணம் நம்மாழ்வார். சிறிய எழுத்துக்களையும் கண்ணாடி இல்லாமல் துல்லியமாகப் படிப்பது, சோர்வே இல்லாமல் பல கிலோ மீட்டர் தூரம் நடப்பது, தோட்ட வேலை, எழுத்துப் பணி, மேடைப் பேச்சு என ஒரு நாளைக்கு 16 மணி நேரம் பம்பரமாகச் சுழல்கிறது நம்மாழ்வாருக்கு. ”75 வயதிலும் எப்படி இப்படி ஒரு சுறுசுறுப்பு?” எனக் கேட்டால், சிறு குழந்தையாகச் சிரிக்கிறார் நம்மாழ்வார்.

”எத்தனையோ வருஷங்களுக்கு முன்னாலேயே, ‘உணவே மருந்து; மருந்தே உணவு’ன்னு திருமூலர் சொல்லிட்டுப் போயிட்டார். இந்த அற்புதமான வாக்கை ஆராதிக்கத் தவறியவர்கள்தான் எண் சாண் உடம்பில் எண்ண முடியாத வியாதிகளோடு அலையறாங்க. வாழ்க்கையில் இரண்டு வகை இருக்கிறது. ஒன்று நோயே வராமல் வாழ்வது. இரண்டாவது, நோய் வந்த பின் வருந்தியபடியே வாழ்வது. முதல் வகையில் இணைந்துவிட்டால், நமக்கு இன்னல்கள் இருக்காது.

‘மருந்து என வேண்டாவாம் யாக்கைக்கு அருந்தியது அற்றது போற்றி உணின்’ என்ற குறளிலேயே நோய் அண்டாமல் வாழ்வதற்கான வழி சொல்லப்பட்டு இருக்கிறது. உண்ட உணவு சீரணமாகிவிட்டதை அறிந்து, அதன் பிறகு உண்டால் அந்த உடம்புக்கு மருந்து என்ற ஒன்றே தேவை இல்லை எனச் சொல்லி இருக்கிறார் வள்ளுவர்.

எதை, எப்போது, எப்படி உண்ண வேண்டும் என்பதே நம்மில் பலருக்கும் தெரிவதில்லை. நாம் உண்ணும்போது முதலில் உணவை விழுங்குறோம். ஆனால், அப்படி விழுங்கக்கூடாது. பற்களால் நன்றாக அரைத்து, கூழாக்கி உமிழ்நீரோடு சேர்த்து உள்ளே தள்ளவேண்டும். இதைத்தான், ‘நொறுங்கத் தின்றால் நோய் தீரும்!’ எனப் பழமொழியாகச் சொன்னார்கள். அளவு கடந்து உணவு உண்பவர்கள் நோய்களை எதிர்கொள்ளவேண்டி இருக்கும். நாம் உண்ணும் உணவுக் கழிவுகள் உடம்பில் உள்ள ஒவ்வொரு செல்லிலும் கொஞ்சம் கொஞ்சமாகத் தேங்குகிறது. இதன் அளவு அதிகரிக்கும்போது நோய் உண்டாகிறது. சரி, அதை எப்படிக் களைவது? இதற்கான சுலபமான வழி, உண்ணாநோன்பு. இதைத்தான் ‘விரதம்’ என்ற பெயரில் கடைபிடித்தார்கள் நமது முன்னோர்கள். ‘நோயிலே படுப்பதென்ன கண்ண பரமாத்மா, நோன்பிலே உயிர்ப்பதென்ன கண்ண பரமாத்மா’ எனப் பாடினார்களே… அந்த நோன்புதான் உண்ணாநோன்பு. இறக்கும் தருவாயில் இருப்பவனைக்கூட உயிர்த்தெழுச் செய்யும் சக்தி உண்ணா நோன்புக்கு இருக்கிறது. இதைத்தான் ஆங்கிலத்தில் ‘தெரப்பூட்டிக் பாஸ்ட்டிங்’ (Theraupeutic fasting) என்று சொல்கிறார்கள். இன்றைக்கு சர்வதேச அளவில் இந்தச் சிகிச்சை பிரபலமாகி வருகிறது. உண்ணாநோன்பு இருக்கும்போது நம் உடலுக்குள் இருக்கும் தேவையில்லாத கழிவுகள் தன்னாலே வெளியேறி விடுகின்றன. உடல் தன்னைத்தானே குணப்படுத்திக்கொள்ள நாம் அனுமதிக்க வேண்டும்.

அடுத்ததாக, எதைச் சாப்பிட வேண்டும் என்பது மிகவும் முக்கியம். நம் உணவில் காய்கறிகள், கீரைகள், பழங்கள் ஆகியவற்றை அதிகம் சேர்த்துக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். ‘வெந்ததைக் குறைத்தால் வேதனையை குறைக்கலாம்’ என்பார்கள். அதாவது வேகவைத்த உணவைக் குறைத்துக்கொண்டு பச்சைக் காய்கறிகள், பழங்களை உண்ண வேண்டும். நான் 35 வயதில் கண்ணாடி அணிந்தேன். 60 வயதில் அதை அகற்றிவிட்டேன். இப்போது கண்ணாடியைப் பயன்படுத்துவதே இல்லை. பொடி எழுத்துக்களைக்கூட என்னால் துல்லியமாக வாசிக்க முடியும். இதற்குக் காரணம் எனது உணவுப் பழக்கங்கள்தான்!” – விழி விரியவைக்கும் அளவுக்கு ஆச்சரியமாகப் பேசுகிறார் நம்மாழ்வார். அடுத்து, மூலிகைகளை நோக்கி நீள்கிறது பேச்சு.

”இயற்கை நமக்குக் கொடுத்த அருட்கொடை மூலிகைகள். நாம் பயிர் செய்யாமலேயே நமக்கான உணவாக சில மூலிகைகளை இயற்கை உற்பத்தி செய்கிறது. உதாரணமாக, பிரண்டை. இதைத் துவையல் செய்து சாதத்தில் குழம்புக்குப் பதிலாக பிசைந்து உண்ணலாம். தூதுவளை, மொசுமொசுக்கை இலைகளைச் சேர்த்து ரசம் வைத்து உண்டால் நாள்பட்ட சளி தீரும். வாய்ப்புண்ணை ஆற்ற மணத்தக்காளி, வெட்டுப் புண்களை ஆற்ற வெட்டுக்காயப் பச்சிலை, அனைத்துக் கும் சிறந்த ஆவாரை, துளசி என மூலிகைகளின் அதிசய ஆற்றல் கொஞ்சநஞ்சம் அல்ல. நம்மைச் சுற்றி வளர்ந்துகிடக்கும் எண்ணில்லா மூலிகைகளை நாம் சரியாகப் பயன்படுத்தினாலே பாதி நோய்கள் காணாமல் போய்விடும்!” எனச் சொல்லும் நம்மாழ்வார், உடலின் மகத்துவத்தையும், யோகாவின் சிறப்பையும் சொல்லத் தொடங்கினார்.

”இயற்கை ஒருபோதும் தவறு செய்வதில்லை. உடல் ஒருபோதும் தன் கடமையை நிறுத்துவதில்லை. பசி வந்தால் உணவு, தாகம் எடுத்தால் தண்ணீர், சோர்வு வந்தால் உறக்கம் என உடல் சரியான சமிக்ஞைகளை நமக்கு கொடுத்தவண்ணம் இருக்கிறது. அதன்படி உணவு, உறக்கத்தை நாம் கடைப்பிடித்தாலே உடலுக்கு எந்தவிதமான சிக்கலும் வராது. பலர் உடம்பு வலிக்காக மாத்திரை, மருந்துகளை உட்கொள்கிறார்கள். வலி என்பது உடம்பு தன் உள்ளே இருக்கும் நச்சுப் பொருட்களை வெளியேற்றும் முயற்சி. அதைத் தடுக்கக்கூடாது.

50 வயது வரை உடம்புதான் உன்னதம் என நினைக்கும் மனது, அதற்குப் பிறகு ஆன்மாவை ஆராதிக்கிறது. ஆன்மா இந்த உடம்புக்குள்ளேதானே இருக்கிறது! அதனால், உடலைப் பராமரிப்பதும் அவசியம். இது இரண்டையும் ஒரே நேரத்தில் பராமரிக்க உதவுவதுதான் யோகா. நான் நீண்ட காலமாக யோகா செய்து வந்தாலும், ‘ஈஷா’ பயிற்சியில்தான் அதை முறைப்படுத்தினேன். தினமும் காலையில் நடைப்பயிற்சி, மூச்சுப் பயிற்சி, யோகா செய்கிறேன்.

ஈஷா யோகா பயிற்சியின்போது நடந்த நேர்காணலில், ‘யோகா செய்வதன் மூலம் நோய்கள் குணமாகும் என்றால், எதற்காக இத்தனை மருத்துவர்களும், மருத்துவமனைகளும் இருக்கின்றன?’ என சத்குருவிடம் கேட்டேன். ‘நாட்டில் தினமும் ஆயிரக் கணக்கில் விபத்துகள் நடக்கின்றன. விபத்தில் கடுமையாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கு யோகா சொல்லிக் கொடுக்க முடியாது அல்லவா? அவர்களுக்குத் தேவை, அவசர சிகிச்சை. அதற்காகத் தான் மருத்துவர்களும், மருத்துவமனைகளும்!’ என்று அவர் அமைதியாகச் சொன்னார்.

அவர் சொன்னது உண்மைதான். ஆங்கில மருத்துவத்தை அவசரத்தேவைக்கு மட்டுமே பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும். மாத்திரை, மருந்துகளைத் தொடர்ச்சியாக உட்கொள்ளும்போது, அதுவே உடம்பில் பல உபத்திரவங்களை உண்டாக்குகிறது.

மொத்தத்தில், சரியான பழக்க வழக்கங்களும், உடலைப் பேணும் உணவு முறையும், ஆரோக்கியமான சுற்றுச்சூழலும் இருந்தாலே நோய்க்கு ‘நோ என்ட்ரி’ போட்டுவிடலாம்!” எனச் சொல்லும் நம்மாழ்வார் இறுதியாக இப்படிச் சொல்கிறார் வாழ்வியல் மந்திரத்தை.

‘கணியன் பூங்குன்றனார் சொன்ன ‘தீதும், நன்றும் பிறர் தர வாரா’ என்கிற வரி நம் உடலுக்கும் உள்ளத்துக்கும் ஒருசேர வழிகாட்டக்கூடியது. அந்த வரிகளை மனதில் ஏற்று இயற்கையை வணங்கி, உடலை ஆராதிக்கக் கற்றுக் கொண்டால் வாழ்வின் சிறப்புக்குக் குறைவே இருக்காது!”.

– நன்றி சக்தி விகடன்

 

 

 

 

Facebook Fever High among Indian Students

 

Facebook has become a part of youngsters’ life now. The numbers of Facebook users are rising day by day in India. The increasing Facebook obsession is creating tension among parents since the children show more interest in using Facebook than any other form of entertainment.

The recent TCS GenY survey uncovers this increasing trend among the urban high school students across India. Survey points out that only 0.71 percent of urban students use television for entertainment while the number of school students who use Facebook increased from 17 percent in 2009 to 85 percent now.

The survey says that Facebook is the favorite among students to connect with their peer group. Other social sites like Orkut and India-based networks like Apnacircle, iBibo and Hi5 have more popularity only in mini-metros compared to metros. As per the survey reports Twitter has not yet achieved much popularity among children in India.

The survey finds out that 84.3 percent of urban children in India use internet from their homes. The students who use internet at cyber cafes have decreased from 46 percent in 2009 to 20 percent now. “Research for School” is the main access for students to use computers at school and most of the time it is followed by the social reasons like chatting/connecting with friends and listening to music. 74 percent children use internet for school-related research. The number of Indian students who access internet through PC is 68 percent.

Other findings of survey say that among gadgets children prefer mobile phone for communication. Survey figures 79 percent children who own mobile phones. 59 percent of students make voice calls to communicate and the 45 percent use email as a mode of communication. Interestingly 33 percent of students spent more than one hour on internet every day and 34 percent prefer IT as the first option for a career.

It is true that Facebook has a screening system where the birth date of the applicants is being asked and those below the prescribed are rejected.  But the children are clever enough to create accounts through false birth dates.

Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) has been restricting the children under 13 who post personal information on Facebook that can be publicly viewed. The act forbids sites from the knowing disclosing of children’s personally identifiable information. “We are very concerned about kids eliding around COPPA’s restrictions,” Federal Trade Commission chair Jon Leibowitz said. The findings prove that even these restrictions are not enough in front of our clever children.

The consumer reports’ survey also says that only 18 percent of parents make their child a Facebook friend. Parents are largely unconcerned about their children since only 10 percent of parents of kids 10 and under had open talks about appropriate online behavior and threats.

All the surveys reveals out the fact that the future generation is very much technology oriented. When the basic instinct to communicate itself is accomplished by social networks like Facebook, addiction towards technology is increasing on children. The time when the social values replace scientific values is not far away.

Related articles

• Nearly Half of World’s Child Marriages Occur In India (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

Eight Hot Social Networks of Future

 

Facebook was the first one to set a benchmark in social networking by showing the world how a simple idea from three Harvard dropouts could change the way the people interact, meet, do business and even sleep. Sites like Pinterest and Foursquare also gained millions of customers following the same path with a slight change of social principles.

Some of the people still think Facebook is the last word in social networking. But check out these budding networks. Even though many of them apply the same social principles- incorporating location based services and binding the people on taste graphs- they help people to meet and socialize, not in digital life, but in real.

In the numerous new social networks, there are a few which stand out on the functionality and beauty by which they attract millions. Mashable had made a list of the best among them, which could be the social networks of the future.

Highlight

Highlight is now the hot topic in social world. The geo location based social app surfaces information about the people who is near you in real time. It runs GPS, 24/ 7 in the background to keep you always connected. With the app, you can simply know everything about the highlight users who are sitting in a football field, if you find some interesting profiles which meet your tastes, you can send them a direct message or “highlight” them so that they will be notified about the same. The privacy features also allows you to be invisible from the rest of users by simply “pausing.”  

Forecast

Here is a service which is definitely for the future. Since all the networks around you keeps a log of your past and present, forecast asks what you plan to do in the future. The developers hope that Forecasting your acting class or yoga section tomorrow night will encourage and inspire other friends to join the fun. Simply, it’s a fun and simple way for friends to share where they’re going.

Fancy

Fancy lets you “fancy” anything in the world. It then files your “fancy’d” products into a sorted digital wish list. The eye catching site is very similar to Pinterest except the fact that you can actually buy the products on Fancy.

Localmind

Localmind is for the local, spontaneous social users. It gathers all the information from the nearby users about events, restaurant specials, offers and attractions happening now. It gathers the location specific information from Facebook and foursquare check-ins. It will also award you with points for providing fruitful information and location advice to others.

Glancee

Glancee helps users to make meaningful connections to new people. It explores the profiles of the people around you to discover the hidden connections including common friends, mutual interests and notify you so that you can meet up and create beautiful connections. It quietly works in the background saving all the information in the app diary regarding your encounters and events.

Sonar

Sonar works in coordination with your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts. Once after surveying the accounts, Sonar determines your most appropriate connections and it will help you to learn more about the people in vicinity and assist you in activities including networking and online dating.

Path

Path is a smart online journal which helps you share life with your dear ones. You can post everything from your photos, the music you listen to, where you are, who you are with and when you wake and sleep. You can also post these path updates to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Gogoboat

Gogoboat is like the travel guide Pinterest. You can get tips from the travelers, see where your friends have travelled, and share your own travel stories and photos to help others.

 

Rajnikanth website really runs without internet

It may sound like another Rajinikanth joke, but a new website dedicated to the superstar runs ‘without an internet connection’!

Visitors to http://www.allaboutrajni.com are greeted with a warning that “He is no ordinary man, this is no ordinary website. It runs on Rajini Power” and are advised to switch off their internet connection to enter the website.

Only when the web is disconnected, one is allowed to explore the site.

Netizens can trace the story of the legend from the beginning, read inside scoops from his films and get a glimpse of behind-the-scenes action, while browsing through famous Rajini jokes about impossible feats only he can achieve.

“The unbelievable spectacle of running a website without the internet is a tribute to Rajinikant‘s larger than life image,” claimed Webchutney‘s creative director Gurbaksh Singh, who developed the site for Desimartini.com.

With a heady mix of foot-tapping music, vibrant splash of colours, quirky quotes and illustrations, and icons in true Rajni style and lingo, the unique website reflects Rajini’s signature style.

Singh told PTI that the website is based on a complex algorithm running in the back-end that keeps an eye on the propagation of data packets between two terminals.

Magic kicks in soon as the internet speed is down to zero, which is the basic premise on which the site and the concept has been constructed.

The humour element on the website is accentuated by the error message in typical Rajini style that appears if a visitor attempts to re-connect the internet.

“Aiyyo! That was unexpected. To keep browsing, switch off your internet,” reads the message.

“The website has received a phenomenal response and has gone viral with several thousand hits and counting, along with innumerable shares and mentions across the web, especially on popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter,” Singh said.

“After a few iterations and testing, we cracked the code required to build the world’s first website that runs without the internet – a website that runs offline – which is as awesome and unbelievable as miracles and stunts associated or performed by Rajni himself,” he said.

Related articles

• 60 Interesting facts about Superstar Rajinikanth (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

Sibal: Hands off our in[dia]ternet freedom!

Dear friends across India

Kapil Sibal is trying to censor what we see on the Internet. It’s crazy — we don’t live in China, this is a democracy! Let’s use the Internet and social media to get Sibal to withdraw his ridiculous proposal.

Kapil Sibal, Telecom Minister, is trying to impose a gag order after a website mocked Sonia Gandhi. Now he wants websites to take down anything deemed “objectionable”. What an overreaction — in England people make harsh jokes about the Queen with no consequences. If enough of us tell Sibal it’s his plan that’s objectionable, he’ll see sense and withdraw it.

A national outcry is building right now. Let’s join in and send a clear and loud message to Sibal to grow a thicker skin and admit that we’re adult enough to read what we want on the net. Sign the petition, and spread the word over the internet:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_off_our_internet_freedom/?cGBdocb

This is not the first time that internet freedom in India has been under attack. Just this April, our government issued incredibly restrictive rules that gives it the power to take down any site under vague pretexts like curtailing blasphemy or protecting national security. But this new rule would make internet censorship so much worse – it forces internet providers to remove content before it’s ever seen by the public. This is extreme by any standard — even many dictatorships grant more internet freedom than this.

Our government claims that this policy will protect India from material that may hurt religious diversity, and from terrorists who may use the internet to organize. But we know that internet censorship also allows the government to clamp down on the right to dissent, organize, and stand up for our rights – a keystone of any real democracy.

India has 55 million registered internet users, and together we can ensure that we’re a voice Sibal and his allies can’t ignore. Sign the petition below and forward it to everyone you know – our signatures will be delivered to Sibal directly.

Related articles

• Reasons Why India Can’t Censor the Internet (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)
• Social sites: Kapil Sibal denies censorship, but says ‘offensive’ content will be removed (rombizco.wordpress.com)
• India wants websites to screen derogatory content (seattlepi.com)

Govt wanted 358 Web posts removed from Google: report

Google has received government requests to remove 358 items from its services, including those in YouTube and Orkut, during the January-June period, according to a report by the Internet search giant.

As many as 255 requests cited government criticism as reason, a Google Transparency Report has said. The government had asked Google to remove 236 items from Orkut and 19 items from YouTube for the same reason, it added.

Other reasons include defamation (39 requests), privacy and security (20 requests), impersonation (14 requests), hate speech (8 requests), pornography (3 requests) and national security (1 request).

As much as 51 per cent of the total requests were partially or fully complied with, the report said.

The information assumes significance in the backdrop of the raging controversy over the screening of content on social networking sites. Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal has asked them to screen derogatory, defamatory and inflammatory content about political leaders and religion.

Reasons Why India Can’t Censor the Internet

In just 24 hours, in the Facebook alumni group of St Stephen’s College, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal‘s ratings crashed faster than that of US President Barack Obama or what former telecom minister A. Raja, now in judicial custody over second generation (2G) spectrum case, ever had.

In a survey to pick star alumni for a big debating clash with counterparts from the rival college across the road, Sibal was on the top five a week ago — among other stellar Stephanians like Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former federal minister Mani Shankar Aiyar or former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor. No longer!

As the #Idiot hash-tag topped Twitter trends, some withdrew their votes for Sibal, and there were posts like “Chuck him across the road” — a scathing insult, equivalent to the Parsis’ excommunication.

Just a preview of the global firestorm over the next two days!

The fire wasn’t from anonymous teens. Seasoned analysts blasted Sibal. Investor Mahesh Murthy posted: “Censor this! ! Five of the top 10 Twitter trends in India right now are: #IdiotKapilsibal, #KapilSibal, #Censorship, #FreeSpeech and #FreedomOfSpeech.”

All this, for just one statement from a politician not unknown for his foot-in-mouth disease? Not quite. For, he has the power to misuse and try to make it happen.

During the Anna Hazare movement, Sibal summoned representatives of the social networks. In a king-and-subjects interaction, he kept them waiting, then kept them standing in his room; gave them a pre-emptive dressing down; and snapped: “I don’t want any anti-government stuff on your networks. Fix it.” There was no room for discussion.

So here’s a five-point Internet 101 for the illustrious Mr. Sibal.

1. The Internet cannot be edited: Duh! In an early Dilbert strip, the pointy-haired boss demanded that Dilbert “download” the Internet and fax it to him. A decade down, it’s not so funny any more.

The Internet is not traditional media. India’s 1975 emergency and the media clampdown was possible because of the linear, broadcast nature of the old media. New media is distributed. No copy desk or censor board can “fix” it. There is no editor to arrest. And, most content is hosted outside India’s jurisdiction.

2. User-generated content cannot be filtered: That would slow down the global Internet to a crawl, with posts appearing after days — even assuming so many “editors” could be hired by, say, a Facebook or a Twitter.

Are phone operators responsible for “content” carried on their networks — or their CEOs arrested if someone made a terror threat over a phone call? No, the telco is simply asked to help with the investigation — into who made the call.

Yes, Internet content has the permanence and public-impact potential that a phone call does not, but equally, it lends itself brilliantly to self-regulation.

3. Peer review works: Wikipedia is the best example. Who could have imagined that a user-created encyclopedia could be so objective, and comprehensive? Yes, anyone can go in and edit anything (barring entries like “Kapil Sibal”, which have been locked due to vandalism!).
If you make an inappropriate change, someone will come in and correct it. And so it is on Facebook or Twitter. Abusive posts will be reported, blocked, and the individuals knocked out of the site.

4. Draconian controls are not necessary: In this age of global cooperation on terror, companies cooperate. A rational request from India to Google or Facebook to bring down offensive content will be heard — regardless of jurisdiction.

5. Yes, there are precedents for Internet control, but…: Such censorship is in countries India doesn’t want to be — China, Pakistan, Myanmar or Saudi Arabia. Pakistan became a laughing stock when it issued a list of banned words for SMS messages. (That list is now standard reading for anyone wanting a quick lesson in present and future abuses that aren’t in any dictionary.)

 The big daddy of “regulation” is China, where everything is filtered, and if you break those filters, you are charged with treason. What a role model.

But wait.
Kapil Sibal knows all this, right? So why is this bright star from Harvard Law School and St. Stephen’s college now sounding so anachronistic in the Internet age? Is it the old “thou shalt display higher loyalty to the royal family than the prince himself” mantra?

If Kapil Sibal is to defend himself against the charge of sycophancy, he is on a weak footing. There were many prior potential triggers for tackling social media, including fanatic religious posts, derogatory comments by Pakistan sympathisers, Anna Hazare, and more. That he finally picked a post that targeted Sonia Gandhi suggests that this was not out of serious, objective concern about India’s stability, security or secular fabric.

Related articles

• Indian govt. piggy backs on religion to censor the web (zdnet.com)
• What Kapil Sibal does not understand: the internet (kafila.org)

Facebook Is Tracking Your Every Move on the Web; Here’s How to Stop It

Over the weekend, Dave Winer wrote an article at Scripting.com explaining how Facebook keeps track of where you are on the web after logging in, without your consent. Nik Cubrilovic dug a little deeper, and discovered that Facebook can still track where you are, even if you log out. Facebook, for its part, has denied the claims. Regardless of who you believe, here’s how to protect yourself, and keep your browsing habits to yourself.

The whole issue has stirred up a lot of debate in privacy circles over the past few days. Here’s what the fuss is about, and what you can do to protect your privacy if you’re worried.

The Issue: Facebook’s Social Apps are Always Watching

For quite some time now, Facebook’s user tracking hasn’t been limited to your time on the site: any third-party web site or service that’s connected to Facebook or that uses a Like button is sending over your information, without your explicit permission. However, Winer noticed something mostly overlooked in last week’s Facebook changes: Facebook’s new Open Graph-enabled social web apps all send information to Facebook and can post to your profile or share with your friends whether you want them to or not.

Essentially, by using these apps, just reading an article, listening to a song, or watching a video, you’re sending information to Facebook which can then be automatically shared with your friends or added to your profile, and Facebook doesn’t ask for your permission to do it. Winer’s solution is to simply log out of Facebook when you’re not using it, and avoid clicking Like buttons and tying other services on the web to your Facebook account if you can help it, and he urges Facebook to make its cookies expire, which they currently do not.

Digging Deeper: Logging Out Isn’t Enough

Nik Cubrilovic looked over Winer’s piece, and discovered that logging out of Facebook, as Winer suggests, may deauthorize your browser from Facebook and its web applications, but it doesn’t stop Facebook’s cookies from sending information to Facebook about where you are and what you’re doing there.

Writing at AppSpot, he discovered that Facebook’s tracking cookies-which never expire, are only altered instead of deleted when a user logs out. This means that the tracking cookies still have your account number embedded in them and still know which user you are after you’ve logged out.

That also means that when you visit another site with Facebook-enabled social applications, from Like buttons to Open Graph apps, even though you’re a logged out user, Facebook still knows you’re there, and by “you,” we mean specifically your account, not an anonymous Facebook user. Cubrilovic notes that the only way to really stop Facebook from knowing every site you visit and social application you use is to log out and summarily delete all Facebook cookies from your system.

Why You Should Care

If you’re the type of person who doesn’t really use Facebook for anything you wouldn’t normally consider public anyway, you should take note: everything you do on the web is fair game. If what Cubrilovic and Winer are saying is true, Facebook considers visiting a web site or service that’s connected to Facebook the same thing as broadcasting it to your friends at worst, and permission for them to know you’re there at best.

Facebook says that this has nothing to do with tracking movements, and that they have no desire to collect information about where you are on the web and what you’re doing. They want to make sure that you can seamlessly log in at any time to Facebook and to sites and services that connect with it and share what you’re doing.

In fact, a number of Facebook engineers have posted comments to Winer’s original post and Cubrilovic’s analysis pointing this out. There’s also some excellent discussion in this comment thread at Hacker News about the issue as well. Essentially, they say this is a feature, not a problem, so if you have an issue with it, it’s up to you to do something about it.

What Can I Do About It?

Whether or not Facebook is tracking your browsing even when you’re logged out, if you don’t want third-party sites to send data to Facebook, you have some options. You could scrub your system clean of all Facebook.com cookies every time you use Facebook, but a number of developers have already stepped up with browser extensions to block Facebook services on third-party sites. Here are a few:

• Facebook Privacy List for Adblock Plus is perfect for those of you who already have AdBlock Plus installed (get ABP for Chrome or Firefox). Just download the subscription and add it to AdBlock Plus to specifically block Facebook plugins and scripts all over the web—including the Like button-whenever you’re not visiting Facebook directly.
• Facebook Disconnect for Chrome keeps Facebook from dropping those tracking cookies on your system in the first place, and disables them when you’re finished using Facebook-enabled services. It’s essentially an on/off switch for third-party access to Facebook servers, meaning you’ll still be able to log in to Facebook and use the site normally, but when you’re visiting another site or using another application, that site or service won’t be able to use your information to communicate with Facebook.
• Full size

  

  Disconnect for Chrome and Firefox is a new plugin from the developer behind Facebook Disconnect, but it doesn’t stop with Facebook. Disconnect takes protection to a another level and blocks tracking cookies from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Digg, and Yahoo, and prevents all of those services from obtaining your browsing or search history from third party sites that you may visit. The app doesn’t stop any of those services from working when you’re visiting the specific sites, for you can still search at Google and use Google+, but Google’s +1 button likely won’t work on third party sites, for example. The extension also lets you see how many requests are blocked, in real time as they come in, and unblock select services if, for example, you really want to Like or +1 an article you read, or share it with friends.

Ultimately, the goal of all of these tools is to give you control over what you share with Facebook or any other social service, and what you post to your profile, as opposed to taking a backseat and allowing the service you’re using to govern it for you. What’s really at issue is exactly how deep Facebook has its fingers into your data, and how difficult they-and other social services-make it to opt out or control what’s sent or transmitted. That’s where extensions like these come in.

However you feel about it, Facebook likely won’t change it in the near future. If you’re concerned, you should to take steps to protect your privacy. As a number of commenters at Hacker News point out, it’s not that there’s anything inherently “good” or “evil” about what Facebook is doing-that would be oversimplifying an already complex topic. It’s really an opt-in/opt-out issue.

What do you think of the assertions? Do you think Facebook has a vested interest in knowing as much about you and your browsing habits as possible, or is this much ado about nothing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Update: Nic Cubrilovic has posted an update to his story after discussing the matter with Facebook engineers. They have agreed to make changes to the way their cookies are stored and handled so your account information is not present when you log out of Facebook.

However, while Facebook has changed its cookie-handling process, the cookies are still retained and not deleted after logout, and do not expire. They remove your account information when you log out, but they still contain some non-personal data about your browser and the system you’re using. Nic still recommends you clear your Facebook cookies after every session, and we still suggest that if you’re concerned, that you do the same, and try one of the extensions above, or Priv3 or Firefox to protect yourself.

You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.