Pratap Simha who defended fake news editor is part of Press Council
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cancelled his own government’s controversial order that categorically stated journalists would be punished for generating fake news and said that the matter should be addressed only by the Press Council of India.
However, the Editors Guild while acknowledging the Prime Minister’s withdrawal of the fake news order said it was "deeply disturbed" at the government's selection of the Press Council.
The Press Council, which has limited powers, was reconstituted by the government on March 16.
Among the members nominated by the Lok Sabha is Pratap Sinha, a BJP MP from Karnataka, who defended the founder-editor of Postcard News Mahesh Hegde arrested for fake news last week.
— Pratap Simha (@mepratap) March 29, 2018 ">
Today morning Coward Congress Govt (Karnataka) arrested @mvmeet Mahesh Vikram Hegde under unconnected IT act 66, that too by using CCB! Shame on you @INCKarnataka. pic.twitter.com/SZGUJKsfzi
— Pratap Simha (@mepratap) March 29, 2018
Hegde was arrested for falsely claiming in a social media post on March 18 that a Jain monk from Karnataka had got injured after being attacked by a Muslim youth. It was found that the monk had been injured in a road accident.
However, Simha was one of those BJP leaders who tweeted in Hegde’s support.
Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde and BJP MP Maheish Girri were other party leaders who tweeted in support of Mahesh Hegde.
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Blinkit delivery executive halts late-night rat poison order, flags safety concerns
The event occurred at midnight, when the delivery executive was issued an order containing three packets of rat poison. According to his account shared later in a video, the timing of the order immediately raised concern. On reaching the delivery address, he found that the woman who had placed the order visibly distressed and crying.
Believing the situation required caution, the delivery executive chose not to hand over the items and spoke to the woman and tried to understand what she was going through, telling her that no problem justified harming oneself. During the conversation, he directly asked whether the poison had been ordered with the intention of ending her life.
Although the woman initially denied it, he continued to communicate with her and persuaded her to rethink. The woman cancelled the order, following a brief talk. The delivery executive later said in the video that the decision gave him a sense of comfort since he believed he had been able to prevent a potential tragedy.
After the video surfaced on social media, users praised the delivery executive for acting with care and responsibility. “Humanity at its best,” one user wrote, while another commented, “That’s not just a delivery guy, that’s a guardian angel in a green jacket.”
