Kalyan Jewellers moves court after fake news on YouTube causes Rs 500-crore loss
Kerala, July 11: Kerala-based Kalyan Jewellers has claimed that fake news on social media led to it suffering a loss of around Rs 500 crore and has moved the Kerala High Court seeking supervision of social media websites.
The jewellery company, in its plea filed in the high court, says that fake videos claiming to show the seizure of counterfeit gold at its showrooms have been shared on social media websites such as YouTube. The fake videos are part of a malicious campaign against Kalyan Jewellers by business rivals, the brand further claims in its petition.
Terming the campaign as defamatory and misleading, Kalyan alleges that it has incurred losses running in to more than Rs 500 crores.
According to the plea, the name and logo of the company have been used in videos to portray what was a routine inspection in one of its Kuwait stores as a raid. The videos have been edited to make it seem like that a Kalyan jeweller showroom was inspected and jewellery from the store seized due to fraudulent practices by the company.
The original footage was of a routine inspection that Kuwaiti officials conduct on all jewellers in the country. They took some jewellery samples from the Kalyan jeweller store as part of their inspection.
This routine inspection has been incorrectly shown as evidence of Kalyan Jewellers selling fake gold and of authorities seizing that fake gold.
The petition has asked for greater control and supervision of social media sites stating that "How can a platform that does not have control over their own sites be allowed to function in India? It appears The Government of India does not have any control over these sites. "
In response, the Kerala High Court has issued a notice calling for the introduction of regulatory mechanisms to curb fake news on social media platforms.
Kalyan Jewellers has been fighting to curb alleged fake accusations made against it for months now. In a post on its official Facebook post, it said that three individuals were arrested by Kerala Police for spreading false information about it.
In March, five Indian expatriates were booked by the Dubai Police on charges of cybercrime and abuse via the internet for spreading false information about the company.
Kalyan Jewellers is a Kerala-based jewellery retailer with more than 120 showrooms in India and the Gulf. The brand has several high profile ambassadors, including Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Nagarjuna.
Courtesy: www.indiatoday.in
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Tonnes of untreated waste being dumped in landfills in Kedarnath, reveals RTI query
Dehradun, Nov 8: Tonnes of untreated waste continues to be dumped at the landfill sites around the famous Himalayan temple of Kedarnath, causing concern among those who care for the environment as the area is eco-sensitive.
A total of 49.18 tonnes of unprocessed garbage generated in Kedarnath was dumped at the two landfill sites near the temple between 2022 and 2024, an RTI query filed by a Noida-based environmentalist has revealed.
The non-processed garbage generated in the area also showed a rising trend during the period, with 13.2 tonnes of untreated waste generated in 2022, 18.48 tonnes in 2023 and 17.5 tonnes so far this year, according to the Uttarakhand government's response to the query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Besides, the eco-sensitive area also generated 23.3 tonnes of inorganic garbage during the period.
However, all of it was processed or recycled, the public information officer of the Kedarnath Nagar Panchayat said in response to the RTI query filed by Amit Gupta.
"The RTI data is shocking both in terms of the quantity of garbage generated and the manner in which it has been left untreated. It proves once again that there is no proper garbage management system in Kedarnath, which is an eco-sensitive area," Gupta said.
"The temple is situated at a height of 12,000 feet, where there are also glaciers. The eco-sensitivity of the area is beyond doubt. The lack of a proper garbage management system in Kedarnath even figured in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat programme last year. Still nothing is being done by the authorities on the ground to transport the plastic waste to the plains and process it," he said.
The two landfill sites near the temple are reaching their saturation point. If things continue in this manner, another tragedy like the 2013 disaster is unavoidable, the activist said.
What makes the situation even more worrying is that the response to the RTI query claims that no complaint was registered or action taken during the period against garbage disposal in an irresponsible manner.
"I have myself been writing to the authorities for the last two years on the garbage issue in Kedarnath. At least half-a-dozen complaints have been filed by me only," Gupta said.
"The NGT and the NMCG have also taken note of my complaints. Sharing my concern, they directed the authorities to do something to rid the holy place located in the ecologically-fragile Himalayas of untreated waste by setting up enough sewage treatment plants in Kedarnath," he added.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has also written to the Rudraprayag district administration, asking it to take necessary steps to stop the rising pollution levels of the Mandakini river, which flows near the Himalayan temple.
The NMCG issued the directions to the district administration on a complaint filed by Gupta on the basis of an RTI query, which revealed that the absence of sewage treatment plants in Kedarnath is leading to rising pollution levels in the Mandakini, a tributary of the Ganga, with untreated waste being released directly into it.
