Facebook CEO refuses to face-off with British parliamentarians
London, May 16: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has no plans as of now to face members of a British parliamentary committee probing the misuse of the firm's data its practice of collecting user information, the media reported.
In a letter to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Rebecca Stimson, Facebook's Head of Public Policy in the UK, said that "Zuckerberg has no plans to meet with the committee or travel to the UK at the present time", theregister.co.uk reported on Tuesday.
The committee had expressed dissatisfaction with Facebook's response to various points it raised including on Cambridge Analytica, dark ads, Facebook Connect, the amount spent by Russia on UK ads on the platform, data collection across the web and budgets for investigations.
Stimson's letter, however, did not dampen the desire of the committee to hear from Zuckerberg directly.
"Although Facebook says Zuckerberg has no plans to travel to the UK, we would also be open to taking his evidence by video link, if that would be the only way to do this during the period of our inquiry," said Chair of the Committee Damian Collins in response to Stimson's letter.
"For too long these companies have gone unchallenged in their business practices, and only under public pressure from this Committee and others have they begun to fully cooperate with our requests," Collins added.
The committee issued Facebook 39 questions it said the firm's Chief technology Officer Mike Schroepfer had failed to answer in his evidence to the parliamentarians.
The committee said Facebook's latest responses to these questions do not fully answer each point with sufficient detail or data evidence.
The committee said it plans to write again to address significant gaps in Facebook's answers in the coming days.
"It is disappointing that a company with the resources of Facebook chooses not to provide a sufficient level of detail and transparency on various points including on Cambridge Analytica, dark ads, Facebook Connect, the amount spent by Russia on UK ads on the platform, data collection across the web, budgets for investigations, and that shows general discrepancies between Schroepfer and Zuckerberg's respective testimonies," Collins said.
"Given that these were follow up questions to questions Schroepfer previously failed to answer, we expected both detail and data, and in a number of cases got excuses," Collins added.
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Karnataka cabinet approves formation of separate Dharwad Municipal Corporation
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Cabinet has approved a formation of separate Dharwad city corporation. Alongside, a 15% hike in fares across the four state transport corporations was also approved. The revised fares will come into effect on January 5.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil, addressing the media at the Committee Hall of Vidhana Soudha, provided details about the decision. He explained that the last fare revision for BMTC was a decade ago when diesel cost Rs 60.98 per litre. Since then, operational costs have risen significantly.
Diesel expenditure for the four corporations has increased from Rs 9.16 crore to Rs 13.21 crore, and personnel costs have grown from Rs 12.85 crore to Rs 18.36 crore. The daily operational burden now stands at Rs 9.56 crore. The fare hike is expected to generate an additional Rs 74.85 crore in monthly revenue without burdening the state exchequer, as Rs 5,015 crore has already been allocated for the Shakti Yojana this fiscal year.
Minister Patil announced that the Cabinet has decided to bifurcate the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation into two independent municipal bodies.
The Cabinet approved the construction of a fishing port in Hejamady village, Udupi, with a revised estimate of Rs 209.13 crore. Additionally, Rs 84.57 crore has been sanctioned for the modernization and dredging of fishing ports.
In a move to strengthen cow shelters, Rs 10.50 crore has been allocated for projects in 14 districts. The Cabinet also approved constructing a building for Visvesvaraya Technical University in Chikkaballapur district at Rs 149.75 crore.
The Cabinet sanctioned a state-of-the-art bus stand in Bannimantap, Mysuru, at a cost of Rs 120 crore. Spread over 14 acres, the facility will include a divisional office, bus units, and commercial shops.
Approval was also granted to utilize Rs 137.85 crore, provided by the Union Finance Ministry under the Special Capital Assistance Scheme, for capital expenditure.
The Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board will use Rs 56.92 crore from its SCP/TSP scheme to supply bed sheets, mosquito nets, and clothing to government residential schools and hostels.
The Cabinet approved Rs 100 crore to construct new buildings for 200 veterinary institutions currently housed in rented or dilapidated structures, using NABARD assistance.
In Davangere, a site was allotted to the Karnataka Working Journalists' Association for constructing a civic facility. A plot in Avaragere village was also leased for 30 years at a concessional rate to Nayaka Vidyarthi Nilaya.
