Nirmal Police may surrender Akbar's custody

Hyderabad, January 13:

The Nirmal Police is likely to surrender the custody of MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in the alleged hate speeches case.

According to sources, the Nirmal Police has almost completed the process of questioning Akbaruddin Owaisi in connection with the alleged hate speech that he made last month. Therefore, after the completion of questioning on the third day on Monday, the police is likely to surrender his custody before the Nirmal court on Tuesday. However, this was not confirmed by any senior police official.

It may be mentioned that the court granted five-day police custody for the MIM leader till January 17. However, since the case was based on the video-recording of the public meeting in which Akbaruddin Owaisi delivered the controversial speech, the police have reportedly completed the questioning process in the last two days.

Meanwhile, Akbaruddin Owaisi was subjected to intense grilling on the second day of his police custody. He was taken to the Armed Reserve Police Headquarters from the District Sub-Jail, where he has been lodged, on Sunday. As per the court's instructions, he was questioned in the presence of his lawyers Akbar Hussain and Balraj.

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Pakistan lifts ban on YouTube only to impose it once again

 

 

In a curious turn of events, Pakistan lifted the 103-day ban on YouTube on Saturday only to impose it again within a couple of hours as some television channels began reporting that the blasphemous content — which had invited the proscription in the first place — was still available on the video-sharing website.

The day began with hopes of the ban being lifted as Interior Minister Rehman Malik tweeted in the wee hours of Saturday that the notification ending the ban could be “expected today.” 

And, sure enough, the ban was lifted early in the day with all Internet Service Providers being asked to “immediately block/restore complete YouTube website provisionally till further orders” and submit compliance through email by 3 p.m.

As word got around and television channels broke the story, some reported that the blasphemous film Innocence of Muslims was still available on YouTube. 

This saw the government swing into action and order a fresh ban on the website. How long YouTube remained accessible is unclear but from the various versions available, the duration was anywhere between 33 minutes to two hours. 

Pakistan banned YouTube on September 17 amid a rising tide of protests against the film. 

Persistent demand

 

Since then there has been a persistent demand for lifting the ban on YouTube which in Pakistan doubles up as a key platform for musicians to launch their new songs as space for expression in any form is shrinking by the day. 

Several musicians have had to either move to alternate platforms or delay launch of their song in view of the ban.

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Court orders social networking sites to remove objectionable images

New Delhi:  A Delhi court has ordered several social networking companies including Facebook, YouTube, Microsoft India, Google and Orkut to remove some images from their websites.

The court, hearing a petition filed by Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi objecting to images hurting religious sentiments, said, "the photographs shown by the plaintiff having content of defamation and derogation against the sentiments of every community."

"Defendants are further directed to remove the same from their social networking sites...," the court added.

Over the last few months, Information Technology minister Kapil Sibal had asked social networking giants like Google and Facebook to ensure offensive material is deleted. Mr Sibal denied that this amounts to censorship; he also said that the government will have to intervene because the companies have not cooperated.

"I suggested that these platforms should evolve a mechanism on their own to ensure that such contents are removed as soon as they get to know of it... I have told them that this cannot go on," Mr Sibal had said.


Take By: ndtv News

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/court-orders-social-networking-sites-to-remove-objectionable-images-159832&cp

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