Want to write to Gujarat chief minister online? Govt site takes you to Anandiben Patel's personal, copyrighted site!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rhSzb9qtD8&app=desktop

gujaratindia.com, which takes one to CM's copyrighted site

By Our Representative
In an interesting expose, an upcoming political activist in Ahmedabad has brought to light that Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel wants people to write to her online on any issues they may have not on a Gujarat government website but her personal website, anandibenpatel.com.
Anyone visiting the Gujarat government’s official state portal, http://gujaratindia.com/, and clicking on Chief Minister in the section “Important Functionaries” is taken to her complete profile page, which includes her contact details, her past and present activities, and her lifestyle.
However, as one clicks on “Write to Smt. Anandiben Patel”, one is immediately shifted away from the Gujarat government’s official site to the chief minister’s personal site, whose address is http://anandibenpatel.com/write-to-cm-smt-anandiben-patel/.
Curious though it may sound, the Gujarat government does not seem to “own” its chief minister, Anandiben Patel’s website, either: On the right hand side corner of the site prominently displays “© 2015 Smt Anandiben Patel. All Rights Reserved.”
This stands in sharp contrast to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal website, www.narendramodi.in, which does not carry any copyright tag. Modi’s website was created when Gujarat chief minister. It is not known if Patel is aware of the nuance involved.
It is noteworthy that the “copyrighted” website carries the official information about the official functions of the chief minister, and her activities under the banner of “Gateesheel Gujarat”, which she envisaged after Patel became Gujarat chief minister, and this includes the Gruh Yojna for the urban poor, the metro rail project, open defecation free Gujarat, implementation of revenue reforms, and so on.

http://anandibenpatel.com/write-to-cm-smt-anandiben-patel/

Want to write to chief minister? Visit her personal site

While it is not known if someone who seeks to use this copyrighted material will invite legal action, the activist, Roshan Shah, who is also a software engineer, in a written complaint to senior Gujarat government officials – both administrative and police – has questioned as to why “write to chief minister” data and information “is captured on a personal site.”
“Any citizen who is writing to the chief minister is writing to the chief minister under the pretext and assumption that the representation made and so the record is part of official government representation, but it is clearly evident that any representation done on this form is not going to be part of government record and it will have no relevance when Patel will not be the chief minister”, Shah says in his plea.
Shah further states, “Content on anandibenpatel.com site is state subject and it has featured events and programmes promoted by state government and much of the content is exclusively found on this site.” He wonders as to who owns this site, who is paying for it, and whether its control will be “retained by state government” once she is not the chief minister.
Shah also asks, as to who is “paying for content creation (text, videos, audio) etc.” of the site, and how much has been “paid till date to whom and by what means”, adding, “Who is in charge of uploading the content and how much had been paid till date to whom and by what means?”
He has also wished to know if there is a government resolution (GR) under which the copyrighted site of the chief minister exists. Displaying the contents of how gujaratindia.com takes one to the chief minister’s personal site, anandibenpatel.com on Youtube (October 15), Shah alleges, asking people to write to her on her personal site “violates citizens’ privacy and does breach of trust.”

Comments

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha* The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza* An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000.

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas* Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco* Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma* Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Hazrat Aisha’s age was 16, not 6: 'Weak' Hadith responsible for controversy

Sacred chamber where Prophet and Aisha used to live By Dr Mike Ghouse* Muslims must take the responsibility to end the age-old controversy about Hazrat Aisha’s age at the time of her marriage to the Prophet (pbuh) – it was 16, not 6 (minimum was 16, Max 23 per different calculations). The Hadiths published were in good faith, but no one ever checked their authenticity, and they kept passing on from scholar to scholar and book to book. Thanks to 9/11, Muslims have started questioning and correcting the Hadiths, Seerah, and mistranslations of the Quran. Now, the Ulema have to issue an opinion, also known as Fatwa, to end it and remove those Hadith entries. Mustafa Akyol, a scholar of Islam, implores Muslims to stop deifying “the received traditions” and critically study their religious past, shedding rigid legalism and close-mindedness. Someone else used the phrase “copycat Muslims” to identify scholars who copied what was given to them and passed it on without researching or questioni

Search This Blog