India's Answer to Twitter Koo Gets Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Unit of Home Affairs Ministry As Its User

The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Unit handling the Ministry of Home Affairs opens its account on Koo

The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Unit handling the Ministry of Home Affairs, has opened an official account on made-in-India social media platform - Koo.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is amongst one of the most important ministries in the Government of India. The Koo platform of the PIB’s Unit handling the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), will provide information from time to time on the developments of public importance that relate to this ministry

In its first post, the PIB’s MHA Koo account provided information related to a reply by the Ministry during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha on February 2, with regard to the Government of India’s zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism.

Koo App

देश में प्रतिबंधित संगठन प्रेस विज्ञप्ति -https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1794705

View attached media content

- PIB, Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) (@pib_mha) 3 Feb 2022

Welcoming the PIB Unit handling the Ministry of Home Affairs to the platform, a Koo Spokesperson said, “We are privileged to host the PIB’s Unit handling the Ministry of Home Affairs on Koo. We will enable the PIB’s Unit handling the Ministry of Home Affairs to share information about the initiatives and activities undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs."

About Koo

Koo is a made-in-India Social Media platform which enables people to express and connect with others in their local language. Koo is available in 10 Indian languages. Koo has 20 million downloads and is the largest micro-blogging platform in Indian languages. Several top personalities from public life, government, entertainment, cricket & sports have an account on Koo.

Most of the Central Ministers and Ministries are already on Koo, including the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Tribal Affairs among others.

ZEE5 Launches Short Video Platform HiPi; Onboards 400+ Influencers, with 70+ Zee TV Celebrities

An Atmanirbhar Bharat! A statement, a dream, a vision that many Indians today envisage to achieve. From Indian organizations to Individuals, all are aspiring to make this self-reliance mantra a reality. ZEE5, India’s very own Entertainment Super-App began this journey over a year and a half ago to make it a reality wherein, it could present to the next billion Indians, a platform to create fun and entertaining content – connect with their millions of fans and stand a chance to step into the real fandom world.

Today, ZEE5’s much awaited project, is getting launched with the Beta rollout of HiPi - the short video platform, that promises to engage billions of Indians to embark on a journey from just being a FAN to achieving FANDOM! In the era of the Atmanirbhar Bharat, where users can be themselves and have fun in a brand safe, extremely creative and happy environment. HiPi is a perfect platform for content consumers, to content creators.

The platform has been envisioned and created in India for the diversely unique Indian audience after extensive research. A home to multiple features, that enables the users to showcase their talent through various unique filters and effects, also discover, follow and appreciate content that is being created by others. The unique format and technology that HiPi has integrated with its interface and navigation will allow users to create videos up to 90-seconds. A full-fledged release will be done in a phased manner with the Beta version for Android going live today, followed by the iOS version in the coming weeks.

Speaking on the momentous launch, Mr. Tarun Katial, CEO, ZEE5 India said, “The launch of HiPi is a proud moment for us as the short video platform was developed in India keeping with the ethos of Atmanirbhar Bharat. HiPi revolutionizes the entertainment experience, by giving a universally accessible platform to unmask the latent talent present inside each of us, taking us from being a Fan to Fandom! Continuing with a focus on customer centricity, HiPi will help Indians to connect with their millions of fans and stand a chance to step into the real Fandom world. A platform which will be the official Home of Entertainment and entertainers! As we go live today, HiPi takes ZEE5 one step closer to its ambition of becoming India’s Entertainment Super-App!”


Echoing these sentiments, Mr. Rajneel Kumar, Business Head - Expansion Projects and Head of Products, ZEE5 India added, “The vision for HiPi stemmed from an idea to further grow ZEE5 as a one-stop destination for the new and dynamic India. And a lot of care has been taken to build this platform to enable a creatively charged environment which simultaneously empowers the creators, users, brands and viewers alike. The framework of the platform has been created to encourage more creativity and engagement while also making sure that the security and safety of our users are never compromised. It is a platform truly made in India, made for India."

HiPi has added various security features to make sure that safety is never compromised. With the entire framework made such, it is truly set to empower India by giving the audiences a platform where their talent will get the stage and reach; and even allow brands to discover and connect with a diverse set of audiences across the length and breadth of the country.

HiPi promises to be a platform that will redefine content creation and curation. It will be a platform where every Indian will have a chance to showcase their creativity and announce their arrival in the global creative arena.

Download HiPi on ZEE5

upGrad’s new TV and Digital campaign is a clarion call to the 100 Mn Indian workforce to Grow with Specialisation

Conceptualized & directed by The Womb & Cannes-winner Bob, the campaign talks about the edtech major upGrad providing ‘Sirf Naam Ki Nahin, Kaam Ki Degree’ for working professionals

upGrad, India’s largest online higher education company, unveils its latest mass media campaign, which can be considered as one of the most clutter-breaking & bold campaigns done by a brand in the recent past. The TV commercial, featuring a donkey, draws from the cultural insight that in the corporate world, everyone wants to climb the ladder and choose various ways to get ahead - one of the most common being the tendency to ‘lick ass’.

Shot in Estonia, the humorous yet charming film has been developed by the creative agency, The Womb & has been directed by Shashanka Chaturvedi, a.k.a Bob, co-founder & director, Good Morning Films, who has worked on close to 100 ads in India and won two Gold Lions at Cannes - the first by an Indian filmmaker and a Grand Prix at Spikes Asia, the upGrad's film marks the first in his career where he directed the shoot crew, including the endearing animal, remotely from Goa, where he has been shooting ads since a month now.

“Our primary objective is to define the kind of education upGrad provides, that is not constricted by the mode of learning - which just happens to be online. The next ambition was to compellingly summarise all the types of courses we provide - post-graduate degrees, certifications and diplomas. We chose the word ‘degree’ because in India, the concept of a ‘degree’ holds emotional and practical heft across all socio-economic classes. While degrees are available a dime a dozen, the conflict occurs when they tend to be generic, outdated and from not so credible institutions, that are ultimately not valued by employers. Thus, the genesis of ‘Sirf naam ki nahin, kaam ki degree’ - upGrad’s promise to provide outcome-oriented specialisations that help learners to achieve the ROI on education – job/profile switch, increment or promotion, in other words, Employability” said Arjun Mohan, CEO - India, upGrad.




Talking about the campaign, Kawal Shoor, Co-Founder, The Womb said, “upGrad and The Womb got together a few months back to start working on building its brand and business in India. COVID-19 has hastened the need for edtech as a category. upGrad is a very substantive brand in the midst of many lightweight educational institutions that have mushroomed all over India. It has a great culture, knows how to teach, and has tie-ups with some of the best universities in India, and the world. It can fulfil the learning needs of working professionals and undergraduates. We had to bring its various offerings under one, clear positioning idea for the brand that stems from and can influence culture. This spot introduces that idea, along with a clear proposition for working professionals."

"upGrad's Data Science and Management programs for working professionals have great pedigree with tie-ups with institutions like IIIT Bangalore, IIT Madras, and Deakin Business School. To make this resonate culturally, we borrowed from culture - work/corporate culture to be specific. We uncovered a very rich insight - in organisations, those who're not good enough to find other means to rise. We built our proposition around this insight. What was even more challenging was to find a way to execute this in a lockdown - so what you'll see, are Indian-origin actors from the UK, performing in an office in Estonia, being remotely directed from a villa in Goa. The clients at upGrad have to be complimented for believing,” added Navin Talreja, Co-Founder, The Womb.



The performance-driven media planning on TV channels is being executed by the agency DCMN and on OTTs and Google platforms by Tatvic Analytics. The mass media campaign will also be complemented by narrative-driven influencer campaign on social media, which the company officials has not revealed yet. In partnership with HTTPool & Twitter India, upGrad also has rolled out an emoji campaign wherein one of the key brand attributes (KBA) - a red arrow moving upwards will be automatically added to upskilling related hashtags when tweeted by any user worldwide during the campaign period.


Click here to know more - https://upgrad.onelink.me/BzCz/BrandCampaign

Instagram - the ‘Real-Life’ Source of Income for Bollywood Celebs

As the popularity of televisions and print media reduced among the youth population, brands looked for other ways to reach out to them and market their products. Now, we see advertising happening at a successful rate in all social media problems.

Bollywood, being India’s most popular film industry has birthed many influential personalities and they play an important role in the success of marketing on social media platforms. Brands are ready to pay them well for endorsing their images and being their voices on social media platforms.

Instagram, being one of the most used platforms among the youngsters help the brands to reach them easily. Hence, the Bollywood stars who have a good social media presence are roped in by major brands, adding to the celebs’ income.

This practice began in the West but slowly spread to the Indian markets too. While the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Kylie Jenner, and Cristiano Ronaldo rules the world in terms of generating income via Instagram, the Bollywood stars do a fairly good job too, even though the stats do not reflect handsome figures when compared to the Instagram Rich List, published by Hopper HQ.
The top leaders of Bollywood’s Instagram Rich List




Priyanka Chopra, who has attained popularity at a global level, thanks to her Hollywood ventures and her marriage to Nick Jonas rules Bollywood’s Instagram top earners according to Betway. Her estimated earnings on the social media platform touch Rs 13,569,102. She also holds the 28th position in the HQ list. This is a huge achievement as the only other Indian on that list if cricketer Virat Kohli who secured the 26th position.

Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt follow Priyanka Chopra respectively, both in terms of followers and their estimated Instagram earnings. Padukone earns around Rs. 12,447,711 while Bhatt generates approximately Rs 12,268,917 via Instagram.

Shraddha Kapoor with a total Instagram income of Rs 11,891,513 and Jacqueline Fernandez touching Rs 10,609,999 completes the top 5 of Bollywood’s rich list on Instagram, making the zone ladies-only.

In fact, the top 10 list based on Instagram earnings of Bollywood celebs features only one male member; Akshay Kumar who sits on the sixth position. He has a follower count of 40,500,000 and generated about Rs 10,242,122, much more than his male contemporaries on both the terms.

The other Bollywood ladies on the top 10 list include Neha Kakkar, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, and Sunny Leone. This shows that the celebs’ Instagram earnings do not depend on their reel-life works.

No male domination on Instagram

Although male Bollywood stars also generate quality income via Instagram, their female contemporaries are ahead of them in terms of followers and earnings.

After Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan earns the most through the social media platform when Bollywood male stars are considered. He generated around Rs 8,535,342 according to the estimations.

Salman Khan is closely followed by three young actors as Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, and Shid Kapoor takes the third, fourth, and fifth position respectively. Although Shah Rukh Khan has a whopping net worth of 4200 crores, which is higher than all of the others’, he secured only the sixth position in this list of Bollywood male stars’ Instagram Rich List as his Instagram earnings touch only Rs 5,523,882.

John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Farhan Akthar, and Arjun Rampal completes the top 10 of this list, with the good reach they have created for themselves on Instagram. The Betley infographic given below clearly shows the estimated Instagram earnings of these top celebs and also compares it with other stats like the number of followers and net worth.

Elyments - The 1st Social Media Super App Made in India to be Launched by the Hon'ble Vice President of India on 5th July

India has more than 500 million social media users. Yet most of these platforms are owned by companies incorporated outside India, which has spun a debate about privacy of data and data ownership. At such a time, inspired by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, more than 1000 IT professionals have come together to create the homegrown Elyments app, the first social media super-app, made in India.

The app will be launched on 5th July by the Honorable Vice President of India, Sh. M Venkaiah Naidu in the presence of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Humanitarian & Founder of the Art of Living. The launch will be graced by dignitaries including Baba Ramdev, Founder, Patanjali Yogpeeth; Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Rajya Sabha MP; Suresh Prabhu, Formerly the Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation; RV Deshpande, Former Minister of Revenue, Government of Karnataka; Ashok P Hinduja, Chairman Hinduja Group of Companies (India); G M Rao, Founder Chairman GM Group; Sajjan Jindal, Chairman & Managing Director, JSW group, Ramoji Rao, Indian film Producer and Media entrepreneur, Head of Ramoji Group, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Former member of Parliament.

[caption id="attachment_147828" align="aligncenter" width="436"] Audio & Video Call features on Elyments[/caption]

From day one, Elyments has been built keeping user's privacy in mind, as a primary concern. The nation's top privacy professionals have been guiding the design of the product. Data of users is stored in India and user's data will never be shared with a third party without user's explicit consent.

The app will also be available in more than 8 Indian languages.

Elyments' vision is to combine the features of popular social media apps and present it on a single unified app. Terms which have become second nature to social media users - contacts, friends, followers - have all been brought together in Elyments.

Elyments allows users to stay in touch through a vibrant feed, seamless free audio/video calls and private/group chats. #ElymentsSuperApp comes as a relief to netizens who have been put off by continuous censorship on other popular sites. Elyments promises to be an unbiased platform that embraces open conversations among people of different schools of thoughts.

The app has been crowd-tested extensively by more than a 1000 people for several months. Close to 200,000 people have already downloaded and are using the app.

In weeks to come, Elyments also plans to launch :

• Audio/ Video conference calls


• Secure payments via Elyments Pay


• Public profiles who users can Follow/Subscribe


• Curated commerce platform to promote Indian brands


• Regional voice commands

Elyments is a unique app in terms of size and vision. The journey has begun. On 5th July, Elyments will be launched on all App Stores and Google Play Stores across the world.

~ Newsvoir

World Blood Donor Day: ShareChat Launches #PledgeToDonatecampaign to Spread Awareness on Blood Donation

The campaign has been designed to help the nation overcome its blood shortage problem

ShareChat, the Indian social media platform, today announces the launch of #PledgeToDonate campaign to spread awareness around blood donation. The campaign also aims to encourage its employees and 60 million monthly active users to pledge and engage with blood donation initiatives and address India’s blood shortage problem.

According to a research conducted by medical journal The Lancent, India has the world's largest shortage of blood, with all states together battling a huge shortfall of 41 million units and demand outstripping supply by over 400%.The 4 day campaign starting 11th June 2020 would focus on demonstrating its users their sense of belonging and responsibility towards the nation by donating blood. It would also invite users to share positivity on the platform around blood donation with a selfie campaign.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr Farid Ahsan, COO, ShareChat said “We, being an Indian platform designed for Indian audiences, it's our moral responsibility to stand for our country.With #PledgeToDonate campaign, we aim to inspire the thought of “belonging” for the nation among our users. We hope the campaign would motivate millions of Indians to come forward and contribute to the nation by taking a pledge to donate blood. We would also educate people on various safety measures, which is of utmost importance in today’s time."

“We believe this would offer immense support to our medical infrastructure, especially during the pandemic situation. We are confident that this campaign would turn out to be a success and help the nation to take the leap towards the future,” he added.

ShareChat has activated the Webcard on the platform with a ‘Pledge’ button, asking users to pledge by clicking the button. Users are expected to join the follow up campaign #IHavePledged, starting June 13th, with selfies. ShareChat will also spread awareness among its users with tips, suggestions, advisories and also, myth-busting facts. The campaign will be activated across 15 Indian languages on ShareChat.

ShareChat is India’s largest Indic language social media platform that allows users to share their opinions, record their lives and make new friends - all within the comfort of their native language. Spearheading India's internet revolution, ShareChat is changing the way in which the next billion users will interact on the internet. For more information, download ShareChat app from  Play Storeor visit  https://we.sharechat.com

Mamaearth launches a new Mothers Day Anthem dedicated to all the Super Moms of India

Toxin-free personal care brand Mamaearth has decided to launch a special Mother’s Day Campaign this year. The company has released an all-new song about mothers and what a special role they play in our lives. What’s more, the video of this song showcases Indian moms of all ages, sizes, and communities. 

Mamaearth is a brand that was started by husband-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh when they couldn’t find toxin-free baby products for their son. Not only was the product born from a strong desire to make mothers’ lives easier, but it also keeps mothers at the centre of their product — their products are tested by mothers and even marketed by “mom-fluencers”. 

[embed]https://www.indianweb2.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/InShot_20200508_140143574.mp4[/embed]

Lively and peppy, the “Mamaearth Mother’s day anthem” has been created completely from scratch for this campaign. It’s a fun and refreshing tribute to Indian mothers, who are having a doubly hard time during this pandemic. The song, along with the video, will drop by Friday evening. 

The brand is using #mamaearthmummysong across social media, encouraging mothers across the country to dance to the number and create their own “mom and kids” videos. They have also decided to use the two new-age channels of Instagram and TikTok in a unique and effective way. The campaign will see a contest on TikTok where mothers will be invited to dance to the song and post their videos in order to win. On Instagram, the brand has tied up with key influencers who will be posting their own videos with the Mamaearth song all through Saturday and Sunday. In fact, there’s a strong buzz that ace influencer and Mamaearth brand ambassador actor Shilpa Shetty will also be putting up a #Mamaearthmummysong video with her son. 

In a time when mothers and kids are spending more time together than ever before, and mums have to work twice as hard as usual, this peppy and danceable music campaign comes as a fitting tribute to the incredible mothers across the country. 

Urban Company giving #LogoGoals

Urban Company's fresh logo with a mask is giving #LogoGoals to businesses. While few are finding it cute, many others are taking the much needed social message from it- wear a mask and keep social distancing. This unique way has gone viral as twitterati absolutely loved its uniqueness.

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The vision of the company is to act as a reminder to be safe & spread optimism among its customers, partners and followers. The company has changed its icon across all social media platforms, website and app.

Below are some of the real-time responses from the twitter on the new logo -

"Of all apps in my phone, your app - @urbancompany_UC stood out. Would deem it relevant given that the TG is common people who are in lockdown right now. Also I would like to think, it was "j.n.d." done right in #rebranding of Urban Clap to Urban Company."

"Great modification to the app icon by @urbancompany_UC. Always reminding me of wearing a mask, keeping social distancing during #COVID2019india. UC, i see and following every bit of it. "

"Thanks, @urbancompany_UC for putting the mask on. Watch out for more apps in the coming days. This is the best & fastest way to reach the BILLION, and constantly remind them to wear a mask."

"@urbancompany_UC Even urban company’s logo is following guidelines.Why can’t you ?#WearMasks #stayhome

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Pinterest Launches Today Tab in India and Additional Countries for Daily Inspiration with Curated Topics and Trending Ideas

Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE: PINS) today announces that the Today tab, a new source of daily inspiration with curated topics and trending ideas will be launching in 13 additional countries including: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, and India, after recently launching in the U.S. and U.K.

Pinterest is seeing a significant increase in people searching for helpful tips and ideas for what to do at home to stay inspired as they stay inside. In response, Pinterest is making it easier than ever to quickly find recipes, kids' activities, self-care ideas and more with the Today tab.

In addition to daily inspiration and trending ideas such as kid-friendly baking, work from home set-ups, family-favorite movies, and comfort food recipes, the Today tab features expert information from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control on topics such as handwashing during the current coronavirus epidemic.

To use the Today tab, Pinterest users can tap on "Today" at the top of their home feed on iOS or Android for new ideas each day. Recommendations will include a handful of topics including ideas curated by the Pinterest team with feature guest editors in the future. While the home feed continues to be a personalized space with recommendations based on the Pinner's activity, the Today tab will show popular ideas based on what's going on in the world and what people are searching for.

Pinterest also launched compassionate search on web, to make the mental wellness feature available on all platforms for all users in the U.S. and the U.K. In the past few weeks, searches for "calming quotes" doubled, and "stress relief" and "stress quotes" have tripled on Pinterest. Now when people search for terms such as "stressed out" from the desktop computer or phone, options to see a collection of emotional wellbeing activities to help relax and feel better with content from emotional health experts will appear.

Pinterest's efforts to make reliable information easily accessible also includes:

• A custom search experience (image here)


• A banner across the site that directs to WHO facts


• An easy way to report health misinformation through the "health misinformation" option on Pins. Pinterest removes any misinformation it finds about COVID-19 because it violates its health misinformation policy (which has been in place since 2017).


• Stay safe, Stay Inspired board shared with Pinterest users

Globally, Pinterest hit all-time highs in engagement over this past week, and searches increased nearly 55% year over year. In India, searches have increased by 59% year over year and the number of Pinterest boards created increased by 70%. Since March 1st, searches have increased by nearly 25% globally and views on video Pins have nearly tripled compared to the same time last year.

Find more information on the Today tab and the company's efforts to combat misinformation here and images here.

About Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual discovery engine people use to find inspiration for their lives, including recipes, home and style ideas, travel destinations and more. People have saved more than 240 billion Pins across a range of interests, which others with similar tastes can discover through search and recommendations. Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinterest launched in 2010 and has more than 335 million monthly active users around the world. Available on iOS and Android, and at pinterest.com.

WhatsApp to Limit Sharing of Frequently Forwarded Messages to One Chat at A Time

WhatsApp will allow users to send frequently forwarded messages to only one chat at a time as part of efforts to curb spreading of misinformation amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This limit will be in place once a message has been previously forwarded five times or more.

The latest move comes as countries, including India, are initiating measures to tackle the spread of rumours, fake news and misinformation on social media platforms.

"We are now introducing a limit so that these messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time...we've seen a significant increase in the amount of forwarding which users have told us can feel overwhelming and can contribute to the spread of misinformation," the Facebook-owned WhatsApp said in its blog on Tuesday.

Last year, WhatsApp launched the 'forward' label with double arrows to indicate that the message did not originate from a close contact. It also limited message 'forwards' to five chats at a time.

Platforms like WhatsApp are being increasingly used by people amid lockdowns and social distancing measures to prevent the spreading of coronavirus infections.

The company said it believes it is important to slow the spread of these messages to keep WhatsApp a place for personal conversation.

The company, which has over 400 million users in India, said its previous steps of setting limits on forwarded messages to constrain virality had led to a 25 per cent decrease in message forwards globally at a time.

With billions of people unable to see their friends and family in person due to COVID-19, people are relying on WhatsApp more than ever to communicate, WhatsApp stated.

"People are talking to doctors, teachers, and isolated loved ones via WhatsApp during this crisis. That's why all your messages and calls on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted by default to give you a secure place for your most personal conversations," it added.

WhatsApp said that in addition, it is also engaging directly with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments, including the World Health Organization and over 20 national health ministries, to help connect people with accurate information.

"Together, these trusted authorities have sent hundreds of millions of messages directly to people requesting information and advice," it added.

WhatsApp is also testing a feature that would display a small magnifying glass next to any frequently forwarded messages.

Users will then be able to click that and be taken to a web search for the message, with the intention of letting them find articles that may debunk the message or shed further light on any claims found within it -- and not forward them on if they find the message is not true.

In mid-March, even as many states had begun imposing curbs and movement restrictions to fight the spread of coronavirus pandemic, WhatsApp had rolled out 'Coronavirus Information Hub' to provide simple, actionable guidance for health workers, educators, community leaders, non-profit entities, local governments and local businesses that rely on WhatsApp to communicate.

Indian government's dedicated WhatsApp chatbot MyGov Corona Helpdesk, which aims to provide timely updates and help citizens clear their queries on COVID-19, has already garnered over 2 crore users.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 announced a complete lockdown of the entire country for 21 days in an unprecedented move to halt the spread of coronavirus, shortly after which the Centre said road, rail and air services will remain suspended during this period.

As on early Tuesday, the pandemic claimed 114 lives in the country and the number of cases increased to 4,421 in India.

In the past, WhatsApp has faced flak from the government after a series of mob-lynching incidents, triggered by rumours circulating on WhatsApp, claimed lives.

Under pressure to stop rumours and fake news, WhatsApp had then restricted forwarding messages to five chats at once as well as removed the quick forward button for media messages in India. This feature was later extended globally.

WhatsApp, as part of its efforts, has been running campaigns, offering tips to users on how to spot misinformation.

However, WhatsApp has so far, resisted the government's demand for identifying message originators, arguing that such a move would undermine the end-to-end encryption and the private nature of the platform, creating potential for serious misuse. PTI SR MBI

Social Media is a Fire: Mallika Sarabhai; Every Educated Woman's Duty is to See Others are Educated: Interior Designer Sunita Kohli

FICCI FLO Hyderabad Chapter celebrates Women’s Day Eve by organising an interactive session with two legendary icons and women achievers acclaimed dancer and activist Ms. Mallika Sarabhai and renowned interior designer and Architectural Restorer Ms. Sunita Kohli here in city today.

About 150 women professionals and entrepreneurs listened attentively as the two speakers recounted their creative and commercial journey and spoke about women empowerment. Mothers of Past Chairs of FLO Hyderabad Chapter along with the two Chief Guests for the evening inaugurated the session on the eve of International Women’s Day. Entrepreneur, Writer, Producer Ms. Nita Khanna was the moderator for the session named ‘Trail Blazers – Creativity, Enterprise and Empowerment’. On the eve of Women’s Day the Past Chairs of FLO Hyderabad were honoured. 

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Ms. Sona Chatwani, Chairperson, FICCI Ladies Organisation – Hyderabad Chapter in her welcome address said that it’s a privilege for FLO to have such illustrious personalities with us on the eve of Women’s day. What they have achieved is unparallel. Both of them are great inspiration.  With their multifaceted achievements each one of them has redefined the role of women in today’s context, Ms. Chatwani said. 

Speaking about her life and journey 73 year old Ms. Sunita Kohli said that she grew up in Lucknow. She was born in Lahore in undivided India. Her father and mother moved to Lucknow later. The story of her Mother and Father is the story of displacement which is replicated a lot in North India. My Father and Mother gave me education and their value systems, she said. Lucknow and Hyderabad too have deeply secular values, she opined. The Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb that I had growing up in Lucknow influenced my life, Ms. Kohli stated. 

Speaking on how she started in her creative career, Ms. Sunita Kohli said that creativity is the ability to conceptualize. It comes with several influences in our life. It can come from anywhere and any place you see, hear or from even a phrase from poet Rumi. She opined that travel adds to one’s visual education and that there is no substitution for education and research. 

Interior Designing was an unplanned profession, Ms. Kohli said. I taught myself the nuts and bolts of interior design and aesthetics. When I started there were no barriers. If you can do the work you were given the work. Feminism, Enabler, Influencer were not part of our lexicon when we were working. All our drawings / perspectives were hand drawn, she said. Nowadays if someone designs something, they click 20 pics of the same and flood the Facebook and Instagram. We did not have social media then, she said. Feminism is a western concept, I did not face any bias in my work, Ms. Kohli said. 

Speaking about empowered women, Ms. Sunita Kohli said that ‘empowered women’ is contextual in society and is relative. For me it is the ability to empower others. We are privileged to be educated. We must to something for the less privileged, everybody can do something, she said. Every educated woman’s duty is to see others are educated, she stated. You might be a designer, but that is just one aspect of your life, we are much more, she opined. 

Commenting on the success and how we measure success of women, Ms. Kohli said that success is relative. One is as successful as your last project. You are as good as your last project and you are as good as much as you give, she said. 

Acclaimed dancer Ms. Mallika Sarabhai addressing the media prior to the interactive session wished more power to women on the eve of international women’s day. Women are the driving force within family and outside, she said. She said that gathering like these bring attention to women empowerment. It brings to forefront and lays emphasis on women empowerment. 

Addressing the gathering at the interactive session, Ms. Mallika Sarabhai said that Social Media is fire. It can purify or burn. But, we are using it to burn. Social media has power to transform. But, we are using to spread venom. I get lot of hate mails, because of the views I have. In the year 2002, I started speaking against the government. But, in the year 2010, I decided to write back to each person who posted a hate mail. Believe me, 50 per cent write back to me and said that they didn’t expect me not only read but also respond. They felt bad and repented for posting the hate mail. When we get hate mails like that, we must engage them she said. 

Speaking about power of ‘one’ in rapid fire round she said one person can start a storm, one person can create history. One can do many.

Giving her views on ‘Me Too’, Mallika said, it took tremendous courage for women to lead “Me Too” movement. It is very important movement. It is quite natural for some to exploit it, but that is fine.

Mallika Sarabhai said that India is going through an intense transitional phase where women are standing up and are being seen on streets fighting for the idea of India. Women have found their calling and democracy is being celebrated at its best, she stated. 

The Society is changing but it should change faster. Today we have men who can say that I want to be a Chef; I want to be a House-husband. Women have to bring up children to be human beings /  persons first, not just a Hindu or a Muslim. Good health and literacy are key to women empowerment, she said. Joining in renowned Interior Designer Ms. Sunita Kohli said that it is women who have to bring up children differently. Society will not change. Literacy is the key to bring about a change, she opined. 

Women have so many identities... daughter, wife, mother, career woman... we allow society to brand us in gender, religion or caste. We allow us to be cast in a mould, but women are much more. We copy the West but we are much better. We have a tendency to copy bad things a lot. We are more than gender. We are not consumers. We must find out souls as human beings commented Ms. Mallika Sarabhai. Though we are born as human beings but we have to learn to be human beings, she stated. I always make it a point to speak at gatherings so that at least in those 500 people, five many change. And those five may change others, she added. 

Dance is in my DNA, it is what gives me strength and energy for all other activities, she said when she was asked about the role of dance in her life. 

FLO Hyderabad Chairperson Ms. Sona Chatwani shared that out of 150 plus ladies of the toddy selling Dhoolpet community trained in vocational courses by them are being offered jobs. FLO organized training in different vocations like pickle making, cooking, jute bag making, beauty, Mehendi application, and even computer basics. Fifteen ladies were granted micro loans in liaison with Oriental BGank of Commerce, she shared. We also tied up with CIE – Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIIT-Hyderabad - to encourage startups in the areas of deep tech and med tech. FLO Hyderabad steps into its 20th year. 

FLO also honoured its past chairpersons

India to have its Own Social Media Platforms, including WhatApp, Facebook: Amit Dubey, National Security Expert and Advisor to Govt on Personal Data related issues and forthcoming bill

• There are two kinds of people. One set up of people are those who are Hacked or the other are those who are yet to be hacked: Amit Dubey, National Security Expert.


• Lifespan of companies is changing, once in 1935 it was 90years, in 2010, it was 14 years and it is coming down drastically due to disruption: BVR Mohan Reddy

Digital disruption is all around us. A Panel Discussion on Disruptive Technologies and their impact was organised by ESC, Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council as part of the Mega Global MSME Business Summit on the second day of Global Soft 2020 here at HICC, Madhapur on Wednesday.

Interacting with media, on the sidelines of the Panel Discussion, Amit  Dubey, National Security Expert, Author of books Return Of The Trojan Horse and  Hidden Files: Tales of Cyber Crime Investigation, who is also an adviser to the proposed “The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019”, said the draft of the bill is over it is most likely to be placed in Parliament this month. According to him, the ruling government is more keen in getting it passed. Amit Dubey is currently the Deputy CTO with Tech Mahindra. He was one of the Panelists along with Mr BVR Mohan Reddy, Former NASSCOM Chief; Mr. Mandeep Singh Puri, Chairman, ESC; Mr Manoj Chandiramani, IT Business Strategy Consultant & Investor and Mr George Paul, CEO, MAIT.

When asked how to read the sudden and recent announcement of Prime Minister Naredra Modi that he might quit social media in near future, Amit the renowned Crime Investigator on Cyber Forensics and Ethical Hacking to various Indian Investigation Agencies and Police deptt, who is party to many internal discussions in the Ministry said, there were discussions for some time that In the interest of the nation and safety and personal data of its citizens, the government was advised to have their own social media platforms including whatsApp. In fact discussion are active inside many close quarters in the Ministry to have India’s own Facebook, CryptoCurrency and others, he added.

The efforts to secure data of its citizens didn’t yield any results in the past. So many countries across the globe are thinking on these lines. Many countries in Europe, more so Denmark are also thinking on these lines and more nations may follow the suit. The China already has its own Social Media platforms. WhatsApp does not work in China due to restrictions enforced by the state's Great Firewall which censors internet use.

China has WeChat, it is China's billion-user messaging app. It is owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent. It is very popular there and has more than a billion monthly users, just behind Facebook's WhatsApp, he shared.

Replying to a question, participating in the discussion on data privacy, Amit Dubey, Author, National Security Expert and Deputy CTO, Tech Mahindra said, there are two kinds of people in the world. And the one set of people are those who are Hacked and the other set of ones are those who are yet to be hacked.

There is a strong need and responsibility of identifying lapses in the present data protection regulations and preparing more robust and comprehensive data protection laws is very important, he observed.

It’s importance is reiterated with the recent announcement of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, planning to quit social media. A huge amount of personal data of all of us in India is going out of India and we don’t have any control on it.  This has raised a debate that like China, why cant India has its own social media, said Amit Dubey, National Security Expert

Amit added that all the big and richest companies are selling their products free of cost and capturing very useful data of millions.

A prominent speaker and a renowned name on national and international cyber security conferences, Amit is regularly quoted in Indian print and electronic media on global cyber issues. He is also invited by various arms of the Indian government, including its defense forces to train their cyber professionals, acknowledging his authority on cyber security. Many overseas delegates interacted with him eagerly and sought more inputs. 

Participating in the discussion, BVR Mohan Reddy who has seen and created disruption, spoke about importance of disruptive technology and way forward said improved connectivity, storage facility, automation and change of most fundamental substances like Net Generation Genomics and Advanced materials, all are adding up to the disruptive environment.

Because of this disruption, the average life span of many S&P 500 companies is also changing. The average life span of a company in 1935 was 90years, in 1955 it was 45 years, in 1975 it was 26 years, changed to 19 years in 1995 and in 2010 it stood at 14years.

The technology is ubiquitous faster. It took airlines 68 years to gain 50 million users; Automobiles 62 years; telephones 50 years; electricity 46 years; credit cards 28years; TV 22 years; ATM 18years; Computers 14 years; cell phone 12years; internet 7 years; I-pods 4 years; Youtube 4 years, Facebook 3 years; Twitter 2 years, Pokemon Go 19 days, Mr Reddy explained.

Mandeep Singh Puri said, unlike in the past, the change of technology is a daily affair. In the past it used to take many years to see changes. Technology is both destructive as well as constructive. It is how you see is important. Competition is the major driver of the change, he observed. He spoke about Phygital—a mix of the terms Physical & Digital is merging as the important aspects of digital and physical marketing to optimize the customer experience.

The panel discussion was organised as part of the GlobalSoft 2020.

GlobalSoft 2020 is a forum bringing Indian SMEs and Foreign buyers on a single platform. The two day meet concluded here in the city today evening

A Study Finds that 53% Indians Faced Online Abuse on Social Media Platforms

#BeAware, a study conducted by Social Media Matters, Do Your Thing and Institute for Governance, Policies, and Politics revealed that 53% Indians have faced online abuse on Social Media Platforms. Out of these, only 66% reported the incident to the platform, from which 52% reported the cyber crime to the police as well. 

Nearly half of the population of planet earth is actively using the digital spaces to communicate and connect with the global audience. #BeAware studied the awareness and perception of community guidelines and social media reporting mechanisms present on social media. The questionnaire included open and close-ended questions for the participants to share their experiences. A total of 1067 users participated in the study from across India between the period of December 2019 to January 2020.

Institute for Governance, Policies & Politics (IGPP) in their statement said that the research study was done to understand the efficacy of reporting mechanism and community guidelines of social media platforms. It has analysed the responses of nearly a thousand participants based on their experience, perception, and feedback particularly on the issue of hate speech, online abuse, and online financial fraud.

The respondents are covered across states, age-groups, and gender. It is found that online users in the age-group of 22-25 are more exposed followed by above 30. Furthermore, nearly half of the participants are female and transgender who faced such negative experience largely and also reported the case more than male members. However, most netizens are of the opinion that there is a need to raise awareness of reporting mechanism and community guidelines of social media platforms through various methods such as online safety workshop.

The study also stated that 53% of Indian Online Users are not aware of the existing community guidelines by Social Media Platforms. These guidelines primarily set the tone and state policies of the social media platform to deal with violation of rules, illicit cyber behaviour, etc. on social media platforms. 62% of the respondents said that they are aware of the reporting mechanisms but a large number i.e. 73% users recommending escalation of initiatives to raise awareness about community guidelines and reporting mechanisms. 

Commenting on the outcomes of this study, Amitabh Kumar, Founder of Social Media Matters quoted, “More than half the users on social media platforms have faced some kind of abuse, this is not acceptable! To realize our dream for #DigitalIndia it is essential that we make cyberspaces safe. There is a lot of work to be done by Social Media Platforms to achieve this."

53% of the respondents also believed that some improvisations are required to build an efficient reporting mechanism on the Social Media Platforms. #BeAware also gathered user’s recommendations to raise awareness regarding the reporting mechanism of social media in India. 24% respondents believed that offline awareness will help in letting users know about them, 23% believed that online awareness will do the needful and 23% of the respondents selected a combination of various methods to increase awareness.

About Social Media Matters:

A team of Young, Feminist, Social Media Ninjas, working for Social Change. True believers in technology we have been empowering diverse groups. We specialize in all aspects of online safety, from policy to capacity building. We have done Internet safety workshops across India and the globe, created innovative tech solutions such for positive use of social media.

Big Social Media Cos may be Asked to Maintain Database of Active Mobile Number of Users

The information technology (IT) ministry has proposed that significant social media companies should maintain a database of active mobile numbers of all their users for verification purpose under a revised set of rules, according to a source.

The proposal -- aimed at tackling issues related to anonymity of users in the fast-growing social media space -- has been mooted for the first time as part of the amendments likely to be made to the existing IT intermediary rules, the source said.

Social media companies with more than 50 lakh users in India will be categorised as significant social media intermediaries. These companies will also have to comply with stricter obligations, including traceability of users, under the revised rules, the source said.

The ministry has sent a draft of the revised rules to the law ministry for vetting.

According to the source, the revised rules also seeks to draw a distinction between obligations and requirements of 'significant social media companies' as well as all other intermediaries and platforms.

Significant social media intermediaries should do verification and maintain a database of active mobile numbers of all their users, the source told PTI.

By putting in such a requirement, the IT intermediary rules would also be in sync with provisions in the Personal Data Protection Bill. The latter has a provision for verification of social media users, although on a voluntary basis.

"If you look at issues like traceability or anonymity on social media platforms, the problem is that it is largely confined to significant social media players and not all kinds of intermediaries.

"So, it has been proposed that there will be some rules that will apply to all platforms and some extra obligations only for significant social media intermediaries," the source said.

Original draft of the IT rules did not mention about any requirement for maintaining active mobile numbers of all users by significant social media companies.

The original draft said that intermediaries would be required to deploy technology-based automated tools for pro-actively identifying and removing or disabling public access to unlawful information or content while the proposed changes may now restrict the need for automated tools for detecting child sexual abuse material.

The changes proposed by the government in the IT Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, are also expected to help increase the accountability of big social media companies in the backdrop of spread of fake news through such platforms.

The original draft of proposed amendments to the rules was put in the public domain in December 2018 for comments from stakeholders. Later, there were multiple rounds of discussions within the IT ministry on revising the rules. PTI MBI RAM

Ola Gets Caught in Social Media Debate Over Free Speech

Ride hailing platform Ola found itself in the midst of a social media storm on Friday over an emotionally charged political conversation between a passenger and the driver.

A passenger took to Twitter to detail out his conversation with the driver and asked Ola to ensure that "drivers would focus on driving than overhearing conversations and tagging people anti-nationals during their driving duties".

Ola responded to the series of tweets saying it has reported the driver-partner for corrective action.

Following this, #BoycottOla started trending as many Twitter users supported the driver's right to hold his own opinion. Well over 4,700 tweets with #BoycottOla were shared on Twitter.

Thereafter, Ola sent out another tweet saying: "We are respectful of all personal views and like India's democratic values, encourage healthy exchange of thoughts".

"None of the parties involved in this case have been penalised from using the platform and we urge everyone to respect difference of opinion at all times," it added. PTI SR CS SR

TikTok Expands Community Guidelines for Greater Transparency

TikTok on Wednesday said it will remove content that threatens violence or depicts harm to individuals/groups based on attributes including religion, immigration status and national origin.

The short-video platform, which has now expanded its community guidelines to bring greater transparency to the existing rules, said it will also remove underage account holders (below 13 years of age) from the platform.

"We want to be sure users understand TikTok's guidelines, including when and why we place some restrictions on what is or isn't allowed on the app...The Community Guidelines we've published today give users far more detail than previous versions," TikTok said in a blogpsot.

It added that users will begin receiving notifications of the updated guidelines starting on Wednesday.

The platform, which is extremely popular among youngsters globally, including India, said country teams localise and implement these guidelines in accordance with local laws and norms.

Content that violates these guidelines are removed, and accounts involved in severe or repeated violations are suspended or banned.

"Under certain circumstances, we will go one step further and report the accounts to relevant legal authorities to keep our community safe," it noted.

TikTok said the platform will not allow content such as spamming, impersonation and disinformation campaigns, which is intended to deceive or mislead users.

"We do not permit misinformation that could cause harm to our community or the larger public. While we encourage our users to have respectful conversations about the subjects that matter to them, we remove misinformation that could cause harm to an individual's health or wider public safety," it pointed out.

It added that content distributed by disinformation campaigns will be removed, and urged users to not post content that misleads community members about elections or other civic processes.

The company said it does not allow dangerous individuals or organisations to use the platform to promote terrorism, crime, or other types of behaviour that could cause harm.

It asserted that "educational, historical, satirical, artistic, and other content that can be clearly identified as counterspeech" will be exempted.

TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, has about 200 million users in India.

Interestingly, India made the highest number of requests for user information and content removal on TikTok in the first half of 2019, according to the company's first transparency report unveiled recently.

TikTok said it had received 107 total requests (99 legal and 8 emergency) for 143 user accounts between January and June 2019 from India.

In addition, it received 11 government requests for 9 accounts, following which 8 accounts and 4 pieces of content were removed or restricted.

The new guidelines introduced on Wednesday also bar content that reveals or threatens to reveal personally identifiable information like residential address, email address, phone number, bank statement, social security number, or passport number as well as sexual imagery or non-consensual intimate imagery.

TikTok also spelt out that it will not allow users to publish or distribute content that infringes someone else's intellectual property rights. The guidelines also include rules around minor safety, harassment and bullying, and content around suicide and self-harm. PTI SR

Likee Lets you Peek into the Future with #Forecast2020

Likee the pioneering global short video creation platform from Singapore based BIGO Technology has launched a new and exciting feature called Foresee under FaceMagic function. Using same creators will get a glimpse of what the year 2020 will bring them. So far more than 2.5 lakh videos have been generated with the hashtag #Forecast2020 and the number is growing with each passing day.

As part of FaceMagic which is popular one-tap tool that allows users to morph celebrity face in the famous dance/movie scene into their own face Foresee feature works with a users front-facing photo to create a video with a visual representation of his/her future. The feature captures the facial image of the user to morph it in the pre-designed clips corresponding with the future prediction. FaceMagic tool is simple-to-use function that leverages advanced AI technology and offers a wide range of features to users to enhance their creative abilities.

Many Likeers are using this newly added feature for entertainment purpose and are sharing their predictions with friends over Whatsapp Facebook and other social platforms as well. To participate in this unique campaign one can follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. Select FaceMagic


2. Tap on Foresee your 2020


3. Upload a clear front-facing picture


4. Tap create video

Likee #Forecast2020 was launched on January 1 and has earned a fan base of more than 15000 users so far. The campaign is a confluence of fun entertainment and innovation and is a glimpse of Likees upcoming exciting campaigns in the year 2020.

Likee is available in different Indian languages like Hindi Tamil Marathi Telugu Gujarati Bengali Kannada Malayalam and Punjabi. In 2019 Likee had also won the Guinness World Record for creating the Largest online video album of people waving a flag in India during its No matter where I am #IAMINDIAN campaign. The campaign saw more than 1 lac Indians participating in celebrating Indias 73rd Independence Day.In the recent App Annie year-end report on app trends for 2019 Likee has emerged as No 1 in the breakout category and is also the 7thmost downloaded app in 2019.

~ Newsvoir

India made Highest number of Requests to TikTok for User Info, Content Removal in H1 2019

India made the highest number of requests for user information and content removal on short-video platform TikTok in the first half of 2019, ahead of countries like the US and Japan.

According to the company's first transparency report, TikTok received 107 total requests (99 legal and 8 emergency) for 143 user accounts between January and June 2019 from India.

It added that 47 per cent of requests saw some information being produced.

In addition, TikTok received 11 government requests for 9 accounts, following which 8 accounts and 4 pieces of content were removed or restricted.

After India, the US made 79 total requests in the first half of 2019 (for 255 user accounts), of which 68 were legal and 11 were emergency requests. TikTok received six government requests in the US and total accounts specified stood at seven in the said period.

TikTok said like other tech companies, it was occasionally presented with requests from various official bodies, such as government agencies or law enforcement officials.

"These include requests to take down content deemed to be in violation of local laws, or to provide information related to accounts under certain defined circumstances, such as to assist in a criminal investigation or emergency request," it added.

Over the past few years, global tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google have started bringing out transparency reports that share details on government and legal requests for user information.

TikTok said any such request it receives is reviewed for legal sufficiency, to determine whether, for example, the requesting entity is authorised to gather evidence in connection with a law enforcement investigation or to investigate an emergency involving imminent harm.

TikTok also reviews content removal requests from governments closely and evaluates the specified content in accordance with its community guidelines and local laws, it added.

TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, is extremely popular among youngsters in India. However, it has had its share of troubles in the Indian market where it has 200 million users.

Last year, the Madras High Court had directed the Centre to ban TikTok app, saying it was evident from media reports that pornography and inappropriate content were made available through such mobile apps. The order was later lifted and the app was back on app stores.

Later, the Indian government issued notices to TikTok (and group company, Helo) along with a set of 24 questions regarding the alleged misuse of their platforms for "anti-national activities" in India. The company had responded to the notice. PTI SR MBI

Twitter, TrustBridge Led $100 Mn Funding in India's ShareChat, A Non-English Social Media Platform

Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI) Regional social media platform ShareChat on Friday said it has raised USD 100 million in its series D funding with participation from microblogging site Twitter and private equity firm TrustBridge Partners.

Existing investors including Shunwei Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SAIF Capital, India Quotient and Morningside Venture Capital also participated in the funding round.

To date, ShareChat has raised a total of USD 224 million, it said in a statement.

"This new round of funding will help ShareChat strengthen the technology infrastructure for its platform as the company looks to scale its business. Additionally, ShareChat will acquire talent to help propel the exchange of ideas among its strategic partners," it said.

To accelerate the internet ecosystem in India, the company will also be introducing more features to make the experience seamless across devices, it added.

"This is a very exciting time for us at ShareChat as we see our platform growing rapidly. With this new round of funding, we are positioned to take the next leap in our growth story. As we scale up, our focus remains to help the ShareChat community better express themselves in the comfort
of their native language," ShareChat CEO Ankush Sachdeva said.

Commenting on the investment, Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari said, "Twitter and ShareChat are aligned on the broader purpose of serving the public conversation, helping the world learn faster and solve common challenges."

This investment will help ShareChat grow and provide the company's management team access to Twitter's executives as thought partners, he said. PTI DS AP

CBDT Boss Clarifies on I-T Department Snooping on Social Media Posts

It is a "misconception" to think that the Income Tax Department is snooping on social media posts related to exotic foreign tours or possession of expensive goods to check undisclosed income, a top official has said. 

CBDT Chairman P C Mody told PTI during an interview that the tax department does not need to undertake such measures as it is empowered to obtain various information and data sets from multiple agencies and possesses a strong data analytics setup to work out the source and destination of high-value transactions. 

He was asked if the taxman or the I-T Department scans Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media handles of people to obtain secret information about their income and spending behaviour as reported in the past in multiple media reports. 

It has been reported that the taxman will keep a secret eye on social media posts to find out who is undertaking an expensive foreign trip or is flaunting their expensive vehicle or other goods over these platforms, in order to ensure such people or entities pay their due taxes. 

"That is a misconception. Why do we need to go on (social media platforms)?," the CBDT boss told the news agency. 

"We already get to know actual travel details or other financial transactions of a person from authentic sources," he said. 

The CBDT is the policy-making body for the I-T department. 

He added that the Board has deployed an advanced data analytics system that mines and churns a lot of figures and data to understand which sectors should be taxed and where can relief be extended. 

The tax department has named this new system as 'Project Insight', as it provides a 360-degree profiling and insight into an entities' complete transactions trail. 

Mody said the department, backed by these systems, is now working to start an SMS-based service where a person will be intimated about at least 18 different types of transactions they have undertaken above a certain threshold of money. 

"This is to promote a non-adversarial regime between the taxman and the taxpayer. We just inform the person that we know that you have undertaken such and such transactions and hence you should mention these while filing your income tax returns (ITRs) and also pay taxes, if applicable," he said. 

"We have just launched the pre-filled ITRs for certain class of taxpayers. It is aimed to ease tax compliance for taxpayers. 

"We are working to make things hassle-free and work like an accountant for the taxpayer by keeping a record and presenting an automated account of their transactions," he said. 

The department obtains these details from third party agencies like banks, mutual funds, credit card companies, sub-registrar and it is advised that taxpayers should re-check these information before submitting the return as there could be chances that some discrepancies creep in while furnishing of this data, he said. 

In the recent budget, the government has made ITR filing mandatory for high spenders even if their taxable income is below the threshold exemption limit of Rs 5 lakh.

Those mandated to file returns include people spending more than Rs 2 lakh on a foreign trip or depositing Rs 1 crore in a year in a bank account or paying electricity bill of more than Rs 1 lakh in a year.

The CBDT chief said these measures were brought in after data analytics found high spenders were probably not filing their returns. 

"If someone is spending this much, should not their income be taxable? One should see the entire ecosystem around this...," he said. 

The aim is to create a tax compliant society where the honest tax payer is honoured and respected and the tax evader faces the law, he said. 

Mody said it is with this aim that the government and the CBDT has decided to usher in the regime of anonymised assessment where the taxpayer and the assessing officer will not meet each other and the entire tax proceeding would be conducted online.

"That infrastructure for faceless assessment is already provided for. It may need some sort of an augmentation which will definitely be done," he said

~ PTI

Top Image by 1195798 from Pixabay