000-tobecategorised

Inside the BJP’s WhatsApp Machine  https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/inside-bjps-whatsapp-machine

Abhishek Kumar, a senior fact-checker at the Indian nonprofit Alt News, told Rest of World that “the information spread with this particular Old video of polics shown immediately after Ram Mandir inauguration, claiming to be current)  video is not only false, but it also glorifies police brutality and is being shared praising it.”

Kiran Garimella, an assistant professor at Rutgers University who researches WhatsApp in India, told Rest of World the app reaches people that other platforms don’t, including remote communities. “There are a number of people in India who only use WhatsApp,” he said.

According to a report in the Deccan Herald, there are now at least 5 million WhatsApp groups operated by the BJP in India. Unnamed party leaders told the Herald the BJP’s WhatsApp infrastructure is so powerful that it can disseminate information from Delhi to any location in the country within 12 minutes.

Garimella, the Rutgers researcher, said the BJP’s “extreme coordination” and prowess on WhatsApp could benefit them. The closed nature of WhatsApp — only people in a group can see the content shared there — is also a concern. Unlike social media platforms such as X or Facebook, conversation in WhatsApp groups is usually hidden from public view, and largely goes unmoderated and unscrutinized.

There is a strict hierarchy to the BJP’s operations. Every day, the party’s offices in New Delhi send messages to be shared across groups at regional and local levels. Bragta, who is based in Himachal Pradesh's capital city, Shimla, said he religiously looks at updates from Delhi in the morning to understand what narrative-building is supposed to be done for the day. He also hosts daily half-hour meetings with workers across the state. “We discuss issues and get feedback,” he said. “While sitting in Shimla, I will not get to know about Himachal. They will tell me.”

Garimella, the Rutgers University researcher, told Rest of World the lack of pro-Congress or anti-BJP WhatsApp messages was consistent with his findings from previous research on WhatsApp in a village in the state of Jharkhand, which is known for frequent incidents of communal violence. “We have also seen in our database that pro-Congress or anti-BJP content does not exist. It is less than 1%,” he said. “These guys [the BJP] are so well-coordinated that the opposition doesn’t have any comparable infrastructure.”

Singh, the former BJP consultant, told Rest of World that by dominating WhatsApp, the BJP had effectively completed its capture of mass media in India. “It is concerning, because it distorts the level playing field,” he said. “The narrative of other parties is not reaching the public because they do not have distribution in place. Better narrative does not ensure a win, better distribution does.”

A water warrior with a vision https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/water-warrior-vision  Her vision is clear, to push forward for the demand to legalise the right of the river to flow, unbound, clean, bubbling with life.

Why Urban Rivers Are Dying by Shailaja Deshpande May 16, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ZArdT-FtM
Shailaja Deshpande, Jeevitnadi Founder, explains what happens with rivers when pollution enters. What is dissolved oxygen? What is meant by oxygen demand? What exactly happened at Dehu fish kill? What is happening at Blue Ridge? Why is there a tendency to build along river banks?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-TQKcq-cm4  Reviving Urban Rivers Through People's Participation | Shailaja Deshpande Apala paryavaran Historically it has been observed that human settlements often evolved alongside water & near lakes or rivers. The river passing through a city offers ecosystem services that can be seen as a provisioning, regulating and a supporting system. It not only serves as source of water supply, but also helps in balancing flood control and landscape ecology.

Example: by Adv Krunal Ghare

The sewage discharge that has happening through 2 storm lines near the fragile fresh water stream near vaidehi society is down to a trickle..there is still some small sewage flow but right now the quantity of fresh water is much higher.. that means vaidehi society members your flat values just appreciated by multiple percentage points. I look forward to a small cup of chai.. 

2. PVPIT area sewage infrastructure is now part of Ramnadi Project and is also part of this year's budget and implementation . After the tanker sewage disposal issue was highlited .. the PMC officials right from Commissioner, Addl Commissioner and Department heads have supported this cause whole heartedly.. so now we will finally have a sewage infrastructure in part of bavdhan that has been in PMC since 1997.

3. The new line work from Baner towards someshwarwadi has begun. Was shared photo updates by Officials of work done. This financial year the line will reach Someshwar wadi. PWD has approved tenders for the line from Someshwarwadi and upstream.

articles on  the work of Jeevitnadi, 

 [Breathing life into the dying rivers of Pune](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/breathing-life-dying-rivers-pune)
[Preserve the ecological integrity of rivers: A statement on riverfront development in Pune](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/preserve-ecological-integrity-rivers)
[Pune's river rejuvenation project, a question of social justice](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/punes-river-rejuvenation-project-question-social-justice)
[Damned by pollution, doomed by beautification](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/damned-pollution-doomed-beautification)
[The Muthai river walk](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/reminiscence-riverside)
[The slow death of a river](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/slow-death-river-0)
[Water fleas see red as river Mula Mutha chokes](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/water-fleas-see-red-river-mula-mutha-pune-chokes)
[Urban water bodies, treasure troves of biodiversity](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/urban-waterbodies-treasure-troves-biodiversity)
[Taking people along, to conserve freshwater ecosystems](https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/taking-people-along-conserve-freshwater-ecosystems)

BJP को अब RSS की ज़रूरत नहीं? ये क्या कह गए नड्डा! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXR4TXLTg6A Ravish Kumar Officia

https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/nadda-on-bjp-rss-ties-we-have-grown-more-capable-now-the-bjp-runs-itself-9336205/ Nadda on BJP-RSS ties: We have grown, more capable now… the BJP runs itself
Says party has no plan for temples at the disputed sites in Mathura and Kashi..  RSS is a cultural and social organisation and we are a political organisation… It’s not the question of need. It’s an ideological front. Woh ideologically apna kaam karte hain, hum apna. We are managing our affairs in our own way. And that’s what political parties should do.”