Aus PM seeks India’s support in FB face-off
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reached out to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for support in his fight against Facebook over a proposed law that aims to make the social media giant pay for sharing content from media organisations.
SCOTT MORRISON
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reached out to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for support in his fight against Facebook over a proposed law that aims to make the social media giant pay for sharing content from media organisations.
The matter figured in a phone call between Morrison and Modi on Thursday, amid worldwide outrage over Facebook blacking out news and media content for its users in Australia and barring them from sharing news articles.
Morrison said in a tweet on Friday he and his “good friend” Modi “discussed progress of our [Australia’s] media platform bill” but didn’t give details. He said India and Australia, as comprehensive strategic partners, can work together on common challenges such as Covid-19, the circular economy and an open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Morrison also told the media in Sydney on Friday that the law figured in his call with Modi. “There’s a lot of interest in it. People are looking at what Australia doing,” he said.
There was no official word from the Indian side on the conversation. Modi said in a tweet on Thursday that he and Morrison had reiterated their commitment to consolidating the comprehensive strategic partnership and discussed “regional issues of common interest”. He added: “Look forward to working together for peace, prosperity and security in the Indo-Pa
Great to talk to my good friend PM @narendramodi again... We also discussed progress of our media platform bill
A cific.” In a message posted on Facebook on Wednesday, Morrison had said he was “in regular contact with the leaders of other nations” over “Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia...cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services”. He described Facebook’s actions as “arrogant” and “disappointing”.
Morrison’s raising of the issue with Modi on Thursday was the “first step of a plan to mobilise global support to stop Facebook ‘bullying’ elected governments”, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Morrison’s government is also preparing for a long-drawn battle with the tech giant if needed, the report said. Anger grew in Australia after Facebook also blacked out posts from essential government departments such as state health departments, fire and rescue services and the Bureau of Meteorology, and crisis services such as Suicide Prevention Australia. Facebook has some 17 million users in Australia.
Australia’s move to lobby India for support is understandable as the country is estimated to have at least 300 million Facebook users and is the tech giant’s largest market worldwide. In his post on Facebook, Morrison said the company’s actions “only confirm the concerns that an increasing number of countries are expressing about the behaviour of BigTech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them”.
He added, “They may be changing the world, but that doesn’t mean they run it.”
Morrison said Australia will “not be intimidated by BigTech seeking to pressure our Parliament as it votes on our important News Media Bargaining Code. Just as we weren’t intimidated when Amazon threatened to leave the country and when Australia drew other nations together to combat the publishing of terrorist content on social media platforms.”
CHANDIGARH : For the upcoming wheat procurement, expected to begin from April 1 in Punjab, the Centre has allowed the state government to make disbursal of crop payments to farmers either directly or through the arhtiyas (commission agents).
As mandated by the Centre, state’s food and civil supplies department has already implemented public finance management system (PFMS) two years ago and have made payments of two each rabi and kharif crops through the system. “The central ministry (food and public distribution) had earlier asked the Punjab government to make mandatory direct payment to farmers through the PFMS system and has given a deadline to implement it in the upcoming rabi (wheat) procurement, but there are farmers who are reluctant to adopt this system,” said state’s food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
He added that at a meeting with home minister Amit Shah
on Wednesday in Delhi, the issue was discussed and state the government was allowed to make it optional on the pattern of Haryana. Shah’s meeting with Ashu took place after Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh took up the matter with the latter. The issue cropped up as the Centre wants the states, particularly Punjab and Haryana, where foodgrains are procured in huge quantities, to restrict the role of arhtiyas. “For that, we have to amend our agricultural produce
marketing committee (APMC) act so as to negate the role of arhtiyas. However, on state’s request, the home minister has agreed that in case farmers give the consent for getting payment through arhtiyas, there is no problem,” said Ashu, hoping that an official order is also expected in the coming week.
The state government has started the process for wheat procurement and sought Rs 24,400 crore as cash credit limit (CCL) from the Centre. As per the state agriculture department’s estimate of a bumper crop, the state food department is making preparations to procure 132 lakh tonnes grain through the state’s five procurement agencies and the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
Centre positive about RDF
Ashu said the the home minister was also apprised about the importance of rural development fund (RDF) for development in Punjab’s rural belt and demanded the release of pending 2% for the kharif (paddy) procurement. The Centre has only released 1% RDF (Rs 400 crore) asking the state to make justification for 3% as charged by the state on the purchase of food grains from the state.
Shortage of gunny bales
The state food and civil supplies department is facing a shortage of 1 lakh gunny bales against the required 3.79 bales. “I took up the matter with the home minister and he agreed to get this sorted also,” said Ashu.