Atulya Mehta

Ramblings of a restless mind.

[Atulya Mehta @iamAtulyaMehta]

#PMO #MoPR #MoCulture
#HarGharTirangaAbhiyan #Tiranga
#HarGharTiranga #HarGharTiranga2025

[Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India @mopr_goi]

Officers and staff of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj enthusiastically participated in the #HarGharTiranga Abhiyan, demonstrating patriotic fervour and deep respect for the National Flag. The nationwide #HarGharTiranga Abhiyan, which commenced on 2nd August 2025, will culminate on 15th August 2025 with a unified display of the #Tiranga across homes, institutions, and public spaces – symbolizing our shared commitment to national pride and unity.

#PMO #MoPR #MoCulture
#HarGharTirangaAbhiyan #Tiranga
#HarGharTiranga #HarGharTiranga2025

[Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) @internetfreedom]

Statement : The removal of BitChat from the India App Store is unconstitutional. Section 69A permits the blocking of unlawful information, not of a messenger for working during internet shutdowns.

New Delhi, 3 October 2026

An Apple App Review notice published today by Jack Dorsey on X records that BitChat has been removed from the India App Store "per demand from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology", issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, on the ground that the application "includes content that is illegal in India". The notice adds that BitChat's TestFlight builds are no longer available for testing in India. It does not identify the content said to be illegal or the ground under Section 69A invoked. The blocking order has not been published. The Internet Freedom Foundation condemns the order and calls for its immediate publication and withdrawal.

BitChat relays end-to-end encrypted messages between nearby phones over Bluetooth mesh. It has no servers and hosts no content of its own. What travels through it is the private speech of its users, so the claim that the application "includes" illegal content is incoherent. The State's actual objection stands recorded in the notices the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre issued on 23 July 2026 to GitHub, Google and Apple against BitChat, Briar and Bridgefy which stated that such applications work even during internet shutdowns and hamper lawful interception, attribution and traceability. Those notices, issued under Section 79(3)(b) were reportedly withdrawn after public disclosure. The same end has now been pursued through Section 69A. The objection is to capability of an application, not to content it transmits. A citizen's ability to speak to another citizen while the State has switched the internet off is not a ground of restriction under Section 69A or Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

Section 69A survived constitutional scrutiny in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) because of its safeguards which included the need for a reasoned, recorded order, committee review, and a hearing to the originator under Rule 8 of the Blocking Rules, 2009, which the Delhi High Court enforced in Tanul Thakur v. Union of India (2022). Further, Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020) requires that orders restricting fundamental rights be published and adopt the least restrictive measure. However, it appears in this instance, each safeguard has been evaded. A secret order blocking an entire application, rather than any identified unlawful information, is the most restrictive and disproprotionate measure available. Further, the confidentiality claimed under Rule 16 cannot defeat the right to challenge an order, and the constitutionality of this blocking regime is itself pending consideration before the Supreme Court.

While removal from the App Store does not delete BitChat from phones, it stops new downloads and security updates, leaving existing users on unpatched versions, and it ends security testing in India through TestFlight. During the Jantar Mantar protests, when mobile internet was suspended and jammers were deployed, Bluetooth mesh messaging was a channel of last resort through which young people coordinated their safety. To our knowledge, Apple has removed BitChat on a government's demand in only one other country. This is in China, in April this year.

Our demands

1. MeitY must publish the blocking order, the ground invoked and the record of the committee's proceedings, and serve the developers with a copy and an opportunity of hearing.

2. The direction must be withdrawn. Any specific unlawful use must be met with targeted proceedings under due process, not the removal of a communications tool for everyone.

3. Apple must disclose the demand in its transparency reporting and notify its users in India, and must state whether parallel directions have been received in respect of other app stores.

4. The secrecy of the blocking regime must end. The Blocking Rules, 2009 should be amended to require publication of orders and notice to originators, without awaiting the outcome of the pending constitutional challenge.

The Internet Freedom Foundation will file applications under the Right to Information Act seeking a copy of the order, and stands ready to assist the developers and affected users in India.

[jack @jack]

government of India officially removes bitchat from the App Store

[Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India @mopr_goi]

#CharchaMe | How significant are Special Gram Sabhas for rural development and Gram Swaraj, and what roadmap do they establish for the future?

Smt. Palka Sahni, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, shares her perspective on the role of Special Gram Sabhas and their importance in strengthening Gram Swaraj and rural development.

Watch the full conversation below.

#SpecialGramSabha #JanBhagidari

@LalanSingh_1 @OfficeOfLS @spsinghbaghelpr @mos_fahd_pr @mygovindia @MoRD_GoI @DoWRRDGR_MoJS @jaljeevan_ @MoHUA_India @DoLR_MoRD @fooddeptgoi @jagograhakjago @PIBHomeAffairs @MinOfCooperatn @MinistryWCD @MSJEGOI

[Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India @mopr_goi]

विशेष ग्राम सभा | 2 अक्टूबर 2026 🇮🇳

विशेष ग्राम सभा में एकजुट होकर सुशासन से जुड़े महत्वपूर्ण सुधारों पर विचार-विमर्श करें, जमीनी स्तर पर लोकतंत्र को सशक्त बनाएं तथा समावेशी, पारदर्शी और नागरिक-केंद्रित विकास की दिशा में मिलकर आगे बढ़ें।

जनभागीदारी से सुशासन, ग्राम स्तर से राष्ट्र निर्माण।

https://t.co/G3cc5EJbFb

#SpecialGramSabha #JanBhagidari #GandhiJayanti

@LalanSingh_1 @OfficeOfLS @spsinghbaghelpr @mos_fahd_pr @mygovindia @MoRD_GoI @DoWRRDGR_MoJS @jaljeevan_ @MoHUA_India @DoLR_MoRD @fooddeptgoi @jagograhakjago @PIBHomeAffairs @MinOfCooperatn @MinistryWCD @MSJEGOI

[Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India @mopr_goi]

17 सितंबर 2026 को नई दिल्ली स्थित जीवन भारती बिल्डिंग में पंचायती राज मंत्रालय कार्यालय परिसर में स्वच्छता शपथ के साथ #SwachhataHiSeva2026 अभियान की शुरुआत हुई।

#PMOIndia #MoPR #DDWS #MoHUA #SHS2026 #SwachhBharat #SwachhPanchayat #JanBhagidari #SwachhataSeSamriddhi #PanchayatiRaj #SpecialGramSabha #SWMRules2026 #SwachhataHiSeva2026

@NarendraModi | @PMOIndia | @LalanSingh_1 | @spsinghbaghelpr | @mlkhattar | @CRPaatil | @SwachhBharatGov | @SwachhBharat | @MoHUA_India | @MoJSDDWS | @OfficeOfLS | @mygovindia | @PIB_India | @ANI | @PTI_News | @ians_india

[Shivam Roy @shivamroy__]

According to andbhakts:

[Anonymous @YourAnonNews]

@TateNews_ Rot

[Atulya Mehta @iamAtulyaMehta]

@MartijnLammie You do, mirror just reflects everything!!

[Atulya Mehta @iamAtulyaMehta]

@JyotsanaRangee3 @_PVRCinemas STAFF BEHAVIOUR OF PVR IS THE WORST @_PVRCinemas

[Sonam Wangchuk @Wangchuk66]

JUST TO THANK YOU ALL...
It's 5 days since I'm back in my remote village & 12 days since I broke my fast. I've regained 6 of the 11 kilos I lost.
Thank you all for restoring my faith & hope in the youth, in the nation, and in democracy again.

[Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India @mopr_goi]

हर दानवीर की एक पहचान है - अपने गांव से प्यार, अपने गांव के लिए ज़िम्मेदारी। आप भी बनें दानवीर, अपनी ग्राम पंचायत को डिजिटल बनाने में योगदान दें|

#MoPR #DaanVeer #NIC #PanchayatiRaj

@LalanSingh_1 @spsinghbaghelpr @PIBHindi @DDNewslive @ONDC_Official @airnewsalerts @AIRNewsHindi @SumanAugust @Manish_Bhatt_

[Anonymous @YourAnonNews]

This world isn’t collapsing because humanity became too compassionate, too equal or too free. It is collapsing because greedy fucking sociopaths converted governments into protection rackets for wealth and empire.

[Suraj Das (সুরজ দাস) ( he/they) @Sunburn_Suraj]

A new diseases is spreading. Guess what, this Bhramins - baniya are asking to end the reservation.

Just go to any village in UP and ask to stop the castism, and the very next day you will be nowhere in the earth.

As soon as the castism prevalent, reservation should continue.

[Abhijeet Dipke @abhijeet_dipke]

Thank you

[CNN International @cnni]

India's education minister resigns in a major victory for young protesters, whose demonstrations have presented a growing headache for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. https://t.co/wOYypoLpOJ

[Sonam Wangchuk @Wangchuk66]

IT'S A VICTORY OF DEMOCRACY
direct democracy... straight from the streets.
It's a victory of peace, patience & persévérance.
Congratulations CJP, Gen Z of the nation and thank you all citizens for shedding fear and the fear of fear and rising up from every corner of the nation.

FROM ACCOUNTABILITY, NOW TO REFORMS

[Bloomberg @business]

India’s two leading government-backed universities in Delhi have warned its students against joining the ongoing youth protests https://t.co/tU1GrA0Jtw

[Amnesty International @amnesty]

Tear gas and batons. Suspended metro services and mobile internet. Reported unnecessary and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. Demonstrators in India were marching towards parliament to demand the resignation of a Union education minister following alleged examination paper leaks that affected millions of students. The Delhi Police responded with violent crackdowns.

Indian authorities must ensure that all allegations of unlawful conduct against these Cockroach Party-led protests are promptly, independently, and impartially investigated.

[Amnesty International @amnesty]

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor has invoked powers under India's National Security Act that allow police to hold people in administrative detention without procedural guarantees, including the right to be informed of the grounds of detention and the possibility to challenge is before judicial authorities.

This move is deeply concerning. We urge the Delhi Police not to invoke the NSA against peaceful protesters.

Read more: https://t.co/GJXGcIvMMA