Oh dear!

IN Media Watch Briefs | 14/06/2016

HRD minister Smriti Irani never shies away from a Twitter spat. This afternoon, Bihar Congress leader Ashok Chaudhary snarkily addressed her as “Dear @smritiirani ji” and asked her to take time off from politics and pay attention to the new education policy. The ever pugilistic Irani hit back immediately — “Since when have you started addressing women as ‘dear’, ” she quizzed Chaudhary. While hundreds of her 3.8 million followers solemnly retweeted the minister’s repartee, others reacted with whoops of delight, wondering why she had taken umbrage at the word. It is a standard term of address, or didn’t the minister with her, er, somewhat dubious academic background, know it? Trust Smriti Irani to brighten up a dull afternoon on Twitter.

TAGS

Smriti Irani HRD

Subscribe To The Newsletter

Media Watch Briefs

Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.