Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's take on anonymity in social media Vs. police investigators

A woman police officer receiving police medal

ANONYMITY in social media is testing capacities of even most experienced police investigator in India, Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said while inaugurating the annual conference of DGPs and IGPs in New Delhi on Thursday. “Police forces will have to develop skills in this area (in social networking) not just for locating malicious...
content but also for identifying those responsible for posting it,” he said.
Union minister further informed the gathering that a nine-member standing committee of DGPs headed by Director, Intelligence Bureau, is constituted to suggest best practices and standard operating procedures for any aspect of police operations and also propose assessments on any contemporary issue of national security.
The following is what Shinde said on growing use of social media by anti-social elements. He, however, did not name any social media networking sites.
“There is increasing evidence of resort taken by terrorists to the cyber-space domain. The recent incidents in Bengaluru in Karnataka, Pune in Maharashtra and other states of India where motivated rumours and irresponsible use of the social networking media posed a new challenge. Besides providing a pervasive infrastructure for discreet communication, cyberspace is proving to be a facilitator for malevolents seeking to enlist new recruits and to purvey a distorted version of the reality. Anonymity that the user acquires in this medium can sometimes test the capacities of even the most experienced Police investigator. Police forces will have to develop skills in this area not just for locating malicious content but also for identifying those responsible for posting it.”

Action and Appointments

a) The Central deputation tenure of Upamanyu Basu, a 1989 batch IRS-IT officer and director in department of higher education, has been extended for a period of six months beyond August 26, 2012.
b) The Central deputation tenure of G Srinivas, a 1990 batch Orissa cadre IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of mines, has been extended for a period of three months beyond August 19, 2012.
c) Ms Soma Roy Burman, a 1986 batch ICAS officer, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as financial adviser (joint secretary level),  in NATGRID under home ministry.
d) The Central deputation tenure of Ravi Mital, a 1986 batch Bihar cadre IAS and Adviser (Plan Coordination) in the Planning Commission, has been extended for a period of nine months beyond October 10, 2012.