Morning Digest | Supreme Court says EVMs are accurate unless they are maligned by human bias; X takes down four posts on EC order, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on April 17, 2024

Supreme Court says EVMs are accurate unless they are maligned by human bias

The Supreme Court on Tuesday disagreed with the idea of a return to paper ballots to restore the “little man’s” confidence in the electoral process, saying machines give “absolutely accurate results” unless human bias maligns them. “Human weaknesses, including bias, may lead to a problem. Machines without human intervention would give absolutely accurate results,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna, heading a two-judge Bench, observed.

X takes down four posts by leaders of BJP, AAP, YSR Congress, TDP on Election Commission of India order

Social media platform X (formerly Twitter), released a letter by the Election Commission of India (EC) ordering a takedown of four posts on the platform by political leaders in the YSR Congress Party, the Telugu Desam Party, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The company said that it disagrees with the takedown order issued by the EC, and that “freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general”. The company has taken the tweets down in India, but they are visible from non-Indian Internet connections.

Heavy floods hit Dubai, airport as Oman toll rises to 18

Torrential rain flooded roads, homes and malls and briefly halted operations at Dubai’s airport as storms lashed the Gulf on Tuesday, after leaving at least 18 dead in Oman. The airport began diverting all incoming flights.

In letter to Irish newspaper, Indian Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra praises PM Modi, criticises Opposition