It began like a lot of other events in India. I was a little late as I swiftly walked into a packed audience, a whirlwind of activity on stage and a scramble of photographers and videographers jostling for position.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation bloc, is set to recommend tighter privacy and security for services like Facebook-owned message service WhatsApp and Microsoft’s video phone portal Skype. Spokesman Christian Wigand said that “we can confirm that the commission is working on an update of EU telecoms rules” next month to “ensure a high level of protection for people and a level playing field for all market players”. “The commission is analysing to what extent so-called over-the-top service providers (OTT) like WhatsApp and Skype are providing services that are equivalent to those provided by traditional telecoms operators,” Wigand said. “The commission is considering whether the scope of the current EU rules needs to be adapted, to maintain consistently high levels of consumer protection, security of networks and servers, and to ensure that regulation does not distort competition.”

“Police not only gave Amnesty permission to hold the event but also did not act against the anti-national elements though they were present at the event when the slogans were raised,” he said. At Tumakuru, about 70 km from here, at least 200 ABVP activists staged a protest against the anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans allegedly raised by some students of the Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology.

After this…