Ankit Fadia has been named ambassador for PM Modi's Digital India campaign
Ankit Fadia, who calls himself an ethical hacker, has been named brand ambassador for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Digital India" plan, a decision that has touched off a firestorm on social media.
Mr Fadia, 30, is one of the four names announced by the government last evening. The others are Satwat Jagwani, a 17-year-old who topped this year's IIT entrance exam, Krati Tiwari, who topped the same exam among girls, and computer scientist Pranav Mistry of Samsung USA.
The controversy erupted two days ago when Mr Fadia posted on Facebook that he had been appointed ambassador for Digital India, at a time the mega project was the highlight of PM Modi's meetings with Silicon Valley giants in the US. "Humbled and honoured to be appointed as one of the brand ambassadors to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' initiative," said the post.
As the declaration raised scorn on Twitter, the government issued a denial and said on Tuesday: "There has been no such move to appoint a brand ambassador as reported."
But the post on the government's publicity website was removed within an hour, and in the evening, another press statement confirmed the names of four brand ambassadors.
The most debated among them is Mr Fadia, who shot to fame when at 15 with his book "Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking".
Given his reputation as a hacker, there has been much outrage online. Many called him a self-proclaimed internet security expert whose claims had been exposed many times over the years. An author of several books on cybersecurity, he has also faced allegations of plagiarism.