Page 401 - Social Issues

Nike shares dip as Kaepernick ad spurs boycott

(Reuters) - Shares of Nike Inc fell nearly 2 percent on Tuesday as calls for a boycott of the sportswear giant gained traction on social media after it chose Colin Kaepernick as a face for adverts marking the 30th anniversary of its "Just Do It" slogan.

Saudi seeks death penalty for prominent cleric: Reports

Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor sought the death penalty against prominent cleric Sheikh Salman al-Awda at the start of his trial Tuesday in Riyadh, a year after his arrest, media said. Awda faces 37 charges, the pro-government Okaz newspaper and other media close to the Saudi government reported, without offering any details. Awda was among more than 20 people arrested in September 2017 in a widening crackdown on dissent in the ultra-conservative kingdom. There was no immediate statement by the public prosecutor's office. "Reports that Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Awda," tweeted Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Bringing the death penalty into a case like this is a major escalation in the level of repression." Awda was hospitalised in the western city of Jeddah after almost five months in solitary confinement, Amnesty International said in January, citing family members. The rights group said his ..

MP govt to grant 30-day jail term waiver to select prisoners

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to grant a 30-day jail term waiver to those prisoners who fulfil the criteria to be prescribed soon, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced. Madhya Pradesh is going to the assembly polls later this year along with Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram. Chouhan also announced to provide bindis, bangles, sindur and hair bands to women prisoners. "The government will pardon 30 days of total jail period of eligible prisoners lodged in various jails in the state," the chief minister said Monday (September 3) night, after visiting the Bhopal Central Jail. Chouhan dedicated newly-constructed open jails in Indore and Sagar through video conferencing at the Janmashtami programme organised in the Bhopal Central Jail. Speaking on the occasion, Chouhan said he had approved the jail department's proposal to provide bindis, bangles, sindur and hair bands to women prisoners and brush and shaving kit for men prisoners. "The ideal ...

CWC asked to conduct regular inspection of foster homes: NCPCR

Child welfare committees have been instructed to inspect foster homes every month for the first three months and then after every six months, NCPCR said, amid a rise in incidents of sexual abuse of children at child care institutions. The National Commission For Protection of Child Rights has come up with a user guide in collaboration with Centre Of Excellence in Alternative Care (India) to boost foster care system in the country. The manual is aimed at giving a clear understanding of what foster families are and ways to benefit children who are under institutional care, according to an NCPCR official. "India faces a greater challenge in deinstitutionalisation because of its size, geography, economy and the fact that foster care is a fairly recent development. It is therefore important to develop a model of foster care that works for India," the official said. The guidebook comes in the backdrop of reports of sexual abuse of children at child care institutions across the country. The .

Infants can pick out leaders from bullies: Study

Infants, by the age of 2, have the potential to distinguish between the power asserted by a leader and a bully, finds a study, shedding light on how babies make sense of the world.

HDFC ERGO makes Cyber Insurance Personal with the launch of E@Secure

HDFC ERGO, India's third-largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector, today announced the launch of 'E@Secure', a Cyber Insurance Policy for individuals. This policy aims at providing comprehensive protection to individuals and their families against any cyber-attacks, cyber frauds or digital threats that could lead to a financial loss and or reputational loss.Today, India is the second largest online market, with a huge potential for exponential growth. But, this great opportunity comes with the menace of cyber risks and frauds which, too, have been growing significantly. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 2016, there has been an increase in the incidence of Cyber Crimes by 6.3 per cent in 2016 (12,317) over 2015 (11,592).HDFC ERGO's E@Secure Insurance policy offers comprehensive protection against cyber risks and frauds carried out from any device and from any location worldwide. Various cyber risks such as unauthorized online transactions, ...

Victims of Hyderabad twin blasts seek capital punishment for

Victims of the twin blast that occurred in 2007 at Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park here, seek capital punishment for culprits of the ghastly incident. A local court here Tuesday convicted two Indian Mujahideen operatives Aneeq Shafique Sayeed and Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chowdhari and acquitted two others in the case. The quantum of sentence for the convicted Indian Mujahideen operatives will be announced next Monday. Chander Nayak, one of the victims who lost an eye in the blast said he was disappointed over the acquittal of two of the accused and sought the state government to appeal against their acquittal in the High Court. "As per the Indian law the highest punishment is hanging. I want those convicted to be hanged. And also the government should seize all the properties of those convicted and distribute it to the victims," Nayak said holding a placard which read Telangana Chief Minister should help victims. Nayak, then 18 years old, went to Koti area to buy some old books .

Cynthia Nixon identifies herself 'queer' instead of 'lesbian'

Actress-turned-politician Cynthia Nixon prefers to be identified as a queer instead of labelling herself as a lesbian.

Spain trial over 'stolen babies' resumes

Spain's first trial linked to thousands of suspected cases of babies stolen from their mothers during the Franco era resumed at a Madrid court on Tuesday, decades after the scandal broke. Eduardo Vela, 85, a former gynaecologist at the now-defunct San Ramon clinic in Madrid, is accused of having in 1969 taken Ines Madrigal, now aged 49, from her biological mother and given her to another woman, who then raised her and was falsely certified as her birth mother. "It's an important day. We hope the trial will wrap up today and enter the sentencing phase," Madrigal told reporters as she arrived at the court. Activists say hundreds of similar cases dating back to the right-wing dictatorship of 1939 to 1975 have failed to make it to court in Spain because of a lack of evidence or because the time limit to file charges has passed. In a dark and often overlooked chapter of General Francisco Franco's dictatorship, the newborns of some left-wing opponents of the regime, as well as of unmarried .

Ability to forego instant rewards boosts future income

The ability to delay gratification -- sacrificing smaller, instant benefits for the prospect of larger future rewards -- is among the most important factors predicting higher income, say scientists who used artificial intelligence to rank determinants of affluence. The researchers from Temple University in the US found that education and occupation were the best predictors. However, ability to delay instant gratification beat factors like age, race, ethnicity and height. Published in Frontiers in Psychology, the study suggests that interventions to improve this "delay discounting" could have literal payoffs in terms of higher income attainment. Many factors are related to how much money a person will earn, including age, occupation, education, gender, ethnicity and even height. Behavioral variables are also implicated, such as one relating to the famous "marshmallow test." This study of delay discounting, or how much a person discounts the value of future rewards compared to immediate

Soldiers should get access to social media within line of control: Army Chief

Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, who doesnt carry a cellphone, on Tuesday said soldiers could not be denied access to the social media and they should be allowed to use smartphones within a line of controlled discipline.

Barking dogs disturbing Lalu's sleep at hospital

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad's request to change his hospital ward has been sent to jail authorities, Director of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), RK Shrivastav, said on Tuesday."Lalu Prasad has requested to change his ward because of disturbance caused due to the barking of dogs. His request has been sent to jail authorities. We have written to the Municipal Corporation to remove dogs from the vicinity," he told ANI.Lalu, who is undergoing treatment at RIMS under jail custody, complained of barking dogs and toilet stench at night disturbing his sleep. Citing the problems, he applied for a shift to the paying ward from the super specialty ward.On August 25, the former Bihar chief minister was discharged from a hospital in Mumbai after receiving treatment for chest pain and low haemoglobin count.The 70-year-old leader was initially admitted to Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute, but was later shifted to RIMS.Lalu is convicted in four cases of multi-crore ...

UK universities group calls for new post-study visa to attract Indian students

An influential representative body for the UK's leading universities on Tuesday called for a new post-study visa in an attempt to address a massive fall in international student numbers from countries like India. The UK scrapped its post-study work visa in 2012, which had allowed international students from countries like India to stay in the UK and work for up to two years after graduation. Prof Steve Smith, Chair of Universities UK's International Policy Network, said the "dominant reason" quoted by Indian students for choosing other overseas education destinations was the lack of an attractive post-study work option. Smith, who is the Vice-Chancellor of University of Exeter, warned that the UK is in danger of losing its position as one of the world's leading destinations for international students unless a "more welcoming message" was sent out. "The issue of post-study has loomed large. We think the UK is missing out on students looking to study overseas," Smith said. "We think our

Tech giants now share details on political ads; what does that mean for you

We tried out new tools from Facebook, Google and Twitter that let you look up campaign ads. Here's what the databases can - and cannot - do

Aurora Prize laureate Aung to donate USD 1 mln award money to help Rohingya refugees

Aurora Prize Laureate Kyaw Hla Aung, a noted lawyer and activist from Myanmar, on Tuesday announced he would donate his USD 1 million award money towards humanitarian relief work among Rohingya refugees. He was given the award this year for his fight against injustice and advocating on behalf of the Rohingya people. The money will be distributed among three international organisations -- Mdecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and MERCY Malaysia -- providing medical aid and assistance to Rohingya refugees across South East Asia, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative (AHI) has announced. MSF, UK, will receive USD 400,000, while MERCY Malaysia and the ICMC USD 300,000 each. This initiative will benefit around 3,75,000 Rohingya refugees, a media release said. The AHI, founded on behalf of the Armenian Genocide survivors, seeks to help those in urgent need of basic humanitarian aid. MSF is directing the funds to further advance the emergency ...

Venezuela accuses UN for trying to orchestrate 'intervention'

Venezuela's government on Monday accused the United Nations of exaggerating its migration crisis to justify "international intervention." Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the government had complained to UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres that "individual officials" have been portraying "a normal migratory flow as a humanitarian crisis to justify an intervention." The UN says 1.6 million Venezuelans since 2015 have fled economic meltdown in the country, which has been hit by shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicine. Venezuela is in a fourth year of recession while the International Monetary Fund has predicted inflation in the South American country will reach one million percent this year. The flood of migrants abandoning their country to seek a better life elsewhere has left countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru creaking under the strain. Speaking at a press conference, Rodriguez said UN officials had been using data from "enemy countries" and ...

Come forward and build 'new Odisha': Pradhan to migrant Odias

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday urged the Odia community residing in other states to come forward and work towards building a 'new Odisha'."Migrant Odias have had a significant contribution in the development of other states. Time has come to create a new identity of Odisha. Odias have to become entrepreneurs and not just employees. We all have to come forward and build a 'New Odisha'," Pradhan tweeted."The juggernaut needs to be kept rolling for Odisha to be the hub of economic development. Odisha's rice and fisheries has a huge demand in the gulf. We have to create ample opportunities for entrepreneurship in the state for the overall development of Odisha and its people," he added.Pradhan attended the closing ceremony of the Odisha Parba in Surat today."I am thankful to the people of Surat. They have showed their big heart by conducting Odisha Parv. We were earlier conducting it in Delhi. Now the people of the Odia community have done it in Surat. Odia community has a ...

Issues for 2019 LS polls: From women empowerment to farmers' interests

Women empowerment, protecting farmers' interests, economic equality, education and health are some of the major issues identified by citizens ahead of the 2019 parliamentary election, said a forum on Monday. The agendas were the outcome of a voting process conducted under the platform of the National Agenda Forum, said a statement. The forum was launched by the Indian Political Action Committee, an advocacy group. More than 57 lakh people participated in the voting process, the statement said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi were considered the best leaders to execute the identified agendas, it said.

Maha arms haul accused was in touch with man held in high-profile murder in K'taka: ATS to court

The Maharashtra police told a city court on Monday that former Shiv Sena corporator Shrikant Pangarkar, arrested in the arms haul case, was in touch with an accused who is in custody of their Karnataka counterparts in connection with a high-profile murder case. According to sources, the said accused is Amol Kale, arrested in connection with the killing of Gauri Lankesh, a Bengaluru-based journalist, in September last year. Pangarkar and three other accused in the arms haul case -- Sharad Kalaskar, Vaibhav Raut, Sudhanwa Gondhalekar -- were produced before Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Padalkar after their police remand ended. The fifth accused Avinash Pawar is in ATS custody till Tuesday. They were arrested last month by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in connection with the seizure of arms and ammunition from different parts of the state. Seeking extension of Pangarkar's remand, the ATS told the court they had received a report from the Karnataka police that his name was

Man from Rajasthan held with gold worth over Rs 1 cr in Kerala

A man from Rajasthan has been arrested on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border for allegedly carrying 3.75 kg of gold worth over Rs 1 crore without valid documents, Customs authorities said Monday. Lalithkumar was taken into custody by the Kerala Excise officials yesterday and the gold, believed to be of foreign origin, was handed over to the Customs preventive unit in Palakkad, Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said. He was on the way to Palakkad from Coimbatore when he was apprehended at Walayar check post, he added. Later, the man was produced before a court here and remanded to judicial custody till September 17.