Page 58 - Social Issues
Social media plays key role in influencing first-time voters: Report
A survey conducted by a digital marketing company has claimed that nearly one-third of first-time voters were influenced by political messages on social media platforms in the ongoing general elections. As many as half of around 15-crore first-time voters received political messages through various social media platforms, said the report based on an online survey of around 25 lakh participants. Political movement on social media was higher in 2019 Lok Sabha elections than in 2014, the report by ADG Online said. "30 per cent of 150 million first-time voters are engaged and influenced through social media platforms, political messages have reached out to 50 per cent of first-time voters through social media and rest 20 per cent are aware of the developments in the country," the report said. Social media messages have a greater influence on youths, the report said adding that more than 50 per cent voters influenced by social media are less than 25 years of age. As per the survey report, .
Protests against Harsimrat Badal result of people's anger against SAD: Captain Amarinder Singh
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday ridiculed Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal's allegations that his government was not doing enough to prevent "anti-social elements" from disrupting her poll rallies."It was the people's wrath that they were venting out on Shiromani Akali Dal leaders," he said.Expressing surprise over protests against the Akali leader, Singh said, "Anger of the people who had been victimised for the last 10 years by the Badals and their cronies was now finding a voice.""The fact that Harsimrat was prevented from entering a village in her own constituency only showed that 'karma' was catching up fast with the Badals, who had made the people of Punjab shed tears of blood over their decade-long misrule," Singh said in a statement.The Union Minister sat on a dharna on Maur-Rampura road in Bathinda alleging the police's failure to stop "anti-social elements from disrupting her election meetings and showing black flags."She also launched her protest .
Bangladesh rescues 23 Rohingya girls from traffickers
Twenty-three teenage Rohingya girls were rescued after being brought from refugee camps to the capital Dhaka to be sent to Malaysia by air, Bangladesh police said Sunday. Dhaka police also arrested four human traffickers including a Rohingya couple and recovered over 50 Bangladeshi passports from them on Saturday. Police spokesman Mokhlesur Rahman said they raided a residence in the northern part of the city and found the teenagers hiding in a room behind a tailoring shop. "They were promised jobs in Malaysia and brought from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar," he told AFP, referring to the Rohingya settlements in Bangladesh's southeastern coastal district. The girls -- aged between 15 and 19 -- could have been potential victims of forced prostitution, the official said. "We have filed cases against the four arrested persons and sent the girls back to their camps in Cox's Bazar," Rahman said. Abul Khair, local police chief of Ukhiya, where Kutupalong, the largest refugee camp in the world,
Differently abled voters beat the odds, cast their votes with sense of duty
Beating the odds, differently abled voters turned up at polling stations across the city on Sunday to cast their votes for the Lok Sabha election with a sense of duty towards the nation. Twenty-three-year-old Shivank Shukla, who cast his vote at a polling station in Aurangzeb Lane in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency, said, "If I can go to a shopping mall on a wheelchair, I can come here too because it's very important." Shukla, who met with an accident at the age of 17 making his lower limbs dysfunctional, happily posed for shutterbugs flashing his inked finger after casting his vote. "I could not cast vote in 2014 despite being eligible for it, but this time I decided that I have to do it," he said. Badri, 30, who has paralysis in his legs, was accompanied by a neighbour who offered him a ride on his motorcycle to a polling station in Laxmi Nagar of the East Delhi constituency. He claimed that his pension from the municipal corporation was pending for more than one month and .
Transgenders excited to cast vote first time under gender identity of their choice
Excited about casting their votes under their chosen gender identity for the first time in general elections, the transgender voters in the national capital flaunted their inked fingers and expressed hope for a government which ensures them a better future. This is the first time that transgenders are casting their votes under the category after Supreme Court had declared them as the "third gender" in 2014. Earlier they had to cast their votes as male or female. For 32-year-old Janasheen, it was an incredible experience. "I have voted before but this is the first time I am voting as a transgender, an identity which I am proud of now. I have also posted a selfie on my WhatsApp status with my inked finger," Janasheen said. Sapna Bai, a transgender who cast her vote in Matia Mahal said, "I am very happy that I can cast my vote as what I really am. I want a new government which thinks about us and also consider us equally on their agenda". 18-year-old Dummy wanted her chosen government to
Death demanded for rape accused in Kashmir
Protesters blocked a highway in the Shadipora area of Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday demanding death penalty for a man accused of raping a three-year-old girl of Trehgam village on Thursday.
Amarinder rejects Harsimrat's claim of misusing official machinery
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday rejected Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal's accusations of the Congress disrupting her poll rallies. "The anger of the people who had been victimised for 10 years by the Badals and their cronies are now finding voice," Singh said, expressing surprise that Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate from Bathinda, was facing protests only in some villages and not all over the states. Badal had on Saturday accused the police of playing into the hands of the ruling Congress, alleging that it refused to take action against some miscreants who tried to disrupt her poll rally in Bathinda. Singh said it was the "wrath of the people that they were venting against the sufferings meted out by the SAD on them for 10 years". The fact that Badal was prevented from entering a village in her own constituency only showed that "karma" was catching up fast with the Badals, who had made the people of Punjab shed "tears of blood over their decade-long ...
Bangladesh charges extremists over gay activist murders
Eight Islamist extremists from a banned group were charged by Bangladesh police Sunday for the 2016 murders of two prominent gay rights activists. Dhaka police's counter terrorism unit filed the charge-sheet against the eight men, saying they were members of Ansar al Islam, deputy commissioner of police Mohibul Islam Khan told AFP. "Among them four have been arrested and the rest are still at large," he said, adding the group was led by Syed Ziaul Haque, a sacked Bangladesh army major who was leading the extremist group. Xulhaz Mannan, publisher of Bangladesh's first magazine for the gay and lesbian community, and fellow activist Mahbub Tonoy were hacked to death in a Dhaka apartment in April 2016 by unidentified men carrying machetes and guns. Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) said it was behind the killings of the men, both aged 35, who it said had worked to "promote homosexuality" in Bangladesh. But Bangladesh police chiefs have said their murders bear the hallmarks of ...
Poll staff enthused by 'pink booths'; North East RO says it drew lot of Muslim women voters
'Nari Shakti' was on display in the all-women staffed booths in Delhi Sunday which drew more women voters, especially from the Muslim community, officials said. In a first for the city, as many as 17 all-woman staffed booths have been established for the Lok Sabha elections in the seven constituencies of Delhi, where from presiding officers to ground staff, all are women. Incidentally, four of the seven district election officer-cum-returning officer are also women, and they too felt quite enthused to see the impact of the initiative. Chandni Chowk Returning Officer Tanvi Garg said the Delhi CEO Office had envisioned this with a larger aim of engendering a sense of women empowerment and the "message has been sent". "We have set up two such booths, one each Matia Mahal and Model Town Assembly segments. All our polling staff have worked very hard, and these women staffed here they are also quite happy to be part of an all-woman team. While women voters were pleased, male voters were ...
Study to decode how WhatsApp fake news is influencing Indian voters
The rampant misuse of social media platforms to spread fake news has been a global cause for concern, and now researchers are conducting a study in India to find out how misinformation shared through WhatsApp messages is influencing the voters in the country. According to UK-based Indian researcher Sayan Banerjee, fake news does not change people's political opinions, but rather reinforces the existing beliefs and brings out the worst impulses within us. Various reports have suggested that fake news is used to create false perceptions about political candidates or a specific groups of people -- manipulating the choices of the voters. Banerjee and his team from the University of Essex in the UK want to understand how fake news spread through WhatsApp affects politics, ethnic violence and public policy choices in diverse and developing countries like India. The team is set to conduct a five-week long research study in 18 constituencies across four states -- UP, Bihar, West Bengal and ...
Poland: Nationalists march against US law reinstating compensation for Jews
Thousands of Polish nationalists took to streets on Saturday (local time) to protest against a US law that demands compensation for Jews whose families lost property during the Holocaust.The protesters, including various far-right groups and their supporters, marched to the Embassy of United States in Warsaw and chanted that Washington has no right to interfere in Polish affairs. Protestors also claimed that the US government is putting "Jewish interests" ahead of the interests of Poland, The Times of Israel reported.Protesters targeted the US law S. 447, also known as the Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (or JUST) Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump last year. The law requires the State Department to report to Congress on the state of restitution of Jewish property stolen in the Holocaust in dozens of countries.Protestors said it is not fair to ask Poland, one of the victims of the Holocaust during World War II, to compensate Jewish victims when the country itself
Gay rights activists arrested at Havana pride march
A number of gay rights activists have been arrested after they clashed with the police at an unauthorised pride march in Cuba's capital, Havana.
India lagging far behind China in IIoT adoption: Accenture
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) could be a game changer for India, but the country is lagging far behind China in its adoption, a top Accenture official has said.
Polling begins for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana
All the 10 Lok Sabha seats of Haryana went to the polls amid tight security in the penultimate phase of general elections on Sunday.
Voting begins in all 7 Lok Sabha seats of Delhi
Polling began Sunday morning in all seven Lok Sabha constituencies here in the sixth phase of general elections, with prominent names including former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Union minister Harsh Vardhan and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir in the fray. Over 1.43 crore people in Delhi are eligible to vote in this election which will decide the fate of 164 candidates, of which 18 are women. There are 43 independent candidates. The seven constituencies in Delhi are voting alongside 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, eights each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, and four in Jharkhand. Voting began at 7 am on and it is scheduled to go on till 6 pm. Besides Dikshit, who is pitted against BJP lawmaker Manoj Tiwari (from North East Delhi), BJP's sitting MP Meenakshi Lekhi (New Delhi seat), Olympian boxer Vijender Singh (South Delhi), who is making his electoral debut, and AAP's Atishi are also trying their luck. While the BJP, which had won all seven ...
Pune: Single at 35, unhappy with career man seeks permission for Euthanasia
Upset with an unstable career and lack of marriage prospects, a 35-yr-old man wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' Office seeking permission for Euthanasia."This letter was sent around 15-20 days ago. The letter said he (35-year old man) felt he is not doing anything for his parents. He was upset with his career and lack of marriage prospects. He is okay now," Devidas Gheware, Senior Police Inspector, Dattawadi Police Station said while talking to ANI on Saturday.According to the police officer, in the letter sent to CMO, the man had written about her ailing mother who is around 70-years old and his father who is 83-years old."He felt that he is not able to do anything for them. He was having problems regarding marriage too. We counselled him," the senior police officer said."The youth is well educated and is from a well to do family. He was not frustrated just because of marriage issues. He loves his parents," added Gheware.
Female Afghan former journalist shot dead in Kabul
A former journalist who worked for the Afghan parliament was shot and killed in Kabul on Saturday, an official said, in the latest brazen attack to rock Afghanistan's capital. Mena Mangal was well known in Kabul circles for her work presenting shows on several television networks, before she left journalism to become a cultural advisor to parliament. According to interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, Mangal was gunned down in eastern Kabul in broad daylight. An investigation was under way, but he did not provide further details. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Mangal's death, and it was not immediately known why she had been targeted. Crime in Kabul has grown steadily worse in recent years, adding to the many stresses for residents in a city where terrorist attacks are a frequent occurrence. Prominent women's rights activist Wazhma Frogh said Mangal had recently written on social media that she felt her life was threatened. The plight of women in Afghanistan has ...
31-year-old man commits suicide at Mumbai airport
A 31-year-old man on Saturday morning committed suicide at the airport after jumping off from the sixth floor.The man identified as Akshay Rajvir Sarswat is a resident of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.A suicide note was found from the deceased's bag saying "No one responsible for my death."Sahar Police Station Inspector Raghunath Kadam said, "His family members revealed that the deceased was mentally disturbed for last two years. He had left home before two days without informing anybody.""On Friday, he called up home and said that he is at Mumbai airport after which his relatives rushed to the airport. Before jumping he was with his relatives. A suicide note is found in his bag, which mentions that 'no one is responsible for my death'," Kadam said.A case has been registered in this matter. Investigation in the matter is underway.
Man jumps to death from Mumbai airport building
A 31-year-old man allegedly committed suicide after jumping from the 6th floor of the Mumbai International Airport building on Saturday, police said. The family of the deceased Akshay Saraswat, hailing from Ghaziabad district in Uttar Pradesh, has claimed he was mentally disturbed over the past two years, a Sahar police station official said. "Saraswat had left home two days ago without informing anybody. He had called up his kin on Friday stating that he was at the international airport. His family came here and met him as well. He committed suicide at around 6:45am today," he said. A suicide note found from his bag stated "no one is responsible for my death". An accidental death case has been registered, he added.
Police can't force you to unlock phone using fingerprint, says US judge
In the US district of Idaho a federal magistrate judge denied issuing a search warrant authorising the police to compel an individual to use their fingerprint for unlocking their device.As stated in the official document, the case relates to a Google Pixel 3 XL unit which is part of other electronic possessions of an individual suspected to be involved in child pornography.The document further notes that search and seizure are unlawful and unreasonable when it violates an individual's constitutional rights. Compelling to unlock the device using fingerprint would be self-incrimination, communicating the ownership of the device.
