Page 92 - Social Issues
1 in 2 Indians receiving fake news via FB, WhatsApp
Despite tall claims made by Facebook that it is removing 10 lakh fake accounts a day in India, a survey revealed on Tuesday that one in two Indians has received fake news in the last 30 days and Facebook and WhatsApp are the platforms which are being used excessively to misinform the users.
EC sets up 49 all-women booths in Uttarakhand
The Election Commission has set up 49 polling booths in Uttarakhand which will be managed only by women.
Data for 2021 Census to be collected using mobile app: RGI offcials
The data for 2021 census is proposed to be collected through a mobile app, officials from Registrar General of India (RGI) said at a two-day Data Users' Conference here on Tuesday.At the Conference, the officials said, "For data collection, the enumerators would be encouraged to use their own mobile phone for which they would be paid appropriate remuneration or else there will also be an option to collect and record the data through paper schedules which will eventually be submitted electronically by them."Speaking at the conference, Union Home Secretary said, "Thirty-three lakh enumerators would be mobilized for data collection for which notification has already been issued. The reference date is October 1, 2020, for Jammu and Kashmir and snowbound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while for the rest of the country the reference date is March 1, 2021."Gauba said, "Census is not just an exercise of headcount but also provides invaluable socio-economic data which forms a ...
Patnaik lodges complaint with CEO against stopping of Kalia
Strongly protesting the Election Commission of India's decision to stop disbursement of funds to farmers under Odisha government's Kalia scheme, Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik Tuesday went to office of the CEO here to lodge a complaint. Patnaik along with senior leaders of the ruling BJD met Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar to vent their displeasure over the ECI's act. This is the first time that any Chief Minister of Odisha visited office of the CEO to lodge a complaint. Patnaik said the ECI has stopped the fund disbursement under Kalia scheme in the name of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), but alleged that it allowed the the PM-KISAN to operate without any hindrance. "It is unfortunate that they (ECI) have not stopped the agricultural scheme of the Central government," Patnaik told reporters after meeting the CEO. "I had come to see the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) about (lodging) a strong complaint of the election office of stopping our ...
UK plans to introduce 'no-fault' divorce for first time
Britain wants to end the divorce blame game. The government has announced plans to introduce "no-fault" divorces so separating couples no longer have to blame one another for the breakdown of a marriage. Justice Secretary David Gauke said Tuesday that the government will introduce legislation after a public consultation revealed broad support for change. Until now, couples have had to prove misconduct such as adultery by one partner or live apart for a fixed period before they could divorce. The proposed changes would only require the couple to declare that their marriage had irretrievably broken down. Jo Edwards, a family law specialist based at law firm Forsters, says lawyers will welcome steps to end "the unnecessary acrimony caused day in, day out by the current fault-based system.
I-T raids: BJP's last tactics as it is aware of losing polls, says Kamal Nath
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday claimed that the ongoing Income Tax raids at the premises of his associates are the last tactics left with the BJP as the party is aware that it will lose the ensuing polls."They are doing this as they know they are going to lose elections and these are the only tactics left. I am not worried, nobody can suppress me," Nath told the media.Meanwhile, Income Tax raids were over. The raids at the premises of Ashwin Sharma, an associate of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's OSD Praveen Kakkar are over, informed CRPF Commandant MS Verma on Tuesday, adding that a SHO and DSP of the state police misbehaved with the paramilitary force.Raid was also being carried out at the residence of Praveen Kakkar who is also the private secretary to the Chief Minister. Raids started on Sunday at the residences of Kakkar in Indore and Nath's former advisor RK Miglani in Delhi, on charges of alleged tax evasion.Officials conducted searches at 50 ...
Mobile App likely to be used for data collection in Census 2021
For the first time in the 140 year history of the census in India, data is proposed to be collected through a mobile app and enumerators would be encouraged to use their own phone, the Home Ministry said Tuesday. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba described the Census 2021 as the world's largest enumeration exercise. A total of 33 lakh enumerators, the persons who conduct door to door counting, would be mobilised for data collection for which notification has already been issued, he said at a conference of census data users here. The reference date is October 1, 2020, for Jammu and Kashmir and snow bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand while for the rest of country it is March 1, 2021. For the first time in the 140 year history of census in India, data is proposed to be collected through a mobile app andenumerators would be encouraged to use their own mobile phone, officials of Registrar General of India said at the conference which was held to finalise the strategy and ...
Dhaka seeks US help for Rohingyas' return to Myanmar
Bangladesh has sought help from the US in pressurising Myanmar to offer safeguards for the return of thousands of Rohingya refugees who have fled the country since August 2017.
UP Congress to bring out supplementary manifesto
The Uttar Pradesh Congress will soon bring out a state manifesto to address issues that are peculiar to India's most populous province.
EC to meet revenue secretary, CBDT chairman on IT raids
The Election Commission (EC) is to meet the Revenue Secretary A.B. Pandey and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P.C. Mody on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing income tax raids in several states, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, an official source said.
SC to hear on Apr 15 plea challenging HC order to ban TikTok app
The Supreme Court Tuesday agreed to hear on April 15 a plea challenging a Madras High Court order that directed the Centre to ban the "TikTok" app over concerns about access to pornographic content through it. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna agreed to hear the plea filed by Chinese company ByteDance, which said there were over billion downloads of its app and the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had passed an ex-parte order. The apex court had on Monday refused urgent lisiting of the plea. The high court on April 3 directed the Centre to ban mobile application "TikTok" as it voiced concern over the "pornographic and inappropriate content" being made available through such apps. It had directed the media not to telecast video clips made with TikTok. The app allows the users to create short videos and then share them. It had asked the government if it would enact a statute on the line of the Children's Online Privacy ...
Taylor Swift donates to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation in Tennessee
American singer Taylor Swift showed support for LGBTQ rights in her home state of Tennessee by donating a generous amount of USD 113,000 to an organisation called Tennessee Equality Project (TEP).The organisation has been working to keep state lawmakers from passing a series of bills that Swift and others characterise as a "slate of hate".The 29-year-old singer also penned a handwritten note on why she felt so "inspired by the work" the organisation does. TEP's executive director, Chris Sanders, posted a photo of Swift's letter on the organisation's Facebook page and praised the singer for her gift."I'm writing you to say that I'm so inspired by the work you do, specifically in organizing the recent petition of Tennessee faith leaders standing up against the 'slate of hate' in our state legislature," Swift began her letter."Please convey my heartfelt thanks to them and accept this donation to support the work you and these leaders are doing. I'm so grateful that they're giving all ...
Swift donates $113,000 to fight anti-LGBTQ bills
Singer Taylor Swift has donated $113,000 to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation in her home state of Tennessee.
Guj BJP chief Vaghani abuses Cong, says it won't win in Surat
Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani has stirred a controversy by using abusive words to target the Congress, asking voters to identify those trying to disturb peace in the state. During a poll campaign here on Sunday night for BJP's Surat Lok Sabha seat candidate Darshana Jardosh, Vaghani accused the Congress of trying to create chaos as, he claimed, it had no chance of winning in the city or elsewhere in the state. "I am telling the Congress, you cannot win in Surat and in the state also, so you are trying to spread hatred and create chaos. Allow the election to take place in a peaceful environment. Allow people to vote for whomsoever they want," he said. "But you want to create chaos and an atmosphere of fear. One such incident has occurred but if second such incident takes place,we can throw you out of Surat," he said without divulging any details of the incident referred by him. "I want to tell people of the state to recognise those... their intentions are not clean,
Enforcement actions always taken irrespective of political affiliation: Revenue Dept to EC
Amid continuing Income Tax Department raids on persons considered close to opposition parties, Union Finance Ministry has told the Election Commission that enforcement actions by its revenue department are always "neutral", "impartial" and "non-discriminatory" irrespective of political affiliation, sources said. Replying to a letter from the Election Commission, the Revenue Department in a letter dated April 8 asked the poll panel to share "specific information" with the Income Tax I-T department about illicit money in the electoral process. The Election Commission in its letter to Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey had on April 7 "strongly advised" the department that any action by its enforcement agencies during the election time should be "neutral" and "non-discriminatory" and officials of the poll panel should be kept in the loop about such actions. The EC's advice came in the backdrop of the Income Tax Department's raids in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday and in Karnataka, Tamil ...
Several economic promises of BJP too tall: Experts
Bharatiya Janata Party's promises on the economic front mentioned in its manifesto including the investment of Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure over the next five years and pension to marginal farmers seem over-ambitious, experts said.
British 'online harms' draft focuses on kids' safety
The British government's "online harms" white paper that is open for public consultation till July 1, aims to make online platforms liable to protect their users, especially children.
Japan Catholic church to open sex abuse probe
The Catholic Church in Japan said Tuesday it will launch an internal probe into claims of sexual abuse against children by its clergy, after a wave of paedophilia revelations worldwide. The standing committee of the bishops' conference last week decided to investigate all 16 dioceses in Japan, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan told AFP. Japan is home to a small community of Roman Catholics, believed to number around 450,000. The decision comes a month after a landmark summit at the Vatican on the protection of minors, where Pope Francis vowed to tackle sexual abuse by priests. It also comes ahead of Francis's planned visit to Japan in November, the first visit by a pontiff since John Paul II, nearly 40 years ago. At least five reports of sexual abuse were made when the Japanese Catholic authorities conducted surveys in 2002 and 2012 throughout its dioceses. The fresh probe will first review how bishops dealt with those cases, including "punishment of those who .
US judge blocks Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' asylum policy
A US federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trump's policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico to wait out the processing of their cases, saying the Department of Homeland Security had overstepped its authority. The ruling by US District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco marked a rebuke for the Trump administration's efforts to stop the flow of migrants seeking asylum through the US border with Mexico. The decision, which goes into effect on Friday, comes just days after outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had vowed to expand the controversial program. Several hundred people seeking asylum have been returned to Mexico to await the outcome of their request under the policy first implemented in January at the San Ysidro port of entry in California and later extended to Calexico, a second California border point, and El Paso, Texas. "A 9th Circuit Judge just ruled that Mexico is too dangerous for migrants. So unfair to the U.S. OUT OF CONTROL!," Trump ..
Over 16.85 lakh voters to decide fate of 12 candidates in Udhampur
The fate of 12 candidates, including Union minister Jitendra Singh, will be decided by the over 16.85 lakh voters of Udhampur in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 18. The Udhampur parliamentary constituency is spread over 17 Assembly segments in six districts -- Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Reasi, Udhampur and Kathua. According to the figures provided by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Jammu and Kashmir, Shailendra Kumar, there are 16,85,779 registered voters in Udhampur, including 8,76,319 men, 7,89,105 women, 20,312 service voters (20,052 men and 260 women) and 43 transgender electors. The Election Commission (EC) has set up 2,710 polling stations across the constituency. Sitting MP Jitendra Singh of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vikramaditya Singh (the grandson of erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh) of the Congress, Harsh Dev Singh of the JKNPP and Lal Singh of the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan are among the 12 candidates in the fray in the ...