TheNewsGuru

Tag: India

  • India asks telecoms to block Facebook, WhatsApp in case of misuse

    India asks telecoms to block Facebook, WhatsApp in case of misuse

    India has asked its telecom operators to find ways of blocking applications such as Facebook and messaging app WhatsApp in the case of misuse, according to a document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

    India has in recent months intensified efforts to crack down on mass message forwards after it found that people were using social media and messaging apps to spread rumors and stoke public anger.

    WhatsApp in particular has faced the wrath of Indian regulators after false messages circulated on the messaging platform led to a series of lynchings and mob beatings across the country.

    The department of telecommunications in July asked Indian telecom service providers, as well as mobile and internet industry bodies, to “explore various possible options” to block such apps.

    “You are requested to explore various possible options and confirm how the Instagram/Facebook/Whatsapp/Telegram and such other mobile apps can be blocked on internet,” according to the government letter dated July 18 and seen by Reuters.

    Facebook Inc, which owns both WhatsApp and photo-sharing platform Instagram, declined to comment.

    Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    A source at India’s department of telecommunication said the letter was aimed at finding ways to block such apps during “emergency situations”.

    “There is a need for a reasonable good solution to protect national security,” said an official.

    For WhatsApp, India is its biggest market with more than 200 million users and one where it says people forward more messages, photographs and videos than any other country.

    Following calls from the government to stem the platform’s misuse, WhatsApp has moved to deter mass message forwards and launched an advertising campaign to educate consumers.

    In July, WhatsApp said message forwards will be limited to five chats at a time, whether among individuals or groups, and said it will remove the quick forward button placed next to media messages.

    Separately, India’s federal police has begun probing Cambridge Analytica’s misuse of Facebook user data, which New Delhi suspects included information on Indian users.

     

  • India approves death penalty for piracy – Reports

    India approves death penalty for piracy – Reports

    India’s cabinet has approved a bill that will punish piracy at sea with death penalty or life in prison, local media reported.

    The draft law seeks to improve the safety of the nation’s navigation after a rise in attacks on vessels along critical sea routes, official sources told the NDTV television.

    India has reportedly been working since 2017 on boosting maritime patrols on key sea lanes.

    Its Navy has been increasingly protecting Indian sea traffic and crews in the Indian Ocean.

  • 9 knife wielding Nigerians who attacked police in India arrested, drugs seized

    Nine knife-wielding Nigerians allegedly peddling drugs in Mumbai have been arrested by India’s Anti-Narcotics Cell.

    During the arrest on Friday night, police recovered 104 grams of cocaine and nine grams of mephedrone, all worth Rs 5.38 lakh, from the accused who attacked the cops with knives while resisting search.

    According to Mumbai Mirror, the accused were identified as Charles Ifini Ijia, 27; Okoro Jems Aja, 38; Mascells John Dino, 32; Samuel Baju Okeni, 30; Ken Kon Ishmel, 37; Kofi Jems Romalik, 30; Chikku Fry, 43; Nanna Harisans Agvu, 28; and Joku Humai Vachuku Pais, 32.

    The names were mangled by the officers as the Nigerians did not carry their passports on them, another offence, according to Indian law.

    Investigators said three of the accused were also involved in an attack on officers of ANC’s Worli Unit during an operation to nab a Nigerian national allegedly selling cocaine in Byculla on July 19.

    Four police officers had sustained injuries in the attack.

    While the attackers managed to flee then, a case was registered at the JJ Marg Police Station and night patrolling was increased based on Deputy Commissioner of Police Shivdeep Lande’s order.

    “On Friday night, our officers, who patrolling the South Mumbai area, had neared the Eastern Freeway when they spotted some foreigners hanging around suspiciously under the bridge. The officers approached the group and was about to search them when two of them drew out knives and attacked them. While they attempted to flee, our officers, who had sustained minor injuries, managed to overpower them,” said an ANC officer.

    During interrogation, three of the accused confessed to their involvement in the earlier attack in Byculla and revealed the identities of five others who were involved in the same.

    “We are on their lookout,” said the officer.

    “The accused obstructed police from discharging their duties and intentionally injured four personnel.

  • 639 farmers commit suicide due to crop failure

    639 farmers commit suicide due to crop failure

    The Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil of India stated that 639 farmers have committed suicide in three months (March to May) this year due to diverse causes such as extensive debt, crop failure and the inability to repay bank loans.

    The lack of agricultural support prices, inadequate government policy, massive loans and the inability to cope up with the extensive costs of agriculture have collectively lead to the problem of farmer suicide in India.

    The state of Maharashtra recorded the highest number of suicides after which came Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

    Out of these 639 farmers, 188 were declared eligible for compensation as per government schemes, based on the government’s criteria of crop failure, debts and their failure to repay loans, From which 188, families have received compensation.

    The Minster also noted that 122 cases were ineligible for compensation and 329 cases were pending for investigation.

    The opposition political party had demanded to know the number of families where farmers had committed suicide over the last three months and wanted to know the measures that were being taken to help then. It is important to acknowledge that many policies of the government such as the loan waiver, crop loss compensation, and minimum support process may not be reaching out to farmers who are in dire need of these supports.

    The rampant agricultural crisis is one of the major reasons why in the last year alone 1,500 farmers have committed suicide.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, likely to seek re-election next year, has promised to double the income of farmers by 2022 and launched a $1.3-billion insurance scheme to protect millions of them.

  • Six dead after poisonous gas leak at Steel Plant

    Six dead after poisonous gas leak at Steel Plant

    Six workers died in a poisonous gas leak at a Brazilian-owned steel plant in India’s Southern State of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, Police said.

    The accident occurred following maintenance work at the unit in the Anantapuramu district.

    “While testing, they used a gas in the furnace that had large components of carbon monoxide that the workers inhaled and died,’’ senior police official GVG Ashok Kumar said by phone.

    Two workers died on the scene, while four others died at the hospital, he said.

    Police denied local media reports that said more workers were in serious condition after the incident.

    The steel mill belongs to Brazilian firm Gerdau, a leading producer of long steel products in the American sub-continent.

    Repeated phone calls to company officials went unanswered.

    State authorities have ordered a probe into the accident, police said.

    dpa/NAN

  • Consortium of Indian firms to invest $100m in Cross River

    Consortium of Indian firms to invest $100m in Cross River

    A consortium of Indian firms under the auspices of Associated Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Agriculture and Mines (ASSOCHAM) has expressed its readiness to invest well over USD100 Million in se sectors of the Cross River State economy.

    Speaking with journalists shortly after inspecting some projects executed by Governor Ben Ayade in Calabar, the group attributed its investment interest in the state to the conducive and friendly business environment the governor has entrenched.

    They expressed optimism that their partnership with the state government will create more jobs for the teeming youth as well as check restiveness.

    Rahul Mehndiratta, a representative of Avaada Concept, said: “We are bringing in about one hundred million United States dollars to invest in Cross River to build and evacuate two set of solar plants that will provide each local government headquarters in the state with 100 megawatt electricity to support the industrialization initiative of the state.

    According to Mehndiratta, “Because of the critical role power plays in any economy, we are here to complement the effort of the state government in promoting industrialization by leveraging on the abundant resources to supply solar powered electricity to the state.”

    On his part, Ravi Kumar representative of Simba Group, manufacturers of tricycles, disclosed the decision of his firm to put up a training school in the state on repairs of tricycles.

    “We are putting up a training school in Calabar to train mechanics and drivers on how to drive their tricycles safely with the view to reducing the rate of accident.”

    He further hinted: “For the first phase, we are training and also empowering after training, 200 artisans that will be selected across the 18 local government areas with plans to expand for more people as we go on.”

    Also speaking, Engr. Nitin Mahajan Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, T & D Technologies (Nig) Limited, explained: “We are bringing in the technology for a large scale mechanized farming in the state to check food insecurity with 100 percent buy back from India and to put in place effective distribution network in the state that will grow agro business in the for wealth creation.”

    Responding, Governor Ayade stated that “The good thing with their investment is that they are not coming as a people who are looking for purchase but they are here with a concept to invest, bringing in Indian equity to invest and reap in the process.”

    He added that “If our rice revolution initiative must be sustained, we need these kinds of partnership because I have implicit confidence in them and I am very excited with gratitude to the Indian High Commission for their role in making this a reality.

    “I must say that this is one of the investments that are coming due to my trips to India. Today they are here ready to bring in their money to grow our economy and better the lot of our citizenry.”

    Continuing Ayade said: “This is good news; indeed this is what has come with the advent of our rice seedling factory because the whole world has watched it and they are fully conscious of what we are doing here. Indians are rapidly going into the world in a fierce competition with China and the rate at which they are going with their sophistication and the reliability of their equipment, I see them as a group to partner with which is the reason they have come to the state.”

    On the power supply which has been a major bane to industrialization in the country.

    “Obviously due to the huge investment that will be coming through the rice value chain and the ambitious commitment of the state to do over one million hectares of land for the cultivation of rice and additional twenty thousand hectares for the cultivation of yellow maize, it is obvious that we need partnerships, because these farms are located in stranded communities in the sense that there is no direct access to national grid, so, the connectivity and supply of power from the various Indian groups using photovoltaic cells, their instrumentality of solar power becomes very imperative and we are rooting for them,” he added.

    Ayade maintained that the power generation will further boost power supply and add value to the Ayade industrial park that will soon become a business hub in sub Saharan Africa, as well as increase more access to power at the various farm locations across the 18 local government areas of the state.

     

  • New Delhi introduces ‘happiness curriculum’ at schools

    New Delhi introduces ‘happiness curriculum’ at schools

    Students at New Delhi’s government-run schools started getting lessons in how to be happy on Monday with the launch of a “happiness curriculum” devised by the Dalai Lama.

    The new initiative, which focuses on “holistic education,” covers 800,000 students from pre-kindergarten to teenagers at 1,000 schools.

    “India is the only country that can bring together modern education and ancient Indian knowledge,” the Tibetan Buddhist leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner said, according to the organisers.

    “This is needed to deal with destructive emotions in the world. So what is being started in Delhi schools can have an impact on the whole world.”

    The curriculum focuses on daily mindfulness practice or meditation, moral teachings, mental exercises and activities with the aim of teaching students to be good human beings, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said.

    “It’s going to … focus on good mental health, character and resilience. It will address the ever-growing concern [that] levels of happiness and well-being are decreasing while stress, anxiety and depression are increasing,” he added.

    Delhi is not the first place in India where the state has become involved in efforts to spread happiness among people.

    In 2016, the government in the central state of Madhya Pradesh established a “happiness department” to work towards ensuring happiness in the lives of locals.

    The initiative is said to have been inspired by neighbouring Bhutan, which has since the 1970s been measuring well-being with a Gross National Happiness indicator.

    dpa/NAN

  • Nipah virus kills 10 in India

    An outbreak of a deadly virus, Nippah which has flu-like symptoms has claimed 10 lives in the southern Indian state of Kerala, health officials said on Tuesday.

    “It is confirmed that 10 people have died from contacting the virus,’’ State Health Official, KJ Reena said.

    “Two more confirmed Nipah cases are critical and under intensive care in quarantine facilities.”

    Seven others were also being treated in isolation wards in hospitals, while 94 people had been quarantined in their homes on suspicion of being infected by the virus.

    Most of these people were those, who had come in contact with the first three confirmed cases, who had died – two brothers and their aunt from a village in Khozikode district – Reena said.

    The first death occurred on Friday.

    A well in the yard of this family’s home had been identified as the epicentre of the virus after a bat was found in it. The well had been sealed off.

    Fruit bats have been found to be a natural host of the virus, according to the WHO.

    There is no vaccine for the Nipah virus, which the WHO says is a highly infectious disease that can cause inflammation of the brain.

    The virus can be transferred from animals to humans.

    Symptoms of Nipah – named after the Malaysian village where it was first discovered – include high fever, headaches, convulsions and respiratory issues.

    It has a mortality rate of about 70 per cent.

    An emergency has been declared in Khozikode and Mallapuram districts where all the deaths have occurred.

  • 16 dead after bridge collapses, others feared trapped

    16 dead after bridge collapses, others feared trapped

    At least 16 bodies have been recovered from the debris of a flyover that collapsed in the Indian temple town of Varanasi on Tuesday.

    Several people were feared trapped, and the death toll could rise, Varanasi District Magistrate, Y.N. Mishra, said.

    Four people had been rescued so far, Mishra added.

    The flyover was under construction and part of it collapsed during busy evening traffic, with big slabs of concrete crushing the vehicles travelling on the road below, an official at the Varanasi police control room said.

    Six teams belonging to the National Disaster Response Force were at the site helping with rescue operations, Local Police Officer, Dinesh Singh, said.

    “Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to the collapse of an under-construction flyover in Varanasi. I pray that the injured recover soon,” Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, posted on Twitter.

    Modi represents Varanasi parliamentary constituency.

    Collapses of under construction structures are not uncommon in India.

    Twenty-seven people died in a similar collapse of a flyover being built in Kolkata in April 2016.

    Across the country, 1,885 people died in building, bridge and other structural collapses in 2016, according to the latest-available government data.

    NAN

  • 240,000 Indian girls killed through sex-specific abortions annually – Study

    240,000 Indian girls killed through sex-specific abortions annually – Study

    Almost a quarter-of-a-million girls younger than five die in India every year due to neglect resulting from society’s preference for sons, a gender discrimination study found on Tuesday.

    This was over and above those aborted simply for being female, researchers wrote in The Lancet medical journal.

    “Gender-based discrimination towards girls doesn’t simply prevent them from being born, it may also precipitate the death of those who are born,” said study co-author Christophe Guilmoto of the Paris Descartes University.

    “Gender equity is not only about rights to education, employment or political representation, it is also about care, vaccination, and nutrition of girls, and ultimately survival.”

    Guilmoto and a team used population data from 46 countries to calculate how many infant girls would have died in a society where there was no discrimination impact, and how many died in reality. The difference, about 19 deaths out of every 1,000 girls born between 2000 and 2005, was ascribed to the effects of gender bias.

    This amounted to about 239,000 deaths per year, or 2.4 million over a decade.

    “Around 22 percent of the overall mortality burden of females under five (in India) is therefore due to gender bias,” the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) a research institute based in Austria, said in a statement.

    The problem was most pronounced in northern India, the researchers found, with states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, accounting for two-thirds of the excess deaths.

    Hardest hit were poor, rural, farming regions with low education levels, high population densities, and high birth rates.

    “As the regional estimates of excess deaths of girls demonstrate, any intervention to reduce the discrimination against girls in food and healthcare allocation should, therefore, target in priority regions, where poverty, low social development, and patriarchal institutions persist and investments (in) girls are limited,” said co-author Nandita Saikia of IIASA.

    AFP