The Woman and Child Development Ministry has received the total number 169 complaints of sexual harassments in the work place of private industries since 2017.
The complaints were received through ‘SHe-box’, an online system for filing complaints by women, working in both government and private sectors, related to sexual harassment at the workplace. The highest number of complaints have been received from Maharashtra (33), followed by Delhi 23.
A senior ministry official said that the 169 complaints have been received through ‘SHe-box’ since 2017. The Central ministries have received as many as 141 sexual harassment complaints since last year, out of which 45 have been disposed of, the WCD Ministry said.
The highest number of complaints were received by the Finance Ministry (21), followed by the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Defence at 16, the ministry said.
Against the backdrop of the “MeToo” campaign, the WCD Ministry had last month linked the online portal to report complaints of sexual harassment at workplace, to all the central ministries, departments and 653 districts across the 33 states and Union territories.
For prompt disposal of complaints on “SHe-Box”, each case goes directly to the central or state authority concerned having jurisdiction to take action in the matter. Cases on ‘SHe-box’ can be monitored by the complainant and the WCD Ministry, reducing the time taken in case disposal.
Actor Chris Pine says his character Steve Trevor is “totally” different in “Wonder Woman 1984” as “tables have turned” for him.
Director Patty Jenkins, who helmed Warner Bros blockbuster “Wonder Woman” fronted by Gal Gadot, is back for the sequel and so is Pine.
Last year, Jenkins made a startling revelation that the actor will reprise his role of Trevor, an American pilot and the love interest of Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman. The character had sacrificed himself at the end of the 2017 film.
The filmmaker had also shared Pine’s still from the film which features him dressed in an ’80s avatar, along with the extras rocking yesteryear’s look.
Talking about his return in the sequel, Pine told Variety, “This one is a little different for me tonally. The tables are turned, and I’m more of the deer in the headlights.”
The actor also said that he got emotional while filming in Washington DC for the movie.
“I cried in front of the Supreme Court. I was like, man, for all that we f**ked up, we’re still at it. We’re still trying. So I was super energised and pro-America,” he added.
The sequel will see Gadot’s Wonder Woman face off against Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah. The film will also feature “Game of Thrones” and “Narcos” star Pedro Pascal in a pivotal role. It is set to release on November 1 this year.
Seems like it’s never too late for Justin Bieber to say sorry to dancer and YouTube star, JoJo Siwa.
Weeks after Bieber apologised to the teen sensation for commenting “burn it” on a photo of her custom car wrap – which featured her name and face on the hood of the vehicle – the pop star, again, poked fun and reignited his feud with the 15-year-old on Friday (local time).
Taking to his Instagram stories, Bieber shared a picture of Siwa’s book called JoJo’s Guide to Making Your Own Fun and captioned it as “Burn it haha jk.”
The Nickelodeon star immediately clapped back with an Instagram post of her own, reading a book next to a cardboard cutout of teenage Justin Bieber with a huge smile on her face.
She captioned the image as, “Since @justinbieber likes my books now I thought I would read him my new one JoJo and BowBow CANDY KISSES)!!”.
The feud between the two began in December after West Coast Customs re-posted an image of Siwa’s new customized car wrap, which featured bright colors as well as a little promotion for her upcoming D.R.E.A.M. tour.
While Siwa shared that the gift allowed her to have the “BEST CHRISTMAS EVER,” Bieber made his disapproval quite clear by commenting “burn it” several times underneath the re-posted image.
The gym selfie, the ambitious travel shot, the creative display, the odd-looking status, the profile quotes, the political rant — every day, millions of people post their status messages on the Facebook. Of late, there’s a little that we don’t share online. Some users have a compelling urge to communicate to the rest of the world their every single action from the moment they wake up till their late-night adieu.
In theory, Facebook helps us to stay connected to our friends, yet, in reality, the reasons why so many people log in every day are more revealing than that! Though the posts come in many flavours, they all have something in common. They disclose more than you think, showing a strong link of self-concept to online behaviour. The way people choose to present themselves on social media speaks volumes about their personality and self-esteem.
All Facebook users relish the “likes” on their walls. Some ‘likes’ are based on sympathy with the creator of the content and sometimes even out of ignorance. The users do not necessarily read the content, especially when it comes to serious topics, while a few give a “like” just to support a certain social trend. We live in a culture where it is perfectly acceptable to ‘like’ everything without even knowing what it is about.
The ‘like’ is also seen as a sign of presence or perhaps the lack of knowledge to leave a comment. ‘Liking’ does not mean to actually enjoy something, as a post on death also sadly gets many ‘likes’!
Craving for recognition
Is there anything wrong about seeking virtual attention? Whenever you load a status update or post a picture, and get notifications for ‘likes’, doesn’t it make you feel good? Are you upset if you can’t get more ‘likes’? Many social media users have an innate desire for instant gratification, isn’t it? The “likes”, “shares” and “comments” very definitely play this role. Though virtual, it is psychologically fulfilling.
The best posts collect more “likes” and “shares”. Well, what is best is best left to the network community. Aren’t we unique human creatures with a craving to be liked and accepted? We all want to be loved and try to present the best version of ourselves. And what better way to depict our image than through social media? If you are basically an ‘agreeable’ person, the more likely you are tagged in photos posted by other people, as you tend to be friendly and less competitive.
The real and the imaginary
Having said that, remember that we all have our ‘real’ selves and our imaginary, fanciful side. Isn’t the illusion of our ‘dream self’ the main motivation when it comes to ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’ online? You may think you are presenting yourself in a certain light, only to discover the other people view your online behaviour completely different. It is not just what we post that displays information about our personalities,but it’s also what we don’t post that can be quite telling.
Deceptive selfie angles, for instance, make average looking people attractive. Social media has bloated humanity’s capacity for self-obsession to new extremes. Yes, plenty of harmless reciprocations occur without any sort of agenda, but many users utilise it as a means of projecting an idealised version of the person they wished they were, rather than who they are in reality.
A word on peer pressure! When a post already had a large number of ‘likes’, the compulsive bias makes some participants to follow the herd mentality and ‘like’ it as well. When people ‘like’ our posts, we assume that our posts are meaningful. Therefore, we believe the response we are getting is candid, even when we may not genuinely ‘liking’ others’ posts.
Sending a ‘like’ also has the same effect as smiling or saying a kind word to someone, basically an easy way to convey positive acknowledgment.
The stiff upper lip
FB at times gets so political. We are annoyed that our cousin never ‘likes’ our posts but s/he dutifully gives his/her ‘thumbs-up’ for everyone else. So, the next time you feel frustrated by a lack of ‘likes’ or ‘comments’, don’t take it personally. Keep going.
There’s nothing wrong with getting an ego boost from ‘likes’ on your photos and content, but when you crave that feedback more and more, it may be time to evaluate how vulnerable you are on the ‘like’ button for your happiness.
Though there is no ‘dislike’ option (unless you specify it through ‘comment’), I would be curious to see a study done on those who choose not to hit the ‘like’ button.
Finally, one Facebook user forthrightly tells me: “I am born to be liked”.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Mumbai Congress, under the leadership of Sanjay Nirupam, has tied up with a professional theater group to launch a street play based on the Rafale Scam under the same title. Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam states that this play will bring out the truth of the biggest scam of the Narendra Modi-led central government.
Sanjay Nirupam said, “We have roped in a professional theater group to inform the masses about the Rafale scam in an interesting manner. The script of the play is almost ready. The play will hit the streets of Mumbai soon”.
“As the Mumbai Congress President, I’m executing this street play in the city. We have shared the template of the street play with All India Congress Committee (AICC). Apart from Mumbai, if other States want to execute the idea, they can do it. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has already created awareness in the country about the Rafale scam”, added Nirupam.
Nirupam further added that the play will be performed all over the city and will feature theater actors who will portray roles of PM Narendra Modi, Anil Ambani, former President François Hollande, French President Emmanuel Macron, and others who have been involved in the scam.
Every day we hear violence, robbery, abusing/harassing of girls! Will there be any justice for this city is the question that is arising in every mind. This chaos is happening every day and even the Police are not taking any action. Recently, we came across an incident where a man enters into a building and puts the bike on fire and vanished. When a complaint was given against it the answer received from the police was to install a CCTV camera for the future reference of the society. Instead of helping and resolving the problem the police are giving advice. If the society has to install CCTV and catch the culprit then why do we need the Police? The police should not forget their responsibility instead take necessary action against the incident happening in Dombivli-Kalyan city. Else the city will no more be under any rules and regulations.
Nilesh Surve
BEST not the best
BEST is not the best bus in the world or in India as the name suggests. Their drivers and conductors are sometimes rowdy and use filthy abusive languages even to the women commuters travelling by it. The bus drivers never halt the buses at the actual bus stops, in spite of them being empty at times. Most drivers also never leave their buses in time from the starting point (depot); they are always late. Sometimes, one has to wait for more than an hour to board a bus and when they do arrive, they are overcrowded. This is the reason why most people prefer to travel by metro or rely on share-a-cab or auto-rickshaw services. Some bus conductors also never return the change in spite of having lots of coins with them. The BEST fares have also increased tremendously making it difficult for the common man to travel by them.
Jubel D’Cruz
Cong- NCP pre-poll alliance on cards
Calling shots, Congress party is trying to woo NCP to join the mega alliance to upset the applecart. Both the parties are not doing well at the state level and the Municipal elections gave a clear indication with BJP and Sena taking lion’s share of holding power in the municipalities. Even the Mayor post is not going their way as BJP is well prepared to assume their supremacy in the state. Further meet may decide consensus over 40 seats and try their best to resolve the rest in an attempt to come back to power. Smaller parties may get only left out seats in the bargain. This time around, NCP is seeking parity and it is an encouraging development. Even lawyer like Ujjwal Nikam is likely to contest for NCP and the fight will be tough in two corner contests. The key parties NCP and Congress are also in the process of a coalition with smaller parties and make sure about a collaboration they have agreed to allocate more Lok Sabha seats to smaller parties to woo them. The alliance is on the cards but how far it will succeed in BJP’s heartland, is an open question.
Calicut Krishnan Subramaniam
Nirmala Sitharaman is right?
The Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman came out in open to answer the questions raised by the Opposition on Rafale controversy. She also asserted that the Rafale deal cannot be equated with the Bofors issue at all as was being attempted by the Opposition. Sitharaman said that the weapon systems, avionics, and other key add-ons to the Rafale aircraft will be much superior in comparison to what was negotiated by the UPA.
The charges of Congress appear as though the pot is calling the kettle black. The age-old party was involved in many scams and now trying to point out the fingers even for no scam.
Anandambal Subbu
Standardise paper-sizes
Presently A-4 size paper (29.5 cms x 21 cms) is the most commonly used size of paper-sheets. All photocopiers used in homes and offices are mostly equipped to handle this size of paper-sheets only. But there is a distinct size of legal paper-sheets for filing and use in courts which are 5 cms longer at 34.5 cms x 21 cms. Courts should do away with British-era practice, and allow only A-4 size paper-sheets till the Union government works out for a newly standardised paper-size based on metric units. Rather concept of legal-size paper should be altogether abolished. The system will be user-friendly and people will not have to rush outside for photo-copying bigger sized legal-papers presently used and allowed in courts. However, colour-code of paper to be used in courts can be different like green is used in Madras High Court. It is for Supreme Court or Chief Justice of India to do away with such anti-public colonial practice of having exclusive legal-size paper for courts.
The Union government should take up the matter with concerned international authorities to have standard usable paper-sheets in square form like 25 cms x 25 cms instead of present practice of having rectangular paper-sheets. Such square-sheets were quite common for bank-ledgers before computerisation. However, if rectangular paper-sheets are to be continued, then their size should be modified according to true metric-units say 30 cms x 20 cms. Even computer-stationary used at dot-matrix printers should also have usable size (without perforation) as that of standard paper-sheets.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
After the grand success of ‘Simmba’ Ranveer Singh has now started preparing for the sports drama “83”. The actor took to Instagram to share a glimpse of himself practising at the nets for the film which is to be directed by Kabir Khan.
“And the glorious journey begins… #83 #kapildev @83thefilm #balwindersinghsandhu @kabirkhankk,” Singh posted the photo on Saturday.
“83” will chronicle India’s win under Dev’s captainship, when the Men in Blue defeated West Indies in the final to clinch their first-ever World Cup trophy in 1983.
The actor will play former Indian cricket skipper Kapil Dev in the film. Former Indian Test cricketer Balwinder Singh Sandhu is training Ranveer for the role.
“Training begins… #83 #kapildev @ranveersingh @83thefilm #balwindersinghsandhu,” Khan wrote on social media.
Touted as the “biggest sports film” of the country, the film slated to be released on April 10, 2020.
Ranveer, who is currently basking in the success of “Simmba”, has another release ready as “Gully Boy”, which is to hit the screens on February 14.
Hrithik Roshan-starrer “Super 30” will now hit the theatres on July 26. The actor made the announcement on Twitter Saturday. “Happy to announce that #Super30 is headed for release on July 26, 2019. Bahut jald samay badalne wala hai (The times are going to change soon),” Roshan wrote.
“Super 30″ is based on the life of the Patna-based scholar Anand Kumar, who trains 30 deserving, economically backward students for IIT-JEE entrance exams every year with commendable success rate.
Produced by Reliance Entertainment and Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, the film also stars Mrunal Thakur, Amit Sadh and Nandish Sandhu. The film has been directed by Vikas Bahl, who has been accused of sexual harassment by a former employee of the now dissolved production company, Phantom Films, of which the director was a founding member. Phantom was also attached as co-producer
After several changes in release date, “Super 30” was earlier set to hit the theatres on January 25 and clash with “Thackeray” and “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi”.
Last October, Roshan had broken his silence on allegations against Bahl, saying that it is “impossible” for him to work with any person “guilty of such grave misconduct”.
“It is impossible for me to work with any person if he/she is guilty of such grave misconduct. I am away and have access to only sporadic information. I have requested the producers of ‘Super 30’ to take stock of the apparent facts and take a harsh stands if needed.
This is not to be hushed or brushed under the carpet. All proven offenders must be punished and all exploited people must be empowered and given strength to speak up, Roshan had said in the statement shared on Twitter.
Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, issued on Saturday, divorcing through instant triple talaq will be illegal void and would attract a jail term of three years to the husband.
A Bill to convert the earlier ordinance was issued in September, 2018 which was cleared by Lok Sabha in December but was pending in Rajya Sabha. Since the Bill could not get the parliamentary approval, the fresh ordinance was issued. The Union Cabinet had last week approved reissuance of the ordinance.
Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision of bail for the accused before trial.
These amendments were cleared by the Cabinet on August 29, 2018. While the ordinance makes it a “non-bailable” offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail.
In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted by police at the police station itself. A provision has been added to allow the magistrate to grant bail “after hearing the wife”, the government had said.
The magistrate would ensure that the bail is granted only after the husband agrees to grant compensation to the wife as provided in the bill. The police would lodge an FIR only if approached by the victim (wife), her blood relations or people who become her relatives by virtue of her marriage. Neighbours and others cannot lodge a complaint under the ordinance. The offence of instant triple talaq will be “compoundable”.
A magistrate can use his powers to settle the dispute between a husband and his wife. This will happen only when the wife approaches the court. Under a compoundable offence, both parties have the liberty of withdrawing the case. The proposed law would only be applicable on instant triple talaq or ‘talaq-e-biddat’ and it would give power to the victim to approach a magistrate seeking “subsistence allowance” for her and minor children.
A woman can also seek the custody of her minor children from the magistrate who will take a final call on the issue.
The GST Council, headed by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley which comprises state ministers was held on December 22, 2018, had decided to set up a group of ministers (GoM) to analyse the reasons for the shortfall in revenue collections by the states since July 2017.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi will head the seven-member committee to look into the revenue shortfall being faced by the states after the GST roll-out, and suggest steps for augmenting collections, a GST Council notification said.
Several states including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Goa, Bihar, Gujarat and Delhi are facing revenue shortfall following the implementation of goods and services tax (GST). These states are facing revenue shortfall in the range of 14-37 per cent in the April-November period.
Among the union territories, Puducherry is facing maximum shortfall of 43 per cent. As per terms of reference (ToR) of the GoM, the Modi-led committee will undertake data analysis using econometric and statistical tools and suggest “suitable measures/policy intervention” for the course correction for revenue augmentation, particularly for the states suffering high revenue shortfall.
Among other things, the committee would also take into the account trends of revenue collection before and after implementation of goods and services tax (GST). It would also look into structural patterns of major sectors of the economy impacting revenue collection which includes the services sector.
The GoM, as per the ToR, would identify reasons for deviation in revenue collection trends; comparing it with the original assumptions worked out at the time of design and implementation of GST.
The other members of the GoM include Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, Karnataka Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Odisha Finance Minister Shashi Bhushan Behera, Haryana Taxation Minister Capt Abhimanyu and Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho. Out of 31 states, only Andhra Pradesh and five north eastern states — Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim and Nagaland have recorded revenue increase post the GST roll out.
The central government has released Rs 48,202 crore as GST compensation to the states during April-November 2018, higher than the Rs 48,178 crore paid in the previous financial year. GST was rolled out on July 1, 2017. As per the GST law, the centre compensates states to ensure that their revenue is protected at the level of 14 per cent over the base year tax collection in 2015-16.
The Woman and Child Development Ministry has received the total number 169 complaints of sexual harassments in the work place of private industries since 2017.
‘Sharing’ my ‘comment’ on Facebook ‘likes’
In theory, Facebook helps us to stay connected to our friends, yet, in reality, the reasons why so many people log in every day are more revealing than that! Though the posts come in many flavours, they all have something in common. They disclose more than you think, showing a strong link of self-concept to online behaviour. The way people choose to present themselves on social media speaks volumes about their personality and self-esteem.
All Facebook users relish the “likes” on their walls. Some ‘likes’ are based on sympathy with the creator of the content and sometimes even out of ignorance. The users do not necessarily read the content, especially when it comes to serious topics, while a few give a “like” just to support a certain social trend. We live in a culture where it is perfectly acceptable to ‘like’ everything without even knowing what it is about.
The ‘like’ is also seen as a sign of presence or perhaps the lack of knowledge to leave a comment. ‘Liking’ does not mean to actually enjoy something, as a post on death also sadly gets many ‘likes’!
Craving for recognition
Is there anything wrong about seeking virtual attention? Whenever you load a status update or post a picture, and get notifications for ‘likes’, doesn’t it make you feel good? Are you upset if you can’t get more ‘likes’? Many social media users have an innate desire for instant gratification, isn’t it? The “likes”, “shares” and “comments” very definitely play this role. Though virtual, it is psychologically fulfilling.
The best posts collect more “likes” and “shares”. Well, what is best is best left to the network community. Aren’t we unique human creatures with a craving to be liked and accepted? We all want to be loved and try to present the best version of ourselves. And what better way to depict our image than through social media? If you are basically an ‘agreeable’ person, the more likely you are tagged in photos posted by other people, as you tend to be friendly and less competitive.
The real and the imaginary
Having said that, remember that we all have our ‘real’ selves and our imaginary, fanciful side. Isn’t the illusion of our ‘dream self’ the main motivation when it comes to ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’ online? You may think you are presenting yourself in a certain light, only to discover the other people view your online behaviour completely different. It is not just what we post that displays information about our personalities,but it’s also what we don’t post that can be quite telling.
Deceptive selfie angles, for instance, make average looking people attractive. Social media has bloated humanity’s capacity for self-obsession to new extremes. Yes, plenty of harmless reciprocations occur without any sort of agenda, but many users utilise it as a means of projecting an idealised version of the person they wished they were, rather than who they are in reality.
A word on peer pressure! When a post already had a large number of ‘likes’, the compulsive bias makes some participants to follow the herd mentality and ‘like’ it as well. When people ‘like’ our posts, we assume that our posts are meaningful. Therefore, we believe the response we are getting is candid, even when we may not genuinely ‘liking’ others’ posts.
Sending a ‘like’ also has the same effect as smiling or saying a kind word to someone, basically an easy way to convey positive acknowledgment.
The stiff upper lip
FB at times gets so political. We are annoyed that our cousin never ‘likes’ our posts but s/he dutifully gives his/her ‘thumbs-up’ for everyone else. So, the next time you feel frustrated by a lack of ‘likes’ or ‘comments’, don’t take it personally. Keep going.
There’s nothing wrong with getting an ego boost from ‘likes’ on your photos and content, but when you crave that feedback more and more, it may be time to evaluate how vulnerable you are on the ‘like’ button for your happiness.
Though there is no ‘dislike’ option (unless you specify it through ‘comment’), I would be curious to see a study done on those who choose not to hit the ‘like’ button.
Finally, one Facebook user forthrightly tells me: “I am born to be liked”.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
