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Donald Trump refuses to condemn Russia over Navalny

September 6, 2020

President Donald Trump has refused to condemn Russia over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, saying he has not seen proof.

He said the case was “tragic” but urged reporters to focus instead on China, which he said was a bigger threat to the world than Russia, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Nato and Germany say there is “proof beyond doubt” that Navalny was attacked with a Novichok nerve agent.

His team said he was poisoned on the Kremlin’s orders. Russia denies this.

On Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry suggested that if a Novichok-type nerve agent had indeed been used, it did not necessarily originate in Russia.

Navalny – an anti-corruption campaigner who has long been the most prominent face of opposition to President Vladimir Putin in Russia – is in a coma in a Berlin hospital having been airlifted there from Siberia, where he fell ill.

Speaking at a press event on Friday, he said he had yet to see evidence of poisoning in the case.

“So I don’t know exactly what happened. I think it’s tragic, it’s terrible, it shouldn’t happen. We haven’t had any proof yet but I will take a look,” he said.

He also stopped short of criticising Mr Putin and said Beijing posed a greater threat.

“It is interesting that everybody’s always mentioning Russia and I don’t mind you mentioning Russia but I think probably China at this point is a nation that you should be talking about much more so,” he said.

Tests at a military laboratory in Germany show “beyond doubt” the presence of a Novichok nerve agent, the German government and Nato say.

On Friday Nato called for Russia to disclose its Novichok nerve agent programme to international monitors. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said members were united in condemning the “horrific” attack on Mr Navalny.

Stoltenberg said it required an international response, but gave no further details.

The US National Security Council has pledged to “work with allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable”.

There is nothing new about drug zealots in film industry

Vaidehi Taman

September 4, 2020

The film industry which is known for its glory and glitter, but behind the scenes has many dark edges. From drug abuse to casting couch and nepotism the industry is cursed with many arrays. Meanwhile, one needs to really debate why these film personalities are abused by usage of drugs? Or why they fall into the trap of addiction? First of all, working under deadlines and huge expectations can generate a lot of stress. And then they are driven to succeed and will try no matter what. Also there is peer pressure and loneliness and lots of money available to numb the mind. And this is because a lot of artists are sensitive and emotional and fame is not a substitute for a loving relationship. Normal love and attachment goes out of the window due to bloated egos and careers. Eventually they need something to numb that stress and pain and some take to drugs for solace. Having become addicted to the life of fame and an expectation does not give them the chance to break free from addiction. It takes months and years of reflection and hard work to be free of addiction and requires focused effort.

The lifestyle of the rich and famous does not provide that. They do not have time to cure their addiction because their absence from work affects their chances and some other actor fills the space. They have to run away from all that and rediscover themselves to cure addiction. A lot of them strike a deal with the devil and they learn to live with the addiction. The devil slowly spreads to their entire being and they battle it every day. With addiction either you win the battle or the addiction wins over you. There is no middle ground with addiction. Also there is no such thing as “one slip” with addiction. You slip once and you will be right there on top. Some get lucky and will manage to overcome and stay away. A lot of them however will not be able to. This all will end in some kind of error or an overdose because not all days are good. Some days are very bad and when coupled with bad luck, it results in a mishap. And a life ends. When it comes to addiction it does not discriminate – it strikes everybody with the same force. As difficult as it is to imagine, celebrities lead rather stressful lives. Don’t get me wrong, they make considerable amounts of money, take frequent extended vacations all over the world, live in palatial estates, attend galas and red carpet awards shows, travel the world shooting films on location, and get paid to do what they love and what most of us would kill for. They are extremely entitled, spoiled, and relatively disconnected from us regular folk. And that’s where the actual problem lies.

Becoming a celebrity is an extremely difficult and lonely journey. Drastically everyone you knew changes and all of a sudden, everyone’s your friend and you don’t know whom to trust. Everyone wants a loan, a job, a car, a limo ride, etc. You begin to pull away and find you can only trust a very small group of people, perhaps your immediate family. Members of your extended family by this time are contacting you for favors. As everyone’s motives you suspect, its difficult to have faith and you gradually begin to pull away from everyone you know. Your hometown becomes difficult to travel in and as you get more famous and recognized, it becomes impossible to go out in public. You are hounded by autograph seekers and everyone wants their picture taken with you. Of course you’re flattered at first, and as they do pay your paycheck, you owe it to them. Over time, this gets to you. You can no longer go out to the bars and your hometown or visit places you once normally could. And so, you begin to spend all your time in house parties, boozes and drugs. For the famous in Bollywood it’s not easier to move freely and not get bothered. Since you are no longer close to your old friends or family, you begin to spend all of your time with other celebrities. They know what you’re going through, and can always relate. However, you begin to find yourself living in a tighter and tighter bubble. Even though it’s the industry and metro city, you still feel stifled as you can’t go out like you used to. You begin to fall in with the wrong crowd. Like many people in the arts, you suffer from some mental health problems. People with these disorders are frequently drawn to the arts, acting especially is at statistically higher rate than those who don’t suffer. Your depression and medicines make drug use risky, but you need to relax and escape the stress of the fame. It starts out with pot, but within a month or two, you’re shooting heroin, and finding yourself doing it nearly every day. The crowd of dealers got bored, and they haven’t come back for weeks. Now it’s just you shooting up by yourself.

The other big stress of the job is the constant threat you could lose it tomorrow. There is absolutely no job security as with a couple of bad movies in a row and you are history. You will realize that the phone doesn’t ring any more. Even with the fame that you have, you constantly have to hustle to get your agent to get you auditions for the latest films. The roles aren’t coming like they used to. Back when you got famous on that hit television show. Now you’re nearing 40, and the roles are drying up. You want to get rid of your manager, but you’re nervous about jumping ship. You’ve already been in multiple love affairs or in failed marriage and pay through the nose in alimony. The reviews for your last film were horrible and you knew that the role wasn’t right for you. You can’t help but fear your career going down the drain, and then what? You realize you’re spinning out of control, and the drugs are the only thing keeping you together. You take more and more and stop taking auditions. You order everything in now and rarely leave the house. One night, you nod off in the hot tub and nearly drown to death. But sadly, you still don’t learn.

Single person driving a car or doing exercise does not have to wear face mask: Health Ministry

Afternoon Voice

September 3, 2020

A Single person driving a car or a person doing exercise/cycling alone does not have to wear a face mask. However, if there is more than one person in a car and group of people are exercising then wearing a mask is a must to avoid the spread of COVID-19, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

There are no guidelines from the Union Health Ministry on wearing a face mask when a person is driving a car alone or a person is doing an out-door exercising/cycling alone. However, if there is more than one person in a car and a group of people are exercising then wearing a mask is a must to avoid the spread of infection, said Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary on Thursday.

Bhushan replied in response to a question raised–if it is mandatory for a person to wear a mask while driving a car alone or a single person doing exercise.

“In the last few days, people have gained awareness of the benefits of physical activities. We have seen people are doing cycling and exercise or jogging in groups. It is mandatory for people to wear masks and follow social distancing when they are in a group while exercising or jogging so that they do not infect each other. If a person is cycling alone, then he does not require to wear a mask as there is no such direction from the health ministry,” said Bhushan during a weekly media briefing on COVID-19 update in India.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the government has made the wearing of mask compulsory for every person as a preventive measure to contain the spread of infection.

According to doctors, people can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth.

People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets. This is why it is important to wear a face mask or cover your mouth and practice social distancing. So far, India has reported 38,53,407 COVID-19 cases, while 67,376 people have died due to the infection. In the last 24 hours, the country has witnessed the biggest jump of 83,883 new coronavirus cases with 1,043 deaths. There are 8,15,538 active cases in the country.

Who hacked narendramodi_in?

Afternoon Voice

September 3, 2020

The Twitter account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s website ‘narendramodi.in’ was hacked early on Thursday morning. The US headquartered social media giant said that it was aware of this activity and had taken steps to secure the compromised account.

“We are actively investigating the situation. At this time, we are not aware of additional accounts being impacted,” a Twitter spokesperson said in an emailed reply.

Twitter suffered a major hack in July this year wherein some hackers were able to get access to its internal systems to take control of the accounts of major public figures and corporations, including U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, former US President Barack Obama, billionaire Elon Musk, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Apple. However, the hack of Modi’s account, as per investigations by Twitter, was not due to a compromise of its systems or service. There was no indication or evidence of any correlation between this account compromise and the incident that took place in July, it added. The Twitter account for his website has 2.5 million followers and follows 968 accounts.

In 2016 December a 22-year-old hacker cracked the Narendra Modi app. Hacker Javed Khatri had claimed that he was able to hack the app. Long since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of the nation, he has talked about Digital India. Presently, in India, internet penetration is a mere seven per cent, while those actually who own a smartphone make up roughly 41 per cent of the population. Narendra Modi has his own app which is separate from the official app which can be downloaded for iPhones, Android devices, and Windows phones. After addressing the nation on November 8, laying temporary but new banking rules till December 31 under his demonetization drive, the nation has both suffered and rejoiced.

“I am able to access private data of any user on the app. The data includes phone number, email, name, location, interests, last seen, etc. I successfully managed to extract the personal phone numbers and email ids of ministers like Smriti Irani. Not only that, but I can also make any user on the platform follow any other user on the platform. This is just the summary of this huge security loophole which I want to report. The privacy of more than seven million users is at stake if this gets ignored”, Javed told the media.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the second most-followed politician in the world with a social media audience of 110,912,648 on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, a study by online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform Company. It has been revealed by the government of India in an RTI query that Modi’s personal accounts Facebook and Twitter are handled by the PM himself. The government of India says that Modi’s personal accounts Facebook and Twitter are handled by the PM himself. As for the tweets done in foreign languages, he takes help from the translators hired by Doordarshan.

The account goes by the handle narendramodi_in and has 2.5 million followers and over 37,000 tweets since it was created in May 2011.

Jacqueline and Yami join the cast of ‘Bhoot Police’!

Afternoon Voice

September 3, 2020

After the announcement of Saif Ali Khan and Arjun Kapoor’s joining the team of the spooky adventure comedy ‘Bhoot Police’, the makers have got on board the two leading ladies of the film. Jacqueline Fernandez and Yami Gautam are to accompany the duo into the world of crazy horror-comedy.

Helmed by Pavan Kirpalani, the film will be produced by Ramesh Taurani and Akshai Puri.

Sharing his thoughts on the cast, Producer Ramesh Taurani says, “From the beginning, we were keen on having Jacqueline and Yami join the team for this film. They are both amazing artists and we are extremely happy to have them on board.”

The team has begun the groundwork on the horror-comedy, which will be largely shot across Dharamsala, Dalhousie, and Palampur.

“We are consulting experts to plan the safety measures for the team. We aim to wrap 80 per cent of the film during the outdoor schedules. The remaining portions will be shot at a set in Mumbai,” he adds.

Seconding him, producer Akshai Puri says, “We are elated to have Yami and Jacqueline on board for this exciting journey of ‘Bhoot Police’. We have a dynamic young team and all are super excited to start the shoot soon.”

Excited about this, director Pavan Kirpalani shares, “I am looking forward to working with Jacqueline and Yami. This will be my first collaboration with the entire cast. We need someone to add the craziness to this fun-filled entertainer and both of them will definitely add this magic to the script.

He also shared his views on the fresh casting of the film, “The script has gone through several changes after Rameshji and Akshai got on board. Saif, Arjun, Jacqueline and Yami perfectly complement each other in the film.

Facebook bans BJP MLA Raja Singh over content promoting hate

Afternoon Voice

September 3, 2020

Facebook on Thursday banned BJP MLA from Hyderabad, T. Raja Singh, who is at the centre of a controversy that erupted after a report in the ‘Wall Street Journal’ that Facebook’s content policies favoured the BJP.

The social media giant banned the legislator from its platform and Instagram for violating its policy that prohibits content promoting violence and hate.

“We have banned Raja Singh from Facebook for violating our policy prohibiting those that promote or engage in violence and hate from having a presence on our platform,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to Facebook’s decision to remove his account, it added.

The action came amid mounting pressure on Facebook over its handling of hate content being circulated by members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Facebook, which has over 300 million users in India, came under criticism after the ‘Wall Street Journal’, published a report last month that Facebook deliberately ignored disruptive content from members of the ruling BJP as well as right-wing voices and groups who have been ‘flagged internally’.

The report quoted unnamed Facebook insiders that one of the India policy executives intervened in an internal communication to stop a permanent ban on Raja Singh after he allegedly posted communal, divisive content.

The WSJ report triggered a political controversy with the Congress and the BJP trading barbs over Facebook’s alleged bias.

Facebook representatives on Wednesday appeared before a Parliamentary panel led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor after they were summoned to discuss the issue of alleged misuse of the social media platform.

Earlier On Tuesday, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had written to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, alleging that some Facebook employees were abusing the Prime Minister and senior cabinet ministers.

After the WSJ report, Raja Singh had denied making any social media posts which have the potential to whip up communal passions.

The member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly posted a video on his Twitter account to claim that he never posted any inflammatory content on social media.

Singh, who is known for making controversial comments and was also booked by police on various occasions, claimed that his official Facebook account was hacked and blocked in 2018.

The BJP leader, who represents Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, also stated that there were several Facebook accounts being run in the country in his name and that he can’t be held responsible for the comments posted on these pages.

“I am being projected as if I am the most dangerous in the entire world and whenever I post something on social media, something or the other happens. I work in the interest of the nation and dharma. Cite at least one instance where there was a riot because of my statement,” he asked.

“There are many Facebook accounts in my name. I can’t be held responsible for what they post. I can’t stop them from posting something. If they like or share something, I can’t be blamed for that,” he said.

Stating that he has only one official YouTube account and Twitter, Singh said he never posted anything provocative on these platforms.

The BJP leader said he had only one official Facebook account but it was hacked and blocked in 2018. “I lodged a complaint with Cyberabad police commissioner but there was no response,” he said.

Congress’ Surjewala hits out at Centre, says India being pushed towards ‘financial emergency’

Afternoon Voice

September 3, 2020

The Congress on Thursday targeted the Centre over the economic situation in the country and said that India is being pushed towards a “financial emergency”.

“There are dark clouds of economic decay all around us. Lives, livelihoods, and jobs have been ravaged. Businesses and small and medium industries lie dilapidated. The Economy stands destroyed as GDP has been razed and mowed down. India is being pushed towards a ‘financial emergency’,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a press conference.

“Modi Government has plundered the economy in the last 6 years by its ‘Acts of frauds’. The Government now describes its criminal ineptitude and culpable incompetence as an ‘Act of God’. Sadly, this is the only Government in the past 73 years that blames ‘God’ for its own frauds and bluster,” he said. Surjewala also said that by abolishing question hour in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning from September 14, the government is running scared of answering relevant questions.

“By abolishing question hour in Parliament, govt is running scared of answering relevant questions. Modi govt doesn’t want to answer on brazen transgression by China onto Indian Territory, the blunder of Indian economy, falling GDP, and over 12 crore job losses,” he said. The Congress leader said that the Government of India is a “declared defaulter” for the first time in the last 73 years.

“In the meeting of ‘Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance’ dated August 11, 2020, the Finance Secretary clearly said that the Government of India is not in a position to give GST compensation to States. The latest SBI report of September 1, 2020, predicts a shortfall and revenue loss of 3 lakh crore in GST collections for the States. How will States meet their expenses? This is Economic Anarchy,” he said.

Surjewala said that the Modi Government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court conveying its decision to not extend the moratorium on payment of EMI’s by salaried class and the middle class beyond August 31, 2020.

“The Modi Government has refused to provide interest waiver also. All hopes of the middle-class lie shattered,” he added. “A government that pats its back in the name of farmers and laborers has pushed them to the doorstep of economic ruin and suicide,” he said.

Telugu v/s English in Andhra schools: SC declines to stay HC order

Afternoon Voice

September 3, 2020

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined an interim stay on an Andhra Pradesh High Court order quashing its decision-making compulsory for students of government schools to study in English medium from Class 1 to 6 in the ongoing academic year.

The apex court will hear arguments on this on the next date of hearing three weeks later.

A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, K.M. Joseph and Indu Malhotra noted that Section 29(2)(f) of the Act says the medium should be in the mother tongue “so far as it is applicable” unless not possible, and it seems the High Court had considered this.

Senior advocate K.V. Viswanathan, appearing for the state government, argued that the government’s decision is a progressive measure and sought a stay on the High Court order.

He submitted before the bench that nothing in the Right to Education Act, which says that the medium has to be in the mother tongue. Viswanathan said the government undertook a survey and the majority of parents desire English medium.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan, who is on caveat, opposed the stay on the High Court and submitted that the state should be fostering its mother tongue. Sankaranarayan argued that the choice is being taken away from parents and children, as Telugu speaking schools are being replaced with English medium.

Viswanathan reiterated that the top court should stay the High Court order. The bench allowed Sankaranarayan to file a reply and declined to stay the High Court order.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court had on April 15 struck down the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-government’s decision making English medium mandatory and termed the order “unconstitutional and violative of several Acts, including the Right to Education Act”.

The government had issued the orders on November 20, 2019.

Mumbai is heaven for Drug peddlers

Vaidehi Taman

September 3, 2020

We Mumbai people are very tolerant of migrants; let it be Bangladeshi or Africans. From fraud mail, fishing, drugs, flesh trading, and terror, which is the hub right next door of Mumbai residents. They have localities and huge places allotted in their name. They have restaurants and trades in Mumbai. They are the representatives of fortune in faraway lands, but the fount of those beckoning fraud emails that promise a lottery win in, all these scammers live in Mumbai’s very own backyard — Mira Road, Pila house, Nagpada, and Byculla.

‘Nigerianwadi’ at a 20-minute walk from the Mira Road railway station, is evidence, they say, that the IP addresses of almost all the computers from where these fraud emails originated are traced to Mira Road. Mira Road provides the fraudsters a perfect camouflage. A fast-growing suburb, it affords them the anonymity they desperately need and the inexpensive one-room rented flats that go for as little as Rs 3,000 a month. The word Nigerianwadi was coined by policemen who on several occasions were roughed up while trying to pick up a suspect in a scam or a drug case. Many of these Nigerians migrated to other areas, including to Nalasopara. But some of them stayed back. The two internet parlors near Nigerianwadi, as a result, are still doing reasonable business. Because the owners get at least Rs 100 from each of these guys compared to the paltry Rs 10 the others pay. They sit here from morning to night. These Nigerians not only drug addicts but violent much of the time that is the reason some policemen openly admit that they were scared to detain Nigerian suspects from the locality. There were times when we lured them as recipients of Nigerian scam emails and arrested them when they came out of the area. They are physically strong and go to any length to resist cops.

The anti-narcotics cell hunts these drug peddlers. Many Nigerian drug peddlers in Byculla and other areas were nabbed time and again. The Africans have either destroyed or hidden their passports and refuse to disclose their country of origin, leaving the cops no way to know where to deport them. The African drug network has been notoriously difficult to tackle, and more often than not, the dealers manage to give cops the slip. But running from the police is not the only way the criminals have managed to hold on to the drug trade in Mumbai for so long. Following the example of illegal immigrants across the world, the African drug pushers tear up their passport as soon as they arrive in India to avoid deportation. The interrogation of the recently arrested nine dealers indicates that they too might have done something similar. The peddlers at a time refuse to disclose their nationality, and despite searching their homes, mobile phones, and other belongings, the cops hardly find any clues. The peddlers have even figured out that getting arrested can help them stay on longer in the country. Many of them try to get arrested on purpose since they cannot be deported until the investigation and the court case ends. This could take several months or even years.

One such example is Kofi Jems Romalik, 30, who was among the nine arrested on the intervening night of July 27 and 28. He had already been arrested earlier for a 2012 narcotics case, but would never attend court proceedings. In 2017, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him. He has now spent six years in Mumbai since his last arrest. African peddlers tell the police that there is so much poverty in their countries that they keep getting arrested so they can stay in India. So far only two peddlers have been deported to Nigeria since 2017, even though the police arrested 45 African dealers in the same period (29 in 2017 and 16 in 2018). Apart from charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Maharashtra Police Act, the police have now also added offences under the Passport Act, for illegal entry and concealing their citizenship. These Nigerians are a dangerous liability on our country’s economy, all those arrested so far refuse to eat anything but chicken and rice. As a result, the police are spending Rs 2,000 per day on meals for these accused.

Most of the Nigerians even prefer to stay in a brothel, the sex workers find it safekeeping them around, and they are physically strong and can protect these women against any nonsense. Losing at these men and their violent approach the customers try to be grounded. The cost of keeping them is just space in the corner and two-time meals. These Nigerians pay a better amount then the local customers, the sex workers in Mumbai play a crucial role in sheltering these drug peddlers.

Nigerians in India form one of the largest African communities in the country. As of now, there are about 70,000 Nigerians living and working in India. These Nigerians have a negative public image in Indian society as some Nigerians are involved in illegal activities in India such as drug trafficking, drug abuse, prostitution trafficking, fraud, and forgery of travel documents, such as passports and visas, trafficking in stolen documents. There are also more than 500 known Nigerians in various jails across India. Nigeria itself treats its own people very poorly. They do not care for their people. Why should other people care for them?

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Cannot promote students without final year exams; states can approach UGC to extend deadline, says SC

Afternoon Voice

August 28, 2020

The Supreme Court on Friday said the University Grants Commission’s guideline for conducting the final year university examination before September 30 is correct, and states and universities cannot promote students without holding exams.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah said state governments under the Disaster Management Act have the power to order the postponement of exams in view of the pandemic, and for this, if a state wants to postpone the final year exams beyond UGC guideline, then the state concerned should consult the UGC for fixing a fresh date for the final examination in that state.

This means UGC’s September 30 deadline is not mandatory for state governments to adhere to, and they can fix dates beyond September 30 for holding final exams.

During the hearing, the apex court had asked the UGC if there was a certain situation in a state, could it override the state government and take a position on the schedule of the exams.

The verdict of the apex court has come on a bunch of petitions challenging the UGC directive to universities across the country to conduct final year exams by September 30.

On August 18, in a marathon hearing which lasted for close to four hours, the apex court had heard the arguments from a battery of senior advocates appearing for various stakeholders, including Arvind P. Datar (for Maharashtra government), Jaideep Gupta (for teachers from West Bengal), K.V. Viswanathan (Delhi government) and the Advocate General for Odisha and West Bengal, while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the UGC.

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