New Delhi: A tweet posted by Ukraine’s defence ministry purportedly showing an image of Goddess Kali over a blast fume triggered online outrage following which the post was deleted.
The Twitter handle @DefenceU posted the image with the caption “Work of Art”, triggering angry reactions from many Indian Twitter users who accused the Ukrainian defence ministry of insensitivity and hurting the sentiments of Indians. Some Indian Twitter users even sought External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s intervention.
“Please take note of this defamatory post that shows Maa Kali in a bad light, @MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar,” tweeted one user.
Following online outrage, the tweet was deleted by Ukraine’s defence ministry.
Srinagar, Mar 06: The engagement of APTECH by the Services Selection Board (SSB) for conducting computer-based job tests in Jammu & Kashmir has come under severe criticism in Jammu & Kashmir.
Claiming that the firm has been blacklisted in several States, the job aspirants, civil society actors and politicians are up in arms over the SSB’s move to hire APTECH firm for conducting computer-based job tests in Jammu and Kashmir.
As per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), social media platforms were flooded with angry reactions over engagement of the APTECH by the SSB for conducting computer-based job tests in Jammu & Kashmir.
The hashtag#Aptech blacklisted is trending on the twitter, with netizens appealing J&K administration to scrap the contract with the firm to save future of youth of J&K.
“Students of J&K are crying due to mess created by JKSSB. What hardworking students will get when blacklisted company will conduct exams. Aptech is scam & JKSSB is destroying careers of youth. This company should be banned forever. #JKSSB #Aptech,” social media influencer and aspiring politician Guftar Choudhary tweeted.
Lawyer and former Congress spokesman Deepika Puskhar Nath said that hiring of APTECH firm is a sheer fraud with job aspirants.
“Hiring dubious #Aptech exam conducting agency for the state level recruitment is a sheer fraud with the aspirants. #AptechBlacklisted tampered with Central level exams and one can imagine the susceptibility of #JKSSB exams. Restore Merit system, save meritorious youth of J&K,” she wrote on twitter. Political leaders also assailed the move of hiring APTECH.
“I have received a lot of emails and messages about Aptech which has been blacklisted in other states. Given the shoddy track record of the past, SSRB better tread with caution. Students need to be heard. You can’t thrust a blacklisted company on our future,” PC chief Sajad Gani Lone tweeted.
National Conference chief spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar also lambasted the administration over awarding contract to the blacklisted firm, saying it is a move to “destroy” career of local youth. “JKSSB is the enfant terrible of the incumbent J&K administration. The board in spite of addressing the genuine concerns and fear of the educated, skilled local youth seems hell-bent to destroy their future by continuously persisting with a blacklisted company,” Dar said.
The J&K congress unit on its official Twitter handle said that it stands with aspirants who are suffering due to the illegitimate alliance of Aptech + JKSSB + corrupt officials + BJP leaders.
Chief Spokesperson of Democratic Azad Party (DAP) Salman Nizami termed the awarding of contract to Aptech Limited a “deep rooted conspiracy”. “Awarding a contract to blacklisted Aptech by JKSSB seems a deep rooted conspiracy to spoil the future of J&K’s youth. The contract should be withdrawn immediately and in future never to engage with such companies,” Nizami said—(KNO)
Hyderabad: Actress Amala Akkineni, who is also a well-known animal lover and activist, recently sparked mixed reactions on social media with her comments following the tragic mauling of a 4-year-old boy Pradeep by a pack of stray dogs in Hyderabad. While many people are calling for immediate solutions and action, Amala has urged people not to view dogs as enemies, but rather to treat them with love and compassion.
Amala says in her statement, “Please don’t let a few odd incidents turn you against dogs and make them your enemies. If we love them, they will love us back tenfold. Killing and hitting dogs is not the answer here.”
“The relationship between humans and dogs dated back to over 50,000 years ago and due to rare incidents like this, all dogs shouldn’t be harmed,” she added.
Amala’s point is that we must recognize the root causes of these incidents in order to respond in a civilized and compassionate manner. She emphasizes that one of the primary causes of the increase in stray dog populations is a lack of effective animal birth control measures. Instead of resorting to violence or hatred towards dogs, we must work towards long-term solutions that prioritize the safety and well-being of both humans and animals.
While several social media users slammed Amala for her comments who questioned how anyone can call for love towards dogs who attack people, a section of netizens are urged everyone to understand Amala’s genuine and reasonable intention.
People are saying that she has dedicated her life to promoting animal welfare as an animal lover and activist, and her message is not to excuse or justify the tragic incident, but to encourage people not to generalize dogs based on one or two incidents.
Hyderabad: The issue of media interference into the lives of celebrities and their children or the ‘starkids,’ has been a matter of concern among stars and their fans. In recent years, there have been several instances of media personnel chasing and hounding the children of famous actors, which makes them uncomfortable and causes distress. One such incident happened with Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu’s son Gautam Ghattamaneni in Hyderabad recently.
Gautam was chased by the media during the Formula E race in Hyderabad that took place in the city last week. While the star kid was walking towards the event venue, he was approached by a group of media personnel who were trying to take his interview. Despite his attempts to avoid them, the media chased him for some distance, causing him distress and leaving him nervous.
A video of the incident is going viral on social media, sparking outrage among fans who have expressed their anger towards the media for their intrusive behavior. It was clear from the video that Gautham was uncomfortable answering the questions.
Check below how people reacted to this incident:
“Hey, do you have any sense? You are a reporter; is this called journalism? Shame on you!”
Don’t make him feel so scared.
Why are you chasing the boy and making him feel uncomfortable?
Usyk’s removal had roiled the bloc’s members, who are typically conflict-averse. A well-respected Hill veteran, she’d been brought on as the Hispanic Caucus head staffer earlier this year after stints with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.). The group, following Usyk’s termination, now has no staffers.
Barragán, a fourth-term lawmaker, has developed a reputation as a harsh boss — netting higher-than-average turnover in her office, as tracked by the nonpartisan site Legistorm. She’d brought on Usyk as the top staffer for the Hispanic Caucus, but other top staffers departed the group soon after Barragán was elected unopposed to its top job in December.
The lack of staff threatens to hurt the caucus’ ability to meaningfully engage on policies like immigration, preventing the group from leading House Democrats on certain critical issues. The group was set this week to bring on a new communications director, Bianca Lugo Lewis, though it is unclear if she will still start the job. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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#House #Dem #leaders #calm #outrage #Hispanic #Caucus #chair
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Chennai: After strong protests by the people in the Gudalur area in Nilgiris district, the Tamil Nadu forest department is chasing away a tuskless male elephant, also knwon as ‘Makhna’, into the deep forests in the Madumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).
Forest officials of MTR told IANS that the elephant, which is around 40 years old, has not yet posed threat to humans. But of late, there have been complaints from the local people that elephants have been creating havoc in their agricultural lands, causing damage to crops.
While the Makhna has not been antagonistic towards human beings, recently it destroyed three farm lands, causing extensive damage to crops.
A senior official of the forest department told IANS, “People have launched a campaign in Gudalur and other areas of Nilgiris to drive this elephant into the forest. Even though we know that it’s a harmless elephant, we have now decided to chase it into the deep forest land in the MTR area.”
The official said that the forest department is driving the elephant into deep forests taking into account the safety of the tusker.
It is to be noted here that the Palakkad Tusker 7 (PT7), which had killed a morning walker and damaged crops extensively in the Dhoni area in Palakkad district in Kerala, was captured a few days back by the Kerala forest department. Medical check-up showed that 15 pellets were fired at it from air guns.
Kerala Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran had said that farmers should not resort to such cruel acts against elephants.
Tamil Nadu forest department officials are hence driving the Makhna into the deep forests to prevent it from the wrath of the local people.
A secretly made documentary expanding on allegations of sexual assault against supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh has premiered at this year’s Sundance film festival.
Justice, a last-minute addition to the schedule, aims to shine a light not only on the women who have accused Kavanaugh, a Donald Trump nominee, but also the failed FBI investigation into the allegations.
“I do hope this triggers outrage,” said producer Amy Herdy in a Q&A after the premiere in Park City, Utah. “I do hope that this triggers action, I do hope that this triggers additional investigation with real subpoena powers.”
The film provides a timeline of the allegations, initially that Kavanaugh was accused by Christine Blasey Ford of sexual assault when she was 15 and he 17. She alleged that he held her down on a bed and groped her, and tried to rip her clothes off before she got away. Kavanaugh was also accused of sexual misconduct by Deborah Ramirez, who alleged that he exposed himself and thrust his penis at her face without her consent at a college party.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations. He turned down requests to take part in the documentary.
The first scene features Ford, half off-camera, interviewed by the film’s director Doug Liman, whose credits include Mr and Mrs Smith and The Bourne Identity. Justice features a number of interviews with journalists, lawyers, psychologists and those who knew Ford and Ramirez.
“This was the kind of movie where people are terrified,” Liman said. “The people that chose to participate in the movie are heroes.”
In the film, Ramirez, who previously told her story to Ronan Farrow in the New Yorker, also shares her story on-camera. Ramirez is referred to as someone “they worked hard for people not to know”, her story never given the space it deserved until long after Kavanaugh was confirmed to the court in October 2018.
Ramirez details a Catholic upbringing, before explaining that her high grades got her into Yale when the university was slowly diversifying its student body in the mid-80s. As well as being admitted only 15 years after women were allowed in, Ramirez was also biracial and working class. “My mum was concerned,” she recounts, emotionally, in the documentary.
Friends at the time refer to her as “sweet and Bambi-like” and “innocent to a fault”, but Ramirez tried to fit in by becoming a cheerleader and by drinking with her peers. This, she says, brought her into the orbit of Kavanaugh, who came from a privileged family and was known as a heavy drinker at the time (he is referred to in the film as someone who was usually “more drunk than everyone else”). Ramirez recounts the alleged event, when she was intoxicated and, she says, made, without her consent, to touch Kavanaugh’s penis, which he had placed near her face.
Deborah Ramirez. Photograph: AP
The film then details how the circles around Ramirez and Kavanaugh responded, showing text messages of a discussion when Ramirez’s allegations were about to go public, of a mutual friend being asked by Kavanaugh to go on record to defend him. Another friend refers to it as “a cover-up”.
The New Yorker included a statement from a group of students at the time in support of Kavanaugh. A year later, the film shows that two of them emailed the New Yorker to remove their names from the statement.
Ramirez’s lawyers claim they contacted Republican senator Jeff Flake, who was involved in Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, to explain what happened to her. The next day Flake called to delay the confirmation and insist on a week-long FBI investigation.
But the film details how the FBI failed to call on the many witnesses recommended by Ramirez’s lawyers. Footage is shown of the film-makers meeting with a confidential source who plays tape of Kavanaugh’s classmate Max Stier, now a prominent figure in Washington running a non-profit, who allegedly witnessed Kavanaugh involved in a similar act of alleged drunken exposure with a female student at a dorm party at Yale. The woman has chosen to remain anonymous and this is the first time this recording has been heard.
It was made during the week the FBI investigated Kavanaugh, and despite Stier notifying them, they failed to speak to him. “You don’t talk to that guy, you’re not talking to anybody,” Liman said during the Q&A.
The FBI tip line that was set up is referred to as “a graveyard”, with 4,500 tips sent straight to the White House rather than being investigated. It’s referred to as another “cover-up”.
The film-makers also spoke to other accuser who alleged misconduct but could not be included in the film. “We did speak to people who had other allegations, and we were very careful and thorough, and it’s not for disbelieving them – but the stories you see here are the ones you are able to corroborate,” Herdy said to the audience.
Justice was made in secrecy over the last year, with NDAs signed by everyone involved. The project was self-funded by Liman, making his documentary debut. He told the Hollywood Reporter that the supreme court holds “special meaning” to him, his father having been a lawyer and activist and his brother a federal judge. He was frustrated by the FBI investigation into Kavanaugh that “never happened”, and sought the help of renowned documentary producers Liz Garbus and Herdy, both with specialised experience of films about sexual assault allegations, to do the work that he saw as unfinished, if barely started at all.
At the Q&A, he expressed the importance of secrecy, speaking about “the machinery that’s put into place against anyone who dared to speak up” and an awareness that this machinery would be turned on the film if it was made public.
“There would have been some kind of injunction,” he said. “This film wouldn’t have been showing here.”
It was only screened to Sundance high-ups on Wednesday before being officially announced on Thursday. It premiered to a sold-out cinema on Friday.
In the past few years, the festival has become a regular home to a number of investigative documentaries about alleged sexual predators in the public eye. Figures such as Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, Russell Simmons and former Sundance mainstay Harvey Weinstein have all been spotlighted.
Since the announcement of Justice, Herdy confirmed they have been “getting more tips”, which started arriving just 30 minutes after the press release went out. Liman added that the film, which is seeking a distributor, will now possibly need to be extended and re-edited.
Herdy added: “It’s not over.”
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#hope #triggers #outrage #surprise #Brett #Kavanaugh #documentary #premieres #Sundance
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
