Category: Social Media

The UN system and its member states must develop policies to protect journalists and end impunity for crimes against them, said key stakeholders during a meeting. A multi stakeholder consultation held in Geneva brought together representatives from governments, civil society, media, and academia to discuss developments in the area of safety of journalists and the issue of impunity.

“Too many journalists are imprisoned for the wrong reasons. Too many journalists are forced to flee their countries. Women journalists face particular forms of harassment. Murder remains the most tragic form of censorship,” said UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova to participants.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), some 1,246 journalists have been killed since 1992. The deadliest countries were those in conflict situations including Iraq, Syria, Philippines, and Somalia.

There were also almost 260 journalists in jail at the end of 2016, the most CPJ has ever documented. Turkey is the world’s leading jailer of journalists with over 145 imprisoned journalists, more than China, Egypt, and Iran combined.

As censorship tactics become more complex, new challenges have arisen for journalists, underscoring the need to protect journalists and end impunity.

“Online attacks now occur at a frequency and scale that we’ve never experienced before. We need new ways to protect journalists, to deal with what technology has enabled because computational propaganda means to stifle any challenge or dissent against power,” said CEO of Philippines newspaper Rappler Maria Ressa during the consultation.

In an effort to address these complex issues, stakeholders formulated numerous recommendations to reinforce and improve the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity adopted by the UN Chief Executives Board in 2012.

Among the main challenges highlighted by stakeholders was how to translate the UN Plan of Action into national policies and practices.

“We need to reboot our thinking of the UN Plan to bridge the gap between the progress made at the international level and the situation on the ground,” said Executive Director of International Media Support at the meeting organised by UNESCO and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information Frank La Rue stressed the importance of governments to set up national mechanisms for the safety of journalists and the report on such policies to help end impunity for attacks against journalists.

Participants also emphasized the importance of UN leadership and the strengthening of the UN system to better address journalists’ safety, including enhancing inter-agency coordination and the mainstreaming of safety issues in agencies’ programming.

They also urged making better use of existing avenues and mechanisms in the UN system in order to improve monitoring and reporting on attacks against journalists, especially in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Within the internationally agreed agenda is goal 16 which calls for the creation of peaceful and inclusive societies with effective and accountable institutions and highlights the need to ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms.

Journalist safety and ending impunity are therefore essential to achieve this goal. The recommendations will be finalised into a non-binding outcome document to help inform stakeholder actions in the future.

Pakistani Women’s Human Rights Organisation organized a silent protest outside the UNHRC in Geneva on September 21, against gender-related violence and honour killing in Pakistan. The women displayed banners that said “Pakistan Free Your Daughters”, “There is no Honour in Killing” and “Stop Abusing Women”. Speaking to the media, one of the protestors, Alisha Khan, stated that she was here to protest to remind the world that Pakistani women, in their daily lives, were still faced with domestic violence and honour killing. She added that despite international media attention to some of these incidents of violence, things were not changing in Pakistan. She held the growing influence of Islamic clerics in Pakistan’s policy making as one of the main reasons for its society becoming so regressive. In this connection, she gave the example of the human rights bill that was introduced in the Punjab Assembly not being implemented, because ot the objection of fundamentalist leaders, who claimed that such a bill would be against the Sharia.

Tarek Fateh, who was also present at the venue of the protest, said that these women who stood silently to protest against this oppression, very aptly symbolized the reality of Pakistani women being voiceless. He informed that every year nearly 5000 women were killed by their fathers, husbands or brothers in incidents of honour killing. Calling Pakistan a pariah State, he said that the country practiced the worst form of Islamic fascism, and the present condition of women and the support by the Pakistani State to terrorism, was a result of this.

Bina Ramesh was recently denied entry to the Six Flags amusement park in Jackson, NJ because a male security guard deemed the shirt she was wearing to be “inappropriate”.

You may be think that Ramesh was wearing some sort of see-thru halter top or shirt with an offensive message, but think again! Ramesh was wearing a simple v-neck cut grey t-shirt, similar to the style you would find in any department store. Ramesh was told by the security guard she would have to change her shirt if she wanted to be allowed in the park.

Here’s where the story takes an interesting turn. Ramesh returned to the parking lot and switched shirts with her male friend to prove that there was nothing offensive about the shirt itself. Lo and behold, when the pair went to re-enter the park they were allowed admission without a single issue.

In a Facebook post regarding the incident, Ramesh says “Apparently, when a boy wears the same top, it’s fine, so thank you for swapping shirts with me in the parking lot because we still live in a world of

“As I was entering Six Flags I was stopped by security because my top was considered inappropriate for the park’s standards,” Ramesh, 22, posted on Instagram July 10 about the incident.

Her shirt (as seen in the above photo) was a basic gray V-neck style cutoff T-shirt. She then returned to her car and exchanged shirts with her male friend, Adonis Blanco Jimenez, and then went back to the entrance and both were admitted into the park.

“Apparently when a boy wears the same top, it’s fine,” she added. “So thank you for swapping shirts with me in the parking lot because we still live in a world of ridiculous double standards and sexism.”

Ramesh also tweeted the same day, “s/o @SixFlags security guard for inconveniencing my day because he couldn’t keep his eyes off my cleavage.”

The young woman also posted her angst from the amusement park incident on Facebook, which had hundreds of people supporting her with nearly 400 likes and about 150 shares.

After voicing her displeasure throughout the social media space, Six Flags issued Ramesh an apology. Ramesh posted the apology on her Instagram.

“We are extremely sorry for the experience you had while at the park. Our goal is for all our guests to have a fun visit and we understand this was not the case for you. Our team members are trained, and then asked to use their judgement in carrying out our policies. These particular officers did not use good judgement and there is no reason you should have been denied entry,” the apology read.

Additionally, Six Flags offered her and her friend — who are both season pass holders — to return to the park.

Ramesh said she intends to return to the park, but was voicing her opinion on the incident solely to receive acknowledgement from the park that she was treated unfairly, which she accomplished.

Many media outlets, including Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue and Elle, ran the story and it went viral, leading to the park apology.

Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and board member of the social network Facebook, has long been one of its vocal supporters. Last week, Facebook did not welcome that support.

In a conversation on Twitter on Tuesday evening, Mr. Andreessen defended Facebook’s Free Basics, an initiative that seeks to provide Internet access to people worldwide — and especially in developing countries — through simplified phone applications that run more efficiently. The program has been introduced in multiple countries, including India, where people could use it to view certain sites without incurring data charges.

This week, Indian regulators struck down the so-called zero-data program, saying that mobile phone companies should not be allowed to “shape the users’ Internet experience” by providing free access only to certain services.

In defense of Facebook’s efforts, Mr. Andreessen, who posts prolifically on Twitter, argued that Indians were being shortsighted with the ban. When other Twitter users compared Facebook’s efforts to a colonialist approach, Mr. Andreessen wrote, “Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?”

Hundreds of users, many of whom said they were of Indian descent, reacted negatively to Mr. Andreessen’s comment and what appeared to be his pro-colonialist sentiment. The tweet has since been deleted. Facebook swiftly swatted down Mr. Andreessen’s comments on Wednesday.

“We strongly reject the sentiments expressed by Marc Andreessen last night regarding India,” Facebook said in a statement. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, also posted on the social network that he found Mr. Andreessen’s comments “deeply upsetting, and they do not represent the way Facebook or I think at all.”

He added that through his travels to India, he has “gained a deeper appreciation for the need to understand India’s history and culture.” The comments come at an inopportune time for the social network, which is still reeling from the defeat of Free Basics in India. Experts said Facebook might have misjudged its aggressive push into the country, in which it spent millions of dollars on lobbying and advertising to promote the Free Basics program.

The company has not said how it plans to return to the issue in India. Mr. Zuckerberg has said the company “is still committed” to connecting Indians online. In his post on Wednesday, the chief executive added that he looked “forward to strengthening my connection to the country.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Andreessen did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Andreessen posted new tweets in which he apologized for his previous comments, an apology he later repeated. “I now withdraw from all future discussions of Indian economics and politics, and leave them to people with more knowledge and experience!” he wrote.

Do Facebook and Twitter make us happier? The answer it would seem is: no. A recent survey found as many as one in five people say they feel depressed as a result of using social media. That might come as a surprise to the generation under 30; social media is part of their DNA and teenagers are rapidly losing the ability to communicate if not through their smartphones. But the stress of constantly monitoring our statuses and endlessly documenting every aspect of our lives via networks like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram is taking its toll.

Employers claim many school leavers are unprepared for the world of work, where they will have to interact with people outside their peer group and actually speak face-to-face with total strangers.

Meanwhile, there have been countless academic studies since 2015 on the negative impacts of social media, showing that its regular use leads to feelings of anxiety, isolation and low self-esteem, not to mention poor sleep. We use these outlets to present a false picture of our lives to the online community; with flattering selfies and faux-glamorous images of holidays, parties and meals. It’s as if we’re starring in a movie of the life we’d like to lead, not the humdrum one we actually inhabit. An underwhelming number lack of shares or ‘likes’ can lead to debilitating feelings of inadequacy.

We post intimate fragments of our lives to total strangers, falsely believing that a ‘friend’ online is a real friend whose opinions matter. As for Twitter, it is a vehicle for screaming, nothing more and nothing less. Best not to read tweets if you are of a vulnerable disposition.

Recently, I dared to write that cycling was being prioritised over walking in London. Cyclists, like Scottish Nationalists, are the thugs of the new era. Immediately, my words were distorted, and amplified via Twitter. I was accused of hate crimes against cycling even though I carefully said that I actually enjoyed it. I received 1,000 vile and abusive messages – and they’re still coming. Twitter has an effect on one’s disposition; augmenting anger and upset. Many of the women I know have come off Twitter because of the constant abuse that waits every time they pick up their phone or log in to their computer.

The latest fashion among hipsters is to have a ‘digital-free’ home. That could be a good move. Arianna Huffington has just written a book (The Sleep Revolution) citing experts who say there should be no screens in the bedroom and we shouldn’t use social media in the hour before lights-out. How many times have we read a message on our phones and then spent hours in turmoil? Social media never switches off: someone, somewhere, is posting pictures, comments or messages, asking you to join a chat or wade in with an opinion. No wonder many teenagers suffer from what shrinks call “decision paralysis”. The options are simply too enormous for any human brain to deal with.

For many people (not just teenagers), it seems the only way we can validate ourselves is though a screen, a habit which is just as bad for our health as over-indulging in drink or drugs. And just as addictive.

Throughout human history, people have sought assistance from others in meeting romantic partners – and Americans today are increasingly looking for love online by enlisting the services of online dating sites and a new generation of mobile dating apps. A national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted June 10-July 12, 2015, among 2,001 adults, finds that:

12% of American adults have ever used an online dating site, up slightly from 9% in early 2013.

9% of American adults have ever used a dating app on their cellphone. The share of Americans who use dating apps has increased threefold since early 2013 – at that point just 3% of Americans had used these apps.

Taken together, a total of 15% of American adults now report that they have used online dating sites and/or mobile dating apps, up from the 11% who reported doing so in early 2013.

This growth has been especially pronounced for two groups who have historically not used online dating at particularly high levels – the youngest adults, as well as those in their late 50s and early 60s.

The share of 18- to 24-year-olds who report having used online dating has nearly tripled in the last two years. Today 27% of these young adults report that they have done so, up from just 10% in early 2013. Meanwhile, the share of 55- to 64-year-olds who use online dating has doubled over the same time period (from 6% in 2013 to 12% in 2015).

For young adults in particular, this overall increase in online dating usage has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the use of mobile dating apps. Fully 22% of 18- to 24-year-olds now report using mobile dating apps, a more than fourfold increase from the 5% who reported using dating apps in 2013. These young adults are now more likely than any other age group to use mobile dating apps.

41% of Americans know someone who uses online dating; 29% know someone who has met a spouse or long-term partner via online dating. Although 15% of Americans have used online dating themselves, a larger share report that they are familiar with online dating from the experiences of people they know. Some 41% of American adults say they know someone who uses online dating, while 29% indicate they know someone who has married or entered into a long-term partnership with someone they met via online dating.

As was the case in previous Pew Research Center surveys of online dating, college graduates and the relatively affluent are especially likely to know people who use online dating or to know people who have entered into a relationship that began online. Nearly six-in-ten college graduates (58%) know someone who uses online dating, and nearly half (46%) know someone who has entered into a marriage or long-term partnership with someone they met via online dating. By comparison, just 25% of those with a high school diploma or less know someone who uses online dating – and just 18% know someone who has entered into a long-term relationship with someone they met this way.

80% of Americans who have used online dating agree that online dating is a good way to meet people. 62% agree that online dating allows people to find a better match, because they can get to know a lot more people. n61% agree that online dating is easier and more efficient than other ways of meeting people. On the other hand, a substantial minority of these users agree that meeting people online can have potential negative consequences, stating that online dating is more dangerous than other ways of meeting people. Some 53% of women who have used online dating agree that it is more dangerous than other ways of meeting people, substantially higher than the 38% of male online daters who agree with this statement.

Indian religious leaders vowed on Thursday to use their influence to end modern slavery, saying the exploitation, abuse and confinement of millions of men, women and children around the world was a “crime against God”.

Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Jain and Baha’i leaders and representatives signed a declaration, organised by the Australia-based Global Freedom Network, pledging to help eradicate slavery and human trafficking by 2020.

Some 16 million slaves – nearly half the global total of around 36 million – live in India, according to a survey by the Walk Free Foundation, a sister organisation of the Network.
Anti-slavery activists welcomed the declaration but were sceptical about its impact on India’s deep-rooted patriarchy.

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, speaking at the signing ceremony, said ending slavery was the “most needed mission on the planet” and that faith leaders, as well as government, corporates and civil society groups, had a major role to play.

“We can make people who enslave realise that what they are doing is a crime against God … Slavery is the worst insult you can give to God,” he said. “This is where faith leaders and spiritual people can make a big impact in transforming the minds and hearts of people.”

The ceremony was the third initiative by the Global Freedom Network to get religious leaders around the world to throw their weight behind the fight against human trafficking and slavery.
Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church and leaders of other faiths signed a similar declaration in Vatican City last year, and religious leaders in Canberra did the same on Wednesday.

Almost 36 million people are enslaved worldwide – trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labour, victims of debt bondage or even born into servitude, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index.

Almost half of them – 16 million – are in India, where slavery ranges from bonded labour in quarries and kilns to domestic servitude and prostitution, according to the Walk Free Foundation. “COSMETIC SOLIDARITY”

In Thursday’s declaration, 11 spiritual and religious leaders in India pledged to do all within their power to work “for the freedom of all who are enslaved and trafficked so that their future may be restored.”

As well as Shankar, the signatories included Hindu leaders Morari Bapu and Purjya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, Muslim Mufti M. Mukarram Ahmed, Christian leader Alwan Masih and Jewish leader Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar.

Activists welcomed the move but remained sceptical, saying that religious leaders are often drivers of the patriarchal attitudes that promote the low status and exploitation of women through slavery and other forms of violence.

They cited discriminatory practices such as the “triple talaq” (instant verbal divorce) in Islam, and the illegal, yet still practised Hindu custom of keeping “devadasis” – girls who are dedicated to the service of a deity but are often sexually exploited by priests.

“I am happy that someone has taken the initiative to bring the faith leaders on board and at least stand on a platform like this and give it a cosmetic solidarity,” said Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala, a Hyderabad-based charity which rescues and rehabilitates victims of sex trafficking.

“I don’t think most know what the ground situation is and whether they realise that the outfits they are representing are the reason for many of these things. The ‘Devadasi system’, for example, they have to question it, but they don’t.”

The book propagates the values of non-violence practiced by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the leader of the Indian freedom movement. The Italian edition of Pascal Alan Nazareth’s widely acclaimed book ‘Gandhi’s Outstanding leadership’ was released at the renowned Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on Oct 1 by its distinguished Rector, Francois Xavier Dumortier SJ.

The book propagates the values of non-violence practiced by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the leader of the Indian freedom movement. Roberto Catalano, of the centre of the Focolare Movement for interreligious dialogue, presided over the Programme and highlighted the importance of the book.

While releasing the book, ‘La straordinaria leadership di Gandhi’, Dumortier, lauded the book as a great effort in propagating the Gandhian values, which he said are so similar to the non-violence preached and practiced by Jesus Christ.

Speaking of its importance in the present world, Dumortier said that it echoed the beatitudes of Christ. Noting that violence is always deadly and enslaving, he said “Without peace, national or international society will not last long.”

He expressed great joy in knowing Ambassador Nazareth as a Jesuit Alumnus and wished him success in his efforts to spread the message and popularize the leadership style of Mahatma Gandhi.

Ambassador Nazareth spoke of the great and humbling honour he felt that the Italian Edition, the ninth foreign language edition of his book, had been released on the sacred soil of the Vatican. He focused on the practical impact that the great Indian soul has had on the world and its policies.

Referring to Gandhi’s great reverence for Christ and of his dedicated effort to actually live the Sermon on the Mount, Nazareth cited concrete instances of Gandhi’s respect for the teachings of Christ, quoting the words of the Mahatma. (the great soul, as he is known in India) . He also narrated anecdotes related to the theme, which one can find in his volume.

“Both have fought for truth and love,” said Nazareth, adding “Gandhi used the expression ‘non-violence’, but on many occasions stated that the ‘non-violence’ is another way to understand the love.” Nazareth, who was one of the few Christians Ambassadors of India, said that the political and spiritual teaching of Gandhi is still very relevant and is essential for global justice and development. “What the world needs most today is justice, non-violence and the abolition of war,” he said.

Nazareth offered his manifold thanks to the distinguished Rector of the University for having released the Italian edition, and as a mark of esteem and gratitude, draped him with an embroidered Indian shawl.

Sundaram Narayanan, Provost of Wright State University, in southwest Ohio, has been fired, in addition to Phani Kidambi, head of the university’s International Gateway program, and Ryan Fendley, senior advisor to the provost. According to Wright State University, the foreign-worker visa program is under federal investigation and that it has disciplined three administrators, including its Indian American provost, in connection with the probe.

School leaders said in a statement first issued Sept. 14 that they were informed earlier this year of “credible evidence” that, sometime between two and five years ago, not every employee sponsored by the school under H-1B work visas was actually working for the school.

“That would violate federal law, and it concerns us greatly,” said the joint statement from university president David Hopkins and Michael Bridges, chairman of the board of trustees.

The H-1B visas are for foreign workers in specialty occupations such as computer science, engineering and biotechnology. The school says it usually sponsored fewer than 50 of the visas each year.

The university, near Dayton, could face suspension of its ability to sponsor H-1B visas, and also fines and legal fees. The school says it is cooperating with federal investigators who are trying to determine whether criminal statutes were violated. School officials said they have been working with the Ohio attorney general’s office to uncover the facts, coordinate with federal authorities, and make sure the school is in compliance.

“We are taking strong actions to solve these problems,” their statement said. “We expect to take more actions in the near future and will announce them as soon as conditions permit.” Wright State said that Sundaram Narayanan has been demoted from provost, while retaining his faculty status. Two university vice presidents will take over the provost’s duties. The school had placed him on paid leave in May.

The school said the fact-finding process at a university of more than 20,000 students, faculty and staff total is complex and time-consuming, but the officials pledged to “get this right” and said that those who failed to comply with the law “must be held accountable.” A school spokesman declined any further comment Sept. 15, citing the ongoing federal investigation. He declined to say which federal agencies were investigating.

“As a matter of policy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation unless or until an enforcement action is pursued,” said Khaalid Walls, an ICE spokesman. An FBI spokesman said he wasn’t aware of any bureau involvement.

Seven Indian American liquor store operators in Chicago have been charged with sales tax evasion and could be jailed for three to 15 years, a media report said. Law enforcement authorities filed charges against Cherag Patel, Dipakkumar Patel, Jiggarkumar Patel, Mukesh Patel, Nishant Patel, Rajanikant Patel and Vishal Patel following a two-year criminal tax investigation, NBC Chicago reported Sept. 18 citing a statement from the attorney general’s office.

Charges were also framed against two other operators identified as Abdel Fattah Hammad and Yasir Kanan. The nine defendants collectively defrauded the state of Illinois out of more than $3.5 million in sales taxes between July 2010 and December 2013, according to the authorities.

“This should send a message that doing business in Illinois means following the state’s laws without exception,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan was quoted as saying in a statement.

Tallahassee, Fla. — A new Florida State University study of underrepresented high school students suggests that schools can increase student success by facilitating social support structures that enhance students’ perceptions of value and esteem for their potential.

Lara Perez-Felkner, an assistant professor of higher education and sociology and a senior research associate at Florida State’s Center for Postsecondary Success (CPS), published the study in the journal Teachers’ College Record. The three-year study analyzed the variation in students’ educational pathways to college by specifically asking “How can the social context of schools keep underrepresented minority students on track to transition to college?”

Perez-Felkner, using a case study of a predominantly Latino and low-income urban charter school, found that students observe and value support from teachers and peers, embedded within the school’s social context. Collectively, highly structured support networks appear to have a positive effect on student’s college transition outcomes.

“These kids work hard to get ready for college, and the stress on them and their families can take a toll,” Perez-Felkner said. “Some students seemed more likely to persist through these challenging years if they perceive support from their teachers and peers.”

The study responds to the myriad school reform efforts that are attempting to address stratification in black and Latino students’ access to higher education through extensive reform initiatives, including these focused on social supports. Crucially, these efforts have not sufficiently focused on how students experience these reforms, which is essential to improving the effectiveness of support mechanisms and understanding why they have been insufficient.

“Even today, the schools most often attended by underrepresented students tend to offer fewer resources and support,” Perez-Felkner said. “While local, state and national reform efforts have targeted academic and structural dimensions of schooling, measures of their success rarely take the student perspective into account.”

The study employed traditional metrics such as college placement and academic preparation, while leveraging detailed analysis of the social fabric of the school as a potential support network to paint a detailed picture of the nuanced and at times fraught pursuit of what is increasingly a universal aspiration: college.

Nearly all students in the study encountered hurdles threatening to derail their college ambitions. Five primary and at times interrelated stressors emerged: academic grades, predicted stereotype threat, family responsibilities, family estrangement and burnout.

Among other things, the researcher measured school regard — the feeling students had that adults at school as well as their peers believed in them during stressful times, and specifically, how they regarded their capacity for educational success.

“School regard was associated with students’ persistence through the transition to college — and to stronger colleges — even in the face of academic, socioeconomic, and personal challenges,” Perez-Felkner said.

As recommendations for school and policy leaders, the study underscores that while enhancing rigor and pedagogy are effective for well-resourced students, the non-academic challenges often encountered by underrepresented students can get in the way of their ability to respond to these reforms. Therefore, interventions to help students achieve a more positive school-life balance and manage non-academic stress may enhance underrepresented students’ successful transitions to college.

“Having school-based allies who think they are intelligent, capable, and worthy of pursuing and realizing their college ambition can be a crucial factor in keeping underrepresented students on-track to successfully transition to college,” Perez-Felkner said. “Schools should be organized in a way that students have the opportunity to develop close relationships at school, which can enhance and reinforce their aspirations to go to and graduate from college.”

Finally, the study notes that attempts to evaluate school effectiveness may problematically underemphasize students’ interpretation of these reform efforts. Rather, students’ perceptions of their school context may be more accurate measure of their success.

The research was funded by the Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for Research Related to Education, with additional support from National Science Foundation, the American Educational Research Association and the Pathways to Adulthood Programme.

For more information, read the CPS policy brief with a summary of key findings and implications or the full article

Hindus have described American actor/singer Selena Gomez’s reported new “Om” tattoo on her upper left thigh as highly “irreverent and disrespectful”. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that Hindus usually started and ended their prayers with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism was used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Such trivialization of “Om” was upsetting to Hindus; and it was highly inappropriate for Selena to place such revered and sacred symbol of Hinduism with high religious significance on her thigh; Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.

In April 2013, Hindus described Selena’s sultry debut performance of “Come & Get It” at MTV Awards ceremony in California wearing bindi as “insensitive”. Rajan Zed suggested that as a renowned performer, Selena should get acquainted with the basics of world religions.

Zed pointed out that Hollywood needed to understand that Hinduism, with about one billion adherents, was oldest and third largest religion of the world with a rich philosophical thought. Its concepts and symbols had well-defined meanings and purposes and these were not created just for Hollywood’s usage to add dramatic affects as some sanctity and spirituality was attached to these, Zed stated.

Hindus welcomed Hollywood and other celebrities to immerse in Hinduism but taking it seriously and respectfully and not just for indecorous showing of Hindu symbols and concepts to advance their selfish agenda. Casual flirting sometimes resulted in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols and hurting the devotees, Rajan Zed indicated.  If Selena or other entertainers needed any assistance about Hinduism, he or other Hindu scholars would be glad to help, Zed added.

India ranked 131 out of 189 countries on fixed-broadband subscriptions in 2014, a drop from the 125th rank a year before. On active mobile-broadband subscriptions, India ranked 155, a significant drop from the 113th rank in 2013. India ranked 136th in individuals using the Internet in 2014, with 18 per cent individuals using the net, an improvement over the 142nd rank in 2013 when 15.1 per cent individuals used the internet.  India ranked 80 among 133 developing countries on percentage of households with internet in 2014 with a 15.3 per cent penetration as compared to the 75th rank and 13 per cent penetration in 2013.

India has slipped in global rankings on broadband penetration but has made slight progress in the percentage of individuals using internet in the country, according to a United Nations report. The UN Broadband Commission released ‘The State of Broadband’ report yesterday just ahead of the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals Summit here and the parallel meeting of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development on September 26.

The report says that 57 percent of the world’s people remain offline and unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the Internet can offer. The report said that in order to connect everyone, it is vital to increase the online representation of many of the world’s languages, especially for regions and countries with high linguistic diversity such as Africa, India and South-East Asia.

“The UN Sustainable Development Goals remind us that we need to measure global development by the number of those being left behind,” said Houlin Zhao, who serves as co-Vice Chair of the Commission with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.  “The market has done its work connecting the world’s wealthier nations, where a strong business case for network roll-out can easily be made. Our important challenge now is to find ways of getting online the four billion people who still lack the benefits of Internet connectivity, and this will be a primary focus of the Broadband Commission going forward,” Zhao said.

The report said 3.2 billion people are now connected, up from 2.9 billion last year and equating to 43 per cent of the global population. But while access to the internet is approaching saturation levels in the developed world, the net is only accessible to 35 per cent of people in developing countries. The situation in the UN-designated Least Developed Countries is particularly critical, with over 90 per cent of people without any kind of Internet connectivity.

“Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings,” the first major U.S. exhibit of the art of the Pushtimarg, a Hindu sect of western India, is on exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago from Sept. 13 to Jan. 3, 2016. The exhibit, which features more than 100 objects celebrating Shrinathji, a form of Krishna, is being funded by the Reliance Foundation — a non-profit organization started by Mukesh and Nita Ambani in 2010 to focus on the areas of rural transformation, education, health, urban renewal, and arts, culture and heritage. Anita and Prabhakant Sinha, Indian American philanthropists in Chicago also supported the exhibit through their generous contributions.

Douglas Druick, president and director of the AIC, said he had never encountered the art of the Pushtimarg before Indian American Madhuvanti Ghose, Alsdorf Associate Curator of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art, brought it to his attention, but it definitely left an impression on him. “It was big and bold and decorative and joyous and intriguing and sometimes even a little funny,” Druick said. “You don’t have to know much about what you’re seeing to respond, but it does encourage you to learn more and of course that’s what we want in a museum context.”

Set to ragas highlighting each season, the exhibit takes museum-goers through the progression of Pushtimarg art from the 17th century to today, while also displaying the different tones of the pichvais, or intricately painted cloth hangings, depending on the season. Ghose explained how the pichvais are meant to hang behind svarups (sacred images) of Shrinathji in shrines. Not only the pichvai, but the shrine furnishings are changed daily and especially for festivals to represent the mood of that season.

For instance, in the summer pichvais, devotees can be seen fanning and helping cool Shrinathji, while in autumn the mood is more celebratory because of the harvests. Comprised of drawings, pichvais, paintings and historic photographs from two major private collections — the TAPI Collection of Praful and Shilpa Shah in Surat, India, and the Amit Ambalal Collection of Ahmedabad, India — the exhibit also offers information about the history of the Pushtimarg. Vallabhacharya, the founder of the Pushtimarg sect, stressed simple seva, or loving service or worship, to reach spiritual enlightenment.

Ghose explained how the art of the sect was maintained through the years by individual families who descended from Vallabhacharya, with this exhibition being the first time many of these pieces are on public display. Druick explained how the exhibit was inaugurated Sept. 11 to commemorate the speech given by Swami Vivekananda 122 years ago at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions at the AIC.

“What he preached was tolerance and understanding of difference and of different religions,” Druick said. “And that’s of course what an encyclopedic museum is about. So his message and our mission were perfectly aligned then as they are now.” The transportation of the exhibit’s delicate pichvais required a substantial sum of money that Druick said would have made the show difficult to accomplish. “That’s why the support of the show by the Ambani family and Reliance has been absolutely critical,” Druick told the media. “Because without their support, we could not have realized the show.”

Ambani said that when she was approached by AIC to sponsor the exhibit, “It was an instant yes. First and foremost, I thought it was a good way to represent the diversity of our art and culture outside India,” Ambani said. “And secondly, the most important reason was that our family is a big believer in Shrinathji.”

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College welcomes renowned writers Salman Rushdie and Amitav Ghosh to the Boston area this fall for the new program, entitled, “Distinguished Thinkers” at the Susan and Donald Newhouse Center. Both authors will read from selected work then engage in an open dialogue with the audience.

One of the most celebrated writers of our time, Salman Rushdie has penned several classic novels, influenced a generation of writers, and received a Queen’s Knighthood for “services to literature.” He stands as both a pop icon and one of the most thought-provoking proponents for free speech today. Rushdie will read from his latest work, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights and then accept questions from the audience in the Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall auditorium, on November 12 at 6:30 p.m.

Award-winning writer Amitav Ghosh was to read from and discuss his newest novel and the final book, Flood of Fire, which completes his bestselling Ibis trilogy at the Newhouse Center, Wellesley on September 22 at 4:30 p.m.

Formerly called the Distinguished Writers Series, the renamed Distinguished Thinkers program, is integrated into the campus community and draws from a broad range of humanistic activities by artists, performers, and intellectuals that invite us to think more deeply about the global world we live in.

“It’s important to celebrate diverse representations of human accomplishment not just to feel good about ourselves but also to know more about ourselves: how we think, what our notion of collectivity is, what sorts of places call for recognition of plurality or stark difference, and when differences can fall away,” said Anjali Prabhu, Director of the Newhouse Center for the Humanities. “This is crucial for a place like Wellesley, where students and faculty in all disciplines are quite consciously looking for meaningfulness in their work that will go beyond the specific question, problem, or subject they might spend months and years studying. Our liberal arts curriculum and the philosophy behind it emphasize our place in the world as individuals and encourage us to seek out participation in collective gestures.”

Both events are free and open to the public.

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta and grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. His is the author of The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, In an Antique Land, Dancing in Cambodia, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide and the first two volumes of The Ibis Trilogy; Sea of Poppies, and River of Smoke. He is the recipient of many awards, and his novel Sea of Poppies (2008) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages and his essays have been published in The New Yorker, The New Republic and The New York Times. He has taught in many universities including Delhi University, Columbia, Queens College and Harvard.

An eclectic writer and noted public intellectual, Salman Rushdie has won many of the world’s top literary prizes. Rushdie’s novels include The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and The Enchantress of Florence. For his masterwork of magic realism, Midnight’s Children, he won the prestigious Booker Prize, and later, the Best of the Booker. He is also the author of bestselling memoir Joseph Anton. His newest novel, published in September 2015, is Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, and has served as President of the PEN American Center.

For more information, please visit wellesley.edu/newhouse

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been the preeminent liberal arts college for women. Known for its intellectual rigor and its remarkable track record for the cultivation of women leaders in every arena, Wellesley—only 12 miles from Boston—is home to some 2400 undergraduates from every state and 75 countries.

Akash Satish Patel, 32, and Nikita Natvarlal Patel, 25, two Indian Americans from Middlesex County in New jersey were arrested and charged with bilking over $150,000 from at least 70 people in 32 states, by falsely claiming that they owed back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and would be arrested if they did not pay up immediately, authorities said on September 15.

The two were arrested in Union as they arrived at a CVS store to claim the proceeds of a MoneyGram sent to them by one of their victims, according to a northjersey.com report.

Police said the two, who are Indian citizens, were not related although they have the same last name and they both reside at the same address in Iselin, in Middlesex County. Nikita Patel is in the United States on an expired visa.

Both Patels were arrested on September 4th after an investigation that started two days earlier when Detective Michael Jennings received a call from a man in Lexington, Ky., who reported that he had been the victim of an IRS scam. The man told Jennings he had been told in a phone call that he owed $1,400 to the IRS, and that he would be arrested if he did not pay. He was asked to send the money to a MoneyGram account in the name of Vincent Arora at a CVS store on Broad Avenue in Leonia.

Jennings was able to obtain a security camera video recording of a man making the pickup of the wired money at the CVS, and created still shots to put out a statewide bulletin. The next day, the detective contacted MoneyGram and learned that a man identified as Vincent Arora, an alias for Patel, had made about 30 transactions in the previous week at MoneyGram locations across the state. A few days later when “Arora” was about to cash in a MoneyGram at a CVS store in Elizabeth, stopped their car with both Patels inside and were arrested. Police subsequently seized $10,822 from their apartment. The two used to obtain information about the victims from people working in call centers in India.

The Patels were each held on $150,000 bail at the Bergen County Jail, charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception, a second-degree crime. Leonia Police Chief Thomas P. Rowe said that so far about $150,000 has been seized from six bank accounts in the names of the suspects. He said many victims will be able to recover the money they lost. “In some cases, the victims lost their life savings. Rowe said he did not yet know the total amount of money the Patels were able to talk their victims into sending them, but “we do know it is more than we seized,” according to the northjersey.com report.

Deepa Kumar, an Indian-American professor of media studies has set off a firestorm in the media and academic circles by declaring that the United States is more brutal than the Islamic State because it has killed more people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

“Yes ISIS is brutal, but US is more so, 1.3 million killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan #NoToWar,” Deepa Kumar, an associate professor at Rutgers University tweeted on March 26, in a broadside consistent with her anti-US and anti-war critiques.

The tweet attracted some attention in the immediate hours and days after it was posted, with several responses asking her to get out of America if she thought so poorly of it and others dismissing her as a joke. A few liberal colleagues defended her right to express her views.

The kerfuffle was raked up again on Friday by Fox News which featured the tweet and some more caustic responses. “I feel bad for Deepa Kumar’s students at Rutgers … Only a complete ideologue could claim the United States is more brutal than Islamic State. Our government isn’t in the habit of rounding up thousands of young girls to have them raped dozens of times… or throwing homosexuals off rooftops,” Max Abrahms, professor of political science at Northeastern University who specializes in the study of terrorism, told the cable network. Kumar defended herself in an interview with a higher education journal even as her critics said she was polluting academia with what they saw as her toxic anti-US ideology. Her body of leftist, liberal work includes authorship of the book ‘Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire.’

The second annual IAAC Literary Festival will kick off with the launch of Madhur Jaffrey’s “Vegetarian India” on October 22nd, 2015 at the Hunter College, 695 Park Ave, in New York City. Madhur Jaffrey is the author of many previous cookbooks-six of which have won the James Beard Award-and was named to the Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation. She is also an award-winning actress with numerous major motion pictures to her credit. She lives in New York City. Madhur Jaffrey is represented by Random House Speakers Bureau (www.rhspeakers.com).

No one knows Indian food like Madhur Jaffrey. For more than forty years, the “godmother of Indian cooking” (The Independent on Sunday) has introduced Western home cooks to the vibrant cuisines of her homeland. Now, in Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking, the seven-time James Beard Award–winning author shares the delectable, healthful, vegetable- and grain-based foods enjoyed around the Indian subcontinent. With more than two hundred recipes, beautifully illustrated throughout, and including personal photographs from Jaffrey’s own travels, Vegetarian India is a kitchen essential for vegetable enthusiasts and home cooks everywhere.

The Indo-American Arts Council is a 501 ©3 not-for-profit secular arts organization passionately dedicated to promoting, showcasing and building an awareness of artists of Indian origin in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts and folk arts. For information please visit www.iaac.us.

After serving millions of people across the world to connect with each other, the social media, Facebook has made it available to users the option of a ‘donate’ button on the pages of all non-profit organisations and linked advertisements on Facebook, Techcrunch.com reported. “Every day, people use Facebook to raise awareness and support for causes they care about and to motivate others to do the same.

“We are inspired by how much good comes from these connections, so we have added ‘Donate Now’ calls-to-action on Pages and link ads to make those connections easier than ever,” a Facebook spokesperson was reported as saying. Facebook had rolled out a “Donate” button in late 2013 with specific partners like the American Cancer Society and The Red Cross. For partnering non-profits, the button was integrated into Pages and the donation took place internally with credit card info that could be stored on the site.

However, now when you click the “Donate Now” button on an NGO’s page you are first alerted that the organisation is “Not endorsed by or affiliated with Facebook” and then are redirected to the page’s external site where you can complete the donation. So, without the embedded payment processes, the button is just a call-to-action link.

The Norfolk Sports Cultural Events held a “Multicultural Diwali Festival” organized by the Fijian Indian community at the Hayward High School on August 22nd, with more than 500 people of all communities attending the event. The grounds of the school featured an array of food stalls, clothing boutiques and even a Henna artist who was very popular with the younger crowd.

To keep the children entertained, there was a bouncing castle, while for the grown-ups, the center stage was alive with music performed by local bands and audience members alike. A local band, Melody Makers Band, enthralled the audience with old and new Bollywood hits; Radhika Tilak, a dancer from Sacramento, was invited to perform, as was local comedian and singer Hemkumar Joshi.

Pamela Singh, one of the organizers and emcee of the festival, told India-West this was the third year Norfolk Sports Cultural Events held the festival. “It’s a kick-off to Diwali,” she said. “The Fiji and Indian communities should support each other. This is a cross community event.” The event will also help to support the local Fiji soccer team, which will be traveling to Vancouver to compete in a soccer tournament.

Naveen Maharaj, who has been playing for the local Fiji soccer team for the past 25 years, toldIndia-West, “Very excited, very challenging and very eager to play the other veteran teams of Vancouver,” adding that such events promote togetherness in the community.

Master Salesh, vice president of Norfolk Sports Cultural Events, spoke of the activities the organization is involved in to promote community spirit and their efforts to help the new generation connect to their culture. Hayward councilman Francesco Zermeno, Norfolk Sports Cultural Events president Aten Singh and attorney Ashwani Bhakhri, a major sponsor of the event, were among those called on stage and honored with garlands and plaques for their contributions to the Fiji community.

Zermeno talked about the importance of diversity, the commonality of the immigrant experience and of being proud of one’s culture. “Hayward is the third most diverse city in the whole of the United States. And you are a part of that richness,” he told the audience. He talked about working for community, youth and culture, and ended by stating, “You and I are brothers.”

Zermeno said the event was his first time participating, and he was glad to “celebrate diversity in the community.” Bhakhri told the  media that he was happy to support the event and hoped it keeps getting bigger with every passing year.

The Hayward Law Enforcement Department and the Fire Department were also honored for the job they do in keeping the community safe. The audience later were treated to multicultural dance performances by performers like 6-year-old Sebastian, who sang and danced to the latest chartbusters. Manpreet and Avinasha, from the Rang De Basanti Dance Studio, danced to a medley of Bollywood songs, and there were also dances from the West Indies and Thailand.

Ashley Madison, the website that openly urged people to commit adultery, may have had thousands of members from India. According to details emerging from a hacking of the website, New Delhi topped Indian cities with 38,652 users. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the members were spread geographically “rom Jodhpur to Aizawl, (and) Leh to Nagercoil.”

Mumbai had 33,036 members, followed by Chennai with 16,434 and Kolkata with 11,807. The report cited a geographical distribution map created by the Spanish digital agency Tecnilógica to say a substantial number of members from India included women.

Besides the metros, several state capitals had thousands of users. Hyderabad had 12,825, Bengaluru 11,561, Ahmedabad 7,009, Chandigarh 2,918, Jaipur 5,045, Lucknow 3,885 and Patna 2,524, Hindustan Times said.

The data’s accuracy is uncertain since members were only required to provide an email address that was never verified. Canada-based Avid Life Media, which owns the Ashley Madison website, also did not verify other personal details provided by members.

The website that had as its slogan, “Life is short. Have an affair,” had about 37 million users when it was hacked by a group that calls itself the Impact Team. The hackers’ motive has been unclear as they published data that include credit card details, email addresses and, in some cases, sexual preference of the site’s registered members.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Since 2012, for three summers, UF/IFAS students have travelled to India with Family, Youth and Community Sciences nonprofit management faculty member Muthusami Kumaran to learn about Non-Governmental Organizations (nonprofits) and development. While there, Kumaran also lends his expertise on strategic planning, fundraising and best management practices to local NGOs.

This year brought an added bonus: Kumaran won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sethu Valliammal Educational Trust and the Soka Ikeda College of Arts and Science for Women, for his years of work with nonprofit organizations and NGOs worldwide. The trust, a major NGO itself, operates schools, colleges and vocational training institutions with a focus on providing educational opportunities to underserved students.

“It’s amazingly humbling,” Kumaran said of the award. “I truly consider it an honor to serve NGOs.” The UF/IFAS assistant professor has spent his career helping nonprofit organizations maximize their potential.

Here is, in part, how his certificate reads: “Dr. Muthusami Kumaran is a well-known and respected international expert and scholar in promoting capacities of NGOs in several countries around the globe. He has assisted numerous nonprofit organizations in the U.S.A. in enhancing their organizational management and taught best nonprofit practices for more than 2,000 students…”

Kumaran also has trained a cadre of nonprofit executives in organizational management in such countries as India, South Korea, Japan, South Africa, the Bahamas and the U.S. “The U.S. has the best nonprofit sector. The world is looking up to us in managing nonprofits,” he said.

While they’re in India as part of his study abroad program “UF in India: NGOs & Development,” Kumaran’s students have numerous opportunities for cultural immersion and fun, but they also learn about nonprofits from the people who run them, as well as their clients. India’s nonprofit sector is the second largest in the world, behind only the U.S. “It’s very joyous,” Kumaran said. “To witness students acquire the transformative learning experience through UF in India, which changes them for the better. It is heartening when they call me later and say, ‘Dr. K, you changed my life.’”

Although students enjoy a cultural exchange with nonprofit leaders, students and faculty in India, it’s not all fun and games. “We take them to the slums and rural areas of major cities,” Kumaran said, where students witness the living conditions of the people who need help from the nonprofits.

Kumaran said he and his wife see their visits as a labor of love. Kumaran came to the U.S. from India, where he earned a doctorate and served on nonprofit boards. He arrived in the U.S. in 1993 to work on another doctorate.

He began his research into nonprofits while a graduate student at the University of Louisville. Through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant, he reached out to nonprofits in the distressed neighborhood where Muhammad Ali grew up. While in the community, Kumaran saw a need to improve local nonprofit organizations so they could help the less fortunate. But he also saw some successes, working with small nonprofits, who had virtually no money. “I saw it in front of my eyes, this community transforming itself,” he said. “That began my journey to work in nonprofit management.”