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Chennai Press Club condemns Nakkheeran Gopal’s arrest

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The Joint Secretary of the club said that the government expects journalists to write only good things about it, in the nature of advertisements for the ruling government.
Priyanka Thirumurthy
The Chennai Press Club condemned the arrest of Nakkheeran Gopal from the Chennai airport on Tuesday morning. “Chennai Press Club strongly condemns the arrests, the threats and the actions of the state machinery that makes journalists run from pillar to post without any reason,” said Bharathi Tamil, the Joint Secretary of the club.

Nakkheeran Gopal was apprehended by the Chennai police around 8.20 am on Tuesday, allegedly for an article on the Nirmala Devi case, which questioned why TN Governor Banwarilal Purohit was not made a part of the inquiry. Acting on a complaint, reportedly lodged by the Deputy Secretary to Governor, the police arrested Gopal when he was on his way to Pune. The police have booked Gopal under section 124 of the IPC which deals with ‘assaulting President or Governor with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power’.

Speaking to media about the arrest, Bharathi said that the police have not acted in accordance with the judgment of the Supreme Court. “Basically the information regarding the name of the complainant, the nature of complaint, the sections of law under which the complaints have been registered and the police station in which the complaint has been registered must be informed to the family of the one who has been arrested and his lawyers. This has not been done in today’s arrest,” he said.

Alleging that the case is being prepared after taking Gopal into custody, Bharathi said that initially there were rumours that a sedition case will be slapped on Gopal. “If the government is going to book a journalist for sedition for writing an article, then let me say that it would be much easier for the state government to issue a government order declaring all journalists as traitors. This would make this government under the leadership of Edappadi Palaniswami to go down the annals of history,” he said.

He also came down heavily on the state administration and said that the police acted on the orders of the government which, in turn, is submitting itself to ‘pressure from Raj Bhavan’.

Calling this arrest an action by the government against all journalists, he said, “There is no freedom of speech, expression or thought in this state. This arrest shows that the government wants journalists to write only good things about it, which looks like advertisement.”

Echoing Bharathi’s thoughts on the arrest, S Arogyam, Nakkheeran Gopal’s lawyer said that they have not been informed about the arrest or the complaint.

“We have requested the police to grant us audience so that we would know under what section he has been arrested. We are still not sure of under what section he has been arrested. They told us that inquiry is going on and hence we will not be allowed to meet him,” Arogyam told media from outside the Chintadripet police station, where Gopal has been brought.

However, S Arogyam also said that the case under section 124 will not hold water in court because there was no assault or effort to stop the Governor’s lawful functioning.

 

PTI

Facebook unveils smart video chat speakers for home

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Taking on Amazon and Google in the smart home space, Facebook has unveiled a pair of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered smart video chat devices, Portal and Portal +, which are designed to connect people and feel like being in the same room.

Facebook on Monday said the new video communication speakers with tablet-size screens for the home can dramatically change the way people keep in touch and their built-in AI technology makes video calling easier and more like hanging out.

“With a 10-inch 1280 x 800 display, Portal from Facebook improves video calling and lets you enjoy quality time with family and friends. You can also opt for a 15-inch 1920 x 1080 pivoting display with Portal+,” Facebook said in a statement.

Portal and Portal+ are available now for pre-order in the US and will begin shipping in November.

Portal home comes for $199 and Portal+ will cost $349.

“You can also receive $100 off any two devices — this means a bundle of two Portal devices will be priced at $298,” Facebook added.

The video chat speakers come with Smart Camera and Smart Sound technology.

Smart Camera stays with the action and automatically pans and zooms to keep everyone in view.

Smart Sound minimises background noise and enhances the voice of whoever is talking, no matter where they move.

“You can call Facebook friends and connections on Messenger even if they don’t have Portal. Calls can be made to and from Messenger-enabled smartphones and tablets. Portal supports group calls of up to seven people at the same time,” said the social media platform.

Portal offers hands-free voice control. You can start a video call simply by saying ‘Hey Portal’ and noting who you’d like to call.

Portal also comes with Amazon Alexa built in.

Portal and Portal+ also come with a camera cover, so users can block camera’s lens at any time and still receive incoming calls and notifications, including using voice commands.

“To manage Portal access within your home, you can set a four- to 12-digit passcode to keep the screen locked. Changing the passcode requires your Facebook password,” the statement said.

When people are not on a call, Portal’s “Superframe” can display favourite photos and videos and important notifications like birthday reminders.

IANS

Growth projections lift equity indices; metal stocks gain

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Healthy buying in metals and capital goods stocks along with upbeat economic growth projections for India buoyed the key domestic equity indices during Tuesday’s morning trade session.

However, broadly negative Asian stock markets dented investors’ sentiments.

Index-wise, the Sensex opened at 34,651.82 points from its previous close of 34,474.38 points.

At 9.25 a.m., it traded at 34,631.83 points up by a little over 157 points or 0.46 per cent.

Similarly, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) made gains.

The NSE Nifty50 traded at 10,394.75 points during the morning trade session, up 46.70 points and 0.45 per cent.

IANS

US urges Riyadh to probe dissident journalist Khashoggi’s disappearance

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The US has asked Saudi Arabia to support a “thorough” and “transparent” probe into the disappearance of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, after Turkey pressured the Saudi government to clarify his whereabouts.

Khashoggi has not been see since October 2 in Istanbul, when he visited the Saudi consulate with his Turkish girlfriend, Hatice Cengiz, to pick up a document that he needed for their upcoming wedding, Efe news reported.


“We call on the government of Saudi Arabia to support a thorough investigation of Khashoggi’s disappearance and to be transparent about the results of that investigation,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Monday.

Pompeo added that “State Department senior officials have spoken with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through diplomatic channels about this matter”.

He also expressed his concern about the contradictory reports on the safety and whereabouts of Khashoggi.

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump also voiced his worries.
“I am concerned about it,” he said on returning to Washington DC after a visit to Florida.

“I don’t like hearing about it, and hopefully that will sort itself out. Right now, nobody knows anything about it, but there’s some pretty bad stories going around. I do not like it.”

The veteran journalist distanced himself from the Saudi monarchy in 2017 and went into exile in the US, where he began writing op-eds for the Washington Post criticising his country´s royal institutions.

According to a US official briefed by Turkish counterparts, Khashoggi was murdered by a 15-member Saudi team dispatched to kill him. His body was likely dismembered, removed in boxes and flown out of the country, the Washington Post reported.

The grisly claims sent a jolt through the US capital, which is traditionally friendly territory for Riyadh. Khashoggi, 59, had recently moved to the US in self-imposed exile.

If his killing is confirmed, it could prompt a decisive change in how the Washington deals with Riyadh. Leading Republican and Democratic lawmakers issued notes of alarm over the reports of Khashoggi’s death and threatened repercussions if they are true, the Post said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded on Monday the authorities of Saudi Arabia prove the journalist left the consulate alive with images from the security cameras.

The Turkish government also asked for permission to search the premises of the consulate.

The Turkish authorities have not ruled on the possibility that Khashoggi has been killed, as reported by his friends and colleagues.

IANS

Overcome ‘narrow geopolitical interests’ to adopt international anti-terrorism law: India

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India has urged the world organisation to overcome “narrow geopolitical interests” and adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) that it has proposed.

Terrorism is an “alarming concern that impacts us all and requires effective international collaboration”” to develop international law to combat it, Indian MP P.D. Rai told the General Assembly Committee dealing with legal matters on Monday.

“However, law-making on this issue continues to falter in view of narrow geopolitical interests,” he said.

“Ironically, often states hide behind legal concepts, designed for different contexts, to stop progress on this vital issue, including here at the UN in the context of a draft CCIT,” Rai, who belongs to the Sikkim Democratic Front and is the only MP from his state in Parliament, said.

General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa also made a forceful plea before the Committee to finalise the CCIT.

India proposed the CCIT in 1966 but negotiations on it have so far been unsuccessful because countries have not been able to agree on the definition of terrorism and terrorists, which would be essential for framing the law.

Some nations have claimed that certain categories of terrorists were “freedom fighters” and some terrorist organisations are “liberation movements” and, therefore, they should not be covered by international anti-terrorism law.

Espinosa told the Committee: “I would reiterate the need to implement measures to eliminate international terrorism, and to advance the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

“As it is, the nature of terrorism has shifted. The world is seeing smaller, more frequent, more dispersed, less dramatic but equally as profound attacks. I, therefore, echo previous calls in this Chamber and stress the importance of finalising the draft CCIT.”

Rai also called for reform of the Security Council so that the global governance structures reflect contemporary realities.

“The current UN structures were designed for a bygone era by a mere handful of nation states. For retaining legitimacy and effectiveness, fundamental reform of these structures, especially the Security Council, is needed.”

Rai is among a group of MPs who are members of the Indian delegation to the General Assembly session.

IANS

Landslides disrupt traffic on Jammu-Srinagar highway

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Landslides on the Jammu-Srinagar highway disrupted traffic on Tuesday stranding scores of vehicles in Ramban district, a traffic department official said.

The landslides were triggered by heavy rains in Digdole area. The clearance operation has started. The highway was likely to be restored later during the day, he added.

All essentials of life are routed into the landlocked Kashmir Valley through the nearly 300 km long Jammu-Srinagar Highway.

IANS

MAMI drops AIB, Rajat Kapoor’s films from fest’s line-up

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 The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) has dropped two films — AIB’s “Chintu Ka Birthday” and Rajat Kapoor’s “Kadakh” — from the line-up of the upcoming 20th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in the wake of the #MeToo tide.

“We as an Academy (MAMI) strongly support the #MeToo movement. In light of recent developments, we have decided to drop the following films from our line-up — AIB’s ‘Chintu Ka Birthday’ and Rajat Kapoor’s ‘Kadakh’,” read a statement from MAMI.

It was sent to IANS via Whatsapp by MAMI’s Creative Director Smriti Kiran.

“We want to use this opportunity to open up the conversation, and find solutions to harassment and sexual misconduct in the workplace. Starting with this edition of the festival, we would like to unite the community to find positive and constructive ways to deal with it,” the statement read further.

Actor-director Rajat Kapoor has been called out by two women for inappropriate behaviour. He has apologised.

Comedy collective, All India Bakchod (AIB), on the other hand, landed in a full-fledged controversy after a woman named Utsav Chakraborty — once associated with the group — was named by a barrage of ladies on social media of sexual harassment.

Chakraborty accepted and apologised his misdeeds, but the #MeToo fire soon spread out to reveal how AIB’s CEO and co-founder knew about it all along but did nothing against it. It even opened up a box of complaints against some of the group’s other comedians, notably Gursimran Khamba.

On its part, AIB announced on Monday that Bhat and Khamba are “stepping away” from the group.

IANS

Google to close Google+ social networking site

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Internet giant Google has said it is shutting down the consumer version of its own social networking site Google+ due to low usage and a bug discovered in March last year that could leak the data of about half a million of its users.

“The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds,” said Google, which is headquartered in Mountain View in northern California, Xinhua reported.

Google on Monday said it is going to close Google+ in the coming months seven years after it was launched as a social networking site of its own name brand.

The demise of Google+ also came as a result of a bug discovered last year but acknowledged for the first time by Google on Monday, and the flaw in one of its Google+ “People APIs” exposed some private user data to third-party developers, including such information as the occupations, genders, ages, and email addresses of many users.

“We discovered and immediately patched this bug in March 2018,” Google said, but the flaw, which has existed since 2015, could potentially affected up to 500,000 Google+ accounts.

“Our analysis showed that up to 438 applications may have used this API,” Google said. However, “We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any Profile data was misused.”

The Google+ vulnerability was discovered at a time that almost coincided with the notorious privacy leakage scandal of the world’s largest social media network Facebook, which has been widely criticized for its failure to protect its users’ private data.

Facebook has been under heavy scrutiny about its privacy policy after a British data mining firm Cambridge Analytica was accused of illegally accessing the data of 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was summoned to a hearing in US Congress in April this year to explain the firm’s security measures and how it handled users’ privacy.

IANS

IMF gives credit for reforms under Modi, projects India as fastest growing

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday acknowledged the economic reforms carried out under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and projected India to be the world’s fastest growing major economy this year and next.

The World Economic Outlook (WEO) released ahead of the IMF annual meeting in Bali said, “In India, important reforms have been implemented in recent years, including the Goods and Services Tax, the inflation-targeting framework, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and steps to liberalize foreign investment and make it easier to do business.”

But citing external factors — “the recent increase in oil prices and the tightening of global financial conditions” — it cut India’s growth projection made in July for next year by 0.1 per cent to 7.4 per cent, which would still be the world’s fastest growth rate for major economies.

It kept the 7.3 per cent growth projection for this year made in July.

Compared to the projections made in April, the current one for 2018 is lower by 0.1 per cent and for 2019 by 0.4 per cent.

Up from India’s growth rate of 6.7 per cent in 2016, the growth projections for this year and the next reflect “a rebound from transitory shocks” of demonetisation and the implementation of the national Goods and Services Tax” and “strengthening investment and robust private consumption,” WEO said.

Beyond 2019, the IMF sees India’s growth rate improving “owing to structural reforms and a still-favourable demographic dividend.”

“India’s medium-term growth prospects remain strong at 7.75 per cent, benefiting from ongoing structural reform,” it added.

For China, the next fastest growing major economy, the IMF said it was lowering the growth projections for next year made in April by 0.2 per cent to 6.2 per cent “given the latest round of US tariffs on Chinese imports.”

This year’s growth for China stays at 6.6 per cent.

Overall for the global economy, the IMF cut the growth projections made in July for this year and the next by 0.2 per cent to 3.7 per cent, as IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld warned that “there are clouds on the horizon” and “the likelihood of further negative shocks to our growth forecast has risen.”

“In several key economies, moreover, growth is being supported by policies that seem unsustainable over the long term,” he said.

He cited the uncertainties in trade as a result of US President Donald Trump’s policies and the tightening of financial markets in developing countries among factors increasing the risks to global growth,

This was the final WEO released under Obstfelt’s watch as he is leaving the IMF at the end of this year and will be succeeded by Gita Gopinath, the Kerala government’s economic adviser.

For India the IMF recommended “reform priorities include reviving bank credit and enhancing the efficiency of credit provision by accelerating the cleanup of bank and corporate balance sheets and improving the governance of public sector banks”.

It added, “A high interest burden and risks from rising yields also require continued focus on debt reduction to establish policy credibility and build buffers. These efforts should be supported by further reductions in subsidies and enhanced compliance with the Goods and Services Tax.”

BJP MP backs Nana Patekar, says India’s #MeToo start of wrong practice

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Describing the #MeToo movement in India as the beginning of a “wrong practice”, BJP MP Udit Raj on Tuesday supported actor Nana Patekar and questioned actress Tanushree Dutta for speaking up after a decade.

“The #MeToo campaign is necessary but what is the meaning of accusing someone of sexual harassment after 10 years? After years how can it be possible to verify the facts of the events?

“It must also be considered that it can ruin the image of the person who has been accused. It is the beginning of a wrong practice,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (MP) from northwest Delhi tweeted in Hindi.

His remarks came after Tanushree in an interview in September, in the context of the #MeToo Movement and sexual harassment of women in Bollywood, spoke out of her personal experience at the hands of Nana Patekar on the set of “Horn ‘OK’ Pleassss” in 2008.

Last week, Tanushree also filed a written complaint on the same at the Oshiwara police station here.

“Nana Patekar’s behaviour was inappropriate towards me, he was on the set despite (the fact) his work in the song was over. He grabbed me by the arm and pushed me towards him around on the pretext of teaching me how to dance,” read one part of the complaint.

On his part, Nana has consistently denied the accusation.

In 2008 too, he had held a press conference to dismiss the allegations.

Last week, on being confronted by the media, he said he had answered the questions about it 10 years ago. “Jhooth toh jhooth hi hai (a lie is a lie),” Nana said.

IANS

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