Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel laureate and advocate for children’s rights, has called for the adoption of a legally-binding international convention outlawing online child sex abuse and pornography, an evil that has proliferated into a $8 billion curse of the digital age.

“We are demanding an international convention against child sex abuse, and online pronography that should be supported by a new global task force — an inter-agency, inter-governmental task force — to combat child trafficking, child pronography, online child pornography and sexual abuse,” he said in an interview to IANS on Thursday.

Child pornography and sexual abuse using digital technology are growing unchecked without such an UN convention into a $8 billion-industry, he said.

When governments shut down such websites, they sprout elsewhere because there is no international regime to control them effectively, he said.

He also demanded the creation of an international database and registry of child traffickers that would be hosted by Interpol and connect national and international law enforcement enabling access to comprehensive and timely information to crack down on traffickers and networks.

“It’s very sad and rather strange that in spite of all the technological advancement the world has been able to make and make so fast, we are not able to control the organised crime of human trafficking and that has become a $150 billion industry,” he said.

“The traffickers move around and they use some of the most modern equipment and they are so fast”, while “the police in most countries are still using some of the old methodologies in tracing them”, he said.

These were among the demands made by a group known as Laureates and Leaders for Children that comprises of eminent global citizens, Satyarthi said.

At their summit in Jordan in March they adopted the “Dead Sea Declaration” which includes these demands, as well as others to protect children.

Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela, who is a member of the group, presented the demands to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Satyarthi said.

Satyarthi, who founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a movement against child labour, shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani advocate for girls’ education.

There are still about 152 million child labourers around the world, Satyarthi said.

“It is not true to say it is only a problem in developing countries, it is very much here,” and to say otherwise “would be a hypocrisy”, he added.

In the US, where he said he has been working with anti-child labour groups for more than 15 years, there is no law against children being made to work in agriculture, he said.

Children, including many of Latino ethnicity, work on tobacco farms in the US because of the lack of legal protection for them, he said.

There has been remarkable progress though against child labour in India, he said. According to government statistics, the number of child labourers has gone down from 12.3 million 15 years ago to 4.3 million now, he said.

(IANS)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Thursday directed varsities and higher education institutions across the country to observe September 29 as “Surgical Strike Day”.

Talk-sessions by ex-servicemen about sacrifices by the armed forces, special parades, visiting exhibitions and sending greeting cards to pledge their support for armed forces, are among the activities prescribed by the commission for the celebrations.

“The NCC units of all universities should organise a special parade on September 29 after which the NCC commander shall address them on the modalities of protection of the borders. The varsities may organise a talk-session calling ex-serviceman to sensitise students about sacrifices made by the armed forces,” the UGC said in a communication to all vice-chancellors on Thursday.

“A multimedia exhibition will be organised around India Gate on September 29. Similar exhibitions may be organised in states, union territories, important towns and cantonments across the country. The institutions should encourage students and faculty members to visit these exhibitions,” the letter added.

The commission has suggested that the students shall pledge their support for armed forces by writing letters and cards which may be produced in both digital and physical format.

“The letters and cards should be shared with PRO Defence and PIB for publicity across various media,” the UGC said.

In the first such action, India carried out surgical strikes on September 29, 2016, on seven terror launch pads across the LoC with the Army saying its special forces inflicted “significant casualties” on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

PTI

In a daring move, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has decided that the government schools will now use English as a medium of instruction.

A 1000 schools will switch to teaching in the English medium on an experimental basis, Kumaraswamy informed.

“When I announced it in the Budget, there was protest from the usual suspects. Some self-appointed custodians of the Kannada language had come to me with a huge delegation opposing it. But, I have decided to ignore them in the larger interest of the rural poor, who need to know English. We can’t deprive them of the English language and the opportunities it opens up to them. More than 90 per cent of those protesting has their children studying in English medium schools. I don’t bother about such things,” he said.

Announcing that the government will be sending its school teachers abroad for training, he said that a total of Rs 1000 Crore will be invested for this and the infrastructure development of the schools.

The political parties are divided over this issue, with the BJP as well as their coalition partner, the Congress, opposing HDK’s decision.

(PTI)

Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, 95, was on Wednesday admitted to a hospital here due to chest infection, but he is recuperating, said a family friend.

The actor is at the Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Bandra.

Faisal Farooqui, who tweets on behalf of the thespian, gave a health update on the ailing actor via Twitter.

“Saab has been admitted to Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital as he was bit uneasy due to a chest infection. He is recuperating. Requesting your duas and prayers,” Farooqui tweeted.

Dilip Kumar, one of India’s most iconic actors, has appeared in some classics like “Kohinoor”, “Mughal-e-Azam”, “Shakti”, “Naya Daur” and “Ram Aur Shyam”.

He was last seen on the silver screen in 1998 in “Qila”. He is married to actress Saira Banu.

(IANS)

Institute of Product Leadership organized an “Info session” on the 11th August 2018, at The Ritz-Carlton, Residency Road, Bengaluru.

Institute of Product Leadership is India’s first B-School for technology managers, focusing exclusively on Product Leadership with the aim of transforming technology executives into future product managers and industry leaders.
Product Management has many definitions but most experts will agree that it is essentially the art and science of delivering delighting solutions to real market problems and doing so rather predictably.

The session on Product Leadership and Data Science by Prof. Pinkesh Shah and Tejaswi G was attended by more than 40 working professionals from various domains.
The “Info-session” was aimed at providing a platform to understand the nuances of Product Leadership, which also involves understanding which products to build that can add value to consumers and how Product Leadership is more than just leading a team of product managers.

However, the challenges in product leadership involve finding the product to be market-fit. A successful product is one that is valuable, usable and feasible.
We would like to bring to your notice that Institute of Product Leadership will be hosting a Leadership Summit on the 24th of August, aimed at providing new approaches to Leadership Development and gain insight into future organizations and the HR functions. It will be an opportunity to learn from the best practices driven experiences of top HR and L&D practitioners and thought leaders on what has worked and a chance at focussed networking.
The event will witness Human Resource leaders like Hari T.N (HR Head Big Basket), Bobby Joy (Senior Director Education CA Technologies), UtkarshRai (Author, Speaker, and a Leadership Expert) and many more.

Institute of Product Leadership is India’s first B-School for technology managers, focusing exclusively on Product Leadership with the aim of transforming technology executives into future product managers and industry leaders.

Product Management has many definitions but most experts will agree that it is essentially the art and science of delivering delighting solutions to real market problems and doing so rather predictably.
The session on Product Leadership and Data Science by Prof. Pinkesh Shah and Tejaswi G was attended by more than 40 working professionals from various domains.
The “Info-session” was aimed at providing a platform to understand the nuances of Product Leadership, which also involves understanding which products to build that can add value to consumers and how Product Leadership is more than just leading a team of product managers.

However, the challenges in product leadership involve finding the product to be market-fit. A successful product is one that is valuable, usable and feasible.

We would like to bring to your notice that Institute of Product Leadership will be hosting a Leadership Summit on the 24th of August, aimed at providing new approaches to Leadership Development and gain insight into future organizations and the HR functions. It will be an opportunity to learn from the best practices driven experiences of top HR and L&D practitioners and thought leaders on what has worked and a chance at focussed networking.
The event will witness Human Resource leaders like Hari T.N (HR Head Big Basket), Bobby Joy (Senior Director Education CA Technologies), UtkarshRai (Author, Speaker, and a Leadership Expert) and many more.

With just five minutes in hand, four young Indian spoke at an event in Shiv Nadar University to explain why their policy idea can make the world a better place, which earned them an opportunity to get a leadership training at Cambridge University.

Nine young people at the event at Shiv Nadar University on August 7 gave five-minute speeches explaining why their policy idea could improve the world and demonstrate that they are the leader that could make it happen.

Dharini Suresh, Founder and Public Policy Associate of GrandWay Companies and Women’s Business Incubation Center, from Kerala impressed the panel with her talk on menstrual hygiene while Kumar Kunal Jha, an assistant professor at TISS Mumbai spoke on LGBT community.

Rishika Das Roy, working as consultant at Oxford Policy Management choose climate change as her topic and Gaurav Dnyanoba Somwanshi, consultant at PwC talked on need for having an unique identity.

A total of 450 youths participated in the forum out of which nine made it to the finals. The four winners will become part of a global network of emerging policy leaders along with securing places on Future Leaders Connect, a major initiative run by the British Council — Britain’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

The judging panel included Rupamanjari Ghosh- Vice Chancellor Shiv Nadar University, Tom Birtwistle – British Council Director North India, Professor Partha Mukhopadhyay – Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and Sunny Sen – Editor, Corporate and Policy, FactorDaily.

The four winners will join other participants from around the world to take part in a nine-day advanced policy and leadership development opportunity, including two days spent with politicians in the Britain’s Houses of Parliament, where they will put forward their policy ideas on combating some of the world’s greatest challenges.

“Through Future Leaders Connect we will help a new generation to understand practical policy development by putting them in contact with the leaders of today and helping them to develop the skills and international contacts they need to make positive change,” Sir Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive, British Council said.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Saturday said Delhi students can get the Learner’s Driving License from their college as the government has empowered the Directors and Principals of colleges to issue the document.

“Young and studying in Delhi? You can soon get your Learner’s Driving License from your college itself,” Gahlot said in a tweet.

A Learner’s Licence is valid for up to six months. The initiative will help about two lakh students from various colleges, polytechnics, and ITIs in Delhi.

In its bid to curb the spread of fake news and ensure high-quality journalism in India, Facebook on Thursday announced its first partnership in the country with Chennai-based Asian School of Journalism (ACJ).

Part of the Facebook Journalism Project — announced last year to develop high-quality journalism around the world — the partnership will also establish a scholarship programme at ACJ.

“The association with ACJ reflects our commitment to support the journalism ecosystem by training future journalists,” said Campbell Brown, Facebook’s Global Head of News Partnerships.

By partnering with ACJ, Facebook that has 270 million users in India will be able to help train journalism students on fact-based and high integrity journalism in the digital age, the social media giant said in a statement.

The scholarship programme will support five students from ACJ in four career specialisations — print, new media, radio and television.

“We are happy to partner with the Facebook Journalism Project. It will provide valuable hands-on experience and the expertise to distinguish informative and trustworthy news,” said Sashi Kumar, Chairperson, ACJ.

Facebook also announced to extend its collaboration with Mumbai-based BOOMLive, an independent digital journalism initiative.

“Through our partnership with BOOMLive, we hope to encourage the systemic growth of fact-checking on all platforms,” Brown added.

BOOMLive is certified by the Poynter Institute, the international fact-checking network.

“Following fact checking in English during the Karnataka pilot stage, BOOMLive will now also provide fact checking capabilities in Hindi and Bengali, and will also fact-check photos and videos, in addition to article links,” Facebook noted.

The social media platform partnered BOOMLive in April before Karnataka went to the polls in May.

Facebook said it will continue to strengthen its work and partnerships around news literacy in India and extend it across local languages, partner newsrooms, journalists and fact checkers to build a more informed community.

“We hope this will contribute to ongoing efforts to combat misinformation online,” said Govindraj Ethiraj, Founder, BOOMLive.

The Facebook Journalism Project is serving as a hub to promote and support high-quality journalism on the social media giant’s platform, while collaborating with news publishers and third-party fact-checking organizations across the globe.

Aiming to explore the changing trends in the news industry, some of the most experienced news professionals from India and abroad will come together to participate in the second edition of The Media Rumble at India Habitat Centre here.

Conceived by the media critique website Newslaundry and produced by pioneering entertainment and arts company Teamwork Arts, The Media Rumble 2018 is scheduled to take place on August 3 and 4.

Some highlight sessions at the forum include Bangladeshi-American author Rafida Ahmed on the shrinking space for religious critique in Bangladesh and the rise of religious extremism; Rappler Founder Maria Ressa on press freedom and taking on the Duterte government; and Mother Jones’ award-winning senior reporter Shane Bauer on working as a prison-guard to investigate corporate-run prisons and the intricacies of investigative journalism.

Other sessions feature the father of the podcast, Christopher Lydon, discussing inventing the podcast and creating the perfect recipe for the revival of digital radio; and a session exploring the issues and challenges of media in small towns where journalism has high risk and low rewards with award-winning independent journalist from Bastar – Malini Subramaniam among others.

Gender parity and whether newsrooms are optimized for men and their successes, as well as reporting on women, will be in focus across sessions.

There will also be sessions on the media’s relationship with the government and the future of news. The session “Sleeping with the Adversary” will explore whether journalists should take up public office or whether it affects their credibility.

There will also be a masterclass on covering Parliament.

“As the consumer negotiates the daily reality of what’s been presented, we find that news has become a power unto itself — with multiple prongs and repercussions. At our annual offering of The Media Rumble, (we) once again bring together award-winning journalists, analysts, commentators and industry experts from India and across the world to debate and discuss challenges, innovations, economic realities and future possibilities intrinsic to the news media,” said Sanjoy Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts.

“For all of us who love every aspect of news, from the making of it to the business of it, the two days of The Media Rumble, an invigorating, vibrant and fruitful exchange of ideas, is a must-attend,” he said.

The forum will further explore how technology giants like Facebook work with news publishers and how Google helps connect people to trustworthy information in this age of false news.