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After lynching spree in India, WhatsApp offers tips to spot fake news

Agencies
July 10, 2018

New Delhi, Jul 10: WhatsApp took out full-page advertisements in Indian newspapers on Tuesday offering "easy tips" to identify fact from fiction after a slew of recent murders spurred by hoaxes shared on its platform.

The Facebook-owned messaging service has been under immense pressure to curb the spread of misinformation in India after the lynching of more than 20 people accused of child abduction in the last two months.

Most recently a mob surrounded and killed five men in Maharashtra state denounced as child kidnappers, a pernicious rumour blamed for similar murders in at least 11 Indian states.

WhatsApp said it was "horrified" by the violence and promised swift action but Indian authorities have accused the social media giant of acting irresponsibly in its largest market.

The slick adverts in leading English and Hindi language newspapers, entitled "together we can fight false information", listed 10 tips for users seeking to sort truth from rumour.

"Do not pay attention to the number of times you receive the message. Just because a message is shared many times, does not make it true," offer one of the tidbits of advice.

It also suggested users cross-check information against reputable news sources and not share the messages further if they doubt their authenticity.

WhatsApp will soon launch a new feature on its platform in India that will clearly identify whether a message has been forwarded or written by the user.

Indian officials said the company could not "evade accountability and responsibility".

WhatsApp has said it can block spam but cannot read the content of messages for privacy reasons, including potentially problematic content spreading in user chats.

Rumours on WhatsApp about child kidnappers saw eight men killed in eastern Indian last year but the same information has since resurfaced.

Spam messages warning parents about child kidnapping gangs have sprung up in multiple regional languages in India in recent months, sometimes accompanied by gruesome videos of child abuse.

Police in several states have denied the existence of such criminal groups.

India is WhatsApp's largest market, with an estimated 200 million users sending a billion encrypted messages each day.

Comments

Suresh
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2018

People + GOvt + Whatsapp initiative must for controling fake news

Farooq
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2018

How whatsapp and govt can control such fake news..! continously monitoring personal data+messages..? 

Kumar
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2018

If people dont want to share such things, they wouldnt do before also. People want to make controversies and issues. So they are sharing. Legal action should take

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News Network
August 2,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 2: Bengaluru based Centre for Advanced Research and Development (CARD), the research wing of organisation De scalene has come up with a device called "SHYCOCAN" (Scalene Hypercharge Corona Canon) which neutralizes the coronavirus.

Speaking to news agency Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, Chairman, Organisation De Scalene said that the device will not kill any bacteria or fungus, however, neutralizes the coronavirus particles.

"The device was tested for its safety and efficacy and is soon going to be manufactured and marketed in the US under the Enforcement Discretion policy of USFDA and in Europe as the device is CE compliant and is CE marked," said Kumar.

He also added the device will cover a volume of 10,000 cubic feet.

The device Scalene Hypercharge Corona Canon (SHYCOCAN) is intended to be used in the residential, industrial and commercial environment and is designed for active containment by attenuation of Corona family of viruses. (Laboratories de Especialidades Immunological S.A. de C.V, Virucidal Activity concludes 99.9 per cent virus elimination), Kumar asserted.

"SHYCOCAN operates on regular 110/240V - 50/60 Hz wall socket and is a plug and play device, that delivers the necessary signals to a photon mediated electrons emitters (PMEE), that produces hypercharge high-velocity electrons by photon mediation that interacts with the negative seeking S-protein of Corona family of viruses thus reducing infectivity and prevent air and surface borne transmission of corona family of viruses," said Kumar.

The device does not use any chemicals, or any other consumables and does not produce harmful ozone gas or any other substances and is completely safe for use in any environment, he added.

"The attack mechanism of the Virus starts with the initial attachment of the virion to the host cell, it is initiated by interactions between the S-protein and its receptor on the "negative" cell membrane. The sites of receptor binding domains (RBD) within the S1 region of a coronavirus S-protein vary depending on the virus. 

The S-protein/receptor interaction is the primary determinant for a coronavirus to infect a host species and governs the tissue tropism of the virus. However, the end result is the fusion and release of the viral genome into the cytoplasm," said Kumar.

He continued saying that the counter mechanism by the device SHYCOCAN is that if negative seeking is the guidance mechanism of the S- Protein, attracted by the transmembrane potential of the host cells, then breaking this mechanism would block the Coronavirus infectivity and spread.

"The device has been in use for more than a year at the S-CARD campus, the headquarters of Scalene," said Kumar.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 21,2020

Mangaluru, May 21: The coastal district of Dakshina Kannada today recorded six fresh covid-19 positive cases. With this the total cases reported in the district so far rose to 61.

It is learnt that all the six new covid-19 patients are those who had returned to Mangaluru from Dubai on May 18. 

Al the six patients are male. Among them two people aged 44 years and three others aged 35, 42, 60 are residents of Dakshina Kannada. Another one is 29-year-old from Kalaburagi. 

They were under institutional quarantine after their return. After their throat swab tests confirmed the disease, they were shifted to covid-19 hospital in the city.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 4: Sixteen coronavirus cases have

been confirmed in Karnataka, taking the total number of the affected in the state to 144, the Health department said here on Saturday.

A 75-year old man, who is a resident of Bagalkote, who was confirmed positive on Friday and was being treated at a designated hospital in the district, expired last night.

"Till this evening, 144 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes four deaths and 11 discharges," the health department said in a bulletin.

Out of the 129 active cases, 126 patients (including 1 pregnant woman) are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable and three in Intensive Care Units (one on oxygen and two on Ventilators), it said.

Among the total of 144 cases detected and confirmed so far, eight are transit passengers of Kerala who landed in airports in Karnataka and are being treated in the state, it said.

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