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Artists, writers in Kolkata decry arrest of 5 rights activists

Agencies
September 2, 2018

Kolkata, Sept 2: Intellectuals, artists and writers Sunday denounced the house arrest of five human rights activists in connection with a probe into a case of caste violence in Maharashtra, and described it as an "act of fascism" by the BJP government.

Calling for a platform of "artists, writers and conscious citizens", writer-columnist Debesh Roy said there should be protests everywhere against "the fascist regime that orders raids at anyone's residence for voicing dissent".

"They (the BJP) have branded the activists 'Urban Maoists', a term imported from the US Constitution. We need to counter them with a full-fledged movement, not tokenism. I call upon the theatre personalities of Bengal to bring back their popular anti-fascist plays on stage to mobilise opinion," the Left intellectual said.

All "anti-fascist forces", espousing the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, should join hands in the movement, Roy added.

Theatre personality Rudraprasad Sengupta said a "reign of terror is prevailing on the land".

Decrying the arrests of the five eminent personalities, he said, "It as an infringement on civil liberties. We have to keep ourselves ready to fight fascism." 

Actor Kaushik Sen, who was also a part of the intellectual meet at Shishir Mancha here, said artists should come together to voice their opinion on topical issues.

"We have to make our voices heard more emphatically as the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is nigh. We (intellectuals) need to sit together and chalk out our next action.

"This is imperative to make ourselves more acceptable and our tirade against communal and fascist forces more credible to the masses," he said.

The two-hour meet here passed a resolution against the alleged attempts to "take away the rights of protest by civil societies".

Around 200 people have signed the resolution, including eminent personalities such as writer Mandakranta Sen and poet Shankha Ghosh, Chandan sen, one of the organizers of the meet, said.

Five Left-wing activists were picked up Tuesday by the Maharashtra Police from different locations for their alleged Maoists links.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune on December 31 last year.

The Supreme Court ordered that the five activists be kept under house arrest till September 6 under police watch.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued notice to some Bollywood celebrities named in a complaint against the promoter of a company for allegedly blackmailing and sexually assaulting a number of girls on the pretext of giving them a career in modelling.

Taking cognizance of the complaint filed by social activist Yogita Bhayana of People Against Rape in India (PARI), the NCW scheduled a virtual hearing presided by its chairperson on August 6.

The complaint against Sunny Verma, promoter of a company named IMG Ventures with its headquarter in Chandigarh, alleged that he has been blackmailing and sexually assaulting a number of girls on the pretext of giving them career in modelling.

PARI's Yogita Bhayana wrote a complaint letter to NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma.

"Through his company, he (Sunny Verma) invites the girls on the pretext of organising a Miss Asia contest with a claim that the contest will launch them as models. To make it look genuine, his company has also been taking an entry fee of Rs 2,950. Once the girls apply, they are alluded by the female accomplices of Sunny Verma to submit their nude pictures in order to get the better ranking in the contest," the complaint letter said on July 31.

It alleged that Verma, after receiving the pictures and sometimes even before, used to get in touch with the girls and ask for completely nude pictures and videos.

The complaint letter said that Verma also used to allude as well as threaten the girls to submit to his sexual desires if they were interested in modelling as a career or wish to win the contest.

"Once he established a physical relationship with the girls, he used to blackmail them for regular sexual favours. Many girls from across the country have suffered a sexual and mental assault from Sunny and his accomplices," said the complaint citing several letters, texts and audio clips from several girls as proof of this modus operandi of Sunny Verma and his company.

The complaint also said that Sunny Verma has been previously also arrested on charges of sexual assault.

"We would demand that NCW should investigate the case to its depth and get the guilty punished so that any other person should not dare to exploit these kinds of innocent girls on any pretext. It will be a message to people like Sunny Verma and all associated Bollywood stars. Looking forward to strict action from NCW against sexual offenders like Sunny Verma & others," the complaint said.

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Agencies
June 10,2020

US dictionary Merriam-Webster will update the meaning of the word "racism" after being contacted by a Missouri black woman, who claimed the current definition fell short of including the systematic oppression of people of colour, according to media reports.

"A revision to the entry for racism is now being drafted to be added to the dictionary soon, and we are also planning to revise the entries of other words that are related to racism or have racial connotations," according to a statement of the 189-year-old dictionary shared by Kennedy Mitchum, a recent graduate of Drake University in Iowa, on her Facebook.

Mitchum, 22, emailed the dictionary last month, following the death of African American George Floyd in the custody of four Minneapolis police officers, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I kept having to tell them that definition is not representative of what is actually happening in the world," Mitchum told CNN. "The way that racism occurs in real life is not just prejudice, it's the systemic racism that is happening for a lot of black Americans."

Merriam-Webster's first definition of racism is "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

"It's not just disliking someone because of their race," Mitchum wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. "This current fight we are in is evidence of that, lives are at stake because of the systems of oppression that go hand-in-hand with racism."

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Facebook on Monday launched a new consumer marketing campaign in India titled 'More Together'. India is the first country in the Asia Pacific region where such a campaign is being rolled out.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

"India is at the heart of Facebook and one of our focus areas this year is to tell the exciting story of a service that is deeply embedded in the fabric of India," said Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India.

The campaign would have multiple campaigns over the next few weeks in eight languages and the one will be set in the context of Holi.

Facebook in 2019 introduced a new company logo to further distinguish the company from the Facebook app.

The company recently announced the appointment of Avinash Pant as the Marketing Director for India operations, to drive the consumer marketing efforts across the family of apps.

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