Kumaraswamy says his govt will complete full term

Agencies
August 30, 2018

Bengaluru, Aug 30: The JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka has "taken off" smoothly and will complete the full term without hiccups, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said here today on completion of 100 days in office.

The coalition government is "secure" and there are no differences between the ruling allies, he asserted, and strongly criticised the BJP for "creating confusion" among people by constantly questioning the stability of his government.

"How can anyone say the government has not taken off when the Centre has appreciated the state for its relief work in flood-hit Kodagu. Even the President of India has praised the state for taking active steps to provide the relief," Kumaraswamy said at a press conference here.

"Only an active government can think of announcing Rs 4,500 crore farm loan waiver and relief from indebtedness to small farmers, landless agricultural labourers and those from the economically weaker section," he said.

Kumaraswamy hit out at the BJP, saying the opposition party was living in an imaginative world.

"Since land denotification and crimes are not happening, Yeddyurappa feels that our government has not taken off. But for this, what else the BJP leaders can talk about. BJP leaders are living in an imaginative world," he said replying to a query on BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa' remark that the coalition government has not yet taken off fully.

Asked if political rumblings and differences have been sorted out with the ruling partner, Kumaraswamy said, "We can resolve only if there are fights. There are no fights."

He said that the coalition government is "secure" and will complete the term without hiccups.

On senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah's comments about becoming chief minister again, fuelling speculation that all is not well within the coalition government, Kumaraswamy said: "Everyone should have the aspiration to become a chief minister. Anybody can become a chief minister. Yeddyurappa can also. You cannot grow in politics if you don't have aspiration."

Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who was present at the press conference, also ruled out any serious differences between the coalition partners.

"All decisions are being taken with proper consultation. Even farm loan waiver was announced after a discussion between the coalition parties," he said.

Senior Congress leader and Revenue Minister R V Deshpande said that a common minimum programme has been chalked out and decisions are taken accordingly. "There are no internal differences nor any fights."

Earlier during the day, Kumaraswamy called on Congress president Rahul Gandhi and expressed gratitude for the party's support on completion of 100 days of the coalition government in Karnataka.

In a brief meeting, he also urged the Congress chief to help speed up the process of expansion of the cabinet and appointment of chairman for corporation boards in the state.

The state chief minister also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and submitted an interim memorandum seeking release of Rs 1,118.40 crore relief funds for flood-hit eight districts including Kodagu in the state.

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News Network
March 18,2020

San Francisco, Mar 18: Facebook said a bug in its anti-spam system temporarily blocked the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus. Guy Rosen, Facebook's vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Tuesday that the company was working on a fix for the problem.

Users complained that links to news stories about school closings and other information related to the virus outbreak were blocked by the company's automated system.

Later on Tuesday, Rosen tweeted that Facebook had restored all the incorrectly deleted posts, which also covered topics beyond the coronavirus.

Rosen said the problems were unrelated to any changes in Facebook's content-moderator workforce. The company reportedly sent its human moderators home this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A representative for Facebook did not immediately respond to questions on the status of Facebook's content moderators, many of whom do not work directly for the company and are not always able to work from home.

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Agencies
June 13,2020

The Brazilian government said that the Amazon rainforest witnessed deforestation of a record 829 sq km in May, the highest monthly level since 2015.

On Friday, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said that deforestation in the Amazon increased by 91 sq km compared to the same period last year, reports Xinhua news agency.

Between January and April, destruction of the forest by illegal loggers and ranchers rose 55 per cent, or a total of 1,202 sq km was wiped out, it said.

The Real-time Deforestation Detection system, a federal project created to monitor human activity in the Amazon, alerted authorities to the increase in the rate of destruction of the rainforest.

A recent study by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) warned that deforestation in 2020 could reach 11,900 sq km if the pace of May, June, and July follows the historical average.

Deforestation in the region has soared since President Jair Bolsonaro took office last year, according to conservation groups.

He has argued that more farming and mining in protected areas of the forest were the only way to lift the region out of poverty.

Bolsonaro's environmental policies have been widely condemned but he has rejected the criticism, saying Brazil remains an example for conservation.

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Agencies
March 21,2020

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday launched a Health Alert on WhatsApp where over 1.5 billion users can ask questions and they will be provided with reliable information about new coronavirus 24/7.

This will also serve government decision-makers by providing the latest numbers and situation reports, WhatsApp said in a statement.

To contact the WHO Health Alert, save the number +41 79 893 1892 in phone contacts, and then simply text the word 'Hi' in a WhatsApp message to get started.

The service responds to a series of prompts and will be updated daily with the latest information.

"You can also visit the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub at whatsapp.com/coronavirus," and click on the WHO link on the homepage to open up a chat with the WHO Health Alert if you have WhatsApp installed," said the micro-blogging platform.

The WHO Health Alert will provide official information on topics such as how to protect yourself from infection, travel advice, and debunking new coronavirus myths.

The service is initially launching in English but will be available in all six languages within the coming weeks (English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.)

"Digital technology gives us an unprecedented opportunity for vital health information to go viral and spread faster than the pandemic. We are proud to have partners like Facebook and WhatsApp, that are supporting us in reaching billions of people with important health information," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO.

The WHO Health Alert is the latest official NGO or government helpline to become available on WhatsApp, joining the Singapore Government, The Israel Ministry of Health, the South Africa Department of Health, and KOMINFO Indonesia.

Earlier this week, WhatsApp, in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNDP, launched the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub. The hub offers general tips and resources for users around the world to reduce the spread of rumours and connect with accurate health information.

WhatsApp also announced a $1 million grant to the International Fact Checking Network to support fact-checking for the #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance.

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