Why Donald Trump appears if we google 'idiot'?

Agencies
December 12, 2018

Washington, Dec 12: US Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, in an effort to understand how Google search algorithms work, asked its CEO Sundar Pichai why so many pictures of President Donald Trump appear when she does a Google search for "idiot".

"Right now, if you Google the word `idiot` under images, a picture of Donald Trump comes up. I just did that," the California Democrat told Pichai during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday here.

"How would that happen? How does search work so that would occur?" Lofgren asked Pichai, according to the Washington Post.

The Google CEO - who was at the hearing to address allegations of political bias in his company`s widely used search engine -- said the results were based on billions of keywords ranked according to over 200 factors such as relevance, popularity, how others were using the search term, to determine how to best match a query with results.

"So it's not some little man sitting behind the curtain figuring out what we`re going to show the user?" Lofgren asked. "It`s basically a compilation of what users are generating." 

Republicans have long accused Google of political bias, which the company has strongly denied. 

In August, Trump said in a tweet that a Google search for "Trump News" showed only reports from "Fake News Media." He concluded it was "rigged" against him so "almost all stories and news was bad." 

House Republicans said they wanted to hold the hearing -- entitled "Transparency & Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use and Filtering Practices" -- to make sure the search giant was being impartial.

"Americans put their trust in big tech companies to honour freedom of speech and champion open dialogue," Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia said in a statement before the hearing.

The House committee had also questioned YouTube, Twitter and Facebook executives at separate hearings on bias in big tech.

In response to Republicans who complained about Google searches, Democratic Representative Ted Lieu said: "If you want positive search results, do positive things. If you don`t want negative search results, don`t do negative things." 

"And to some of my colleagues across the aisle, if you`re getting bad press articles and bad search results, don`t blame Google or Facebook or Twitter, consider blaming yourself."

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News Network
January 31,2020

Jan 31: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday hailed the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act as "historic" in his address to joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, prompting protests by some opposition members.

He also said that debate and discussion on any issue strengthens democracy while violence during protests weaken it.

"The Citizenship Amendment Act is a historic law. It has fulfilled wishes of our founding fathers including Mahatma Gandhi," he said.

"Debate and discussions strengthen democracy, but violence during protests weaken democracy," he said without directly referring to the anti-CAA protests in the country some of which have witnessed violence.

In a reference to abrogation of Article 370, Kovind said there is happiness among people of India that people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have got rights on par with the rest of the country.

The president said Parliament has created record in the first seven months of the new government headed by Narendra Modi by enacting several landmark legislations.

"My government is taking strong steps for making this decade as India's decade and this century as India's century," he said.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Jan 7: Body of the senior Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq last week, has arrived in his home town of Kerman in southeast Iran for burial, the official IRNA news agency said on Tuesday.

State TV broadcast live images of thousands of people in the streets of the town, many of them dressed in black, to mourn Soleimani's death.

Soleimani was widely seen as Iran’s second most powerful figure behind Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 80, who wept in grief along with hundreds of thousands of mourners who thronged the streets of Tehran for Soleimani’s funeral on Monday.

Khamenei led prayers at the funeral in the Iranian capital, pausing as his voice cracked with emotion. Soleimani, 62, was a national hero even to many who do not consider themselves supporters of Iran’s clerical rulers.

He was killed while leaving Baghdad airport last Friday. Mourners packed the streets, chanting: “Death to America!” - a show of national unity after anti-government protests in November in which many demonstrators were killed.

The crowd, which state media said numbered in the millions, recalled the masses gathered in 1989 for the funeral of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The killing of Soleimani has prompted fears around the world of a broader regional conflict, as well as calls in the U.S. Congress for legislation to keep President Donald Trump from going to war against Iran.

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News Network
July 11,2020

Jul 11: UK’s Prince Charles, at the ongoing India Global week 2020, has praised India’s sustainable way of life, as he emphasised on sustainable development amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Addressing the summit through a video link from London, Prince Charles said, “The country’s (India’s) diversity and resilience is a personal inspiration for him and much to teach all,” reported the All India Radio.

The three-day summit is getting held on a virtual platform from July 9 to July 11 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Around 75 sessions on subjects such as geopolitics, business, emerging technologies, banking, finance, pharmaceuticals, defence and security, and arts and culture are getting held. The summit is expected to bring together over 250 speakers and more than 5,000 participants for incisive discussion and lively debate over the three days.

During his address, Prince Charles said India’s philosophies and values have emphasised a sustainable way of life and a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature, the AIR report said.

He also informed that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the importance of sustainable living.

In his address, he also spoke about the ancient yogic concept of ‘Aparigraha’. “It’s the time when the world learnt this ancient wisdom from India as it seeks revival amid the pandemic, he said as reported by the AIR news.

As the countries across the globe are reeling under the corornavirus pandemic, he emphasised on sustainable development to overcome the crisis. He said, “We have an unparalleled opportunity to put people and planet at the heart of global value creation and move to sustainable markets for long-term value, balancing natural, social, and physical capital.”

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