Ripple around #Top10Criminals on twitter as Google search shows Modi as one of world's top ten criminals

By Our Representative
It was “trending” on twitter at the very top on Wednesday for the whole day: Comments for and against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a virtual non-issue: A Google image search “top 10 criminals” leads one find that Modi appears once but twice as one of the top dozen criminals!

Every minute, tens of tweets poured in for the whole day on Wednesday, with some of them saying that it was “shameful” for a top search engine to put Modi as one of the top ten criminals in the world, while others commenting, “World knows it now”!
Interestingly, tweeting continued to bombard, with #Top10Criminals becoming the top trending event for most of the day. One of tweeters, Shekhar@MangoBwoy said, “True Modi being criminal is a private matter of BJP why Google meddling”. Sounding neutral, the twitteratti quoted from what appeared to be the Google explanation on the “top 10 criminals”, which said, “Sometimes Google search results from the internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries.”
Google has been further quoted as saying, “We assure you that the views expressed on by such sites are in no way endorsed by Google”. The California based company explains “Top 10 Criminals” with Modi appearing twice in the image section as follows: “Search results rely on computer algorithms that take into account thousand of factors.”
Google adds, “The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results.” And since the “integrity of its search results is extremely important… accordingly, we not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it.”

Meanwhile, a top media group claimed, Google faced the “wrath of thousands of Modi fans on Wednesday on Twitter for it search results on 'Top 10 criminals'”, adding, “#Top10Criminals was trending on twitter because a search result for the same on Google threw up pictures of several Indians. And one of them is none other than Modi.” It noted, Modi’s picture appears, “not once, not twice, but thrice in the first 12 images.”
Others who secured a place in Google's “Top 10 criminals” search results in the images section included Osama Bin Laden, Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed, Sanjay Dutt, American serial killer Ariel Castro, and so on. One also finds pictures of and Indian-American gay couple, Shannon and Seema, who got married in 2013. There is also the surprise picture of celebrated actress Sonakshi Sinha for being a “fashion criminal”!
While circles close to Modi, including the Prime Minister’s Office, did not immediately react, some twitteratti demanded an apology from Google, others wanted the Prime Minister’s name to out of the list, while still others took potshots at Modi. In an interesting tweet, @KejriwalFanClub said, “Hey @google PM Modi listed in #Top10Criminals list, also include Amit Shah on it. Without Amit Shah #Top10Criminals list is incomplete.”

Comments

#MeToo moment in Hyderabad Urdu varsity? Two girl students seek action against authorities

Counterview Desk
Has the #MeToo movement reached Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MAANU)? It would seem so if a recent letter by newly-appointed chancellor Firoz Bakht Ahmed to MAANU vice-chancellor Dr Aslam Parvaiz is any indication. Seeking reinstatement of two girl victims of “sexual harassment and humiliation”, the letter specifically names head of the department of the Media Centre for Journalism, suspecting, the problem could be much deeper.
Text of the letter: It is a matter of utmost perturbation for me to receive the two representations from the girls studying in the MCJ (Media Center for Journalism) regarding their sexual and subsequently, mental and social harassment at the hands of Prof Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, the HOD, MCJ.
We do not know, how many girls have been exploited by him and preferred to be silent for saving their family’s honour; however, there are two brave girls who stood to the depraved advances and misuse by Prof Ehtesham and came up with written complai…

"Ineligible" funding of Sardar Statue in Gujarat: CAG tells Central PSUs, it's not a heritage CSR activity

By Our Representative
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its recent report on Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), has qualified public sector undertakings’ (PSUs') funding the 182-metre world’s highest Sardar Statue, currently being constructed in the Narmada river downstream of the Sardar Sarovar dam as an “ineligible” corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity.

29th "NRC-related" suicide in Assam, as Nirod Baran Das takes his life by hanging on a fan

By Our Representative
Reporting 29th case of National Register of Citizens (NRC)-driven suicide in Assam, one of India’s human rights campaign sites has said that, on October 20, tragedy struck Kharupetia town in Darrang district of Assam, when a retired school teacher and advocate Nirod Baran Das “took his life by hanging himself to a fan in his home.” The report adds, “The NRC process has so far claimed over two dozen such lives in the past four months alone.”

"Highly irregular" for PSUs to fund Sardar Statue under Corporate Social Responsibility

Counterview Desk
In a letter to I Srinivas, secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, former secretary (economic affairs), Ministry of Finance, EAS Sarma, has raised questions on the funding of the Sardar Patel statue in South Gujarat by Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSUs) relying on the Comptroller and Auditor General report (No 18/2018).

Murder of Tamil Nadu teenage Dalit girl: "Stoic silence" despite #MeToo movement

Counterview Desk
Brinelle D'souza, who is with the Centre for Health and Mental Health, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, has prepared a strong statement to protest the brutal murder of 13-year-old Rajalakshmi. "Other than a few media reports, this gruesome killing has not caught national attention despite a very vibrant #MeToo campaign currently underway", regrets D'souza.

World Bank clarifies: Its 26th rank to India not for universal access to power but for ease of doing business

By Our Representative
In a major embarrassment to the Government of India, the World Bank has reportedly clarified that it has not ranked India 26th out of 130 countries for providing power to its population. The top international banker’s clarification comes following Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India has “improved to 26 position from 99” in access to electricity in just one year.

Preventing childhood deaths: India performs worse than Bangladesh, "equals" Pakistan

By Rajiv Shah
A just-released study, “The Pneumonia and Diarrhea Progress Report 2018”, prepared by the International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has identified India among 15 other countries which are still far off the mark in achieving the targets of the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Pneumonia and Diarrhea (GAPPD).

Bank account frozen, raid on Amnesty office: Govt of India "treating" human rights NGOs like criminal enterprises

By Abhirr VP*
Amnesty India’s bank accounts have been frozen by the Enforcement Directorate, effectively stopping its work. Amnesty India is thus the latest target of the government’s assault on civil society in the country. The accounts of Greenpeace India were frozen earlier this month.

60 ex-civil servants seek release of CAG reports on Rafale, demonetisation before 2019 polls

Counterview Desk
As many as 60 retired civil servants have asked President Ram Nath Kovind to expedite the release of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports on demonetisation and the Rafale deal. The letter, signed mainly by former Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service and Indian Police Service officers, regrets that the status of the audit is "unclear”. According to them, “An impression is gaining ground that CAG is deliberately delaying its audit reports on demonetisation and Rafale deal till after the May 2019 elections so as not to embarrass the present government”.

Govt of India "tarnishing" NGO reputation, dossier leaked selectively: Amnesty

Counterview Desk
Amnesty International India has said that a deliberate attempt is being made to tarnish its reputation by leaking a dossier, supposedly made by investigating agencies, to media without giving it access to any such information. The high profile NGO’s claim follows a Times Now report about proceedings launched by investigative agencies, including Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the rights body for “violations” of rules pertaining to overseas donations.

Counterview

Search This Blog