Jallikattu time again? PETA in action!

Jallikattu has been under a lot of controversies in the past. It has been through prohibition and also amendments in the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Act, 1960 reversing the Supreme Court ban.

Yet again, it is on the news. 

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) requested the Tamil Nadu government to comment on the inspection report of the bull-taming sport conducted this year. According to the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) inspection report, six animals said to have died during the event.

Statements from the report as quoted by Dr. S K Dutta, Secretary, AWBI, exclaimed that pictures showcased cruelty that the animals were teased with nails. Data of one animal death recorded by the committee established in coordination with the TN government contradicts the data put forward by the PETA. Hence, the AWBI has called the government to furnish its comments or views on the report received from PETA at the earliest for further action. Amid pandemic and increasing tensions over the India-China issue, Animal welfare organizations seek public attention.

Concerning Covid-19 Vaccine, the Indian Council of Medical Research wrote to medical institutions and hospitals to fasten the trials aiming to launch a vaccine by 15th August, remarking independence day. On the other hand, a survey by an NGO, Society for Empowerment (SFE) in Patna has exposed that cultural habits of people in tribal areas in Chhattisgarh kept them virus-free. The report expressly stated on the use of traditional herbs and medicines along with social distancing norms of their culture. As cases continue to surge, it’s high time we become more conscious (over health on top priority).

G4 in China

Waves of coronavirus, a global pandemic have already caused an existential crisis all over the world. Meanwhile, researchers in China exposed a study on G4 Swine Flu Virus in the U.S. journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PANS). The study stated ‘systematic surveillance is a key measure for pre-warning the emergence of the next pandemic influenza.’ 

The study was published based on the observation of samples in China from 2011 to 2018 and this genotype has been found among pigs predominantly since 2016. Testing workers in the swine industry, it is found that nearly 10.4 percentage test positive to G4. It is said that the G4 genotype has descended from the H1N1 virus that caused the flu pandemic in 2009.

The study exclaimed that the virus possesses ‘all essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans.’ As reported in the Guardian, it is said that 4.4% of the general population has been exposed to this virus indicating it has already transmitted to human species.  Zhao Lijian, Foreign Ministry spokesperson of China, assured to take up necessary steps preventing the spread and outbreak of the virus.

Clock is ticking: TikTok

In the midst of raising border tensions, the Indian government has banned 59 originating from China under Section 69A of the Information and Technology Act, 2000. Zhao Lijian has expressed China’s concern over the issue. The spokesperson added that their government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international and local law regulations and also exclaimed, ‘Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones.’

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India has exposed that it had received complaints reporting misuse of some mobile applications, looting and transmitting user information in an unauthorized manner to servers outside the country. The ministry’s statement expressed its deep and immediate concern over the issue. India has been an untapped market for most of the Chinese applications.

Indian users have spent over 5.5 billion hours in 2019 on TikTok, the application that once went through ban by the Madras High Court. Revisiting the reason stated by the ministry, data mining has been an intolerable offense in this internet world. As we notice, our feeds and recommendations on social media networks are prompted based on our user information and searches. Companies like Google and Facebook have met cases on user data collection and others in preceding times. Have we ever wondered how advertisements are pitched through social media networks?

Are we aware that many companies including Coca-Cola have joined Facebook ad boycott in the U.S.? The movement called #StopHateforProfit has been calling not to advertise on Facebook’s services in July. We tend to keep our social media accounts highly updated without realizing the effects. Though we assume we have kept things private on our account, our privacy has already been interrupted.

High time we draw a line!

Story of calling media Anti-national

Prasar Bharathi is India’s largest broadcasting agency under which All India Radio and Doordarshan operate. Recently, Prasar Bharathi has threatened to cancel its subscription of the Press Trust of India (PTI), a news agency, calling it anti-national. It has expressed ‘deep displeasure’ by putting forward allegations that the recent coverage of PTI on India-China crisis as ‘detrimental to national interest’ and that has undermined the territorial integrity of India.

Wonder what alarmed this? PTI covered an interview with China’s Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong who claimed that ‘onus’ of the conflict at the LAC is not on China. It was also quoted as saying, ‘The Indian forces seriously violated agreements on border issues between the two countries.’ The said coverage has caused Prasar Bharathi to rethink on its tie with PTI.

Does it not curtail the right to freedom of speech and expression of the news agency? Is it not the job of the news agency to keep the public informed about various angles of a crisis? Only that would balance a news story. Although acting on professional duty, PTI has been slammed ‘anti-national.’ Notwithstanding that it was a coverage and not views or opinion of the agency itself.

A toast to freedom of press!