Sarin, a toxic chemical weapon found at Facebook Inc

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July 3, 2019

Sarin, a potentially toxic compound that disrupts the nervous system has been used as a chemical weapon and the exposure can be fatal.

The package has been discovered at Facebook Inc after the social media company’s Silicon Valley mail facility tested positive for the toxic compound.

The incident took place on 2^nd Tuesday at around 11 a.m. says Jon Johnson, fire marshall for the city of Menlo Park, where Facebook is based.

The spokesperson of the company Anthony Harrison told News18 that the company have successfully evacuated four building following the positive test and was cooperating with police in the investigation. “ Authorities have not yet identified the substance found. As of now, three of the evacuated buildings have been cleared for repopulation,” Harrison said.

“The (Facebook) facility test all of the packages that come in and they had a positive test, so they just initiated their standard protocol. Now we’re just waiting to verify whether that’s true or not,” says Jon Johnson.

An Indian- American foster father sentenced to life after killing three- years- old daughter

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Sanghamitra Gogoi

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June 27, 2019

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After the tragic death of a three-year-old toddler Sherin Mathew in 2017, all the evidence and suspects go to her Indian- American foster father Weasley Mathew. This incident reminds us all about the Aarushi Talwar case where justice remained blurred. The Dallas judge on Wednesday has given life sentences to him on the murder of his daughter.

Mathew, 39 hailing from Kerala claimed she accidentally choked to death on milk . Sherin was an adopted child of both Mathew and his wife Sini Mathews from an orphanage in Bihar in 2016. There was an uproar of guilt from the sides of the suspect for a lesser charge of injury to a child’s death.

The US state authorities of Texas originally charged him for capital murder. The US media reports stating that Mathews stared ahead and did not look at jurors as the judge sentenced him to life in prison. “It means he’s still a liar. It means he killed that little girl. And when he killed her, he panicked,” Thomas argued, WFAA TV reported.

The child’s mother was charged under child abandonment in November 2017 but her case was dismissed on March after the prosecutors couldn’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ariel backlashed by Pakistanis patriarchy over a commercial

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Sanghamitra Gogoi

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June 25, 2019

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Advertisement is a mass influencer when it comes to empowering women. Lately, Pakistan is in the news with profuse rage against an advertisement broadcasted by ‘Ariel’ a detergent brand from the United States based Proctor and Gamble. The company for the first time faces a backlash in the country over its stance on women’s rights.

The advertisement displaying women from different works of the field breaking free the norm of enslavement as a matter of empowering for women was slammed by the Pakistanis saying that it’s offence to their teaching, religions and most important- Islam. The women in the lead include a Journalist, a Doctor who is seen removing stains from dirty sheets hanging on clothesline off the screen. Here, the sheets represent the oppression that all Pakistani women faces on a daily basis including the question- “What will people say?”.

The commercial ends with a close- up shot of a Pakistani women’s cricket team captain Bismah Maroof saying: “Stay within the house…these are not only sentences but stains”. Much Pakistani patriarchy took to offense on Twitter with hashtags “#BoycottAriel” on Twitter. One of them Binte Suleman tweeted “ They (are) insulting Islamic teaching in their advertising,” whereas another Raja Moazzam added: “Please take action against these liberals, who (are) promoting liberalism in Pakistan.”

Women in Pakistan have been fighting for justice and equality since time immemorial. A nation who killed a popular internet sensation like Qandeel Baloch in the name of honor killing considers their actions upright. Change is here and now but is completely denied to the women of this country.

Iran becomes the second largest oil seller to India

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Sugat Srivastava

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July 24, 2018

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Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday that Indian refiners received more oil from Iran than from Saudi Arabia in the last quarter (April-June). Due to this, it regained its position after 7 years. Toughening of sanctions on Iran by US government is not showing any effects.

Dharmendra Pradhan told lawmakers in a written reply that India shipped-in 5.67 million tonnes or about 457,000 (bpd) of oil from Iran in the first 3 months of this fiscal year.

Iraq continues to be the top oil supplier to India in the April-June period.

New Delhi shipped-in 7.27 million tonnes of oil from Iraq, while shipments from Saudi Arabia figured 5.22 million tonnes — making it the third-largest supplier, Pradhan’s statement showed.

Sanctions on Iran by US

United States sanctions against Iran refer to economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran, which have been imposed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, or by the international community under U.S. pressure through the United Nations Security Council.

In 1979, after the U.S. permitted the exiled Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment, a group of radical students took action in Tehran by seizing the American Embassy and taking hostage the people inside. The United States responded and President Carter issued Executive Order 12170 in November 1979 freezing about $12 billion in Iranian assets, including bank deposits, gold and other properties.

The sanctions against Iran has met a lot of criticism. According to the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council, in the medium-term, lifting US sanctions and liberalizing Iran’s economic regime would increase Iran’s total trade annually by as much as $61 billion (at the 2005 world oil price of $50/bbl), adding 32 percent to Iran’s GDP. In the oil-and-gas sector, output and exports would expand by 25-to-50 percent (adding 3 percent to world crude oil production).

Opening Iran’s market place to foreign investment could also be a boon to competitive US multinational firms operating in a variety of manufacturing and service sectors.

Pressure by US on India

Indian Oil Ministry has asked refiners to prepare for the ‘zero Iranian oil import’ from November as United States cut business ties with Iran. The move from India came as a surprise as earlier, India has said that it doesn’t regard unilateral decisions made by US but only decisions made by UN.

But despite showing such a ruthless stand, India, the second biggest Iranian Oil importer after China, is not going to risk itself in front of US Financial system.

US sanctions on Iran pose risk to profitability

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Limited (MRPL) has already shown concern over its profitability if the sanctions on Iran comes into play. MRPL imports 25% of its crude from Iran.

“The sanction on Iran, which is an important supplier of crude to the company, is also an immediate threat to profitability. The reduction in supplies of crude from Iran, following sanctions will have an impact on crude prices globally and will affect the company in the short term,” MRPL said. “To a lesser extent, the ongoing clean fuel regulatory changes will also have an impact on the company and will necessitate the addition of facilities to comply with the requirement.”

More Guns Less Safe Was The Noise Amplified At NY City #Marchforourlives

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Sharad Tripathi

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March 28, 2018

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March For Our Lives
The protest on 24 th March 2018 was named “March For Our Lives” and was largely supported by celebrities and political figures like Barack; Michelle Obama, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Amal and George Clooney. The protest was led by students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, where shooting took place a month ago leaving 17 students dead.

Image source: Jon Carmichael What happened at Stoneman Douglas High School?On the morning of 14 th February, 2018, Nikolas Cruz, 19, a student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, opened fire on the students with an AR-15 rifle which he had legally purchased. The shooting killed 1 students of the school and is considered to be one of the deadliest incidents since the attack on Columbine High in 1999. Gun violence in schools in US Gun related violence in the United States of America has been increasing exponentially over the past 2 decades. According to the statistics by Department of Justice and council of External Affairs, about 11000 people died in firearm incidents in US between 2001 and 2011 and more than 187,000 students have been exposed to gun violence since the Columbine High attacks.

The year 2018 itself has seen as many as 12 firearm related incidences across US where about 25 students, staff members, teachers and parents were shot dead and around 50 more injured and wounded. This has alarmingly raised a voice of concern amongst the students and the parents who demand stringent laws on the purchase and sell of guns in the country. 2 nd Amendment to the Constitution & Gun purchase process While there are demands and protests on strict gun laws, it is important to know why there are approximately 300 million guns in USA, nearly one for every member of its population. The answer to that lies in the 2 nd Amendment of the US constitution, which gives the citizens the right to bear fire arms in order to defend themselves. Many citizens use the 2 nd Amendment to explain the usage and purchase of the weapons. This individual arming of citizen carries institutional weight, as National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the most powerful special interest lobby groups in US, campaigns against all forms of gun control and argues that more guns make country safer. In terms of lobbying, the NRA officially spends around $3 mn per year to influence gun policy. Apart from that, the gun purchase process in US is pretty lenient and the citizen can obtain the weapon within hours of application, as against the weeks and months of procedure in countries like UK, Japan and Australia.

Hundreds of thousands of students marched on the streets of Washington DC, protesting against shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, where year old youth opened fire killing 17 students. The message of through the protest was clear and simple, ending the gun violence through stricter gun control and regulations.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students have been quick to demand action following the shooting — visiting the Florida state capital and meeting with lawmakers, while planning the march in Washington, D.C. from their parents’ living rooms. The March for Our Lives has since expanded to include other major cities across the U.S. From New York City to Los Angeles. A silver lining to the students’ action is already received as the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas have already seen results from their actions. The Florida State Legislature passed an expansive gun control measure that includes banning bump stocks, raising the age to purchase a firearm across the board from 18 to 21 institutes a three-day waiting period on gun purchases, and providing more funding to school safety and mental health resources.

Meanwhile, President Trump has criticized and condemned the attacks, he has largely been silent on the gun control. Trump has tweeted in favor of bipartisan legislation which strengthens the background checks.“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the Federal background check system.” White House spokesperson said in the press conference.

Tag: US