Twitter gives users more freedom to report fake, suspicious account

The new tool unveiled by Twitter is the latest step that the social media site has taken to combat malicious activities on its platform.

Twitter has said that it is giving its users more freedom to report fake, suspicious accounts to intensify crackdown on online spamming activities a few days ahead of US midterms elections.

Twitter announced the new measure through its official safety account by saying that it will not allow any attempts to manipulate or disrupt its service, which came shortly before the US midterm elections are to take place on November 6, Xinhua news agency reported.

"You can now specify what type of spam you're seeing when you report, including fake accounts," Twitter Safety@TwitterSafety said in a tweeted post on Wednesday.

Twitter will allow users to flag tweets as originating from a fake account or a bot which are impersonating as something or someone else, and mark them as "fake".

The new tool unveiled by Twitter is the latest step that the social media site has taken to combat malicious activities on its platform.

Twitter said in July that it had purged about 70 million accounts in May and June of this year for conducting spamming or malicious behaviour.

Business Standard

MJ Akbar records statement in defamation case, junks #MeToo allegations

Akbar appeared before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal and recorded his statement to support the defamation complaint filed by him against Ramani on October 15.

Former Union minister M J Akbar, who has filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, told a Delhi court on Wednesday that an "immediate damage" has been caused to him due to the "scurrilous", concocted and false allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him.

Akbar appeared before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal and recorded his statement to support the defamation complaint filed by him against Ramani on October 15.

Ramani has accused Akbar of sexual misconduct around 20 years ago.

"Indeed there was an immediate damage because of the scurrilous nature of these concocted and false allegations. I was attacked in my personal capacity about alleged and fabricated non-events allegedly done two decades ago," he said in his statement.

"I chose in that environment to seek justice in my personal capacity without the Appurtenance of Office. This is why I offered my registration as Minister of State, Govt of India. My reputation has been tarnished in the eyes of general public and those who are near and dear and known to me," he said.

Akbar, who had resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on October 17, has concluded the recording of his statement.

The court has fixed November 12 for further hearing of the case when the statements of witnesses named by Akbar will be recorded.

Akbar's name cropped up on the social media when he was in Nigeria, as the #MeToo campaign raged on in India. Multiple women have come out with accounts of alleged sexual harassment by him when he was a journalist.

Akbar had termed the allegations "false, fabricated and deeply distressing" and said he was taking appropriate legal action against them.

Expressing her readiness to fight the defamation allegations, Ramani had said, "Rather than engage with the serious allegations that many women have made against him, he seeks to silence them through intimidation and harassment." Akbar's plea had listed alleged defamatory imputations made by Ramani on the social media and also referred to his "long and illustrious" career as a journalist while terming the allegations of Ramani as a "figment of her imagination".

It had termed as "scandalous" the allegations made by Ramani and said the "very tone and tenor" are "ex-facie defamatory".

The plea said they have not only damaged his goodwill and reputation in his social circle but also affected Akbar's reputation in "the community, friends, family and colleagues" and caused "irreparable loss" and "tremendous distress".

Business Standard

Amazon Pay, ICICI launch new credit card as US firm eyes fintech expansion

Amazon Pay also plans to offer a host of other fintech services, including mutual funds, in due course.

Amazon Pay, the online payments processing service owned by the America-based retailing major, has tied-up with ICICI Bank to launch an Amazon Pay ICICI Bank credit card in partnership with Visa. It has planned to majorly expand in the financial technology space and in making digital money more prevalent in tier-III cities and other towns. Amazon Pay says their tie-up would help in greater penetration for ICICI into places where credit card usage is less.

This is the first card in the country to enable Amazon Prime members to earn five per cent reward points on shopping on Amazon.in. The points will be accumulated in the form of Amazon Pay balance, which can be used for either shopping on Amazon or spending on items such as bill payment, food ordering, travel ticketing and hotel booking, among other services.

"As the card is available on Visa's network, customers also earn rewards at millions of merchant locations throughout India where Visa cards are accepted. Currently, this programme is available to selected Amazon and ICICI Bank customers and will be expanded to other customers over the coming months," said Vikas Bansal, director, emerging payments, Amazon Pay.

Sources say the plan is to launch similar credit cards with other banks. Amazon Pay also plans to offer a host of other fintech services, including mutual funds, in due course.

ALSO READ: Amazon saw 60% growth in new India customers with recent festive sales

"We are witnessing two distinct consumer trends. One, millions of Indians are making purchases for most of their requirements online. Two, customers are looking for richer reward propositions that provide them flexibility in redemption. We believe this compelling customer offering will contribute largely to the growth of the bank's credit card portfolio," said Sudipta Roy, general manager at ICICI.

Amazon Pay is also planning a major expansion in the offline space. It is thinking of a host of tie-ups with major retailers, as well as making Amazon Pay more prevalent among traditional family-run shops in small cities and towns.

During the first wave of festive sales this year, the company said, 74 per cent of payments happened digitally. This figure was 64 per cent last year. The company is getting into tie-ups with a host of retailers, restaurants, hotels and travel portals, as part of a policy to expand in the digital money space. It believes it would get a number of repeat users, since its online marketplace is now the most visited and downloaded app in the country, according to some independent studies.... Read More

Business Standard

Apple launches new iPad with iPhone XS features at New York event

Apple also unveiled new Mac computers, including a MacBook Air laptop with a high-resolution screen.

Apple's new iPads will more closely resemble its latest iPhones as they ditch a home button and fingerprint sensor to make more room for the screen.

As with the latest iPhone models the XR and XS the new iPad Pro will use facial-recognition technology to unlock the device and to authorize app and Apple Pay purchases.

Apple also unveiled new Mac computers, including a MacBook Air laptop with a high-resolution screen.

Tuesday's announcements took place at an opera house in New York, where the company was emphasizing its products' ability to create music, video and sketches. Neither the Mac nor the iPad generates as much revenue for Apple as iPhones.

Tablet sales have been declining overall, though Apple saw a 3 percent increase in iPad sales last year to nearly 44 million, commanding a 27 percent market share, according to research firm IDC. Apple has been promoting its high-end iPad Pro as ideal for artists, photographers and other creators.

The iPad changes are likely enough to drive continued growth in tablet unit sales for Apple, said D.A. Davidson Co. analyst Tom Forte.

"The company is doing a nice job of rolling out next generation devices with features customers want to sustain momentum."

The smaller of the two new Pros will have a larger display, with an 11-inch screen rather than 10.5 inches, as measured diagonally. For the larger, 12.9-inch model, Apple is fitting the same-size display into a smaller device about the size of a standard sheet of paper.

The new iPads will have an LCD screen similar to the iPhone XR rather than the more vibrant one found in the top-of-the-line iPhone XS models. The displays on the new iPads don't run to the edges as much as they do on the iPhones.

The new iPads start at about $800.

An optional companion pencil will now be able to attach magnetically to the iPad for storage and charging.

Apple is bringing a high-resolution display to its low-end MacBook Air, something until now limited to pricier models such as the MacBook Pro products.

But the starting price is now about $1,200, $200 more than before. The Air also joins higher-end Pros in sporting a fingerprint sensor, something the iPad just lost.

Apple also announced an updated desktop computer, the Mac Mini, starting at about $800... Read More

Business Standard

Statue of Unity: How environment, Adivasi rights lost again to Patel's name

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is often thought of as the inspiration for the Sardar Sarovar dam which faced a lot of environmental and humanitarian protests.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today inaugurate the world’s largest statue, the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. At 182m tall (240m including the base), it is twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, and depicts India’s first deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The statue overlooks the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River. Patel is often thought of as the inspiration for the dam, which came to international attention when the World Bank withdraw its support from the project in 1993 after a decade of environmental and humanitarian protests. It wasn’t until 2013 that the World Bank funded another large dam project.

Like the dam, the statue has been condemned for its lack of environmental oversight, and its displacement of local Adivasi or indigenous people. The land on which the statue was built is an Adivasi sacred site that was taken forcibly from them.

The Statue of Unity is part of a broader push by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to promote Patel as a symbol of Indian nationalism and free-market development. The statue’s website praises him for bringing the princely states into the Union of India and for being an early advocate of Indian free enterprise. (Business Standard )

The BJP’s promotion of Patel also serves to overshadow the legacy of his boss, India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru’s descendants head India’s most influential opposition party, the Indian National Congress.

The statue was supposed to be built with both private and public money, but it attracted little private investment. In the end, the government of Gujarat paid for much of the statue’s US$416.67 million price tag.

The Gujarat government claims its investment in the statue will promote tourism, and that tourism is “sustainable development”. The United Nations says that sustainable tourism increases environmental outcomes and promotes local cultures. But given the statue’s lack of environmental checks and its displacement of local populations, it is hard to see how this project fulfils these goals.

The structure itself is not exactly a model of sustainable design. Some 5,000 tonnes of iron, 75,000 cubic metres of concrete, 5,700 tonnes of steel, and 22,500 tonnes of bronze sheets were used in its construction.

Critics of the statue note that this emblem of Indian nationalism was designed by a Chinese architect, and the bronze sheeting was put in place by Chinese labour... Read More

From politics to social activism: How hashtag changed the world in a decade

The humble "#" is now powerful enough to infiltrate social media networks and launch grassroots campaigns against state and non-state actors alike.

Business Standard : From fashion trends to global events, the hashtag (#) has become the conspicuous symbol of the Twittersphere. What only a decade ago denoted a numerical symbol of no special significance or attribution is now a call to arms for causes that are many and varied.

The “#” is a social organiser, which emerged spontaneously and dynamically from the content generated and updated by social media users. The initial intent behind the “#”, when Twitter launched in 2006, lay in its simple use as a means of organising data and information. An indexing tool for grouping anything from the politically relevant to the culturally hip, the “#” soon found itself aligned with some of the most significant events in history.

Capturing a broad spectrum of the public’s preoccupations with popular culture, social exclusion, relief efforts following natural disasters or political conflict, the hashtag, as some have argued, has allowed for the efficient emergence of “certain types of communities and ad hoc publics forming and responding quickly to particular events and topical issues”. And these have developed a social and political power we have only recently begun to fully uncover and comprehend.

From #MeToo to #FreeIran, #iPhoneX to #Pope, #ClimateChange and #ImWithHer to #ConfirmKavanaugh, it is a conspicuous symbol of the electronic, highly mobile age in which we live, encouraging hundreds of millions of retweets, follows, and likes.

In 2015, the #RefugeesWelcome hashtag, retweeted endlessly by celebrities, politicians and the public, put pressure on European governments to accept asylum seekers displaced by conflict in Syria and focused the world’s attention on the plight of refugees attempting hazardous Mediterranean crossings.

The #EthnicCleansing associated with #Myanmar’s #Rohingya Muslims came to dominate headlines in 2016 and drove calls for the UN to probe reports of alleged violence and abuses in the region. Meanwhile, the #MeToo movement exposed unconscionable sexual abuses and triggered vital conversations about gender dynamics and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Social activism

Social network users are now in the business of political and social activism, triggering a fundamental rethinking of our duties and obligations to fellow citizens and strangers alike. The numerical proliferation of the “#” is therefore a definitive metric of success when it comes to raising awareness of key issues. Given that, globally, 335m Twitter users post 500m tweets a day and 80% of those reach mobile phones carried by an average user aged between 18 and 49, the potential is enormous.

The low cost of this direct participation has opened up possibilities for a two-way interaction between citizens and their governments. It means governmental and non-governmental actors are subject to far greater scrutiny and that public demands for accountability and transparency must efficiently be met... Read More

OnePlus 6T has minor, yet interesting upgrades over predecessor: Know more

Apart from new format screen and in-display fingerprint sensor, the OnePlus 6T gets an improved operating system and host of new software-based features that makes it an interesting upgrade.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus on October 29 unveiled the much-anticipated OnePlus 6T in New York, marking its foray in the US smartphone market. The smartphone will launch in India today (October 30) at 8:30 PM and go on sale from November 2 at select offline stores, besides online sale exclusively on Amazon India.

Unlike previous launches, the difference between the OnePlus 6T and its predecessor is subtle, yet interesting. Speaking of the upgrades, the OnePlus 6T gets a new format 6.41-inch screen of 2340 x 1080 resolution with a tiny notch (waterdrop) on the top, accommodating just the front camera. The earpiece and sensors have moved to top bezel area, similar to how it has been in the Oppo F9 Pro and Vivo V11 Pro. The new format screen also gets an in-display fingerprint sensor, which turns a part of screen into a fingerprint recognition module to unlock the screen. However the phone does away with a headphone jack in favour of a bigger capacity battery of 3,700 mAh.

The OnePlus 6T has dual camera module on the back, featuring a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a 20MP secondary sensor. There is a 16MP lens on the front. This is the same configuration taken forward from the predecessor. However, the camera is now clubbed with additional modes such as nightscape and studio lighting for enhanced output. The Nightscape mode helps the phone take better shots in low light conditions and the studio lighting mode improves the overall output of portrait shots. ( Business Standard )

Except for a larger battery, the phone has identical specifications compared to its predecessor. The phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip. Though the phone continues with three RAM and storage configurations – 6GB/128GB, 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB – the base model got a storage upgrade to 128GB from 64GB in predecessor. The phone boots Android Pie operating system-based OxygenOS, which supports gesture-based navigation.

Mukesh Ambani-owned telecommunication service provider Reliance Jio on October 29 announced that the phone will be available at Reliance Digital stores. The phone’s price is still unknown, but Jio has announced it will be offering an instant cashback of Rs 5,400 in the form of 36 recharge vouchers of Rs 350 each. These could be redeemed on successive recharges of Rs 299 or more.

What the women's movement today can learn from 19th-century social reforms

How Raja Rammohun Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar helped abolish the sati system and 'permanent widowhood'.

Business Standard : Indian society is witnessing the commission of abusive, discriminatory and violent acts, both verbal and physical, against women from different strata and walks of life. What is abhorrent is that these acts of sexual predation have received wide social approval and acceptance, reflected through the deep apathy existing within institutions, irresponsible and insensitive remarks of community leaders, and tacit support by those in powerful positions. Although the recent opposition to these acts and the society’s acceptance of them has been quite loud, these reactions are partisan and piecemeal, often ignoring the crucial issues that are central to the discussion of the ‘women’s question’ in India.

At this crucial juncture, it is pertinent to analyse, first, how social reformers like Raja Rammohun Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar understood and raised the women’s question in 19th century India; second, what legal and educative mechanisms they employed to tackle social evils like sati and ‘permanent widowhood’; third, lessons learnt from their initiatives that may be relevant today and applied to address contemporary issues reflected through the #MeToo movement.

Roy and Vidyasagar understood the women’s question through their own family experiences, acquired knowledge and inherent personal convictions about differentiating the right from the wrong. They studied the socio-religious, economic and political factors that gave impetus to cruel practices like the sati and the harsh rules of widowhood. For instance, Roy is said to have been shattered when he witnessed his sister-in-law burn herself alive on the funeral pyre of her husband. This experience made him realise the adverse impacts of such practices on the society, particularly women, in the long run.

First, women were stereotyped as servile and submissive beings wholly incapable of having an individual identity, independent existence and autonomy. 

Second, males in the Indian society had understood that religion was a very important tool that had enabled them to keep their women’s social and economic position intact, thereby limiting chances of a potential challenge to male superiority. Third, the male patriarchs had realised that making education inaccessible and unavailable to the Indian women was the best way to prevent an awakening among the women folk, thereby continuing with male dominance in the society. As such, the dominating Indian male would never let the balance of power tilt in favour of the women folk. To that extent, they vociferously resisted the blooming of the seeds of social transformation in the Indian society.

Roy and Vidyasagar adopted a technique of gradualism, taking one step at a time. They designed and raised the women’s question with extreme care and caution. The reformers did not seek to offend and oust the Indian patriarchy in the process of uprooting practices like sati and widowhood. Rather, they sought to make them active participants in the social movements for the upliftment of Indian women... Read More

Fuel prices continue to drop for 13th day, petrol at Rs 79.55/ltr in Delhi

In 13 straight cuts, petrol price has been reduced by Rs 3.28 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.84 a litre in Delhi.

Prices of the key transportation fuels - petrol and diesel - were cut for the 13th straight day on Tuesday over softening international oil prices.

Petrol price is down 20 paise per litre in major cities.

In New Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 79.55 a litre against Monday's rate of Rs 79.75.

According to a price notification issued by state-owned oil firms, petrol is now being retailed at Rs 85.04 in Mumbai, Rs 82.65 in Chennai and Rs 81.43 in Kolkata.

In 13 straight cuts, petrol price has been reduced by Rs 3.28 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.84 a litre in Delhi.

In tandem with petrol, diesel prices is down by around 7 and 8 paise in major cities. The price of diesel in Mumbai is down at Rs 77.32 per litre.

Similarly, prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai declined to Rs 73.78, Rs 75.63 and Rs 78.0 a litre respectively.

The consecutive cuts in fuel prices come on the back of falling international oil prices and appreciation in rupee.

Before fuel rates started falling on October 18, petrol and diesel prices had touched unprecedented levels across the country.

While petrol touched a record high of Rs 84 per litre, diesel prices went up to Rs 75.45 a litre in Delhi on October 4. On that day, the government decided to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre each and asked state-owned fuel retailers to subsidise by another Re 1 a litre by reducing their margins.

But as the international oil prices continued to rise, the price of petrol and diesel in Delhi increased to Rs 82.83 per litre and Rs 75.69 per litre by October 16. But beginning October 18, international oil prices have been falling and the rupee has also appreciated.

The retail selling price of petrol and diesel is dependent on the international prices of benchmark fuel and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate. This is because a large proportion of the country's requirement is met through imports.

Business Standard

Being food insecure: Rising income inequalities linked to unhealthy diets

While there are obvious health implications associated with hunger and not eating a healthy diet, there are other less obvious implications associated with the struggle to access food.

One in every five people in the UK today are living in poverty – that is, living with a household income below 60% of the median national income when housing costs are considered. And according to recent research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, two-thirds of children in poverty live in a working family. These rates are expected to increase sharply by 2021-22, assuming there is no change in government policy.

Poverty is linked directly to how people access food. A recent Social Market Foundation (SMF) study confirms a growing body of academic research that shows that food is a key component of household budgets. When these budgets are stretched, families trade down on their food choices. One in three low income households in the survey indicate that they purchase cheaper and less healthy food in order to make their budgets stretch. Many adults reported cutting back on their own food consumption so that others in their family, such as children, can eat.

Geography plays an important role in the affordability of food. The cost of food available to people will depend on what format of shop is located in an area, for example. Research by the consumer charity Which? shows that convenience shops charge more for the same items compared to larger format shops. On top of this, small shops have fewer product lines, tend not to carry own-brand value labels, and have a limited selection of fruits and vegetables.

Food deserts

The SMF study also found that more than a million low-income households live in areas known as “food deserts”. These are areas where access to good quality food is likely to be a challenge because there is an absence of such food available to purchase. The study defines a food desert as the presence of two or fewer VAT-registered food shops in areas based on population concentrations of between 5,000 to 15,000 people. These areas will be smaller in urban places compared to rural places. What the study shows is that nearly one in ten areas that are classed as income deprived can also be considered a food desert.

The important thing to understand about this research is that it identifies areas where there are likely to be high concentrations of people on low income who will have the added burden of having to travel further than others to access food. This will insure an additional cost for them in terms of time or money. If you have £20 a week spend on food, not unusual for the poorest fifth of the population, then you don’t want to be spending some of that on the transport to get to the shops. You want that money to go toward food.

On top of this, you must carry what you get, so you will choose food items that are easy to carry and make decisions about what you really need. A bag of potatoes is heavy. Vegetables take up a lot of volume and go off quickly. Fruit is expensive.. Read More

Business Standard

Ram temple: VHP says Hindus can't wait forever for SC verdict, seeks law

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said an "appropriate bench" will decide in January next year the future course of hearing on the appeals filed against the Allahabad HC.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Monday said Hindus cannot wait eternally for a court judgement on the Ayodhya land dispute case and asked the government to bring a law for building a Ram temple.

It's working president Alok Kumar urged the Narendra Modi government to bring a legislation in the Winter Session.

His remarks came soon after the Supreme Court moved the hearing on the case to January next year.

"The Supreme Court has once again adjourned the hearing. This fortifies the VHP's stand that the solution to the Ram Janambhoomi issue is not in eternally waiting for hearing of appeals pending for over seven years.

We reiterate our request to the Union government to enact a law to clear the way for building a grand temple of Lord Ram at his birthplace in Ayodhya," Kumar told PTI.

This may be done in the coming winter session of Parliament, the head of the RSS affiliate said, adding that the Hindutva organisation will intensify its campaign for such a legislation if the government does not act.

The organisation has called a two-day 'Dharam Sansad', a meeting of seers, on January 31 and February 1 next year to discuss the Ram temple issue. This will be held on the sidelines of the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said an "appropriate bench" will decide in January next year the future course of hearing on the appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case.

Business Standard

Indonesia plane that crashed with 188 on board had an Indian captain Bhavye Suneja

India born Bhavye Suneja had joined Lion Air in Jakarta in March 2011.

The ill-fated Indonesian carrier Lion Air's flight, that crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta on Monday, was reportedly being flown by an Indian captain.

The plane was carrying 188 passengers and crew and authorities are yet to find any survivor.

According to the Times of India, the captain, Bhavye Suneja, was a resident of Mayur Vihar in Delhi. He joined Indonesia'slow-cost carrier Lion Air in March 2011 and used to fly the Boeing 737.

Citing the VP of a leading airline in India that operates the Boeing 737, the daily reported that Suneja was considering returning to India.

“We spoke this July. He is a very sweet sounding person. Being an experienced pilot of the B737 with an incident, accident free record, we were keen to have him with us because of his good credentials. His only request was that he wanted a Delhi posting as he is from the city,” the senior official told TOI.

Suneja's Linkedin profile shows that he got his pilot licence from Bel Air International in 2009. He joined Emirates in 2010 and shifted to Lion Air in Jakarta in March 2011.

The airline, Lion Air, has a mixed safety record.

Before Monday's crash, the airline had not reported a fatal accident since 2004, when 25 people died after the DC-9 they were on, crashed amid heavy rain at Solo City in central Java.

Monday's disaster was a blow to the country's aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and US.

The European Union barred Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe in 2007 over to safety concerns.

Business Standard

iPad Pro, MacBook Air, new Mac Mini: Apple set to launch slew of devices

Apple hasn't updated the MacBook Air since 2015 but the company is likely to announce a new MacBook Air.

Business Standard : Apple is set to launch a new hardware line-up at a Brooklyn event on Tuesday, including the iPad Pro, MacBook Air and an updated Mac Mini.

According to media reports, after launching new iPhones in September, the Cupertino-based tech giant will launch a new hardware series.

"The new iPad Pros are getting completely overhauled with a new design. It's the iPad equivalent of the jump Apple made with the iPhone X last year," The Verge reported on Monday.

Other changes for the iPad Pro may be a switch to USB-C and a redesigned Smart Connector.

Apple is expected to improve the internal hardware too, upgrading the chip to a new variant of A12 Bionic chipset.

Apple hasn't updated the MacBook Air since 2015 but the company is likely to announce a new MacBook Air.

Another attraction is an updated Mac mini which last saw a new model in 2014, said the report.

Read More

Why criminalisation of marital rape is still a distant dream in India

The Centre has submitted before the Delhi high court that 'what may appear as marital rape to an individual wife, it may not appear so to others'.

The Narendra Modi government’s reactionary stand that criminalising marital rape would “destabilise the institution of marriage” and could become an easy tool to “harass husbands” in RIT Foundation vs Union of India, which is pending before the Delhi high court, is utterly disappointing. The government seems to have found some bizarre correlation between saving the institution of marriage and not criminalising marital rape. 

It is difficult to understand how rape of a woman by her husband is any less brutal than triple talaq or polygamy, which the present government seems to have been much concerned about. Such ignominious behaviour of the Centre echoes our innate societal misogyny, which over the years has led to further subjugation of women.

The Centre has also submitted before the Delhi high court that “what may appear as marital rape to an individual wife, it may not appear so to others”. Such arguments stem from the basic structure of criminal law which prescribes the standard of “reasonableness” or “reasonable person” as one of its cornerstones. In criminal law, the act or omission of the accused is to be judged from the lens of “reasonableness” or “reasonable person”, which is generally the perspective of “an average, ordinary person who is a representative of the general community”. Such an approach seems to be problematic for marital rape in particular, because of the mainstream perception that marriage gives the husband constant consent for sexual intercourse.

To put it differently, in a patriarchal society, that “reasonable person” is always a male, who judges the place of a female in the social process. Women, therefore, end up being perceived as baby-making machines where their right to bodily autonomy and reproductive rights are inconceivable and preposterous. According to Morton Hunt, an American psychologist who is considered one of the first to engage with the issue of marital rape, “the typical marital rapist is a man who still believes that husbands are supposed to “rule” their wives. This extends, he feels, to sexual matters: when he wants her, she should be glad, or at least willing, if she is not, he has the right to force her. But in forcing her, he gains far more than a few minutes of sexual pleasure. He humbles her and reasserts, in the most emotionally powerful way possible, that he is the ruler and she is the subject.”

Feminist scholars recognise the ubiquitous influence of patriarchy and virile nature of norms on law and demonstrate their effects on the material conditions of women and those who not conform to “cisgender norms”. The inability of law and legal institutions to deal with marital rape exposes the limits of the law. It shows that the law predominantly serves the aspirations of the dominant class, at the expense of the marginalised and weak. In a male dominated society, therefore, the struggle of women is not just limited to the existing societal structure, but also institutions which present themselves as the epitome of neutrality and reasonableness... Read More

Business Standard

Tigers confirmed as 6 subspecies: Why it's big deal for their conservation

The lack of genetic and morphological differences between mainland tigers could allow them to be managed as single subspecies.

During my time as a zookeeper I had the privilege of working with both Sumatran and Amur tigers. If they did not both have stripes, you would think they were different species altogether.

The Sumatran tiger is the smallest alive today. At around 100kg, it’s “only” about the weight of a large adult male human. It is suited to the warm and wet forests of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which is reflected in its smaller size and short, dark rusty orange coat which has many thin black stripes to conceal it in dense vegetation from their prey.

The Amur – or Siberian – tiger is much larger, averaging around 170kg (though there are historic reports of males clocking in at 300kg or more) and is now found mainly one corner of far-eastern Russia. It has a thicker but relatively pale coat, with sparse dark brown stripes, which enables it to survive in freezing and snowy winters.

Tiger experts have long debated what such differences mean scientifically. Should the biggest of the big cats be divided into various subspecies, or are all tigers simply “tigers”?

It’s an issue with serious implications for conservation. About 3,500 or so tigers remain in the wild, in just 7% of their former range. And if those tigers are all the same, or if even most of them are the same, then saving individual populations matters slightly less – and tigers can be moved around to assist breeding in the wild.

Traditionally, eight subspecies were considered to exist. They are the two already mentioned, plus the Bengal tiger, found mainly in India, the Indochinese, the South China tiger and then three extinct subspecies: the Bali (extinct in the 1940s) and Javan (80s), both closely related to surviving tigers on nearby Sumatra, and the Caspian tiger from Central Asia which went extinct in the 1970s.

As genetic techniques evolved, a 2004 study found there was little genetic diversity among tigers, but enough to support the separation of subspecies. It also suggested that Indochinese tigers living on the Malayan peninsular were different enough to those living further north to warrant a ninth subspecies: the Malayan tiger.

These ideas were contested by a group of researchers in 2015, who argued that the relative lack of variation among the mainland Asian subspecies and large overlaps in their shape, size and ecology meant that all tigers from India to Siberia or Thailand should be considered the same subspecies. The researchers called for just two recognised subspecies: the continental tiger, and the Sunda tiger, found on the various Indonesian islands.

However the various subspecies are classified, one of the consistent findings is that tigers follow Bergmann’s rule: a principle in zoology which states that animals within the same overall species will tend to be larger in colder environments and vice versa. The Amur tiger, for instance, benefits from the fact that larger animals are better at retaining heat as they have a smaller surface area relative to their overall mass... Read More

Business Standard