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World
Istanbul Governor bans LGBTQ pride parade
The Governor of Istanbul has banned the holding of an LGBTQ pride parade in the city for the fourth consecutive year, Efe Songün wrote for The Daily Beast. “This year’s ban was expected considering the bans on other LGBTQ activities announced under the state of emergency earlier this year in Ankara,” Songün said. “Even though…
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World
Turkey drops 2 spots to rank 157th out of 180 countries in 2018 World Press Freedom Index by RSF
Turkey, which has jailed more than 250 journalists and media workers, is ranked 157th among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released on Wednesday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). As the world’s biggest prison for professional journalists, Turkey has managed to fall another two places in the past year, which…
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Culture
Sonnet Mondal’s ‘Karmic Chanting’ to travel to USA and Europe
With a writer residency scheduled in August 2018 at the Sierra Neveda College, U.S.A., Sonnet Mondal looks forward to promote his book ‘Karmic Chanting’ to be released soon from Copper Coin publishers, New Delhi. The book is a collection of mystical poems penned by Mondal over a period of five…
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World
Turkey’s State of Emergency shrinking space for dissidents : UN
“Protracted restrictions on the human rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association are incompatible with the conduct of a credible electoral process in Turkey,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High commissioner for human rights, said in a statement on Wednesday, stressing that these rights are particularly crucial in…
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Culture
The 10th Annual Arab Report on Cultural Development Launched in Dubai
Since 2002, FIKR Conference constitutes a landmark in the history of cultural conferences in the Arab World, and an interactive platform for constructive exchange of ideas, expertise and leading experiences. The Conference raises every year and emerging topic affecting the Arab World and addresses it in a scientific, civilized and…
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South East Asia
Anti Fake News Law: A Hindrance Towards Democratization and Development
Malaysia has passed and gazetted an Anti-Fake News Act 2018 on 11th April to curb and monitor false information, slander and lies spreading on social media and news portals. This law says any one found guilty of spreading, speculating or creating fake news would be jailed for 6 years or…
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South Asia
Great Indus Civilization
Experts say ‘Moen Jo Daro’ dates back to Bronze Age Preliminary analyses of cores obtained from World Heritage site of great Indus Civilization, known as ‘Moen Jo Daro’ or the ‘Mound of Dead’ (as the original name is unkown) located in Sindh province of Pakistan has confirmed that the ancient…
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South Asia
Data Can Of Worms
Clearly, matters have gone much beyond worms, viruses and trojans that unexpectedly make our computers crash. It is all about that little tick mark against ‘I Agree’ to terms and conditions that probably no one reads. That is all it takes for data to spiral into phenomenal algorithms that we…
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South East Asia
The Menace Of Fake News
Last April, the office of the Indian Cabinet Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Ms. Smriti Irani, issued a directive. It lay down new guidelines punishing journalists for publishing fake news. Understandably, there was fierce and widespread criticism from the journalists. “These norms are an attempt to intimidate and muzzle the…
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East Asia
Malleable Identity, Molded Identity
What makes you you? Is it your fingerprint? Maybe the passport you show to the officer before your flight. At any first meeting, people will ask one another, “What’s your name?”, “Your job?”, or “Where are you from?”. And then you will go down the list, describing yourself according…
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