Mediaboss Marketing

Pooja Jadhav | (Pic: Tata Motors)

Wikipedia is everything. But when it comes to Indian languages there is a whole lot of distance to cover. Pooja Jadhav, who has a background in Computer Science, learnt 2D design, 3D design, communication and management and a whole lot more, is going that distance. The 25-year-old became a Computer Lab Assistant at Vigyan Ashram and began to mentor other students. Not just this, they also bagged a project with Wikipedia to convert articles to Marathi and now, she is the Senior Regional Contributor at Marathi Wikipedia. "As a part of T20, we had also learnt about presentation skills and personality development. Putting these skills to good use, I have travelled to other cities for the Wikipedia training and this has instilled a lot of confidence in me," says the youngster.

Pooja also took up a Fab Academy course last year and as a part of her final year project, she chose to work on a display that shows the reserve water levels of the dam in Pabal and also tells you how much longer it can be used. But this is just one feather in her cap, her immense contribution towards Marathi Wikipedia is laudable. "I have contributed over 400 articles and edited over 4,000 articles; scanned over 40,000 pages and uploaded it on Wikimedia and uploaded over 400 pictures on Wikimedia Commons as well," she lists. Astounding! She is even training other girls to contribute to Marathi Wikipedia and one such youngster is Komal.

"Pooja tai taught us all kinds of skills from photoshop to the basic knowledge of computers and from PowerPoint to video editing," shares the 21-year-old who is currently focussed on contributing to Marathi Wikipedia as much as she can. "When you Google anything, the first search that shows up is Wikipedia and I work for it. I feel so proud," she shares. Komal gave her BCom exams this year and is planning to pursue MCom soon.

A pilot project sowed half a decade ago, the Tata Motors Vigyan Ashram programme, T20, is the reason for all this. It has been helmed by Tata Motors and implemented by NGO Vigyan Ashram, who back in 2016-2017decided that an exclusive batch of 20 girls would be enrolled in Diploma in Basic Rural Technology at the Vigyan Ashram centre in Pabal, a village in the Pune district of Maharashtra. There is nothing more heart-warming than looking at young girls who are owning their futures and contributing towards a larger cause as well.

See the rest here:
Meet the 25-year-old contributor to Marathi Wikipedia who is inspiring others to chip in too - EdexLive

The civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton has blamed Republican propaganda for the lower than expected Latino Democratic election in Floridas Miami Dade district. This was a major reason why former Vice President Joe Biden lost the decisive state to President Donald Trump.

The Quote

We dont have the same momentum that we have in Florida where you have like in Miami-Dade. I think it was George who pointed out a great Cuban influence in relation to Cuban voters, who look more to the propaganda that we are dealing with socialism and everything. That made up for a large black voter turnout.

Why it matters

The Democrats are looking for answers to Bidens underperformance among Latino voters, particularly among men, who turned out to be Trump in larger numbers than expected. Observers and voices within the Democratic Party-including New York Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-have warned that Bidens lack of appeal among Latinos is a serious problem.

Especially in southern Florida, the lower voter turnout of democratic Latinos meant that the president was carrying the state by a considerable margin. In the early evening, the alarm bells rang for the Democrats in Miami Dade, traditionally a big vote winner for the party, where Bidens lead over Trump was much smaller than the one Hillary Clinton had in 2016.

The area is home to a large number of Latin American voters, including Cuban, Venezuelan, Colombian, Puerto Rican and Mexican communities, whether born foreigners or descended from previous immigrants.

The Cuban and Venezuelan exile communities are influential in state policy. Both fled from leftist governments in their home countries, making them fertile ground for the GOPs warnings about the Democrats alleged socialist tendencies.

Sharpton made his remarks while discussing the pending vote in Georgia and North Carolina. In both states, Trumpf is slightly in the lead, which could prove decisive in the race for 270 votes in the electoral college.

Sharpton suggested that the outstanding votes would strengthen the Democrats once they were elected, since the areas that have not yet received all the votes include large black communities that he believes are less susceptible to the GOPs propaganda on socialism.

Counterpoint

It is not yet clear why Biden underperformed among Latin American voters and how much concern about socialism has driven Trumps unexpected performance in this demographic.

But Biden fought for the Latino vote during the Democratic presidential primaries an early warning signal that the Democrats could face demographics in the national race if Biden was the candidate.

The Trump campaign actively campaigned for these groups, which observers warned would be largely ignored by the Democrats. The tactic has paid off, yet could still be an important turn in the history of the 2020 election.

Bidens lack of popularity with Latin American voters was an existing problem, even outside the largely inaccurate socialism slurs of the GOP on his platform.

Cuban Americans in particular were already leaning toward the Trump-Equis, said before the election that this group would drop about 20 points for the president. However, according to Mark Lopez, director of Hispanic Research at the Pew Research Center, this is partly explained by Trumps anti-socialist rhetoric.

Trump is clearly doing even better among Cuban Americans than some former Republicans, Lopez told The Atlantic. Bidens weakness in Florida has something to do with the presidents antisocialist rhetoric.

More:
Cuban-American voters bought into the GOP socialism propaganda, says Al Sharpton after the poor Biden's performance. - The Washington Newsday

Perhaps no other country will be as directly affected by the outcome of the U.S. election as Iran.

As the U.S. undergoes a bumpy transition of power between President-elect Joe Biden and a recalcitrant President Donald Trump who is refusing to concede the election and continues pushing a narrative of baseless election fraud accusations, Iranian political experts and observers are taking a watch and wait stance for now -- as they ponder the best path forward to negotiate easing sanctions that have strangled Iran's economy.

President-elect Joe Biden, left, and President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration instituted a "maximum pressure" policy against Iran amid increasing tensions between the two countries after the administration accused Iran of launching nearly a dozen cruise missiles and over 20 drones from its territory in an attack on a key Saudi oil facility in September.

The Trump administration also withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018, reimposing sanctions that encompassed Iran's oil industry.

With oil being Iran's major source of revenue, strict sanctions excluded the country from related international markets and severely damaged its already ailing economy with high inflation and dramatic devaluation of the rial -- the Islamic Republic's currency.

Some experts say there is no other way for the U.S. and Iran to repair relations but to negotiate and make up.

However, when it comes to negotiating with America, Iran's conservative and moderate parties take different approaches.

President Hassan Rouhani, who is known to be affiliated with the moderate side of Iran's political spectrum, expressed hope that President-elect Biden would lift sanctions on Iran and return to the JCPOA.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chairs a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Nov. 11, 2020. Rouhani vowed to take "any opportunity" to lift US sanctions on Tehran, following President Donald Trump's loss to Democratic election rival Joe Biden.

"We feel that the atmosphere is prepared for closer relations and better interaction with all friendly countries," President Rouhani said in the weekly government session on Wednesday, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported."The man whose term is about to end would call the JCPOA the worst agreement ever which he wanted to terminate The new man has said that he wants to return to the JCPOA," he added.

Indirectly addressing his conservative rivals, Rouhani also said that "no one should waste the opportunity to lift sanctions."

Rouhani's remarks after the U.S. election have provoked backlash from Iran's conservatives who are against negotiating with the White House no matter which American political party is at the helm.

"Controlling inflation and resolving many of the country's problems have nothing to do with negotiation or sanctions," Iranian conservative Kayhan Daily wrote in a political editorial on Thursday.

The editorial described the Rouhani administration's hope to negotiate with Biden's government as a "wasteland of tact and mirage of negotiation."

However, some experts believe that even Iran's conservatives would welcome an end to sanctions and a move toward easing the relationship with the U.S.

Mehdi Motaharnia, a political expert, told ABC News that while the Trump administration wanted "to curb Iran's behavior and political activities," he believes Iranian conservatives still "welcome renegotiation."

Adding to the political rhetoric among Iran's two main parties on how to approach a new U.S. administration, is the country's own upcoming presidential election which will be held in about six months.

However, Motaharnia said it does not matter which party takes the seat in Iran's 2021 election.

"It does not make much of a difference who leads the government in Iran, as this institution is not the core of the state here, but an executive power who runs bureaucratic affairs," Motaharnia added, implying that the major foreign policy decisions are made by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Regardless of all assumptions about the possibility of Biden's more lenient policy toward Iran, Motaharnia does not think the president-elect will make a radical change in America's stance on Iran.

"It is true that the problem of the two countries has turned 'nuclearized.' But, besides the nuclear issue, Iran's missile program and its support of the so-called terrorist groups, the two countries need to discuss the core problem between them," Motaharnia said.

To him, this "core" issue started since the takeover of the American embassy after the Islamic Revolution 42 years ago.

"The two countries need to start from agreeing on what they mean by 'negotiation'... Iran's policy, as the Supreme Leader has said, is 'no negotiation, no war,' and that of the U.S. is 'either negotiation, or war,'" Motaharnia said.

Motaharnia also said the U.S. needs Iran on its side if it wants to have an upper hand in the "new global order."

Read the original post:
Iran watching and waiting after US election - ABC News

Irans Foreign Ministry on Saturday denied a report that Israeli agents had fatally shot Al Qaedas second-ranking leader on the streets of Tehran, likening it to a Hollywood scenario manufactured by American and Zionist officials.

The ministry issued the denial to Iranian reporters in the wake of a report Friday by The New York Times, which quoted intelligence officials as saying that Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, who went by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was killed by two motorcycle-riding assassins on Aug. 7.

That day was the anniversary of the 1998 attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people. Mr. al-Masri was accused of being one of the masterminds of the attacks.

The killing of Mr. al-Masri and his daughter was carried out by Israeli agents at the behest of the United States, The Times reported.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, a foreign ministry spokesman, denied any presence of Al Qaeda members in Iran. And he warned American media outlets not to fall for the trap of Hollywood scenarios fed to them by American and Zionist officials, according to the ministrys website.

Mr. al-Masris death had been rumored but never confirmed until The Timess report.

Mr. al-Masri, who was about 58, was one of Al Qaedas founding leaders and was thought to be first in line to lead the organization after its current leader, Ayman al-Zawahri. The F.B.I. had offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Mr. al-Masris presence in Iran was surprising given that Iran and Al Qaeda are bitter enemies. American intelligence officials told The Times that Mr. al-Masri had been in Irans custody since 2003, but that he had been living freely in an upscale suburb of Tehran since at least 2015.

In its statement Saturday, Irans foreign ministry accused the United States and Israel of leaking false information to the news media so they dont have to take responsibility for the murderous actions of this terrorist group and other groups.

Read the original post:
Iran Denies That Al Qaeda Leader Was Killed in Tehran - The New York Times

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) For over half a century, a massive graveyard on the edge of Irans capital has provided a final resting place for this countrys war dead, its celebrities and artists, its thinkers and leaders and all those in between.

But Behesht-e-Zahra is now struggling to keep up with the coronavirus pandemic ravaging Iran, with double the usual number of bodies arriving each day and grave diggers excavating thousands of new plots.

All of the crises that we have experienced at this cemetery over the past 50 years of its history have lasted for just a few days or a week at most, said Saeed Khaal, the cemeterys manager. Never before not during earthquakes or even the countrys 1980s war with Iraq has the pace of bodies flowing into Behesht-e-Zahra been so high for so long, he said.

Now we have been in a crisis for 260 days, and it is not clear how many months more we are going to be facing this crisis, he said.

With 1.6 million people buried on its grounds, which stretch across more than 5 square kilometers (1,320 acres), Behesht-e-Zahra is one of the worlds largest cemeteries and the primary one for Tehrans 8.6 million people. The golden minarets of its Imam Khomeini Shrine, the burial site of the leader of Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution, are visible for kilometers (miles).

But it was not big enough for the coronavirus, which roared into Iran early this year, seeding the regions worst outbreak.

Iran has reported over 715,000 infections and said that 39,664 have died so far of the coronavirus. The country has set single-day death records 10 times over the past month. Another record came on Wednesday, with 462 deaths. Almost half of the countrys reported virus fatalities have happened in Tehran, putting pressure on the cemetery.

Far past the graves of the dead from Irans war with Iraq and those of politicians, the cemetery has expanded to a new area. Tehrans leaders announced in June that they were preparing 15,000 new graves there about 5,000 more than in a typical year. Satellite pictures from September show the plots deep enough to allow for as many as three bodies in each newly dug, each separated by a layer of dirt and bricks.

While not all of the new graves are for coronavirus victims, most are.

For Khaal, sometimes referred to as the mayor of this vast necropolis, the pace is beyond anything hes seen before.

We used to accept between 150 to 170 dead bodies every day, but these days when we are experiencing the peak of deaths, we are accepting 350 bodies on average, he told The Associated Press.

The tremendous workload is also putting a strain on the cemeterys employees, Khaal said.

Its unclear how other cemeteries in Iran are coping. In March, authorities arrested a man for posting a video online of bodies wrapped in white shrouds and zipped into black body bags at a cemetery in the Shiite holy city of Qom, alleging they all were corona-infected. Officials at that cemetery at the time said they were testing the bodies for the virus.

At Behesht-e-Zahra or Zahras Paradise in Farsi, named after a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad the bodies of known coronavirus victims arrive every day by ambulance. Mortuary attendants prepare each body for the ritual washing required for the Muslim dead. During the pandemic, that now includes the use of disinfectants.

Later, an imam recites prayers, while mourners stand on spaced-out squares that ensure they keep their distance from one another.

These days I perform about 25 to 30 death prayers (for COVID-19 victims) on average, just myself, cleric Meysam Rajavi said. There are about 12 of us who pray for the same number of the dead on a daily basis. This is a big number.

Mourners follow the body to the graveyard, where another masked staffer in gloves and disposable coveralls lowers the body to its final resting place.

The wails of loved ones echo across the expanse of freshly dug graves that await the next funeral.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Mohammad Nasiri on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/moenasiri.

See the article here:
In Iran, a massive cemetery struggles to keep up with virus - Associated Press