Majority of Indians say politicians mislead masses: survey
New Delhi, Sep 13 : A survey of over 19,000 people across the country revealed that most Indians blame politicians for misleading the the people.
The survey conducted by Ipsos said that 56 per cent respondents "blame politicians for misleading people, 47 per cent believed that it is the media that is misleading people; 44 per cent feel social media is the culprit for people's lopsided views."
The study of over 19,000 people in 27 countries shows that the majority of Indians say that they regularly see fake news and half of them said that they believed a fake story, only to discover later that it was fake.
"When it comes to fake news, 72 per cent Indians profess to have seen news stories by media organisations deliberately saying something that wasn't true. And 55 per cent Indians say that they had falsely believed a news story as real until they found out that it was fake," it said.
Interestingly, Indians interpreted fake news in different ways.
As many as 55 per cent said fake news were stories, where the news outlets or politicians only picked up facts that supported their side of the argument; 53 per cent said fake news were stories with wrong facts; 36 per cent Indians felt fake news was a term politicians and the media used to discredit news they didn't agree with.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
