Google fires 28 workers after office sit-ins to protest cloud contract with Israel
Google has fired 28 employees involved in protests over the tech company's cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, according to statements from the company and campaigners.
The workers held sit-ins at the company’s offices in California and New York over Google's $1.2 billion contract to provide custom tools for Israeli's military. They were fired on Wednesday evening after police earlier arrested nine people.
Google said “a small number of employee protesters entered and disrupted a few of our locations.”
ALSO READ: Google employees arrested for protesting against company's deal with Israel
“After refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was engaged to remove them to ensure office safety,” Google said.
The company said it carried out "individual investigations that resulted in the termination of employment for 28 employees, and will continue to investigate and take action as needed.”
The group behind the protests, No Tech for Apartheid, disputed Google's version of events, saying the company fired people who didn't directly participate.
The company's claim that the protests were part of a longstanding campaign by groups and “people who largely don’t work at Google” was untrue, the group said.
The group posted photos and videos on social media showing workers in Google offices holding placards and sitting on the floor, chanting slogans.
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EC directs parties to stop registering voters for beneficiary schemes under guise of surveys
New Delhi (PTI): The Election Commission Thursday said it has taken a "serious view" of political parties and candidates seeking details of voters under the guise of various surveys for their proposed beneficiary schemes as it amounts to a corrupt practice under election law.
The poll authority noted that some political parties and candidates have been engaging in activities that blur the lines between legitimate surveys and partisan efforts to register individuals for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes.
The Election Commission issued an advisory to all national and state political parties to immediately cease and desist from any activities that involve registering people for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes through any advertisement, survey or mobile application.
It said the act of inviting or calling upon individual electors to register for post-election benefits may create an impression of the requirement of one-to-one transactional relationship between the elector and the proposed benefit, and has the potential to generate a quid pro quo arrangement for voting in a particular way, thereby leading to inducement.
