India among the most trusted nations globally: Report
Davos, Jan 21: India is among the most trusted nations globally when it comes to government, business, NGOs and media but the country's brands are among the least-trusted, according to a report.
The The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer report released Monday, ahead of the the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet here, noted that the Global Trust Index witnessed a marginal increase of 3 points to 52.
China topped the Trust Index among both the informed public and the general population segments, with scores of 79 and 88 respectively.
India was at the second place in the informed public category and third place in the general population category.
The Index is the average per cent of trust in NGOs, business, government and media.
The findings are based on an online survey in 27 markets covering over 33,000 respondents. The fieldwork was conducted between October 19 and November 16, 2018.
In terms of trust in companies headquartered in each market, the most trusted are those from Switzerland, Germany and Canada. The brands from these countries have a trust score of 70 each while that of Japan is 69 per cent.
However, companies headquartered in India, Mexico and Brazil are the least trusted, followed by China and South Korea, as per the report.
While the score of India and Brazil is 40 per cent, that of Mexico and China stood at 36 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively.
The report noted that there is a growing feeling of pessimism about the future, with only one-in-three mass population respondents in the developed world believing his or her family would be better off in the next five years.
Among the mass population, just one-in-five believe the system is working for them and 70 percent desire change. And despite a full-employment economy, fear of job loss remains high among the general population.
This is based on views of respondents about global companies headquartered in specific countries and how much these firms are trusted by them 'to do what is right'.
According to the report, globally 'my employer' is significantly more trusted than NGOs, business, government and media.
"The last decade has seen a loss of faith in traditional authority figures and institutions," said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman.
When it comes to reliable sources for news, search and traditional are among the most trusted. Search and traditional media have a score of 66 each, while the score of social media is 44 per cent, the report noted.
"73 per cent worry about false information or fake news being used as a weapon," it added.
Stephen Kehoe, global chair, Reputation at Edelman said that divergent levels of confidence between the mass population and informed public about the future signal a continued underlying rot in the structure of society.
"While not everyone is taking to the streets, the data shows why protests like the Gilet Jaunes in France, the women's marches in India and walkouts by employees at some major tech companies could become more mainstream," Kehoe said.
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Man held for cheating IT official by posing as 'parrot astrologer'
Bengaluru (PTI): A 59-year-old man was arrested for allegedly duping an Income Tax department official by posing as a "parrot astrologer" and promising career growth and better life through rituals, police said on Wednesday.
With the arrest of the accused astrologer Shekar, police claimed to have recovered gold ornaments weighing 124 grams and silver articles weighing 796 grams, with a total value of Rs 20.60 lakh.
The matter came to light after the victim, who is a senior administrative officer in the Income Tax department, lodged a complaint at Bharatinagar police station here on March 5, police said.
According to police, in the complaint, the victim stated that while passing near Sri Circle, he was approached by a person claiming to practise parrot astrology. The accused called him over, claimed he could predict the future by looking at his face, and convinced him to perform a ritual.
Initially, the accused collected Rs 50,000 from the complainant. Later, he allegedly told the victim that an elaborate ritual was necessary for career promotion, transfer, and overall improvement in life, and threatened that failure to do so would bring misfortune, he alleged.
"Under this pretext, the accused took 194 grams of gold ornaments and 1.3 kg of silver articles from the complainant, assuring they would be returned after the ritual," police said.
When the complainant later demanded the return of the valuables, the accused allegedly threatened him, they said.
During the investigation, police gathered credible information and apprehended the accused near Cantonment Railway Station on March 12 and upon interrogation, he confessed to committing the offence with the intention of making quick money, a senior police officer said.
He was produced before a court on March 13 and taken into police custody for five days.
During sustained questioning, the accused revealed that he had sold the stolen gold and silver items at a jewellery shop in Halasuru. Based on his information, police recovered 124 grams of gold ornaments and 796 grams of silver articles from the shop on March 15, valued at Rs 20.60 lakh, the officer said.
The accused was again produced before the court on March 17 and was remanded to judicial custody, he added.
