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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
Teachers trained to tackle drug abuse
Ranchi: The Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) on Friday conducted an annual district-level training programme aimed at sensitising high-school teachers about drug abuse and equipping them with tools to identify and prevent substance use among students. The training focused on the need to address not only tobacco use but also the exposure of adolescents to stimulants, depressants, opioids, and hallucinogens. Friday's session is part of the department's ongoing efforts to prepare action plan to curb drugs among students. Pankaj Kumar, assistant district project officer said, "This time, we've broadened our scope to include other harmful substances beyond tobacco." Sushant Kumar, consultant, district tobacco control cell, spoke on the root causes of drug abuse, which include curiosity, peer pressure, stress, trauma, family environment, and media influence. Sushant said, "Drug abuse often begins at home when children observe substance use among elders. Schools must step in to break this chain." The training also covered early indicators of drug use, such as sudden behavioural changes, falling academic performance, a shift in peer groups, and noticeable physical symptoms. Teachers were educated on relevant legal frameworks, including Section 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act and Juvenile Justice Act, the officials added. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Faking 'green credentials' can hamper brand value; discourage sustainable shopping: IIM study
HighlightsA study by the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, reveals that exaggerating or faking environmental credentials, known as greenwashing, can significantly damage consumer trust and brand value. The research, conducted in collaboration with multiple international universities, developed a framework to analyze consumer reactions to greenwashing using Attribution Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The findings indicate that consumers with greater environmental knowledge are more likely to critically assess green claims and react negatively to brands that engage in greenwashing. Exaggerating or faking " green credentials " can lead to a drop in brand value by damaging trust of consumers and discourage sustainable shopping , a study by Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow has found. The research explored how deceptive green marketing , also knows as " greenwashing ", can create a negative impact on the consumer trust , brand perception, and buying behaviour. Conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Hail, Saudi Arabia, University of Turin, Italy, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia, and Institute of Management Studies Ghaziabad, India, the research has been published in the prestigious journal, Business Strategy and the Environment. According to officials, greenwashing has become a common practice among brands to attract consumers, build a positive perception, and manipulate buying behaviour. Unlike earlier studies conducted which were not able to assess how it can affect consumer attitude towards a brand, the research team bridged this gap by studying the psychology of how consumers interpret and react to greenwashing, they said. The team developed a framework using Attribution Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. This framework with an emphasis on "situational involvement", meaning the degree of personal relevance a consumer assigns to environmental issues , helped in analysing "why" and "how" people react to greenwashing. "The research team tested the developed framework on 353 consumers from the United States of America and analysed the data using structural equation modelling, a method mostly used in the social and behavioural science fields," said Sushant Kumar, Assistant Professor, Marketing Management, IIM Lucknow. Kumar said that the study found that greenwashing does not just fool people; it also damages brand trust and discourages sustainable shopping. "Greenwashing is dangerous for brands, but consumers appreciate green claims . A business' green claims should be substantiated by evidence that can be verified by consumers. When consumers grow sceptical about a brand exaggerating or faking green credentials, their positive feelings about the brand drop," he said. "People with greater environmental knowledge are more likely to critically assess eco-claims made by the brands and react more strongly," Kumar said. The team now plans to explore several other aspects of consumer behaviour such as recommendation of a brand or product involved in greenwashing. The team also plans to study the consumers' sentiments while consuming green brands and later discovering false claims by the brand.
Mint
27-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Faking green credentials can hamper brand value; discourage sustainable shopping: IIM study
New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) Exaggerating or faking "green credentials" can lead to a drop in brand value by damaging trust of consumers and discourage sustainable shopping, a study by Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow has found. The research explored how deceptive green marketing, also knows as "greenwashing", can create a negative impact on the consumer trust, brand perception, and buying behaviour. Conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Hail, Saudi Arabia, University of Turin, Italy, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia, and Institute of Management Studies Ghaziabad, India, the research has been published in the prestigious journal, Business Strategy and the Environment. According to officials, greenwashing has become a common practice among brands to attract consumers, build a positive perception, and manipulate buying behaviour. Unlike earlier studies conducted which were not able to assess how it can affect consumer attitude towards a brand, the research team bridged this gap by studying the psychology of how consumers interpret and react to greenwashing, they said. The team developed a framework using Attribution Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. This framework with an emphasis on "situational involvement", meaning the degree of personal relevance a consumer assigns to environmental issues, helped in analysing "why" and "how" people react to greenwashing. "The research team tested the developed framework on 353 consumers from the United States of America and analysed the data using structural equation modelling, a method mostly used in the social and behavioural science fields," said Sushant Kumar, Assistant Professor, Marketing Management, IIM Lucknow. Kumar said that the study found that greenwashing does not just fool people; it also damages brand trust and discourages sustainable shopping. "Greenwashing is dangerous for brands, but consumers appreciate green claims. A business' green claims should be substantiated by evidence that can be verified by consumers. When consumers grow sceptical about a brand exaggerating or faking green credentials, their positive feelings about the brand drop," he said. "People with greater environmental knowledge are more likely to critically assess eco-claims made by the brands and react more strongly," Kumar said. The team now plans to explore several other aspects of consumer behaviour such as recommendation of a brand or product involved in greenwashing. The team also plans to study the consumers' sentiments while consuming green brands and later discovering false claims by the brand.
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Three held for duping college student of ₹52L in stock market scam
MUMBAI: Three men were arrested for allegedly defrauding a 21-year-old college student of ₹52 lakh by luring her into a fake stock market investment scheme and promising high returns. The North Cyber Police, based in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), identified the accused as Mohammad Asif Mohammad Aslam Rahim, 28, Sushant Suresh Sapkat, 26, and Yusuf Mohammad Sheikh, 30. According to investigators, the trio had provided their bank account details to key cyber fraudsters who orchestrated the scam. The accused were produced before the Borivali court and remanded to police custody. A special operation is now underway to trace and arrest other individuals involved in the racket. The complainant, a resident of Malad and an M Com student at a reputed city college, approached the Cyber Helpline after realising she had been duped. Her father is a senior manager with a bank in Borivali. Police said the woman, who is active on social media, was researching stock trading online in February last year when she came across a suspicious link. After clicking on it, her mobile number was added to a WhatsApp group administered by two individuals—Vinod Nair and his associate, Sushant Kumar. She spent about a week observing the group's posts, which shared seemingly legitimate stock tips. Gaining her trust, Sushant Kumar eventually persuaded her to open an account through a trading platform linked in the group. Without informing her family, she began investing in shares through the platform. Over time, she was added to other WhatsApp groups that reinforced the illusion of high profits. Between February 8 and March 21, 2024, she made multiple investments totalling ₹52 lakh. Initially, the trading app showed encouraging returns. However, when she attempted to withdraw some profits, the transfer failed. Kumar instructed her to pay a 10% 'penalty fee' of ₹2.5 lakh to unlock the funds—but even after making the payment, the money remained inaccessible. When she raised concerns, Kumar stopped responding and eventually removed her from the group. Realising she had been scammed, the student filed a complaint with the North Regional Cyber Cell. Acting on the FIR, investigators traced the flow of money and identified the bank accounts into which the funds were deposited. On Monday, based on this evidence, police arrested Asif, Sapkat, and Sheikh from different locations across the city. Interrogation revealed that the trio received the defrauded money in their accounts, withdrew it via ATMs, and handed it over to the masterminds behind the operation. In return, they received a commission. Police also found that the accused had provided multiple bank accounts to the fraudsters to facilitate similar scams. 'We are currently investigating how many others may have been cheated using the same modus operandi, and how many accounts were used to receive and route the illicit funds,' said a senior official from the North Cyber Police Station.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Genefitletics platform now detects cellular health
Indian biotech company Genefitletics have enabled their platform to now identify expression levels of specific biological signals that could tell the state of health of the cells. According to the company, the updated platform uses next-generation sequencing and machine learning to identify and measure biological signals linked to early-stage, asymptomatic chronic diseases , enabling individuals to understand, track, and optimize the health of their cells. The company states that the updated solution provides a cellular health score by measuring inflammation, stress, mitochondrial health, immune system activation, and cellular senescence. Additional features include assessments of triglyceride homeostasis, irritable bowel disease risk, and a feedback loop to monitor how nutritional interventions affect biological pathways in real time. Commenting on the development, Sushant Kumar, Founder & CEO of Genefitletics said, 'Our platform- PROTEBA trained by 12 billion molecular data points, 45 million phenotype data, 35000 plus peer reviewed research publications & ever evolving clinical insights from new updated research, can now measure expression of certain pathways causing cellular inflammation, cellular senescence, energy efficiency and cellular stress be it hypoxia induced stress, genotoxic stress, oxidative stress or uncoupled protein response.'
