Page 6 - Children

Children risk lives to reach school on overcrowded boats in Maharashtra

Additionally, during the monsoon season, the students often miss school as the river gets flooded, making it difficult for them to cross it

Ransomware criminals dump kids' private files online after school hacks

The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic. They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalisations, abusive parents, truancy even suicide attempts. Please do something, begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of continually bumping into an ex-abuser at a school in Minneapolis. Other victims talked about wetting the bed or crying themselves to sleep. Complete sexual assault case folios containing these details were among more than 300,000 files dumped online in March after the 36,000-student Minneapolis Public Schools refused to pay a USD 1 million ransom. Other exposed data included medical records and discrimination complaints. Rich in digitised data, the nation's schools are prime targets for far-flung criminal hackers, who are assiduously locating and scooping up sensitive files. Often strapped for cash, districts are grossly ill-equipped not just to defend themselves but to

23,000 street children across India being rehabilitated: Official

As many as 23,000 street children identified across the country with the help of a web portal are currently being rehabilitated, officials said on Friday. The identification process was carried out on 'Bal Swaraj' a website where information about such children is uploaded and tracked in order to rehabilitate them, a senior official said. According to officials, these children are categorised into three groups. The first category consists of children who have either run away from their homes or been abandoned by their families and are living on the streets alone. The second category comprises children living on the streets with their families. The third category includes children who live in slums and are out on the streets during the day but return to their homes at night, they said. Out of the 23,000 street children, 53 per cent stay on the streets with their families, 43 per cent stay on the street during the day and then return to their homes at night and 4 per cent live alone

Made effort to remove India from UN report on children in armed clash: Govt

The government was consistently making efforts to exclude India from the UN's annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, the Women and Child Development Ministry has said after the country did not feature in the report for the first time since 2010. The United Nations has removed India from its annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, citing "measures taken by the government to better protect" them. In a statement, the Women and Child Development Ministry said, "The ongoing engagement of the Government of India with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General sped up after an inter-ministerial meeting in November 2021." The meeting was attended by Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child Development Indevar Pandey, Ministry of External Affairs, Permanent Mission of India at New York, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and the UN officials in New Delhi. The m

Plant-based meal packages associated with lower BMI in children: Study

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital explored if providing weekly plant-based snacks to families seeking food assistance

UN puts Russian forces on blacklist for killing children, attacking schools

The United Nations put Russian forces on its annual blacklist of countries that violate children's rights in conflict for killing boys and girls and attacking schools and hospitals in Ukraine, according to a new report seen Thursday by The Associated Press. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report to the Security Council that he is appalled by the high number of grave violations against children in Ukraine in 2022, shocked at the number of attacks on schools and hospitals, concerned by the detention of children, and troubled that some Ukrainian children have been transferred to Russia. The U.N. chief did not put Israel on the blacklist for grave violations against 1,139 Palestinian children, including 54 killings last year as supporters had hoped. Instead, he welcomed Israel's engagement with the U.N. special envoy for children in armed conflict, Virginia Gamba and its identification of practical measures including those proposed by the U.N." to protect children. Riya

'Warrior Moms' fight for their children's right to breathe clean air

An ideation and action-oriented group that goes beyond language barriers, demographic differences and geographical boundaries, Warrior Moms is a 'Mothers For Clean Air' initiative

'Many newborns dying due to loss of efficacy of antibiotics against sepsis'

Many newborns are dying because the antibiotics used to treat sepsis are losing their effectiveness, according to a global observational study which involved over 3,200 newborn babies suffering from the infection in 11 countries, including India. The study, conducted from 2018 to 2020 and co-authored by a team of over 80 researchers, found there was high mortality among infants with culture-positive sepsis (almost 1 in 5 across the hospital sites), and a significant burden of antibiotic resistance. The research, published on Friday in the journal PLOS Medicine, provides a wealth of high-quality data aimed at improving the treatment of newborn babies with sepsis. "It was very important to undertake this study to get a better understanding of the kind of infections we are seeing in newborns in hospitals, the bugs causing them, the treatments that are being used and why we are seeing more deaths," said Manica Balasegaram, Executive Director of Global Antibiotic Research and Development

Child victims of stabbing attack in France in critical but stable condition

France's president travelled on Friday to the side of families traumatised by the savage stabbings of four very young children, all said to be in stable condition after emergency surgery, while investigators worked to unravel the motives of a Syrian man taken into custody. President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte traveled together to a hospital treating three of the four children who suffered life-threatening knife wounds in Thursday's still unexplained attack in and around a play park in the Alpine city of Annecy. Macron's prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, said all four children aged between 22 months and 3 years underwent surgery and are under constant medical surveillance. Their situation is stable, she said. Government spokesman Olivier Veran, a medical doctor by training, said two of the children remain in critical condition. Most of the children were rushed after the attack to a hospital in the French Alpine city of Grenoble the first stop for Macron and his wife on

300 children rescued from Sudanese orphanage after 71 others died: UNICEF

About 300 infants, toddlers and older children have been rescued from an orphanage in Sudan's capital after being trapped there while fighting raged outside, aid officials said on Thursday. The evacuation came after 71 children died from hunger and illness in the facility since mid-April. The tragedy at the Al-Mayqoma orphanage made headlines late last month as fighting raged outside between Sudan's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The deaths have highlighted the heavy toll inflicted on civilians since mid-April when the clashes erupted between forces loyal to Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF forces led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. About 300 children at the Al-Mayqoma orphanage in Khartoum were transferred to a safer location elsewhere in the northeastern African nation, said Ricardo Pires, a spokesman for the UN children's agency, UNICEF. Sudan's ministries of social development and health have taken charge of the children, while UNICEF has provided humanita

PM Modi's school restored to serve as centre of inspiration for children

A heritage school in Gujarat's Vadnagar where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had his initial education has been restored and is being redeveloped under project 'Prerna' to serve as a centre of inspiration for children through immersive experience, top government sources said on Tuesday. Built in the late 19th century, the school has been restored in an old architectural style by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Based on the vision of the prime minister, this "first-of-its-kind" school redevelopment project 'Prerna: The Vernacular School' is being undertaken to inspire the youth of the county to become catalysts of change, the sources said. The architectural revival and redevelopment of the old school are part of a holistic and mega redevelopment plan for the historic city of Vadnagar that traces an uninterrupted continuum of human habitation for more than 2500 years, they said. "The programme is expected to be rolled out later this year. Two students from each district of th

Nearly 1.5 mn to be covered under pulse polio immunisation drive in Haryana

Nearly 15 lakh children will be covered under the first sub-national immunisation round of pulse polio 2023-24 that will take place in six districts of Haryana, according to an official statement. The six districts are Faridabad, Gurugram, Jhajjar, Mewat, Sonipat and Kaithal in which booth activity was undertaken on the first day in order to maintain the polio-free status of the state, it said. Also referred to as SNID, the three-day campaign will continue for another two days by way of house-to-house activity to trace and administer polio drops to the left-out children on booth day. On the first day of the activity, approximately 7.9 lakh children under 5 years of age have been administered polio drops. In order to smoothly carry out this campaign, around 6,600 booths were set up in the state and these were manned by approximately 26,000 health officials and Anganwadi workers and volunteers. The left-out children during the booth activity on the first day will be administered pol

70% parents believe image editing apps, filters affecting kid's body image

Parents must focus on overall health, not weight; model positive body image and recognise your child's positive traits or qualities that don't have to do with their appearance

UP govt to provide benefits of Atal Scheme to children affected by Covid

The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has approved a proposal seeking amendments to the Atal Residential School Scheme. The amendments will help children impacted by Covid-19

85% Indian parents worry about kids spending excessive screen time: Survey

Ahead of the summer vacation, 85 cent parents are worried about kids spending excessive screen time during the break, a survey report commissioned by Amazon said on Tuesday. According to the survey conducted by Kantar for Amazon in March, over 90 per cent of parents surveyed believe kids become less active when spending more time on screen devices. The majority felt that ideal screen time should be less than 2 hours. However, 69 per cent confirmed that their kids are spending more than 3 hours with screens every day. "Summer vacations mean a break from school, travelling, and extra play-time for kids. With plenty of spare time in hand during holidays, 85 per cent surveyed parents are worried about kids spending excessive screen time during the break," the report said. The survey covered around 750 parents with young kids (3-8 years) across 10 metro and non-metro cities of India. According to the findings, almost 96 per cent of parents are searching for screen-free ideas to keep th

Mask mandates for children may do more harm than good: Public health expert

Mask mandates for children are unscientific and rather harmful", says a public health expert, explaining that incorrectly handled masks can make it more risky for disease transmission and their role is limited when Covid is endemic. Though there are no Covid related guidelines or mask mandates by the government, about 200 private-run schools in the national capital have already made masks compulsory for students and staff members in view of the rising numbers. "When disease is endemic, the benefit of masks for all age groups and children is even less. Then, we need to remember that an incorrectly handled mask can make it more risky for transmission. If children keep touching the mask, it would make them prone to infection," said Chandrakant Lahariya, general physician and infectious diseases specialist. "Even during the pandemic stage, WHO did not recommend masks for children younger than five years. For five-12 years of age also, masks were not mandated and were optional. The benef

No indications variant XBB.1.16 leading to infection among kids: Bhardwaj

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday said there were no indications that Omicron variant XBB.1.16 was leading to severe infection among children, and assured that the government was closely monitoring the situation. Addressing a press conference, the minister said the government was fully prepared to handle the Covid situation. "Commonly, any illness affects the children and elderly. But there is no information coming in from experts that says that the Omicron XBB.1.16 variant infection is more severe among children. "I would advise people with low immunity or those with severe illnesses to avoid crowded places and wear masks. The transmissibility of this variant is high," he said. Delhi's single-day caseload additions on Wednesday breached the 1,000-mark for the first time in over seven months while the positivity rate stood at 23.8 per cent, according to data shared by the Health department. The national capital logged 1,149 fresh cases and one fatality on ...

Over 40% children in 6 states have never used tech for learning: Survey

More than 40 per cent students in six states have never used technology for learning while around eight per cent have stopped using it, according to a survey conducted by the Central Square Foundation. Under the Bharat Survey for EdTech (BaSE), more than 6,000 households in six states -- Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh -- were surveyed covering 9,867 children. "Forty-one per cent children across surveyed households had never used technology for learning, and eight per cent had discontinued using it. Urban households had a higher prevalence of 'present users'. "The secondary (72 per cent) and middle (55 per cent) grades had the highest proportion of 'present users' compared to primary grades (39 per cent)," according to the survey report released at an education conclave here on Tuesday. The survey pointed out that YouTube was found to be the most popular tool used for learning purposes (89 per cent), followed by WhatsApp (62 per cent) and Googl

25-year-old stabs at least 4 kids to death in Brazil kindergarten

According to the police, the perpetrator entered the kindergarten by jumping over a wall, and the attack, rode a bike to the local police station where he surrendered

400 children, including 32 girls, rescued from New Delhi railway station

Over 400 children, including 34 girls, have been rescued from the New Delhi Railway Station, according to a statement issued on Sunday. The rescue drive was organised in association with Northern Railways, SATHI, Salam Baalak Trust and Prayas JAC Society at the station with the help of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC)-Mayur Vihar, Varun Pathak of the CWC (Bench of Magistrates) said in the statement. It said 402 children -- 34 girls and 372 boys -- were rescued from the station and produced before the CWC for care and protection. They have been sent to child care institutions in the city after completion of procedures, the statement said and added that the rescued children included those missing, runaways and child labourers. Railway Protection Force Police and Government Railway Police were also involved, the statement said.