Page 123 - Social Issues
Mystique behind multi-phase polls (Part-II)
A deep dive into poll data reveals the outcomes in the multiple-phase election since 2010 in Bihar: the result showed a one-sided contest. Ditto for Uttar Pradesh in 2012, Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and West Bengal in 2016.
Pollachi case goes to CBI, stir still spreads
Although the Tamil Nadu government gave its nod for a CBI probe into the Pollachi sexual assault-cum-blackmail case, security was heightened and holidays declared in colleges here on Thursday with stirs gaining momentum as more awful facts of the abuse came out.
20 women held with fake visas at Hyderabad airport
20 women passengers who were scheduled to fly to Kuwait from Hyderabad were detained by Immigration authorities at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday with fake visas.Out of 20 women, 19 belong to Andhra Pradesh while one is from Tamil Nadu, police said.Vijay Bhaskar, Circle inspector of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport said, "They were held by the immigration authorities for carrying fake visas. All of them were going to Kuwait by an Air India flight. Currently, we are enquiring how these women got access to fake visa."The inspector said all 20 women will be remanded on Thursday.A case under relevant sections has been registered against the accused and further investigation is underway.
China is in 'league of its own' on human rights violations: Pompeo
China is in a "league of its own" when it comes to human rights violations, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on Wednesday while criticising Beijing for human rights violations and deterioration of conditions.Releasing the State Department's annual human rights report titled - 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices', Pompeo alleged that China intensified its crackdown on detaining Muslim minority groups at "record levels"."There's China, which is in a league of its own when it comes to human rights violations. In just 2018, China intensified its campaign of detaining Muslim minority groups at record levels. Today, more than 1 million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslims are interned in reeducation camps designed to erase their religious and ethnic identities," Pompeo said.The report highlighted the Chinese government's systematic internment and possible abuse and torture of as many as two million Uyghur Muslims in northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region in ...
California suspends death penalty
Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty in California on Wednesday, granting a reprieve to 737 condemned inmates -- the largest death row population in the United States. Newsom, a Democrat who took office in January, has been a staunch opponent of the death penalty, last carried out in California in 2006. "The death penalty has been an abject failure. It discriminates based on the color of your skin or how much money you make," he told a news conference. "It's ineffective, irreversible, and immoral. "It goes against the very values that we stand for -- which is why California is putting a stop to this failed system." Newsom said that as he spoke, the execution chamber at California's San Quentin State Prison was being dismantled and stressed that his order does not mean that any inmates already on death row would be released. "Those people are not going to be let out by this act, they will be held to account," he said. "We don't want to join Saudi
Eight killed in Brazil school shooting, two suspects dead
Two assailants opened fire inside a school near Sao Paulo on Wednesday, killing eight people including four children before turning their weapons on themselves, authorities said. Military police Colonel Marcelo Sales said two assailants burst into the school grounds in the early morning, armed with a .38 caliber revolver and a "medieval weapon that looked like a bow and arrows." After shooting at students in the yard, the killers headed to the language centre where several pupils were hiding and "committed suicide in a corridor," Sales said. "Eight people died at the scene, including the two assailants," a state military police spokesman said. "Two injured people died after being taken to hospital." Around 15 others were injured in the shooting, which took place at the Raul Brasil public school in Suzano, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo in southeast Brazil. Sao Paulo State Governor Joao Doria said four children and two members of staff were among the dead. "It's saddest thing I've ever .
Parties trying hard to woo women voters in Odisha
All major political parties in Odisha have pinned their hopes on women voters as they try to woo them to win the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.
Bangladesh to move Rohingya to island next month: minister
Bangladesh said Wednesday it would start relocating tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from overcrowded camps to a remote island vulnerable to extreme weather, despite the plan attracting considerable controversy. Shelters and flood walls have been constructed on Bhashan Char, a muddy silt islet that only rose from the Bay of Bengal in 2006, in the hope of shifting 100,000 Rohingya refugees there. Bangladesh has been talking about the island for years and the plan to relocate some of the nearly one million Rohingya refugees living along its border with Myanmar has stalled many times. The proposal to uproot the refugees remains unpopular among the Rohingya community and critics have raised concerns about the island's ability to withstand violent storms during the monsoon. But Mozammel Huq, the head of Bangladesh's cabinet committee on law and order and a senior government minister, said the relocation would proceed as planned. "We plan to start the process next month, as ...
ED attaches Muzaffarpur shelter home case accused's assets worth Rs 7.3 cr under PMLA
The ED Wednesday said it has attached assets worth Rs 7.30 crore, including 23 plots, of Bihar's Muzzafarpur shelter home sexual assault case prime accused Brajesh Thakur, under the anti-money laundering law. The case came to light last year after reports alleged that girl inmates of the shelter home were raped and sexually assaulted. The agency said it has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the attachment of assets of Thakur, the owner of the centre and the NGO, Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, that ran it. "Immovable and movable properties consisting of 26 plots of land, three vehicles, bank balance in 37 accounts and investments in mutual funds and insurance policies, totalling to Rs 7.30 crore, have been attached. These assets belong to accused Brajesh Thakur and his family," the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said. It said funds granted to Thakur's NGO by the government and others were "siphoned off" by him and his family members to ...
PIL against Railways issuing separate ID cards for disabled: HC seeks Centre's stand
The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought response of the Centre on a plea to set aside the Indian Railway's decision to issue separate ID cards to disabled persons for availing concession-based ticketing instead of the government-issued Unique Disability Identity (UDID) Card. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambani issued a notice to the ministries of Railway and Social Justice seeking their stand on the PIL by an NGO, which has sought directions to the Railways to validate the UDID cards. The UDID cards are issued by the Ministry of Social Justice under the mandate of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016, for concession-based ticketing. NGO National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), in its plea, has contended that the RPWD Act, 2016, overrides the circular of 2015 issued by the Railway Ministry, but the Indian Railways was still going ahead with the issuance of separate identity cards for disabled persons seeking to avail ...
Insurance players stress on use of right technology
Several insurance companies on Wednesday stressed upon the need to use right technology to manage risks. Speaking at a CII session here, B K Nayak, DGM of National Insurance, said it was not possible to ignore technology to sustain operations in this competitive environment. Technology would be used to manage technology-related risks, he said adding that it would also help perceive disruptors as competitors. Wholetime director of IFFCO Tokio Anamika Roy Rashtrawar said digitization was the requirement for customers. She said companies needed to gear up for this or face the risk of being redundant. By 2020, geo-analytics for health and retail business, usage of drones for crop insurance, telematics for car insurance would become increasingly popular tools. CFO of Exide Industries A K Mukherjee said insurance was one of the most needed financial products in India. He said it was important to understand the multi-layered economic risk that the country faces and the insurance
SC pulls up Assam govt for not being serious about 'external aggression' from influx of migrants
The Supreme Court Wednesday pulled up the Centre and the Assam government over the functioning of foreigners tribunals and the problem of "external aggression" faced by the state due to influx of illegal migrants. "It has become a joke now. The situation has gone too far," the top court observed and told the Assam government that it was not been able to deport the illegal migrants to the country of their origin. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna questioned the Assam government whether the foreigners tribunals and the law-enforcing authorities are functioning properly. "It has become a joke now. We must say that the situation has gone too far. You have not done anything. The foreigners tribunals have identified 56,697 persons as foreigners and yet only around 900 persons are in detention centres," the bench said. Referring to the 2005 verdict in the IMDT case filed by Sarbananda Sonowal, the incumbent chief minister of Assam, the bench ...
PIL for salary, benefits for home guards on par with police: HC seeks Centre, Delhi govt's stand
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday converted into a PIL a letter seeking salary and other benefits for the home guards on par with the police. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambani issued a notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi government, police and director general of home guards and sought their stand on the issue by July 15, the next date of hearing. The issue was raised by Delhi resident Abhijit Mishra who has said that despite performing similar duties as the police, the home guards are in a "dilapidated situation". He has urged the court to direct the authorities to provide the home guards with training equivalent to that provided to Delhi police personnel for maintaining law and order as well as internal security. Apart from that he has also sought that the home guards be given the same salary and benefits as police personnel when they are deputed to Delhi Police. He has also sought that the home guards and their dependants be covered under ...
Muzaffarpur shelter case: ED attaches assets worth Rs 7.3 crore of Brajesh Thakur
The ED Wednesday said it has attached assets worth Rs 7.30 crore, including 23 plots and three vehicles, belonging to Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in Bihar's Muzzafarpur shelter home case where minor inmate girls were allegedly raped and sexually assaulted. The agency said it has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the attachment of assets of Thakur, the owner of the centre and the NGO, Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, that ran it. "Immovable and movable properties consisting of 26 plots of land, three vehicles, bank balance in 37 accounts and investments in mutual funds and insurance policies, totalling to Rs 7.30 crore, have been attached. These assets belong to accused Brajesh Thakur and his family," the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said. The ED had filed a PMLA case in this context in October last year. The alleged sexual exploitation of the girls was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social ...
Maha man kills wife 'gloating' over his mother's death
In a bizarre case, a man in this temple town in western Maharashtra killed his wife as he thought she rejoiced his mother's death, police said. It was presumed that Shubhangi Lokhande(35), wife of accused Sandeep Lokhande, ended her life, overcome with grief by the death of her mother-in-law Malati Lokhande (70), police said Wednesday. However, an investigation into the Shubhangi's death revealed that the young woman was murdered by her husband who was livid after she openly displayed her joy at his mother's death, a police official said. An enraged Sandeep threw her off the second floor balcony of their house in the Apatenagar suburb here Saturday, police said. Sandeep, now in police custody, has confessed to the crime, the official said. Local media had reported that Shubhangi committed suicide as she was grief-stricken by her mother-in-law's death, police said. Officials of the Juna Rajwada police station smelt a rat in this theory and decided to probe the ...
Malaysia accused of U-turn on death penalty abolition
The Malaysian government was Wednesday accused of a "shocking" U-turn on plans to abolish capital punishment after a senior official said only the mandatory death penalty would be axed. A reformist alliance which stormed to power last year announced in October that it had decided to scrap capital punishment entirely, a move that would have handed a reprieve to more than 1,200 people on death row. Executions are currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes. The decision to axe capital punishment, carried out by hanging in Malaysia, had however sparked opposition from murder victims' families and opposition politicians. Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, a deputy minister in the prime minister's department, told parliament about the change of plan. "We have made a decision. The government will only repeal the mandatory death penalty," he was cited as saying by official news agency Bernama. This means it will be at a judge's discretion ..
20 women held for trying to board flights with 'wrong' visas
As many as 20 women were held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here for allegedly trying to board flights to different destinations with 'wrong' visas, police said Wednesday. The women tried to get through the immigration gate by showing visit visas despite having work visas, RGIA Police Inspector G Vijay Bhaskar Reddy said. "As they had work visas, the women were supposed to get immigration clearance... But they tried to pass through by producing visit visas which is not permissible. We are questioning them," he told PTI. As per the rules, people travelling to a few countries, including those in the gulf, for employment purposes need to obtain immigration check stamp on their passport, the official said. The procedure is aimed to check exploitation of people by fraudsters regarding employment, he added.
Pentagon approves to enforce transgender military ban
The Pentagon has signed a directive to implement US President Donald Trump's policy barring most transgender people from serving in the military, the media reported.
California Governor to halt state executions
California Governor Gavin Newsom will impose on Wednesday a moratorium on state executions and a temporary reprieve for all 737 inmates on death row in the state, the media reported.
SC pulls up Assam govt over inadequate functioning of foreigners tribunal
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Assam government over inadequacies in the functioning of foreigners tribunals in the state and sought details on it by March 27. The government told a bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, that 50,000 migrants were declared foreigners by the tribunal in the past 10 years. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Assam government, said around 900 people were kept in six detention centres of the state. The bench, which also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said the state government would have to specify through an affidavit whether the foreigners tribunals functioning in the state were adequate and how they were functioning. The top court, however, added that it was not insisting on the presence of Assam chief secretary in the court at present. The apex court was hearing a PIL filed by activist Harsh Mander through advocate Prashant Bhushan on the plight of foreigners in detention centres. The plea ..
