Page 181 - Social Issues
Activists Varavara Rao, Surendra Gadling sent to police custody in '16 Maoist attack case
A Pune Court here on Thursday sent activists Varavara Rao and Surendra Gadling, to 11 days police custody in connection with 2016 UAPA case.They are also accused in Bhima Koregaon case.Gadling and Rao, were arrested in June last year and are lodged in the Yerawada jail here.On January 1, violence erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle, leaving one dead and several injured, including 10 policemen. The police had filed 58 cases against 162 people during a state-wide shutdown in January following clashes in Bhima-Koregaon.
Stung by India's protest, Pakistan Foreign Secy summons Indian envoy
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua on Thursday summoned Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisara, a day after New Delhi conveyed strong protest against Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's phone call to Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.Janjua told Bisaria that "Pakistan's reach out to the Hurriyat leadership was in line with its stated, publicly declared, time-honoured policy of extending political, diplomatic and moral support" to them, a statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said.On Wednesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood in New Delhi and conveyed strong protest against Qureshi's phone call to Farooq.Gokhale told Mahmood that Qureshi's action amounted to "direct interference" in India's internal affairs and that Pakistan should desist from such actions, failing which there can be "implications".According to Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement, Janjhua claimed that "the Indian ...
Police sub-inspector commits suicide in Saharanpur
A newly inducted police sub-inspector allegedly committed suicide at his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Deoband area, officials said Thursday. Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Kankarkheda area of Meerut, was posted at the Ranakhandi police station, SSP Dinesh Kumar said. Before taking this extreme step, he recorded an audio in which he said that he wanted to pursue some other profession. His family members have demanded an investigation into his death, the SSP said.
Cong to hold consultations with activists on rights violation
The Congress is going hold consultations Friday with city-based NGOs, activists and other civil society groups on a 'spurt' in violation of human rights under the BJP rule and other issues. Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said besides violation of human rights, these consultations will cover issues such as "freedom of speech, mob lynchings, targeting of minorities in an attempt to polarise society and discrimination against Dalits and minorities" in the present regime. Senior leader Madhusudan Mistry will take part in these meetings, he said. Mistry is the chairman of the AICC Civic and Social Outreach Congress which is organising the consultations. Such meetings will be held in other parts of the country too, Nirupam added.
Cab driver ends life accusing police of 'harassment,' probe
A taxi driver's selfie video before he ended his life accusing police of harrasing him and citing it as the reason for his suicide surfaced in social media days after his death, prompting the authorities to initiate a probe. Chennai Police Commissioner A K Viswanathan, however, told PTI Thursday that a senior officer has been appointed to look into the claims made in the video and report within a week. In the nearly four-minute video, mid-aged Rajesh Murthy before he killed himself last week by falling in front of a train here accused Chennai police officers of harassing and abusing him on flimsy grounds on various occasions. "Police verbally abused me in the presence of a woman customer (occupant) when I had parked my vehicle in parking zone. Yesterday when I sleeping inside my car, parked on service road, the police tried to lock and tow away my car and demanded money," Murthy said. According to a senior official in the government railway police, Murthy allegedly ...
Gujarat govt hikes dearness allowance by two per cent
In good news for over nine lakh state government employees and pensioners, the Gujarat government has hiked the dearness allowance (DA) to nine per cent from the existing seven per cent. The increase of two per cent will come into effect retrospectively from July 1, 2018, announced Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel in Gandhinagar Thursday. The hike will benefit over 5.11 lakh state government employees and over 4.5 lakh pensioners. Patel said the hike was in line with the Central government's decision in July last year to give two per cent increase in DA to its employees. The arrears will be paid with the salary and pension at the end of February. Patel, who handles finance portfolio, added that the increase would create an additional burden of Rs 771 crore annually on the state exchequer.
Delhi HC asks Centre to bring parity in CAPFs retirement age
In a move that is set to have far-reaching implications for officers of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), the Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Centre to fix a uniform age for retirement for all ranks.Presently the retirement age of officers up to the rank of Commandant in all CAPFs have been fixed at the age of 57 while those of the rank of DIG and above retire at the age of 60 years.At present, India Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have different age limits for retirement.The same was challenged by many officers in the Delhi High Court.Advocate Anukhar Chhibber, who represented the petitioners, said the court judgment if implemented would surely have a direct benefit to three-fourths of the force.He said, "It will definitely be a milestone for these forces, this is discriminatory when entire force people work together how the superannuation can age for some officers be 57 and for others, it is 60."Court
Raise income tax exemption limit to Rs 8 lakhs, demands Shiv Sena
The Shiv Sena Thursday demanded that income tax exemption limit be raised from 2.5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh after the Parliament passed the bill to give 10 per cent quota to economically weaker sections. Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai said a four-member party delegation met Finance Minister Piyush Goyal and gave a memorandum stating that since the government has taken the decision of giving EWS quota to people earning up to Rs 8 lakh, income tax for this group should be waived. The government has admitted that people in this income group are poor, so they must be exempted from paying taxes, he said. Currently, income tax is waived for people earning up to Rs 2.5 lakh a year.
Indian man gets two months' jail in Australia for having child exploitation videos in his phones
An Indian man was sentenced to two months in jail by an Australian court on Thursday for having child exploitation videos and other abhorrent content in his phones, according to a media report. Manpreet Singh, 32, will be deported to India after completing his prison term, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported. Singh, during a baggage search after he flew in to Perth from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, was found having nine videos -- which included bestiality and other severely offensive content -- in his two mobile phones. Singh was taken into custody and his tourist visa was cancelled. He told police in a video-recorded interview that he knew child pornography was illegal in Australia and India, but did not know the videos he possessed fell into that category, the report said. He pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to two Commonwealth charges earlier this week and was sentenced on Thursday. The court heard he had many more videos on his phones that he deleted before he ...
Court allows Manju Verma to leave Begusarai for treatment
A Begusarai court on Thursday permitted former Bihar minister Manju Verma, in jail in an Arms Act case that surfaced during a probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter-home sex scandal, to go outside the town for better medical treatment. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Sangita Rani passed the order on an appeal filed by Verma, who had alleged that she was in extreme pain due to a dental problem for which proper treatment was locally unavailable and taking painkillers was causing damage to her kidneys. But, the court made it clear that the suspended Janata Dal (United) legislator would have to bear the expenses. While moving her application on Wednesday, the former social welfare minister reportedly broke down and pleaded that she be referred to a hospital in Patna. Verma and her husband, Chandrashekhar, are named in an Arms Act case following the recovery of a large quantity of ammunition from their residence. The ammunition was recovered by the Central Bureau of Investigation during a
Couple among 3 held for sexually exploiting shelter home girls
Three persons, including a couple, were Thursday arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting, assaulting and manhandling girls of a shelter home in Jaora town in the district, a senior official said. The arrested include former president of Kundan Kuteer Balika Grah (shelter home) and her husband, she said. Efforts were on to nab the current president of the shelter home as he is also an accused in the case, Ratlam district collector Ruchika Chouhan told reporters here. "Chairperson of Ratlam district Bal Kalyan Samiti and ex-president of Kundan Kuteer Balika Grah Rachna Bharti, her husband Om Prakash Bharti and secretary Dilip Barriya were arrested on the charges of sexual exploitation, physical assault and manhandling of the inmates," she told reporters. "The current president of the shelter home, Sandesh Jain, is also accused in the case and efforts are on to nab him," she added. The trio was booked under relevant sections of the IPC as well as the POCSO Act, Chouhan ...
Assam tops in budgetary practices followed by states: Transparency International
Assam occupied the top slot in the ranking of best practices followed by states in Budget formulation, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, says a survey by Transparency International. The survey is based on 4 parameters which include public disclosure, budgetary process, post budget fiscal management and efforts to make budget more transparent and citizen friendly. The states which figured lower in the ranking were Meghalaya, Manipur and Punjab. "Assam is the only state out of the 29 states and 2 UTs, which has published a Citizens Budget in the public domain. The Assam government is the only government that has conducted budget awareness campaigns across 17 districts," Transparency International said in its report.
Protests against Citizenship Bill continue in Assam
Protests continued against the ruling BJP in Assam over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, with All Assam Students Union (AASU) members waving black flags at Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Labour Minister Pallab Lochan Das on Thursday.
Government lists 48 Bills, Trinamool takes potshot
The government has listed as many as 48 Bills for discussion and passage during the Budget session of Parliament that prompted Trinamool Congress to mock the government, saying they want to pass one Bill in every five minutes.
Indian to be deported after two months' jail over child porn
An Indian national will be deported from Australia after serving two months in jail for possessing child pornography and other abhorrent material, the media reported on Thursday.
Raj govt to enhance pensions of World War 2 widows
The Rajasthan government will enhance the pension given to widows of World War 2 and honorarium of ex-servicemen who are put on duty in government offices on contract through Rajasthan ex-servicemen corporation ltd (REXCO). Soldier Welfare minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said that the department has forwarded the proposal to the finance department to increase the pension of war widows of World War 2 from present Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000 per month. Similarly, another proposal has been forwarded for raising the honorarium amount for ex-servicemen working in the government offices on contract through REXCO from present Rs 9,100 to Rs 18,000 per month. While chairing a meeting of the soldier welfare board on Wednesday, the minister also said that he will request the education department to start a special class of 30 minutes to give more information the students about the defence forces and recruitment process, a government spokesperson said. A presentation was also given in the meeting ..
HC strikes down retirement age of 57 for commandant, below ranks in CRPF, ITBP, BSF
The Delhi High Court on Thursday struck down the rules which fixed 57 years as the retirement age for the rank of commandant and below in the three Central and Allied Police Forces (CAPFs) -- CRPF, BSF and ITBP -- saying it was discriminatory, unconstitutional and created two classes is the three services. A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Sanjeev Narula struck down the rules saying that such discrimination would lead to "lowering of the morale" of the CAPF personnel. The bench said its decision would also be applicable to all the other CAPFs, including Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) if they have the same rules on the superannuation age as in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF). It gave four months to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is opposed to changing the age of retirement of CAPF personnel of commandant and below ranks, to take all consequential steps for implementing the court's judgement. "This ...
RSS chief calls for Hindu unity at Kumbh
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said attempts are being made to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus by breaking the society for political benefits and that Hindus need to be united to foil such attempts.
Informal sector workers to protest for rights on Friday
A workers' rights forum on Thursday gave a call for an agitation by informal sector workers for better wages and working conditions.
NCW should organise programmes to encourage women entrepreneurship across India: MoS WCD
The NCW should organise programmes to inspire women in taking up entrepreneurship, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Ministry Virendra Kumar said Thursday. Speaking at the 26th Foundation Day of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Singh said the Startup India initiative has enabled the creation of an encouraging environment for women entrepreneurs in the country. He urged the commission to organise similar programmes in different states so that women across the country take inspiration from the success stories and adopt entrepreneurship. Rakesh Srivastava, secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, said while efforts made so far have been able to create the required ecosystem, the commission and the government will need to scale-up the activities to ensure fullest participation of women in all social, economic and political activities to ensure holistic development and empowerment of women. Rekha Sharma, chairperson, National Commission for Women, said ...
