Page 188 - Social Issues
Katie Price to adopt Nigerian orphan
TV personality-model Katie Price is adopting a Nigerian orphan after getting the idea from a woman in a nail bar.
Hope Cong won't repeat LS walk-out in RS on Citizenship Bill: JD(U)
The JD(U), a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, Monday expressed hope that the Congress plays a pro-active role and does not walk-out again when the Citizenship Bill comes up for passage in the Rajya Sabha. The Janata Dal (United), which is ruling Bihar with alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has decided to vote against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 when it comes up in the upper house of parliament. The bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India even if they do not possess any document. A JD(U) delegation that was here to attend a meeting of the parties of the northeast opposing the bill also called on leaders of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) which recently snapped its ties with the ruling BJP in Assam over the controversial bill. "We hope the Congress does not walk out as they did in ..
Sri Lanka's population likely to reach 25mn by 2042
Sri Lanka's 21 million population is likely to increase to 25 million by 2042, driven by a significant rise in fertility rates and anticipated inward migration, the media reported on Monday.
Toffee Insurance introduces salary protect plan for the next half billion
Toffee Insurance, a Gurgaon-based all-digital insurtech startup has recently announced India's first Salary Protect Plan (Kamai Bachao Yojna) Health insurance to protect loss of income in case of hospitalization.Toffee has partnered with EKO, a digital lending platform for domestic remittances. The idea is to enable previously underserved and disempowered Indians from low - and lower middle-income populations to now access much-needed insurance services.Toffee Insurance's partnership with Eko is a part of the financial inclusion plan for the Next Half Billion who represent the 500 million first-time internet users expected to come online within the next 5 years via their mobile phones. For a migrant laborer working in a far-off metro, income loss can be devastating.Insurance protection, while needed, is a forbidding prospect with lack of options and accessibility. It is with this in mind that Toffee Insurance designed a product that is sensitive, simple and designed especially for ...
UN rights envoy comes to Turkey to study Khashoggi killing
A U.N. human rights expert has arrived in Turkey for a weeklong visit over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard and her team of experts on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Monday. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said they are also expected to meet Turkey's justice minister and the Istanbul prosecutor heading the investigation. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who wrote critically about the Saudi crown prince, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. His remains have still not been found. Turkish officials have called for an international investigation and complained of a lack of cooperation by Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has indicted 11 people in the killing and is seeking the death penalty against five of them.
Singapore says American leaked 14,200 HIV records
Singapore's health ministry has accused an American of stealing and leaking the records of 14,200 people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, before January 2013. The ministry said Tuesday that Mikhy K Farrera Brochez recently put the records online. It said they included HIV test results, names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses and other health information. The ministry said it has disabled access to the information. It said Brochez worked in Singapore for a period before he was jailed for several drug and fraud-related offenses and deported last year. The ministry said his partner, who headed the ministry's National Public Health Unit from March 2012 to May 2013, had access to the confidential information. Police are investigating and authorities are seeking help from foreign counterparts.
Sports meet for persons with intellectual disabilities begins
A two-day annual sports meet began at the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (NIEPID) here on Monday. The 35th annual sports event features around 20 disciplines, including volleyball, badminton, basketball, cricket and chess. Tennis star Sania Mirza, who attended the event, appreciated the institute for its noble services to persons with intellectual disabilities. "We attach lot of importance to these things. Because, ultimately, sports brings out the best in the individual and especially so for students," Dolly Chakraborty, Joint Secretary, Department of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, told reporters. Sports is a necessary medium to overcome the challenges in intellectual disability as sports teaches discipline, focus and mind and body coordination, she said. Intellectual disability is one of the disabilities as per the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016. The Central government
New campaign aims to spread awareness on menstrual health
Over 2,000 adolescent girls in various parts of rural India were provided with sanitary kits as part of a new campaign that aims to spread awareness about menstrual health. "Wind Beneath Her Wings", a joint initiative by social enterprise Dharma Life and Spain-based women's sportswear brand Believe Athletics, seeks to address the taboo that is menstruation, and teach young girls across the country to stay healthy while on their periods. "Lack of toilets and unawareness about menstrual hygiene has an adverse impact on women's health. What we aspire to do is change the mindset of people about menstruation," said Gaurav Mehta, founder and CEO of Dharma Life. The initiative, which went live on January 26, stemmed from the need to make women in Indian villages aware about the importance of menstrual hygiene to prevent infections and infertility. As part of the campaign, Dharma Life, for every sale on the website of Believe Athletics, educates one young girl about menstrual hygiene and ...
MDMK functionary held for derogatory post about PM
A local MDMK functionary has been arrested for alleged derogatory social media post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, police said Monday. Sathiyaraj alias Balu, an office-bearer of MDMK's Sirkazhi town unit in the district, was arrested Sunday night on complaints from local BJP and Hindu Makkal Katchi leaders about the Facebook post made ahead of Modi's visit to Tamil Nadu. According to police, Sathiyaraj allegedly created a carricature of Modi and depicted him as carrying "a begging bowl". On Monday, he was produced before Sirkazhi Judicial Magistrate G Yuvaraj who remanded him to judicial custody, police said. The MDMK worker had made the post on January 26 in connection with the 'GoBackModi' campaign in the social media opposing the visit of the Prime Minister to Madurai for laying the foundation stone of AIIMS. Local BJP unit president N Selvam and Hindu Makkal Katchi state president J Swaminathan Sunday lodged a complaint with the Sirkazhi police seeking action
SAC approves trust-based health insurance scheme for employees in JK
The State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik Monday approved a health insurance scheme for the government employees and pensioners based on 'Trust Model'. The SAC, which met here under the chairmanship of the governor, decided that 'Trust Model' may be implemented for the employees health insurance across the state for its added advantages, an official spokesman said. Under this model, he said, a trust will be set up by the state government which may design appropriate insurance product and offer it to designated beneficiaries -- state government employees and pensioners. On October 27 last year, the governor had ordered foreclosure of the contract with Reliance General Insurance for implementing the group mediclaim health insurance for state employees and asked the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to probe the matter after it sparked a row. After the scrapping of the previous Medical Claim Policy, the state government constituted a committee
Esha Gupta slammed for racist comment on Nigerian footballer, apologises
Actress and Arsenal supporter Esha Gupta has been called out on social media for making racist remarks on Nigerian footballer Alexander Iwobi.
Provide details of people declared foreigners, deported: SC to Assam govt
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Assam government to provide details of the number of people declared foreigners and deported in the last 10 years.The apex court asked the state government to provide data stating the period for which these foreign inmates have been sent to detention centres in Assam.The court also sought details on the number of people deported after being declared as foreigners by the tribunals.A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has now posted the matter for hearing on February 19.Activist Harsh Mander had filed the PIL seeking direction to the authorities to ensure humane treatment of those detained in the detention centres in Assam.The top court had extended the last date of filing claims and objections on the inclusion of names in the draft National Register of Citizen (NRC) from December 15 to December 31, 2018.NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951 and is being updated ...
China hands 4.5 year prison sentence to human rights lawyer
A court here sentenced human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang to four and a half years in prison for subverting state power, on Monday.Wang has already spent more than three and a half years in detention. He was one of the lawyers who was detained as part of a national crackdown in 2015 on political and religious dissent in China, reports CNN.Apart from his prison sentence, Wang has been "deprived of his political rights" for the next five years, which means that he cannot vote, has no freedom of protest, speech or publication, and cannot hold any government-related jobs.His trial in Tianjin on December 26 last year had attracted throngs of protesters, who had gathered outside the court to protest against his detention.His wife, Li Wenzu, has been at the forefront of protests, including shaving her hair off in front of Beijing's Supreme People's Court to bring attention to Wang's case in December last year.Li had also undertaken a march from Beijing to Tianjin to "find her husband," in ...
MP: Doctor hangs self allegedly under mental pressure
A doctor posted at the Community Health Centre (CHC) here allegedly committed suicide on Sunday by hanging himself.The deceased, identified as Dr. Shivam Mishra, a native of Rewa, was reportedly under severe mental pressure due to a case registered against him a fortnight ago under the SC/ST Act by one of the nurses in the medical facility. Unable to bear the pressure, the doctor reportedly took the extreme step.Police informed that no suicide note was found from the spot.A person known to the deceased said on the condition of anonymity that the case registered against Mishra was allegedly frivolous and was out of vengeance as the doctor issued a notice to the said staff on grounds of dereliction of duty. Churhat SDPO Shailendra Shrivastava said the body has been sent for post mortem to Rewa Medical College."We are investigating all the angles. A case has been registered under the relevant section of the law," he added.
Police constable, criminal killed during encounter in UP
A police constable and a notorious criminal died during an encounter in Amroha on Sunday, a senior UP government official said. The incident took place in Indrapur village which comes under the jurisdiction of Bachhraaun police station. "The constable was identified as Harsh Chaudhary, a resident of Hathras district. In the encounter, the criminal -- Shiv Avtar alias Shivia -- was also killed," the official said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the wife of the constable and Rs 10 lakh for his parents as well as extraordinary pension for his wife and service for one dependent in his family, he added.
Some Kashmir-centric politicians encouraging youth to die in Kashmir: Jitendra Singh
Union minister Jitendra Singh Sunday claimed that some "Kashmir-centric politicians" and their parties are doing disservice to the youth of the valley by encouraging them to die in militancy. He praised lance naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a Kashmiri militant-turned-soldier who was awarded the Ashok Chakra, and said the youth should make him a role model. Without identifying anyone, Singh said, "I have no hesitation to say that some Kashmir-centric politicians, the separatist stand already identified, who are wearing the robes of mainstream and their parties are doing injustice to the youth of the valley." "They have secured the future of their children but are encouraging the children of their neighbours to die," the minister of state in the PMO told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Udhampur district. He said he met the family of the martyred soldier Wani who was once a terrorist and took a pledge not to die like a militant but as an armyman. "He underwent the change of heart and .
Saudi Arabia executes four Yemenis for murder
Saudi Arabia on Sunday executed four Yemenis found guilty of murdering a security guard, the kingdom's interior ministry said. The four men robbed and killed a Pakistani man who worked as a security guard at a company, said a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The execution took place in Mecca, the statement added. Twenty people have been executed in the kingdom since the beginning of the year, according to the authorities. The ultra-conservative kingdom has one of the world's highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking facing the death penalty. In 2018, Saudi Arabia carried out the death sentences of 120 people.
We should quit India if Citizenship Amendment Bill is passed: Akhil Gogoi
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti leader Akhil Gogoi Sunday said if proper respect is not shown to the Assamese people and the Citizenship Amendment Bill is passed, then "we must have the courage to tell the government that we may consider not staying with India". Addressing a protest rally against the proposed legislation at Panitola in Assam's Tinsukia district, Gogoi said, "If the government gives us the respect we deserve, we are with the nation but if the sentiments of the indigenous Assamese are ignored and the bill is passed, then each Assamese must have the courage to say that they will not be a part of India." The proposed legislation seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and many parties and organisations have claimed that it will have an adverse impact on the demography of the sensitive border state. They said the provisions of the bill will nullify the 1985 Assam Accord, which provides for deportation of all illegal ...
Citizenship Bill: Burden of new citizens would be borne by entire country: Sonowal
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Sunday said the Citizenship Bill was a national policy and once it becomes an act, the burden of new citizens would be borne by the entire country. Attempts are being made to confuse people but the state government which has come to power with a popular mandate would do nothing to harm the interests of the local people, Sonowal said. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Nalbari Medical College and Hospital at Borigaon, Sonowal said the bill can never threaten the existence of the indigenous people of Assam which has a legacy of great personalities like Srimanta Sankardev, Azan Fakir, Lachit Borphukan, Bagh Hazarika and other. The chief minister also urged the All Assam Students Union (AASU) to extend full cooperation in successful implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord for ensuring constitutional, administrative and legislative safeguard for the indigenous people. He asked the intelligentsia to present the true picture
Hari Kunzru calls for active intellectual 'unpicking'
Participating in a session on racism at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival, acclaimed author of 'The Impressionist' Hari Kunzru brought up the hashtag #ItsOkayToBeWhite that is used by the American alt-right groups, in the context of the supposed expectation that white people are supposed to feel permanently guilty.
