Page 204 - Social Issues
JNU sedition row BJP creation, says ex-ABVP member
A former ABVP member has said the chargesheet filed against the 10 JNU students, including Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, is the brainchild of BJP and claimed that some ABVP members had themselves raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogan on the JNU campus in 2016 which led to the slapping of sedition charges.
'SS branch', nemesis of dance bars, is now a shrunken force
While dance bars in the megapolis are set to reopen, Mumbai police's Social Service Branch, famous for its raids on bars and pubs to curb 'immoral activities', is no longer in news nowadays. The Supreme Court Thursday set aside several restrictions the Maharashtra government had imposed on dance bars. The Social Service Branch or the 'SS branch' was often in the limelight in the past for its raids on dance bars and pubs. The branch was very active, especially, when Arup Patnaik was police commissioner. But more than Patnaik, it was assistant commissioner of police Vasant Dhoble -- then head of the SS branch -- who hogged the limelight because of his frequent raids on bars and pubs. Dhoble, famous for carrying a hockey stick during the raids, was criticised by some for attempting 'moral policing', but there were others who praised his no-nonsense approach. But now the famous wing of Mumbai police has become a "side branch", one official said. Functioning from a building ..
Rohit Vemula voice for unity of oppressed: Owaisi says on
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Thursday remembered University of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula on his death anniversary, saying he was a voice for unity of the opressed and efforts should be continued to make universities more inclusive. "The institutional murder of Rohith three years ago should not be forgotten. Rohith was vocal, articulate and a voice for unity of the oppressed. His absence is felt by all those who defied Hindutva. "We've to do better to make our universities less hostile & more inclusive," Owaisi tweeted. Vemula, a PhD scholar at the university, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a hostel room on the campus on January 17, 2016 as he was reportedly upset over the disciplinary action taken against him by the university. The death had triggered a huge political storm with opposition parties launching a massive attack on the BJP and varsity administration of being anti-Dalit. However, raising questions on Vemula's Dalit status, a ...
CBI files 8 FIRs against Shelter homes in Bihar
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered 8 First Information Reports (FIRs) in connection with alleged abuse of children in shelter homes across Bihar.Among those booked includes Munger Boys' Children Home, run by 'Panaah'. The action comes after the Supreme Court asked the premier investigating agency to share details about the shelter homes in Bihar.The maximum numbers of these shelter homes are for boys. The preliminary enquiry conducted by Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) revealed that the women staffers of these shelter homes asked the boys to send lewd messages to other women.The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) had claimed in its report that the boys in the shelter home were forced to work for the Superintendent whose residential quarters were in the same premises.On Wednesday, the CBI registered FIR against director of Samaj Samiti Boys' Children Home in Bhagalpur and DORD Children Home in Gaya, for allegedly physically and mentally assaulting the ...
BJP gen secy urges AGP to reconsider decision to snap ties
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav appealed to the Asom Gana Parishad on Thursday to reconsider its decision to snap ties with the party over the contentious citizenship bill last week. Madhav, who is also the incharge of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Northeast, sought to allay apprehensions regarding the bill, saying it was not only for Assam or the Northeast, but for the entire country. Among those opposing the bill, there are some who are genuinely concerned "whom we respect", but there are also some who are opposing only for their "political interests", Madhav said at a press conference here. There are others like the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), who are opposing the bill to "disturb" peace and create unrest, he added. The AGP had on January 7 pulled out of the BJP-led coalition government in Assam, after its "last-ditch attempt" to convince the Centre to withdraw the proposed legislation failed. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was passed in the Lok ...
Cong lines up series of protests against Citizenship Bill
The opposition Congress Thursday announced a series of programmes till January 31 across Assam to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee Spokesperson Rhituparna Konwar said the BJP-led state and central governments are "imposing" the Bill, which will completely nullify the Assam Accord of 1985. "This Bill will endanger the very existence of Assamese community. To protest this, we have decided to launch our second series of agitation under 'Jagaao Asom, Bachaao Asom' programme from January 21 to 31," Konwar said in a statement. As per the programme, all district and block Congress units would light lamps and hold 'Sarba dharma' (all religion) prayer in the evening of January 21 so that the BJP government "gets its wisdom back". On January 23, 'Sankalp Divas' will be organised coinciding with birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to get inspired by the secular ideology of the freedom fighter to fight the communal ...
Committee submits report after reviewing Waqf properties lease rules
A committee which reviewed Waqf Properties Lease Rules 2014 presented its report to Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday, recommending a slew of changes to bring clarity in rental norms and reduce litigation. Naqvi said that the report will be implemented "as soon as possible" after being examined by his ministry. "Modi government has been successfully carrying forward the campaign to utilise Waqf properties across the country for socio-economic empowerment of the needy sections," the Minister said. The report recommends changes in Waqf Rules 2014 so that properties having lease rentals of Rs 3,000 are excluded from bidding process. It also provides relief to occupants of Waqf properties uninterruptedly from 1995 or before, extending lease renewal for 10 years as a one time concession, according to officials. The report also recommends increasing lease period of properties used as shops from five to 10 years and, from one year to three years in case of ..
CBI registers cases against 6 more shelter homes in Bihar for abuse of inmates
The CBI has registered six new cases related to alleged abuse of inmates in shelter homes in Bihar, taking the tally to nine, officials said Thursday. The cases have been registered on the basis of details given in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) audit report of shelter homes in Bihar, which brought to fore sordid stories of mismanagement, abuse and unlivable conditions. In its May 2018 report, the institute expressed "grave concerns" on the management of 17 shelter homes, including 'Balika grih' in Muzzafarpur where 34 girls had reported abuse at the hands of office-bearers and outsiders. The audit report was submitted to the state government and later became the basis of a Supreme Court order directing a CBI probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter home case. The apex court later handed over the remaining 16 cases to the agency too. The CBI, which had on Wednesday booked two shelter homes in Bhagalpur and Gaya, registered six new cases against Novelty Welfare Society, which ..
Naxals, Left using intimidation to oppose Citizenship Bill: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Reiterating his support for the Citizenship Bill, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Thursday said "Naxals" and "Left" are using intimidation while opposing the Bill. "Well aware that Naxals/Left use character assassin & intimidation as tactics. It won't alter my views that #Assam must accept #CitizenshipAmendmentBill," Sarma tweeted. "They want us to be slaves of a particular civilisation. However in this civilisational fight we must win. Assam & India must win," the senior BJP leader said. Sarma had on January 6 stoked a controversy by saying that Assam will surrender to the "philosophy of Jinnah" and 17 Assembly seats "that elect Assamese people will go Jinnah way" if the Citizenship Bill is not passed. A day later, he told PTI that Hindus in the state will become minority within five years if the Bill is not passed and "that will be advantageous to those elements who want Assam to be another Kashmir". The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Lok ...
Consumer confidence index up 2.7 percentage points in Jan: Study
India's Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (Consumer Confidence) increased by 2.7 percentage points in January, recovering from a drop in December, according to a joint study by Thomson Reuters and Ipsos.
Meghalaya has 18,92,716 voters with women outnumbering men
Meghalaya has 18,92,716 voters with women outnumbering men as per the final electoral roll published on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer, Frederick Roy Kharkongor said. The number of women voters in Meghalaya was 9,56,137 while men was 9,36,579, he said, adding that 46,091 new voters were enrolled in the final electoral roll. Stating that Meghalaya always have a healthy gender ratio in term of women electorate vis--vis men, Kharkongor said, "Our gender ratio is 1021 for every 1000 men, which is healthier than the 2011 Census which is at 989." He said in term of female participation and enrolment, the state has always been of the "best in the country". "As we go into the parliamentary polls, we will have a final published roll of 18,92,716 voters," the CEO said while speaking at the state level function for the final publication of electoral rolls. He said earlier the total number of voters was 18,46,625 when the draft electoral roll was published in September last year.
JNU sedition row created to dilute Vemula's suicide: Ex-ABVP member
The chargesheet against 10 JNU students is politically motivated and the entire issue is the brain-child of the BJP, which stoked the controversy to dilute the suicide of University of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula, a former student leader from RSS-affiliated ABVP has said.
20 lakh B'deshi Hindus to become Indians if Citizenship Bill
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), which is spearheading the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Thursday claimed that around 20 lakh Hindu Bangladeshis would become Indians if the controversial Bill is passed. Addressing a press conference, KMSS Adviser Akhil Gogoi slammed the BJP-led government for its attempt to get the Bill passed despite widespread protests across the North East. "The BJP and Himanta Biswa Sarma is saying that only eight lakh Hindu Bangladeshis, who are already staying here, will get citizenship. But our assessment is that 20 lakh people are present in Assam at this moment and they will get citizenship as soon as the Bill is passed," he added. Elaborating on his claim, the prominent RTI activist said that a report of former Assam Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha had mentioned that over one crore people have entered India. "When I met former Assam Assembly Deputy Speaker Dilip Kumar Paul, who is from BJP, he said around 15-20 lakh Hindu ...
CBI files cases against two more shelter homes in Bihar for abuse of inmates
The CBI has registered two more cases related to alleged abuse of inmates in shelter homes in Bihar, officials said Thursday. The two cases pertain to as many shelter homes in Munger district, they said. The agency has booked Manoj Kumar, the Director of Novelty Welfare Society which ran a short-stay home, and office-bearers of Panaah shelter home in Munger district. It is alleged that the Director of Novelty Welfare Society and others used to lock the room of a mentally-sick woman inmate causing wrongful restraint and confinement and ill-treated other inmates. It also sublet a portion of the shelter home for a rent of Rs 10,000 and did not provide proper ventilation or sanitation facilities for the inmates, the FIR alleged. In the case of Panaah, it is alleged that office-bearers of the home "physically exploited" the inmates forcing them to do manual work including cooking and cleaning, the FIR stated. It said the shelter home was being run from a building meant for an observation ..
Thailand signals more tolerant refugee policy after Saudi case
Thailand's immigration chief has vowed not to force refugees to return home "involuntarily", after a Saudi woman's desperate plea for resettlement drew global attention to a country that does not recognise asylum seekers. The country is not a signatory to a UN convention on refugees and has long come under fire for holding them in detention centres or deporting them back to repressive regimes where they face prison or worse. Many cases do not make headlines but that changed earlier this month when 18-year-old Saudi runaway Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived in Bangkok and staved off deportation by barricading herself in a hotel at the airport, live-tweeting the standoff to an international audience. She was handed over to the UN refugee agency within days and resettled to Canada within a week, where she was welcomed by Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland after landing in Toronto on Saturday. Qunun said she suffered abuse in the ultra-conservative kingdom and refused to see family members
Germany's Welthungerhilfe partners Microsoft for pilot project in India to tackle malnutrition
Welthungerhilfe, a German private aid organisation, Thursday said it has partnered Microsoft to launch a pilot project in India for using artificial intelligence to tackle the issue of malnutrition among children. Welthungerhilfe has developed a 'Child Growth Monitor App' that can detect malnutrition and enable health workers identify and provide care to children struggling from chronic undernourishment. The solution is a cloud-based smartphone application that is powered by Microsoft's Azure (cloud) and AI services. India is the first country to pilot this project. "Welthungerhilfe's India-based partner 'Action Against Hunger' is scanning 10,000 children under the age of five years across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan by March 2019. Twelve teams of 150 trained health workers have been provided app-enabled smartphones to collect data of children," Microsoft said in a statement. Using an infrared sensor available in smartphones, the Child Growth Monitor App directly ...
Most millennials unhappy with Trump: Survey
Over 60 per cent of millennials in the US are unhappy with President Donald Trump, and only 37 per cent view him favourably, a new survey has revealed.
SC to hear pleas of women who entered Sabarimala Temple tomorrow
Supreme Court will hear the pleas filed by the two women of menstrual age who entered the Sabarimala Temple recently seeking police protection, on November 18.Nearly four months after the top court's verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the temple, Bindu and Kanakadurga, both aged below 50, entered the Lord Ayyappa temple to offer prayers.Kanakadurga was hospitalised after being thrashed by her mother-in-law on January 15 following her visit to the temple.The victim said she was hit around 10-12 times with a wooden stick by her mother-in-law as soon as she entered her residence.A case has been registered by Perinthalmanna police based on Kanakadurga's complaint under Sections 341 and 324 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against her mother-in-law.On September 28 last year, the apex court lifted the ban on the entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years into the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala.After their entry, a purification process took place in the temple, while violent ...
Goa Cong dubs state's tourism policy as 'disastrous'
The Congress party Thursday said Goa's Draft Tourism Policy 2018, which has been put in the public domain for suggestions, was "disastrous" for the state and its residents. The opposition party said the socio-economic and socio-cultural impact of the policy has not been studied, and encourages privatisation of assets of the state-run Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC). Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar Wednesday chaired a meeting of MLAs to discuss the Draft Tourism Policy 2018. Talking to reporters in Margao on Thursday, Congress MLA and party spokesperson Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said he has written a letter to Ajgaonkar in which he has objected to certain provisions in the policy. "The policy is disastrous for Goa and Goans...The report (policy) is silent on the exact income or revenue generated by the tourism industry in Goa and how much of it percolates to local Goans," Lourenco said. "The socio-economic and socio-cultural impact of the master plan or ...
Kartik Aaryan urges people to free nation from violence against women
Actor Kartik Aaryan is lending support to a campaign which urges people to free the country from violence against women.
