Page 211 - Social Issues
Helper commits suicide in Laxmi Nagar PG
A 28-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging from the ceiling fan of the paying guest accommodation where he worked as a helper in east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar area, police said Saturday. The deceased identified as Ashish was a resident of Madhya Pradesh and lived with his cousin here, they added. Ashish was found hanging from the ceiling fan with a plastic rope at one of the rooms in the PG on Friday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Pankaj Singh said. The officer said no suicide note was recovered from the spot. The body was sent for post-mortem, police said, adding no foul play has been suspected.
Movement against Citizenship Bill intensifies in Manipur
Movement against the the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 intensified in Manipur on Saturday. A protest rally was jointly organised at Kwakeithel Akham Leikai in Manipur's Imphal West district by several Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) like All Manipur United Clubs Organisation (AMUCO), Irawat Foundation, COHR, Poirei Leimarol Network and AMOVA and others in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. AMUCO president Ph Devan said that the bill will uproot the existence of indigenous people of the Northeastern region of India. He further appealed the CSOs and political parties to come together to fight against the bill. Six student organisations -- All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU), Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), Manipur Students' Federation (MSF), Kangleipak Students' Association (KSA), Students' Union of Kangleipak (SUK) and Socialist Students' Union of Manipur observed "Black Day" today at various places. Another protest ...
Francis Gurry lauds Ayushman Bharat health scheme
Director General of World Intellectual Property Organisation Francis Gurry has praised the Centre's health scheme Ayushman Bharat and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on its success. "WIPO Director General Gurry meets CEO of #AyushmanBharat @Ibhushan, lauds ambitious health scheme that is bringing free health care to hundreds of thousands, underlines importance of innovation to health and congratulates PM @narendramodi on this incredible success," WIPO tweeted. The ambitious healthcare scheme, touted as the world's largest, aims to benefit more than 10 crore poor families in the country. On January 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed Ayushman Bharat a "game changer" in healthcare and said on an average 5,000 claims are being settled every day since its rollout on September 23, 2018. The total number of hospitals covered by this scheme is 16,000 and increasing steadily. More than 50 per cent of the implementing hospitals are in private sector. Jaitley had said in the ...
Pro-talk ULFA threatens to pull out of parleys over Citizenship Bill
The pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) threatened to pull out of the ongoing peace parleys with the Centre on Saturday if the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in Parliament. Besides, a government lobby was backing certain people to fan communalism among the Assamese and Bengali-speaking people of Assam, it claimed. "The ongoing peace talks are likely to be discontinued if the Centre goes ahead with the citizenship bill, against which protests have erupted in Assam with all sections of the society participating in the agitation," prominent ULFA leader Mrinal Hazarika told reporters here. The issue was raised on the organisation's platform that the talks would be redundant if the bill was passed, he said. The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before ..
Centre opened to shelter, support survivors of rape, violence
A centre was opened in this central Assam town on Saturday to provide shelter and support services to survivors of rape and other forms of violence against women and girls. The one stop centre (OSC) for those women, was set up by the Hailakandi district administration and the social welfare department in collaboration with an NGO. The OSC would be a place where integrated services police assistance, legal aid, medical and counselling services would be made available to the women victims of violence, Additional Deputy Commissioner Amalendu Roy said at the launching of the centre. A toll free help number 181 is being made available to women in distress, Roy said. The OSC could fill a critical need for support services for survivors of rape and other forms of violence against women and girls, said Kabir Ahmed, secretary of Wodwichee, the NGO. "It can also serve as an educational resource for healthcare workers, police, lawyers, and judges," he added. The OSCs were prioritised
Filmmaker Vijay Gutte's mother files complaint against husband
"The Accidental Prime Minister" director Vijay Gutte's mother has lodged a complaint of domestic violence against her husband at Parli in Beed district of Maharashtra, an official said Saturday. Sudamati Gutte lodged the complaint against Ratnakar Gutte and his six family members, they said. "In her complaint filed on Friday, she (Sudamati) alleged that her husband and his family members subjected her to mental and physical torture over a family dispute. They also threatened her to transfer a property to their name," the official said. Based on her complaint, a case was registered against Ratnakar and his family members, he said. They have been booked under IPC sections 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and others. In the complaint, Sudamati alleged that her husband had the habit of drinking and visiting dance bars, and used to ...
Chamling launches 'ne Family One Job' scheme in Sikkim
Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling on Saturday launched the 'One Family One Job' scheme which entitles one government job for every family in the state. Chamling had announced the scheme last year during the winter session of the state Legislative Assembly. At a "Rojgar Mela" (employment fair) organised at the Paljor stadium here, over 12,000 unemployed youths were handed out appointment letters on Saturday. However, the letters were awarded only to members of those families which do not have a government job at present. The task of providing employment was entrusted to the Department of Personnel. Chamling also announced that over 25,000 already employed but unregularised government employees would also be subsequently regularised within 2019 according to their seniority. "Sikkim has become the first state in the country to carry out such an exclusive programme for the people who would now be entitled to state government employee benifits," Chamling said. He ...
CBI arrests another accused in Muzaffarpur shelter home case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday arrested Vicky, a close relative of Madhu alias Shaista Parveen, a key associate of Brajesh Thakur, who is the prime accused in the shelter home sex scandal case, official sources said. Madhu was Friday remanded in police custody for 48 hours by a special POCSO court here. The police had sought her custody in pursuance of an FIR lodged on June 06 last year at the Mahila police station here in connection with the mysterious disappearance of 11 women and four children from the "Swadhar Grih" (shelter home for self-sufficient women) run by the NGO headed by Thakur. With the arrest of Vicky, the agency has so far arrested 21 accused persons in the shelter home sex scandal, official sources said. It is alleged that Vicky, who is close relative (nephew) of Madhu and also used to stay with her, was tasked to drop and pick her up at shelter home, sources said adding that Vicky's involvement was found in all activities of ...
Bandh in NE states against police firing on people protesting against Citizenship Bill in Tripura
Firing and lathicharge by security forces to quell protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in West Tripura district earlier this week triggered 'bandh' in large parts of the northeastern state Saturday. Agitators in neighbouring Assam and Mizoram too joined the stir against the bill that aims to provide citizenship to illegal migrants of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. On Tuesday, the day the bill was passed in Lok Sabha, seven people were injured in Madhabbari area of the district when police and the paramilitary forces resorted to lathi-charge and fired in the air to disperse protesters. Normal life was crippled during the dawn-to-dusk bandh on Saturday in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which comprises two-thirds of Tripura's territory and is home to tribals who constitute a third of the state's population. The bandh call was given by five indigenous parties Indigenous .
Youth suffering from amnesia, commits suicide
A youth suffering from depression on account of amnesia committed suicide after hanging himself from a ceiling fan inside his residence at south Delhi, a police officer said on Saturday.
Taslima Nasrin launches Hindi edition of 'Besharam'
Bangladeshi author and women rights advocate Taslima Nasrin launched 'Besharam', her sequel to the controversial 'Lajja', in Hindi at the ongoing New Delhi World Book Fair here on Saturday.
Assam Accord Clause 6 crisis: Think logically, not emotionally, BJP urges expert panel
With at least three members named to a committee formed by the government to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord refusing to serve in the face of the controversy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, the BJP on Saturday asked them to reconsider their decision logically.
Railways must create separate dept for children found in premises: Study
The Railways must set up a separate wing within it's personnel department to deal with children found in the national transporter's premises, according to a newly published study. The 'Rights of Children in Contact with Railways' study, by All India Working Group released on Saturday, has said the Railway Police or Protection Force cannot effectively discharge the duty of child care and protection. "Institution for care and protection within the Railways cannot be the Railway Police or Protection Force, which have been set up for entirely criminal and custodial protocols, even though there are instances, such as in Bengal where the RPF is said to have played a positive role. "A separate institution within the personnel department of the Indian Railways should be set up with specialised expertise in the care and protection of children," it said. The report was prepared by a collective of 40 organisations who participated in collecting data from 127 stations, and 2,148 child ...
UK govt mulls limiting jail sentences of six months or less
The British government is considering scrapping jail sentences of six months or less for most crimes in a bid to reduce reoffending and ease pressure on the system, the prisons minister said on Saturday. The move could see tens of thousands of people convicted of non-violent or non-sexual crimes, such as burglary and shoplifting, spared jail under the plan, Rory Stewart told The Daily Telegraph. In an interview with the newspaper's magazine, he said that short jail terms were "long enough to damage you and not long enough to heal you. "You bring somebody in for three or four weeks, they lose their house, their job, their family, their reputation. "They come (into prison), they meet a lot of interesting characters and then you whap them on to the streets again," he said. "The public are safer if we have a good community sentence... and it will relieve a lot of pressure on prisons." The change would mirror 2010 reforms in Scotland, where judges are now guided by a legal presumption ...
ISIS module case: Delhi court extends custody of 2 accused
A Delhi court Saturday extended the NIA custody of two people arrested on suspicion of being members of an ISIS-inspired group and for planning terror attacks across the country. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh sent Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath (29) and Saqib Iftekar (26) to judicial custody till January 22. Advocate Mohammed Noorullah, appearing for both the accused, had opposed the NIA's request for sending them to police custody for further interrogation. The accused, along with seven others, were arrested for allegedly planning suicide attacks and serial blasts, targeting politicians and also government installations in Delhi and other parts of north India.
Manjhi favours increasing quota ceiling to 90-95 per cent
Former Bihar Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha national president, Jitan Ram Manjhi Saturday demanded that the report of the caste census be made public and reservation for all categories be increased in proportion to their population. He also demanded that the cap on reservation ceiling be increased to 90-95 per cent. Replying a query on Parliament approving the 10 per cent reservation to general category poor, Manjhi said that "I am not opposed to the decision of giving quota (10 per cent). I am saying that communities (OBC, EBC, SC and ST) be given their share in reservation as their rights." "They have been deprived of their rights in the name of cap being imposed that reservation can't be increased beyond 50 per cent...OBC which constitutes 54 per cent of population is being given 27 per cent reservation while Scheduled Caste is being given 15 per cent quota benefit against their 30 per cent population," he said. Parliament on Wednesday had approved amending
Low-income women deprived of menstrual hygiene
Women belonging to low-income households face difficulty in accessing basic sanitary supplies, a recent study suggests.While access to menstrual hygiene products has been generating attention in the developing world, low-income women and girls struggle to afford period supplies and often resort to making do with cloth, rags, paper towels, or even children's diapers during their monthly cycles.As part of the study, Anne Sebert Kuhlmann, lead researcher, documented the challenges, from affordability to transportation that low-income people with periods face in accessing basic sanitary supplies.Kuhlmann's study found that nearly two-thirds of the women surveyed were unable to afford menstrual hygiene supplies like pads or tampons at some point during the previous year, and 21 per cent of women lacked supplies on a monthly basis. Nearly half - 46 per cent - of those surveyed could not afford to buy both food and period-related products during the past year.While lack of access to ...
Child abuse ups suicide risk in later life
Children who experience physical, sexual, and emotional abuse are significantly more likely to attempt suicide in later life, a study has found. The analysis of 68 studies by psychologists at the University of Manchester and University of South Wales in the UK showed that suicide attempts were three times more likely for people who experienced sexual abuse as a child. People who experienced physical abuse as a child were two and a half times more likely to attempt suicide. The research, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, also showed that children who experienced multiple abuse are as much as five times higher to attempt suicide. As the people who experienced abuse as children get older, the risk of suicide attempts increases, researchers said. People not in contact with mental health clinicians were found to be at the highest level of risk. The sixty-eight studies were carried out across the world, producing about 262 thousand adults aged 18 years or older, who were ...
Hyderabad hospital turns into marriage hall for Muslim couple
A Muslim couple residing in Vikarabad district on Friday tied the knot in a hospital where they were admitted after attempting to commit suicide.The duo, who have been in a relationship for long, took the drastic move fearing that they would be separated.19-year-old Reshma's parents began searching for a groom for the girl. owing to this, she attempted to commit suicide by consuming Organophosphorous pesticide. Subsequently, she was rushed to Vikarabad Government Hospital.On learning about her suicide attempt, Nawaz (21) reached the hospital and attempted to commit suicide by consuming the same pesticide. Hours after the incident, both the families called a qazi (wedding officiator) and got the couple married in the hospital itself.Speaking to ANI, Dr. B Avinash, who is working at the Crawford Mission Hospital, said: "Reshma and Bawaz were shifted from Vikarabad Government Hospital to our hospital on January 8 after they consumed pesticide Organophosphorous. At that time Reshma's ...
Head of govt nominated panel on Assam quits
Former Union tourism secretary M P Bezbaruah, who was appointed as the head of a government nominated committee to assess the quantum of seats to be reserved in the Assam Assembly for the Assamese, has declined the offer. Bezbaruah is the fifth member of the high-level panel who has refused to be a part of the committee, which will also assess the quantum of seats to be reserved in the local bodies in Assam for the Assamese people besides providing other safeguards. "I have conveyed to the Home Ministry that it is untenable for me to continue in the committee when the representatives of the civil society refused to be part of the committee. Being head of a committee, without civil society members, does not make any sense," Bezbaruah told PTI. Those who have already quit the panel set up by the home ministry include the two presidents of the Assam Sahitya Sabha, Nagen Saikia and Rongbong Terang, educationist Mukunda Rajbangshi and a nominee of the influential All Assam Students' Union .
