Page 32 - Social Issues
Will not implement Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Delhi: Health Minister Satyendra Jain
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Tuesday said his government will not implement central government's Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the capital.Jain criticised the scheme and said that the ruling BJP needs to better its implementation."First Central government needs to provide the benefits of Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Around 70 per cent of patients are coming here from Uttar Pradesh. Modi ji did nothing there. We will not differentiate between rich and poor. We will not allow this yojana as government hospitals and medical check-ups are for all," Jain said while speaking to ANI after his visit to GTB Hospital here.Ayushman Bharat Yojana is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2018 and aims to address healthcare issues by providing coverage up to Rs 5 lakh to the needy.LAshing out at the Modi-led government for not giving benefits of the Yojana to the needy, Jain said: "They just implement such policies on papers....ground reality is different. If the ..
Education of girls' from minority communities is govt's priority: Naqvi
Asserting that education of girls from minority communities is the government's priority, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday said educational infrastructure will be developed on a war-footing in those areas of the country where people don't send their daughters to schools. Naqvi, while addressing a meeting of Minority Affairs Ministry officials at the Antyodaya Bhawan here, urged them to remain alert and cautious to ensure that no "speed breaker" comes on the "highway of trust". "Ensuring socio-economic-educational empowerment of minorities through '3Es' -- education, employment and empowerment -- is our target and we will work hard to achieve this goal," the minister was quoted as saying in a statement. "To accelerate the vehicle of development on the highway of trust will be our priority in the next five years to ensure happiness .. and prosperity in life of every needy," he said at the meeting that was also attended by Minister of State for Minority Affairs Kiren ...
Delhi Police sends reminder to Kejriwal govt for sanction to chargesheet Sandeep Kumar
Delhi Police on Tuesday sent a reminder to the state government for sanction to chargesheet former Delhi minister Sandeep Kumar, who is accused of sexually assaulting a woman.The sanction is pending with Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government for around one year.Speaking to ANI regarding the matter, Joint Commissioner of Police (CP) Madhup Tiwari said, "We didn't receive any permission yet."As per Delhi Police sources, the Delhi Government has always delayed in giving sanction to prosecute those who are close to the AAP. Despite repeated reminders, the state government has not yet given permission to prosecute those who have been named in JNU sedition case also.In 2016, the Delhi government was shamefaced after Kumar was accused of sexually assaulting a woman who wanted a ration act. A CD of the incident also went viral.Taking action in the matter after much outcry by politicos, Kejriwal in 2017 removed Kumar from the post of Minister of Child Welfare and Social Justice after receiving .
Punjab CM pledges to protect children's rights
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday pledged to protect the rights of children.
Two-thirds of AIDS treatment drugs supplied globally by India
Taking a lead in the global fight against AIDS, India is supplying the world with two-thirds of the drugs to treat those infected with HIV, according to Indian diplomat Paulomi Tripathi.
Declining fertility rates may have driven Neanderthals to extinction: Study
A small decline in the fertility rates of young Neanderthals may have caused the archaic human species to go extinct, a study claims. The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, used population modelling to put forward a new hypothesis for Neanderthal extinction. The lack of empirical data allowing testing of hypotheses is one of the biggest challenges for researchers studying Neanderthal extinction. Many hypotheses involve catastrophic events such as disease or climate change. In order to test alternative hypothetical extinction scenarios, researchers from Aix Marseille Universite in France created a Neanderthal population model allowing them to explore demographic factors which might have resulted in declining populations and extinction over a period of 4,000-10,000 years. The researchers created baseline demographic parameters for their Neanderthal extinction model based on observational data on modern hunter-gatherer groups and extant large apes, as well as available ...
Outrage as Philippines' Duterte says 'cured' himself of being gay
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sparked outrage after claiming that he "cured" himself of being gay with the help of beautiful women. Duterte is notorious for his foul-mouthed speeches that include insults, threats to perceived enemies and references to rape that he casts as jokes. The latest unfiltered comments came during an appearance before the Filipino community in Tokyo last week. During his speech Duterte appeared to say that one of his high-profile critics, Senator Antonio Trillanes, was gay. "Trillanes and I are similar. But I cured myself," the president said. The president explained that he "became a man again" after meeting his now ex-wife. "So beautiful women cured me," he added. Duterte has a wavering record when it comes to gay rights. During his campaign for president in 2016 he voiced support for same sex marriage, but later backtracked. He has also used homosexuality as an insult, including against Philip Goldberg, then US ambassador to Manila. Bahaghari, a .
Canadian PM Trudeau says gender equality 'under attack'
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said gender equality is "under attack," and warned of declining women's rights, at a major conference on the subject. "Progress can backslide. We're seeing it happen. Gender equality is under attack. And I can only imagine how hard it is to be a feminist on the frontlines," he said in an opening address to the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver. "Individuals and interest groups are trying to roll back women's rights," Trudeau said without giving names. He warned that "politicians are giving into the pressure, shamefully campaigning to undo women's hard-won victories." The three-day Vancouver conference has brought together 8,000 participants including leaders, activists, academics and journalists from 150 countries to discuss gender equality. Trudeau has made the issue a priority of his government, which faces parliamentary elections in October. After taking office in 2015 he formed a cabinet with equal numbers of male and female ...
French imam jailed over Channel migrant crossings
A French court on Monday sentenced an imam from northern France to two years in prison for helping migrants try to cross the English Channel in inflatable boats. The 39-year-old preacher, who is of Iranian origin and was granted political asylum in France, is accused of organising several crossings from northern France to England since last December. A 29-year-old Senegalese man who attends the mosque in Rouen where the imam preaches also stood trial. He got nine months in jail and was banned from visiting the northern French regions of Nord and Pas-de-Calais for three years. The imam fainted upon hearing his sentence. The men admitted providing six or seven dinghies after they were taken into custody in April, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Monday. The investigation began in late March when gendarmes found life jackets, wet pullovers and a rubber dinghy on a beach in northern France. Neither of the men was previously known to police, Le Figaro said. Police found two ...
SC asks CBI to complete Muzaffarpur shelter home probe in 3 months
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation probing Bihar's Muzaffarpur shelter home rape cases to complete the probe and place the report before it within three months.
Case against 35 for grabbing Ghaziabad water body, selling land
The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) has filed a case against 35 "land mafia" for selling land of a water body to 500 migrants from eastern UP, Bihar and West Bengal and efforts are on to trace the criminals, an official said on Monday.
Suspended cop hangs self
A constable, who was under suspension, allegedly committed suicide at the police quarters of his friend here, police said Monday. The constable from Tiruvallur TSP battalion was under suspension since 2017 on various charges,and a case was pending against him. He had come here for preparing for some exam. He was found hanging Monday morning at the police quarters at Tallakulam where his friend, also a constable, was staying. The deceased had spoken to some one before allegedly committing suicide around Sunday midnight, police added.
South Africa ruling opens way for apartheid-era prosecutions
A former South African police officer will face trial over the 1971 killing of an anti-apartheid activist after a court ruling that could lead to the prosecution of similar crimes. The high court in Johannesburg on Monday dismissed 80-year-old Joao Rodrigues' application for a permanent stay of prosecution. An inquiry had been reopened into the death of Ahmed Timol, who police said jumped to his death from a Johannesburg police station where opponents of white minority rule were often held. Timol's family argued he was tortured and killed. A court in 2017 agreed, saying evidence suggested that Timol was pushed out the window, and paving the way for Rodrigues to face trial. Rodrigues has said the activist dove out of the window before he could stop him. A National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman, Phindi Louw, said Monday's ruling affirms that people who committed crimes during the apartheid era cannot dodge prosecution on the basis of how long ago the crimes took place. The ...
Canadian indigenous women victims of silent 'genocide': Inquiry
After two and a half years of hearings, a Canadian inquiry Monday released its final report on the disappearance and death of hundreds, if not thousands of indigenous women, victims of endemic violence it controversially said amounted to "genocide." The 1,200-page report was unveiled with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and victims' families on hand at a ceremony at the Canadian Museum of History, against a backdrop of totems and aboriginal artifacts, framed by a view of parliament across the Ottawa River. It is the culmination of years of lobbying by native leaders, activists and victims' families seeking to address disproportionate crime levels affecting indigenous women over the past three decades. According to official estimates, almost 1,200 indigenous women and girls went missing or were killed between 1980 and 2012, out of a community of 1.6 million people. But inquiry commissioners have suggested the true figure could be many times higher. Entitled "Reclaiming Power and Place," .
EU migrant policy: Lawyers call it a crime against humanity
More than 40,000 people have been intercepted in the Mediterranean and taken to detention camps and torture houses under a European migration policy that is responsible for crimes against humanity, according to a legal document asking the International Criminal Court to take the case Monday. The request filed with the ICC alleges that European Union officials are knowingly responsible for deaths of migrants at land and sea, and their widespread rape and torture at the hands of a Libyan coast guard funded and trained at the expense of European taxpayers. It names no EU official but cites an ongoing ICC investigation into the fate of migrants in Libya . Officials with the European Commission, Germany and Spain defended EU policy and efforts to help migrants in Libya. France dismissed the accusations as "senseless" and lacking "any legal foundations." The legal document cites public EU documents, statements from the French president, the German chancellor and other top officials from the
Three doctors held for junior colleague's suicide seek bail
Three senior doctors of a civic-run hospital, arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a junior colleague by harassing and making casteist remarks against her, Monday approached a sessions court for bail. The three doctors -- Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehere and Ankita Khandelwal -- all attached to the B Y L Nair Hospital in South Mumbai, were arrested last week on charges of abetment to suicide of their junior colleague, Dr Payal Tadvi. After Tadvi ended her life on May 22, her family alleged that the doctors taunted and hurled casteist abuses at her as she belonged to a scheduled tribe. While Mehere was arrested last Tuesday evening, Ahuja and Khandelwal were taken into custody in the early hours of Wednesday. The accused were subsequently booked under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Anti-Ragging Act, Information Technology Act and section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). On May 31, the three accused were remanded
MP Cabinet passes resolution to increase reservation for OBCs to 27 pc
The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Monday passed a resolution to increase reservation quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) from existing 14 per cent to 27 per cent.The matter will now be taken up in the monsoon session of the state Assembly.The Cabinet has also increased by three per cent the dearness allowance for employees and pensioners. It will cost the state exchequer Rs 1,647 crore and will benefit around seven lakh employees.
Iraq: Court sentences 2 French citizens to death for joining ISIS
A Court here on Sunday (local time) sentenced two more French citizens to death for being members of the terror group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).Today's judgement raised the number of French citizens being sent to the gallows in the connection to nine, according to Voice of America.The people, who have been sentenced, belong to the group of 12 French citizens who were detained by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in neighbouring Syria and handed over to Iraq in January.Meanwhile, human rights watchdogs have accused Iraqi prosecutors of "using a range of torture techniques", saying that France and other countries should not be "outsourcing" trials of IS suspects to "abusive justice systems."Last month, the French foreign ministry had also reiterated its opposition to the death penalty, saying it would take "the necessary steps" to prevent Iraq from carrying out capital punishment against its citizens."France is opposed in principle to the death penalty
6 detained in Rajouri for unlawful activities
Six persons were taken into preventive custody on Monday for their alleged role in unlawful activities, including peddling of drugs, in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, police said. In Thanamandi, Shahzad Ahmed, Touseef Ahmed, Mohammad Tahir and Shabaz Ahmed were arrested for unlawful activities, they said. Cases have been filed against them and lodged in district jail Rajouri on detention orders of Executive Magistrate First Class Thanamandi, they said. Tata Sumo and Tiago cars have been seized from their possession. In a similar incident, two persons from Rajouri were taken into preventive custody for their alleged involvement in unlawful activities, officials said. They include Mohammad Rafiq and Mushtaq Ali, they said. They were detained as a preventive measure and were produced before Executive Magistrate, Rajouri.
Kejriwal's proposal on free ridership draws mixed response from women activists
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's proposal to make metro and bus travel free for women in the national capital has drawn a mixed response from women activists with some calling it a populist move while others welcoming the decision. Kejriwal said his government's decision, which he expects to implement in 2-3 months, would encourage women to use public transport systems and ensure their safety. Some women activists reacted strongly to it, saying there is no connection between women safety and free rides in buses and metros. Activist Annie Raja said women are not "fools" to believe it has "anything to do with women safety". "The election loss must have given him sleepless nights and he came up with it ahead of polls. If he is so sincere then what is his opinion on the 181 helpline and its privatisation, who sat on 'dharna' to protest alleged breach of women data," Raja said. "If he is so interested then he should see that all systems are in place like these (181 helpline)," she ...
