Page 387 - Social Issues
Maratha quota: Maha govt likely to receive report by Nov 15
The Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that the State Backward Classes Commission was likely to finalise its report on the socio-economic status of the Maratha community by November 15. The commission would submit to the government its recommendations on whether the community should be granted reservation in state-aided educational institutions and workplaces, it said. The state's counsel, senior advocate Ravi Kadam, informed a bench led by Justice R M Savant that the commission studied the data provided by various government departments, village panchayats and educational, social and legal bodies. It analysed such data for over 45,000 families belonging to the Maratha community, he said. The commission, set up by the Maharashtra government, is tasked with recommending to the state on whether or not the members of the Maratha community should be given any reservation. Kadam told the bench that the commission was currently in the process of reviewing its ..
SC notice to Bihar, CBI on Patna HC order banning media reporting of shelter home case
The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notices to the Bihar government and the CBI on a plea challenging a Patna High Court order restraining the media from reporting on the investigation into the Muzaffarpur shelter home case where several women were allegedly raped and sexually abused. A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked the state government and the CBI, which is investigating the case, to file their responses to the petition and listed the matter for September 18. The bench was informed that the Patna High Court had on August 29 passed an order appointing a lady advocate as an amicus in the case pending there and asked her to visit the place where the alleged victims are staying and interview them for the purpose of their rehabilitation. The apex court stayed the appointment of the amicus. Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home run by Brajesh Thakur, the chief of the state-funded NGO. The alleged sexual exploitation of the girls was first highlighted .
Remuneration of rural health workers hiked
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced hiking remuneration for rural health workers with effect from October.
CRPF takes up maiden mental health project to check suicides, depression
Concerned over suicides and stress factors claiming more lives of troops than operations, country's largest paramilitary force CRPF has launched a first-time project to ascertain the mental health of its jawans, the force chief has said. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is training a maiden batch of counsellors to check the menace in the ranks, its Director General R R Bhatnagar told PTI in an interview. The over 3-lakh personnel strong paramilitary, involved in three major combat theatres of counter-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, anti-Naxal operations in Left Wing Extremism hit states and counter-insurgency in the North East, has tied up with premier institutes like AIIMS and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to ensure better work-life balance for the troops. "If you were to look at suicide figures for the last five-six years, these numbers per lakh of force personnel have gone down. The number of suicides (in the force) to the national average for people of that ..
Humanitarian group says 100 migrants die off Libyan coast
Doctors Without Borders says more than 100 people have died in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast and the remaining survivors are being held in detention in Libya. The humanitarian organization says in a Monday news release the shipwreck occurred Sept. 1 and survivors include people with severe burns, pregnant women and babies. A team from the organization provided medical care. The group says two rubber boats left the Libyan coast carrying migrants from Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Libya, Algeria and Egypt. One of the boats deflated and sank. The Libyan Coast Guard recovered 276 survivors from both boats and brought them to the port city of Khoms, Libya, and only two bodies were reportedly recovered. Libya has emerged as a major transit point to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa.
Swara Bhasker slams Vivek Agnihotri for abusive tweet
Actress Swara Bhasker has slammed filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri for his "hateful and insensitive" tweet targeting her for speaking on the Kerala nun abuse case.
IRDAI in process to migrate to risk-based capital regime
Insurance regulator IRDAI Tuesday said it is in the process of moving towards the risk-based capital (RBC) regime to improve protection for policyholders. It last year had set up a 10-member steering committee to help implement the new risk-based capital regime by March 2021. "We have started the process of moving to risk-based capital system. It will of course take a little time but it will be done eventually in a couple of years," Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) chairman SC Khuntia said on the sidelines of the CII Insurance and Pension Summit Tuesday. The decision to move to the RBC structure from the current solvency principle regime was taken after recommendations of a panel which gave its report in July this year, IRDAI had said in a notification last year. A shift in regime was felt because the current solvency based rules do not help in assessing whether the capital held is adequate enough for the risks inherent in the insurance ...
Posters outside UN highlight issue of enforced disappearances in Pakistan
Banners have been put up in front of the United Nations office in Geneva to highlight the grim issue of enforced disappearances in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).The European Organisation for Pakistani Minorities, an NGO, has highlighted the issue during the ongoing 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council.As per the NGO, a large number of people, mostly political activists and intellectuals, from Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and PoK have been forcefully abducted by the Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies. Many of these activists have been falsely booked under the country's Anti-Terrorism Act.Some of the prominent activists who are missing include Nawaz Atta Baloch (Secretary of Baloch Human Rights Organisation), Sagheer Baloch (student activist), Rafaqat Ali Jarar (journalist), Zahid Baloch (Former chairman of Baloch Student Organisation -Azad), Iftikhar Kanbalai (Human Rights Activist) and Baba Jan (Human Rights Activist from Gilgit Baltistan).The ...
Suicides by 2 IPS officers in 5 months rattles UP Police (News Analysis)
Suicides, between May and September, by two of its bright officers -- one with the anti-terror squad (ATS) and the other posted as SP (East) in Kanpur -- has rattled the Uttar Pradesh Police, one of the largest such forces in the country.
NRI body seeks Indian citizenship to Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh
A group of some Indian-American organisations in the US has launched a campaign seeking Indian citizenship to Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh who have been left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The group under the banner of organisations like SinghaBahini America, Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF) and NavaBanga are seeking support for the Citizenship Bill 2016, which seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide citizenship to persecuted minorities from India's neighbouring nations who have come to the country for safety. The members of the group had met Indian leaders during the recently concluded World Hindu Congress in Chicago. "In the light of the well-intended NRC to help identify the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who came as fortune seekers, it has come to light that a large number of Hindu population find themselves left out, said a media release issued by the group. Based on estimates, around 1.4 million to 2.5 million Hindus find ...
Centre implements HIV/AIDS Act to protect rights of affected persons
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday said that the HIV AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act 2017 has been implemented.
More support vital to put Afghanistan back on positive trajectory: Top UN officials
After four decades of conflict and insecurity, and with elections to be held in the coming months against a backdrop of growing humanitarian need, Afghanistan needs more support than ever to tackle its challenges, the UN humanitarian and refugee chiefs said on Monday after a joint two-day visit to the war-torn country. "The world needs to pay a bit more attention again to Afghanistan to help them through this challenging period. It's possible that a year from now they could be back on a positive trajectory if they get the right engagement and help, UN humanitarian affairs chief Mark Lowcock said, speaking along side UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi in Geneva, ahead of a major international conference on Afghanistan due to be held in November. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly 4.2 million people in Afghanistan are in acute need of humanitarian assistance, including 1.9 million internally displaced by conflict, and ...
HIV and AIDS Act 2017 comes into force
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced implementation of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Act, 2017 starting September 10, 2018.Passed on April 20, 2017, the Act prohibits discrimination against people with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLHIV) in terms of of treatment, employment and workplace.The Act also says that no person shall be compelled to disclose his/her HIV status for obtaining employment or services, except with their informed consent, and if required by a court order.The Central Government will also issue necessary guidelines with respect to protocols for HIV and AIDS related diagnostic facilities. Anti-retroviral Therapy and Opportunistic Infection Management will also be applicable to all persons.An ombudsman will also be appointed by each state government to inquire into complaints related to the violation of the Act and the provision of health care services.As per the Act, a person between the age ..
Eight lakh people commit suicide every year: WHO
Nearly 800,000 people commit suicide every year in the world, the second leading cause of death amongst people aged 15-29 in 2016, according to the WHO. A toolkit to help communities prevent suicides was released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Mental Health Commission of Canada on the World Suicide Prevention Day on Monday. Suicides happen in all the countries and regions, whether rich or poor. However, most of them occur in low and middle-income countries, which accounted for almost four-fifths of the global suicides in 2016, the document said. "Suicides take a high toll. Over 800,000 people die by suicide every year and it is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds," it said. There are indications that for each adult who dies of suicide there may be more than 20 others attempting suicide, it warned. "The impact on families, friends and communities is devastating and far-reaching, even long after persons dear to them have taken their own lives," the ...
UN chief calls for efforts to stem corruption
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for more efforts from member states to fight corruption.
Centre to withdraw assistance to Bru relief camps from Oct 1
The Centre has appealed to the Bru families housed in Tripura relief camps to return to Mizoram as assistances doled out to them would be withdrawn from October 1. A meeting was held in Aizawl Monday between the state home department, police and the Centre, which was attended by leaders of the civil societies and representatives of the relief camps. Ministry of Home Affairs' Joint Secretary (North East) Satyendra Garg said the Bru leaders in the relief camps would identify those who want to be repatriated and submit the names to the Centre and the Mizoram government. The Bru refugees in the Tripura relief camps presently receive free ration and subsistence allowance of Rs 5 per day per person from the Centre. The transportation cost for the repatriated families would be borne by the Mizoram government but no state government official would be deployed in the relief camps, as was done earlier, to oversee the process, a senior state home department official who attended ..
Australian cartoonist under fire for Serena sketch
An Australian cartoonist has come under withering criticism for portraying tennis superstar Serena Williams using -- what Harry Potter author JK Rowling described as -- "racist and sexist tropes". Mark Knight's caricature, published in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper on Monday, shows a butch and fat-lipped Williams jumping up and down on her broken racquet at the US Open. Williams' heated exchanges with an umpire at the tournament final this week have stirred the tennis world. She was found guilty of code violations and fined USD 17,000 -- raising allegations that there are double standards for male and female players. Williams was thwarted in her bid for a record-tying 24th Slam singles crown in losing to Japan's Naomi Osaka. In the cartoon the umpire is seen saying to Osaka "can't you just let her win?". Knight, who has a reputation for controversial cartoons, was pilloried from far and wide, including by a member of the US Congress and a large portion of the 22,000 people who ...
Assam CM calls for implementation of NRC in all states
Terming illegal immigrants a "challenge" for the nation, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal pitched for the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across all states of the country.The Assam Chief Minister while addressing an event on the NRC issue underscored, "Illegal immigrants are a challenge for us and to answer this challenge, NRC needs to be implemented in all the states. It is a document through which we can protect all Indians."At the same event, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Ram Madhav said, "Three steps will be taken after NRC, detect, delete and deport. NRC will ensure detection of illegal immigrants. Next step will be disenfranchise- deletion of names of illegal immigrants from voters list and deprive them of government benefits. The third stage will be deportation."The first draft of NRC for Assam, which was released in January contained the name of 1.9 crore Assamese. The second and final draft, which was released in ...
MEA- TCIL sign pact to initiate Pan-African e-Network
The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday signed an agreement with the Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) for the implementation of e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network Project between India and Africa.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj while addressing the gathering on the occasion hailed the project as a digital bridge of knowledge and health between India and Africa. She said that India has put Africa at the top of its foreign policy priorities.Swaraj even called on the African partner countries to fully share and contribute to make the project a bigger success than its first phase.E-VBAB Network project is a technological upgrade and extension of the Pan-African e-Network Project (Phase 1) which was implemented in 48 partner countries across Africa from 2009 till 2017.The Phase 1 of the Project successfully imparted tele-education and tele-medicine by linking educational institutions and hospitals in India with those of African countries.Over the
A hundred dead after two migrant boats sank off Libya this month: MSF
More than 100 migrants, including at least 20 children, died when two boats sank off the coast of Libya early this month, according to Doctors without Borders (MSF), citing survivors. The witnesses told MSF that two inflatable boats had left the Libyan coast on September 1, each with 160 people on board, the medical charity said in a statement. The migrants were from Sudan, Mali, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Libya, Algeria and Egypt, MSF said. According to a survivor, the motor broke down on one boat while the other continued until it "began to deflate... there were 165 adults and 20 children on board". As the boat began to sink, "few passengers had life jackets or knew how to swim, only those who held onto the hull of the boat managed to survive," said the witness to the tragedy. There were only 55 survivors, the source added. On September 2, the Libyan coastguard brought 276 people to the port of Khoms, among whom were the survivors of this sinking. The group was transferred to a ...
