Page 419 - Social Issues
Ex-soldier commits suicide in police lock-up
An ex-soldier committed suicide on Thursday in a police lock-up in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district, hours after he was arrested on charges of being drunk.
Pitt, Jolie to continue interim child custody agreement
Actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have called off the ongoing custody battle over their six children, and have decided to continue a temporary agreement.
3 youths killed by train in Bihar
Three youths were killed on Thursday by a speeding train in Bihar's Begusarai district, police said.
US judge could halt arrests of immigrants seeking green cards
An American federal judge could rule as early as Thursday whether to order the Department of Homeland Security to stop arresting undocumented immigrants who come to government offices for interviews as part of applying for green cards.
Five Sikh migrants released from Sheridan federal prison in US
Five illegal Sikh migrants are among eight others asylum seekers who have been released on bond from a prison in the US state of Oregon where they were locked up for three months after getting caught in the Trump administration's controversial "zero-tolerance" policy, immigration lawyers have said. A group of 52 Indians, mostly Sikhs, has been held at a detention centre in Oregon in May for being part of a large contingent of illegal immigrants seeking asylum. The Indians form the largest group of detainees in the total 124 illegal immigrants being held at the facility in Sheridan. Five migrants, all twenty-something men from India, made their first public appearance yesterday after nearly three months at the Oregon prison put them in the center of a political firestorm. "In the beginning I had no hope," Karandeep Singh, 24 was quoted as saying by the Oregon Live. "Now it's like a dream. I'm so happy. Thank you all of the people who have helped us." Many of the Indians are practicing .
Rohingya children facing danger of becoming 'lost generation'
The UN Children's Fund (Unicef) has warned that the children from the Rohingya Muslim minority are facing the danger of becoming a "lost generation".
Half 'lost' Rohingya children orphaned by violence: study
Half the Rohingya children who crossed into Bangladesh without their parents were actually orphaned by violence in Myanmar and not separated from them during the refugee exodus as previously thought, new research showed today. The findings from international charity Save the Children have dashed a long-standing belief that thousands of 'lost' children in the world's largest refugee camp might one day be reunited with their parents. There are more than 6,000 children known to aid workers in the Bangladesh camps who never found their parents after fleeing a brutal army crackdown in Myanmar that has been likened to ethnic cleansing. Humanitarian agencies say the real number is impossible to know but some estimates run higher, as many children disappeared into the enormous camps to live with relatives or neighbours once they crossed the border alone. Some came on their own and were placed in temporary care. Efforts to reconnect these children with their parents have been under way since ..
Rio residents allege abuses by military and 3rd soldier dies
Residents in a Rio de Janeiro slum where thousands of troops recently conducted operations protested the rough-handed tactics, as the military announced the third death of a soldier killed in clashes. Members of the Rio's Public Defender's office human rights groups walked through the streets of Penha Complex yesterday and listened to allegations of human rights violations by soldiers who conducted major operations earlier this week. Those allegations included killing and leaving the bodies of several young men in a forest atop the complex of slums. "In addition to the rights frequently violated, like entering homes (without a warrant), mistreatment and torture, there is an even more grave situation," said Pedro Strozenberg from Rio's Public Defender's Office. "It's (allegations of) homicides, deaths and bodies hidden in the forest." Soldiers patrolling the area did not let media or human rights groups access the forest. The allegations about the bodies could not immediately be ...
Saudi Arabia seeks death penalty for woman activist: campaigners
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor has sought the death penalty against five human rights activists, including a prominent female rights defender, campaigners have said Among those accused of inciting protests by the Shiite Muslim minority in the oil-rich Eastern Province is Israa al-Ghomgham, the first female activist to possibly face the death penalty for her rights-related work. "Israa al-Ghomgham and four other individuals are now facing the most appalling possible punishment simply for their involvement in anti-government protests," Samah Hadid, Amnesty International's Middle East director of campaigns, said yesterday."We are urging the Saudi Arabian authorities to drop these plans immediately." Saudi government officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ghomgham, a prominent Shia activist who documented mass demonstrations in the Eastern Province starting in 2011, was arrested at her home along with her husband in December 2015, according to Human Rights ...
Indian men should change their outlook towards women: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said Indian men do not view the women in the country as equal and they should change their outlook towards women, even as he disagreed with the view that 'India was the most unsafe place for women'.
PM was upset by my hug, some party members also didn't approve: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said certain "hateful remarks" made against him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi prompted him to hug him during the no-confidence debate in Parliament and noted that "he didn't like and was upset by it", while adding "that some of his party members also didn't approve of it".
Right to healthcare to prevail over right to voluntary retirement: SC
The Supreme Court has ruled that the larger public interest of health and medical care would prevail over the right to voluntary retirement by the doctors as medical services are part and parcel of right to life itself.
Saudi prosecutors seek death penalty for woman activist
Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for five human rights activists, including a female rights defender, rights groups have said.
Sri Lanka to repatriate 5 Pakistanis on death row for drug offences
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena today said he would initiate talks with Pakistan to send back five Pakistani nationals sentenced to death in the island nation for drug trafficking. Sirisena's remarks come a month after he had said Sri Lanka would go ahead with implementing the death penalty on drug dealers, ending a near-half century moratorium on capital punishment. I will talk to the new government in Pakistan to send them back to their country, the President said in Jaffna today. Drug trafficking is punishable by death in Sri Lanka. The five Pakistanis are among 18 people on death row for drug offences. Police claimed the 18 convicts ran a drug business from prison. President Sirisena had last month told his Cabinet that he was ready to sign the death warrants of repeat drug offenders. Sri Lanka's last hanging took place in June 1976. Since then successive presidents have refused to sign death warrants to hang convicts. Sirisena had taken the decision despite Sri Lanka ...
Ex-paramilitary officials meet Rajnath, demand facilities
A delegation of retired officials of paramilitary forces met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today and sought his intervention in resolving their issues like grant of special pay, OROP and restoration of the old pension scheme for lakhs of serving personnel. The veterans, as part of the Confederation of Ex-Paramilitary Forces' Welfare Association, also urged the minister to allow a 50-per cent rebate under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the central police canteens (CPCs) that serve lakhs of serving and retired personnel of these forces, which work under the command of the home ministry. "The minister assured us that the government will look into the matter and take appropriate action as regards the genuine demands as early as possible," general secretary of the association Ranbir Singh said. "Our demands like granting One Rank One Pension (OROP), restoration of the old pension scheme instead of the current NPS, granting the status of martyr and constituting an ex-paramilitary .
YAIKS protests outside J&K Governor House
Batting strongly for restructuring the rehabilitation policy for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj protested against the Centre and the state government outside the Governor House in Jammu today. Led by YAIKS president, R K Bhat, more than 500 young men and women from the community raised slogans in support of their demands and sat on a 'dharna' for several hours. Carrying placards that read "Fight for Right", "I am a Kashmiri Pandit, I love my Identity" and "Give me justice", the protestors demanded that their demands be fulfilled immediately. Bhat alleged that the rehabilitation package for Kashmiri Pandits announced by the Centre a few years ago is an eyewash. "We urge government to restructure, redesign and revise this package by holding a proper dialogue with its organisation and its representatives immediately as a confidence building measure," he told reporters. YAIKS is an organisation advocating for interest of the youth, unemployed, educated persons .
Over 100 towns in Sri Lanka stop cigarette sales
Over 100 towns across Sri Lanka have boycotted the sale of cigarettes with the aim of making the country tobacco-free, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Inclusion need of hour: Prateik Babbar
Actor Prateik Babbar believes it is high time people in India stopped discriminating on the basis of caste, creed, religion, gender and sexual orientation. The 31-year-old, who today walked the ramp for label Chola at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2018, said it is important for the growth of the nation that people proudly own their individuality. "Inclusion is the need of the hour. We, as a society, need to be open-minded. The biases in our society stems from the orthodox mentality. It is very deep-rooted in our country but we need to wake up. There are too many different kinds of people in this world. Not just drags or gays, everybody is different from each other. We should proudly own our individuality," Prateik told PTI in an interview. "My latest film 'Mulk' also dealt with a kind discrimination. But this discrimination should not be there. Live and let live is the policy we need to swear by," he added. Prateik said the fact that designer Sohaya Misra was ...
Nike stores closed in South Africa amid outcry over racist web post
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Some Nike stores were closed in South Africa on Wednesday after public outcry over a racist comment by a man that local media said had links to the sportswear company.
Brus cancel protest rally
Bru people lodged in relief camps in Tripura today cancelled their proposed protest rally in Mizoram's Mamit district as the administration did not give them permission to hold the rally, police said. The inmates of the relief camps in North Tripura district, under the aegis of a newly-formed Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Coordination Committee (MBDPCC) had asked for permission for holding a rally between Kanhmun an Zawlnuam villages, but the permission was not given by the Mamit district administration, police said. The permission for the rally was not granted as district administration apprehend that the rally may heighten communal tension, officials said. The MBDPCC, a breakaway group of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) is opposed to the agreement of July 3 in which the Centre, Mizoram and Tripura governments and MBDPF were signatories. The agreement stated that all the Bru refugees were to be repatriated before September 30. The agreement stipulated .
