Page 55 - Social Issues
Suicides: Husband, Mother-in-law,2 others arrested for 'mental
: In a new twist in the case relating to suicide of a mother and her teenaged daughter at nearby Neyyatinkara, four family members, including the husband and mother-in-law were arrested Wednesday for alleged mental torture over dowry. The family had alleged Tuesday that the woman and her daughter had ended their lives, fearing attachment of their home and property over non-payment of loan arrears. They had taken Rs five lakh home loan from Canara Bank's Neyyatinkara branch in 2005 and had repaid around Rs eight lakh so far. Some more amount was outstanding. The bank had denied pressurising the family, forcing the two women to end their lives. Chandran had said Tuesday that his 19-year-old daughter Vaishnavi and wife Lekha (43) had committed suicide due to continuous pressure from bank officials over non-payment of loan dues. However, the case took a new turn after forensic and police officials found a three page letter written by the mother-daughter duo pasted on the ...
Kerala: Police arrest 4 people after mother-daughter duo commit suicide
State police on Wednesday took four people into custody after a mother-daughter duo allegedly committed suicide in the state capital on Tuesday.The duo allegedly attempted suicide by setting themselves ablaze fearing the confiscation of their house after failing to pay the bank loan. Both of them have succumbed to their injuries. The incident happened in the Neyyattinkara region of Thiruvananthapuram district.The 40-year-old Lekha and 19-year-old Vyshnavi committed suicide after Neyyattinkara branch of the Canara Bank issued a seizure notice. The bank asked them to repay Rs 4,80,000 by May 14.According to relatives, Lekha's husband Chandra took a loan of Rs 5 lakh to construct a house in 2003. They had paid the principal amount but failed to repay the loan instalments after 2010. Since then, the bank was demanding the balance amount of Rs 4,80,000, which was pending including interest.Four people including her husband are being questioned by the police. Further details are awaited.
Photoshopped image shows Sikh Mayor as Arab dictator in US
Ravi Bhalla, the first ever Sikh mayor of a city in New Jersey, has been allegedly racially targeted after his photoshopped image as an Arab dictator was published on a local website. The New Jersey-based website, "Hudson Mile Square View", ran an image of Hoboken Mayor Bhalla that resembled the lead character played by British actor Sacha Baron Cohen in the comedy film "The Dictator". The photo was part of a story titled, "Ravi Bhalla goes to the mattresses... for his tax increase". It accused Bhalla of "summoning all the powers" of his office to "reinstitute a tax increase" that was not approved by the city council. According to the website, Bhalla had proposed a 3 per cent tax increase but the council slashed it to 1 per cent. The story said now "the pushback from the Mayor's office to take back the tax reduction is underway". Sikh activists denounced the image as racist. Community speaker and activist Simran Jeet Singh tweeted on Tuesday: "Ravi Bhalla is the first-ever turbaned ...
Pope gives joyride to migrant kids newly arrived in Italy
Pope Francis has given a joyride in his popemobile to eight migrant children who recently arrived in Italy from Libya. Francis picked up the kids, who hail from Syria, Nigeria and Congo, at the start of his weekly general audience Wednesday and zoomed around St. Peter's Square with them in the backseat. Some waved, others gave a thumbs up before bidding Francis goodbye with hugs and a selfie. The Vatican said some of the children had arrived in Italy on a migrant boat a few months ago, while others arrived April 29 with their families via a humanitarian corridor. Francis has clashed with Italy's hard-line government about the need to welcome and integrate migrants. Francis returned home from a 2016 trip to Greece with a dozen Syrians on his plane.
Lack of skill-set hindering AI adoption in APAC: Survey
While most business leaders in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region understand the importance of adopting artificial intelligence (AI), an overwhelming majority of them face challenges in finding the right skill-sets and talent for AI, said a new survey on Wednesday.
India fast becoming a hub for AWS developers
A nation of tech innovators, India is fast becoming a developers' hub for Amazon Web Services (AWS), top company executives said here on Wedneday.
Photoshopped image shows Sikh Mayor as Arab dictator
A New Jersey-based website is under fire for publishing a photoshopped image of a Sikh Mayor that depicts him as an Arab dictator, the media reported.
Coming out sooner would've killed my career: Manilow
Singer Barry Manilow says coming out as gay sooner would have killed his career.
UN urges aid access for displaced in Myanmar
The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator on Wednesday urged Myanmar authorities to guarantee access for humanitarian assistance and to find solutions for the 270,000 people displaced due to conflicts in their regions.
Aasia Bibi's lawyer to defend Pakistani couple on death row
The case of a Christian couple on death row in Pakistan after being convicted of blasphemy has reportedly been taken up by the lawyer who defended Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman who was cleared of blasphemy charges after spending eight years on death row.
Malaysian teen kills herself after Instagram poll
A 16 year-old girl has killed herself in Malaysia, after posting a poll on her Instagram account asking followers if she should die or not, and 69 per cent of responders voting that she should, the media reported on Wednesday.
Taiwan gay couples plan weddings even as opponents fight back
At the cake shop they run in Taipei, Shane Lin and Marc Yuan are planning their upcoming wedding as they expectantly await Asia's first gay marriage law -- but a last-minute push by conservatives could scupper their dreams. The pair, who met and fell in love at college, are among hundreds of same-sex couples who have made reservations to register with government agencies on May 24 for what they hope will be a marriage. That is the deadline set by Taiwan's top court to allow same-sex couples to legally wed. In a landmark 2017 ruling, judges said denying gay couples the right to marry violated the island's constitution. The court gave lawmakers two years to make marriage equality happen or see it enacted automatically if they failed -- a move that promises a new milestone for Asia. For gay couples like Lin, 31, and Yuan, 30 -- who decided to tie the knot as they celebrated their tenth anniversary -- the ruling allowed them to start planning for their big day. "Taiwan may often be ...
Mamata, TMC leaders change Twitter, Facebook DP with
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and several top TMC leaders have changed their Facebook and Twitter display picture (DP) with photo of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar on Wednesday to protest the desecration of the bust of the noted reformer and key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. Trinamool Congress's official profile on Twitter and Facebook was also changed with a picture of Vidyasagar. Banerjee is scheduled to take out a protest rally on Wednesday to protest the smashing of the bust of the social reformer by alleged BJP activists in north Kolkata on Tuesday. Launching a scathing attack on BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday, Banerjee had said, "What does Amit Shah think of himself? Is he above everything? Is he God that no one can protest against him?" Banerjee said this after supporters of the BJP and the TMC fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a roadshow by Shah. A college named after Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, a key figure in the Bengal ...
US Catholic dioceses announce abuse 'compensation program'
Six Catholic dioceses in the United States rolled out a "compensation program" Tuesday as an alternative to court proceedings for minors sexually abused by clergy. The program by the dioceses, all of which are located in California, will be managed by two independent monitors who have handled similar programs in New York and Pennsylvania, the Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez said in a letter to worshippers. "We are joining with five other dioceses in California in a new initiative to provide pastoral care and financial support to any person who has been sexually abused as a minor by a diocesan priest," Gomez wrote. "We also understand that some victim-survivors are reluctant to come to the church for assistance. Our hope with this new program is to give these people a chance to seek redress and healing through an independent program." According to California church officials, the program will be open to anybody who was abused by a priest as a minor, including people ...
Facebook brings back 'View as Public' feature
To make it easy for people to manage their publicly visible information on Facebook, the social media giant is restoring the "View as Public" feature it had disabled last year owing to a major security flaw.
Kabul murder highlights Afghan women's plight
When gunmen killed former journalist Mena Mangal on a busy Kabul street, observers first wondered if she had been murdered by the Taliban, the Islamist extremists who have long marginalised women. But police quickly said they were looking at Mangal's broad-daylight killing as the result of a family dispute, saying her ex-husband had "probably" played a role. The brazen attack last weekend sparked global outrage over the plight of Afghan women, who still suffer rampant levels of physical and mental abuse, sexual violence and discrimination. Authorities say Mangal's death came amid the type of suffocating marital dispute that is common for many women in Afghanistan, a country where domestic abuse can seem like the norm and women are often seen as little more than household chattel. Her killing has garnered broad condemnation - including from the US and from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In Kabul, the attorney general's office said Mangal had filed a complaint saying she was ...
Justice A K Sikri appointed NBSA Chairperson
Former Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Sikri has been appointed Chairperson of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA). He will assume office on May 26 and succeed Justice R.V. Raveendran who completes his term on May 25.
Teen pregnancy major challenge in India, strongly linked to child stunting: Study
Children born to teenage mothers are more likely to be undernourished than children of adult mothers, explained a new study which examined links between teenage pregnancy and child undernutrition in India. The authors of the study, which was published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health recently, analysed data for 60,097 mother-child pairs and examined the extent to which teenage pregnancy is associated with child undernutrition. They also explored potential social, biological and programmatic factors linking early pregnancy to child undernutrition. 'Social, biological and programmatic factors link adolescent pregnancy to early childhood undernutrition: a path analysis of India's 2016 National Family and Health Survey', is co-authored by IFPRI's Phuong Hong Nguyen, Samuel Scott, Sumanta Neupane, and Purnima Menon and Lan Mai Tran of FHI360, a non-profit. India is home to more stunted children than any other country and is one of the ten countries with the largest burden of ...
Students detained for selling 'Modi pakodas' near PM's rally venue
Police on Tuesday detained around 12 college students for selling "Modi pakodas" wearing their degree robes near the venue of the prime minister's rally here. "We took 10 to 12 students in preventive custody. However, they were released after the rally was over," Sector 34 Station House Officer Baldev Kumar said. The students wearing the robes were selling pakodas named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their degrees Engineer, BA and LLB, near the venue he was to address a rally in support of BJP candidate Kirron Kher. Kher is contesting against Congress nominee and former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal for Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, which will vote on May 19. "We are here to welcome Modi ji for giving us new employment under pakoda yojana. We want to sell pakodas at Modi's rally, so that he knows how great it is to sell pakodas for the educated youth," a woman protester said. In January last year, Modi had asserted in a television interview that people earning Rs 200 a day ..
Congress annoyed that 'chaiwala' bringing reforms: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Congress was annoyed that a 'chaiwala' was bringing about reforms.