Page 68 - Social Issues
Semenya's case reflects broader dilemmas facing sports world
Caster Semenya's running career, jarred by an adverse court ruling on Wednesday, is unique in virtually all its details. Yet the dilemmas she has posed for the track-and-field establishment reflect how vast segments of the sports world are now wrestling with issues related to intersex and transgender athletes. The essence of the dilemma: How to minimize or eliminate discrimination while simultaneously ensuring that competitions are as fair as possible. The challenges faced by Olympic champion Semenya a South African woman who reportedly has some intersex traits differ in key respects from those confronting transgender women. But there are parallels as well, as evidenced in the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the sports world's highest court, The CAS ruled that Semenya and other female runners with unusually high testosterone must take medication to reduce their levels of the male sex hormone if they want to compete in certain events, notably the 400 and 800 ...
Over 40 people detained in Wednesday night raids in J&K
Over 40 people were taken into preventive custody by the police in raids in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian and Pulwama districts late on Wednesday night. The raids were carried out in villages in Tahab, Chewakalan, Vehil, Narwah in the two districts.
CRPF loses 15 times more personnel for non-combat reasons (IANS Exclusive)
Even as the CRPF has suffered several casualties in its fight against Maoists, factors such as heart attack, depression and mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue are much bigger cause of deaths in the paramilitary force, according to official data.
Concerned over minority persecution, EU threatens to suspend all subsidies to Pak
Expressing its concern over "persecution of religious minorities" in Pakistan, the European Union (EU) has threatened to suspend all subsidies and trade preferences to Islamabad if it does not take measures to "dismantle" its "discriminatory system".In a letter to Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, fifty-one members of the European Parliament said, "Over the last few years, religious extremist groups, often with the support of the Pakistani State, have grown in influence, further generating religious prejudices against minorities. Concomitantly, instances of attacks against minorities, their places of worship etc. have also increased year upon year.""As members of the European Parliament, we would wish to remind the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that the oppression of religious minorities violated the United Nations treaty on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which is the foundation for the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a ...
New York becomes first major US city to make jail phone calls free
New York has become the first major city in the United States to waive off charges for making phone calls from jail, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday (local time)."For too long have people in custody faced barriers to basic aspects of everyday life that can help create more humane jails. With free phone calls, we're ... ensuring that people in custody have the opportunity to remain connected to their lawyers, families and support networks that are so crucial to re-entry into one's community," CNN quoted Blasio, as saying.The measure came into effect on Wednesday after being passed last year by the city council.Inmates were previously charged 50 cents for the first minute of a phone call and 5 cents for every additional minute.Earlier, detainees were allowed three calls a week and those sentenced got two calls a week. Under the new rule, inmates can make free calls totalling to 21 minutes for every three hours to anywhere in the United States.
Clash erupts between police, protesters in Paris May Day rally
A fresh wave of Yellow Vest protests hit France on Wednesday (local time), as thousands of people used the annual May Day rally to protest against French President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies.Police resorted to using tear gas and sting grenades to control the crowd gathering near Paris' Montparnasse train station. The protesters responded by throwing bottles and firecrackers at the police, reported TASS news agency.The demonstrations entered into their 25th week, despite Macron, at a press conference last week, announcing a string of proposals aimed at pacifying the protesters.Macron had pledged a "significant" cut in income tax, especially for the "middle-class", and vowed to implement a bulk of other reforms.According to French authorities, 165 protesters were arrested on Wednesday.Demonstrators donning yellow vests have been taking to streets across France since November 17, to protest against rising fuel prices and Macron's policies. Calls for the President's resignation ..
White House wants $4.5 billion in emergency border funding
The Trump administration on Wednesday asked Congress for an additional USD 4.5 billion in emergency funds for the US-Mexico border as the administration contends with a surge of Central American migrant families, with the bulk of the funding for shelter and care. The number of families and children arriving alone to the border is outpacing the number of single adults, and their needs are much different. The US is on track to have as many as 1 million crossing this year, the highest since the early 2000s, when mostly single men from Mexico crossed and were easily returned. Border stations were not constructed to handle such a large volume of children and families, and they have been pushed to the breaking point. But getting Democrats and Republicans to agree on the matter has been a challenge, partly because of President Donald Trump's hardline rhetoric on immigration. It's not clear whether Congress will approve such a request, especially because it comes on the heels of the longest ..
Over 200 duped of money by gang impersonating insurance firm employees
Three men were arrested for duping crores of rupees from over 200 people across India by impersonating employees of insurance firms and making their victims invest in bogus policies, police said Wednesday. Vikas Tyagi (31), Rahul Tyagi (34) and Sonu Kumar (30) operated from a call centre in Vasundhara area of Ghaziabad. They used to induce people by promising them handsome returns on their deposits. A victim told police that a person had called him in 2013 and identified himself as Rajeev Mittal. Mittal told the victim that he was an employee of ING Vysya Bank Ltd in Karol Bagh. The caller urged him to invest in a lucrative one-time insurance policy, Mandeep Singh Randhawa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), said. The victim invested a sum of Rs 12,96,000 but later came to know that no such policy existed. When he contacted Mittal, he was asked to contact another person, Niranjan Aggarwal, who was working at Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India, he said. Aggarwal .
Hope people vote for BJP to retain PM Modi in power: Nitish Kumar
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday campaigned for Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate Ajay Nishad here and said that people should vote for the BJP candidate so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi forms the government at the Centre again."I hope that on May 6, people make Ajay Nishad victorious in the Lok Sabha Polls so that PM Modi's government is formed at the centre," said Kumar while speaking at an election rally here.Praising Prime Minister Modi led NDA government, Kumar said: " The Prime Minister has worked for development and acted against terrorism. PM Modi's government has worked for poor people, particularly for women."Through Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojna, the benefits have reached to rural poor women. Ayushman Bharat Yojna has also helped the poor by providing the farmers with insurance. Under the Kisan Samman Nidhi programme, Rs 6000 is paid to every farmer per year,"Praising the Modi government, Kumar said: "Modi government has helped Bihar to face its ...
NCPCR writes to EC over video showing children abusing PM Modi in presence of Priyanka Gandhi
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written to the Election Commission of India regarding a video in which children were seen using abusive language for Prime Minister Narendra Modi before Congress General Secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.In its letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, NCPCR stated, "The Commission is in receipt of a complaint, wherein a video link has been shared, in which it is seen that children are actively participating in election campaigning. The children can be seen making derogatory remarks and using abusive languages in the presence of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi."The commission went on to add that in a letter on January 20, 2017, it had asked EC "to ensure that children are not involved for election purposes and also, had recommended to all national parties to not to use children for distribution of posters/pamphlets, participate in slogan shouting, rallies etc."NCPCR has now ...
After BJP Gujarat chief, EC bars Congress state president from campaigning
The Election Commission Wednesday barred the Gujarat state unit chief of Congress from campaigning for 72 hours for using "abusive language". The EC said Babubhai Rayka used "intemperate and abusive language transgressing the limits of decency" when addressing party workers and voters on April 11. The poll panel reprimanded him and barred him for three days beginning 4pm on May 2 till May 5 from holding public campaign "anywhere in India". On Tuesday, the Commission had barred BJP's Gujarat unit chief Jitubhai Vaghani from campaigning for 72 hours for using "intemperate and abusive language" at an election meet. The Lok Sabha election in Gujarat was held in a single phase on April 23 in the third phase. Regarding the "booth jitao, naukri pao" statement by Madhya Pradesh minister P C Sharma on April 3 in Bhopal when addressing party workers, the Commission decided that "no further action" is required to be taken by it since an FIR against him and others has already been lodged on April
Oppn continues stir over bungling of intermediate exam results
Congress, BJP and other opposition parties in Telangana continued their protests Wednesday against the alleged errors in declaration of intermediate examination results that had led to suicide of some students. Hitting out at the opposition, the ruling TRS working president K T Rama Rao accused them of politicising the issue concerning students and appealed to the students not to take the extreme step. Taking exception to opposition parties making allegations of corruption linking him to a private firm, he said he would have to go to court and file a defamation suit against those making baseless allegations. State BJP president K Laxman, who has been shifted by the police to a state-run hospital hours after launching an indefinite fast on April 29, continued his fast in the hospital for the third day. Intensifying its protests, BJP has called for a state-wide bandh Thursday. Charging the TRS government with trying to put down protests and not taking action against those
Compulsory voting worth a try in India, says NITI CEO
India can consider making voting compulsory like in Australia to encourage rich and middle class to cast their ballots, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said Wednesday. Kant's statement comes against the backdrop of low voting turnout witnessed in several urban areas of India in ongoing general elections. In Mumbai, less than 52 per cent voting was witnessed in the Lok Sabha polls held on April 29. "Australia too is in the midst of its federal elections. Voting is compulsory and those who do not vote are fined USD 20. "In case of non-payment, you can be taken to court and liable to be jailed. Seeing the apathy of rich and middle-class voters in urban cities of India this is worth a try," he said in a tweet. The issue of compulsory voting has cropped up several times within and outside Parliament. In February last year, while responding to a private member's bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on compulsory voting, then Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had said though he appreciated the ...
After 29 years, Kashmiri Pandit re-opens shop in Srinagar
For Roshan Lal Mawa, 72, the return journey to his roots in the Zaina Kadal area in the old city was no cakewalk.
HC seeks Delhi's response on labour welfare plea
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to file response on a plea seeking formulation of welfare schemes for the unorganised workers in the national capital.
Suicide attempts by poisoning on rise among US youth
Suicide attempts by poisoning among youngsters have more than doubled, and more than tripled for girls and young women in the last one decade in the US, says a study.
Man commits suicide by jumping in front of metro train in Dwarka
A civic agency worker allegedly committed suicide Wednesday by jumping in front of a metro train at the Dwarka Sector 9 station on the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, officials said. The incident lead to a brief delay in services on the route, they said. The man, identified as 50-year-old Anil Kumar, jumped on the track around 10.18 am and sustained severe injuries. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died, police said. The victim, a resident of Palam, used to work for the MCD, officials said, adding that while no suicide note was found on him, his son told police that he (Anil Kumar) was suffering from depression. According to the DMRC, there was a delay following the incident but services were later restored. The Blue Line of the DMRC connects Dwarka Sector-21 to Noida City Centre/Vaishali.
Nyay will remonetise economy, won't burden middle class: Rahul
Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said the Nyay minimum income guarantee scheme proposed by his [arty will remonetise the economy, which he said has been adversely affected by demonetisation. He was addressing a public meeting here in support of Congress candidate from Hoshangabad Lok Sabha seat, Diwan Shailendra Singh. "Nyay scheme (Nyuntam Aay Yojna) will remonetise the country's economy as it will give money to people and will give them purchasing power. "Demonetisation affected the nation's economy as people were left with no money," Gandhi said. Under Nyay, the Congress has promised that Rs 6,000 will be given to poor families every month. "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi said the Congress would take money from the middle class and give to the poor (to implement Nyay). Narendra Modi ji, you lied again. Not a single paisa will come from the middle class for the Nyay scheme," Gandhi told the gathering. "It will come from Anil (Ambani), Mehul (Choksi), Nirav ...
Will continue crackdown on child sexual abuse content on platform: WhatsApp to IT Min
WhatsApp has told the IT ministry it takes reports of child sexual abuse material on its platform "very seriously" and will continue to ensure that effective action is initiated as soon as exploitative content is reported to it, according to a source. The IT ministry had last week drawn attention of the Facebook-owned company to a recent report which claimed that the platform is being used to share child sexual abuse videos and had asked it to take steps to prevent such misuse. The ministry's move came after a report by Cyber Peace Foundation allegedly found that chat groups on WhatsApp continue to be created and used to disseminate and share Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in India. In its response, WhatsApp has sought to assure the IT ministry that it will continue to be "vigilant" on the critical issue of child sexual abuse and also expressed a keen desire to take part in any public awareness campaign that the ministry organises in this regard, a source privy to the matter ...
Performance of 'govt' below par on several parameters: Survey
The performance of the "government" as regards the three top priorities of voters -- traffic congestion, pollution and better employment opportunities -- has been below average, according to a survey carried out by an NGO. The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) carried out a voter survey titled "NCT of Delhi Survey 2018" to identify three things -- voters' priorities on specific governance issues, voters' ratings of the government's performance on those issues and factors influencing voting behaviour -- ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The survey was conducted between October, 2018 and December, 2018. It covered approximately 3,500 respondents across the seven parliamentary constituencies of the national capital. According to a representative of the NGO, the questions in the survey were "not specific to any particular government". The performance of the "government" on all top three voters' priorities of traffic congestion (2.27 on a scale of 5), water and air pollution (2.29) and ..