Page 71 - Social Issues
Venezuela crisis: Over 3 lakh children forced to live in neighbouring countries, says UN
The United Nations on Monday said that nearly 327,000 children from Venezuela are living as migrants and refugees in Colombia due to lack of healthcare and education facilities in their own country."At a time when anti-migrant sentiment is growing worldwide, Colombia has generously kept its doors open to its neighbours from Venezuela," said Paloma Escudero, Director of Communication at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), after completing a four-day visit to Cucuta, on the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela.The economic and political situation in Venezuela has caused an estimated 3.7 million Venezuelans to leave their homes and move to Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and other countries in the region, the UN said in a report. Around 1.2 million of them are in Colombia, often living in vulnerable host communities with already overstretched resources, said UNICEF.Escudero said, "As more families make the painful decision to leave their homes in Venezuela every day, it ..
World sees "groundswell of intolerance", hate-based violence against various faiths: UN chief
The world is seeing a "groundswell of intolerance" and hate-based violence against people of various faiths, and this "venom" is directed at anyone considered "the other", the UN chief has said, warning that parts of the internet were becoming "hothouses of hate". UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' remarks have come in the wake of a series of attacks against mosques, synagogues and other places of worship in the recent past, including the Easter Sunday bombings targeting three churches in Sri Lanka that killed more than 250 people. A gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle on Sunday entered a synagogue in Poway in California, some 40 kilometres north of San Diego, yelling anti-Semitic slurs and opened fire, killing one woman, and wounding the rabbi and two others. Six people, including a pastor, were killed in an attack on a church in Burkina Faso on Sunday. Last month, 50 worshippers were gunned down at two mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand. "Around the world, we are seeing .
Trump introduces sweeping changes to asylum
US President Donald Trump has announced a plan for sweeping immigration changes that take direct aim at migrants seeking asylum.
UN aid chief: No progress so Rohingya can return to Myanmar
The UN humanitarian chief has said there has been "no progress" in dealing with the reasons why more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh from western Myanmar's Rakhine state. Mark Lowcock, who just returned from a visit to Bangladesh, said on Monday Myanmar has failed "to put in place confidence-building measures that would persuade people it's safe to go back." He said all the refugees he spoke to didn't think it was safe to return, and want to be assured of things like freedom of movement and access to education, jobs and services. Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be "Bengalis" from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights. The latest crisis began with attacks by an underground Rohingya insurgent group on Myanmar security personnel in August 2017 .
Pentagon to send 320 more troops to US-Mexico border
The US Defence Department announced Monday it would deploy around 320 additional troops to the southern border with Mexico to support immigration officials. The troops, set to deploy until the end of September, will add to around 2,900 active duty military and 2,000 National Guard members currently posted to the border. Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Davis said the troops would assist with transporting migrants, monitoring the welfare of migrants in custody and providing heating and meals. The troops are not tasked to perform any law enforcement functions. "In any situation that requires DoD personnel to be in proximity to migrants, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) law enforcement personnel will be present to conduct all custodial and law enforcement functions," Davis said. In recent months, thousands of migrants have arrived in Mexico, primarily Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence at home. US President Donald Trump has described them as a threat to ...
UN calls for global effort against racism, xenophobia
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned against "a disturbing groundswell" of intolerance and hate-based violence targeting worshippers of many faiths.
Jaitley says Rahul, Digvijaya suddenly discovered religiosity
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday alleged that Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh had "suddenly" discovered religiosity and said elections are a "convenient season for all the neo-converts".
France deports 60 Sri Lankans from Indian Ocean island
Half of a group of 120 Sri Lankan migrants who arrived on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion two weeks ago were deported early on Monday, officials said. The group of 60, including three women and three children, were flown back to Sri Lanka in a special flight, the island's prefecture said in a statement. The group of 120 migrants arrived at Reunion on April 13, having made the 4,000-kilometre trip in a fishing boat. They each paid 2,000-5,000 euros (USD 2,230-USD 5,580) for the crossing. The fishing boat's three Indonesian crew members have been charged with assisting illegal immigration. Remanded in custody, they are scheduled to appear in court on May 15. Since March 2018, 273 Sri Lankans have arrived on Reunion Island, of whom 130 are still there. They are waiting for OFPRA (the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) to rule on their asylum applications. All the others have been sent back to Sri Lanka. "There are clearly illegal immigration ...
Ahmedabad: Traffic junction CCTVs being used to nab spitters
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has begun issuing e-memos to people caught spitting by CCTV cameras installed at traffic signals, in what officials called a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. The first such e-memo was issued on Saturday last week, said officials. "Cameras installed at traffic junctions capture images of a person spitting on the road from his vehicle. The owner is identified on the basis of the vehicle number from the government database," explained an Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation official. "An e-memo is issued in his name and he is required to pay a fine of Rs 100 at the nearest civic centre," he said, adding that it was being helmed by the civic body's Solid Waste department. "A lot of people are seen spitting on the roads from their vehicles while driving or waiting at traffic signals," he added. "The e-memos, issued as per public health by-laws 2012, are sent to the addresses of the people caught spitting. The AMC has become the ...
Punjab adds 4.68 lakh new voters to its electoral roll
Punjab has added over 4.68 lakh new voters to its electoral roll in last three months. "As many as 4,68,059 voters have been enrolled as new voters in the electoral rolls of Punjab since January 31 till April 19, 2019, Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said in a statement here The new voters enrolled during this period include 1,128 non-resident Indians of which 895 are men and 233 women, he said. Similarly, 2,20,886 male and 2,45,898 female voters have been registered themselves in electoral rolls, besides 147 new voters of third gender, he said. The CEO said out of total 2,07,81,211 voters in Punjab, 1,09,50735 are male and 98,29,916 are female voters.
Mumbai LS poll: Sakhi booths, ramp facilities garner praise
Actor Anushka Sharma, who cast her vote in an all-women "sakhi" polling booth in Versova, part of the Mumbai North West parliamentary constituency, was pleasantly surprised to get a kokam sharbat and a sanitary napkin packet. As part of an Election Commission initiative to encourage women voters and honour women power, "sakhi" polling booths, staffed entirely by women officials, have been set up in which women voters are given a sanitary napkin packet and kokam juice post voting, an official said. These booths have been decorated with balloons and rangoli as well, he added. The official said Sharma appreciated the gesture and also clicked pictures with the women staff there. The arrangements at polling booths for people with disabilities (PwD) also came in for praise. Voter Ketna Mehta of Sion said, "My brother and sister in law accompanied me by car to the nearby polling station in Sion, Mumbai around 2.30 pm. The entire police contingent and government staff were so ...
Majority bashers proclaiming themselves as proud Hindus: Jailtey on Rahul, Digvijaya
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Monday took dig at Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh saying fear of backlash has prompted "majority bashers" to proclaim themselves as "proud" Hindus. "Elections, after all, are a convenient season for all the neo-converts," the senior BJP leader said stressing that aspirational middle-class, which is religiously inclined without being communal, will not accept "majority bashing" as the definition of secularism. During elections, even atheist are wearing their religion and caste on their sleeves, he said. Without getting into the larger issue of whether a person can inherit his grandmother's caste, the Congress has suddenly decided to proclaim its President Rahul Gandhi as "Janeu-dhari Brahmin", Jaitley said. "He has now been declared as 'Shiv Bhakt'. He does not miss an opportunity to visit temples and makes an event out of each such programmes. His religious orientation was not visible in either 2004, 2009 or 2014," he said as the ...
US-Mexico border is like Disneyland: Trump
President Donald Trump has said that there are so many migrants crossing into the US territory illegally that "it's like Disneyland now." The Trump administration threatened to close the US-Mexico border, but backed off on the threat at the beginning of April after an outcry from congressional and business leaders. Trump has often blamed Mexico for the growing flow of illegal migrants entering the US and said they were a major source of drug trafficking and other crimes. Trump on Sunday lamented his administration's decision to stop the practice of separating families illegally crossing the, calling it "the worst immigration laws ever, incompetent, they're there for a long time." "When they used to separate children, which was done during the Obama administration, with Bush, with us, with everybody, far fewer people would come," Trump said during Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures,'. "The problem is you have 10 times as many people coming up with their families. It's like Disneyland ...
Where's the jobs? Rahul asks youths wearing 'main bhi chowkidar' T-shirts at rally
Youths wearing T-shirts with the BJP's "main bhi chowkidar" slogan at a rally on Monday caught the attention of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who asked them about the 2 crore jobs promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing a public meeting in Sardarshahar town of Rajasthan's Churu district, Gandhi acknowledged the presence of some youths who were wearing the T-shirts having the "main bhi chowkidar" (I, too, am a watchman) slogan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "You are wearing T-shirt of the 'chowkidar' (watchman). You all are welcome here," Gandhi said. The Congress chief first said Modi had promised Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of all Indians and asked whether anyone present in the rally had received the amount. "'Chowkidar' ji had also promised 2 crore jobs. Anyone among you got the jobs?" Gandhi asked, pointing to the youths who were wearing the T-shirts. Describing demonetisation and the goods and services tax as an attack on the country's economy and ...
Karnal: Rising destination for senior living
Elder care is a relatively new concept in India. As a traditional society where cohabitation with parents and relatives in a joint family was largely the norm, the concept of assisted living was restricted to "old age homes" which were not entirely free of a degree of the associated stigma.As urbanization of India continues at a breakneck pace, young Indians are migrating to major metropolises, or even out of the country in search of better opportunities in education, white collar jobs and life quality. They are also leaving behind a generation of elders, parents, even grandparents who deserve a life of ease and dignity, but are increasingly being left vulnerable to crime and loneliness.The scope and impact of this problem become clear with a look at the census data for aging Indians. Per the 2011 census, there were 103.8 million Indian citizens above the age of 60 in 2011. This number was expected to reach 173 million by 2026, and by 2050, 25 per cent of Indian citizens would be aged
Telangana intermediate results goof-up: Police detain Congress leaders, members of student bodies
Congress leader Geeta Reddy and several other Opposition leaders were on Monday arrested by the Telangana police after they protested against the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) over the alleged goof-up in the intermediate exam results.They protested in front of the BIE office in Namapally. Besides them, student welfare organisation members have also been arrested.The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also staged a protest at Pragathi Bhavan, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao camp office in Begumpet, demanding justice to the intermediate students who failed, and few of them who committed suicide.Heavy police force was deployed at the camp office after which they shifted the ABVP members to various police stations from the spot. Police brought the situation under control.Over three lakh students reportedly failed in the intermediate exams conducted by the BIE in the state. This led to protests by students and parents alleging large-scale discrepancies in the ..
Maha LS polls: Booths decked up for better polling experience
Balloons and colourful rangolis welcomed voters at some of the polling booths across the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra where polling is underway in the fourth and final phase Monday. As part of an initiative by the Election Commission of India to make polling a pleasant experience, certain booths were selected in every Lok Sabha constituency for decoration with local help. "The whole idea is to make voting a pleasant experience. We cannot put pandals due to several restrictions, but using colours and rangolis would bring some relief to voters, who wait for hours in scorching heat to exercise their right," an ECI official said. Voting is underway at Nandurbar, Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai-North, Mumbai-North West, Mumbai-North East, Mumbai-North Central, Mumbai-South Central, Mumbai- South, Maval, Shirur and Shirdi. The ECI had said more than two lakh people have registered for some help from officials to cast vote on its
UN warns of worsening humanitarian situation in Libya
Fierce fighting for control of Libya's capital that has already displaced tens of thousands of people threatens to bring a further worsening of humanitarian conditions, a senior UN official has warned. "As long as the situation continues, even if it just stagnates and continues like this, we can expect to see a continuing deterioration," UN humanitarian coordinator for Libya Maria do Valle Ribeiro told AFP. Strongman Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) launched an offensive against Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), on April 4. "When we see the use of air power, the indiscriminate shelling of densely populated areas, it is very difficult to be optimistic," do Valle Ribeiro, who is also the deputy UN envoy to Libya, said late Sunday. She was speaking after air raids by the LNA on Tripoli on Saturday killed four people and wounded 20 others, according to the GNA. "We continue to call for a respect of civilians, we
15 nabs suspected drug addicts from two Kathua villages
Fifteen suspected drug addicts, mostly belonging to neighbouring Punjab, have been detained by Jammu and Kashmir police, said officials Monday. The youths were nabbed in a series of raids in two villages of Kathua border district in a special drive against drug abuse, they said. Police teams conducted raids in Chak Drab Khan and Badala villages and rounded up 15 suspects in these raids, they said. On questioning, they could not give any valid reason for their presence in those villages, police said, adding most of them are suspected to be drug addicts. Officials said these suspects were mostly found to be Punjab residents, besides some other areas. Kathua police station has initiated legal actions under relevant sections of law against them.
US builds migrant 'tent city' in Texas
The US government has begun erecting tents close to the border with Mexico in the state of Texas to house detained migrants, the media reported on Monday.