Page 74 - Social Issues
Telangana: Intermediate student commits suicide after failing in exam
A 17-year-old intermediate student allegedly committed suicide after she failed in the Zoology subject here, said police on Saturday.M Somanadham, circle inspector, Marikal police station told ANI: "On Saturday morning around 9 am, Sirisha, who was 17-years-old, committed suicide as she failed in Zoology subject in the intermediate first year by pouring kerosene and setting herself ablaze in her residence.""She then jumped off from the first floor. She died on the spot and her dead body was sent to Narayanpet central government hospital for post-mortem examination," he added.The incident was reported in the limits of Dhanwada police station. "A case has been registered under section 174 CrPC and further probe is on," the circle inspector said.Over three lakh students reportedly failed in the intermediate exams conducted by the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) in the state. This led to protests by students and parents alleging large-scale discrepancies in the examination ...
Border Patrol expands fingerprinting of migrant children
US border authorities say they've started to increase the biometric data they take from children 13 years old and younger, including fingerprints, despite privacy concerns and government policy intended to restrict what can be collected from migrant youths. A Border Patrol official said this week that the agency had begun a pilot program to collect the biometrics of children with the permission of the adults accompanying them, though he did not specify where along the border it has been implemented. The Border Patrol also has a "rapid DNA pilot program" in the works, said Anthony Porvaznik, the chief patrol agent in Yuma, Arizona, in a video interview published by the Epoch Times newspaper. Spokesmen for the Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security did not return several messages from The Associated Press seeking comment on both programs. The Border Patrol says that in the last year, it's stopped roughly 3,100 adults and children fraudulently posing as families so they ...
UN slams shelling of civilian areas in Tripoli
The United Nations expressed concerns about the shelling of residential areas in Tripoli, with the UN spokesperson outlining that it "is completely unacceptable by any measure.""The United Nations is gravely concerned about the continued reports of indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas in Tripoli," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Friday (local time).He highlighted the need to protect civilians, calling for immediate and unconditional access for humanitarian partners."Our colleagues say the humanitarian situation in Tripoli continues to deteriorate with heavy fighting ongoing, including in populated areas," Xinhua quoted Dujarric as saying.He added that due to damaged infrastructure, civilians in conflict areas are facing electricity cuts and water shortages. Access to essential items like food, medicine and fuel has also been severely hampered, Dujarric said.According to the UN Migration Agency, around 39,000 people have been ...
Technology can lead to bullying, says Celine Dion
Veteran singer Celine Dion believes overuse of technology promotes bullying. The "My Heart Will Go On" singer said people no more have human connections and to make things better one has to use the technology in a smarter way. ''We don't look each other in the eye anymore, we don't touch and feel - it's partly down to technology and it can lead to bullying. Social media and technology is our life now. ''Can you imagine not having a phone or a computer? We have no choice but to use technology but we have to use it in a smart way," Dion told Hello! magazine. The singer said she makes sure her kids, Rene-Charles, 18, and twins Eddy and Nelson, eight, put their devices down and spend time with her. "Sometimes I say to Eddy, 'Put your phone down and look me in the eyes. How was your day?' Or, 'Hey! Where's my hug?' ''He's like, 'Here we go again', and they hate it but we need to force them to talk and write something," she said.
US driver targeted family because they looked Muslim: police
A California man who deliberately drove into a crowd of people, injuring eight, did so because he thought they were Muslim, police said Friday. The driver, 34-year-old Isaiah Peoples, reportedly targeted the family solely on their appearance, according to police in Sunnyvale, near San Francisco, who are now treating the case as a "hate crime". "There is new evidence that Peoples intentionally targeted victims based on their race and belief that they were Muslim," said Sunnyvale Public Security in a statement. According to local media, three members of the same family are among the eight pedestrians injured Tuesday -- a father and his son and daughter. The nationality and religion of the family have not been released. A lawyer for Peoples said the incident "was clearly the result of a mental disorder", and he would seek psychiatric treatment for his client -- who he described as a military veteran possibly suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
Maha Cong calls PM's Mumbai rally 'bunty and babli show'
The Maharashtra Congress Friday called the BJP-Sena rally here addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the "bunty and babli show" which people of the country would no longer believe in. In a statement, Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the country had witnessed 'bunty and babli' "duping" people and asked voters not to fall prey to them. Referring to the prime minister's remarks that all opinion polls and surveys predicted a win for the NDA, Sawant said it proved that all such surveys had been commissioned by the BJP itself. He attacked the PM for claiming that Congress had called the middle class of the country selfish and greedy. The Congress leader said people of Mumbai will never forget the insult heaped on martyred former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare by the BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur. "Modi didn't have the moral stand to apologise for her comments," Sawant added. Thakur, an accused in the 2008 .
Congress is invisible now, Modi says in Mumbai rally
Sharpening the attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Friday that the grand old party was invisible in the country now.
Plea in SC for guidelines to protect identity of persons on sexual offences allegation
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction for framing of guidelines to protect the identity, reputation and integrity of persons, who are accused of sexual offences allegations, till completion of probe on the veracity of such allegations. The plea has also sought a direction to the media to not disclose the identity of persons accused on allegations of sexual offences till completion of investigation by the competent agency. The petition, filed by Youth Bar Association of India, said that false accusation sometimes "destroy the entire life of an innocent person" and there have been instances where the accused who has been falsely implicated have even committed suicide. "It does not only destroy an individual's life but creates a social stigma to the family members too. Need of the hour demands that some preventive measures must be taken so as to avoid and to deal with such situations in the interest of justice," the plea said. The petition said it is well ...
EEPC India plans IPR cell to boost exporters' margins, profit
EEPC India on Friday urged engineering exporters to adopt intellectual property rights (IPR) to improve margins and profit. It is also going to set up an IPR cell under the aegis of the upcoming Kolkata Technology Centre. The cell would facilitate MSMEs in obtaining IPR, provide training and arrange awareness campaigns, EEPC India said in a statement. "Adoption of IPR to protect the innovative ideas and strategies is required in a highly competitive global economy, where pressure on businesses to follow IPR is increasing by the day, and more so from the large markets of the developed countries," Chairman Ravi Seghal said.
Mumbai LS poll: 40 polling booths to have all women staff
Mumbai and its suburbs will have 40 polling booths will all women staff, a first time step by the Election Commission to create awareness about women's empowerment, additional chief election officer Dilip Shinde said Friday. While 26 of these booths will be in the suburbs, the rest are in the island city, he said. Each booth will have a team of around six women to operate it, he said. "This is a unique idea that the district collector will be implementing. Each women voter who comes to these booths will get a pack of sanitary napkins," he said. He said the district administration has purchased 16,000 sanitary napkin packs for the purpose, adding that if some of the stock remain after voting, it will be given to tribal students. "So far, in the three phases of polls that have been completed, 186 women only polling booths were operated. An average of 1,500 votes are polled in one booth, which means a total of 2.79 lakh votes were polled in these booths," he said. In the ..
Myanmar unrest hampers UN access to Rohingya villages: official
New violence in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state has delayed a United Nations study on 1,000 villages abandoned by Muslim Rohingya, a top UN envoy said Friday. UN experts were only been able reach about 100 of the villages that the Rohingya fled after the Myanmar military launched a deadly crackdown in 2017, UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi said. Even in those villages access has been "very restricted", Grandi told reporters at the end of a tour of refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, where more than one million Rohingya now live. Riven by complex ethnic and religious divides, Rakhine is now witnessing deadly battles between the Myanmar army and the Arakan Army (AA), a group that claims to represent the state's ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and is vying for more autonomy. The AA has killed at least 22 police officers since fighting ramped up in January. The UN was to get access under an accord made with the Myanmar government last year to prepare for ...
Hearings end in Scarlett death case
Hearings ended on Friday in the appeal filed by the CBI against the acquittal of two beach-shack workers accused in 2008 of sexually assaulting and causing the death of British teenager Scarlett Keeling, the agency's special prosecutor said.
NYAY scheme a surgical strike on poverty: Rahul (Lead correcting intro)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday called NYAY scheme a surgical strike on poverty as he took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for growing unemployment in the country.
Qatar to abolish exit visa system by year's end: UN
Qatar is set to abolish its controversial exit visa system for all foreign workers by the end of the year, the UN's International Labour Organisation said Friday. Qatar has introduced a series of labour reforms since its selection as the 2022 World Cup host, with the event setting in motion a huge construction programme employing foreign workers. "Last year, the exit visa was eliminated for the majority of workers, this year, that will be extended to all remaining categories of workers," ILO's Houtan Homayounpour, head of the labour agency's project office in Doha, told AFP. In September 2018, Qatar approved legislation to scrap the "kafala", or sponsorship, system which required that foreign workers obtain permission from their employers to leave the country. In October, it went into force for all but five percent of a company's workforce -- reportedly those in the most senior positions. Homayounpour said "this year is a big year" for migrant workers and the exit visa system "will ...
Refugees from Muslim countries now find Sri Lanka less friendly
Life has again turned bitter for refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran in the wake of the Easter Sunday bloodbath in Sri Lanka.
NYAY scheme a surgical strike on poverty: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday called NYAY scheme a surgical strike on poverty as he took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for growing employment in the country.
Armenian trans activist gets death threats after speech
Armenias first registered transgender woman has said that she received death threats after making a historic speech in her countrys national assembly against discrimination meted out to the LGBTI in the country, the media reported on Friday.
SC adjourns plea seeking enhancement of compensation for acid attack victims
The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned for four weeks, hearing in a plea seeking direction to the Centre and others for enhancement of compensation and other rehabilitation steps for acid attack victims.A three-judge bench of the Apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi adjourned the plea filed by advocate Anuja Kapur for four weeks.During the previous hearing on February 15, the top court bench issued a notice to the Centre and all states seeking their response over the plea filed by Kapur seeking direction for increase of remuneration and immediate jobs, relief, medical infrastructure and other rehabilitation measures to acid attack victims.The apex court in its 2015 judgment had given a direction to the states to consider acid attack victims in the disabled category for jobs.According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there were 200 cases of acid attacks on women in 2016 alone, but NGOs have pegged it around 500-1000 across the country.The NALSA ...
In Varanasi, girl reaches out to PM Modi seeks help to free her father from jail
With a ray of hope in her eyes, a young girl on Friday reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking help to free her father from jail.Jyoti anxiously was standing in between the huge crowd of BJP workers in Varanasi when Prime Minister Modi was addressing the party workers ahead of the filing of his nomination from temple city for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.Meanwhile, Modi noticed her and asked one of his SPGs to enquire about her concern. Jyoti immediately handed over a letter to the guard and asked him to pass it on to the Prime Minister.Jyoti, while speaking to ANI, claimed that her father is innocent and was framed in a false case.Sharing her ordeal, an emotional Jyoti said, "I want Modi ji to do justice and help me to release my father from jail. My father is innocent and has done nothing. My father got married 35 years go to a girl. One year after marriage, she committed suicide and the girl's family held my father responsible for this. After 35, my father was ...
Thousands of tribals benefit from literacy drive in Kerala
Nearly 10,000 tribals, living in backward conditions, have been initiated into the world of letters in Kerala in the past two years, thanks to an epoch-making drive by a government agency. According to statistics, a total of 9,975 tribal people have been benefited from three programmes successfully implemented by the Kerala State Literacy Mission (KSLM) in various hamlets across the southern state during the period 2017-19. There has been a nine-fold increase in the number of beneficiaries from the literacy programme during the period, compared to the years 2015-17, it said. The initiatives-Wayanad Literacy Equivalency programme, Attappadi Literacy Equivalency and Samagra- had been launched with an aim to impact a change in the lives of the marginalised group through the literacy drive. Of the total beneficiaries, 7,565 were women, KSLM Director P S Sreekala said. As many as 4,309 tribals had been covered under the Wayanad Literacy Equivalency programme, implemented in ..