Page 78 - Social Issues

A transwoman is also a bride under Hindu Marriage Act: HC

In an important ruling, the Madras High Court bench here has held that as per the Hindu Marriage Act, a transsexual is also a "bride" and the term would not necessarily refer only to a woman. Justice G R Swaminathan gave the ruling on a petition filed by a man and a transwoman who approached the court after officials refused to register their marriage held in Tuticorin last October. Allowing the petition Monday, he directed the Registration Department officials to register the marriage of the petitioners. Voicing concern over the plight of transgender people, who, he said, suffered from stigma and are forced to leave their homes, the judge directed the Tamil Nadu government to issue an order banning sex reassignment surgeries on inter-sex infants and children. Quoting from epics Mahabharatha and Ramayana, as well as from Supreme Court rulings, the judge said the word 'bride' could not have a static or immutable meaning and would have to include a transwoman. He rejected the contention

BJP's Muslim faces chose not to campaign on triple talaq plank

Hoping to break the party's anti-minority image with their messaging, the BJP's two Muslim candidates say their outreach was not based on the triple talaq poll plank but on issues such as domestic violence and the need to educate women in the community. Humayun Kabir, contesting from the Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat, and Mafuja Khatun, who is fighting from Jangipur, are the party's only two Muslim candidates in its list of 42 for the state. While Kabir is a former Trinamool Congress minister, Mafuja is a two-time CPI(M) legislator. Both Jangipur and Murshidabad are voting on Tuesday in the third round of the seven-phase election. The BJP made triple talaq one of its major poll planks in this election but Kabir and Mafuja said they were not keen on highlighting the issue as it may not have yielded results. Basic issues such as the need to empower Muslim women and end domestic violence will be more effective in mobilising votes of the community which forms nearly 30 per cent of West ...

Migrant worker found dead in Coimbatore

A 23-year-old migrant worker from West Bengal was found dead with the body hanging from a tree near Ettimadai on the city outskirts early Tuesday, police said. Preliminary investigations revealed that Sooran Marx, a native of Birbhum district in West Bengal was working with a private firm in Kerala. He had left his village on April 19 to join duty, they said. The body bore injuries on the head and neck, they added. Further investigations are on, police said.

Playing video games may harm girls' social skills: Study

Interactive video games are more likely to harm social skills of young girls than thei male peers who play frequently, a study claims. The popularity of interactive video games has sparked concern among parents, educators, and policymakers about how the games affect children and adolescents. Most research on the effect of gaming on youth has focused on problematic gaming and negative effects like aggression, anxiety, and depression. Researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and University of California, Davis in the US looked at how playing video games affects the social skills of 6- to 12-year-olds. It found that playing the games affected youth differently by age and gender, but that generally speaking, gaming was not associated with social development. However, the researchers found that 10-year-old girls who played games frequently had less social competence than 12-year-olds than girls who played less frequently. "Our study may mitigate some concerns .

Video games affect girls more than boys: Study

Dear parents, please take note. When it comes to video gaming, girls in the 6-12 age group are at a heightened risk of developing less social competence than boys, warn researchers.

PIL seeks direction to Delhi govt to appoint one law officer for every jail

Section 6 of Delhi Prison Act, 2000 mandates that there shall be a Law Officer for every Jail

Congress workers protest Sinha's candidature

Congress workers in Bihar capital protested against Satrughan Sinha, the party candidate from Patna Sahib parliamentary cobstituency, on Monday for the second consecutive day.

Congress may field Yoganand Shastri from South Delhi

The Congress here on Monday announced six candidates for Delhi Lok Sabha seats, but is having a rethink on the name for the South Delhi constituency, party sources said.

Svayam stirs up a conversation on accessibility with #YahanSeWahanTak

In its quest to stir up a meaningful conversation on accessibility, Svayam, a leading accessibility organisation founded by Sminu Jindal, launched #YahanSeWahanTak, a movement to create an India where all Indians have uninterrupted access to mobility.Sminu Jindal believes that the new India that is being designed by people has to be inclusive of all Indians. We cannot leave behind children with injury, elderly, pregnant women and people with disability. All of us face issues of accessibility once or multiple times in our lives. Therefore, #YahanSeWahanTak drives the conversation, where all of us have uninterrupted mobility to reach our fullest potential."Equal opportunity can only exist with uninterrupted mobility. We have to lift all Indians and give them access to equal opportunity", said Jindal.#YahanSeWahanTak recognises all Indians are inevitably a part of a growing economy. All of us contribute to this growth story by our everyday activity such as sports, education, tourism, and

Bajaj Allianz launches Total Health Secure Goal plan

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance in collaboration Wednesday launched their first product 'Total Health Secure Goal'. "This insurance plan is designed to take care of customers' health and life goals, through one comprehensive insurance policy. Thus, removing hassles of maintaining two separate policies," a joint statement said. The new insurance product is a combination of two existing plans - Health Guard policy by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, and iSecure from Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, it said. This combined plan offers customers an additional 5 per cent discount on the total premium payable and provides flexibility of availing service or communication on the product from either of the companies, it added. Commenting on the product, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance MD Tapan Singhel said the product provides a 360 degree insurance solution and ensures that health and security needs of the customer are taken care of without exhausting their ...

Three held for attack on bus passengers in Kerala

Three people, including manager of a private bus company operating inter-state bus services, have been taken into custody in connection with the alleged attack on three Bengaluru-bound passengers here, police said Monday. The Kochi City police commissioner ordered seizure of the bus owned by Kallada Travels after visuals of the attack, shot by a passenger, went viral on social media, leading to widespread protests in the state. Top police officials also promised strong legal against the bus owner and his erring staff. Two people allegedly involved in the incident and manager of the firm have been taken into custody, police said. The passengers complained they were attacked after they protested against the delay in arranging a substitute bus as the bus in which they were travelling broke down at Haripad in Alappuzha district. The three passengers were brutally attacked allegedly by men of the bus owner as the alternative bus which took the passengers reached the Vyttila office of the ..

Mafia Raj under Mamata Banerjee's rule in WB: Amit Shah

Lashing out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly running a "mafia raj" in the state, BJP president Monday claimed that the state has topped the chart in cow smuggling and become a safe haven for infiltrators. Urging the people to ensure that the BJP wins more than 23 out of 42 seats in the state, Shah said it would ensure that the syndicate raj ends within 90 days in Bengal. In West Bengal, 'syndicate' means the business run by persons allegedly enjoying political patronage, who force promoters and contractors to buy construction materials, often of inferior quality at high prices. "Mamata Banerjee led TMC is running a mafia raj in the state. The state has achieved the distinction of topping the chart in cow smuggling and turning the state into a safe haven for infiltrators," Shah claimed. Addressing a rally here, he accused Banerjee of making West Bengal a bankrupt state where only her relatives and TMC ministers have flourished. Shah alleged that

'Refugees in India won't face any problems due to NRC'

BJP President Amit Shah on Monday said the refugees in Bengal and elsewhere in the country will not face any problems due to the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC), as all of them will be given Indian citizenship through the Citizenship Amendment Bill before that.

South Africa still waiting on post-apartheid promises

The election 25 years ago of South Africa's first black president, the late Nelson Mandela, who inspired the struggle against apartheid, was a time of soaring hope that the bruised country would reconcile after decades of discrimination and inequality. "You have mandated us to change South Africa from a country in which the majority lived with little hope to one in which they can live and work with dignity, with a sense of self-esteem and confidence in the future," Mandela said at his inauguration. For many, it has not quite turned out like that. Instead, the euphoria of a fresh start and a better life has faded, turning to disillusionment and anger as the country prepares for a general election on May 8. The polls will be a severe test for the African National Congress which has held power virtually unchallenged in post-apartheid South Africa. Since 1994, far from narrowing differences, successive ANC governments have presided over an ever widening wealth gap to the point where South

CJ de Mooi 'dying from AIDS, facing homelessness'

Former Eggheads star CJ de Mooi has said that he is dying after spending years battling AIDS and he's about to be left homeless after being made bankrupt.

Why Sri Lanka does not trust social media platforms

Battling the spread of hate speech on social media platforms especially Facebook for long, the Sri Lanka government on Sunday once again "temporarily blocked" social media from spreading fake news in the wake of deadly suicide bombings in the island that killed 290 people.

Nominating Sadhvi Pragya absolutely right decision: Amit Shah

BJP national president Amit Shah Monday defended the party's decision to nominate Sadhvi Pragya as a Lok Sabha candidate saying the allegations against her are false and the real culprits in the Malegaon blast case have evaded the law. Sadhvi Pragya, who is out on bail in the Malegaon blast case of 2008, has been fielded by the BJP from Bhopal constituency. "It is absolutely a right decision. The allegations against her are baseless. Nothing against her or Swami Aseemanad have been proved," Shah said while addressing a media conference here. Claiming that the "real culprits" were let off after being arrested, he said, questions should be asked why they were released. Speaking on the contentious NRC and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Shah said refugees need not worry as after returning to power, the BJP will first bring the bill in Parliament and then implement the NRC across the country to weed out infiltrators. "The refugees will be given citizenship and they will .

Chinese workers demand release of labour rights activists

Some 100 Chinese workers suffering from a work-related disease have signed a petition demanding the release of three prominent activists in southern China amid a crackdown on labour activism. Wei Zhili and Ke Chengbing, editors of a labour rights news site that reported on the workers' cases, were arrested last month for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" -- a broad charge that Chinese authorities often use to sweep up activists and dissidents. Yang Zhengjun, editor-in-chief of the iLabour news site, has been in police detention since January. "They're not guilty -- they have caring hearts and because of that they face pressure from the government," said Gu Fuxiang, one of the workers who signed the petition. "I've been thinking, this isn't what my country is about. They should look after us," he told AFP. Hundreds of migrant workers, mainly from central Hunan province, protested last year for compensation in Shenzhen after contracting silicosis, a deadly lung disease, when they

Moroccans protest prison sentences of anti-poverty activists

Thousands of demonstrators marched in Morocco's capital to condemn lengthy prison sentences given to dozens of activists, including the leader of the Hirak Rif poverty-fighting movement. The demonstration on Sunday brought one of the main avenues of Rabat to a standstill. Security forces kept watch as participants sang, "The people want the detainees released" and "Long live Rif." Hirak leader Nasser Zefzafi was sentenced to the maximum prison term of 20 years for threatening state security. Zefzafi, seen as the movement's public face, was arrested in 2017. An appeals court upheld his sentence and those of other activists this month. Rif is the struggling region in northern Morocco where the Hirak movement was born in 2016, demanding development and job creation for the region. Relatives, human rights organizations and left-wing parties are demanding the imprisoned activists' immediate release. "They know they will die in prison," Zefzafi's father told The Associated Press. "The ...

Thousands protest in support of Morocco activists

Thousands of people demonstrated Sunday in the Moroccan capital Rabat, calling for the release of dozens of activists jailed for up to 20 years over their role in a protest movement. "The people want the release of the detainees" demonstrators shouted as they marched behind a banner supporting activists linked to the Hirak movement. Earlier this month a court upheld the ruling against 42 people linked to the Al-Hirak al-Shaabi -- or "Popular Movement" -- protests which took hold of the marginalised Rif region in October 2016. The rally, dubbed the "march of the Moroccan people: stop political injustice", was organised by detainees' families along with political and rights groups. AFP reporters saw thousands of people in the streets, some clutching photographs of those serving jail terms ranging from one to 20 years. "We call for an end to political arrests and for the release of all detainees (linked to) social movements and a response to their legitimate demands," said activist ...