Page 11 - Social Issues
Lucknow: Activist files complaint against Waseem Rizvi; accuses him of assaulting his wife
A police complaint was registered against UP Shia Waqf Board chairman, Waseem Rizvi by a social activist on account of women harassment here on Tuesday.The complainant, Farhat Naqvi, alleged that Rizvi routinely beats his wife and keeps her as a captive. She said she had been receiving information about his wife's condition over the past 2-3 months and finally decided to meet her."I went to the Shia Yateem Khana to meet his wife to seek her well-being but was instead confronted with 15-20 goons sent by Rizvi who abused, attacked, and threatened me. Later on the premises, he contacted me through his servant's phone and threatened to kill me", she told ANI.Naqvi, president of Mera Haq foundation, now, also plans to register a complaint in National Commission for Women (NCW), UP state women commission, and also plans to take time from the Chief Minister to talk about the issue. "I hope that I get support from the authorities and UP Police takes action at the earliest," she added.Waseem ..
FinMin starts twitter quiz on Budget
In order to generate public interest in the Budget, the Finance Ministry has started a quiz series on twitter. The first question posed to the twitterati - 'When was the First General Budget of Independent India presented?' The ministry gave 4 options to the twitter users to vote. "Now that our General Budget 2019-20 is around the corner, it would be a good time to refresh our knowledge about it. Today we start with our first question. Let's see how many of us get it right," the ministry said. The first Budget of Independent India, it may be recalled, was presented by the then Finance Minister R K Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947. The full budget for 2019-20 will be presented in Parliament on July 5 by Finance Minster Nirmala Sitharaman.
Odisha orders litchi test after encephalitis deaths in Bihar
In view of the rising encephalitis deaths in Bihar, Odisha government on Tuesday directed officials to collect samples of litchi being sold in the market and test it for any toxins affecting human health.
Health Ministry to set up permanent multi-disciplinary group to look into AES/JE cases
As Bihar grapples with Acute Encephalitis Syndrome that has claimed 106 lives so far, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Tuesday decided to constitute a permanent multi-disciplinary group of experts at the Centre to monitor and formulate measures to be taken up in the event of such an outbreak. The central group will comprise experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), World Health Organisation (WHO), Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Women and Child Development along with experts of meteorology, nutrition and agricultural science. Vardhan also chaired a meeting of experts who deliberated upon the factors causing high child mortality in the reported Acute Encephalitis Syndrome/Japanese Encephalitis (AES/JE) cases in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar and the immediate measures to be taken up to prevent them. "We discussed the socio-economic profile of the ...
First-year premium income of the life insurance sector jumps 43.4% in May 2019
Life insurance policies sales declines 5.2% in May 2019
ASI dismissed from service for helping drug peddlers in Jalandhar
An assistant sub-inspector has been dismissed from service for allegedly conniving with drug peddlers here, police said Tuesday. Sarabjit Singh, posted in the Narcotics Cell, was a drug addict himself. He was found guilty of violating the service rules by helping the drug peddlers here, Jalandhar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said. "After a thorough inquiry, the accused has been dismissed from the service," he said. Bhullar said there was a zero tolerance policy against drugs. The Patiala Police on Monday dismissed 11 policemen, including six station house officers, from service for their alleged involvement in corruption and drug-related cases.
Unemployed graduates to get up to Rs 3,500 in R'sthan
Unemployed youth having graduation or equivalent degree will be given unemployment allowance up to Rs 3,500 by the Rajasthan government, an official statement said. They will get the benefit of the Chief Minister Yuva Sambal Yojana from February this year, the statement read. The state government has implemented the scheme from February this year after rechristening the earlier Akshat Yojana. To be eligible for the scheme, applicants should be natives of Rajasthan. Under the scheme, male applicants will get Rs 3,000 per month whereas women and differently-abled will get Rs 3,500 per month. The amount will be given for two years or until they get employed.
UN calls for 'independent' probe into death of Egypt's Morsi
The UN human rights office called Tuesday for an "independent inquiry" into the death of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who died in state custody. "Any sudden death in custody must be followed by a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body to clarify the cause of death," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Budget is more of poll manifesto, disappointing: Opposition
Opposition parties Tuesday dubbed the budget presented by the BJP-led Maharashtra government as "disappointing", saying it is full of pre-election populist announcements. Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented a budget with a revenue deficit of Rs 20,292.94 crore in the Assembly. "The government used this opportunity to make populist announcements ahead of elections...the right place to make such announcements is manifesto, not budget. We are disappointed," Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan told reporters. The Maharashtra Assembly polls are due in October. The government should have instead presented an account of what it plans to do for the next few months before the election, the former chief minister said. Citing the latest Economic Survey he said there was decline in manufacturing and agricultural sectors. "The investment in Maharashtra has gone down," Chavan added. State NCP chief Jayant Patil said the budget had nothing constructive. "Nothing is provided for .
Death of woman patient: Siddha doctors seek protection
As protests seeking the arrest of a Sidda practitioner over the death of a woman college student continued for the second day Tuesday, local Siddha Doctors Association rejected charge of misdiagnosis and sought protection for their members. A section of the government arts college students staged a demonstration here in front of the institution seeking immediate arrest of Siddha practitioner Gurunathan alleging that he was responsible for the death of their college-mate, police said. According to police, 20-year old Sathyapriya, suffering from menstrual problem for the last one year, had taken treatment from the Siddha doctor for some time, but there was no improvement in her condition. As her condition deteriorated last week, she was admitted to the government hospital here, where she died Monday, following which over 100 people, including her relatives, had staged a protest demanding action against Gurunathan. Even as the students held a demonstration Tuesday, around .
CBI books senior lawyer Anand Grover, his NGO for foreign aid irregularities
The CBI has booked noted lawyer Anand Grover and his Mumbai-based voluntary organisation, Lawyers Collective, for alleged violation of rules in receiving foreign aid, officials said on Tuesday. The agency has filed an FIR on the basis of a complaint from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has alleged several discrepancies in the utilisation of foreign aid received by the NGO. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Grover, the president of Lawyers Collective, and unidentified office-bearers of the organisation, besides unidentified officials. The allegation was strongly disputed by Lawyers Collective in a statement issued last month. Although the CBI has not named Grover's wife and former additional solicitor general (ASG) Indira Jaising as an accused in the FIR, the complaint filed by the ministry, which is now part of the FIR, mentions allegations against her. The ministry has alleged that Jaising, as the ASG from 2009 to 2014, had received remunerations worth Rs
Maha govt announces scheme for smokeless kitchens
A pilot project aimed at providing smoke-free environment in the kitchen for women will be launched by the Maharashtra government, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar announced in his Budget speech Tuesday. The project, named "Chullah (wood-fired stove)-free and smoke-free Maharashtra", will target the women who have not benefited under the Ujjwala or any other LPG distribution scheme, he said. The pilot project will be implemented in Naxal- affected areas as well as the districts where farmer suicide rate is high, Mungantiwar said.
Centre asks Mizoram to deport back Myanmar refugees
The Union Home Ministry has asked the Mizoram government to immediately deport 220 Myanmarese nationals back to Myanmar, officials said on Tuesday.
Taxi driver suspended for failure to help Indian-origin disabled passenger at UK temple
A taxi driver in the UK has been suspended "indefinitely" after an elderly Indian-origin wheelchair user was "humiliated and insulted" when he refused to assist her down the ramp at a temple in the city of Leicester. Saroj Seth, who had her right leg amputated three years ago, asked for help to get into the vehicle after visiting the Shree Geeta Bhavan Temple on Clarendon Park Road in the East Midlands city. But the 78-year-old former magistrate said she was left "humiliated and insulted" when the driver refused the assistance and drove off. "There was no compassion, no kindness," said Seth, who was awarded an Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to community cohesion in Leicester in 2011. "He said 'no, it is a liability to take a disabled person' and said he was not going to touch the wheelchair. He didn't want to come near me and stood by his car," she told the BBC. "That incident left me very angry that with all my hard work, people ...
Rakuten Social Accelerator to launch in India
Rakuten, Inc, a global leader in internet services headquartered in Tokyo, today announced that its social innovation initiative, Rakuten Social Accelerator, is expanding globally with the launch of the program at its Development and Operations Center in Bengaluru, Rakuten India.Drawing on the success of the program launched in Japan during 2018, Rakuten India selected three local non-profit organizations, Robin Hood Army, Wildlife SOS and Samarpana Charitable Trust for The Disabled, as inaugural partners for 2019.By working with Rakuten, these partners will be able to make full use of the company's global portfolio of online services and brand visibility, as well as gain access to industry talent to move their business plans forward at a previously unattainable scale."I am thrilled with the launch of Rakuten Social Accelerator in India," said Narendra Narayana, Chief Operating Officer, Rakuten India."Rakuten is built on a philosophy of empowering society and through this program; our
Over 2.4k HIV deaths in Maha in 11 months: Minister
Maharashtra Health Minister Eknath Shinde Tuesday said over 2,400 people in the state have died of HIV infection in the past one year. He was responding to a question raised by Shiv Sena MLA Vilas Potnis. "Between April 1 last year and February this year, 2,460 people have died (of HIV infection) in Maharashtra. However, the government has not stopped the process of carrying out determination tests of suspected people. The required funding for the scheme is still on," Shinde said. There has been no delay in implementation of any measure laid down by the National Aids Society of India, said Shinde.
300,000 flee violence in northeast DR Congo: UN
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled inter-ethnic violence in northeastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two weeks, the United Nations said Tuesday. "This latest flare-up has sent more than 300,000 people into displacement," Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva. The situation in DRC's volatile Ituri Province had deteriorated significantly since the middle of last week, with "multiple attacks" involving the Hema and Lendu groups, he said. The cause of the flareup was not immediately clear, but it occurred in a region where tens of thousands died in clashes between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups between 1999 and 2003. Baloch pointed out that attacks between the two communities had also displaced some 350,000 in late 2017 and early 2018, "but the situation had calmed". He said that "large-scale displacement" had been reported in three of Ituri's five administrative territories, with people fleeing attacks and counter
Activists protest outside Bihar Bhawan, seek Nitish Kumar's resignation over deaths of children
Several activists from different organisations staged a protest outside the Bihar Bhawan here Tuesday and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as more than 100 children have died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the state. They accused the Centre and the Bihar government of not being serious about containing the outbreak, and said the healthcare system in the state was mismanaged. Many held placards with the message "Give adequate compensation to affected families". Other banners asked Kumar and Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey to resign. "Ayushman (Bharat) ki jumlebazi band karo," another read. Several women activists raised slogans against Kumar, who once was called 'sushashan babu' because of his governance, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside the Chanakyapuri-based Bihar Bhawan. A delegation of the activists later submitted a memorandum to the resident commissioner of Bihar in New Delhi. The memorandum was addressed to Kumar. "We are anguished
Bid to install Ambedkar statuein Hyderbad foiled, Ex-Cong MP
A former Congress MP and some of his supporters were Tuesday taken into preventive custody when they attempted to install an Ambedkar statue near Panjagutta circle here without permission, police said. V Hanumantha Rao and around 20 of his supporters had transported the Ambedkar statue in a vehicle and tried to install it, but the police prevented them from doing so and took all of them into preventive custody, they said. "There was no permission (for the statue installation). We asked him to produce permission documents from authorities concerned like GHMC, but they failed to produce any such documents and instead argued with police. We shifted the statue and took Hanumantha Rao and his associates into preventive custody," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Panjagutta Division) Thirupathanna told PTI. A case has been registered in this connection, the official added. In April this year, a group of people had attempted to install a life-size statue of Ambedkar at the same .
Mizoram police rescues 8 minor Rohingya girls
Eight Rohingya girls, suspected to be victims of human trafficking, were rescued from a village near the Mizoram-Myanmar border in Champai district, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police of Northern Range Lalbiakthanga Khiangte said here Tuesday. The girls, all of them minors, were rescued from Dungtkang village on Monday, the DIG said, adding that they were being taken to Myanmar from Bangladesh via India. Khiangte told PTI that the girls were produced before the chief judicial magistrate on Tuesday. He said police have not ruled out the involvement of human traffickers operating in the Sabulara area in Bangladesh where the Rohingya refugees were given shelter. "Though they were travelling and entering Mizoram without valid documents, the court is not likely to send them to police custody. They will be either handed over to NGOs or women protective homes run by the Social Welfare Department," he said. Eight Rohingya women, who were trying to enter Mizoram without any travel ...