Page 17 - Social Issues
FM Sitharaman's pre-budget meeting underway with Social Sector Groups representatives
A pre-budget meeting of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with the representatives of Social Sector Groups is underway here.This is the Sitharaman's 5th pre-budget meeting ahead of the upcoming General Budget 2019-20.Earlier, the Finance Minister also chaired a meeting with the stakeholders from Infrastructure and Climate Change Sectors and Financial Sector and Capital Markets.The session of the Lok Sabha will begin from July 17 and that of Rajya Sabha from July 20.Union Budget will be presented on July 5 followed by presenting the Economy Survey on July 4.
Women strike in Switzerland for fairer pay, more equality
Women across Switzerland are walking off the job, burning bras and staging other demonstrations to demand fairer pay, more equality, and an end to sexual harassment and violence the first such protests in the Alpine country in 28 years. Discontent over sexism and workplace inequality is underpinning the "women's strike." Many are also demanding higher pay specifically for domestic workers, teachers and caregivers, jobs typically held more by women. Around midnight in Lausanne, hundreds rallied at the city's cathedral and marched downtown to set wooden pallets on fire, then throwing items like neckties and brassieres onto the inferno. A few women scaled the cathedral to shout out the hour, a tradition that is rarely carried out by women. Supporters hoped for a "purple wave," so-called for the color adopted for a movement whose main logo features a clenched fist inside a cross-and-circle Venus symbol. The call to protest encouraged those taking part to avoid store purchases or trips to
Numbers of cases declining: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Encephalitis
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said the numbers of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) cases are declining in Bihar."Centre and Bihar government are doing their best. I have assured of providing all possible help. The numbers of cases are declining. I am sure the situation will be contained soon," Dr Harsh Vardhan told ANI.The health minister's comment comes after as many as 57 children died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar's Muzaffarpur while another 130 are hospitalised."A team of experts and senior doctors from centre visited the hospitals and are advising the state government there. I have held two meetings with the Bihar health minister. We are further analyzing the situation," the union minister said."The government of India will also help the Bihar government improve their health services and infrastructure to tackling a similar situation in the coming years," Harsh Vardhan added.
WB: Newborn dies due to lack of treatment amid doctors' protest
A new-born child died on Thursday in Agarpara here due to alleged medical negligence amid doctors' strike across the state."It is my bad luck. My child died due to lack of treatment. He was not attended by any doctor because of their strike," baby's father Abhijit Mallik told reporters here.Various medical bodies called doctors' strike across the country to protest over rising violence against the medical fraternity after a junior doctor of Nil Ratan Sarkar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital was allegedly attacked by the relative of a patient who died on June 10.According to Mallik, the child was born on June 11 and was ailing with a breathing problem. His condition deteriorated on June 12, the doctors of the hospital asked him to go to the child-specialist hospital.Mallik claimed that he went to several hospitals but they did not attend the ailing child after which the child died on June 30 in the morning.The deceased child's father also alleged that the state's health department did
Bihar launches pension scheme for poor
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday launched the Mukhyamantri Vriddha Pension Yojna for poor people above 60 years of age in the state.
Indian arrested for stealing Kuwaiti woman's credit card
An Indian national was arrested here for stealing a credit card of a Kuwaiti woman and misusing it, the media reported.
Odisha medicos join Bengal doctors' stir
Medicos in Odisha have extended support to the agitating doctors in Kolkata thus joining the nationwide hospitals' stir in solidarity.
Ajay Alok resigns as JD(U) spokesman, says he doesn't want to 'embarrass' Nitish
Firebrand JD(U) leader Ajay Alok has resigned from the post of party spokesperson stating that he does not wish to cause "embarrassment" to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also heads the party. Although Alok, one of the most visible faces of his party, didn't elaborate on what might have "embarrassed" his political mentor, there have been murmurs of Kumar being upset over his party spokesperson going overboard in his criticism of the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal and the illegal immigration problem in that state. He shared his resignation letter, addressed to the party's state unit chief Vashishtha Narayan Singh, on his Twitter handle late Thursday night. "I am writing to inform you that I am resigning from post of spokesperson of the party as I feel I am not doing a good job for the party. I thank you and the party for giving me this opportunity but please accept my resignation," Alok said in the short letter of resignation. In a subsequent tweet, he said, "I have .
Ajay Alok quits as JD (U) spokesperson, says don't want to embarrass Nitish Kumar
Days after he took a dig at Home Minister Amit Shah, Janata Dal (U) Bihar unit spokesperson Ajay Alok on Thursday announced to step down from his post citing "incompetency for the job"."I am writing to inform you that I am resigning from the post of the spokesperson of the party as I feel I am not doing a good job. I thank you and the party for giving me this honour but please accept my resignation," Alok wrote in a letter addressed to the state party unit.Alok who is also a general secretary of the party's Bihar unit said that his views are personal and do not match with that of the party. "I have resigned as a spokesperson from JDU as I think I am not doing a good job as my views which are a mine of course do not match with my party," he wrote on Twitter.Thanking the party for its support, he said, "Thanks to my party and my president who has always supported me and I do not want to be a source of embarrassment for @NitishKumar."He on June 11 took a dig at Home Minister Amit Shah ...
Salman Khurshid downplays Centre's 'politically motivated' minority outreach programme
New Delhi (India), June 14 (ANI): Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday sought to downplay the Centre's minority outreach programme which includes a scholarship to minorities and modernisation of Ismalic seminaries, terming the move as "politically motivated"."Prime Minister Narendra Modi in one of his speeches indicated that this is being done to somehow persuade minorities not to worry about the government and that the previous government (UPA rule) created a wrong impression about the BJP. If that is the purpose behind giving the scholarship, then it is clearly politically motivated," Khurshid told ANI.He slammed the ruling party for questioning the previous UPA government when it launched many schemes in the welfare of Muslims on the Sachchar Committee's recommendations.The Congress leader sought to downplay the announcement and maintained that every government is elected to work for citizens with equal priority.He said, "Every government has a responsibility to treat .
Chile president Pinera sacks FM in cabinet shakeup
Chile's President Sebastian Pinera sacked his foreign minister and announced a cabinet reshuffle Thursday as polls showed a dip in his popularity following an economic downturn. Pinera, a billionaire conservative, said at a ceremony at his La Moneda palace that Teodoro Rivera would replace Roberto Ampuero as foreign minister after pollster CEP showed Pinera's popularity plummeting 12 points. Pinera also dropped the ministers of health, economy, public works, social development and energy as he sought to bring fresh blood into the cabinet and kickstart the economy. "I want to share with all my compatriots some changes to the cabinet that I consider necessary," Pinera said, announcing the shake-up. The reshuffle is the second by Pinera since he won the December 2017 election to succeed leftist Michelle Bachelet. A spokesman for pollster CEP, Ricardo Gonzalez, said: "There is a deterioration of economic expectations and also a bad perception of the management of President Pinera." The ...
Top US health official to boycott all-male panels
The director of the US National Institutes of Health said Thursday he will no longer participate in all-male panel discussions, or "manels." The NIH is the largest public health research institution in the US with an annual budget of USD 39 billion, directly employing 6,000 scientists and funding the work of hundreds of thousands of others -- and the announcement was expected to have a ripple effect. "Too often, women and members of other groups underrepresented in science are conspicuously missing in the marquee speaking slots at scientific meetings and other high-level conferences," said Francis Collins, explaining the decision. "Starting now, when I consider speaking invitations, I will expect a level playing field, where scientists of all backgrounds are evaluated fairly for speaking opportunities. "If that attention to inclusiveness is not evident in the agenda, I will decline to take part." Collins said his decision was informed by a recent report on sexual harassment by the ...
US considers more options for detaining transgender migrants
About 300 migrants who identify as transgender have been booked into the custody of US immigration authorities since October 1, marking the highest number since officials began keeping track in 2015. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering opening a second permanent facility where transgender migrants can be detained amid the influx of Central Americans crossing the US-Mexico border. The agency's Enforcement and Removal Operations field office director Corey Price says all options are being reviewed. Price on Wednesday led the first media tour of the agency's only permanent transgender detention unit. The rural New Mexico unit opened in 2017. He acknowledged a second unit would be a significant investment given the higher costs associated with transgender detainees. The agency has been criticized for the deaths of two transgender women.
US bishops approve changes to Church law on sex abuse reporting
The Catholic Church in the United States, which has been rocked in recent years by child sex abuse scandals and investigations, on Thursday approved a papal document that requires clergy to report suspicions of sexual assault. At a meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, participants approved by a large majority the changes to the US catechism, which also reinforces systems in place for victims to signal alleged abuse. The "motu proprio" -- a legal document issued under Pope Francis's personal authority -- declares that anyone who has knowledge of abuse, or suspects it, is "obliged to report (it) promptly" to the Church, using "easily accessible systems." The law only applies within the Church and has no force to oblige individuals to report abuse to civil authorities. Under the new measure, every diocese around the world is obliged by June 2020 to create a system for the reporting of sexual abuse by clerics, the use of child pornography and cover-ups of ...
"Privileged, powerful groups" vote rarely discussed: Owaisi
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Thursday said "cringe-worthy" discussions take place in every election about Dalit, Muslim and OBC voters, but rarely are debates held on how "privileged and powerful groups" vote. "Every election, we have cringe-worthy discussions about Dalit, Muslim & OBC voters. But rarely do we ever discuss how privileged, powerful groups vote. No insulting terms such as "appeasement", "votebank" & "caste card" are used for them," he tweeted. He was responding to media reports on why "upper caste Hindus voted for BJP like never before".
3 taken into custody for fake messages in social media: Cops
: Three people were Thursday taken into custody here for allegedly posting fake messages on social media about missing persons thereby creating rumours of kidnap and panic among the public, police said. On Wednesday, the cyber crime police had registered a case on its own after the posts went viral. The posts sparked off rumours of the presence of a kidnappers mafia in the state, a police release said adding that such rumours created panic and alarm. After investigation, the three were taken into custody, it said. Police asked the public not to believe such rumours and delete such messages immediately instead of forwarding them. Forwarding of such fake posts and rumours is liable for punishment under law, the release added.
How is NDA's Muslim-only scholarship scheme different from Congress' 'appeasement politics', questions AAP
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday criticized the scholarship scheme for Muslim students announced by the NDA government questioning as to how the scheme was different from the "appeasement politics" that BJP accused Congress of indulging in."The Muslim scholarship is being publicized by the government with great fanfare. AAP welcomes the fact that the NDA government's attention has been drawn to Muslim students. But the question is - why discriminate between students on religious grounds? How is this different from the same appeasement politics that BJP used to accuse the Congress of indulging in?" AAP leader Sanjay Singh said while addressing a press conference.Singh demanded that all students, regardless of the community they belong to should be given scholarships for education."Such schemes should not be on religious grounds alone," he said."We all remember the kind of language used by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his party and its leaders in the run-up to the election against
DCW seeks info from police, Karol Bagh SDM on steps taken to close brothers on GB Road since 2000
The Delhi Commission for Women has issued notices to the Karol sub-divisional magistrate and the Delhi Police seeking information on steps taken to ensure closure of brothels on GB Road since 2000. The notice highlights the extent of problem of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in the national capital and seeks reasons for existence of these brothels despite knowing that illegal activities in the area existed, the women's panel said. The Commission, in the past, has rescued hundreds of women and girls, most of whom were minors, from GB road. As per the provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, each building from where a minor subjected to trafficking is rescued is mandated to be sealed by authorities. The Act also mandates the police station concerned to communicate the details of such rescues to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) concerned. However, brothels continue to operate with impunity on GB Road, the DCW said. The Commission, in their notice to .
Activists call for migration registers to check child trafficking from rural areas
Child rights activists have called for creation of migration registers to check trafficking of children from rural regions of the country. At an event organised by the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF), scores of children, activists and former bureaucrats held discussions on the "continued exploitation of children in the country and inability of district and panchayat authorities in curbing trafficking of children from the villages". They sought the government's intervention for implementation of a charter of demand, which includes creation of village migration registers to check trafficking of children from rural regions of the country. Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi said in a statement, "This initiative is a reflection of our unswerving commitment to make a child labour-free India." The participants also proposed introducing a scheme in gram panchayat ensuring free and compulsory education for girls till Class 12.
Punjab to roll out universal health insurance scheme from July
The Punjab government will launch its flagship universal health insurance scheme Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana' (SSBY), from July. The scheme will provide an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family. Around 43.18 lakh families in Punjab will be covered under it. Besides all government hospitals, 364 private hospitals in Punjab had been empanelled, where the beneficiaries would get the secondary and tertiary care, state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said in an official release Thursday. The beneficiaries included the 14.86 lakh families covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in the state, the minister said. He said the state government had already prepared a database of 43.18 lakh beneficiaries. Sidhu said the cost of the premium for the families covered under the PMJAY would be borne by the Centre and the state government in the 60:40 ratio while for the rest of the beneficiaries, it would borne by the state government.
