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Showing posts from September, 2016

Gujarat "fails" to implement manual scavenging law, pay Rs 10 lakh to compensate 170 manhole deaths

  A new Dalit civil rights network, formed in Gujarat, has taken strong exception to the “failure” of the state government to implement the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act, 2013. Called Gujarat Safai Kamdar Adhikar Andolan (GSKAA), it has said that even the “basic rules” to implement the Act, which came into force on December 6, 2013, have not been made.

Critical of BRICS nations' 'authoritarian' tendencies, India's civil rights groups soft on China

 A panel discussion in New Delhi by a network of people’s movements, trade unions and NGOs under the banner of Peoples' Forum on BRICS (acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), appeared to have gone soft on China, even as opposing “authoritarian” tendencies in three other countries – Brazil, Russia and India.

Top telecom cartels Airtel, Vodafone, Idea adopting monopolistic practices: Senior RIL official

People queue up for Jio sim Amidst escalating corporate war over mobile operation, the powerful Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has blamed India's three topmost telecom companies, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, for undermining healthy competition and promoting monopolistic practices by “denying” people the right to choose between existing cellular services.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, others detained in Ahmedabad as they lead road block agitation on busy street

Well-known Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, his colleague Hiten Makwana, who leads the safai karmacharis' (sanitation workers') 36-day-old strike in Ahmedabad, along with several of their supporters were detained at the busy Income Tax Circle in Ahmedabad after they tried to resort to Rasta Roko (road block) agitation in favour of their demands.

Malaria, hygiene "lower" India's world health ranking to 143rd position, worst among BRICS nations: Top study

Bill and Melinda Gates  A Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-sponsored study has ranked India 143rd among 188 countries across the globe in health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index, below Comoros and Ghana. Published in the well-known international journal “Lancet”, the study says, the poor showing of India is there “despite rapid economic growth.”

To 57% Indians fruits and vegetable are "unaffordable", same is true of other lower income countries: Lancet

  Classified as a low income country (LIC) and bracketed with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, majority (57%) of India’s population, along with other LIC countries, finds vegetables “unaffordable”, says a top study released by world renowned health journal “Lancet”.

India's officials shadow journalist writing book on 2002 Gujarat riots? Scribe's claim in PEN International report

  Revati Laul , an independent journalist who is writing a book about the 2002 Gujarat riots, has made it know how she is being meticulously shadowed for the last 18 months during her investigation into the massacre that took place 14 years ago through the eyes of three men who were part of a riotous mob. Laul is known to have been  attacked  by a 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre convict in January during her probe in Ahmedabad.

Ghana academics call Gandhiji racist, want statue removed from university campus

Pranab Mukherjee after unveiling Gandhi statue in Ghana As many as 1,012 persons have signed a rather controversial petition floated in the small western African country, Ghana, asking the authorities of the University of Ghana to remove the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, erected on the campus, accusing Gandhi of being a racist.

Gujarat officials complain: Powers given to us in 2005 to use health budget taken away recently

Gujarat government officials have complained that they do not have "enough freedom" to spend funds coming from the Government of India for upgrading the state's health services. Participating in an internal meeting with the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), they said, "We were given this freedom in 2005 (a year after UPA came to power). But it was taken away recently."

Modi's honeymoon? 52% BJP backers view Gandhis favourably, 40% don't think he is unifying force: Pew

US' Pew Research Centre, claiming to be “a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world”, in its latest survey has found that at the end of two years of his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi “continues to ride a wave of public good feeling about the way things are going in India.”

Aadhaar not compulsory: Union human resources ministry clarifies" after NGO writes to apex court

Responding to letters from the Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL) to the Chief Justice of India, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development and Secretary, the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the contempt applications in the Supreme Court, the UGC has “clarified”, students who have applied or wishing to apply for scholarship/fellowship “shall not be denied benefit thereof due to non-availability of Aadhaar No./Card.”

India's economic freedom rank, at 112, better than China, Brazil: Fraser Institute report based on 2014 data

  Well-known Canada-based Fraser Institute's "Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) 2016 Annual Report" has ranked India No 112 among 159 countries and territories in its latest EFW ranking, better than two major peer countries, China (No 113) and Brazil (No 124).

Dadri Part 2? Gujarat cops "force" relatives to accept body of Ayyub, attacked by cow vigilantes in Ahmedabad

Body of Ayyub being brought in Vatva area Is Ahmedabad all set to turn into  Dadri  Part 2? It would seem so, if the latest incident of the Gujarat cops seeking to forcibly hand over the body of Mohd Ayyub, who was allegedly attacked by cow vigilantes on September 13 and succumbed to his injuries on September 16, is any indication.  

Top Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani "picked up" from Ahmedabad airport ahead of Modi's birthday bash

  Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Gandhinagar on Friday, the Gujarat capital, for “celebrating” his birthday, which falls on September 17, top Gujarat Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani, who spearheaded protests following the gruesome Una flogging incident of July 11, was "picked up" by the Gujarat police.

Damocles' sword on Gujarat Dalits? "False" FIR charging 16 of murder of cop wouldn't be taken back: Minister

Minister (extreme left) with Dalit delegation In a development that is likely to be further exacerbate tension between protesting Dalits and the Gujarat government, a top state minister has declared that the state will not take back the crucial first information report (FIR) against 16 Dalits, books by the Amreli police under Section 302 (murder) of a cop on duty during a July 19 rally.

Used in Kashmir, pellet guns' specifications, prices are "sensitive defence info", can't be disclosed: Govt of India

Apparently fearing international fallout, the Government of India has rejected a right to information (RTI) plea seeking specifications, characteristics, pricing and sales data about anti-riot weapons and copies of reports that indicate the efficacy of such weapons and their impact on human beings if targeted.

Ahmedabad ranks 43rd of 53 districts surveyed in Govt of India's cleanliness report, worse than most of Gujarat

Score of 13 Gujarat districts out of 53 chosen for survey A Government of India report has ranked Ahmedabad 43rd in its cleanliness survey of 53 districts it has selected for the purpose. Worse, Ahmedabad, which is desperately  seeking  world heritage tag from UNESCO, ranks poorer than all but one of the 13 districts chosen from Gujarat out of 53.

152 manhole workers' death: Gujarat govt "fails" to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation, required under 2013 law

 In a glaring instance of indifference, the Gujarat government has failed to execute the crucial provision of a 2013 law which requires payment of Rs 10 lakh compensation for the death of 152 manhole workers in a decade due to asphyxiation in the state.

India ranks poorly in disaster preparedness, is more vulnerable to natural calamities than BRICS nations

  Bonn-based prestigious United National (UN) University’s new “World Risk Report 2016” United Nations University has suggested that while India may not be as exposed to natural disasters compared to most of the 171 countries it has analyzed, it ranks poorly in preparedness of societies cope with acute disasters and in taking preventive measures to face natural hazards.

Air pollution gobbles up India's 7.9% GDP, leads to huge losses in welfare, income to people: World Bank

  A top World Bank study has said that India suffered a gross domestic product (GDP) loss of US$ 505,103 or 7.69 percent of the GDP in 2013 as a result of pollution levels, up from US$ 104,906 or 6.80 percent of GDP in 1990. Calling it “welfare loss”, number of deaths during the period have due to air pollution has also gone up – from 1,043,182 in 1990 to 1,403,136 in 2013.

Against Modi claim of lighting up 10,000 villages, hundreds of Narmada oustee sites have power only on paper

A Namada oustees' protest Fresh facts, released by the powerful anti-dam Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) suggest, far from Government of India claim that more than 10,000 villages out of 18,000 targeted have been “electrified” ahead of schedule, corruption is rampant at the grassroots level, leading to failure to provide power to the rural areas.

Increasing socio-religious segregation, marginalization in Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Pune: Reliance thinktank study

  Finding residential segregation by religion, particularly in the case of Muslims, a growing phenomenon in most large and medium cities, which are already saddled with a history of communalism, a new study has found that the earlier segmentation on the basis of class has now been replaced by religion.

India's municipal expenditures one of the poorest in the world, a major barrier to urbanization: UN-Habitat report

All figures in % of GDP A new study by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), “World Cities Report 2016: Urbanization and Development – Emerging Futures” has regretted extremely low levels of “aggregate municipal expenditures in India”, which happen to be of the worst in the world.

Ahmedabad Muslim women's collective calls triple talaq gender discriminatory, patriarchal

In a strongly-worded statement, an Ahmedabad women's group Bebaak Collective – an autonomous organization which works for encouraging reading, learning and sharing processes among Muslim women in Gujarat and other states – has said that triple talaq is “gender discriminatory and epitomizes patriarchal values, and therefore must be abolished.”

Growth of Indian millionaire population down from 26% to 1.1%, reports top multinational consultants Capgemini

  In a significant report, the latest "World Wealth Report" (WWR) 2016 has revealed that the rate of growth of the high net worth individuals (HNWIs) of India has grown by just 1.1 per cent, from 198,000 to 200,000, as against 26.3 per cent, as reported in the "Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2015".

Indian girls fail to attain decent work, gender justice despite better educational attainment: UNESCO report

Observing a major discrepancy, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report has said that India may have seen rapid growth in education attainment among girls, but this is "not seen a commensurate increase in decent work or changes in gendered social norms."

"Setback" to Gujarat govt: Information commissioner orders release of report on death of 3 Thangarh Dalits

In a major setback to the Gujarat government, the state information commission, official watchdog of the right to information (RTI) Act, has ordered immediate release of the one-person inquiry report on the September 22-23, 2012 Thangarh police firing of Saurashtra region.

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

  Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)  justifying  polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

Washington study praises Modi initiative to "reform" IAS, seeks GDP-based growth as performance benchmark

Modi addressing IAS probationers in Feb 2015 A new study by a top Washington DC-based think tank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has sought to give thumbs up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent review of the negative performance of IAS bureaucrats who have completed 30 years in service, with 13 of them “compulsorily retired” in 2015-end for their “unsatisfactory performance.”