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Showing posts from November, 2023

Union Health Ministry, FSSAI 'fail to respond' to NHRC directive on packaged food

  The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed deep concern over the adverse health effects caused by packaged foods high in salt, sugar, and saturated fats. Recognizing it as a violation of the Right to Life and Right to Health of Indian citizens, the quasi-judicial body called for a response from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regarding its selection of front-of-pack labels aimed at providing consumers with information to make healthier choices.

POCSO victim 'taken handcuffed' to court: Madras HC 'must take suo moto cognisance'

Henri Tiphagne Henri Tiphagne, director of the human rights organisation People’s Watch, based in Madurai, has taken strong exception to a woman constable taking a 15-year-old Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act victim to the court  handcuffed  to record a statement. The victim, said Tiphagne in a complaint to the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, was accompanied by a woman police constable from Annai Sathya Home to the magistrate court in Kotagiri to record a statement under section 164. The woman police constable took the victim in a bus to Kotagiri from Ooty.

IIM-A survey 'debunks' GoI claim, says: Sales, profits of Indian firms remain subdued

The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad's (IIM-A's) latest round of Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES) has found that sales and profit margins of Indian businesses have remained subdued despite tall claims by the Government of India (GoI) that the Indian economy doing well even as world is going in wrong direction.

Facebook strangely withdraws an innocent Gujarati article without stating reasons

Recently, reputed Gujarati journal "Sarthak Jalso", edited by well known writer Urvish Kothari, published an article by Shruti Shah. I posted its pdf version, sent to me by Urvishbhai, on a blog Shruti and I run:  https://saankal.blogspot.com/ .   The article is about our seven year long stay in the former Soviet Union during the turbulent period that led to the collapse of the Communist rule -- 1986-93. I thought Gujarati readers would be interested in reading the article, hence I posted a link of the blog post on Facebook. Prompt came Facebook's reply: the link violates it's community standards, so I should withdraw the article or send my objection. I sent objection, but nothing happened!  I don't understand which community standards was the Facebook referring to. The link carried snapshots of cover of "Sarthak Jalso" and first page of Shruti's article.  The cover has photograph of two towering mountain edges very close to each other and a person, ...

Madhya Pradesh Adivasi activist asked to leave district: Govt move ahead of elections?

  The Burhanpur district administration, Madhya Pradesh, has handed over externment notice Antram Awase, a 32-year-old Adivasi activist, who has been on the forefront of the campaign for implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) as well as the movement against mass illegal forest felling in Burhanpur. Earlier in April, he was arrested in an allegedly false case.

Reliance World Plaza opens as RIL's ISCON mega mall in Ahmedabad is on verge of collapse!

I was much amused to read the "visual story" about Reliance World Plaza put open in Mumbai. Top celebrities of Bollywood participated in the event. Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani, others must be feeling great about it. The event ironically took place a day after I visited ISCON mega mall in Ahmedabad. The mall, to put it mildly, is in tatters. Yes, it too is part of Reliance framework. It used to have some of the big names quoted in the Reliance World Plaza Mall visual story. Once a throbbing attraction of Amdavadis, the ISCON mall's 70% shops are closed. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has sealed several of the high profile shops of the Ahmedabad mall for failing to deposit tax. Even elevators and lifts are not working, hence senior citizens have to climb up on stairs, which are dirty. Its passages are dark, as there are no lights there. ISCON mall used to have an excellent food court, a bakery shop. Nothing of it exists now. Do Muk...

Counter-terrorism laws 'misused' in India to target non-profits, academics: Top US report

A high-profile American Bar Association (ABA) report, prepared by its Center for Human Rights, which claims to mobilize lawyers to defend threatened advocates, protect vulnerable communities, and hold governments accountable under law, has accused the Government of India of misusing counter-terrorism financing legislations in order to targets non-profit organizations (NPOs) and human rights defenders.Titled “The Adverse Impact of Counter Terrorism Laws on Human Rights Defenders and FATF Compliance in India,” the report , based is on an analysis of India’s compliance with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) requirements and guidelines in the context of three laws: the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 (UAPA), the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).