Court stays 2 FIRs filed against him for alleged communal coverage of Palghar lynching case and an incident of migrants gathering outside Bandra station.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted interim relief from arrest to journalist Arnab Goswami and stayed both the FIRs against him for alleged communal coverage of Palghar lynching case and an incident of migrants gathering outside the Bandra station.
A division bench of Ujjal Bhuyan and Riyaz Chagla said prima facie no case had been made out against Mr. Goswami. It said no coercive steps should be taken against him.
Republic TV editor and owner Arnab Goswami. | Photo Credit: Salman Ansari
The court was hearing a criminal petition filed by Mr. Goswami seeking to quash the FIRs against him registered at the NM Joshi Marg and the Pydhonie police stations.
Earlier on, senior counsel Harish Salve for Mr. Goswami submitted that multiple FIRs had been filed across the country for the same incidents and as per a Supreme Court order multiple FIRs in different States for the same incident were not sustainable and hence the FIR filed against Mr. Goswami should be quashed.
New Delhi: The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in the country is fast approaching 60 per cent, with the Union Health Ministry attributing it to collective and focussed efforts of the Centre and states for containment and management of the pandemic.
As on date, there are 1,19,696 more recovered patients than COVID-19 active cases.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 2,15,125, while 3,34,821 patients have been cured/discharged. A total of 13,099 COVID-19 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
“This has resulted in the recovery rate amongst COVID-19 patients further improving to 59.07 per cent,” it said on Tuesday.
The number of diagnostic labs is continuously increasing and India now has 1,049 labs dedicated to COVID-19. These include 761 labs in the government sector and 288 private labs.
According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 86,08,654 samples have been tested up to June 29 with 2,10,292 samples tested on Monday.
New Delhi: A group of monkeys had an intense fight in Rashtrapati Bhavan premises, seriously injuring one of them who had to be rescued, an NGO said on Tuesday.
A high-pitched cry of the primates drew the attention of maintenance staff, who rushed to the terrace and repelled the monkeys. They later found a macaque, a medium-sized, chiefly forest-dwelling Old World monkey with a short tail, under a water tank in a semi-conscious state on Sunday evening, said an official of the non-profit Wildlife SOS.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan staff immediately contacted Wildlife SOS and kept a close watch on the injured monkey until a two-member team from the NGO arrived.
“The monkey suffered severe wounds on his hind and forelimbs and is undergoing treatment. It will be released back into its natural habitat when certified fit for release,” said Wasim Akram, deputy director of special projects at the NGO.
Kartick Satyanarayan, Wildlife SOS co-founder and CEO, said, It was heartening to see the staff at President’s Estate go to the extent of caring for the welfare of animals in distress.”
The Rashtrapati Bhavan is part of the President’s Estate, which is spread over 330 acres and has a number of fruit trees, including mango and jamun.
It is located right next to the natural habitat of the central ridge, which has a large population of monkeys. Often, they venture into Rashtrapati Bhavan in search of food, a Wildlife SOS official said.
Mumbai: Superstar Aamir Khan on Tuesday said that some members in his staff have tested positive for coronavirus.
The 55-year-old actor said he and the other members of his family have tested negative for COVID-19 but he is awaiting the reports for his mother’s test.
“This is to inform you that some of my staff have tested positive. They were immediately quarantined, and BMC officials were very prompt and efficient in taking them to a medical facility. I would like to thank the BMC for taking such good care of them, and for fumigating and sterilising the entire society, Aamir said in a statement.
The rest of us have all been tested and found negative. Right now, I am taking my mother to get her tested. She is the last person in the loop. Please pray that she is negative, he added.
The Dangal star also thanked the doctors and nurses at Kokilaben Hospital for taking care of his family and staff during the testing process.
On the work front, Aamir will next be seen Laal Singh Chaddha , an official remake of Tom Hanks’ 1994 feature “Forrest Gump”.
The film is being directed by Advait Chandan and Kareena Kapoor Khan is playing the female lead.
India accounts for 45.8 million of the world’s 142.6 million “missing females” over the past 50 years, a report by the United Nations said on Tuesday, noting that the country along with China form the majority of such women globally.
Representational Picture
The State of World Population 2020 report released on Tuesday by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the world organisation’s sexual and reproductive health agency, said that the number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years — from 61 million in 1970 to a cumulative 142.6 million in 2020.
Of this global figure, India accounted for 45.8 million missing females as of 2020 and China accounted for 72.3 million.
Missing females are women missing from the population at given dates due to the cumulative effect of postnatal and prenatal sex selection in the past, the agency said.
Girls ‘missing’ in India at birth
Between 2013 and 2017, about 460,000 girls in India were ‘missing’ at birth each year. According to one analysis, gender-biased sex selection accounts for about two-thirds of the total missing girls, and post-birth female mortality accounts for about one-third, the report said.
Citing data by experts, it said that China and India together account for about 90-95 per cent of the estimated 1.2 million to 1.5 million missing female births annually worldwide due to gender-biased (prenatal) sex selection.
The two countries also account for the largest number of births each year, it said.
The report cites data by Alkema, Leontine and others, 2014 ‘National, Regional, and Global Sex Ratios of Infant, Child, and under-5 Mortality and Identification of Countries with Outlying Ratios: A Systematic Assessment’ from The Lancet Global Health.
Highest rate of excess female deaths
According to their analysis, India has the highest rate of excess female deaths, 13.5 per 1,000 female births, which suggests that an estimated one in nine deaths of females below the age of 5 may be attributed to postnatal sex selection.
The report notes that governments have also taken action to address the root causes of sex selection. India and Vietnam have included campaigns that target gender stereotypes to change attitudes and open the door to new norms and behaviours.
They spotlight the importance of daughters and highlight how girls and women have changed society for the better. Campaigns that celebrate women’s progress and achievements may resonate more where daughter-only families can be shown to be prospering, it said.
The report said that successful education-related interventions include the provision of cash transfers conditional on school attendance; or support to cover the costs of school fees, books, uniforms and supplies, taking note of successful cash-transfer initiatives such as ‘Apni Beti Apna Dhan’ in India.
It said that preference for a male child manifested in sex selection has led to dramatic, long-term shifts in the proportions of women and men in the populations of some countries.
Demographic imbalance
This demographic imbalance will have an inevitable impact on marriage systems. In countries where marriage is nearly universal, many men may need to delay or forego marriage because they will be unable to find a spouse, the report said.
This so-called “marriage squeeze”, where prospective grooms outnumber prospective brides, has already been observed in some countries and affects mostly young men from lower economic strata.
“At the same time, the marriage squeeze could result in more child marriages, the report said citing experts..
Some studies suggest that the marriage squeeze will peak in India in 2055. The proportion of men who are still single at the age of 50 is forecast to rise after 2050 in India to 10 per cent, it said.
The UN report said that every year, millions of girls globally are subjected to practices that harm them physically and emotionally, with the full knowledge and consent of their families, friends and communities.
At least 19 harmful practices, ranging from breast ironing to virginity testing, are considered human rights violations, according to the UNFPA report, which focuses on the three most prevalent ones: female genital mutilation, child marriage, and extreme bias against daughters in favour of sons.
Harmful practices against girls cause profound and lasting trauma, robbing them of their right to reach their full potential, says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem.
Female genital mutilations
This year, an estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation. Today, 33,000 girls under age 18 will be forced into marriages, usually to much older men and an extreme preference for sons over daughters in some countries has fuelled gender-biased sex selection or extreme neglect that leads to their death as children, resulting in the 140 million missing females.
The report said that ending child marriage and female genital mutilation worldwide is possible within 10 years by scaling up efforts to keep girls in school longer and teach them life skills and to engage men and boys in social change.
Investments totalling USD 3.4 billion a year through 2030 would end these two harmful practices and end the suffering of an estimated 84 million girls, it said.
A recent analysis revealed that if services and programmes remain shuttered for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 13 million girls may be forced into marriage and 2 million more girls may be subjected to female genital mutilation between now and 2030.
The pandemic both makes our job harder and more urgent as so many more girls are now at risk, Kanem said.
New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) The historic Jama Masjid, which had closed earlier this month due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city, will reopen for congregational prayers (namaz) from July 4, Shahi Imam of the mosque Syed Ahmed Bukhari said on Tuesday.
The mosque was closed on June 11 in view of the “critical” conditions in the city due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, till June 30.
Earlier, the mosque had reopened on June 8 after a gap of over two months with the government allowing further relaxations as part of unlock 1.0, the first phase of a calibrated exit from the coronavirus lockdown.
Bukhari said that the decision to reopen the mosque was taken after consulting people and experts.
“Under unlock 1.0, almost everything has opened and normal activities have resumed. We took this decision to open the mosque for people to offer namaz as the scare of the virus has lessened and awareness about safeguards against it has increased,” Bukhari told PTI.
He said that safety precautions like maintaining social distancing, wearing protective gear and sanitisation will be followed to prevent people from catching infection.
A private secretary of the Shahi Imam, Amanullah had died due to coronavirus earlier this month During the closure, people were asked to offer namaz at home, and only a few staff members offered the prayers five times a day at the mosque
Ranchi: Athlete Geeta Kumari was forced to sell vegetables in the streets of Jharkhands Ramgarh district to make ends meet.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s intervention helped Kumari to get Rs 50,000 from the Ramgarh district administration and also a monthly stipend of Rs 3,000 to pursue her athletics career.
Soren received information on his twitter handle that Kumari has turned into a roadside vegetable seller due to financial problems. The chief minister directed the Ramgarh deputy commissioner to assist Kumari financially so that she could pursue her athletics career.
The Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sandeep Singh gave a cheque of Rs 50,000 to Kumari on Monday and also announced Rs 3,000 monthly stipend to the athlete and arranged for her training at a sports centre, an official release said.
Wishing the athlete all success in the world of sports, the deputy commissioner said, “There are several sportspersons in Ramgarh who are capable of winning laurels for the country, and the administration will ensure they get support.”
Kumaris cousin Dhanjay Prajapati said, “She sells vegetables and also is a final year BA student in Ananda College, Hazaribag, in the neighbouring district. Her family is financially weak and my sister wants to pursue her pet event. Now that the administration has given assistance she is very happy.”
Kumari had won eight gold medals at state-level walking competitions and won a silver medal and a bronze medal in competitions held in Kolkata, the release said.
Bengaluru: Senior Police Officer P S Harsha assumed charge as Commissioner for the Department of Information and Public Relations here on Monday.
Harsha was earlier the Mangaluru Commissioner of Police.
He had served as the Commissioner of Information and Public Relations earlier too.
He took charge from outgoing Commissioner S N Siddaramappa, an official release said.
Siddaramappa has been transferred as Deputy Inspector General of Police, CID ( Economic Offences Wing ) here.
Harsha, who served as City Police Commissioner since August 2019 in Mangaluru, expressed his gratitude to Mangalorians through social media in local Tulu language for their cooperation and support.
He was under fire from some political leaders and organisations over alleged police excesses during the violence that took place in December in which two persons were killed during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests.
Diesel price on Monday scaled a new high after prices were hiked for the 22nd time in just over three weeks, taking the cumulative increase to ₹11.14 per litre.
Petrol price was increased by 5 paise per litre and diesel 13 paise a litre across the country, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
While the diesel rates have been hiked for the 22nd time since June 7, petrol price has been raised on 21 occasions.
There was no change in prices on Sunday.
The cumulative increase since the oil companies started the cycle on June 7 now totals to ₹ 9.17 for petrol and ₹11.14 in diesel.
Hyderabad: In a case of extreme brutality, a monkey was hanged to death from a tree by three people in a bidto scare other simians in Khammam district of Telangana, about 275 KM from here, forest department officials said on Monday.
“The perpetrators, who admitted their guilt, are being booked under the Wildlife Protection Act,” Sathupalli Forest Range Officer A Venkateswarlu said.
The incident happened on June 26 in Vemsoor village and the video of the primate being hanged using a rope went viral, prompting the officials to investigate.
“The accused wanted to scare other monkeys by hanging the one which was caught.We found the carcass in a decomposed state.
The accused are being booked under the Wildlife Protection Act,” the official told PTI.
According to Venkateswarlu, people at Sathupalli and surrounding areas are suffering from monkey menace with the simians raiding the orchards giving sleepless nights to the locals.
The official said as per a Telangana government directive 30 per cent of the area in Sathupalli forest range during afforestation will have edible wild fruit species to enhance the food base of monkeys and other wild animals so that when they are rehabilitated, there will be sufficient food available.
