Bus stop where Nirbhaya boarded still a dark spot

News Network
December 16, 2019

New Delhi, Dec 16: Seven years after Nirbhaya's gruesome gangrape sent shock waves across the country, the bus stand in south Delhi from where the 23-year-old woman boarded a bus remains a dark spot where women still encounter unwelcome remarks and stares.

On the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, Nirbhaya boarded the bus with her friend from Munirka bus stop. As the bus drove through the city, she was raped and brutalised by six persons, including a minor, before being thrown out. Her friend was also assaulted.

Repulsed, people took to the streets in Delhi and other parts of the country demanding justice for her and better safety measures for women.

Women, who are regular commuters, say the bus stop turns into an unauthorised parking area after 9 pm and they have to face lewd comments and leering men almost every day.

A 24-year-old woman, who did not wish to be named, said the security measures promised by authorities after the gangrape are yet to see the light of day.

"Everyday we see in the news that the convicts in the Nirbhaya case are going to be hanged soon, but nothing happens. There was talk about installing CCTV cameras at the bus stop and GPS devices in buses, but this bus stop is still a haunted place," she said.

"I travel across Delhi for work but I live in Munirka village. My parents are not as concerned when I go to other places as they are when I come here. Somebody has to pick me up as soon as I deboard here," she added.

Rani Kumari, 27, who works as a beautician in Green Park, said the bus stop turns into an unauthorised parking spot after 9 pm every day and it is a challenge to avoid the "creepy" men who gather here.

"After I leave work, I take a bus till Munirka. When I get down at the bus stop, many autos are parked here. It is very difficult to avoid the stares of the auto drivers," she said.

"The worst part is that they refuse to drop you home, saying they are done for the day. However, they are never too tired to pass lewd comments or follow you when you walk back home," she added.

Similar concerns were shared by 35-year-old Meena.

"Government says we can complain if an auto driver refuses us a ride at night. One day, I forcibly sat in the only auto that I found at the bus stop. I told the driver that he could not say no to dropping me or I would lodge a complaint. He said his auto didn't have enough CNG. I knew he was lying, but I had no option but to get down and walk in the dark," she said.

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News Network
February 27,2020

New Delhi, Feb 27: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday attacked the government over the transfer of Delhi High Court Judge S Muralidhar, saying the Centre's attempts to "muzzle" justice and "break people's faith in an upright judiciary are deplorable".

Delhi HC Judge S Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, days after the Supreme Court collegium made the recommendation.

"The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn't shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad & shameful," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted. "Millions of Indians have faith in a resilient & upright judiciary, the government’s attempts to muzzle justice & break their faith are deplorable," she said.

The judge was hearing the Delhi violence case and the late evening notification came on the day when a bench headed by him expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Jul 3: China under President Xi Jinping has stepped up its "aggressive" foreign policy toward India and "resisted" efforts to clarify the Line of Actual Control that prevented a lasting peace from being realised, according to a report released by a US Congress appointed commission.

The armies of India and China have been locked in a bitter standoff at multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks, and the tension escalated after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15.

“Under General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Xi Jinping, Beijing has stepped up its aggressive foreign policy toward New Delhi. Since 2013, China has engaged in five major altercations with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” said a brief issued by US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

"Beijing and New Delhi have signed a series of agreements and committed to confidence-building measures to stabilise their border, but China has resisted efforts to clarify the LAC, preventing a lasting peace from being realised,” said the report and was prepared at the request of the Commission to support its deliberations.

Authored by Will Green, a Policy Analyst on the Security and Foreign Affairs Team at the Commission, the report says that the Chinese government is particularly fearful of India’s growing relationship with the United States and its allies and partners.

“The latest border clash is part of a broader pattern in which Beijing seeks to warn New Delhi against aligning with Washington,” it said.

After Xi assumed power in 2012, there was a significant increase in clashes, despite the fact that he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi several times and Beijing and New Delhi have agreed to a series of confidence-building mechanisms designed to mitigate tensions.

Prior to 2013, the last major border clash was in 1987. The 1950s and 1960s were a particularly tense period, culminating in 1962 with a war that left thousands of soldiers dead on both sides, according to the records of China's People's Liberation Army, the report said.

“The 2020 skirmish is in line with Beijing’s increasingly assertive foreign policy. The clash came as Beijing was aggressively pressing its other expansive sovereignty claims in the Indo-Pacific region, such as over Taiwan and in the South and East China seas,” it said.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area.

Several weeks before the clash in the Galwan Valley, Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe called on Beijing to “use fighting to promote stability” as the country’s external security environment worsened, a potential indication of China’s intent to proactively initiate military tensions with its neighbours to project an image of strength, the report said.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Pathanamthitta, Aug 9 : An orange alert has been issued in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district as the water level in Pamba dam is now flowing at 983.05 metres and it is likely to reach 983.50 metres within an hour.

A red alert will be declared at 984.5 metres and dam will open when the water level reaches 985 metres.

"The water level in Pamba dam is 983.05 metres now and is likely to reach 983.50 metres within an hour. So, the second alert- orange alert has been issued. A red alert will be declared at 984.5 metres and dam will open when it reaches 985 metres," said Pathanamthitta District Collector.

Meanwhile, a portion of the Shiva Temple in Aluva continues to remain submerged. However, the water level in the Periyar River is receding gradually and more part of the temple is above the water level now. 

As Kerala has been receiving heavy rain for the past few days, severe waterlogging affects traffic movement at Mannuthy bypass in Thrissur on Saturday.

On Friday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert in Kozhikode district. It had also predicted rainfall in different parts of the state.

Due to heavy downpour, a massive landslide had occurred in Idukki district recently. The death toll in Idukki landslide has risen to 26, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday.

The Chief Minister said that monsoon fury continues to be severe in the state.

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