Sex with wife under 18 will be considered rape: Supreme Court

Mangaluru, Apr 23: The scarcity of water in Kukkavu area of Belthangady town in Dakshina Kannada district has forced school-going children to dig a well with their hands.
The children studying in primary schools were seen lifting the heavy buckets of water from the well.

The residents were facing the water shortage from the past couple of days, amid the coronavirus lockdown.
A group of five adolescents managed to dug the well as deep as 12 feet within just a span of four days.

" We are facing water problem now. With the support of my five more friends, we dug this well. At the beginning we just found soil, then in the deeper layers, we also found stones. We got access to the water at 10 feet down," said Dhanush, a class 9th student, while speaking to news agency.

The shortage of water during the summer months is a perennial problem in across several states in India, and the growing population has only added to the woes.

In extreme conditions, poor have to draw water from small water holes.

Jan 13: India lost more than $1.33 billion to internet restrictions in 2019 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government pushed ahead with his party’s Hindu nationalist agenda, raising tensions and sparking nationwide protests.

The worst shutdown has been in Kashmir, where after intermittent closures in the first half of the year, the internet has been cut off since Aug. 5 following the government’s decision to revoke the special autonomous status of the country’s only Muslim-majority state, a study said. The prologued closure was criticized by India’s highest court, which ruled Friday that the “limitless” internet shutdown enforced by the government for the last five months was illegal and asked that it be reviewed.

India imposed more internet restrictions than any other large democracy, according to the Cost of Internet Shutdowns 2019 report released by Top10VPN, a U.K.-based digital privacy and security research group. The South Asian nation recorded the third-highest losses after Iraq and Sudan, which lost $2.31 billion and $1.86 billion respectively to disruptions. Worldwide internet restrictions caused losses worth $8.05 billion, the report said.

The cost of internet blackouts was calculated using indicators from groups including the World Bank, International Telecommunication Union, and the Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Center. It includes social media shutdowns in its calculations.

India’s ministry of information and technology didn’t respond to an email seeking a response to the report’s findings.

‘Conservative Estimates’

Through 2019, India shut access to the internet for over 4,000 hours. The report added shutdowns in India were often narrowly targeted, down to the level of blocking city districts for a few hours to allow security forces to restore order. Many of these incidents were not included in the report.

“These are conservative estimates,” said Simon Migliano, head of research at U.K.-based Top10VPN. “Internet shutdowns are increasing and it shows a damaging trend.”

India’s other major internet disruptions coincided with two moves by the government that affect India’s Muslim minority. The first disruption took place in November in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan after the Supreme Court handed a victory to Hindu groups over Muslim petitioners in a long-simmering dispute over a plot of land.

There were further disruptions in December when protests erupted against the introduction of a religion-based law that allows undocumented migrants of all faiths except Islam from neighbouring countries to seek Indian citizenship. The government enforced shutdowns across Uttar Pradesh and some Northeastern states in order to quell the protests, the report said.

Dubai, May 12: Free tickets are being offered by philanthropists and businessmen based in the UAE for deserving Indians who want to fly home.

Repatriation ticket prices have been set at around Dh700 to Dh750 per person depending on the destination. But there are many in UAE who cannot afford it, especially people who have lost their jobs or have medical concerns.

Malayalam Communications Ltd and its Malayalam stations (Kairali TV & Kairali News) are giving away 1,000 tickets free. Those who wish to apply can submit their application to [email protected].

Indian businessman Dhananjay Datar, chairman & managing director of Al Adil Trading Company, is also giving away 300 tickets. He is liasing with the Consulate General of India (CGI) for the names. “This is the time we need to rise as a community,” he said.

Besides taking care of airfares, Datar will also bear the cost of COVID-19 testing fees for Indians from the UAE.

“The repatriation efforts undertaken by the government of India is one of the largest initiatives. I am just doing a small bit to help the community. There are many people who are not in a position to meet the airfare and COVID testing costs as they have lost jobs. I will be coordinating with authorised entities handing this to lend my support,” he said.

Pravasi India Forum, a welfare organisation in UAE, is giving away 100 tickets. The NGO on Monday, May 11, uploaded a registration form where people can provide their details. “Tickets will be given to those approved by CGI and for those who are in financial distress,” said Abulaise, president of Pravasi Welfare Forum.

Punnakan Mohammed Ali, general secretary Incas UAE committee, said it is also ready to give away hundreds of free tickets but only to genuine candidates. “We will evaluate each individual and only if they are approved by the consulate, we will give the tickets. But we are ready to help.”

Those who want to register can get more details on www.pravasiwelfareforum.com.They can also call 055-1025611.

Need for more flights

The gesture notwithstanding, many Indians are still waiting to get news on their repatration.

Social worker Shukoorali Kallangal, President, Abu Dhabi Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), urged the government of India to add more flights to accommodate more passengers.

“Emergency repatriation services are the need of the hour. There are several expats with medical, financial distress. For those who came with the hope of a job – that too is a thing of the past now. Right now all they want is to go home and start something afresh there.”

Kallangal said: “Take the case of pregnant women. In many cases, their husbands have lost jobs or have been asked to go on unpaid leave. They are living hand to mouth and cannot afford medical costs. Due consideration should be given to them.”

Sreedharan Prasad, another social worker based in Ras Al Khaimah, said he is currently dealing with several emergency medical cases.

Consul General of India Vipul said plans are afoot to add more flights in the next phase of Indian repatriation. “The number of flights are being decided by India in consultation with state governments. This is not a normal situation we all are in. We are in the middle of a pandemic situation.”