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Dalit student Anitha's death unfortunate, says Ramdas Athawale

Agencies
September 2, 2017

Mumbai, Sept 2: Union Minister of State for Social Justice, Ramdas Athawale on Saturday termed the death by suicide of Dalit student Anitha as unfortunate, but appealed to students to abide by examination rules.

Seventeen-year-old Anitha, a resident of Tamil Nadu's Ariyalur district, was spearheading the fight against National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) exams.

Anitha, 17, whose performance in state board class 12 exams was spectacular, committed suicide after she failed to get a medical seat.

She had scored 1176 out of 1200 marks in her Class 12 exams.

Anitha killed herself at her residence a week after the Centre declared that Tamil Nadu cannot be exempted from NEET.

She also scored 196.75 out of 200 for medical and 199.76 out of 200 for engineering seat.

Her outstanding scores in class 12 in all likelihood could have helped her in cracking the medical entrance exam.

But, she could not make it to the NEET. She had scored only 86 out of 700 in the newly-introduced entrance exam.

She had obtained a seat in aeronautical engineering at the prestigious Madras Institute of Technology.

On August 22, the Supreme Court ordered Tamil Nadu government to begin medical admissions based on NEET.

The verdict came after the Centre refused to endorse Tamil Nadu's draft Ordinance seeking exemption from NEET for one year.

Anitha was one of the many students who were in shock to know that they had to compete once again in NEET exams to get a medical seat.

Anitha had earlier said that she was unable to comprehend NEET.

She being a daughter of a daily wage earner was unable to spend money on extra coaching class as NEET is based on CBSE syllabus.

The political parties of Tamil Nadu favoured exemption for students of the state from NEET.

The EK Palaniswami government passed a resolution and sought Centre's approval. Incidentally, during Jayalalithaa's regime, she had consecutively secured exemption for two years for the students of Tamil Nadu just by writing a letter to the Prime Minister.

However, with AIADMK grappling with in-fighting, no concrete measures were taken to get exemption this year.

At the neck of the moment, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Vijayabhaskar and Chief Minister EK Palaniswami made a few trips to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister.

Eventually, the Centre agreed to extend the exemption for one more year provided Tamil Nadu government passed a resolution.

But, it was not to be a total exemption. However, the Supreme Court ruled that no student other than those securing seat through NEET would be allowed to get admission.

Anitha could not qualify NEET and could not bear the shock of failure.

State Health Minister Vijayabhaskar expressed grief on Anitha's suicide and appealed to students not to lose hope so easily.

"NEET exam was introduced by the Government of India, which works on merit basis. Earlier, several students used to suffer because of the aspect of donations during admissions. It is unfortunate that Anitha has committed suicide. I appeal to the students to abide by the rules of particular exams," Athawale told ANI.

He added that the Government of India will heed to the issue definitely as to what changes can be brought about.

"If NEET exam is cancelled then we can ponder over some other alternative. I think NEET exam should happen and students must seriously think about it," he asserted.

DMK leader MK Stalin expressed shock over Anitha's suicide saying, "She got 1176 in plus-2 and good cutoff marks too. But due to NEET, her dreams were shattered. She even approached the Supreme Court. She also met me and asked to raise the matter in the Assembly. I raised the issue in the Assembly the very next day. Unfortunately, she killed herself," said Stalin.

Stalin blamed the Palaniswami government for Anitha's death calling it "a useless and a horse trading government."

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami announced solatium of Rs 7 lakh to Anita's family and a government job to from the family.

The chief minister assured that measures will be taken to secure students welfare.

Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan said that he was deeply affected by the death of the teenager.

He said that Anitha committed suicide because there was no exemption in NEET.

"We should see that no student takes the drastic measure in future. Do not be dejected, this is not the end. We will fight for justice and will win," said the actor.

Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced a compensation of Rs. 7 lakh to the family of Anitha, who committed suicide by hanging herself at her house after failing to get admission in medical college based on NEET marks.

Meanwhile, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader TTV Dhinakaran condoled the death of Anitha.

He took to Twitter saying that, "I was distressed and shocked to hear that the beloved daughter who struggled against NEET test committed suicide".

Anitha's family, relatives and villagers staged a road roko holding the State and centre responsible for her death.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Mumbai, Jul 30: Counterfeiting incidents have increased 24 per cent in the country in 2019 over the previous year, creating an over Rs 1 lakh crore hole in the economy, according to a report.

The report also said counterfeiters are having a free run due to the pandemic-driven disruptions to organised supply chains and the resultant spike in consumer demand.

According to the report by ASPA, a self-regulated industry body of anti-counterfeiting and traceability solutions providers, counterfeiting has risen steadily in the last few years, and exploiting the pandemic as a cover for their activities.

Between February and April 2020, over 150 incidents of counterfeiting cases were reported, mostly about fake PPE kits, sanitisers and masks taking advantage of the high demand for these products, it noted.

"There was a 24 per cent increase in counterfeiting in 2019 over 2018, leading to the loss of more than Rs 1 lakh crore to the overall economy," said Nakul Pasricha, president of Authentication Solution Providers Association.

The association works with global authorities like the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, Counterfeit Intelligence Bureau of the Interpol, and domestic industry lobbies like Ficci, he said.

Counterfeiting is a universal issue and is 3.3 per cent of global trade, according to the OECD data, impacting social and economic development across the world.

The report lists the currency, FMCG, alcohol, pharma, documents, agriculture, infrastructure, automotive, tobacco, lifestyle and apparel, as the 10 sectors impacted most by counterfeiting.

Among these, currency, alcohol and FMCG continue to be the top three sectors with the highest counterfeiting in the last two years. The FMCG sector is most vulnerable, as counterfeit incidents rose 63 per cent between 2018 (79) and 2019 when the reported cases jumped to 129.

Within the states, the fakers have a free run in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Punjab, Jharkhand, Delhi, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand, calling for urgent actions to frame anti-counterfeiting policy measures.

According to the report, UP continues to be on top followed by Bihar, Rajasthan, and together these three states represent almost 45 per cent of all counterfeiting reported in the last two years.

What is more alarming is that counterfeiting is not limited to high-end luxury items today, as common everyday items as fake cumin seeds, mustard cooking oil, ghee, hair oils, soaps, baby care vaccines and medicines are aplenty in the markets.

"There is an urgent need for building and nurturing authentication ecosystems in the country with the active involvement and active participation of all stakeholders," said Pasricha.

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News Network
June 20,2020

New Delhi, Jun 20: Diesel price on Saturday hit a record high after rates were hiked by 61 paise per litre while petrol price was up 51 paise, taking the cumulative increase in rates in two weeks to Rs 8.28 and Rs 7.62 respectively.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 78.88 per litre from Rs 78.37, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 77.67 a litre from Rs 77.06, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

The 14th daily increase in rates since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision, has taken diesel prices to new high. Petrol price too is at a two-year high.

Prior to the current rally, diesel rate had touched a peak of Rs 75.69 per litre in Delhi on October 16, 2018.

The highest-ever petrol price was on October 4, 2018, when rates soared to Rs 84 a litre in Delhi.

When rates had peaked in October 2018, the government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre each. State-owned oil companies were asked to absorb another Re 1 a litre to help cut retail rates by Rs 2.50 a litre.

Oil companies had quickly recouped the Re 1 and the government in July 2019 raised excise duty by Rs 2 a litre.

The 82-day freeze in rates this year was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances.

The government on March 14 hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each and then again on May 5 by a record Rs 10 per litre in case of petrol and Rs 13 on diesel. The two hikes gave the government Rs 2 lakh crore in additional tax revenues.

Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers, adjusted them against the fall in retail rates that was warranted because of a decline in international oil prices to two-decade lows.

International oil prices have since rebounded and oil firms are now adjusting retail rates in line with them.

In 14 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 7.62 per litre and diesel by Rs 8.28 a litre.

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News Network
May 7,2020

May 7: Accusing the BJP government in Karnataka of "medieval barbarism" and treating migrants as worse than "bonded labourers", CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday hit out at the state's decision to stop workers from returning to their homes in different parts of the country citing requirements of the construction sector.

The Karnataka government has withdrawn its request to the railways to run special trains to ferry migrant labourers to their home states, hours after builders met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to apprise him of the problems the construction sector will face in case they left.

"This is worse than treating them as bonded labour. Does the Indian constitution exist? Are there any laws in the country? This BJP state government is throwing us back to medieval barbarism. This will be stoutly resisted,” Yechury said in a tweet.

The railways is running Shramik Special trains to ferry to their home towns migrants who were stranded at their places of work during the lockdown.

So far, it has run more than 115 such trains.

The Principal Secretary in the Revenue Department N Manjunatha Prasad, who is the nodal officer for migrants, had requested the South Western Railways on Tuesday to run two train services a day for five days except Wednesday, while the state government wanted services thrice a day to Danapur in Bihar. However, later, Prasad wrote another letter within a few hours that the special trains were not required. Several migrants in the city were desperate to return home as they were out of jobs and money.

Yechury also lashed out at the central government over reports that it owed states and industry Rs 3 trillion and accused the centre of shifting the burden of fighting the pandemic to the state governments.

“While shifting the entire burden of fighting the pandemic on to the State governments, Modi government is not even paying their legitimate dues. After November 2019, Centre has not paid the GST compensation dues for the rest of the financial year, i.e., March 2020.

“Modi government has the right to loot while crores of people & States are left with nothing but the right to starve?,” he tweeted.

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