Mangalore: Thousands vent their anger against 'Prevention of Violence Bill'

November 23, 2011

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Mangalore, November 23: Thousands of protesters on Thursday converged in Nehru Maidan in the city to urge the union government not to pass the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill-2011.

The protest was organised under the banner of Hindu Hitharakshana Vedike in association with several Hindutva outfits.

Addressing the protesters, RSS leader Dr Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat said: Being Hindus it is our responsibility to challenge the union government's extreme move to appease minorities.

Lashing out at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, he said that she must remember that rulers like Aurangazeb Alamgir too could not do much damage to India.

“We know that Sonia had successfully fooled her late husband Rajiv Gandhi. However, she cannot fool the nation with this Bill,” he said.

Hindus have tolerated enough and time has come to attack the ones who are acting against the values of Hinduism, he said.

Sadguru Rajayogi Ramananda Swamiji of Kshetra Kolya said that despite being majority community Hindus in this country are living like second class citizens.

“We must not behave like timid creatures, but, roar like lions. We must not let an inch of land in India to be grabbed by other religions for their religious activities”, he said.

Mohandas Swamiji of Manila said: “The UPA government is only interested in the vote bank politics and it is responsible for many of the atrocities committed against Hindus”

He said, though Sanathana Hindu Dharm spreads only love, tolerance and communal harmony, the Centre is trying to create darkness by curbing knowledge. The government of India under the leadership of Congress is spreading ideals of Pakistan in the country; he said adding that entire Hindu community should unite to fight against “the destructive policies of this government”.

Rajashekharananda Swamiji of Vajradehi Mutt, in his address accused the union government of pursuing divide and rule policy.

Holding the religious minorities of India responsible for Godhra violence, he said that Hindus must develop strength against the evil forces.

The union ministers are depicting the Violence Prevention Bill as the need of hour. But, if we make up our mind we can prevent it, he said.

Delivering the introductory address Prof M B Puranik, Vice president, VHP, Karnataka, said that because of Central government's minority appeasement policy, the ideals and values of Hinduism are under threat.

“The proposed bill will harm an entire generation”, he said.

He said that Hindus are a minority in Jammu and Kashmir and thus we have no say in that state. The government's move will subjugate the Hindus in rest of India too, he warned.

The Dharma Jagran leader Muniyappa also spoke on the occasion.

The meeting began with the recitation of the 'Vande Mataram' which was followed by the welcome speech by Ramesh S, president of HHV.

Prior to the public meet, a grand rally was taken out from Jyouti Circle to the venue.

Traffic disruption

In the wake of the rally, traffic movement in the city was restricted from 1pm. As per deputy commissioner N S Channappa Gowda's order, all buses from Mahaveer Circle took a diversion through Kankanady, Valencia, Jeppu Market, Mulihitlu and Cascia High School and return on the same route. Entry into the city via Kankanady and Balmatta was banned.

Buses from Mahakalipadpu ended trips near Cascia High School and returned from there. Buses plying on route number 27 ran between Attavar Anand Shetty Circle and Mangaladevi. Buses from Nanthoor route ended trips at Mallikatte and returned. Similarly, buses plying to various places on MG Road were not allowed to enter the city, and ended their trips at Lalbagh.

Movement of vehicles and parking was completely banned on rally route from Jyothi Circle to Nehru Maidan till the end of the rally. Vedike had arranged parking facilities at various places in the city.

However, normalcy was restored in traffic flow after 6:30 pm.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner on Thursday issued a public apology after "local staff" sealed the doors of two apartments with metal sheets in a building where a positive case of COVID-19 was reported in Dommalur.

Earlier on Thursday, BBMP sealed doors of two flats near Dommalur, in a building wherein a COVID-19 case was reported. A woman with two children, along with an elderly couple stayed in those flats. After the woman tweeted about the incident, BBMP officials removed steel sheets from doors.

Taking the matter into consideration, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, took to Twitter to express an apology for "over-enthusiasm" of his officials.

He tweeted, "We are committed to address any issues that result in stigma. Apologies for the over enthusiasm of the local staff."

He also said the BBMP is committed to treating all citizens with dignity. "I have ensured removing of these barricades immediately. We are committed to treat all persons with dignity.

The purpose of containment is to protect the infected and to ensure uninfected are safe," he tweeted.

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News Network
May 23,2020

Bengaluru, May 23: SSLC and PUC students residing in containment zones will not be able to write the exams scheduled to be held in June and July, respectively, but will be given opportunity to write the supplementary examination and treated as fresh candidates.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar announced this at a press conference on Friday.

In turn, officials in the Department of Primary and Secondary Education will start collecting the list of students in containment zones. However, they are worried since the list of containment zones is dynamic and a particular locality can be declared a containment zone even the night before the examination.

“If any examination centre is located in the containment zone, then we can change the centre and move it to a non-containment zone. However, if a student resides in a zone that is declared containment zone just before the exam, there is no option but for the person to skip the exam,” an official said.

Officials of the department are worried about another scenario as well. “There is a chance that midway through the examination, an area is becomes a containment zone. Then some students may write a few papers and give the rest a miss. Implementation at the district- and block-levels will be a challenge,” said an official.

Sources said that the department is working out several situations that may arise and trying to work on providing practical solutions to the students.

Around 5.98 lakh students have registered for the second pre-university English examination that is scheduled to be held on June 18. As many as 8.48 lakh students have registered for the SSLC examination scheduled to be held between June 25 and 4 July. Currently, there are 261 containment zones in Karnataka that have 5.49 lakh people residing in these zones.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Secondary Education and Examination Board has decided to ensure that only 18 students are seated in a classroom to write the SSLC examination. This is to ensure that social distancing is maintained in the exam hall.

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News Network
July 28,2020

Hounde, Jul 28: Coronavirus and its restrictions are pushing already hungry communities over the edge, killing an estimated 10,000 more young children a month as meager farms are cut off from markets and villages are isolated from food and medical aid, the United Nations warned Monday.

In the call to action shared with The Associated Press ahead of publication, four UN agencies warned that growing malnutrition would have long-term consequences, transforming individual tragedies into a generational catastrophe.

Hunger is already stalking Haboue Solange Boue, an infant from Burkina Faso who lost half her former body weight of 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) in just a month. Coronavirus restrictions closed the markets, and her family sold fewer vegetables. Her mother was too malnourished to nurse.

“My child,” Danssanin Lanizou whispered, choking back tears as she unwrapped a blanket to reveal her baby's protruding ribs.

More than 550,000 additional children each month are being struck by what is called wasting, according to the UN — malnutrition that manifests in spindly limbs and distended bellies. Over a year, that's up 6.7 million from last year's total of 47 million. Wasting and stunting can permanently damage children physically and mentally.

“The food security effects of the COVID crisis are going to reflect many years from now,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, the WHO head of nutrition. “There is going to be a societal effect.”

From Latin America to South Asia to sub-Saharan Africa, more poor families than ever are staring down a future without enough food.

In April, World Food Program head David Beasley warned that the coronavirus economy would cause global famines “of biblical proportions” this year. There are different stages of what is known as food insecurity; famine is officially declared when, along with other measures, 30% of the population suffers from wasting.

The World Food Program estimated in February that one Venezuelan in three was already going hungry, as inflation rendered salaries nearly worthless and forced millions to flee abroad. Then the virus arrived.

“Every day we receive a malnourished child,” said Dr. Francisco Nieto, who works in a hospital in the border state of Tachira.

In May, Nieto recalled, after two months of quarantine, 18-month-old twins arrived with bodies bloated from malnutrition. The children's mother was jobless and living with her own mother. She told the doctor she fed them only a simple drink made with boiled bananas.

“Not even a cracker? Some chicken?” he asked.

“Nothing,” the children's grandmother responded. By the time the doctor saw them, it was too late: One boy died eight days later.

The leaders of four international agencies — the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization — have called for at least dollar 2.4 billion immediately to address global hunger.

But even more than lack of money, restrictions on movement have prevented families from seeking treatment, said Victor Aguayo, the head of UNICEF's nutrition program.

“By having schools closed, by having primary health care services disrupted, by having nutritional programs dysfunctional, we are also creating harm,” Aguayo said. He cited as an example the near-global suspension of Vitamin A supplements, which are a crucial way to bolster developing immune systems.

In Afghanistan, movement restrictions prevent families from bringing their malnourished children to hospitals for food and aid just when they need it most. The Indira Gandhi hospital in the capital, Kabul, has seen only three or four malnourished children, said specialist Nematullah Amiri. Last year, there were 10 times as many.

Because the children don't come in, there's no way to know for certain the scale of the problem, but a recent study by Johns Hopkins University indicated an additional 13,000 Afghans younger than 5 could die.

Afghanistan is now in a red zone of hunger, with severe childhood malnutrition spiking from 690,000 in January to 780,000 — a 13% increase, according to UNICEF.

In Yemen, restrictions on movement have blocked aid distribution, along with the stalling of salaries and price hikes. The Arab world's poorest country is suffering further from a fall in remittances and a drop in funding from humanitarian agencies.

Yemen is now on the brink of famine, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which uses surveys, satellite data and weather mapping to pinpoint places most in need.

Some of the worst hunger still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. In Sudan, 9.6 million people live from one meal to the next — a 65% increase from the same time last year.

Lockdowns across Sudanese provinces, as around the world, have dried up work and incomes for millions. With inflation hitting 136%, prices for basic goods have more than tripled.

“It has never been easy but now we are starving, eating grass, weeds, just plants from the earth,” said Ibrahim Youssef, director of the Kalma camp for internally displaced people in war-ravaged south Darfur.

Adam Haroun, an official in the Krinding camp in west Darfur, recorded nine deaths linked with malnutrition, otherwise a rare occurrence, over the past two months — five newborns and four older adults, he said.

Before the pandemic and lockdown, the Abdullah family ate three meals a day, sometimes with bread, or they'd add butter to porridge. Now they are down to just one meal of “millet porridge” — water mixed with grain. Zakaria Yehia Abdullah, a farmer now at Krinding, said the hunger is showing “in my children's faces.”

“I don't have the basics I need to survive,” said the 67-year-old, who who hasn't worked the fields since April. “That means the 10 people counting on me can't survive either.”

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