Mumbai Police 'adopts' senior citizens

October 2, 2012
mumbai_police_adopts_senior_citizens

Mumbai: Vasant Tarte, a police constable in his early 40's has a grueling schedule. But in spite of that he makes time to visit the Memon couple every single morning.

The Memons are senior citizens in their late 70s, living alone in Mumbai.

Mr Tarte, a father of two has adopted the couple and pledged to take care of them. It's not by way of adoption under the Hindu law but as part of a drive initiated by the Mumbai police to instill confidence in senior citizens- who are considered the most vulnerable section of society.

"En route to work I drop by to check on them. I know them as I have been serving at the Nagpada police station for over two years and they live opposite the police station, but after the drive I started frequently interacting with them," an emotional Mr Tarte tells NDTV while explaining the campaign.

"I feel home when I come here. Their kids have settled abroad so they feel lonely. Serving them reminds me of my parents who stay alone in my home town in Satara ", adds Mr Tarte.

The Memons are only too happy talking about their 'son'; "We feel nice when he comes over. Our kids aren't in India so we feel lonely. He fills the vacuum," Mrs Falusa Memon tells us. "We are scared reading about the spate of attacks on elderly citizens and hope that this drive is successful," she adds.

But not every senior citizen has a happy story about the police. Malvika Jhaveri, a 68-year-old resident of Gamdevi in South Mumbai was robbed at knife point by two unidentified men who barged in to her house in August this year and robbed her off jewellery worth 14 lakhs.

"They handcuffed me and tied me to a chair and took away all my jewellery," says Mrs Jhaveri.

Bitter and scared, the Jhaveris have now installed CCTV cameras outside their home and hired a personal security guard.

"We have no faith in the police so we have hired a guard at our expense," she adds.

The police are hoping to change that by initiating this drive especially after a spate of attacks on the elderly.

Six senior citizens were killed and over 40 cases of chain snatching registered in just one month. All with the motive to rob the helpless.

On October 1, the Memon's had a surprise visitor - the state home minister RR Patil who had come to take a stock of the drive.

"We will ensure that all the senior citizens are registered and a constable visits them regularly," he told media.

As part of the drive, one needs to register themselves with the local area police or call them on the elderly helpline number - 1090. The police promise a dedicated constable would be assigned to meet senior citizens in his area and keep a constant vigil on them.

"This won't strain the police force. This is part of its social obligation and we are too happy to help, "says police commissioner Satyapal Singh, when asked if the police force that's already understaffed and over work was being pushed to the wall.

The sincerity is apparent, but the attacks on senior citizens not only expose the loopholes in policing a metropolis like Mumbai but also reflect the growing social realities where the elderly are forced to live all by themselves.

STEPS TO ENSURE YOUR SAFETY

1) Call 1090 in any emergency

2) Stay in touch with the local police

3) Register yourself and submit details to them

4) Register your domestic help

5) Give details about the point of contact person during emergency

PRECAUTIONS THE ELDERLY MUST TAKE

1) Install grills on the door

2) CCTV in the building

3) Reconfirm visitors' identities

4) Not keep too much jewelry or cash at home

5) Not befriend strangers.


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Agencies
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: The Congress on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why has not India gained anything from the "strange bonhomie" which it claimed he shared with China.

Seeking to turn the tables on the ruling party, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the BJP also shared bonhomie with the Communist Party of China (CPC) with several party-level exchanges taking place in the past.

He sought to know whether India's borders have become safe after these exchanges in the last many years.

The Congress leader asked what has the country gained out of these exchange delegations and why are the borders insecure despite the bonds that the two ruling parties of India and China share with each other.

"There is a strange kind of bonhomie between Narendra Modi and China, a two decade old bonhomie. Why doesn't the country get the benefit of that bonhomie," he asked at a virtual press conference.

Khera said all that the Congress will continue to question is about the political will that just does not get visible when it comes to China.

"Whatever is happening on the border today, is it despite the bonhomie which you have with China, or is it because of the bonhomie which you have with China. The country needs to know," he asked.

"We do want to ask you, if as president of the party, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Amit Shah have been sending delegations,  strengthening the bonds between the Communist Party of China and the BJP. What has the country gained out of these bonds? Why are the borders insecure despite these bonds that you have," he also asked.

The ruling has hit out at the Congress for signing an MoU with China's Communist Party and has questioned its "bond" with the ruling party in China.

Khera also asked what role did the India Foundation, an organisation run by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's son has in strengthening the bonds with China.

"Why does India Foundation keep visiting these countries? Who do they meet? What's the outcome? What's the role of NSA Ajit Doval's son- Shaurya Doval? He keeps attending these meetings through India Foundation? These are important questions in the light of what is happening," he asked.

Khera said the prime minister is showing "red eyes" to those who are asking him questions instead of showing them to the enemy.

"It is time to stand with the Army and show red eyes to China," he said.

The Congress leader said questions will be asked to Modi especially when there are definitive reports, satellite images of incursions in the Ladakh region of India by the Chinese.

He alleged that China laps up the comment of Modi and uses it across the world that the Indian prime minister says that China is in its own territory and Galwan is theirs.

"After a lot of pressure, PMO contradicted what the prime minister said. This kind of a goof up is unpardonable," he alleged.

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News Network
July 23,2020

New Delhi, Jul 23: Riding high on foreign investors buying stakes in Jio Platforms, Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani became the world’s fifth-richest person Wednesday, edging past American investor Warren Buffett on the real-time ranking of billionaires by Forbes. With an estimated wealth of $75 billion, Ambani is only next to Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose wealth is pegged at $89 billion.

Buffet had slipped down the rankings after donating more than $37 billion of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock since 2006 to charity. Berkshire Hathaway’s stock performance has also underwhelmed recently.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos still sits at top in the richest list, with a net worth of $185.8 billion. He is followed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with net worth of $113.1 billion and luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s chief Bernard Arnault, with a net worth of $112 billion. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is at the fourth position in the Forbes list.

Shares of Ambani’s conglomerate have more than doubled since a low in March as its digital unit got more than $15 billion in investments from companies including Facebook Inc, Silver Lake, Intel, and most recently, Google. The US tech giant has committed a capital infusion of Rs 33,737 crore for a 7.7 per cent stake on Jio Platforms.

The total investment from financial and strategic investors into Jio Platforms stands at Rs 1,52,056 crore. RIL has raised a total of Rs 2,12,809 crore through a rights issue, the combined investments in Jio Platforms and investment by BP.

During the Reliance AGM last week, Ambani had said RIL has made its net-debt free ahead of a March 2021 target due to recent investments. Ambani said Jio has designed and developed a complete 5G solution that’s ready for launch as soon as spectrum is made available next year.

Jio and Google have also entered into a commercial agreement to jointly develop an entry-level affordable smartphone with optimisations to the Android operating system and the Play Store, Ambani said.

RILs market value jumped to Rs 12.7 lakh crore or $170 billion on Monday, making it the 51st most valued company in the world. Between April 1 and July 13, RIL has gained $81 billion in market capitalisation and has climbed 47 places from being the 98th most valued company on April 1 to 51st most value company now.

The share price of RIL has risen by 120 per cent over the last four months for Rs 883 per share on March 23, 2020 to Rs 1,939 on Monday. Since April 22, when Facebook Inc announced an investment of Rs 43,574 crore in Jio Platforms for 9.99 per cent equity stake, Jio Platforms has announced investments by 12 other investors. The total investment by these 13 investors over the last 12-weeks amounted to Rs 118,318 crore.

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News Network
March 3,2020

New Delhi, Mar 3: A day after two new cases of novel coronavirus that included one from Delhi were reported, the Health Ministry on Tuesday said six cases with "high-viral load" were detected during sample testing in Agra and these people have been kept in isolation. The six people had come in contact with a 45-year-old patient from Delhi, whose case came to light on Monday, and they include his family members.

According to government sources, the man, who is a resident of Mayur Vihar, had visited them in Agra.

The six have been kept in isolation at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and their samples are being sent to NIV, Pune for confirmation.

Contact tracing of the people who came in contact with the six is simultaneously being done through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) network, the ministry said in a statement.

Sources said the patient from Mayur Vihar was shifted to a quarantine ward at Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday night.

His other family members have been asked to stay alert and look out for symptoms. One accountant, who came in contact with the man and some of his family members, was also quarantined, they said.

India on Monday reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, one from Delhi and another one from Hyderabad. The government has stepped up its efforts to detect and check the infection which has killed 2,912 people in China.

On Monday, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma had said that an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur.

The first sample collected from him on February 29 tested negative but his condition deteriorated, so a second sample was collected which tested positive on Monday, the minister said, adding, "Since there is a variation in the reports, the samples have been sent to the NIV, Pune for testing".

India had earlier reported three cases from Kerala, including two medical students from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the deadly novel coronavirus. They had self-reported on their return to the country and tested positive for the infection. They were discharged from hospitals last month following recovery.

The infected person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, while the other patient who tested positive for the COVID-19 infection is from Telangana and had recently travelled to Dubai.

Both the patients had self-reported after they developed symptoms.

"They tested positive. They are stable and being closely monitored," ministry said on Monday.

The government has asked people to avoid non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore and said India was in discussions with authorities in Iran and Italy, two countries badly affected by the infection, to evacuate Indians there.

The novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries.

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