Sexual offenders in office stand to lose salary, job, promotion

August 4, 2013

officeNew Delhi, Aug 4: You could risk losing at least 10% of your salary every month for a year, promotions, withdrawal of privileges and perks or even face termination of service if found guilty of sexually harassing a woman at your workplace. These are part of the new rules under the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) that was passed by Parliament recently. The rules empower the complaints committee to restrict the perpetrator's entry from the workplace if the guilty happens to be an outsider. The panel can also impose a fine of Rs 500, or 5% of the woman's salary in case of a false or malicious complaint.

These provisions are included in new rules that have been drafted by the ministry of women and child development and sent to the law ministry for their opinion. The provisions are likely to be notified by end-August.

A complaints committee, established under the law, will be empowered to recommend and impose a written apology, censure, withhold promotions, pay hikes or increments, entitlements and privileges, impose termination of service in case where they find a case of sexual harassment. The committee can also revoke, suspend any licence or registration in cases like a doctor or a lawyer's licence.

If the act has been committed by an outsider or a visitor the committee can pass orders to restrict the entry of the perpetrator or forewarn him of criminal and legal action in case of trauma to the victim. The guilty also risks losing a minimum of 10% of his salary every month for a period of a year or in a lump sum. The committee has been given powers to take in to consideration the nature of relationship between the complainant and the accused, the position of the respondent in the hierarchy and the incidents of prior complaint before determining the nature of penalty.

It can also slap a fine of Rs 500 or 5% of the salary of the complainant every month for a year in case of a false or malicious complaint.

The sexual harassment law, which has been in effect from April, is applicable to organized and unorganized workplaces including educational institutions, hospitals, residences (applicable to domestic workers) and provides a mechanism for the implementation of the Vishakha guidelines of 1997. Sexual harassment has been described broadly in the act as any attempt to promise or give preferential treatment, threaten or attempt to give detrimental treatment to an employee, create a work environment that is hostile, offensive or intimidating or humiliate an employee so that it affects her health or safety.

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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, June 22: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be “mindful of the implication of his words” as a controversy raged over his “no intrusion” remark about the violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley.

“The Prime Minister must always be mindful of the implications of his words and declarations on our Nation’s security as also strategic and territorial interests,” Singh said in a statement here as Chinese media welcomed Modi’s ‘no intrusion’  remarks contending that it may lead to a de-escalation of tensions between China and India.

Congress has been maintaining that Modi’s assertions at Friday’s all-party meeting that neither was there any intrusion nor was any Indian post captured ran counter to the statements made by the Indian Army and the External Affairs Ministry.

Singh said the prime minister cannot allow his words to be used by China as a vindication of its position and all organs of the government should work together to tackle this crisis and prevent it from escalating further.

“We remind the Government that disinformation is no substitute for diplomacy or decisive leadership. The truth cannot be suppressed by having pliant allies spout comforting but false statements,” the former prime minister said.

Singh said the prime minister and the government should rise to the occasion to ensure justice for Colonel B Santosh and the army jawans who made the supreme sacrifice and resolutely defended the nation’s territorial integrity.

“To do any less would be a historic betrayal of the people’s faith,” the former prime minister said.

“At this moment, we stand at historic crossroads. Our Government’s decisions and actions will have serious bearings on how the future generations perceive us,” Singh said.

Singh said China was brazenly and illegally seeking to claim parts of Indian territory such as the Galwan Valley and the Pangong Tso Lake by committing multiple incursions between April 2020 till date.  

“We cannot and will not be cowed down by threats and intimidation nor permit a compromise with our territorial integrity,” said Singh. 

The former prime minister said this was a moment where “we must stand together as a nation and be united in our response to this brazen threat.”

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Agencies
May 17,2020

New Delhi, May 17: With the highest-ever spike of close to 5,000 cases in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India has crossed 90,000 on Sunday.

With an increase of 4,987 COVID-19 cases being reported in the last 24 hours, the count has reached 90,927, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of active cases in the country stands at 53,946 today, while 2,872 deaths have been recorded due to the infection so far, with one patient having migrated. 120 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

However, on the positive side, close to 4,000 patients have also been cured and discharged in the past 24 hours, taking the tally of cured patients to 34,108.

With 30,706 confirmed cases, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected by the infection in the country.

It is followed by Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, with 10,988 and 10,585 cases, respectively.
The national capital, with 9,333 cases, is also one of the regions which is badly affected by the infection.

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News Network
March 24,2020

Ahmedabad, Mar 24: The Gujarat police has detained 426 people in the last 24 hours for violating lockdown rules in force in the state to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Tuesday.

They include those who came out despite being advised home quarantine, state Director General of Police Shivanand Jha said.

"The lockdown met with around 90 per cent success. We are taking strict measures to implement the lockdown in the remaining 10-15 per cent areas. We have lodged 238 cases related to the violation of police notification and 127 cases related to quarantine rule violation. In all, we have detained 426 persons across the state," Jha told reporters in Gandhinagar.

"For better implementation of the lockdown and to address issues concerning people, we have set up a dedicated 24-hour control room and appointed two additional DGP rank officers to supervise operations. Three teams under them would work to resolve issues across the state," said Jha.

He said police commissioners and districts SPs have been asked to enforce the lockdown in an effective manner.

Essential services like vegetable and milk shops are allowed to remain open, he said, and asked people not to flock in large numbers to such shops.

The state has so far reported 33 COVID-19 cases, and one person has died of the infection.

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