Abusing wife common among young Indian men: Study

Hindustan Times - 24/2/09

If you thought that Generation Y Indian men considered women equals and didn’t try to control their wives by battering them or forcefully having sex with them, think again. A six-state study has found that physical and sexual violence is widely prevalent among married youth.

Eighteen to 30 per cent of married women aged 15 to 24 reported physical abuse by their husbands at least once. Fifteen to 24 per cent of the 13,912 women surveyed had experienced violence in the last 12 months, according to the study, which was jointly conducted by the Population Council in Delhi and the International Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai. Bihar recorded highest prevalence of physical violence and Rajasthan the lowest.

In sexual violence, too, Bihar was the worst: 54 per cent of women reported sexual abuse by their husbands and 49 per cent said they were forced to have sex on the wedding night.

The situation wasn’t any better in Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Forty per cent of women said they had experienced sexual violence and over 30 per cent reported forced sex on the first night.

The researchers also interviewed 8,052 married men, aged 15 to 29 from urban and rural parts of Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. While the men’s responses almost matched women’s for physical violence, they differed on sexual violence. Only 9 to 25 per cent men admitted to sexual violence as against 10 to 54 per cent women.

The study also found that physical violence began early in marriage for many women and Maharashtra topped the charts in this. Fourteen per cent of the women said they had been abused in the first year of marriage and 18 per cent said they were beaten repeatedly in the last 12 months.

SNDT University director and women’s activist Vibhuti Patel said, “At least 200 women are referred to the crisis centre at Bhabha Hospital every month after being physically or sexually abused. Husbands are often the perpetrators.”

'We are worse off than shown in Slumdog Millionaire'

Hindustan Times - 24/2/09

'Minister led mob & fired bullets' in Naroda Patia in Modi's 'Vibrant Gujarat'

Times of India - 22/2/09

She was seen being blessed by BJP’s PM-in-making, L K Advani, at a function in the city on Friday. Indeed state minister Maya Kodnani will require all his good wishes to overcome her problems.

The SC-appointed Special Investigation Team told the Gujarat HC last week that she not only led the mob but also fired from her pistol at residents of Naroda Patia, which falls in her constituency. As many as 95 persons were killed by a mob in Naroda Patia on February 28. Kodnani’s role in the riot has been described in detail by SIT which took Gujarat government’s consent before filing the affidavit against its minister.

The SIT, comprising of Gujarat Police officers who are supervised by former CBI director and a retired DGP from UP, is now relying on statements from those very witnesses whose statements in 2002 fell on deaf ears. The SIT has quoted 33 witnesses against Kodnani, minister of state for youth, sports and higher education.

“Kodnani had fired from her pistol and she had come to the spot in a car with other persons and distributed swords amongst the mob,” SIT quoted one witness as saying.

6 kids go missing every day in Delhi. Most never return, shows Police data

Times of India - 19/2/09

The numbers paint a scary picture. In the 17 days of this month alone, 72 children have been reported missing from the capital. If you think this month has been particularly bad for Delhi’s children, take a look at the figures since January 1, 2008. During this 414-day period, as many as 2,503 children have disappeared — an average of 6 missing kids every day.

And these are official figures culled from Zonal Integrated Police Network (zipnet.nic.in) data based on actual complaints. The real number could be higher. The scale of the tragedy becomes clear if one looks at the number of recoveries. During this period, just 368 missing children were recovered, including many who had disappeared before 2008. The import is clear: An overwhelmingly large percentage of parents whose kids have gone missing, aren’t likely to see them again.

The Delhi Police claim a majority of these kids have eloped, that is, willingly run away with a lover or someone else. But most parents refuse to buy this argument. Says Sambhu Kumar, father of 4-year-old Gaurav, missing from Gokalpuri since February 3, ‘‘My child surely cannot elope. Yet, police say I am primarily responsible for what has happened and that I have not been a good father. Why are they not trying to find my son?’’

According to police data, 2,503 minors missing in capital since Jan 1, 2008. That's an average of 6 children going missing every day. 115 of these cases reported from a single police station — Gokalpuri in north-east Delhi. The north-east police district recorded 540 cases in just 383 days. In Feb so far, 72 cases of missing children have been recorded Police chief announces helpline for missing kids.

Outsourcing Wars: Join the US army, be a US citizen in 6 months

Times of India - 16/2/09

For decades, high-skilled professionals from across the world, particularly India, have fought their way to US citizenship through legal immigration channels — a process that can take up to a decade or more. Now, Uncle Sam is making it easy. Fight your way — literally — to American citizenship in as little as six months.

In a far reaching proposal, the US military will open its doors to skilled immigrant guest workers (such as those who hold H1-B visas) who have lived in the US for a minimum of two years. The move is aimed at offsetting the poor recruitment intake from traditional sources at a time the US military is stretched thin by deployments in Iraq and the Af-Pak theater.

US Green card holders, also known as permanent residents, have long been eligible to enlist in the military. But this is the first time since the Vietnam War that the armed forces will be open to temporary immigrants and offer them a path to citizenship, a move that in some ways amounts to outsourcing its wars.

The program comes at a time when skilled immigrants in the US are facing a slowing job market, offering them an avenue to turn potential pink slips into not just Green cards, but citizenship — if they are so obsessed about their American Dream.

For Iran's women, the fight for rights starts at home

Times of India - 14/2/09

In a year of marriage, Razieh Qassemi, 19, says she was beaten repeatedly by her husband and his father. Her husband, she says, is addicted to methamphetamine and has threatened to marry another woman to “torture” her.

Rather than endure the abuse, Qassemi took a step that might never have occurred to an earlier generation of Iranian women:she filed for divorce. Women’s rights advocates say Iranian women are displaying a growing determination to achieve equal status in this conservative Muslim theocracy, where male supremacy is still enscribed in the legal code. One in five marriages now end in divorce, according to government data, a fourfold increase in the past 15 years.

And it is not just women from the wealthy, westernized elites. The family court building in Vanak Square here is filled with women, like Qassemi, who are not privileged. Women from lower classes and even the religious are among those marching up and down the stairs to fight for divorces and custody of their children.

Increasing educational levels and the information revolution have contributed to creating a generation of women determined to gain more control over their lives, rights advocates say. Today, more than 60% of university students are women, compared with just over 30% in 1982, even though classes are no longer segregated.

Pre - valentine's day moral policing claims it's first casualty

Times of India - 13/2/09

With the moral police on the loose in Mangalore, the tragedy was only waiting to happen. In the first death after a series of attacks on women in the south Karnataka town, a 16-year-old college student committed suicide unable to bear the humiliation after a group of men ‘‘caught’’ her dating a man and handed them over to police. The needle of suspicion was on Sri Ram Sene.

On Wednesday, she and her friend —Saleem, a Muslim bus conductor — were brought to Mulki Circle police station by a group of men after the couple was ‘‘spotted in a secluded place’’, police said. Police took the couple into custody, but let the men, who were described by a police officer as ‘‘Hindu youth’’, go.

It is easier to get into Oxford, MIT than Delhi's nursery schools

Hindustan Times - 10/2/09

It is harder for a three-year-old to get into the nursery sections of some leading Delhi schools than for undergraduates to gain admission into one of the 13 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Harvard University Yale , University Oxford University , and Cambridge University .

This year, only one out of every 46 applicants got into Springdales School (Pusa Road and Kirti Nagar). It was easier for candidates appearing for the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination: one of every 45 candidates made the cut last year. Sanskriti School, Chanakyapuri, and Amity International, Saket, ran the IITs close, with 40 and 38 applicants, respectively per seat , in the general category .

And admissions to Ivy League institutions in the US — like Harvard, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell — and venerable UK universities like Oxford and Cambridge were a walk in the park in comparison: the admission ratio varied between one in 11 for Harvard and Yale and one in five for Oxford and Cornell 

“I could never have imagined cracking nursery for my son would be as tough as cracking the JEE,” said parent Shilpi Kapoor, software engineer and IIT alumnus.

“The problem is parents want brand value for their kids. They want to send their children to certain reputed schools; that’s why many of the established schools receive massive applications,” said Ameeta Wattal, principal of Springdales School, Pusa Road.

Saudi princess says she is 'ready to drive' - A reflection of the state of women in Saudi Arabia

The Telegraph and MSN.com

The wife of one of Saudi Arabia's most high profile and richest men said she's ready to get behind the wheel if women are ever permitted to drive, highlighting again a contentious issue authorities in the Kingdom prefer to play down.

Princess Amira al-Taweel, who is one of global tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's wives, told the Saudi daily Al-Watan that she already drives when she travels abroad.

Women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted to drive. Saudi officials usually sidestep the question by saying the issue is a social and not religious one, but over the years a handful of princesses have spoken out in support of driving, including Princess Lolwah Al-Faisal, daughter of the late King Faisal, at the World Economic Forum two years ago.

The Kingdom is the only country in the world to ban women, Saudi and foreign, from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and those who cannot afford the US$300 to US$400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or to the doctor.

But change will be difficult in this ultraconservative society, where many believe that women at the wheel create situations for sinful temptation. They argue that women drivers will be free to leave home alone, will unduly expose their eyes while driving and will interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics. 

These are the people who GOVERN us

Times of India - 11/2/09

Uttar Pradesh, which is no stranger to unruly politicians disrupting assembly sessions at the drop of a Gandhi topi, on Tuesday gave yet another display of their “respect” for democracy with MLAs jumping on tables and hurling paper missiles at the governor, compelling speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar to adjourn the House.

To call the proceedings “unruly” would be a misnomer. All hell broke loose the moment Samajwadi Party MLAs, gesticulating wildly, stepped in. They fished out trussed up cloth banners from their pockets and unfurled them in the House.

The banners said, “Bhrashtachar-apraadh ki khuli azaadi, UP ki ho rahi barbaadi (there’s open corruption and crime, UP’s going to the dogs)’’ and ‘‘UP kangaal, Mayawati malamal (UP’s bankrupt, but Mayawati’s super-rich)’’. Next, they grabbed hold of a guard’s turban and tried hurling it at the governor, who was there to address the joint session of the House. They missed.

Similar examples of GOVERNANCE:

UP ASSEMBLY: 

- Oct 21, 1997 - Mikes, chappals hurled at chair by opposition MLAs (SP, BSP) during trust vote of Kalyan Singh govt. Twenty MLAs hurt 

- Dec 16, 1993 - 33 MLAs injured during an SP-BJP clash in assembly 

LOK SABHA:

- Aug 24, 2006 - Punches and microphones fly in House after JD(U)’s Prabhunath Singh levels charges against Lalu 

- Dec 1999 - Opposition MPs led by SP and RJD snatch what they think are women’s reservation Bill papers from law minister and tear it

The Curious Case of Lalit 'IPL' Modi

Excerpts from Outlook - Feb 16 issue:

Allegations Against Modi

• He operated as a ‘Super Chief Minister’ from the opulent Rambagh Palace Hotel
  
• Used his proximity to then CM Vasundhararaje to control key civil servants who would take files to his hotel suite
  
• Facilitated entry of big builders in the state. Every big land deal had to have his clearance.
  
• Influenced change in the liquor policy which led to the proliferation of liquor outlets. Became an election issue.
  
• Had a finger in every pie, including mines
  
• Personally acquired havelis in Amer by bending the law
  
• Has an extravagant lifestyle, owns a private jet. Would stay for days in the luxury suite of the Rambagh Palace Hotel.
  
• Influenced the enactment of the Rajasthan Sports Act to gain control over the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA)
  
• Accused of forging signature to become a member of the RCA
  
• Rode roughshod over anyone who crossed his path, whether it was a constable or an IPS officer. A slapping incident sparked a near-revolt in the Jaipur police.
  
• Was named in an FIR for misappropriation of RCA funds. The money has subsequently been deposited with the RCA.
  
• Convicted in the United States for possession of drugs and kidnapping in 1985

The jetsetting industrialist, man about town and architect of the spectacularly successful Indian Premier League, whose reported fondness for the good life is matched only by his overweening ambition, didn’t just administer the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) from this charmed, Rs 90,000-a-night zone of luxury. He reportedly ran Rajasthan, courtesy his proximity to the former state chief minister, Vasundhararaje......

"It was a case of single window clearance," a fellow industrialist, cricket aficionado and politician told Outlook. "Modi simply summoned civil servants with their files to his suite at the Rambagh Palace and told them what to do. And if anyone demurred, he’d simply say, ‘I’ll have to talk to Vaasu (the name by which Vasundhara’s close friends address her) then’." Under the cover of the controversial Section 90 B of the Land Acquisition Act, acres of agricultural land has passed into the hands of big builders from Delhi. "Section 90 B," explains an IAS officer, "was intended to be a one-time welfare measure with a cut-off date to give relief to local farmers." They were allowed to convert their land into non-agricultural land. "The area was defined, the mechanism defined," adds the IAS officer. "But it was not meant to be an enabling clause for crass commercialisation which is what it became during the BJP era, when the provision about the cut-off date was given the go-by." The Jaipur Development Authority framed ad hoc rules to get around the original objective of Section 90 B. Presiding over this change in land use, many allege, was Lalit Modi. The land issue is now the subject of a probe by the government.

'Lepers should beg, not drive cars'

Hindustan Times - 1/2/09

• People with the disease are legally banned from travelling by train and applying for a driving licence, and leprosy is listed as a ground for a divorce under almost every marriage and divorce law. Some states — Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh — don’t even allow people with leprosy to contest local body and panchayat elections.

• Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss is quick to admit that many laws discriminate against leprosy-affected people. “Leprosy is less infectious than the common cold and completely curable, yet laws stigmatise as much as people do.
  

• Even with only 87,206 leprosy cases on record at end of March 2008, India accounts for 54 per cent new cases detected globally. Since 1985, multi-drug therapy given free under the NLEP cures leprosy within six months to a year, but social stigma continues because of the visible physical deformities.

• Kuldeep Kumar, 22, has been refused a driving licence more than once, and he stopped trying after being told, “Lepers should beg, not drive cars.” “We are the new untouchables in modern India’s casteless society, but unlike other disadvantaged people, laws discriminate against us instead of supporting us,” said Kumar. He doesn’t even have leprosy but is doomed because he lives in a leprosy colony in East Delhi with his parents, who have leprosy.
  

• Shantha’s (name changed), 21, husband divorced her after he discovered she had been diagnosed and treated for leprosy. “He argued that I could get it again and the court agreed. What could I do? He had the law on his side,” she shrugs.

PERVERSION - Rise in the number of rapes by men known to/related to the victim

Hindustan Times - 2/2/09

Out of a total of 453 cases of rape reported from Delhi in 2008, in 98.01% cases the victim was known to the accused.

• Feb 1, 2008 - Man, brother and 2 cousins (1 of them - 15 yrs old) arrested for allegedly raping his two minor daughters for the past 2 years
  

• May 22, 2008 - Property dealer arrested for raping 13 year old daughter in South Delhi

• Apr 27, 2008 - 4 year old girl allegedly raped by uncle in Mongolpuri

• Jul 21, 2007 - 21 year old DU student lodges FIR against her father and 2 of his friends for raping her

• June 4, 2004 - 37 year old man held for allegedly raping his 13 year old daughter in North Delhi

Different forms of Local Terrorism: Threats issued against young couples

Hindustan Times - 7/2/09

• "(We) will go around with a priest, a turmeric stub and a mangal sutra on Feb 14. We will take (couples) to the nearest temple and conduct their marriage" - Pramod Muthalik - Leader of Sri Ram Sene
  

• "(Young couples) will be handed over to police or your head will be shaven and (you will be) handed to your parents" - Hoarding in Srinagar

• "We warn shopkeepers not to sell gifts or cards on Valentine's Day. We appeal to management of Mughal and Botanical Gardens not to let couples in on Feb 14" - Dukhtaran-E-Millat

The Taliban-ization of India continues: Bajrang Dal activists attack girl for talking to a Muslim boy

Times of India - 7/2/09

Close on the heels of Sri Rama Sene men beating up girls in a Mangalore pub in the name of protecting Indian culture, here comes another shocker. 

Shruthi, the daughter of CPM MLA from Manjeshwar in Kerala C H Kunhambu, was attacked allegedly by a group of Bajrang Dal activists when she was returning to her hostel in Mangalore after a brief holiday at home on Friday evening. The brother of her classmate, Shabib, who was travelling in the same bus, was also thrashed by the suspected saffron activists, who took offence to the girl talking to a Muslim boy. Shruthi is a Class-XII student of St. Aloysius College in Mangalore.  

Shruthi said she and Shabib were dragged out of the bus by four men, aged between 25 and 30 years, who forced them to an autorickshaw before taking them to a house in Padil area of Mangalore. ‘‘They hit me and later they took turns to beat Shabib,’’ Shruthi told TOI over phone from Mangalore. 

Guardians turn violators: Police atrocities on the rise

Times of India - 4/2/09 & 6/2/09 

• Cops torture 7-yr-old Dalit girl in Maya’s UP

Kanpur: In Dalit icon Mayawati’s Uttar Pradesh, a seven-year-old Dalit girl was tortured by six remorseless cops  inside the Jaswantnagar police station in Etawah district for allegedly stealing Rs 280. They were trying to extract a confession from her about Monday’s theft, perversely laughing at her tearful protestations of innocence.

• UP cops shoot at polio-affected man

The inhuman face of UP policemen again came to the fore when a 30-year-old polio-affected man was allegedly shot at and critically injured by two policemen on duty under the Sikandara police station in Kanpur Dehat..... 

Arun, who has polio in his left leg, was shot on left arm and left thigh. He was rushed to a nearby PHC from where he was later shifted to Madhuraj nursing home for treatment. “They just stopped us and opened fire. The only crime we were doing at that point of time was that we were tripling on our motorcycle,” he said. 

Oops she did it again!!!

Times of India - 5/2/09

Paris Hilton vows to help economy by shopping more

Paris Hilton admits that her income remained unaffected even during the current global financial crisis and promises to help in the struggling economy by shopping. Hilton is adamant that she can give retail industry a boost by continuing her excessive spending, reports contactmusic.com. “It’s really scary about the economy right now. So I’m playing my part in helping by shopping wherever I go,” she said. 

Is this our future? - Kids turning killers

Times of India - 3/2/09 & 5/2/09

• 8-yr-old stabs friend to death

An eight-year-old boy murdered his six-year-old neighbour in the Tughlakabad Extension area of south-east Delhi on Sunday night. While deceased Miraz Khan was a student of Class I at the nearby Ganga Memorial Public School, accused Karan (name changed) is a student of Class 2 in a local school. 

Police sources said a knife without a handle was used to stab Miraz. Trouble started when one of the boys refused to pick up a ball that he had mistakenly thrown down from his second-floor residence. 

• Group of kids stab 8-yr-old for not getting off swing
  

Kota: An eight-year-old boy who took a minute long to get off a swing in a playground was stabbed by a group of children who were irked by the delay in Kota district of Rajasthan. Shubham, who suffered serious injuries in the stomach, is battling for life in hospital. 

Police said 3-4 children were playing cricket in the park at Sindhi Colony in Kishorpura Tuesday evening when they suddenly stopped the game and ran to enjoy the swing. Shubham, a Class II student, sat on the swing and others waited for their turn. However, they got irked over the delay and stabbed him. 

An air-hostess's dread

Times of India - 3/2/09

She was manoeuvring the refreshments trolley down the narrow aisle in economy class when she suddenly felt a hand brush against her thigh. Pallavi (name changed), a 22-year-old air hostess with Jet Airways, had no choice but to carry on with her duties, seemingly unruffled by the humiliation. ‘‘I turned around and saw an elderly man who had probably touched me, but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it,’’ she says. 

A young and glamorous cabin crew, traversing both domestic and international skies, encounters a variety of in-flight provocations. The latest incident on an Indigo flight reinforces the stereotypes associated with the Indian flyer, especially men: ‘‘They have money but no manners.’’ 

Bindu Ramachandran, aviation trainer with Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training, and ex-cabin crew with Singapore Airlines, recalls with horror a flight on which a ‘‘totally smashed’’ passenger from Chennai asked for more liquor. ‘‘I still remember — he was drinking cognac. I told him, gently, that I could only offer him a non-alcoholic beverage. He couldn’t handle the refusal, so he started spitting and using abusive language.’’ Far from being intimidated, Bindu informed the rest of the cabin crew serving in economy: ‘‘There were eight of us — we surrounded him and told him if he didn’t stop hurtling obscenities, we’d have him arrested when we landed. That sobered him.’’....... 

Sapna Gupta, founder and director of Air Hostess Academy Pvt Ltd, says categorically: ‘‘Sadly, in our country, girls grow up being eveteased in buses, on the streets, everywhere. So most of them can deal with it, even before we formally train them.’’ 

Sania Mirza becomes the 1st Indian lady to win a Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open Mixed Doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi

MSN.com - 1/2/09

It was Bhupathi's seventh mixed doubles title while Sania become the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam. Bhupathi, 34, had reached the men's doubles final here with Mark Knowles of Bahamas but went down to No.2 seeds American twins Bob and Mike Bryan Saturday. Bhupathi and Sania were at their dominating best and dispatched Ram and Dechy 6-3, 6-1 in just 55 minutes at Melbourne Park.

 

Bhupathi's first mixed doubles title came way back in 1997 with Rita Hiraki in the French Open. He went on to win two Wimbledon titles (Elena Likhovtseva, 2002 and Mary Pierce, 2005), two US Open (Ai Sugiyama, 1999 and Daniela Hantuchova, 2005), and his last one came here with Martina Hingis in 2006.

 

The Banglorean has four men's doubles title, three of which came with Leander Paes with whom he once formed a formidable pair. For 22-year-old Sania, who burst onto the international scene in 2005 reaching the third round of Australian Open, it is her maiden Grand Slam.

 

The Indians had reached the final here last year, but finished runners-up as they lost to Chinese Tian-Tian Sun and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia. They entered this year as unseeded, but went on to play outstanding tennis throughout the tournament.

Local Hitlers

Times of India - 1/2/09

• If you take Mein Kampf and if you remove the word Jew and put in the word Muslim, that is what I believe in - Bal Thackeray, quoted by Mumbai newspapers before the 1992 riots SHIV SENA LEADER

• If they grow stronger they can play the part of Sudeten Germans, alright. But if we Hindus in India grow stronger, in time these Muslim friends of the league type will have to play the part of German-Jews instead. We Hindus have taught the Shakas and the Huns already to play that part pretty well. So, it is no use bandying words till the test comes. The taste of the pudding is in its eating - V D Savarkar, in Hindu Rashtra Darshan, 1949 HINDUTVA IDEOLOGUE

• German race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by purging the country of the semitic Races — the Jews. Germany has shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn. Madhav Golwalkar, in We, or Our Nationhood Defined, 1939 RSS LEADER