Yet another attack on Indians in Australia

Tuesday, Sep 15, 2009 

 

There has been another attack on Indians in Melbourne's eastern suburb of Epping. A group of about 70 youths attacked four Indians with bottles on Saturday night in a car park.

Biggest bucks for Big B

Thursday, Sep 17, 2009 , India

Amitabh Bachchan will be paid Rs 126 crore for Bigg Boss 3, making him the highest paid TV presenter.

Dalit man set on fire in Madhya Pradesh

Saturday September 19, 2009, Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh

In a shocking incident, a Dalit was set on fire in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district for refusing to give in to the demands of a moneylender and his supporters.

Narayan Singh Khangaar is battling for his life. The 56-year-old Dalit farmer has nearly 60 per cent burn injuries and was set ablaze, allegedly by a moneylender and some powerful members of his village.

Two years ago, Narayan had taken a loan of Rs 70,000 from the moneylender and mortgaged his land. He repaid the loan in due course and was demanding the loan papers back from the money lender

. Narayan's wife is dead and he has no heir.

The moneylender wanted to grab Narayan's two acres of land, as villagers allege.

"Narayan had mortgaged his land and taken a loan from the money lender. Meanwhile, the moneylender refused to give back the land and got it registered in his own wife's name when Narayan reiterated his demand for getting his land back. They burnt him alive," said Govind, a village guard.

A case of attempt to murder has been registered against four people, including the moneylender; all of them are on the run. The administration

says the guilty will not get away.

Shivpuri has a notorious record of crime against Dalits. This is the third such incident in the last year, and many fear this may not be the last.

'26/11 evidence not enough for Pak courts'

Saturday September 19, 2009, Islamabad, New Delhi

 

A day after reports came in that Pakistan would arrest Hafiz Saeed, the man India believes is responsible for the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, there's a reality check.

Pakistan on Saturday reiterated that any arrest of Saeed had nothing to do with the 26/11 attacks. What's more? The evidence supplied by India linking Hafiz Saeed to the attacks is not enough.

As an example, the statement of Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist caught in Mumbai, is apparently not enough for courts in Pakistan since he cannot be cross examined in the country.

Is this Pakistan's attempt to break the current deadlock a week before the next major India-Pakistan meeting?

First, on Friday, Pakistan charged Saeed under anti-terror laws for inciting jihad domestically. And now,  in the latest response to India's latest dossier on the Mumbai attack investigations, there is no mention of charging Saeed.

"We have arrested two people after Sharm al Sheikh. And we are committed to fighting terror," said Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

Neither the charging of Saeed nor the reply to the dossier address India's key demand of prosecuting Saeed for his role in the Mumbai attacks.

In fact, even though Saeed can be jailed under the domestic terrorism charges, his lawyer is confident they won't stick.

And India is likely to press ahead with its demand to convict Saeed, who is believed to have masterminded the 26/11 attacks.

"We are concerned immediately with the terror attacks on Mumbai. As long as that doesn't find any place in the FIR (police case filed by Pakistan against Hafiz Mohammad Saeed), well, India certainly would request upon Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of attacks on Mumbai," said External Affairs Minister S M Krishna.

Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries are scheduled to meet in New York next week ahead of talks between Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmud Qureshi, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.

"Expectations are that Pakistan should focus in a meaningful manner on issue of terrorism. Been consistently stated to Pakistan side with sincerity by government of India, our expectation and hope that Pakistan will address concerns with full seriousness and full commitment so that desired outcome can be reached," said Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.

But as India insists, the dialogue process can only move forward in a violence-free atmosphere. The question is whether Pakistan's latest moves will make the difference.

FACTBOX - Biggest killers of young people worldwide

Fri, Sep 11 10:09 AM

REUTERS - The first study to look at death rates across the world for young people aged 10 to 24 years was published on Friday.

The research, conducted by an international group of experts in adolescent health and backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), included the following key findings:

* The top ten causes of death in all 10-24 year olds, male and female combined, globally were

1) Road traffic accidents (10 percent);

2) Suicide (6.3 percent);

3) Violence (6 percent);

4) Lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia (5.9 percent);

5) Tuberculosis (5.5 percent);

6) AIDS (5.5 percent);

7) Drowning (4.1 percent);

8) Fire-related deaths (2.6 percent);

9) Meningitis (2 percent);

10) War (1.8 percent)

* For males aged 10-24 worldwide, the top five causes of death were

1) Road traffic accidents (13.9 percent);

2) Violence (9.2 percent);

3) Suicide (6.4 percent);

4) Drowning (5.3 percent);

5) Tuberculosis (5.2 percent)

* For females, aged 10-24 worldwide, the top five causes of death were

1) Lower respiratory tract infections (6.7 percent);

2) Suicide (6.2 percent);

3) AIDS (6.1 percent);

4) Tuberculosis (5.8 percent);

5) Road traffic accidents (5 percent) **

** (Note- Maternal deaths from all causes represented 15 percent of deaths, however they were divided into a number of different categories meaning that no individual maternal death category featured in the top five)

* In higher-income countries, traffic accidents caused 32 percent of deaths in males aged 10-24 years. Violence accounted for 10 percent of male mortality and suicide 15 percent.

* Relative risks for death in Africa were higher than in any other region, and nearly seven times higher than in high-income countries. (305 vs 45 deaths per 100,000)

* Males died at higher rates than females in all age groups and regions apart from Africa and southeast Asia, where the increased number of female deaths was largely from maternal mortality, with deaths from suicide, fire, AIDS, and tuberculosis also contributing.