Bhopal, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The seating arrangement on the occasion of International Yoga Day on June 21 in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur has sparked off controversy as state's ruling BJP's Rajya Sabha member Sumitra Valmiki has accused the district administration of not giving her a chair on stage due to her being a Dalit.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar was present as chief guest on the occasion.

The MP claimed that she was later called on stage but her chair was pushed back and she wasn't given a bouquet. The matter came to the fore after she wrote to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state BJP president V. D. Sharma regarding the 'slight' to her.

"I was not given any bouquet and also a proper seat on the stage because I am a Dalit. District Collector Saurabh Suman deliberately insulted me because of my caste," Valmiki alleged.

Talking to media persons, she said: "We (Dalits) have been tortured for centuries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to end this practice. He wants to give us equal status, but there are still some frustrated minds in society. As Nelson Mandela fought for apartheid throughout his life, Modi ji is also fighting against caste discrimination today."

In response to the allegations of the MP, District Collector Suman said that they were only following the action plan as given to them by the government. He also apologised to her.

Meanwhile, the Congress called the incident "an insult to the Scheduled Caste community".

"BJP made a Dalit woman a Rajya Sabha MP for votes and politics, but their purpose was never to give respect and equal rights to them. The Congress party condemn the incident," state media in charge K.K. Mishra said.

Source: IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) It was a mixed day from the Kerala unit of the ruling Left major CPI's student wing SFI, as its former leader K. Vidya, in police custody on charges of forging documents for a teacher's job in a government college, got bail, while current leader Nikhil Thomas, arrested for forging a certificate, was sent to judicial custody for a week.

Vidya was arrested on Wednesday night and then said the case is a "trap" against her and the state CPI-M leadership by the Congress.

Accused of forging her experience certificate to secure the post of a guest lecturer at a state-run college in Palakkad, she is learned to have told the police that she has done no wrong and that she is a victim of a "deep-rooted" conspiracy hatched by the Congress-backed teachers' organisation.

A Kasargod resident, Vidya was taken into police custody from her friend's house in Kozhikode on Wednesday.

On Saturday, a court in Palakkad district, despite strong opposition from the prosecution, granted her bail after she pleaded that she has a health problem and was willing to abide by any condition that the court puts forward.

Following her plea, the court granted her bail but asked her to furnish two sureties and surrender her passport besides presenting herself before the probe official once in two weeks.

She got another relief when in a similar case registered in Kasargod for a similar crime, even though an arrest warrant was there and the police team from there was waiting to take her into custody, it was told that she needs to present herself before them after three days.

In the case related to Thomas, he was on the run for the past five days after it surfaced that he had produced forged documents that he passed B.Com from Kalinga University, Raipur and got admission for M.Com at MSM College Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district.

It was early on Saturday that Thomas was taken into custody by the police from Kottayam and was produced before a court in Alappuzha district which sent him to judicial custody for a week.

Thomas' counsel said his bail application will be heard on Monday.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) With the arrest of two men, the Delhi Police on Saturday said that they have busted an immigration racket that used to dupe Sri Lankan nationals on pretext of sending them to foreign countries through India.

The accused were identified as Selvakulendran, 56, a resident of Tamil Nadu's Trichy, and Mahenthiraraja, 63, a resident of Sri Lanka's Jaffna.

The matter came to light when a police team patrolling in Mahipalpur area saw 10 persons standing there in suspicious circumstances.

"They were questioned, but they could not give any suitable reply. On being asked to prove their identity, they could not produce any document. They were then brought to the police station for verification and their identity was established. All of them were found to be Sri Lankan nationals," Deputy Commissioner of Police, IGI, Devesh Kumar Mahla, said.

It was revealed that one of the 10, namely Mahenthiraja was the sub-agent, who was guiding them on the directions of agent Selvakulendran. They all were promised to be sent to Canada by cheating Indian immigration.

"In view of the large scale scams, a police team was formed and tasked to locate the movement of travel agents involved in such fraud. After careful analysis of the call records of arrested persons and through electronic surveillance, the team intercepted the location of accused agent Selvakulendran in Trichy," said Mahla.

"The team was immediately deployed for Trichy and Selvakulendran was arrested. He was thoroughly grilled and on sustained interrogation, disclosed that he charged Rs 2 lakhseach from all of the passengers to facilitate them in sending them to Canada through IGI Airport. These Sri Lankan people were sent to him by his acquaintance in Sri Lanka, namely Vijay," he added.

The DCP said that both the agents are involved in facilitating the Sri Lankan nationals to illegally go to Canada via India.

"They are operating from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka and facilitating people in settling down in foreign countries by unfair means," the official added.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi court has dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of a man accused of cheating, stating that the police should not be restricted from conducting a thorough interrogation of the accused.

Accused Rishabh Sharma, alleged to have been involved in cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and forgery, had applied for anticipatory bail claiming that he was not the main offender in the case.

Judge Aparna Swami, who was presiding over the vacation session, cited the accused's lack of cooperation during the investigation as she rejected his plea while instructing him to cooperate with the investigation.

She emphasised that the police should have the authority to conduct sustained interrogation of the accused to gather conclusive evidence, particularly in a complex case like this where many facts are yet to be uncovered.

"Police power of investigation cannot be clipped by denying the opportunity of sustained interrogation of accused for conclusion of evidence, particularly in a case of this nature where several facts are still to be unravelled," she said.

The judge also acknowledged the seriousness of the offense, which involved a significant amount of money, and highlighted that the investigation was still in its early stages.

Furthermore, the court noted that the accused was not a permanent resident of Delhi and that the other co-accused in the case were still absconding.

The prosecution had opposed his bail application, citing his evasive responses and the discovery of Rs 3.44 lakh in his bank account out of the total amount of Rs 11 crore that was allegedly cheated.

The prosecution informed the court that the money was deposited by the accused's father, Prem Ratan Sharma, who was identified as the main accused and was arrested on May 4, despite the FIR being filed in 2019.

Source: IANS

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Chennai, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Madras High Court has held that a homemaker is entitled to half of her husband's property.

A single-judge bench of Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy said that a homemaker performs round-the-clock job managing a home without any break from this routine.

The judge said that a woman taking care of the home also performs the job of a home doctor by providing basic medical support to family members.

He said that a homemaker would be entitled to an equal share in properties purchased by her husband with his earnings. The court said that the husband would not have earned money without the support of his wife looking after the family.

The court said, "The property may have been purchased either in the name of husband or wife, nevertheless if must be considered to be purchased with money saved from the joint efforts of both husband and wife."

A woman cannot be left without anything to call her own after having devoted herself to taking care of her husband and children. The court said that even though no legislation has so far been enacted to recognise the contribution made by a homemaker, the courts could very well recognize the contribution and ensure that women get a fair deal when it comes to rewarding their sacrifices.

It made the observation while disposing of a 2016 second appeal by an individual, Kannian, against his estranged wife whom he had married in 1965. The couple had two sons and a daughter. The man took up a job in Saudi Arabia between 1983 and 1994.

After reaching India, he filed a complaint that his wife was usurping the properties purchased with his earnings and also alleged the woman was having an extramarital affair.

After he passed away, his children fought the case against their mother Kamsala Ammal. The aged woman had sought a share in the properties of her husband. In 2015, a local court had rejected Ammal's claim for an equal share in three of his five properties and assets.

The single bench judge of the Madras High Court, however, held that even though the contested properties had been acquired by her husband from his own savings, Ammal was entitled to a fifty per cent share.

Senior counsel S. Parthasarathy appeared for Kannian and now his two sons after he passed away while Advocate V. Anusha appeared for Kamsala Ammal, the defendant.

Source: IANS

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Imphal, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) A mob has burnt down a private godown of Manipur minister L. Susindro Meitei at Chingarel in Imphal East district, reducing to ashes plastic pipes worth Rs 120 crore besides other materials, police said on Saturday.

Police said that after setting the godown afire on Friday night, the mob tried to attack the residence of the minister at Khurai in the same Imphal East district.

Due to timely intervention of the security forces, the attack was prevented and the mob dispersed.

Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells till Friday midnight to disperse the mob from the Khurai areas, police said.

No casualty was reported in the incident.

The minister, who holds Public Health Engineering, Consumer Affairs, Food Departments, while talking to the media on Saturday said that it was a politically motivated attack.

Earlier, mobs burnt down the residences of several ministers, MLAs and leaders of different political parties. These include, the residences of Union Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Manipur's lone woman minister Nemcha Kipgen and PWD Minister Konthoujam Govindas, Uripok constituency MLA Raghumani Singh, Sugnoo MLA K. Ranjit Singh and Naoriya Pakhanglakpa MLA S. Kebi Devi.

Friday night's incident took place even as incidents of firing between the militants and the security forces continue to be reported from different places of Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts.

Police said the mob, comprising men and women, demanded an early solution to the ethnic conflict between Meitei and Kuki communities.

The mob accused all the ministers and MLAs of not doing enough to end the Manipur crisis.

Source: IANS

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Toronto, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) With new Indian students increasingly becoming victims of ignorance about Canadian laws, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) is taking up the matter with the Immigration Minister to address the problem.

Murarilal Thapliyal, president of the oldest Indo-Canadian organization, says: "Rampant ignorance among Indian students about Canadian laws is costing these students and the Indo-Canadian heavily. They (students) are dying in road accidents and drowning in ponds because they don't know/heed local laws. They are falling victim to depression and some committing suicide because they don't know whom to turn to it."

Since agents in India do most paperwork for them, these students and their parents know very little about Canadian laws and rules.

"The Indo-Canada Chamber is urging the immigration minister to add an acknowledgement form to admission forms for students. Indian students coming to Canada and their parents must sign an acknowledgement form, saying that they have read basic Canadian laws and that they know the consequences of their violation," says Murarilal.

This acknowledgement, he says, should be a precondition for admission to Canadian colleges.

"We want all Canadian colleges to open counters at airports to provide post-landing services to these students. Each student must get a 10-get booklet about Canadian laws and rules -- dos and don'ts at public places, consequences of violating traffic rules and not paying rents, emergency numbers in case they feel unsafe/have stress issues, NGO and consulate phone numbers," says the ICCC president.

"Any student found later found violating this acknowledgement should be shown no leniency and deported," he says.

A lawyer by profession, Murarilal says he is distressed to see a spurt in the number of cases of Indian students not paying rents and failing to vacate premises.

"This has caused a lot of resentment in our community against these students."

Source: IANS

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San Francisco, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) A 24-year-old hacker behind the massive July 2020 Twitter hack where he along with others attempted to take control of at least 130 famous Twitter accounts has been sentenced to federal prison in the US.

Joseph James O'Connor attacked several celebrity accounts including US President Joe Biden, American socialite and model Kim Kardashian and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

O'Connor was sentenced in a New York federal court to five years in prison, after pleading guilty in May to his role in cyber stalking and computer hacking that targeted several high-profile social media accounts.

In the court, he said his crimes were "stupid and pointless", and apologised to his victims, reports TechCrunch.

O'Connor, known by his online handle PlugWalkJoe, was part of a group that broke into dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts, including Apple, Binance, Bill Gates, Joe Biden and Elon Musk, to spread cryptocurrency scams in July 2020.

He was extradited to the US from Spain in April this year, where he awaited trial for harassing, threatening, and extorting his victims.

O'Connor, in July 2020, wrote on Biden's account: "All Bitcoin sent to the address below will be sent back double! If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000. Only doing this for 30 minutes. Enjoy!"

Twitter then responded at that time by deactivating all verified accounts and disabling the tweet feature in an attempt to target the hackers.

As part of his guilty plea, O'Connor has agreed to pay restitution to all of the victims and forfeit just over $7,94,000.

Source: IANS

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Juba, June 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The South Sudanese government, in partnership with global charity Save the Children, has launched a new multi-year resilience programme aimed at enrolling about 135,000 children in schools across 14 counties.

The $70 million programme, funded by Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the Global Partnership for Education, aims to provide a holistic, contextualised package of interventions to ensure safe access to quality education while promoting the physical and mental well-being of children and adolescents.

Awut Deng Achuil, minister of general education and instruction, said on Friday that the government has introduced free education across the country, and education is the second war they are fighting now as the government wants to make sure all the children are enrolled in school, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Minister said during the launching ceremony in Lakes Stateno that no child will be left behind, and urged the traditional chiefs to let all children go to school without gender discrimination.

"Let us support education across the country."

Yasmine Sherif, executive director of ECW, appreciated all the South Sudanese parents who have decided to enroll their children in school.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi court on Friday sent Vikas Singh, a key associate of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, to judicial custody for 30 days in a case related to the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on Punjab Police's intelligence headquarters at Mohali in May 2022.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) produced the accused before vacation judge Chhavi Kapoor of the Patiala House Courts after questioning him for two days.

Singh, a resident of Lucknow, was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in harbouring Deepak Surakhpur and Divyanshu, both residents of Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad, of the Lawrence Bishnoi terror syndicate.

The accused duo were involved in various criminal cases, including the RPG attack.

The Investigating Officer (IO), during the hearing, submitted that Singh has been questioned and the investigation is underway.

The accused may be remanded to judicial custody, the IO said.

On June 21, when vacation judge Pawan Kumar had sent him to five-day NIA custody, the Special Public Prosecutor for the agency had submitted that Singh's custodial interrogation is required to unearth the criminal conspiracy and his links with the co-accused.

Considering the facts and submissions, the court had observed that custodial interrogation of the accused is required.

"Accordingly, the application is allowed and the accused be sent to five-day NIA custody," the court had ordered.

The present case relates to the terrorist-gangster conspiracy hatched by members of the Bishnoi syndicates based in India and abroad to raise funds and recruit youth to carry out terrorist acts in Delhi and other parts of the country.

The investigations so far have shown that the conspiracy was hatched in jails of different states and was being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad.

The NIA investigation has revealed that Surakhpur was introduced to Singh by Vicky Midhukhera, another associate and friend of Bishnoi. Singh had connected Divyanshu, who was already known to him, to the Bishnoi syndicate.

The duo was also involved in numerous targeted contract killings, including those of businessman Sanjay Biyani in Maharashtra and gangster Rana Kandhowalia in Punjab. Singh also harboured another accused named Rinku after Kandowalia's murder.

The NIA has arrested 15 accused so far and has charged 14 accused, including Lawrence Bishnoi, in the terror-gangster conspiracy case.

The NIA had filed the charge sheet in the case immediately on March 24 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Arms Act.

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will submit a detailed report to the Calcutta High Court on July 14 in the matter of expelled youth Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh's letter accusing central agencies of putting pressure on him to name Trinamool Congress' national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the multi-crore school recruitment case.

Recently, the high court's single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha had directed the authorities of the prison where Ghosh is housed to submit CCTV footage to the CBI in connection to the letters that Ghosh wrote to a local police station and to the judge of a special court in Kolkata, accusing the central agency sleuths.

On Friday, the CBI counsel informed the high court that it has secured all the CCTV footage from Presidency Central Correctional Home, where Ghosh is serving judicial custody because of his alleged involvement in the school recruitment case.

The counsel also informed the court that CBI officers are currently examining the footages.

The court then scheduled the next hearing of the matter on July 14, and directed the CBI to submit a report on their findings from the CCTV footage on that date.

Incidentally, Ghosh had accused the central agencies of putting pressure on him just a day after Abhishek Banerjee had made a similar claim at a public rally, accusing the central agencies of putting pressure on Trinamool leaders such as Madan Mitra and Kunal Ghosh to name him in the Saradha chit fund scam.

Sources said that from the CCTV footage, the CBI is trying to deifer whether Ghosh wrote the letters himself or anyone else wrote them on his behalf.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Supreme Court on Friday declined to grant anticipatory bail to Abhishek Jha, the husband of suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal, in a money laundering case in connection with the alleged MNREGA scam in the state.

A vacation bench comprising justices Surya Kant and M.M. Sundresh scheduled the matter for next hearing on July 5, and declined to grant any relief to Jha, who had moved the court against a Jharkhand High Court order passed in May that denied him bail in the case.

Singhal is the main accused in the scam allegedly involving embezzlement of public funds of Rs 18.07 crore. She was the Deputy Commissioner of Khunti district then.

On May 18, the high court had junked Jha's anticipatory bail plea and asked him to surrender before the court within four weeks.

The prosecution had claimed that Jha's fortunes soared after he got married to Singhal, and the ill-gotten cash, which were allegedly the proceeds of crime made by the officer through corrupt practices, reached his bank accounts.

However, Jha had contested this argument claiming that the money was his legitimate income from his job in Australia.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Delhi High Court has suspended the 10-year prison sentence handed to a Zimbabwean woman involved in a drug recovery case.

A bench of Justice Anish Dayal noted that the investigation agencies did not adhere to the prescribed procedure for sampling the seized substance and that the accused had already spent more than four years in custody.

The appellant, a 38-year-old Zimbabwean citizen named Betty Rame, was apprehended by an Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team at the IGI Airport in April 2018 was allegedly carrying two packets containing a crystalline substance weighing three kilograms, later confirmed to be Methamphetamine.

Rame has already been in custody for four years, 11 months, and 18 days, and was convicted in August 2021 and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Justice Dayal emphasised on the importance of complying with the standing orders issued by the NCB and the Ministry of Finance, stating that the failure to adhere to these provisions introduces reasonable doubt, which affects the issue of proving the accused's guilt.

The court stated that considering that the appellant may have a valid argument regarding defective sampling during the seizure and has already served a significant portion of the sentence, it finds it appropriate to suspend the appellant's sentence.

It then ordered the suspension of the sentence pending the hearing of the appeal, on the condition that the appellant provides a personal bond of Rs 1,00,000 with one surety bond of the same amount.

Citing a Supreme Court ruling, the court mentioned that in cases other than life sentences, the broad parameter of 50 per cent of the actual sentence served can be used as a basis for granting bail.

Seeking suspension of the sentence during the pendency of the appeal, the petitioner's counsel requested the suspension of the sentence, arguing that the contraband was seized from separate bags, but the contents were mixed before collecting samples, which violated the standing orders.

The court said that the issue of improper sampling would need careful consideration during the appeal proceedings since it appeared that the results of the two collected samples were not fully placed on record, and there was evident mixing of the seized packets.

The court then specified conditions for the suspension of the sentence and directed the appellant not to leave the country without prior permission.

Additionally, the appellant was required to deposit a copy of her passport and report to the investigating officer on the first and third Monday of every month.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi court has acquitted two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders of the charge of not adhering to orders issued by a public servant regarding the enforcement of Covid-19 protocols, stating that there were numerous flaws in the investigation conducted.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand pointed out several deficiencies in the probe conducted by the investigating officer (IO), such as the failure to gather statements from public witnesses, the absence of a site plan, and the failure to record statements from the SHO and the ACP concerned, and other eyewitnesses.

Patel Nagar MLA Raaj Kumar Anand and councillor Ankush Narang were accused of participating in a protest near the residence of Delhi BJP chief Aadesh Gupta in West Patel Nagar on February 26 of the previous year without prior permission, failing to maintain social distancing or wear masks.

During the alleged protest, an order issued by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Patel Nagar, was in effect.

The prosecution argued that even though social restrictions had been lifted due to a decline in Covid-19 cases, the wearing of masks and adherence to social distancing, as mandated by the National Directives for COVID Management, were still required.

The court also criticised the failure to include the available video evidence of the incident in the court record, questioning the IO's explanation for this omission.

It noted that these lapses had severely damaged the prosecution's case to the point where it was "beyond repairs".

It stated that the presence of the accused at the scene was not proven, and there was a lack of evidence regarding the publication or communication of the ACP's order.

The court highlighted contradictions in the testimonies of three public witnesses, raising doubts about their credibility.

It noted discrepancies in the estimates of the number of participants in the protest and criticisedd the fact that only two individuals had been accused despite varying witness accounts.

"There is no specific number of the persons who participated in the protest march. While one witness says it would be around 50-60 persons, the other says that it would be around 100-150 persons and despite that, only two persons have been made accused in this matter," the ACMM said.

Due to these reasons, the court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, both accused individuals were declared not guilty and acquitted of the offence under Indian Penal Code Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 34 (common intention).

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Calcutta High Court on Friday sought an explanation from the State Election Commission (SEC) on why as many as 20,585 candidates withdrew their nominations for the July 8 panchayat elections in West Bengal.

The division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam also sought to know why as many 274 seats in a particular block in South 24 Parganas district were won uncontested by the candidates of a particular party.

The court also sought to know how Moinuddin Gazi, a Trinamool Congress candidate in North 24 Parganas district, could file his nomination despite being in Saudi Arabia.

The division bench has asked the SEC to submit these explanations in the form of an affidavit by July 27. The matter has been listed for next hearing on June 28.

The bench gave the directions after hearing contempt of court petitions filed by leader of opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, and Congress MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Ashoke Kumar Chakrabory informed the court that the Union Home Ministry has no difficulty in deploying over 82,000 central armed forces personnel as sought by the State Election Commission.

However, at the same time, he argued that such a huge deployment would have been more feasible had there been a five-phase poll, as happened in 2013.

In fact, Adhikari as well as CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty too had questioned whether 82,000 force personnel will be enough for the single-phase poll this time, considering that the number of voters, districts, polling stations and booths have gone up manifold since 2013.

Source: IANS

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Kochi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Privacy is the Constitutional core of human dignity, the Kerala High Court stressed on Friday as it ordered the removal of images uploaded on online media platforms of a woman victim in an immoral trafficking case.

"Privacy is the ultimate expression of the sanctity of the individual. There cannot be dignity to an individual without privacy. It is a constitutional value founded on fundamental rights. Privacy with its attended values assures dignity to the individual. Dignity is the core which unites fundamental rights. Privacy is the constitutional core of human dignity," the court observed.

Its observation came while considering a plea filed by a woman who claimed that her name, images, identity, and other details were uploaded and published on online media platforms, including YouTube, in connection with a case registered under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.

The woman petitioner, along with other women, had been deemed as victims in the case by the police.

The petitioner claimed that after the case was registered, she was illegally exposed to the media and connected to the said case and due to this, she faced a lot of cyber-attacks and humiliation.

The court directed the state police chief to take steps to remove the images of the petitioner from online media platforms and posted the case's next hearing on Tuesday.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Delhi High Court has sought a response from the Union Education Ministry and the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) regarding a plea challenging online bids from firms currently enlisted for supplying items for the new 'Jaadui Pitara' kit developed by the organisation.

A vacation bench of Justice Amit Mahajan directed the Centre and the NCERT to submit a reply to the petition, which claims that the council established one-sided and biased eligibility criteria and other requirements for bidders in a corrigendum.

The petitioner, Samit Khanna, claims to meet all the criteria set by NCERT except for being an empanelled firm.

Khanna is the proprietor of Universal Sales involved in toy manufacturing and distribution since 2013 and is registered under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

The plea states that due to the one-sided criteria imposed by the second respondent (NCERT), the petitioner was unable to submit their techno-commercial bid.

It highlighted that the tender primarily involves toy items, which fall under the toy industry and toy manufacturers.

However, the current 23 empanelled companies, for which the tender is restricted, are manufacturers of scientific instruments, specifically science and mathematical kits.

The plea also mentions that the tender fails to specify the valid requirement of a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certificate for empanelled members, as per a government notification.

The plea alleged that the one-sided criteria established by the second respondent is completely contrary to the fundamental principles of transparency, fairness, competition, economy, efficiency, and accountability.

Source: IANS

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San Francisco, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A US judge has sanctioned the lawyer who submitted a legal brief written by the AI chatbot ChatGPT, which included citations of non-existent court opinions and fake quotes.

Lawyer Steven A Schwartz, who sued Colombian airline Avianca after believing that citations given by ChatGPT are real while they were, in fact, bogus, has been fined $5,000 by US District Judge in Manhattan, P. Kevin Castel, reports CNBC.

Along with Schwartz, the court also sanctioned and fined lawyer Peter LoDuca in the same incident.

Castel said that the attorneys, LoDuca and Schwartz, "abandoned their responsibilities" when they submitted the AI-written brief in their client's lawsuit against the Avianca airline in March, and "then continued to stand by the fake opinions after judicial orders called their existence into question", the report stated.

He also ordered them to notify each judge falsely identified as the author of the bogus case rulings about the sanction.

"The court will not require an apology from respondents because a compelled apology is not a sincere apology. Any decision to apologise is left to Respondents," Castel wrote in his order.

The judge also granted Avianca's motion to dismiss the lawsuit in a separate order, filed on behalf of Roberto Mata, who claimed a metal service tray hit his knee during an August 2019 flight from El Salvador to New York, injuring him severely, according to the report.

In April, ChatGPT, as part of a research study, falsely named an innocent and highly-respected law professor in the US on the list of legal scholars who had sexually harassed students in the past.

Jonathan Turley, Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, was left shocked when he realised ChatGPT named him as part of a research project on legal scholars who sexually harassed someone.

"ChatGPT recently issued a false story accusing me of sexually assaulting students," Turkey posted in a tweet.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Supreme Court has acquitted a man and his son in a murder case, in which they were sentenced to life imprisonment 25 years ago, noting that the FIR was ante-timed, there was a delay in conducting post-mortem and difference in the name of the weapons of crime. The son died during the pendency of the appeal.

A bench of Justices V. Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal observed that the FIR had been ante-timed by police, from 1:50 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., to implicate Mohd Muslim and his son Shamshad. The bench said the time and date of murder in the FIR were mentioned as 9 a.m. on August 4, 1995, although the murder took place at 1.50 p.m.

In 1998, the trial court had convicted the father and son in the murder case and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The Allahabad High Court upheld the conviction and sentencing by the trial court. The accused father-son moved the apex court in 2011, however the son died in 2021 during the pendency of the appeal. Mohd Muslim is now aged about 79 years and has undergone six years of incarceration. He has been on bail since 2013.

"The Trial Court completely lost sight of the fact that not only the time has been changed but the word 'PM' has also been interpolated and converted into 'AM'...the FIR has been ante-timed from 1:50 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.," noted the bench.

According to the police, Altaf Hussain was murdered on his way to court over a land dispute with the accused. The bench noted that if the deceased was going to the court, it would have been early in the morning before the start of the court rather than in the afternoon that too in the post-lunch session.

"In order to justify that deceased Altaf Hussain was going to the court in the morning, the timing of the FIR has been changed to 9:00 a.m. Had the incident occurred in the morning before 9:00 a.m., and the police had arrived at the spot at 10:00 a.m., the dead body would have been sent to the mortuary immediately thereafter by the afternoon but this has not happened and the dead body of the deceased Altaf Hussain was sent to the mortuary late in the evening by which time it was too late to conduct the post-mortem which had to be postponed for the next day," said the bench.

The bench noted that "even if it were to ignore other minor discrepancies in the oral evidence, the delay in conducting the post-mortem, the difference in the name of the weapons of crime, i.e., 'tabal' or 'palkatia' which are more or less similar types of instruments for cutting crops, etc. .. It is a case where the prosecution has miserably failed to prove that the accused appellants have committed the offence beyond any reasonable doubt."

Acquitting the appellant, the top court said: "A bare perusal of the aforesaid FIR clearly shows that there is some interpolation in the time of its lodging mentioned therein. It is evident from the naked eye that '1' has been converted into '9' and '5' has been rounded off to make '0' whereas 'PM' has been converted into 'AM'. In other words, 1:50 p.m. has been changed to 9:00 a.m. This is abundantly clear from the FIR and there cannot be two opinions on that."

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Arjit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Roy on Friday reserve its order on a petition filed by the West Bengal government challenging the earlier decision of a single judge bench ordering a CBI probe in charges against a block development officer.

The officer is accused of tampering with the nomination documents of two candidates for the forthcoming panchayat elections.

The hearing in the matter was completed on Friday and after keeping the order on reserve, the division bench said that the same will be pronounced on June 26. Till the time the final order is pronounced the division bench directed the CBI not to initiate any move in the probe process.

Recently, the single judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha gave this direction for the CBI probe following a petition filed by two candidates at Uluberia in Howrah district, namely Kashmira Bibi and Omja Bibi against the local block development officer accusing the latter of tempering with their nomination documents.

The two candidates have alleged in their petition that the nomination got cancelled at the scrutiny phase because of the alleged tampering of the nomination documents.

Justice Sinha also ordered CBI to complete the probe and submit a report on this count to her court by July 7, which is just a day ahead of the date of panchayat polls.

While passing the order for the CBI probe, Justice Sinha had also observed that since the accused in the matter was a state government official it was desirable that a probe in the matter be conducted by a central investigating agency. The state government challenged the decision.

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Calcutta High Court on Friday rejected a proposal from the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) to appoint an independent observer for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.

The NHRC had taken suo motu cognizance of the incidents of violence during the nomination phase and decided to depute the Commission's Director General (Investigation), Damodar Sarangias as the observer.

However, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) opposed the move and approached the Calcutta High Court with a petition.

On Friday, the hearing in the matter was concluded and the single-judge bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya ruled that the NHRC cannot depute an independent observer.

It also observed that the NHRC-appointed observer also has no right to identify the sensitive pockets in the state as desired by the Commission.

Several cases have been filed against various decisions of the WBSEC since the election dates were announced on June 8.

While the prior court orders either from the Calcutta High Court or from the Supreme Court have gone against the WBSEC, this is for the time that a court order has gone in favour of it.

On June 11, the NHRC had announced the appointment of Sarangi as the independent observer and a communication was forwarded to the WBSEC and the state secretariat the same day.

The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of the reports of violence during the nomination phase.

Counting will take place on July 11.

Source: IANS

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New York, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Asserting that Immigration needs to be merit-based and not dictated by arbitrary caps, Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar announced that he will be co-sponsoring a bill on eliminating visa backlogs.

Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023, the bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year, seeks to effectively utilise the employment-based visas that are allocated each year under existing federal immigration law.

"Proud to co-sponsor the H.R. 1535 Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023, bipartisan legislation which increases employment-based immigration visas. Immigration needs to be merit-based, not dictated by arbitrary caps," Thanedar tweeted on Thursday.

The Congressman had earlier said that the long Green Card backlog is creating hardships for skilled workers, including Indians, at a time when American businesses need more immigrants.

According to estimates, there are only six available workers for every 10 job openings in the US.

The bill, introduced by Congressmen Larry Bucshon and Raja Krishnamoorthi on March 10, would recapture the unused employment-based Green Cards accumulated over the past three decades, going back to 1992 when the current Green Card allotment system took effect.

Unused Green Cards are the ones left unissued due to bureaucratic delays and slow USCIS processing.

In addition, the bill would exempt these recaptured Green Cards from the 7 per cent per-country cap.

As a consequence of numerical limits, per-country caps, and administrative delays, the employment-based Green Card backlog reached 1.6 million by the end of Fiscal Year 2022, according to National Immigration Forum.

The US sets aside 140,000 employment-based green cards for skilled, unskilled, and professional workers from all around the world every year.

In addition to the numerical limit, Congress has put a limit on the maximum number of Green Cards that can be allocated to nationals of a particular country.

As per the existing federal law, individuals from any one country cannot be issued more than 7 per cent of the total number of Green Cards each year.

The existence of these per-country caps means that individuals from countries with high numbers of Green Card applicants, such as India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines, face backlogs lasting years or even decades.

Source: IANS

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Prayagraj, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Allahabad High Court has observed that a second application, seeking maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC, can sustain after the rejection of the first application, if there are changes in the circumstances, entitling a person to be a claimant under the said provision.

A bench of Justice Jyotsna Sharma dismissed a petition filed by one Shyam Bahadur Singh, challenging a lower court order directing him to pay Rs 1,500 per month as maintenance to his first wife.

The bench was of the view that if the right to file an application for maintenance is foreclosed, it will frustrate the very purpose of Section 125 CrPC.

The court said that there may be some instances where a person, who for the time being, is able to maintain himself or herself, but thereafter, loses her/his resources because of changed circumstances, in such cases, a fresh right to claim maintenance may accrue.

The court observed this while upholding the January 2004 order of the court (additional chief judicial magistrate, North-East Railway, Banda) allowing the second application filed by a lady (respondent no. 2) under Section 125 CrPC.

The facts of the case were that respondent no. 2 (wife) had filed an application under Section 125 CrPC, claiming maintenance from her husband, which was dismissed in January 1995 on certain grounds.

Thereafter, in 2003, she moved a second application under Section 125 CrPC on the premise that there has been a change in circumstances -- remarriage by the husband, therefore, she is entitled to claim maintenance from her husband.

This second application was allowed by the court of ACJM (Banda) in January 2004, directing her husband (petitioner) to pay Rs 1,500 per month to her.

The husband challenged the order in a criminal revision plea, which was also dismissed by additional district judge, Banda.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi court has sought a report from the Director General (DG) Prison Sanjay Baniwal on gangster Ankesh Lakra's application, which has sought transfer from the Tihar jail to Mandoli jail claiming health grounds.

On jail transfer being under Baniwal's jurisdiction, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria of Patiala House Courts sought a report from him on plea of Lakra, who is a co-accused in Deepak Boxer's fake passport case lodged by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.

The court then listed the matter for next hearing on July 5.

Lakra has moved the application for transfer from Jail No. 8, Tihar to Jail No. 13, Mandoli, on security and medical grounds.

Appearing for Lakra, advocate Virender Mual submitted that his client seeks transfer from Tihar to Mandoli jail on health grounds and that he was earlier lodged in the Mandoli jail.

Lakra and Boxer are also accused of Kuldeep alias Fajja fleeing from police custody in Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, during which he suffered bullet injuries in the abdomen.

Counsel Mual submitted that the applicant was shot twice in the abdomen and requires to be shifted to the OPD, and that the OPD in Tihar is at Jail No. 3 from where the prison authorities had shifted the applicant to Jail No. 8 for security reasons.

On Lakra's security concerns, Mual submitted that he was not safe in Tihar as he has been known to be a member of the Gogi gang and the rivals, with help of the jail authorities, want to eliminate him, and that his life is at risk.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Delhi High Court has directed a private school to admit three students under the economically weaker section (EWS) category observing that equal opportunities for students from disadvantaged groups is must to integrate them into mainstream society and receive education alongside other children.

Justice Mini Pushkarna was hearing a contempt petition filed by the three students, who sought compliance with a December 2021 order instructing the school to admit them under the EWS/Disadvantaged Group (DG) category.

The court stated that the limited seats available for EWS/DG students should not be left vacant, as each unoccupied seat represents a denial of quality education to a child from a financially disadvantaged background.

The court noted that denying admission to a child under the EWS/DG category would violate their rights under Article 21A of the Constitution and the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009.

The petitioners had participated in the lottery conducted by the Delhi government's Directorate of Education (DOE) and were allotted seats at the respondent school.

However, the school denied them admission, citing various objections. For one of the students, the school claimed that their address was untraceable during physical verification.

The judge responded by stating that the child's disadvantaged background should not be disregarded, and a child living in a rural area or rented accommodation should not be denied admission simply because the DOE's nominee could not locate their address during verification.

Furthermore, the court noted that the DOE confirmed that no other child had been allotted seats under the EWS/DG category in the concerned school, against the seats assigned to the petitioners.

It stated that the school had an obligation to reserve 25 per cent of its seats for entry-level classes under the RTE Act.

The court concluded that there was no valid reason for the school to deny admission to the petitioners and said that the school could not evade its responsibility under Article 21A of the Constitution, which guarantees free and compulsory education as a fundamental right for children aged 6 to 14 years.

The court directed the three children to approach the school for admission in Class 1 under the EWS/DG category and also the school to process their submitted documents promptly and grant them admission for the current academic session 2023-2024.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi court on Thursday sent a man arrested in connection with a money laundering investigation involving the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) to judicial custody till June 18.

The vacation judge Chhavi Kapoor of Patiala House Courts remanded Sahul Hameed to judicial custody on expiry of his Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.

During the last hearing, it was submitted by the investigation agency that accused's mobile phone contains relevant details which need to be confronted during the probe.

Hameed, who was apprehended on June 7 in Madurai and subsequently brought to Delhi, was deemed uncooperative during the probe.

The ED, represented by Special Public Prosecutor N.K. Matta, had earlier told the court that Hameed was involved in collecting illegal funds for the PFI through various channels, both legitimate and illegitimate, from Singapore and other locations.

The agency had stated that Hameed was deported to India and, upon interception, was unable to account for certain activities related to fund collection.

The ED had also mentioned that Hameed was evasive in answering questions about crucial aspects discovered during the investigation, which led to his arrest.

The ED's case is based on an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for alleged terrorism-related activities.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Delhi government on Thursday said that it will challenge the appointment of Justice (Retd) Umesh Kumar as the Chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) in the Supreme Court (SC).

Power Minister Atishi described his appointment as "unconstitutional and unlawful", and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central Government of deliberately ignoring the elected state government's recommendation for Justice (Retd) Sangeet Lodha as the DERC Chairperson.

Atishi alleged that the BJP's action violated the principle that the Central government must act in accordance with the aid and advice of the elected state government on matters falling under the Power Department.

The AAP leader criticised the BJP for "attempting to subvert democracy" in Delhi and condemned the "clandestine" issuance of a notification late at night, appointing the Chairman of DERC against the elected Delhi government's recommendation.

She characterised the appointment as 'illegal', 'unconstitutional', and a 'vindictive act' aimed at seeking revenge from the people of Delhi.

She also highlighted the SC's repeated stance that apart from land, public order, and police issues, all other governance related issues in Delhi are "transferred" granting decision-making power to the elected government.

Atishi further accused the BJP of conspiring to shutdown the free and 24x7 electricity scheme in Delhi as an "act of revenge against the people for repeatedly electing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal".

She pointed out that BJP-ruled states have "higher electricity costs compared to Delhi's affordable rate of Rs 4.5 per unit. For instance, Assam charges Rs 8.2 per unit, Uttar Pradesh charges Rs 6.5 per unit, Madhya Pradesh charges Rs 6.74 per unit, and Maharashtra charges an exorbitant Rs 10.38 per unit".

Atishi alleged that the BJP aims to "deprive the people of Delhi of 24x7 free electricity and replicate the power situation in neighbouring areas such as Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram, where prolonged power cuts are commonplace due to the inability of BJP governments to provide uninterrupted electricity to residents".

Source: IANS

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Chennai, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Madras High Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on the habeas corpus plea filed by Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balajia's wife Megala against the minister's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to June 27.

A division bench of the Madras High Court comprising Justices Nisha Banu and Bharatha Chakravarthy heard the plea on Thursday. Senthil Balaji's counsel N.R. Elango argued that the habeas corpus plea is suitable for hearing as fundamental right has been infringed upon.

The senior counsel questioned the authority of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to insist upon custodial interrogation of Balaji.

The counsel said that sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) does not confer the powers of an SHO or officer in-charge of a police station on any of the officers of the ED, and hence they cannot seek custodial interrogation of an arrested person.

He also took exception to the act of the ED in approaching the Principal Sessions Judge (PSJ) in Chennai after the division bench of the Madras High Court had on June 15 ordered the shifting of the minister from a government hospital to a private hospital for a bypass surgery.

Elango said: "This is the greatest illegality ever committed by the ED. They should not have approached the PSJ after the high court's order and the PSJ should not have permitted custodial interrogation in the hospital itself."

"Had the minister been arrested legally, the need for a habeas corpus plea would not have arised. Senthil Balaji should have been informed bout the reasons for his arrest, which is a fundamental right," Elango argued.

He also said that no one should be detained without explaining the reasons for his arrest, adding that this is clearly mentioned in Article 22 of the Constitution.

He added that the court's order of transferring Balaji to the Kauvery Hospital under judicial custody cannot be considered as an interim order, but an order under Section 167 of the CrPC.

Solicitor General of India Thushar Mehta appeared for the ED.

The court adjourned the hearing to June 27 after Mehta expressed some difficulties in appearing before the court in the afternoon and sought an adjournment to make his submissions.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi court on Thursday transferred the alleged sexual harassment case against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM).

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of Rouse Avenue Courts put up the matter before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal, who deals with cases of MPs and MLAS.

The matter has now been listed for June 27.

Last week, the Delhi Police had filed in court its charge sheet running over 1,000 pages against federation's chief and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.

Police filed the charge sheet before CMM Mahima Rai for the offences under Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (making sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against accused Brij Bhushan.

And for offences under Sections 109 (offer a bribe), 354, 354A, 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC against Tomar.

Sources said that the charge sheet contains statements of around 200 witnesses.

In the FIR registered at Connaught Place police station, it has been alleged by the six adult grapplers that Singh allegedly attempted to coerce one of the athlete into sexual acts by offering to provide her with "supplements", inviting another wrestler to his bed and hugging her, as well as assaulting and inappropriately touching other athletes.

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) A petition was filed at the Calcutta High Court on Thursday alleging that a Trinamool Congress candidate filed his nomination while being abroad.

The petition filed by CPI(M) alleged that Trinamool Congress gram panchayat candidate from Kumarjole at Minakhan in North 24 Parganas district Moinuddin Gazi was in Saudi Arabia during the nomination phase.

However, his nomination has been accepted by the local block development office raising questions on how a candidate could file his nomination from abroad when his personal presence is mandatory at the time of filing it.

The petition has been admitted and the matter is likely to be heard by the Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha on Friday.

The petitioner has also submitted a communique from Haj Committee that Moinuddin Gazi has been in Saudi Arabia since June 4 and is scheduled to stay there till July 16. There the petitioner has questioned how his nomination paper was submitted and accepted during that interim period when he was abroad.

The petitioner has also alleged that such a development would not have been possible unless the candidate concerned had a nexus with the local block development office as well as the returning officer.

On Wednesday only, Justice Sinha directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on charges against a block development officer of tampering with the nomination documents of two candidates for the forthcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal.

Justice Sinha also observed that since the allegations are against a state government official it will not be wise for a state investigation agency to probe the matter and hence the charge of the probe is handed over to CBI.

She also directed the CBI to submit a detailed report on this count to her court by July 7, which is just a day ahead of the rural civic body polls in the state.

The state government has, however, moved a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Thursday, against the order.

Source: IANS

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Bengaluru, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The division bench of Karnataka High Court has issued a notice to the Centre on Xiaomi's petition against the single bench order in connection with seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The bench headed by Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice M.G.S. Kamal issued the notice on Wednesday while looking into the appeal petition by Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited seeking remedy under Section 37A of the FEMA Act.

The Karnataka High Court had rejected the plea by the Chinese firm Xiaomi against the seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore from its bank accounts by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 21. The bench headed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna though dismissed the petition, upheld the maintainability of the petition.

The Chinese technology company is facing charges of violations of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The notice has also been issued to Enforcement Directorate (ED) and directed them to file objections to the appeal petition. The hearing has been adjourned to July 11.

Earlier, the counsel for Xiaomi India had argued before the single bench that the firm was being targeted as it is a Chinese company and other companies are allowed to make payments of technology royalty. They have also brought to the notice of the court that banks are not allowing Xiaomi to make remittances in foreign exchange for imports. They argued that the company is required to make payments for foreign companies in connection with manufacturing and marketing smartphones.

Source: IANS

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Tokyo, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) A recent survey revealed that nearly 33 per cent of job seekers in Japan suffer from gender discrimination.

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, conducted the online survey that covered 1,000 males and females aged between 15 and 29 who took employment exams within the past three years, Xinhua news agency quoted local newspaper Asahi Shimbun as saying.

The nationwide survey showed that some 32.8 per cent of respondents, 30.1 per cent of males and 35.7 per cent of females, were troubled by sexism.

When asked about instances of gender discrimination, with multiple answers allowed, 39.6 per cent of the survey respondents said the work positions were prepared for either men or women, while 36.9 per cent cited differing gender employment quotas.

In addition, 19.5 per cent of job seekers said they heard inappropriate remarks during their interviews.

A 25-year-old woman quoted a company representative as saying, "you will quit quickly because you are a woman".

According to the World Economic Forum, Japan currently sits in 120th place out of 153 countries with a gender equality gap of 34.4 per cent.

In a report in March, the World Bank said Japan ranked 104th overall of the 190 economies listed.

Of 34 high-income countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Japan is the only one that has no legislation on sexual harassment in the workplace.

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) West Bengal government, on Thursday, approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, challenging a single-judge bench's order directing a CBI probe against a block development officer accused of tampering with the nomination documents of two candidates for the July 8 panchayat elections.

On Wednesday, the single- judge bench Justice Amrita Sinha gave this direction for CBI probe following a petition filed by two candidates at Uluberia in Howrah district namely Kashmira Bibi and Omja Bibi against the local block development officer accusing the latter of tempering with their nomination documents.

The two candidates have alleged in their petition that the nomination got cancelled at the scrutiny phase because of the alleged tampering of the documents.

Responding to it, the state government approached the Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee challenging the decision of Justice Sinha's single-judge bench. The state government has also appealed for a fast-track hearing in the matter. The matter will come up for hearing at the division bench on Friday.

While giving the order, Justice Sinha also observed that since the allegations are against a state government official it will not be wise for a state investigation agency to probe the matter and hence the charge of the probe is handed over to CBI.

She also directed the CBI to submit a detailed report on this count to her court by July 7, which is just a day ahead of the rural civic body polls in the state.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has claimed that the entire 13th floor of the state secretariat of Nabanna, which houses the chief minister's office, should be brought under the purview of the CBI probe to identify what other malpractices had taken place over the rural civic body polls.

Source: IANS

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Kochi, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Kerala High Court on Thursday ruled that the qualification of Priya Varghese, the wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's Private secretary K.K. Ragesh, is suitable for the post of Associate Professor in the Malayalam Department of Kannur University.

Last November, a single bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran while looking into the petition of second-ranked candidate Jacob Skariah, had ruled that Varghese lacked qualifications as prescribed by the UGC and her appointment needs to be
re-scrutinised.

This morning, a division bench cancelled the single-bench verdict coming as a setback for the Chancellor of State Universities- Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who first stayed her appointment.

Ragesh is a former Rajya Sabha member of the CPI(M), who hails from Kannur and considered a close aide of Vijayan.

It was the second-ranked candidate Jacob Skariah who had approached the single-bench last year and reacting to the division bench order, he said he will now speak to his legal counsel's and act accordingly and after going through the new verdict will consider moving the Supreme Court.

"This verdict now appears to be in violation of the UGC 2018 guidelines as it clearly states that the period of three years that she took to do her PhD cannot be counted as teaching experience, also her service, while acting as student director, also cannot be included as teaching experience," said Skariah.

Incidentally, last year things surfaced when an RTI query revealed that Varghese got the maximum marks (32 out of 50) in the personal interview, while Skariah scored 30, but her research score was a mere 156, while the second-ranked candidate secured 651. However, she was ranked first based on the personal interview.

Meanwhile, Varghese expressed happiness with the verdict saying, "I was deeply pained by various media reports then but now I am happy that I have been proved right."

Source: IANS

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Kolkata, June 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Apprehending that the West Bengal government and the state election commission may challenge the Calcutta High Court order on the deployment of 82,000 central armed forces personnel in the Supreme Court, the leader of opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday filed a caveat at the apex court.

The caveat was filed so that the matter cannot be heard ex-parte. Although there had not been any official indication either from the state government or from the state election commission on the issue of approaching the Supreme Court, the possibilities have erupted as the state commissioner Rajiva Sinha was busy at his office till late Wednesday night discussing with the legal brains.

Meanwhile, the crucial hearing on the contempt of court petition against the state election commission is scheduled at a division bench of Calcutta High Court on Thursday and a verdict on the count is expected on this day only.

On Wednesday, while ordering a minimum deployment of 82,000 central armed forces for the rural civic body polls, the division bench of Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam also observed that the number insisted by the court was on lines of the deployment of central forces personnel in 2013 rural civic body polls ensured by the then state election commission, Meera Pandey.

The court has directed the state election commission to apply to the Union home ministry for 82,000 personnel within 24 hours. On Wednesday, the state election commission gave a requisition to the Union home ministry for the deployment of just 22 companies or just around 2,200 personnel of central armed forces.

On Wednesday, the division bench criticised the state election commission in unprecedented terms and even questioned neutrality of the commission.

"After so many developments, I am bound to say that the question remains on the neutrality of the state election commission. This is most unfortunate that a contempt of court petition has been filed against the state election commissioner. I request to follow the court orders as it is," Justice Sivagnanam observed.

He also advised the state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha to quit his chair if he is unable to bear the pressure of his position. "In that case the Governor will appoint someone else for that chair," Justice Sivagnanam observed.

Source: IANS

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