Flipkart launches e-learning category; offers a range of e-learning material, certification courses, online tests

Bangalore: Homegrown online marketplace Flipkart today announced the launch of its E-learning category. 

With over 1900 products and titles, this category will offer a range of e-learning material, certification courses and online tests catering to students with a variety of requirements, Flipkart said in a release. 

With this announcement, Flipkart will be extending its virtual academic books category to feature a selection of offerings for students in schools, colleges as well as those students appearing for competitive exams, it added. 

Flipkart said study material from reputed brands like Career Launcher, Edurite, EduKart, Merit Nation, TCY Online and Practice Guru, will be a part of this selection. 

Also, Flipkart will continue to expand its E-learning portfolio with exclusive offerings for students with varied needs, it stated. 

"The availability of eBooks, certificate courses and online tests - all on one platform, will make the entire process of buying/accessing e-learning material very easy for students who form a significant part of our customer base today," Flipkart Senior Director (Retail) Nipun Mehra said. 

Source | http://ibnlive.in.com/

Ration card out, Aadhaar in for new a/cs





The ration card is no lo nger an officially valid document for opening of a bank account, reports Mayur Shetty. The place of pride goes to the Aadhaar card which is now the single universal document for a banking relationship. The RBI has listed Aadhaar, voter ID and PAN cards apart from driving licence, passport, NREGA card as six officially valid documents.

Source:::: The Times of India, 23.07.2014,  p.01,    http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Ration-card-out-Aadhaar-in-for-new-acs-23072014001083

Poor sanitation may afflict well-fed kids





He wore thick black eyeliner to ward off the evil eye, but Vivek, a tiny 1-year-old living in a village of mud huts and diminutive people, had nonetheless fallen victim to India’s great scourge of malnutrition. His parents seemed to be doing all the right things. His mother still breast-fed him. His family had six goats, access to fresh buffalo milk and a hut filled with hundreds of pounds of wheat and potatoes. His home state has for years grown faster than almost any other. His mother said she fed him as much as he would eat and took him four times to doctors, who diagnosed malnutrition. Just before Vivek was born, the family even got electricity.So why was Vivek malnourished? It is a question being asked about children across India, where a long economic boom has done little to reduce the vast number of children. Now, an emerging body of scientific studies suggest that Vivek and many of the 162 million other children under the age of 5 in the world who are malnourished are suffering less a lack of food than poor sanitation.
Like almost everyone else in their village, Vivek and his family have no toilet,
and the district where they live has the highest concentration of people who defecate outdoors. As a result, children are exposed to a bacterial brew that often sickens them, leaving them unable to attain a healthy body weight no matter how much food they eat. “These children's bodies divert energy and nutrients away from growth and brain development to prioritize infection-fighting survival,“ said Jean Humphrey , a professor of human nutrition at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “When this happens during the first two years of life, children become stunted. What's particularly dis turbing is that the lost height and intelligence are permanent.““Our realization about the connection between stunting and sanitation is just emerging,“ said Sue Coates, chief of water, sanitation and hygiene at Unicef India. “ At this point, it is still just an hypothesis.“
Achild raised in India is far more likely to be malnourished than one from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe or Somalia, the planet's poorest countries.
Stunting affects 65 million Indian kids under 5, including a third of those from the richest families. Half of India, or at least 620 million people, defecate outdoors. And while this share has declined slightly in the past decade, an analysis of census data shows that rapid population growth has meant that most Indians are being exposed to more human waste than ever before.
“The difference in average height between Indian and African children can be explained entirely by differing concentrations of open defecation,“ said Dean Spears, an economist at the Delhi School of Economics. “There are far more people defecating outside in India more closely to one another's children and homes than there are in Africa or anywhere else in the world.“ NYT NEWS SERVICE

Source:::: The Times of India, 18.07.2-14, p.10,   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Poor-sanitation-may-afflict-well-fed-kids-18072014010048

Vouchers for poor? UN in talks with govt on zero-hunger goal



Lack Of Nourishment, Hygiene Threaten An Entire Generation

World Food Programme (WFP) executive director Ertharin Cousin said she was in talks with the Indian government and states to explore food vouchers for the poor facing starvation and malnourishment in the country .Cousin said vouchers were important in taking food to those facing shortage. “We are talking to India on how food vouchers can be used to make food available to vulnerable groups,“ she told TOI on the sidelines of the B-20 Australia Summit that has brought big business together in a lead-up event ahead of the November’s G-20 Summit.
The comment from the head of the world body adds another dimension to the Right to Food law that awaits implementation. RTF was passed by Parliament in UPA-2 and is likely to be rolled out soon by the Narendra Modi government. Subsidized food versus vouchers is a debate that was thought to have been settled with the food guarantee Act, a polarizing issue among civil society.
Cousin refused to be drawn into an either-or situation but stuck to vouchers by arguing that different modalities could be employed in the course of achieving food security, with
zero-hunger being one of the key Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).She said the world faces problems of food shortage and also of food being available but being out of reach of certain weak communities. “In certain places and with certain communities, the vouchers, we believe, can be the right idea and can serve the purpose of helping the vulnerable groups,“ she said. She has been invited to the global business gathering for talks on how food security converges with business growth.
Referring to the stress on food security in India, she said the country was an example for the world. “We have a lot to learn from India that recognizes that economic growth is not being felt across all social groups,” she said.
Addressing reporters at the B-20 Summit, she said economic growth did not automatically guarantee the end of hunger and top economies like the US had “safety nets” and programmes to buffer vulnerable groups.
She told reporters that China had benefitted the most from WFP efforts while India, despite massive economic development, had the largest number of children facing malnourishment. Cousin said no government or organization alone could achieve zero-hunger and there was need for help from private sector, which has to go beyond providing money for technological capabilities.

FOOD THAT DIDN'T REACH THE PLATEThe Targeted Public Distribution System launched in 1997 seeks to provide highly subsidized grain to the really poor. The system is operated jointly by the Centre and states. The Centre, through FCI, procures, stores and transports grain.
States are responsible for identifying eligible families, issuing ration cards and functioning of fair price shops. About 652 lakh below poverty line families are entitled to subsidized grain. These apart, it is estimated that about 5% of people in India sleep without two square meals a day. These 2.4 crore people, the poorest of the poor, and households headed by widows, terminally ill or disabled persons and persons aged 60 years or more with no assured means of subsistence or societal support are covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). Data shows in 2013-14, the grain lost in transit, storage and so on could have been enough for the monthly PDS ration of 17% of BPL families or 45% of those under AAY

Source:::: The Times of India, 18.07.2-14, p.10,   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Vouchers-for-poor-UN-in-talks-with-govt-18072014010037

Delay in giving alimony violates rights, says SC





The Supreme Court has ruled that family courts cannot delay grant of maintenance to an estranged wife and said there was no escape for a husband from the onus of giving sustenance money to his wife despite soured relations.Dealing with a case where grant of maintenance had been delayed by nine years, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda said, “This delay in adjudication by the family court is not only against human rights but also against the basic embodiment of dignity of an individual.“
When a marital dispute is pending before a family court, “the husband cannot take subterfuges to deprive her of the benefit of living with dignity“, said Justice Misra, writing the judg ment for the bench.
“Regard being had to the solemn pledge at the time of marriage and also in consonance with the statutory law that governs the field, it is obligation of the husband to see that the wife does not become a destitute, a beggar,“ the bench said.
It added that the husband could not be permitted to exploit the slow justice delivery system to deny what was legitimately due to the estranged wife for her and their children's sustenance.
“It is the sacrosanct duty to render financial support even if the husband is re quired to earn money with physical labour, if he is able bodied. There is no escape route unless there is an order from the court that the wife is not entitled to get maintenance from the husband...,“ it said.
Meena and Bhuwan Mohan Singh got married in 1997 and a son was born to them the next year. Meena later had to leave the matrimonial home. In 2002, she filed for maintenance of Rs 6,000 before a court in Jaipur. Nine years later, the family court granted her a monthly maintenance of Rs 2,500 and her son Rs 1,500.

Source::: The Times of India, 17.07.2014, p.6,  https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6579410692213101445#editor/target=post;postID=2794426168793356786

1/3rd of world's extreme poor in India: UN study





India is home to the largest number of poor with one-third of the world’s 1.2 billion extreme poor living here. It also had the highest number of under-five deaths in the world in 2012, with 1.4 million children dying before reaching their fifth birthday, according to the UN Millennium Development Goals report 2014.

Poverty rates in Southern Asia fell from 51% in 1990 to 30% two decades later with China leading the way. Extreme poverty in China came down from 60% in 1990 to 16% in 2005 and 12% in 2010. In India poverty reduction was sluggish in comparison coming down from 49.4% in 1994 to 42% in 2005 and 32.7% in 2010.

Two-thirds of the extreme poor (those who lived on income less than $1 a day) live in India, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Congo.

Commenting on the report, minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla said its findings present a challenge to the government under Narendra Modi and that it would be able to surmount it. “Good days will come,” she said. “We don’t have to be proud of what we have done. Poverty is the biggest challenge... I am sure when the next report comes, we will have done much better,“ she said. Heptulla stressi ed on the Prime Minister's commitment to poverty elimination and his mantra of “sab ka saath, sabka vikas (With all, development for all)“.

The report said almost i 60% of the people who defecate in open reside in India. The country also accounted for 17% of global maternal deaths. South Asia has halved its under-five mortality but in h 2012 it accounted for 2.1 million of the 6.6 million deaths in children under five worldwide % and has the second highest under-five mortality rate among all regions with sub-Saharan Africa being the worst.South Asia, of which India. is the largest and most populous country , has fared worse than other Asian regions in most parameters. The region has, however, done well in school enrollment.

UN Resident Coordinator Lise Grande said India's role in global development is very important and the Millennium Development Goals can't be reached globally if they're not reached here. South Asia did see sharp increase in youth literacy rates between 1990 and 2011, which increased from 60% to 80%.

Source::: The Times of India, 17.07.2014, p.6,    http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=13rd-of-worlds-extreme-poor-in-India-UN-17072014008057

Only 18% engineering grads are employable, says survey





Corporates Want Candidates Who Don't Require Much Training

Less than one out of four engineering graduates are employable, a survey has found. The third edition of the National Employability Report, Engineering Graduates ­ 2014, released by a private employability solutions company , revealed that though 18.33% of the engineers are employable, 18.09% actually get a job.Of the 1.2 lakh candidates surveyed across multiple states, 91.82% lack programming and agorithm skills, 71.23% lack soft and cognitive skills, 60% lack domain skills, 73.63% lack English speaking and comprehension skills and 57.96% have poor analytical and quantitative skills. “The low employability among engineering graduates is a cumulative outcome of poor education standards and higher demand of skilled employees, creating a drastic skill gap in the country, said Himanshu Aggarwal, co founder and CEO, Aspiring Minds, which released the report. “The report reveals that corporates look for candidates who have basic skills in order and don't need much training on being hired. Hence, candidates with lower quality of skills in comparison to basic job requirements are left out in the entire process.“
Of the 6 lakh engineers that graduate annually , only 18.43% of them are employable for the software engineer-IT services role, while just 3.95% are appropriately trained to be directly deployed on projects. For core jobs in mechanical, electronics/electrical and civil jobs, only a mere 7.49% are employable.
In contrast, 53% engineers have software role as the most preferred job, whereas 44% have core engineering jobs as their preferred role. This means 97% engineers want jobs either in software or core engineering. Firstly , an economy with a large per cent of unemployable qualified candidates is not only inefficient, but socially dangerous. Secondly , there's a large mismatch in aspirations of graduating engineers and their job readiness, which can create largescale dissatisfaction.

Source:::: The Times of India, 16.07.2014,  p.6,  http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Only-18-engineering-grads-are-employable-says-survey-16072014006046

Two flats merged into one must get tax exemption

C.Unnikrishnan





HC Relief For Juhu Resident

If two adjacent flats are bought from different people through two agreements and then converted into a single unit with a common kitchen, then the owner is exempt from paying capital gains tax, the Bombay high court has said.The HC upheld the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order that went in favour of a Juhu resident, Devdas Naik. In 2007-08, he sold a bungalow for Rs 3 crore and bought three flats --one in his name, the second one jointly owned by him and his wife and the third in his wife's name.
Naik claimed exemption for two of the flats, which are located adjacent to each other, saying they were used as one contiguous unit. He also said the size of each flat was around 500 sq ft and so, they had to be combined to utilize them as one unit. The flats involved were the one registered in his name and the one jointly held by his wife.
But the income tax department said Naik was not eligible for the exemption as they considered one flat as a residential unit and not two flats, even if they were located side-by-side. Refuting the argument, the HC said that the general as well as the internal layout plans of the flats indicated that there was only one common kitchen; the apartments were built in such a way that the adjacent units could be combined into one.
The Income Tax Act grants relief in capital gains tax if investments are done within specified norms. The department's contention was upheld by the commissioner. But the commissioner in charge of the appeals differed: “There is uniformity of judicial opinion to the effect that where several self-contained dwelling units, which are contiguous and situated in the same compound and within common boundaries and having unity of structure could be regarded as one house.“ All the flats in the building were built in such a way that two adjacent flats can be combined into one unit.
The ITAT said, “Without prejudice, even if the appellant had made an investment in two or more separate units and combined them for the purpose of using it as single dwelling unit with common entries, living area and kitchen, investment in two or more such units would also qualify for claiming deduction ...“
Waiver under Income Tax Act The Income Tax Act grants exemption from capital gains tax if someone invests in a new flat in two years after the sale of an existing one.
Exemption is also granted if someone buys a flat and sells the existing one within a year. Also, if someone builds a house three years after the sale of an existing flat, capital gains exemption is granted.

Source:::: The Times of India, 16.07.2014,  p.4,  http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Two-flats-merged-into-one-must-get-tax-16072014004052

`Wasteful' tag on rural job scheme, Aadhar may stay

TEAM TOI





The economic survey has partly endorsed UPA’s welfare strategy by endorsing cash transfers to needy sections, but warned against wasting resources through the rural job guarantee scheme and large-scale food and fertiliser subsidy.Cash transfer of entitlements to those living below poverty line using technologies such as biometric identification would be viable, it said, hinting at continuation of the Aadhar-based direct cash transfer scheme (DBT).
The Modi government’s first survey pointed out that not all the money put into subsidy schemes reaches the poor and attributed rise in fiscal deficit after 2008-09 to increase in subsidies.
“Subsidy programmes are particularly problematic when they hamper changes in prices and the consequent shifts in resource allocation.
Therefore, it is increasingly feasible to identify BPL households and give them cash,” said the survey. “New technologies of biometric identification and payments through mobile phones have created a range of new possibilities,” it said, adding that these were cheaper than subsidy programmes.
The survey highlighted that major subsidies in 201314 touched Rs 2,47,596 crore, well above revised estimates.
It pointed out that in categories such as fertilizer subsidy, expenditure causes a distorted resource allocation that hampers productivity.
It argued that food subsidy has been increasing owing to the widening gap between economic cost of procurement by Food Corporation of India and the central issue price fixed under the Public Distribution System.
The survey argues for an urgent revamp of UPA's flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme to “prevent its misuse“ and create “meaningful“ infrastructure. It was pointed out that while the scheme is demandbased and panchayat-centric, on the ground the role of grassroots institutions such as gram sabha is missing.
In some places, only women are interested in availing of work as market wages for men are much higher, resulting in small, less useful projects being undertaken rather than big, tangible projects.
“So, there is an urgent need to revamp MGNREGA to make it more development oriented programme creating tangible and meaningful assets and infrastructure, including tourism related infrastructure or some agriculture related activities,“ it said.

Source l The Times  of India, 10.07.2014 l p.14 l  http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Wasteful-tag-on-rural-job-scheme-Aadhar-may-10072014012044

16cr women do only household work





Nearly 160 million women in India--or 45% of the total working age population aged between 15 and 59--do only household chores and reported themselves as “not working“, according to 2011 Census. 58 lakh men too reported to be doing only household work. 

16cr jobless women India's `Great Invisible

Force'

Subodh Verma





Nearly 160 million women in India, 88% of which are of working age, that is between 15 and 59 years, remain at home doing “household duties“, according to census data. Note that these are women who reported themselves as `not working'.
All the other women who work also do domestic work. But these 160 million are the Great Invisible Workforce, primar ily involved in care work and rearing families.The total number of women in the age group 15-59, according to census data released earlier, is just under 355 million. The latest data shows that about 45% of them are confined solely to domestic duties. They have an interesting complement – men exclusively doing household duties. The ratio is, unsurprisingly, 28 to 1.
That is, compared to 16 crore women doing only domestic duties, just 58 lakh men are exclusively involved in household duties.The large proportion of working age group women who are confined to their home and hearth is partly because of social pressures, and partly the result of economic policies that have offered no opportunities to women.

Source::: The Times of India, 03.07.2014,  p.01, 
http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/index.aspx?eid=31804&dt=20140703#

At 315mn, India has world's largest student population





Subodh Varmandia has the second largest I population in the world and so most population-related numbers are bound to be big, but even so recently released Census 2011 data throws up a startling statistic--the number of students is a gigantic 315 million. This is not only the largest student body in the world, but Indian students would make for the fourth biggest country in the world, nearly touching the US with a population of 318 million. For comparison, China's student population is about 252 million as per Unesco statistics.The student population of 315 million has a slightly bizarre component to it. Census da ta gives the ages of these students, and over 3.3 million of them are above 30 years of age. In fact, over 12 lakh are above 60 years and 1.2 lakh are above 80 years. This suggests either that there was something wrong in the way questions were posed or framed, or some people are talking about their dreams.
But this grey area is small--just over 1% of the total.
But what is more troubling is the number of `students' reported in the 0-4 age group --a jaw dropping 10.5 million.
Marginal workers, P 10 Undoubtedly, parents have been pushing their young kids to join play schools in an attempt to give them a head start in later competition. But the scale at which this is reported is incredible.
The total population of 0-4 years in India is 112 million. That means about 10% of them are in pre-nursery ‘schools’ and probably crèches. About 9.5 million students are ‘marginal workers’. That is, they are working on an irregular or part time basis, not more than six months a year. About 60% of them are male.
This reflects the pressure families face in making ends meet, and the high costs of education.

Source::: The Times of India, 03.07.2014,  p.01,  http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=At-315mn-India-has-worlds-largest-student-population-03072014001113

Incidents of outraging women's modesty increase 89% in Mumbai



City Ranked Second Only To Delhi In Crimes Against Women

In 2013, a 22-year-old photojournalist, interning with a magazine, was sexually assaulted by five persons, including a juvenile, at the deserted Shakti Mills compound, near Mahalaxmi on August 22. Three of the accused in the case had similarly assaulted a 19-year-old call centre employee, on July 21.The crimes shocked the city but violence against women increased sharply last year, both in Mumbai and the state, with a near 100% rise in instances of sexual abuse alone. According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s (NCRB) 2013 report released on Monday, Maharashtra had the most cases of outraging modesty and insult to a woman’s modesty, with 8,132 and 2,632 cases registered respectively in 2013. Mumbai continued to be second among major cities with 1,163 cases of outraging modesty and 444 cases of insult to women.
Maharashtra witnessed a 107% rise in cases registered for outraging modesty, while Mumbai saw an 89.4% increase, the report said. Policemen said the increased numbers showed more women were coming forward to file FIRs than in the past.
Mumbai police spokesperson DCP Mahesh Patil said the increase in street patrolling has showed results as cases of chain-snatchings and other crimes against women have reduced. “Initially, women would fear social consequences of reporting a crime and the hurdles they would have to encounter in the police station while lodging a complaint. Now due to increased awareness, women are refusing to tolerate crime. They are coming forward to demand the accused is punished, which is seen in the increase in the number of FIRs registered.“Former Thane police commissioner S P S Yadav, said a higher rate of employment among women has increased their interaction with various sections of society, which in turn has exposed them to greater risk of sexual exploitation. This can only be countered by commensurate and enhanced security measures, he added.
Susieben Shah, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, said the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, introduced after the Nirbhaya case, has helped. “Earlier, police would register a noncognizable offence instead of an FIR when a woman would complain of sexual assault.
Now police are compelled to probe the cases,“ said Shah.

Source::: The Times of India, 02.07.2014, p.06,   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Incidents-of-outraging-womens-modesty-increase-89-in-02072014004004

Cyber crimes up across India, state tops with 62% rise





Mostly Youngsters At Fault, Think They Won't Be Caught

The number of cyber crimes registered rose across the city , state and country in 2013, said the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.Maharashtra topped the black list among states for the second consecutive year while Mumbai dropped one position to rank fourth against third in 2012 (132 cases in 2013 against 105 in 2012) among cities with the most cases (see box).
Though Mumbai improved, it logged more cases of banking card fraud, online sexual harassment and posting obscene messages to take revenge, showing that the other cities were being progressively more victimized by cyber fraudsters.
The audacity of the fraudsters is borne out by fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 15.48 lakh through ATMs from 37 Axis Bank accounts, including 14 belonging to Mumbai policemen. Some of these with drawals in June 2013 happened in Greece. Police suspect a gang had fitted a skimming de vice in an ATM adjacent to the state police headquarters in Colaba. The city has been witnessing a slew of online credit and debit card frauds, some com mitted abroad. People who have not even travelled abroad have had purchases worth lakhs made on their cards in places like the US.
On March 28, 2103, the cyber crime cell of Mumbai police received a complaint from television actor Mona Singh after someone uploaded an MMS featuring her in the nude.
Probe indicated it had been morphed.
Former IPS officer-turnedlawyer Y P Singh said the increase in computers and smart devices have fuelled a spurt in cyber crimes of social nature such as abuse, intimidation, pornography , fake emails, etc.
Unless the police crack down, the crimes will increase.
Younger people know that the social media is un-policed and believe they have a right to say whatever they want, said cyber expert Vijay Mukhi.
Mumbai police spokesperson Mahesh Patil said investigation has shown a majority of cyber offences are committed by youngsters either to take revenge or for fast money . “They commit the offence thinking that they can get away with it.“





Source::: The Times of India, 02.07.2014, p.02,    http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Cyber-crimes-up-across-India-state-tops-with-02072014002035

Mumbai ranks No. 2 in crimes against kids





75% Jump Sees It Overtake B'lore, Rape & Kidnap Cases Spurt

The state and the city have failed to protect its chil dren, shows the NCRB report for 2013 released on Monday Maharashtra remained fourth among states for the .
number of crimes against children in 2013 while Mumbai climbed to second position in 2013 overtaking Bangalore with a 74.5% rise in the crimes.The only mildly bright spot in the report for the state is the small drop in foeticide cases (29%). There has been a spurt under every other head, even kidnapping -90.2% in the state and 96.5% in the city -and rape --68.6% in state and 56.7% in city (see box).
On May 14, 2013, 13-yearold Aditya Ranka, the son of a diamond merchant staying in Girgaum, was kidnapped by his cousin, Himanshu Ranka, 28, and his friend Brijesh Sanghvi, 25. The duo had incurred losses in IPL betting amounting to more than a million rupees wanted to demand a hefty ransom. But the plan went awry and they killed the boy.
Cases of rape of children keep coming up with a sick ening regularity, particularly in Mumbai's slums. Police spokesperson DCP Mahesh Patil said they have in creased police patrolling, but cannot prevent rapes by persons known to minors.
Former chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Child Minaxi Jaiswal blamed the government. “The government is least bothered to take up the case of crimes against children. I have personally drafted several ideas to tackle crimes against children. But till date, the government hasn't done anything,“ said Jaiswal.
A senior IPS officer said innocent children are easy targets. “The accused lure children by offering goodies and easily gain trust before committing the offence.
Take the example of Kurla's Nehru Nagar rape and murder of minor girls that occurred in 2011. All the three minor victims were lured with chocolates by the accused before they were kidnapped, raped and killed,“ said the officer.
The officer added that the government has made it mandatory to lodge a complaint and begin probe immediately if a matter is related to minors.

Source::: The Times of India, 02.07.2014, p.02,   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Mumbai-ranks-No-2-in-crimes-against-kids-02072014002012

State has most minors who fall foul of the law

V Narayan



In November last year, police arrested six juveniles for the gangrape a minor girl in Goregaon. The 16-yearold survivor was gangraped by six of her friends who drugged the girl and gangraped her inside a tunnel in Dindoshi. The juveniles took her to an isolated place before offering her a spiked soft drink and sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious.According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report, Maharashtra has more juveniles in conflict with the law, placing it highest among states with 7,613 cases registered in 2013 against 6,218 the previous year. Moreover, 25% of these cases were thefts, burglary and riots accounted for 15% each, robbery accounted for to 2-3%, while the rest were accused of rape, dacoity , murder, kidnap, cheating and counterfeiting.
A police official from the central suburbs said juvenile remand homes are often breeding grounds for hardened criminals.

Source::: The Times of India, 02.07.2014, p.02,   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=State-has-most-minors-who-fall-foul-of-02072014002054



Maharashtra records most custodial deaths again

Mateen Hafeez

Mumbai TNN





Maharashtra has once again earned the ignominious distinction of having the most custodial deaths of all Indian states, according to the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) latest report.A total of 35 people died in police lockups in Maharashtra in 2013; just one of them was remanded in police custody by court. Second in the shameful chart were Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh with 15 custodial deaths each. And third was Gujarat with 13 deaths. State director general of police Sanjeev Dayal refused to comment on the 2013 statistics, saying, “I have not seen the NCRB records.“
Past NCRB reports show that Maharashtra had the most custodial deaths of all Indian states in 10 of the 13 years since 2001. In 2010, the figure was 23. The tally rose to 35 in 2011 and dropped to 24 the year after.
The issue of custodial deaths has, in the recent past, cast a dark cloud on the law enforcers in Mumbai. Agnello Valdaris, a 25-year-old resident of Reay Road, was picked up by the Wadala railway police on April 15, 2014, for an alleged theft and found dead three days later.
Akash Kharade, a 23-year-old resident of Kandivli, was found dead in the Samata Nagar police's lockup on April 22.
The latest NCRB report says that autopsies were conducted on all 35 people who died in police custody in 2013. Magisterial inquiries were set up in five instances and cases registered in two. No policemen were, however, charge-sheeted or convicted.
The figure of 35, the NCRB report explains, is just for the deaths in police lockups. Four more died in “police custody at the time of production or proceedings in court“ or during a “journey connected with investigations“ in 2013.

Source::::: The Times of India, 02.07.2014, p.02,   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Maharashtra-records-most-custodial-deaths-again-02072014002023