Daily News (In Short)-6-July-2015

#* Now, trainee sub-inspector recruited through MP exam scam found dead

A trainee sub-inspector, who was recruited through the tainted Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a police academy in Sagar district early on Monday.
The body of Anamika Kushwaha, aged about 25, was found at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Police Training Academy at a time when suspicions have deepened about the systematic elimination of people linked to the Vyapam scam.

Sagar district’s superintendent of police Sachin Atulkar said, prima facie, it appeared to be a case of suicide. 

"We haven't recovered any suicide note so far. But the statements of her colleagues suggest she committed suicide. A case has been registered and investigation is on," he said.

Read: 'His lips quivered and he collapsed': Akshay Singh's last moments

Atulkar contended Kushwaha had nothing to do with the Vyapam scam, so named because of the Hindi acronym for the MPPEB.

According to police sources, Kushwaha went missing from her hostel room late on Sunday night and her body was found floating in a pond located within the academy.

Her body was spotted by a security personnel of the academy, who subsequently informed police.

Kushwaha was a resident of Ambah town of Morena district and was recruited as a sub-inspector in February 2015 through a test conducted by the MPPEB.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested in connection with the scam since it came to light in 2013.

#* Suicide bomber kills five in Nigeria church: police, witness

According to a police officer and witness told AFP the attacker entered the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the Jigawa area on the outskirts of Potiskum and detonated his explosives.

Four worshippers died instantly with a fifth succumbing to her injuries shortly afterwards in hospital, a police officer who helped remove the bodies told AFP.

"The victims included a woman and her two children, the pastor and another worshipper," added the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Witness Garba Manu told AFP that the bomber arrived on a motorised rickshaw, adding that "as soon as he entered a loud explosion ripped through the church which is under construction."

"I saw him walking in and he didn't raise any suspicion," Manu said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Potiskum, the commercial capital of Yobe state, has been hit repeatedly by Boko Haram Islamists during their six-year insurgency, including in suicide attacks.

The insurgents have also launched a series of attacks on mosques, villages and markets in neighbouring Borno state in the past few days, claiming more than 200 lives.

Washington strongly condemned the attacks, a State Department spokesman said, adding that the US "will continue to support Nigeria's efforts to bring those responsible... to justice".

Boko Haram are keen to prove they are not a spent force despite a four-nation military offensive running them them out of several towns and villages they had controlled.

The use of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings has increased since May 29 when Buhari took office vowing to crush the rebellion.

#* Unmarried woman can be child's guardian without father's consent: SC

Father's consent is not required in giving guardianship of a child to an unmarried mother, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
 
The apex court bench headed by justice Vikramajit Sen said this while recalling the earlier order of a guardianship court and asking it to re-examine the plea by the unwed mother seeking guardianship of the child without issuing notice to the father.

The court said that the lower courts, including high court, lost sight of the issue that was before them to be examined and decided the matter without taking into account the welfare of the child.

The court order came on a petition by a woman who is a gazetted officer in the government. She had challenged the procedural necessity of disclosing the identity of the father and issuing notice to him on a plea seeking sole guardianship of the child by the unwed mother.

The mother had contended that the man stayed with her barely for two months and did not even know the existence of the child.

#* Russian stance against Pakistan's terror financing surprises India 

NEW DELHI: There is unease in Delhi over recent stand that old ally Russia took at a recent anti-terror financing meet organised at Brisbane by opposing move by India to demand censure against Pakistan for its inaction against JuD & LeT. 

While New Zealand and Australia also opposed the move, India is surprised with Russia's position which in the past has been very supportive of India's stand on Kashmir to the extent of vetoing resolutions in UN Security Council. 
St Stephen's row: Principal Thampu's role should be investigated, demands women's rights activist
Women's rights activist Jagmati Sangwan on Monday demanded a probe to investigate the role of St. Stephen's College principal Valson Thampu's alleged role in shielding a professor accused of sexual harassment.

"The allegation is that the principal of the college is protecting the criminal. We demand that he [Thampu] should be investigated, and for the investigation to be fair it is essential that he be sent on a leave…The girl should get justice and we also want that people should know that those protecting a sexual harassment accused will not be spared," Sangwan said.

#* Transgender group demonstrates in Hyderabad for government jobs, housing and security

Hyderabad: The transgender group Intersex and Transgender Samiti on Sunday demanded for government jobs for the community as well a implementation of recommendations of the NALSA judgment.
Representational Image. AFPRepresentational Image. AFP
According to a release issued by the Telangana Hijra,around 150 transgenders mobilised by it, assembled at Dharna Chowk, Indira Park in Hyderabad and raised slogans against their discrimination in jobs, housing, welfare as well as security by a society which discriminates against them in "every way".
Transgenders with BEd, M Com, MBA and BCA degrees spoke about how they were denied jobs repeatedly despite being qualified, due to the stigma they face due to their gender, the release stated.
Speaking on the occasion, Veda Kumar of the Telangana Resource Centre expressed solidarity with the transgender community and said that state has to take the lead in supporting them.
"When transgender people are kicked out from their family, who else would educate and support them," Mr Kumar said. According to the release, transgender activist Chandramukhi noted that rights are needed for transgenders to survive.

#* Net Neutrality: DoT panel opposed to Facebook’s Internet.org; ok with Airtel Zero

A DoT panel on net neutrality is learnt to have opposed projects like Facebook’s Internet.org, which allow access to certain websites without mobile data charges, while suggesting that similar plans such as Airtel Zero be allowed with prior clearance from Trai.
The panel has stated however that “collaborations between telecom operators and content providers that enable such gate-keeping role to be played by any entity should be actively discouraged”, sources said.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had directed the Department of Telecom (DoT) to form a panel on net neutrality and give its recommendation on the matter.
Our Zero-rating platform is not against Net Neutrality in India, says Bharti Airtel
Net neutrality implies that equal treatment be accorded to all Internet traffic and no priority be given to an entity or company based on payment to content or service providers such as telecom companies, which is seen as discriminatory.
The neutrality debate heated up in India after telecom operator Airtel launched a platform, Airtel Zero, that would
allow free access of some websites on it network. However, the companies were asked to pay Airtel for joining the platform.
Internet.org, on the other hand, is a Facebook-led initiative which aims to bring 5 billion people online in partnership with tech giants like Samsung and Qualcomm as well as mobile operators. In India, it had tied up with Reliance Communications.
Sources said the DoT panel has stated that this project has been criticised for violating net neutrality principle and favouring Facebook’s own services over its rivals. Facebook, however, at various forums has said that the project is pro-Internet access and hence does not violate the principle.
They said the panel however has favoured allowing of zero-rating platforms, like Airtel Zero, but with a rider that operators should take prior permission of telecom regulator Trai to launch it or take action against such plan if they are founding violating principle of net neutrality, sources said.

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