MONTH THAT WAS

Madarsa Chief Assaults Boy

A head of a Madarsa in Karnatka  allegedly assaulted a teenage boy for "refusing" to learn Arabic at Belur in Chikamagalur district, police said.

Dadapeer, head of Jamia Habibiya Madarsa, allegedly assaulted the 11-year old boy for "refusing" to learn Arabic. He received injuries on his legs and genitals and is being treated in a hospital, police said. Dadapeer met the boy's parents and admitted of assaulting theie son, police said.

US immigration reform to benefit Indians

Washington : Even as President Barack Obama is set to announce an immigration reform plan, a bipartisan group of US senators have unveiled their own scheme offering millions of undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.

 The compromise plan proposed by a bipartisan group of eight senators would give 11 million undocumented immigrants, including an estimated 200,000 Indians, a provisional status to live and work in America. Currently the sixth largest nationality of illegal immigrants behind Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the Philippines, Indians are also the fastest growing illegal immigrant group in the US since 2000, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

The senators’ plan also called for strengthening border controls, improved monitoring of visitors and cracking down on hiring undocumented workers. 

Once these steps take place, undocumented immigrants already in the country could begin the process of getting permanent residence-green cards-as a step toward citizenship, the senators told a news conference. “They would no longer be deported, provided they don’t have a criminal record. They would no longer be harassed, they would be allowed to stay here and work,” said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer.

The outline for a possible immigration bill reflects a new willingness by mainstream Republicans to compromise following their party’s defeat in November, when Obama got strong backing from Latino voters, according to CNN, reports media. Obama is expected to deliver a speech in Las Vegas to discuss comprehensive immigration legislation, which he calls a priority of his second term. According to senior administration officials cited by CNN, the president will say the senators’ plan represents progress and argue that now is the time to act.

 Members of polio vaccination team killed in Pakistan

Islamabad: Two members of a polio vaccination team were killed when their motorcycle hit a bomb in the restive Kurram tribal region of Pakistan, the latest in a string of attacks targeting volunteers engaged in a drive against the crippling disease.The two volunteers were on their way to administer polio drops to children in Mali Khel area of Kurram Agency when their motorcycle hit the bomb buried under the road. They were killed instantly, officials of the local political administration said. The bodies of the two men were taken to a hospital in Parachinar, the main town of Kurram Agency.

  The region has been rocked by sectarian clashes between rival Shia and Sunni groups as well as attacks by the Pakistani Taliban. A policeman was killed when suspected militants targeted a polio vaccination team in Swabi district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The attacks prompted UN agencies to withdraw their workers from the vaccination campaign.

No more guinea pigs for clinical trials

New Delhi : The Government has issued a notification on the clinical trials to protect the unsuspecting Indians becoming the guinea pigs and provide for compensation in case of death, disability or serious health injuries in such trials.

The compensation will be now decided by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI), the highest drug regulator, who approves the conduct of the clinical trials of new medicines under the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules. Hitherto, the rules had no procedure for the compensation in case of any harm to the person in the trial.

Under the fresh guidelines, the sponsor of the trial, its investigators and the ethics committee of the medical institute conducting the trial is required to report any injury or death of a subject within 24 hours to DCGI, with independent and own assessment on the cause of the harm.

The DCGI will set up an independent inquiry committee to review the case and decide the final compensation to be paid to the subject or legal hairs. The guidelines also make it mandatory that the patient’s consent will be duly registered before his or her participation in the trial.

The guidelines to end the practice of the sponsoring pharmaceutical companies escaping with petty compensation to the victims if there are any adverse effect of their clinical trials allowed by DCGI.

It took 200 years…

 Paris: Women in Paris can finally wear trousers without fear of criminal prosecution after the government said a more than 200-year-old ban no longer had any legal effect. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, France’s minister of women’s rights, said in a statement that the ban, imposed on November 17, 1800, was incompatible with modern French values and laws.

The municipal order required Parisian women to seek permission from local police if they wanted to “dress like a man” by wearing trousers. It was modified in 1892 and 1909 to allow women to wear trousers if they were “holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse” but had officially remained on the books, reports AFP.

Answering a question in the Official Journal of the French Senate, Vallaud-Belkacem said that while it had not been formally struck down, the order was in effect abrogated.

“This order was aimed first of all at limiting the access of women to certain offices or occupations by preventing them from dressing in the manner of men,” she said. A number of women also broke parliamentary protocol by wearing jeans during an extended debate at the weekend over France’s planned legalisation of gay marriage.

“Cut down my security”  

Opposition leader tells police chief

Mumbai: In a token gesture to protest against unsafe atmosphere for women in the state, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council, Vinod Tawade urged the Mumbai Police Commissioner to withdraw eight of the ten policemen deployed for his security saying they could be better used for the security of citizens. Tawade, a prominent BJP leader, met police chief Satyapal Singh at the Police Commissionerate here and urged him to withdraw his security with immediate effect. Several policemen are deployed for security of politicians and social figures. If a major chunk of these personnel are drawn for maintaining law and order, then there would be a decline in crime, he said. The recent attacks on senior citizens and women, murder of advocate Pallavi Purkayastha in Wadala and killing of a girl in Chetna College had forced him to take a decision on withdrawing his security, he said.