YEH MERA INDIA

3years & 75000 children still untraced: Govt

New Delhi: Around 75,000 children have gone missing in the last three years in the country and are still untraced, the Rajya Sabha was informed. Of the about 2.36 lakh children who went missing in the last three years, 1,61,800 have been traced, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Paban Singh Ghatowar said during the Question Hour. "Unfortunately about 75,000 are still untraced," he said. The Centre, he said, has issued advisories to states to appoint nodal officers at all police stations to deal with such cases and make registration of FIRs mandatory. The advisories followed two interim orders of Supreme Court in January 2013, he said. The Supreme Court had ordered mandatory recording of FIR with regard to missing children and formation of special Juvenile Police units in different states.

4 rapes a day in Delhi in 2013

New Delhi: Four rapes have been reported in Delhi every day till the middle of February, almost double the number of sexual assault cases reported for the same period last year. 181 rapes were reported in Delhi between January and February 15. Delhi's shameful reputation as the "rape capital" of India has been in focus since a young medical student was fatally gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi after being battered with an iron rod.

'Own-a-Goat’ & Goat herd goes missing

Bhayandar : Now a “ Own-a-Goat” scam has emerged in the Naya Nagar area of Mira Road. The police are on the lookout of two brothers who fled after duping gullible investors – especially members from the Muslim community under the pretext of hefty returns on investments made for rearing goats.

According to the police, the brother duo identified as Mohd. Ismail Khan and Mohd. Nazir Khan, floated a company GWD Investments near Razzaz Theater in Mira Road. Claiming to have large goat-rearing farms in various parts of the country, the duo floated advertisements in Urdu newspapers, soliciting an investment of Rs 30,000 each from members of the Muslim community, promising a monthly return of Rs 1,000 and doubling the money in less that 3 years.

The scheme initially attracted a large number of gullible people and worked as long as it drew in more investors. Early birds were paid their assured monthly returns, however the scheme floundered and the duo went absconding. Following a complaint registered by Mira Road resident, Shakeel Shaik, the police registered an offence under section 420 of the IPC against the duo. “As of now we have received more than 100 complaints who have fallen prey to the fraud. Bank accounts with a balance of more than Rs 1.80 crore have been frozen and a SUV-Ford Endeavour has been seized.” said investigating officer, PSI, Aslam Khateeb, who added that the judiciary has also directed the police department to auction the 176 goats that have been recovered from a Shahpur farm.

2012: 41 pilots found tipsy

New Delhi: Forty six pilots were found to have violated aviation safety norms last year and 41 tested positive for alcohol during pre-flight medical examination, the Lok Sabha was told.

“41 pilots tested alcohol positive during the pre-flight breath analyser test, of which two found positive for the second time and were suspended for five years,” K C Venugopal, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said.

The DGCA has taken stern action against the tipsy pilots and suspended 39 of them from flying duties for three months.

Of the 41 pilots, 15 were of Jet Airways (11) and JetLite (4) combined, followed by IndiGo’s eight, six each of Air India and SpiceJet and three each of  GoAir and now grounded Kingfisher Airlines, the minister said.

One of the pilots of Jet Airways and one of GoAir were suspended from flying duties for five years after being found guilty for the second time, he added.

'Date of birth on Wedding invite' - Rajasthan

Jaipur : To curb child marriages that are rampant in Rajasthan’s rural areas, the state government has issued a directive that the date of birth of the bride and groom be printed on wedding invitation cards, officials said, reports media.

All district collectors and superintendents of police (SP) have already been asked to ensure strict enforcement of the directives, likely to be enforced across the state soon.

A senior woman and child welfare department officer told IANS: “All printing press owners will have to secure a date of birth certificate from the families of the bride as well as the groom before printing the wedding cards.”

The officer said that if the printing press owner finds either the bride or the groom or both are not of the legal age for marriage, he would turn down the print order. “He may even have to report the proposed wedding to the district administration, so that it can be prevented,” the officer said.

Printing press owners found flouting the orders would face arrest and six months’ imprisonment, and also have to cough up a fine of Rs.1,000. The project was launched on a pilot basis at Bharatpur district in April last year. “The results are great. About 50 child marriages were prevented in the past one year. Now, it has been implemented across the state,” the officer said.

“Since wedding invitation cards are commonly printed to invite guests, we have directed printing press owners to follow these orders. They have been asked to submit a copy of the invitation card for each wedding taking place in the respective district administration. These wedding cards will be scanned,” the officer said.

Child marriages are rampant in the state, especially in the rural areas, on Akha Teej or Akshaya Tritiya, a day considered auspicious for weddings. This year, Akha Teej falls in May.

Afzal  is 'sahib'!!

Jammu:  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged to death on Feb 9, in respectful terms in the state legislative assembly suffixing his name with “sahib”. The suffix “sahib” is usually reserved for men held in respect. Afzal Guru was convicted and sentenced to death by the Supreme Court for plotting the December 2001 attack on Parliament.

Jharkhand legislator holds kangaroo court

Ranchi : A Jharkhand legislator held a kangaroo court and punished a man after his wife’s complaint over ill-treatment by her alcoholic husband.

Jagannath Mahto, a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator, held the ‘Jan Adalat’ on the  complaint of Jitendra Chaudhary’s wife at Bhandarida village situated in Bokaro district, around 140 Km from Ranchi. 

The legislator asked his supporters to tie Chaudhary, in his early 30s, with a tree.

“He will be kept tied till he promises to quit drinking and lead a good life with the family members,” Mahto told reporters. 

The legislator said Chaudhary was an alcoholic and his family members were suffering due to his bad habit. 

According to villagers, Chaudhary frequently thrashed his wife after drinking alcohol and also sold off her jewellery. 

After the “punishment” awarded at the court held by the legislator, Jitendra told reporters: “I will quit drinking.”