MTW

Get rid of court & save some money! Jindal

Washington : Finding himself at odds with the US Supreme Court over its two landmark judgements upholding healthcare law and same-sex marriage, Louisiana’s Indian-American governor Bobby Jindal wants to get rid of the court, reports media. "The Supreme Court had its say on Obamacare; soon, the American people will have theirs,” wrote the newly minted aspirant for Republican nomination for President in an opinion piece in Time magazine.The Court’s decision upholding subsidies for states participating in the federally run insurance exchange, he wrote, “violates the plain text of Obamacare,” as President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law Affordable Care Act is nicknamed.
“It’s a sad outcome for the rule of law – and the English language,” said Jindal who like other Republican governors has refused to set up a marketplace or exchange where people can shop for affordable health insurance. But an estimated 138,000 residents of Louisiana are getting federal subsidies through the federal exchange that is open to those who don’t have access to state exchanges.“Contrary to this President’s self-proclaimed edicts, yesterday’s Supreme Court decision is not the end of the debate on Obamacare,” said Jindal. It merely “shifts back to the elected branches of government – the ones that caused our health care mess in the first place,” he said. “It is there that conservatives can complete our work to repeal Obamacare.” Jindal’s reaction to the apex court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide was even more sharp.
“The Supreme Court is completely out of control, making laws on their own, and has become a public opinion poll instead of a judicial body,” he said in a statement from Iowa, which holds the first presidential caucus. “If we want to save some money, let’s just get rid of the court,” Jindal added.

AIDS free generation  - Cuba scores

Washington : Cuba has become the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, the World Health Organisation has said, reports AFP.

 “Eliminating transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said.

“This is a major victory in our long fight against HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and an important step towards having an AIDS-free generation.”

Universal health coverage, improved access to tests and increased attention to maternal care were credited with the success, defined by health authorities as fewer than 50 cases of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis or HIV per 100,000 live births.

A small number of cases are allowed to persist, despite the certification, because antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child-transmission of HIV is not 100 per cent effective. Rather, WHO and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) define the milestone as “a reduction of transmission to such a low level that it no longer constitutes a public health problem.”

Health authorities have been working in Cuba since 2010 to “ensure early access to prenatal care, HIV and syphilis testing for both pregnant women and their partners, treatment for women who test positive and their babies, caesarean deliveries and substitution of breastfeeding,” said a WHO statement. “Cuba’s success demonstrates that universal access and universal health coverage are feasible and indeed are the key to success, even against challenges as daunting as HIV,” said PAHO Director Carissa Etienne.

Each year, 1.4 million women living with HIV around the world become pregnant.

Left untreated, they have a 15 to 45 per cent chance of passing the virus to their children during pregnancy, labor, delivery or breastfeeding. But the risk of transmission is just over one per cent if antiretroviral medicines are given to both mothers and children.

The number children born annually with HIV was 400,000 in 2009. By 2013, the number was down to 240,000 in 2013. But intense effort is needed to meet the global target of less than 40,000 new child infections per year by 2015, health authorities say. “It shows that ending the AIDS epidemic is possible and we expect Cuba to be the first of many countries coming forward to seek validation that they have ended their epidemics among children,” said Michel Sidibe, executive director of the United Nations AIDS agency.

‘I am prettier than your warrant poster’ 

Melbourne: A vanity-conscious fugitive in Australia has got in touch with police and asked them to put out a better mugshot of him in their ‘Wanted’ poster.

Victoria Police shared mugshot of Daniel Damon from Epsom, Victoria, on their official Facebook page in the hope he would be recognized by one of their 288,000 followers. Within one hour, they had gone one step better, with the fugitive himself commenting on the post: “Can you use a better photo tho. This is a horrible mugshot.” 

The police was smart in their reply, asking Damon to “Visit your nearest police station we’ll arrange for a new photo to be taken”.

The warrant against him was issued after Damon failed to answer bail for drug and traffic matters, police said.

Within hours of the post going live, the police described a man as having “numerous body tattoos” who indicated he would soon come in.

“Yea I plan on it once I get a few things in order…just gotta organize myself a lawyer and get everything organized (sic),” Damon wrote on the police post. On his own Facebook page, Damon taunted police with a message that suggested he would stay on the run.

“I need to get a new mug shot,” the 23-year-old wrote.

The wily police media team promptly replied with a quip of their own: Come see us and will arrange at no cost.”

Damon’s friends on Facebook found his exchange with the police humorous, with one commenting that he “couldn’t stop laughing” with others saying his actions were “arrogant”.

However, Melbourne police said that posting pictures on Facebook get good results as people notice their posts and, even if it is a far-off connection, somebody or the other always replies.

Afghan male MPs ditch female judge

Kabul: Afghan lawmakers rejected the first ever female nominee for the country’s Supreme Court, a setback to the government’s efforts to promote women to high-profile positions.

President Ashraf Ghani had nominated Anisa Rasouli, the head of the Afghan Woman Judges’ Association and a juvenile court judge to join the Supreme Court’s nine-member bench in a move that angered some Islamic conservatives.

Rasouli’s nomination to the highest court was the first such appointment in the country’s history but needed to be approved by the country’s parliament.

“Unfortunately, Anisa Rasouli….could not get the vote of confidence to become a member of the Supreme Court. We ask the president to introduce another candidate,” Abdul Zahir Qadeer, deputy chairman of parliament, told the session after a secret vote.

Rasouli needed 97 votes out of 193 to win, but managed only 88 votes with the MPs approving another man of the Supreme Court and the governor of the central bank.

“What happed was a disaster, we hope the president introduces another woman candidate to compensate for this failure,” female MP Shukria Barakzai said.

Rasouli’s nomination to the country’s highest court was part of efforts by Ghani’s unity government to promote more women to high-profile positions, since he and his Chief Executive officer Abdullah Abdullah assumed office last September. Under the constitution, Supreme Court judges have fixed 10-year terms.

In April, lawmakers approved Ghani’s nominees for a number of cabinet positions, including four women.

The former academic and World Bank economist has already appointed two women governors for the provinces of Ghor and Daikundi, moves hailed by rights campaigners.

He has also asked his cabinet ministers to appoint women deputy ministers.

But the moves have angered some influential Islamic scholars in the conservative country. Last month a group of clerics gathered in Kabul to protest the possible appointment of a woman judge to the Supreme Court.

Under the 1996-2001 fundamentalist Taliban regime, women were banned from leaving their homes without a male chaperone and often denied basic rights such as an education.

Dropouts on state radar

Mumbai : For the effective implementation of the Right to Education Act and to bring students who drop out back into education, the state government has planned a search mission.  However, except the education department, the rest of the departments entrusted with this responsibility are seemingly reluctant, officials said.

As part of this mission, the state government had directed the education department, urban development department, local civic bodies and revenue officials to search for drop-out students in their respective jurisdictions and admit them into schools.

The search mission will be held on July 4 across the state. The chief secretary himself had personally directed all the officials concerned for the effective implementation of the same.

The officials concerned are supposed to visit unorganised labour sectors wherein children are generally employed, such as small markets in slums, construction sites, red light areas, small hotels and petty industries. If they find any child between 6 to 14 years old, they will register him in the local school.

Heavy bags take its toll

Mumbai: Children carry very heavy school bags in comparison to their age and over 58 per cent of students below 10 years of age are suffering from orthopaedic ailments, said a Maharashtra-government-appointed committee report submitted to the Bombay High Court on Friday.

A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and B P Colabawala was informed that the 12-page report has been accepted by the government and a decision will be soon taken on the implementation of its recommendations.

After perusing the report, the court said “soon children will have to carry trolley bags as the backpacks they carry at present are not enough”.

Justice Colabawala, whose children go to school, said, “Everyday all the subjects are taken. Hence, a student has to carry all the textbooks and its notebook. There has to be a change in the time table.”

The court has asked the government to file its reply by July 23 and also wanted to know by when it is likely to implement the suggestions made by the committee in its report.

The court suggested the government consider directing schools to set up lockers where children can keep their textbooks instead of carrying it daily.

Justice Kanade, however, immediately observed that then children would not be able to study at home.

“So much homework is given that students need the books at home also. If students start keeping their books in schools, then parents will have to buy two sets — one for home and one for school,” the court said.

Ease of doing business can lead to ease of working !

Mumbai : In a move that would benefit public as well as private sector employees in Maharashtra, the state government is planning to bring down to 90 the number of working days to avail paid holiday from the present 240 days.

“An amendment would be made in the Factories Act, 1948, to reduce the number of working days to 90 for employees to avail paid holiday,” an official in the labour department said. The government has already decided to clear the decks for women employees to work in night shifts. Currently, under the Factories Act, women are not permitted to work between 7 pm and 6 am.

The official said the labour department is striving to ease rules and permissions required for easy conduct of business. Recently, it was decided to amend the Shop and Establishment Act, 1948 and allow shops to stay open seven days a week throughout the year.

“One weekly off will be mandatory to workers. There would be a minimum of nine working hours every day for the workers,” an official said.The official said the decision would help in the recruitment of more workers and the shopowners will be able to do more business. A Government Resolution (GR) was issued in March this year.

“It has been made mandatory to provide licences for the setting up of shops within seven days of receiving an application. If that does not happen, the receipt of payment and acknowledgment of application will be considered as licence,” the official added.Similarly, the contract licence will also need to be given in seven days, failing which the payment receipt and acknowledgment of application would be considered as licence.

The labour department has decided to start a self-certification-cum-consolidated annual return scheme for boiler/economisers. Steam-boilers are needed to start machinery in factories. Boilers require yearly inspection, while economisers need inspection after two years.