Related: India Votes For Change
"Modi to be sworn in as India’s leader on Monday" by Ashok Sharma | Associated Press May 21, 2014
NEW DELHI — India’s Hindu nationalist party formally chose Narendra Modi as the country’s next prime minister on Tuesday, just days after its resounding victory in national elections.
President Pranab Mukherjee set Monday as the date of Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.
‘‘Congratulations,’’ Mukherjee said as he greeted Modi with a bouquet of flowers in the president’s palace.
Earlier Tuesday, Modi bent and kissed the steps of India’s Parliament, where he met the newly elected lawmakers of his Bharatiya Janata Party. Lal Krishna Advani, the most senior party leader, nominated Modi for the prime minister’s post, and the lawmakers gave their approval by thumping their desks.
The BJP president, Rajnath Singh, called the occasion historic, because it was the first time that an opposition party won a majority on its own in India’s 543-seat Lok Sabha, the more powerful lower house of Parliament.
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Related: India’s prime minister sworn in
Did you see who was there?
"New India PM invites Pakistan leader to inaugural" Associated Press May 22, 2014
NEW DELHI — India on Wednesday invited the leaders of rival Pakistan and other South Asian nations to the prime minister’s inauguration, signaling what could be a first step in improving ties with its neighbors.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on Wednesday sent the invitations to her counterparts in the eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation for the leaders to attend the inaugural scheduled on Monday.
It’s the first time India has invited neighboring leaders to attend the ceremony. External affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said it was awaiting responses.
The decision, among the first taken by Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi, could signal an intent to improve ties with Pakistan.
The hostility between the two South Asian neighbors dates to their independence from Britain in 1947. They have fought three wars, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim as their own.
Modi led BJP to a landslide victory in the elections that concluded last week.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was among early leaders to call Modi to congratulate him, and he also invited Modi to visit Pakistan.
Relations between India and Pakistan were frozen after an attack on Mumbai in 2008 in which Pakistani terrorists killed 166 people. A mild thaw since then has helped trade and people-to-people links, but not much progress has been made to restore bilateral ties to normalcy.
During the election campaign, Modi had taken a tough line on Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terror attacks in India.
But in recent days, and especially since his decisive victory, Modi has softened his stand somewhat.
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"Pakistani leader to attend inauguration of Indian prime minister
NEW DELHI — India said Saturday that Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, had accepted an invitation to attend the swearing-in of India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, a mutual gesture that could indicate the beginning of a rapprochement between the two countries, whose relations have been particularly frosty since early 2013. Modi, a Hindu nationalist, has broken new ground by inviting foreign leaders (New York Times)."
Also see: Leaders of rivals India, Pakistan meet
All eyes were watching for signs of a thaw in relations.
Other problems that need addressing:
"Ambitious survey in India aims to find causes of premature deaths" by Malavika Vyawahare | New York Times May 23, 2014
NEW YORK — Nearly 70 percent of deaths in India, 5 million in all a year, take place in the absence of medical supervision, according to the office responsible for registering births and deaths.
To fill this gap, a new survey, the Million Death Study, is trying to turn the clock back on 1 million premature deaths that took place in India between 2001 and 2014, sifting through evidence provided by families and caregivers. By assigning a cause to these deaths, based on the accounts of witnesses, the study hopes to identify the major causes of premature death.
“The idea is to show, with evidence, that many of these deaths are preventable,” said Prabhat Jha, a professor at the University of Toronto, who conceived of the project.
While full results are not expected for another four to five years, some preliminary findings have been released, and those have stirred controversy.
The survey’s estimate of total malaria deaths in India is more than 10 times the World Health Organization’s. Its figure for deaths related to HIV infections is significantly lower than what the United Nations predicted, and the Indian government, which has spent heavily to control the spread of the disease, may take this into account as it settles on future medical priorities.
Approaching strangers to ask about the deaths of their loved ones is no simple endeavor in India, a fact that was brought home to Ashok Kumar, a registrar official, when he knocked on a door in the town of Magadi on a recent day.
Seeing his credentials, Sushilamma opened the door, allowing him to settle into the cramped living room, under the watch of a pantheon of family gods perched on the pale walls. A garlanded photograph of her husband was a recent addition, and her eyes were drawn to the photograph as she discussed the details of his death with the visitor.
Kumar’s questioning was part of an unusual form of medical investigation, a verbal autopsy, that traces its roots to 17th-century London, a city haunted by epidemics, where “death searchers” regularly showed up at homes after someone died.
In India, two studies were conducted in the 1950s and 60s but were more limited in scope.
“We are literally chasing down death in millions of homes over a decade now,” said Suresh Rathi, who manages the project. “Where would we find the doctors for that?”
Twice a year, registrar officials like Kumar visit households across India where deaths were reported in the previous six months, armed with verbal autopsy forms. The completed forms are shared with the Bangalore office of the Center for Global Health Research, an international nonprofit collaborating with the registrar’s office on the project.
Each verbal autopsy form is sent to two doctors from a pool of about 300, who independently assign a probable cause of death. If their verdicts match, the cause of death is finalized. Otherwise, a senior doctor is asked to arbitrate and make a decision.
Some 42,000 autopsies have been gathered and analyzed, each on a paper form. Because of the study’s reliance on paper, it could take four to five years before the final results are available. That reservoir of information will be good news for public health specialists, but bring little to the families who were its subjects. The results will never be shared with them, and the deaths will remain unexplained.
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"Rapes, slayings of sisters in India spark protest" by Biswajeet Banerjee | Associated Press May 30, 2014
LUCKNOW, India — Two teenage sisters in rural India were raped and killed by attackers who hung their bodies from a mango tree, which became the scene of a silent protest by villagers angry about alleged police inaction in the case. Two of the four men arrested so far are police officers.
This whole issue is making me see red because I was told there was change and new laws and everything.
I'm tired of typing the same things over when nothing changes.
Villagers found the girls’ bodies hanging from the tree early Wednesday, hours after they disappeared from fields near their home in Katra village in Uttar Pradesh state, police Superintendent Atul Saxena said. The girls, who were 14 and 15, had gone into the fields because there was no toilet in their home.
Hundreds of angry villagers stayed next to the tree throughout Wednesday, silently protesting the police response. Indian TV footage showed the villagers sitting under the girls’ bodies as they swung in the wind, preventing authorities from taking them down until the suspects were arrested.
Police arrested two police officers and two men from the village later Wednesday and were searching for three more suspects.
Autopsies confirmed the girls had been raped and strangled before being hung, Saxena said.
The villagers accused the chief of the local police station of ignoring a report by the girls’ father Tuesday night that the girls were missing. The station chief in Katra, 180 miles southwest of the state capital, Lucknow, has since been suspended.
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"2 Indian officers fired for inaction after rapes" by Biswajeet Banerjee | Associated Press May 31, 2014
LUCKNOW, India — Facing relentless media attention and growing criticism for a series of rapes, state officials in north India fired two police officers Friday for failing to investigate the disappearance of two teenage cousins who were gang-raped and later found hanging from a tree.
But in a country with a long history of tolerance for sexual violence, the firings also came as the state’s top official mocked journalists for asking about the attack.
‘‘Aren’t you safe? You’re not facing any danger, are you?’’ Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said in Lucknow, the state capital. ‘‘Then why are you worried? What’s it to you?’’
The gang rape, with video of the girls’ corpses hanging from a mango tree and swaying gently in a breeze, was the top story Friday on India’s 24-hour news stations.
Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state, with nearly 200 million people.
Official statistics say about 25,000 rapes are committed every year in India, a nation of 1.2 billion people. But activists say that number is too low, because women are often pressed by family or police to stay quiet.
On Friday, the state’s former chief minister lashed out at the ruling government.
‘‘There is no law and order in the state,’’ said Mayawati, who uses only one name. ‘‘It is the law of the jungle.’’
Hours later, the chief minister ordered that suspects in the attack be tried in special fast track courts, to get around a notoriously slow judicial system.
The girls, who were 14 and 15, were raped in the tiny village of Katra.
Police say they disappeared Tuesday night after going into fields near their home to relieve themselves, since their house has no toilet.
The father of one girl went to police that night to report them missing, but he said they refused to help.
When the bodies were discovered the next day, angry villagers silently protested the police inaction by refusing to allow the bodies to be cut down.
The villagers allowed authorities to take down the corpses after the first arrests were made Wednesday. Police arrested two police officers and two men from the village.
On Thursday, officials suspended two police officers for ignoring the father’s pleas for help. They were fired Friday.
There have been a string of recent high-profile attacks in Uttar Pradesh.
Three men were arrested for allegedly attacking the mother of a victim after she refused to withdraw her complaint.
On Wednesday, a 17-year-old woman was attacked in a field and raped by four men, police said. One man has been arrested.
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"India arrests 3d suspect in gang rape of 2 teens" by Biswajeet Banerjee | Associated Press June 01, 2014
LUCKNOW, India — Police arrested a third suspect Saturday in the gang rape and slaying of two teenage cousins found hanging from a tree in northern India, as a top state official said he was recommending a federal investigation into a case that has triggered national outrage.
We have been here, done that.
The three suspects detained in the attack in Uttar Pradesh state are cousins in their 20s from an extended family, and they face murder and rape charges, crimes punishable by the death penalty, said police Officer N. Malik. Two other suspects from the same village are also being sought, he said.
Facing growing criticism for a series of rapes, authorities in Uttar Pradesh, which has a longstanding reputation for lawlessness, also arrested two police officers and fired two others Friday for failing to investigate when the father of one of the teenagers reported the girls missing earlier in the week.
India has a long history of tolerance for sexual violence. But the gang rape and killing of the 14- and 15-year-old girls — which was followed by TV footage showing their corpses swaying as they hung from a mango tree — caused outrage across the nation. The father who reported the girls missing, Sohan Lal, has demanded a federal investigation.
‘‘I don’t expect justice from the state government as state police officers shielded the suspects,’’ said Lal, a poor farm laborer who refused to accept a payment of $8,500 offered by the state government as financial help. He told reporters Saturday that he would accept no financial assistance until the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s FBI, takes over the case.
Such government payments are common in India when poor families face high-profile calamities, and Lal’s unusual refusal — particularly for a man living in desperate poverty — was likely to focus attention on his demands for a federal investigation.
With pressure mounting to act swiftly, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said he was recommending to the federal government an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The insensitive asshole did that?
Dozens of members of the All India Democratic Women’s Association marched Saturday through the streets of New Delhi, India’s capital, demanding the immediate arrest of the two fugitive suspects and justice for the victims.
‘‘Enough is enough. Women will not tolerate such atrocities any longer,’’ the protesters chanted, asking state authorities to take crimes against women seriously.
Uttar Pradesh officials initially appeared caught off guard by the reaction to the attack on the two girls, and Yadav on Friday mocked journalists for asking about it.
‘‘You’re not facing any danger, are you?’’ he said in Lucknow, the state capital. ‘‘Then why are you worried? What’s it to you?’’
Ashish Gupta, a state inspector-general of police, pointed out to journalists that 10 rapes are reported every day in Uttar Pradesh, which has 200 million people and is India’s most populous state. Gupta said 60 percent of such crimes happen when women go into the fields because their homes have no toilets.
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I'm not trying to be indifferent, readers; I'm just tired of reading the same thing and typing the same things. This is no longer useful.
"Protesters in India decry lack of police effort to curb violence against women" Associated Press June 03, 2014
LUCKNOW, India — Police used water cannons Monday to disperse hundreds of women protesting violence against women in the northern Indian state where two teenagers were gang-raped and later found hanging from a tree.
I'm waiting for U.S. criticism momentarily. I mean, we care so much about women in the world, enough to threaten wars on people, so....
The protesters in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, were demonstrating outside the office of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, demanding that he crack down on rape and other violence against women and girls.
Hundreds of police officers, including female officers, pushed and shoved the protesters before deploying water cannons to disperse them. They also demanded that the government curb police indifference, which they said was encouraging attacks against women.
Police in the tiny Uttar Pradesh village of Katra failed to take any action last week when the father of one of the girls reported to police that the two cousins were missing. Two police officers were fired for dereliction of duty after the girls were found dead.
Yadav has recommended a federal inquiry, but his government has been widely accused of doing little to address women’s safety. Activists and ordinary people said it was as if nothing had changed in the way the police dealt with rape cases since the December 2012 fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman aboard a moving bus in New Delhi, India’s capital.
Yeah, remember all the coverage that got!? New laws and everything, have done nothing. I see I'm not the only one feeling that way.
The outcry following that attack led to laws doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalizing voyeurism, stalking, and the trafficking of women. The law also makes it a crime for officers to refuse to register cases when complaints are made.
Public protests against police inaction are common. Records show a rape is committed every 22 minutes in India, though it’s considered drastically underreported. Victims and their families may not report the crime at all due to social stigma or harassment. And police may be reluctant to register cases in order to keep down crime figures.
Meaning there were two as I worked on this post.
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"Indian girl, 13, becomes youngest to climb Everest" Associated Press June 05, 2014
NEW DELHI — The 13-year-old daughter of poor Indian farmers who became the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest said Wednesday that she ‘‘shed joyful tears’’ at the summit after a grueling climb across difficult terrain and amid personal fear.
Nepal requires climbers to be at least 16 years old to scale its peaks, but Malavath Poorna said she and a team of Nepalese guides climbed the 29,035-foot mountain on May 25 from the northern side in Tibet. There are no age restrictions in China.
‘‘It was very difficult. Every step is a dangerous step,’’ a smiling Poorna said in New Delhi, describing steep slopes, exposed rocks, deep crevasses, and extreme cold that went below minus 40 Fahrenheit.
The climb was verified by the China Tibet Mountaineering Association in Lhasa, making Malavath the youngest girl to climb Everest. American Jordan Romero, from Big Bear, Calif., became the youngest boy at age 13 to reach the summit — also from the Tibetan side — in 2010.
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And when she got there.... she found a Saudi queen already there.
Time to come down from the mountain:
Train accident kills at least 40 in northern India
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"17 police officers convicted in India" Associated Press June 07, 2014
NEW DELHI — Seventeen Indian police officers were convicted Friday of kidnapping and killing a 22-year-old job seeker in custody and could face the death penalty.
The New Delhi court where they were convicted will announce their sentences on Monday, said Kanchan Prasad, a spokeswoman for India’s federal investigating agency. They could be sentenced to death or to life in prison.
The conviction of 17 police officers in a single case is believed to be unprecedented in India.
Prosecutors said Ranbir Singh had gone to the northern Indian city of Dehradun looking for a job when he was arrested by police for allegedly committing a robbery. He died in police custody in 2009.
Judge J.P. Malik also convicted the police officers of entering into a criminal conspiracy to kill Singh. The officers denied the charges against them and can appeal.
The case was shifted to New Delhi from Dehradun after the victim’s father, Ravindra Singh, filed a petition in India’s top court arguing that he did not expect justice from the state police as their officers were involved in the crime.
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Looks like that PM has his plate full.
The last thing he needs is a terror attack or war, so watch out!
