Physically challenged stage stir
A large number of physically-challenged persons on Friday staged a demonstration at the office of directorate for welfare of persons with disability here demanding action against authorities of an NGO for allegedly misbehaving with a disabled woman.
The woman alleged she was ill-treated by some functionaries of All Orissa Orthopaedic Handicap Association where she had been undergoing training on a vocational trade. "The NGO authorities forced me to indulge in immoral act. When I protested, they misbehaved with me and stopped giving me food," she told the media. The NGO authorities were not available for comment.
The agitators, who assembled under the banner of Jagannath Disability Organisation, took umbrage at the commissioner for the persons with disability saying, "The commissioner showed little interest to give her justice."
"I have received her complaint and ordered an inquiry against the NGO. I even spoke to the NGO's secretary to ensure safety of the woman," commissioner for the persons with disability Kasturi Mohapatra said.
----------------------------------------------------
NGO: Huge gap in treatment of refugees
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has claimed that Australia and Malaysia's refugee swap agreement fails to meet minimal standards for refugee burden-sharing.
“The gap in the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers between Australia and Malaysia remains enormous,” said its refugee programme director Bill Frelick in a letter to the prime ministers of both countries.
On Monday, Australia and Malaysia signed an Arrangement on the Transfer and Resettlement of 800 asylum seekers who arrive in Australia for 4,000 refugees living in Malaysia.
Frelick cited the protection and education of refugee children as a particular concern because the agreement says nothing about the basic principles of protection for unaccompanied children under international law.
“The agreement ignores the special needs of unaccompanied children,” said Frelick.
He added that “saying implementing procedures will come later was no excuse for not spelling out the basic principles in the Arrangement itself”.
He said while the Arrangement says school-age children would be given access to “private education”, it adds that if it was not available or affordable, the children would have access to “informal education.”
Frelick argued that neither private education nor informal education met the standards for the right to free and compulsory primary education in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which both Australia and Malaysia are parties.
While HRW acknowledged that Australia's willingness to admit 4,000 more refugees for permanent resettlement was potentially a great humanitarian benefit, it urged the government to separate the agreement from a deal that would deflect people seeking asylum in Australia to another country.
He added that while Malaysia's willingness to recognise a group of asylum seekers as being lawfully present was also a positive development, creating an exception for 800 “swapped” people while 90,000 other refugees and asylum seekers remain “illegal migrants” subject to deportation was unacceptable.
------------------------------------------------
NGO report card gives MLA Sangle top rank
A report card rating performances of MLAs across Mumbai has rated MNS MLA from Vikhroli Mangesh Sangle as the best in the city, followed by Congress MLA from Sion Koliwada Jagannath Shetty and BJP MLA Sardar Tara Singh from Mulund. The worst rated MLA was BJP’s Prakash Mehta.
NGO Praja Foundation, which accessed data of proceedings in the Vidhan Sabha, data from city and suburban collectors’ offices, Mumbai Police and State Election Commission through RTI applications, released a rating card for 32 out of 36 MLAs of Mumbai on Thursday — leaving out the four MLAs who are also ministers.
The parameters followed for the 100-point marking system included educational qualifications, filing of Income Tax returns, criminal record, number of sessions attended, number of questions asked, importance of questions asked, utilisation of the total local area development funds between December 2009 and March 2011 and perceived accessibility and level of corruption by voters in the constituency. Sixty per cent weightage has been given to performance of MLAa as defined by the RTI applications and 40 per cent on the perception amongst the citizens.
“About 28,707 citizens were surveyed in order to add their voice and in turn more credibility to the report,” said Nitai Mehta, managing trustee of Praja Foundation.
While only one (Subhash Desai from Goregaon ranked number sixth) out of the four Shiv Sena MLAs could make it to the top ten, Sena MLAs have asked the most number of questions in the 47 sessions that took place. While Desai asked 917 questions, Ravindra Waikar asked 617 questions.
MNS MLA from Sewree Bala Nandgaonkar who was named Mr Committed (for quality and number of questions) asked 849 questions. He was also given the Mr Popular tag for being perceived as being accessible to general public and being a performer. Congress MLA Krishna Hegde asked the least number of questions i.e. four in the 45 sessions that he attended.
Apart from Sangle and Nandgaonakar, the other four MNS MLAs did not perform very well. Nitin Sardesai, Pravin Darekar, Ram Kadam and Shishir Shinde were ranked 18, 19, 30 and 31 respectively because of their criminal records. Out of 15 Congress MLAs, four made it to the top five, while two out of BJP’s five MLAs featured in the top ten. Two NCP MLAs, Milind Kamble from Kurla and Nawab Malik, from Anushaktinagar were ranked ninth and fifth.
While Prakash Mehta was unavailable for comment, Sangle was surprised to hear that he had been given the first rank. “I am not aware of this, I am surprised but happy. Yet a lot more needs to be done,” he said.
------------------------------------------------
NGO accuses Sibal of favouring Reliance
NGO files a detailed documented complaint against Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal for reducing the penalty of Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance from Rs 50 crore to only Rs 5 crore. Sheela Bhatt reports.
Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, trouble-shooter for the Congress/Prime Minister's Office in the 2G scam-related issues, is in trouble himself.
NGO Telecom Watchdog, one of the petitioners in the 2G case, has filed a detailed documented complaint against Sibal for reducing the penalty of Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance from Rs 50 crore to only Rs 5 crore against the unanimous recommendation of all the officers of the Department of Telecommunication.
The complaints have been received by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Central Vigilance Commission. They have been addressed to CBI Director A P Singh and newly-appointed Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar.
"The Supreme Court on July 11 had asked the petitioners against Sibal to avail other legal remedies to get the matter investigated, since the matter was not related to the 2G case. In this light, the Telecom Watchdog has filed these complaints," said Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, who is assisting Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who has fought the 2G case for the non-government organisation Centre for Public Interest Litigation.
-------------------------------------------------
Pinoy NGO bags Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Filipino nongovernment nonprofit organization Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) was named last Thursday as one of the recipients of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
According to the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF), AIDFI was recognized for “their collective vision, technological innovations, and partnership practices to make appropriate technologies improve the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor in upland Philippine communities and elsewhere in Asia.”
AIDFI, started by Leonidas Baterna in the 90s, has already developed 15 technologies in support of agricultural production and provision of basic needs such as water, sanitation, and energy.
Among AIDFI's projects is the hydraulic ram pump which won the British Broadcasting Corp.’s World Challenge 2010 title. It supplied water to remote villages in Negros Occidental and other parts of the country.
Five other individuals were also named Ramon Magsaysay Awardees: Harish Hande of India, Hasanain Juaini of Indonesia, Koul Panha of Cambodia, Nileema Mishra of India, and Tri Mumpuni of Indonesia.
Hande has helped bring solar power technology to India's poor populace via a social enterprise providing customized, affordable and sustainable electricity.
Juaini was singled out for "his holistic, community-based approach to pesantren education in Indonesia, creatively promoting values of gender equality, religious harmony, environmental preservation, individual achievement, and civic engagement among young
students and their communities.”
Panha has led a sustained campaign to build a "vigilant citizenry who will ensure fair and free elections--as well as demand accountable governance by their elected officials--in Cambodia's nascent democracy."
Mishra, on the other hand, has worked with villagers in Maharashtra, India to help them "address both their aspirations and their adversities through collective action and heightened confidence in their potential to improve their own lives.”
Mumpuni was chosen for promoting micro hyropower technology, catalyzing needed policy changes, and ensuring full community participation in providing eletricity to Indonesia's rural areas.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's highest honor. It was named after Ramon Magsaysay, the 3rd Philippine President, and given to individuals and organizations rendering selfless service.
Since it was started in 1958, the Ramon Magsaysay Award has been given to 284 laureates.
According to RMAF President Carmencita T. Abella, this year's Magsaysay awardees are "all deeply involved in harnessing technologies—both hard and 'soft'--that can genuinely empower their countrymen and create waves of progressive change in Asia. Working on critical issues that impact not only their
respective countries, but indeed, all of Asia, they are showing how commitment, competence, and collaborative leadership can truly transform individual lives and galvanize community action."
The winners will receive a certificate, a medallion, and a cash prize.
Awarding ceremonies will be held on August 31 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
-------------------------------------------------
Tonga NGO acts to minimise electronic waste
Tongans are being encouraged to get rid of unwanted electronic goods safely to protect the environment.
The Kingdom is preparing for a mass collection programme on the 6th of August.
The secretary of E-Waste Tonga, Leanne Elliott says collection points will be set up across all of Tonga’s islands and she hopes schools, churches and families will bring their old and broken televisions, computers, cell phones and fridges.
She says at the moment old unwanted electronic goods are going into landfills, being dumped and sometimes even burned.
“We’ve been called out to sites where there’s been a pile of computers literally on fire. And the fumes are overwhelming. And the toxic chemicals in there. People just really aren’t aware of the potential hazards that are really involved in electronic waste and disposing of them like that. Which is why we’re really pushing the awareness side of things so that people understand that there are things like mercury and arsenic in these electronics that really do need to be disposed of carefully.”
Leanne Elliott says people will be paid five seniti per kilo for the e-waste which will be exported to New Zealand for recycling.
----------------------------------------------------
Missing NGO worker’s body found in partly built house
An active non-governmental organization worker based in the Puttalam district and who travelled widely carrying out relief work for victims of the conflict as well as those hit by the tsunami has disappeared after he was allegedly abducted in February last year.
Identified as Pattani Razeek (56), it appeared he had known his abductors as he was seen getting into their vehicle - a white van - without any resistance.
As a result of many protests and complaints search operations were launched to locate the NGO worker who last served as the Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF), but all efforts were fruitless. However, Police were able to finally discover his body buried in a partly built house in Valaichchenai.
“My family members including myself received several telephone calls demanding a ransom of Rs. 20 million for his release. The figure was revised to Rs. 10 million and then was reduced to Rs. one million. The last call we received was in September last year,” his son Riz Khan told the Sunday Times yesterday.“The alleged abductors first inquired about the operations of the Fund and told us to get the money on behalf of our father. We declined as there were other members of the organization who had to give their consent,” he said.
He said the callers later inquired about the assets of his father and said they were willing to release his father if Rs. one million was paid.
“I told the callers we cannot raise that amount of money even if we sold our house. My father was only a retired grama niladhari. However, later we agreed to pay Rs. 900,000, but wanted to talk to our father. That never took place and we never heard from them again”, he said.
The family members had then given the Police the telephone numbers of the persons who called, enabling the Police to make a breakthrough early this month.
As a result police took into custody one Shabdeen Naushad, an employee of a vocational training institute located in Kilinochchi. The arrest came after investigators intercepted some phone calls made by the employee. He is said to have served as a co-ordinator of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen.
In an anticipatory bail application filed by the suspect last year, he admitted his connection to Minister Bathiudeen and admitted that he met Razeek on the day of his disappearance and that he travelled with Minister Bathiudeen’s brother and the staff of Minister Bathiudeen in a vehicle belonging to Minister Bathiudeen’s Ministry.
He also admitted he was a Government supporter and said his arrest might affect his credibility and also the credibility of Minister Bathiudeen and affect the prospects of the Minister in the upcoming elections.
Police finally received information that Mr. Razeek was killed and buried in a partly built house in Valaichchenai. The house was owned by a relative of one of the two suspects currently in custody.
The body of Razeek was in a highly decomposed state and was sent for a DNA test to Colombo. The results of the test are due on Tuesday.
Family members of Mr. Razeek had been under pressure to fund a political campaign in the Puttalam district, but they had rejected the request. The recovery of the body has prompted a call from the UN to carry out investigations into other disappearances as well.
UNHRC wants other disappearances probed
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it hopes that investigation and prosecution into the death of prominent human rights activist Pattani Razeek whose body was exhumed on Thursday will be expedited, and that there will be similar progress in resolving the many thousands of outstanding cases of disappearance in Sri Lanka.
“We hope that investigation and prosecution of this crime will now be expedited, and that there will be similar progress in resolving the many thousands of outstanding cases of disappearance in Sri Lanka,” Ravina Shamdasani, a Spokesperson for the UNHRC in Geneva said on Friday.
Mr. Razeek, the Managing Trustee of Community Trust Fund (CTF) and a leading member of regional NGO networks, has been missing since February 11, 2010. It is only in the past few weeks that two suspects were arrested in relation to the case. The information they provided reportedly led to the discovery of the body. Now that the fate of this human rights defender has been established, it is time for an investigation to establish the truth of the circumstances of this heinous crime, and for prosecution to bring justice to the victim’s family, the UNHRC spokesperson aid.
In particular the spokesperson referred to the case of freelance journalist and cartoonist, Prageeth Ranjan Bandara Ekneligoda, who has been missing and considered ‘disappeared’ since January 2010.
“We strongly urge the Government of Sri Lanka to expedite investigations and provide information on Mr. Ekneligoda’s whereabouts and fate,” she said.
The spokesperson also encouraged the Government to seek the assistance of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, which has 5,653 outstanding Sri Lankan cases on its books, by inviting it to visit the country.
-----------------------------------------------
Right-wing NGO: Protesters refuse to sing ‘Hatikva’
The Israel NGO rescinded its plan to join Saturday night’s mass housing protest, saying the demonstration’s organizers did not respond to a request to sing Hatikva.
My Israel offered on Friday to join the protest, on condition that the national anthem would be sung. However, on Saturday night, it announced that housing protest leader “Daphni Leef’s people evaded and evaded” committing to singing Hatikva at the event in Tel Aviv.
RELATED:
Hundreds of thousands in ‘social justice’ rallies
Parents march in TA to protest rising cost of raising kids
“This should be a protest for all Israeli organizations, Left and Right, because centralization and monopolies do not know the difference between right and left wing,” My Israel chairwoman Ayelet Shaked said. “Therefore, we decided [on Friday] to join the struggle.”
However, the “minimum requirement for joining should be obvious. The protest’s purpose and participants should be Israeli, and its organizers should not stop demonstrators from singing Hatikva, as they did last week,” Shaked said.
“We will find another way to help Israel society,” she said.
My Israel wrote on its website and Facebook page: “We are aware and identify with the problem in Israel: It is too expensive here because of monopolies and lack of competition...
tycoons prevent companies from competing. We are willing to fight that.
“We are not willing to join a protest that aims for anarchy and pointlessly harming the government ‘because Bibi [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] is bad’ and that is lead by anti-IDF and anti-Israel elements. We would be happy to work side by side with leftwing Zionists who support the State of Israel, but think territory should be given up. They are our brothers, even if we disagree with them,” My Israel explained.
A number of left-wing Zionist organizations, such as The National Left, participated in Saturday’s demonstration.
My Israel wrote that the activists involved in the housing protest “do not want Israel to be a Jewish state.”
On Friday, Ma’ariv columnist Kalman Liebskind listed various leaders of the housing protest and their associations with left-wing organizations and parties, such as Leef, a film editor for the New Israel Fund, Yehudit Ilani of the Balad Party, and Alon Lee Green of the Hadash Party.
Late Friday night, Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer wrote on his Facebook page that 20 right-wing activists surrounded him at his protest tent, spat on him and yelled: “Hang the traitors!”
--------------------------------------------------
Quality education key to Vision 2030
According to a report by Uwezo Kenya Initiative, an NGO, half of Kenya’s children in Class Four cannot perform tasks meant for Class Two pupils.
Also, one out of 10 in Class Eight cannot perform Class Two division tasks.
The report reveals that seven out of 10 children in lower primary school lack competence to move on to the next class.
To complicate matters, most of the schools face teacher and pupil absenteeism.
At such a tender age, more teacher-pupil contact is needed to ensure these children learn basic skills, which will enable them to proceed to higher classes.
The report also reveals that rural areas are the hardest hit, with an average shortage of four teachers in every primary school.
Also, 13 per cent of teachers in rural areas are engaged in personal business.
Fortunately, Kenyan parents, who cherish education have taken the initiative, and employ one out of five teachers in every school.
The irony of this sorry state of affairs is that it would seem Kenyan policy-makers would like to have their cake and eat it too.
They are hoping to make the much-hyped Vision 2030 a reality, but they do not seem to have woken up to the importance of education in making this dream come true.
They do not seem to see the connection between offering quality education and realising this Vision.
It is for this reason that the government must heed the cry of Kenya National Union of Teachers and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers. For some time now, these professional unions have been decrying the acute shortage of teachers.
----------------------------------------------------
Noor Dubai Foundation reaches out to visually impaired in Ghana
According to the latest statistics from the Ghana Eye Foundation, it is estimated that of the 20 million people living in Ghana, 200,000 are blind and over 600,000 people are visually impaired.
The camp opened last week and lasted for 6 days in the state of Tamale, capital city of the Northern region of Ghana. Thousands of individuals were screened and over 300 were operated.
His Excellency, Qadhi Saeed AlMurooshid, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Noor Dubai foundation and Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority said: "This is the second mobile eye camp that Noor Dubai conducted in Africa and the third for the year 2011 and we are delighted with the results. The camp in Ghana witnessed overwhelming response from patients of all ages, many of whom travelled long distances for this opportunity."
Al Murooshid praised the commitment and hard work of the Noor Dubai team who suffered a great deal of hardship and drove over 10 hours, crossing borders to reach some of the most remote areas in Africa, in regions where the world's poorest populations reside.
Dr. Manal Taryam, CEO of the Noor Dubai Foundation said: "600,000 people in Ghana are visually impaired and over 75% of the causes of blindness are avoidable. The leading cause of blindness in Ghana is Cataract, affecting nearly 100,000 individuals. Other major causes of blindness included Glaucoma and Trachoma. With Glaucoma, unfortunately most of the cases that arrived to the camp for intervention were of late stages."
The camp was conducted by Noor Dubai foundation and partners and funded by the Dubai Islamic Bank.
------------------------------------------------------
NGO gives vocational-technology students P1.4-million free educational assistance
Cebu - After signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the Don Bosco Training and Youth Center-Pasil early this month at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Students Center, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) is set to provide education assistance to vocational technical students of the Don Bosco Traning and Youth Center-Pasil.
The educational assistance, which is worth P1.4 million is expected to benefit a total of 100 students for five years, starting this school year.
RAFI will provide for the one-year training cost of 10 voc-tech students every year for five years in the amount of P22,565 per student and for the six-month training cost of 10 garment technology students every year for five years in the amount of P6,700 per student.
“This assistance will have an immediate and long-term impact. This can go a long way because it will help keep our center going and will help the entire community as well,” Fr. Abundio Bacatan, Salesians of Don Bosco administrator, said.
Don Bosco Training and Youth Center-Pasil is a training center for children and the youth from the surrounding depressed communities in Pasil.
The educational assistance program of Don Bosco caters to academically deserving children and youth from impoverished families. It also provide technical and academic training activities to children and the youth in such neighboring barangays as Ermita, Sawang Calero, and Mambaling.
------------------------------------------------------
D-day for illegal Zimbabweans
THOUSANDS of Zimbabweans are in the dark as to their status in South Africa, with the official moratorium on deportations having expired yesterday and with no indication by government as to whether the deadline will be extended
Although NGO's claim the department of Home Affairs has given indications that the moratorium may be extended until the end of this month, no official announcement to this effect has yet been made.
At a press briefing last week, Home Affairs Deputy Director-General Jackie Mckay said the department would conclude adjudicating permit applications by yesterday.
The stakes are high - while the department has registered 275,762 applications, NGO's estimate there are as many as a million undocumented Zimbabweans in the country.
This means thousands could be deported back to Zimbabwe, where the political situation is now less stable than it was when President Jacob Zuma's Cabinet announced an end to the special dispensation for Zimbabweans in September.
Tara Polzer-Ngwato, a senior researcher at Wits' African Centre for Migration and Society, said that "one of the things we are hearing out of Zimbabwe is political mobilisation".
Polzer-Ngwato said: "It is possible that people who will be deported from South Africa might be seen as opposition supporters and in danger of persecution."
She also said the possibility of deportation would create insecurity among Zimbabweans that could have a significant effect on South Africa.
Braam Hanekom, of the People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty, said he was "disappointed" that no announcement of an extension had been made, because the silence "was causing a lot of paranoia among Zimbabweans".
He said undocumented Zimbabweans became more vulnerable to crime, as corrupt police officers have in the past solicited bribes from them. They were also less likely to report crimes against them, such as rape, for fear of being deported.
Mckay said the department had received 275762 applications, issued 133810 permits while a further 2248 applications were still pending.
Mckay criticised the media's "fixation" with deportation, saying the process was about regularising the stay of foreign nationals in South Africa and that no mass deportations were planned.
"But anyone who is found in South Africa without legal documentation will be deported," she said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment