Director of IMF accused of sex assault in New York

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/every-3rd-malnourished-child-is-an-indian-report/219417-3.html

The feminists have always converted the impact of poverty as a Gender issue for women. There is a danger that this particular study about 42% Indian kids being malnurished, can easily be twisted by feminists every where in the world. They can easily claim that 42% of Indian girls are malnurished by presenting the half truth. It is to be noted that many Indian women die during child birth because the poverty in many areas of India are worse than poverty in Africa. However, International Feminists have successfully showcases it as deaths of women during childbirth only due to oppression by men and patriarchy.

New Delhi: India has the highest number of stunted children in the world. Almost 42 per cent of the children in the country numbering over 61 million are malnourished and stunted according to the Hunger and Malnutrition Report released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday. The report says that one in three malnourished children in the world is an Indian.

The Prime Minister's called the findings a national shame while pointing out that only one in five Indian children had acceptable levels of nutrition. The report reveals that malnutrition is extremely severe in 73,0000 households in 112 districts in seven of the poorest states.

"The problem of malnutrition is a national shame," the Prime Minister said while releasing the first-ever citizens' report on child malnutrition.

The statistics in the HUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition) report say that every third malnourished child on the planet is an Indian. The report, on the survey conducted by Naandi Foundation, has been made at the insistence of the Citizens' Alliance against Malnutrition.

Manmohan Singh said that the government cannot rely solely on the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to tackle malnutrition. "Despite impressive growth in our GDP, the level of malnutrition is unacceptably high," he said.

Pointing out that India had not succeeded in reducing the levels of malnutrition fast enough, he said, "Though the ICDS continues to be our most important tool to fight malnutrition, we can no longer rely solely on it."

"What concerns me is that 42 per cent of our children are still underweight. This is an unacceptably high occurrence," he said.

The Prime Minister has announced multi-sectoral programmes for 200 districts that have high malnutrition levels.

100 worst districts are in the poorer states. "The result of the survey is both worrying and encouraging," the Prime Minister said. He pointed out that the survey reports high levels of malnutrition, but it also indicates that one child in five has reached an acceptable healthy weight during the last seven years in 100 focus districts.

"This 20 per cent decline in malnutrition in the last seven years is better than the rate of decline reported in National Family Health Survey-III," he said.

The Prime Minister called for the civil society, entrepreneurs, business communities to bring malnutrition below acceptable levels. He said that policy makers and programme implementers need to clearly understand many linkages - between education and health, sanitation and hygiene, drinking water and nutrition and then shape their responses accordingly.

Here's the full text of the Prime Minister's speech on the HUNGaMA report:

There are nearly 16 crore children in the country below the age of 6 years. In the years to come, these children will join our work-force as scientists, farmers, teachers, data operators, artisans, service providers. Several of them will become social workers like many of you in this hall. The health of our economy and society lies in the health of this generation. We cannot hope for a healthy future with a large number of malnourished children.

As I have said earlier and I repeat that the problem of malnutrition is a matter of national shame. Despite impressive growth in our GDP, the level of under-nutrition in the country is unacceptably high. We have also not succeeded in reducing this rate fast enough.

Ladies & gentlemen,

The first step in addressing the challenge of malnutrition lies in understanding it clearly. And it is for this reason that studies like the HUNGaMA survey are so important. I would like to compliment the Citizen’s Alliance against Malnutrition, Nandi Foundation, Mahindra & Mahindra and other partners and supporters of the Alliance for carrying out this very significant survey. I understand that the surveyors have reached more than 73,000 households in 112 districts across 9 states. To measure more than one lakh children and talk to 74,000 mothers is indeed an extraordinary accomplishment.

The results of this survey are both worrying and encouraging. The survey reports high levels of malnutrition, but it also indicates that one child in five has reached an acceptable healthy weight during the last 7 years in 100 focus districts. This 20% decline in malnourishment in the last 7 years is better than the rate of decline reported in NFHS 3. However, what concerns me is that 42 per cent of our children are still underweight. This is an unacceptably high occurence.

We have always believed that a mother’s education level, economic status of the family, sanitation and hygiene, status of women in the family, breastfeeding and other good child rearing practices affect children’s nutrition. The HUNGaMA survey has broadly validated these hypotheses.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Though the ICDS continues to be our most important tool to fight malnutrition, we can no longer rely solely on it. We need to focus on districts where malnutrition levels are high and where conditions causing malnutrition prevail. Policy makers and programme implementers need to clearly understand many linkages -- between education and health, sanitation and hygiene, drinking water and nutrition – and then shape their responses accordingly.

These sectors can no longer work in isolation of each other. Health professionals cannot solely concentrate on curative care. Drinking water and sanitation providers cannot be oblivious to the positive externality of their actions. The school teacher needs to be aware of the nutritional needs of the adolescent girl. And above all, the Anganwadi workers should be aware of their contribution to nation building by focusing on the care of our young citizens.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I chair a National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges, which met a year ago and decided four things:

- To launch a strengthened and restructured ICDS,

- To start a multi-sectoral programme for 200 high burden districts.

- To initiate a nationwide communication campaign against malnutrition.

- And to bring nutrition focus to key programmes of agricultural development, research and development in agriculture, PDS, mid-day-meals programme, drinking water and sanitation, health etc.

The Ministries concerned are taking necessary action to implement these four decisions. We hope to see positive outcomes of these efforts.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me end by once again congratulating all those who have contributed to this report. The HUNGaMA report is an excellent example of how people from diverse areas can and should come together for a noble cause. It is my sincere hope that the report will enhance our understanding of the challenge of malnutrition and will help shape better policy responses to it.

(With additional information from PTI)

What a week it was!! First it is the Dominique Strauss-Kahn, chief of one of the most Anti-Male organisation IMF goes to jail for sexual assault on a maid in a New York Hotel.Then, the radical feminist communists (of AIDWA) tasted failure after their party CPM lost the West Bengal State elections miserably.

Today, Indian Feminist MP Kanimozhi is sent to New Delhi's high secuirty Tihar Jail for being a co-conspirator in 2G Spectrum Scam.

Kanimozhi was one of the potential candidates to be India's Women and Child Minister, after a coalition by her party and Congress won  national elections in 2009.

She and her lawyer pleaded for bail in the court saying,"she should be given bail because she is a woman".  It is a victory for India's constitution that the judge did not think about chivalry and applied gender equal principles. While pleading for bail expecting "chivalry from judge", Kanimozhi her Lawyer Ram Jethmalani choose to forget that more than 163,000 Indian women are arrested in non-bailable warrents without trial, investigations or evindence and are sent to jail in last 5 years under section 498a of IPC.

Karma has completed a full cycle. It is not a co-incidence that the worst violators on Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 are now hit with scams and many of them are going to jails. The Speaker of lower house of Indian Parliament, Meira Kumar has openly supported violations of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by saying that Section 498a of IPC is to be retained as it is. Section 498a of IPC considers all the accused men, women and children to be guilty till proven innocent. Accusing someone under Section 498a in India is as easy as "ordering a pizza".

Kanimozhi's arrest is certainly a strong message to Indian Feminists in general and Women MPs in particular.

Now, they should stop crying discrimination if women are allowed to join certain departments of Army, Navy or Airforce.

If a MP like Kanimozhi does not want to go to jail for being a woman, then it is very likely that during a war, females in Army will say,"we do not want to go to war, because we are women." Then, what is the point of fatting up these women by recruiting them in army in peacetime?

With Kanimozhi's arrest the true face of modern day feminists has come out in open. They want all the rights, but they do not want to take any responsibilities. With such feminists in Indian Parliament, it is not dangerous if there is a woman's reservation in parliament, by denying men to contest in those 30% reserved seats?

When Kanimozhi can claim that she is a woman and hence she does not want to go to jail and when the female speaker openly violates Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 by supporting opposing amendment of section 498a, will India be safe with higher number of women in parliament? Everyone has to be concerned about these feminists reaching parliament to unleash a massive gender war and destroy India's age old family system using all kinds of fascist laws, which consider the accused men to guiloty till proven innocent.

All men's rights activists have to celebrate this weekend because a big feminist MP has gone to Tohar Jail. Now, her appeal for bail from any high court or supreme court must also be rejected. It is to be noted that her father M.Karunanidhi has married 3 times and two of his wives are living.

A great article in Indian Express, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Trump-Card/787732/

Trump Card

Till Thursday, every news channel in India was carrying a quote by Kanimozhi that said, “I don’t expect preferential treatment because I’m a woman”. She is chargesheeted by the CBI for her alleged role in the 2G spectrum case, where many others implicated are already languishing in jail. By Friday, Kanimozhi’s lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, had appealed at the “Victorian sense of chivalry” in court, that “allows differential treatment for women”. Who can blame Kanimozhi for making a last ditch effort to stay out of Tihar Jail? Even though it is in complete contradiction to the very politically correct stand she’s fought for while in office so far: empowerment of women. It’s an extremely weak Get Out Of Jail Free card, but then desperate situations call for desperate measures.

History is replete with examples of damsels in distress appealing to a sense of chivalry in men, to be let off the hook. And it usually works. In 1535, when Rani Karnavati realised she couldn’t defend Chittor against an invasion by the Sultan of Gujarat, she sent a rakhi to Humayun, appealing for his help. Touched, Humayun rushed off to help her, but didn’t reach in time: the Rani had already immolated herself to avoid dishonour. Society tends to endorse this view. Accepted protocol in marine disasters is “women and children first”, when the lives of a group of people are at stake. But nowhere does gender come to the rescue of women more than in the US death penalty system. In all of the 20th century, just 500-odd women were executed, while there were over 19,000 confirmed executions of men in the same time span in the US.

What does chivalry mean today? To me, it conjures up images of a Georgette Heyer hero, or King Arthur’s knights, hunting and slaying dragons for a living. In Mad Men, the cult TV show on advertising set in 1960’s New York, the men are always paying the bills and pulling out chairs for women, but they also always hand them their coats and hats to hang, a maddeningly patronising gesture. Chivalry is too old fashioned a term, it applies to a world that no longer exists. Courtesy is a better word for our times and it should extend to both genders. I think it’s nice when a man opens a door for me if he happens to be there, but I don’t expect him to leap out of nowhere, or run forward to yank the door open so I can glide through

effortlessly. In fact, I feel a little embarrassed on the Delhi Metro Women’s compartment, where you can languorously stretch out and read a newspaper, while watching the men packed like sardines, trying their best not to spill over onto the ladies side.

He even sent letters to the police top brass and all 104 police stations in the city. But to no avail. He was arrested and spent four days in central jail.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. So, when Naveen Kumar, a techie working with a software giant in Bangalore, came to know that his wife, Manasa (name changed), would be filing a dowry harassment case against him, he invoked the help of almost every influential person he could think of.

He dispatched 25 telegrams. The addressees included the president, the prime minister, the chief justice of India, the chief justice of the High Court of Karnataka and the state chief secretary. His plea was: Please see to it that I am not arrested without proper investigation.

The Union Law Ministry recently launched a countrywide exercise to review provisions of Indian Penal Code dealing with matrimonial cruelty, including cases of dowry harassment. The exercise is particularly aimed at collecting data and opinion from the States to evaluate the perceived “misuse” of the law and the possibilities of changing it.

This is a reflection of the hot debates in the recent years on “misuse” of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deems cruelty to women, including dowry harassment a non-bailable, non-compoundable (not allowing for out-of-court settlement) criminal offence.

There have been demands to scrap it or tone down the provisions of this law by men's activist groups who argue that it has been used by urban, educated women to settle scores with husbands and their families. Virag Dhulia, an anti-498A activist, claims that complaints under this are treated as “gospel truth” and husbands and his family penalised.

Arguments on these lines have been vociferous, often making more news than dowry death cases which get relegated to crime columns.