Students protest against OBC Quota in Supreme court lawns

A group of about 350 students from premier medical and other colleges held a protest on the lawns of the Supreme Court Friday against the 27 percent quota for other backward classes students in higher educational institutions. Around 10 students were injured in a clash with the police.

The police said more than 90 students were detained and let off an hour later.

The students were from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University, Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi and some medical colleges.

The protesters entered the apex court premises in small groups and gathered in the lawns around 11 a.m. They chanted anti-government slogans and accused the government of trying to circumvent the court ruling by planning to extend quota benefits to post-graduate courses.

"We just want the court ruling to be implemented in the right way," said Kaushal Kant Mishra, a doctor at AIIMS.

The students who were injured in a lash with the police were admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Some of them were discharged after first-aid.

On April 10, SC upheld the law for implementing 27 percent quota for OBCs in centrally-run educational institutions of higher learning.

Domestic violence, malnutrition linked in India

Washington, April 25 Preventing domestic violence could be just as effective as a pharmaceutical approach in combating anaemia among women in India, say researchers. They found that women and children in India experiencing multiple incidents of domestic violence are more likely to be anaemic and underweight.

"This is strong evidence that domestic violence is linked with malnutrition among both mothers and children. In India, the withholding of food is a documented form of abuse and is likely correlated with the perpetration of physical violence," said S.V. Subramanian of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

The exhaustive study included 69,072 (aged 15-49 years) women and 14,552 children (12-35 months) from the Indian National Family Health Survey of 1998-99.

The participants were personally interviewed by trained personnel, and the data collected included body measurements, blood samples and information on women's and child's exposure to domestic violence in the previous 12 months.

The researchers found that women who reported more than one instance of domestic violence in the previous year had a 11 percent increased likelihood of having anaemia and a 21 percent increased likelihood of being underweight, as compared to women with no such history.

The data suggests a relation between domestic violence and malnutrition among women and children in India.

In India, the withholding of food as a type of abuse could be a factor in the link between physical domestic violence and nutrient deficiencies that cause anaemia and underweight.

Additionally, domestic violence has been strongly associated with a woman's inability to make decisions for herself and her family, including the choice of types and quantities of food she prepares


The authors' second explanation is that the link between domestic violence and nutritional deficiencies may also reflect the effects of psychological stress.

Women and children who experience domestic violence tend to have higher levels of psychological stress, which has been associated with anaemia and being underweight.

The findings were published online on March 26 in The American Journal of Epidemiology.

Related links :

- The Protection Of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005

- Latest News Headlines - "Domestic Violence Act"

Bill to reduce pending court cases approved

New Delhi, April 24 The union cabinet Thursday approved introduction of a bill that will considerably reduce the number of cases pending in the subordinate judiciary.

The cabinet gave its approval for withdrawal of the Gram Nyayalayas Bill, 2007, pending before Rajya Sabha, and introduction of the Gram Nyayalayas Bill, 2008, in the upper house in the light of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice and the Law Ministers & Law Secretaries & Registrar Generals of High Courts Conference, according to an official note.

The new bill will provide for a system of judiciary which will be less expensive, free from protracted procedural wrangles, quick and available at the grassroots level, accessible to the common people and render justice to them as enshrined in Article 39 A of the constitution, the note said.

Delhi High Court issues notice in Shivani Bhatnagar murder

Delhi High Court Thursday asked Delhi Police to reply to a petition by Pradeep Sharma, one of the four convicted in the murder of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar, challenging the life term awarded to him by a trial court last month.

A division bench of Justices Vikramjit Sen and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued notice to police asking them to file their reply by April 28, the next date of hearing.

Pradeep, along with former top cop R.K.Sharma and two others, was held guilty of the murder of Shivani Bhatnagar, an Indian Express scribe, on Jan 23, 1999.

Pradeep Sharma had on Tuesday filed the appeal through his counsel D. B. Goswami stating that the lower court was not clear about the motive of the crime. He held Indian Police Service (IPS) officer R.K.Sharma as the chief conspirator in the case.

Sharma contended that the trial court had ignored the evidence that as per the prosecution, he had left Shivani's house at 3.10 p.m., which was before the incident occurred as stated in the police complaint. The First Information Report stated that the murder took place at 3.50 p.m.