Tag Archives: India

Indian women’s anti rape demonstration

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This video from India says about itself:

Mar 14, 2011

Vice President of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, Subhashini Ali speaks on the occasion of 100 years since the declaration of “International Women’s Day” on 8th March 1911.

And this video from India says about itself:

Jan 31, 2013

In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists — Justice (Retd) Mukul Mudgal, Former Chief Justice Punjab and Haryana High Court; Malvika Rajkotia, Senior Advocate; Ranjana KumariDirector, Centre for Social Research; Soli Sorabjee, Former Attorney General; Subhashini Ali, President, All India Democratic Women’s Association; Poornima Advani, Former Chairperson, NCW and Kavita Srivastava, National Secretary, PUCL — discuss whether the nature and severity of crime should determine whether an accused can be termed as juvenile.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Women demand better rape law

Monday 04 February 2013

by Our Foreign Desk

Hundreds of women called on the Indian government today to scrap a shoddy sexual violence law passed last week and replace it with a better one.

The law was passed by India’s cabinet on Friday and signed by the president on Sunday.

Demonstrators outside parliament said that it only followed a few of the recommendations made by a government panel set up after the fatal gang-rape of a New Delhi woman in December.

The new law increases jail terms for rape from the current seven to 10 years to a maximum of 20.

It also permits the death penalty in extreme cases of rape that result in death or leave the victim in a coma.

It makes voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women criminal offences.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said that the government decided to bring in the new law through an ordinance immediately, though it will have to be approved by parliament within six months.

“The government wants to assure everyone that before it is tabled in parliament, we will hold consultations with all political parties,” said Mr Chidambaram.

But the protesters damned the new law as a smokescreen as it ignores marital rape and sexual violence against women by soldiers.

It also doesn’t bar politicians facing rape charges from elections.

“The government should have spent time on drafting a comprehensive Bill and brought it to parliament with candour and sincerity,” said Maimoona Mullah of the All India Democratic Women’s Association.

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Indian dugong discovery

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This video says about itself:

The slow and gentle dugong has developed an interesting survival strategy to stay away from tiger sharks.

From Wildlife Extra:

Dugong found off India’s north-west coast

Rare dugong carcass spotted off Gujarat coast; sparks hope of a nearby population

January 2013: In a rare find, a dugong carcass was spotted off the Gujarat coast. The animal, about 5 feet in length, has been taken in for autopsy by authorities.

Professor BC Choudhury, Senior Advisor and Scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India (WTI), said, “It’s unfortunate that the animal is not alive but this is still exciting news. For years there have only been speculations of their presence here, with evidence extremely rare.”

Dugong

Dugongs (Dugong dugon) are large shy marine mammals, popularly known as ‘sea cows’ since their diet primarily consists of sea grass. Existing information suggests that the dugong population in India is restricted to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kutch.

RD Khamboj, Chief Conservator of Forests and Director – Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park (GoKMNP), said, “This is good evidence that GoKMNP is a habitat for dugongs. It may be the sea grass beds along GoK that attract them here.”

He added that more information could be ascertained once the autopsy is done. “This is apparently a female (possibly a juvenile), and this could mean the possibility of a breeding population nearby.”

Few sightings

Classified as vulnerable by the IUCN red list, there have only been scattered sightings over the past decade, off the Gujarat coast, including one in 2002, and one reportedly photographed in 2012.

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Unique Indian snow leopard photo

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The snow leopard photographed with its kill in Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo credit Wildlife Trust of India

From Wildlife Extra:

Snow leopard photographed in India’s Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary for the first time

Snow leopard study in India

January 2013. The Wildlife Trust of India have recently published the first photographic proof that snow leopard inhabit Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary in India’s Himachal Pradesh region.

Very little specific information exists on the snow leopard distribution and population in India. Rough estimates put the population at 400-600 along the Himalayan region in India, and about 4080 – 6590 across the world (12 countries where it is found).

The snow leopard in Kugti WLS was sighted dragging its kill (a young ibex) by researchers – Neeraj Mahar and Sajid Idrisi, during a WTI survey in 2010 to help the Forest Department prepare an inventory of the area’s wildlife. It was recorded at an altitude of 3376 metres.

Permanent or temporary residents?

“While this opportunistic sighting by our team established snow leopard presence in Kugti, it raised a number of questions. Is Kugti WLS and nearby protected areas a snow leopard habitat? Or do they follow the prey to lower altitudes during winter, possibly from Lahaul or other nearby areas? This can only be verified with further focused studies,” said Dr Rahul Kaul, Chief Ecologist, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), one of the authors of the recent study.

Five states, three in the western Himalayan region – Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and two in the north-eastern region – Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, are known to host snow leopards in India.

Snow leopard habitat

“Snow leopards inhabit the non-forested zone above the tree line – around 3,200 metres in the western Himalayas and around 4,200 metres in the eastern Himalayas, going over the Greater Himalayan crest into the Trans Himalayan region,” explained Dr Yash Veer Bhatnagar of the Snow Leopard Trust and Nature Conservation Foundation, adding that the common leopards are ‘replaced’ by snow leopards in these areas.

“However, there is not yet any concrete range distribution map for the species in India. While there is some developing information about snow leopard from the Trans Himalaya, information from the southern face of the Himalaya is very scarce. Such information thus becomes even more useful,” he added.

A recently-published paper has recommended further studies to help generate baseline information for conservation of this endangered species.

The snow leopard is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and is classified as ‘endangered’ by the IUCN Red List. Yet, as other carnivores in India, it is threatened due to conflicts with people, retaliatory attacks, prey depletion due to competition with livestock and hunting, poaching, and unplanned development in their habitat.

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Indian anti-rape update

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This video, recorded in India, says about itself:

Feb 3, 2010

During a live telecast from Mumbai, Indian Hindu extremists [attempted rape] attack on CNN reporter.

This video from India says about itself:

Left leaders join anti-rape protesters at India Gate

Dec 21, 2012

The chorus for justice for the 23-year-old medical student who was raped and viciously attacked in a private chartered bus in the national capital is growing. For the fifth day in a row, protests spilled over on the streets, and on Friday, it reached the gates of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Judges asked to suspend sex charge MPs

Wednesday 02 January 2013

by Our Foreign Desk

India’s top court will tomorrow consider suspending state and national politicians from office if they’re accused of sexual offences.

It will be the same day as five men and one juvenile face trial for the brutal rape and murder of a 23-year-old student.

Association for Democratic Reforms official Jagdeep Chhokar said six state politicians and two national MPs are currently facing sexual assault charges – though they all fall short of rape.

Chief Justice Altamas Kabir has agreed to hear a petition from retired civil servant Promilla Shanker asking the supreme court to suspend all MPs facing prosecution for crimes against women as part of a widespread campaign to strengthen anti-rape laws.

Protests have taken place every day since the student was attacked on December 16.

Thousands rallied today at the Delhi memorial to independence leader Mahatma Gandhi demanding better legal protection for women.

More details of the gang rape have also emerged ahead of tomorrow’s trial.

Police notes reportedly say the attackers tried to run over the medical student with the bus on which the two-hour assault took place.

The woman’s fiance, who was also beaten in the attack, only just managed to pull her out of the way.

She also bit three of the attackers as she struggled to fight them off.

The victim’s family have reportedly supported calls for her identity to be revealed so that a stronger rape law could be named in her honour.

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Two Indian tiger cubs rescued

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This is a video about a gibbon playing with tiger cubs.

From Wildlife News:

Two Bengal tiger cubs rescued from a dry water tank

Orphan cubs had been stealing chickens form villagers

December 2012. Two orphaned Royal Bengal tiger cubs have been ‘rescued’ from a dry water tank near the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh.

The cubs were wandering the area without their mother for more than a month, occasionally lifting poultry from local households for survival. Local residents reported the cubs to local wildlife authorities in November. A team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) – Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) led by Ipra Mekola, Arunachal Pradesh State Wildlife Advisory Member reached the site on December 6, to assist the Forest Department in tracking the cubs.

Originally 4 cubs!

“There were four cubs according to the information from the local people. They had been lifting mainly poultry, and had made unsuccessful attempts at larger livestock. One of the cubs was reportedly injured,” said Mekola.

On December 11, the team discovered that three of the cubs had been trapped in a dry water tank, reported IFAW-WTI biologist Soumya Das Gupta. The villagers had covered the tank with wooden planks and branches to prevent the cubs from escaping till the rescue team arrived.

Two healthy cubs

Two of the cubs were healthy and were successfully sedated and removed from the tank by WTI veterinarians Dr Jahan Ahmed and Dr Nupur Ranjan Buragohain. The third was severely ill when first sighted, and succumbed the following morning.

The rescued cubs were a male and a female; the deceased cub was also a female. Post-mortem revealed pneumonia, starvation and hypoglycaemic shock as the cause of death. The status of the fourth cub is unknown. The two rescued cubs will be kept under observation till they are stabilised.

“After discussing with experts and the Forest Department to select a suitable release site a soft release method will be followed. The cubs will be put in a big enclosure in the forest with provisional food which will give them opportunities to hone their hunting skills on live prey and get habituated to the wild before we finally release them,” said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, Regional Head and Principal Veterinarian, WTI-Northeast.

“Dibang valley is a very good tiger habitat and very rich in wildlife. However, no studies have been done on this landscape – on the tiger or any other species. This area has the potential to even be declared a tiger reserve, which is going to benefit the wildlife as well as people here,” said Mekola.

He also thanked the locals who supported the team, particularly the village head Chipi Molo, who had filed the report on behalf of the village. Molo hosted the team at her home through the operation, and helped crowd control during the rescue.

“People here consider tigers equal to humans. We should use this traditional belief to save the tigers here before things change for the worse,” Mekola said.

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Good Asian tiger news

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This video is called The Truth About Tigers – Part 1 – a film by Shekar Dattatri.

This is Part 2.

And here is Part 3.

From Wildlife Extra:

Good news for tigers in India, Thailand and Russia

Tigers Roar Back: Good news for iconic big cats in India, Thailand, and Russia at last

December 2012. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has announced significant progress for tigers in three key landscapes across the big cat’s range due to better law enforcement, protection of additional habitat, and strong government partnerships.

The successes are much-needed good news as tiger numbers worldwide continue to hover at all-time lows due to the combined threat of poaching, loss of prey, and habitat destruction. It is thought that only 3,200 tigers exist in the wild.

Indian tiger numbers soar in Western Ghats

The news begins in south-western India where WCS research and conservation efforts that began 25 years ago now show a major rebound of tigers in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka State. Over 600 individuals have been identified to date from camera trap photos during the last decade in this mountainous landscape.

Saturation levels

In Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks, tigers have actually reached saturation levels, with surplus young tigers spilling out into forest-reserves and dispersing using secured forest corridors through a landscape that holds over a million human beings. The combination of strict government-led anti-poaching patrols, voluntary relocation of villages away from tiger habitats, and the vigilant local presence of WCS conservation partners watching over tigers has led to the rebound of big-cat populations and their prey. In newer tiger reserves including Bhadra and Kudremukh, numbers have increased by as much as 50 percent after years of neglect and chronic poaching were tackled.

Thailand sees record tiger numbers in key protected area

In Thailand, WCS conservationists report a tiger comeback in Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK) Wildlife Sanctuary – a 2,700 square kilometre (1,042 square mile) protected area in the vast Western Forest Complex. WCS has worked closely with Thai authorities to beef up enforcement and anti-poaching patrols in the region. Last year, a notorious poaching ring was busted, and this year the gang leaders were given prison sentences of up to five years – the most severe punishments for wildlife poaching in Thailand’s history. Since their capture, there have been no known tiger or elephant poaching incidents in the park. Tiger numbers have been rising steadily in the park since 2007, with a record 50-plus tigers counted last year.

Russia develops new anti-poaching laws and protected areas

Meanwhile in Russia, government officials are drafting a new law that will make transport, sales, and possession of endangered animals a criminal offense rather than just a civil crime. This will close a loophole that currently allows poachers to claim they found endangered species like tigers already dead and thus avoid stiffer criminal penalties for poaching.

New protected areas

Russia is making progress in creating additional protected areas for tigers, too, declaring a new corridor called Central Ussuri Wildlife Refuge on October 18. The new refuge acts as a linkage between the Sikhote-Alin tiger population in Russia, which is the main population of Amur tigers, and some of the best tiger habitat in China’s Heilongjiang Province in the Wandashan Mountains. The creation of the new refuge ensures that tigers have the capacity to move across the international border between Russian and China in this region. WCS first identified this key corridor in 1999 after conducting joint wildlife surveys with Chinese and Russian scientists there.

WCS President and CEO Cristián Samper said: “Tigers are clearly fighting for their very existence, but it’s important to know that there is hope. Victories like these give us the resolve to continue to battle for these magnificent big cats. While the news about tigers has been bleak, these recent developments clearly show how smart strategies and strong partnerships are ensuring tigers are saved for centuries to come.”

WCS is looking to replicate these successes in other parts of the tiger’s range. WCS has over 300 people working on the ground to conserve tigers in the most important tiger sites in seven of the ten remaining countries with tigers. We collaborate with local governments and partners to implement a suite of proven tiger conservation interventions, including improved law enforcement and enlarging and consolidating tiger habitat, that are tailored to each specific country and site.

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Indian mass anti-gang rape protests

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This video is called Delhi gang rape: Protests spread across India.

From Feminist Daily News in the USA:

December-20-12

Indian Activists Protest Gang Rape

Protests erupted in India yesterday in response to a violent gang rape on a bus in South Delhi. Protesters, mostly students and women’s organizations, held protests in streets of the city of Delhi and demonstrated in front of the city’s police headquarters calling for new attitudes towards rape. Protesters who gathered outside of the home of Delhi’s Chief Minister were blasted with a water cannon from police forces.

On Sunday, a 23 year old medical student and her male partner was accosted while riding a bus in South Delhi. Both were beaten and the woman was raped repeatedly by four men. She has required multiple surgeries for head and intestinal injuries. A few days later, a 15 year old was raped in the northern state of Bihar.

Sehba Farooqui, an activist for Indian women’s rights, said “We have been screaming ourselves hoarse demanding greater security for women and girls. But the government, the police and others responsible for public security have ignored the daily violence that women face.” A student protester told reporters “We want to jolt people awake from the cozy comfort of their cars. We want people to feel the pain of what women go through every day.”

Media Resources: Times of India 12/20/12; International Business Times 12/19/12; New York Times 12/19/12

December 25, 2012: Gang rape protests continue in India as injured police officer dies in hospital. Authorities seal off high-security zone in New Delhi for a second day to put an end to a week of demonstrations against brutal gang rape of a woman on a moving bus. Read more: here.

Gang rape victim flown to Singapore: here.

India gang-rape victim dies in Singapore hospital: here.

From the Communist Party of India:

CPI CONDOLES THE DEATH OF POLICE CONSTABLE

The Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of India sends its deep condolences to the family of the police constable, Tomar, who died in hospital after the police clash with protestors. It is an unfortunate incident. While the CPI condemns the violence, it feels that the police could have shown more restraint.

The address of the Prime Minister came too late and was disappointing. The stress is more on peace than on the concrete steps to prevent the recurrence of atrocities on women or on the actions for security of women. This will not restore confidence among the people.

The statement of the home minister is irresponsible and provocative. People are not asking him to discuss with every rallyist while the whole nation is indignant and angry, while tens of thousands of young girls and boys are on the streets on a justified issue of security to women he makes a mockery of. The home minister of the country is expected to understand the agony and try to make efforts to create confidence among the people.

The home minister has to discuss even with insurgent groups to help solve the problems. We advise the home minister to control his anger, as it fuels the fire.

The suspension of police constables and ACPs has come too late. How about the accountability of the home ministry for its failure to provide equipment, finances and necessary staff to Delhi police?

Cases against Gen. V K Singh and Baba Ramdev are the signs of nervousness of the government. The attempt to stamp the spontaneous outburst of people to some individuals and hidden hand of political parties and attempt to find hooligans, cannot whitewash the general discontent of the people against the miserable failure of the government in maintenance of law and order in the NCR. The recent events once again proved that the UPA government has lost its credibility and the confidence of the people.

CPI demands that the government should take steps in the right direction to prevent violence against women, in place of attacking the protesters.

America’s Rape Problem: We Refuse to Admit That There Is One: here.

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