Tag: odishnews

People in Chechnya who are suspected of being lesbian, gay or bisexual, are facing a “new wave of persecution” following a spate of killings involving torture, and other rights abuses, has said a group of independent UN human rights experts.
In a statement released on Wednesday by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the experts expressed alarm at information indicating a worsening situation for LGBT people in Chechnya: “Abuse inflicted on victims has allegedly become more cruel and violent compared with reports from 2017. It is no longer only gay men in Chechnya who are being targeted but women also.”
More than 40 people have reportedly been arrested since December 2018 because of their perceived sexual orientation: the two deaths allegedly occurred as a result of torture during detention.
In addition, victims attempting to flee the republic, which is part of the Russian Federation, are reportedly being prevented from doing so by the Chechen authorities. Their methods, say the UN experts, include destroying or confiscating identification documents; threats directed towards them, or those close to them, with criminal proceedings; and forcing them to provide signatures on blank forms.
They went on to say that a December 2018 report from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which describes “clear evidence of…successive purges against LGBTI persons” in Chechnya, suggests a pattern of impunity detrimental to accountability for human rights violations.
The UN experts have written to the Russian authorities, calling on them to act urgently to protect the LGBT community. In a similar letter sent less than two years ago, in April 2017, they raised allegations of the unlawful detention, torture and extrajudicial killing of men perceived to be gay or bisexual in Chechnya.
The response, said the experts, was not substantive, and they went on to note that, last year, Russia claimed at the UN Human Rights Council that “it was not possible to find representatives of the LGBT community in Chechnya.” Such “negation”, they stressed, contribute to the creation of an “environment conducive to violence and discrimination in which perpetrators feel motivated and enabled to attack diversity.”

Congress leader and AICC general secretary for Uttar Pradesh east Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday attended a meeting of the AICC general secretaries and state incharges convened by party president Rahul Gandhi to review preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The meeting, being held at the AICC headquarters at 24, Akbar road, is the first high level meeting being attended by Priyanka after she assumed charges as AICC general secretary for Uttar Pradesh east.

Priyanka on Wednesday took charge as AICC general secretary .

She assumed charge after dropping her husband Robert Vadra at the ED office.

After assuming charges as AICC general secretary, she met party workers from uttar Pradesh.(UNI)

(UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will visit the city to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to express his solidarity.
After presentation of the Vote-on-Account budget in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Mr Naidu will fly to Kolkata, where Ms Banerjee continued her sit-in to protest the attempted raid by the CBI on the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, Mr Naidu will reach Kolkata around 1530 hours and meet Ms Banerjee and extend his support.
“We’re all together to save this country& protect democracy. There is an attack on democratic institutions. A month before elections, they went to Commissioner of Police and harassed him. It’s totally undemocratic,” Mr Naidu said.

Private airline SpiceJet on Monday announced offer under which the people can travel as low as Rs 1.75 a km on select domestic routes and at Rs 2.5 km on select international routes.

The four-day sale will begin from February 5, whereas the travel period covered is till September 25, 2019.

For ultra short-haul domestic routes like Jammu-Srinagar, Chennai-Bengaluru, Kochi-Bengaluru, Hubli-Bengaluru one-way fares under the offer will start from as low as Rs 899, inclusive of all taxes.

For domestic routes with a flying time of over an hour, one-way fares would be available for as low as Rs 1.75 per km. Some of the popular sectors under the offer include: Delhi-Coimbatore (1942 km) with a starting fare of Rs 2899, Mumbai-Kochi (1059 km) with a starting fare of Rs 1849, Delhi-Guwahati (1457 km) with a starting fare of Rs 2499, Bengaluru-Delhi (1703 km) with a starting fare of Rs 2649, Ahmedabad-Bangalore (1218 km) with a starting fare of Rs 1749, Ahmedabad-Chennai (1372 km) with a starting fare of Rs 2299, Chennai-Kolkata (1382 km) with a starting fare of Rs 2349 and Delhi-Chennai (1753 km) with a starting fare of Rs 2799.

For flights from Kolkata to Dhaka and Madurai to Dubai one-way fares under the offer will start from as low as Rs 3699 (all-inclusive). Starting fares for select popular international sectors will be available for Rs 2.5 per km. These include Delhi-Bangkok (2947 km) with a starting fare of Rs 7499, Delhi–Dubai (2188 km) with a starting fare of Rs 5499 and Kochi–Dubai (2780 km) with a starting fares of Rs 5799.(UNI)

Indian women cricket team will complete its century of playing Twenty20 matches, when they take on the Kiwis at Westpac Stadium, here on Wednesday. So far, the team has played 98 matches, out of which they have won 53 and lost 43. The women team have won three matches and lost five off eight Twenty20 matches against New Zealand. The women’s team is better as compare to men’s team, who have won only two matches out of eight against New Zealand.

Women’s team will complete 100 matches, playing the second match of the three-match series, and will become the sixth team in the world to achieve this feat. So far, Australia, England, Pakistan, New Zealand and West Indies have been able to complete 100 matches in Twenty20.

The team won the one-day series by 2-1, under the captaincy of Mithali Raj. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the Indian females in the T20 series, who led her team to the semi-finals of the World Cup in November last year, in West Indies. The Indian team had defeated New Zealand by 34 runs in the group stage, in World Cup.(UNI)