Parliament passed a bill that seeks to decriminalise suicide attempt by mentally ill people and provides for the right to better healthcare for people suffering from mental illness. ‘The Mental Healthcare Bill’ also has a provision to protect and restore the property right of the mentally ill people, Health Minister J P Nadda said in the Lok Sabha, just before it was passed by the House by a voice vote.
All the amendments moved by the opposition members were defeated. The Rajya Sabha had passed it in August last year with 134 official amendments. The bill provides for decriminalising suicide attempt by mentally ill persons by making it non-punishable under the Indian Penal Code.
It also focusses on community-based treatment and provides for special treatment for women. The bill seeks to ensure health-care, treatment and rehabilitation of persons with mental illness “in a manner that does not intrude on their rights and dignity.” While replying to a debate on the bill, Nadda described it as a “patient-centric” measure and said there was a need to empower the patients so that they could secure proper treatment.
The legislation has been brought after wider consultations with the stakeholders, he said. “There were consultations at the regional level, as well at the Centre. After consultations with the stakeholders the bill was sent to the Standing Committee and post amendments it came to Rajya Sabha.” Most of the suggestions of the Standing Committee were accepted by the government, the Health Minister said. Around 29 members participated in the discussion and almost all of them extended support to the bill.
Stating that the 1987 Mental Act was institutionalised, the minister said that in the present bill, instead of the institution, the focus was on the community. The bill is a “progressive legislation” and intends to take care of everyone in case of any exigency, he said.
Describing the bill as “historic”, the Health Minister said with the support of all, “we can develop the mental health services.” There was a need to take care of the health and hygiene of the patients, he said, adding the right of a child with his/her mother will also be maintained.
Sterlisation would not be conducted on a person who is mentally ill, Nadda said, describing it as “an insane and inhuman act.” If the need arises, he said, NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences) would be extended.
Responding to concerns expressed by some members over the safety of doctors in the wake of assault on a medico in Maharashtra recently by relatives of a patient, the Health Minister said instructions have been sent to the states that security of doctors should be ensured.
With regard to the issue raised by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on the inclusion of “role model”, the Health Minister said there was no need to include it in the bill.
However, he said, the government will definitely look at it at its own level. Earlier, members cutting across the political spectrum supported the Metal Health Care Bill. NCP’s Supriya Sule said the Standing Committee has “walked an extra mile” to incorporate the suggestions of all stake holders.
BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab said this legislation is the only bill which received 124 amendments and almost all have been accepted by the government.
Highlighting the shortage of medics and paramedics, BJP member Heena Gavit said there are only 4500 doctors specialised in mental health when the requirement was 12,500 and 3000 nurses per one lakh patients having mental disorders.
She rued that the country does not have any Phd seat for research in mental health. She said there should be a proper mechanism to take consent of patients for their treatment and they should not be treated as an “experimental animals.” Sule wanted to know what would happen to the child after he/she turns the prescribed age.
Mahtab, along with Gavit and Sule, noted that the budget for the mental healthcare is abysmally low.
Sule also demanded inclusion of drug addiction and alcholism into the category of mental disease.
Supporting the legislation, Ravindra Babu (TDP) said, this was one of the “finest legislation” in last three years, but it mostly focuses on schirzophrenia.
K Vishweshwar Reddy (TRS) said while the earlier laws on mental health were “regulation centric”, the new bill is “patient-centric”.
Referring to Nobel prize winning mathematician John Nash, a patient of schizophrenia, who made fundamental contributions to game theory, Reddy said, at least he had support of his family. The movie ‘A Beautiful Mind’ was based on his character.
“Although he had severe disabilities, he also had other capabilities,” he said. The TRS MP said the bill should have taken care of property of patients suffering from mental health as “cruel relatives” may exploit them under this pretext. Supporting the legislation, Ratna Dey (TMC) demanded stringent punishment for doctors who falsify mental health cases.
Sebi on Friday banned Reliance Industries and 12 others from equity derivatives trading for one year and directed the Mukesh Ambani-led firm to disgorge nearly Rs 1,000 crore for alleged fraudulent trading in a 10-year-old case.
A company spokesperson said it will challenge the order. Reliance Industries has been asked to disgorge Rs 447 crore, along with an annual interest of 12 per cent since November 29, 2007, which itself would be more than Rs 500 crore, taking the total disgorgement amount to nearly Rs 1,000 crore.
The case related to alleged fraudulent trading in the F&O space in the securities of RIL’s erstwhile listed subsidiary Reliance Petroleum. In a 54-page order passed by Whole-Time Member G Mahalingam, RIL and 12 other entities have been prohibited from dealing in the “equity derivatives in the F&O segment of stock exchanges, directly or indirectly”. The ban will be in place for one year from today.
The 12 other entities are Gujarat Petcoke and Petro Product supply, Aarthik Commercials, LPG Infrastructure India, Relpol Plastic Products, Fine Tech Commercials, Pipeline Infrastructure India, Motech software, Darshan Securities, Relogistics (India), Relogistics (Rajasthan), Vinamara Universal Traders and Dharti Investment and Holdings.
Reliance Industries has been directed to disgorge the amount, along with interest within 45 days. Mahalingam said the directions are being passed after taking into consideration the magnitude of the fraud across the markets.
“I am inclined to pass certain directions against the noticees in order to protect the interest of the investors and reinstil their faith in the regulatory system,” the order said. “The noticees may, however, square off or close out their existing open positions.” The Reliance Industries group had earlier sought to settle the case, but Sebi had refused.
The proceedings in the long-pending case were expedited in the last few months.
Reliance Petroleum has been merged with the listed parent firm.
New Delhi : On a day domestic airlines decided to unitedly “ban” Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from flying on their aircraft for assaulting an Air India officer, the government said there was no law under which such proscription can be made.
Minister of State for Law, PP Chaudhary told a private television news channel that if a person commits a crime he can be punished but he cannot be prevented from flying.
“There is no such law that restricts a person from flying. If somebody has committed a crime, then you can punish him. But refusing a ticket is no punishment when there is no such law. And, to my knowledge, there is no such law,” Chaudhary said.
Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha reportedly said the legality of the ban needed to be examined.
“We have to see if this action of the airlines is within the framework of law,” Sinha said.
However, airlines defended the move, saying imposing a a ban on a person from flying is very much within their jurisdiction.
Sources in Air India cited Chapter IV of Carriage by Air Act, 1972, which confers on the airlines the right to refuse a ticket to any person.
Sources also cited Rule 22 and 23 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, to justify the ban on Gaekwad.
The rules state that “no person onboard an aircraft shall assault, intimidate or threaten, whether physically or verbally a crew member/ any person…which is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft or of any person.”
As per Schedule VI of Aircraft Rules, 1937 such an offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or with fine not exceeding Rs 5 lakh.
Meanwhile, Gaikwad boarded Hazrat Nizamuddin-Rajdhani for Mumbai this evening. According to television news channel Times Now, Gaikwad boarded the train from Nizamuddin Railway Station here but disembarked at Mathura station complaining of chest pain.
Nagpur : A survey found that untouchability or other forms of discrimination on the basis of caste were still prevalent in 450 villages in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, an RSS leader said today.
Caste-wise separate wells, temples and crematoriums still existed in these villages, said Deepak Tamshettiwar, Vidarbha `prant karyavah’ of RSS here today.
Tamshettiwar was addressing a press conference following the recently-concluded `chintan shibir’ of RSS at Coimbatore.
The survey was conducted by RSS volunteers, he said.
Implementation of the slogan `one well, one temple and one crematorium’ in villages was still a challenge, he said.
RSS volunteers were conducting awareness programmes on these issues, he said.
United Nations : India has ranked a lowly 131 among the 188 countries surveyed for human development, a new UN report has said, bracketing the third-largest Asian economy alongside its South Asian neighbours like Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal.
India has made no improvement in its ranking over the previous year, despite the Human Development Report for 2015 noting that foreign direct investment favours countries such as China and India.
India’s Human Development Index rank in 2014 was also 131.
However, 63 per cent Indians were “satisfied” with their standard of living in 2014-15, the latest report found.
The report, released annually by the UN Development Programme, said India’s rank of 131 puts it in the “medium human development” bracket, which also includes nations like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Kenya, Myanmar and Nepal.
India’s HDI rank value in 2015 stood at 0.624, which had increased from 0.580 in 2010.
Its life expectancy at birth stood at 68.3 years in 2015 and the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita USD 5,663, the report said.
On the perception of feeling safe 69 per cent answered “yes”, while on freedom of choice, 72 per cent female responders answered they were “satisfied” as compared to 78 per cent for male.
India’s score for overall life satisfaction was 4.3 on a scale of 1-10, according to the report.
On perceptions about government, 69 per cent said they had trust in the national government for the 2014-15 period while 74 per cent said they had confidence in the judicial system.
It lauded measures like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme taken in India to generate employment.
“Creating jobs through a public works programme targeted at poor people can reduce poverty through income generation, build physical infra- structure and protect poor people against shocks. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme in India and the Rural Employment Opportunities for Public Assets Programme in Bangladesh are prime examples.”
The report noted that increasing clean energy investments in India by 1.5 per cent of GDP a year for 20 years will generate a net increase of about 10 million jobs annually in the country, after factoring in job losses from retrenchments in the fossil fuel industries. .
Muzaffarnagar, March 22 : A local court has convicted two men and sentenced them to five years in jail for slaughtering cows.
According to government lawyer Javed Ali, Additional District and Sessions Judge Manoj kumar has also imposed a fine of Rs 15000 each on the accused Gayyur and Gadhe Ali after holding them guilty under the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act yesterday.
Police had intercepted a truck and seized beef from it at a check post under Jhunjhala police station in Shamli district in January 27, 2012.
A case was registered against both the accused who were arrested in this connection.
New Delhi, Mar 22 : The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is likely to come up with an accreditation framework for its affiliated schools with enhanced focus on academics than on “fancy” buildings.
The board has also approached the Quality Council of India, an autonomous body set up to establish and operate national accreditation structure, in this regard.
“CBSE has asked QCI to draft an approach paper to grade schools with more weightage to criterion like academic performance and learning outcomes, and reduce weightage to fancy infrastructure,” an official said.
However, this is not the first time that CBSE is trying its hands at an accreditation framework.
In 2012, the board had launched the School Quality Assessment and Accreditation, under which 12 agencies were roped in to inspect and rate CBSE schools. However, the project was junked later.
“Unlike popular magazines, this will not involve ranking institutions, but rather, will establish a level of acceptable quality for all accredited schools while respecting the unique missions of the institutions involved.
“The standards applied for accreditation will be qualitative and can be adapted and applied to any of the types of educational institutions affiliated. The awarding of accreditation will signify that the school has met standards at an acceptable level and is willing to both maintain those standards and to improve in areas pointed out to them,” the official added.
About one on four child on the planet will die, have their growth stunted or otherwise suffer from a lack of water by 2040, Unicef has warned in a new report.
Thirsting for a Future, released on World Water Day, paints a bleak picture of the next few decades in which the rising global population, a surge in demand for water, rising sea levels and increasingly common droughts combine to create a crisis of epic proportions.
Already 36 countries in the world face “extremely high levels of water stress”, the report by the UN children’s agency said.
Every day more than 800 children under five die from diarrhoea linked to a lack of clean water and poor sanitation.
The same conditions have resulted in an astonishing 156 million children under five suffering from stunted growth, which causes irreversible physical and mental damage.
In a foreword to the report, Professor Anthony Lake, executive director of Unicef, wrote: “Water is elemental. Without it, nothing can grow. And without safe water, children may not survive.
“Children without access to safe water are more likely to die in infancy – and throughout childhood – from diseases caused by water-borne bacteria, to which their small bodies are more vulnerable.
“When these diseases don’t kill outright, they can contribute to the stunting of children’s bodies and minds – and the blighting of their futures – by undermining their ability to absorb nutrients.
“When a community’s water supply dries up or becomes contaminated – because of drought, because of flooding, because of conflicts that undermine infrastructure and prevent people from reaching safe water sources – such diseases abound.”
Parts of Africa and the Middle East are currently in the grip of a serve drought.
“We see the terrible effects of water scarcity today all over the world – and nowhere more tragically than in parts of Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, where drought conditions and conflict are producing deadly effects,” Professor Lake said.
“Nearly 1.4 million children face imminent risk of death from severe acute malnutrition as famine grows in these areas.
“In Ethiopia alone, we anticipate that more than nine million people will be without safe drinking water in 2017.”
The increasing population and rising demand means the amount of water available to each person on the planet cut by 50 per cent by 2050, the report warned.
But as global warming will result in higher rates of evaporation and less rainfall in many areas – such as the Middle East – “water will become even scarcer”, it added.
“Rising temperatures increase the atmosphere’s water storage capacity, which essentially reduces water availability on the ground, particularly during the warmer months of the year,” it said.
“Then, when the air eventually cools, more intense rainfall occurs, this can lead to increased frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones and other extreme weather events. Rising temperatures also impact water by creating an environment for bacteria, protozoa and algae to grow, which can lead to illness and death in children.”
Higher sea levels can contaminate freshwater with salt, rendering it undrinkable. Low-lying areas and small islands, the places most affected by this problem, are home to about 25 per cent of the world’s population.
“The changing climate is one of many forces contributing to an unfolding water crisis. In the coming years, demand for water will increase as populations grow and move, industries develop and consumption increases,” the report said.
“This can lead to water stress, as increasing demand and use of water strains available supplies. By 2040, almost 600 million children [one in four of the total] are projected to be living in areas of extremely high water stress. If action is not taken to plan for water stress, and to safeguard access to safe water and sanitation, many of these children will face a higher risk of death, disease, and malnutrition.”
But Unicef stressed that a “growing water crisis” was “not inevitable, if we act now”.
It said countries should prioritise access to safe water for the most vulnerable children; increase the capacity of water storage facilities; factor in climate risks to water and sanitation policies; and get businesses to work with communities to prevent contamination and depletion of clean water supplies.
“In a changing climate, we must change the way we work to reach those who are most vulnerable,” Professor Lake said.
“One of the most effective ways we can do that is safeguarding their access to safe water.”