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Independence. Really? Telangana woman stood up for Dalits, pays price: fine on anyone who speaks to her

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The land is located between fields owned by Reddy landlords, who objected to a Dalit walking through their fields. “Elders of the Reddy community exerted a lot of pressure on me to revoke the lease,” Indira said.

For the last three weeks, a woman has been socially boycotted by the Reddy community in her village after she gave a statement to police in favour of a Dalit farmer in a case under the SC/ST Atrocities Act. The woman, Sama Indira, herself belongs to the Reddy community. The Reddy Sangam of Mallaram village in Rajanna Sircilla district, Telangana, has reportedly imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on anyone who speaks to or interacts with Indira, who lives alone.

When her brother Venkat Reddy came to meet her a few days ago, the Reddy Sangam allegedly intimidated him and forced him to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 for defying its diktat. Indira’s troubles began after she had given a portion of her land on lease to a Dalit farmer, Kompalli Lakshmi. The land is located between fields owned by Reddy landlords, who objected to a Dalit walking through their fields. “Elders of the Reddy community exerted a lot of pressure on me to revoke the lease,” Indira said.

“They harassed me mentally. saying that as a Reddy I should keep the community’s interests above anything else. I refused, saying Lakshmi and her family have been taking my land on lease for 10-12 years, and that they were close to me. I gave this particular piece of land on lease recently, and some of the Reddy landlords are objecting because they have land surrounding it. When I refused to cancel the lease, they issued a diktat to boycott me. Since then no one in the village has spoken to me or come to my house. The Reddys have stopped inviting me to their functions and religious ceremonies. Members of other communities, including SC/STs, too are avoiding me for fear of offending the Reddy Sangam. I cry every day because of this isolation and mental torture.”

Two weeks ago, Lakshmi’s paddy crop on one acre was ready for harvest when someone cut and destroyed the entire crop and buried the paddy about half a kilometre away. When Lakshmi and her family found out, they went to village sarpanch Venkatesh Goud’s office. Indira, who accompanied her, alleged that Reddy Sangam members abused Lakshmi in the name of her Madiga caste, also abused Indira, and asked them to get out of the panchayat office.

Lakshmi lodged a police complaint under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, alleging that she was targeted and abused particularly because of her caste. “When police came to inquire, I gave a statement how they abused Lakshmi and her caste. They claimed I was working against my own community and issued the diktat to boycott me,” Indira said.

Indira lodged a police complaint Saturday against the fine being imposed on anyone talking to her. Circle Inspector of Vemulawada Rural C Madhavi said that based on Indira’s complaint, they have registered a case against nine persons of the Reddy Sangam. “We have seized from them Rs 20,000 that they had taken as fines and deposited it in court. Three FIRs have been issued — one under the SC/ST Atrocities law, one for destroying the crop of the SC family and one lodged by Indira against the boycott diktat,” Madhavi said.

“While the law will take its course, we have issued a strong warning to the Reddy Sangam members to revoke the boycott and stop harassing the woman. We are arranging a meeting of both parties with Revenue Divisional Officer (Sircilla) to discuss and sort out the issue amicably.” The village, 4 km from Vemulawada, has about 300 members of the Reddy community and 400 of other communities.

Reddy Sangam’s president Sangireddy Tirupati Reddy says Indira deliberately gave a piece of her land that was between Reddy fields to an SC family to instigate and insult the Reddy owners of surrounding fields. “Although the one acre belongs to Indira’s family, it was in dispute for some time. To get back at two Reddy landlords, she deliberately gave it on lease to a Madiga family knowing that it would cause problems,’’ Tirupati Reddy said.

The Reddy Sangam president and vice president, Sama Malla Reddy, refused to discuss allegations about the social boycott of Indira and abuse of Lakshmi and her family. The investigating officer in the social boycott case, sub-inspector K Rajasekhar, said nine persons have been named in the FIR including the Reddy Sangam president and vice-president. “The case is under investigation and no arrests have been made yet,” he said. The SC/ST Atrocities Act case is being investigated by deputy SP A Chandrasekhar.

Telangana woman stood up for Dalit, pays price: fine on anyone who speaks to her

This is how educated leaders react to tragic events : Delhi CM called for review meeting of all Delhi government hospitals

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New Delhi: According to a Delhi Government source, the CM has called the meeting after the Gorakhpur tragedy, which claimed the lives of over 60 children in a government hospital. Kejriwal has summoned the Medical Superintendents (MS) of all Delhi government hospitals from across the national capital to his office on Wednesday and asked them to present a status report.

“The CM has asked the MS of each government hospital in Delhi to remain present in the meeting at his office on Wednesday. He has also asked them to present a status report on the stocks of medicine and equipment, including oxygen cylinders, available with the hospital and mention the reason if the stocks are not adequate. He has sought a report on the condition of the patients, whether enough beds are available and whether patients are facing any problems. This will be a comprehensive review of healthcare in the state of Delhi,” a government source said.

According to reports, at least 60 children have died in Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das Hospital due to a crippling shortage of oxygen tanks. On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath denied allegations of families that the children had died due to a “shortage of oxygen”. On Sunday, the UP CM, along with Union Health Minister JP Nadda visited the BRD Hospital, after which he said, “Nobody can be more sensitive towards those children than me. We are waiting for the report of the committee constituted by our government. I would urge everyone to wait for that report. Not just in Gorakhpur but across the state, if any death is caused by the negligence of the hospital authorities the government will take strong action against the guilty.”

http://www.news18.com/news/india/in-wake-of-gorakhpur-tragedy-kejriwal-calls-review-meeting-of-delhi-hospitals-1490371.html?google_editors_picks=true

Indian diet not good enough for body’s protein requirement – Indian Dietician Association.

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As the government continues to initiate various programmes to meet nutrition deficiency-related issues, the Indian Dietician Association (IDA) on Tuesday revealed that the Indian diet has 50 % inadequate protein pattern.

The fact, also supported by the Protein Foods Nutrition Development Association of India (PFNDAI), makes it necessary for people to have extra intake of protein-related food since vegetarian diets alone would not fulfil the protein requirement of the body. According to experts, the issue is a matter of concern as pregnant women would not be able to achieve optimal protein intake with exclusively vegetarian diets until they add milk to the diet.

“Proteins from different sources complement each other. Even with a ratio of 5:1 cereals and pulses combination, the protein quality in terms of digestibility and bio-availability is only around 65 per cent when compared to milk protein,” said B. Sesikeran, a pathologist. He was speaking at the launch of The Protein Week, an initiative aiming to educate people against the myths and realities of proteins.

According to experts, Indians lack awareness about good quality sources of protein. Protein requirement in the second growth spurt during pregnancy is twice of a toddler’s and this requirement is heightened by almost 20 gm per day in the third trimester compared to an adult woman.

Neelanjana Singh, President of IDA, Delhi Chapter, said, “Quality-based protein is as important as quality of protein taken. For effective utilisation of protein, it is necessary to also include adequate calories in one’s diet.” Under the initiative, the IDA and the PFNDAI aim to hold educational seminars engaging key opinion leaders across the country to spread awareness and discuss the protein-related issues.

Update From Hindustan Times
http://www.hindustantimes.com/health/indian-diet-not-good-enough-for-body-s-protein-requirement/story-yMtbcQmWQZyWtLd35pKGsI.html