4.15 million emergency calls made to Indian children's safety helpline in the last year

DNA India, Sep 1, 2013

Being the most vulnerable members of society, children not only need to be the most protected but safety measures concerning them are an absolute imperative. Nishit Kumar, Head Communications and Strategic Initiatives at Childline India Foundation, that provides a helpline to children, delves on the existing measures, legal and otherwise, for child safety in India.

how safe are children in India?
To answer this very question, Childline undertook a study called the ‘The Everywhere Child Project’. Through this research, they wanted to assess the existing child safety and protection mechanisms across spaces that children usually occupy. What they found, was a disturbing revelation of blatant abuse of child rights. Some of the statistics are given below:
* 28% schools did not have separate toilets for boys and girls
* Less than 2% schools had counsellors
* Only 1% schools have sexual harassment policy
* 67% of healthcare centers have no child protection related policy
* Only 6% institutional homes maintain a record of abuse case
* Only 30% of railway security forces have booths that provide assistance to missing and other vulnerable children

The above essentially fosters a thriving platform for abuse of the child. To add to that, the statutory bodies, the key organs to facilitate child protection, showed the following numbers:
* Of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) reviewed, 55% of them serve only 1 district
* Less than one-fourth of the JJBs sit on all regular working days, and 44% sit only once a week.
* Less than 10% police stations have a designated space for dealing with children, while only a little over 10% police station have a designated staff to deal with such matters
* Only 20% police stations have a sexual harassment policy, and about 27% have a child protection policy

“There is a tendency to presume that the child is safe in certain environments without any further inquiry. However, that may not be so. For instance, the concept of neglect of a child at home has little or ineffective legal implications in India.”

Read on : http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1882048/report-4-15-million-emergency-calls-made-to-indian-children-s-safety-helpline-in-the-last-year

First Indian floating solar power station by 2014

DNA India, Aug 29, 2013

Following in the footsteps of Asian giants Japan and Singapore, this West Bengal capital may soon get India's first floating solar power station by 2014.

Such solar power stations comprise floating platforms (usually hexagonal)fitted with solar panels to generate more energy than land-based plants.

The brainchild of solar energy expert S.P. Gon Chaudhuri, the proposed sites for the maiden floating solar power station are ponds surrounding the iconic Victoria Memorial and some other water bodies in Kolkata.

"Such floating solar stations would generate more energy as research has shown that if the panels stay cooler, they generate more energy, up by 16 percent," Gon Chaudhuri told IANS.

According to him, applications have been forwarded to Victoria Memorial authorities and plans to utilise other areas near EM Bypass are also on the anvil.

"Each station would require around 3,000 square feet of space to generate 20 kilo watt of power. There are many water bodies that could be used for this," said Gon Chaudhury.

The research has been completed and the project, funded by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, is expected to be implemented by 2014.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1881594/report-first-indian-floating-solar-power-station-by-2014

Mother forces 14-year daughter to become pregnant

Monster mom gets her fourth child via 14-yr-old daughter

Appalling it may look, but it is true. A case of a 14-year-old girl having been exhorted by her mother to become pregnant by using syringes of donor sperm has come to light. Despite miscarriage, the teenager was repeatedly forced by her mother to take several attempts with donor sperms until she finally gave birth to baby boy, when she turned 17. The behaviour of the mother, who is serving a five-year jail term for “child cruelty”, was termed  “wicked and selfish”, defying belief, by High Court Judge Peter Jackson in his ruling on Monday. 

The judge said, the mother, an American divorcee living in Britian with three adopted children, hatched the devilish plan to get her daughter pregnant when she was prevented to adopt a fourth. She bought the syringes of sperm online over the internet form a Denmark-based company, Cryos International, Jackson said. The daughter, who is identified as A to guard her privacy, said, she became pregnant by donor sperm bought by her mother to provide her mother a fourth child. Though the daughter was initially shocked at her mother’s suggestion, she finally gave in to be able to gain “more love” for herself, she revealed.

“If I do this ... maybe she will love me more,” the daughter told the court in her statement.  The judge revealed that the mother had even asked her daughter to use douches of vinegar or lemon to increase her chances of having a girl.

Source:http://news24online.com/monster-mom-gets-her-fourth-child-via-14-yr-old-daughter_LatestNews24_17735.aspx#