CNS: right to life

Showing posts with label right to life. Show all posts

Growing support globally to end HIV medicine stockouts in India

Several networks of people living with HIV are pouring in support to the ongoing indefinite sit-in (since 21st July 2022) outside offices of India's AIDS programme, to demand an end of stockout of HIV medicines, and ensure minimum one-month dispensation of these medicines nationwide.

[हिंदी] The indefinite sit-in of HIV affected communities which began on 21st of July 2022 has continued for over a month to demand end of stockouts of lifesaving antiretroviral therapy across India, and minimum one-month dispensation of medicines to people living with HIV nationwide.

Long walk to justice: Transgender voices from across India

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service (CNS)

Photo credit: Shobha/ CNS

[CNS images] I had been there at the 1st National Hijra Habba in 2012. Witnessing the Third National Transgender Hijra Habba in 2015 was indeed a humbling experience as lot of water has flown during these 3 years. From 30 community participants in 2012, the number this year had swelled to a whopping 350+. The landmark Supreme Court (SC) judgement of 2014, recognizing transgenders as the third gender and granting them constitutional rights, seemed to have filled them with a new found confidence that was writ all over their beautiful and smiling faces. And they were just too eager to talk about their experiences and expectations.

Join the crusade: Big push for transgender and hijra welfare

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service (CNS)

Photo credit: Shobha/ CNS

[CNS images] It was indeed a humbling experience for me to be part of the Third National Hijra Habba (festival of transgenders) held recently in the capital city of India. Organised by India HIV/AIDS Alliance’s Pehchan programme, it was the first event of its kind at the national level since the Supreme Court’s landmark judgement in 2014 recognizing transgenders as the ‘third gender’.

Shobha Shukla, CNS Columnist
The threat of being evicted from ones home is a scary thought for anyone, more so for a woman. The fear of being ousted from her home forces her to live in an unsafe environment behind closed doors rather in the absence of a safe place that is rightfully her own. The Indian tradition of a daughter being ‘paraya dhan’ (her husband’s property) smacks of a patriarchal setup that implies denial of property rights to her. A land or a house which a woman owns legally is an asset which gives her the confidence and courage to fight life’s odds.

It was a Valentine’s Day celebration with a difference. On 14th February, 2013, a vibrant crowd of Lucknowites marched from Begum Hazrat Mahal Park to Hazratganj-- the heart of the city—as a part of ‘Odhani ka Parcham’, a campaign to condemn violence against women. The three hours long event was in support of the global campaign ‘One Billion Rising’ to stop violence of all forms against women. Women (and men too) from different strata of society, transcended boundaries of caste, creed, colour, and community, to come together under the aegis of one common agenda—rise, dance and strike to end violence against women.

According to an estimate, one in three women on the planet is likely to be raped or beaten in her lifetime. So on 14 February 2013, the 15th anniversary of Valentine’s Day, one billion women in unison across the globe, along with their well-wishers, hope to walk, dance, rise and demand an end to this violence. This historic day will see the collective strength and solidarity of women transcending all borders of caste, creed, religion and social status. It would be the clarion call to all women and men to refuse to accept and participate in any act of violence against women and girls and to end the rape culture.

While Indians are out on the streets demanding a severe law against rape after the shameful incident in Delhi, another debate has got initiated to find the root cause of this inhuman act. "A stricter law is not the solution, it is only a short term remedy. There are evidences of strict law, like death penalty, often working as a deterrent for the judiciary. How many times we see a death sentence in our country? What we need is speedy trials and high conviction rates, the state of which is quite pathetic in India," says Prof Manju Agarwal, Director, Amity Institute of Behavioural and Allied Sciences.

Lord Tennyson had rightly said that 'The old order changeth yielding place to new' and also that 'More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of'. Well this is my prayer for India (inspired by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore) on this New Year…

It has been three years since Section 377 of Indian Penal Code drafted in 1860, (which reads as 'Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished') was repealed by the Delhi High Court on July2, 2009, as the Division Bench of Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar noted that the provision of Section 377 which criminalised consensual sexual acts of adults in private, violated the fundamental right of life and liberty and the right to equality as guaranteed in the Constitution.

A two days “State Level Convention of Women Leaders" of feisty rural women began at Gandhi Bhawan in Lucknow on 16th April 2012, bringing together over 650 women leader delegates (organizers were expecting not more than 500) from 9 districts of east UP, and proved once again that more changes can be wrought in society by women than we can think of. They were from all age groups—the youngest 18 years old and the eldest 75 years old--all dressed neatly in colourful clothes, with bright eyes, determined faces and an infectious enthusiasm. None gave the impression of the labourer or the underprivileged, which almost all of them were.

India is shining, and we all love our young India whose 40% population is below 18 years of age. Our country boasts of having 57 billionaires, out of which 7 are amongst the top 100 richest people of the world. So what if: every 15 seconds a child dies of pneumonia/diarrhoea/simple neonatal diseases; if 48% of India’s children below 5 years of age are malnourished—the highest in the world; if it boasts of a world first with 17 million child labourers ; if 1 out of every 4 commercial sex workers are below 18 years of age; if it ranks first in having maximum number of 61 million stunted children in the world and if only 2 out of every 5 children below 14 years of age go to school....the list is endless.

One year ago, on July 2nd 2009, a Delhi High Court division bench of Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said "We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar it criminalizes consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution." It upheld one of the primary principles of natural justice, 'right to consent' and restored the dignity and rights of millions of those whose existence in the society was not even acknowledged. Needless to say that while it was a result of a long struggle by a lot of people that a judgement of this kind came in, and that is not a mean achievement, however, implementation of this is important. Just having a law is not enough. Read more

The agitation for Right to housing and land for the poor, continues with increased support from various organisations, at Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar, Mankhurd. Here thousands of people – men, women, children and aged are camping, with slogans asserting their Right to shelter, as a part of Right to Life. Read more

International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) welcomes the decision by the Indian Patent Office to set aside the product patent it had previously granted to pharmaceutical company Roche for the drug valganciclovir. Valganciclovir is primarily used as treatment and prevention of an infection caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) in organ transplant patients, a highly lucrative market which Roche has sought to defend by patenting the medicine. But CMV also affects people living with HIV, and if left untreated, can cause blindness and death. Read more

In an interim order passed today in the Special Leave Petition in appeal against the judgement of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh High Court in the case of Narmada Bachao Andolan, the Hon’ble Supreme Court today rejected the claim of the Government of Madhya Pradesh that the canal-affecetd families of Indira Sagar (ISP) and Omkareshwar (OSP) canals, being the ‘beneficiaries’, have no right to rehabilitation, while NBA asserted their rights for land as per the Rehabilitation Policy for Narmada Project affected families. Read more

Modi's SSP Politics misleading: No final permission to raise dam height yet

MODI's SARDAR SAROVAR POLITICS shall neither benefit Gujarat nor Narmada Valley
The politics around Narmada only continues to get worse by the day and has reached a level beyond the dam itself! It is obvious by now that Mr. Modi wants to raise the height of the dam beyond 122 mts in order to celebrate ‘Swarnim Gujarat’, rather than ensuring that the water crisis of Gujarat is resolved. There is no doubt that Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are trying to obtain permission from the Central authorities to raise the dam to its final height by hook or crook and even influencing political opinion and authorities at the highest level, with alleged false information and fraudulent claims of compliance with all the stipulations on the basis of which the Project has been granted clearance. Read more

Devendra Pandey Committee has submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) its 3rd interim report, especially on the Command Area Development (CAD) Planning and canals of Indira Sagar, Omkareshwar (Narmada Dams), which brings out unbelievable non-compliance by Govt of MP and Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) on CAD planning. The report says only draft report on CAD plan in Indira Sagar Project (ISP) & a brief interim report on Omkareshwar Project (OSP) are submitted and not even the final plans. Read more

World Asthma Day, 4th May 2010

This World Asthma Day, people suffering from asthma in low- and middle-income countries can find new hope in its theme “You Can Control Your Asthma”, thanks to the Asthma Drug Facility created by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). The cost of treating asthma with essential medicines has dropped by nearly half for countries working with the Asthma Drug Facility (ADF), a procurement mechanism that makes it possible for low- and middle-income countries to obtain quality-assured essential asthma medicines at affordable prices. Read more