South Asia Citizens Web

We, the undersigned researchers, educators and concerned citizens wish to take note of AICTE’s recent initiative about introduction of an elective course on ‘Ancient Knowledge Systems’ as part of its model curriculum. However, we are taken aback by the news story published yesterday that AICTE has chosen to endorse the book titled Bharatiya Vidya Saar by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan as a reference book for this course. This book makes a number of unsubstantiated claims . .

(September 27, 2018 — New York) Demonstrators gathered outside the UN General Assembly on September 27 to call for freedom of the press and protection of journalists in Bangladesh. Alam, an internationally renowned Bangladeshi photographer, photojournalist and activist, has been in police custody since August 5, following an interview on Al Jazeera in which he claimed that the broader context of ongoing student protests was pent-up anger at government corruption and misuse of power.

Exactly a year ago, 11-year-old Santoshi Kumari of Simdega died of starvation while asking her mother for rice. Her family’s ration card was cancelled for not being linked to Aadhaar. In the last one year, at least 15 people have died due to hunger. Of these, 6 were Adivasis, 4 Dalits, and 5 of backward castes. All these deaths happened due to the denial of security pensions or rations from the PDS.

आज से ठीक एक साल पहले सिमडेगा की 11-वर्षीय संतोषी कुमारी अपनी माँ को भात-भात कहते-कहते भुखमरी की शिकार हो गयी थी. आधार से लिंक न होने के कारण उसके परिवार का राशन कार्ड रद्द कर दिया गया था. पिछले एक वर्ष में झारखंड में कम-से-कम 15 लोगों की भूख से मौत हो गयी है. इनमें से 6 आदिवासी, 4 दलित और 5 पिछड़े समुदाय के थे. ये सभी मौतें पेंशन या जन वितरण प्रणाली से राशन न मिलने के कारण हुई हैं.

On the eve of ‘World Tourism Day’ AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA) is releasing the digitized version of its report “Hard Times For Positive Travel” which originally appeared as a hard copy in September, 1993 at New Delhi, India. The document is a Citizens’ Report on the status of travellers with HIV/AIDS. It was prepared by nine ABVA members. The trigger point for this documentation was the inhuman and cruel treatment meted out to a French tourist visiting Calcutta (now Kolkata) who was deported from India on account of being HIV positive.