He added that steps to implement the code will begin once the state government receives the draft from the UCC drafting panel.
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. Credit: PTI File Photo
The draft of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for Uttarakhand is almost ready, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Friday.
He added that steps to implement the code will begin once the state government receives the draft from the UCC drafting panel.
“The drafting and compilation work of the UCC is almost complete. We will start taking steps towards its implementation and its various provisions as soon as its draft is submitted to us,” Dhami told reporters in Haridwar.
A UCC for Uttarakhand was one of the major poll promises made by the BJP in the run-up to the state assembly elections held last year.
After being voted to power for a second consecutive term, Dhami gave his nod to setting up a committee headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai to draft the UCC at the very first cabinet meeting headed by him.
The expert panel whose tenure was extended for a third time recently till December has taken opinions from 2.33 lakh people and different organisations, institutions and tribal groups before preparing the draft. The five-member committee got its first extension of six months in November, 2022 and second of four months in May this year.
The campaigner, 51, was awarded the prize “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”.
Narges Mohammadi. Pic: Mohammadi family archive photos/Reuters
Jailed Iranian women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi has won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2023.
The 51-year-old campaigner was given the award “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”.
The award also recognised the hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against Iranian discrimination and oppression of women.
Anoosheh Ashoori, who spent five years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison – the same prison where Ms Mohammadi is serving multiple sentences – told Sky News he is worried about her even more now she has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mr Ashoori said he met “many other innocent people” there, adding that some “are still there, just going through that hell right now”.
He said he saw broken glass and blood on the floor of a medical centre during his time there and was told Ms Mohammadi had been pushed and thrown into a glass door by the prison’s director, adding: “He was quite famous for his brutalities.”
Asked if he thought the award might have a negative impact on her treatment and time in the jail, he said: “I am worried about it because I know how these beasts behave. It can have repercussions and I’m really worried about her safety.”
Responding to the news of the award, Ms Mohammadi vowed to be “more resilient, determined, hopeful and enthusiastic”.
“I will never stop striving for the realisation of democracy, freedom and equality,” she said in a statement to the New York Times.
“Standing alongside the brave mothers of Iran, I will continue to fight against the relentless discrimination, tyranny and gender-based oppression by the oppressive religious government until the liberation of women,” she added.
Her family said in a statement that while the honour could “never compensate” them for the time she had spent imprisoned, it was a “source of solace for our indescribable suffering”.
Who is Narges Mohammadi?
Ms Mohammadi is one of Iran’s leading human rights activists, and has also campaigned against the country’s death penalty.
She has been in prison almost continually over the last 13 years, having been jailed for 11 years in 2011 for “acting against the national security”.
That sentence was for her work with the Iranian human rights group, Defenders of Human Rights Center, of which she is vice-president.
Manipur Video News: Members of various organisations in Bengaluru hold placard as they take part in a protest against the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur. (PTI Photo)
Atotal of five people have been arrested in the horrific Manipur ‘disrobing and parading women’ case after a 19-year-old accused was held late on Friday. The arrested has been identified as Yumlembam Nungsithoi.
Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after a May 4 video surfaced online on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities in the state’s Kangpokpi district paraded naked by a mob from the other side.
Taking suo moto action in the matter, the Manipur Police the same night registered a case of abduction, gang rape, and murder at Nongpok Sekmai Police Station in Thoubal district against unidentified men.
Meanwhile, a report in Times of India stated that two young tribal women from Manipur’s Kangpokpi were allegedly gang-raped, dragged out of their workplace and left to die by a mob rampaging through the capital city on May 4.
This is the second horrific case that has come to light in the wake of the violence in the northeastern state. The incident coincides with the strip-parade horror unfolding 40km away that very day, the report stated, adding that the disturbing development took place in an Imphal car wash where the women worked.
TOI quoted their friend as saying that on visiting the hospital the next day, she was informed that both the women died of their wounds. The report claimed that this friend saw from a distance a police ambulance pick up the brutalised duo.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON MANIPUR INCIDENT:
What is the reason for Manipur violence: An ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3 when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. This violent clashes led to more than 160 people losing their lives and several have been injured since then.
What is the problem in Manipur now: A after ethnic violence erupted in India’s northeastern state on May 3, a horrific incident took place where two women were disrobed and were paraded naked on the streets by the mob, who also brutalised the women. But the horrific video of the incident surfaced only on Wednesday and became viral after the internet ban was lifted in the area.
IndiGo Airlines has de-rostered (taken off flying duty) a pilot employee from duties amid an uproar over her husband allegedly abusing a minor domestic help. The airline issued a statement saying that they are investigating the matter.
Accused woman pilot Poornima Bagchi (33) has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
A mob manhandled the pilot Poornima and her husband Kaushik Bagchi (36), who works as a ground staff at another carrier, after they allegedly beat up a 10-year-old girl working as a domestic help at a couple’s house in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka.
“We are aware of a video circulating on social media that allegedly involves an individual employed by IndiGo. We are currently investigating the matter. Meanwhile, the employee has been derostered from official duties,” IndiGo said in a statement.
The minor was employed at the couple’s house through the victim’s relative who also works in a nearby house, they added.
In a purported video, the alleged couple could be seen manhandled and beaten up by a mob. Some of the women were also seen slapping and pulling the hair of the accused woman, who was in her uniform. Poornima was heard apologising in the video while Kaushik was seen shielding her from the agitated mob saying that “she would die…Leave her..”. The crowd dispersed after an elderly man intervened.
#WATCH | A woman pilot and her husband, also an airline staff, were thrashed by a mob in Delhi’s Dwarka for allegedly employing a 10-year-old girl as a domestic help and torturing her.
The girl has been medically examined. Case registered u/s 323,324,342 IPC and Child Labour… pic.twitter.com/qlpH0HuO0z
Seven-time WNBA All-Star Britney Griner returned to game action on Friday for the first time since being arrested in February 2022 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after authorities discovered vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage.
Griner spent nearly 10 months in a Russian prison after she pleaded guilty to drug charges, and she returned to the United States in December after a prisoner exchange.
Brittney Griner, #42 of the Phoenix Mercury, prepares to shoot a free throw during the game against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 12, 2023, at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
On Friday night, Griner played in her first competitive game since the 2021 WNBA Finals, scoring 10 points for the Phoenix Mercury in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Sparks.
It was the Mercury’s final preseason game before the regular season opener on Friday.
Prior to the tip, Griner and her teammates stood for the national anthem, and the No. 1 pick of the 2013 WNBA Draft received a loud ovation from the home crowd as she was introduced.
“Hearing the national anthem, it definitely hit different,” Griner said. “It’s like when you go for the Olympics, you’re sitting there, about to get gold put on your neck, the flags are going up, and the anthem is playing, it just hits different.
“Being here today … it means a lot.”
The Phoenix Mercury stand for the national anthem before the game against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 12, 2023, at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
In July 2020, as social justice protests were occurring around the country, Griner said she didn’t feel that the anthem should be played during the season, adding that she didn’t mean any “disrespect to our country.”
Griner re-signed with Phoenix in February, returning for her 10th WNBA season, all with the Mercury.
“We looked at each other, and we just had chills,” Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said. “We were here last year for all of it. I’m getting emotional about it now. Just to see her back out there — it’s an absolute miracle. It was amazing. It’s giving me chills again.”
Griner added three rebounds in 17 minutes, but she was critical of her performance, saying she was more rusty than she expected.
