Here are some important reports from the biggest newspapers of India.
1.) Rail ticket will cost the same
Fares are likely to be kept unchanged in the Budget for the second year in a row. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's focus is likely to be on innovative cash generation.
The emphasis will remain on strengthening the rail network, rather than announcing new projects.
Though there was a hike in freight charges in the last Budget, the railways is not considering it this time, since diesel prices have gone down and cross-subsidising passengers is not seen as good economics. The prevalent view in the ministry is that even a 10% hike in fares will bring in just about Rs 4,500 crore of additional revenue, which is not worth the effort.
Sources have told Economic Times, that even the Prime Minister's Office was not in favour of a fare hike. The railways had already tweaked certain concessions, and changed refund and Tatkal rules outside the Budget. While cancellation charges were doubled, seats under Tatkal were increased to 30% from 10% in all trains, bringing in more revenue.
2.) Consenting adult sex worker shouldn't face arrest, says SC panel
Police must not interfere or take criminal action against adult sex workers “participating with consent”, a Supreme Court panel looking for measures to ensure better work conditions has recommended for prostitutes and protect their rights, Hindustan Times reports. The panel, set up in 2011, will submit its report in March.
Prostitution per se is legal in India but it is caught in a web of laws that makes sex workers vulnerable to police action in red-light districts, where they ply their trade on streets or in dingy brothels. “Whenever there is a raid on a brothel, since voluntary sex work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful, the sex workers should not be arrested or penalised or harassed or victimised,” the panel says.
3.) Have proof to nail JNU students: Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi
Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi has said that he has enough photo and video evidence to prove sedition charges slapped against JNU students and that no innocent was being made to suffer. Bassi also made it clear that neither the special cell nor the National Investigating Agency (NIA) have been asked to probe the links between the JNU students and terrorist Afzal Guru.
“The local police are competent enough to probe the case and it is definitely not being transferred to either special cell or NIA… Whatever needs to be probed will be done by the local police and not the intelligence agencies,” he said as per a report in Hindustan Times.
Asked about allegations made by JNU teachers that it was wrong to register a case of sedition as the act was only that of ‘dissent’, Bassi said, “Sedition is bringing in hatred and contempt or exciting disaffection towards the State by words or by signs or visible representation. The case was registered on the basis of prima facie evidence.”
4.) Doctors surgically remove ‘rare’ third leg of 2-year-old
A two-year-old girl, who was born with an extra leg protruding out of her back, underwent a corrective procedure at the state-run Govind Ballabh Pant hospital in the last week of January in Delhi, a report in Hindustan Times said. “The surgery is not very complicated, but, the condition called polymelia in which a person is born with more than four limbs is very rare. Despite our patient load, we haven’t seen such a case in the past 50 years,” said Dr Daljit Singh, the lead surgeon.
In fact, only four cases of polymelia have been recorded across the world, with one reported from Bihar, where a girl was born with four hands and four legs.
“It was good that the family brought her here. The limb was the size of the ring finger when the child was born, but, had grown 10–12 inches in two years, almost the size of her hand. If the family had waited longer, the limb would have outgrown the other legs and impair their functioning. It might have also resulted in a spinal cord defect which might have compromised her control over bladder and bowel movements,” said Dr Singh.
5.) Bihar sisters on cycles take fight against foeticide to homes, hearts
Two sisters have been knocking on doors in Muzaffarpur over the last three years, taking the fight against female foeticide to homes and hearts. Shadia, a 21-year-old economics graduate, and Afreen, an 18-year-old Class 12 student, have become household names in the villages of Minapur.
As per an Indian express report, they travel on cycles, carrying a plastic file full of newspaper clippings on the dangers of female foeticide, the sisters say they also use “shock tactics” to get their message across. One of the questions they ask women is: Will you abandon your newborn daughters in dustbins to be eaten by dogs and cats? “The women always say ‘no’ firmly,” says Afreen.
6.) ‘World Class’ Memorial at Rameshwaram, Govt picks themes for Kalam memorial
The memorial for commemorating the life and work of late President A P J Abdul Kalam at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu will be based on three different themes to showcase his contribution in motivating the youth apart from his scientific acumen and eventful life. Responding to an RTI application filed The Indian Express, the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) stated that the government will construct the memorial in Rameshwaram through the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Also, the “world class” memorial will take inspiration from top memorials and museums of the country, including Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi-Kutir in Ahmedabad and Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial in Sriperumbudur.
7.) Breastfeeding can cut child deaths, save Rs 4k crore per year
While the enormous health benefits of universal and sustained breastfeeding of children are well known, new evidence suggests that there is a significant economic cost as well. Research by medical journal Lancet reports a loss of $0.6285 billion or about Rs 4,300 crore annually. Not just that. If India were to universalise breastfeeding in the coming years, it could reduce 13% of all under-5 deaths (1,56,000 child deaths), 39,00,000 episodes of diarrhoea, 34,36,560 episodes of pneumonia and 7,000 deaths due to breast cancer annually.
NFHS 4 data for 15 states shows India is just an average performer by this parameter. Though institutional deliveries have risen to 82.2%, initiation of breastfeeding is stagnant at 47.7% while exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of child is only little higher at 57.5%. India has a national law - Infant Milk Substitutes Feeding Bottles, and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act - that has placed restrictions on sales of milk substitutes. However, there has been very little awareness created on the benefits of breastfeeding over the years. Times of India reports.
8.) Sex ratio worsens in families with 1-2 kids, improves with more than 3
When minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi suggested registering the sex of every child in the womb to ensure the girl child is not killed, she probably did not understand the complex calculus that Indian would-be parents go through when to have a child, how many, and boy or girl. A glimpse into this intriguing decision-making process undertaken by about 2.5 crore parents every year is provided by Census 2011 data.
Among women who had only one child, the sex ratio was just 782 girls to every 1,000 boys born, said a report in Times of India. This is much lower than the overall sex ratio of the population, (943 females for every 1,000 males), and even lower than the sex ratio for children aged up to six years (919). But it is not yet the rock bottom.Among families with two children, the ratio plummets to 720 girls. This is where the sharpest drop has taken place, from 742 in 2001. However, with three children, it improves to 814.
9.) Cops trace kidnap route with Dipti
Snapdeal executive Dipti Sarna was on Sunday taken to Morti village in Raj Nagar Extension by a police team in an attempt to reconstruct events of February 10 when she was allegedly kidnapped by four men in a shared auto. Dipti was kidnapped from the Mohan Nagar flyover and taken to Morti in the auto before being allegedly bundled into an i10 car that took her to a location she could not identify.
According to a Times of India report, a team of senior police officials led by Ghaziabad SSP Dharmendra Singh accompanied Dipti to Morti. Police said Dipti identified the area in Morti where her kidnappers had briefly opened her blindfold. The 24-year-old legal executive was returning home to Kavi Nagar from her office in Gurgaon when she was allegedly kidnapped on February 10 evening.
10.) Smart coaches with home-like comfort soon
Train journeys could soon become a more comfortable with the railways planning to launch all-new `smart coaches' where travellers can avail of efficient ways of finding journey-related information along with more on-board comfort. With plush interiors, the `smart coaches' will have GPS-based wake up alarm and LED-based reservation charts and berth indicators in reserved compartments along with Wi-Fi facility.
As per a Times of India report, the coaches will be equipped with passenger information systems with audio announcements in the day time and also interactive voice-based assistance from the train conductor. For enhanced comfort, there will be an on-board vending machine for water, coffee, tea and other drinks.
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