Forty per cent of child marriages are in India
UNICEF's latest "State of the World's Children - 2009" report shows that forty percent of the world's child marriages take place in India.
The report says discrimination on the basis of gender has a direct impact on maternal health, illiteracy and high infant mortality rates. It can deny girls and women education and prevent them from receiving adequate health care and bar them from critical decision making that affects their health and that of the newborn.
The report suggests interventions must exist within the environment that includes respect for the rights of women and children, quality education, a decent standard of living, protection from abuse, exploitation, violence and the empowerment of women.
On the role of civil society in maternal and newborn health the report says social inclusion should be a priority with emphasis on including individual families, women and communities as partners in health care provision and that communities can participate in the promotion of their health by being enlisted through inclusion rather than coercion.
Report dated January 19, 2009 [Back to Top]
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Over 15000 Indians given UK citizenship in 2006
Of 154,000 foreign nationals given British citizenship in the year 2006, Indians accounted for 15,125 and Pakistanis 10,260.
735,000 citizens of the European Union acquired nationality in that year. By comparison France granted citizenship to 148,000 foreigners and Germany to 125,000.
The figures were recently released by Eurostat, the EU's statistics body.
Report dated December 13, 2008 [Back to Top]
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India has the world's third largest number of rapes
According to the latest data of the Home Ministry, India is third behind the USA and South Africa in numbers of rape cases.
18,359 rapes were registered in the first three quarters of this year in India. 93,934 in the USA and 54,926 in South Africa.
The countries with the lowest rape count are Jordan, Latvia, Bulgaria and Finland.
Other countries where a large number of rapes were reported include Germany, Thailand, Sweden and Argentina.
In the ranks of countries with varied sex offences registered, India also ranked third with 44,159 cases, after England and Germany.
Other countries where sex offences are high include Canada, Australia, Sweden and Argentina.
Report dated December 10, 2008 [Back to Top]
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Over 3 million Gujaratis NRIs worldwide
US 1,000,000
UK 700,000
Australia 200,000
U.A.E. 200,000
South Africa 110,000
Malaysia 110,000
Portugal 35,000
France 52,000
Oman 50,000
Kenya 70,000
Zambia 22,000
Tanzania 65,000
Fiji 30,000
New Zealand 28,000
Maldives 22,000
(Mauritius, Philipines, Japan, China, Morocco, Mexico,
Carabean islands, Burundi, Madagascar, Andora and Singapore have less than 1000 Gujaratis).
Report dated December 10, 2008 [Back to Top]
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14 suicides every hour in the country
The National Crime Records Bureau released its latest figures with the country seeing an increase of 3.8 percent in incidents of suicide with 122,637 people ending their lives of which 43,342 were women.
Maharashtra leads the list of states for suicides, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
Family problems and illness were prime causes and failure in relationships, bankruptcy and dowry disputes were other leading contributing factors.
Report dated December 5, 2008 [Back to Top]
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India has seen 4100 terror attacks in 34 years
According to the Global Terrorism Database, maintained by the University of Maryland and the US National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, India faced over 4100 terrorist attacks between 1970 and 2004.
The Study has information on 56 groups engaged in terrorism in India that includes the Students Islamic Movement of India.
In the period some 12,540 fatalities have resulted, but India puts the toll at around 70,000.
Report dated December 5, 2008 [Back to Top]
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Two women raped every hour, officially...
The National Crime Records Bureau released its latest report that says every 60 minutes two women are raped in India, and last year 133 elderly women were sexually assaulted. The real figures could be much higher as not all cases are reported, especially by conservative families and in rural areas.
20,737 cases of rape were reported last year, up 7 percent over the previous year, with Madhya Pradesh given the dubious title of 'rape capital' of the country.
West Bengal follows and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan are ranked next.
Most of the rapists were known to their victims. In most cases neighbours, parents or close family members were involved. The largest number of victims were women in the age group 18 to 30 years followed by the age group 30 to 50 years.
Report dated December 5, 2008 [Back to Top]
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