Satinath Sarangi Survivors’ saint

Satinath Sarangi kept the Bhopal gas tragedy unforgotten in the past 26 years and remains the primary contact for those who are concerned about the victims   
   

Suman clung to her running mother’s chest. The six-year-old had no idea what was happening. In fact, neither did Sushila, her mother. Everybody in their locality in north Bhopal was running and Sushila just followed her husband. After a few hundred metres she realised that they were part of thousands of people who were running away from the Union Carbide plant which was spewing deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas.

'54% youth take to smoking due to Bollywood, regional cinema'

PANAJI: Around 54% of youth and 30 % of general public take up to smoking due to the influence of regional cinema and , Bollywood a study by two health-related NGOs stated. 

Addressing a press conference, the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradicatoin (NOTE)-India and the Voluntary Health Association of Goa (VHAG) said that India's film industry plays a major part in the glamourisation of smoking, which is backed by a 30,000 crore tobacco industry. 

"There is no safe level for smoking. In the years to come, India and China will have the most tobacco-related deaths," said Shekhar Salkar, general secretary, NOTE-India. 

Gladstone D'Costa of VHAG, pointed out that filmmakers often cited creative freedom as reasons for them to portray smoking in films. 

"What is more important? The creative freedom of the film industry or the destruction of 114 lives every hour from tobacco related diseases?" he questioned. 

Salkar added, "All creative film directors should visit hospitals offering treatment for cancer and see the suffering the patients endure. Only when the film directors see these struggles will they be aware of the consequences tobacco has on human lives." 

Salkar further said that a survey conducted in Goa showed that the state has the least number of smokers. "We have 9% of our state, the least as compared to the rest of India," he said. 

Previously, it was Punjab who had occupied the top slot of least smokers with 15%. 

Also present at the press conference was Raman Kumar, writer and director of films and serials including the popular serial of yore - Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. 

"India has a very high population of youngsters. Most of the population is below 30 years of age. This segment is very vulnerable and impressionable to what is shown on TV and movies," he said. 

With regard to NOTE's latest campaign; against the character of Aishwarya Rai Bachan smoking in the movie 'Guzaarish', Salkar produced a written reply from the film producers UTV. The reply stated: 'The scene is not meant to offend the sensibilities of any person and definitely not to encourage the youth to indulge in smoking or promote smoking in any manner. It is merely a creative requirement for the script.'


Courtesy The Times Of India

Let's fight modern slavery

The United Nations' (UN) International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is annually observed on December 2 to remind people that modern slavery works against human rights.

The day also encourages people to put meaning to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that "no one shall be held in slavery or servitude," through their actions. This holiday is not to be confused with the UN's International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

The United Nations is committed to fighting against slavery and considers bonded labour, forced labour, the worst forms of child labour and trafficking people as modern forms of slavery. Some sources say that more than one million children are trafficked each year for cheap labour or sexual exploitation. These types of slavery are global problems and go against article four of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that 'no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms'.

However, today even in our country there are children who are especially kept in servitude and also used to do various types of work, mostly due to poverty. Despite all the stringent laws, child labour continues. Do not turn a blind eye if ever you know of any children who are being forced to work, like slaves in the past.

The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery recalls the adoption of the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of.

To remember the convention, a UN report of the Working Group on Slavery recommended in 1985 that December 2 be proclaimed the World Day for the Abolition of Slavery in all its forms. By 1995, the day was known as the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.

On December 18, 2002, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2004 the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition. On November 28, 2006, the assembly designated March 25, 2007, as the International Day for the Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The UN also annually observes the UN's International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on August 23.