Safety measures in public buses

7 killed, 40 injured in Karnataka bus fire

The tragedy comes two weeks after 45 people had died when a Volvo bus from Bangalore to Hyderabad had caught fire after hitting the median on the national highway in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh.


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 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-14/india/44072938_1_volvo-bus-bus-owner-mumbai-bound-bus

BANGALORE: A week after 45 passengers were charred to death in a bus near Mehbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, 35 passengers in a bus from Hassan to Bangalore had a miraculous escape on Thursday evening. The KSRTC Vaibhav, manufactured by Tata, was gutted in an accidental fire near Goraguntepalya Signal on Tumkur Road, 14 km from the city.

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http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-08/bangalore/43821008_1_fire-guts-35-passengers-bus

Fifty-two persons, including 50 passengers, were travelling in the Volvo bus when the mishap occurred. Initial reports had said that some software engineers were among the victims. Forty-five passengers were charred to death as a private bust burst into flames after its fuel tank caught fire in Mahbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh early on Wednesday, October 30, 2013. This incident poses a serious question of safety and security measures adopted by the concerned agencies and individuals.
"Most private operators compromise on passengers' safety. They don't create enough space for emergency exits and use it to add more seats. Neither do they use speed governors. For example, they cover 350km between Chennai and Bangalore in under four hours. This is a perfect recipe for disaster in case of accidents," Bhaskar Rao, transport commissioner from July 2008 to May 2011 and currently IGP (Northern Range), Belgaum, told TOI.

Read more:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/45-charred-to-death-as-bus-catches-fire-in-ap/article5287797.ece?textsize=small&test=2

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Exits-in-Volvos-not-made-for-emergencies-says-former-transport-chief/articleshow/25288352.cms 

Be careful of loud crackers in Diwali

Fire crackers during Diwali is common and has become a way of culture in India. The research conducted by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and Awaaz Foundation found that crackers breached sound limits, with serial crackers being the worst. Loud crackers 'cause annoyance and aggression, hypertension, high stress levels, tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep disturbance, heart disease, and mental illness'. Most of the fire crackers sold in India accede the dB level. 'A cracker that makes noise exceeding 125 dB at 5 meters from the spot of bursting should be banned' says Noise Pollution Control Board and endorsed by the Union Environment Ministry of India. Nepal government has put restrictions on the use of fire crackers during Diwali not because of these health hazards but other serious physical casualties and possible misuse by terrorists.

Is policing a thankless job?

The evidences are important in the course of proving the guilt of suspects in any crimes. Quite often police have to make arrests upon suspicion. They have reasons and legal rights to do so. However, their acts must also be proved right. Police have to face the public sarcasm if they do not produce evidences against the arrestees. This is exactly what happened with the Bangalore police. They had arrested 17 people in suspicion in connection of bomb blasts those went off on April 17 at Malleswaram. After six months of rigorous investigation, suspects, except three, have been charge-sheeted for their crimes. There is public outrage for the lapses on part of police to have ‘arrested and kept them in jail for so long’ without any evidences. The police have done a good job but public do not appreciate; they only look out for police lapses. That is why police job is often a thankless job.

Read more on the Bangalore case

Policing the police

I wonder what is happening to the police these days. More than one hundred people, 115 as reported so far, died in a stampede which occurred in Ratangarh on October 13, 2013. one witness said, "I hear pilgrims screaming on the bridge tht police were dumping bodies and throwing injured and alive children into the river. I rescued six children from the site f the stampede, including one from the river." Another witness, Indel Aharwar, says, "I have seen policemen  dumping children into the river. it was a heart-wrenching scene...I am ready to testify before any court".(The Times of India, Bangalore, October 15, 2013 Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Government on Wednesday announced constitution of a commission to be headed by Justice (retd) Rakesh Saksena of the high court to probe the Ratangarh temple stampede in which 115 people were killed and many injured. The decision to appoint Justice (retd) Saksena of the Madhya Pradesh high court was taken by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, official sources said. The one-member panel, to be headquartered at Gwalior, is mandated to probe the circumstances that led to the stampede on Sunday and the role of district and police officials concerned. The commission will have to submit its report, along with recommendations, within two months. A total of 115 people were killed and scores of others injured following a stampede on a bridge over Sindh river leading to a temple in Datia district on October 13. Meanwhile, taking a suo motu cognisance of the case, the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) has issued a notice to the state chief secretary and the DGP directing them to file their reply on the tragedy within a week. MP Govt constitutes judicial panel to probe Ratangarh stampede MPHRC chairman, Justice A K Saxena issued the notice directing them to reply on various issues including lapses and action taken by the government against those responsible for the stampede. The state government has already suspended a total of 21 officials and policemen including Datia district Collector and Superintendent of Police in the wake of the incident.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mp-govt-constitutes-judicial-panel-to-probe-ratangarh-stampede/428696-3-236.html?utm_source=ref_article

A serial killer and rapist Jaishankar alias M. Shankar, 34, who escaped from the Central Jail on August 31 and was caught six days later, said that he could flee from the jail with the help from prison officials and other inmates. (The Times of India, Bangalore, October 22, 2013, p. 5)

And now again, there is news that, "City police appear to be the wrong side of the law again. A week after a sub-inspector and two constables were allegedly caught looting cash and gold jewelry from a maid servant who was accused of theft, an inspector is accused of robbing a known offender." The report said, "The inspector collected 600 gm of gold jewelry from Pasha. Though he did record other recoveries from Pasha, he did not register 50 gm of jewelry pertaining to a case reported at Parappana Agrahara police station."(The Times of India, Bangalore, Wednesday, October 23, 2013, p. 5)
These are examples of police character in South Asia or/and throughout the world. When such things are not controlled, who will police the police?

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Policing the police | Editorial | :: The Kathmandu Post ::

Missing children

Here is news about missing children in Karnataka State of India (I am in Bangalore for the holidays). The Times of India, Bangalore edition dated October 29, 2013 cites data from National Crime Records Bureau regarding missing children. According to this news, 'every day, 10 children go missing in Karnataka and of them, two remain untraced......Figures show that the number of girls who go missing and remain untraced is higher than that of boys'. I wonder whether anybody has the latest figure with this problem in Nepal?

Combating human trafficking in Nepal

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The initial year of my work as the Senior Technical Adviser to the National Committee for Controlling Human Trafficking (NCCHT), under Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW), involved understanding the nature of problems, reviewing organizational structure and capacity, some planning and proposing. The second half of the period was more on key policy and system building, program outlining and resources planning for the implementation of National Plan of Action (NPA).  The process of institutionalization of NCCHT is afoot; albeit slow in pace. The Asia Foundation's Combating Traffic in Person (CTIP) program has agreed to support the annual program of NCCHT. This will consolidate the efforts to establish and develop the capacity of the institution in days to come.
My learning in relation to countering human trafficking during these two years was very much exciting, illuminating and challenging. Following are some of the key issues related to this problem in our context:
1. The pattern of human trafficking is ever changing in terms of its cause, purpose, selection of victims, destination, proportions and trends of criminal activities, dimension of crime and modus operandi. These paradigms have increased challenges to combating front.
2. Gender based attitude and mindset are the source of other violence against women—including trafficking. Therefore controlling human trafficking requires a holistic approach to gender based violence; focus on human trafficking in isolation would not be effective. Strong leadership, expanded partnership, concerted and deeply entrenched programs would produce substantive results.
3. Implementation of policies related to control these crimes often does not get priority in the government system. The rules of responsibility and accountability are not strictly followed. I feel NCCHT is under resourced and under utilized for various reasons including these.
4. Lack of coherent cooperation and coordination between state machinery is a major problem. It might warrant several structural renovations and capacity building of agencies in the current setting.
5. Human trafficking is one of several organized crimes. The control of organized crimes is all time a challenge in the country. There are some domestic legislative obstacles to overcome the complexity of organized crimes.
6. The detection, investigation and prosecution of organized crimes are difficult. It warrants more effective and efficient operational system improvement at domestic and cooperation at international level. The capacity of police is also needed to be enhanced.
7. Protection and reintegration of survivors in the society is still not orchestrated. The survivors/victims still suffer from social indictment. An attitudinal shift of society can only bring substantial change in this sector.
8. Social mobilization towards safer societies is essential to control all forms of gender based violence. There is need for paradigm shift in the attitudes and behavior of the society towards survivors/victims.
9. Community empowerment is basic need for effective implementation of policies. There is need for mobilizing existing community networks at grass root level for these purposes.
10. It has a political solution. The political commitment and leadership to it is important.