One Woman Killed Every Hour Over Dowry in India

Women’s rights activists said Tuesday that one woman dies every hour in India because of dowry–related crimes, demonstrating that the country’s economic growth has made expectations of dowries even more prevalent.

The National Crime Records Bureau says that 8,233 women were killed in India last year because of disputes over dowries.

One woman dies every hour in India because of dowry-related crimes, indicating that the country's economic boom has made demands for dowries even more persistent, women's rights activists said Tuesday.

The National Crime Records Bureau says 8,233 women were killed across India last year because of disputes over dowry payments given by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage.

The conviction rate in dowry-related crimes remained a low 32 percent, according to statistics the bureau published last week. Indian law prohibits the giving or receiving of a dowry, but the centuries-old social custom persists.

Dowry demands often continue for years after the wedding. Each year, thousands of young Indian women are doused with gasoline and burned to death because the groom or his family felt the dowry was inadequate.

Women's rights activists and police said that loopholes in dowry prevention laws, delays in prosecution and low conviction rates have led to a steady rise in dowry-related crimes.

Dowry demands have become even more insistent and expensive following India's economic boom, said Ranjana Kumari, a women's rights activist.

She blamed a growing culture of greed as India opens its economy to foreign goods that the younger generation cannot afford but badly want. "Marriages have become commercialized.

It's like a business proposition where the groom and his family make exorbitant demands. And the wealthier the family, the more outrageous the demands," Kumari said.

Suman Nalwa, a senior New Delhi police officer dealing with crimes against women, said dowry practices extended to all classes in society. "Even highly educated people don't say no to dowry," she said.

Cops Guard Imphal Media Houses Against Rebel Threat

Imphal, Sep 4 : Armed policemen began guarding media houses and the office of Manipur Press Club in Imphal from Tuesday to protect journalists who face a threat to life from a rebel group.

The development came at a time when scribes in the state under the aegis of All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU) staged a demonstration in Imphal to denounce the threat.

SP (Imphal West) K Jayanta said security has been provided to media houses on a temporary basis. "Though the security cover is not permanent, we are extending our utmost efforts to protect the media houses. As long as the journalists face the threat, we will provide security," the SP told TOI.

There have been unexplained killings of five journalists, including four editors of local dailies in Manipur, since the last one decade. Sadly, police are yet to arrest anyone involved in the crime.

The latest quandary was triggered when newspaper houses refused to publish a statement issued by the outfit a few days ago. Editors of Imphal-based media houses, who citied certain reasons, said they could not publish the statement. Following the refusal, the outfit threatened to target scribes and even the newspaper distributors.

Under AMWJU's supervision, the scribes staged a demonstration at Keishampat junction in the heart of Imphal on Tuesday.

Expressing solidarity with their Imphal colleagues, members of Manipur Hill Journalists' Association (MHJA) also joined the sit in. The hill journalists said they will leave editorials of their newspapers blank for Wednesday's edition as a token of protest against the threat perception.

"The outfit has not withdrawn its threat till now. We fervently appeal to them to withdraw the intimidation," said AMWJU general secretary GA Naocha Sharma. Naocha added that Indian Journalist Union (IJU) affiliated to AMWJU has also appealed to the outfit to withdraw its threat saying that media organizations are neutral bodies.

Fearing attacks by the rebel group, reporters did not venture out to far-flung places in the state to gather news, while the hawkers stopped distributing papers from Monday.

On Monday, journalists, as well as newspaper hawkers, staged a protest rally in Imphal and called on chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh to express their grievances. The CM, while expressing serious concern over the development, assured to provide security to the media fraternity.

Following the militant group's threat, editors of 17 different media houses of the state set up a committee christened 'Editors' Committee, Manipur' .

As a token of protest, the media fraternity suspended work for two days from Monday and they will resume work from Wednesday.

All Miss Korea ‘13 Contestants Look Alike!!!

Heejin Kim (Photo courtesy: Ashley Jahncke)

When pictures of the 20 Miss Korea 2013 finalists went online, there were speculations that cosmetic procedures have left all contestants looking exactly the same. In a short span of time the post saw more than 3,000 comments criticising the growing obsession with plastic surgery in South Korea.

Statistics show that South Koreans have undergone more plastic surgeries than any other country. The trend is popular among 19 to 49-year-olds.

Korean plastic face look
With perfectly done-up hair, bright eyes, pale skin and a white smile, the pictures revealed an unnerving similarity in all the finalists. People not only condemned what they now call 'Korea's plastic surgery mayhem' but argued how such cosmetic procedures take away their individuality.

'I never said I was born beautiful'
The pageant sparked controversy last year too when pictures of winner Kim Yu-Mi surfaced revealing her plastic surgery secret. Speaking to the Korean media, she defended her crown and said, "I never said I was born beautiful".

Miss Korea 2013 contestants under scrutiny
Heejin Kim, one of the contestants at Miss Korea 2013 blogged about her experience upon entering the pageant. Around-the-clock surveillance, troupe of security guards following her everywhere (even inside a restroom) suffocated Kim.

"It got so bad...that the girls and I became constipated because we didn't want to go in front of these strangers following us. I was bloated the entire competition," shares Kim. If stories are to be believed then there had been a case where a contestant went into the restroom with her mother and a plastic surgeon and emerged all stitched after a few minutes. The surgeon managed to complete the cosmetic procedure in minutes. "We are not allowed to even touch our parents. They can't hug us; we can't touch them, nothing. Judges think that something like that could happen again," laments Kim.

What's double eyelid surgery?
One of the most popular surgical procedures is the 'Double Eyelid Surgery'. This technique reduces excess skin in the upper eyelid and makes the eyes appear bigger.

Scarlett Johansson Shows Her Curves At Venice Film Festival

Jaws surely dropped when Scarlett Johansson hit the red carpet at the Venice International Film Festival Tuesday.

Johansson looked gorgeous in a curve-hugging, off-the-shoulder Versace gown that conjured up feelings of Old Hollywood glamour. She topped the look off with a Bulgari High statement necklace and upswept hair.

The 28-year-old stunner arrived at Palazzo del Cinema on Sept. 3 for the premiere of Jonathan Glazer's sci-fi drama, "Under the Skin." The film is about an alien posing as a human named Laura (Johansson) who entraps men in Scotland using her seductive wiles.

"It’s hard to give a kind of warm-up line for the story because it’s almost like giving the plotline of a Bergman film, but I’m playing a character called Laura, who is an it that becomes a she," Johansson previously explained during an interview for Interview magazine. "That’s what the story’s about -- it’s about that transformation... It basically has no written dialogue, and I don’t think it’s really character-driven. Jon is an incredible visionary, and in the place I’m in right now, it feels really fresh. It might be an impossible project... [laughs] We’ll see."

The blond beauty said that to become the alien character she had to abandon "these very human instincts that we have, protecting ourselves and wanting to protect one another," per the Associated Press.

On Tuesday afternoon, fans waited for hours to see Johansson at a press junket for the flick. She smiled for photos and gave out autographs after arriving via water taxi.

Girl Next Door: Serina Swan

Where you've seen her: This beauty is no stranger to television – she’s been on "Breakout Kings," "Hawaii Five-0," and "Supernatural" – and she also appeared in the movie "TRON: Legacy."

What she's up to: These days, you can see her playing Paige Arkin on the USA series "Graceland." Let’s just say we don’t think Serinda will be singing her “Swan” song anytime soon.

Mizoram Bans Pig Import From Myanmar

Aizawl, Sep 4 : Mizoram has banned the import of pigs from Myanmar, apprehending spread of a viral disease among pigs in the state for two months with effect from yesterday.

The state notified the ban, enforced for the second time this year, by an official proclamation issued yesterday by V. Sapchhunga, the district magistrate of Lunglei, which borders Myanmar, under Section 144 CrPC.

Nobody in Mizoram will be allowed to import pigs either for farming or for their meat for the next two months.

Sources in Lunglei town, the district headquarters, today said the ban had been imposed based on apprehensions that Myanmarese pigs were responsible for spreading the virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, among pigs in Mizoram.

The disease causes fever among pigs and affects their nervous system.

There are reports that the viral fever has surfaced again among pigs in Myanmar, prompting the authorities in Mizoram to ban the import of pigs into their state.

The secretary of animal husbandry and veterinary department in Mizoram, T. Sangkunga, said in the initial spurt of the breakout of the virus in March and April this year, about 3,800 pigs and piglets had died in the state.

However, the virus has not infected any human being in Mizoram till now, said L.B. Sailo, director of the state’s animal husbandry and veterinary department.

The embargo on eating pork, imposed after the first upsurge of the spread of the disease among pigs in Mizoram in early March, has, however, been lifted. Pork is widely popular in Mizoram.

200 Motorcyclists To Tour Northeast India

Pune, Sep 4 : As many as 200 motorcyclists from across the state will embark on an 18-day tour to the northeastern states from September 19 as part of an initiative to create awareness about the northeastern region among youths.

The tour has been planned under the banner of 'Sashakta Bharat' to commemorate the 51st year of Indo-China War and the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand.

The motorcyclists will visit various places in the northeastern states and talk with locals to know more about the region, covering about 4,500km. The tour will start from Kolkata and cover 45 districts in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and will end on October 9.

Sandeep Mahind, coordinator of the tour, said, "The tour will help youths learn more about the northeastern region which is challenging in terms of transport and communication. The youths will learn more about culture, art and history of the seven states from the local people. It will be a way to establish friendship and continuous communication with the locals.

" Youths from Pune who wish to join, can email at yuvasangam2024@gmail.com, he added.

Mahind said the expedition will not just focus on travel and biking. "We have planned various programmes at the places of halts. The motorcyclists will learn about the Indo-China War, revolutionaries of northeast India and other eminent personalities of the region. The preparations for the tour have already begun. Youths from Pune who wish to join, can reach us at yuvasangam2024@gmail.com," he added.

Pandurang Balkawade, member of the organizing committee and a history scholar from Pune, said the tour was a step to establish a bridge between youths from northeast and Maharashtra. The 'Sashakta Bharat' in 2012 had organized similar tour to Panipat to commemorate 251st year of the Battle of Panipat.

Manipur Border Fence: Villages Maintain Age-Old Relations even as protests continue

By Iboyaima Laithangbam

A pillar along the Indo-Myanmar international border in Moreh, a border town in Manipur. The construction of a fence along the international border is being proposed by the government to check insurgency and illegal drug trafficking in the region. Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

Unperturbed by the rumpus over the erection of the border fence in Manipur, the Manipuri and Myanmarese villagers on either side of the international border continue to maintain their generations-old relations. For a long time, tribal villages of Manipur have been depending on Myanmar for consumer items, medicines, education, and other livelihood needs. In fact, they also prefer kyat, the currency of Myanmar for their purchases since the rupee has no use in these remote mountain villages.

These border villages are cut off from the rest of Manipur with hardly any roads leading to them. Government officials seldom visit these areas– also known to be inhabited by insurgents. There has never been any government official at Molcham, a border tribal village. The much-hyped Public Distribution System in the State has also not reached tribals in these areas.

With the erection of the fence now being proposed in these isolated areas, villagers feel they will be not be able to trade with their neighbours and their children will no longer be able to go to schools in Myanmar.

Echoing their protests, The Joint Committee on Protection of Border Areas formed by several NGOs, and the United Committee Manipur have said that the fence will affect over 15 villages. At least one village in Ukhrul district will go entirely to Myanmar once the fence is completed. However the Union government maintains that there has been no incursion into Indian territory. Erecting the fence is important to check the movement of north-east insurgents who have camped in border areas and in the Western part of Myanmar, the government says. Further, drugs and illegal firearms are routinely smuggled through the unmanned border.

In view of the massive protesst against the controversial fence, the Manipur government had set up a committee to review the situation.

While Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei has promised to look into the issues brought up by the villagers, and has also promised to send a ministerial team to the area once a report is received by the committee, the villagers continue to maintain cordial relations with their neighbours across the border.