EPFO gives employers final opportunity till Jan 31 to upload wage details for higher pensions

Parbhani (Maharashtra), Dec 16 (IANS) The provisional autopsy report of a Dalit man who died in judicial custody in Parbhani has stated that he succumbed to ‘shock following multiple injuries’, as the district observed a peaceful bandh to protest the incident here on Monday.

The autopsy of Somnath Vyankat Suryavanshi, 35, was conducted at the Government Medical College in Aurangabad this morning and his body was brought back to Parbhani for the last rites which were performed under tight police security this evening.

Many areas of Parbhani town and district observed a peaceful shutdown (bandh) on Monday after the alleged accused in last week’s violence — after a statue of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was desecrated — died under mysterious circumstances in judicial custody on Sunday.

Earlier, the Parbhani Police claimed that the arrested accused Suryavanshi was admitted to a hospital following chest pains, but the provisional post-mortem report has raised fresh questions, and senior leaders of Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) plan to visit the district soon.

Rattled by the incident on the eve of the Maharashtra Legislature Session which got underway in Nagpur on Monday, the Parbhani Police deployed tight security measures to ensure a peaceful shutdown.

The state-level bandh call was given by Republican Sena President Anandraj Y. Ambedkar, his elder brother and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) President Prakash Y. Ambedkar, other Dalit parties/groups including Republican Party of India (A) President and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, Republican Party of India (K) chief Sachin Kharat, Communist Party of India (M) leaders Ashok Dhawale and Uday Narkar, also supported.

However, Suryavanshi’s supporters, Dalit parties plus the MVA allies Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sushma Andhare, Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s Dr Jitendra Awhad and Congress leaders have pointed fingers at the law enforcers alleging he was brutally thrashed by the police after he was picked up and succumbed to his grave injuries — as the provisional post-mortem report has said.

“The custodial death of Somnath Suryavanshi — a Bhim Sainik belonging to the Wadar community — in Parbhani is gut-wrenching, sickening and intolerable to say the least. What is more deplorable is that his death happened in judicial custody despite his bail application being approved,” said a grim Prakash Y. Ambedkar, who visited the town on Monday.

On December 10, an unidentified person vandalised a copy of the Constitution in the hands of Dr. Ambedkar’s statue outside Parbhani Railway Station, sparking tensions that degenerated into massive violence for the next couple of days.

Subsequently, the perpetrator of the act was identified as one ‘disturbed’ person named Sopan Pawar.

Post-violence, the Parbhani Police swooped down and booked or arrested around 300 locals, mostly Dalits including Suryavanshi, who was nabbed on December 12 and died in judicial custody barely in 72 hours.

Slamming the incident, Union Minister Athawale urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to order a thorough probe into the custodial death, dismissal of the concerned police officials, a compensation of Rs 25 lakh for Suryavanshi’s family, and withdrawal of police cases filed against all the accused in last week’s violence, and sparing those people who were not involved in the mayhem.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) Around 259 districts in the country, almost one-third of the total 800 districts, have a higher rate of child marriage than the national average, the Parliament was informed on Friday.

In a reply in Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi said as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1,002 cases were registered in 2022 under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006.

She said the number of cases registered under the PCMA was 501, 525, 785 and 1,050 in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

The Minister said a ‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat/Child Marriage Free Bharat’ portal, an online platform dedicated to supporting the campaign’s vision by raising awareness, preventing child marriages, and facilitating the effective reporting of such incidents, has also been launched by the government.

This will act as a centralised platform which can provide information about Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) at the central level, awareness programmes conducted and facilitate reporting of child marriage incidences, she said.

Since the enactment of the PCMA Act, 2006, the prevalence of child marriage has been reduced by half from approximately 47 per cent as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) in 2005-06 to approximately 23.3 per cent during 2019-21 as per NFHS-5.

The Minister noted that a few States have a higher prevalence of child marriage compared to the national average.

“According to the NFHS-5 data, there are around 259 districts in the country where the rate of child marriage is higher than the national average,” he said.

Highlighting government efforts to counter child marriages, the Minister said the ‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat/Child Marriage Free Bharat’ portal launched on November 27 this year coincided with a national-level training session for all Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs), for both attending physically and virtually, to enhance their effectiveness in this initiative.

The ‘Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat’ campaign is one of the most important imperatives to promote education, skilling, enterprise and entrepreneurship among girls and women to realise the vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’, she said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The Centre’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has succeeded in attracting an investment of Rs 1.46 lakh crore in the manufacturing sector and has created over 9.5 lakh jobs, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Lok Sabha.

As of date, 764 applications have been approved under PLI schemes across 14 sectors, the minister said in a written reply in the Lower House.

“As of August 2024, across 14 sectors, investment of Rs 1.46 lakh crore have been realised, which has resulted in incremental production/sales of over Rs 12.50 lakh crore, employment generation of over 9.5 lakh, and exports surpassing Rs 4 lakh crore,” the minister said.

Incentives of Rs 2,968 crore in eight sectors and Rs 6,753 crore in nine sectors during 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively, have been disbursed under the scheme, he said.

Goyal explained that keeping in view India’s vision of becoming self-reliant PLI schemes have been announced for 14 key sectors with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore to enhance manufacturing capabilities and exports.

According to a Goldman Sachs report, over the past ten years, capital-intensive sub-sectors such as electronics, chemicals and machinery within India’s manufacturing sector, have seen major growth in both employment and exports.

The manufacturing sector has been undergoing a significant transformation, driven by government reforms aimed at boosting competitiveness and fostering sustainable economic growth.

At the heart of this transformation are the PLI Schemes, which have emerged as important catalysts in enhancing domestic production, encouraging technological advancements and attracting foreign and local investments, the report observes.

The report further states that growth has surged in India’s capital-intensive industries with the government focusing on promoting Assembly of electronics, machinery, and pharmaceutical products. This has resulted in the successful outcome of exports to developed markets experiencing double-digit growth. It also reflects India’s progress in creating an export basket comprising more high-value products.

–IANS

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