Director of Malayalam movie booked for hurting Muslims' sentiments
Hyderabad: Police in Hyderabad on Wednesday registered a case for hurting religious sentiments of Muslims against the director of a Malayalam movie, whose song featuring actress Priya Prakash Varrier has gone viral.
On a complaint by some youths in the old city of Hyderabad, the police registered a case against Omar Lulu, director of "Oru Adhaar Love" and some others.
The case under Indian Penal Code's Section 295 (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) was registered at Falaknuma Police Station, said Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayana.
According to the police official, the case was registered on a complaint by Abdul Muqeet and others, who alleged that the names of Prophet Mohammad and his wife Bibi Khateeja were used in the song. They sought an immediate ban on the song as it hurt their religious sentiments.
The DCP said the police were investigating the case and appropriate action would be taken after taking legal opinion and ascertaining the facts.
The song "Manikya Malaraya Poovi..." went viral in the social media over the last few days apparently because of the wink by Priya.
Abdul Muqeet, an engineering student, told reporters that he noticed the objectionable part of the song while listening to it on the internet. He informed his other friends, and they decided to lodge a complaint with the police. He said if necessary they would take legal action against the filmmaker.
The Malayalam film is scheduled to be released on March 1.
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Centre scraps 'no-detention policy' for classes 5, 8 students who fail to clear year-end exams
New Delhi, Dec 23: The Centre has scrapped the 'no-detention policy' for classes 5 and 8 in schools governed by it allowing them to fail students who do not clear the year-end exams, according to officials.
Following the amendment to the Right to Education Act (RTE) in 2019, at least 18 states and Union Territories have already done away with the 'no-detention policy' for the two classes.
According to a gazette notification, after the conduct of regular examination, if a child fails to fulfil the promotion criteria, as notified from time to time, he shall be given additional instruction and opportunity for re-examination within a period of two months from the date of declaration of results.
"If the child appearing in the re-examination fails to fulfil the promotion criteria again, he shall be held back in fifth class or eighth class, as the case may be.
"During the holding back of the child, the class teacher shall guide the child as well as the parents of the child, if necessary, and provide specialised inputs after identifying the learning gaps at various stages of assessment," the notification said.
However, the government has clarified that no child shall be expelled from any school till the completion of elementary education.
"The examination and re-examination shall be competency-based examinations to achieve the holistic development of the child and not be based on memorisation and procedural skills.
"The Head of the school shall maintain a list of children who are held back and personally monitor the provisions provided for specialised inputs to such children and their progress with respect to the identified learning gaps," the notification read.
According to senior Ministry of Education officials, the notification will be applicable to over 3,000 schools run by the central government including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navaodyala Vidyalayas and Sainik Schools.
"Since school education is a state subject, states can make their decision in this regard. Already 16 states and 2 UTs including Delhi have done away with the no-detention policy for these two classes.
"Haryana and Puducherry have not made any decision yet while remaining states and UTs have decided to continue with the policy," a senior official said.
States and UTs that have scrapped the no-detention policy include Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked about the delay in the notification since the amendment was approved in 2019, the official explained that the new National Education Policy (NEP) was announced within six months of the amendment.
"By the time amendment was made, NEP was announced within few months. The department (school education and literacy) decided to wait till the recommendations of the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF) were ready to be able to take a holistic view.
"The NCF was ready in 2023 and subsequently the Ministry of Education took the decision and made some changes in rules of RTE implementation," the official added.
