Shutdown in Kerala over SC/ST Act dilution
Thiruvananthapuram, April 9: Normal life across Kerala was paralysed on Monday following a shutdown in the state called by 30 Dalit organisations to protest against the dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A similar shutdown took place in the state on April 2 as part of the nationwide 24-hour protest called by trade unions.
The state-owned Road Transport Corporation, private bus operators and traders body had earlier announced that they would function normally. But in many places, the protesters blocked roads to prevent vehicles from plying.
In Kochi, the leader of Monday's protest Geetanandan and his supporters was taken into custody.
"The report that we have got from across the state is that by and large the protest appears to have become a success... There is no reason for taking us into custody," Geetanandan told the media.
Shops especially in Kannur district, were asked to down their shutters.
In Kollam, a state-owned bus was stoned. Teachers who were to reach the Class X examinations paper valuation camp in the district were held up after traffic was halted.
"Don't think we can reach the camp on time. We decided to come after the state government had assured us that traffic would not be stopped and the police had taken all steps to prevent it. But now we are stranded," said a group of female teachers.
In the state capital, IT professionals were able to reach the Technopark campus in convoys.
University examinations for the day were rescheduled.
On April 3, the Supreme Court declined to stay its ruling, which activists say has diluted the law aimed at preventing atrocities on Dalits and tribes, as it asserted that it wanted to protect innocent people from being punished.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
