Stop further proceedings in PM SHRI scheme: Kerala tells Centre
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Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala government on Wednesday sent a letter to the Union Education Ministry seeking to stop further proceedings in the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme in the state.
State General Education Secretary K Vasuki sent the letter requesting the union government to temporarily stop the proceedings, a source said.
The letter was sent after receiving the legal opinion of the Advocate General, the source added.
The General Education Department's move came weeks after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced the LDF government's decision to put on hold the implementation of the PM SHRI in view of strong resistance from the coalition partner CPI.
He had said that a seven-member Cabinet sub-committee had been constituted to study the implementation of the central school scheme.
Though the Department had recently signed an MoU with the Centre without even discussing the matter in the Cabinet, the CPI strongly opposed it, saying that the action would pave the way for the implementation of the RSS agenda in the education sector in the state.
Expressing happiness over the sending of the letter, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam said that the Left parties, including the CPI and the CPI(M), cannot take any decision other than requesting the Centre to stop its implementation in the state.
It is a success of everyone who strongly objects to the "infiltration of the RSS" in the education sector, Viswam added.
In 2020, the Centre announced the PM-SHRI scheme, which aims to upgrade existing schools into institutions aligned with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, supported by funds from the central and state governments in a 60:40 ratio. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme in September 2022.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
