Govt completes mother tongue survey of 576 languages
New Delhi (PTI): The Ministry of Home Affairs has successfully completed a mother tongue survey with field videography of 576 languages and dialects across the country.
According to the annual report of the home ministry for 2021-22, it has been planned to set up a web archive at the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to preserve and analyse the original flavour of each indigenous mother tongue.
For this purpose, proper editing in arranging the linguistic data by in-house linguists is under process, it said.
The Mother Tongue Survey of India (MTSI) project is successfully completed with field videography of 576 mother tongues, the report said.
The home ministry said the Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a regular research activity in the country since the 6th Five Year Plan.
In continuation to earlier publications under this project, the volume on LSI Jharkhand is finalised and that on LSI Himachal Pradesh is nearing completion.
The field work of LSI Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh is going on.
The videographed speech data of mother tongues is going to be uploaded on the NIC server for archiving purposes, the report said.
The home ministry said in the upcoming census, which has been kept on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several new initiatives have been taken for facilitating smooth conduct of the mega exercise, including use of the advanced geospatial technology.
The pre-census mapping activities include the preparation and updation of maps showing administrative units of the states and UTs, districts, sub-districts, villages, towns and wards within towns to ensure proper coverage of the entire geographical area of the country.
Further, efforts are being made for dissemination of Census results through web based interactive maps. Preparatory work in this direction has already been initiated.
Some of these initiatives include purchase of versions and re-modules of software for completing the Census mapping activities in a quick and efficient manner and all mapping manpower trained on using the latest software, the report said.
Jurisdictional changes that occurred in the country after Census 2011 till December 31, 2019 have been updated in the geo- referenced database and further updation is going on as the freezing date has been extended upto June 30, 2022.
More than 6 lakh maps (district, sub-district, village level) have been prepared and being uploaded in the in-house portal for census functionaries and the same will be further updated and finalised as per jurisdictional changes till June, 2022.
For the first time, the House Listing Block (HLB) Mobile Mapping App for geo-referencing of all enumeration blocks of the coming census in the country has been introduced and necessary training on this has been imparted to national and master trainers.
Instructions manual on use of mapping app has been prepared in English, Hindi and regional languages, the report said.
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Delhi: Father, son held for killing 19-year-old woman in suspected honour killing
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a man and his son for allegedly murdering his 19-year-old daughter in west Delhi's Hari Nagar area, an official said on Friday.
The case first came to light on April 1 after a PCR call was received around 2 pm, alleging that a woman had been killed by her family members and her body was being taken for last rites, he said.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Maneer (55), a vegetable vendor, and his son Meraj Ali (19), were arrested in connection with the case, the officer said.
The victim had been in a relationship with a man from her native place for the past two years, which was opposed by her father, Maneer and brother Meraj, he said.
"When the girl did not end the relationship despite objections, the family killed her," the officer said.
On April 1, the police said that when their team reached the spot, they found that the woman's body was being taken for burial.
Acting on the input, the burial process was stopped over suspicion of honour killing.
"Police intercepted the family members and took possession of the body," he said.
Police said that the man who had made the PCR told them that the woman was in love with his cousin.
During the inquiry, police also interacted with the PCR caller, who said his cousin, a friend of the deceased, had informed him about the situation and suspected foul play, prompting him to alert the police control room.
The body of the woman was subsequently shifted to the mortuary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for preservation and postmortem.
Police said that both the crime team and the forensic science laboratory (FSL) team were called to inspect the scene and collect evidence.
Police said that, as per the postmortem report, the cause of death was identified as smothering, indicating that the woman was suffocated.
A preliminary inquiry also revealed that the family had initiated preparations for the last rites soon after the woman's death, raising suspicion about the circumstances.
Initial investigation pointed to the family's opposition to the woman's relationship.
"The family members of the woman saw her with the man, and she was taken back home. We got to know that she was beaten up and even locked inside the house for some days," a source said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, police added.
