Punjabi medicos in UK join anti-foeticide campaign (Parvesh Sharma , TNN | Oct 17, 2011, 05.41AM IST)

PATIALA: Medical students of London and doctors of British Medical Council, hailing from Punjab, have joined hands with Dr Harshindar Kaur, deputy medical superintendent of Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, for a campaign against dowry and female foeticide in their country.
About 1,100 people have signed the petition for the campaign, started under the banner of Hail the Girl Child, in London and Brimingham during her visit to England from October 6 to 15, 2011. The petition is in continuation of Dr Kaur's international campaign to stop female foeticide in various countries.
Earlier, the drive received overwhelming support in Canada, USA and Europe. Students and youngsters from various colleges and universities joined the initiative of Dr Kaur and have firmly resolved to stand by her and follow her footsteps in an effort to stop the menace of foeticide and infanticide.
During her visit to UK, she addressed medical students of Guys Hospital and Kings College, London. The doctors of Asian wing of British Medical council also supported Dr Kaur.
At a meeting with officers of department for international development, which is a branch of theUK government dealing with providing aid to developing countries for various projects, Dr Kaur apprised them about the problem of female foeticide, infanticide and domestic violence among Asian communities in England.
"The department has been assured that UK government will take these problems seriously and give full support to me," Dr Kaur told TOI from England.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punjabi-medicos-in-UK-join-anti-foeticide-campaign/articleshow/10383324.cms

Baby girl rescued after being buried alive

A farmer was at work in the afternoon on Thursday when he heard a baby crying. He followed the sound to discover a baby girl, who seemed to have been buried alive. She had managed to push her head above the ground. The farmer, who is from Madhya Pradesh's Bodna village, rushed the child to a local hospital. Doctors believe she was 48 hours old before she was rescued.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/video/national-26073656/baby-girl-rescued-after-being-buried-alive-26862020.html

Man on a mission to curb female foeticide

GURGAON: His father, a village priest, was an ambassador for spreading awareness against female foeticide.

Carrying that legacy forward, Ram Niwas Sharma, a realtor, has now embarked on a mission to reach out to the rural folk and discourage them from killing the unborn girl child.

Sharma, a resident of South City-I, has produced a Haryanvi movie titled Aathwan Vachan (Eighth Pledge), which will be made tax free in the state.

The state revenue minister, Satpal Sangwan, who watched the movie at a multiplex in Gurgaon on Wednesday evening, made this announcement to ensure that the movie is watched by a majority of people in Haryana. He said the government would also make efforts to screen this movie in villages through the information, public relations and cultural affairs department.

"My father used to take an eighth pledge from newly weds during their marriage ceremony that they would not go for pre-natal sex detection and would never commit foeticide. After he passed away, I thought of producing this movie to spread his message," 50-year-old Sharma said. The lyrics in this movie have been penned by his late father.

Sharma said most of the 140-minute movie was shot in a farmhouse in Farrukhnagar and parts of it were shot in Aklimpur village near the main city. "Most of the actors in this movie are from Delhi and Haryana. It is a low-budget film made only to promote awareness against female foeticide," Sharma said.

The director of the movie, Krishan Naharia, said the film is aimed not at earning money but to educate the masses.

The Haryanvi language movie shows how a wicked mother-in-law and her son compel a pregnant woman to get her child aborted after ultrasonography tests reveal that she is carrying a baby girl. The film depicts the ordeal of the woman, who is forced to kill her first child, but manages to escape when she is asked to terminate her pregnancy for the second time. She gives birth to a baby girl, who grows up to become a police inspector and arrests the doctor, who used to carry out abortions in exchange for money.


Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Man-on-a-mission-to-curb-female-foeticide/articleshow/7782924.cms

Punjabi students in Canada launch campaign against dowry, foeticide(Amarinder Singh, TNN | Sep 26, 2011, 05.50AM IST)

PATIALA: As many as 250 students of Punjabi origin in Surrey in Canada have vowed against dowry and female foeticide and have launched a signature campaign to secure the support of their parents and other relatives.

This followed a meeting of these students ofKwantlen Polytechnic University with Patiala-based women rights activist, Dr Harshinder Kaur. During her visit to Vancouver this week, Kaur had conducted meetings with young students of the university and motivated them to launch a campaign against female foeticide and dowry in their areas.

"Female foeticide and dowry are not confined to our country these days. Punjabis settled abroad are also facing the same problem as we in Punjab. They migrated to foreign shores, but there are many who still have not changed their minds and prefer only male child," said Kaur.

Kaur said that youths in Canada were under pressure from their parents. Many young students alleged that if they don't follow the directions of their Punjabi parents, they may disown them.

Also, some girls alleged their parents have been pressuring them to marry only in Punjab so that they could save dowry money, said Kaur. "In Punjabi community, in some parts of Brampton and Toronto, the sex ratio has come to down to 876 as they don't want girls," said Kaur.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Punjabi-students-in-Canada-launch-campaign-against-dowry-feticide/articleshow/10121698.cms
Pic source:http://www.topnews.in/law/bhopal-students-launch-girl-child-campaign-247755

Save the Girl Child: 7 Celebs Who Support the Cause

Changing the mind-set of a country so strongly rooted in backward thinking and beliefs is a hard task. So while most celebrities are busy supporting Anna Hazare, some are lending their star-dom to a more rampant cause.

Source: http://idiva.com/photogallery-work-life/save-the-girl-child-7-celebs-who-support-the-cause/7355

5 Must-Knows About the Save the Girl Child Campaign

Image courtesy: © Thinkstockphotos/ Getty images

iDiva is celebrating September as Save the Girl Child month because we believe that our country still has some serious problems when it comes to sex selection and gender discrimination. Check out these statistics if you don't believe us. As citizens, it becomes our responsibility to do what we can to create awareness and put an end to female foeticide/ infanticide (even if it just means reporting such a crime). That's why we at iDiva bring you all you need to know about the government's initiative and how you can be a part of it.

1) Know that sex selection is illegal by Indian law. The Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT Act) 1994 prohibits sex selection, before or after conception. Its purpose is to prevent misuse of technologies, such as ultrasound, in situations where information on sex of the foetus is found out for the specific purpose of eliminating girls. It is illegal to test the sex of the foetus for non-medical reasons. The law provides for imprisonment, which may be extended to 3 years and fine up to Rs.10,000 for the first conviction. So if you know of doctors/ hospitals that engage in such practices, you can report them (anonymously, if you want to).

2) In 2009, the government declared January 24 as National Girl Child Day. Thereafter, the Women and Child Development Ministry launched a sustained campaign to create awareness about female foeticide, domestic violence and malnutrition in women and children.

Contest: Take part in iDiva's Girls Have All the Fun Contest and WIN a Vineyard Tour for Two worth Rs.28000!

3) The state of Maharashtra has its own website to promote the Save the Girl Child cause called Amchi Mulgi. They also have a toll free number (1800-233-4475) you can call to report sex selection.

4) The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is also set to launch their 'beti bachao' campaign. They have appealed to their partymen, who don't have a girl child, to adopt one and to all party cadre to print an appeal on all wedding invitation cards against the practice of prenatal sex-determination. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP president in that state Prabhat Jha are planning to adopt girls too!

5) Project Sukanya, an initiative of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to save the girl child was launched last month. The Pre Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PC-PNDT) cell has been set up at IMA and a proposal has been submitted to the PMC for devising a software to check sex determination.

We all know that being a girl is super special. Sadly, not everyone seems to think so. That's why iDiva is celebrating September as "Save the Girl Child" month. Join us as we raise awareness about this cause, highlight initiatives that promote girl children and explore what we can do to make a difference. There's also loads of fun in store 'coz we're celebrating just how special we girls really are! 

SOURCE:http://idiva.com/news-relationships/5-mustknows-about-the-save-the-girl-child-campaign/7618

5L people vow against female foeticide(Sep 7, 2011, 05.31AM IST)

KARNAL: To check the state's dwindling sex ratio, Karnal district has come up with an innovative idea of organizing pledge ceremonies on the 6th of every month for saving the girl child.

On the first day of the initiative on Tuesday, more than 5 lakh people from different walks of life participated in the ceremonies held across the district and took an oath to protect the girl child in family and in neighborhood. In secretariat, the oath was administrated by deputy commissioner Neelam Kasni, who urged participants not to have any bias against the girl child.

The DC had recently appealed for active participation in the ceremony, which saw an overwhelming response. Perhaps, for the first time in the country, people from all hues, including government employees, teachers, students, doctors, lawyers, law officers, farmers, businessmen and representatives of different religious organizations, among others, participated in such an endeavour.

The DC said stringent laws alone could not check female foeticide without society's participation.

"Though some villages are showing an improvement, the district has a sex ratio of 813, which needs to be rectified. The district public relation and information office has been told to rope in 'bhajan mandalis' to spread the message through street plays," the DC added. 


Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/5L-people-vow-against-female-foeticide/articleshow/9891506.cms