London: Labour Party politician Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal to start women-only train carriages to save women from harassment has been dismissed by Education secretary Nicky Morgan and Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison. Others also opposed the proposal and accused Corbyn of peddling a defeatist, throwback solution to harassment. “Some women have raised with me that a solution to the rise in assault and harassment on public transport could be to introduce women-only carriages,” he said. Faced with a barrage of criticism, including from his three rivals, the hard-left candidate’s aides later claimed that he had only attempted to “kick-start a conversation amongst women”. Among senior politicians, at least, it proved to be a one-sided argument when it came to the merits of women-only carriages. Segregated travel is available in many parts of the world. “Ladies only” compartments were first introduced in 1874 by the Metropolitan Railway but phased out on British railways in 1977. Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said that segregation to “keep women safe” was turning the clock back, not tackling the problem. “We shouldn’t have to shut ourselves away from men for our own safety,” she added.
Male-dominated offices are bad for female health
Indiana (United States): After examining the stress level of women, academics said that women suffer more stress when working in male-dominated environments. Previous research had suggested that common problems included social isolation, performance pressures and sexual harassment. Such women also experienced obstacles to progression, being “invisible” to bosses and low levels of support. They said they felt colleagues doubted their competence. Researchers from Indiana University Bloomington said that continued exposure to such an atmosphere could cause vulnerability to disease and even early death. They measured whether women in occupations made up of 85 per cent or more men showed excessive stress by analysing their cortisol patterns. Cortisol is a hormone that fluctuates naturally through the day but people with high levels of stress have different patterns of fluctuation, they said.
Isis confirms Briton killed in drone attack
Raqqa (Syria): US officials said that British computer hacker Junaid Hussain from Birmingham, who became an Isis militant, has been killed in a drone strike in Syria. His British wife had earlier claimed that he was still alive. He is the 53rd British jihadist to die in Syria and Iraq, according to a database kept by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation. US sources said Hussain was the second most wanted British Isis member after Mohammad Emwazi, the Isis executioner who has featured in numerous beheading videos. Hussain was third on a US list of Isis targets at the time of his death and was said to have had a significant role as an instigator and director of plots in Britain, Europe and the US. Hussain was married to a British former punk rocker from Chatham, in Kent, named Sally Jones, 45. She converted to Islam and joined Isis after an online romance in 2014. The couple were dubbed “Mr and Mrs Terror”. There were claims that Jones had denied that her husband had been killed.
Indian babysitter jailed over child's death
Milford (US): An Indian national who had worked as a baby sitter in Connecticut was sentenced to 14 years in US federal prison for the death of a 19-month-old boy in her care last year. Kinjal Patel, 29, was sentenced under a plea deal entered in Superior Court in New Haven in which she did not admit guilt but conceded there was enough evidence to secure her conviction. Under the agreement she will also serve five years' probation for causing the death of Athiyan Sivakumar, who died at Yale-New Haven Hospital in January 2014 of multiple injuries, including a fractured skull. Police say Patel initially told them that while she was babysitting the boy he suffered a head injury after slipping on the floor. She later admitted she became angry and pushed him in the face, causing him to fall backward and strike his head. The boy died three days later.
Decomposing bodies of 70 migrants found in abandoned lorry
Vienna: Austrian police have found the decomposing bodies of more than 70 migrants in a lorry abandoned on a motorway near the Hungarian border. The grim discovery was made as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, met Balkan leaders in Vienna to discuss how to cope with the thousands of migrants pouring into the region each day. Police in the Burgenland region stopped to check the lorry, thinking it had broken down, but found no driver on board. They then noticed the smell of decomposing bodies, and signs that blood had been dripping from the back door, which was open. Officials said later that the lorry had been parked at the spot for some days, and that the migrants appeared to have been dead for days. No identities were released and no explanation for their deaths was given. Merkel said she was “very much shaken by the appalling news” and added: “This is a warning to us that we must quickly tackle the issue of immigration, in a European spirit, in a spirit of solidarity, and find solutions.”
Man opens fires at Indian eatery in Oz
Sydney: A gunman fired at a popular Indian restaurant in Sydney's Harris Park packed with about 40 people, but the bullet missed, hitting the diners by just centimeters, the second such incident in last four months. The gunman, dressed in a blue tracksuit, fired a shot through the front window of Billu's Indian Eatery, before fleeing.
Afghan forces retake Musa Qala from Taliban
London: Afghan forces have confirmed that they have retaken Musa Qala, a desolate district in Helmand Province, from the Taliban. According to reports, more than 20 British soldiers died at Musa Qala during Britain's involvement in the war. The Defence Ministry of Afghanistan said that around 220 Taliban fighters were killed in the operation. A tribal elder from Musa Qala Haji Muallem said that national security forces, backed by US airstrikes, captured large weapons caches and expelled the insurgents from the district governor's office and police headquarters. During the past four days, 33 security forces personnel have been killed, or injured, said Helmand Governor Mirza Khan Rahimi.
First ever MPhil degree in Hindi awarded in Pak
Islamabad: For the first time in Pakistan's history, a university has awarded an M.Phil degree in Hindi. Military-run National University of Modern Languages (NUML) here has become the first Pakistani university to award the degree. NUML student Shahin Zafar is the first student from a Pakistani university to receive an M.Phil degree in Hindi. Her thesis, titled 'Swatantryottra Hindi Upanyason Mein NasriChittran (1947-2000)' was supervised by Professor Iftikhar Husain Arif and endorsed by the Higher Education Commission, Dawn News reported. A university spokesperson was quoted as saying that due to dearth of Hindi experts in Pakistan, Zafar's thesis was evaluated by two experts from India's Aligarh Muslim University.
Thousands rally against Malaysia PM
Kuala Lumpur: Big crowds of protesters returned to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to demand the resignation of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over a financial scandal, after the first day of the massive rally passed peacefully on Saturday. Thousands of protesters camped overnight wearing yellow shirts of the Bersih movement the coalition for clean and fair elections even after authorities blocked the organizer's website and banned yellow attire and the group's logo in a bid to deter the rallies, which were also held in other Malaysian cities. Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad, who is spearheading the protest, joined the protesters for a second day and called for a “people's power” movement to topple Razak. “The only way for the people to get back to the old system is for them to remove this prime minister“, said Mahathir, who was once Najib's patron and is now his fiercest critic.
Indian man shot dead in US
Washington: A 25-year-old Indian national has been shot dead outside his house during an altercation in the US state of Virginia and the police have arrested one person in connection with the murder. Shaolin Chandam from Manipur was shot several times during an argument in LaSalle Gardens in Hampton last week, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Hampton Police arrested 25-year-old Keenan Palmer in connection with the case. The investigation found that the suspect and victim got into a verbal altercation on August 25 during which the suspect displayed a firearm and shot the victim, police said in a statement.
Indian American honoured with top scholar award
New York: An Indian American professor from Duke University is set to be presented with the "2015 SMS Emerging Scholar Award" from Illinois-based Strategic Management Society (SMS).
Aaron Chatterji will be honoured at the 2016 SMS annual international conference and will receive $5,000 as prize money. He will also present his research at the conference, India West news portal reported. The prize is awarded to a relatively young or new scholar who displays exemplary scholarship that promises to have an impact on future strategic management practice. Chatterji served as a senior economist with the White House Council of Economic Advisers where he worked on a wide range of policies relating to entrepreneurship, innovation, infrastructure and economic growth. He has authored several columns in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, has appeared on TV and radio and was recently profiled in The Financial Times and Fortune.
