Inclusivity one step to gender justice, say speakers
Highlighting the systemic inequalities faced by women in Latin America, she said: 'One in three women experience sexual harassment. And many indigenous, migrant and young women remain invisible in mainstream policymaking.'
On Friday, leaders from various countries attended a panel discussion on Justice and a Feminist Future, under the theme 'Delivering Global Justice' at the Bharat Summit 2025.
Congress MP Praniti Shinde spoke on the need for structural reform in implementing inclusivity, particularly concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Citing Telangana's Mythri scheme, which supports transpersons in law enforcement roles, she stated, 'We need less talk and more action. Inclusion must be visible in employment, budgeting, and governance.'
Former Union minister MM Pallam Raju referred to policy frameworks such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Right to Education Act and the Mahalakshmi scheme, which offers free bus travel for women in Telangana.
He said education and mobility play a vital role in community upliftment. 'When a woman in a family is educated, the whole family gets educated,' he said, noting the wider impact of women's empowerment on social and economic development.
Former Union minister Salman Khurshid advocated tax incentives to increase women's employment and questioned the underrepresentation of women in heavy industries such as infrastructure. 'Women must be part of every sector. The answer is not just the right laws—but the right mindset—and the right men who stand for this cause,' he said.
Former Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde spoke of the challenges in Europe, particularly declining birth rates and structural disincentives for working women. She called for tax policy reforms and stressed the urgent need for universal childcare. 'If families cannot combine work and parenting, gender equality will remain out of reach,' she said, adding that any backlash against feminism must be firmly countered.
The session was attended by Rabia Abdallah, senior leader from Tanzania's Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM); Monica Fein, a Socialist Party politician from Argentina; Hamid Maysoon; Wael Alatoom; and Undram Chinbat, an MP from Mongolia.
Rahul, Kharge in Kashmir, summit plenary postponed
The Bharat Summit-2025 commenced in Hyderabad on Friday with delegates from various countries participating in the discussions on a range of current issues. However, the plenary session was postponed to Saturday as AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi travelled to Srinagar to meet those injured in the Pahalgam terrorist attack.Kharge and Rahul were expected to deliver the keynote addresses.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was also absent due to the rescheduling of the plenary session. The inaugural day included panel discussions on topics such as Gender Justice and a Feminist Future, Fact vs Fiction: Countering Disinformation, Youth and Politics of Tomorrow, and Shaping New Multilateralism. Speakers — leaders, policymakers and experts across various sectors — on each panel shared their respective views during the sessions.
Organisers, including Congress leaders and state government officials, welcomed the participants at the start of the summit. AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, several ministers, MPs and MLAs were present at the summit on the first day. Saturday's agenda includes panel discussions on Overcoming Polarisation with Pluralism, Diversity and Respect, Accelerating Climate Justice, Economic Justice in Uncertain Times, and Peace and Justice in a Multipolar World. The summit will conclude with a valedictory session, following which delegates are expected to visit the Indira Mahila Shakti Bazaar at Shilparamam.
'Youth gravitating towards far right a disturbing trend'
During a panel discussion on 'Youth and the Politics of Tomorrow', organised as part of Bharat Summit, young political leaders, scholars and activists from across the world tackled some of the most pressing issues facing global youth today: climate change, inequality, political polarisation and civic disengagement.
The session featured participants from India, New Zealand, Latin American and several other countries, each bringing their own unique perspectives shaped by their cultural and political landscapes. Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, MP G Vamshi Krishna, MLC Balmoor Venkat, NSUI president Varun Choudhary, New Zealand MP Arena Williams, Liinesh Selluandan, Maina Hay, James Steve Serrano and Jesus Tapia participated in the panel discussion.
Panelists expressed serious concern over about growing political polarisation, particularly among youth. 'There's a disturbing trend of young boys gravitating toward the far right, fuelled by social media algorithms that reward sensationalism over substance,' said the New Zealand MP Arena Williams. This phenomenon, she noted, is reshaping democratic discourse and influencing voting behaviour in dangerous ways.
Answering a question on nepotism in politics, minister Ponnam Prabhakar stated that there were many leaders like him who have come from grassroots without any backing. He said that youth should take part in the parliamentary proceedings. The discussion concluded with a strong consensus: young people are not just stakeholders in future policies -- they are essential participants in shaping them now.
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FIR is filed against psephologist Sanjay Kumar but claims about voter roll errors remain unaddressed
It's been a tough couple of days for Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Delhi-based think tank Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. On August 17, Kumar had tweeted out erroneous data, claiming significant changes in the voter list for four Maharashtra constituencies in the six months between the Lok Sabha elections in the middle of last year and the Assembly elections in November. He apologised for the mistake, but it led to an avalanche of criticism and even abuse from Bharatiya Janata Party supporters. On Wednesday, the police in BJP-ruled Maharashtra filed an FIR against him. The BJP is attempting to use Kumar's mistake to rebut the Congress's allegations that the ruling party has been guilty of 'vote chori' or vote stealing, winning elections by manipulating voter lists. In fact, the Congress's 'vote chori' campaign started with a press conference on August 7 by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi presenting instances of faulty voter rolls in the Mahadevapura assembly constituency in Karnataka. No data on Maharashtra was used at all. The BJP's counter-campaign is using Kumar's error about Maharashtra to deflect attention from discrepancies in the voter list in Karnataka that the Election Commission is yet to explain. Kumar's claims On August 17, Sanjay Kumar tweeted some startling numbers. He wrote that the Ramtek Assembly constituency in Maharashtra had 4.6 lakh voters during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In the Assembly elections six months later, this decreased to 2.86 lakh – a staggering reduction of 38.5% of the electorate, he said. Kumar shared similar data for another assembly constituency, Devlali, where the electorate had been cut down by 1.67 lakh voters in the same period – that is by 36.8% . The trend in two other assemblies, Nashik West and Hingna, was completely opposite. The electorate there increased by more than 40%. The Congress was quick to use Kumar's figures as further proof for its 'vote chori' campaign. Pawan Khera, the party's media chief, tweeted out a graph using Kumar's data, without checking for accuracy. But Kumar's numbers were erroneous. His team had compared the figures of different constituencies. For instance, in his Ramtek example, 4.6 lakh was actually the total number of voters in the nearby Kamthi assembly segment. In fact, Ramtek's electorate increased by only 10,474 voters between the two elections: a modest increase of 3.78%. Similarly, the electorate in Devlali increased by 4.04%, Nashik West by 6% and Hingna by 6.12%. When several Twitter users pointed out the errors, Kumar apologised on Tuesday. He wrote that election figures had been 'misread by our data team', adding: 'I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation.' The fallout Once Kumar had admitted his error, the BJP was swift to attack – not him, but Gandhi and the Congress, using the error to tar the 'vote chori' campaign. Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis claimed that the Congress party's allegations were based on data given by the CSDS, which had since 'retracted all of their earlier data'. BJP publicity cell head Amit Malviya asked: 'Where does this leave Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, which brazenly targeted the Election Commission and went so far as to brand genuine voters as fake?' Even the Election Commission joined in. On August 11, the chief electoral officer in Bihar – who has nothing to do with elections in Maharashtra – tweeted Kumar's apology and said that his 'data was quoted by many INC and opposition leaders for questioning EC'. The Indian Council of Social Science Research, which oversees the CSDS and other research organisations, said it would issue it a show cause notice for 'data manipulation' and undermining the sanctity of the Election Commission. The Indian Council of Social Science Research functions under the Union Ministry of Education. Its notice even alleged that the CSDS published media stories based on a 'biased interpretation' of the Election Commission's special intensive revision of the voter rolls in Bihar – a likely reference to the recent Lokniti-CSDS survey on the exercise. Rahul Gandhi's allegations In his August 7 press conference in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said that his team had spent six months examining the voter rolls in Karnataka's Mahadevapura assembly constituency and found found discrepancies in 100,250 names. These dubious voters, he alleged, had helped the BJP win the larger Bangalore central parliamentary seat during last year's Lok Sabha polls. Gandhi's presentation used actual voter lists published by the Election Commission to make its claims. This data is publicly available and not from the CSDS, as Fadnavis claimed. The Election Commission is yet to refute Gandhi's allegations. Instead, it has repeatedly asked him to submit an affidavit swearing by his claims of voter list manipulation or apologise. Gandhi has previously claimed that the 40 lakh voters who were added in Maharashtra between the Lok Sabha polls and the state assembly polls last year were instrumental in undermining his party's electoral fortunes. The Congress went from being the single-largest party winning 13 out of 48 seats in the Lok Sabha to bagging just 16 out of 288 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. Again, this is official Election Commission data, and not from the CSDS. The statistical reports for the Lok Sabha polls and the assembly polls in Maharashtra available on the Election Commission's show that the state enrolled 40.8 lakh voters between the two polls. The CSDS does not publish any election data. Its flagship study is actually a Lokniti-CSDS survey called ' National Election Studies ', which gauges public opinion on crucial issues before and after every Lok Sabha poll. None of these surveys have been retracted.
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2024 elections
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Time of India
27 minutes ago
- Time of India
Oppn corners Sukhu govt over misleading job data, unfulfilled promises
Shimla: The opposition BJP, on the third day of the 12-day monsoon session of Himachal Pradesh assembly, cornered the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress govt over the "misleading figures" on jobs provided to the youth and non-fulfillment of its election promises, including providing one lakh jobs in a year and five lakh in five years. BJP legislator from Sulah constituency, Vipin Singh Parmar, during the question hour on Wednesday, brought it to the notice of the House that in July last year, the state govt had claimed to have provided 34,980 jobs to the youth, but on Aug 15 this year, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced that only 23,191 jobs were provided. Questioning the gap of over 10,000 jobs in a year, Parmar pointed out that the state govt was issuing contradictory statements and misleading the people. As the CM was listing the department-wise jobs provided by the govt to date, along with the efforts to legally provide youth overseas employment, the BJP legislators remained unconvinced and marched out of the House raising slogans. Vidhan Sabha speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania ruled that the walkout by the opposition, despite an exhaustive reply from the CM, was uncalled for and would not go on record. Giving an account of 23,191 jobs provided so far, Sukhu said this included 7,000 jobs in the education department; 5,000 pump operators in the irrigation department; 1,100 nurses; 600 posts of junior basic teachers (JBT); 2,061 Van Mitras; 484 college lecturers; 318 drawing teachers; 200 medical officers; and 150 nurses at IGMC Shimla. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Passive Income Ideas Sitting at Home Mone Click Here Undo He further said the result for 1,300 vacancies in the police department would be announced soon and the recruitment for 6,200 posts of nursery-trained teachers (NTT) as well as school aaya (woman caregiver) would also be completed this year. Responding to a question by BJP MLAs Vipin Singh Parmar and Satpal Singh Satti, the CM informed the House that in the last two years till Nov 20, 2024, a total of 5,960 posts in different departments had been created and a total of 1,783 posts lying vacant for many years were abolished. Leader of opposition Jairam Thakur, meanwhile, said there was a saying, "if you can't convince them, confuse them", and accused the state govt of telling lies within and outside the legislative assembly. He reminded the CM of the pre-election promise of sanctioning one lakh pensionable jobs in the first cabinet meeting and said it was over two and a half years, but the state govt claimed to have provided only 23,191 jobs till now. Thakur further said many posts were advertised by the previous BJP govt, which the Congress govt had now filled. Una legislator Satti quipped that it seemed Sukhu was not invited when the Congress had prepared its election manifesto. He asked, when will the state govt fulfil its promise of providing Rs 1,500 per month to the women under Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi? Referring to CM Sukhu's wife and Dehra MLA, Kamlesh Thakur, Satti said: "Aapne bhabhi ji ko to pension laga di." To this, Sukhu replied: "Inki (BJP) daya se Kamlesh ji ko salary lagi hai, pension nahi." The CM assured the House of fulfilling all the promises made by the party, within the five-year term of the govt. No cricket with Pakistan Congress MLA from Indora, Malender Rajan, during the zero hour, said given the rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, the central govt as well as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should be requested through Vidhan Sabha to revoke the permission granted to the Indian cricket team to play against Pakistan in the forthcoming Asia Cup. Rajan said playing cricket with Pakistan would be an injustice to the martyrs of our nation and the family members of the innocent civilians killed by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. The BCCI on Tuesday declared the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup with Suryakumar Yadav as the captain. The Asia Cup matches are scheduled to be held from Sept 9 to 28 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Sexual abuse in orphanage CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu informed the House that an FIR had been registered and the investigation was in progress into the alleged sexual abuse of a minor girl in an orphanage in Bharmaur of Chamba district. He said stern action would be taken against the guilty. BJP MLA from Bharmour Dr Janak Raj, through a calling attention notice, had demanded stringent action against the delinquent govt officials in the case. The MLA highlighted that as the minor gave birth to a child, the authorities shockingly left the girl along with the child in the house of the accused and as the word spread in the village, the victim was later married to a person in Jammu and Kashmir and the child was handed over to someone else. The MLA further said he came to know about the incident on Aug 11 and informed the resident commissioner of Pangi, Chamba deputy commissioner, and even the chief minister, but no action was taken for six days. He said it was only when he sent the issue to the Vidhan Sabha, he was informed on Aug 19 that an FIR was registered and the accused along with the person to whom the minor was married had been arrested. Sadbhavana pledge Earlier, as the House proceedings started on Wednesday, speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania administered the 'Sadbhavana Day Pledge' to the legislative assembly members on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which is observed as Sadbhavana Diwas. The pledge called for working for the emotional oneness and harmony of all the people of India regardless of caste, region, religion, or language and to resolve all differences through dialogue and constitutional means without resorting to violence. Vidhan Sabha centenary Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania also apprised the House that as the construction of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, also known as the historic Council Chamber, was completed with Rs 8.5 lakh on Aug 20, 1925, it had completed a century. He said it was inaugurated by the then Viceroy of India, Lord Reading, on Aug 20, 1925, and the first session of the legislative assembly was held in the building on Oct 1, 1963. MSID:: 123412791 413 | Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
