Latest news with #Mahendran
NDTV
7 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
2 Indian-Origin Singaporeans Charged With Organizing Illegal Assemblies
Kathmandu: Two Indian-origin Singaporeans were charged on Tuesday for organising illegal public assemblies of foreign workers demanding payments owed to one of them. Rebecca Rubini Ravinthiran, 33, and Vee Derrick Mahendran, 36, were charged with abetting foreign workers to commit offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), Channel News Asia reported. A joint statement by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the police said Ravinthiran was accused of directing 15 foreign workers under her employment to gather outside two construction sites on October 24, 2024, to demand payments owed to her company. No permit was granted for the events, it said. As per the statement, Mahendran aided the offence by going to a construction site to "ensure that the foreign workers complied with the woman's instructions". Ravinthiran faces 17 charges in total while Mahendran has 11, the Channel report said. Two of Ravinthiran's charges are under the Public Order Act, while 15 are under the EFMA. Each of Ravinthiran's charges under the EFMA said she instigated a foreign worker to breach the condition of their work permit, with 15 workers involved. Mahendran's charges comprise two under the Public Order Act and nine under the EFMA. Mahendran is said to have abetted Ravinthiran by helping organise two public assemblies at the two construction sites to publicise the same cause. He allegedly helped in the preparation of the placards the day before, and coordinated with Ravinthiran on the gathering of the workers to hold the placards. Both cases will return to court on June 24. Last October, MOM said on Facebook that it was aware of a social media post regarding several migrant workers holding placards at a worksite. MOM said it engaged the workers involved and found they were not owed salary payments, and did not have any concerns about their well-being. K Shanmugam, then Law and Home Affairs Minister, said MOM was investigating the employer for illegally deploying the workers and abetting them to perform illegal acts under the EFMA. A person convicted of organising a public assembly without a permit can be fined up to SGD 5,000 (USD 3,890). Under the EFMA, a person convicted of abetting a foreign employee to break the terms of his work pass can face up to 12 months in jail, and be fined up to SGD 10,000 (USD 7,780) or both.
Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Straits Times
2 charged over getting foreign workers to hold placards in protest at worksite
2 charged over getting foreign workers to hold placards in protest at worksite SINGAPORE – Two Singaporeans were charged on May 27 after they allegedly got foreign workers to hold placards at a construction site and demand outstanding payment owed to a company. Rebecca Rubini Ravinthiran, 33, who was a director at the aggrieved company Apex Engineering, was handed a total of 17 charges, while Vee Derrick Mahendran, 36, was handed 11 charges. Ravinthiran was handed two charges over organising a public assembly without a permit, while Mahendran was given two charges for abetting her alleged offences. Ravinthiran 's 15 other charges and Mahendran 's nine other charges were for instigating various foreign employees to break a condition in their work passes. According to charge sheets, Ravinthiran had allegedly organised two public assemblies at about 11am and 11.30am on Oct 24, 2024, to demand that Apex Engineering be paid the outstanding payment. She allegedly did so by instructing six workers from Apex Engineering to gather at a construction site at Jalan Satu and hold placards, and nine workers to do the same at a construction site at Tengah Garden Walk. Mahendran had allegedly aided in the preparation of placards publicising the cause the day before and coordinating with her on the gathering of workers to hold placards on the day itself. He had also allegedly supervised the group of workers at Tengah Garden Walk on Oct 24, 2024, by updating Ravinthiran on his observations, and conveying her instructions to the group. The pair will return to court on June 24 for a further mention of their case. In a joint statement on May 26, the police and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said no further action will be taken against the workers as the police have ascertained that they were acting under the instructions of their employer, and had no intention of breaking the law. Those found guilty of organising a public assembly or procession without a permit can be fined up to $5,000. Anyone convicted of abetting a foreign employee to break the terms of his work pass may face a jail term of up to 12 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. In a Facebook post in October 2024, MOM said it was aware of a social media post regarding several migrant workers holding placards at a worksite. The ministry said it engaged the workers who shared they were not owed salary payments, and did not have any concerns about their well-being. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Researchers at Kerala's Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology discover method to target drug-resistance in bacteria
T'puram: Researchers at (RGCB) have discovered that targeting the outer membrane of proteins, called , in pathogenic bacteria can significantly combat their resistance to antibiotics. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The discovery assumes significance with resistance to antibiotics being one of the most serious global health threats. According to the research, bacteria evolved in several ways to block antibiotics, making once-effective drugs powerless. Anti-biotics target bacteria cells by entering them through tiny protein channels in porins. A reduction in the number of porins decreases the influx of drugs into bacteria, allowing them to develop resistance against different antibiotics and survive treatment. The multidisciplinary investigation revealed the potential of targeting underexplored porins to combat , said a statement. The research work, published in Small, a nanoscience and nanotechnology journal based in Weinheim, Germany, was carried out at Dr Mahendran's lab at RGCB in collaboration with Dr Arumugam Rajavelu's lab at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and Dr Jagannath Mondal's lab at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad. The researchers identified a dynamic porin, CymAKp, in the WHO-listed high-priority pathogen . Using cutting-edge biophysical channel recordings and computer simulations, they discovered that CymAKp is specially adapted to allow cyclic sugars into the cell. Building on this, they identified a clever way to use this pathway to sneak antibiotics in. It was found that certain antibiotics, called , resemble cyclic sugars and can travel through CymAKp to enter the bacteria, the statement added. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "By understanding how these drugs interact with the porins, the research work revealed a promising new route to overcome resistance and make antibiotics more effective," it said. While many studies explored porins in non-pathogenic bacteria, the roles of porins in clinically significant pathogens, particularly the ESKAPE group, remain under-investigated. "By understanding and exploiting the molecular details of antibiotic transport through CymAKp, we pave the way for developing next-generation therapeutics designed to outsmart resistant pathogens," the researchers said. RGCB director Chandrabhas Narayana said bacterial resistance to antibiotics has become a major challenge for the global medical community, especially for pharmacologists. "In this backdrop, the current multidisciplinary research work will open up exciting possibilities for dealing with this challenge and making antibiotics more lethal and effective against bacterial infections through targeted antibiotics transport," he added. The research was funded by the Centre's department of biotechnology, department of science and technology, Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) and RGCB's intramural funding.
CBC
27-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Homeless forgotten in federal election platforms, say advocates
Homeless people also not well represented due to barriers to voting While the federal parties have been campaigning on promises to build more homes in Canada, advocates say those most in need of those homes have been left out of the conversation. "I see a lot of … hopelessness around finding a stable housing space," said Nivethine Mahendran who works with Choices for Youth, an organization that works with homeless youth. Both the Liberal and Conservative parties have promised to build more homes and eliminate the GST for first-time home buyers. But buying a home isn't an option homeless youth even consider according to Mahendran. She says the concerns that she's hearing when she speaks with homeless youth are not being addressed in the election platforms. She says they're looking for more affordable rental options, rent control, and increased funding to non-profits to expand housing initiatives They would also like to see more single-occupancy housing options and other income support programs boosted, she said. "That money hasn't changed over the last couple of years, whereas rental prices have just skyrocketed," said Mahendran. And housing is a crucial part in dealing with other life issues. "Whether it's addictions or they're escaping domestic intimate partner violence," she said. "You need a stable space in order to make some kind of progress on the other issues you're handling." Homelessness not addressed The executive director of End Homelessness St. John's, Doug Pawson, says homeless individuals have strong interest in the federal election, and are watching for promises to improve housing. But he says homelessness isn't well addressed in any of the party platforms. "There's not really any mention of homelessness programming and investments in any of the platforms," said Pawson. Pawson said he would like to see promises to create more affordable rentals, more social housing, and incentives for landlords to boost supply. While Pawson says he is happy to see a commitment to housing development, the housing strategy needs to be more robust. "Building our way out of the crisis is only helpful for … more or less 1 segment of the population, not so much the vulnerable segment," said Pawson. Pawson said he would like to see commitments made by the parties to support Canada's current homelessness strategies, including the National Housing Strategy, and Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy. Pawson said the government's current target is to reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent, but noted that last year the parliamentary budget office reported that they would need to increase funding sevenfold to reach that target. "It's a bit disappointing not to see any acknowledgement of how important housing and homelessness in those two [strategies]" said Pawson. Barriers to voting Pawson and Mahendran say that they have seen an interest from homeless individuals in voting, but barriers to voting often means that demographic isn't well represented in electoral decisions. "Not everybody will have a current ID that shows an address or they may not have an address," said Pawson. "Voting, it can be probably a bit of a luxury for folks who are just struggling to survive day-to-day" He said homeless people might need someone to go with them to polling stations to vouch for them and verify their identity. Residents of transitional housing facility, Horizons at 106, will also receive a letter of confirmation of residence that they can also use. Transportation to polls is another barrier, said Pawson adding that End Homelessness will be providing transportation to polls for some individuals. At Choices for Youth, Mahendran says they try to empower homeless youth to go out and vote because participating in democracy often feels impossible for them. "They feel like it's a space outside of what they're experiencing," she said. "They don't feel like they can connect with the candidates." Mahendran says she encourages youth to support each other to vote. "And then also having them go into the community and say here, this is how you can kind of engage productively with civic engagement and democracy," she said.
