Posts Tagged ‘renamed’
Indian girls choose new name to replace “unwanted”
More than 200 Indian girls whose names mean “unwanted” in Hindi have been given a fresh start at a mass renaming ceremony in Maharashtra state. They had been called Nakusha by parents who would have preferred sons.
Hundreds of people committed to fighting gender discrimination attended the ceremony in rural Satara district.
Statistics show a continuing preference for boys in India. The gender imbalance has widened every decade since independence in 1947…
Female foeticide remains common in India, although sex-selective abortion based on ultrasound scans is illegal. Sons are still seen by many as wage-earners for the future.
Satara, where the ceremony took place, has one of the country’s lowest female populations, with 880 females to every 1,000 males, says the BBC’s Zubair Ahmed…
The 285 girls at the ceremony ranged in age from one to 20…
There is a comparable constant in all theocratic societies. Discrimination, social division along parameters which haven’t a damned thing to do with reality, potential character. Foolishness.
Abu Ghraib prison reopens, renamed
Daylife/AP Photo by Karim Kadim
Iraqi officials have formally reopened Abu Ghraib prison, which became synonymous with abuse under the U.S. occupation, and in addition to a fresh coat of paint, gave it a new name.
The prison on the western outskirts of Baghdad earned global notoriety after U.S. jailkeepers filmed themselves tormenting and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners less than a year after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein…
Renamed Baghdad Central Prison, it already has around 400 inmates, said prison director general Alsharif al-Murtadha Abdul al-Mutalib…
The Iraqi authorities running the new prison appeared intent on constructing an entirely different image now.
The newly minted Baghdad prison has modern medical and dental facilities, a computer chatroom and a courtyard for visiting families that contains a children’s playground and a water fountain.
Inmates will be able to sew their own clothes in a small sewing factory. The prison also has a mosque and a hair salon that would not look out of place in a city street outside.
As the new prison slowly fills, there remains questions about what will be done with prisoners still held by the American military. 14,000 of them.
