SANGAREDDY : The chutney prepared for students at Sultanpur JNTU College in Andole constituency on Monday night turned into a nightmare when a rat was discovered in it. Recently, students of JNTU College have protested the unsanitary and unhygienic conditions of the hostel food.

Upon noticing the live rat in the chutney, students recorded a video and shared it on social media, prompting District Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha to express his outrage. He warned against jeopardising students’ lives and instructed District Additional Collector Madhuri and Andole RDOs to conduct a thorough investigation and submit a report.

As directed, the officials visited the college on Tuesday. Additional Collector Madhuri met with the principal, staff and students, inspecting the dining room and kitchen. Minister Rajanarsimha instructed authorities to prevent such incidents in all hostels and ordered food safety officials to inspect boarding hostels, canteens, schools and colleges statewide.

Emphasising compliance with food safety norms, the minister mandated immediate cancellation of licences for non-compliant entities and urged constant inspections by Food Safety Officers across the state. Meanwhile, Additional District Collector Madhavi’s inquiry report revealed neglect in utensil cleaning at the college, which she reprimanded the staff for.

The minister directed the authority to keep vigilance on the manufacture of food items.

Precariousness pushes thousands of Haitians to entrust their children to reception centers, or to have them adopted. Most of these children leave the country, without their parents having any possibility of tracing them or having news of them.

Many parents do not know how international adoption works. "The 'madan sara' are sometimes victims," ​​says journalist Michel Joseph. "Having no one to look after their child, they [sometimes] entrust them to a nursery so they can go about their business activities. When they return after eight or fifteen days, they are told that the child has already been adopted and that he or she has travelled."

In other situations, biological parents are victims of false promises. "Sometimes [nurseries, orphanages or foreign missions] promise them a small house or money, under the pretext of sponsorship, in exchange for the child."

In recent years, the DNA project in Haiti was on hold because we couldn't travel. Since the spring of 2024, we have a pilot project and are working with Michel Joseph from Voie D’Espoir (VE) and Dirk Vermeyen in Haiti. 

Both gentlemen have helped us in the past with searches for families: Dirk as a solo specialist family finder, and Michel (journalist) who set up the Voie D’Espoir foundation due to the many requests he receives to trace the families of adoptees. 

We are combining our efforts for even more matches, which is the goal of Plan Kiskeya. VE is carrying out our DNA project in this pilot. In Port-au-Prince and Jeremi, an office has been opened where families can register. The project is being announced via radio spots, and families are being called to make an appointment for registration. 

In addition to the above two offices, there is also an office in Cap-Haitien, coordinated by Dirk Vermeyen. We have been working with Dirk for some time. From the Netherlands, we have direct insight into the incoming registrations. 

These new registrations are then processed on the Plan Kiskeya website. The pilot runs until the end of August. So far, the process is going well, registrations are coming in, and we are in close contact with Dirk and Michel. 

The Court warned that the Chief Secretaries of States/UTs will have to personally appear on the next date in case of non-compliance.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 9) expressed serious concerns over the non-compliance of several states in appointing Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) within every district by January 31 2024. The Court has directed the Chief Secretaries of the States and UTs to strictly comply with the earlier order by August 30, 2024 failing which contempt proceedings may be initiated against them....

The CJI DY Chandrachud led bench was hearing a petition for easing the adoption procedures under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

The Supreme Court on Tuesday warned as many as 30 States and Union Territories (UTs) of initiating contempt of court proceeding for failure to comply with the top court's previous directions pertaining to the establishment of Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) in each district by January 31, 2024. 

The CJI DY Chandrachud led bench was hearing a petition for easing the adoption procedures under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

CARA is a statutory body of the Ministry of Women & Child Development and functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.

CHENNAI: S Velmayil (34) and P Baby (36), prospective adoptive parents with disabilities, were denied a four-month-old baby allocated to them after waiting for four long years, allegedly due to their disabilities.

The couple, hailing from Srivaikuntam in Thoothukudi district, were assigned the baby by a specialised adoption agency in Gandhigram, Dindigul district. However, a five-member adoption committee, which included the district child protection officer, stated that the couple would not be able to care for the child, particularly in the first two years, due to their disability.

Velmayil has a locomotor disability affecting both lower limbs, with 90% disability. Baby also has locomotor disability affecting her right hand and right leg, with 80% disability. Velmayil works at a fuel station, while Baby is a noon meal organiser. They currently live in Thoothukudi with Velmayil’s parents.

Married in 2016, the couple registered to adopt a child in 2020. Following the registration, a social worker conducted a home visit. After completing three years on the waiting list in 2024, they renewed their application this March. Another home visit was done after the renewal as well.

“We registered for adoption at the district child protection office and submitted all documents, including disability certificates. We did the same during the renewal process. Neither the officers present nor any information available from the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) indicated that our disabilities would be a barrier to adopting a child,” said Velmayil.

The court observed that a leave of 180 days is granted to female government employees on the adoption of a child up to one year of age in line with maternity leave as admissible to natural mothers for proper care of the adopted child.

Bhubaneswar:

Orissa High Court has recently ruled that female employees who become mothers through surrogacy have the same right to maternity leave and other benefits as provided to natural and adoptive mothers.

The single judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi gave the ruling on June 25 while hearing a petition filed by Supriya Jena, a female Odisha Finance Service (OFS) officer, in 2020.

Jena became a mother through surrogacy, but she was denied 180 days maternity leave by her higher authority in the Odisha government. So, she moved the high court against the government.

Korea's domestic adoption system bars international couples from becoming adoptive parents

This July marks a significant milestone for British national Thomas Pallett and his Korean wife surnamed Kang: seven years of unsuccessful attempts to adopt a child in Korea.

The couple, who live in the southeastern port city of Busan, have faced persistent rejections from local adoption agencies, which primarily cite Pallett’s British nationality as the obstacle. They got married in Korea in May 2019, with Pallett obtaining an F-6 marriage visa that grants him permanent residency.

“Our discussions on adoption began in July 2018 even before we were married. When we first met, I was 35 and my wife was 40. We knew having our own child could be difficult,” Pallett said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

“We tried numerous fertility treatments, including three rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), but all were unsuccessful," he said.

Julienne Mpemba, a Belgian-Congolese woman from Namur, is suspected of adoption fraud. Belgian families find themselves with a child stolen from Congo. For the defense, all organizations involved in adoption are responsible. The public prosecutor is requesting 12 years in prison.
 

The last day of the trial of Julienne Mpemba from Namur, prosecuted for adoption fraud, human trafficking, kidnapping of minors, hostage-taking, fraud, corruption as well as forgery and use of forged documents, took place this Wednesday before the criminal court of Namur.

For the civil parties, "The defendant lies compulsively." For the federal public prosecutor, the defendant knew that children had been abducted but she still sent them for adoption. He is requesting a 12-year prison sentence.

However, Julienne Mpemba has always denied the facts with which she is accused.

The last day of the trial of Julienne Mpemba from Namur, prosecuted for adoption fraud, human trafficking, kidnapping of minors, hostage-taking, fraud, corruption as well as forgery and use of forged documents, took place this Wednesday before the criminal court of Namur.