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Developed Nations Pressed to Fulfill Climate Pledge

The environment minister urged parties to agree on a clear definition of climate finance that enhances the accountability and transparency of climate and non-climate financial flows…reports Asian Lite News

Bangladesh Environment Minister Shahab Uddin has emphasised the urgent need for predictable and sufficient grant-based public financing for climate adaptation in vulnerable developing countries.

He also stressed the importance of developed nations fulfilling their commitment to mobilise 100 billion US dollars annually through 2025, while addressing the past three years’ shortfall (2020-2022), during a ministerial preparation meeting held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as part of the process leading up to the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28), Dhaka Tribune reported.

Uddin stressed the need for clear mechanisms to timely report and account for the delivery of climate financing commitments, saying failure to do so could erode trust and hinder progress, Xinhua news agency reported.

He called for the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance to be significantly higher than the previous 100 billion dollars per year target, focusing on grants rather than loans and reflecting the actual needs of developing nations to adapt to climate change’s inevitable impacts.

The environment minister urged parties to agree on a clear definition of climate finance that enhances the accountability and transparency of climate and non-climate financial flows.

He said the outcome of COP28 should emphasise the responsibility of developed countries to lead in providing and mobilizing climate finance for developing nations.

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Former UK Cop Alleges Routine Use of Racial Slurs Against Sikhs

The West Midlands Police has accepted 75 of Kalam’s complaints, according to Channel 4…reports Asian Lite News

A former cop with the UK’s West Midlands Police has claimed that some officers routinely used racial slurs against Sikhs and referred to Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai as ‘tikka masala’.

In a recent interview to Channel 4, Rebecca Kalam, who spent 10 years in the force’s firearms unit before leaving in July this year, said fellow cops referred to those wearing a turban with racist remarks, and didn’t bother to learn the difference between Sikhs and Muslims.

Among the many explosive claims made by Kalam was the one where protection officers for Malala Yousafzai, who was airlifted to UK for treatment after she was shot by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan, referred to her as ‘tikka masala’.

“These shocking allegations of racism made by whistle-blower Ms Kalam against the West Midlands Police come as no surprise. The Sikh community across the West Midlands has been making such complaints and claims for decades, but all have fallen on deaf ears of the force,” Jas Singh, advisor to the Sikh Federation, told news website BirminghamLive.

“Despite changes in senior officers and meeting with an elected PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner), nothing seems to change other than things getting worse,” Singh said.

Singh said that the community has called on West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and PCC Simon Foster to conduct a full root and branch investigation, and review into the conduct and racist attitudes and practices in the force.

Kalam, who was one of just seven female officers in the 235-strong unit of the UK’s second largest police force in the country, also complained of toxic masculinity and misogyny, where objectification of women was common and male cops regularly used the C-word.

“West Midlands Police need to take serious stock of what is happening within the unit. I can only speak from experience. I have lost my career. I am standing up, it is the right thing to do,” the 40-year-old told Channel 4.

The West Midlands Police has accepted 75 of Kalam’s complaints, according to Channel 4.

The new channel reported that the police force confirmed that a total of 16 officers and staff were given ‘low-level sanctions or advice’ following a Professional Standards Department probe into the firearms unit.

“Officers and staff in the Firearms Unit work tirelessly, often in the most risky situations, to protect the public and perform their duties with the utmost professionalism and they are disgusted at any conduct which falls below these standards of professional behaviour,” West Midlands Police Force’s deputy chief constable Scott Green was quoted as saying in BriminghamLive.

Green said that the force is working closely with the West Midlands Police Sikh Association and Sikh communities across the region to “understand diverse groups and communities to ensure we treat everyone with dignity and respect”.

Green said regular meetings with the community and religious leaders are held to discuss and address issues.

“There is no place for misogynistic, discriminatory or disrespectful behaviour in policing and we are working hard to set and reinforce the highest standards,” she added.

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Woman rescues man

Rajeswari told media that she pulled up the friend of Udhayakumar for not rushing the injured man to the hospital…reports Asian Lite News.

A woman officer of the Chennai police, E. Rajeswari rescued a man from underneath a tree that fell upon him at T.P. Chatram area.

The woman police officer told media that she received a call from the control room stating that a man had been killed as a tree fell upon him.

“I received a call that a tree fell on him at the cemetery in T.P. Chatram, and my team and I reached the spot immediately. On close inspection, I found that he was unconscious but alive,” she said.

The man, Udhayakumar, 28, was working at the T.P. Cemetry and his friend informed the control room that he had died after the tree fell upon him.

Rajeswari told media that she pulled up the friend of Udhayakumar for not rushing the injured man to the hospital.

The inspector also said that the duo had drunk the previous night and the friend did not bother to take Udhayakumar to the hospital. The video of her carrying Udhayakumar on her shoulders went viral.

She immediately took an autorickshaw and sent Udhayakumar along with his friend to the nearby general hospital.

The injured person is out of danger and doctors said that he suffered a concussion.

Kamal Haasan hails woman cop

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Thursday congratulated a woman police officer who saved an unconscious man by carrying him on her shoulders to an autorickshaw and rushing him to hospital.

The actor took to Twitter to congratulate police inspector E. Rajeswari, who carried a 28-year-old-man on her shoulders in a bid to rush him to a hospital after realising that he was only unconscious and not dead as presumed by other bystanders.

Kamal Haasan said, “The duty conscious nature of inspector Rajeshwari, who is seen running even as she carries an unconscious man in a bid to save his life, is astounding. Her courage and service are praiseworthy. My whole hearted congratulations to this role model of an officer.”

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Lite Blogs Woman

A woman who transformed from lemonade-seller to cop

Annie said: “Ten years before I was selling ice-cream, candies, and lemonade, and now I am the Sub Inspector at the same place. What more revenge can I take against my yesterdays.”…reports Asian Lite News.

Annie Siva is a proud Sub-Inspector of Police at Kerala’s Varkala police station, under whose jurisdiction comes the famous Sivagiri Mutt founded by Sree Narayana Guru, one of the main spiritual leaders of the state who led a renaissance movement against caste, untouchability, and the necessity of education, leading to the all-round development of the state.

But what is remarkable that Annie, 31, who joined the Kerala Police as a Sub Inspector on June 25, was, ten years back, selling ice cream, candies and lemonade for a living at the same place near the Sivagiri Mutt.

Her complex story is also one of grit, determination, and self-confidence.

At the age of 18, she left her home to live with her college mate as she began graduation at Kanjiramkulam Government College, Thiruvananthapuram. However, her life turned for the worse after her liv-in partner left her and she, with her six-month-old boy Sivasurya, had to fight her life alone.

Her family did not let her back but was allowed to stay in a shanty adjacent to her grandparents’ home. Not to be cowed down, this gritty woman did all sorts of jobs, starting off her career by selling soap and detergent powder door to door. Then she turned to become an insurance agent, delivered groceries in a two-wheeler in the households, and did many other jobs for her, and her son’s survival.

Annie also had her cropped her hair like men.

Along with working, she, studying privately, completed her graduation in Sociology and joined a training institute for the Kerala State Public Service Commission at Thiruvananthapuram in 2014, cracked the police constable examination in 2016 and joined service. She appeared for the officers exam in 2019, cracked it and after training for one and half years is now a Sub Inspector of Police.

Annie said: “Ten years before I was selling ice-cream, candies, and lemonade, and now I am the Sub Inspector at the same place. What more revenge can I take against my yesterdays.”

In a state where women are now coming in the news for all the wrong reasons with back to back dowry deaths and many killing themselves over harassment at in-laws’, Annie Siva’s story is one of inspiration, adventure, determination and willpower.

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