International News
New Delhi, December 13, 2005, (WebIndia) - Angry over
the "humiliation" of army nurses, the All India
Government Nurses Federation has decided to lead a procession
to the Prime Minister's residence on Friday to demand restoration
of olive green uniforms and an assurance that their army
ranks will not be taken back.
''We have come to know that the ranks of army nurses
will be taken back because of allegations that senior rank
nursing officers do not take orders of junior rank doctor
officers,'' said the Federation's secretary general G K
Khurana.
''This is totally baseless,'' said Khurana in a letter
to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. According to the nurses'
federation, the army nurses are undergoing harassment and
humiliation for the past 4-5 years.
In 2000, army nurses were given olive green uniforms
like other army officers, but these were later replaced
with grey uniforms to distinguish between nurses and other
officers, the letter said.
Seeking his intervention, the
federation said nursing was the only profession in which
women constitute 99 per cent of the total staff.
'We the nurses in general request you to intervene personally
and save our sister of army in the interest of smooth functioning
of military hospitals and respect of women at large,''
says the letter to the Prime Minister.
On Friday, it adds, ''the nurses...have decided to come
to you'' to submit a memorandum demanding that the ranks
and facilities of army nurses should be maintained and
they be given the olive green uniforms.
United Kingdom , December 12, 2005 , (The Telegraph)
- Offenders serving community sentences are being made
to wear uniforms identifying them as convicted criminals.
The high-visibility workmen's vests are emblazoned with
the slogan "Community Payback" and a colorful
logo. The scheme, piloted in the North-East, is being rolled
out across the country - marking a U-turn by the government
over the "branding" of criminals. Hazel Blears,
the Home Office minister, proposed the plan earlier this
year, only for Downing Street to reverse the policy after
accusations that it echoed the American-style justice of
chain gangs.
Cambridgeshire probation service has ordered scores of
the vests and says it plans to get overalls, T-shirts and
baseball caps as well.
The Home Office said: "Community Payback aims to
make projects visible - not the offenders. This is not
American-style chain gang justice."
A Conservative MP, Andrew Rosindell, backed the scheme.
He said: "It is important that community service is
not seen as an easy way of escaping prison."
India, December 3, 2005, (Deccan Herald) - In the wake
of proposed acquisition of new aircraft and emerging competition
from foreign airlines, national carrier Air India has tied
up with renowned interior designers and fashion experts
to give a new look to its aircraft interiors and go in
for a change in the uniforms of the cabin crew.
Air India has tied up with well-known branding house Aliagroup to spruce up
the interiors of the aircraft, a spokesman of the airline told PTI.
Air India has shortlisted five fashion designers to provide
new uniforms to cabin crew staff. They include Ritu Beri,
J J Vallya, Tarun Tahiliani, Satya Paul and Lifestyle and
luxury brand Ravissant, he said
The exercise to give Air India a new look would be completed
within two years, the spokesman said adding that Air India
was also planning to have its own brand ambassador.
However, nothing has been finalized about the brand ambassador who could be
drawn from the sports field.
Air India is all set to acquire 68 aircraft at a pre-negotiated price of around
USD 7.1 billion. The proposal to acquire the aircraft was cleared by the public
investment board of the government on October 13.
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