NewsBytes

Aviation regulator DGCA said on Tuesday it will put in place a mechanism to curb whopping surge in air ticket prices, recently witnessed during the Maha Kumbh and post-Pahalgam terror attack, as the issue coupled with concerns over air safety after the Ahmedabad plane crash dominated proceedings at a parliamentary panel meeting. Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson told the committee his airline will complete retrofitting of its fleet in two years to address frequent complaints about its seats and other facilities, and underscored its commitment to flight safety, sources said. Some members of the Public Accounts Committee, led by Congress MP K C Venugopal, demanded an audit of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, citing a spate of incidents concerning operational safety, and asked when the probe report into the crash will be ready. With the probe still going on, there was no detailed discussion on the Ahmedabad crash, and members confined themselves to broader concerns about safety.

Puducherry has adopted the verbal autopsy model to assess reasons behind tuberculosis deaths, identify patterns for treatment delay, improve triaging process and referral mechanism. The Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMC&RI) in Puducherry has undertaken the task of analysing 160 TB deaths that had been reported in the UT in 2024 and would be submitting its finding to the Centre's TB division," State TB Officer of Puducherry, Dr C Venkatesh told PTI. "Using this method, doctors at IGMC&RI, Puducherry, are investigating the causes behind deaths due to tuberculosis and identifying both patient-related and health system related factors," Dr Kavita Vasudevan from the Community Medicine Department at Medical college, who is leading the project, said. A verbal autopsy is an interview-based process where close relatives or caregivers of the deceased are asked questions about circumstances and factors leading to death. For example, they are asked about the deceased's symptoms, treatment history, hospital admission time, treatment received and the circumstances at the time of death. This information is collected in a structured format, after which doctors assess the probable cause of death.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to institute a ban on conversion therapy. The court ruled that a Republican-controlled legislative committee's rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people was unconstitutional. The 4-3 ruling from the liberal-controlled court comes amid the national battle over LGBTQ+ rights. It is also part of a broader effort by the Democratic governor, who has vetoed Republican bills targeting transgender high school athletes, to rein in the power of the GOP-controlled Legislature.  What is known as conversion therapy is the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations.  The practice has been banned in 23 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank. It is also banned in more than a dozen communities across Wisconsin. Since April 2024, the Wisconsin professional licensing board for therapists, counsellors and social workers has labelled conversion therapy as unprofessional conduct.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Taliban's supreme leader and the head of Afghanistan's supreme court on charges of persecuting women and girls since seizing power nearly four years ago. The warrants also accuse the leaders of persecuting “other persons non-conforming with the Taliban's policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as allies of girls and women.'” The warrants were issued against Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada and the head of Afghanistan's Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani.