Quote:

Principal Arrested in Poison Deaths of 23 Students

By Muhammad Lila
@muhammadlila
Follow on Twitter

Jul 24, 2013 8:28am

AFP/Getty Images

Police in India’s eastern Bihar province announced the arrest today, eight days after the July 16 poisoning. The children were eating the meals as part of a government sponsored free lunch program, which provides free meals to more than 120 million children across the country. The program was started to encourage families, particularly those living in the country’s wide swaths of poverty in rural areas, to send their children to school.

Immediately after eating the lunches, which consisted of rice, beans and potato curry, dozens of children fell violently ill with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting. Within hours, 23 were dead and dozens more had been rushed to a hospital. Autopsy reports showed insecticide had been placed inside food. All of the dead children were between the ages of 5 and 12.

Shortly after the incident, the school’s principal, Meena Kumari, went into hiding. One of the school’s cooks, who was also rushed to hospital after eating the contaminated meal, told reporters she had warned Kumari the food may have become contaminated, but that Kumari ordered her to continue cooking it anyway.

Today police announced an arrest warrant for Kumari, posting a notice on the door to her home that her property would be confiscated. Kumari turned herself in shortly thereafter. Her application for bail has already been denied.

The state’s education minister alleged last week that Kumari had purchased the ingredients from a grocery store owned by Kumari’s husband, a member of a local opposition party. It’s unclear whether the children were deliberately poisoned to destabilize the local government. Kumari’s husband remains at large.

The poisoning set off a wave of isolated protests. Corruption and patronage are common within India’s government sponsored free lunch program, but the incident set off a wave of panic at nearby schools amid fears the children were intentionally poisoned. Teachers elsewhere in Bihar have reportedly announced they will boycott the free lunches, while a new government policy demands that all principals and cooks taste the food themselves, before serving it to their students.

Quote:

It is sad news that 23 students dead in this incidence. Nothing can replace the loss of the family. Hope they can overcome this great loss and sorrow gradually.

Good news is that action has been taken. Principal is arrested. Hope, if she is guilty, then punishment will be highest. But political issue may hamper the judiciary procedure. As she is wife of a political activist, so all can be managed. That will be very bad things. Guilty person must be punished. Adequate measure should be taken to prevent the such type of repeat.

Quote:

Principal Arrested in Poison Deaths of 23 Students

By Muhammad Lila
@muhammadlila
Follow on Twitter

Jul 24, 2013 8:28am

AFP/Getty Images

Police in India’s eastern Bihar province announced the arrest today, eight days after the July 16 poisoning. The children were eating the meals as part of a government sponsored free lunch program, which provides free meals to more than 120 million children across the country. The program was started to encourage families, particularly those living in the country’s wide swaths of poverty in rural areas, to send their children to school.

Immediately after eating the lunches, which consisted of rice, beans and potato curry, dozens of children fell violently ill with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting. Within hours, 23 were dead and dozens more had been rushed to a hospital. Autopsy reports showed insecticide had been placed inside food. All of the dead children were between the ages of 5 and 12.

Shortly after the incident, the school’s principal, Meena Kumari, went into hiding. One of the school’s cooks, who was also rushed to hospital after eating the contaminated meal, told reporters she had warned Kumari the food may have become contaminated, but that Kumari ordered her to continue cooking it anyway.

Today police announced an arrest warrant for Kumari, posting a notice on the door to her home that her property would be confiscated. Kumari turned herself in shortly thereafter. Her application for bail has already been denied.

The state’s education minister alleged last week that Kumari had purchased the ingredients from a grocery store owned by Kumari’s husband, a member of a local opposition party. It’s unclear whether the children were deliberately poisoned to destabilize the local government. Kumari’s husband remains at large.

The poisoning set off a wave of isolated protests. Corruption and patronage are common within India’s government sponsored free lunch program, but the incident set off a wave of panic at nearby schools amid fears the children were intentionally poisoned. Teachers elsewhere in Bihar have reportedly announced they will boycott the free lunches, while a new government policy demands that all principals and cooks taste the food themselves, before serving it to their students.

Quote:

I agree on all accounts with you, Hafiz.

Quote:

It is sad news that 23 students dead in this incidence. Nothing can replace the loss of the family. Hope they can overcome this great loss and sorrow gradually.

Good news is that action has been taken. Principal is arrested. Hope, if she is guilty, then punishment will be highest. But political issue may hamper the judiciary procedure. As she is wife of a political activist, so all can be managed. That will be very bad things. Guilty person must be punished. Adequate measure should be taken to prevent the such type of repeat.

Quote:

Principal Arrested in Poison Deaths of 23 Students

By Muhammad Lila
@muhammadlila
Follow on Twitter

Jul 24, 2013 8:28am

AFP/Getty Images

Police in India’s eastern Bihar province announced the arrest today, eight days after the July 16 poisoning. The children were eating the meals as part of a government sponsored free lunch program, which provides free meals to more than 120 million children across the country. The program was started to encourage families, particularly those living in the country’s wide swaths of poverty in rural areas, to send their children to school.

Immediately after eating the lunches, which consisted of rice, beans and potato curry, dozens of children fell violently ill with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting. Within hours, 23 were dead and dozens more had been rushed to a hospital. Autopsy reports showed insecticide had been placed inside food. All of the dead children were between the ages of 5 and 12.

Shortly after the incident, the school’s principal, Meena Kumari, went into hiding. One of the school’s cooks, who was also rushed to hospital after eating the contaminated meal, told reporters she had warned Kumari the food may have become contaminated, but that Kumari ordered her to continue cooking it anyway.

Today police announced an arrest warrant for Kumari, posting a notice on the door to her home that her property would be confiscated. Kumari turned herself in shortly thereafter. Her application for bail has already been denied.

The state’s education minister alleged last week that Kumari had purchased the ingredients from a grocery store owned by Kumari’s husband, a member of a local opposition party. It’s unclear whether the children were deliberately poisoned to destabilize the local government. Kumari’s husband remains at large.

The poisoning set off a wave of isolated protests. Corruption and patronage are common within India’s government sponsored free lunch program, but the incident set off a wave of panic at nearby schools amid fears the children were intentionally poisoned. Teachers elsewhere in Bihar have reportedly announced they will boycott the free lunches, while a new government policy demands that all principals and cooks taste the food themselves, before serving it to their students.

Top U.S. general cautious of consequences of Syria action

Chris Borowski 2 hours agoMilitaryPoliticsSyria

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U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey talks to U.S. military personnel stationed at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo April 25, 2013. REUTERS/Yuya Shino

By Chris Borowski

LASK, Poland (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday he was cautious over recommending armed intervention in Syria, concerned that ill-conceived action could turn the country into a failed state.

"Before I would recommend a military solution ... I would have to be convinced that the aftermath of the military option would not lead to a failed state in which the suffering would actually be worse," Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

Speaking at a Polish air force base in Lask, central Poland, where U.S. pilots conduct exercises with their Polish counterparts on F-16 jets, Dempsey said political leaders must consider other options along with military action to provide relief to the Syrian people.

"I'm not suggesting that the international community do nothing. I am suggesting that you need a strategy to tie military options with other instruments of power," he said.

The United States has wavered over what action to take in Syria, where it has demanded the exit of President Bashar al-Assad, who has fought for two and a half years against rebels in a civil war that has killed 100,000 people.

In a letter released on Monday, Dempsey outlined five options the U.S. military was prepared to undertake, from providing training to establishing no-fly zones or conducting limited attacks on military targets.

The letter prompted Republican Senator John McCain, an outspoken proponent of military aid for the rebels, to say he no longer planned to delay Dempsey's nomination to a second term atop the U.S. military.

In his letter to McCain and Democratic Senator Carl Levin, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Dempsey warned that involvement in Syria would be an act of war that could cost billions of dollars.

The U.S. military's current role in the two-year conflict is limited to delivering humanitarian aid, providing security assistance to Syria's neighbors and non-lethal help to the Syrian opposition. The U.S. military has an operational headquarters unit in Jordan along with other assets, including F-16 jets.

The White House said in June it would provide military aid to the rebels after concluding that Assad's forces had used chemical weapons.

(Editing by Peter Graff)

Quote:

I agree on all accounts with you, Hafiz.

Quote:

It is sad news that 23 students dead in this incidence. Nothing can replace the loss of the family. Hope they can overcome this great loss and sorrow gradually.

Good news is that action has been taken. Principal is arrested. Hope, if she is guilty, then punishment will be highest. But political issue may hamper the judiciary procedure. As she is wife of a political activist, so all can be managed. That will be very bad things. Guilty person must be punished. Adequate measure should be taken to prevent the such type of repeat.

Quote:

Principal Arrested in Poison Deaths of 23 Students

By Muhammad Lila
@muhammadlila
Follow on Twitter

Jul 24, 2013 8:28am

AFP/Getty Images

Police in India’s eastern Bihar province announced the arrest today, eight days after the July 16 poisoning. The children were eating the meals as part of a government sponsored free lunch program, which provides free meals to more than 120 million children across the country. The program was started to encourage families, particularly those living in the country’s wide swaths of poverty in rural areas, to send their children to school.

Immediately after eating the lunches, which consisted of rice, beans and potato curry, dozens of children fell violently ill with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting. Within hours, 23 were dead and dozens more had been rushed to a hospital. Autopsy reports showed insecticide had been placed inside food. All of the dead children were between the ages of 5 and 12.

Shortly after the incident, the school’s principal, Meena Kumari, went into hiding. One of the school’s cooks, who was also rushed to hospital after eating the contaminated meal, told reporters she had warned Kumari the food may have become contaminated, but that Kumari ordered her to continue cooking it anyway.

Today police announced an arrest warrant for Kumari, posting a notice on the door to her home that her property would be confiscated. Kumari turned herself in shortly thereafter. Her application for bail has already been denied.

The state’s education minister alleged last week that Kumari had purchased the ingredients from a grocery store owned by Kumari’s husband, a member of a local opposition party. It’s unclear whether the children were deliberately poisoned to destabilize the local government. Kumari’s husband remains at large.

The poisoning set off a wave of isolated protests. Corruption and patronage are common within India’s government sponsored free lunch program, but the incident set off a wave of panic at nearby schools amid fears the children were intentionally poisoned. Teachers elsewhere in Bihar have reportedly announced they will boycott the free lunches, while a new government policy demands that all principals and cooks taste the food themselves, before serving it to their students.