Singapore to increase pool of public sector psychologists by 40% to meet demand for mental health services

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SUPPORT FOR YOUTHS’ MENTAL HEALTH

According to the 2022 National Population Health Survey, young folks aged 18 to 29 made up the majority of Singaporeans with poor mental health.

An intermediate private facility will be built to assist young people at risk of suicide or serious self-harm, according to Ms. Rahayu.
 
Certainly all young people who exhibit homicidal behavior have mental health issues. &nbsp,

Instead, she added,” They might have dealt with social stressors like bullying and difficulty juggling schoolwork.”

This group of young people, aged 10 to 19, may be served by the fresh service, which will provide them with support in a secure setting.

According to Ms. Rahayu, they will be assisted by a group that consists of psychiatrists, psychological professionals, social workers, nurses, and live-in maintenance staff.

The service will offer services like recognizing the needs of young people in need, offering psychosocial interventions like counseling and supportive medical care, and facilitating youths ‘ move to group partners ‘ support before they are discharged. &nbsp,

Additionally, by 2030, there will be an increase in the number of community mental health clubs, also known as CREST- Youth, and youth-integrated groups that support young people with mental healthcare needs. &nbsp,

Four youth-integrated team had reached more than 3, 000 students and parents as of September of last year, and eight CREST-Youth team reached over 87, 000 young people and their families.

According to Ms. Rahayu, this may grow to&nbsp, 15 youth-integrated groups, and CREST-Yet teams across the nation by 2030.

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Uttarakhand UCC: Indian state wants to govern live-in relationships

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As of January 2018, just 3% of Indians had a "love marriage"shabby graphics

Soutik Biswas

By Soutik Biswas
India journalist

Moving in with your spouse in Uttarakhand, a lovely Himalayan state in India, may soon necessitate informing the authorities and abiding by the new legislation governing “live-in” relationships.

Since it was introduced in the state assemblage on Tuesday, this important proposal within the broad Uniform Civil Code (UCC ) has received more attention than the whole law itself. It is intended to establish a unified individual law for all people, regardless of religion, sex, gender, and sexual orientation. One of the original promises of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP), which also controls Uttarakhand, has been a common law.

In the majority of India, young people cohabiting is still frowned upon; these unions are frequently referred to as “live-in” relationships.

According to the request, partners—a guy and a woman are required by law—must give the secretary their live-in relationship statement within 30 days of the proposed transaction. The partners may be asked to” provide additional information or proof” if needed during this analysis. Additionally, the secretary notifies parents if either partner is under 21 and forward live-in relationship claims to the neighborhood police.

If the standard is satisfied, he registers the relationship and problems a certificate; then, the parties are made aware of the justifications for the denial. If one spouse is married, a small, or if assent to the partnership is obtained through force or fraud, the official may fail registration.

By making a speech to the official and giving it to their spouse, partners can end their relationship. These connections ‘ abortions will also be reported to the authorities.

Young newly married couple holding hands - stock photo

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If partners do n’t submit the live-in relationship statement, the registrar serves a notice demanding submission within 30 days if they are asked to do so by” complaint or information.”

Staying in a live-in relationship for longer than one month without telling the authorities could result in punishment, such as up to three months in jail and an up-to-10,000 rupee fine ($ 120, £95 ) or both. Making “false comments” or withholding information about the relationship could result in a three-month jail sentence, an up-to-25,000 rupee good, or both.

Legal experts have criticized the proposed legislation, which is not surprising.

” Private was declared to be a fundamental right by the Supreme Court some time ago. The state has no business regulating close ties between consenting individuals, and what makes this provision worse is the possible legal repercussions for a few failing to register their relationship. According to older Supreme Court attorney Rachel John, this is a terrible clause that needs to be repealed.
Live-in relationships are already mentioned in India under domestic violence laws from 2005, which define “domestic connection” as a connection between two people “in the nature of relationship,” among other things.

In India’s larger cities, cohabiting unmarried couples are not totally unusual as young people move there in search of work and postpone traditional relationships. ( Aside from that, only 3 % of married Indians reported having “love marriages,” according to a 2018 study of more than 160 000 homes. Random studies, however, paint a combined picture.

Couple sitting on bench at sunset - stock photo

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More than 80 % of millennials in India viewed live-in relationships as taboo in a May 2018 Inshorts poll of 140, 000 lakh netizens ( 80 % aged 18 to 35 ), while 47 % preferred marriage in the choice between the two. According to a 2023 study by Lionsgate Play of 1, 000 Indians, one out of two felt that living together was crucial to better understand their spouse.

Live-in associations have occasionally been disapproved of by Indian authorities. Live-in relationships were deemed “immoral” by a Delhi court in 2012 and dismissed as an “infamous goods of European society,” calling them merely “urban fad.”
The Supreme Court has shown more encouragement. In a situation involving an artist accused of violating common decency in 2010, the courtroom endorsed the right of young couples to coexist. Despite being morally unacceptable in the nation, it urged legislature in 2013 to pass laws protecting women and children in live-in relationships, stating that such ties were “neither a violence nor sin.” ( Under Uttarakhand’s contentious proposed law, a woman who has abandoned her live-in partner may petition the courts for maintenance, and children born from such relationships will be accepted as legitimate. )
Some worry that the Uttarakhand legislation will expel cohabiting lovers, encourage reporting on them, and render landlords reluctant to hire to “unregistered” lovers. Additionally, they claim that counting and registering live-in couples seems strange in a nation that has n’t counted its citizens since 2011.

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Twin blasts kill 24 on eve of Pakistan election

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PISHIN, Pakistan: On the day of a nationwide ballot tainted by violence and allegations of ballot rigging, at least 24 people were killed on Wednesday by two independent bomb blasts outside the headquarters of election candidates in southwest Pakistan. Prior to Thursday’s vote, more than 500,000 security personnel were stationed,Continue Reading

No free, fair or cathartic election for Pakistan – Asia Times

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At a time of fresh social unrest in the nation, Pakistanis will go to the polls on Thursday to choose their new congress and prime minister.

Imran Khan, a well-liked former leader of the nation, has received three independent sentences to long prison terms in subsequent weeks. The timing of this week’s poll is meant to convey that the defense wants to remove him from politics through legal means.

In the run-up to the ballot, the military, which has had direct and indirect control over Pakistan’s politicians for seven decades, seems determined to resume the political sphere for two different parties.

These include the Pakistan People’s Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the murdered former prime minister, and the three-time ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Which group is likely to win the election now that Khan is imprisoned and unable to run, and what difficulties does the new state face?

Khan’s demise

Former cricket player Khan led the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ( PTI ) party to victory in the 2018 elections. However, he lost the military’s aid and was removed from office in April 2022 after a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly.

His group, the PTI, has remained incredibly well-liked ever since. In late 2022, it won by-elections to complete seating in the National Assembly that had been vacant after a large number of PTI legislators resigned to oppose his resignation.

Khan was given a five-year suspension from elections last year after being found guilty of corruption-related offenses. He claims that the accusations were motivated by politics. The sentences that were handed down this year followed ( it is unclear if they will be served concurrently ):

  • For violating the Official Secrets Act, ten years in prison
  • For failing to disclose gifts received from international officials, selling them, and next withholding the proceeds, a 14-year prison sentence was imposed.
  • For being in an un-Islamic matrimony, I spent seven years in prison.

Khan is prohibited from running for office, and the defense offers no assistance, making it extremely unlikely that PTI will be able to win enough seats to retake energy.

Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses lawmakers after being elected by the National Assembly in Islamabad on August 17, 2018. Photo: AFP/ handout
Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, is incarcerated. Image: Handbook

By prohibiting the party from using the game wicket symbol to identify its individuals, the electoral commission made matters even more challenging. Many people in a nation with lower education levels rely on these symbols when casting their votes.

Otherwise, the committee has given PTI candidates specific symbols. The PTI’s supporters may become confused as a result, and they will need to know which images have been given to which applicants in their particular electorates.

The PTI administration is urging its followers to vote in the elections, and Khan has the support of the youth, so the party’s candidates may still be able to win seats in both the national and provincial assemblies. However, their chances of forming a state are all but nonexistent.

returning from captivity

Sharif, who is now 74 years old, is regarded as the front-runner to become prime minister a third time.

Sharif owes the military government led by General Muhammad Zia la Haq in the 1980s for his first foray into politicians. But since the 1990s, his interactions with the army have alternated between friendly and hostile.

In fact, when Sharif was found guilty of fraud in 2017, he accused former government and spy chiefs of planning his downfall. He was eventually barred from taking part in Pakistani elections for the rest of his life.

He has now returned from a self-imposed exile in order to launch another social return. When he returned to Pakistan late last year, the courts swiftly overturned his corruption views, opening the door for him to run in the vote. His relationship with the army was once again in a” polite” period.

Since then, Sharif has coined the phrase” Pakistan ko Nawaz do,” which has the dual meanings of” Given to Pakistan” and” Be Generous in Pakistan.”

Bhutto, who is only 35 years older, comes from a political dynasty that laid the foundation for his ascent to energy. He has established himself as the foreign minister in the coalition government that ousted Khan and is positioned in Pakistan as a representative of new thinking ( nai soch ).

Both candidates have been holding demonstrations all over the nation, but it is still unclear whether either will be able to get the country’s election. PPP’s support primarily comes from Sindh in the far south-east, while PML- N is powerful in Punjab to the east.

Pakistan therefore appears to be moving toward a coalition government, which will need to deal with some issues the nation is currently facing.

deteriorating economy and rising prices

The most important task for the new administration will be to stop further financial collapse and enhance the standard of living for regular people.

Pakistan’s GDP has decreased from 5.8 % in 2021 to roughly 0.3 % in that year. The International Monetary Fund’s demands for more reasonable financial planning and the elimination of irrational grants, as well as the disastrous storms in 2022, the increase in oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine, and other factors have all contributed to the rise in inflation. Rates went up from 8.9 % in 2021 to a staggering 29.7 % in December 2023.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s poverty rate has increased to almost 40 %, more than five percentage points higher than in the fiscal year 2022.

Pakistan’s foreign policy will also need to be reviewed by the novel administration. Khan’s claims that the US was interfering in Pakistani politicians damaged relations with Washington, and his less-than-enthusiastic approach to Chinese purchase jobs strained ties with Beijing.

Yet the Gulf nations, which had historically had cordial relations with Pakistan, started to reevaluate their Southern Asian tactics, with a definite bend toward India.

A fresh strategy for Afghanistan will also need to be developed by the fresh administration. Despite the joy that some people, especially Khan, experienced upon the Taliban’s return to power, Islamabad’S relations with Kabul have been hampered by the new regimes ‘ reluctance to handle the increase in attacks from the Pakistani Taliban ( often referred to as Tehrik- e Taliban Pakistan, or TTP ) and other organizations.

A Pakistani villager casts his vote at a polling station during general election in Mohri Pur, some 60 kilometres from the central Pakistan city of Multan on July 25, 2018.Pakistanis vote on July 25 in elections that could propel former World Cup cricketer Imran Khan to power, as security fears intensified with a voting-day blast that killed at least 30 after a campaign marred by claims of military interference. / AFP PHOTO / SS MIRZA
On July 25, 2018, a peasant from Pakistan casts his ballot at the polling place. Asia Times Files, AFP, and SS Mirza are shown in the image.

The growing pessimism among Pakistanis regarding the legitimacy of the political process, however, may present the most significant concern for the new authorities.

Khan’s demise has drawn attention to the military’s ever-present need to control the government. And this has led to ordinary citizens openly criticizing the military, a phenomenon unheard of before. A small minority of people in private gatherings are even questioning the legitimacy of the idea of Pakistan.

To establish its legality in such conditions, the new government will need to put in a lot of effort. If that was n’t done, Pakistan would experience yet another round of unrest.

Samina Yasmeen is the chairman of the University of Western Australia’s Center for Muslim States and Societies.

Under a Creative Commons license, this article is republished from The Conversation. Read the article in its entirety.

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China could use anti-fraud app to monitor Tibetans – report

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The 'National Anti-fraud Centre', an app developed by China's Public Security Bureau to tackle suspicious and fraudulent calls, text messages and installed apps, is displayed on a smartphone in an arranged photograph on September 9, 2021 in Beijing, China.shabby graphics
Written by Tessa Wong
NBC News

According to a recent report, Tibetans may be monitored using Xana apps designed to stop scam.

According to a study by Tibet studies teams, the app has access to personal information and can track user texts and internet browser histories.

Additionally, they claimed that some Tibetans were being compelled to download the app.

Privileges organizations claim that new restrictions in Tibet have tightened the screws on a region of China that is already heavily regulated.

In recent years, especially during the pandemic, officials have increased position surveillance and repression.

Particularly socially sensitive areas like Tibet and Xinjiang have come under scrutiny. Beijing has long been wary of” secessionism” in these regions, but under the leadership of Xi Jinping, crackdowns have intensified to emphasize nationalist unity.

The contentious National Anti-Federal Center software, which was released in 2021, is the focus of the new document from research network Turquoise Roof and rights organization Tibet Watch.

The report claimed that the application “aligns with considerable surveillance practices” and could support the Chinese government’s efforts to control Tibetans even though it did not offer any proof that it was constantly targeting them.

The National Anti-Federal Centre has been marketed as a fraud prevention software that you identify potential fraudulent writings and calls while enabling users to quickly review scams and get assistance from authorities. In recent years, China has been dealing with a flood of web and mobile schemes.

According to Turquoise Roof, a forensic examination of the game revealed that some of its features could be used for surveillance.

The app has access to contact logs, online browser histories, and the ability to track incoming text messages. Additionally, it can take pictures that will enable it to collect sensory information about consumers and their surroundings as well as user inputs like passwords.

According to the review, its face recognition identification element could also be used for extensive data harvesting to improve tracking and monitoring of Tibetans.

One method is to make Tibetans download the app. One migrant told Tibet Watch last year that while returning home from school, he was stopped at a police station and instructed to download the app to his cellphone.

People walk on the Barkhor street after a snowfall on December 8, 2023 in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

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Shortly after the app’s build, when it was installed on an estimated 200 million devices, concerns about required files surfaced.

According to the Financial Times, some local government organizations made it a requirement for employees, while another required them to download the app in order to enroll their kids in school or obtain identification cards.

Users who claimed to have been contacted by the officers after the application discovered they had visited Bloomberg and other international financial news websites were also mentioned in the newspaper.

Separately, Turquoise Roof learned that Chinese authorities were compiling a sizable collection of Tibetans who were thought to threaten stability from authorities procurement notices. Oracle, a US company, provided software for the collection.

They claimed that it was “reasonable to hypothesize” that this collection may contain any data gathered by the anti-fraud app.

The report urged the Chinese government to increase protection safeguards and look into allegations of software download coercion.

Additionally, it urged foreign businesses and governments to take precautions against funding China’s extensive security programs.

Since 1950, when Beijing sent troops to reaffirm its promises to independence over the area, it has had a firm hold on Tibet.

According to protesters, China restricts Tibetans ‘ ability to travel by regulating their documents and keeping a close eye on their interactions with the outside world.

Tibetans have been detained for their information on the well-known messaging service WeChat in a number of situations, and accounts and keywords that were deemed to be politically sensitive have also been suspended or scrubbed, according to Tibet Watch.

In addition to Tibet, China is renowned for using widespread security methods to subdue the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Human Rights Watch discovered in 2019 that authorities in Xinjiang were using a security system and app to keep an eye on the whereabouts and information of people.
Various American newspapers conducted an investigation that same year and discovered that border officers were installing security apps on the phones of visitors to the area.

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