Indians pay docs to turn girls into boys
Indian doctors have been accused of conducting sex change operations on little girls whose parents want sons to improve the family's income prospects.
The Indian state government is investigating claims that up to 300 girls were surgically turned into boys in one city after their parents paid about £2,000 each for the operations, reports UK's The Telegraph. These children are pumped with hormonal treatment as part of the sex change procedure that may be irreversible.
The unprecedented trend, catering to the fetish for a son, is unfolding at a conservative town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh's well-known clinics and hospitals on children who are 1-5 years old. The process being used to 'produce' a male child from a female is known as genitoplasty. Each surgery costs Rs 1.5 lakh, says Indian daily Hindustan Times.
India's gender balance has already been tilted in favour of boys by female foeticide – sex selection abortions - by families who fear the high marriage costs and dowries they may have to pay. There are now seven million more boys than girls aged under six in the country, says the UK paper.
The low cost of surgery and the relatively easy and unobtrusive way of getting it done in this city attracts parents from other metropolitan cities to get their child surgically 'corrected'.
Man's death screened on prime-time TV
AUSTRALIA: This is stretching reality TV programmes too far. Footage of the moment a sick grandfather dies will be screened on prime time television in Australia on Thursday on Channel 9 at 8.30pm.
The episode caused a firestorm when it was shown in Britain last month, reports Herald Sun. Many viewers will find the footage distressing, which will be aired during a family viewing time slot.
The episode of Inside the Human Body shows 84-year-old cancer sufferer Gerald taking his last breath. Channel 9 is unapologetic about screening the footage, said the daily.
The footage, shot on January 1 this year, shows Gerald surrounded by his grieving family.
During the death scene, a voice-over explains what is happening to Gerald's body from a scientific perspective.
British presenter Michael Mosley admitted the show would anger some viewers.
Man let off after urinating on passengers
NEW ZEALAND: Jetstar airline has been criticised for being too lenient on an alleged drunk passenger who urinated on fellow travellers.
The incident occurred six hours into a flight from Auckland to Singapore, when a male flyer is alleged to have relieved himself in the aisle,
nzherald.co.nz reports.
The spray is said to have soaked a man’s leg and a female passenger’s scarf.
Witnesses said the man was seen mixing alcoholic drink before the incident.
"Everyone was yelling at him and he slowly became aware that he was being uncouth,” a furious passenger told
nzherald.co.nz. While another said he was sitting next to a pool of urine for “a good five-and-a-half hours” after the incident.
JetStar told
nzherald.co.nz the man received an official warning from the plane's captain, had his alcohol confiscated, and returned to his seat to sleep off the public incident.
Being 100 is common in this town
PHILIPPINES: Three residents have breached the century mark and nine other residents are in their 90s and will celebrate their 100th birthday in a few years in this western Pangasinan town of Philippines.
Their stories have pricked the interest of Bani resident Josefina Eugenio, 55, who looked for them and came up with a list that she posted on her Facebook account, reports news website
asiaone.com.
The only thing the elderly residents have in common is that they were all born before 1914 and have gone through two world wars. In fact, the oldest in the group is Eusebia Valdez Plandez, who turned 104 on March 7. She was born in 1907 in Ballag, the village where she still lives.
Other centenarians are Juan Natividad Queliza, who turned 101 last week, and Barsalisa Galzote Credo, who turned 100 on April 15, the website revealed.
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