Equality Bill to be out in UK

By OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT

London

June 27: Positive discrimination to favour women, minorities and the disabled people in Britain will be institutionalised, minister for women and equality Harriet Harman said.

The Equality Bill, according to Ms Harman, will make it easier for people and businesses in Britain to know their rights and their obligations. It will be written in plain English and will replace nine major pieces of legislation and around 100 other measures, spanning 40 years, from the 1970 Equal Pay Act through to the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act. The slow progress at achieving equality in society means gender pay gap will close only in 2085; black, Asian and ethnic minority employment rate will reflect population in 2100; in 2080 will Parliament have equal numbers of men and women MPs; and disabled people will probably never get the same job prospects.

In order to end discrimination, the Equality Bill will streamline and strengthen discrimination legislation, including banning age discrimination, to make Britain a fairer place, Ms Harman said. The new bill will include powers to ban all unjustified discrimination against older people, such as denying them medical treatment.

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Sikh memorial in UK defaced

By Prasun Sonwalkar

London

June 27: The large Sikh community in the west Midlands town of Coventry is outraged after a memorial in honour of Sikh soldiers was desecrated by miscreants who tied a pig’s head to the structure.

The war memorial was put up near a central roundabout by the community in 2005 to honour the 83,000 Sikh soldiers who fought in the British army during the two World Wars. Local resident Navreet Singh (22), who removed the animal head before taking it to the police, said whoever had tied it to the memorial was "ignorant" and "mindless".

"It is absolutely disgusting. This is a war memorial. It’s not a Sikh monument, it is a British one. It seems like someone was trying to attack Muslims. It is ignorance," he said. The desecration was first noticed by delivery driver Dave Chester, who informed a local newspaper, Coventry Evening Telegraph, about the incident. Meanwhile, the West Midlands Police in a statement said "Police were made aware of an incident on Thursday involving a pig’s head located on a roundabout near to Stoney Stanton Road. Inquiries are ongoing in respect of this issue." Retired soldiers and community leaders appalled by the recent incident have hit out at the desecration.

—PTI