BAPS says it never sought exclusion of women during Eiffel Tower visit

Paris (TIP): A Hindu religious group has said investigations found that it did not ask for female employees to be “hidden, removed or excluded” during its delegation’s visit to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The issue had sparked a strike by Eiffel Tower staff last month over allegations that women employees were moved away during the visit by around 100 people associated with BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam) Swaminarayan Sanstha, leading to a day-long closure of the monument.
The statement by BAPS Paris came days after Societe d’Exploitation de la tour Eiffel, the company that runs the Eiffel Tower, announced that its head Patrick Branco Ruivo will step down at the end of the year. The decision followed an investigation by an independent firm, which found a series of operational failures linked to the BAPS delegation’s visit on September 5. In a statement, BAPS Paris said, “From the outset, BAPS has consistently stated that it never asked for female employees to be hidden, removed or excluded.” It added, “The investigation establishes this fact that BAPS made no such request for women to be excluded along the visitor route.”
UN urges more US action on Marshall Islands nuclear fallout legacy
The United States needs to take additional steps to remedy the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands by providing healthcare and releasing secret archives, according to a UN report presented to its human rights body on Thursday, Oct 1.
The US, which administered the Pacific islands after World War Two, conducted 67 nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1958, including “Castle Bravo” at Bikini Atoll in 1954
The human cost of these tests has been “severe and lasting”, the UN human rights office report said, adding that there has not yet been a just settlement of the claims
“The damage needs to be repaired,” Awa Dabo, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
The UN cited examples of the ongoing impact, such as elevated levels of cancer, displacement from contaminated areas and lasting social stigmas affecting exposed persons who are referred to as “poison people”.
The report called for the US to provide remedy in the form of healthcare and to declassify all information pertaining to the nuclear legacy.