A child is God's gift and none must try to know its sex in advance, said the Bombay high court on Thursday while upholding a civic circular which disallows portable ultrasonography machines to be taken to patients homes. The court's observation assumes significance in the light of recent media reports on female foeticide. A division bench of Justices PB Majmudar and Mridula Bhatkar were hearing a petition filed by the Radiology...

Two confederations that represent most Indian Christians have voiced fears that Team Anna’s version of the proposed Lokpal law will disturb the separation of powers among the three wings of democracy. In a memorandum submitted to the Centre, the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) also suggested ways to strengthen the government’s Lokpal bill, which they said was weak. The confederations said though...

-IANS   The government on Wednesday said it is determined to pass the Lokpal bill as it unveiled its agenda for the winter session of parliament that includes a slew of anti-corruption legislations apart from the ambitious food security bill. Apart from Lokpal, other anti-corruption bills slated for consideration and passing in the winter session include whistle blower protection bill and judicial standards and accountability bill. Talking to mediapersons, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar...

With the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) insisting on providing separate legal entitlements to some sections — pregnant women, lactating mothers, homeless, destitute and disaster affected households — in the proposed food security law, the Food Ministry is set to insist on state governments sharing the cost to fund the provisions for this special category of beneficiaries. Sources in the Food Ministry said the ministry has inserted “cost-sharing provisions” in...

-The Telegraph   The government has listed the Lokpal bill for discussion and passage during the winter session of Parliament but has failed to line up the land acquisition bill though an unscheduled introduction is not ruled out. Both bills had gone to House standing committees around the same time after the monsoon session of Parliament, and both hold electoral significance for the Congress. Failure to get the Lokpal bill passed in the November...