-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government has moved a proposal for complete ban on child labour up to 14 years with the caveat that employment will only be allowed in family enterprises after school hours even as child rights activists have opposed the move. The labour ministry has sought Cabinet approval for an amendment to the Child Labour Prohibition Act which will allow children below the age of 14 to...

-The Hindu A study shows that Indians are not immune to health consequences of smoking and that smokers have a higher death rate than non-smokers. Recently, a parliamentary committee declined to extend the size of health warnings on cigarette packets due to lack of independent evidence on the health impacts of smoking on the Indian population. A longitudinal study conducted by the National Council of Applied Economics (NCAER) and University of Maryland shows that in...

-The Hindu India will not make marital rape a crime because of cultural and religious values and society’s belief that marriage is a sacrament, the government said on Wednesday. DMK MP Kanimozhi, through a question submitted in the Rajya Sabha, asked Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary whether the government would bring in an amending Bill to the Indian Penal Code to remove the exception of marital rape from...

-The Indian Express The debate on the land acquisition bill and the tragic suicide of a farmer in Delhi compel us to reflect on a theme of enduring significance: the role of agriculture and farmers in development. What has the historical experience all over the world been? How is India’s agrarian narrative different — or identical? What can India learn from international experience? Many years ago, I wrote a book, Democracy, Development...

-CaravanMagazine.in On 31 December 2014, the government issued an ordinance, amending the Right to Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR). The ordinance brought in several changes, of which the following was the most far-reaching: an amendment to Section 10(A) that exempted land acquisition for sectors such as defence, infrastructure—including public-private partnership projects—industrial corridors, private health and educational institutions and affordable housing, from the requirement...