Rudyard Kipling opens his superb novel with the street urchin Kim teasing the son of a wealthy man. Kim kicks Chota Lal, whose father, Lala Dinanath, is worth half-a-million sterling, off the trunnion of the mighty cannon Zam-Zammah. Kipling loved India and wrote that it was the only democratic place in the world. It warms us to read this, but of course this was quite untrue in Kipling’s time and...
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Bills that peek into MP minds-Sanjay K Jha
To many Indians, the word “politician” invariably invokes familiar scenes of din and disruption in Parliament, if not the taint of corruption. Yet from time to time, a little-noticed — and perhaps rather quaint — parliamentary tradition tends to suggest that at least some of India’s MPs may have a place in their heart for issues concerning the ordinary citizen. Of the 79 private members’ bills listed today in the Lok Sabha’s...
More »One-fifth of girls become mothers before adulthood, says report by Aarti Dhar
As many as 30 per cent of adolescent girls in India (aged between 15-19 years) were married, and at least 22 per cent women aged 20 to 24 became mothers before attaining adulthood in India, says a UNICEF report. The report by UNICEF, based on a survey conducted in the period 2000-2010, says only five per cent of male adolescents were married when compared to girls. Released globally on Thursday, the report...
More »Bill proposes life term for sexual offences against kids-Himanshi Dhawan
On Thursday, the Union Cabinet is likely to discuss a bill that will make sexual intercourse or 'contact with sexual intent' with a child - which is any one below 18 years - illegal. The 'sexual offences against children bill' proposes tough penal provisions ranging from three years' imprisonment to life termfor a person who commits sexual harassment, sexual assault, penetrative sexual assault or aggravated penetrative sexual assault. This is...
More »Indian teenager annuls her child 'marriage'
-BBC A young woman has had her child "marriage" legally annulled in northern Rajasthan state, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in India. Laxmi Sargara, 18, wed Rakesh when she was just one and he was three. She grew up with her own family, only finding out she was married when her in-laws came to claim her this month. Child marriages are illegal in India but are still...
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