-The Indian Express  Buckling under pressure from political parties, the government Monday agreed to retain 18 years as the age for consensual sex. It also decided to dilute the provisions on stalking and voyeurism in the proposed Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which seeks to strengthen laws to deal with Sexual Crimes against women. The changes were cleared at a Cabinet meeting and the Bill will be introduced in Parliament Tuesday. The decision...

-The Hindu Lacking support for stringent provisions from parties,government comes up with consensus bill Under pressure from the Opposition, the Union Cabinet on Monday approved a diluted version of the bill dealing with Sexual Crimes against women. The new version will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. This was just hours after the UPA failed to convince opposition leaders, primarily the BJP, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata...

-The Guardian Negotiations end with agreement on ending violence against women at the Commission on the Status of Women, but civil society groups express concerns UN officials and activists expressed relief and delight over news that an agreement had been reached at this year's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Greeted with cheers, the agreed outcome document of the 57th CSW, which was announced on Friday evening, was hailed as an "important...

-The Hindu SP, BSP unhappy with some provisions A Bill providing for tougher punishment for crimes against women, including rape, acid attack, stalking and voyeurism, was approved by the Union Cabinet on Thursday, after a Group of Ministers, constituted to prescribe safeguards, completed its examination of the draft law in a record two days. On March 18, The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, will be discussed at an all-party meeting before it goes...

-The Hindu A year after the United Progressive Alliance government passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, raising the age of consent for sex from 16 years to 18, the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up on Tuesday to suggest changes in the new draft law to check crimes against women has recommended reducing it to 16. Currently, Section 375 of the IPC says that one of the conditions for...