-The Hindu Business Line By allowing children to work in family enterprises, amendments to the Child Labour Act have made them more vulnerable to exploitation. Tracking the issue will be more difficult, writes Preeti Mehra When the two houses of Parliament put their stamp on a few amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 a couple of months ago, they also signed away the dignity of children and the...

-PTI Washington: Tiny northeastern state of Sikkim has the best working conditions for women, while national capital Delhi fared the lowest, according to a report. The report released by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a top American think-tank, and Nathan Associates, gave Sikkim the highest possible 40 points while Delhi received just 8.5. The states were ranked according to four primary factors -- legal restrictions on women’s Working Hours in...

-The Hindu Cap on hearings crucial to reduce pendency: Study The average hearing time for listed cases on a particular day in an Indian high court could be as little as two minutes, according to an analysis of cases pending in 21 high courts. The findings come from the “State of The Indian Judiciary” report released on Wednesday by the Bangalore-based research organisation DAKSH. Their “Rule of Law Project” aims to move the...

-The Indian Express In the industrial areas of the National Capital Region, life is tied to the assembly line. But even if rarely, workers clear a space for that which seems impossible: thought and contemplation, and even the artistic life. When the whir of engines and the clang of metal against obstinate metal die down, when the neon lights go down in hundreds of sooty factory buildings in Haiderpur, Ashish Kumar opens...

-The Hindu The amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, passed by Parliament recently, demonstrate a lack of national commitment to abolishing all forms of child labour. Instead of attempting an overhaul of legislation that has proved ineffective in curbing the phenomenon, Parliament has allowed children up to the age of 14 to be employed in ‘family enterprises’, and created a new category of ‘adolescents’ (the 14-18 age...