Women’s groups have demanded a comprehensive legislation to address rape and sexual assault. A delegation that met Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily earlier this week, said there was a need to incorporate various substantive and procedural sections in the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act to deal with child sexual assault and sexual assault against women. Archaic definition In a memorandum to the Minister, the...

At least two cases of hunger deaths have been reported from Jabalpur district of MP and Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan in the past few weeks. The two states are run by different political parties-- the BJP and the Congress-- but there is quite a lot common in the victims’ circumstances. Both families were among the poorest in their villages but were not included in the BPL list and both the...

The government has decided to simplify the process of issuing disability certificates through a slew of steps that would among other things relieve disadvantaged people in rural areas of the trouble of making long, “cumbersome” trips. The Social Justice ministry has decided to let doctors at primary health centres issue disability certificates to those with visible handicaps such as blindness, amputations and paralysis of limbs. At present, a person with disabilities has...

The central government has decided to make each of its 6,000 websites disabled-friendly. Under new government guidelines, the visually challenged will be able to use a “screen reader software” that will read out the text that appears on a computer monitor. People who have difficulty handling a mouse can use the “voice recognition software” to work the computer with verbal commands. The websites will provide features like “iconic learning” for those...

Marry into one of the lower castes and live happily — with the government’s blessings. The Centre has written to states to provide incentives to those who opt for inter-caste marriages in a bid to foster “a caste-less society”. Some states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Bengal and Kerala, already give incentives to couples who marry outside their caste or religion, but the government wants all states to do so. However, one of...