-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Congress student wing has publicly criticised the passage of the juvenile justice amendment act and promised to take the matter up with the parent party, which helped pass the bill last week. Under the amended act, now waiting for presidential assent, juveniles aged 16 to 18 can be tried as adults for heinous crimes, a provision children's rights activists have condemned as draconian. "We are against the passage...

-The Times of India Cigarette consumption in India is falling steadily even as the number of women smokers is rising, making it home to the second largest number of female smokers after the United States. According to the latest data on cigarette consumption given by the health ministry in Parliament, the consumption in 2014-15 was 93.2 billion sticks — 10 billion less than in 2012-13. The production of cigarettes too fell from...

-Hindustan Times The prospect of the youngest offender in the Delhi gang rape case walking free has stirred public opinion in recent weeks, with a string of protests and the parents of the victim urging authorities to detain the convict. Parliament is expected to take up amendments to the juvenile justice bill on Tuesday, a rare political response to public anger over the case, but the outrage has helped mask two crucial...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel has strongly criticised the government for its "casual" approach in tackling the problem of infant and child mortality. Taking serious note of the high rate of stunting and wasting among children under five years of age, the Parliamentary Committee on Estimates in its report on 'Malnutrition in Infant and Mother' criticised the ministry of health. "The committee had expressed apprehension regarding achievements of...

-The Indian Express When the UPA government passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, that laid down in clear terms that the age of consent for sex is 18 years, even then activists had warned against such misuse. THE Supreme Court refused to extend the detention of the juvenile convicted in the 2012 Delhi gangrape saying it has to go by the law as it stands today. Lawmakers...