-IANS Mathura's child welfare system is marred by poor sanitation and living standards, dilapidated buildings, ineffective staff and irregular adoptions, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) says. The situation came to light Friday when a five-member NCPCR team inspected a Juvenile observation home, an orphanage and a beggar's home - all run by the Uttar Pradesh government - in the Hindu holy town. At the State Observation Home, which had...

-The Hindustan Times Culture and tradition have always been cited as the bedrocks on which our superior family values are founded. But like so many elevating qualities that we feel we are endowed with, this too is largely a myth. A recent survey by Child Rights and You found that one-third of Delhi feels that children should work as hard as adults and that they should be paid less. The invisibility...

-The Hindu The Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights is developing a protocol for elimination of child labour with its contents devoted to various aspects of child trafficking, children being forced into hazardous occupations and rehabilitation of rescued child labourers. Panel chairperson Deepak Kalra said at a workshop on child labour here on Monday that the protocol would be submitted to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with request for urgent action...

The government is trying to simplify the process of adopting children so that it can be wrapped up in two to three months, officials said. Adoptions now often take more than a year to complete, the red tape and delays scaring off many couples. A committee formed by the women and child development ministry is drafting amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act to streamline adoption procedures, introduce time-bound approvals...

-The Times of India   Delhi continues to be the rape capital of the country, followed by Mumbai. Delhi registered 568 cases of rape, compared to 218 in Mumbai in 2011, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics showed. In the 2007-2011 period, Delhi topped the chart, followed by Mumbai, Bhopal, Pune and Jaipur.  Among states, Maharashtra ranked fifth with 7,703 cases registered; Madhya Pradesh tops the list with 15,275, followed by West Bengal...