-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 ‘Need for effective time-bound grievance redressal mechanism to deal with violations that are happening on the ground’ A study on implementation of the Right to Education Act in Delhi in three years of its existence has revealed “overwhelming violations’’ of the norms on the ground. The study by NGO Josh, with support of VSO India, has noted that while “73 per cent of the schools had contract teachers’’, in 99 per...

-The Hindu Hundreds of undertrials languish in overcrowded south Chhattisgarh prisons even as their trial proceeds sluggishly, says an RTI reply With most information regarding prisons closely guarded in the country, in conflict zones — some north-eastern States, Kashmir or Chhattisgarh — it is even more so. The only information about prisons that percolates to public space is about how inmates are becoming master painters, singers or dance drama designers. While those...

-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 Indian Express Differences within the Cabinet over the proposed amendments to rape-related laws were resolved Wednesday when a Group of Ministers recommended that the phrase “sexual assault” be replaced with the word “rape” in all laws, age of consent for sex be retained at 16, and a provision that provides for Punishment for filing false complaints be done away with. The recommendations of the GoM, headed by Finance minister P Chidambaram,...