-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The law to check Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace came into force this week, about eight months after it received the president's assent. Union minister for women and child development (WCD) Krishna Tirath told Parliament that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, came into force from December 9. The ministry also informed the House that complaints of sexual...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: An Indian government laboratory released a formulation of salt fortified with iodine and iron for mass consumption, calling it a tool to combat anaemia and iodine deficiency, without adequate and rigorous evidence to show that it increases blood haemoglobin levels, scientists have said. The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, has shared the formulation and production technology for its double fortified salt (DFS) with seven salt-producing companies, some...

-Outlook   The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights today sought the views of NGOs, working for child rights, on Women and Child Development Ministry's proposal to treat youngsters above 16 years of age guilty of heinous crimes on par with adult offenders. NCPCR chairperson Kushal Singh held a meeting with 40 NGOs which voiced their concern about the Ministry's seeking an amendment in the Juvenile Justice Act according to which youngsters...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Nearly a year after the role of a juvenile in the gang-rape of Nirbhaya triggered a storm of outrage while the crime itself led to widespread street protests, the government has proposed that youngsters above 16 years of age guilty of heinous crimes be treated on par with adult offenders. The decision to amend the existing law so that provisions of the Indian Penal Code relating...

-Outlook New Delhi: Sanitation activists today observed 'World Toilet Day' and alleged that 3.75 crore lavatories in India as claimed by Ministry for Rural Development did not exist and were "missing". Activists of Right to Sanitation (RTS) Campaign's India chapter demanded an inquiry into the "huge gap" in the number of toilets existing on the field and the number provided in the data by the Rural Development Ministry and Census 2011. On the...