A high-level government panel has suggested that all movable and immovable assets acquired by a married couple or a couple living together be classified as joint property which would be divided equitably in the event of separation or desertion. The Planning Commission's working group on Women's Agency and Empowerment wants a comprehensive legislation - 'Right to Marital Property Act' - to be brought in which would be applicable to all communities. The...

-The Times of India How much you can splurge on the buffet, trousseau and finery at a family wedding may depend on how much you earn. A high-powered government panel has recommended income-linked cap on marriage expenditure, including gifts and food served.  The recommendation by the Planning Commission's Working Group on Women's Agency and Empowerment is part of the effort to tighten the provisions of Dowry Prohibition Act, 28 years after its...

We have elections coming up in five states, notably giant -- thus politically crucial -- Uttar Pradesh. We have an Indian cricket team seemingly determined to eat crow. We have yet another brouhaha over Salman Rushdie. But my electricity bill is in front of me, so I want to talk about food -- and those who prepare food. What, you may well wonder, is the connection between the two? The bill is made...

-PTI   The government has decided to give its skill development initiative a "major push" during the 12th Plan Period and set up sector skill councils to prepare standards required for training programmes. The National Skill Development Council (NSDC) which met here yesterday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also tasked S Ramadorai, adviser to the Prime Minister, to prepare a detailed proposal for mainstreaming the skill agenda in the next...

The widespread outrage following the telecast of video footage of Jarawa men and women dancing for tourists is both heartening and disappointing. Heartening because the media made a rather unusual attempt to address the existential challenges of a people known to us as 'primitives' and disappointing because it failed to generate a nuanced debate. The 30-second TV slots accorded to 'experts' and stakeholders served to polarise opinion on the incident...