-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In the wake of public outrage over the Kathua rape-and-murder case where the victim was a minor, the Cabinet is likely to consider an ordinance on Saturday to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to provide for the death penalty for the rape of children below the age of 12. The ordinance is being initiated to enforce the amendment immediately before a...
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Delhi HC blow to Monsanto on patent for Bt cotton seed technology -Sayantan Bera and Aditi Singh
-Livemint.com Plant varieties and seeds cannot be patented under Indian law by companies like Monsanto, and any royalties on GM crops will be decided by the agriculture ministry, says Delhi high court New Delhi: Plant varieties and seeds cannot be patented under Indian law by companies like Monsanto Inc., and any royalties on genetically modified (GM) technology will be decided by a specialized agency of the agriculture ministry, the Delhi high court...
More »A lifeline, interrupted -Nikhil Dey & Aruna Roy
-The Indian Express Government is prioritising savings over MGNREGA and rights of the poor. Rambeti from Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, graphically described the predicament of MGNREGA workers like her in a recent press conference in Delhi. “The government repeatedly states that it will not let us die of starvation. But the truth is, it does not allow us to live either.” That is a terrible evaluation of MGNREGA — a landmark legislation enacted...
More »States violate community forest rights as Centre delays implementation of CAF Act -Ishan Kukreti
-Down to Earth States exploit the delay in the drafting of rules for the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act to assert rights over land claimed by communities under the Forest Rights Act More than a year after Parliament passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016 (CAF), the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is yet to roll out the mandatory rules to implement it. In fact, the ministry in November...
More »Transgender rights: House panel proposed, govt rejects -Shalini Nair
-The Indian Express The report recommended specific provisions in the ministry’s version of the transgender Bill, to safeguard their rights, protect them against discrimination, and provide quotas in government colleges and jobs. The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has decided to junk the recommendations of a parliamentary committee report which was the first ever government document to recognise the rights of transgender persons to partnerships and marriage, so that they...
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