-The Hindu The child’s ‘right to be heard’ has been validated by a UN Convention. It’s time to let children decide when and what kind of labour is right. The debate over children working has been raging for centuries, with policies constantly changing to reflect the attitudes of a given time. During the World Wars, children were allowed to work as they were needed in factories and other services. When the soldiers...

-Hindustan Times The realities of India’s socio-economic situation are often cited as the reason for some of our more retrograde laws. The one on child labour is a case in point. The Union Cabinet has increased penalties for offenders but at the same time allowed children below 14 to work in select family businesses after school hours. The caveat is that such businesses cannot be hazardous but should be things like entertainment and...

-PTI Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya says there is a need for a total ban on child labour for children age up to 14 years The government will take up the bill on prohibition of child labour in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament. The session is to commence on February 23, while the Union Budget 2015-16 will be presented on February 28. "Child protection bill is to be produced in the next session of...

-The Hindu Professor Sen will receive £7,500 to commission a work of art and will give the annual Charleston-EFG Keynes Lecture at the Charleston Festival in the UK Economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has won the newly instituted Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize. "In the spirit of John Maynard Keynes' work, life and legacy, this new global prize recognises Professor Sen's outstanding contribution to society," a release accessed here said on Monday. Regarded...

-The Hindu Washington: A top global human rights group has criticised the Indian government for its treatment of minorities, lack of protection for women's and children's rights, restrictions on free speech and insufficient support extended for human rights via New Delhi's foreign policy engagements. In its 25th annual World Report on human rights, New York-headquartered Human Rights Watch noted that there was a "spike" in incidents of violence against religious minorities in...