A woman who was forced into marriage as a minor and suffered years of abuse before obtaining a divorce and qualifying for the Madhya Pradesh state civil service has petitioned Supreme Court that a law to discourage child marriage is being used unfairly to deny her a job. Responding to Ratnarashi Pandey's plea, the Supre8me Court on Monday issued notice to the MP government on her challenging the validity of a...

-The Indian Express Warning that time was running out to preserve the Ganga, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today pulled up state governments for a tardy performance on sewage treatment and asked them to take action against industries polluting the river. Voicing concern over the discharge of 2,900 million litres of sewage in the Ganga every day, Singh asked state governments to send proposals for new sewage treatment plants and said adequate funding...

-The Hindu   The government will amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, to include registration of marriages under the purview of this law. The amendment bill to be introduced in Parliament during this session. This will provide legal protection to couples, especially in cases of inter-religious matrimony. The Union Cabinet on Thursday also approved amendment to the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, to provide for registration of marriages of Sikhs that...

-IANS The Calcutta High Court Thursday granted bail to AMRI Hospital director S K Todi, who was booked with 15 others in connection with the fire tragedy at the medical centre that claimed 94 lives last December.  "A division bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Justices A K Roy and A K Ray granted bail to S K Todi. The investigation is complete and the chargesheet has been filed so the...

In a move to empower women, a government panel wants that a mother should be listed as the first guardian for all official purposes instead of a father, arguing that she primarily looks after the children. "Since normally it is the mother who primarily looks after the children, she should be listed as the first guardian ," the Planning Commission's Working Group said in its report.  The panel has recommended a...