A tricky debate on abortion

The Hindu The Supreme Court of India recently took a landmark decision to allow a 24-year-old rape survivor to terminate a 24-week pregnancy, as the foetus has abnormalities, and going ahead would severely affect the woman’s health. This is a landmark judgment. It is because after 20 weeks of pregnancy a woman in India is…

Paid maternity leave increased to 6 months

The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 to increase paid leave for expectant mothers from three months to six and a half months. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill of 2016 will now be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. Details: The amendment bill seeks to increase maternity leave to 26…

Missing the wetlands for the water

Article Link Environment Ministry has come up with new draft wetland conservation rules. With this, the government is all set to change the rules on wetlands. What are wetlands? Wetlands are ecosystems located at the interface of land and water and wherein water plays a dominant role in controlling plant and animal life and associated…

Bring brand ambassadors under Consumer Protection Act, says CAIT

Traders body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said that brand ambassadors should be brought under the ambit of Consumer Protection Act as consumers are often “guided” through such endorsement, irrespective of quality of product. CAIT has also threatened to move court if the government did not take necessary action. The body has also…

Have we lost the dowry battle?

Livemint National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows a rising graph in the number of dowry cases registered: 9,038 for 2012 10,709 for 2013 10,050 for 2014 Men’s rights activists will tell you this is proof of the law’s misuse. And even the Supreme Court has pointed out in 2014 that section 498A has “dubious…

Domestic violence Act misused: Centre

The government recently told the Rajya Sabha that provisions of the Domestic Violence and Anti-Dowry Acts are being misused and several NGOs had also given reports supporting it. Details: Records show that only 13 persons were convicted out of the 639 charge sheeted in 2014 under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005.…

The power to certify

The Hindu Context Recently, the Aadhaar Bill and the Finance Bill were passed as Money Bills, though they may not have met the strict criteria laid out in the Constitution. This meant that the Rajya Sabha had only a recommendatory role while discussing these Bills. While the Speaker has the power to determine whether a…

A licence to kill innovation

Article Link The Ministry of Home Affairs recently released a draft of “The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016.” The draft Bill came under scathing criticism on social media and other online platforms for its draconian features. In the light of this, the government now has proposed to review this bill. The Bill basically aims to…

How not to fight corruption?

The Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA): It is the key legislation which defines what constitutes corruption and prescribes penalties for corruption-related offences It is presently set to be amended by Parliament and the proposed Bill, now before a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, includes several contentious amendments that are likely to have far-reaching ramifications…

LS clears decks for MPC

The Lok Sabha recently approved the Finance Bill 2016 which included an amendment to the RBI Act clipping the central bank governor’s powers to set monetary policy. The amendment made to the RBI Act through the Finance Bill removed the governor’s powers to singularly set monetary policy vesting them in a six-member Monetary Policy Committee.…