Recently, there has been a spate of court pronouncements on issues that have a bearing on how most Indian families are structured and function. Some of these judgments can be viewed as progressive given the context of the urbane. For example, live-in partners as well as married folk will have equal rights over property acquired after moving in or marriage. Another grants the rights of tenancy t
The prime minister has suggested that it is time to review labour laws as they "unduly protected" the interests of those in employment and hindered the creation of new jobs. The proponents of liberalisation argue that the laws on shedding man power during lean times pinch industrial units, especially export houses, which makes them cautious about hiring. They argue that the un
The CBI director, AP Singh, has lamented that tracing, confiscation and repatriation of stolen assets is a legal challenge and that the probe is complex, time-consuming, costly and requires political will. While the UPA all this while tried to downplay the amount of black money stashed abroad, Singh put the figure at a staggering Rs 25 lakh crore. Given the UPA government’s dismis
Law minister Salman Khursid is facing flak from all quarters (except the Congress, of course) over his comments on reservation for Muslims under the backwards caste category. While the election commission is raging that it is violation of the model code of conduct, Khurshid`s party colleague Digvijaya Singh has said that the Congress manifesto talks about the reservation and therefore, if
Sriprakash Jaiswal, in charge of the Congress election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, says it does not matter who will become the chief minister (if the party comes to power), because Rahul Gandhi will run the state with ‘remote control’. The term ‘remote control’ came to prominence thanks to Bal Thackeray. In the years since then, there have been many instan
The first-phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh saw unprecedented voter turnout at 65 percent — even the central election commission noted as much. Even Punjab and Uttarakhand had seen near-70 percent turnout. Compare these figures with the ones of earlier election, and you will see that the voter turnout has jumped by at least 10 percent. As India gets younger and many people
The government has notified new rules of removal of all-India service officers, including IAS and IPS officers among others, for incompetence. Earlier, the government reviewed an officer`s performance only after 30 years of service and could remove him/her then for incompetence. Now, the government proposes that the appraisal occur after 15 years of service. The thirty years of
The planning commission has suggested that property laws be amended to grant equal rights to each partner in a marriage or a live-in relationship over property (immovable and movable) acquired after the marriage or moving in together — irrespective of who bought it. The suggestion seems progressive on the face of it. This will grant economic security to homemakers who have to give
The supreme court judgment in the 2G scam cancelling 122 licences has sparked fears of a hike in the mobile phone tariffs. While a relieved Kapil Sibal said the PM and Chidambaram had not been indicted by the apex court, the blame squarely came on the then telecom minister A Raja. In the end, isn’t it the taxpayer/consumer who will have to pay for his sins?
People getting stuck in the Delhi Metro doors is common these days. A series of such incidents has intilled fear among commuters, tarnishing Metro`s spotless image of being the safest mode of travel in the national capital. While the incidents -- when the door sensors failed and a few passengers had harrowing time getting stuck -- might seem plain technical snags, we should also consider reason
One of the many flaws of our democracy is that the voters have limited options. All the candidates are selected by their respective political parties, on the basis of so-called “winnability” formula, and then, the voters are asked to elect one of them. Therefore, sometimes the voters may not have a choice but to vote in a criminal or a corrupt person. This is reflected in a large nu
Veteran BJP leader LK Advani has once again advocated the introduction of compulsory voting. “I don`t find compulsory or mandatory voting as something which is impossible in India. People have to be encouraged that they fulfil their responsibility towards democracy,” he told journalists on Thursday. Gujarat has in fact made a beginning in this direction, and passed a bill, which is
After the sports ministry recommended the names of legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand and mountaineer Tenzing Norgay for Bharat Ratna, there is a hue and cry over omission of Sachin Tendulkar’s name. After all, if there is one sport, and passion, that binds all Indians it is cricket and Tendulkar is the ‘god’ of cricket. But should we be wasting Bharat Ratna on sports
On Monday, Delhi’s women and child welfare minister Kiran Walia said, “Pregnant women from neighbouring states, which lack good medical infrastructure, prefer to give birth in Delhi. When these babies die during or after delivery, the numbers are reflected in the capital’s statistics.” She said this to explain the slide in Delhi’s sex ratio – from 868 in 2001
Team Anna is back on the campaign trail. They went political in the Hisar assembly by-poll last year, but later there was a brief break. Now they have been campaigning in Punjab and Uttarakhand, and have written letters to leaders of various parties in Uttar Pradesh – asking them to clarify their stand not only the vexed Lokpal bill, but also on other political matters. Whi
Salman Rushdie was born and brought up in Mumbai, he is a ‘person of Indian origin’, and has every right to visit or stay in India as any other PIO. In fact, he has been visiting India quite frequently. The only reason there has been an opposition to his visit for the Jaipur Literary Festival is the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh where Muslims are expected to form a sizeable &l
Delhi additional sessions judge Surinder S Rathi has remarked that live-in relationships are not part of Indian culture, it is a western import, mere fad in urbal areas and immoral. Of course, the judge has also noted that the supreme court in October 2010 gave a legal cover for this “infamous western product” and parliament too has recognised the same in the Protection of Women fro
Google India and Facebook have sought to invoke the right to freedom of speech and expression before the Delhi high court and contended that a casual approach by a magisterial court had unjustifiably put them in the dock. The magistrate had on December 23 issued summons to 21 websites for allegedly committing offences of criminal conspiracy, sale of obscene books and sale of obscene objects to
Smarting under a seven-test washout abroad, three of them Down Under, a nation mad about cricket is searching for answers. While ageing seniors, bad bowling, a susceptible middle-order and the deceptive kookaburra seam are the usual suspects, nobody is pointing a finger at the self-governed board of control for cricket in India (BCCI), which in the last few years has emerged as an epitome of op
