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House panel backs move not to treat marital rape as sexual offence

[email protected] (TNN)
March 2, 2013

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New Delhi, Mar 2: A parliamentary committee has endorsed the government's decision not to treat "marital rape" as a sexual offence in the recently-promulgated anti-rape ordinance, agreeing that it could destroy the institution of marriage. However, the panel was silent on rape in live-in relationships, with many members of the view that treating it differently from other sexual offences was not possible in the absence of a law recognizing live-in arrangements.

Justifying the panel's recommendation to keep "marital rape" out of the purview of anti-rape laws, chairman of the standing committee on home affairs M Venkaiah Naidu said that leaving scope for the wife to accuse her husband of rape "has the potential of destroying the institution of marriage".

"In India, for ages, the family system has evolved ... Family is able to resolve the (marital) problems and there is also a provision under the law for cruelty against women, It was, therefore, felt that if marital rape is brought under the law, the entire family system will be under great stress and the committee may perhaps be doing more injustice," the parliamentary panel examining the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012, said in its report tabled on Friday.

Though some members of the panel like Raja (CPI) and Prasanta Chatterjee (CPI(M)), both of whom put in a dissent note, besides Kanimozhi (DMK) had insisted on some room for the wife to take up the issue of marital rape, arguing that consent in marriage was not "forever", the majority view was that if a wife was aggrieved, there were other means for her to move court. The reference was apparently to laws against cruelty to women. There were some suggestions that the wife's age mentioned in Section 375 be raised from 16 to 18 years, but Union home secretary RK Singh, while appearing before the panel, warned that this would outlaw marriages in many states in one stroke.

Even though the Supreme Court has, in several judgments since 2010, ruled long-term live-in relationships as legal and on par with marriage, the government is yet to enact a law recognizing live-ins and outlining the rights of live-in partners. The home secretary had conceded before the panel that dealing with rape charges brought against a man by his live-in partner, especially where the relationship failed to culminate into marriage, was a tricky issue as sexual consent was presumably based on the promise of marriage. The standing panel steered clear of taking a stand on the suggestion it had received against considering live-in relations as rape.

The panel received as many as 90 suggestions from individuals, women's bodies and states/UTs. Incidentally, only five states and UTs — Gujarat, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Dadra & Nagar Haveli — gave in their views.

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Agencies
January 12,2020

Mumbai, Jan 12: Thousands of citizens on Sunday congregated in Mumbai's suburban Jogeshwari to oppose the new citizenship law, the proposed NRC and NPR.

They also condemned last Sunday's violence on the JNU campus in Delhi, where masked men ran riot and attacked students. Leftist organisations had claimed RSS-affiliated ABVP's role in the attack, a charge denied by the students' body.

Former Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) general secretary Fahad Ahmed told PTI that they assembled under the aegis of 'Hum Bharat Ke Log' in Millat Nagar area.

"Prime minister Narendra Modi should call 56 students from across the country to debate on the CAA, NRC and NPR," Ahmed said in an apparent jibe at Modi's "56 inch chest" remark, which the latter had made ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

"Why the PM is not talking to us? Why is he not communicating? Even the Britishers used to talk to Indians whom they ruled, but our PM is not talking to poor people," he alleged.

Bollywood actor Sushasht Singh also spoke on the occasion.

"We are people of this country and such acts (CAA) are tarnishing the image of our country," he said.

At the gathering, people waved banners with slogans like "I Am From Gujarat, My Documents Burned in 2002", "No CAA, Boycott NRC, Stop Dividing India, Don't Divide us", "Save Constitution", written on them.

A large number of police personnel were present at the venue.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was notified on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, following persecution over their faith.

Massive protests were witnessed against the CAA, mainly by the student community, since its passage by Parliament in December last year.

Opposition parties have been dubbing the CAA an "anti-Muslim" legislation, a charge being debunked by the government.

The Congress and other parties like the TMC have also opposed the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Union home minister Amit Shah has said that the government won't rest until persecuted refugees are granted Indian citizenship.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Kasaragod, May 26: Amid relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown norms, Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) and vocational higher secondary education (VHSE) examinations resumed in Kerala on Tuesday.

Schools in the state maintained social distancing norms and other precautionary measures amid the examination. Hand sanitisers were also provided at the centres while wearing face masks was made mandatory for all students.

Students at VHSS Manacaud High School in Thiruvananthapuram were encouraged to follow social distancing norms while they also underwent thermal screening before entering the examination centre.

In Kerala, VHSE and SSLC exams began today. While VHSE is scheduled in the morning, the SSLC exam is held in the afternoon session.

Senior secondary exams are scheduled to begin in the state from May 27.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Over 50 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in India have taken place among people aged 60 years and above and 37 per cent deaths have been reported among patients in the age group of 45 to 60 years, Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry said that 11 per cent COVID-19 deaths took place in the age group of 26 to 44.

The 18 to 25 age group and those below 18 years reported one per cent deaths each.
"Currently, 5,86,298 active COVID-19 cases are in India and over 12 lakh people have recovered.

50 per cent deaths due to COVID19 have taken place among the age group of 60 years or above and 37 per cent deaths took place in the age group between 45 to 60 years," Bhushan said.

"A total of 11 per cent COVID-19 deaths took place in the age group of 26 to 44. Only 1 per cent in 18 to 25 age group and 1 per cent in below the age of 18 years," he added.

Bhushan said that 68 per cent of COVID-19 deaths have been reported among male patients and 32 per cent among female patients which is broadly in line with the global scenario.

The number of recovered COVID-19 patients in India is increasing daily and is now over double the number of active cases.

Bhushan said that the case fatality rate (CFR) is lowest since the first lockdown.

"More than 2 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted, including more than 6.6 lakh tests in the last 24 hours. Recovered cases are now double of the active cases. 

The case fatality rate (CFR) is lowest since the first lockdown," he said
"This is the first time after the first lockdown that the fatality rate is at the lowest, at 2.10 per cent. The fatality rate has seen a progressive decline and it is continuing, which is a good sign," he added.

According to the World Health Organisation, CFR is a measure of the severity of a disease and is defined as the proportion of reported cases of a specified disease or condition which are fatal within a specified time.

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