Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Monday admitted to 'mistakes' in distributing financial assistance to all women applicants of the Ladki Bahin scheme launched last year, which he said would be rectified through scrutiny to ensure only genuine beneficiaries receive the aid.
Sources said the Law Commission held a meeting with the government and sought some information on the matter of age of consent.
India ranked 111th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index-2023, which was rejected by the government as erroneous and having malafide intent. The index, released on Thursday, also stated that India has the highest child wasting rate in the world at 18.7 per cent, reflecting acute undernutrition. India ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the 2022 edition of the Global Hunger Index (GHI), a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that the government is committed to support and protect every vulnerable child who lost both parents to Covid.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged bureaucrats to make national interest the sole basis of their every decision, saying the country has put its faith in them and they must uphold that trust.
India's report outlining its steps towards the promotion and protection of human rights will be taken up for review as part of a mechanism under which UN member States review the human rights performance of fellow States, on Thursday in Geneva, according to the ministry of external affairs.
Five days after the induction of 18 ministers into his cabinet, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday allocated portfolios, keeping Urban Development and 11 other ministries with himself, while giving the crucial Home Department to Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The data, which was shared by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in response to an RTI query from PTI, also stated that 686 children living in child care institutions (CCIs) have been infected with COVID-19 so far this year.
Sushmita Dev said it would have been better if there were more women MPs in the panel.
The states need to identify the children in distress through outreach and surveys and prepare a database with a profile of each child, along with the details of their specific needs and requirements, and ensure that the data is uploaded on the Track Child portal.
Two Rajya Sabha MPs from Gujarat -- BJP president Amit Shah, now Home Minister, and Smriti Irani, who has got the women and child development ministry -- have won the Lok Sabha polls, thus creating two vacancies in the Upper House of Parliament from the state.
A proposal of the Women and Child Development Ministry to give greater powers to the National Commission of Women has faced legal hurdles as the law ministry has raised queries on the move.
Fifteen Cabinet ministers and 28 Ministers of State were sworn-in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday evening.
Reacting sharply to the Global Hunger Report 2021, the Women and Child Development Ministry said it is 'shocking' to find that it has lowered the rank of India on the basis of FAO estimate on proportion of undernourished population which is found to be 'devoid of ground reality and facts, and suffers from serious methodological issues'.
At least 660 rape crisis centres will be established across the country and named as Nirbhaya centres, as a tribute to the victim of December 16, 2012, Delhi gang rape case.
Being made a member of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs makes her an important player in BJP politics, observes Rashme Sehgal.
In a significant move, the Women and Child Development Ministry has proposed that juveniles above 16 years of age involved in heinous crimes like murder or gang rape should be tried as adults under the Indian Penal Code.
"After baby Saraswati @ Sherin Mathews' case, have requested minister for women and child development for a thorough investigation into the adoption process," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Friday.
The campaign involving Khan, who is doing it for free, would comprise audio, visual as well as print media and also SMSes that would spread the message through mobile phone services.
The ministry had earlier decided to issue a orange-coloured passport to those who have ECR status.
Giving in to demands from Anganwadi workers, the government on Monday said it will double their remuneration while a special development fund for women self-help groups was also announced as part of its initiatives for the fair sex.
The BJP on Sunday said the inclusion of the photograph of a former Pakistan Air Force Chief in a government advertisement was in "consonance" with the thought process of Congress and demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whether there was any change in the relations with that country.
Right from the first week, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said, the BJP-led government showed "zero tolerance" towards brutalities against women. "I am confident that a time of gender equality would come. We ensured women gets the basic necessities of toilets, electricity and gas cylinders to make their lives easy."
The supplementary nutrition programme and the Poshan Abhiyaan under the Women and Child Development Ministry has been merged to launch Mission Poshan 2.0 to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach, and outcome, according to the Union Budget announced on Monday.
It would be difficult to stick to the Budget numbers unless the departments are reined in their expenditure plans.
A shelter home run by the MoC in Ranchi has allegedly been involved in "selling" three children and "giving away" another one.
The UNICEF country head in India has come under a cloud as a government enquiry has found him to be prima facie guilty of sexually harassing a female colleague. The enquiry by the Women and Child Development Ministry has found there was reasonable cause to believe that the victim was sexually harassed by Cecilio Adorna, the India representative of UNICEF.
The Women and Child Development Ministry has already got the necessary permission from the Speaker, but the security reasons are a cause of delay.
The special screening of the Shah Rukh Khan starrer at Pragati Maidan was organised by the Women and Child Development Ministry on the occasion of World Child Rights Day, and the film was made available by the young leader.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday supported the Missionaries of Charity on stopping adoption at their orphanages following a recent change in rule by the Centre.
"The issue is not whether India is first or third or fourth, the issue is that this perception should be taken seriously to set our house in order".
"Confinement is fostering the tension and strain created by security, health, and money worries. And it is increasing isolation for women with violent partners, separating them from the people and resources that can best help them. It's a perfect storm for controlling, violent behaviour behind closed doors," UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said in a statement calling the violence against women and girls 'a shadow pandemic'.
Members in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday transcended political barriers to voice concern over rape of a young executive in a cab in the national capital, with the House standing as one in condemning the heinous crime and demanding action against the guilty.
"I received about 40 anonymous calls since Thursday evening. Some threatened to kill me while others wanted me to apologise to Pankaja," Sawant claimed.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre and the city government over their failure to implement Vishaka guidelines on dealing with cases of sexual harassment against women in the aviation industry in New Delhi.
The Centre has put the blame on state governments while state governments complain that money is not released for the proposals given by them to the Empowered Committee that has been tasked with recommending proposals to be funded under this framework.
The government is also thinking of introducing direct benefit transfer for women
The Centre's programmes of maternity benefit and Child Protection Services also got a major boost in the Budget.
Post elections, the company has been making frequent visits to various ministries, including the IT ministry, commerce ministry, as well as different agencies to get the hang of things in the administration.
Fadnavis said the 'minute details' will be gone into before an inquiry is ordered.
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