Marriage sacred, concept of marital rape cannot be applied in India: Govt - Hindustan Times

The government told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday the concept of marital rape cannot be applied in the country since marriage was treated as a sacrament or sacred in the Indian society.

The government's stand came against the backdrop of the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommending to India to criminalise marital rape.

"It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors, including level of education, illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament," Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, minister of state for home, said in a written reply to question from DMK MP Kanimozhi.

Kanimozhi had asked the home ministry whether government will bring a bill to amend the IPC to remove the exception of marital rape from the definition of rape; and whether it is a fact that UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against women has recommended to India to criminalise marital rape.

She had also said that according to United Nations Population Fund that 75% of the married women in India were subjected to marital rape and whether government has taken cognisance of the fact.

Marital rape refers to unwanted intercourse by a man with his wife obtained by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to give consent.

Chaudhary said the ministry of external affairs and ministry of women and child development have reported that UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended to India to criminalise marital rape.

"The Law Commission of India, while making its 172nd Report on Review of Rape Laws did not recommend criminalisation of marital rape by amending the exception to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code and hence presently there is no proposal to bring any amendment to the IPC in this regard," the minister said.

It may be recalled that the Justice J S Verma Committee set up in the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape incident to suggest changes in the criminal law had recommended that the exception for marital rape be removed from the Indian Penal Code(IPC).
    
"The fact that the accused and victim are married or in another intimate relationship may not be regarded as a mitigating factor justifying lower sentences for rape," the Verma Committee had said.
    
However, the government did not accept the recommendation.
    
The Parliamentary standing committee on Home in its report on the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 agreed with the view of the Home ministry that criminalising marital rape would weaken traditional family values in India, and that marriage presumes consent.
    
It said accepting marital rape as a criminal offence could lead to "practical difficulties".
    
The decision to exempt marital rape has also been fiercely opposed by women's groups.

( With PTI inputs)

Train pe charcha: Rahul's PR timing is perfect but will it win Punjab for Cong? - Firstpost

Chandigarh: It was an image makeover exercise alright. And for a change neither the Congress nor Rahul Gandhi made a mess of it. The fact that BJP chose to launch a personal attack on him after Rahul visited the grain markets in Punjab, dodging the questions he raised on the plight of farmers should be a matter of satisfaction for both.

So what was different this time? The party kept it simple, unostentatious. Congress refrained from allowing the personality of the Gandhi scion overwhelm the issue on hand. Farmers had their space with Rahul without local Congress leaders falling over each other to be seen close to him. If there was a bigger message to be conveyed to people, the party did it subtly.

Perhaps it was a deliberate move at providing a contrast – BJP’s mascot Narendra Modi’s flamboyant, overconfident approach to the easy-going, straight from the heart one from Rahul. He did not fly to Punjab. He didn’t even take the ‘elite’ Shatabdi Express. Instead, he travelled in the general bogey of the ‘ordinary’ Sachkhand Express to  interact with the Punjabis. He was dressed simply. During the journey, he was photographed talking with fellow passengers. He even held a child in his lap. This seemed to go well with the co-passengers and the media. He got down from the train at Ambala station and continued the rest of the journey to Punjab by road.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. PTI

He appears to have got the timing right. Earlier, he would have been ridiculed for putting up a show of simplicity. This time it’s different; there’s  context. When he visited Dalit houses earlier or spent nights in homes of the poor, it was more of a private matter. The farmers’ issue makes his trips across the country more politically meaningful. It also helps that he is in the opposition. It allows him more elbow room to operate.

Political analysts in Punjab say the Congress deliberately planned all this in a simple manner to project Rahul as a leader of the masses and make farmers the new constituency of the party. By strongly opposing the land acquisition ordinance, the party has made its intention clear—farmers’ issue will be the stepping stone to the revival of the party and its leader. The Congress vice president, who is going to Vidarbha in Maharashtra to meet the farmers, plans to set off on a country-wide padyatra to protest against Modi government's alleged ‘anti-farmer’ policies.

Will it help the party in the state? Yes, they say. The Congress had lost the farmer connect all these years and the state is facing a serious agrarian crisis. The Akali Dal-BJP government has seen a sharp slide in popularity over the last few years. This is the best time for the party to rebuild the old equation with farmers. However, everything depends on whether the party is sincere with its intent or is it just a one-off event like it had been in case of Rahul’s image-building exercises earlier.

Of course, it has to settle the bitter factional rivalry between Capt Amarinder Singh and Partap Singh Bajwa. The former, a mass leader, had made an adverse remark about Rahul’s leadership qualities, preferring Sonia Gandhi instead to lead the Congress. He was not even informed about the vice-president’s visit to Punjab. He could spoil the party’s revival plans.

Speaking to Firstpost, Pawan Jain, a senior party leader from Haryana said, “The Akali-BJP’s government is on its last leg. The AAP has been a failure in the state. The Congress is the only alternative left to the people of Punjab. I am happy Rahul Gandhi is taking a lead in all important matters of the party now and making good public contact. This will help the revival of the Congress.’’

AAP under attack on Tomar's fake law degree, police report on farmer's suicide - Press Trust of India

29 Apr 2015, 23:18 HRS IST

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Sensex falls 170.45 pts to end at 27,225.93; Nifty drops 45.85 pts to close at 8,239.75Govt hikes import duty on sugar to 40 pc from 25 pc: Food Min Ram Vilas PaswanGovt has reduced Excise duty on Ethanol: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in LSLok Sabha adjourns amid noisy scenes after Rahul Gandhi's attack on govt for not procuring foodgrains from Punjab farmers and govt's counter-attackCabinet approves payment of Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension in perpetuity for EPFO pensionersIn a relief to farmers, govt relaxes norms on moisture content in grains: sources after Cabinet meetingUnion Cabinet clears 100 Smart City projects; Old housing projects initiated by previous govt also cleared: official sourcesI will raise voice for farmers on every platform: RahulSensex down 108 pts ahead of Apr derivatives expiryRupee down 13 paise against dollar in early tradeOil prices down in Asian trade

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Russian spacecraft fails International Space Station mission - Financial Times

Space administrators were forced for the second time in six months to abandon an attempt to resupply the International Space Station after a mishap left an unmanned Russian supply craft spinning uselessly in space.

The decision came on Wednesday after Russian controllers failed to establish contact with the Progress 59 cargo craft after it reached space following a successful launch on Tuesday from Kazakhstan.

The failure follows the destruction of a previous resupply module last October when the Antares rocket due to carry it to the International Space Station exploded on a launch pad in Virginia.

Although Nasa, the US space agency, stressed that astronauts aboard the space station had enough spare supplies to survive through the second mishap, the incident underlines the fragility of the technology being used.

“Docking has been called off for the Progress 59 spacecraft,” Nasa said in a statement on Wednesday. “Russian flight controllers are continuing to assess the vehicle and what the plan going forward will be. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”

Both Wednesday’s mishap and the launch explosion on October 28 in Virginia involved technology associated with Russia’s cash-starved space programme. Ronald Grabe, an executive of Orbital ATK, the company that operated the October 28 flight, said two weeks ago that the explosion appeared to have resulted from excessive wear in one of the Antares rocket’s engines. The rockets use old engines produced for Russia’s abortive space shuttle programme.

The latest mishap appears to have happened as the resupply craft separated from the upper stage of the rocket, which had carried it from Kazakhstan, leaving the craft spinning in orbit. The US Air Force’s Joint Space Operations Centre said it had observed an “anomaly” following the launch, that the craft was spinning 360 degrees every five second, and that there were 44 pieces of space debris around it.

American astronaut Scott Kelly (left) and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko

The debris suggests there was either a collision between the separating stages or an explosion.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and work with our government [and] international and industry partners, to ensure the safety of the astronauts onboard the ISS and [to] provide for the long-term safety, sustainability, security and stability of the space domain,” Lt Gen Jay Raymond, the centre’s commander, said.

The US staged a successful resupply mission to the space station on April 14, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a Dragon spacecraft to the outpost. However, the US has had no independent means of sending crew to the space station since the space shuttle

Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said the failures showed the US had allowed its civil space launch capabilities to become “fragile”.

“Our ability to get to space has become attenuated,” Mr Thompson said.

The crew on the International Space Station is currently made up of three Russians, one Italian and two Americans. Among the Americans is Scott Kelly, an experienced astronaut spending a year in space as part of an experiment comparing him with his twin brother Mark, a former astronaut who is remaining on earth.

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Foreigners stay back in Nepal to help in relief works - India Today

Villagers wait in the rain as an aid relief helicopter lands at their remote mountain village of Gumda, near the epicenter of Saturday's massive earthquake in the Gorkha District of Nepal, Wednesday, April 29, 2015. Photo: APKathmandu is slowing beginning to rise from the rubble. For the last four days market places have been completely shut but on Wednesday they opened their shutters to assess the damage and begin anew. Luckily for Nepal, many of the foreign tourists have decided not to cancel their holidays and return home. They want to stay back to help rebuild Nepal.

For over 100 hours now tourists have stayed indoors in their hotel rooms but today they gingerly started venturing out. Some to take out cash from the ATMs, others to take a stroll. They may have been scared till now, but they are determined to stay and help Nepal.

Many foreign nationals have made Kathmandu their home. They are now appealing to tourists not to get scared by the catastrophe on Sunday, since things have started returning to normal.

For the shop owners of Nepal, the earthquake struck at the worst possible time of the year -- bang in the middle of the peak tourist season. For them it's going to be a long walk to normalcy.

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NCP will vote against land ordinance in Rajya Sabha: Pawar - Zee News

Mumbai: NCP President Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said his party will not support the land ordinance in its present form as it does not favour removal of several crucial clauses and will vote against it in the Rajya Sabha.

"I have spoken to a number of political parties who are opposed to the ordinance. The government may bulldoze it in the Lok Sabha based on its majority in the Lower House. But the picture will be different in the Rajya Sabha. The NCP will vote against the ordinance in the Upper House," Pawar told reporters here.

He said the Government has appointed Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari as the pointsman to hold dialogue with the Opposition to support the ordinance's passage in the Parliament.

"I have known Gadkari to be polite and open for dialogue. But the language of the letter he has written to all Opposition members asking whether they don't want development and water to farmers as well as defence projects smacks of arrogance of power. It is not the language of dialogue," Pawar said.

The letter is based on the brief he has got from his political bosses, Pawar charged, adding that he has not replied to the letter.

Pawar recalled that the Land Acquisition Bill passed in 2013 was drafted by a committee headed by him.

"All suggestions by the then Leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were incorporated and the Bill was passed unanimously. Why was a decision made to scrap the Act and bring amendments," he asked.

"The NCP will not support the land ordinance in its present form as it does not favour removal of several crucial clauses," Pawar said.

He said that his party is opposed to the removal of social impact assessment and consent clauses, dilution of the provision of period of five years of return of unused acquired land and the clause that multi-crop irrigated land can also be acquired.

Rahul Gandhi targets PM Modi in Lok Sabha, BJP hits back - Daily News & Analysis

"Our Prime Minister is touring across the country, but he should also go to Punjab and see farmers situation," Rahul said.

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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday once again raised the issue of farmers in the Lok Sabha targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP has promptly hit back at Congress VP. 

Speaking in Lok Sabha, Rahul said, “Farmers are crying in mandis; they are in pain and your minister (in Haryana) says farmers who are committing suicide are cowards, criminals. Your government did not help, farmers suffered; you stopped their bonus, farmers suffered. They cannot even sell their produce.

He further added, "Your government says "Make in India" hona chahiye... hamaari sarkaar, aapki sarkar, but not farmers' sarkar”. 

“The Indian Prime Minister is in the country for some time. He should visit Punjab too and listen to the farmers. Do farmers not "Make in India?" If a farmer suffering from losses is compensated, then it is your gain, not ours. You should procure grain from mandis as soon as possible,” he added. 

BJP MP Shanta Kumar today said that Congress was using the plight of the farmers to relaunch Rahul Gandhi and that the party was opposing the land Bill "for the sake of opposing".

"Congress is using the present plight of the farmers of the country to relaunch Rahul Gandhi, who is back from a two months absence. The farmers of the country, who are at present in a bad condition due to long negligence by the governments and unpredicted weather conditions, is being misused by the opposition," he said.

Earlier in the day, vowing to raise voice for farmers platform, Rahul Gandhi said government should take into account their concerns and not just extend monetary assistance. "I will raise the voice and pain suffered by farmers and atrocities on them on every platform," said Rahul.

12:54 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Lok Sabha adjourns amid noisy scenes after Rahul Gandhi's attack on govt for not procuring foodgrains from Punjab farmers and govt's counter-attack.

12:28 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal hits back at Rahul Gandhi.

12:15 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Rahul Gandhi speaks in Lok sabha, targets PM Modi.

Rahul said, " PM should also go to Punjab and see farmers situation​."

12:10 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Congress and ruling BJP members were engaged in a verbal duel in the Lok Sabha today after the government objected to the practice of daily notices for adjournment motion given by the opposition members.

"Every day we cannot have an adjournment motion and discussion later," Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed the notices given by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and others on the "tardy procurement" of grains.

12:03 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed the notices given by Congress leader.

PAR-SCHEDULE

Following is the Parliament schedule for today:

Lok Sabha:

- Discussion and voting on Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

- Appropriation Bill for introduction, consideration and passing and voting on Outstanding Demands for Grants in respect of Budget (General) for 2015-16.

- Bill for consideration and passing: The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014.

Rajya Sabha:

- Bill for introduction:

The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015.

- Bill for consideration and passing:

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013.

- Discussion on the working of Law and Justice Ministry;

- Discussion on the working of the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry.