Sensing public mood, Rajya Sabha clears Juvenile Justice Bill

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said the legislation is “compassionate” and comprehensive in nature.

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday cleared the Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill, 2015, lowering the age of a legally defined juvenile from 18 to 16 in the case of heinous crimes. Despite the fact that many parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and, till last week, the Congress favoured sending it to a select committee for consideration, neither Shantaram Naik of the Congress nor Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress moved a motion as had been decided by their parties earlier. The CPI(M) walked out once voting started. The presence of Nirbhaya’s parents in the visitors’ gallery and their protest in the last week or so seemed to have had an effect.

In fact, many of the speeches during the discussion had an impassioned tone.

Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi said: “We may not be able to do anything about the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya case but we can deter many other boys from doing so.” “I do not want to tell you what to do, but please remember India is watching us and decide if you want to bring in a nuanced Bill which protects children,” she said, asking the House to clear it.

The Minister said no juvenile would be sent to jail directly. “If juveniles are sentenced to jail, they will be sent to a borstal until they are 21 years old, after which there will be a review,” she said.

Comments

Modern garden with upcycling plastic bottles

The first stethoscope

René Laennec, a French doctor and inventor was born 235 years ago today, and Google has marked his birthday with a Doodle. Dr Laennec's importance to modern medicine was guaranteed by his invention of the very first stethoscope in 1816. Here are five things you (probably) didn't know about him : 1. Dr Laennec's stethoscope bears little semblance to the modern stethoscope. Unlike those used today, Dr Laennec's stethoscope was not a set of ear pieces connected by a plastic tube to a chest piece. His stethoscopes were simple cylinders made from wood and metal. The doctor using it would simply place it directly over the area in question and listen at the other end. 2. His first stethoscope was a rolled up piece of paper Described in his 1819 treatise on this device, Dr Laennec invented the stethoscope while treating a young woman suffering from symptoms of heart disease. 3. The stethoscope was not his only contribution to medical science I...

EPA and the regulation of greenhouse gasses

This week, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy joined private and public sector leaders for a second annual White House roundtable discussion about the progress made and new steps taken to curb emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning. Administrator McCarthy announced several new actions the agency will take to help support a smooth transition to climate-friendly alternatives to HFCs. "EPA is working closely with industry leaders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transition to climate-friendly refrigerants, and deploy advanced refrigeration technologies,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “The powerful combination of EPA’s regulatory actions and innovations emerging from the private sector have put our country on track to significantly cut HFC use and deliver on the goals of the President’s Climate Action Plan.” Among the actions announced today, EPA proposed a rule that would improve t...

jaDuGai

Search This Blog