Topic: Marriage
Modi govt’s plan to raise legal age of marriage for women can bring enormous gains, says SBI
Marriage at a young age means not even a quarter of women in India get into the labor force despite accounting for almost half of the 1.3 billion population.
Three Indian brides who were sold spoke to me. This is their story
Mahira left her home in Assam at 14, and was ‘bought’ as a bride for Rs 8,000 by a man in Haryana. She isn’t the only one.
Is she 18? How Pakistan’s forced conversion of minors gets legal cover
If your kidnapper-husband says you are 18, or have had your first period, no more questions are asked in Pakistan about abduction-conversions of young girls.
SC seeks Centre’s reply on plea challenging provisions of privacy in Special Marriage Act
A Kerala-based law student's plea says giving up right to privacy to exercise right to marry infringes the autonomy, dignity of couples.
India’s Constitution is ready for gay marriage. Are India’s society and courts?
In ‘Sex and the Supreme Court’, Saurabh Kirpal writes about how marriage equality will fulfil the Constitution makers’ promise to all Indians.
How Indian clerics abuse Quranic halala to sexually exploit women and get paid
In ‘Nikah Halala’, Ziya Us Salam writes about how Halala was meant to keep men who have zero control at bay. But in India, it only serves to reduce women to chattel.
No link between marriage, motherhood — why more single women are opting for adoptions
The number of adoption applications from single women has gone up to 589 in 2018-2019 from 495 in 2017-2018, according to govt data.
Why most elite married women of Delhi prefer gurus over temples or gods
A conspicuous aspect of the cult of the guru among Delhi’s rich was the global reach and international character of the guru himself.
Europe’s ‘sham marriages’: Why officials just can’t accept migrant couples
Marriages with non-European nationals are often suspected of being “sham” and subjected to strict controls.
Unmarried women in US face shortage of economically attractive male partners: Study
Our study uncovers the demographic reality of large deficits in the supply of men who are suited or well matched for today’s unmarried women.
Listen to Mohan Bhagwat’s Dussehra speech. You won’t say RSS lacks intellectual bandwidth
Mainstream Indian media used to denigrate and ridicule RSS. But it is now publishing its chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statements as front-page news.
Iraq PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi bets big on economic reforms
Kadhimi's govt is pushing a soup-to-nuts overhaul in the next three to five years. The path of least resistance would have been to wait until the general election next summer.
Defence
India & US agree on deeper cooperation in Indo-Pacific as Rajnath meets Mark Esper
The hour-long meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Mark Esper came a day before the bilateral 2+2 ministerial dialogue in Delhi.
Trump or Biden? Doesn’t matter to India-US ties as they’re in a full, strategic embrace
Pompeo & Esper’s visit to India for the 2+2 talks is proof that old hypocrisies are history, and supreme national interest has again driven a strategic choice.