This Bill seeks to provide every child of the age of six to fourteen years with the right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school until completion of elementary education. Where a child above six years of age has not been admitted in any school or though admitted, could not complete his or her elementary education, then, he or she shall be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age.
Commonly known as the Women's Reservation Bill, it seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. Introduced by the UPA-I government in May 2008, it also provides that one third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups. Similar Bills have been introduced thrice before in the late 90's but lapsed with the dissolution of their respective Lok Sabhas.
The Women’s Reservation Bill, currently pending in the Rajya Sabha, proposes to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies for women. The 15th Lok Sabha has 58 women MPs – this is the first time their representation has crossed 10%. In this note, we describe the performance of women candidates and profile of women MPs.
In India, insurance companies are not permitted to have foreign holding of more than 26%. This Bill raises the limit to 49% and allows entry of foreign re-insurers (companies that insure insurance companies). It also provides for permanent registration of insurance companies. It permits the holder of a life insurance policy to name the beneficiary.
The creation of new products and processes through technological innovation is essential for a country’s economic growth. However, India lags behind due to a variety of reasons such as low level of commercialisation, lack of funding from industry, and government control of the right to intellectual property developed in research institutions through public funds.
