Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
Former National Commission for Women chairperson and BJP leader Rekha Sharma was declared elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Haryana after the deadline for withdrawal of nomination ended at 3 pm on Friday. Sharma had filed her nomination for the bypoll from Haryana here on Tuesday. She was the lone candidate in the fray. The BJP had on Monday announced Sharma's name for the December 20 Rajya Sabha bypolls. Accompanied by Haryana Minister Mahipal Dhanda and former Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, Sharma was given certificate by the Returning Officer after being declared elected unopposed. The opposition had not fielded a candidate for the bypolls. In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the BJP enjoys a majority having 48 members, the Congress has 37 seats, the INLD two while three are Independents. The Independents also support the Nayab Singh Saini government. The Rajya Sabha seat in Haryana fell vacant when Krishan Lal Panwar of the BJP had quit his seat foll
The National Commission for Women (NCW) registered 28,811 complaints of crime against women last year and about 55 per cent were from Uttar Pradesh. The highest number of complaints were received in the right to dignity category that involves harassment other than domestic violence and it stood at 8,540, according to NCW data. This was followed by 6,274 complaints of domestic violence. Dowry harassment complaints stood at 4,797, molestation complaints at 2,349, police apathy against women complaints at 1,618, and rape and attempt to rape complaints at 1,537, the data showed. There were 805 complaints of sexual harassment, 605 of cyber crime, 472 of stalking and 409 of honour crimes, it stated. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of complaints at 16,109 followed by Delhi 2,411, Maharashtra at 1,343, according to the data. Bihar recorded 1,312 complaints, Madhya Pradesh 1,165, Haryana 1,115, Rajasthan 1,011, Tamil Nadu 608, West Bengal 569 and Karnataka 501. The number of ...
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has informed the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) that it had raised with Pakistan the forced religious conversion of a Sikh woman and conveyed that it is expected that strict action would be taken against those responsible. In a statement, the NCM said it had taken cognizance of media reports regarding abduction and forcible conversion of a Sikh girl in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area. NCM chief Iqbal Singh Lalpura through a letter dated August 22 had requested the Minister of External Affairs to take up the matter with his counterpart in Pakistan so that this type of incident is not repeated and appropriate steps are taken to prevent and combat hate, and secure the safety of Sikhs in Pakistan. Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, in a letter dated September 17, informed NCM chief that the government has taken note of the incident and as soon as the report of the incident was received, it raised the matter with the Pakistan ...