Infanticide is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Now mostly illegal, infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were normally abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed.
Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of newborn female children. In countries with a history of female infanticide, the modern practice of gender-selective abortion is often discussed as a closely related issue. Female infanticide is a major cause of concern in several nations such as China, India and Pakistan. It has been argued that the low status in which women are viewed in patriarchal societies creates a bias against females.
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in "disturbed areas". According to the Disturbed Areas Act, 1976 once declared 'disturbed', the area has to maintain status quo for a minimum of 3 months. One such act passed on 11 September 1958 was applicable to the Naga Hills, then part of Assam. In the following decades it spread, one by one, to the other Seven Sister States in India's northeast. Another one passed in 1983 and applicable to Punjab and Chandigarh was withdrawn in 1997, roughly 14 years after it came to force. An act passed in 1990 was applied to Jammu and Kashmir and has been in force since.
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordination continued to be reified well into India's early modern period.
The 1947 Indian Independence Act [1947 c. 30 ] is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 July 1947 and thus India and Pakistan, comprising West and East regions, came into being on 15th August.
The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdom of Oudh was annexed and merged with the North-Western Provinces to form the renamed North-Western Provinces and Oudh. In 1902, this province was reorganized to form the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Allahabad served as its capital from 1858, when it also became the capital of India for a day.
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, commonly known as TADA, was an Indian anti-terrorism law which was in force between 1985 and 1995 under the background of the Punjab insurgency and was applied to whole of India. It was originally assented to by the President on 23 May 1985 and came into effect on 24 May 1985. The Act had a sunset provision for lapsing after two years post-commencement, which it did on 24 May 1987. The Parliament not being in session, the life of the Act could not be extended. But the provisions were kept alive by an ordinance effective from the expiry date of the Act. This ordinance was later replaced with the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987. It was assented to on 3 September 1987, and made effective in two parts from 24 May 1987 and 3 September 1987. This also had a sunset provision of two years from 24 May 1987. It was renewed in 1989, 1991 and 1993 before being allowed to lapse in 1995 due to increasing unpopularity after widespread allegations of abuse. It was the first anti-terrorism law legislated by the government to define and counter terrorist activities.
The Ministry of Law and Justice in the Government of India is a cabinet ministry which deals with the management of the legal affairs, legislative activities and administration of justice in India through its three departments namely the Legislative Department and the Department of Legal Affairs and Department of Justice respectively. The Department of Legal Affairs is concerned with advising the various Ministries of the Central Government while the Legislative Department is concerned with drafting of principal legislation for the Central Government. The ministry is headed by a cabinet rank minister appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India. The first Law and Justice minister of independent India was Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who served in the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet during 1947–51. Ravi Shankar Prasad was the Minister of Law and Justice until the cabinet reshuffle in 2021 and was replaced by Kiren Rijiju.
The Defence of India Act 1915, also referred to as the Defence of India Regulations Act, was an emergency criminal law enacted by the Governor-General of India in 1915 with the intention of curtailing the nationalist and revolutionary activities during and in the aftermath of the First World War. It was similar to the British Defence of the Realm Acts, and granted the Executive very wide powers of preventive detention, internment without trial, restriction of writing, speech, and of movement. However, unlike the English law which was limited to persons of hostile associations or origin, the Defence of India act could be applied to any subject of the King, and was used to an overwhelming extent against Indians. The passage of the act was supported unanimously by the non-official Indian members in the Viceroy's legislative council, and was seen as necessary to protect against British India from subversive nationalist violence. The act was first applied during the First Lahore Conspiracy trial in the aftermath of the failed Ghadar Conspiracy of 1915, and was instrumental in crushing the Ghadr movement in Punjab and the Anushilan Samiti in Bengal. However its widespread and indiscriminate use in stifling genuine political discourse made it deeply unpopular, and became increasingly reviled within India. The extension of the law in the form of the Rowlatt Act after the end of World War I was opposed unanimously by the non-official Indian members of the Viceroy's council. It became a flashpoint of political discontent and nationalist agitation, culminating in the Rowlatt Satyagraha. The act was re-enacted during World War II as Defence of India act 1939. Independent India retained the law in a number of amended forms, which have seen use in proclaimed states of national emergency including Sino-Indian War, Bangladesh crisis, The Emergency of 1975 and subsequently the Punjab insurgency.
The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing into law of the Government of India Act 1858. At this latter point control of the East India Company's Bengal Presidency passed to the British Government. The first locally recruited battalion was raised by the East India Company in 1757 and by the start of 1857 there were 74 regiments of Bengal Native Infantry in the Bengal Army. Following the Mutiny the Presidency armies came under the direct control of the United Kingdom Government and there was a widespread reorganisation of the Bengal Army that saw the Bengal Native Infantry regiments reduced to 45.
Numbardar or Lambardar is a title in the Indian subcontinent which applies to powerful families of zamindars of the village revenue estate, a state-privileged status which is hereditary and has wide-ranging governmental powers: mainly revenue collection and a share in it, the collaboration with the police for maintaining law and order in the village, and it comes with the associated social prestige. In contrast, the Zaildar who was the grand jagirdar and usually had the power over 40 to 100 villages(gao). The Zail and Zaildar system of British Raj was abolished in 1952 in India but the lambardar system still continues in Pakistan and in some places in India.
The Age of Consent Act, 1891, also known as Act X of 1891, was a legislation enacted in British India on 19 March 1891 which raised the age of consent for sexual intercourse for all girls, married or unmarried, from ten to twelve years in all jurisdictions, its violation subject to criminal prosecution as rape. The act was an amendment of the Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 375, 1882,, and was introduced as a bill on 9 January 1891 by Sir Andrew Scoble in the Legislative Council of the Governor-General of India in Calcutta. It was debated the same day and opposed by council member Sir Romesh Chunder Mitter on the grounds that it interfered with orthodox Hindu code, but supported by council member Rao Bahadur Krishnaji Lakshman Nulkar and by the President of the council, the Governor-General and Viceroy Lord Lansdowne.
The Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850, was a law passed in British India under East India Company rule, that abolished all laws affecting the rights of people converting to another religion or caste. The new Act allowed hindus who converted from Hindu religion to another religion equal rights under new law, especially in the case of inheritance.
The Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836–48 in British India under East India Company rule were a series of legal acts that outlawed thugee—a practice in North and Central India involving robbery and ritualized murder and mutilation on highways—and dacoity, a form of banditry prevalent in the same region, and prescribed punishment for the same.
The Bengal Sati Regulation, or Regulation XVII, in India under East India Company rule, by the Governor-General Lord William Bentinck, which made the practice of sati or suttee illegal in all jurisdictions of India and subject to prosecution ,the ban is credited with bringing an end to the practice of Sati in India. It was first major social reform legislation done by the British in India and part of the reforms done by Bentinck.
The Forgery Act 1870 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The whole Act, so far as unrepealed, was repealed by section 33(3) of, and Part I of Schedule 3 to, the Theft Act 1968. This Act was repealed for the Republic of Ireland by sections 1 and 2 of, and Part 4 of the Schedule to, the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005.
Female infanticide in India has a history spanning centuries. Poverty, the dowry system, births to unmarried women, deformed infants, famine, lack of support services and maternal illnesses such as postpartum depression are among the causes that have been proposed to explain the phenomenon of female infanticide in India.
The New Year Honours 1909 were appointments by King Edward VII to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were announced on 5 January 1909.
The 1911 Delhi Durbar was held in December 1911 following the coronation in London in June of that year of King George V and Queen Mary. The King and Queen travelled to Delhi for the Durbar. For the occasion, the statutory limits of the membership of the Order of the Star of India and the Order of the Indian Empire were increased and many appointments were made to these and other orders. These honours were published in a supplement to the London Gazette dated 8 December 1911.