K’taka cabinet approves bill to criminalise engagements of minors
Bengaluru, July 24: In a significant move to curb child marriage, the Karnataka cabinet on Thursday approved the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to make even engagements involving minors a punishable offence. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the Cabinet has cleared the proposal and the Bill will be introduced in the upcoming session of the legislature. The cabinet took note of the fact that nearly 700 child marriages were reported across the state during 2023-24. The decision follows a resolution passed at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, where Deputy Commissioners of the districts and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of Zilla Panchayats were directed to take stricter measures to prevent child marriages. (PTI)
Mithun counters Mamata’s migrant claims
Kolkata, July 24 : BJP leader and actor Mithun Chakraborty on Thursday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, dismissing her recent claims of harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in other states as “baseless” and accusing her of spreading fear for political mileage ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Chakraborty alleged that the TMC leadership was rattled by the Election Commission’s (EC) ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as they feared losing control over their “illegal vote bank.” (PTI)
