The 5 Men And Women Who Challenged Ban On Homosexuality
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today has said homosexuality is not a crime in India. The top court pronounced its verdict on petitions challenging the colonial-era Section 377 that criminalises consensual gay sex. In 2013, the Supreme Court had cancelled a Delhi high court order that had decriminalized homosexuality, by overturning the outdated law, saying it was up to parliament to take a call on scrapping laws. Five celebrities, in 2016, petitioned the Supreme Court to reconsider its own ruling. Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who headed the five judge bench hearing the case said,"Respect for each others rights is supreme humanity. Criminalising gay sex is irrational and indefensible."
1. Navtej Singh Johar, 59, is a renowned classical dancer and winner of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, who had petitioned the Supreme Court along with his partner of 25 years and said that Section 377 violated the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed by the constitution. Mr Johar is a visiting faculty at the Ashoka University.
2. Sunil Mehra, 63, is a journalist and the former editor of the Indian edition of Maxim magazine. He is an actor and exponent of dastangoi, a 13th century form of storytelling. He has directed, produced, written and anchored 'Centrestage' on Doordarshan. Along with Navtej Singh Johar, his partner of over two decades, he has co-founded Studio Abhyas.
3. Ritu Dalmia, 45, is a celebrity chef and owner of the niche restaurant chain Diva. She has written several books and has also hosted food shows on television. Born in Kolkata to a Marwari business family, Ms Dalmia joined her family business when she was a teenager. A globe trotter, Ms Dalmia specialized in Italian cuisine. She has written travelogues and many cookbooks. One of her bestsellers is Travelling Diva: Recipes from around the World in 2012.
4. Aman Nath, 61, is the owner of the Neemrana chain of hotels. Passionate about history and architecture, Aman Nath has written several books on history and arts. He is also a poet and a prolific writer, who has co-written and authored 13 illustrated books on art, history, architecture and photography. Aman Nath's work was the first Indian book chosen by Christie's for worldwide distribution.
5. Ayesha Kapur, 44, is a businesswoman associated with the food and beverages industry.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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Affront to non-Hindi speaking people: Chidambaram slams use of Hindi words in bills' names
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader P Chidambaram has slammed the "increasing practice" of the government using Hindi words in the titles of the bills and said the change is an "affront" to the non-Hindi-speaking people.
Chidambaram said the non-Hindi-speaking people cannot identify a Bill/Act with titles that are in Hindi words written in English letters, and they cannot pronounce them.
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"I am opposed to the increasing practice of the government using Hindi words written in English letters in the title of the Bills to be introduced in Parliament," the former Union minister said late Monday night.
Hitherto, the practice was to write the title of the Bill in English words in the English version and in Hindi words in the Hindi version of the Bill, Chidambaram said.
"When no one pointed out any difficulty in the 75 year practice, why should government make a change?" he said.
"This change is an affront to non-Hindi speaking people and to States that have an official language other than Hindi," the Congress leader said.
Successive governments have reiterated the promise that English will remain an Associate Official Language, Chidambaram said.
"I fear that promise is in danger of being broken," the Congress MP said.
