Legal Age For Sex Raised From 16 to 18

• Political Move. The government has nominated cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, actress Rekha and business woman Anu Aga to the Rajya Sabha, making it the first time an active sportsman has been nominated into the upper house of parliament. Tendulkar’s nomination came as a surprise to many, who have wondered how the active cricketer, who turned 39 last week, will fulfill political obligations when he will be tied to cricketing duties through to 2013. [The Times of India, IBNLive]

• Legal Age. The Cabinet has approved a bill seeking to raise the age of consensual legal sex from 16 to 18. This would make sex under 18, even if consensual, statutory rape, an offense that carries a maximum punishment of three years imprisonment. The move has angered many activists who have deemed the bill regressive and tantamount to criminalising sex between young people. [The Times of India]

• Rain Fall. According to the Meteorological department, the country will have a normal monsoon for a third year in the row, reaching 99 per cent of the long-term average during June to September. The rains, crucial for economic growth, irrigate about 60 per cent of the country’s farmland, which accounts for about 15 per cent of the nearly $2 trillion economy. [Reuters]