Girls should be allowed to marry at 16, live-in relationships example of 'Awaragi,' says SP MP

Samajwadi Party MP ST Hasan citing the fertility factor said that girl should be allowed to marry at the age of 16 if they are 'mature.' He also expressed his disgust for live-in relationships.

Image credit: ANI

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party MP ST Hasan while talking to media on Friday (December 17) expressed his views against the government's proposal to increase the minimum age for females for marriage to 21 and said, a girl should be allowed to mary at the age of 16 years if she is mature enough. He said if a girl can vote at 18 why can't she marry. He also expressed his disgust against live-in relationships and dubbed them as "Aawargi." 

Samajwadi Party MP further said that girls should be allowed to get married at an early age citing the fertility factor.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a "Sarkar Banao, Adhikar Pao" (make government, get rights) rally in Lucknow today. The rally was jointly organised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Nishad Party. 

In other developments,  Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led pre-Budget consultations with stakeholders from diverse sectors in two sessions in New Delhi today in connection with the upcoming General Budget 2022-23. 

17 December 2021

20:57 IST

Kerala records two fresh cases of Omicron.

20:56 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Goa unit held its Election Management Committee meeting in Panaji on Friday.

20:27 IST

West Bengal BJP approaches Supreme Court challenging the division bench order of Calcutta HC which has rejected its appeal seeking deployment of Central Forces for Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections on Dec 19.

19:38 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with leading private equity/venture capital firms on Friday (December 17).

18:29 IST

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to PM Narendra Modi requesting that the aspirants of the Civil Service Examination and other exams in 2020 and 2021 be granted two compensatory attempts and corresponding age relaxation in light of COVID-19 induced disruptions. (ANI)

18:28 IST

Punjab | 22 Patiala corporators and Patiala Congress leaders today joined the Punjab Lok Congress at a party event.

Punjab | 22 Patiala corporators and Patiala Congress leaders today joined the Punjab Lok Congress at a party event today

The event was presided over by Biba Jai Inder Kaur, daughter of former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

(Source: Punjab Lok Congress) pic.twitter.com/Xugd7tGwXq

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2021

18:28 IST

All schools to resume physical classes for class 6 onwards from 18th December, says Delhi Government.

16:21 IST

Omicron variant reported in 91 countries in the world. WHO has said that Omicron is spreading faster than the Delta variant in South Africa where Delta circulation was low. It's likely Omicron will outpace Delta variant where community transmission occurs, WHO added: Lav Agrawal

15:38 IST

There are 101 Omicron cases across 11 states in the country: Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry

15:37 IST

The National Executive Meeting of BJP Kisan Morcha to be held on December 19 in Gurugram. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will inaugurate the event and BJP President JP Nadda will address the concluding session of the event.

14:48 IST

"All the leaders of the opposition are working together. The government is very rigid in its stand that suspended members should apologize. They are punished for no reason at all, we have to sit along with the suspended members and all opposition leaders," Tiruchi Siva of DMK said.

14:47 IST

"The government is agreeing in the notice that MPs were suspended on the incident that happened during the last session. They want the suspended members to apologize one by one in the House but they are not going to do anything of that sort," said Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in Rajya Sabha. 

14:42 IST

Lok Sabha adjourned till Monday (December 20) amid uproar by Opposition MPs over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. They also demanded the resignation of MoS Home Ajay Misra Teni.

13:50 IST

Defence Minister of France Florence Parly laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and paid tributes in New Delhi.

13:49 IST

President Ram Nath Kovind departs from Dhaka after his state visit to Bangladesh. 

President Kovind departs from Dhaka after his State visit to Bangladesh

He attended Bangladesh's 50th Victory Day celebrations as guest of honour & had delegation-level talks with Bangladesh Pres Abdul Hamid. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina & Foreign Min AK Abdul Momen called on him pic.twitter.com/2Oht3CfNid

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2021

13:45 IST

"In which areas are UP in number one position? In UP, there is no ease of doing business but there's the ease of doing crime. Look at the condition of roads. If you smash a coconut on a newly-built road for inauguration, the coconut won't break, but the road would," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said. Taking a swipe at the ruling party, BJP, without mentioning the name, Akhilesh added, "Those who claim to make UP number 1 have actually taken it to the top position in custodial deaths, hunger index, farmer suicides, in selling public enterprises and banks, and in burying live cows. Can anyone imaging that live cows can be buried?"

12:48 IST

"People had started losing faith in democracy when Modi government took over the reins. The country was wondering if our multi-party democratic system was failing. The biggest achievement of our government is that PM Modi strengthened public faith in our multi-party democratic system," said Home Minister Amit Shah.

#WATCH | Even critics would agree that the country has seen a lot of changes in the last 7 years. No allegation of corruption has surfaced against our govt. There could have been some wrong decisions but no one can say that our intention was wrong: Home Minister Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/6iYSCY5Y2I

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2021

12:45 IST

Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan slammed Karnataka Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar for his 'rape' remark. "Shameful behaviour, shameful action. The party must deal with them and take very strict action so that it's an example for others not to even think of such things, forget talking about it in the House." She added, "If you have people with such a mindset sitting in Assembly or Parliament, how can things change? We have to create an example by giving them the strictest punishment so that nobody ever dares speak like this. This is disgusting, I'm shocked."

12:45 IST

Delhi: Suspended MPs and other Members of the Parliament protest outside on the Parliament premises, against privatisation and merger plans of Public Sector Banks. pic.twitter.com/1zBGgcAWBd

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2021

12:43 IST

"We should believe in evolution. India does not need revolution today. We don't need to demolish our heritage buildings and reconstruct them rather we need to rejuvenate them. I want all the Mayors to take an initiative to bring their city to the top of the cleanest city list," Prime Minister Modi said at the All India Mayors' Conference. He added, "I believe that all the Mayors present here have left no stones unturned for the bright future and development of their cities. This program in Kashi is very important for the growth of cities in India."

11:32 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the Bharatiya Janata Party MPs from Uttar Pradesh on Friday morning at 7, LKM in Delhi, said sources. The meeting lasted for about an hour, as per the sources. The Prime Minister had earlier held a meeting with the MPs of northeastern and southern states. Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls are slated for early next year. (ANI)

11:30 IST

Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day after the chairman urged the government and Opposition to arrive at a consensus over the issue of suspension of MPs. 

10:57 IST

Former Congress National President Rahul Gandhi will be on a day-long visit to Amethi in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on December 18, Saturday. As per the party, the Congress leader will participate in "BJP Bhagao, Mehangai Hatao" 'padyatra' in Amethi tomorrow as a part of the Congress party`s ongoing nationwide campaign, 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan'. Following Rahul's visit, his sister and party national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in Amethi on December 19, Sunday.

10:53 IST

Five more persons in Tamil Nadu have tested Covid positive with the presence of 'S' gene drop, which indicates a high possibility of the Omicron variant, taking the total number of suspected Omicron cases in the state to 13. Among the five is a woman passenger from Tamil Nadu's Arani, who reached the state from the Republic of Congo in Africa. The other four are the relatives of the person who has already been tested and confirmed positive for Omicron variant.

10:46 IST

PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate and address the All India Mayors’ Conference shortly via video conferencing. The conference is being organised by the Department of Urban Development, Uttar Pradesh in Varanasi. Mayors from various states are participating in the conference.

10:46 IST

"I am delighted to be here. The friendship between France and India is very precious. The trust we have in each other has developed in recent years to such an extent that distance between the Ganges and the Seine seems to be lessened," said French Defence Minister Florence Parly in Delhi. (ANI)

10:42 IST

A meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the MPs of Uttar Pradesh is underway at 7, LKM in Delhi. The PM had earlier held a meeting with the MPs of northeastern and southern states.

10:40 IST

Mass culling of ducks is taking place amid a bird flu scare in Kottayam, Kerala. Killing and burning of ducks being done, reported ANI. Places like Kallara, Vechoor and Aimanam were affected by bird flu, PK Jayasree, Kottayam District Collector told the news agency.

10:31 IST

Bhutan confers the country's highest civilian award, Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo, upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bhutan confers the country's highest civilian award - Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi. pic.twitter.com/MDFpOAN8i3

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2021

09:42 IST

At least 27 people were feared killed on Friday when a fire broke out in a commercial building in a shopping district in the Japanese city of Osaka.
Police were investigating the cause of the fire on the fourth floor of the eight-storey building for suspected arson, Kyodo News reported, citing investigative sources.

09:42 IST

The Supreme Court Collegium is learnt to have decided not to recommend the name of Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala, the woman additional judge of the Bombay High Court, as a permanent judge after she gave some controversial judgments including the "skin-to-skin" contact verdict in a POCSO case.The Collegium`s decision means Justice Ganediwala, serving at Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court, would be demoted back to district judiciary at the end of her additional judgeship in February 2022. (ANI)

09:36 IST

"A video surfaced on social media in which three boys accused of molestation by a woman were tied to a tree and beaten up by the villagers for hours. Two separate cases of molestation and assault registered by the woman and the boys respectively," said Akhilesh Bhadauria, SP City, Moradabad. (ANI)

09:35 IST

On the occasion of Madhya Pradesh Police Foundation Day, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the parade at Motilal Nehru Stadium in Bhopal. 

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviews the parade at Motilal Nehru Stadium in Bhopal, on the occasion of Madhya Pradesh Police Foundation Day. pic.twitter.com/1VVT0T7RMJ

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2021

09:34 IST

India reports 7,447 new COVID-19 cases, 7,886 recoveries, and 391 deaths in the last 24 hours.

09:33 IST

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will attend a meeting with his French counterpart Florence Parly on Friday (December 17) for the third Annual Defence Dialogue between India and France. The meeting will be held at `Vigyan Bhawan` in New Delhi. "The 3rd Annual Defence Dialogue between India and France will be held at `Vigyan Bhawan' in New Delhi today. Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh will attend the meeting with his French counterpart Ms @florence_parly," the Defence Minister of India has tweeted.