National

Indian industry must see R&D

The Supreme Court has extended the benefits of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act to minors who engage in consensual sexual activity by exempting doctors from disclosing their identity to the local police. In a landmark verdict, the top court had included unmarried women for abortion between 20-24 weeks of pregnancy under the MTP Act, saying limiting the provision to cover only married women will render it discriminatory and violative of Article 14. It has also held that the meaning of the words "sexual assault" or "rape" under the rules of the MTP Act includes a husband's act of sexual assault or rape committed on his wife. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, A S Bopanna and J B Pardiwala said to ensure that the benefit of Rule 3B(b) is extended to all women aged below 18 who engage in consensual sexual activity, it is necessary to harmoniously read both the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the MTP Act. "For the limited purposes of providing

Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute: Verdict explained

In a unanimous judgment, the Bench has allotted the land to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas for construction of a temple

An SME-focused private equity fund Ambit Pragma today said that it has sold majority stake in Pune-based Spear Logistics to French multinational FM Logistic for an undisclosed amount. Ambit Pragma, a small-cap growth and buyout fund with around USD 150 million under management, had invested in Spear in 2009, the fund said in a statement. However, the company did not say how much it had invested on for how much the stake has been sold. Ambit Pragma is the private equity arm of the investment bank Ambit Captial. "Only about 8-10 per cent of the market is catered to by organised players like Spear Logistics. FM Logistics' global expertise in this domain will help Spear move to the next orbit of growth," Mangesh Pathak, a partner at Ambit Pragma said in a press note. Since its inception in 2001, Spear operates in the contract logistics segment, offering long-term inventory and warehousing management business. The company has a pan-India presence, managing 75 warehouses (2.9 million ..