NEW YORK –Indian-American couple Purvi Padia, an interior designer, and Harsh Padia, a hedge-fund manager, in conjunction with UNICEF USA, hosted the launch of Project Lion at The High Line Hotel May 30, kicking off a new project to support children in residential institutions across India. The event raised more than $850,000 for UNICEF’s work to put children first, according to a press release from UNICEF USA.

Emceed by Museum of Ice Cream Co-Founder Manish Vora, the program included remarks from UNICEF Next Generation founding member Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former U.S. President George W. Bush; actress Sienna Miller; CEO and President of UNICEF USA Caryl Stern, as well as performances by Arya Dance Academy. The host committee included Miller along with Sonia Kapadia, Samir Patel and Emily Stackman.

Inspired by the true story of Saroo Brierley captured in the film Lion, Project Lion started with a generous seed grant from Purvi and Harsh Padia to UNICEF. The amount given by the Padias was not disclosed in the press release.

“Project Lion is created to serve the orphaned or displaced children of India. Right now, there is 1.5 million displaced children in India and the first phase of Project Lion which will be three years long will serve the first 200 thousand of them,” Purvi Padia is quoted saying in the press release. “But in addition to that it will really put programs in place so going forward children who find themselves in situations without families have proper rules, proper procedures so they can really thrive,” Purvi Padia added.

Project Lion is a UNICEF child protection program that aims to support more than 200,000 children without family care living in residential institutions across eight states of India.

Representational image of a Muslim family | Wikimedia Commons

The AIMPLB is set to tell the Law Commission that adoption cannot be allowed due to fear of sexual relations between adopted child and mother.

New Delhi: Adoption is prohibited in Islam since there is a possibility of sexual relations between an adopted son and mother or an adopted son with a biological daughter, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is set to tell the Law Commission.

In a meeting held between the Law Commission and the AIMPLB on 21 May — the first ever between the two — the commission had asked the AIMPLB to explain Islam’s position on a range of issues including adoption, inheritance, and child marriage, among others.

The meeting, which was held as a brainstorming exercise before the commission submits its final report on the uniform civil code to the Centre in a few months, was meant to make the commission understand the nature of certain personal laws in Islam.

Over 80 per cent of children adopted in the country in 2017-18 were below the age of two and there were not many kids of this age group legally free for adoption, according to official data.In 2017-18, 2,537 children below the age of two were adopted while the number above two years was just 597 children, the data given by the Central Adoption Resource Authority, the apex adoption body in the country, reflected.

In the age bracket of 2-4 years, 228 children were adopted; in the 4-6 years group, 143 children were adopted and above the age of 6 years, 226 children were adopted."More than 8,000 childcare institutions registered with CARA have primarily more than 90 per cent older children (above 5-6 years of age). And domestically there are very few couples who want to adopt older children," said CARA CEO Lt Col (retd) Deepak Kumar.

Kumar said that they then try to place older children in foster care."We know that we would not be able to place older children in adoption very easily and instead of letting them grow in a child care institution, it is better if they can be placed with some family in foster care. So basically foster care programme has been made to enable such older children to be placed in a family as they are as it is difficult to place them for adoption," Kumar told PTI.

But the foster care system in India has not been taken up in a manner as it should be as parents here too prefer younger children, he said.

"Many of them are treating foster care as a shortcut of adopting younger children where they keep a younger child with them over a period of time and then apply for adoption of the child," he said, noting that child care institutes need to be more careful in such cases.

The inter-country adoption showed an opposite trend where 389 children adopted out of 718 were over the age of two. (Representational Image)

The inter-country adoption showed an opposite trend where 389 children adopted out of 718 were over the age of two. (Representational Image)

Over 80 per cent of children adopted in the country in 2017-18 were below the age of two and there were not many kids of this age group legally free for adoption, according to official data.

In 2017-18, 2,537 children below the age of two were adopted while the number above two years was just 597 children, the data given by the Central Adoption Resource Authority, the apex adoption body in the country, reflected.

In the age bracket of 2-4 years, 228 children were adopted; in the 4-6 years group, 143 children were adopted and above the age of 6 years, 226 children were adopted.

The inter-country adoption showed an opposite trend where 389 children adopted out of 718 were over the age of two. (Representational Image)

The inter-country adoption showed an opposite trend where 389 children adopted out of 718 were over the age of two. (Representational Image)

Over 80 per cent of children adopted in the country in 2017-18 were below the age of two and there were not many kids of this age group legally free for adoption, according to official data.

In 2017-18, 2,537 children below the age of two were adopted while the number above two years was just 597 children, the data given by the Central Adoption Resource Authority, the apex adoption body in the country, reflected.

In the age bracket of 2-4 years, 228 children were adopted; in the 4-6 years group, 143 children were adopted and above the age of 6 years, 226 children were adopted.

Bombay high court, adoption case, CARA, different-abled kid, Mumbai news, Indian Express The court also directed the CARA to arrange for the child’s adoption in India or abroad on a priority basis. (Express photo)

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Maneka Gandhi

Maneka Gandhi

To anyone who wondered why conviction rate in rape cases is so low, the answer lies in the statistic that just one in four of them is found guilty.

Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi’s revelation that no forensic analysis is conducted in 13,000 rape cases as premium forensic labs of the country lacked capacity is quite shocking.

To anyone who wondered why conviction rate in rape cases is so low, the answer lies in the statistic that just one in four of them is found guilty. We have found that the weakest part in conviction is forensic, the minister said. In a country where 106 rapes happen every day as per the National Crime Records Bureau’s 2016 report, it is disturbing to note that a premier forensic laboratory in Chandigarh handles just 160 cases a year.

Tusla knew of illegal adoptions in 2016

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Conall Ó Fátharta and Elaine Loughlin

Tusla was recording illegal adoptions and birth registrations in 2016 — two years before the agency’s revelation that it had uncovered unlawful registrations at St Patrick’s Guild.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil yesterday an independent review into the cases between 1946 and 1969 was ordered after Tusla said it recently uncovered 126 cases where births were illegally registered.

Adoption campaigners urge immediate probe

Thursday, May 31, 2018

By Conall Ó Fátharta

Irish Examiner Reporter

Adoption campaigners want an immediate inquiry into the scale of illegal adoptions — a call they have repeatedly made for years.

Finally, Ireland is listening to long-ignored campaigners

Thursday, May 31, 2018

By Conall Ó Fátharta

Irish Examiner Reporter

Speaking to adoption campaigners in the last 24 hours about the St Patrick’s Guild revelations, you are met with a mixture of bemusement and amusement.