<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Good morning! Here's what you need to know for Thursday.
1. Hong Kong authorities <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/authorities-begin-clearing-main-hong-kong-protest-site-1418265523">started clearing on Thursday the main pro-democracy protest site near government headquarters</a> that has block major roads in the city's financial district for nearly 10 weeks.
2.Israel is <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/10/us-israel-oil-spill-idUSKBN0JO10F20141210">dealing with the worst oil spill in its 66-year history</a> after a breached pipeline leaked as much as 5 million litres of crude into the Evrona desert reserve and could spread to the Red Sea shore.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-hong-kong-protest-sites-to-be-cleared-from-thursday-court-2014-12"> </a>
3. A US Senate report on CIA interrogations <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/cia-lied-about-osama-bin-ladens-capture-2014-12">claims that the intelligence agency lied about how Osama Bin Laden was captured in 2011</a>. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/wreckage-of-flight-mh17-arrives-in-netherlands-1418133975"> </a>
4. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/google-shutting-google-news-in-spain-1418265199">Google said it will shut its Google news service in Spain</a> due to a new law that requires the company to pay publishers for showing their work.
5. The OEPC <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/opec-2015-oil-demand-is-set-to-be-weakest-for-12-years-2014-12">decreased its projection for oil demand in 2015 to 28.9 million barrels a day</a>, its lowest level since 2002.
6. Greenpeace has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30422994">apologised for a placing a banner next to the figure of an ancient hummingbird carved into the ground in Peru</a>, which was part of a publicity stunt to put pressure on the United Nations climate talks in Lima.
7. Pakistani teenager<a href="Watch%20Malala%20Yousafzai's%20Nobel%20Peace%20Prize%20Speech%20That%20Has%20Everyone%20In%20Awe%20%20Read%20more:%20http://www.businessinsider.com/s?q=malala#ixzz3LZgYwA3z">Malala Yousafzai and Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi received their Nobel Peace Prizes on Wednesday</a> at a ceremony in Oslo.
8. Brazil's National Truth Commission on Wednesday <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f43a4affb17a41ad992a722b85c5b509/brazil-panel-delivers-report-regime-brutality">released a damning 2,000-page report on the killings and acts of torture</a> commited between 1964 and 1985 under the nation's military dictatorship.
9. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/alan-rusbridger-leaves-the-guaridan-2014-12">Alan Rusbridger will step down as editor in chief of The Guardian next year</a>, to become chair of The Scott Trust, which owns Guardian Media Group.<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/alan-rusbridger-leaves-the-guaridan-2014-12"></a>
10. Northern regions of the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> were pounded Wednesday and early Thursday by <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/pictures-of-waves-from-uk-weather-bomb-2014-12">strong winds and huge waves spawned by a "weather bomb" storm system</a>.
And finally ...
<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/theres-going-to-be-a-bbc-theme-park-in-kent-2014-12">The BBC is going to build an insane theme park in Kent, a county south east of London</a>.

The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Good morning! Here's what you need to know for Wednesday.
1. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-senate-is-about-to-release-the-cia-torture-report-2014-12">US Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on Tuesday that details harsh CIA interrogation techniques</a> employed in counterterrorism efforts during the administration of US President George W. Bush. 
2. A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-new-luxleaks-release-drags-disney-microsoft-into-tax-scandal-2014-12">new leak of confidential documents adds dozens of more companies, including Microsoft and Disney</a>, onto the list of corporations seeking secret tax deals in Luxembourg.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-hong-kong-protest-sites-to-be-cleared-from-thursday-court-2014-12"> </a>
3. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/wreckage-of-flight-mh17-arrives-in-netherlands-1418133975">Greek </a><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/greek-pm-announces-ex-eu-commissioner-as-presidential-nominee-1418127716">Prime Minister Antonis Samaras named his candidate for the Greek presidency</a>, former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, a day after moving the presidential vote forward from February to Dec. 17.
4. The first pieces from the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/wreckage-of-flight-mh17-arrives-in-netherlands-1418133975">wreckage of Flight MH17 arrived in the Netherlands on Tuesday from Ukraine.</a>
5. Rideshare service <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/india-advises-all-states-to-ban-uber-and-other-car-hailing-services-1418119647">Uber is drawing scrutiny worldwide</a> after allegations that an Uber driver raped a woman in India last weekend. 
6. The head of commodities at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Francisco Blanch, said that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/era-of-opec-is-over-2014-12">influence of the OPEC has "dissolved," and instead given way to the desires of one member, Saudi Arabia</a>. 
7. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-sony-cybersecurity-costs-idUSKBN0JN2L020141209">The recent hack on Sony Pictures could cost the studio up to $100 million</a>, experts said. 
8. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-malala-yousafzai-17-to-receive-nobel-peace-prize-2014-12">17-year-old </a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-malala-yousafzai-17-to-receive-nobel-peace-prize-2014-12">Malala Yousafzai, of Pakistan, will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo</a> on Wednesday, along with the Indian campaigner Kailash Satyarthi.
9. A UN report released Wednesday found that a record <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-record-numbers-trying-and-dying-to-reach-europe-un-2014-12">3,400 migrants, many from Libya, have died this year in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach Europe</a>. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-best-iphone-ipad-apps-of-the-year-2014-12"> </a>
10. <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/25731271/australia-bows-to-pressure-pledges-165-mn-to-un-climate-fund/">Australia pledged $165 million (£105 million) to a UN climate fund</a> after initially refusing to donate.
And finally ...
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-winnie-the-pooh-illustration-sells-for-record-price-2014-12">The original ink drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, and Piglet playing "poohsticks" sold at auction in London for a record-breaking £314,500 ($490,470 or 399,170 euros)</a>.

Amidst all the celebratory din on the clearing of the GST bill, the <keyword id="6377229" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Child-labour">Child Labour</keyword> (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 passed both the houses of Parliament without the attention it deserved. The Bill amends the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 which had banned the employment of children, that is those below 14 years of age, in 83 specified occupations/processes. The amendment prohibits engagement of children, which it now defines as 14 years or as specified by the Right to Education (RTE) Act, in all occupations except in family or family-based enterprise (after school hours or during vacations) and in the audio-visual entertainment industry or sports activity. It also created a new category of “adolescent”, which includes those between 14 to 18 years of age, and prohibits their employment in hazardous occupations, or hazardous processes. 
 
There have been widespread criticisms of the exceptions for family or family-based enterprises since it was cleared by the Cabinet in May last year. The government did away with the blanket ban on child labour, proposed when the bill was first introduced in 2012, to strike “a balance between the need for education for a child and reality of the socio-economic condition and social fabric in the country”. 
 First, if the reality of the socio-economic condition is forcing parents to keep their child working, this situation can’t be expected to improve anytime soon if status quo remains and children keep missing out on their education. And since, according to a study, parents are the reason for a child’s employment 62% of the time (Syed et al. 1991), the status quo would persist. There is much to be lost if India can’t capitalise on its demographic dividend being unable to tear itself away from the shackles of an uneducated population. The bill does restrict working hours to after-school timings, but where would the child have the time for any effective learning of things taught at school if he is at work later? Secondly, these exceptions have enough loopholes to nullify the amendment itself. They are not even restricted to the child’s immediate parents but extends to his/her “brother, sister and father’s sister and brother and mother’s sister and brother”. Any employer could claim to be a relative and it would be difficult to prove otherwise. Even the <keyword id="6355940" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Standing-committee">Standing Committee</keyword> recognised this issue and suggested removal of exceptions and prohibition of employment in all occupations. The recommendation was ignored. 
 
The exceptions also make the law weaker than the earlier one when the purpose of amendments are the exact opposite. Earlier, a child weaving carpets was a blatant violation of the law. Now, it must first be determined who he is working for; if it is for his family in after-school hours, he is legally entitled to carry on. The bill has effectively legalised employment of children in home-based units rolling bidis and making aggarbattis. This makes the bill highly regressive in nature and tougher to implement. It is an uncomfortable relaity that it has passed both houses of Parliament with hardly any public scrutiny. 
 
Some other issues with the Bill are its various inherent contradictions. The Juvenile Justice Act puts the age of a child at 16 years while the RTE Act, which this bill has tied itself with, fixes it at 14. There is a need for clarity on the definition of a child. Moreover, the Bill is in contradiction with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as it fails to define the number of hours a child can work. Another issue of contention was that of provisions for the employment of adolescents. The Standing Committee recommended that the meaning of hazardous occupations and processes be widened to include all occupations/processes that may jeopardise health, safety and morals of adolescents, in line with the ILO Convention 138. Again, the recommendation was ignored. 
 A group of organisations and activists have raised their voices against these amendments time and again with no avail. Back in March, Kailash Satyarthi wrote in a letter to <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> that a complete abolition of child labour would attract more global investment as reports of their products being made by children tarnish their image. For instance, Gap was caught in an embarrassing scandal in 2007 after an Observer investigation found its products being manufactured by children in Delhi, despite Gap’s rigorous audit systems. The company claimed that it contracts out work to various vendors in India and it becomes difficult to keep track on each one of them. Therefore, a better child labour law in India which is easy to implement would diminish such problems. In fact, it would act as a double-edged sword cutting down on child labour along with improving investment prospects. Perhaps the country should pay more heed to the child-rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner it takes so much pride in! 
 
About the author: The article is written by <keyword id="209438" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amit-Kapoor">Amit Kapoor</keyword>, in collaboration with <keyword id="1914448" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chirag-Yadav">Chirag Yadav</keyword>, researcher with Institute for Competitiveness, India 
 
<a href="http://cdn.shareyouressays.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/child-labour-causes.jpg">Image source</a>

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