Single moms need not disclose father’s name

A single mother applying for a child’s passport should be allowed to do so without having to declare the name of the father, a government panel has recommended. The three-member committee, comprising senior officials from the ministries of home, foreign affairs and women and child development, also recommended scrapping a provision in passport forms that mandates a single mother or divorcee to get the father’s signature and a no-objection certificate while applying. The panel submitted its report to the ministry of external affairs last fortnight.

The civic body’s project to dispose waste and close the 40-year-old Mulund dumping ground seems to have run into trouble even before it can take off. Even after extending the deadline for a response to the tenders, the civic body did not receive a single bidder for this project. With no firms willing to take up the project, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has extended the deadline a second time, to the end of this month.