The Senate passed on Monday the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018, women are entitled to a maternity leave of six months and men will get a paternity leave of three months. Mothers and fathers may get further three- and one-month optional leaves but those will be unpaid, it says. The employer won’t be allowed to terminate the services of an employee for seeking leave under the provisions of the bill.
India’s former doubles world number one Sania Mirza made a winning return to tennis at the Hobart International after more than two years on maternity leave. The 33-year-old last played at the China Open in October 2017 before injuries and then the birth of son Izhaan in October 2018. Mirza, partnered Ukraine’s Nadiia Kichenok to a 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 10-3 victory over Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova and Japan’s Miyu Kato in the doubles.