Given the fact that male to female ratio in India is grossly skewed having reported a child sex ratio of 927 girls to 1000 boys in the
2001 census, against a world average of 1045 women to 1000 men.
In some
States this is even worse including in Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi,
some districts of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and recently Karnataka, the
sex ratio has declined to about 900 girls per 1000 boys in the 0-6 age
group. In some districts, the ratio has plummeted to less than about
850 to 1000 boys.
The preference for male child continues and in recent times has been assisted by mail order/ internet companies who are able to defy safeguards by operating from outside the country. So it was just a matter of time that someone pointed this out. This news was published in the New York Times today.
Microsoft, Google and Yahoo were issued notices by India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, following a complaint that they were promoting techniques and products for the selection of an unborn child’s sex through advertising and links on their search engines.
There is a deliberate attempt by these companies to target Indian users with advertisements that claim to help in the selection of a child’s sex, said Sabu Mathew George, the petitioner in the case, in a telephone interview on Thursday. Read the rest of the article here.
Update: Internet giants Google and Microsoft have pulled adverts for sex selection products and services considered illegal in India after being threatened with legal action, activists said Thursday.(from Yahoo news)