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E-filing of cases in SC from Oct 2
Left expects to grow by opposing reforms
J&K ceasefire efforts come a cropper
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Fresh polio cases reported
North India to have 20 tele-medicine centres
Indian ties up with German bank for aircraft purchase
Kashmiris living in fear: US group
Nikahnama sent to Iraq for approval
Chiru to figure in CITES meeting
Management skills of Lalu questioned
CO sacked for sinking
of Prahar
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E-filing of cases in SC from Oct 2
New Delhi, September 30 “This is for the first time that e-filing is made available by any court in the country and a user friendly programme with interactive features has been prepared by NIC,” Supreme Court Registrar-General V K Jain said. The e-filing will obviate the need to visit the Supreme Court for filing of the case, any additional application or document in a case, he said. While every Advocate-on-Record, through whom the cases are filed in the Supreme Court, will be given a password and the litigant filing in person will be given a “unique reference number” to file the petition once he accesses the apex court website. The payment of fee will be charged at the rate of Rs 1.50 per page and it could be made through Visa, Master, Credit and Debit cards by the litigant. No additional court fee or processing fee will be required for e-filing, Mr Jain said. The petitioner-in-person will have to submit proof of their identity for which they will scan on internet the ration card, Income Tax PAN card, office identity card, driving licence and voters identity card. “The text of the petition can be typed on computer whereas documents including affidavits and vakalatnamas can be submitted by scanning by them,” he said. Every matter will be scrutinised to identify the filing defects, if any and the same will be immediately communicated by a registry to Advocate-on-Record, or the litigant as the case may be removed by an e-mail without any loss of time by using the reference number in case of petitioner-in-person. Besides petitions, counter affidavits, rejoinders as ordered to be filed by the Court during the hearing, fresh applications in the ongoing cases, caveats, additional documents could also be filed through the internet. “It will be possible to make any modifications and changes before the matter is finally submitted to the court for hearing,” the Registrar-General informed. E-filing has been modelled in conformity with the Supreme Court rules on filing of cases and makes it free from filing defects before the case is finally registered.
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Left expects to grow by opposing reforms
New Delhi, September 30 “The support to the UPA government and the intervention in all major political issues had drawn the support from different sections of the people. The present political situation offers big opportunity for the expansion of the party,” CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said. The Left is bracing itself for another round of confrontation with the government, with the CPM-backed trade union CITU alleging that the UPA government was scuttling the grant of navratna status to eight more PSUs. CITU secretary Dipankar Mukherjee said this is an attempt by the government to go in for disinvestment of these PSUs claiming to be non-navratnas. The eight PSUs, which the trade union claimed were being granted the status were Shipping Corporation of India, Power Finance Corporation, Power Grid Corporation, National Aluminium Corporation, Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation. Mukherjee said these PSUs have fulfilled all the relevant parameters necessary for grant of navratna status, which enables them to get more financial and operational autonomy. At present there are nine companies - IOC, ONGC, GAIL, BPCL, HPCL, BHEL, MTNL, NTPC and SAIL - in the list of navratna companies.
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J&K ceasefire efforts come a cropper
New Delhi, September 30 Government of India’s interlocutors continue to be in touch with the leadership of Hizb ul-Mujahideen for thrashing out a ceasefire even if it were to come into force after the holy month of Ramzan is over. The issue is not dead, at least not yet, though chances of a breakthrough are slim. A ceasefire between Indian security forces and Hizb ul-Mujahideen cadres prevailed on two occasions in the past six years — first in 2000 when the outfit announced a unilateral ceasefire and then a year later when the Centre announced the move unilaterally. Both times, the ceasefire was a flop. The Hizb ul-Mujahideen unilateral ceasefire lasted barely a fortnight as the move did not get the nod from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir chapter of Hizb ul-Mujahideen and the Muzaffarabad-based United Jihad Council, an umbrella body comprising 14 terrorist outfits. The Central move in 2001 was not even called a ceasefire and New Delhi preferred to christen it as non-initiation of combat operations (NICO). This time, too, the path to a proposed ceasefire is not exactly strewn with rose petals even after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s announcement earlier this month that he favoured a ceasefire during Ramzan. The outfit has come out with four pre-conditions for the acceptance of a ceasefire: (i) accepting Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory by New Delhi; (ii) relocating Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir to the position of 1989; (iii) putting an end to “human rights abuse” by the Indian security forces; and (iv) releasing all Kashmiri detainees. The Hizb ul-Mujahideen Central spokesman Ehsan Illahi went on record last week even denying that it had made any Ramzan ceasefire offer to the Centre and clarified that only United Jihad Council could consider the ceasefire offer. On Thursday, the outfit said there was no sense in the Ramzan ceasefire and offered to stop its operations in Jammu and Kashmir if Army troops in the state moved to the position they were in before the outbreak of militancy. Hizb ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, who is also UJC chairman, told a Muzaffarabad news channel: “There is no sense in a Ramzan ceasefire. It means that there will be no violence for only a month, but for the rest of the 11 months, forces will continue with their killings and so will militants… So if the Government (of India) is sincere, it should withdraw its forces to the pre-1989 positions as a good gesture and we will stop operations ... I assure you.”
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Fresh polio cases reported
New Delhi, September 30 Out of the 12 fresh cases, 10 are from Uttar Pradesh, which has so far reported 301 polio cases. The ministry has confirmed one polio case in the capital. Health Ministry sources said the spurt in the number of cases is being perceived as an “outbreak”. It was mentioned what is worrying officials is the fact that those areas which were free from polio last year, are reporting it this year. These areas are Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh and West Bengal. The viral paralytic disease enters the body through mouth due to contaminated water or food. It infects the intestinal walls and then enters the bloodstream and the central nervous system. Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss had earlier said seven to 15 per cent children had missed the immunisation programme this year. He announced that he would be visiting Uttar Pradesh and would interact with the minority community, who are not taking the vaccine after rumours that it would make their children impotent. In the November anti-polio drive those areas will be covered that have been affected by the virus.
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North India to have 20 tele-medicine centres
New Delhi, September 30 Speaking at EmergeTech 2006, a conference on emerging technologies organised by Confederation of Indian Industry, Mr Sibal said India’s spending on R&D was far less compared to developed countries. “We have the ability, genius and capacity to create technology that could be affordable and accessible to people living in the rural sector,” Mr Sibal said. He said Germany, the USA and Japan were leaders in nanotechnology and a reason for their lead was the amount of money they were investing in research. “India has a vision to spend Rs 1,000 crore on nanotechnology in the next five years. We have already spent Rs 180 crores,” he said. Mr Sibal said his ministry has taken steps to set up 20 centres in northen India to provide tele-medicine connectivity. The first of these is likely to be inaugurated next month in Gohana . The minister said that tele-density in rural areas was quite low. He said scientists should design cheaper instruments for providing wireless connectivity in rural areas. Referring to 10th five year plan, he said science, including atomic energy and space, had a budget of Rs 2,500 crore. An outlay of Rs 100,000 crore has been sought for the 11th plan, he said. “If this money is given, even then the spending on R&D will be less than one per cent of the country’s GDP with growth rate of eight per cent,” he said.
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Indian ties up with German bank for aircraft purchase
New Delhi, September 30 German national bank KFN will loan $ 540 million to Indian for these 10 aircraft, following which negotiations will again be launched for the remaining planes, Indian CMD Vishwapati Trivedi told reporters in an informal interaction here on Wednesday. He said the 10 aircraft, which would be a mix of A-319s, A-320s and A-321s, would be inducted by 2008 and that the first A-319 would land here on October 19. The government has granted a sovereign guarantee on 36 per cent of the entire amount of loans to be taken by the Indian. Even though the Ministry of Civil Aviation is looking at merging Indian and Air India and for the purpose is also preparing a Cabinet note, Mr Trivedi said Indian was looking at expanding its international route network to Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and the UK by next summer. Even though London Heathrow was not priority for the airline but it would be inducting two wide-bodied A-330-200 on lease for specific purpose of international operations. To questions on renewal of the insurance cover for its fleet, Mr Trivedi said the carrier had succeeded in reducing the entire premium burden by as much as $ 5 million or 31 per cent, compared with the previous year. Public sector New India Assurance Company has been selected for providing a coverage worth $ 750 million. Asked whether the recent decline in crude prices would reduce the price of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) and therefore that rate of the fuel surcharge being imposed by all airlines, the Indian CMD indicated that there was no possibility of reducing the surcharge immediately as the prices could go up again in the near future. To questions on the airline’s offer to other carriers to sell its surplus available seat kilometres (ASKMs), he said the purpose of the offer was to generate non-operational revenue for the public sector carrier.
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Kashmiris living in fear: US group
New Delhi, September 30 Javed and scores of others have been scarred by the atrocities committed by militants and the security forces. These are the statistics that indicate violation of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. A compilation of such cases has been documented by the Human Rights Watch, a US-based watchdog, in its report “Everyone Lives in Fear”. Based on a study conducted on both sides of the border, the report blames India, Pakistan and militant groups for the plight of the common Kashmiris. “The Indian Government has given free reign to its forces, while Pakistan never takes any action against militants who carry out atrocities.” Based on a research conducted from 2004 to February, 2006, the report claims despite the ongoing efforts to restore peace and other confidence-building measures, civilians in Kashmir continue to be abused. The 150-page report lists around 12 key recommendations for the Governments of India, Pakistan and the militant and Kashmiri groups.
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Nikahnama sent to Iraq for approval
Lucknow, September 30 Speaking to TNS a senior member of the board said the reason to send the draft to Ayatoullah Sistani was to ensure its wide acceptability amongst the Shia populace of the country. Ayatoullah Sistani is a renowned authority on ‘ijtihad’ (personal reasoning) or innovative interpretation of the Quran relating it to changing conditions of the Muslim community within the larger context of the Islamic spirit of justice and equity. The model ‘nikahnama’ has tried to respond to the personal law problems being thrown up in recent times by clearly spelling out a set of 18 to 20 conditions for both the prospective bride and the bridegroom. While refusing to share the draft before the board finally accepts it at its Mumbai session, a member of the AISPLB on condition of anonymity said, for instance, the bride would also have the right to give talaq. While the Quran grants this right to the bride, till now it had been kept well under wraps by the ulemas, revealed the member. Amongst the clause that the bridegroom has to put his signatures on is not to demand dowry either at the time of marriage or at any time afterwards. He is also to desist from mental and physical exploitation of the bride. Similarly, the bride is expected to ensure marital harmony and live within means of the husband’s income and not make extravagant demands. Any dispute between the husband and wife is first to be resolved by arbitration with representatives of both sides of the family present. The ‘nikahnama’ also calls for resolving disputes within the shariat laws and approach courts only as a last resort.
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Chiru to figure in CITES meeting
New Delhi, September 30 India’s representative from the Ministry of Environment and Forests will put before the committee the latest regarding the protective and preventive action taken to conserve the animal. It has already been put in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act. The Jammu and Kashmir Government has also put it on Schedule 1 of the State Wildlife Act. However, the animal continues to fall prey to poachers and the trade in shatoosh shawls. The action taken by the authorities concerned, however, has yielded some results. According to wildlife studies, the animal may disappear in the next three to four years if steps are not taken to stop production of shatoosh shawls. Surveys put its present population at 150 to 200 in Ladakh. About 20,000 of these are killed in China every year for making shawls. The current population of the Tibetan antelope is around 75,000. Besides India, it is found in China and Mongolia, at a height of over 5,000 metres.
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Management skills of Lalu questioned
Patna, September 30 The LJP vice-president and one time trusted lieutenant of the RJD supremo, Mr Ranjan Yadav, has decided to write a letter to the IIM- Ahmedabad, asking if Lalu Prasad was a “management guru”, then who was responsible for the plight of Bihar where he was in power between 1990 and 2005. Pointing out that surveys carried out by various institutions till 2005 had shown Bihar at the bottom in every sphere of development, Mr Yadav claimed that the credit for the achievement of the Railways should go to the Parliamentary Consultative Committee and its Standing Committee, headed by the CPM MP, Mr Basudeb Acharya, engineers and former Railway Ministers and not to Mr Lalu Prasad. To substantiate his views, Mr Yadav referred to some of the flop “populist” schemes by Mr Lalu Prasad in the recent past. Mr Yadav said, “Laluji’s much-hyped village-on-wheels scheme, where the garib gurba (poor villagers) were to be taken to various pilgrim sites in India had remained a non-starter.So was his ambitious plan to introduce ‘kullhar’ (in which tea is served) in trains proved to be a flop. And his proposal to transport green vegetables from Bihar to Delhi market in refrigerated vans had crashed even before it could take off.”
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CO sacked for sinking
of Prahar
Mumbai, September 30 The INS Prahar’s missile tubes got stuck into the merchant ship’s hull as a result of the collision. Though the MV Rajiv Gandhi’s engines were shut down and attempts were made to disentangle the corvette, these failed and the 450-tonne INS Prahar sank. |
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