New Delhi, May 2
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has recommended severe punishment for perpetrators of acid attacks in the draft law on the subject, which was submitted to government yesterday.

The commission has also written to all MPs, urging them to enact the acid attack law at the earliest besides clearing the Bill that seeks to enhance the “definition of rape” to include molestation and eve teasing.

Rejecting the existing IPC provisions that treat acid attacks as any other form of “serious injury” and punish the accused with a maximum of seven years’ rigorous imprisonment, the NCW draft law proposes life imprisonment in the worst cases of attacks.

The legislation is groundbreaking inasmuch as it seeks separate penal provisions to deal with acid attacks, which debilitate the victim both physically and mentally. Right now, such attacks are dealt with under Section 326 IPC, which encompasses all forms of serious injury.

But the new draft Bill titled, “Prevention of Offences (by Acids) Act 2008”, provides for major criminal law amendments to IPC by proposing two new sections - Section 326 (A) to deal with the act of throwing acid on someone and Section 326 (B) to deal with the attempt of throwing acid.

Penalties sought are severe; Section 326 (A) states: “Whoever does the act of throwing acid on any person with the intention of or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause permanent or partial deformity to any part of the body of such person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years extending up to life.” The section imposes a fine ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh on the accused.

The legislation includes another new provision-Section 357-A for defraying of expenses. “It provides for recovery of compensation from the assets of the accused. The latter will also be liable to pay costs that the agencies involved in assisting the victim might incur,” NCW chairperson Girja Vyas today said.

Apart from making punishment severer, the draft law deals comprehensively with the issue of rehabilitation of victims that number 1000 annually. It proposes interim relief of Rs 5 lakh and a maximum relief of Rs 30 lakh for treatment and rehabilitation. The money will be directly paid to the hospital treating the victim and not to any of the victim’s relatives.

Relief can be sought by applying to the proposed National Acid Attack Victims’ Assistance Board at the central level; while at state-level monitoring authorities will assist the board.

The draft law comes in the wake of Supreme Court’s notice to the government in writ petition involving acid attack on Lakshmi, a 17-year-old Delhi girl.

The case raised several issues related to the need for separate legislation, open availability of acid and rehabilitation of victims.

At the psychological level, too, acid attacks are grave offences. They don’t just inflicting pain on a woman but also destroying her body, which is central to her identity. The fact that a woman’s identity is reduced to her body, which can then be possessed or destroyed when denied access, is a dangerous signifier of its commodification - a trend that the law on acid attacks seeks to halt.

New Delhi, May 2
For a change, and climate change that is, lawyers today talked on the issues other than legal ones. They spoke on how the climate change issue was not just about more development, but doing it differently with stricter green rules in place and the need for a stringent pro-environment legal framework for the country.

As in the words of leading lawyer F.S. Nariman, development is more about planning for climate change, rather than responding to it. Speaking at a national conference on “Climate change and role of law,” Nariman said each country in its attempt for ever-faster economic growth would like to pollute without restrain, but tragic consequences of climate change would be borne by world’s poorest children.

“This is the tragedy about which this seminar is all about and we lawyers have a duty to put our heads to it and see what we can come up with,” he said in his presidential address at the conference organised by the Bar Association of India.

Citing the example of the Climate Change Bill that has put the UK at the very front of global efforts to tackle climate change, Nariman questioned why India could not be the second country in the world to establish such a legal framework.

“Creating such a framework is an enormous challenge for the government and the present debate and your views will help determine the final shape of proposals by NGOs and by the government to tackle the ogre of climate change,” he added.

Aimed at examining different issues around climate change and global warming and the role of legal fraternity, during this two-day conference, lawyers are discussing issues like air quality, water management and global warming and legalities associated with it. Since climate change is an issue that will directly affect the rule of law, the focus of the conference will be to bring more clarity in green laws while urging for proper machinery to ensure that laws are implemented stringently.

The conference was inaugurated this morning by former Chief Justice of India J.S. Verma and will conclude on Saturday with keynote address by law student Diksha Sharma on “Do not sacrifice our future”. At the end of the seminar, a Delhi Declaration on climate change and the role of law will also be signed, urging the government to take immediate action to deal with threat of climate change. The document will be circulated in the government, judiciary and at international level.

Incidentally, to participate in the conference lawyers did not have to pay the registration fee. This, as per honorary general secretary of the association Lalit Bhasin, had been done to encourage maximum participation in the conference from the legal fraternity, involving as many members as possible in the lawyer’s climate change programme.

While giving the welcome speech, Bhasin talked of updating the current legal systems by taking into account complexities of climate change. Giving the example of the India’s existing Environment Policy 2006, he said the Act needs to be revisited to encompass various effects in context of climate change and should instead be re-christened as the climate change policy. 

Dehra Dun, May 2
Uttarakhand forests are smouldering, leading to a loss of forest wealth worth crores, besides invaluable damage to flora and fauna. These raging fires have also claimed two human lives.

With mercury soaring high, forest fires have engulfed large areas in the Garhwal as well as the Kumaon regions of the state. State government officials have requested the remote sensing agency to provide satellite imagery of the prevailing fires to know the exact damage.

Large tracts of forests in Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts in Garhwal and Almora, Bageshwar and Pitthoragarh districts in Kumoan region are on fire.

Godambari Devi, a woman in Pauri Garhwal district, was burnt to death when she tried to douse the forest fire. Hemant Sinngh Negi, a child, was also burnt to death in a similar forest fire in another incident in Pauri Garhwal district yesterday.

According to state government officials, 1,800 hectares of forests have been burnt in the past few days. Forest fires are more severe in Garhwal region than Kumoan this year,” said A.R. Sinha, chief conservator of forests, Uttarakhand.

It was after several years that massive forest fires are raging in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions. In the summer of 1999, devastating fires burnt forest wealth worth more than Rs 600 crore in the region.

As per the report of the National Remote Sensing Agency (NSRA), Hyderabad, in one of the greatest fires in the region in 1999, around 22.64 per cent (5086.6 sq. km) forest area got severely burnt while about 1225 sq. km was affected severely. The extent of fire was more in dense forests (23 per cent) than in open forests. In 1995, forest fire affected 19.32 per cent of the total forest cover of the state. “Besides getting reports from forest staff, we are relying also on satellite pictures to know the extent of the fire. Our staff has been spending sleepless night fighting fires,” said Sinha.

New Delhi, May 2
Efforts of Corbett National Park officials and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) have helped save lives of at least three tigers of the Corbett National Park.

According to officials of ministry of environment and forest, the park authorities received some information about dubious movements of a person from Bawariya tribe in a particular area following which they informed the WCCB. The particular area is home to three tigers of the park, officials said, adding that the person had been detained and was now in the judicial custody.

According to the officials, the seizure indicated that the detained person was a hardcore wildlife criminal.

New Delhi, May 2
The Bharatiya Janata Party today claimed that its bandh called “stop price rise or leave” was successful with more than 20,000 markets in the country remaining closed.

Briefing newspersons about the party sponsored bandh against the price rise, BJP national spokesman Prakash Javedkar said millions of people participated in the protest demonstrations in thousand of towns and cities.

Quoting today’s released figure of inflation, which touched 42-month high of 7.57 per cent, Javedkar said this was a proof of the failure of the Congress-led UPA government’s inability to arrest inflation.

In view of this, the BJP demands that wheat, rice, pulses, oil and sugar should be made available to everyone on highly subsidised prices in the ration shops, the spokesman said. He added that the black marketing of cooking gas and fertilisers should be stopped.

Moreover, the cement and steel cartels should be effectively ended and a new policy on diesel and petrol should be announced, he said and claimed that only after these steps were taken, the prices may be controlled.

DEHRADUN: The protest was marked by some incidents of violence here with the BJP supporters pelting stones at buses and offices. At RTO and Windlass Complex, they broke the windowpanes and created difficulties for the people and the administration.

BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi was reportedly involved in pelting stones and adding chaos at a public school, Grace Academy.

Meanwhile, the Congress leaders strictly opposed this move. Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana said, “The agitators have used the government machinery to hamper the peace in the country.”

HARIDWAR/RISHIKESH: The bandh had a least impact on the business today in the holy towns of Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Though some shopkeepers voluntarily closed their establishments, the local transport and markets remained open in most parts. The towns were partially closed, but there were no reports of clash or forcible shutting down of shops.

Meanwhile, normal life was affected in Assam and shops, markets and commercial establishments remained closed, while very few vehicles plied on the road.

A human chain, led by state unit president Ramen Deka and national vice-president Bijoya Chakraborty, was formed in the commercial hub of Fancy Bazaar here.

The stir evoked a partial response in Bihar with ruling NDA members forming a human chain to mark their protest. While commercial establishments and shops in main markets downed their shutters till 11 am, majority of the shops remained open in most parts of the state.

The Bharat bandh also evoked a partial response in Tamil Nadu, but was marked by sporadic incidents of violence.

Police sources said nearly 50 state-owned buses were damaged in stone throwing incidents in Kanyakumari and Coimbatore. About 1,000 BJP workers, including women activists, were arrested across the state on charges with picketing.

Meanwhile, the protest had a partial effect on normal life in Madhya Pradesh today with private transport and taxi services plying as usual.

However, majority of the markets remained closed in urban cities, including Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur.

The bandh failed to evoke response in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. However, normal life was hit in Rajasthan with shops and business establishments remaining closed in Jaipur. Very few vehicles were seen on the road and the local bus service was hit.

Normal life was also hit in Himachal Pradesh today with the markets being closed in Shimla. Reports from the districts said markets were closed in all prominent places like Dharamsala, Hamirpur, Kullu, Kangra and Mandi.

The strike evoked a mixed response in Gujarat. In Ahmedabad, many business establishments remained opened. However, in Rajkot and few other districts, the traders supported the bandh by downing their shutters.

Partial response was evoked in Orissa today with reports from district headquarters saying that while some big shops, business establishments remained closed, factories and financial institutions functioned as usual.

New Delhi, May 2
The Congress is debating whether it will be politically prudent to involve its leaders from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in the Karnataka election campaign.

Karnataka has longstanding border and river water sharing disputes with its neighbouring states and there is a fear that involving leaders from these states in the election campaign may end up creating more problems for the Congress.

Since these issues evoke strong sentiments, it is feared that even a stray remark could end up inflaming passions. “In fact, we found that our leaders from Maharsthra and Tamil Nadu are themselves reluctant to campaign in Karnataka. Any statement by them on the Belguam issue or the Cauvery dispute can also boomerang on them in their respective home states,” remarked a senior Karnataka Congress leader.

Although finance minister P. Chidambaram and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh are among the key Congress leaders, who have been included in the list of campaigners, there is no certainty whether they will be actively involved in the electioneering, which has got underway for the three-phase assembly poll.

While Karnataka and Maharashtra have been locked in a border dispute for over six decades, it was recently involved in a fracas with Tamil Nadu over the Hogenakal drinking water project.

An aggressive campaign was launched against Tamil Nadu in Karnataka as parochial groups stopped the screening of Tamil movies, destroyed the film posters and targeted Tamil-speaking persons.

Political parties in Karnataka opposed the water project, as it was feared it would affect local farmers and a water supply project in Bangalore.

Similar scenes were enacted in Tamil Nadu, led by superstar Rajnikanth, launched a blistering attack against Kannada chauvinists and sat on a day-long fast to press for the early implementation of the project.

As the issue threatened to get out of hand, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi decided to put the project on hold. This came as a big relief for the Congress, which was unable to formulate a clear stand as the mattter involved an important UPA ally, the DMK.

If its relations with Tamil Nadu are tense, the situation is no better in the case of Maharshtra, which has laid claim on the Marathi speaking areas along the Karnataka border in the Belguam belt.

In such matters, Congress leaders stated that this is such an emotive issue when Union home minister Shivraj Patil made some remarks on this subject a few years ago, he was immediately attacked by Karnataka people for not being neutral on this issue.

New Delhi, May 2
Better Minimum Support Price (MSP), decrease in trade outside mandis and more importantly private traders staying away this year has helped the Food Corporation of India (FCI) surpass its wheat procurement target for 2008-09.

This should come as music to the ears of the government, trying to contain surging prices of foodgrains and other essential items and building food security of the country, as state--run agencies have already mopped up 154.22 lakh tonnes of wheat from farmers, exceeding this year’s procurement target of 150 lakh tonnes - the highest in the past three year.

Since the peak procurement season is still on the FCI is further hopeful of procuring additional 30 lakh tonne for the buffer stock and reaching a record high of five years with 175 lakh tonne.

Like always, the two states of Punjab and Haryana have been the major contributors to the central kitty. However, this year, apart from these two traditional wheat-contributing states, others have also contributed. For the first time Gujarat has given 1.13 lakh tonne for the central pool.

As per FCI chief managing director Alok Sinha, as on date 154.22 lakh tonne of wheat has been procured for the central pool. The procurement for the current year till date has been 72 lakh tonne more compared to the same date, last year.

“During the current year the wheat procurement has already surpassed the total procurement made in the past three years,” Sinha said.

The total wheat arrival in mandis this year has been 166.03 lakh tonne. Out of this, the FCI has procured 92.88 per cent in comparison to last year’s 78.29 per cent.

The major contributors are Punjab with 82.94 lakh tonnes and Haryana with 46.52 lakh tonnes.

Having burnt their fingers in purchasing wheat last year, speculative elements in private traders have kept away from the wheat market this procurement season.

While grain-trading houses says that private traders were apprehensive about actions the government could resort to in a bid to check rising wheat prices as an anti-inflationary measure, Sinha says otherwise.

He attributes increase in procurement to private traders staying away despite market arrivals going because they did not find possibility of good trade this year.

He refuted any pressurising tactic on the part of the government as a reason for private traders staying away.

Wheat prices round the year have remained stable at Rs 1,120-1,130 a quintal. FCI had a buffer stock of 5.8 million tonne on April 1, higher than the buffer norm of 4 million tonne.

New Delhi, May 2
A 12-year old girl on Friday performed the last rites of Nirmala Deshpande, honouring the wishes of the noted Gandhian who died on Thursday. Dignitaries from across India and abroad paid their last respects to Deshpande amid the chanting of Vedic hymns and religious renditions.

The cremation, conducted at the Lodhi Road crematorium, was attended by top Indian leaders cutting across party lines, dignitaries from India and abroad, NGO volunteers and many of Deshpande’s admirers, colleagues and friends.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari and his visiting Iranian counterpart Esfandiar Rahim Mashaee were also present at the ceremony.

Congress general secretary and MP Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, minister for food processing industries Subodh Kant Sahai, and minister for steel, fertilisers and chemicals Ram Vilas Paswan were among those who paid their tributes.

The foreign dignitaries who paid homage to Deshpande included Pakistan’s information and broadcasting minister Sherry Rehman and representatives from various embassies and high commissions located in the city. Minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said Deshpande was the epitome of sacrifice who dedicated her life to ameliorating the woes of downtrodden. — IANS

New Delhi, May 2
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) today asked the public sector undertakings and the government-funded institutions in the country to give written declarations that their employees would not hire children at homes or workplaces. The government offices have been told to frame codes of conduct in this respect.

The commission also issued instructions to the state governments and UTs to check child labour and to rehabilitate rescued children. The directives come in the wake of further developments on the Right to Education Bill, which seeks to give effect to the 86th Constitutional Amendment. The amendment guarantees right to free and compulsory education to children between the ages of six and 14.

“If children continue to work, who will the Bill ill benefit? We must have a strategy in place to get children out of work and into schools,” chairperson of NCPCR Shanta Sinha today told The Tribune. In a communication to chief secretaries of the states and the district collectors, Sinha called for strict action against employers of children and warnings to potential employers. This must be taken up as a drive, and area-wise through mobile labour courts, she said.

The communication’s tenor is sharp as it calls upon states to get their act together and implement the existing laws against child labour. These include the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation Act), 1986, which bars child labour in 15 occupations and 57 processes, the Juvenile Justice Act, 2006, the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976, which can be used to book cases against employers of children, and the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, which can be used to prosecute principal employers in cases where the engagement of child labour has been done through a contractor.

About code of conduct, Sinha says, “The ministry of labour had earlier directed the government offices to support the government’s drive against child labour. But unless such a commitment is mandated, we will not have much success.

The head of every government office must ensure that his employee signs a declaration. That would serve a prohibitory purpose.”

Stressing coordinated action at all levels, the NCPCR has also asked the state chief secretaries to celebrate the World Day against Child Labour on June 12. This year, the International Labour Organisation has declared the theme of ‘Child Labour and Education’ on the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour Day on June 12.

Chennai, May 2
A spokesman of mobile telephony major Vodafone on Friday denied charges of cruelty to its mascot pug. The charges had been levelled by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). “It is clear from the filming that the dog could not have been subjected to any cruelty during the filming,” a Vodafone spokesman said.

In its notice sent to Vodafone on April 25, AWBI said, “The pet dog was made to run, gallop and chase the school van for a long time on a public road. Thereby, the dog was made to undergo severe pain and suffering due to the exhaustion caused by chasing (the bus)”. Officials at Nirvana Films, which had made the ad for Vodafone, said, “The AWBI is unaware of modern techniques of film-making. No single shot of a television commercial lasts more than 15 seconds at the most. Therefore, to suggest that the dog suffered due to exhaustion by chasing a bus is taking things a bit too far”. R. Kumar, an established television commercial maker here, said the truth could be established if the original canned shots were to be analysed scientifically.

The pug, Rocky — the mascot of Vodafone and its earlier avatar Hutch — was certified fit by a veterinary doctor after the filming was completed several weeks ago in South Africa, Nirvana Films’ counsel B. Menon said. “We have sought time from AWBI to explain the issue in person and are hopeful for an early meeting for resolution of this matter,” a Vodafone spokesman added. — IANS

Lucknow, May 2
Despite obligatory registration of cases of crime against Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes during the present government, the total number of such cases have gone down if compared to the past three years claimed the Mayawati government here today.

This assertion came in reaction to a news report that had quoted the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data to claim that crime against SCs and STs had gone up during the Mayawati’s government. The news report had alleged that cases of rape and murder of SCs and STs in the state was highest in the country.

In a clarification the government has said despite cent per cent registration of cases of crime against SCs and STs, the total number of such cases between May 13, 2007, to April 15, 2008, was recorded as 218. During the same period in 2006-07, 294 cases were reported and 285 such cases were recorded in 2005-06.

The government claimed that financial assistance was being provided to survivors who filed cases under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

BRIEFLY

HIV+ thrown out of hospital, readmitted
MUMBAI: A youth, who was recently released from a Pakistani jail on health grounds, was allegedly discharged forcefully from KEM hospital here after he tested HIV positive. The hospital has already ordered for an inquiry into the incident and he was later readmitted yesterday. “The 17-year-old youth, who was admitted to the KEM hospital last week, had gone to the toilet and when he came back, nurses refused to allow him inside the ward. They later declared that he was absconding,” social activist Jatin Desai said. — PTI

Jothikumaran sues TV channel
Chennai: Suspended secretary of the disbanded Indian Hockey Federation K. Jothikumaran on Friday filed a suit against the television channel, which did a sting operation on him, claiming damages of Rs 25 lakh. "The Indian Hockey Federation and K. Jothikumaran have filed a civil suit in the High Court of Chennai against Aaj Tak, the television broadcasters to declare that their telecast under the subject "Sting Operation — Operation Chak De” is concoctive, fabricated and fictitious in order to lower the status of IHF and K. Jothikumaran and claiming damages of Rs 25 lakh," Jothikumaran said in a statement. Jothikumaran was caught on camera accepting bribe for purportedly selecting a player in the national team. — PTI

Nurse held for negligence in duty
PUDUKKOTTAI: A staff nurse attached to Government Hospital at Alankudi in this district was arrested on the charge of negligence, on Thursday, after a woman on whom she had performed DNC surgery died recently. The police said the nurse, G Senthamarai, had performed the surgery on Magamayi (30), of Krishnampatti village near Karambakudi, at her residence about a fortnight ago. Magamayi was later admitted to the Thanjavur Medical College and Hospital following excessive bleeding. However, she had died on April 29. — UNI

Herbal gardens in MP tribal villages
BHOPAL: More than 5,000 herbal home gardens have been developed in the backyards of remote tribal villages of Madhya Pradesh under the Rural Livelihood Project funded by the Department for International Development(DFID) of United Kingdom. Aimed at conserving bio-diversity and reviving indigenous knowledge, the herbal gardens have mostly come up in Dhar, Jhabua, Barwani, Mandla, Dindori, Anuppur, Shahdol and Sheopur districts. Data about rural artisans would be made available to potential employers, official sources said. — UNI

Protesting villagers refuse polio drops
KISHANGANJ: As many as 2,000 villagers of Gachhpara under the Kishanganj block on Thursday did not allow their children to accept the polio drops in protest against the non-construction of a bridge across Donk river. SDO (civil) Khursheed Alam rushed to the spot and promised to construct the bridge under the government’s new scheme. — UNI

Scarlett's mother Fiona meets officials
PANAJI: Failing to get Scarlett’s body organs, Fiona Mackeown, has questioned the forensic department’s legal validity to remove them during autopsy. She met Goa chief secretary J.P. Singh, Goa Medical College dean V.N Jindal and forensic experts. “I have failed to get the organs till now,” she said. “The organs of my daughter’s body have been removed without my consent,” Fiona, who will leave for UK on Sunday, said. — PTI

Minor raped, killed by cousins
KISHANGANJ: A seven-year-old girl was gang raped and brutally killed by her cousins at Mahingaon village under Kishanganj police station on Thursday. Sources said there was a feud between the accused and the victim’s family following which the two cousins committed the crime. The accused had been arrested. — UNI