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All-party meeting to review aid to Lanka, Malaysia
Call for new laws to deal with NRIs’ disputes
Intach to conserve Sikh relics
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Legal helpline for tsunami victims
BJP to question handling of relief work
Statutory status for poll code mooted
BJP names 52 candidates for Jharkhand
Sindhis up in arms over National Anthem
NGO for action against those in porn trade
Call to promote atheism
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All-party meeting to review aid to Lanka, Malaysia
New Delhi, January 8 The meeting will also overview the assistance provided to the neighbouring countries in the region, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and the Maldives, According to the status report released by the Union Home Ministry, the toll has reached the figures of 10,012. Tamil Nadu has the highest toll with 7,941 deaths reported followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 1,205, which also has the highestnumber of missing of 5,531. Pondicherry has the casualty figure of 590 with another 82 missing, Andhra Pradesh 105 with another 11 missing and Kerala has 171 reported deaths, the report says. Giving details of the Indian casualties overseas, it says, as per reports from Indian Missions, seven Indian nationals had died with another 12-15 still missing in Sri Lanka, one person was killed in Maldives, three in Thailand and two in Indonesia. About the overseas relief operations, it says that under the operation "Rainbow" for Sri Lanka, 231 sorties has been undertaken and 181 persons evacuated, under the operation "Castor" for Maldives, 44 sorties have been undertaken with 15 persons being taken to safety. Under the operation "Ghambir" for Indonesia, the Navy has provided relief material besides running a medical camp. The efforts of the Navy have also been substantiated by the Indian Coast Guard ships and Dornier aircraft, the report says. |
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Call for new laws to deal with NRIs’ disputes
Mumbai, January 8 Making a presentation at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here, Mr Anil Malhotra said laws must change to keep pace with the requirements of the large number of Indians who emigrate. “Their multiple problems are still left to be resolved with the help of conventional Indian legislation,” Malhotra said. Mr Malhotra says there are problems of jurisdiction in matters of family law like dissolution of marriage, abduction of a child by a parent, adoption of children, inheritance of property, etc. He notes that there are major issues pertaining to enforcement of foreign court orders in India should one party move back to India. “Often litigants return to India to take advantage of the personal laws enacted here,” says Mr Malhotra. “The clash of jurisdictional laws is commonly called Conflict of Laws in the realm of Private International Law which is not yet a developed jurisprudence in Indian territory,” says Malhotra. Mr Malhotra along with his associates have now written a book, Acting for Non-Resident Indian Clients, a handbook for lawyers representing non-resident Indians here and in foreign countries. According to Mr Malhotra, the book studies Indian laws on marriage, divorce, child abduction, inheritance and related matters in relation to non-resident Indians. “The discussion and suggestions made in the above book provide an excellent basis for lining up concrete proposals to deal with proposed family law and other issues of non-resident Indians,” says Mr Malhotra. Malhotra feels that India should enact comprehensive legislation covering family laws as applicable to non-resident Indians so that much of the cross border disputes among people of Indian origin are solved amicably. |
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Intach to conserve Sikh relics
New Delhi, January 8 The Chairman of INTACH, Mr S.K. Mishra, said conservation labs of the trust throughout the country would extended all possible co-operation in conserving Sikh relics. He announced this while launching a lecture series on “The endangered heritage” wherein scholars from different communities will be invited to speak about their heritage and make suggestions for conservation. Eminent Sikh historian Dr Mohinder Singh in the Capital delivered the first lecture in the series. Mr Patwant Singh, well-known Sikh scholar, emphasised the need to create awareness among the Sikh community to conserve their precious heritage. He urged the SGPC and the DSGMC to make concerted efforts to create awareness for conservation of the relics of the Gurus, hukumnamas and Guru Granth Sahib birs with different families, the Sikh takhts and other museums and libraries in India and abroad. In the course of his lecture, Dr Mohinder Singh mentioned that the team of the National Institute of Panjab Studies had taken up a major project on locating, cataloguing and photographing relics of the Sikh Gurus and other historic Sikh personalities. Based on fieldwork and photographs, the institute had published eight pictorial books under the Panjab Heritage Series. He mentioned that after having completed the first project, the Institute had now taken up another major project on locating, cataloguing and digitizing the rare Guru Granth Sahib birs in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the United Kingdom. As per the institute’s plan after locating and digitizing these birs, the institute would approach the authorities for conservation of these rare birs.
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Legal helpline for tsunami victims
New Delhi, January 8 “Any victim, survivor, their friends and families can approach NALSA directly on the need of legal advice and counselling to the victims on any matter related to their safety and fundamenal right,” NALSA’s secretary Kamlesh Kumar in a statement today said. Chief Justice of India R. C. Lahoti is the Patron-in-Chief of the NALSA, while second seniormost judge,Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde is its Executive Chairman. NALSA was created as a central authority by the government in 1987 to provide legal aid to the poor and people in distress. The authority would examine the need of legal aid in the wake of any complaint or an allegation by victims against any administrative machinery responsible for the release of relief items, it said. |
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BJP to question handling of relief work
New Delhi, January 8 The main opposition party found fault with the actual number of casualties, prevention of panic in tsunami-hit areas and putting official machinery into action to provide succour. “There is a need to move away from empty and shallow exercises to address the reality of issues,” senior BJP leader and head of party’s tsunami disaster relief committee Jaswant Singh told mediapersons here after the committee’s meeting. Terming the approach of the “officialdom” as “unfortunate”, he alleged that “incorrect statements” were being made such as drinking water supply had been restored. Citing the case of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, he said the civil administration there was “slack”. Referring to the disaster, Mr Jaswant Singh, who visited tsunami-hit areas between December 28 and January 6, said there was “time for issuing a warning” after the earthquake occurred in Sumatra at around 5.50 am. “The Defence Ministry had the information (about tsunami) when the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were hit and a warning could have been issued in the coastal areas of the mainland,” the former Union Minister said, adding the “government has to give an explanation”.
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Statutory status for poll code mooted
New Delhi, January 8 “The election model code should have statutory sanction and the power to derecognise political parties by the Election Commission (EC) should also be under statute, not merely on the basis of the model code as it exists now. A law regarding this has to be enacted as assuming powers from any other source is not correct,” Law Minister H.R. Bharadwaj has said. This was stated by him to mediapersons here yesterday, while replying to questions on wide-ranging issues on various pending legislations, including the controversial Women’s Reservation Bill. Asked about his comments on the EC communication to the government, expressing concern on non-passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, on which the political parties had failed to evolve a consensus for over a decade, the Law Minister even questioned the poll panel’s powers to raise such issues. He said under the Constitution, the job of the EC was only confined to preparing electoral rolls and conducting elections. The panel did not have any statutory powers to enforce even the model code. The commission has been able to enforce the code under the “derecognition” threat to political parties if they violated it, he said. Reminded that the model code was evolved by the EC with a consensus among political parties, Mr Bharadwaj said it was because of this reason that there should be a proper law on the model code and political parties. Asked whether the government was contemplating amendment to the Representation of the People’s Act in this regard, he said “there should be a full chapter in the Act on political parties.” Asked whether the UPA government was serious about evolving a consensus on the Women’s Reservation Bill, considering the fact that many of its important allies had opposed it, the Law Minister merely said, “The Bill is pending consideration of the government”.
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BJP names 52 candidates for Jharkhand
New Delhi, January 8 Releasing the list cleared by the Central Election Committee of the party, BJP General Secretary Shivraj Singh Chauhan informed newspersons that Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda would be contesting from Kharsawan (ST) and former Union Minister Karina Munda from Khiri (ST). The party has also fielded three more former MPs to contest the Assembly elections dropping six sitting MLAs. The MLAs who have been denied tickets are Mr Arun Mandal (Rajmahal), Mr Phool Chand Mandal (Sindri), Mr Ramachandra Nai (Kanke), Mr Dinesh Urav (Sissi), Mr Anantram Tuddu (Sarai Kala) and Mr Chumnu Urav (Chakradharpur). Mr Chauhan said the CEC would meet tomorrow to clear the candidates for Bihar and Haryana and 13 more seats in Jharkhand. He declined to say if the party would be leaving any more seats for the JD (U) in the second list for Jharkhand. |
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Sindhis up in arms over National Anthem
New Delhi, January 8 "A mass movement will be launched throughout the country by the community," the Sindhi Social and Cultural Society said in a statement here. As part of the agitational plan, the society would give representations to the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and leaders of various political parties on the issue and organise a "panchayat" of community's social organisations and eminent personalities in the capital on January 16, it said. Though Sindh was no more a part of India after the partition, its cultural heritage, language and various institutions had been recognised by its Constitution, the statement said. |
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NGO for action against those in porn trade
New Delhi, January 8 In a letter to Mr Patil, chairperson of the NCW Poornima Advani has sought “strongest possible action to unearth such vice gangs engaged in manufacture and distribution and dissemination of obscene and pornographic material and award exemplary punishment to those found guilty”. The letter, which comes in the wake of the clean chit given by the forensic lab to Anara, seeks to focus on the plight of girls who face the same misfortune as her. Castigating the police, Dr Advani said: “It is most unfortunate that police authorities in most of our metros and even smaller towns are not taking any serious action to curb this vice trade.” She added: “Our city’s malls are flooded with pornographic tapes and CDs produced by criminal rackets.... Modern technology is being misused in a cut-and-paste manner to implicate innocent girls and women, whose images, procured from entirely unrelated settings, and being mixed with studio material of a different origin,” Dr Advani said.
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Call to promote atheism
Vijayawada, January 8 As many as 1500 delegates from across the world, including 50 foreign representatives from rationalist and humanist organisations, are attending the three-day conference, being held under the aegis of the city-based Atheist Centre. The Atheist Centre was founded by Gora (Goparaju Ramachandra Rao) in 1940 to promote atheism as a way of life. |
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