|
|
|
|
|
LAND ACQUISITION
26/11 planners in Pak safe havens: Shinde
German woman’s rape: One held
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Girls thrash constable for passing lewd comments
Met Dept failed to predict Nilam cyclone: AP
Yeddyurappa firm on launching new party; to quit by Dec 10
AICTE approval for new courses a must for deemed varsities: HC
43% Gen-Z consumers in India own a mobile
Sale of 21 UP sugar mills to be probed
Dense Nov smog baffles Met Dept
Haji Ali Dargah bans entry of women
Purulia case: India seeks Kim Davy’s extradition from Denmark
Transcribe Radia tapes in 2 months: SC to I-T Dept
|
|
Rehab denial amounts to inciting violence, rules SC
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, November 6 “In a welfare state, statutory authorities are bound not only to pay adequate compensation but there is also a legal obligation upon them to rehabilitate such persons,” a Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and JS Khehar held. “The non-fulfillment of their obligations would tantamount to forcing the said uprooted persons to become vagabonds or to indulge in anti-national activities as such sentiments would be born in them on account of such ill-treatment,” the Bench maintained. “Therefore, it is not permissible for any welfare state to uproot a person and deprive him of his fundamental/human rights, under the garb of industrial development,” the apex court reasoned. The SC gave out the ruling while disposing of a case filed by illiterate farmers from Maharashtra who had been dispossessed of their land without acquiring it in a proper way and without paying any compensation. The land was promptly handed over to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in 1964. Since the farmers were not aware of their rights, the authorities persuaded them to hand over possession of their land, the Bench observed. The SC noted that state government had treated them as subjects of “medieval India,” and not as citizens. “The state, especially a welfare state which is governed by the Rule of Law, cannot arrogate itself to a status beyond one that is provided by the Constitution.” The Bombay High Court had dismissed their plea for compensation in November 2011 on the ground of delay in approaching the HC. Setting aside the HC verdict, the SC said that in cases “where the demand for justice is so compelling” the judiciary should condone the delay using its discretion which was meant to “promote justice and not to defeat it.” “In the event that the claim made by the applicant is legally sustainable, delay should be condoned. In other words, where circumstances justifying the conduct exist, the illegality which is manifest, cannot be sustained on the sole ground of laches,” the SC ruled. “When substantial justice and technical considerations are pitted against each other, the cause of substantial justice deserves to be preferred,” it explained. Pointing out that the state government had paid compensation to others whose land had been acquired in the area, the Bench said: “This kind of discrimination not only breeds corruption, but also dis-respect for governance, as it leads to frustration and to a certain extent, forces persons to take the law into their own hands.” Realising the injustice done to the farmers, the state government agreed to pay them the current market rate for their land. “We appreciate the gesture shown by the state government for coming forward with a most appropriate suggestion to enable us to resolve the controversy,” the SC said.
|
|
26/11 planners in Pak safe havens: Shinde
Rome, November 6 Addressing the Interpol General Assembly here, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said India continues to face a “high degree” of terrorist threats on several fronts, in particular of cross-border terrorism.
“Terrorism in South Asia has increasingly emerged as an effective strategic weapon,” he said. Shinde said in spite of regular dialogue with the neighbouring country and handing over of credible evidence to it, the masterminds of one of the most heinous act of terror of the last century -- the 1993 Mumbai blasts -- in which 257 people died and 713 were injured were still sitting in safe havens and yet to be brought to book. “Their presence in a neighbouring country is well known and Interpol Red Notices against them, who are Indian nationals, are pending since 1993,” he said in a clear reference to Pakistan, where underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and some others wanted in India are hiding. Shinde said terrorist groups have demonstrated that with simple tactics and low-tech weapons, they can produce vastly disproportionate results as had happened in the 26/11 attack. “Terrorist attacks have exacted a heavy toll of life and property. Terrorists have tried to disrupt our way of life by attempting to initiate the element of fear. Fortunately, the Indian society has time and again shown its resilience and refused to be overawed by the terrorist acts,” he said.— PTI
|
|||
|
German woman’s rape: One held
Mumbai, November 6 In her complaint lodged with the police on Monday, the woman had said that she was woken up by an intruder inside her apartment. She rushed out of the house and rang her neighbour's doorbell, but there was no one in. The burglar then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and held it to the woman's throat and dragged her back into the flat where he raped her. The police said the burglar had robbed another flat in the neighbourhood before breaking into the woman's house. A sketch of the burglar was prepared after the watchman of another building noticed him trying to enter the premises and had shooed him away.
|
|||
|
Girls thrash constable for passing lewd comments
Jaipur, November 6 Girls caught the constable Shankar Lal, who was standing outside their hostel and passing comments on them yesterday, the police said. Annoyed over the act, the students beat up the constable and took him to a nearby hospital for a medical examination, as they suspected that he
was drunk. However, the alcohol test report was negative but Shankar was booked for creating nuisance
at a public place, the police said. "We have initiated a departmental inquiry against him," a police officer said. — PTI
|
|||
|
Met Dept failed to predict Nilam cyclone: AP
Hyderabad, November 6 Clearly taken aback by the scale of damage and facing a barrage of criticism from the opposition and the general public, the Congress government lost no time in placing the blame at the doors of IMD, saying the weathermen did not give prior warning to the authorities concerned. Several villages were still marooned as the heavy rains, triggered by the cyclone, wreaked havoc
in eight districts, leaving 25 dead, damaging 5.50 lakh hectares of standing crops and disrupting the
transport and communication facilities. The state administration was clearly caught off guard as heavy rains, triggered by a low pressure system, started battering the region long after ‘Nilam’ crossed the coast in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu. State Revenue Minister N Raghuveera Reddy sought to push the blame on the weathermen. “The IMD is to be squarely blamed for not providing prediction of the rains,” he said. “Our weathermen could predict the south-west monsoon accurately. They do predict cyclones, but it is unfortunate that they cannot predict movements of the north-east monsoon,” the minister said.
|
|||
|
Yeddyurappa firm on launching new party; to quit by Dec 10
Bangalore, November 6 The sulking Lingayat leader also ruled out any rapprochement with the BJP and dismissed reports that he would remain in the party heeding to calls by his party central leadership. "I am not aware of the visit by BJP General Secretary Dharmendra Pradhan to persuade me not to quit", he said, virtually shutting doors on
negotiations. Yeddyurappa said he would not force anyone including ministers and MLAs to join his party. "It is left them to decide.If anyone feels that they are comfortable to join me, they may come:I am banking on the support of people". — PTI
|
|||
|
AICTE approval for new courses a must for deemed varsities: HC
Chandigarh, November 6 A Division Bench of the High Court has also held that "in terms of the directions of the University Grants Commission, it was necessary for the deemed to be universities to seek approval from the
AICTE." "We hold that the deemed to be universities have started courses in technical education in violation of the guidelines, instructions, circulars and regulations framed by the commission not only with starting such courses, but also in establishing study centres outside their territorial limits and in subjects for which they were not granted deemed-to-be-university status. Therefore, degrees awarded by such deemed to be universities is an illegal act and such illegality cannot be removed or cured by the actions of either the commission or the Distance Education Council," it said. The Bench held that the approval granted by the Distance Education Council on August 29, 2007, to some institutes was illegal, unwarranted and beyond the scope of authority vested in it. "As a necessary consequence, the degrees granted by such deemed to be universities are illegal and the candidates cannot be deemed to be qualified in the purported subjects in the absence of approval from the commission." The Bench held that a deemed to be university was not on a par with a university incorporated by a Central or state statute. Both, however, are competent to award degrees. Also, a deemed to be university "can start a study centre outside the headquarters in areas where there is a reasonable concentration of students. But such a centre cannot be established beyond the territorial limits represented at the time of grant of such status in the
MoA, except with the permission of the University Grants Commission and the state government, where such study centre is to be located," the Bench observed. The Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina elaborated that the UGC's prior approval was a must for new courses by a deemed university. In case of professional courses, approval from the councils concerned was mandatory.
The Bench said
|
|||
|
43% Gen-Z consumers in India own a mobile
New Delhi, November 6 The extensive study across 16 cities in India highlights the digital lives of kids (9-11 years), tweens (12-15 years) and teens (16-18 years) in India, who are the part of the Generation Z. During the study, face-to-face interviews were carried out with 3,421 children and 1,000 parents across more than 7,785 urban households - representative of an urban consumer base of 69 million across all socio-economic classes. “This report captures the insights of a dynamic consumer group. These young people will shape the future mobile consumption for our industry," said Ericsson India’s regional head Fredrik
Jejdling. The findings of the study show that mobile ownership is catching on at an early age with about 43 per cent of 69 million urban members of Generation Z have mobile phones. About 21 per cent of urban Indian kids and tweens mirror mobile internet services usage as seen among their older counterparts. In fact, kids and tweens are more likely than teens to stream a video on YouTube once a week. They spend roughly seven hours daily on gadgets.
|
|||
|
Sale of 21 UP sugar mills to be probed
Lucknow, November 6
The Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG) had hauled up the Mayawati government for financial irregularity of divestment of its stake in 11 active sugar mills owned by the state sugar corporation. The mills had been sold at throwaway prices to select private bidders.
In 2007, the BSP government had decided to privatise 10 operational sugar mills belonging to the UPSSCL and the 11 closed mills belonging to the UP Rajya Chini Evam Ganna Vikas Nigam Limited.
The 21 mills were sold between July 2010 and March 2011. The CAG found anomalies at every step. It had recommended an inquiry through the Enforcement Directorate and other competent agencies. Instead of following the CAG recommendation, the SP government has now handed over the investigation to the Lokayukta.
|
|||
|
Dense Nov smog baffles Met Dept
New Delhi, November 6 IMD Director SC Bhan says such episodes do not last beyond two to three days in November and the reason for the prolonged haze over the North was the continuance of extremely stable atmospheric conditions, which were not allowing pollutants to escape vertically. Environmental NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which today came out with scathing criticism of the government for turning a blind eye over increasing levels of particulate matter and pollutants in the air (primarily due to increased traffic volumes in the Capital), has called for urgent action. Warning Delhiites to not dismiss winter smog as an act of God, the CSE said the dense smog throttling the Capital may have lifted partially but it may come back with renewed vigour because factors that caused it remain. According to the CSE, this year’s haze in Delhi was particularly severe because levels of respirable particulate matter (PM10) increased by 47 per cent and nitrogen dioxide levels cubic metre by 57 per cent between 2000 and 2011. CSE researcher Anumita Roychowdhury says during the 40s and 50s, the Western world also experienced severe pollution episodes in winter. “But the infamous London Smog (which had killed 4,000 persons within a week in December 1952) and other similar events are a matter of past because of aggressive policy action to control pollution. Unfortunately, despite the scary hard facts about the elevated cocktail of pollution and health risks, the problem is being dismissed as a mere weather phenomenon,” Anumita adds. While pollution is definitely one of the causes for the prevailing haze, Bhan says it cannot be counted as the sole reason, otherwise parts of Punjab, Haryana and western UP would not be suffering the similar situation like New Delhi. Normally, temperatures fall as one goes up vertically but in winters the reverse happens, resulting in denser air closer to the Earth’s surface, as phenomenon termed as inversion. Bhan expects situation to improve around November 8 and 9.
|
|||
|
Haji Ali Dargah bans entry of women
Mumbai, November 6 The trust which manages the shrine has put up a notice barring women from entering the ground as their entry to a cemetery or a grave violates the Sharia law. "Women were allowed in the past. Now a fatwa has been issued by Islamic scholars so we have decided not to let women into the 'astana' where the pir saab is buried," says Sohail Khandwani, a trustee of the shrine. According to Khandwani, the Islamic law prohibits women from visiting a cemetery. "The dargah is basically a grave of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari so women are not allowed to visit," he added. Khandwani said women are allowed within the shrine's premises and to make offerings without entering the astana. The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan has opposed the move taken by the trust of the shrine.
|
|||
|
Purulia case: India seeks Kim Davy’s extradition from Denmark
New Delhi, November 6 External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid was conveyed this by Denmark Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at their meeting in Vientiane on the margins of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). During the meeting, Denmark Prime Minister recognised that the developments regarding extradition of Kim Davy to India required to be addressed. “’The External Affairs Minister stressed the need to move forward on this issue. The Denmark Prime Minister assured that the Danish side would undertake further techno-legal examination of the issue and initiate discussions on that basis," official sources said. Davy's extradition is warranted in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case involving an AN-26 aircraft which dropped sophisticated arms - including AK-47 assault rifles -- and ammunition in West Bengal's Purulia district. The Indian minister also met Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and urged him to await the verdict of Indian courts on the two Italian Marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala. The Italian PM requested a brief interaction with Khurshid on the margins of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Vientiane, sources said.
|
|||
|
Transcribe Radia tapes in 2 months: SC to I-T Dept
New Delhi, November 6 A Bench of Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya said that the department must place the transcript of entire 5,800 conversations, running into more than hundred hours, on January 8. "Complete the exercise in two months. Not possible to give you more time," the Bench said after the Additional Solicitor General A S Chandhiok, appearing for the department, sought four months time. In the meanwhile, the department informed the court that it has so far transcribed 52.7 hours of conversation and placed the transcript in a sealed envelope. The court, however, did not go through the transcript and said that it would do so after the department would place the entire transcript before it and granted two more months to the department to complete the task. The conversations were recorded as part of surveillance of Radia's phone on a complaint to Finance Minister on November 16, 2007 alleging that within a span of nine years she had built up a business empire worth Rs 300 crore. The government had recorded 180 days of Radia's conversations--first from August 20, 2008 onwards for 60 days and then from October 19 for another 60 days. Later on May 11, 2009. Her phone was again put on surveillance for another 60 days following a fresh order given on May 8. — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
For the past one week, a dense haze has enveloped several parts of North India, which so far has been dismissed by meteorologists as a normal weather occurrence during this time of the year. However, the IMD today said such a ‘prolonged’ episode of smog enveloping Delhi, parts of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh was indeed ‘unusual’, especially during November.
New Delhi, November 6
