WHO urges world ban on smoking
Reuters
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 00:37 IST
LONDON: Smoking bans are an effective way of preventing heart disease, getting cigarette users to quit and protecting children from second-hand smoke, a World Health Organisation (WHO) report issued on Monday said.
The report by scientists at the WHO’s International Agency for Cancer Research urged more countries to adopt smoking bans in public and at the workplace, saying there was enough evidence to prove they work, without hurting businesses such as restaurants and bars.
The researchers wrote in the Lancet Oncology special report: “Not only do these policies achieve their aim of protecting the health of non-smokers they also have many effects on smoking behaviour, which compound the health benefits.”
A separate report issued by Cancer Research UK on Monday found England’s ban adopted a year ago has spurred more smokers than ever to kick the habit, and predicted the restrictions would prevent 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years.
The researchers cited studies that suggest smoke-free workplaces have lead to a 10 to 20 per cent decrease in hospital admissions for heart disease a year after a smoking ban
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Poor India makes millionaires at fastest pace
Poor India makes millionaires at fastest pace
25 Jun 2008, 1136 hrs IST, CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA,TNN
WASHINGTON: India, with the world's largest population of poor people living on less than a dollar a day, also paradoxically created millionaires at the fastest pace in the world in 2007 even though the world grew such "high net worth individuals (HNWIs)" at the slowest pace in four years.
Growing them at a blistering pace of 22.7 per cent, India added another 23,000 more millionaires in 2007 to its 2006 tally of 100,000 millionaires measured in dollars, according to an annual Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini report that weighs such financial information for its wealth and asset management purposes.
In contrast, developmental agencies put the number of subsistence level Indians living on less than a dollar a day at 350 million and those living on less than $ 2 a day at 700 million. In other words, for every millionaire, India has about 7000 impoverished people.
While India's HNWI population growth of 22.7 per cent in 2007 exceeded China's 20.3 per cent and its own 2006 gains of 20.5 in 2006, it was still way below its giant neighbour in absolute number of millionaires. China counted nearly 500,000 HNWIs.
Overall, the numbers of millionaires (not counting home values in their assets) in the world grew at 9.4 per cent and crossed the 10 million mark for the first time. The United States, despite its economic woes, led the pack of Richie Rich's with more than three million millionaires, i.e., one in every three millionaires in the world lives in America.
The combined wealth of the globe's millionaires grew to nearly $41 trillion last year, which means their average wealth was more than $4 million, the highest it's ever been.
In measuring the millionaire mob in India, the Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini report looked at metrics for the year 2007, which means it did not take into account the precipitous stock market slide that has wiped out nearly a third of the market value in 2008.
"India led the world in HNWI population growth at 22.7 percent, driven by market capitalization growth of 118 percent and real GDP growth of 7.9 percent. Although India's real GDP growth decelerated from 9.4 percent in 2006, current levels are considered more stable and sustainable," the report observed.
It also ranked India's two largest exchanges – the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange – among the world's top 12 exchanges by end of 2007, "with growth rates of 122% and 115% respectively....that were boosted by initial public offering markets and heightened international interest."
Explaining the faster rate of growth of millionaires in India than in China, the report suggests that as market capitalization and real GDP in China were spread over a larger population, there were smaller per capita gains in China. In 2006, India had a larger market capitalization growth than gross national income, significantly impacting HNWI population growth.
In addition, it said, China is currently experiencing explosive growth in its "mass affluent" population, which has yet to break the HNWI threshold of US$1million.
The observation also suggests China is having greater equitable growth than India.
25 Jun 2008, 1136 hrs IST, CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA,TNN
WASHINGTON: India, with the world's largest population of poor people living on less than a dollar a day, also paradoxically created millionaires at the fastest pace in the world in 2007 even though the world grew such "high net worth individuals (HNWIs)" at the slowest pace in four years.
Growing them at a blistering pace of 22.7 per cent, India added another 23,000 more millionaires in 2007 to its 2006 tally of 100,000 millionaires measured in dollars, according to an annual Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini report that weighs such financial information for its wealth and asset management purposes.
In contrast, developmental agencies put the number of subsistence level Indians living on less than a dollar a day at 350 million and those living on less than $ 2 a day at 700 million. In other words, for every millionaire, India has about 7000 impoverished people.
While India's HNWI population growth of 22.7 per cent in 2007 exceeded China's 20.3 per cent and its own 2006 gains of 20.5 in 2006, it was still way below its giant neighbour in absolute number of millionaires. China counted nearly 500,000 HNWIs.
Overall, the numbers of millionaires (not counting home values in their assets) in the world grew at 9.4 per cent and crossed the 10 million mark for the first time. The United States, despite its economic woes, led the pack of Richie Rich's with more than three million millionaires, i.e., one in every three millionaires in the world lives in America.
The combined wealth of the globe's millionaires grew to nearly $41 trillion last year, which means their average wealth was more than $4 million, the highest it's ever been.
In measuring the millionaire mob in India, the Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini report looked at metrics for the year 2007, which means it did not take into account the precipitous stock market slide that has wiped out nearly a third of the market value in 2008.
"India led the world in HNWI population growth at 22.7 percent, driven by market capitalization growth of 118 percent and real GDP growth of 7.9 percent. Although India's real GDP growth decelerated from 9.4 percent in 2006, current levels are considered more stable and sustainable," the report observed.
It also ranked India's two largest exchanges – the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange – among the world's top 12 exchanges by end of 2007, "with growth rates of 122% and 115% respectively....that were boosted by initial public offering markets and heightened international interest."
Explaining the faster rate of growth of millionaires in India than in China, the report suggests that as market capitalization and real GDP in China were spread over a larger population, there were smaller per capita gains in China. In 2006, India had a larger market capitalization growth than gross national income, significantly impacting HNWI population growth.
In addition, it said, China is currently experiencing explosive growth in its "mass affluent" population, which has yet to break the HNWI threshold of US$1million.
The observation also suggests China is having greater equitable growth than India.
Autistic Boy and Mom Kicked Off Plane
Mother Says Flight Crew Should Have Been More Understanding
By STEPHANIE DAHLE and JONANN BRADY
June 25, 2008
There were no weapons on board or concerns about terrorism, but an American Eagle flight about to take off from the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., airport was turned back to its gate on Monday to remove two passengers.
American Eagle flight crew diverts plane to remove 2-year-old.
The culprits? An upset, autistic toddler and his mother.
By all accounts, two-year-old Jarret Farrell wasn't a happy traveler. But his mother, Janice Farrell, who said she tried everything to calm her son, believes there was no reason for the airline to kick them off the plane.
The airline disagrees, saying they were removed primarily because Janice Farrell kept her carry-on bag on the floor in front of her seat, but that Jarret's behavior added to the tense situation.
"The child had been crying and screaming uncontrollably, to the point where the child's well being was in question," American Airlines, the parent company of American Eagle, said in a statement. "Though, ultimately, the parent's violation of FAA regulations was the cause for removal, both situations contributed to an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe atmosphere for our passengers and crew."
But Farrell told "GMA" she allowed the flight attendant to place her bag in an overhead compartment. And, even though Farrell said she explained Jarret's autism to the flight crew, they only made the situation worse by reprimanding and yelling at the toddler.
"[The flight attendant] kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight.' And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him" Farrell told ABC News' Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD.
Farrell said that a pilot came into to the cabin and told Jarret, "You have to get in your seat, young man."
Farrell said she started crying then, which just exacerbated Jarret's behavior.
"He just melted down. He saw me getting upset. He was upset. He was on the floor rolling around," Farrell told WTVD.
That's when the pilot turned the plane around and headed back to the terminal, where Farrell and her son were escorted off the plane.
By STEPHANIE DAHLE and JONANN BRADY
June 25, 2008
There were no weapons on board or concerns about terrorism, but an American Eagle flight about to take off from the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., airport was turned back to its gate on Monday to remove two passengers.
American Eagle flight crew diverts plane to remove 2-year-old.
The culprits? An upset, autistic toddler and his mother.
By all accounts, two-year-old Jarret Farrell wasn't a happy traveler. But his mother, Janice Farrell, who said she tried everything to calm her son, believes there was no reason for the airline to kick them off the plane.
The airline disagrees, saying they were removed primarily because Janice Farrell kept her carry-on bag on the floor in front of her seat, but that Jarret's behavior added to the tense situation.
"The child had been crying and screaming uncontrollably, to the point where the child's well being was in question," American Airlines, the parent company of American Eagle, said in a statement. "Though, ultimately, the parent's violation of FAA regulations was the cause for removal, both situations contributed to an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe atmosphere for our passengers and crew."
But Farrell told "GMA" she allowed the flight attendant to place her bag in an overhead compartment. And, even though Farrell said she explained Jarret's autism to the flight crew, they only made the situation worse by reprimanding and yelling at the toddler.
"[The flight attendant] kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight.' And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him" Farrell told ABC News' Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD.
Farrell said that a pilot came into to the cabin and told Jarret, "You have to get in your seat, young man."
Farrell said she started crying then, which just exacerbated Jarret's behavior.
"He just melted down. He saw me getting upset. He was upset. He was on the floor rolling around," Farrell told WTVD.
That's when the pilot turned the plane around and headed back to the terminal, where Farrell and her son were escorted off the plane.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
10 million female foetuses have been aborted in India in the past 20 years
BBC One Minute News
Saturday, 21 June 2008 05:01 UK
India baby girl deaths 'increase'
There is a cultural preference for male children in India
The number of girls born and surviving in India has hit an all time low compared to boys, ActionAid says.
A report by the UK charity says increasing numbers of female foetuses were being aborted and baby girls deliberately neglected and left to die.
In one site in the Punjab state, there are just 300 girls to every 1,000 boys among higher caste families, it says.
ActionAid says India faces a "bleak" future if it does not end its practice of cultural preference for boys.
Girls 'condemned'
ActionAid teamed up with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to produce the Disappearing Daughters report.
More than 6,000 households in sites across five states in north-western India were interviewed and statistical comparisons were made with national census date.
The real horror of the situation is that for women avoiding having daughters is a rational choice
Under "normal" circumstances, there should be about 950 girls for every 1,000 boys, the charity said.
But it said that in three of the five sites, that number was below 800.
In four of the five sites surveyed, the proportion of girls to boys had declined since a 2001 census, the report said.
The research also found that ratios of girls to boys were declining fastest in comparatively prosperous urban areas.
ActionAid suggested the increasing use of ultrasound technology may be a factor in the trend.
The document says that Indian woman are put under intense pressure to produce sons, in a culture that predominantly views girls as a burden rather than an asset.
It says many families now use ultrasound scans and abort female foetuses, despite the existence of the 1994 law banning gender selection and selective abortion.
The charity also blames other illegal practices - such as allowing the umbilical cord to become infected - for the growing gender imbalance.
"The real horror of the situation is that, for women, avoiding having daughters is a rational choice. But for wider society it's creating an appalling and desperate state of affairs," Laura Turquet, women's rights policy official at ActionAid said.
"In the long term, cultural attitudes need to change. India must address economic and social barriers including property rights, marriage dowries and gender roles that condemn girls before they are even born.
"If we don't act now the future looks bleak," Ms Turquet said.
Some 10 million female foetuses have been aborted in India in the past 20 years, the British medical journal the Lancet has said.
Saturday, 21 June 2008 05:01 UK
India baby girl deaths 'increase'
There is a cultural preference for male children in India
The number of girls born and surviving in India has hit an all time low compared to boys, ActionAid says.
A report by the UK charity says increasing numbers of female foetuses were being aborted and baby girls deliberately neglected and left to die.
In one site in the Punjab state, there are just 300 girls to every 1,000 boys among higher caste families, it says.
ActionAid says India faces a "bleak" future if it does not end its practice of cultural preference for boys.
Girls 'condemned'
ActionAid teamed up with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to produce the Disappearing Daughters report.
More than 6,000 households in sites across five states in north-western India were interviewed and statistical comparisons were made with national census date.
The real horror of the situation is that for women avoiding having daughters is a rational choice
Under "normal" circumstances, there should be about 950 girls for every 1,000 boys, the charity said.
But it said that in three of the five sites, that number was below 800.
In four of the five sites surveyed, the proportion of girls to boys had declined since a 2001 census, the report said.
The research also found that ratios of girls to boys were declining fastest in comparatively prosperous urban areas.
ActionAid suggested the increasing use of ultrasound technology may be a factor in the trend.
The document says that Indian woman are put under intense pressure to produce sons, in a culture that predominantly views girls as a burden rather than an asset.
It says many families now use ultrasound scans and abort female foetuses, despite the existence of the 1994 law banning gender selection and selective abortion.
The charity also blames other illegal practices - such as allowing the umbilical cord to become infected - for the growing gender imbalance.
"The real horror of the situation is that, for women, avoiding having daughters is a rational choice. But for wider society it's creating an appalling and desperate state of affairs," Laura Turquet, women's rights policy official at ActionAid said.
"In the long term, cultural attitudes need to change. India must address economic and social barriers including property rights, marriage dowries and gender roles that condemn girls before they are even born.
"If we don't act now the future looks bleak," Ms Turquet said.
Some 10 million female foetuses have been aborted in India in the past 20 years, the British medical journal the Lancet has said.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Death penalty in India
Frontline
Volume 25 - Issue 13 :: Jun. 21-Jul. 04, 2008
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU • Contents
REPORT
Deadly gamble
V. VENKATESAN
A report studies Supreme Court judgments in death penalty cases in India from 1950 to 2006 and uncovers many inconsistencies.
THERE is very little officially compiled information on the award of capital punishment in India. This makes the task of understanding the relationship between the punishment and the incidence of crime for which death could be awarded as punishment challenging. Add to this the phenomenon of conflicting judgments coming from trial and high courts and from the Supreme Court itself on the nature of the crimes that can attract this penalty, and the challenge facing the researcher is likely to be insurmountable.
A recent study, jointly produced by Amnesty International India and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, fills the void and exposes the inconsistencies in these judgments. The report was researched and written by Bikram Jeet Batra, consultant to Amnesty International India. Part I, written by Dr. V. Suresh and D. Nagasaila of the PUCL-TN&P, sets the tone for the entire report with its focus on the need to re-examine the death penalty in India.
Part II of the report cites Prison Statistics India 2005, compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, and states that there are 273 persons sentenced to death, as on December 31, 2005. But it does not clarify whether the figure refers to those whose sentences were passed by a trial court or those whose sentences were upheld by a High Court or the Supreme Court or whose mercy petitions were pending or had been rejected. In November 2006, Minister for Home Affairs Shivraj Patil told Parliament that there were 44 mercy petitions before the President, some of which had been pending from 1998 and 1999.
The NCRB states that there were 25 executions between 1995 and 2004. Twenty-four of these took place between 1995 and 1998, pointing to the fact that executions have decreased in the past decade. The NCRB has admittedly no data relating to the death penalty before 1995. The report cites a newspaper article (which itself refers to the 1967 Law Commission report) that suggests that at least 1,422 people were executed between 1954 and 1963 alone. The report notes that the Supreme Court admitted in judgments upholding the constitutionality of the death penalty that there had been no systematic study on whether this penalty was a greater deterrent to murder than the penalty of life imprisonment.
The research for this report involved the study of over 700 judgments reported in law journals between 1950 and 2006. In the first phase ending in 1975, the study found that Supreme Court judgments relied on a rather abstract phrase – “ends of justice” – to disguise the arbitrariness in the use of judicial discretion in sentencing. Thus, judgments regularly concluded with the mere assertion that the death sentence was being commuted or confirmed “to meet the ends of justice”. The study found that there were no clear, systematic principles governing sentencing.
In 1973, Parliament amended the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to require judges to take note of “special reasons” when awarding the death sentence. The amended CrPC also required a mandatory pre-sentencing hearing in the trial court. It was, as the Supreme Court noted later, a “gradual swing against the imposition of such penalty”. The report found support to the thesis, advanced by a scholar (A. R. Blackshield) in an earlier study, that a key factor in determining a question of life or death was which judge heard the appeal. The report noted that all those convicts whose appeals were heard by a bench featuring Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer (who personally believes in the abolition of the death penalty) were more likely to receive a sympathetic hearing and even a suggestion of a presidential pardon, if not a commuted sentence. The amended CrPC could do little to limit this arbitrariness even though it perhaps ensured that the overall number of persons sentenced to death was reduced, the report observes.
Rarest of rare cases
The judgment of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980), which limited the death sentence to the rarest of rare cases, reinforced the exceptional nature of the death penalty. This is what Parliament had secured by amending the CrPC. The requirement that the judge concerned weigh aggravating and mitigating factors added a new element to the sentencing process. A major innovation was the specific reference in the mitigating factors to the fact that the state had to establish – with evidence – that the accused was likely to commit a crime again and could not be reformed, before the death sentence could be awarded.
But as the report points out, this requirement was sometimes observed in the breach in cases where the Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty. The reason for this was the court’s flawed understanding that the non-fulfilment of this requirement alone could not undo all the aggravating factors such as the gravity and brutality of the crime. According to the report, the Bachan Singh formulation saved many from the gallows in the early 1980s, with the Supreme Court commuting sentences. In the mid-1980s and thereafter, however, the impact of the judgment and its guidelines was less impressive, says the report.
In Machhi Singh and others v. State of Punjab (1983), the Supreme Court expanded the “rarest of rare” formulation beyond the aggravating factors listed in Bachan Singh to cases where the “collective conscience” of a community may be shocked. But the bench in this case underlined that full weightage must be accorded to the mitigating circumstances in a case and a just balance had to be struck between aggravating and mitigating circumstances. In the post-Machhi Singh period, considerable inconsistency marked the Supreme Court’s judgments in death penalty cases. Thus, the court considered the age of the accused as a mitigating factor in some cases but not in others. Again, it found the gruesome nature of the crime sufficient to ignore the mitigating factors in a few cases but not in every case.
In an unusually candid judgment delivered on December 12, 2006, in Aloke Nath Dutta and ors. v. State of West Bengal, Justices S.B. Sinha and Dalveer Bhandari admitted the court’s failure to evolve a sentencing policy. They suggested that different criteria had been adopted by different benches of the Supreme Court for similar offences. The bench commuted the sentence in this case, asking the question: “No sentencing policy in clear-cut terms has been evolved by the Supreme Court. What should we do?” The report concludes: “Despite legislative reform and reform-minded jurisprudence over a number of years, the death penalty has continued to be a lethal lottery.”
The report, for instance, found that the Supreme Court had not upheld the death sentence in any dowry murder case brought before it. Although the court gave a variety of reasons for each commutation in such cases, the message is indeed disturbing even though the report has refrained as such from drawing any conclusions. Again, it is striking that the court has not upheld a death sentence in any case of rape and murder of an adult woman, while it has done so in a number of cases where the victim was a child.
However, the report noted that between 1999 and 2006, all rape and murder cases involving minors that came before the Supreme Court resulted in commutations. In one case (Akhtar v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 1999), Justices G.B. Pattanaik and Rajendra Babu commuted the sentence of death, finding that the death was unintentional and without premeditation as the victim died because she had been gagged while the rape was being committed. A similar approach was followed in Amrit Singh v. State of Punjab (2006), wherein the court held that the death occurred as a consequence of the rape and commuted the sentence. The judges reasoned that rape might be brutal, but it could have been a lapse on the appellant’s part on seeing a lonely girl at a secluded place, and therefore, it could not be said to be a rarest of rare case. Such reasoning not only smacks of gender insensitivity but strengthens the argument in favour of a clear sentencing policy.
It is deplorable how the court viewed the killings committed by a mob as a mitigating rather than an aggravating factor. In Kishori v. State of Delhi (1999), the court noted that the acts attributed to the mob of which the appellant was a member could not be stated to be the result of any organised, systematic activity leading to genocide, and commuted his sentence. In Manohar Lal alias Manu and anr. v. State (NCT) of Delhi (2000), the court, ignoring evidence that the attacks on Sikhs had been orchestrated, held that while the killings were most gruesome, the accused were berserk and “on a rampage, unguided by sense or reason and triggered by a demented psyche”, and commuted the sentence.
In view of these inconsistencies, the report calls for an immediate moratorium on executions, pending abolition of the death penalty in India. The report will have served its purpose if it leads to introspection within the legislature, the executive and the judiciary on the relevance of the death penalty in India.
Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited
without the written consent of Frontline
Volume 25 - Issue 13 :: Jun. 21-Jul. 04, 2008
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU • Contents
REPORT
Deadly gamble
V. VENKATESAN
A report studies Supreme Court judgments in death penalty cases in India from 1950 to 2006 and uncovers many inconsistencies.
THERE is very little officially compiled information on the award of capital punishment in India. This makes the task of understanding the relationship between the punishment and the incidence of crime for which death could be awarded as punishment challenging. Add to this the phenomenon of conflicting judgments coming from trial and high courts and from the Supreme Court itself on the nature of the crimes that can attract this penalty, and the challenge facing the researcher is likely to be insurmountable.
A recent study, jointly produced by Amnesty International India and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, fills the void and exposes the inconsistencies in these judgments. The report was researched and written by Bikram Jeet Batra, consultant to Amnesty International India. Part I, written by Dr. V. Suresh and D. Nagasaila of the PUCL-TN&P, sets the tone for the entire report with its focus on the need to re-examine the death penalty in India.
Part II of the report cites Prison Statistics India 2005, compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, and states that there are 273 persons sentenced to death, as on December 31, 2005. But it does not clarify whether the figure refers to those whose sentences were passed by a trial court or those whose sentences were upheld by a High Court or the Supreme Court or whose mercy petitions were pending or had been rejected. In November 2006, Minister for Home Affairs Shivraj Patil told Parliament that there were 44 mercy petitions before the President, some of which had been pending from 1998 and 1999.
The NCRB states that there were 25 executions between 1995 and 2004. Twenty-four of these took place between 1995 and 1998, pointing to the fact that executions have decreased in the past decade. The NCRB has admittedly no data relating to the death penalty before 1995. The report cites a newspaper article (which itself refers to the 1967 Law Commission report) that suggests that at least 1,422 people were executed between 1954 and 1963 alone. The report notes that the Supreme Court admitted in judgments upholding the constitutionality of the death penalty that there had been no systematic study on whether this penalty was a greater deterrent to murder than the penalty of life imprisonment.
The research for this report involved the study of over 700 judgments reported in law journals between 1950 and 2006. In the first phase ending in 1975, the study found that Supreme Court judgments relied on a rather abstract phrase – “ends of justice” – to disguise the arbitrariness in the use of judicial discretion in sentencing. Thus, judgments regularly concluded with the mere assertion that the death sentence was being commuted or confirmed “to meet the ends of justice”. The study found that there were no clear, systematic principles governing sentencing.
In 1973, Parliament amended the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to require judges to take note of “special reasons” when awarding the death sentence. The amended CrPC also required a mandatory pre-sentencing hearing in the trial court. It was, as the Supreme Court noted later, a “gradual swing against the imposition of such penalty”. The report found support to the thesis, advanced by a scholar (A. R. Blackshield) in an earlier study, that a key factor in determining a question of life or death was which judge heard the appeal. The report noted that all those convicts whose appeals were heard by a bench featuring Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer (who personally believes in the abolition of the death penalty) were more likely to receive a sympathetic hearing and even a suggestion of a presidential pardon, if not a commuted sentence. The amended CrPC could do little to limit this arbitrariness even though it perhaps ensured that the overall number of persons sentenced to death was reduced, the report observes.
Rarest of rare cases
The judgment of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980), which limited the death sentence to the rarest of rare cases, reinforced the exceptional nature of the death penalty. This is what Parliament had secured by amending the CrPC. The requirement that the judge concerned weigh aggravating and mitigating factors added a new element to the sentencing process. A major innovation was the specific reference in the mitigating factors to the fact that the state had to establish – with evidence – that the accused was likely to commit a crime again and could not be reformed, before the death sentence could be awarded.
But as the report points out, this requirement was sometimes observed in the breach in cases where the Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty. The reason for this was the court’s flawed understanding that the non-fulfilment of this requirement alone could not undo all the aggravating factors such as the gravity and brutality of the crime. According to the report, the Bachan Singh formulation saved many from the gallows in the early 1980s, with the Supreme Court commuting sentences. In the mid-1980s and thereafter, however, the impact of the judgment and its guidelines was less impressive, says the report.
In Machhi Singh and others v. State of Punjab (1983), the Supreme Court expanded the “rarest of rare” formulation beyond the aggravating factors listed in Bachan Singh to cases where the “collective conscience” of a community may be shocked. But the bench in this case underlined that full weightage must be accorded to the mitigating circumstances in a case and a just balance had to be struck between aggravating and mitigating circumstances. In the post-Machhi Singh period, considerable inconsistency marked the Supreme Court’s judgments in death penalty cases. Thus, the court considered the age of the accused as a mitigating factor in some cases but not in others. Again, it found the gruesome nature of the crime sufficient to ignore the mitigating factors in a few cases but not in every case.
In an unusually candid judgment delivered on December 12, 2006, in Aloke Nath Dutta and ors. v. State of West Bengal, Justices S.B. Sinha and Dalveer Bhandari admitted the court’s failure to evolve a sentencing policy. They suggested that different criteria had been adopted by different benches of the Supreme Court for similar offences. The bench commuted the sentence in this case, asking the question: “No sentencing policy in clear-cut terms has been evolved by the Supreme Court. What should we do?” The report concludes: “Despite legislative reform and reform-minded jurisprudence over a number of years, the death penalty has continued to be a lethal lottery.”
The report, for instance, found that the Supreme Court had not upheld the death sentence in any dowry murder case brought before it. Although the court gave a variety of reasons for each commutation in such cases, the message is indeed disturbing even though the report has refrained as such from drawing any conclusions. Again, it is striking that the court has not upheld a death sentence in any case of rape and murder of an adult woman, while it has done so in a number of cases where the victim was a child.
However, the report noted that between 1999 and 2006, all rape and murder cases involving minors that came before the Supreme Court resulted in commutations. In one case (Akhtar v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 1999), Justices G.B. Pattanaik and Rajendra Babu commuted the sentence of death, finding that the death was unintentional and without premeditation as the victim died because she had been gagged while the rape was being committed. A similar approach was followed in Amrit Singh v. State of Punjab (2006), wherein the court held that the death occurred as a consequence of the rape and commuted the sentence. The judges reasoned that rape might be brutal, but it could have been a lapse on the appellant’s part on seeing a lonely girl at a secluded place, and therefore, it could not be said to be a rarest of rare case. Such reasoning not only smacks of gender insensitivity but strengthens the argument in favour of a clear sentencing policy.
It is deplorable how the court viewed the killings committed by a mob as a mitigating rather than an aggravating factor. In Kishori v. State of Delhi (1999), the court noted that the acts attributed to the mob of which the appellant was a member could not be stated to be the result of any organised, systematic activity leading to genocide, and commuted his sentence. In Manohar Lal alias Manu and anr. v. State (NCT) of Delhi (2000), the court, ignoring evidence that the attacks on Sikhs had been orchestrated, held that while the killings were most gruesome, the accused were berserk and “on a rampage, unguided by sense or reason and triggered by a demented psyche”, and commuted the sentence.
In view of these inconsistencies, the report calls for an immediate moratorium on executions, pending abolition of the death penalty in India. The report will have served its purpose if it leads to introspection within the legislature, the executive and the judiciary on the relevance of the death penalty in India.
Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited
without the written consent of Frontline
Friday, June 20, 2008
Social Lending Web Loans
Strange New World: Tech Picks of the Week
Social Lending Takes Off, Satellite Radio Giants Likely to Merge and Firefox 3 Launches
By JONATHAN BLUM and DAN EVANS
June 20, 2008
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Our trip this week through this strange new world of ours has brought us a brand new Web browser, news of the future of satellite radio and a new way to get a loan without a bank. And, no, we're not talking about the Mob. Here are our picks of the week.
Social Lending
There has been real progress in social lending sites and, considering the credit crisis, we think it's a particularly good time to cover this innovative end of the Web. Social lending is a classic Web concept, circa 1999: The idea was that lenders and borrowers would find one another online and that borrowing money could be accomplished at favorable rates and without all the stupid bank fees and fancy suits. But complexities in getting the system to work and a lack of money kept the system from running properly.
But, apparently, not anymore. It seems like there are plenty of these social lending sites out there. And we will keep the news here simple: Considering that Alan Greenspan might have trouble getting a loan these days, it's interesting to see that one part of the credit business actually works. Web sites like LendingClub, Zopa, Wesabe and Fynanz all specialize in peer-to-peer lending and may be the place to turn if the banks won't help you.
Social Lending Takes Off, Satellite Radio Giants Likely to Merge and Firefox 3 Launches
By JONATHAN BLUM and DAN EVANS
June 20, 2008
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Our trip this week through this strange new world of ours has brought us a brand new Web browser, news of the future of satellite radio and a new way to get a loan without a bank. And, no, we're not talking about the Mob. Here are our picks of the week.
Social Lending
There has been real progress in social lending sites and, considering the credit crisis, we think it's a particularly good time to cover this innovative end of the Web. Social lending is a classic Web concept, circa 1999: The idea was that lenders and borrowers would find one another online and that borrowing money could be accomplished at favorable rates and without all the stupid bank fees and fancy suits. But complexities in getting the system to work and a lack of money kept the system from running properly.
But, apparently, not anymore. It seems like there are plenty of these social lending sites out there. And we will keep the news here simple: Considering that Alan Greenspan might have trouble getting a loan these days, it's interesting to see that one part of the credit business actually works. Web sites like LendingClub, Zopa, Wesabe and Fynanz all specialize in peer-to-peer lending and may be the place to turn if the banks won't help you.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Directory lists out 'progressive' Muslims
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Directory lists out 'progressive' Muslims
Agra: Breaking stereotypes about Muslims in India, a new directory here says the community is producing doctors, lawyers, accountants, poets, artists, architects, businessmen and experts in many fields.
Agra's Ghalib Research Academy has just published a comprehensive directory of Muslims, seeking to demonstrate that the community is not what it is made out to be but is rubbing shoulders with the mainstream.
S. Ikhtiyar Jafri, director of the academy, told IANS, "We have long been hearing that Muslims only marry and produce children, that they have nothing to do with modern education and that they don't contribute to the country's development."
It is also made out that the community has no interest in social service and that it is unhygienic. "But during my research for the project, I did not encounter a single Muslim man who had four wives," Jafri said.
The directory provides interesting insights into Agra's Muslim community of around 325,000.
The city has 160 Muslim lawyers, 15 chartered accountants, 20 architects and civil engineers, 80 plus computer shops or retail counters owned by Muslims, in addition to 150-odd medical practitioners, 30 mediapersons, 75 poets, 20 Urdu writers, a dozen Hindi writers, more than a dozen prominent artists and around 300 government officials.
Jafri said the stereotype emerged because no systematic effort was made after independence to promote leadership and channelise or nurture the talents of the community.
No effort was made, bemoaned Jafri, to project a positive picture of the role and contribution of Muslims in evolving a composite "Ganga-Yamuni tehzeeb".
"We thought we should study the ground realities and present before the community the true picture in terms of resources and reserves of the present generation of Muslims in Agra," he said.
"Our year-long exploratory forays resulted in questions that beg answers from the community," said Jafri. Jafri also pointed out that Muslim individuals had done well on their own, without much help from either the government or the community as a whole. Jafri himself is a poet, scholar, researcher and journalist of repute.
The directory lists more than 100 schools, 50 NGOs or welfare societies, 45 hotels and restaurants - all set up by Muslims. In addition to a legislator, there are eight Muslim corporators in the Agra Municipal Corporation and, of course, scores of political leaders in all political parties.
The biggest chunk of Muslim businessmen is involved in the shoe manufacturing and trading sector. Some have now ventured into the real estate and construction business. The city has more than 170 mosques and 30 graveyards, in addition to more than 50 madrassas.
Jafri said since 1990, Muslim women had "impacted society in a fundamental way. Their entry into all fields - from law and medicine to management, hospitality and teaching - has gone up by more than 50 percent in just 8 or 10 years."
Besides, there are Muslim youngsters venturing into newer fields like fashion and hospitality. Some women have also taken to becoming airhostesses. "The directory, the first venture of its kind in Agra, will serve as a useful guide for planners," hopes Jafri.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Directory lists out 'progressive' Muslims
Agra: Breaking stereotypes about Muslims in India, a new directory here says the community is producing doctors, lawyers, accountants, poets, artists, architects, businessmen and experts in many fields.
Agra's Ghalib Research Academy has just published a comprehensive directory of Muslims, seeking to demonstrate that the community is not what it is made out to be but is rubbing shoulders with the mainstream.
S. Ikhtiyar Jafri, director of the academy, told IANS, "We have long been hearing that Muslims only marry and produce children, that they have nothing to do with modern education and that they don't contribute to the country's development."
It is also made out that the community has no interest in social service and that it is unhygienic. "But during my research for the project, I did not encounter a single Muslim man who had four wives," Jafri said.
The directory provides interesting insights into Agra's Muslim community of around 325,000.
The city has 160 Muslim lawyers, 15 chartered accountants, 20 architects and civil engineers, 80 plus computer shops or retail counters owned by Muslims, in addition to 150-odd medical practitioners, 30 mediapersons, 75 poets, 20 Urdu writers, a dozen Hindi writers, more than a dozen prominent artists and around 300 government officials.
Jafri said the stereotype emerged because no systematic effort was made after independence to promote leadership and channelise or nurture the talents of the community.
No effort was made, bemoaned Jafri, to project a positive picture of the role and contribution of Muslims in evolving a composite "Ganga-Yamuni tehzeeb".
"We thought we should study the ground realities and present before the community the true picture in terms of resources and reserves of the present generation of Muslims in Agra," he said.
"Our year-long exploratory forays resulted in questions that beg answers from the community," said Jafri. Jafri also pointed out that Muslim individuals had done well on their own, without much help from either the government or the community as a whole. Jafri himself is a poet, scholar, researcher and journalist of repute.
The directory lists more than 100 schools, 50 NGOs or welfare societies, 45 hotels and restaurants - all set up by Muslims. In addition to a legislator, there are eight Muslim corporators in the Agra Municipal Corporation and, of course, scores of political leaders in all political parties.
The biggest chunk of Muslim businessmen is involved in the shoe manufacturing and trading sector. Some have now ventured into the real estate and construction business. The city has more than 170 mosques and 30 graveyards, in addition to more than 50 madrassas.
Jafri said since 1990, Muslim women had "impacted society in a fundamental way. Their entry into all fields - from law and medicine to management, hospitality and teaching - has gone up by more than 50 percent in just 8 or 10 years."
Besides, there are Muslim youngsters venturing into newer fields like fashion and hospitality. Some women have also taken to becoming airhostesses. "The directory, the first venture of its kind in Agra, will serve as a useful guide for planners," hopes Jafri.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Monday, June 16, 2008
Lesbian couple of 55 years prepare to be among the first in California to marry
Home > U.S.
Lesbian Couple of 55 Years Ready to Say 'I Do'
Lesbian couple of 55 years prepare to be among the first in California to say 'I do' on Monday
By LISA LEFF Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO June 16, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press
On Monday, more than a half-century after they became a couple, Lyon and Martin plan to become one of the first same-sex couples to legally exchange marriage vows in California.
"It was something you wanted to know, 'Is it really going to happen?' And now it's happened, and maybe it can continue to happen," Lyon says.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to officiate at the private ceremony in his City Hall office before 50 invited guests. He picked Martin, 87, and Lyon, 84, for the front of the line in recognition of their long relationship and their status as pioneers of the gay rights movement.
Along with six other women, they founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis. Under their leadership, it evolved into the nation's first lesbian advocacy organization. They have the FBI files to prove it.
Their ceremony Monday will, in fact, be a marriage do-over.
In February 2004, San Francisco's new mayor decided to challenge California's marriage laws by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. His advisers and gay rights activists knew right away which couple would put the most compelling human face on the issue: Martin and Lyon.
Back then, the couple planned to celebrate their 51st anniversary as live-in lovers on Valentine's Day. Because of their work with the Daughters, they also were icons in the gay community.
"Four years ago, when they agreed to be married, it was in equal parts to support the mayor and to support the idea that lesbians and gay people formed committed relationships and should have those relationships respected," says Kate Kendell, a close friend and executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Lyon and Martin vividly recall the excitement of being secretly swept into the clerk's office, saying "I do" in front of a tiny group of city staff members and friends, and then being rushed out of the building. There were no corsages, no bottles of champagne. Afterward they went to lunch, just the two of them, at a restaurant run as a job training program for participants in a substance abuse program.
Lesbian Couple of 55 Years Ready to Say 'I Do'
Lesbian couple of 55 years prepare to be among the first in California to say 'I do' on Monday
By LISA LEFF Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO June 16, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press
On Monday, more than a half-century after they became a couple, Lyon and Martin plan to become one of the first same-sex couples to legally exchange marriage vows in California.
"It was something you wanted to know, 'Is it really going to happen?' And now it's happened, and maybe it can continue to happen," Lyon says.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to officiate at the private ceremony in his City Hall office before 50 invited guests. He picked Martin, 87, and Lyon, 84, for the front of the line in recognition of their long relationship and their status as pioneers of the gay rights movement.
Along with six other women, they founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis. Under their leadership, it evolved into the nation's first lesbian advocacy organization. They have the FBI files to prove it.
Their ceremony Monday will, in fact, be a marriage do-over.
In February 2004, San Francisco's new mayor decided to challenge California's marriage laws by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. His advisers and gay rights activists knew right away which couple would put the most compelling human face on the issue: Martin and Lyon.
Back then, the couple planned to celebrate their 51st anniversary as live-in lovers on Valentine's Day. Because of their work with the Daughters, they also were icons in the gay community.
"Four years ago, when they agreed to be married, it was in equal parts to support the mayor and to support the idea that lesbians and gay people formed committed relationships and should have those relationships respected," says Kate Kendell, a close friend and executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Lyon and Martin vividly recall the excitement of being secretly swept into the clerk's office, saying "I do" in front of a tiny group of city staff members and friends, and then being rushed out of the building. There were no corsages, no bottles of champagne. Afterward they went to lunch, just the two of them, at a restaurant run as a job training program for participants in a substance abuse program.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Balaji Telefilms to telecast Aarushi Talwar murder case
Blue Star
Monday, June 09, 2008
Balaji not to stop telecasting Aarushi-inspired soap
New Delhi: Balaji Telefilms has said it will not step back from depicting an "inspired" version of the Aarushi Talwar murder case on their daily soap "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki".
"Neither has Balaji nor has Star Plus received any notice to stop the track. And we are not changing it," Nivedita Basu, creative head, Balaji Telefilms said.
Basu was speaking on behalf of the company's head honcho Ekta Kapoor.In an "unexpected" turn of events, Nupur Talwar, the mother of 14-year-old Aarushi who was murdered in Noida May 15 night, appealed to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Monday to stop the production house from using the family tragedy "to earn TRPs (television rating points)"."We have lost our child and now they (Balaji Telefilms) are planning to show her life on television. It would affect the case. How can they earn from our tragedy?" Nupur, also a dentist, said when she came to meet the commission members.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Monday, June 09, 2008
Balaji not to stop telecasting Aarushi-inspired soap
New Delhi: Balaji Telefilms has said it will not step back from depicting an "inspired" version of the Aarushi Talwar murder case on their daily soap "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki".
"Neither has Balaji nor has Star Plus received any notice to stop the track. And we are not changing it," Nivedita Basu, creative head, Balaji Telefilms said.
Basu was speaking on behalf of the company's head honcho Ekta Kapoor.In an "unexpected" turn of events, Nupur Talwar, the mother of 14-year-old Aarushi who was murdered in Noida May 15 night, appealed to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Monday to stop the production house from using the family tragedy "to earn TRPs (television rating points)"."We have lost our child and now they (Balaji Telefilms) are planning to show her life on television. It would affect the case. How can they earn from our tragedy?" Nupur, also a dentist, said when she came to meet the commission members.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Bhopal gas tragedy: victims 23 years
Bhopal gas tragedy victims discontented with government action continue agitation
Mon, Jun 9 09:05 PM
New Delhi, June 9 (ANI): Victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy stage a die-in protest outside the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi on Monday demanding government's commitment on empowering the special commission to be set up for their rehabilitation.
Protesters lay on the ground pretending to be dead to draw focus towards their continuing agitation in the national capital New Delhi for nearly four months.
In a bid to provide relief to the victims the PMO last month had sent an emissary to the victims with an assurance from the Central government of complying with their demand of setting up the commission.
However, according to the victims the statement issued by the PMO partially concedes their demand, as it makes no mention of the powers, funds and the number of years the commission on Bhopal will function.
They had tried twice to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make their pleas heard but to no avail.
The victims feel their pleas have gone unheard and Prime Minister has not paid any heed to their concern.
"The gas victims have been demanding their rights for the last 23 years. We want that a special commission is formed that would take care of the rehabilitation of victims and we also demand that the government take action against the Union Carbide and its new owner, Dow Chemicals. Prime Minister has not paid any heed to our concern. He doesn't have time to meet the victims who have been protesting in the capital from last 111 days," said Rachna Dhingra, member of Bhopal group for information and action.
The agitators threatened to launch a 'global hunger strike' from Tuesday with participation from more than eight countries.
The decision to start an indefinite hunger strike has been communicated to the PMO.
More than 3,500 people died in the days and weeks after toxic fumes spewed out of a pesticide plan in Bhopal on the night of December 2, 1984.
Officials say nearly 15,000 people have died since from cancer and other diseases.
Activists have put the toll at 33,000 and claim that toxins from thousands of tonnes of chemicals lying in and around the site have seeped into ground water.
Union Carbide in 1984 accepted moral responsibility for the tragedy and established a 100 million dollars charitable trust fund to build a hospital for victims. Later Union Carbide was taken over by Dow Chemicals.
The company also paid 470 million dollars to the Indian government in 1989 in a settlement reached after a protracted legal battle. The victims, on an average, received 25,000 rupees in case of illness and 100,000 rupees or so in case of a death in the family.
Michigan-based Dow Chemical says it is not responsible for the clean up as it never owned or operated the plant. The Madhya Pradesh government now owns the abandoned plant. (ANI)
Mon, Jun 9 09:05 PM
New Delhi, June 9 (ANI): Victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy stage a die-in protest outside the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi on Monday demanding government's commitment on empowering the special commission to be set up for their rehabilitation.
Protesters lay on the ground pretending to be dead to draw focus towards their continuing agitation in the national capital New Delhi for nearly four months.
In a bid to provide relief to the victims the PMO last month had sent an emissary to the victims with an assurance from the Central government of complying with their demand of setting up the commission.
However, according to the victims the statement issued by the PMO partially concedes their demand, as it makes no mention of the powers, funds and the number of years the commission on Bhopal will function.
They had tried twice to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make their pleas heard but to no avail.
The victims feel their pleas have gone unheard and Prime Minister has not paid any heed to their concern.
"The gas victims have been demanding their rights for the last 23 years. We want that a special commission is formed that would take care of the rehabilitation of victims and we also demand that the government take action against the Union Carbide and its new owner, Dow Chemicals. Prime Minister has not paid any heed to our concern. He doesn't have time to meet the victims who have been protesting in the capital from last 111 days," said Rachna Dhingra, member of Bhopal group for information and action.
The agitators threatened to launch a 'global hunger strike' from Tuesday with participation from more than eight countries.
The decision to start an indefinite hunger strike has been communicated to the PMO.
More than 3,500 people died in the days and weeks after toxic fumes spewed out of a pesticide plan in Bhopal on the night of December 2, 1984.
Officials say nearly 15,000 people have died since from cancer and other diseases.
Activists have put the toll at 33,000 and claim that toxins from thousands of tonnes of chemicals lying in and around the site have seeped into ground water.
Union Carbide in 1984 accepted moral responsibility for the tragedy and established a 100 million dollars charitable trust fund to build a hospital for victims. Later Union Carbide was taken over by Dow Chemicals.
The company also paid 470 million dollars to the Indian government in 1989 in a settlement reached after a protracted legal battle. The victims, on an average, received 25,000 rupees in case of illness and 100,000 rupees or so in case of a death in the family.
Michigan-based Dow Chemical says it is not responsible for the clean up as it never owned or operated the plant. The Madhya Pradesh government now owns the abandoned plant. (ANI)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Renuka seeks rehab package for rape victims
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Renuka seeks rehab package for rape victims
New Delhi: Rape victims will get Rs.200,000 as a "relief and rehabilitation package", if Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury has her way.
Chowdhury, who in principle has agreed to the proposal mooted by the National Commission of Women (NCW), has called a meeting of the panel for Tuesday.
NCW came out with the 'Scheme for Relief and Rehabilitation of Victims of Rape, 2005' following the directions of the Supreme Court, which ordered it to evolve a "scheme so as to wipe out the tears of unfortunate victims of rape".
As per the recommendation, a rape victim will get an initial amount of Rs.20,000 on the basis of the medical report. This will be followed by a sum of Rs.70,000 for treatment and rehabilitation.
The remaining amount would be given when the victim gives her statement to the court.
"We would be giving the rest of the amount to the victim after seeing that she has not turned hostile. We will not wait till the judgement," a ministry official told IANS.
"The meeting has been called to take a decision on the compensation package. Then, a final decision will be taken," the official said.
There are an estimated 15,000 rape cases on an average in a year in the country.
"We are hopeful that the recommendations we have made would be accepted," a commission member said.
Keeping in mind the fact that many rape victims in the rural areas are thrown out of their homes, the money could be used to provide them shelter or a home and to impart them skill-training.
In their report, a final draft of which was prepared after consultations with lawyers, they said that any victim who comes to the police station and lodges the first information report is to get monetary relief.
To simplify the procedure and not to add to the already traumatised girl's woes, the commission suggested that a criminal injuries compensation board be set up.
The board will monitor whether the scheme is being implemented by the state governments. It will also ensure that the instalment money is awarded within three weeks of the FIR being filed.
Fearing that there could be false claims, the commission has suggested the formation of district level committees headed by a district magistrate.
The state government shall establish in every district, a separate monitoring committee which shall be headed by the superintendent of police of the district.
The committee will comprise of a police officer preferably a woman, a social activist, a lawyer and a doctor apart from a representative of the Panchayati Raj institution or municipality. They all have to be nominated by the district magistrate to be a part of the committee.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Renuka seeks rehab package for rape victims
New Delhi: Rape victims will get Rs.200,000 as a "relief and rehabilitation package", if Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury has her way.
Chowdhury, who in principle has agreed to the proposal mooted by the National Commission of Women (NCW), has called a meeting of the panel for Tuesday.
NCW came out with the 'Scheme for Relief and Rehabilitation of Victims of Rape, 2005' following the directions of the Supreme Court, which ordered it to evolve a "scheme so as to wipe out the tears of unfortunate victims of rape".
As per the recommendation, a rape victim will get an initial amount of Rs.20,000 on the basis of the medical report. This will be followed by a sum of Rs.70,000 for treatment and rehabilitation.
The remaining amount would be given when the victim gives her statement to the court.
"We would be giving the rest of the amount to the victim after seeing that she has not turned hostile. We will not wait till the judgement," a ministry official told IANS.
"The meeting has been called to take a decision on the compensation package. Then, a final decision will be taken," the official said.
There are an estimated 15,000 rape cases on an average in a year in the country.
"We are hopeful that the recommendations we have made would be accepted," a commission member said.
Keeping in mind the fact that many rape victims in the rural areas are thrown out of their homes, the money could be used to provide them shelter or a home and to impart them skill-training.
In their report, a final draft of which was prepared after consultations with lawyers, they said that any victim who comes to the police station and lodges the first information report is to get monetary relief.
To simplify the procedure and not to add to the already traumatised girl's woes, the commission suggested that a criminal injuries compensation board be set up.
The board will monitor whether the scheme is being implemented by the state governments. It will also ensure that the instalment money is awarded within three weeks of the FIR being filed.
Fearing that there could be false claims, the commission has suggested the formation of district level committees headed by a district magistrate.
The state government shall establish in every district, a separate monitoring committee which shall be headed by the superintendent of police of the district.
The committee will comprise of a police officer preferably a woman, a social activist, a lawyer and a doctor apart from a representative of the Panchayati Raj institution or municipality. They all have to be nominated by the district magistrate to be a part of the committee.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Friday, June 6, 2008
Obama Dilemma
That at Obama Speech
from Pickled Politics by Sid
Following worldwide dismay from Wednesday’s speech to AIPAC, Obama has now changed his tune:
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama amended his support for Israel’s stance on Jerusalem on Thursday, saying Palestinians and Israelis had to negotiate the future of the holy city.
Palestinian leaders reacted with anger and dismay on Wednesday to Obama saying Jerusalem should be Israel’s undivided capital.
“Well, obviously, it’s going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations,” Obama told CNN when asked whether Palestinians had no future claim to the city.
Asked if he opposed any division of Jerusalem, Obama said: “As a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute. And I think that it is smart for us to — to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary religious sites in Old Jerusalem but that Israel has a legitimate claim on that city.”
Adam LeBor has written a balanced and sensible article on CIF on why Barack Obama was wrong to make the outrageous promise, while speaking to AIPAC, that Jerusalem will remain the ‘undivided capital’ of Israel. Seems strange since the US and UK embassies are in Tel Aviv! You can read more here.
Meanwhile, back at Harry’s Place, Adam clarifies further:
Personally I find AIPAC a rather creepy organisation. I remember ten years ago when I was making some radio programmes for the BBC on Israel at 50 trying to interview one of their officials. Trying to get any information out of her about how AIPAC worked reminded me of interviewing suspicious ex-(not really)-Communists in eastern Europe.
I agree with this writer:
AIPAC has become more militant than the Israeli government. Its messages reflect more the oppositionist Likud doctrine than the moderate stance of Prime Minister Olmert. Moreover, whereas the American Jewish community is known for its liberal, progressive pro-Democrat party heritage - some 80 percent of the Jewish voters traditionally cast their votes for the Democrats - AIPAC is geared to an extreme-right-wing agenda, often more in line with the Jewish neo-cons than with the majority of American Jews.
Far better, he opines, to support the new, pro-peace Israel lobbying group, J-street.
The author? David Kimche, former Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and veteran Mossad agent.
Personally I thought it was a good speech. But it’s always better to have someone, preferably with a progressive outlook, with more detailed knowledge of the background to unravel the intricacies. It’s easy to fall for Obama’s delivery over the content. I stand corrected. And hopefully, so is Obama.
from Pickled Politics by Sid
Following worldwide dismay from Wednesday’s speech to AIPAC, Obama has now changed his tune:
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama amended his support for Israel’s stance on Jerusalem on Thursday, saying Palestinians and Israelis had to negotiate the future of the holy city.
Palestinian leaders reacted with anger and dismay on Wednesday to Obama saying Jerusalem should be Israel’s undivided capital.
“Well, obviously, it’s going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations,” Obama told CNN when asked whether Palestinians had no future claim to the city.
Asked if he opposed any division of Jerusalem, Obama said: “As a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute. And I think that it is smart for us to — to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary religious sites in Old Jerusalem but that Israel has a legitimate claim on that city.”
Adam LeBor has written a balanced and sensible article on CIF on why Barack Obama was wrong to make the outrageous promise, while speaking to AIPAC, that Jerusalem will remain the ‘undivided capital’ of Israel. Seems strange since the US and UK embassies are in Tel Aviv! You can read more here.
Meanwhile, back at Harry’s Place, Adam clarifies further:
Personally I find AIPAC a rather creepy organisation. I remember ten years ago when I was making some radio programmes for the BBC on Israel at 50 trying to interview one of their officials. Trying to get any information out of her about how AIPAC worked reminded me of interviewing suspicious ex-(not really)-Communists in eastern Europe.
I agree with this writer:
AIPAC has become more militant than the Israeli government. Its messages reflect more the oppositionist Likud doctrine than the moderate stance of Prime Minister Olmert. Moreover, whereas the American Jewish community is known for its liberal, progressive pro-Democrat party heritage - some 80 percent of the Jewish voters traditionally cast their votes for the Democrats - AIPAC is geared to an extreme-right-wing agenda, often more in line with the Jewish neo-cons than with the majority of American Jews.
Far better, he opines, to support the new, pro-peace Israel lobbying group, J-street.
The author? David Kimche, former Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and veteran Mossad agent.
Personally I thought it was a good speech. But it’s always better to have someone, preferably with a progressive outlook, with more detailed knowledge of the background to unravel the intricacies. It’s easy to fall for Obama’s delivery over the content. I stand corrected. And hopefully, so is Obama.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
N.Y. Landmark Pays $2M to Settle Sex Claims
N.Y. Landmark Pays $2M to Settle Sex Claims
Tavern on the Green Allegedly Subjected Employees to Sexual Harassment, Racism
By ALICE GOMSTYN
ABC NEWS Business Unit
June 3, 2008
One of New York City's most famous restaurants will pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit over sexual harassment and racism allegations.
New York City's Tavern on the Green settles discrimination lawsuit.
Tavern on the Green, the 74-year-old café overlooking Manhattan's Central Park, is accused of "severe and pervasive harassment," including one manager's grabbing of an employee's breasts and buttocks and his repeated use of racial slurs and lewd sexual references.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against the restaurant in September 2007. The EEOC announced the settlement on Tuesday.
EEOC lawyer Kam S. Wong said that some 50 former and current employees will be eligible for compensation from the settlement.
"Even a high-end establishment is not an exception to the world of harassment and retaliation, unfortunately," Wong, a senior trial attorney with the EEOC, told ABC News. "A settlement as significant as this one should send a message to all employers that EEOC takes seriously and will strenuously enforce the laws against discrimination in the workplace."
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The settlement also requires the restaurant to adopt an anti-discrimination policy and provide anti-discrimination training to its employees. According to a court document, the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
In a statement e-mailed to ABC News, the restaurant said it was "pleased this long-pending matter has been amicably settled" and maintained that "Tavern on the Green always has been and will continue to be committed to providing a safe, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory work environment for its employees."
According to the statement, the management staff cited in the lawsuit "have not been associated with the restaurant for years."
The complaint filed against Tavern on the Green revolved largely around allegations against Leon Drogy, the restaurant's former director of operations. According to the complaint, Drogy engaged in "repeated sexual touching" of restaurant hostess Martha Nyakim Gatkuoth, including grabbing her breasts and buttocks.
Tavern on the Green Allegedly Subjected Employees to Sexual Harassment, Racism
By ALICE GOMSTYN
ABC NEWS Business Unit
June 3, 2008
One of New York City's most famous restaurants will pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit over sexual harassment and racism allegations.
New York City's Tavern on the Green settles discrimination lawsuit.
Tavern on the Green, the 74-year-old café overlooking Manhattan's Central Park, is accused of "severe and pervasive harassment," including one manager's grabbing of an employee's breasts and buttocks and his repeated use of racial slurs and lewd sexual references.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against the restaurant in September 2007. The EEOC announced the settlement on Tuesday.
EEOC lawyer Kam S. Wong said that some 50 former and current employees will be eligible for compensation from the settlement.
"Even a high-end establishment is not an exception to the world of harassment and retaliation, unfortunately," Wong, a senior trial attorney with the EEOC, told ABC News. "A settlement as significant as this one should send a message to all employers that EEOC takes seriously and will strenuously enforce the laws against discrimination in the workplace."
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The settlement also requires the restaurant to adopt an anti-discrimination policy and provide anti-discrimination training to its employees. According to a court document, the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
In a statement e-mailed to ABC News, the restaurant said it was "pleased this long-pending matter has been amicably settled" and maintained that "Tavern on the Green always has been and will continue to be committed to providing a safe, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory work environment for its employees."
According to the statement, the management staff cited in the lawsuit "have not been associated with the restaurant for years."
The complaint filed against Tavern on the Green revolved largely around allegations against Leon Drogy, the restaurant's former director of operations. According to the complaint, Drogy engaged in "repeated sexual touching" of restaurant hostess Martha Nyakim Gatkuoth, including grabbing her breasts and buttocks.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Dalai Lama leads Jama Masjid prayers
Monday, June 2, 2008
New Delhi: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Sunday led a special prayer for world peace at the historic Jama Masjid in Delhi and said it is regrettable that Muslims are being targeted in the name of terrorism.
The Dalai Lama, who was in Delhi to participate in an international Anti-Terrorism conference, was accompanied by several foreign dignitaries and people of different faiths.
At the special prayer, the Dalai Lama said Islam has always been identified with peace and Muslims "are peace loving people."
"Muslims are one of the most peace loving people in the world," he said, adding, "It is regrettable that Muslims are targeted in the name of terrorism."
The Dalai Lama also said a person who engages in terror activities cannot be a true Muslim.
"Muslims cannot be terrorists. If a person is a terrorist, he cannot be a Muslim," the Tibetan spiritual leader said.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior officials at the Jama Masjid were present at the prayer meet.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.
New Delhi: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Sunday led a special prayer for world peace at the historic Jama Masjid in Delhi and said it is regrettable that Muslims are being targeted in the name of terrorism.
The Dalai Lama, who was in Delhi to participate in an international Anti-Terrorism conference, was accompanied by several foreign dignitaries and people of different faiths.
At the special prayer, the Dalai Lama said Islam has always been identified with peace and Muslims "are peace loving people."
"Muslims are one of the most peace loving people in the world," he said, adding, "It is regrettable that Muslims are targeted in the name of terrorism."
The Dalai Lama also said a person who engages in terror activities cannot be a true Muslim.
"Muslims cannot be terrorists. If a person is a terrorist, he cannot be a Muslim," the Tibetan spiritual leader said.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior officials at the Jama Masjid were present at the prayer meet.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.
Power mania: Advocate chained to Hospital bed died
Monday, June 02, 2008
Dead UP lawyer’s photo shocks SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday expressed shock after seeing the photograph of a UP lawyer who died in judicial custody, chained to a hospital bed, after allegedly having been ordered to be handcuffed by two Allahabad High Court judges.
“This is unacceptable,” observed a vacation bench of Justice C.K. Thakkar and Justice L.S. Panta, after seeing the photograph of advocate Shrikant Awasthi.
The photograph was handed over to the bench by advocate Aeltemesh Rein, who moved the apex court for initiating a contempt to court proceeding against the two high court judges for allegedly ordering the arrest and handcuffing of Awasthi for showing contempt to their bench.
Rein contended that the judges, Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice Arun Tandon, had ordered the handcuffing of Awasthi in violation of SC rulings. Awasthi died in judicial custody May 13.
The two judges after ordering the lawyer's arrest had also allegedly asked jail and police authorities to present him before them in court for hearing the contempt case on a day-to-day basis.
Appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, counsel Parag Tripathi, however, denied that the judges had ordered the handcuffing of Awasthi. He said the judges had never sought daily appearance of the advocate.
The UP government counsel told the bench that the Allahabad High Court has ordered a judicial probe to ascertain the culpability of the judges, the police and jail authorities in Awasthi's death.
The probe is being conducted by the Allahabad district and sessions judge, said Tripathi, adding that the judge has already submitted his preliminary findings and was likely to file his final report by June 10.
On this, the apex court bench, which appeared inclined to issue notice to the Allahabad High Court and UP government on Rein's petition, refrained from issuing the notice.
The counsel told the bench that the UP government has already given a compensation of Rs.100,000 to the advocate's widow Neelima Awasthi, besides depositing Rs.200,000 for her in a bank for a fixed tenure.
At one point, when Tripathi sought dismissal of Rein's petition, the bench observed, “We have gone through it from beginning to end. We know what it contains. But we are adjudicating it for your sake only. We too were lawyers at one point of time.”
The bench adjourned the hearing on the petition beyond the ongoing summer vacation of the court.
In his petition, Rein said Awasthi was shocked and humiliated in court by producing him in handcuffs day after day. He fell sick and refused to have food in custody.
He added that the jail and police authorities told the judges that the advocate had stopped taking food, but Justice Chauhan “most arrogantly” told them: “Don't you know how to make such a person eat?”
According to Rein, when later told that “the advocate was still not eating anything,” Justice Chauhan retorted: “Let him die.”
The lawyer was then admitted to a Allahabad hospital, where he was chained to the bed.
Rein pointed out that while dealing with a case of alleged theft committed by a Tis Hazari court lawyer in New Delhi, the apex court had in 1988 laid down rules on handcuffing, stipulating that no person should be handcuffed unless he is a dreaded criminal indulging in violent behaviour and defying the law.
Rein has also demanded contempt of court proceedings against the jail and police officials who handcuffed Awasthi and chained him to the hospital bed.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Dead UP lawyer’s photo shocks SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday expressed shock after seeing the photograph of a UP lawyer who died in judicial custody, chained to a hospital bed, after allegedly having been ordered to be handcuffed by two Allahabad High Court judges.
“This is unacceptable,” observed a vacation bench of Justice C.K. Thakkar and Justice L.S. Panta, after seeing the photograph of advocate Shrikant Awasthi.
The photograph was handed over to the bench by advocate Aeltemesh Rein, who moved the apex court for initiating a contempt to court proceeding against the two high court judges for allegedly ordering the arrest and handcuffing of Awasthi for showing contempt to their bench.
Rein contended that the judges, Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice Arun Tandon, had ordered the handcuffing of Awasthi in violation of SC rulings. Awasthi died in judicial custody May 13.
The two judges after ordering the lawyer's arrest had also allegedly asked jail and police authorities to present him before them in court for hearing the contempt case on a day-to-day basis.
Appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, counsel Parag Tripathi, however, denied that the judges had ordered the handcuffing of Awasthi. He said the judges had never sought daily appearance of the advocate.
The UP government counsel told the bench that the Allahabad High Court has ordered a judicial probe to ascertain the culpability of the judges, the police and jail authorities in Awasthi's death.
The probe is being conducted by the Allahabad district and sessions judge, said Tripathi, adding that the judge has already submitted his preliminary findings and was likely to file his final report by June 10.
On this, the apex court bench, which appeared inclined to issue notice to the Allahabad High Court and UP government on Rein's petition, refrained from issuing the notice.
The counsel told the bench that the UP government has already given a compensation of Rs.100,000 to the advocate's widow Neelima Awasthi, besides depositing Rs.200,000 for her in a bank for a fixed tenure.
At one point, when Tripathi sought dismissal of Rein's petition, the bench observed, “We have gone through it from beginning to end. We know what it contains. But we are adjudicating it for your sake only. We too were lawyers at one point of time.”
The bench adjourned the hearing on the petition beyond the ongoing summer vacation of the court.
In his petition, Rein said Awasthi was shocked and humiliated in court by producing him in handcuffs day after day. He fell sick and refused to have food in custody.
He added that the jail and police authorities told the judges that the advocate had stopped taking food, but Justice Chauhan “most arrogantly” told them: “Don't you know how to make such a person eat?”
According to Rein, when later told that “the advocate was still not eating anything,” Justice Chauhan retorted: “Let him die.”
The lawyer was then admitted to a Allahabad hospital, where he was chained to the bed.
Rein pointed out that while dealing with a case of alleged theft committed by a Tis Hazari court lawyer in New Delhi, the apex court had in 1988 laid down rules on handcuffing, stipulating that no person should be handcuffed unless he is a dreaded criminal indulging in violent behaviour and defying the law.
Rein has also demanded contempt of court proceedings against the jail and police officials who handcuffed Awasthi and chained him to the hospital bed.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Spiritual leaders meet to launch battle against AIDS
Spiritual leaders meet to launch battle against AIDS
Sun, Jun 1 10:05 PM
Bangalore, June 1(ANI): Spiritual leaders from across the nation have joined hands to fight the challenge of formidable disease HIV/AIDS spreading at an alarming rate in the country. The two day seminar called Faith in Action was jointly organized by the Art of Living society and the UN AIDS on Sunday.
The spiritual Guru Shri Shri Ravishankar said that the problem of AIDS can only be fought with united efforts of Hindu religious leaders.
Sun, Jun 1 10:05 PM
Bangalore, June 1(ANI): Spiritual leaders from across the nation have joined hands to fight the challenge of formidable disease HIV/AIDS spreading at an alarming rate in the country. The two day seminar called Faith in Action was jointly organized by the Art of Living society and the UN AIDS on Sunday.
The spiritual Guru Shri Shri Ravishankar said that the problem of AIDS can only be fought with united efforts of Hindu religious leaders.
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