INDIA – Bombay HC Says “State Should Care For Critically Sick Infants Not Wanted By Parents”

On Monday, May 27 2019, the Bombay High Court (HC) said the state government would have to take responsibility for a critically ill day-old baby after his parents, who had previously sought for an abortion, expressed his reluctance to take care of him. The couple in their plea said they were daily wage laborers and were therefore unable to take care of the baby financially even though they were inclined to have the baby until they learned that the fetus had brain abnormalities. The couple then sought to amend their petition following the court directive and impelled the Sion Hospital as a respondent so that a direction could be given to their authorities to take care of the child and take further action in accordance with procedures. On June 6, the court bench posted the petition for further hearing.

INDIA – Decomposed Bodies Of The Kin Of The Bengal Minister Of Law Discovered In Asansol

Decomposed bodies of the two relatives of West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak were found on Monday 27 May 2019, at their home in Asansol. The bodies were Ghatak’s elder brother Ashim Chakraborty’s wife and daughter, who died two years ago. Ashim Chakraborty, 72, was a senior lawyer at the subdivisional magistrate court of Asansol at the time of death. He had been killed in 2017 after drowning in the West Bardhaman district of Damodar River. The bodies were discovered after their neighbours complained to the police about the foul smell emanating from their home in Hindustan Park of Asansol. Police have said an inquiry into the cause of death is ongoing. The bodies were sent for postmortem, added the police.

 

UK – How Will You Evaluate Wage Hike And A 4-day UK Firm Employees?

Portcullis Legals, a UK-based law firm, has announced a new system that allows the employees to only work for four days a week. Not only that, but a pay rise was also given to those working for Portcullis Legals.  The company’s reporting managers said employees are pleased with the system resulting in three off-days in a week. Before implementing the rule, Portcullis Legals conducted a five-month trial and, following its success, introduced it as a permanent working system. However, the report also has it that for the benefit of its customers, the firm operates at night.

 

USA – Forget About Burgers, Roadkill In California Could Soon Be On The Menu

California lawmakers are considering a bill that would legalize carrion collection from the roadways of the state, making California the largest of a variety of states that okay the practice. “This bill seems to have attracted everyone’s attention because lives can be saved and accidents prevented,” says state senator Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Riviera), who supports Senate Bill 395, otherwise known as the Wildlife Traffic Safety Act. Currently, only authorized personnel are allowed to handle dead animals found on California roads, such as highway clean-up crews. Oregon, Montana and Idaho are among the states that allow roadkill collection.

 

INDIA – Father Scolds Daughter-in-Law Over Mutton Curry ‘Badly Cooked,’ Son Murders Him

A 65-year-old man was killed in a shocking incident by his son for scolding his daughter-in-law for “badly cooked” mutton curry. The event took place on the afternoon of Sunday, May 26, 2019, at V Kota Mandal in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Chella Gurrappa was identified as the deceased. The police arrested his son Chella Venkata Ramudu in connection with the murder. Also, a murder case against his son has been registered.

 

INDIA – CBI Says Lawyer Punalekar Helped Destroy Weapons Used In The Assassination of Dabholkar

A day after high court lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar was arrested by the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) in the rationalist murder case Narendra Dabholkar, the CBI said in Pune court on Sunday, May 26, 2019, that Punalekar had helped destroy the weapons used in the crime. The lawyer of the investigative agency submitted the request for the custody of Punalekar and his assistant Vikram Bhave, a member of the Sanatan Sanstha. The lawyer of the CBI further informed the court that Bhave had done a recce of the escape route. Both were sent to CBI custody by the court until June 1. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Andhashradha Nirmulan Samiti’s chief secretary, Milind Deshmukh, welcomed Punalekar and Bhave’s arrests. He said, “They’re late in arrest. However, we hope these arrests will lead to the murder’s mastermind.

 

USA – This Week: Use of Force, Rent Spikes, Gig Economy Labor Laws Under Califonia Legislative Action Bills

The California Legislature is facing critical decisions this week, including attempting to rein in the use of force by police, preventing spikes in rent, and changing labour laws affecting gig economy workers. The deadline for the Assembly and the Senate to adopt or reject bills originating in each chamber is Friday 31 May 2019. If they survive, the opposing chamber will consider them before lawmakers postpone in September.

 

INDIA – Sarath Guttikunda: The Three Types Of People That We Need To Combat The Air Pollution Problem In India

On Monday 27 May 2019, Sarath Guttikunda, director of Urban Emissions (India), an independent air pollution research group, published an article explaining how three groups can work together to free India from air pollution. The three groups he calls Feeders, Drummers and Changers. Feeders – are responsible for connecting dots (and people), collecting information (modelling and monitoring) and presenting relevant air quality information to all. As part of this group, is the community of academics, physicians, data analysts, engineers, researchers, mappers, scientists, students and citizens likeminded. Drummers are responsible for pointing out the problems, discussing the merits and demerits of an environmental process or legislation, and demanding change. As part of this group, is the community of activists, artists, communications specialists, doctors, lawyers, media (newspaper, internet, radio and television), researchers and citizens. Changers-ultimately, they decide what to do for the environment. Whatever the messages are from the Feeders and Drummers, it is the Changer’s decision that will improve or worsen the environment. As part of this group, the government (ministers, secretaries, etc.). Thus, conclusively, for real impact on the ground, there needs to be a healthy dialogue between those who create information, those that distribute it and the decision-makers.

 

INDIA – Four New Judges Under The Jurisdiction Of The Delhi High Court

As reported on Monday 27 May 2019, The Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon administered the oath to new judges including a woman judge — Talwant Singh, Rajnish Bhatnagar, Asha Menon, and Brijesh Sethi. On the Collegium of the Supreme Court recommendation, which was appointed by President Ramnath Kovind, appointed these judges. The appointment of the new judges took the Delhi High Court’s working strength to 40 compared to the approved strength of 60.

 

FRANCE – British People In France Have Decided To Take Legal Action Against The United Kingdom In Respect Of Postal Votes

The British people living in France are among those planning to sue the UK government in the European elections for widespread postal ballot issues. British citizens ‘rights groups in Europe and the 3 million – representing EU citizens living in the United Kingdom – are planning to bring a joint legal action on the European elections’ voting problems. Dozens of British people living in France who had registered for a postal vote allowing them to vote in the UK reported that their ballots either never arrived, or arrived too late for them to be sent back to the UK in time to be counted.

 

INDIA – Air Pollution In Ahmedabad: National Green Tribunal Aims To Report The Use Of Petcock

National green tribunal (NGT) Delhi bench has set up a joint committee comprising representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Gujarat Pollution to come forth with a Report of facts and actions within a month before the committee. NGT Complain of nearly 7.76lakh tonnes of furnace oil and Petcock are being used last year in Ahmedabad. An NGO files a PIL in the high court of Gujarat demonstrating the provision of furnace oil and Petcock as a combustion fuel.

 

COLUMBIA – Sri Lanka Announced State of Emergency To Exist for A Month

On Monday (May 27), the president of Sri Lanka announced that he would allow strict emergency laws to lapse within a month because the security situation after the Easter bombings was “99 per cent back to normal.” Maithripala Sirisena told Australian, Canadian, Japanese, American, and European diplomats based in Colombo that security forces were successful in getting all those responsible for the April 21 bombings. However, Sirisena declared a state of emergency giving sweeping powers to the military to arrest and detain suspects a day after the attacks that killed 258 people and wounded nearly 500.

 

INDIA – As Gujarat Is Fiddling With Files, Other States Are Proactive With The Rules Of The Tuition Class

Neighboring Maharashtra is in the final stages of enacting a law for coaching institutes, while the government of Tami Nadu has banned private schools from tying up with coaching classes to charge higher fees following a high court ruling. However, Gujarat is nearly clueless about tuition class numbers or whether they operate from safe buildings. Coaching centres are a reality, and today, students spend their maximum time preparing for competitive examinations. “Maharashtra’s Private Tuitions (Regulation) Bill, 2018 distinguishes between home and private tuition units and even fixes student intake and regulates fees. The proposed law also has parking space building structures regulations and a committee of 14 members, “a senior official of urban development said.

 

INDIA  – Woman Eligible To Maintenance Fee, Even If Marriage Is Void: High Court

The high court of Punjab and Haryana made it clear that even though her marriage was declared illegal, null and void, a woman would be entitled to permanent alimony. The high court was that under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, she would be entitled to maintenance and permanent alimony (lump-sum). In this case, a local court declared the marriage of an Amritsar woman null and void because she had hidden the fact of her previous marriage. Following the High Court Directive, the matter was sent back to Amritsar’s lower court to determine the amount the appellant would receive from her former husband as permanent alimony.

 

DUBAI – Dog Combat In the UAE? Abused Rottweiler Pup Incident Prompts The Ministry To Issue Warnings

The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) warns that Dh200,000 could be fined and imprisoned for up to one year for anyone caught dog fighting. Their statement follows the recent discovery in the Umm Al Quwain desert of a heavily scarred Rottweiler pup left abandoned, which a local charity says is ‘evidence that there is still illegal dog fighting in the UAE. ‘

 

INDIA – Government of Punjab Approves Punjab State Legal Services Authority Member

The Punjab Government has nominated the members of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority in consultation with the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court. An official spokesperson for the Legal and Legislative Affairs Department said the nominated Punjab State Legal Services Authority members are Mr Vivek Puri District and Sessions Judge, S.A.S Nagar Smt. Amarjot Kaur Bhatti, District & Sessions Judge Hoshiarpur, Smt. Harleen Kaur Advocate resident of house no 562 green model town Jalandhar, Dr Upneet Lalli Deputy Director, Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh, Smt. Gurmeet Kaur Bhattal, village uppli, Sangrur, Mr Rupinder Singh Sandhu, Advocate resident of house no 45 Bhai Mani Singh Nagar, Barnala, Mr Shashi Kant resident of house no 1384 Nagpal street, Fazilka and Dr Professor Amita Kaushal, Punjabi University, Patiala.

 

INDIA – Department 0f Education Cannot Recover The 14-Year Allowance; CAT Quashed 2017 Order

The Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) local bench quashed the UT education department’s 2017 orders to recover Rs 62,930 from retired electrical training instructor Narinder Singh, who used to work at the 20-D government model high school. The department issued the compensatory city allowance and medical allowance recovery orders. Then, the applicant challenged the order. The court quashed the orders or recovery after the arguments. The order reads: “In the eyes of the law, the contested orders are not sustained and are therefore quashed.”

 

EUROPE – United Nations Mission In Afghanistan Is Deeply Concerned About The Taliban’s Abuse Of Prisoners

Following face-to-face interviews with 13 detainees released by Afghan Special Forces troops from a Taliban detention facility on 25 April, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan expressed deep concern that the Islamist insurgent group is using its prisoners as slave labourers and bombers. The UN mission said the released inmates were held underground and forced to work at seven hours a day, including “making improvised explosive devices” for the Taliban used against the forces of the Afghan and international coalition.

 

INDIA – Ex-Kolkata Police Chief Misses CBI Summons, Says He’s On Leave

Former Kolkata Chief of Police Rajeev Kumar skipped summons issued by the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) on the night of Sunday, May 27, 2019, and sought three more days to appear before the officials of the agency in Kolkata in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, sources said. This summons followed after his plea was rejected twice by the Supreme Court last Friday to seek more time to go to another court for arrest protection. The former top cop of Kolkata, who was posted to the West Bengal Police Department of Crime Investigation (CID), is reportedly on a six-day leave. However, Kumar is reportedly unable to leave the country because of a look-out notice from the Central Investigation Bureau.

EUROPE – United Nations Mission In Afghanistan Is Deeply Concerned About The Taliban’s Abuse Of Prisoners

Following face-to-face interviews with 13 detainees released by Afghan Special Forces troops from a Taliban detention facility on 25 April, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan expressed deep concern that the Islamist insurgent group is using its prisoners as slave labourers and bombers. The UN mission said the released inmates were held underground and forced to work at seven hours a day, including “making improvised explosive devices” for the Taliban used against the forces of the Afghan and international coalition. Their report also stated that the detainees were held regularly in sub-zero winter temperatures and were forced to live on single rations of beans or bread and repeatedly denied medical assistance or access to international aid groups, including the Red Crescent.

 

AUSTRALIA – Property Taxes To Be Levied In The State Budget Of Victoria

According to reports, in this year’s state budget, handed down today, victorian property owners will face millions of dollars in higher property taxes. Taxes are rising in Victoria, but Prime Minister Daniel Andrews says it’s so that his re-elected government can do more than promised and not fill a $ 5.2 billion loss of revenue.