India: Calling A Man ‘Impotent’ Is A Punishable Offence, Amounts To Defamation, Bombay High Court Says

The Bombay High Court bench presided over by Justice SB Shukre in its recent landmark judgment has asserted that calling a man impotent is an offense which is punishable under Section 500 of the IPC. Justice SB Shukre gave the ruling after hearing a petition filed by a wife of an estranged man in a matrimonial dispute. The woman in her petition submitted before the court had claimed that her husband was impotent and that their child was given birth to using a technique known in the medical circle as an ovulation period technique. The husband had taken offense in the wife’s submission which prompted him to file a private complaint in Nagpur.

 

 

India: Indian Economic & Law Summit: Wockhardt Foundation Bags Award For Outstanding Performance

The Wockhardt Foundation, a non-profit organization over the weekend bagged an award at the Indian Economic & Law Summit 2018 for its contribution towards healthcare, human welfare, as well as Social services. The immediate past Chief Justice of India, Dipka Mishra handed the award to the CEO of the Foundation, Sir Dr. Huz, who collected it on behalf of this organization. Sir Dr Huz appreciated members of the bench for finding his organization worthy. Wockhardt Foundation has several initiatives geared towards healthcare and human welfare.

 

Ireland: Northern Ireland Women To Enjoy Free Abortion Services, Irish Government Says

The Irish government on Sunday said women from Northern Ireland would soon start enjoying free abortion services. This was made known by the Minister of Health, Simon Harris in a press release. Harris said that it would be difficult to implement free abortion services if the law was not changed. In the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is the only region abortion has been banned regardless of the circumstances.

 

 

India: Law For The Construction Of A Ram Temple Would Go Against Supreme Court Norms

Amid the call by the RSS and its allied bodies to the Modi-led government for the latter to enact a new law for the construction of a new Temple at the disputed site in Kerala, any move by the government to succumb to such calls could go against Supreme Court norms. Constructing a new Temple would be in the favor of one party; hence running ultra vires against several judgments of the Supreme Court. A typical use case was the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal case in 1991. The Supreme Court in the case had noted that the legislature should not be seen to exercise a State’s judicial power and also serve as a Tribunal.

 

India: Debenture Rules: Indian Regulator To Introduce Strict Measures

The Securities & Exchange Board of India is set to introduce strict measures that would compel debenture trustees to diligently and effectively perform their duties. According to the guidelines proposed by the regulator, once a company issuing debentures fails in its duties, the trustees can enforce the security without necessarily calling for a meeting of debenture holders to seek their consent. In a bid for debenture trustees to be financially sound, SEBI has also proposed that a minimum net worth of such trustees should be Rs. 100 million and not Rs. 20 million.

 

 

Vietnam: Activists Urge Government To Expedient Action On Transgender Right Law

Amid the support by over 1,000 Vietnamese for the LGBT community, activists have called on the government to expedient actions of the Transgender Right Law. They made the call on Sunday at the Hanoi’s Gay Pride parade. Recall that Vietnam in 2015 amended their civil code in order to register and allow transgender people that have undergone surgery to be recognized by their new gender. The activists said without such a law, the LGBT community would still face discrimination.

 

 

India: NCPCR Recommends Tutorials For Kids Living In Observation Homes

In a bid to return rehabilitated kids to mainstream education, The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) over the weekend made recommendations to owners of observation homes where these kids live to introduce the kids under their care to tutorials in their day-to-day operations. NCPCR in a report titled ‘Availability of Quality Education and Vocational Training in Observation Homes in India’ and published on Saturday also recommended that immediately a child is referred to correctional homes, intervention should start instantly. The report surveyed 50 observation homes with over 2,691 lodged in the homes.

 

 

India- CVC To Summit The Report On CBI Director’s Probe To Supreme Court

In compliance to the directive of the Supreme Court, the Central Vigilance Commission ( CVC ) will today, Monday, submit the report on the probe of CBI Director, Alok Verma to a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi. The Supreme Court had ordered the CVC to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations filed against Verma and that the report of the investigation should be submitted within 12 days. Verma had approached the Supreme Court challenging the government’s power to divest him pending the outcome of the CVC’s probe. Recall that Justice AK Patnaik, a retired SC judge was directed by the SC to supervise the investigation.

 

 

Israel: Newly Introduced Homeland Law Reeks Of Racism, Opposition Labels It ‘Apartheid’

The newly passed homeland law by the government in July has generated heated debate in public discourse. According to details of the law, Jerusalem would be the Nation’s capital city while Hebrew would be its official state language. Proponents of the law have labeled it ‘apartheid,’ arguing that the law left Arabic with a mere status. Also, the recent move by the government to demolish Bedouins’ Khan al-Ahmar village has drawn international condemnation. The government has put on hold its plans to raze the village after so much pressure from the UN and EU.

 

 

India: Plea To Identify Unnamed Dead Bodies Using Aadhaar Biometrics Has Been Filed At The Delhi HC

A plea which seeks to use Aadhaar biometrics to identify unnamed dead bodies has been filed by a social activist, Amit Sahni before the Delhi High Court bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao. According to the plea, the direction of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), UIDAI, Centre, and the states is being sought to scan the unnamed dead bodies’ biometrics and process the data with the portal of Aadhaar with a view to tracing any pre-existing biometric data.  The court is likely to hear the plea on Monday.

 

 

India: Tax Payment: Global Payment Companies May Be Taxed On Indian Income

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, global payment companies operating in India such as American Express, MasterCard, and Visa may start paying taxes at the rate of 15% on Indian income. These companies are currently setting up servers to store Indian transactions locally in compliance with the directive by the Reserve Bank of India. Before now, they were out of the tax net since they do not have permanent offices in India. Setting up permanent offices under the law in India would require them to pay taxes.

 

 

Australia: Asylum Seekers Prevented From Entering Australia In Previous Months

Over 300 people seeking asylum in Australia were prevented from entering the country in previous month’s, a document published via the Freedom of Information Act on Sunday showed. According to the document, international collaborators and Australian authorities in previous months had prevented several attempts to ferry over 300 asylum seekers into Australia. The document obtained by the Federal Home Affairs Department recorded the number of Foreign collaborations since 2013. The document also gave a breakdown of the number of disruptions.

 

 

US: Senator Ted Cruz Criticizes Democrats For Not Supporting Law Against Mass Shootings

A Republican Senator, Ted Cruz on Sunday criticized the Democrats for refusal to support his motion against mass shootings. Cruz in an interview tagged “Face The Nation” alleged that the Democrats have been blocking moves to boost law enforcement agencies in order to prevent mass shootings similar to the one that occurred at a California bar which left 12 persons dead. Cruz had been critical of the Democrats in recent times.

 

 

Canada: Marijuana Is Legal, But Stay Away From It, Canada Warns Teenagers

The Canadian government recently held a public health session a few days before the use of marijuana became legal. Parents and grandparents had attended the session which promised to lecture them on how to advise their teens on the dangers of marijuana. The representative of the government used the opportunity to advise teenagers to stay away from marijuana despite the fact that it would soon become legal.

 

 

UK: Stop And Search: Police To Lower The Level Of Suspicion Against Suspects

Police Chiefs in the UK meet over the weekend to brainstorm on the modalities on how to reduce the level of suspicion against suspects in a stop and search scenario. According to sources who attended the meeting, police authorities are considering scraping what is known as “reasonable ground” before a suspect can be stopped and searched. In attendance, to grace, the meeting was the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid. Javid said the proposal would be applicable to both England and Wales.