President gives away gallantry awards
The President and Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred three Kirti Chakras and ten Shaurya Chakras to Armed Forces Personnel for displaying conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion to duty at a solemn ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here today. Five of the Shaurya Chakra were given posthumously.
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Kirti Chakra
- The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle.
- It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards.
- It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra.
- It is second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards; it comes after Ashoka Chakra and before Shaurya Chakra.
Shaurya Chakra
- The Shaurya Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy.
- It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, sometimes posthumously.
- It is the peacetime equivalent of the Vir Chakra.
- It is generally awarded for Counter-Insurgency operations and actions against the enemy during peace-time.
- It is third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards and comes after the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra.
- The Ashok Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield.
- It is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy.
- The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel and may be awarded posthumously.
- It replaced the British George Cross.
India may see slow growth in solar capacity addition
After a good start two years ago, solar capacity addition seems to be hitting the slow growth lane. India is forecast to see flat capacity addition in 2014 when compared with 2013 even as the global market may improve capacity by about 24 per cent in the current calendar year.
The total new solar power capacity addition in the country is forecast at about 1,000 MW for 2014. But, there was very little growth in installations year-over-year and the solar installations in India stood at 1,004 MW for 2013 when compared with 986 MW in 2012, points out Mercom Capital, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm.
As on January 31, 2014, cumulative grid-interactive solar power installed capacity in the country stood at 2,208 MW, which was 7 per cent of India’s total renewable power capacity. Several factors are being cited for the slow growth in solar capacity addition.
- Most CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) projects have stalled, while India is now in a trade dispute with the U.S. in the World Trade Organization.
- Difficulties with project economic viability stemming from reverse auctions that have pushed down project margins
- Frequent delays in State policies,
- Lack of enforcement for renewable purchase obligation (RPO) norms and
- the upcoming national elections are adding more uncertainty to India’s solar market which may result in a slowdown in large-scale solar project installations, said the firm.
“Release on parole is not an absolute right”
The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court recently rejected petitions challenging the validity of the rules restricting a prisoner from applying for parole before the completion of one year from the expiry of his last parole.
Actor Sanjay Dutt on Saturday returned to Pune’s Yerawada prison after his extended parole.
Justices B.R. Gavai and A.S. Chandurkar observed in their judgment that the challenge to the validity of the amendments to the Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules 1959 was “found to be without any merit.” It said the restrictions laid down by the State government were not found to be either unreasonable or unjustified.
“The right to be released on parole is not an absolute right. The same can be availed of in case of occurrence of the contingencies mentioned in Rule 19 of the Rules 1959,” the judgment stated. “Thus, in case of serious illness, delivery of a pregnant woman prisoner or in case of house collapse, floods, fire or earthquake, a prisoner if released on parole can seek extension of the period of parole if the contingencies so warrant up to a period of 90 days. The proviso to Rule 19 has merely restricted the release on parole for a period of one year after the expiry of last parole, except in case of death of the nearest relative mentioned in Rule 19. It, therefore, cannot be said that the entitlement of a prisoner to be released on parole is totally taken away.” the judgement stated.
Advocate Sait clarified that while furlough was a matter of right for every prisoner, parole was a discretionary power vested in the hands of the administrative authorities.
“Generally, furlough can be granted for 14 days at a time. A prisoner can seek a single extension of another 14 days,” he said.
But parole could be granted for one month at a time, with a permission to seek two extensions. “According to the previous rules, a prisoner would have been allowed to apply for parole twice a year. Every time, he could be granted 90 days (30 days at a time, and two extensions thereafter, based on merit). This means that every year, he could remain out of prison for a staggering 180 days. But now, according to the amendment which has been upheld by the court, he will be able to apply for parole only once a year. Thereafter, he could make another application only after a year of the expiry of his previous parole,” advocate Sait said.
The parole days spent outside the prison are counted in the imprisonment term.
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Parole
Parole is the provisional release of a prisoner who agrees to certain conditions prior to the completion of the maximum sentence period.
This differs from amnesty or commutation of sentence in that parolees are still considered to be serving their sentences, and may be returned to prison if they violate the conditions of their parole.
Parole is the provisional release of a prisoner who agrees to certain conditions prior to the completion of the maximum sentence period.
This differs from amnesty or commutation of sentence in that parolees are still considered to be serving their sentences, and may be returned to prison if they violate the conditions of their parole.
Disqualify politicians on framing of charges: panel
The Commission, headed by Justice A.P. Shah has suggested:
1. Disqualification of politicians from contesting elections once charges are framed against them in the court. It has also suggested “substantial safeguards” to prevent misuse of this provision.
Against
the existing legal provision of disqualification upon conviction in a
criminal case, the Commission stated that disqualification at the stage
of charging, if accompanied by substantial attendant legal safeguards to
prevent misuse, had a significant potential for curbing the spread of
criminalisation of politics.
“The stage of framing of charges is based on adequate levels of judicial
scrutiny,” the 54-page report pointed out, adding that the filing of
police report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code was not
an appropriate stage to introduce disqualification because of lack of
sufficient application of judicial mind at this point.
Disqualification on conviction had proved to be incapable of curbing the
growing criminalisation of politics because of long delays in trials
and “rare convictions,” said the Commission.
Listing
the safeguards, the Commission has suggested
a. bringing only those
offences which have a punishment of five years or above within the remit
of disqualification.
b. Charges
filed up to one year before the date of scrutiny of nominations will
not lead to disqualification, and
c. disqualification will operate till an
acquittal by the trial court, or for six years, whichever is earlier.
2. An enhanced sentence of two years under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for filing of false affidavits by politicians and disqualification on such conviction.
3. For charges framed against sitting MPs and MLAs, the trial must be expedited through day-to-day hearing and concluded within a year. The Supreme Court has accordingly accepted this suggestion and passed an order directing that all pending trials against MPs/MLAs be completed within a year.
4. According to another recommendation, persons with charges pending on the date of the law coming into force must be disqualified from contesting future elections, unless such charges are framed less than one year before the date of scrutiny of nomination papers or the person is a sitting MP or MLA at the time of enactment of the Act.
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Law Commission of India
Type : Agency of
Government of India
Legal status : Ad
hoc, term based
Purpose/focus : Law
Reform in India
Membership : Chairman,
1 Permanent Member, 1 Member Secretary, and 6 Part-time Members
Chairman : Ajit
Prakash Shah (20th law commission)
20th Law Commission (2012-15)
Justice D.K. Jain was appointed the chairman but later he resigned and A.P. Shah was appointed the new chairman.
The Terms of Reference of the Twentieth Law Commission include the following:
A. Review/Repeal of obsolete laws:
B. Law and Poverty: i) Examine the Laws which affect the poor and carry out post-audit for socio-economic legislations; ii) Take all such measures as may be necessary to harness law and the legal process in the service of the poor.
C. Keep under review the system of judicial administration to ensure that it is responsive to the reasonable demands of the times and in particular to secure.
D. Examine the existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and to suggest ways of improvement and reform and also to suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the Preamble to the Constitution.
E. Examine the existing laws with a view for promoting gender equality and suggesting amendments thereto.
F. Revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and to remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities.
G. Recommend to the Government measure for making the statute book up-to-date by repealing obsolete laws and enactments or parts thereof which have outlived their utility.
H. Consider and to convey to the Government its views on any subject relating to law and judicial administration that may be specifically referred to it by the Government through Ministry of Law and Justice.
C. Keep under review the system of judicial administration to ensure that it is responsive to the reasonable demands of the times and in particular to secure.
D. Examine the existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and to suggest ways of improvement and reform and also to suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the Preamble to the Constitution.
E. Examine the existing laws with a view for promoting gender equality and suggesting amendments thereto.
F. Revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and to remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities.
G. Recommend to the Government measure for making the statute book up-to-date by repealing obsolete laws and enactments or parts thereof which have outlived their utility.
H. Consider and to convey to the Government its views on any subject relating to law and judicial administration that may be specifically referred to it by the Government through Ministry of Law and Justice.
Pharmacists oppose sales record rule
Chemists and pharmacists have threatened to launch a nationwide agitation against a government order making it mandatory for them to maintain a separate sale register for sleeping pills, antibiotics and anti-tuberculosis drugs. They will sit in dharna in the capital on March 24. The March 1 order comes even as the Health Ministry has allowed chemists to sell antibiotics listed under Schedule H1, but manufactured before February 28, without the new labelling requirements.
However, they have been asked to follow other instructions for sale of these antibiotics with regard to prescription and maintenance of sale records as per the amended rule under Schedule H1, according to official sources.
The pharmacists claimed it was “impractical” to maintain the register and implement the order in all 6,00,000 retail shops all over the country.
The government had amended the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to insert Schedule H1 category for regulating use of antibiotics. But it placed only 46 antibiotics under the category instead of the original proposal to include 91 drugs.
The government also made it mandatory for these listed antibiotics carrying a warning. If it contains a drug substance specified in Schedule H1, the formulation shall be labelled with the symbol Rx in red, conspicuously displayed at the left top corner of the label, says the government notification.
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What does the symbol Rx in medicine mean?
There are different theories about the origin of this symbol. Despite these different theories, the symbol is used by doctors before a prescription and each theory explains why this symbol is used.
According to one, Rx is an abbreviation for the Latin word "recipere" or "recipe", which means "Take, thou." In the days before manufactured drugs, apothecaries (who were also doctors) would write out a formula for medications. They would mix up and compound ingredients to make drugs or remedies.
According to the Pharmaceutical Handbook (19th edition, 1980), the Latin abbreviation Rx is completed by some statement such as "fiat mistura", which means "let a mixture be made", sometimes abbreviated to f.m. or ft. mist. or fait mist.
Another theory states the symbol Rx is a corruption of the symbol of Jupiter. It was assumed that the symbol of Jupiter was used to invoke him so that the prescription is effective. Thus, the symbol is a prayer to Jupiter to use his healing abilities to cure the patient.
India, China show their maritime prowess
Earlier this week, China requested India for permission to deploy four naval vessels in the waters of the Andaman Sea, as the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 widened across the Indian Ocean.
India turned down the Chinese offer to search its own backyard and replied to the formal request by detailing its extensive search efforts in the Indian Ocean, including deployment of four naval warships and the new P-8I aircraft, all demonstrating the Indian Navy’s capabilities.
The search for MH370 is undoubtedly an entirely humanitarian exercise, and one that has become unprecedented both in scale and in international cooperation — a dozen countries, including several embroiled in maritime disputes over the South China Sea, have put aside their spats as they willingly followed Malaysia’s lead in the search.
At the same time, the search has served to demonstrate the new capabilities of the navies of Asia — navies that have been fast modernising at a time of record increases in military spending across the region.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has in recent days rapidly deployed eight vessels to scour the South China Sea. On Friday, warships were sent to search the southern Indian Ocean, where four Indian naval warships are also deployed in the search for debris.
Experts in India and China said this week that the search underlined an often ignored aspect of India-China relations.
While the long-running boundary dispute across the Himalayas has remained the focus of attention for most observers, the fast-expanding engagement — and encounters — between their navies as they spread their presence across the Indian and Pacific Oceans has sometimes been ignored, said Lou Chunhao, a strategic affairs expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing.
“China’s dependence on the Indian Ocean region is continuing to grow, for energy imports from the Gulf, resources from Africa, and trade with Europe,” Mr. Raja Mohan said.
With China’s maritime presence in the Indian Ocean set to expand along with its economic interests, the question for India — and its strategic community — was how to engage with this new reality. “You cannot build a great wall against Chinese maritime presence,” Mr. Raja Mohan said.
In India, most commentaries still highlight China’s so-called “string of pearls,” referring to port projects China is involved in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh that some analysts suggest may later become military bases, though there is no evidence as yet to suggest so.
China has maintained that these are purely commercial. “Chinese ships [are] going to the Indian Ocean region, and the only purpose is for security of energy supplies,” said Ma Jiali, a senior South Asia scholar at the China Reform Forum.
About the Hambantota project in Sri Lanka, he said it was to be remembered that the project was first offered to India, which turned it down.
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