Court notice to Russia for returning man’s body

Court notice to Russia for returning man’s body

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Jodhpur/Udaipur:  16.12.2021

The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Russian embassy seeking a reply on the issue of mortal remains of an Indian citizen stuck in the European nation since July. Notices have also been to the Centre and the Indian embassy.

While issuing the notice to the Russian embassy, the court observed, “This court is not oblivious to its limitations in issuing a writ to the embassy of Russia in India or the Government of Russian Federation. However, with a view to deal with a rather unprecedented situation and to coordinate the steps to be taken, this court deems it expedient to issue notice to the Russian embassy”.

“With this, the court feels that the government of Russian Federation must be requested to expedite the process in this regard,” the court said.

Justice Dinesh Mehta gave these directions while hearing a petition by Asha Devi and her wards, who have been waiting to receive the mortal remains of her husband Hitendra Garasia from Russia. She has been running from pillar to post to get her husband’s remains back but in vain.

Social activist Charmesh Sharma, who has taken up the matter to help the bereaved family, said Hitendra from Godwa village in Kherwara tehsil in Udaipur had gone to Russia on one year’s work visa in April but was reportedly found dead in a park in Moscow.

Moscow police closed the case as an accidental death and information was received by the family through local police on August 28, 2021.

SC to govt: Pay ex gratia to all who lost loved ones

SC to govt: Pay ex gratia to all who lost loved ones

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: 16.12.2021

As the number of applications seeking Covid death compensation has exceeded the official toll due to the disease in some states, the Centre on Wednesday clarified before the Supreme Court that this is not due to under-reporting of deaths but because the criteria for the classification of such fatalities have been widened by the court.

At the outset of the hearing, additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati raised the issue of alleged media misreporting, but a bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna asked the Centre not to pay much attention to media reports and focus on ensuring that the Rs 50,000 ex-gratia is disbursed to all those who lost their loved ones to Covid.

“There may or may not be under-reporting of deaths. We are not here to say that. But 10,000 deaths, but a much larger number of applications submitted, so a common man may think so... But our anxiety is that people should get relief and government should work in that direction,” the bench said.

The court said that as a welfare state it would be better if more and more people approached the government to claim the relief. The court directed all states to give wide publicity through print and electronic media, particularly in vernacular newspapers, to make people aware on how and where to approach to make a Covid ex-gratia claim. It expressed satisfaction at the Gujarat government’s decision to publish advertisements in newspaper and said that other states also should also use same format. The Gujarat government in its fresh affidavit told the court that it has received a total of 40,467 applications so far, of which 26,836 applications have been approved and 23,848 families have been paid compensation.

The court, however, pulled up Maharashtra government for not being prompt in disbursing the amount after the court was informed that only 1,000-odd families had been granted relief.

HC: Few days of living together isn’t live-in

HC: Few days of living together isn’t live-in

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chandigarh: 16.12.2021

The Punjab and Haryana HC has made it clear that merely because two adults live together for a few days, their claim of a live-in relationship based upon “bald averment” may not be enough to hold that they are truly in a live-in relationship.

It was of the view that “the length of the relationship coupled with the discharge of certain duties and responsibilities towards each other makes such a relationship akin to marital relations”.

Justice Manoj Bajaj passed these orders while dismissing a plea filed by a couple from Haryana’s Yamunanagar district seeking protection from their family members. The couple claimed to have been in a live-in relationship for the past few days. The HC has also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the couple for filing such a petition.

“No doubt the other concept of a live-in relationship between two adults of the opposite gender has got recognition in India also as the legislature has injected some legitimacy into this kind of alliance while promulgating the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and liberally defined ‘domestic relationship’ in Section 2(f). However some sections of society are reluctant to accept such relationships,” the HC said and held that the length of the relationship and their duties towards each other would count. The court also observed that society, for the last few years, has been experiencing profound changes in social values, especially amongst youngsters who seldom in pursuit of absolute freedom leave the company of their parents, etc. to live with the person of their choice, and further, in order to get the seal of the court on their alliance, they file petitions for protection by claiming a threat to life and liberty.

“A large number of petitions land in the lap of this court as according to writ petitions alternative remedy is less felicitous (sic),” the judge said. “The majority of such petitions contain formal symbolic averments, grounds with imaginary cause of action, and are rarely founded upon ‘actual’ or ‘real’ existence of a threat,” the HC held.

The HC said youngsters in pursuit of freedom leave their parents’ company to live with the person of their choice. In order to get the court’s seal on their alliance, they file petitions for protection

T’gana, TN & Bengal report first Omicron cases; India tally at 73

T’gana, TN & Bengal report first Omicron cases; India tally at 73

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

16.12.2021

India’s Omicron tally rose to 73 on Wednesday from 61 the previous day even as Telangana, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal reported their first cases, taking the total number of states and Union territories which have patients with the highly infected coronavirus variant to 11. In all, 12 cases were reported from five states in the last 24 hours.

While West Bengal and Tamil Nadu reported one case each, two foreign nationals from Kenya and Somalia tested positive for the variant in Telangana. Four more cases were reported from Maharashtra, taking the state’s caseload to 32, the highest in the country followed by Rajasthan which has 17 patients. Four fresh cases were reported in Kerala, taking the state tally to five.

A seven-year-old boy who had arrived in Kolkata on December 11 from Abu Dhabi via Hyderabad became Bengal’s first Omicron patient. The boy, from Murshidabad, remains asymptomatic and is now at an isolation ward in Malda Medical College. In Telangana, a 24-year-old Kenyan who travelled from Qatar on December 12 and a 23-year-old Somali who had come as a patient’s attendant from Sharjah on the same day tested positive for the variant.

Tamil Nadu’s first case, a 47-year-old man who travelled to Chennai from Nigeria via Doha on December 10, was confirmed by ICMR National Institute of Virology.

VC: A++ grade by NAAC aggressive response to critics

VC: A++ grade by NAAC aggressive response to critics

Shinjini.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  16.12.2021

Jamia vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar on Wednesday said that it was a matter of pride that the varsity had been accredited with the highest grade of A++ by the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) and that it was an “aggressive reply” to its critics.

The university was not demoralised by the violence which took place two years ago on December 15, she claimed.

“It is a day to remember, but we have moved forward. Had we been demoralised that day, then we would have lost. This (the NAAC ranking) is an aggressive reply from us stating we did not lose two years ago,” Akhtar said.

Speaking about the steps taken by the university to improve its ranking, Akhtar said, “Active steps were taken throughout by all the university stakeholders concerned. Even during the pandemic, our teachers were trained to hold online classes, unlike other universities. The university also saw good placements despite the pandemic.”

Stating that the varsity was not competing with either the Jawaharlal Nehru University or Indira Gandhi National Open University — the other universities in the capital region with an A++ grade — Akhtar added, “Ours is a multi-faculty university and it cannot be compared with the others. We generally do not get the cream students, but when they graduate, they are the best in their fields.”

The vice-chancellor also said that with a minority institution getting the highest grade, the university’s value has also increased manifold.

“This rank will also help us in getting funding for various projects. We are also in touch with the government to approve a medical college. We are now confident that such projects will also take off thanks to our improved rankings. We cannot relax now and need to ensure that we maintain our position,” said Akhtar.

19 new aircraft stands at Delhi airport T1

19 new aircraft stands at Delhi airport T1

Zumbish TNN

New Delhi: 16.12.2021

To make the Delhi airport “future-ready”, 19 new aircraft stands have been made operational under the first phase of the expansion work at Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 1 apron, the area where planes are parked.

“The apron or tarmac area is being built in three phases. In the first phase, 19 out of 82 Code C stands have been constructed. The new stands have become operational after statutory approval from Directorate General of Civil Aviation,” Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said on Wednesday. Code C aircraft are bigger planes like A320 and B737 that have a wingspan measuring between 24 metres and 36 metres.

“The completion of the first phase of work for the expansion of T1’s new smart apron is another step towards enhancing the infrastructure and passenger experience at the Delhi airport to make it future-ready,” said Prabhakar Rao, deputy managing director of GMR Group that runs DIAL.

The total number of parking stands at T1 will increase from 55 to 82, including 22 contact and 8 MARS stands, DIAL stated. A contact stand is suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated gate, while a MARS stand can cater to both codes C and E aircraft.

The move will not only improve operational efficiency and safety on the airside, but also contribute towards reducing harmful CO2 emissions, underlining DIAL’s commitment to environment-friendly initiatives, he added. After Phase 3A, IGIA will be able to handle 140 million passengers per annum, Rao said.

“The new apron would help reduce air traffic congestion on the airside... The creation of new contact stands would lead to reduction in the number of ground support equipment,” DIAL said.

8 2  NO. OF PARKING STANDS AT T1 SOON

Murder case: No action on repeated orders, court fumes at ‘indifference’

Murder case: No action on repeated orders, court fumes at ‘indifference’

Usha.Das@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 16.12.2021

A court has come down heavily on Delhi Police for noncompliance of its orders repeatedly in a murder case, saying it “has never experienced such indifference”.

Additional sessions judge Sanjay Sharma said the issue got further aggravated as the case was regarding the alleged murder of a citizen of Nepal. The remarks came after police repeatedly failed to produce two witnesses, both from Nepal. The court said it had issued summons to them as many as 15 times since September 1, 2016.

“Till date, the court has not received back any summons with report of service of the said summons upon the said witnesses. This court is of the opinion that the embassy of Nepal would render all possible assistance as the case is related to homicidal death of its citizen,” the judge said on Tuesday.

The court directed the Delhi police commissioner to submit a report as to whether the embassy was aware of the case, whether it would assist the court in securing the presence of the witnesses and why previous summons had not been returned to the court. It further said that if there was no response from the office of the commissioner, it would seek assistance of the Union home ministry.

On November 20, 2021, the judge noted that neither Directorate of Prosecution nor Delhi Police had informed the court as to what assistance they could provide the court in securing the presence of the witnesses.

It appears that the prosecution was content with mere issuance of process through the investigating officer and Delhi Police was happy with forwarding such process to the foreign ministry, the court had said, issuing a notice to the commissioner’s office to ensure the presence of an officer who could take appropriate steps for effective service of summons.

On November 24, the court noted that it had not received any response and once again issued notice to the commissioner to ensure the appearance of a senior officer. On receiving no response again, the court, on November 29, said it appeared that the office of the commissioner was not taking its direction sincerely. On December 4, it issued notice to the commissioner as to whether the previous orders were received by his office, and, if so, why they were not complied with.

On December 14, the judge again said there was no response to its previous orders. “This court has never experienced such indifference to the repeated orders of this court by the office of commissioner of police,” he observed.

JUDGE SAYS

Till date, the court has not received back any summons with report of service of the said summons upon the said witnesses