Tag: India

NATIONAL mean a person owing allegiance to and entitled to the protection of a sovereign state. CITIZEN is preferred for one owing allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and sharing in the political rights of those people.  the rights of a free citizen SUBJECT implies allegiance to a personal sovereign such as a monarch.  the king’s subjects NATIONAL designates one who may claim the protection of a state and applies especially to one living or traveling outside that state.

Property of a female Hindu to be her absolute property

 

Section 14 of The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 states that,

(1) Any property possessed by a Female Hindu, whether acquired before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner.

Explanation: In this sub-section, “property” includes both movable and immovable property acquired by a female Hindu by inheritance or devise, or at a partition, or in lieu of maintenance or arrears of maintenance, or by gift from any person, whether a relative or not, before, at or after her marriage, or by her own skill or exertion, or by purchase or by prescription, or in any other manner whatsoever, and also any such property held by her as streedhan immediately before the commencement of this Act.

(2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall apply to any property acquired by way of gift or under a will or any other instrument or under a decree or order of a civil court or under an award where the terms of the gift, will or other instrument or the decree, order or award prescribe a restricted estate in such property.

Under this Section , any property acquired by a Hindu female except that which is covered by sub-section 2 before the Act came into force will became her absolute property and any property acquired by a Hindu female except that which covered by the commencement of Act will be her absolute property.

 

The above stated changes could be seen while going through the observation of courts at different periods:-

In Janaki v. Narayana Swami,  Privy Council observed regarding women’s estate as “her right is of the nature of right of property, her position is that of owner; her powers in tat character are, limited…So long as she is alive , no one has vested interest in succession.”

 

In another case,  Kalawati v. Suraj, SC stated that in the context of section 14 “ ‘women’ does not mean any woman , but that woman who is the owner of woman’s estate. If the holder of woman’s estate had alienated the estate to a woman, that woman is not the woman whose estate is enlarged to full estate.”

“The effect of rule laid down in the Section 14 of The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 is to abrogate the stringent provisions against the proprietary rights of a female which are often regarded as evidence of her perpetual tutelage and to recognize her status as independent and absolute owner of property.”

Before the enactment of The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, Hindu women has streedhan as:-

(a)Absolute property and

(b) Limited estate.

 

When the constitutionality of the Act has been challenged and SC has observed that the Act has the object of enhancing women’s limited estate concept regarding property into absolute interest. It is within the spirit of court of India. Hence it is not violative of any fundamental rights especially Art.14, 15(1) of the Constitution of India.

 

S.14 has been given retrospective effect. But this Section has no application for those who has already inherited and alienated the property before the Act came into force. In Anandibhai v. Sundarabhai , High Court has been observed as “the expression ‘any property possessed by a female Hindu’ in Section 14 means ‘any property owned by a female Hindu’ at the date of the commencement of the Act, and, these words are prospective in their application. Any property ‘acquired before’ the commencement of the act shall be the absolute property. The expression ‘whether acquired before or after the commencement of this act’ shows that section is operative retrospectively.

 

There are two conditions to be fulfilled for the application of Section 14 of The Hindu Succession Act, 1956:

Ø Ownership of the property must vest in her, and

Ø She must be in the possession of the Estate when the Act came into force.

 

Supreme Courts and High courts have given wider connotations for the term possession. According to their observation, it can be in the form of actual and constructive possession. In Santosh v. Saraswathi, a question has been raised regarding the possession of property of female Hindu and Court held the view that where property was given to the woman by way of maintenance over which she had a right, her possession was accepted, it became her absolute property. Even when the property is in the possession of a trespasser, it has been held that she is in constructive possession.

The Leather Industry

The Leather Industry holds a very prominent place in the Indian economy and is one of the oldest manufacturing industries in India. It provides employment to about 2.5 million people in the country and has an annual turnover of approximately USD 5,000,000.

India is one of the best destinations in the world for investing in the leather industry because it is abundant with raw materials in the form of huge population of cattle. India accounts for 21% of the world’s cattle and buffalo and 11% of the world’s goat and sheep population.

Apart from the easy availability of raw materials, investors are able to enjoy easy and abundant supply of skilled manpower, world-class technology, competent and favourable environmental standards, and the devoted support of allied industries.

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattle hide.

Several leading international leather goods manufacturing brand names, such as Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Versace, Guess, and DKNY, have invested in India and are engaged in sourcing leather goods from India.

Leather Industry in India is a mixture of both the organized and the unorganized sectors. About 75% of the leather output in India is generated by the small, cottage and artisan sectors (unorganized). Leather making dates back to pre-historic age.  However, the modern method of leather production was introduced to India by the English and the French in 1857.

Traditionally, the leather industry in India produces hides and skins. However, there are also the secondary leather industries such as leather shoes, leather garments and other leather goods such as ladies’ bags, gloves, travel cases, wallets, belts and desktops. 

Over the years the leather industry in India has undergone drastic change from being a mere exporter of raw materials in the early 60’s and 70’s to now becoming an exporter of finished, value-added leather products.

The main reason behind the transformation is the several policy initiatives taken by the government of India. Indian leather industry has attained a prominent place in the Indian export and has become the top 7 industries that earn foreign exchange for the country. After the liberalization of Indian economy in 1991, the leather industry has flourished consistently in several ways and has contributed heavily to the Indian exchequer.

The government of India in its Foreign Trade Policy for 2000–2009 has identified the leather industry as a focus sector in view of its immense potential for export growth and triggering employment generation prospects.

Investment opportunities in the leather industry lie in different segments related to the industry, which include tanning and finishing of leather products, manufacturing of leather garments, manufacturing of leather footwear and footwear parts, and manufacturing of leather goods, such as harness and saddlery amongst a host of other opportunities.

However, the footwear industry in particular holds greater potential for investments in India. India produces approximately 700 million pairs of leather footwear every year and accounts for an 18% share of the total Indian leather export. After footwear manufacturing, leather goods or products, such as wallets, travel wares, belts, and handbags offer great returns on investment.

The structure of the leather industry is spread in different segments, namely, tanning & finishing, footwear & footwear components, leather garments, leather goods including saddlery & harness, etc.

Indian Leather Goods Industry : Items produced by this sector include, in addition to bags, handbags, hand gloves and industrial gloves, wallets, ruck sacks, folios, brief cases, travelware, belts, sports goods, upholstery and saddlery goods. With products ranging from designer collections to personal leather accessories, this sector has a share of 20.53 per cent in the leather industry, while maintaining an average growth rate of 11 per cent recorded in the last five years.

Indian Saddlery Industry : India is one of the largest producers of saddlery and harness goods in the world. The saddlery industry was established in the 19th century primarily to cater to the needs of military and police. From then on initiatives were taken to develop, the industry and today there are over 150 units in the organised sector, out of which approximately 105 are 100% export oriented units. Kanpur, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is a major production centre for saddlery goods in India accounting for more than 95% of the total exports of saddlery items from India. The major importers of Indian saddlery are Germany, USA, UK, France, Scandinavia, Netherlands, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Indian Leather Garments Industry : The Leather Garment Industry occupies a place of prominence in the Indian leather sector.  The product classification of leather garments comprise of jackets, long coats, waist coats, shirts, pant/short, children garments, motorbike jackets, aprons and industrial leather garments. The major export destination of leather garments from India is Germany.

Tanning is the process of converting putrescible skin into non-putrescible leather, usually with tannin, an acidic chemical compound that prevents decomposition and often imparts colour. With tanning and finishing capacity for processing 1192 million pieces of hides and skins per annum spread over different parts of the country, most of which is organised along modern lives, the capability of India to sustain a much larger industry with its raw material resource is evident.

In order to augment the domestic raw material availability, the Government of India has allowed duty free import of hides and skins from anywhere in the world. It is an attraction for any foreign manufacturer who intends to shift his production base from a high cost location to low cost base.

There are over 2,000 tanneries in India. Many of them are scattered in small scale and cottage sector all over India especially West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. It is anticipated that the leather industry in India will generate an estimated USD 7 billion by 2011.  It is no wonder that India is one of the top exporters of leather along with France and the UK. 

The major production centres for leather and leather products are located at Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Trichi, Delhi, Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, Kolkata in West Bengal, Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Jalandhar in Punjab, Bangalore in Karnataka and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

There exists a large raw material base in the Indian leather industry. This is on account of population of 194 million cattle, 70 million buffaloes and 95 million goats. According to the latest census, India ranks first among the major livestock holding countries in the world. In respect of 48 million sheeps, it claims the sixth position. These four species provide the basic raw material for the leather industry. The annual availability of 166 million pieces of hides and skins is the main strength of the industry.
 
India is the world’s second largest producer of footwear ; its production estimated over 700 million pairs per annum. At about USD 300 million per year, footwear accounts for 18 percent share of total exports of leather exports.

Various types of shoes produced and exported from India include dress shoes, casuals, moccasins, sports shoes, horacchis, sandals, ballerinas, and booties. Most of the modern footwear manufacturers in India are already supplying to well establish brands in Europe and USA.

Generally there are three types of leather which is sold in three forms : Full-grain leather, Corrected-grain leather and Suede.

There are a number of processes whereby the skin of an animal can be formed into a supple, strong material commonly called Leather like Vegetable-tanned leather, Chrome-tanned leather, Aldehyde-tanned leather, Synthetic-tanned leather, Alum-tanned leather and Raw.

Today the share of the value added finished products in the total exports from leather sector are 80% as against 20% in 1970s. The top ten Indian leather exporters are : Tata International Ltd., Florind Shoes Ltd., Punihani International, Farida Shoes Ltd., Mirza Tanners Ltd., T. Abdul Wahid & Company, Hindustan Lever Ltd., Super House Leather Ltd., RSL Industries Ltd., Presidency Kid Leather Ltd and Indian Leather Footwear Industry.

Even though most of the leather and leather products from the industry in India are exported, the leather shoe manufacturers or exporters in India for instance, will import soles, insoles, shoe lasts, counters, toe puffs, polishers and stiffeners. The value of such imported items can make up to 10% to 20% of the total value of the leather goods. 

India being one of the top exporters of leather is facing few challenges in the Leather Industry :

  • Historically, the slaughter of cattle in India is banned in respect of the government legislation due to the animal’s sacred status.  Leather producers wait for the cattle to die from natural causes such as old age, starvation or diseases.  Unfortunately, cattle with diseases cannot produce high quality leather.
  • Cattle died from natural causes must be quickly processed to prevent decay and hide deterioration. This makes it challenging for leather producers because the dead cattle must be processed wherever the carcass is found instead of doing it within a leather production facility.
  • For vegetable dyed leather, the supply of chrome salts used in leather production is limited in supply to the leather producers. When producers tried to switch to a chemical dye, PCP (Pentachlorophenol), it was eventually banned in India due to the chemical being a carcinogen.
  • Apart from this effluent management, non-tariff barriers, quality specifications and cost of compliance to various standards hinder the export growth of the Indian leather industry.

However, going by the future forecast of the Indian leather industry gives ample scope to the sector to progress. With its rich resource base of raw hides, skins and human capital the industry has the capability to increase its share in global leather trade. The global leather industry is in the process of shifting its manufacturing base from developed to developing nations. This provides an opportunity for increased flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India.

In such a scenario, factors like abundance of leather, increasing awareness for quality, manufacturing know-how and designing capabilities all work in favour of India. 

Fundamental rights and the Environment

 

The Golden Triangle of the Indian Constitution – Article 14, Article 19 and Article 21 – has been invoked time and again for environmental protection. The High Courts and Supreme Court of India have read the right to a wholesome environment as a part of the right to life guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

In the Dehradun Quarrying Case, though the orders did not articulate the fundamental right to a clean and healthy environment, the petition was treated as a writ under Article 32, which implied that the court was seeing this right in the light of a fundamental right. The Supreme Court explained the basis of this jurisdiction in the later case of Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar where the court held that the right to life is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and it includes right of enjoyment of pollution free water, air for full enjoyment of life. and that .if anything endangers or impairs the quality of life, in derogation of laws, a citizen has a right to have a recourse to Article 32 of the Constitution for removing the pollution of water or air which may be detrimental to the quality of life.. This concept has been furthered by the Supreme Court and various High Courts decisions worded differently by concretising the idea of right to a clean and healthy environment as a part of fundamental rights.

 

The other integral part of right to life is right to livelihood as enumerated in the Olga Tellis Case, which is again a judicial enlargement of the right to life envisaged under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. In Olga Tellis the Court looking at the limitation of the Indian State said that to deprive a person of his right to livelihood would mean depriving him of his life. The State may not by affirmative action be compellable to provide adequate means of livelihood or work to the citizens but any person who is deprived of his right to livelihood by law can challenge the deprivation as offending the right to life conferred by Article 21. Many environmentalists think that the right to livelihood could be asserted to prevent environmentally disruptive projects that threaten to uproot tribal people and villagers for depriving their right to livelihood. The recent agitation by the farmers of Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal and Narmada Bachao Andolans (NBA) campaign against the Sardar Sarovar Dam can be understood in this perspective. However, industries see a strict environmental regime at loggerheads with the right to livelihood and clean/healthy environment of the citizens. The argument forwarded by the industry interests can be rebutted on the grounds that right to clean environment and right to livelihood are complementary rather than contradictory. If all industries follow the environmental standards, then the price of products will include all the external costs which would have to be borne by the consumers. Nevertheless, even this alternative can be questioned in a third world country like India where most people are unable to afford costlier products.

 

Article 14 can be invoked to challenge government sanctions for projects with high environmental impact, where permissions are arbitrarily granted without adequate consideration, for example, of their environmental impacts. Article 19(1) (g) provides that all citizens shall have the right to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business but with reasonable restrictions which may be placed in the interest of the general public as provided within section 19 sub clause (6), which might include total prohibition. Accordingly, in cases involving polluting industrial units, the courts face the task of balancing the environmental imperative with the right to carry on any occupation/trade or business.

India’s fatality rate among the lowest

“Fatality rate of India’s Covid-19 is gradually declining and is now standing at the rate of 2.18%, which is one of the lowest, globally while just 0.28% of the total active cases are on ventilator”, said Union Health Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan on Friday.

He further added, out of total 5,45,318 active cases, 1.61% need ICU care and 2.32% are on oxygen support.

In a meeting of group of ministers via video conferencing on Covid-19 on Friday, Dr. Harsh Vardhan told that India has reached a milestone of more than 10 lac recoveries with a recovery rate of 64.54%.

“Approximately 1/3rd of total positive cases are active cases under medical supervision”, he was quoted as saying in the health ministry statement.

The meeting has also suggested some measures including revamping of strategy for effective management of containment zones through stricter perimeter control, widespread rapid antigen tests, intensive and rapid door to door tests.

Meanwhile, India’s Covid-19 case tally zoomed past 16lacs on Friday, registering a record single day jump of 55,078 infections. The death-toll has reached to 35,747 with 779 fatalities being reported in 24hour span according to a health ministry bulletin.

Assets of India

India, the seventh largest country of the world by area and the second largest country of the world by population is poised to become the super power in future. Country posses ample resources, both human as well as material to achieve that goal but the road to become super power is also full of challenges. A super power is not just a military super power but also economic super power, technological super power, political super power etc.

Assets of India which will be helpful for India to realize the goal of becoming a super power are :  

Human Resources : Most significant factor which vital for India to become super power is its human resources. For any country, the most important assets is its human resource power and India boasts of 17.5 percent of world human resources. The presences of ample human resources with the country can boon as well as bane for the country. If nation uses its man power efficiently and ensures their contribution in the nation building process, it will certainly be a boon but if its vast population becomes a burden, then certainly it will be drag for the country’s development.   

Ocean Resources : Oceans are one of Earth’s most valuable natural resources. It provides food in the form of fish and shellfish; about 200 billion pounds are caught each year. It’s used for transportation, both travel and shipping. It provides a treasured source of recreation for humans. It is mined for minerals (salt, sand, gravel, and some manganese, copper, nickel, iron, and cobalt can be found in the deep sea) and drilled for crude oil. India is surrounded by sea on the three sides and also lies on the major sea routes of the world. India’s location on the world trade route provides an opportunity to flourish with the increasing world trade. India has 12 major and 187 minor and intermediate ports along its more than 7500 km long coastline. These ports serve the country’s growing foreign trade in petroleum products, iron ore, and coal, as well as the increasing movement of containers. Already government is gearing up to develop Indian ports to meet the projected throughput of 3.2 billion tons by 2020 from the present 1 billion. Apart from trade, Department of Ocean Development is engaged in the development of technologies to which make the harnessing of resource, living as well non living, commercially viable. In the 21st century, Indians will have to depend a lot on sustainable use of ocean resources. Thirty per cent of our population lives in coastal areas. For a better India, we have to make a judicious use of our vast ocean wealth. For this to happen, we have to learn more about our oceans.  

Technology : One cannot imagine a super power with a trivial technology and India has developed its technology at a brisk pace. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) etc have developed the military as well as civilian technologies. Role of ISRO in ushering the communication revolution cannot be neglected but there are few challenges which are yet to be addressed. For instance, for launching the geo-stationary satellites, Indian capabilities are very limited and such satellites are launched from French Korou.  

Agriculture : India is among the top ten producers of almost all agriculture crops, yet it is unable to wipe out the hunger. India is far away from achieving the Millennium Development Goals. There is no element of doubt that agriculture is an important asset of India but it is also true that agriculture production in India is not up to its potential. Every year, India had to import oil seeds and pulses in huge quantity. Productivity in India is much lower than other nations like China, US and most of the countries of European Union.  

Water Resources : India’s fresh water resources are third largest in the world and importance of water can viewed from the fact that many thinkers feel that the third world war will be fought for water. In the light of above fact, water is indeed an important asset for the country but the irony is many areas in India lacks potable water supply, only half of the country’s area is irrigated water borne diseases takes heavy toll on the health of citizens every year.   

Energy : As the country develops, its energy demand is poised to increase and so is the case with India. India boasts of ample coal and water resources, thus has huge potential of thermal as well as hydel power. Apart from this, being a tropical country, receives ample sunshine for most of the year which means that solar energy can also be utilized for the energy starved nation. Despite of such a huge potential, power supply of the country is always less than the demand.    

Forests : Forest resources are most important resources of our country useful in maintaining ecological balance, providing fire wood, providing raw materials to many industries, providing protection to wild animals and to conserve the soils. India has 75 million hectares under forest cover which accounts for 23% of total geographical area. Today forests resources are depleting due to urbanization and industrialization. Therefore the conservation of this asset is an urgent requirement not only for economic reasons but also for social reasons as many tribes depend on these resources for their livelihood.  

Minerals : Minerals are valuable natural resources being finite and non-renewable. They constitute the vital raw materials for many basic industries and are a major resource for development. Management of mineral resources has, therefore, to be closely integrated with the overall strategy of development; arid exploitation of minerals is to be guided by long-term national goals and perspectives. India with diverse and significant mineral resources is the leading producer of some of the minerals. India is the largest producer of mica blocks and mica splitting; ranks third in the production of coal and lignite, barytes and chromite; 4th in iron ore, 6th in bauxite and manganese ore, 10th in aluminium and 11th in crude steel. Iron-ore, copper-ore, chromite ore, zinc concentrates, gold, manganese ore, bauxite, lead concentrates, and silver account for the entire metallic production. Limestone, magnesite, dolomite, barytes, kaolin, gypsum, apatite, steatite and fluorite account for 92 percent of non-metallic minerals.  

Health :  Healthcare is one of India’s largest sectors, in terms of revenue and employment, and the sector is expanding rapidly. During the 1990s, Indian healthcare grew at a compound annual rate of 16%. Today the total value of the sector is more than $34 billion. This translates to $34 per capita, or roughly 6% of GDP. By 2012, India’s healthcare sector is projected to grow to nearly $40 billion. The private sector accounts for more than 80% of total healthcare spending in India. India’s expanding health facilities are also attracting the patients from the developing as well as developed world because of the power cost of treatment in India.  

Industry : Indian industries developed at a brisk pace during the post globalization years. Industries like automobile, textile, gems and jewellery are the important assets for the country which are also the most important foreign exchange earners. But industrial sector is not able to grow to its full potential because of poor infrastructure. Poor infrastructure is a significant challenge and it must be addressed on priority basis otherwise we might lose the edge to the developing markets in China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Asian countries.  

Services : Services account for more than 55 percent of the country’s GDP. They are also the most important foreign exchange earner as the service account always earns a surplus in the Balance of Payment account. Further, service sector is employment intensive also. Services like Transport, financial services, communication, personal services software services etc are growing leaps and bound.  

Thus, India is neither short of resources nor efforts to become super power but still its far from becoming a super power. India cannot claim to become a super power with a medium level of human development index, one third of population living below poverty line, power cuts are frequent. Therefore it is expedient for the country to utilize its resources fully and ameliorate the internal challenges. Once India successfully fights with poverty, unemployment and inequality, it tag of super power will come automatically.

Nepotism In India

In India Corruption goes hand in hand with nepotism. It goes on in government and private jobs both. Nepotism is common in politics, judiciary, and business and in the film industry. It goes on even in religious circles, arts, industry, and other types of organisations. Many members of Parliament and various Legislative Assemblies have a generations-long legacy of nepotism allocation of constituencies to their relatives. Many judges and advocates of the High courts and the Supreme Court are alleged to be appointed by exercising casteism, nepotism and favouritism, primarily because the Supreme Court and the High Court’s uses a non-transparent undemocratic appointment process called Collegiate which recommends to the President, in a legally binding manner, the names of judges to be appointed or promoted to the higher judiciary. The various judicial services exams are also infamous for these practices. The Bajaj family is related to the Birla family which itself is related to the Biyani family by marriage. Moreover, dynasty in politics remains. Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President of the Indian National Congress party, is a descendent of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi & Rajiv Gandhi. Data shows since 1999, the Congress has had 36 dynastic MPs elected to the Lok Sabha, with the BJP not far behind with 31 dynastic MPs. The highly popular sport of cricket is also affected with nepotism, although to a lesser extent, in the form of Stuart Binny, Rohan Gavaskar and very recently Arjun Tendulkar. Home minister Amit Shah’s son was appointed as the BCCI secretary.

Growing nepotism in the Indian film industry (Bollywood)

The Kapoor families and many other Indian film actors have been known for bringing their children into the industry with their endorsements and influence for decades. However, a fresh debate on nepotism soon followed the untimely demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, investigations into which have pointed to professional rivalry and instances of “bullying”. As per media reports, he was ostracized by the film fraternity despite being an accomplished actor. Filmmaker Karan Johar, with whom Rajput had worked in the Netflix film Drive, was quickly hailed as the flagbearer of nepotism by actress Kangana Ranaut, with Rajput’s fans calling for a boycott of Johar and his banner, Dharma Productions, as well as of actor Salman Khan and his brothers, who were greatly accused of bullying outsiders in the past. Actors and actresses like Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter, Ananya Pandey, Athiya Shetty, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, all of whom hail from film families, were also widely criticized for their mediocre filmography and quickly lost millions of social media fans and followers within a week. Responding to allegations of nepotism against her, Sonam Kapoor sparked controversy with a tweet on Father’s Day, with trolls calling her out for delivering poor films in the past few years.

In recent weeks, nepotism has become centre stage in mainstream public discourse. Triggered by speculations over the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the debate was initially confined to the film industry. But it has since spread to other domains. What began as a hashtag about a tragic death has acquired a life of its own. How do we understand this sudden upsurge, given that nepotism is not a new phenomenon?

In India, whichever field one may consider, there is no denying the prevalence of influential families that wield nepotistic influence. But does this mean we make peace with nepotism? Certainly not. But a lot depends on how the debate is framed, and the nature of the contingent politics around the nepotism discourse.

Understanding Service Tax in India

Service tax was a tax levied by the Central Government of India on services provided or agreed to be provided excluding services covered under negative list and considering the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012 and collected as per Point of Taxation Rules, 2011 from the person liable to pay service tax. Person liable to pay service tax is governed by Service Tax Rules, 1994 he may be service provider or service receiver or any other person made so liable. It is an indirect tax wherein the service provider collects the tax on services from service receiver and pays the same to government of India. Few services are presently exempt in public interest via Mega Exemption Notification 25/2012-ST as amended up to date and few services are charged service tax at abated rate as per Notification No. 26/2012-ST as amended up to date. Presently from 1 June 2016, service tax rate has been increased to consolidated rate at 14% +0.5%+0.5%= 15% of value of services provided or to be provided. The service tax rate now is consolidated rate as education cess and secondary higher education cess are subsumed with 2% of “Swach Bharat Cess (0.50%)” has been notified by the Government.

Service tax in India was introduced in 1994-95 to correct the asymmetric treatment of goods and services in the tax framework and to widen the tax net. Need to introduce service tax was felt due to the fact that service sector contributed to around half of GDP but it wasn’t taxed. The numbers of services liable for taxation were gradually raised from 3 in 1994-95 to virtually all service in budget 2012-13 except for the services enlisted in the negative list. The negative list includes the services by Government or a local authority, services by the Reserve Bank of India, Services by a foreign diplomatic mission located in India, services relating to agriculture, Service of transportation of passengers, Funeral, burial, crematorium or mortuary services etc.   

In the last eight odd years, after a modest beginning, service tax had become one of the most important sources of government revenue. Budget 2012-13 increased the service tax rate from 10 percent to 12 percent. Already, a cess is imposed on all indirect taxes including service tax to finance secondary and higher education. In 2011-12, Rs 95,000 crores are expected to mop up through service tax and for 2012-13, target is to collect as much as Rs.1.24 Lakh crores. The increase in service tax is opposed by different section of the business community.     

At present, service sector contributes more than 55 percent of GDP and its share is likely to increase in future as it is poised to grow between 8-10 percent in next decade along with the reduced share of primary sector. This offers tremendous revenue potential to the Government. It is expected that in due course, service tax would reduce the tax burden on international trade (Customs duty) and domestic manufacturing sector (Excise duty). So a planned growth of service tax would be commensurate with the goals of economic liberalization and globalization. This process requires levy of taxes on new services without substantial rise in the rate or cost of collection.The service tax promises many opportunities as well as challenges to realize the opportunities. For instance, increased revenue through service tax will help in bridging the fiscal deficit, finance the social services, reduce the burden on commodity taxes etc.  

The challenges include providing more simplified tax administration in the country which will reduce the tax evasion. Further, department should intensify the field survey operations to ensure that all taxable service assessees are brought into the tax net and service tax due from them are collected without hitch. While the basic tenet of voluntary compliance of service tax law has to be adhered to, the habitual evaders of service tax must be booked for appropriate action under the law. Effective use of Audit and Anti-evasion tools for ensuring the compliance on the part of the assessee and curbing the instances of irregularities and tax evasion are the need of hour. Greater emphasis should be laid on training the staff in Information Technology skills necessary to carry out effective, systematic and result oriented analysis of data available in the system, to achieve the target. Electronic Tax Administration (ETA) system for service tax should be effectively implemented so that service tax could be administered as a pioneer e-tax of the country. Adequate staff must be deployed along with suitable infrastructure and conveyance to implement service tax law effectively.  

In future, service tax will be integrated with commodity taxes to give rise to the Goods and Service Tax (GST). The proposed Goods and Service Tax is the part of the tax reforms that centre around evolving an efficient and harmonized consumption tax system in the country. Presently, there are parallel systems of indirect taxation at the Central and State level. The existing service tax system poses an imminent challenge to reform its synergies to eventually harmonize itself in the GST regime. Successful integration of goods and service tax would give India a world-class tax system and will bring in improved tax collection. In a way, it will boost our economy and enable us to compete at the global front.    

As a result, our system will eventually match the international standard in the sphere of indirect taxation.  It will also end the long standing distortions of differential treatments to the manufacturing and service sectors. GST would be a single comprehensive indirect tax to be levied on goods and services. It would be levied at every production and distribution chain with the eligibility to claim indirect taxes paid on procurement chain. Under the current regime, there is a fractured credit mechanism where businesses don’t get credit for all the taxes they pay. The effort to prepare for a smooth integration with the GST without any hardship to public is a big challenge, which needs to be handled at the field as well policy level. GST is the future of all indirect taxes in India for which a consensus is needed between the central and state governments. It was supposed to be implemented from 1 April 2010 but is postponed every year due to lack of consensus. The delay in the implementation is causing loss to the tune of thousands of crores every year which could have gained in by increased efficiency. The central government should come forward with some form of incentive driven plan to bring the GST regime in the country which poised to put the fiscal administration of the country at higher level.

Concept of Writs In India

 

A Writ is a formal written order issued by a government entity in the name of the sovereign power. In most cases, this government entity is a court. In modern democratic countries, the administrative authorities are vested with vast discretionary powers. The exercise of those powers often becomes subjective in the absence of specific guidelines etc. Hence the need for a control of the discretionary powers is essential to ensure that ‘Rule of Law’ exist in all governmental actions. The judicial review of administrative actions in the form of writ jurisdiction is to ensure that the decisions taken by the authorities are legal, rational, proper, just, fair and reasonable. Safeguard of fundamental rights and assurance of natural justice are the most important components of writ jurisdictions

Writs are meant as prerogative remedies. The writ jurisdictions exercised by the Supreme Court under article 32 and by the high courts under article 226, for the enforcement of fundamental rights are mandatory and not discretionary. But the writ jurisdiction of high courts for ‘any other purpose’ is discretionary. In that sense the writ jurisdiction of high courts are of a very intrinsic nature. Hence high courts have the great responsibility of exercising this jurisdiction strictly in accordance with judicial considerations and well established principles. When ordinary legal remedies seem inadequate, in exceptional cases, writs are applied.

 

Types of Writs:

 

1. Habeas Corpus:  The meaning of the Latin phrase Habeas Corpus is ‘have the body’. According to Article 21, “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law”. The writ of Habeas corpus is in the nature of an order directing a person who has detained another, to produce the latter before the court in order to examine the legality of the detention and to set him free if there is no legal justification for the detention. It is a process by which an individual who has been deprived of his personal liberty can test the validity of the act before a higher court.

The objective of the writ of habeas corpus is to provide for a speedy judicial review of alleged unlawful restraint on liberty. It aims not at the punishment of the wrongdoer but to resume the release of the retinue. The writ of habeas corpus enables the immediate determination of the right of the appellant’s freedom. In the writs of habeas corpus, the merits of the case or the moral justification for the imprisonment or detention are irrelevant. In A.D.M. Jabalpur v. Shivakant Shukla , it was observed that “the writ of Habeas Corpus is a process for securing the liberty of the subject by affording an effective means of immediate relief from unlawful or unjustifiable detention whether in prison or private custody. If there is no legal justification for that detention, then the party is ordered to be released.”

 

2. Certiorari: The writ of Certiorari is generally issued against authorities exercising quasi-judicial functions. The Latin word Certiorari means ‘to certify’. Certiorari can be defined as a judicial order of the supreme court or by the high courts to an inferior court or to any other authority that exercise judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative functions, to transmit to the court the records of proceedings pending with them for scrutiny and to decide the legality and validity of the order passed by them. Through this writ, the court quashes or declares invalid a decision taken by the concerned authority. Though it was meant as a supervisory jurisdiction over inferior courts originally, these remedy is extended to all authorities who issue similar functions.

The concept of natural justice and the requirement of fairness in actions, the scope of certiorari have been extended even to administrative decisions. An instance showing the certiorari powers was exercised by the Hon’ble Supreme court in A.K.Kraipak v. Union of India, where the selection was challenged on the ground of bias. The Supreme Court delineated the distinction between quasi judicial and administrative authority. The Supreme Court exercising the powers issued the writ of Certiorari for quashing the action. Certiorari is corrective in nature. This writ can be issued to any constitutional, statutory or non statutory body or any person who exercise powers affecting the rights of citizens.

 

3. Prohibition:  The grounds for issuing the writs of certiorari and prohibition are generally the same. They have many common features too. The writ of prohibition is a judicial order issued to a constitutional, statutory or non statutory body or person if it exceeds its jurisdiction or it tries to exercise a jurisdiction not vested upon them. It is a general remedy for the control of judicial, quasi judicial and administrative decisions affecting the rights of persons.

The writ of Prohibition is issued by the court exercising the power and authorities from continuing the proceedings as basically such authority has no power or jurisdiction to decide the case. Prohibition is an extra ordinary prerogative writ of a preventive nature. The underlying principle is that ‘prevention is better than cure.’ In East India Commercial Co. Ltd v. Collector of Customs, a writ of prohibition is an order directed to an inferior Tribunal forbidding it from continuing with a proceeding therein on the ground that the proceeding is without or in excess of jurisdiction or contrary to the laws of the land, statutory or otherwise.

 

4. Mandamus:  The writ of mandamus is a judicial remedy in the form of an order from the supreme court or high courts to any inferior court, government or any other public authority to carry out a ‘public duty’ entrusted upon them either by statute or by common law or to refrain from doing a specific act which that authority is bound to refrain from doing under the law. For the grant of the writ of mandamus there must be a public duty. The superior courts command an authority to perform a public duty or to non perform an act which is against the law. The word meaning in Latin is ‘we command’. The writ of mandamus is issued to any authority which enjoys judicial, quasi judicial or administrative power. The main objective of this writ is to keep the public authorities within the purview of their jurisdiction while performing public duties. The writ of mandamus can be issued if the public authority vested with power abuses the power or acts mala fide to it. In Halsbury’s Laws of England , it is mentioned that, “As a general rule the order will not be granted unless the party complained of has known what it was required to do, so that he had the means of considering whether or not he should comply, and it must be shown by evidence that there was a distinct demand of that which the party seeking the mandamus desires to enforce and that that demand was met by a refusal.”

 

5. Quo Warranto: The word meaning of ‘Quo warranto’ is ‘by what authority’. It is a judicial order against a person who occupies a substantive public office without any legal authority. The person is asked to show by what authority he occupies the position or office. This writ is meant to oust persons, who are not legally qualified, fro substantive public posts. The writ of Quo warranto is to confirm the right of citizens to hold public offices. In this writ the court or the judiciary reviews the action of the executive with regard to appointments made against statutory provisions, to public offices .It also aims to protect those persons who are deprived of their right to hold a public office.

In University of Mysore v. Govinda Rao, the Supreme Court observed that the procedure of quo Warranto confers the jurisdiction and authority on the judiciary to control executive action in making the appointments to public offices against the relevant statutory provisions; it also protects a citizen being deprived of public office to which he may have a right.

Understanding NIFTY

S&P CNX NIFTY is an Index computed from performance of top stocks from different sectors listed on NSE (National stock exchange). NIFTY consists of 50 companies from 24 different sectors. NIFTY stands for National Stock Exchange’s Fifty. The companies which form index of NIFTY may vary from time to time based on many factors considered by NSE.  NIFTY is for NSE similarly SENSEX is for BSE. Some mutual funds use NIFTY index as a benchmark meaning the mutual funds’ performance is compared against the performance of NIFTY. On NSE there are futures and options available for trading with NIFTY as underlying index. India Index Services and Products Ltd. (IISL) owns NIFTY.  

IISL is a joint venture of NSE and CRISIL. CRISIL is a subsidiary of Standard and Poor (S&P). And so NIFTY is also called as S&P CNX NIFTY. CNX ensures common branding of indices, to reflect the identities of both the promoters, i.e. NSE and CRISIL. Thus, ‘C’ stands for CRISIL, ‘N’ stands for NSE and X stands for Exchange or Index. The S&P prefix belongs to the US-based Standard & Poor’s Financial Information Services. Nifty stocks represent about 63 percent of the Free Float Market Capitalization. Impact cost of the S&P CNX Nifty for a portfolio size of Rs.50 laks is 0.06%. Market impact cost is the best measure of the liquidity of a stock. It accurately reflects the costs faced when actually trading an index. For a stock to qualify for possible inclusion into the S&P CNX Nifty, it has to reliably have market impact cost of below 0.75 percent when doing S&P CNX Nifty trades of Rs. 50 Lakhs. S&P CNX Nifty is professionally maintained and is ideal for derivatives trading.  

S&P CNX Nifty always uses the best stocks possible for its index. The weakest stocks are removed from inside the S&P CNX Nifty and the new stock into it. The world changes, so the index should change. Yet, the change should not be sudden – for that would disrupt the character of the index. S&P CNX Nifty uses clear, researched and publicly documented rules for index revision. These rules are applied regularly, to obtain changes to the index set. Index reviews are carried out every six months to ensure that each security in the index fulfills all the laid down criteria. IDBI was once not listed; SBI was once illiquid; Infosys was once an obscure software startup. The world changes, and one by one, these stocks have come into the S&P CNX Nifty. Each change in the S&P CNX Nifty is small, so the continuity of the index is maintained. Yet, at all times, S&P CNX Nifty represents the 50 most important liquid stocks in the country, the best stocks to build an index out of.  

NSE has the best surveillance procedures in India, so the extent of market manipulation is minimum. In NSE, since, the professional staff of the surveillance department has no positions on the market, this elimination of conflicts of interest and generates a more honest focus upon eliminating market manipulation. On a day to day basis millions of shares get traded on the NSE generating huge order flows. Due to the liquidity and order flow from numerous market players manipulation of the closing price becomes very hard. NSE is the most liquid exchange in India. Hence, the prices observed there are the most reliable. NSE has the highest trading intensity and their bid-ask spreads are the tightest.    

Sister indexes of NIFTY

S&P CNX Defty  

S&P CNX Defty is S&P CNX Nifty, measured in dollars. If the S&P CNX Nifty rises by 2percent it means that the Indian stock market rose by 2percent, measured in rupees. If the S&P CNX Defty rises by 2percent, it means that the Indian stock market rose by 2percent, measured in dollars.

S&P CNX 500  

S&P CNX 500 is India’s first broadbased benchmark of the Indian capital market. The S&P CNX 500 represents about 86percent of total market capitalisation and about 78percent of the total turnover on the NSE. The S&P CNX 500 companies are disaggregated into 72 industries, each of which has an index called S&P CNX Industry Index. Industry weightages in the index dynamically reflect the industry weightages in the market. So for e.g. if the banking sector has a 5percent weightage among the universe of stocks on the NSE, banking stocks in the index would have an approximate representation of 5percent in the index. The S&P CNX 500 is a market capitalisation weighted index. The base date for the index is the calendar year 1994 with the base index value being 1000. Companies in the index are selected based on their market capitalisation, industry representation, trading interest and financial performance. The index is calculated and disseminated real-time.  

CNX Nifty Junior  

S&P CNX Nifty is the first rung of the largest, highly liquid stocks in India. CNX Nifty Junior is an index built out of the next 50 large, liquid stocks in India. It is not as liquid as the S&P CNX Nifty, which implies that the information in the S&P CNX Nifty Junior is not as noise-free as that of the S&P CNX Nifty. S&P CNX Nifty and the CNX Nifty Junior taken together constitute 100 most liquid stocks in India. S&P CNX Nifty is the front line blue-chips, large and highly liquid stocks. The CNX Nifty Junior is the second rung of growth stocks, which are not as established as those in the S&P CNX Nifty. A stock like Satyam Computers, which recently graduated into the S&P CNX Nifty, was in the CNX Nifty Junior for a long time prior to this. CNX Nifty Junior can be viewed as an incubator where young growth stocks are found.   

As with the S&P CNX Nifty, stocks in the CNX Nifty Junior are filtered for liquidity, so they are the most liquid of the stocks excluded from the S&P CNX Nifty. Buying and selling the entire CNX Nifty Junior as a portfolio is feasible. The maintenance of the S&P CNX Nifty and the CNX Nifty Junior are synchronised so that the two indices will always be disjoint sets; i.e. a stock will never appear in both indices at the same time. Hence it is always meaningful to pool the S&P CNX Nifty and the CNX Nifty Junior into a composite 100 stock index or portfolio.

CNX MidCap

The medium capitalised segment of the stock market is being increasingly perceived as an attractive investment segment with high growth potential. The primary objective of the CNX MidCap Index is to capture the movement and be a benchmark of the midcap segment of the market. The CNX MidCap Index is a market capitalisation weighted index with its base period of the index being the calendar year 2003 and base value as 1000.The distribution of industries in the CNX MidCap Index represents the industry distribution in the MidCap segment of the market. All companies are evaluated for trading interest and financial performance.  

CNX MNC Index  

The CNX MNC Index comprises 15 listed companies in which the foreign shareholding is over 50percent and/or the management control is vested in the foreign company. The index is a market capitalisation weighted index with base period being the month of December, 1994 indexed to a value 1,000. Companies in the index should be MNCs and are selected based on their market capitalisation, industry representation, trading value and financial performance.  

CNX PSE Index  

As part of its agenda to reform the Public Sector Enterprises (PSE), the Government has selectively been divesting its holdings in public sector enterprises since 1991. With a view to provide regulators, investors and market intermediaries with an appropriate benchmark that captures the performance of this segment of the market, as well as to make available an appropriate basis for pricing forthcoming issues of PSEs, IISL has developed the CNX PSE Index, comprising of 20 PSE stocks.  

CNX IT Sector Index  

With the Information Technology (IT) sector in India growing at a fast rate, there is a need to provide investors, market intermediaries and regulators an appropriate benchmark that captures performance of this sector. Companies in this index should have more than 50percent of their turnover from IT related activities like software development, hardware manufacture, vending, support and maintenance. The index is a market capitalisation weighted index with its base period being December 1995 with base value 1,000. NSE being the leading stock exchange in India, the NIFTY index is not only a prime index for the exchange itself but also it is an indicator of the booming Indian economy. Despite of the recent slowdown in the global economic scene the NIFTY index has sustained a regular growth after overcoming the sudden impact. The index for so many reasons has attracted investors not only from the domestic market but also from foreign countries.

Patents in India

What is a patent ?

A patent is a legal document that is granted by the government of the state or the country, depending on the national rules. It gives an inventor of a particular thing, the exclusive right to make, use and sell his or her creation for a specified period of time. 

The basic idea of this system is to encourage the inventors to safeguard their own creations. Books, movies, and some artworks cannot be patented. However, one can protect these assets under the law of copyright. The law of patent is one branch of the larger legal field known as intellectual property, which also includes trademark and copyright law.

Patent is a form of intellectual property rights (IPR) which apart from patents also includes trademarks, copyrights, geographical indicators etc. A patent is an exclusive right granted for an innovation, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.

Objective of patent is to grant the innovator of the product or process some benefits where invention/innovation cannot be commercially made, used, distributed or sold without the patent owner’s consent. These patent rights are usually enforced in a court, which, in most systems, holds the authority to stop patent infringement. In India, patents are governed by Indian Patents Act 1970 which initially provided for the process patents only and not for product patents for food, chemicals and drugs.

Suppose if product has been developed by an inventor, then he can file patent for the process through which that product has been developed and not for that product itself. In the case of inventions being claimed relating to food, medicine, drugs or chemical substances, only patents relating to the methods or processes of manufacturer of such substances were provided. Thus patent act of 1970 emphasized public interest over monopoly rights. However, under World Trade Organization (WTO), Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement provides for product patent for 20 years. After the expiry of 20 years, anyone can manufacture that product. All WTO members had to comply with TRIPS agreement before 2005 because of which Indian parliament passed Patent Amendment Act 2005 which brought product patent regime in India. Important features of 2005 Amendment Act and extension of product patent protection to all fields of technology including drugs, foods and chemicals were granted.   

Exemptions under 2005 Act are –  

• Frivolous claims contrary to natural laws

• Anything contrary to law or morality or injurious to public health

• Mere arrangement or rearrangement of duplication of known devices.

• A method of agriculture or horticulture

• Inventions related to atomic energy  

Further, act also empowers the government to import, make or use for its own purpose. It also empowers import of drugs for public health distribution. It also empowers the government to revoke the patent which is found mischievous to state or prejudices to public. State can also acquire a patent to meet national requirements. Patents act is supposed to have most important bearing on the pharmaceutical industry. Drug manufacturing MNCs incur huge cost in the form of R&D for development of new drugs. In order to recover that cost, they sought patent and sell these drugs at exorbitant prices. After the term of patent (20years) is over, every company is free to manufacture those drugs and price of these drugs reduces drastically as new companies don’t engage in the R&D and its cost is reduced. Such drugs whose patent is expired are called as Generic medicines and Indian pharmaceutical companies produce these generic medicines at mush less cost than their western counterparts.  

Under the 1997 patent act, Indian companies could produce these drugs even before expiry of 20 years through different process but after 2005 amendment; they have to comply with the product patent. Therefore, it may have an adverse impact on price of medicines in India as they have to comply with TRIPS. Bolar Provision facilitates production and marketing of patented product immediately after the expiry of term of patent by permitting preparatory action by non patent companies during the term of the patent. According to this provision, despite the patent rights, research and tests for regulatory approval does not constitute infringement of patent. There have been few apprehensions in various quarters particularly for health sector regarding its impact on drug prices as it may rule out the availability of low cost drugs. However, it is said that 97 percent drugs manufactured in India are off patents and will remain unaffected.  

Further, legislation has strong provision for the outright acquisition of patents to meet national requirements. Besides, there is also Drug Price Control Order administered by National Pharmaceutical Price Authority. There are also adequate safeguards to protect the interest of domestic industry and common man from any increase in the prices of drugs. Although there are adequate safeguards are assured by the government, but some impact on prices cannot be ruled out which will further alienate the poor from the health due to rising cost of medicines. Since it is also nor immoral on part of the companies conducting extensive research on the development of life saving drugs, treatment can be assured to all the persons through universalization of Health Insurance which may be partially public funded.    Just like government had imposed cess on petrol and diesel to recover the cost of High development, some cess can also be imposed to recover the cost of universal health programme. In 2009-10, as many as 34287 patents were filed out which only 6168 patents were granted. Moreover, only 17 percent of these patents were granted to Indian while rests were granted to the foreigners. In 2010-11, of the total 7,486 patents granted, Indians could claim only 1,272. On the other hand, foreigners walked away with 6,214 patents. In the world, Japan is credited with maximum number of patents.

Guidelines to be followed by Police while making an Arrest

 

Arrest involves the restriction of liberty of a person arrested and therefore, infringes the basic human rights of liberty. Nevertheless the Constitution of India as well as International human rights law recognize the power of the State to arrest any person as a part of its primary role of maintaining law and order. The Constitution requires a just, fair and reasonable procedure established by the law under which alone such deprivation of liberty is permissible. Although Article 22(1) of the Constitution provides that every person placed under arrest shall be informed as soon as may be the ground of arrest and shall not be denied the right to consult and be defended by a lawyer of his choice and S.50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr. PC) requires a police officer arresting any person to “ forthwith communicate to him full particulars of the offence for which he is arrested or other grounds for such arrest”. in actual practice these requirements are observed more in the breach. Likewise, the requirement of production of the arrested person before the court promptly which is mandated both under the Constitution [Article22(2)] and the Cr. PC (Section 57] is also not adhered to strictly.

A large number of complaints pertaining to Human Rights violations are in the area of abuse of police powers, particularly those of arrest and detention. It has, therefore, become necessary, with a view to narrowing the gap between law and practice, to prescribe guidelines regarding arrest even while at the same time not unduly curtailing the power of the police to effectively maintain and enforce law and order and proper investigation.

GUIDELINES LAID DOWN BY THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT IN D.K. BASU CASE:

The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in D.K. Basu Vs State of West Bengal , has laid down specific guidelines required to be followed while making arrests.

THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES on arrest:

The principles laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court are given here under:

(i) The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designation. The particular of all such personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register.

(ii) That the police officer carrying out the arrest shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may be either a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be counter signed by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest.

(iii) A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a police station or interrogation centre or other lock up, shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known to him or having interest in his welfare being informed, as soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular place, unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest is himself such a friend or a relative of the arrestee.

(iv) The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town through the Legal Aids Organization in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.

(v) The person arrested must be made aware of his right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.

(vi) An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclosed the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names land particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.

(vii) The arrestee should, where he so request, be also examines at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his /her body, must be recorded at that time. The Inspector Memo’ must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.

(viii) The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by the trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention In custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctor appointed by Director, Health Services of the concerned State or Union Territory, Director, Health Services should prepare such a panel for all Tehsils and Districts as well.

(ix) Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be sent to the Magistrate for his record.

(x) The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.

(xi) A police control room should be provided at all district and State headquarters where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and at the police control room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.

Haryana – Sports state

Among all the states in India, Haryana is one of the leading state involved in games and sports. Haryana share population of only 2% in  India. But  one third  of all medals are owned by Haryana’s Athletes  in India including 9 out of  26  golds in CWG. Haryana has  always  been  a big  contributor  in terms  of India ‘s  medal  haul at major  competitions .

Haryana’s CWG 2018 Medallists 
1. Wrestling 
Gold -Bajrang Punia, sumit  malik, vinesh phogat 
Silver-Mausam Khatri ,pooja Dhanda , Babita kumari
Bronge – Somveer kadian , Sakshi Malik, kiran Bishnoi
 
2.Boxing 
GOLD – vikas krishan ,  Gourav Solanki 
SILVER-  Amit pangal, Manish Kaushik
Bronge-  Naman Tanwar , Manoj kumar 
3. Shooting 
  Gold – Anish Bhanwala , Manu  bhaker , sanjeev Rajput.
4. Athletics 
 Gold – Neeraj Chopra 
Silver –  seema Punia.
5. Weightlifting 
 Bronge – Deepak  lathar
6. Powerlifting 
Bronge – sachin Chaudhary.
 Traditionally Haryana has become a nursery of wrestlers and  boxers . Highest prize money for  winners  act as great  incentive for athletes .  Government’s    cash prizes for International  medals  are easily the highest in  country. If Haryana was a seperate country it would be  eighth on  2018 CWG  medal totally  behind sporting powerhouses  like Australia , England ,Wales ,  canada , New zealand  etc.
  Its a leading state in sports among  Other states. During the 33rd  national game held in  Assam in 2007 , Haryana stood 4th in the  nation with  medal tally  of 80  including  30 Gold , 22 silver and  28 bronze medals.
 Haryana is national championship in women ‘s hockey and  men’s Volley ball . The state has supported and promoted  its athletes.
 Hosting khelo  India Youth Games  in Haryana  will also add greater  impetus to our  commitment towards  creating a strong sporting  ecosystem. Many athletes  are trained under khelo  india schemes. It is a multi  sport event and   it is also providing large lodging for large  number of  participants  who will attend . 
Haryana has produced many elite  Athletes for international  platforms. Training is also going under Khelo  India Scheme . 159 medals owned in 2019 and 200 medals in 2020 . 
 Chief Minister  manohar lal khattar  and Union  minister of Youth  affairs and Sports  , Kiren Rijju  announced on 25 july that Haryana to host 4th 
 Edition of this . After Tokyo olympics , this sports to take Place. It will be held in Panchkula . It has been  envisioned by PM Modi  , its helping in identifying grassroots level talent  across country who will represent internationally.
Haryanivs are like having strong sporting culture in their blood .  Khelo usually take place in January every time of year  . But this time due to pandemic situation it gave rise to  be held  in delay with 10,000 participants . All the  participants are given scholarships of 500000 for time period of  8 years  to prepare for international sports Event. They are of 2 categories   –   21  old of college students and 17  old of school students. Thus is creating strong sports Ecosystem. Not only men but also women are giving best in this sports.

Introduction to Fundamental Rights

The fundamental rights are defined as the basis humar rights of all citizens. These rights, defined in part 3rd of the constitution. Applied irrespective of caste, creed, place of birth, religion etc. They are enforceable by the court, subject to specific restrictions.

What is the purpose of fundamental rights ?

1. Preserve individual liberty,

2. Equality of all members of society,

3. Dr Ambedkar said that the responsibility of the legislature is just not to provide fundamental rights but also and rather,  to safeguard them.

List of fundamental rights 

There are six fundamental rights of Indian constitution along with to constitutional article.

Right to equality (article 14-18)

Right to equality guarantees equal rights for everyone irrespective of their caste, creed, birth of place, religion or race. This right also includes the abolition of titles as well as untouchability.

Right to freedom (article 19-22)

Freedom is one fo the most important ideals enhanced and cherished by the democratic country. Without freedom the democracy is meaningless. The freedom right includes many rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of association And freedom to practice any profession and religion.

Right against exploitation (article 23-24)

This right implies the prohibition of traffic in human beings, beggar and other forms of force labour. It also implies the prohibition of child labour. The constitution prohibits the employment of children under 14 years in hazardous conditions.

Right to freedom of religion (article 25-28)

There is equal importance given to all religions. There is freedom of conscience, profession, practice and propagation of religion. The state has no official religion. Every person has the right to choose his/her religion.

Cultural and educational rights (article 29-30)

Special protection provided in the constitution to preserve and develop the language, Culture and religion of minorities. Every culture has the right to conserve it’s language, culture and religious practices.

Right to constitutional remedies (article 32)

Article 32 provide a guaranteed remedy, in the form of a fundamental right itself, for enforcement of all the other fundamental rights, and the supreme court is designated as the protector of these rights by the constitution.the supreme court has the jurisdiction to enforce the fundamental rights even against the private bodies. And in case of violation, award compensation as well as to the affected individual.

Right to privacy

Right to privacy is the latest right of our country being recently approved by the supreme court of india. According to this right we are liable to keep our material private and without our permission no one can interfere in our private matter.

Right to property was removed from the Indian constitution in 1978. It is no longer counted as a fundamental right.  

Chyawanprash market in India

Chyawanprash (CP) is an Ayurvedic health supplement which is made up of a super-concentrated blend of nutrient-rich herbs and minerals. It is meant to restore drained reserves of life force (ojas) and to preserve strength, stamina, and vitality, while stalling the course of aging. Chyawanprash is formulated by processing around 50 medicinal herbs and their extracts, including the prime ingredient, Amla (Indian gooseberry), which is the world’s richest source of vitamin C. Chyawanprash preparation involves preparing a decoction of herbs, followed by dried extract preparation, subsequent mixture with honey, and addition of aromatic herb powders (namely clove, cardamom, and cinnamon) as standard. The finished product has a fruit jam-like consistency, and a sweet, sour, and spicy flavor. Scientific exploration of CP is warranted to understand its therapeutic efficacy. Scattered information exploring the therapeutic potential of CP is available, and there is a need to assemble it. Thus, an effort was made to compile the scattered information from ancient Ayurvedic texts and treatises, along with ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological, and scientifically validated literature, that highlight the role of CP in therapeutics. Citations relevant to the topic were screened.

Chyawanprash is not just consumed in India but also the rest of the world. It is a brown paste which contains herbs, spices, and other ingredients, prepared according to Ayurvedic traditions. The market size of chyawanprash is approximately Rs 500 crores.  Chyawanprash is not a product that emerged in the market in the 20th century. In fact, its existence can be dated back to Vedic times, 10,000 years ago, when this formulation was prepared for Chyawan Rishi at his ashram on Dhosi Hill near Narnaul. Since it was prepared for Chyawan Rishi, the formulation came to be known as Chyawanprash.   

Chyawanprash can be consumed directly or mixed with warm water and milk. The main ingredient in Chyawanprash is amla and it is rich in Vitamin C. There are many health benefits linked to the consumption of Chyawanprash.    Chyawanprash helps to relieve cough and fever, has anti-ageing benefits, improves memory, digestion, and complexion, and gives strength to all sense organs. As a result, many people in India consume Chyawanprash daily to prevent any ailments. There are many Chyawanprash brands in the Indian market such as Dabur, Emami Group, Himalaya, Bajaj, and Baidyanath; however, the leading brand is Dabur, with a market share of 70 percent. The price of Chyawanprash is approximately Rs 200 per kilogram.   

Today, there are a number of variants of Chyawanprash to cater to the differing tastes of individuals. With growing stress among individuals, especially among the urban folks, there is a demand for stress-relief medicines and potions.    To cater to this group of individuals, Dabur has come up with Chyawanshakti, a slight variation of Chyawanprash. Chyawanshakti is a unique mix of herbs to help individuals combat all pressures of life. Also, there are sugar-free Chyawanprash products for those who are diabetic. To entice children into consuming Chyawanprash, new flavors such as chocolate, orange and mango have been introduced into the market. Chyawanprash has made its way into every household because it has kept pace with the times and tweaked its marketing campaigns to connect well with the masses, especially the younger generation.   

Apart from introducing new and exciting variants of Chyawanprash, organizations have backed their marketing campaigns with well-known stars. To entice the younger generation, Dhoni has been featured in Dabur Chyawanprash advertisements. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Ravi Kishan has been signed by Dabur for the promotional activities of the company. Emami, on the other hand, signed Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador for its Chyawanprash products.   Today, even though there is an influx of foreign health supplements into the Indian market, Indians are still consuming ayurvedic products such as Chyawanprash because they do not have any side effects. More and more Indians are becoming health conscious and they are preferring ayurvedic and organic products to those manufactured using chemicals. So, there is a huge market that has been left untapped by the Chyawanprash industry. As the saying goes, “prevention is better than cure,” it is better to strengthen one’s immune system and stay healthy instead of relying on medicines for cure. And this is exactly what Chyawanprash communicates. 

Right to Privacy

 

Privacy is a fundamental human right, enshrined in numerous international human rights instruments. It is central to the protection of human dignity and forms the basis of any democratic society. It also supports and reinforces other rights, such as freedom of expression, information and association.  Activities that restrict the right to privacy, such as surveillance and censorship, can only be justified when they are prescribed by law, necessary to achieve a legitimate aim, and proportionate to the aim pursued.

 

As innovations in information technology have enabled previously unimagined forms of collecting, storing and sharing personal data, the right to privacy has evolved to encapsulate State obligations related to the protection of personal data.  A number of international instruments enshrine data protection principles, and many domestic legislatures have incorporated such principles into national law.

 

Privacy also has implication for the freedom of opinion and expression. The Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression emphasises that the “right to privacy is often understood as an essential requirement for the realization of the right to freedom of expression. Undue interference with individual’s privacy can both directly and indirectly limit the free development and exchange of ideas.”

 

The Constitution of India does not specifically guarantee a right to privacy, however through various judgements over the years the Courts of the country have interpreted the other rights in the Constitution to be giving rise to a (limited) right to privacy – primarily through Article 21 – the right to life and liberty. In 2015, this interpretation was challenged and referred to a larger Bench of the Supreme Court (the highest Court in the country) in the writ petition Justice K.S Puttaswamy & Another vs. Union of India and Others, the case is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

 

The constitutional right to privacy in India is subject to a number of restrictions. These restrictions have been culled out through the interpretation of various provisions and judgements of the Supreme Court of India:

 

• The right to privacy can be restricted by procedure established by law which procedure would have to be just, fair and reasonable (Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India);

• Reasonable restrictions can be imposed on the right to privacy in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence; (Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India, 1950)

• The right to privacy can be restricted if there is an important countervailing interest which is superior (Gobind v. State of M.P.);

• The right to privacy can be restricted if there is a compelling state interest to be served (Gobind v. State of M.P.);

• The protection available under the right to privacy may not be available to a person who voluntarily thrusts her/himself into controversy (R. Rajagopal v. Union of India).

• Like most fundamental rights in the Indian Constitution, the right to privacy has been mostly interpreted as a vertical right applicable only against the State, as defined under Article 12 of the Constitution, and not against private citizens. (Zoroastrian Cooperative Housing Society v District Registrar)