Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed the interim plea of mining major Vedanta Ltd seeking permission to inspect its Sterlite copper unit at <keyword id="6354388" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tuticorin">Tuticorin</keyword> in Tamil Nadu, which is closed since May 2018 over pollution concerns, and to operate it for four weeks to assess the pollution level. Vedanta had sought handing over of the plant for three months saying it requires two months to start the unit and the company should be allowed to run it for four weeks to ascertain whether its polluting or not. The interim plea by Vedanta was opposed by Tamil Nadu government which claimed before a bench headed by Justice R F Nariman that the plant had been "polluting consistently". Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the mining major, told the apex court that it is a "case of <keyword id="10367363" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mala-fide-closure">mala fide closure</keyword> of the plant" and Vedanta is producing 36 per cent of copper demand of the country. "Allow us to run (the plant) for four weeks and it can be proved whether we are polluting beyond the point," Singhvi told the bench, also comprising Justices Navin Sinha and K M Joseph. Senior advocate <keyword id="254329" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Colin-Gonsalves">Colin Gonsalves</keyword>, appearing for some villagers who are residing nearby the plant, claimed that the unit should not be allowed to operate as water is getting contaminated there and people are suffering from diseases like cancer. The bench, while holding that interim plea of Vedanta cannot be allowed, said that final hearing in the matter can be heard after physical hearing starts in the apex court. In August, Vedanta had moved the apex court challenging the Madras High Court order refusing to allow reopening of the Tuticorin plant. The high court had upheld the orders of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) directing closure of the unit in May 2018. Vedanta had approached the high court in February 2019, seeking to reopen Sterlite plant which was closed following a May 23, 2018 order issued by the TNPCB in the backdrop of violent protests against the unit which left 13 people dead in police firing on May 21 and 22, 2018. It had filed the petition in the high court as suggested by the Supreme Court, which had on February 18 last year set aside <keyword id="2462566" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-National-Green-Tribunal">the National Green Tribunal</keyword> order that allowed opening of Sterlite plant. During the hearing conducted on Wednesday through video-conferencing, Singhvi told the bench that the plant can be allowed to be run on an experimental basis as its closure for over two year is a "huge national wastage". "In 1994, I (Vedanta) got the permission and I started in 1997 and gave employment to around 4,000 people," Singhvi said, adding, "It appears that the respondent (Tamil Nadu) doesn't want to allow its operation". He said 30 recommendations have been made by the central and state pollution control boards. "Closure was ordered on a PIL (public interest litigation). The pollution control boards made 30 recommendations and 29 were complied with and the District Collector had said that emission was within the emissions norms," he said, adding that steps were taken as "knee jerk reactions due to some agitation". Senior advocate C S Vaidayanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu government, said that the plant has been "polluting consistently and it has only worsened after it was allowed to run" by the apex court earlier "Till such time these findings of high court on pollution are set aside, it cannot be allowed to run," he said. Senior advocate K V Vishwanathan, who also appeared for the state authorities, said Vedanta's plea seeking re-opening of the plant has been rejected eight times by the court. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/burger-king-grey-market-premium-and-heres-what-brokerages-say-about-the-ipo-opening-tomorrow/articleshow/79508730.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Burger King India IPO opens today — brokerages recommend ‘subscribe’ on attractive valuations</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/delhi-chalo-no-breakthrough-in-talks-government-seeks-farmers-objections-suggestions-on-farm-laws/articleshow/79521894.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Delhi Chalo: No breakthrough in talks, government seeks farmers' objections, suggestions on farm laws</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/china-just-landed-its-change-5-spacecraft-on-the-moon-the-mission-could-bring-moon-rocks-to-earth-for-the-first-time-in-40-plus-years-/articleshow/79520221.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">China just landed its Chang'e-5 spacecraft on the moon. The mission could bring moon rocks to Earth for the first time in 40-plus years.</a>

SC rejects Vedanta's interim plea to inspect, operate closed Sterlite copper unit at Tuticorin

New Delhi, Apr 21 () The Supreme Court, while hearing a PIL seeking immediate relief for the poor and homeless during the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, said on Tuesday that "this was not the situation" where it can direct the government to do certain acts in a particular way. A bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B R Gavai, through video conferencing, was hearing the PIL filed by activist Swami Agnivesh seeking reliefs for the poor and the economically weaker sections during the lockdown. The bench after hearing the Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, and senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the activist, disposed of the PIL after the law officer submitted that the implementation of the directions sought for will also be taken care of. During the hearing, Gonsalves said an application has been filed and it has been submitted that many states and UTs have not re-started the 'anganwadi' scheme for food distribution. The plea said that lactating mothers and their infants should be given food under the National Food Security Act. Referring to prevailing circumstances, the bench said, "This is a situation where we cannot say whether some task has to be done one way or another. You have suggestions and you can put them to the government for consideration." The top court on April 15 had disposed of the PIL of Swami Agnivesh after taking note of the Centre's submission that it was taking steps to implement relief measures to help needy poor people during nation-wide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Solicitor General had said that the government was monitoring the situation and implementation of the guidelines were being ensured for benefits of poor and needy people. SJK ABA MNL SA

COVID-19: Govt can't be told to act in particular way in such situations, says SC; disposes PIL

(Eds: Adding details from the order) New Delhi, Apr 15 () The Supreme Court took note of the Centre's submission on Wednesday that it was taking steps to implement relief measures to help the poor during the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and disposed of a PIL seeking relief such as financial help and food for them.A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana recorded the statement of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who explained the steps taken by the centre to address the concerns raised in the petition.The apex court, through video conferencing, was hearing the PIL field by activist Swami Agnivesh seeking immediate relief for poor, homeless and all Economically Weaker Sections during the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 or novel coronavirus.It was alleged by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the activist, that the March 28 guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare 28 on helping people were not being fully implemented by authorities concerned. "On the contrary, Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the Union of India states that there is full monitoring and implementation of the guidelines...and it will be ensured that the concerned police authorities would also naturally follow these guidelines. "Recording the statement made by the Solicitor General, we dispose of the instant writ petition," said the bench which also comprised justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B R Gavai. The bench took note of Mehta's statement that the central government was taking all steps to ensure that the benefits of relief measures reach to the poor and needy people.The law officer said the Centre would ensure that state governments also do the needful to help the poor and its (Centre's) day-to-day directives are being complied by them.Gonsalves submitted however that the government should have paid wages to the migrant workers in this hour of need. He contended that though the Centre in its affidavit has claimed that everything has been done to help people, at the ground level very few things have been done.During the hearing, the bench said the grievance of the petitioner was that at the ground level, the administrative authorities were not implementing relief measures. The law officer said there is no reason to "not to trust" the Centre.He said "these are self employment generating petitions. This court should not entertain such petitions".Taking note of the submissions of the Centre, the bench then disposed the PIL. SJK ABA MNL SA

SC considers Centre's stand on helping poor during lockdown, disposes PIL seeking relief

<ul><li>The Indian <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> has issued a notice to the central government asking it to respond to allegations that nearly four crore <keyword id="52453" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ration-Cards">ration cards</keyword> were cancelled because they were not Aadhaar-linked.</li><li>The plea filed with India’s apex judicial institutional added that the cancellation of these cards has led to an increase in <keyword id="99953" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="starvation-deaths">starvation deaths</keyword> across the country.</li><li>The Supreme Court has taken up the case at a time when food India’s insecurity is reportedly at an all time high, worsened by the COVID-19 lockdowns.</li></ul>Koili Devi lost her 11-year daughter to starvation after her family’s ration card was cancelled for not being linked to their Aadhaar number. The local authorities, however, claimed that the death of Santoshi Kumari was due to malaria — not hunger. The fight on whether or not the right to food, as promised by Article 47 of the Indian Constitution, is being impeded by Aadhaar card linkages has now reached the Supreme Court and the bench wants answers from the central government. The story of Koili Devi Devi maintains that Santoshi had allegedly not eaten for eight days before her death on 28 September 2017. She was even unable to avail the mid-day meal that she usually received at school due to the Durga Puja holidays at the time. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> In a video with Right to Campaign activist, Dheeraj Kumar, Devi explains that the local ration dealer refused to give her family rations for six months on the grounds that their ration card had not been linked — or ‘seeded’ — to their Aadhaar card. Devi’s husband was mentally ill and hence, unable to work. She and her other daughter tried to get some income cutting grass on farms, but that only put around ₹80 to ₹90 in their pocket per week. Even jobs under India’s employment guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, were not available at the time to provide the family with any kind of disposable income. In the moments before Santoshi lost consciousness, Devi claims that her child asked for rice. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“I went to get rice but I was told that no ration will be given to me. My daughter died saying ‘bhat, bhat’.”" auname="Koili Devi told ANI."></div> Now, the question isn’t just about Devi’s right to food, but the right of nearly four crore families whose ration cards have allegedly been cancelled, without prior notice, because they were not linked to the country’s biometric identification system -- Aadhaar. ‘One nation, one ration card’ has made things worse While the central government has been asked to explain themselves, states too have a role to play. Even Solicitor General Aman Lekhi told the petitioner to take the case to the relevant high court. This is because in states where starvation deaths are happening due to lack of a ration card, the administration is blaming them either on malaria or diarrhoea instead — like in the case of Devi and her daughter Santoshi. “In fact, [they blame it on] anything but the lack of food,” said the petitioner's report after obtaining responses from states. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“The Union of India casually gives an explanation that these cancelled cards were bogus. The real reason is that the technological system based on iris identification, thumb prints, non-possession of Aadhaar, non-functioning of the internet in rural and remote areas, etc, led to large scale cancellation of ration cards without notice to the family concerned.”" auname="Report filed by the petitioner, Koili Devi, to the Supreme Court of India"></div> In Odisha, for instance, families were being denied access to food through the public distribution system (PDS) after the state started to implement the central government’s ‘one nation, one ration card’ programme in September 2019, according to <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/society/odisha-families-are-being-denied-rations-due-to-aadhaar-linking-problems/article29863013.ece">The Hindu.</a> The programme required ration card holders to link their accounts to their Aadhaar in an exercise called ‘Aadhaar seeding’. The process helps the government weed out ghost names, which appear on multiple ration cards. These names can then be removed from the list of beneficiaries. But, the system is not foolproof as seen in Odisha’s case. “Tribals either do not have Aadhaar cards or the identification does not work in tribal and rural areas,” Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who is representing Devi, told the court. Koili Devi’s case reaches the Supreme Court The Supreme Court has taken up the case at a time when the COVID-19 has intensified <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-exacerbates-indias-hunger-problem/a-55299109">food insecurity</a> in India. The pandemic has caused a lot of disruption to the local, regional and national food supply chains. The 2020 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World <a href="https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000117811/download/?_ga=2.262188741.854084085.1598210713-1475771515.1598210713">(SOFI)</a> report shows that India retains the dubious distinction of being the country with the largest population of food insecure people. Moreover, last year’s Hunger Watch Report dubbed the hunger situation in India as ‘grave’. Overall, on the <a href="https://www.globalhungerindex.org/pdf/en/2020.pdf">Global Hunger Index</a>, India currently ranks 94 out of the 107 country database and is in the ‘serious’ hunger category. <div type="image" title="Aadhaar PDS beneficiers" msid="81570484" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Number of Ration Card beneficiaries deleted over the last 10 months&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Gonsalves told the court that regardless of the challenges, the right to food — which is symbolised by the ration card — cannot be curbed or cancelled because a person does not have Aadhaar identification. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/finnish-photographer-jp-metsavainio-took-over-a-decade-and-1000-hours-of-photography-to-create-this-picture-of-the-milky-way-and-20-million-stars/slidelist/81563516.cms">It took over a decade and 1,000 hours of photography to create this picture of the Milky Way</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musk-turns-down-1-million-for-the-tweet-he-was-selling-as-an-nft/articleshow/81546434.cms">Elon Musk turns down $1 million for the tweet he was selling as an NFT</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-has-no-plans-of-suspending-the-use-of-the-astrazeneca-vaccine-covishield-vaccinations-will-go-on-with-full-vigour/articleshow/81552070.cms">India has no plans to suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine — ‘Covishield vaccinations will go on with full vigour</a>

A Dalit mother lost her ration card and then her child to starvation — her fight for justice has now become a national cause at the Supreme Court

New Delhi, May 8 () The Centre on Friday assured the Supreme Court that appropriate measures will be taken by it to deal with incidents of harassment and racial discrimination meted out to the people of North-Eastern region over their physical features and wrongly mistaking them for Chinese.An activist has moved the top court pointing out alleged racial attacks on people of North-Eastern region like spitting on them, evictions from their homes, termination from their jobs, isolating them in the hospital along with other corona infected patients and name calling of racial slurs in various parts of the country. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B R Gavai, which took up the matter through video conferencing, disposed of the matter after recording the statement of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre that appropriate steps will be taken by the government urgently.Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for petitioner Alana Golmei, pointed out to various reports of racial discrimination and attacks on people of North Eastern region.He said that people of North-Eastern are facing difficulties due to these types of incidents and Centre should take urgent steps to allay the apprehensions. The Solicitor General said that there is already a dedicated helpline to address the grievances of North-East people.Gonsalves responded that the said helpline and the website is not been working or responding as a result the people from North-Eastern (NE) region have been facing difficulties and alleged racial attacks.Taking note of the submissions, the bench said, "Be that as it may, the solicitor general has submitted that the material which has pointed out in the writ petition shall be attended to and appropriate measures be taken by the Government to dispel the apprehensions of the petitioners as raised in the writ petition on an urgent basis. Taking note of above statement of Solicitor General, the petition is disposed of".The plea filed through advocate Satya Mitra said, "When the lockdown was imposed on account of COVID 19, beatings of, spitting on, and a whole spectrum of acts of discrimination and violence on people of the Northeast took place. Across the country the public identified of the people of the NE with China and automatically presumed that they were carriers of the virus and subjected them to merciless harassment".It said that assuming people from the Northeast are automatic carriers of the virus, the landlords have begun evicting persons from their rented apartments during the lockdown and they have no-where to go.The plea said that media reports have pointed out that persons from the NE who are asymptomatic and have no illness whatsoever have been forcibly quarantine along with persons suffering from the virus.It sought directions to Centre and particularly to the police force in all the States and UT's in India to conduct an immediate investigation by a senior officer into the crimes reported and prosecutes the offenders expeditiously in accordance with law.The plea, besides seeking various reliefs also sought direction to Centre and States to ensure that people of North East are not forcibly evicted from rented accommodations during the lockdown period and they should not be denied rations. MNL ABA SJK RKS MNL RKSRKS

Coronavirus: Centre assures SC of appropriate steps to deal with harassment of NE people

New Delhi, Apr 15 () The Supreme Court on Wednesday took note of the Centre's submission that it was taking steps to implement relief measures to help needy people during nation-wide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic and disposed of a PIL seeking reliefs such as financial help and food for poor persons.A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana recorded the statement of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who explained the steps taken by the centre to address the concerns raised in the petition. The apex court, through video conferencing, was hearing the PIL field by activist Swami Agnivesh seeking immediate relief for poor, homeless and all Economically Weaker Sections during the nation-wide lockdown to contain spread of novel Coronavires.The bench, which also comprised Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B R Gavai, took note of Mehta's statement that the Central government was taking all steps to ensure that the benefits of relief measures reach to the poor and needy people.The law officer said the Centre would ensure that state governments also do the needful to help the poor and its (Centre's) day-to-day directives are being complied by them. Agnivesh, represented by senior lawyer Colin Gonsalves, submitted that the government should have paid wages to the migrant workers in this hour of need. He contended that though the Centre, in its affidavit, has claimed that everything has been done to help people, but at the ground very few things have been done.During the hearing, the bench said the grievance of the petitioner was that at the ground level, the administrative authorities were not implementing relief measures. The law officer said there is no reason to "not to trust" the Centre. He said "these are self employment generating petitions. This court should not entertain such petitions". Taking note of the submissions of the Centre, the bench then disposed the PIL. SJK ABA MNL RKS MNL RKS

SC considers Centre's stand of helping poor during lockdown, disposes PIL on it

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image">REUTERS/Adnan AbidiDemonstrators with their heads covered by black cloth take part in a protest outside a court in New Delhi September 10, 2013. </div></div>
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - All four men convicted of raping and murdering a 23-year-old woman in Delhi were sentenced to death on Friday, nine months after a crime whose savagery triggered furious protests across Indiaand rare national debate about violence against women.
"Everybody got the death penalty," defense lawyer A.P. Singh told reporters outside the Delhi courtroom, where dozens of police had formed a barricade to keep crowds back.
One of the four men sentenced to death by hanging, gym instructor Vinay Sharma, was dragged out of the court crying.
The victim, who was raped for an hour and tortured with an iron rod on a moving bus, became a symbol of the dangers women face in a country where a <keyword id="39493" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rape">rape</keyword> is reported on average every 21 minutes and acid attacks and cases of molestation are common.
"This has shocked the collective conscience of society," Judge Yogesh Khanna told the court, referring to the attack.
The four men were sentenced to death despite their lawyers' pleas to ignore popular and political pressure for a penalty handed down in only the "rarest of rare" cases.
Lawyer A.P. Singh, who represented two of the convicts in the trial, said hours before the sentencing that it would be "based on the emotions of the people".
"This sentencing is under political pressure," he said.
The sentencing capped a seven-month trial, often held behind closed doors, that was punctuated dramatically by a fifth defendant hanging himself in his jail cell. A sixth, who was under 18 at the time of the attack, was earlier sentenced to three years detention, the maximum allowed under juvenile law.
It was one of the biggest tests in years of <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s paradoxical attitude towards the death penalty.
The country's judges hand down, on average, 130 death sentences every year but India has executed just three people in the past 17 years. Despite its apparent reluctance to carry out the sentences, last year India voted against a U.N. draft resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions.
In November, India ended what many human rights groups had interpreted as an undeclared moratorium on capital punishment when it executed a man convicted for the 2008 militant attack on the city of Mumbai. Three months later, it hanged a Kashmiri separatist for a 2001 militant attack on parliament.
"In the past year, India has made a full-scale retreat from its previous principled rejection of the death penalty," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
The hanging of the two militants came after a seven-year gap in executions, the last being a man who was convicted of raping and killing a schoolgirl in the city of Kolkata.
Prosecutors had called for the "harshest punishment" to be given to Sharma, bus cleaner Akshay Kumar Singh, fruit-seller Pawan Gupta, and unemployed Mukesh Singh for last December's murder to signal that such attacks cannot be tolerated.
The four men were found guilty of luring the woman onto a bus, raping and torturing her with a metal bar and then throwing her naked and bleeding onto the road. She died two weeks later.
Violent protests exploded in several cities after the crime, a reaction commentators and sociologists said reflected a deep well of frustration that many urban Indians feel over what they see as weak governance and poor leadership on social issues.
The government, seen as out of touch with the aspirations of the burgeoning urban middle class, was caught off guard by the protests.
DIVIDED ON DEATH
The Delhi case led to the introduction of tougher rape laws in March, and for the first time open conversation about gender crime in television debates, social media and even Bollywood.
Still, sex crimes remain commonplace in India, and social commentators say patriarchal attitudes towards women have not been diluted by more than a decade of rapid economic growth.
Comments on social media websites and elsewhere ahead of the sentencing suggested that popular opinion was in favor of executing the men, although a survey by CNN-IBN-The Hindu newspaper in July showed Indians were divided on the merits of capital punishment.
The victim's parents have said their daughter's dying wish was for her attackers to be "burned alive".
A potentially years-long appeals process lies ahead for the four men. The case will go to the High Court and then Supreme Court. If they confirm the sentences, the final decision will lie with the president, who has the power to grant clemency.
Although the Supreme Court ruled in the 1980s that the death penalty should be imposed only in the "rarest ofrare" cases, opponents say the reality is quite different.
Indian courts sentenced 1,455 prisoners to death between 2001 and 2011, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
There are 477 people on death row. Many have been there for years. Human rights groups have been alarmed, however, by the vigor with which President Pranab Mukherjee, who was sworn into office in July 2012, has acted in clearing the backlog of clemency pleas. He has rejected 11, confirming the death penalty for 17 people.
Retired Delhi High Court judge R.S. Sodhi attributes the country's low execution rate to former presidents being "too soft", wary of any backlash from what he described as a divided public.
Sodhi, who said he sentenced five people to death during his time on the bench, now opposes the death penalty.
"A life sentence is the biggest sentence you can give. Imagine rotting for the rest of your life in jail," he said.
It is a view echoed by some women's rights groups and legal experts who had opposed executing the physiotherapist's attackers. Others have invoked the Gandhian principle that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".
But top politicians, including the interior minister, had said the death penalty was assured in the case. Such comments were seen by some as adding to pressure on the court to make a populist ruling to satisfy the public outrage over the attack.
"Public opinion and particularly media channels are adding fuel to the fire. It is putting the judiciary on the back foot," said Colin Gonsalves, a lawyer who has appeared in the Supreme Court and is founder director of the Human Rights Law Network.
(Additional reporting by Shyamantha Asokan; Writing by Ross Colvin and John Chalmers; Editing by Robert Birsel)

You Searched For "Colin Gonsalves" and got 7 results

SC rejects Vedanta's interim plea to inspect, operate closed Sterlite copper unit at Tuticorin

PTI

COVID-19: Govt can't be told to act in particular way in such situations, says SC; disposes PIL

PTI

SC considers Centre's stand on helping poor during lockdown, disposes PIL seeking relief

PTI

A Dalit mother lost her ration card and then her child to starvation — her fight for justice has now become a national cause at the Supreme Court

Prabhjote Gill

Coronavirus: Centre assures SC of appropriate steps to deal with harassment of NE people

PTI

SC considers Centre's stand of helping poor during lockdown, disposes PIL on it

PTI

Four Guilty Of Delhi Gang Rape Sentenced To Death

Sruthi Gottipati and Sanjeev …

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides