SUPREME COURT DISMISSES PETITION CHALLENGING INCLUSION OF BROADCASTING & CABLE SERVICES IN TELECOM SERVICES

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, frowning upon judicial activism, said the judiciary should maintain restraint for the proper functioning of the state. A bench comprising Justice H K Sema and Justice Markandey Katju said, "We have to respect Parliament. The judiciary should desist from interfering in parliamentary decisions."

Justice Katju, speaking on behalf of the bench, said, "We have delivered a judgement on judicial restraint. Again we are reiterating it. It is absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of the state."

The bench refused to interfere in the parliamentary decision which had brought broadcasting and cable services within the definition of telecommunication services. It dismissed a petition which had challenged it.

"If Parliament had decided to bring it (broadcasting and cable services) within the definition of telecom services, how can we interfere in it?" said Justice Katju.

Senior counsel Fali Nariman appearing for petitioner Star India said originally broadcasting services were not included in the definition of telecom services. But through a proviso which was inserted by an amendment to the Trai Act, it was done so which was illegal, submitted Mr. Nariman.

At this the bench said, "Parliament can do it. We cannot do it. Proviso has different connotation. If the decision was taken by Parliament, we can not interfere in it."

The ministry of communications and information technology on January 9, 2004, had issued a notification by which broadcasting and cable services were brought within the ambit of telecommunication services pursuant to section 2 (1)(k) of the Trai Act.

Earlier in a controversial judicial restrain order passed on December 6, a two-judge bench comprising Justice A K Mathur and Justice Markandey Katju had said the judiciary must refrain from encroaching on legislative and executive domain, otherwise it will boomerang in the form of political class stepping in to clip their wings.

"If the judiciary does not exercise restraint and over-stretches its limit, there is bound to be reaction from politicians and others. The politicians will then step in and curtail the powers or even independence of the judiciary. The judiciary should, therefore, confine itself to its proper sphere, realising that in a democracy many matters and controversies are best resolved in a non-judicial settings," the bench had said.

The court had said justification often given for judicial encroachment into the domain of the executive or legislature was that the other two organs were not doing their jobs properly. Even assuming this was so, the same allegation could then be made against the judiciary too, because there were cases pending in courts for half a century, it had said.

If they were not discharging their assigned duties, the remedy was not judicial interference as it would violate the delicate balance of power enshrined in the Constitution, court had observed.

"We are compelled to make these observations because we are repeatedly coming across (instances) where judges are unjustifiably trying to perform executive or legislative functions. In our opinion, this is clearly unconstitutional. In the name of judicial activism judges cannot cross their limits and try to take over functions which belong to another organ of state," the bench had said in its December 6 order.

The court had cited many examples where judiciary had encroached upon the turf which was unwarranted. The Jagdambika Pal's case of 1998 involving UP legislative assembly and the Jharkhand assembly case of 2005 were the two glaring examples of deviations from the clearly provided constitutional scheme of separation of powers, the bench had said.

It further said the Delhi High Court order banning interviews of children for admissions into nursery class was illegal as there was no statute or rule which prohibited such interviews. Following it, a co-ordinate bench of the apex court had refused to hear a PIL relating to rehabilitation of the sex workers and referred it to the larger bench.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan while hearing the petition had said it would lay down the guidelines on the PILs.

Child abuse

For the first time, data on child abuse and neglect in India

A new report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India, (supported by Save the Children and UNICEF) released today, reveals the extent and magnitude of child abuse and neglect in India. This is one of the world's largest empirical, in-country studies covering nearly 12,500 children and 4800 young adults in 13 States.



The Study looks at three different forms of child abuse - physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse and girl child neglect in families, schools, work places, on the street and institutions. The Study complements the UN Secretary General's Study on Violence against Children, 2006.

The Study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of child abuse, which will help formulate appropriate policies and programmes meant to effectively end child abuse in India.

Major findings of the Study:



Boys, as compared to girls, are equally at risk of abuse.
Persons in trust and authority are major abusers.
5-12 year old children are in the high risk category: across the forms of abuse, the percentage of abuse among them is the highest.
70% of the children have not reported abuse to anyone.
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Delhi almost consistently report high rates of abuse in all forms as compared to other States.
2 out of every 3 children have been physically abused.
Two out of every three school going children are victims of corporal punishment. Half of these incidents are in government run schools.
More than half of the child respondents reported facing one or more forms of sexual abuse.
Every second child reported facing emotional abuse. In more than 80% of the cases parents were the abusers.

At the inauguration of the Study, Renuka Choudhary, Minister of State, Ministry of Women and Child Development, said "This is a landmark study that paves the way for new initiatives for protection of children in India." The Ministry on its part has taken measures such as enabling legislation to establish the National and State Commissions for Protection of Rights of the Child, the Integrated Child Protection Scheme and the draft Offences against Children Bill.



Shireen Miller, Head of Policy, Save the Children UK, India highlights "Family is the place where children should be the safest and yet this is the context in which much of the abuse takes place. The Study reveals an urgent need for both stronger legislation to protect children and parenting education in India."

Save the Children UK calls for stronger legislation to deal with Child Abuse and for the establishment of a separate and coherent National Child Protection Policy.

- ENDS -

Young Global Leaders’

Young Global Leaders’ “Table for Two” initiative launches first Chapter in India at the Indian Economic Summit




New Delhi, India, 3 December 2007 – The Indian chapter of TABLE FOR TWO is launched today at the Indian Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum by a group of Young Global Leaders who have committed to simultaneously target hunger in the developing world and obesity in developed countries.

This initiative offers a simple scheme to address both global challenges at the same time. "Every time someone eats a healthy meal at participating company cafeterias, restaurants and events, 20 cents is donated to fund a healthy school meal in developing countries," said James Kondo, President of Health Policy Institute Japan, a Young Global Leader, and a Co-Founder of the TABLE FOR TWO initiative.

Today, two Indian based-companies, Dabur India Ltd and Godrej Industries have announced their commitment to join the initiative and start the Indian Chapter which will benefit children to increase attendance to school and thus education. "It is imperative that corporates adopt a humane approach towards social development and environment protection in a fast developing country like India. Corporate social responsibility should be supplemented with individual involvement at all levels to achieve any realistic integration of economic and social progress. Corporate citizenship should now strive towards a participative 'movement' that would ensure sustained social development in the long run", said Tanya Dubash, Executive Director and President, Marketing, Godrej Industries and a Young Global Leader. "Dabur India Ltd is not only committed to making good products that make the world a better place to live in, but is also dedicated to meet or exceed societal needs.The 'Table For Two' programme takes our commitment towards the health & well- being of every household to the next level by reaching out to the needy children and providing them with a nutritional diet. This will give us an unique opportunity to truly make a difference in India and build a foundation for economic development and social advancement", said Amit Burman, Vice-Chairman, Darbur India Ltd and a Young Global Leader.


To help this Indian Chapter launch, healthy lunches are being offered at the Indian Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum. Twenty cents will be donated for every participant's lunch, paid by the World Economic Forum and Taj Palace Hotel, to fund a school meal in a developing country. "The World Economic Forum supports this Young Global Leaders' initiative, and congratulates the launch of the Indian Chapter," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. "We encourage businesses in India, of all sizes, to implement healthy TABLE FOR TWO meals in their cafeterias, and to contribute to better nutrition for employees at the same time providing a daily meal for poor children around the world."

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Eighty percent of proceeds from the Indian chapter will go towards providing school meals in India. The remaining 20% will be pooled globally to help provide meals in the most desperate regions of the world, including Africa, and those areas affected by war and famine.

The initiative was launched globally in September 2007 at the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, People's Republic of China. Over 40 companies from around the world - including Lehman Brothers, British Sky Broadcasting, IBM Japan, Japan Airways, and ITOCHU - have joined the initiative and offered healthy meals to their employees and customers, and in the process, donated 20 cents per healthy meal to school meal programmes in developing countries. The Indian Chapter is the second chapter to be launched after Japan. The US chapter is planned to be launched in April 2008.

Village women leaders fight back

Indira Kushwaha has fled her village after she was threatened (Pics: Prakash Hatvalne)
Shyama Tomar is an elected woman leader of a village council in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh


But her status in India's male-dominated heartland did not stop a male colleague from allegedly slapping and tearing off her clothes in full view of people in a busy public square in June.


Shyama, 45, says her only "crime" was to discontinue the free supply of water carried by tanker trucks in her water-scarce village to a hotel owned by her colleague, a 60-year-old vice president of the same village council.

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After taking over the village council, the feisty teacher-turned village council leader found that proceeds from the sale of water supplied by the council to villagers by tanker trucks over five years had been an abysmal 506 rupees ($11).

During her first year in the job proceeds from selling water climbed over 20 times, a clear indication that money from earlier sales was being siphoned off.

"It was not my personal insult. It was insulting the position I occupy," says Shyama.

She is the not the only woman village council leader in Madhya Pradesh who is facing the ire of her male colleagues for asking too many questions.

Indira Kushwaha, the head of Mahoikala village in Chhattarpur district, was allegedly dragged out of her house, nearly stripped naked and paraded around the village by a group of men in June. Her son was also beaten up.

Indian women who made news

Maneka Gandhi is the most well known animal activist in India. Widow of Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of former PM Indira Gandhi.She served as the Indian Minister of Social Justice and Welfare , Environment and Forests (1989-1991). In 1993, she started an animal welfare organization called People for Animal (PFA), with the help of M.F. Hussain and Anupam Kher. Today it has over 200,000 workers working for it in over 146 branches around India and is the country`s largest NGO (Non Government Organization). It has various projects: Mobile Clinics, no-kill shelter, Save our Wild Life (SoWL) etc. PFA networks with the Forest Department, the Police, lawyers and the press to implement their objectives: to create shelters for sick and injured animals; to find loving homes for abandoned and stray animals and stop their killing; preserve and protect wildlife in its natural habitat and to ban the trade in wild animal products. Chemical free farming, organically grown foods, improvement of zoos; to stop animal sacrifice and wild game hunting; to rescue and rehabilitate performing animals and to stop the misuse of animals in movies; to campaign for and enforce proper animal rights laws and to control the testing of drugs and cosmetics on animals. Recipient of the prestigious Lord Erskine Award from the RSPCA,'Prani Mitra Award', 1996; and "Maharana Mewar, Foundation Award" 1996 for Environmental work; Environmentalist and Vegetarian of the year 1994 etc.




Rekha Rodwittiya , a feminist painter, belongs to the Baroda school that adheres to the tradition of narrative painting. At the same time, she emphasises the importance of ancient arts and crafts that are still practised by various artisans in India. Her early years at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, laid the foundation for a politically alert feminist practice of painting.Rodwittiya represents large clothed Gauginesque women as the archetypal figure in their daily work rituals, dwarfing their tools and objects that surround them, in a celebration of the female protagonist.



Vandana Shiva is a physicist, philosopher, ecofeminist, environmental activist and writer.She participated in the Chipko movement during the 1970s. The movement, whose main participants were women, adopted the tactic of hugging trees to prevent their felling. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. Initiatives of this foundation are the organic farming programme Navdanya, the Bija Vidyapeeth (or Seed University, International College for Sustainable Living), and Diverse Women for Diversity. Another of the Vandana Shiva's initiatives is the Living Democracy Movement.She received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993 for placing women and ecology at the heart of modern development discourse. Other awards she has received include the Global 500 Award of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1993, and the Earth Day International Award of the United Nations (UN).Vandana Shiva is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization, (along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin), and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as anti-globalization movement.



Arundhati Roy - high profile writer, actress and social activist won the 1997 Booker Prize for her first novel The God of Small Things. Also a trained architect, she has worked as a production designer and has written the screenplays for two films. Originally from Kerala in South India, she lives in New Delhi, India. Booker Prize winner and environment activist Arundhati Roy has turned down the 2006 Sahitya Akademi award for her book The Algebra of Infinite Justice.Ms. Roy had declined the award, saying she could not accept the honour from an institution linked to a government whose policies she opposed




Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress (INC)party and the widow of Rajiv Gandhi. Of Italian origin , Sonia married into the Gandhi family and became a full-fledged Indian citizen in 1984. Though her foreign origin has always given her oppopents something to debate on. Sonia Gandhi became the President of the Indian National Congress in 1998.




Phoolan Devi well known as the bandit queen of India. The Bandi Queen turned politician. Phoolan Devi evaded capture for two years and after negotiating terms, surrendered on Feb. 12, 1983, in a dramatic ceremony witnessed by thousands of her admirers. While imprisoned for 11 years in Gwalior Central Jail in Madhya Pradesh, she was befriended by Mala Sen, who wrote her story in India`s Bandit Queen (1991), the basis of a controversial film directed by Shekhar Kapur in 1995. After her release, she married, and converted to a form of Buddhism. In June 1995 she launched a new political party for the lower castes, Eklavya Manch, and opened the prospect of a new career in politics. She was shot dead by masked assailants on 25th July 2001.



Vandana Mataji born a Parsi (Zorastrian) in Mumbai, changed her faith to a christian, believes in many religions. She is an exponent of the new culture called Indian Christains. At her ashram in Rishikesh where she lives and practices her unique faith.Vandana Mataji, a Parsi-turned-nun who heads Jiva Dhara, an ashram in Rishikesh, at the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India. According to Vandana Mataji "Jesus was an Asian. We have no right to live, think and pray like western Christians."



Iconoclast and Odissi dancer, Protima Gauri Bedi . Formerly a model she became a Odissi dancer which was her passion. Protima Bedi set up a dance gurukul called Nrityagram, 35 kms from Bangalore. A dream of hers to make it a meeting point for the world dance communities. A dance music festival called Vasanthabba is held every February coinciding with the arrival of Spring, featuring the best dance and music artistes of the world. She died at the age of 56 in a landslide returning from a pilgrimage to the Mansovar in the Himalayas in 1998, leaving behind her most lasting achievement ? a flourishing dance village, Nrityagram, where students continue to learn the classical dance styles of India.



Internationally renowned for Ayurvedic Care & Cure, Shanaz Husain is the the pioneer and the undisputed Queen of herbal care. A royal descendent from Samarkhand, Shanaz trained for 10 years in cosmetology and cosmetic chemistry and adopted the principle of Natural Care and Cure and to apply the Ayurvedic system and formulate custom-made products for skin and hair problems.The legendary Shahnaz Herbal range of therapeutic products was thus born. Recipient of many awards like the World`s Greatest Woman Entrepreneur, Woman of the Year 1999,The 2000 Millennium Medal of Honour and Outstanding Woman of the 20th Century by the American Biographical Institute (ABI), U.S.A.,and many others.




Highly acclaimed Indian filmaker Mira Nair at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. She leapt into the world`s spotlight with her film Salaam, Bombay in 1988. Born in Bhubaneshwar,Orissa in 1957 she studied Sociology and Theater in the University of Delhi and went to continue her Sociology studies at Harvard. Sociology influence can be felt in her films like Mississippi Masala(1991), The Perez Family (1993) and the latest one MOnsoon Wedding (2001) which won her the Golden Lion at the Berlin Film Festival. She also is the director of the controversial film Kama Sutra,a remaking of the 15th century love manual.



Medha Patkar has been a central organizer and strategist of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a people's movement organized to stop the construction of a series of dams planned for India`s largest wetsward flowing river.The World Bank-financed Sardar Sarovar Dam is the keystone of the Narmada Valley Development Project, one of the world`s largest river development projects. Upon completion, Sardar Sarovar would submerge more than 37,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land. The dam and its associated canal system would also displace some 320,000 villagers, mostly from tribal communities, whose livelihoods depend on these natural resources.



Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai became the first Indian women to win the Miss Universe and the Miss World titles in 1995.



Indira Gandhi (1917-1984), the only child of Jawarharlal Nehru, India`s first Prime Minister. Married to Feroze Gandhi in 1942, she was elected to the Indian Parliament for the first time after her father`s death in 1964. She was Prime Minister of India between 1966-77 and 1980-1984. Her tenure is best remembered for the 1975 Emergency. She was assasinated by her bodyguards in 1984.



Aruna Roy, social activist and winner of the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay award for community service and co-founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan( MKSS), Organization for the Empowerment of Workers and Peasants, in Rajasthan. Aruna Roy is being cited for empowering Indian villagers to claim what is rightfully theirs by upholding and exercising the people`s right to information.



Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, daughter of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar and the widow of Maharaja of Jaipur. With her flawless beauty, grace and style the Maharani has appeared on the list of the World`s Most Beautiful Women and remains a favourite of columnists and an ideal subject for portraiture. Besides dabbling in politics she has also written a book called A Princess Remembers



Madhavi Mudgil is a renowned Odissi dance exponent. Through teaching, performing and conducting workshops, Madhavi Mudgilhas been actively involved in propagating the art of Odissi in New Delhi and other parts of India as well as the world. For her contribution to the art, Madhavi Mudgal received the Sanskriti Award and the President of India's award, the Padmashri besides the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her contribution to the world of Indian Dance.



Shabana Azmi , internationally acclaimed actress, Member of the Indian Parliament and UN Goodwill Ambassador, She is the winner of five National Awards for best Actress in India and the Padma Shree Award in 1988. Wife of poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhter and daughter of renowned Urdu poet, Kaifi Azmi.




Kiran Bedi is the the first woman to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972. One of the most popular Police officers who ever served the Indian Police Force.Kiran Bedi was honored with the UN medal for outstanding service. In May 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law by City University of New York, in recognition of her humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing. She also recieved the 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award for her effort to humananise and reform Tihar jail- Asia's largest prison located in New Delhi.



Indian born Kalpana Chawla was an astronaut and space shuttle mission specialist. She died aboard STS-107 (Space Shuttle Columbia) when it disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, on February 1, 2003.Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second person of Indian origin to fly in space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who flew in 1984 in a Soviet spacecraft.




Bhanwari Devi of Batteri, Jaipur in Rajasthan. Gang raped by 5 upper-caste men, in September 1992, for her social efforts to curb child marriages, she was soon deemed a social outcast by her neighbours, villagers and family members. Belonging to a potter class, no one offered assistance or bought their pots or milk. On 24 January 1994, all 5 men gave themselves up to the police after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issued warrants and threatened to confiscate their property. Later, the alleged rapists were set free on accounts of being middle-aged, respectable citizens

To be charming, be with happy women

LONDON: If you are a male and lack the ability to attract females, then simply get a happy-looking woman to accompany you, for a new study has found that men in the company of smiling women are likely to catch the fancy of other females.

However, the study also suggests that other men may view them as a threat.

According to psychologists, the copycat behaviour among women is because they do not have confidence in their own judgment.

"If a female has difficulty choosing the best male, she can help herself by seeing how rivals behave," the Mirror quoted Dr Benedict Jones, of Aberdeen University, as saying.

In the study, female volunteers aged about 24 rated pictures of young men's faces.

When they were shown a man next to a smiling woman, they upped their score by at least 15 per cent.

According to the paper, though such a phenomenon has already been seen among fish and birds, this research is the first evidence of such behaviour in humans.

The study has been published in the Biological Sciences journal.

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