• NATIONAL

Ranbaxy faces legal heat from USFDA

The US federal authorities have issued legal notices to Ranbaxy Laboratories in relation to alleged falsification of records by the Indian company that resulted in the sale of generic drugs in the US which did not meet the U.S. standards.

BCCI issues legal notice to Pan Parag

The BCCI issued a legal notice to Kothari Products Limited, manufacturers of the Pan Parag, for "unauthorised" use of photographs and footage featuring Indian cricketers in their advertising campaigns.

Govt approves Drugs & Cosmetics Amendment Bill

The government gave its approval to move official amendments to the Drugs and Cosmetics Amendment Bill, 2005, which calls for harsh punishments to persons involved in manufacture and sale of spurious drugs.

New CBDT Chairman

Narendra Bahadur Singh, an Indian Revenue Service officer of the 1971 batch has taken over as Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes with effect from June 30. Prior to this, he was Member (personnel & Vigilance) in the Board.

Duty payment scheme for gutkha firms

In a bid to further curb excise duty evasion, the Finance Ministry on Tuesday introduced a mandatory scheme of payment of the duty based on capacity of production for pan masala, manufactured using a packing machine and put in pouches. The scheme allows payment of duty on the basis of number of packing machines installed in the factory of the manufacturers. It was a part of the Budget 2008-09 announcements.

Commercial Property of tax evader to be attached: CBEC

With a view to curb rising tax evasion, especially by exporters, big manufacturers and service providers, the Government would now be able to provisionally attach the property of evaders to recover dues. The property of the manufacturers and service providers evading taxes could be attached for two years to recover dues, according to a circular (Custom Cir. 10 of 2008) issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

Finmin to use third party info to detect excise duty evasion

The Finance Ministry is likely to come out with a plan in a couple of months to gather information on evasion of excise duty through sources like electricity bills and VAT payments. The third party information relates to gathering information on the assesse concerned through other sources and then matching this information with excise duty payment to assess whether the party was evading duty or not. For this purpose, electricity bills or VAT payment of companies concerned could be assessed to see whether there are any gross mismatches between their various payments and excise duty payment, the official said.

• INTERNATIONAL NEWS

New Wiretapping Law Illegally Broadens Spying Activity

Human Rights Groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have filed a New York federal court lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and its recently approved amendments. The complaint, says the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 "eviscerates the clear legal standards and effective oversight and controls" that Congress established in 1978 to keep the government from having "virtually unregulated authority" to monitor U.S. citizens' international communications.

World Court: US should halt executions of Mexicans

The U.N.'s highest court ordered U.S. authorities to halt the executions of five Mexicans in Texas until their cases are reviewed. The World Court told U.S. authorities in 2004 to review the cases of 51 Mexicans sentenced to death by state courts after finding they had been denied the right to seek help from consular officials. The World Court has no enforcement powers but President Bush issued a directive to the Texas courts to abide by the 2004 ruling. The state courts refused to review the cases and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in March that the president cannot compel the state courts to comply.

Mexico turned again to the U.N. court arguing that the United States was defying the 2004 World Court order and asking the judges to issue an emergency injunction to stop the killings of five men whose executions were imminent.

Judge rules Missouri executions constitutional

A federal judge in Missouri has ruled that the state's method of executing condemned prisoners by injection is constitutional. U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan in Kansas City made the ruling. Two years ago he had issued a moratorium on executions in Missouri. But he says the state has since revised its procedures and that they are now constitutional.

Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Non-Money Judgments in Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada has recently held that, in proper circumstances, a foreign non-money judgment will be enforced in Canada. This decision marks a departure from the centuries old common law rule that prohibited the recognition and enforcement of foreign non-money judgments.