• NATIONAL

Delhi High Court dismisses COAI petition on dual technology

Delhi High court has dismissed a petition challenging the government's decision to allow use of dual technology for mobile services and revised spectrum allocation norms. The court has imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 each on six petitioners such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular, and their association Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). The major beneficiaries of this verdict are the CDMA-based operators including Anil Ambani Group company RCOM and Tata Teleservices as the government has already allocated GSM spectrum to RCOM in all circles and Tatas are getting the radio frequency as and when it is becoming available.

Court pulls up insurance firms for challenging compensation orders

The Delhi High Court criticized insurance companies that frequently challenge lower court orders of accident compensation. Dismissing a petition of Oriental Insurance Company, Justice V B Gupta said the provisions in the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal Act (MACT) were brought in to grant relief to the victim by way of compensation. He also said that the insurance companies should not avoid payment of compensation by raising all possible pleas and thereby defeating the object of such provisions.

Central Govt not to violate court ruling on shrine

The Central Government has made it clear that no solution that violates the high court ruling on the Amarnath land and the J&K Shrine Board Act, 2000, will be acceptable. The govt till now has been indulgent towards the protests in the valley.

Court seeks Centre's stand on regulating news channels

The Supreme Court sought Centre's stand on the implementation of guidelines to regulate TV channels. In order to increase TRP, these TV channels allegedly going on a blitzkrieg in sensensationalising the news. A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam issued notice to the government asking it to respond as "to what extent the guidelines are being implemented relating to the regulation of electronic media".

Consumer Court says Power Distribution Company cannot overcharge

A power distribution company has been taken by the Delhi Consumer Commission for sending an inflated bill to a consumer whose complaint on his meter running fast. The complaint was allegedly brushed aside on the pretext that it was within permissible limits.

Consumer court pulls up Kingfisher airline

Kingfisher Airlines is pulled up by the national consumer redressal body for adopting an unfair trade practice by misinforming passengers about the airline they were flying by. The complainant herein bought a Delhi-Bhubaneswar return ticket on a March 8 Kingfisher flight over the internet from the airline's website. But the problem arises when the complainant was told at the check-in counter that Kingfisher Airlines did not have a flight between Delhi and Bhubaneswar and was asked to take an Air Deccan flight instead.

Calling an SC 'chamar' offensive, punishable, says apex court

The Supreme Court has said that addressing Scheduled Castes people as 'chamar' may amount to an offence punishable under the provision of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Law ministry moots penalty in R&D bill to protect IPR

The law ministry has recommended introduction of penal provisions in the Public Funded R&D (Protection, Utilisation and Regulation of Intellectual Property) Bill of 2007. This leads to prevent misuse of intellectual property by scientists and also allow public sector R&D organizations to commercialize their inventions and share their profits with the inventor.

New company law to post email as evidence

The new company law, being drafted by the government, is likely to recognize email as a valid piece of evidence. With corporate relying on emails for bulk of their communication, the ministry of corporate affairs is planning to recognize electronic communication by corporate as evidence during company law prosecutions.

• INTERNATIONAL

Dubai to issue sweeping real estate law

Aiming at regulating the city-state's booming property market, the Dubai local government has issued a mortgage law. This new law requires that mortgages be insured, sold by approved banks, registered with local authorities and that they specify the property value and terms of the loan. The decree comes amid a corruption probe involving some of Dubai's most prominent companies and growing concerns that speculators are inflating prices in the emirate's frenzied real estate market.

Russia eyes US racketeering law to net NY bank

Russian authorities are hoping to make legal history by applying an American racketeering law in a Moscow court, "Russian Federal Customs Service", as they seek to recover bn of dollars in damages from the Bank of New York Mellon.

Israeli court clears decks for takeover of Taro Pharma by Sun Pharmaceuticals

Sun Pharmaceuticals has won the first round in the legal battle for Taro Pharma, with the Tel-Aviv district court asking promoters of the Israeli drug maker to sell their stake to Sun at the agreed price of $7.75 a share. The court also rejected the Taro's contention that Sun should have conducted a special tender offer under Israeli law.

Mervyns financing is approved by Bankruptcy court

The US department store chain Mervyns said that a US bankruptcy court gave final approval of its $465 million debtor-in-possession financing facility. This, it will use to pay workers and vendors as it restructures. The privately held retailer, which filed for bankruptcy protection in July, called the approval of the financing, which will be provided by lenders led by Wachovia Finance Capital Corp, a "significant step" in its reorganization process.

Germany eases law on immigrant skilled labour

In the latest step to combat a shortage of skilled labour in Europe's biggest economy, Germany's cabinet agreed to let in highly trained immigrants on lower incomes than previously. Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved a draft law, still to go through parliament, to lower the annual income threshold for highly qualified immigrants by over 20,000 euros ($29,420) to about 60,000 euros.

Global law firms seek tie-ups with Indian peers

The global law majors, White & Case, Ropes & Gray, Ashurst Morris Crisp and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, are scouting for tie-ups with domestic law firms as a first step for a footprint in India. For possible alliances, they have already initiated talks with a host of law firms in the country. Since the Bar Council of India (BCI) prohibits the entry of foreign law firms in India, these tie-ups will be in the form of client referral arrangements where both parties will refer work to each other when there is a demand for India-related advice from international clients.

To fight child porn, Google deal with Brazil

Google, a famous internet search engine signed an agreement with Brazilian public prosecutors. This is to help combat child pornography on its social networking site Orkut, an accord that the company believes is the first of its kind internationally.