• NATIONAL

Civil Courts and not Arbitrators to deal with serious allegations of malpractices and manipulations of accounts of firm: SC

The Supreme Court, in the case of N Radhakrishnan vs M/s Maestro Engineers, stated that Arbitrators are not entitled to deal with disputes relating to serious allegations of malpractices such as fraud, misrepresentation and manipulation of accounts of a firm and that the matter has to be appropriately decided by a civil court.

Gujarat University Syndicate's decision to cancel fee hike in Self-Financed Institutions upheld by Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court upheld the Gujarat University Syndicate's decision to cancel fee hike in Self-Financed Institutions offering BBA, BCA and B Com degree courses. Earlier the Syndicate had quashed the permission granted by the Vice-Chancellor to certain SFIs to raise their fee structures. The SFIs had then moved the court against the decision of the Syndicate.

Madras HC permits CBSE students to take part in sports events organised by State Authorities

The Madras High Court while disposing of a batch of writ petitions filed by students/parents and managements of CBSE schools in Tamil Nadu, challenging a govt order dated July 23, 2008 prohibiting students from schools affiliated to CBSE to take part in sports competitions organised by State authorities, directed that the State Education Department Authorities should permit the students of CBSE schools to participate in the sports events/competitions organised by the State authorities.

Competition Commission goes slow in tackling cases due to shortage of staff

The six-month-old Competition Commission does not have enough staff to tackle cases. As a result, the Commission which is probing complaints against companies such as HDFC Bank Ltd, Jet Airways (India) Ltd and even a division of the ministry of external affairs, has not been able to make much progress. The CCI is armed with more powers than its predecessor, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) but has been strapped for staff and therefore, has not been able to deal with complaints effectively.

Review of Policy on Foreign Technology Collaborations

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry to permit all payments for royalty, lumpsum fee for transfer of technology, payments for use of trademark/brand name on the automatic route without any restrictions, and subject to FEMA (Current Account Transaction) Rules, 2000. Hitherto, automatic approval was permitted for foreign technology transfers involving payment of lumpsum fee of US$ 2 million and royalty of 5% on domestic sales and 8% on exports. Beyond these limits, prior permission of the Government of India (Project Approval Board) was required. The move is expected to freely promote the transfer of state of art technology into the country

D.R. Meena is Law Secretary and T.K. Viswanathan is Law Minister's advisor

An Indian Legal Services (ILS) officer, D.R. Meena has been appointed the Law Secretary in the Ministry of Law & Justice. He replaces T.K. Viswanathan who retired on October 31. Viswanathan has been appointed as an advisor to the Law Minister, Veerappa Moily to push through the many legal reforms envisaged by the Minister.

• INTERNATIONAL

ICFAI to compensate $1 million for infringing trademark of US based CFA, Institute

Both the institutes run a course on Chartered Financial Analysts, the tussle between ICFAI and US based CFA has been going on for over three years now, the recent Court judgment has come as a major blow to the repute of the Institute. Virginia District Court of the US has directed ICFAI to pay damages to the CFA Institute for using the CFA trademark in US while deciding alleged trademark infringement and unfair competition by ICFAI. CFA alleges itself to be a brand who has attracted over 14,000 students from India this year only. India being the fourth largest market in terms of growth for the CFA Institute worldwide.

US House of Representatives approves historic healthcare bill

The US House of Representatives has approved the historic healthcare bill pushed by President Barack Obama. The bill amounts to a 10-year, trillion-dollar plan to extend health coverage to some 36 million Americans who lack it now. The United States is the only industrialized democracy that does not ensure that all of its citizens have healthcare coverage, with an estimated 36 million Americans uninsured.

The bill would create a government-backed insurance plan, popularly known as a "public option," to compete with private firms and would end denial of coverage based on preexisting medical problems. Under the bill, Americans would have to buy insurance and most employers would have to offer coverage to their workers - though some small businesses would be exempt and the government would offer subsidies.

Reform Bill in France to curtail powers of Investigating Judges

President Nicolas Sarkozy's government is drawing up a reform plan to do away with powers of investigating judges, a two-century-old Napoleonic legacy, and give more power to prosecutors. Investigative judges handle only a small percent of the most serious cases - including terrorism or major-league corruption - leading probes, questioning suspects and deciding who will be charged and tried. But a major miscarriage of justice far from politics led France to reevaluate its legal system.

The reform would bring the French system closer in line with that of Britain and the United States. Under the proposal, investigating judges would be given a new title and redefined powers: They would decide which suspects would be jailed pending investigation and could order wiretaps and searches, but they would not lead investigations.

Iraq's Parliament passes electoral law

Iraq's parliament ended weeks of debate and passed a long-delayed law paving the way for the planned January election to go forward, which if not passed would have delayed the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq by August 2010.

The law's passage had been repeatedly delayed by sharp disagreements over how voting would take place in the northern city of Kirkuk, claimed by both Arabs and Kurds. Under the legislation, the vote in Kirkuk would be held just like in other regions around the country, but the votes - and those in other disputed areas - could be subject to a special review if it is determined that there was a large population increase.