• NATIONAL

Malls, Bars to pay license fee for Music: Delhi High Court

The High Court has directed top restaurants, malls and bars in the national capital to pay license fee to Phonographic Performance Ltd., the licensing arm of the Indian Music Industry for the songs played by them. The direction was passed pursuant to plea sought by Phonographic that it was entitled to license fee for the music played during new year celebrations.

Government clear hike for Medical Institutes

The Government has cleared a proposal for a wage hike for faculty members of premier medical instituted like AIIMS and PGI Chandigarh by bringing them at par with IITs and IIMs.

No hike in interest rates for six months: State Bank of India

The State Bank of India has stated that there will be no hike in the lending rates in the next six months as there is surplus liquidity in the market.

Medical degree in three and a half years

This may soon be a reality with the Health Ministry and Medical Council of India planning a shorter medical degree for rural students who will serve only the rural population.

11 digit cell numbers put on hold

The department of telecom bas put on hold its plan to get all the mobile users in the country to change their phone numbers from 2010 by adopting 11 digit cell number. This is in furtherance to opposition from leading operators who said it would not be possible to move to 11 digit number as this would involve massive technical changes in both the software as well as mobile network configuration and this can take up atleast a year to achieve.

All Complaints to be registered as FIRs

Pursuant to Ruchika Girhotra case highlighting reluctance of Police in filing FIR against fellow officer, the Union Home Ministry is likely to soon issue a circular to States and Union Territories calling for mandatory registration of all complaints as FIRs.

Ruchika Girhotra's Case: Rathore seeks Anticipatory Bail

Former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, convicted for molesting teenager Ruchika, has sought anticipatory bail following the filing of two FIRs against him. The FIRs filed against Rathore on Tuesday, Dec 29, mention seven non-bailable offences, including attempt to murder, assault, illegal confinement and forging documents.

Responsibility to provide basic services at the airport lies with the Government: Delhi High Court

Division Bench set aside previous ruling allowing Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) to privatize baggage trolley retrieval system at the Airport, held DIAL to be bound by Central Government Notification prohibiting employment of Contract labour in the work of trolley retrieval in the Delhi Airports.

Managers cannot be held as Workman: Bombay High Court

High Court while ascertaining who constitutes workman in an Appeal by Bank Management, observed managerial organization as fundamentally different in the post liberalization era. Managers' do not become workmen because their decisions are structured by processes and approvals.

• INTERNATIONAL

Google slapped with fee for breaching Copyright

A Paris Court ruled that Google Inc.'s expansion into digital books breaks France's copyright laws, and a judge slapped the Internet search leader with a €10,000-a-day fine until it stops showing literary snippets. Besides being fined the equivalent of $14,300 for each day in violation, Google was ordered to pay $430,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere, which brought the case on behalf of a group of French publishers.

Google attorney Alexandra Neri said the Company would appeal. The decision erects another legal barrier that may prevent Google from realizing its 5-year-old goal of scanning all the world's books into a digital library accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. A U.S. legal settlement that would give Google the digital rights to millions of books is in limbo because U.S. regulators have warned a federal judge in New York that the arrangement probably would thwart competition in the budding electronic book market and compromise copyrights, as well. The top U.S. copyright official and the governments in Germany and France also have raised objections about that settlement overstepping its bounds. Google is trying to address the critics with a revised settlement that is still under court review. The French case is relatively small in comparison. Still, the ruling served as a reminder that Google's ambitious push into other markets beyond Internet search increasingly is clashing with fears the Mountain View, Calif., company is getting too powerful. As part of the backlash, Google has been depicted as a copyright scofflaw that prospers off the content of others - a portrayal the company's management insists is totally off base.

Mom of US Soldier who died in Iraq war wants to be buried with the dead son: Fighting for the permission in US

Mother of a slain American soldier is fighting to be buried with her son who died in the Iraq war on Nov 12, 2008. However, the veterans affairs department rejected her plea saying that she has to die first in order to qualify for the waiver. Although the Government burial policy is applicable only to the spouses or kids of dead veterans, waivers have earlier been granted four similar requests in 2005 from parents of dead soldiers.

Diplomats Shut Out of Chinese Dissident's Trial

A high-profile Chinese dissident accused of subversion was tried at a two-hour hearing that shut out foreign diplomats concerned over a case that reflects the communist government's deep suspicion of calls for political reform. Liu Xiaobo was detained a year ago, just before the release of an unusually direct appeal for more civil rights in China he co-authored called Charter 08, signed by scores of China's top intellectuals. He faces up to 15 years in jail. The verdict is awaited. International human rights groups and Western nations have criticized Liu's detention.

Department of Justice urges Closed Hearing in Blackwater Criminal Case in federal district court in Washington, D.C

The Justice Department wants to bar the public from a court hearing Jan. 7 in the Blackwater criminal case in federal district Court in Washington, D.C., saying that the proceeding may result in the disclosure of classified information.

The motion was filed by the Government 3rd December in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia so that the Court can determine the use, relevance and admissibility of classified information in the prosecution of five Blackwater security guards, charged in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians. Much of the Blackwater litigation has been conducted under seal and in closed Court Rooms.

Nigerian Villagers Seek to Sue Shell Over Oil Leak

Nigerian villagers and a Dutch environmental group pleaded with a Hague court to hear their case against Royal Dutch Shell PLC for allegedly polluting their land with oil that gushed from a broken pipeline. The case seeks to hold the Dutch-based multinational responsible for environmental devastation allegedly caused in Nigeria by its Nigerian subsidiary.

Credit Suisse to Pay $536 Million for Violating Sanctions

Swiss bank Credit Suisse AG has agreed to pay $536 million to in order to avoid criminal charges that it helped customers in Iran and other countries illegally funnel bank payments through the U.S. Credit Suisse admitted in the Court papers filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that it had helped Iranian customers and banks skirt U.S. sanctions by disguising the source of payments it then sent to other banks. According to Justice Department prosecutors, Credit Suisse had helped customers in countries such as Libya avoid sanctions as far back as 1986. Its efforts in Iran stretched at least into the mid-1990s, but business with the country picked up in 2003 after British Bank Lloyds decided to terminate its business with Iranian customers.