June 10th 2011

ALB20110601

Abhyaas Law Bulletin

For the quintessential CLAT aspirant
The Scoop Of The Month The Editors Column Dear Student, Here is one more first from your mentor, the Abhyaas Law Bulletin. This will be a monthly bulletin with a lot of exciting stuff. You will get to know about all the happenings in the country and the world. The bulletin will also provide you a glimpse of issues in various sectors. We will also feature a prestigious law school or a related entrance exam every month so that you are well aware of the available opportunities and make an informed judgement. This is certainly the month of fasts with Baba Ramdev joining the likes of Anna Hazare to start a fast. Searing heat did not stop people from thronging the Ram Lila Maidan to join Baba Ramdevs fast. The eccentric behaviour of the UPA Govt made sure that there was enough drama in the days preceding the fast and also on the day of the fast. The government has hence announced a committee for dealing with the black money issue and has also disclosed the assets of cabinet ministers. This is certainly a welcome step, but by no means enough if we have to tackle corruption and the issue of black money. This month also witnessed the death of the most dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden, the head of AlQaeda. The chief of IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested on charges of sexual assault and has since resigned as the head of IMF. Happy Reading! - Editor Index: Page 2: National Page 3: International Page 4: Spotlight

The government has increased the support price of paddy by Rs 80 per quintal for the 2011-12 Kharif season to boost rice production and procurement. The MSP for paddy (common variety) was at Rs 1,000 per quintal and paddy (A grade) Rs 1,030 per quintal last year. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved hike of Rs 80 per quintal in the minimum support price (MSP) for both varieties of paddy, an official source told PTI. The government has raised paddy MSP substantially as input costs have increased by upto 64 per cent. Besides it wants to raise output in view of the proposed National Food Security law, sources said. However, the hike in paddy MSP is lower than Agriculture Ministrys proposal of a hike of Rs 160/ quintal. Sources said the government may announce bonus of Rs 80 per quintal over and above the MSP in the coming months. MSP is the price at which the government buys paddy from farmers to run the Public Distribution System (PDS). Kharif sowing starts from June and harvesting begins from October. In pulses category, the CCEA is believed to have increased the MSP of urad by Rs 400 per quintal at Rs 3,300, green gram (moong) by Rs 230 per quintal at Rs 3,400 and arhar (tur) by Rs 100 per quintal to Rs 3,100.

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June 10th 2011 National: Bhardwaj's report for president's rule in Karnataka rejected The union government Sunday rejected Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj recommendation for president's rule in the southern state ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party. Official sources said the decision to reject the governor's report was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs. The sources said the home ministry had written to the Prime Minister's Office saying that removal of Karnataka government was not in order as Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had a majority of legislators supporting him. They said the ministry will write to the governor, conveying the government's decision. President rejects mercy plea of Khalistan terrorist on death row As part of the process to clear the long list of convicts on death row who have made mercy pleas, President Pratibha Patil Thursday rejected the petition of Devender Singh Bhullar, a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist sentenced to death for a 1993 car bomb attack that killed 12 people and injured 29, including former Indian Youth Congress chief M.S. Bitta. At least 256 condemned convicts are currently awaiting endorsements of the Supreme Court and high courts of their death sentence handed down by trial courts. A total of 52 other condemned prisoners have filed mercy petitions before the central government, seeking pardon or reduction of their sentence. Sole surviving 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab has ahead of him on the death row people like Guru, condemned to the gallows for his involvement in the December 2001 parliament attack case, awaiting the president's decision on their mercy petitions. The others who got death penalties in recent past include a Lakhimpur Kheri petrol pump owner who killed Indian Oil Corporation officer S.Manjunath and two Babbar Khalsa militants who assassinated the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu dies in chopper crash Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu was found dead in the remote and inaccessible Luguthang village, about 30 km from Tawang on 4/5/2011. The CM had gone missing on 30/4/2011 when on a flight from Tawang was found dead along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains regions. The helicopter's wreckage was found at Lobotang which is situated near Jang water falls in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. The rescue operations were hampered due to bad weather. The other four members, who accompanied Khandu in the chopper, were - crew members Captain JS Babbar and Captain KS Malick, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup. This is the second death of a chief minister in two years after CM of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash in the Nallamalla ranges in the state in September 2009. Supreme Court rules out corrective action in Bhopal gas case The Supreme Court has refused to change its mind about a 1996 judgment and allow stricter punishments for seven corporate executives convicted for their role in the worlds worst industrial disaster. Dismissing the curative petition filed by the CBI, it observed No satisfactory explanation is given to file such curative petitions after about 14 years from 1996 judgment of the Supreme Court. In 1996, the Supreme Court diluted the charges against the accused from culpable homicide not amounting to murder to criminal negligence. International: Japan Atomic Crisis Reaches Chernobyl Level as Radiation Climbs Japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the severity level of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant from level 5 to level 7 which ranks it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It doesn't mean it's as bad as Chernobyl but it's still a negative development nonetheless. There have been only two level-seven incidents in nuclear history.

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June 10th 2011 The Chernobyl catastrophe 25 years ago in the Ukraine and now Fukushima, on the east coast of Japan. The disaster in Ukraine spewed debris as high as 9 kilometers into the air and released radiation 200 times the volume of the combined bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a 2006 report commissioned by Europes Green Party. The March 11 earthquake, the nations strongest on record, and tsunami left about 27,500 dead or missing, according to Japans National Police Agency. Japan was struck by two earthquakes stronger than magnitude 6 again on April that hindered recovering efforts as workers were temporarily evacuated. Osama Bin Laden killed in Pakistan The worlds most dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden has been shot dead by American Navy Seals on 2/5/2011 after he was found to be staying in relative luxury in a house just few hundred meters away from a Pakistani military academy in Abbotabad. Bin Laden was shot in the face and chest when the American forces sprung a surprise attack and the whole mission was performed without the consent or the knowledge of Pakistan. Obama, in his address to the nation shortly before midnight, thanked the Americans who have toiled in pursuit of Bin Laden and applauded those who carried out the successful mission in Pakistan. For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaedas leader and symbol, Obama said. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nations effort to defeat Al Qaeda. This comes as a real embarrassment to the Pakistani government which has been maintaining for many years now that Osama was not there in Pakistan. And to find him holed up in a facility just yards away from a prestigious military academy which is also just a couple of hours away from Islamabad poses many tough questions regarding Pakistans commitment to fighting terror. The US government had further declared that they would carry out such operations again in the future if the need arises. The US is already mulling over whether they should sanction further aid to Pakistan unless they come up with satisfactory answers regarding how Osama was found where he was. This is a serious intelligence lapse and does not auger well for the country that is already reeling under various problems that threaten the very fabric of the nation. It remains to be seen how the nation will cope with the allegations. IMF Chief Strauss Kahn arrested in a sexual assault case Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund and a potential candidate for the French presidency next year, was charged with attempted rape and a criminal sex act on a woman in a New York hotel. The charges stem from an incident that allegedly occurred on Saturday against a 32-year-old female at a Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan. The alleged victim is a maid at the hotel. Strauss-Kahn was arrested aboard an Air France flight at John F Kennedy airport. Strauss-Kahn, 62, denies the charges and will plead not guilty, according to reports. Strauss Kahn is a leading contender for the post of French President. Business: KV Kamath appointed chairman of Infosys Technologies Infosys Technologies, India's second largest software company, on Saturday named veteran banker and seasoned business transformation manger K V Kamath as its new chairman. Kamath, 63, who is currently a member of Infosys' board of directors, will succeed the company's founder N R Narayana Murthy on August 21. The nominations committee of the company, which is facing one of the toughest times in its three-decades of existence, also named current chief operating officer S D Shibulal as CEO and MD, while the incumbent CEO, S Gopalakrishnan, was elevated to the post of executive co-chairman. Murthy, who turns 65 in August, will become the chairman emeritus, a non-executive position like Kamath's.

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June 10th 2011

This month in pictures:

Rafael Nadal wins French Open Mens Singles for the record 6th time

Jairam Ramesh thinks, IIT faculty not world class.

Sachin Tendulkar retains the top spot in ICC Rankings for Test Batsman

Wanted terrorist Li Na becomes the first Osama Bin Laden killed Asian & Chinese Women by U.S army in Pakistan to win a Grand Slam by winning the French open 2011 Spotlight: NLSIU Bangalore (www.nls.ac.in)

IMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is arrested in a sexual assualt case

The National Law School of India University (NLSIU or NLS) is an institution for under-graduate and graduate legal education. Based in Nagarbhavi, a suburb in the western extremities of the city of Bangalore, the NLSIU was established in 1987 after a statute was enacted for that purpose by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Karnataka, and officially exists since August 29, 1987. Historically, legal education in India was open only to graduates and seen merely as professional training. Dismayed at the quality of legal education in conventional universities, members of the legal fraternity debated the merits of introducing a new system of legal education through the 1970s and 1980s. NLSIU has been consistently ranked as the best law school in India for 8 out of the past 10 years by India Today. It admits 80 students for its 5-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) programme every year. Students are chosen on the basis of an all-India entrance exam CLAT (Common Law Admission Test). The NLS library is the largest law library in India. Most of those who graduate from NLSIU prefer a career in corporate litigation or as legal advisers to companies with attractive pay packages.

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