India tells Norway to settle kids’ custody issue

New Delhi, January 23

As an Indian couple battles in Norway for the custody of their two children - taken away and sent to foster care by the Child Protective Services, India today asked the Scandinavian country to work out a settlement with the family of the two children.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna called Norway’s Charge d’affaires Aslak Brun to his residence to discuss the issue and later spoke to his Norwegian counterpart.

Talking to reporters, he said he has come to the conclusion after the talks that a reasonable settlement could be worked out.

"This (settlement) has to be worked out with the family of the children," Krishna said when asked if any other solution to the issue was acceptable to the Indian government. Three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya, children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, an NRI couple living in Stavanger, Norway, were taken under protective care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services) in May on the grounds that they were not looked after properly by their parents.

Barnevarne has placed them in foster parental care as per the directive of the local Norwegian court, mandated under Norwegian laws.

Asked about the couple’s visa that is likely to end in early March, Krishna said Norway was willing to accommodate the Indian government to the extent possible within the limits of jurisdiction. "If there are visa issues, I think it can be worked out," he said.

India has over the last two months issued a couple of strong demarche to Norway on its decision to separate the two Indian children from their NRI parents and conveyed that it felt it was "an extreme step and unjustified".

Plea to keep legal education out of Bill

New Delhi, January 23

The Bar Council of India (BCI) today submitted a memorandum to Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal, urging him to keep the legal education out of the purview of the proposed Higher Education and Research Bill 2011.

Taking legal education away from the BCI, which was regulating it now, and bringing it under a super regulator of the HRD ministry would have an adverse impact on the autonomy of the council and the universities providing such education, the memorandum said.

BCI chairman Ashok Parija told reporters that the council and its state bodies were committed to opposing the controversial clauses of the Bill. Office bearers of the council and the state units had a meeting and resolved to prevent the government from interfering with the autonomy of the legal profession and the Advocates Act, he said.

Lekh Raj Sharma, Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, said there was no way the advocates would allow the government to tinker with the Advocates Act or facilitate the entry of foreign law firms into India. 

CONSUMER COURTS

Forum fines MC Rs 5,000 Had charged interest on house tax

Chandigarh, January 23
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (CMC) for charging penal interest on house tax from a sector 18 resident.

The district forum, comprising president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota, has also directed the opposite parties to refund Rs 6,656 besides Rs 2,000 as costs of litigation to the complainants.

The complainants, Shwinder Kaur and her son Sanjit Singh, had submitted that the opposite parties served a notice on them demanding property tax for 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09, and consequently they deposited the property tax within the stipulated period. They alleged the opposite parties forced them to pay the property tax for 2004 to 2006 totalling Rs 20,196 with penal interest, which they had paid on May 28, 2010, under protest that the charging of penal interest was unjustified and illegal. Despite several reminders and notices the opposite parties failed to refund the excess amount.

The counsel for the Assistant Collector (Tax), Municipal Corporation (opposite party no.1) and the CMC, through its Executive Officer (opposite party no. 2) pleaded that the opposite parties had issued a consolidated-property-tax-demand notice for Rs 13,540 on February 21, 2006 and the same was delivered at SCO No. 95, Sector 40-C, Chandigarh through a messenger. It had been pleaded that in case the complainants failed to deposit the property tax within one month of the issuing of the notice, they were liable to pay interest at the rate of 18 per cent from the date of the issuing of the notice. The opposite parties had also made the plea that the complaint was not maintainable as per Clause 24 (i) of Property Tax Bye-Laws, 2003.

Goel said the opposite parties had raised the specific plea that the notice regarding the consolidated property tax was delivered through the messenger. But, they have failed to prove that the said notice reached the complainants, as they have neither produced any acknowledgement duly signed by them nor the affidavit of the messenger, who delivered the said notice to the complainants. Thus the opposite parties are not entitled to charge the interest, he added.

ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਡਰੱਗ ਮਾਫੀਏ ਤੇ ਗੈਂਗ ਹਿੰਸਾ ਖਿਲਾਫ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਕਾਨੂੰਨ ਬਣਾਏਗੀ-ਉੱਪਲ

ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਦੇ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਟਿਮ ਉੱਪਲ ਹੋਰਨਾਂ ਸ਼ਖਸੀਅਤਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ਫੇਰੀ ਸਮੇਂ।

ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ, 23 ਜਨਵਰੀ - ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਦੇ ਪਹਿਲੇ ਦਸਤਾਰਧਾਰੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਟਿਮ ਸਿੰਘ ਉੱਪਲ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ਫੇਰੀ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਦਿਨੋ-ਦਿਨ ਵਧ ਰਹੀ ਗੈਂਗ ਹਿੰਸਾ ਤੇ ਡਰੱਗ ਮਾਫੀਏ ਖਿਲਾਫ ਸਖਤ ਕਾਨੂੰਨ ਬਣਾਏਗੀ ਅਤੇ ਦੋਸ਼ੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਵੱਧ ਸਜ਼ਾਵਾਂ ਲਈ ਹੋਰ ਕਦਮ ਚੁੱਕੇਗੀ। ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਪੱਤਰਕਾਰਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ਇਲਾਕੇ 'ਚ ਗੈਂਗ ਹਿੰਸਾ 'ਤੇ ਦੁੱਖ ਪ੍ਰਗਟਾਇਆ ਤੇ ਭਰੋਸਾ ਦਿਵਾਇਆ ਕਿ ਆਉਂਦੇ ਸਮੇਂ ਗੈਂਗ ਹਿੰਸਾ ਖਿਲਾਫ ਬਿੱਲ ਸੰਸਦ 'ਚ ਪੇਸ਼ ਕੀਤਾ ਜਾਵੇਗਾ। ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਦੇ ਲੋਕਰਾਜੀ ਸੁਧਾਰਾਂ ਦੇ ਰਾਜ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਟਿਮ ਉੱਪਲ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ਫੇਰੀ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਖਾਲਸਾ ਦੀਵਾਨ ਸੁਸਾਇਟੀ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ਵਿਖੇ ਵੀ ਹਾਜ਼ਰੀ ਲੁਆਈ ਤੇ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਇਕੱਤਰਤਾ ਨੂੰ ਸੰਬੋਧਨ ਕੀਤਾ। ਇਸ ਮੌਕੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ਦੱਖਣੀ ਹਲਕੇ ਤੋਂ ਐਮ. ਪੀ. ਵੇਅ ਯੰਗ, ਉੱਘੇ ਆਗੂ ਸ: ਬਲਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਵੜੈਚ ਤੇ ਸੁਸਾਇਟੀ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ ਸ: ਸੋਹਣ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਿਉ ਸਮੇਤ ਵੱਡੀ ਗਿਣਤੀ 'ਚ ਭਾਈਚਾਰੇ ਦੀਆਂ ਸ਼ਖਸੀਅਤਾਂ ਹਾਜ਼ਰ ਸਨ।