Compulsory medical treatment for drug addicts unpopular worldwide, expert says

MOSCOW, December 28 - RAPSI. Drug addict compulsory treatment is not applied in the developed countries, Yevgeny Krupitsky, head of narcology department at the St. Petersburg Psychoneurological Research Institute said during a video-conference link between Moscow and St. Petersburg arranged by RIA Novosti.

The Health Ministry proposes to pass a law on compulsory medical treatment for drug addicts, regardless of whether they have previous criminal record or not. Chief narcologist of Russia Yevgeny Bryun, who supports the idea, said the law could save many drug addicts who are unable to control themselves in an addictive state.

Federal Drug Control Service head Viktor Ivanov earlier said the parliament may adopt a law on criminal responsibility for drug taking in public places by spring 2012.

There are no successful examples of addict compulsory treatment up to date, Krupitsky said.

Krupitsky said drug addicts should undergo drug tests every week so that the special monitoring group can monitor their health state and remission progress.

Ivanov shared Krupitsky's idea, saying that only 2 percent out of a million of addicts who asked for medical treatment can truly recover from drug addiction. He also alleged that the existing addict treatment model is ineffective.

Penalties for drug-related crimes in Russia

For more info visit: http://www.rapsinews.com/legislation_mm/20111212/258831678.html

The new Anti-Tobacco Law in Russia

A bill restricting the sale of tobacco products will help Russia combat the deadly habit, which is responsible for causing 400,000 deaths per year - Chief Sanitary Inspector Gennady Onishchenko

For more info visit: http://www.rapsinews.com/legislation_mm/20110826/254941914.html

Court drops extremism charges against "Bhagavad Gita as It is"

16:04 28/12/2011

TOMSK, December 28 - RAPSI, Sergei Levanenkov. A Tomsk district court has held against a local prosecutor's office in its petition to declare the Russian version of "the Bhagavad Gita as It is" Hindu poem with commentary an extremist text, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday.

In June the Tomsk prosecutor's office appealed to the court to place the Bhagavad Gita's Russian-language version on the federal extremist materials list. The prosecutor's office initiated the case following an inspection of the Tomsk Society for Krishna Consciousness. The court was expected to pass its judgment on December 19, but the case was postponed until December 28.

The Tomsk prosecutors offices petition to declare "Bhagavad Gita as It is" an extremist text has sparked an explosion of public indignation in India and has been called a violation of Hindu rights. Several law makers have called on the Russian government to stand up for the rights of followers of Hinduism in Russia.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich commented on the Tomsk prosecutor's office's claim on Thursday. He said the prosecutor's office is challenging not the Bhagavad Gita itself, but the comments made by the book's author Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Bhagavad Gita is a Hindu scripture that is a part of the ancient Mahabharata epic.

"Bhagavad Gita as It is" is a translation of the Bhagavad Gita Hindu scripture with commentary, made by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in the 1960s. The book was translated into more than 60 languages.

Russian notaries to become part of e-government in 2012

MOSCOW, December 20 - RAPSI. Notaries will enjoy the single Interdepartmental Electronic Interaction System from 2012. However, people will be able to contact a notary using their computer only after legislation is adopted on notarial practice and on electronic documents, the Justice Ministry and the Federal Notarial Chamber told RIA Novosti at a Tuesday press conference.

The system is a primary component of e-government. Notaries with an electronic signature and the relevant powers will receive access to government databases.

Presently, 94 percent of the 7,560 notaries in Russia use the Single Information System, which contains 18 million entries on standard forms that may be used to verify the authenticity of a notarial document and a notarial act, 12 million searches of will notices, 4.8 million entries on probate cases, 544,000 entries on arrests and restrictions and 151,000 entries on revoked powers of attorney.

The current system enables to retrieve information on the peoples wills kept in the archives since 1980.

Chargesheet running into 1.5 lakh pages filed in Indore court

Indore: A voluminous chargesheet running into 1.50 lakh pages was today submitted in a special court by EOW against 24 persons, allegedly involved in a nine year old tax scam, pegged at Rs 8 crore, reported in a local agriculture produce marketing committee (APMC).

The massive chargesheet had to be carried on in three vehicles and was produced in the special court of Gauri Shankar Dubey.

Special Public Prosecutor for Economic Offences Wing Ashlesh Sharma said the accused against whom the chargesheet was filed included a retired government servant and they have been charged with offences like corruption, fraud and forgery.

The EOW SP Manoj Kumar Singh said the tax scam took place in local Krishi Upaj Mandi in 2002 and a case in this connection was filed in 2004.

Three machines were pressed into service for twenty-five days to make photocopies of the humongous document, he added.

SDO told to compensate complainant

Chandigarh, December 23
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has directed SDO, sub-division office, electricity department, Sector 40-B, to pay Rs 5,000 as litigation charges to a resident of Maloya village near Chandigarh.

The forum comprising president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota also quashed the sundry charges raised in the bills from the month of October, 2010, to June, 2011, as the respondents failed to prove any evidence.

The complainant, Lakhmir Singh, submitted that in the month of September, 2010, the said tubewell did not work due to some defect and he installed a new tubewell about 60m away from the old one, and thereafter, requested the opposite party to transfer the connection on October 1, 2010, so that he could use the new tubewell. However, on October 7, he received a provisional assessment letter with regard to illegal demand of Rs 42,195 on account of theft of energy. The opposite party again sent bill dated November 9, 2010, in which the amount of Rs 42,602 was added as sundry charges. He received another bill dated December 10, 2010, for Rs 47,148.

The counsel for the opposite party averred that the electricity connection of the complainant was checked on September 30, 2010, and the complainant was found using “kundi connection”. Accordingly an amount of Rs 42,195 was charged on account of average for the period April 30, 2009, to September 30, 2010, at the rate of Rs 882 per unit, (per month) at domestic rate as the tubewell connection was being used for cattle shed as well as for service station. The complainant was advised to apply on proper A & A Form, along with proof of ownership, and also to pay the pending electricity bills for shifting the meter. However, he shifted the meter without any approval from the opposite party. It was further averred that the amount of Rs 49,187 was still outstanding, which the complainant had not paid.

The forum further observed that the report given by the checking officer had not been supported by any affidavit. “The report loses its evidential value and is not sufficient to prove that the complainant committed any theft.”