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Now, RAW can legally intercept calls, e-mails
- Government has added and notified the external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to the list of eight agencies to intercept phone calls, e-mails and data communications.
- RAW's addition to the list is aimed at giving it a legal cover for intercepting phone calls, e-mails and voice and data communication domestically.
- RAW would not be able to deploy its communication interception equipment at international gateways to snoop on all forms of data, be it international telephony emanating from India or any form of electronic data including e-mails.
- On the questions of a citizen's rights and privacy, the Home Ministry had reiterated that law enforcement agencies could tap phones of any individual for security or operational reasons for 72 hours even without permission from the Union Home Secretary or the State Home Secretary.
- In such a case, if the agency concerned does not get permission, it will have to destroy the tapped conversations within 48 hours
- All requests by the Central government agencies, including those under the Finance Ministry and the Central Bureau of Investigation, need the approval of the Union Home Secretary.
- The Supreme Court, in the PUCL vs Union of India in 1997, had ruled that telephone conversation in private, without interference, would come within the purview of the right to privacy as mandated in the Constitution; and unlawful means of phone tapping amounted to invasion of privacy and were uncivilised and undemocratic in nature.
- On average, 5,000 to 6,000 telephones are tapped daily across the country by the Central investigation and intelligence agencies
- There are nearly 690 million mobile and landline telephone subscribers in India.
- Of these, a majority relate to terror networks, and 10-12 per cent pertains to economic offences, including those involved in hawala dealings
- Intelligence and security agencies often keep tabs on the activities of terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, and Naxals.
Bring in National Grievance Redress Bill in current session, says NCPRI
- Problems such as absence of toilets for girls in schools cannot be tackled by a Lokpal; they need to be addressed by an independent, decentralised grievance redress mechanism, which is possible under the National Grievance Redress Bill, asserted members of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI)
- The NCPRI has also demanded that the Bill proposed by the government should include a generic and independent Citizen's Support Centre at the block/ward level to facilitate registration, follow-up, and tracking of grievances.
- Members also opposed the idea of clubbing the National Grievance Redress Bill with the Lokpal and citing examples of everyday problems that people face and want remedy for
- The NCPRI, in collaboration with Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), JOSH, Pardarshita and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) organised camps for public consultations and registering grievances in Delhi.
NDMA to draft hospital safety guidelines
- The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will prepare guidelines for hospital safety and preparedness to deal with on-site emergencies.
- The guidelines will cover fire and all other hazards.
- in the past the Authority had issued guidelines for medical preparedness and mass causality management, but it largely dealt with preparedness of hospitals to deal with disasters outside the hospital.
Animals also entitled to accident compensation, says Supreme Court
- Observing that animals, including elephants, are entitled to compensation in road accidents, the Supreme Court has upheld an award of Rs. 13.48 lakh for the death of a temple elephant
- Interestingly, this compensation to an elephant is more than what was awarded by the Supreme Court recently to the victims in the Uphaar cinema tragedy. In that case, the compensation awarded by the High Court was reduced from Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh.
- Justice Thakur told counsel Harris Beeran, appearing for the Corporation: “The elephant is owned by the temple which means it's God's property. We do not want to hair-split the provisions of law.”
- Justice Thakur said: “The definition of property in the Motor Vehicles Act is very wide and is inclusive. Although it does not specifically mention animals, since it is inclusive, animals also should be included.”
Kalam launches Sasthrayaan project
- Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has called for adopting an interactive learning approach backed by research to make science education a meaningful experience for schoolchildren in the country.
- Mr. Kalam underlined the need for higher education to be enterprising as well as creative and elaborated on the concepts of sustainable development, competitiveness, and spirit of integrity.
- Sasthrayaan is an activity-based learning programme aimed at improving the quality of science education in 21 government and aided high schools
Registration for self-employment
- The State Self-employment Mission has started registration of applicants for assistance under government programme to generate one-lakh job opportunities with establishment of 50,000 self-employment ventures.
- The nodal agency for the scheme would be the Corporation.
- Interest would be exempted for those repaying the loans in time. The loan would cover 90 per cent of the project cost with the ventures as collateral.
Case booked against Vidya Balan
- Police on Saturday registered a criminal case against film actress, Vidya Balan
- Indecent posters of Hindi film ‘Dirty Picture' starring Vidya Balan pasted in the cities were causing embarrassment to women
- Some motorists ended up in accidents watching the objectionable posters of the actress.
- The police registered a case under Sections 292 (sale, etc. of obscene books, posters) and 294 (obscene acts, songs) of IPC.
