HCs to be cautious while quashing
‘dowry harassment’ cases: SC

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: The special power of High Courts to quash criminal cases related to dowry harassment should to be exercised "sparingly, carefully and with caution" as such powers are necessary to do "the right and undo a wrong", the Supreme Court has said.

The apex court’s ruling came while setting aside the Patna High Court order quashing a criminal proceedings alleging dowry harassment under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

"Exercise of power under section 482 CrPC in a case of this nature is the exception and not the rule," a bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakkar and L S Panta said in a recent judgement.

The court said that the section did not confer any new power on the High Courts and only saves inherent power which the Courts possessed before the enactment of CrPC.

The court also listed the three circumstances under which the inherent jurisdiction could be exercised. First, to give effect to an order under CrPC, secondly to prevent the abuse of process of court and thirdly to secure the ends of justice.

"All courts, whether civil or criminal, possess, in the absence of any express provision as inherent in the constitution, all such powers as are necessary to do the right and undo a wrong in the course of the administration of justice," it said.

However, the court clarified that it was neither possible nor desirable to lay down any inflexible rule which would govern the exercise of the inherent jurisdiction.

"No legislative enactment dealing with the procedure can provide for all cases that may possibly arise. The courts, therefore, have inherent powers apart from express provisions of law which are necessary for proper discharge of functions and duties imposed upon them by law," the Bench said.

The courts’ inherent power existed for advancement of justice and it was for them only to prevent attempts to abuse their authority, the bench said.

The apex court said that it was for the High Courts to examine the materials to asses what the probe report has alleged. (PTI)

INCB report: cocaine traffickers
target India; NCB contradicts

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: Drug traffickers from West Africa were increasing the targetting South Asia, mainly India for cocaine trafficking, said the latest annual report of International Narcotics Control Board.

But the Narcotics Control Bureau maintained that the "cocaine part of the report was overdone."

The Vienna-based Board released its 2007 annual report here today which claimed that cannabis and heroin were being increasingly trafficked and abused in South Asia. "West African traffickers have targetted coutries in South Asia, mainly India, for cocaine smuggling...South American cocine is trafficked to India in small quantities where it is exchanged for South-West Asian heroin bound for Europe or North America. India is increasiagly being used as a major transit country and also as a destination for drug trafficking." the report said.

Director general, NCB K C Verma, who was present on the occasion said the cocaine trafficking portion of the report was "overdone." At the same time, he refused to term the reference on cocaine trafficking in India as incorrect. "I reacted to what was said during the presentation. I am yet to go through the entire report...It cannot be termed incorrect," he told reporters later.

The report claimed that cross-border smuggling was relatively easy due to the porous borders between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal and illicit cultivation and abuse of cannabis continued to be a problem in most of the countries in South Asia.

According to the report, illicitly manufactured pharmaceutical preparations such as cocaine-based syrups, benzodiazepines and buprenorphine were smuggled from India to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In India, organised criminal groups traffick in amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS).

In South Asia, injection of heroin and pharmaceutical preparations was contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS. In India, the areas with highest incidence of drug-related HIV/AIDS continued to be the north-eastern border with Myanmar and large urban areas. (UNI)

Centre working on law guaranteeing ‘Right to Education’

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: Government is in the process of making a law dedicated on ‘Right to Education’. "Provisions for free and compulsory education for the relevant age group of 6 to 14 years of age has been mandated by our constitution as a fundamental right, and we are in the process of making a law dedicated to this objective," said Minister for Human Resources and Development (HRD) Arjun Singh while addressing the Second Meeting of the Regional Forum of Ministers of Social Development of SAARC.

This is the first time the minister officially admitted that the Ministry is working on a dedicated law on ‘Right To Education’. The proposal was on hold for some time due to non-cooperation of states and delay in fund allocation.

Recently, there was a high level meeting with the prime minister on bringing a ‘Right to Education’ bill. However, there were no official confirmation from the Ministry about the current status of the bill.

The conference, aimed at sharing information and discussion of social problems faced by the SAARC nations, was organised by the Ministry of Human Resources Development. Representatives from Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh took part in the meet.

"Education is a sector where each of our nations has a vital stake. Expansion of opportunities must be accompanied by equity in access to education, especially for marginalised sections. Experience from other SAARC countries will help us to develop a useful perspective on the working law in India," Singh said.

One of the objectives of the meet will be that the regional fora of Ministers of Social Development contribute to evidence-based policy making. (PTI)

Indians are charity rich but philanthropy poor

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: There is no paucity of funds or lack of individual commitment to society but Indians are stingy, say Non-Governmental Organisations and experts.

"We raise 90 per cent of our funds to support orphanages from individuals and rest from trusts. There is no shortage of funds but a lack of heart amongst people who spend several thousand rupees on eating out but do not help the impoverished," says Anjali Gopalan, who heads Naz Foundation, a Delhi based NGO.

Most of the time people donate money only if it is connected to aid religious purposes, adds Gopalan. Naz works for raising awareness to prevent spread of HIV/AIDS.

Major-General Surat Sandhu (Retd.), Chairman, South Asian Fund Raising Group (SAFRG), says that while India is charity rich, it is philanthropy poor and NGOs need professional fundraisers to motivate and inspire people to contribute for social issues.

"Most of NGOs suffer from fund crisis. There are 1.2 million NGOs in India but less than one per cent of NGOs has professional fund-raisers and that too in the metros only, what about other cities? The potential of giving in the country is huge but we are tapping a mere fraction of it," he says while adding India has more than 87,000 millionaires in dollar terms and over 700,000 people earning more than 2 million rupees a year.

The civil society sector in the country raises funds upto USD 600 million in a year while the potential is of more than USD 10 billion. Non-profit sector in US raises USD 260 billion each year from population of 295 million and UK raises USD 41 billion in a year from 60 million people.

"The credibility of an organisation is directly proportional to the number of ‘Individual Supporters’ it has. Out of 4.3 million individual supporters worldwide, 70,000 are from India. We have started fundraising with only 5,000 supporters and every year more thousands of people join this noble mission," says Dev Kumar Chatterjee of Greenpeace, a environment rights group.

A large number of people are still ignorant about environmental issues and they think twice before donating, he adds.

Swami Agnivesh, a social activist, says that before independence there was a special bonding between Indians and the civil society used to fund everything from hospitals to schools but after the formation of government, the major portion of the fund do not reach to the needy people.

"NGOs are doing a great job by raising funds for the major issues prevailing in the country. Government grants a huge amount of money but only 1 per cent of that reaches to the cause. We should not depend on anyone and only through self sustaining capacity, we will be in a better position to address poverty and inequity that prevails," he adds.

Sandhu says, "Govt grants Rs 6000 crore on NGOs wheras International NGOs give Rs 5000 crore through Foreign contribution regulation Act (FCRA) in a year. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) send over USD 23 billion into the country as remittances for the development purposes per year. But we still need to raise more funds from individuals as the contribution is much less than the potential."

According to Planning Commission report, funds which come from abroad for development purposes are much more than Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), so it is clear that funds are not well utilized and are being invested in wrong purposes," says Bejon Mishra of Consumer Voice, a NGO.

Mishra Adds, "We need professional fund-raisers to exploit the resources to its potential. Most of the NGOs spend 60-70 per cent of their funds, which is meant to be utilised in the country, on hiring foreign consultants. We should create professionals here by organising workshops and conducting specialised courses in fund-raising." (PTI)

Kalam visits Varanasi today

VARANASI, Mar 5: Former president A P J Abdul Kalam is arriving here tomorrow on a two-day visit.

The former president will stay on the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus during his visit. He will meet some distinguished scientists and other administrative staff of the BHU, according to the BHU spokeskeson.

Four senior professors representing different departments in science stream will give their presentations before Dr Kalam, who will also meet a selected band of students.

Dr Kalam will also attend the 13^{th convocation of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath. On March 7, Dr Kalam will inaugurate the three-day national conference on ‘Buddhism and World Culture’ at the institute.}

^{Later, he will attend a dinner hosted by BHU vice-chancellor Prof Punjab Singh. (UNI)}

‘Over 7 lakh devotees to throng
Kashi-Vishwanath on Shivratri’

VARANASI, Mar 5: Over seven lakh devotees are expected to throng the world famous Kashi-Vishwanath temple for the Mahashivratri festival which is being celebrated here today and tomorrow.

S N Tripathi, the Chief Executive Officer of the ‘Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust’ told PTI that devotees from all over the world have already started arriving at the shrine today and over seven lakh devotees are expected to throng the temple by tomorrow.

He said that special arrangements have been made for proper ‘darshan’ of Lord Shiva to all the devotees.

Even the partially extended premises of the 18^{th century temple will be used to accommodate the lakhs of devotees who would be coming.}

^{Tripathi said that the expansion work of the temple premises is in full swing but it will be completed only by June this year when the present area of 2,700 sq ft will be expanded to 8,500 sq ft.}

^{He said that for the first time the temple administration has introduced VIP passes on payment basis to facilitate hassle-free darshan to the VIPs.}

^{He said "those who want a darshan in the special category could purchase the pass for Rs 501 from the temple office." Only 1,000 passes would be issued in this category and it would be given on the first come first serve-basis, he said.}

^{These devotees would be allowed to enter through Neelkanth Dwar with other VVIPs and they would be taken to the sanctum sanctorum via Tarkeshwar Mahadeo Temple, he added. (PTI)}

Self-medication popular among medical
students: AIIMS study

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: A large number of trainee doctors are involved in self-medication although this is exactly what they tell patients not to do once they are in a white coat, a new AIIMS study has said.

Self-medication is high among undergraduate medical and paramedical students in India and increases with medical knowledge, according to the study conducted by the pharmacology department of AIIMS.

"Ninetytwo per cent male and 88 per cent female students admitted taking medicine without prescription," Dr Y K Gupta, head of the department, Pharmacology, AIIMS, said.

A total of 238 students -166 females and 71 male - from 24 medical colleges in India participated in the survey. All of them belonged to the 18-25 years age-group.

Of the total number of students who participated in the survey, 63 per cent were medical while 37 per cent paramedical students.

The query was set on 16 categories of drugs on self medication. They include antibacterial, anti inflammatory, analgesic, antacid, anti-allergic, antitussive, antidiarrhoeal, antiulcer, antiemitic, antipyretic, ear drops, eye drops, laxative, hypnotics, nutritional supplements, ayurvedic, homoeopathy and unani.

The drugs most popular among students were analgesics-used to treat headache, fatigue and body-ache-antipyretics-used to decrease body temperature-antibacterials and antacids.

Gupta said, "of the 16 category of drugs analgesics (63 per cent), antipyretics (50 per cent), anti-bacterials (40 per cent) and antacids (35 per cent) were most common in self medication."

Cautioning against the risk involved in self medication, he said, risk is maximum in OTC drugs and also when people take medicine based on their previous experience with the same disease.

Be it paracetamol or oral contraceptive pills, "there is no such drug which has no side effect. A doctor studies the risk analysis before prescribing a drug," he said.

Explaining further, Gupta said, "the symptoms might be the same again when the person falls ill but the bacteria might be different. Self medication leads to inappropriate drug and dosage."

He said unnecessary use of antibiotic can lead to greater risk of drug resistance. Oral contraceptive taken with any other drug can lead to its failure.

In 78 per cent of the cases, there was no authentic source to advice about the correct dose and drugs were arbitrarily taken for symptomatic relief.

Majority of them (73 per cent) purchased the medicine from market and a few (25 per cent) obtained from medical representatives or used a physician’s sample.

Seventyone per cent of the students did not care about the cost of the medicine while 89 per cent had some knowledge about their adverse effect.

The study was conducted by a group of doctors, including Dr B M Padhy, Dr R Kumar, Dr P Gupta and Dr Y K Gupta of the AIIMS pharmacology department.

Self-medication and non-doctors prescribing drugs is common in developing countries. (PTI)