Source:-The Times of India Delhi 26 December 2008 P. 11
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Procedures followed by Delhi Medical Council
Past convictions
Dec 3, 2007
A Delhi court sentenced two doctors of a private hospital to two years in jail for a botched tonsillitis operation on 13-year-old Gaurav Batra, which resulted in his death in June 1995
July, 2007
An Ayurvedic doctor was sentenced to five years RI by a Delhi court for causing the death of a pregnant woman who sought his help for abortion in 2005
Pending cases
Dec, 2005
Archana Mehta died after 52 days in a west Delhi hospital. She had delivered at a private nursing home but was shifted following complications that the family blamed was because of negligence.
Oct, 2005
Aditya Pal (8), who was undergoing treatment for papillomatosis of the larynx and trachea, died of internal burns and infection due to an accidental laser spark during a surgery at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. The matter is in court.
May, 2008
Kumud Devi from Bihar underwent mastectomy in March 2008 at AIIMS. But the post-surgery biopsy report revealed that it was not cancerous. AIIMS is investigating the matter
Source:-The Times of India Delhi 26 December 2008 P. 6
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Anger Towards Accused Prompts Allegations In 25% Of Charges
A little less than 20% of sexual-assault cases reported in and around Delhi are false, shows a five-year study. In almost every fifth incident, or, in 18.3 % cases to be precise, rape is used as a weapon to malign and attempt revenge, found a group of psychologists who assist Delhi Police in investigating sexual assault allegations.
The conclusion was drawn from 113 cases in the last five years. Anger towards the accused prompted allegations of rape in 25% of the false charges. An equal number of such cases were filed at the behest of family members. Every fifth false allegation was made by a minor ‘coached’ to cry ‘rape’ as an attempt to settle family scores. About 15% were situations of panic after clear consent, while the remaining 15% defied categorization.
In September 2007, the Supreme Court had alerted lower courts to attempts at misusing the rape law, noting ‘‘the courts should bear in mind that false charges of rape are not uncommon.’’
Rajat Mitra of Swanchetan, the NGO that conducted the study, says the false cases can be complicated at times. He talks of a 16-year-old girl from West Delhi’s Dabri area who accused her father and another man of rape. The girl claimed insanity post-assault, saying she would see faces of men all around her attacking her. The girl broke down on being asked by counsellors whether the images were in black and white or in colour.
She confessed her brother had asked her to accuse their father. With her father in jail, believed the girl, her brother would get the property and she would get to marry the person of her choice. In the end, withdrew the case.
Another case was of a medically proven rape of a 13-yearold in Dwarka. The girl had accused three men but the police found their investigations did not show these men’s involvement. After a quiet talking-to by psychologists, the girl finally got the courage to speak the truth. She said the three men who had raped her were family members who had threatened her. To protect them, and out of fear, she had accused three others. In this case, the chargesheet was filed against the real culprits.
In the face of such cases, the five-year study assumes significance. Sexual assault is tricky to investigate and wrong convictions can harm the falsely accused and discredit the ordeal of real rape victims. Zero tolerance to sexual crime has a flip side to it as a person’s testimony can be taken at face-value in the absence of evidence or corroboration.
It is important for investigators of sexual assault to be alert to the grey areas of such crime, says Mitra, a clinical psychologist. ‘‘While 34% of all cases showed acute PSTD in the immediate aftermath of the attack, almost 30% displayed no obvious signs of trauma,” he said. The no-sign cases can mislead because the average policeman identifies trauma with incessant cathartic bawling, and a silent person may be viewed as not being traumatized, he says, while the person may likely be numbed.
Collection of evidence is often difficult, as cases are frequently reported too late for physical examinations to yield conclusive results. This is when counselling can help, as psychologists are skilled at reassuring victims and can get them to open up and recount incidents. In cases of false allegations, it’s the structure of the stories that most often give the game away. ‘‘The pre and post-sequence, the language used and the structure of events is obvious when it is coached,’’ says the clinical psychologist.
Instead of recalling, a person making a false accusation reconstructs the incident, building in the details as it would gel with her interrogators.
Source:-The Times of India Delhi 30 December 2008 P. 6
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It’s Mandatory For Citizens To Part With Accurate Data During Surveys
You may soon have to give authentic socioeconomic data sought by the government. And if you don’t, you may be fined.
The Rajya Sabha on Friday finally passed an important legislation making it mandatory for citizens and commercial establishments to part with accurate information during the annual survey.
Accordingly, every individual in the country and private establishment will have to share desired information with a designated statistical officer, else they will have to pay penalty which may, in certain cases, extend up to Rs 10,000.
The Collection of Statistics Bill — introduced in the Upper House in 2007 — also provides for empowering the Central government to make rules for avoiding duplication and for maintaining technical standard in data collection, which is currently lacking during the annual survey in the absence of any legal backing. The Bill is likely to be taken up by the Lok Sabha next week.
Before pressing the House to pass the Bill, Union minister for statistics and programme implementation G K Vasan said: “The new law will have elaborate provisions to ensure that the information collected will not be used for any purpose other than for statistical purpose. Identities of individuals or companies will not be revealed to anyone during use/transfer of such data within government agencies which may need it for policy making.”
As against the existing law which only facilitates collection of statistics of certain kinds relating to industries, trade and commerce, the new law will empower the government to collect data on economic, demographic, social, scientific and environmental aspects of individuals and households. Though the government has been collecting such data under the National Sample Survey, it is done voluntarily.
Stating the purpose of such a legislation, Vasan said: “It is felt that the provisions of the current law are not adequate to meet the new challenges arising out of liberalisation and globalisation regime manifested by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement.”
The Bill also has provision of empowering panchayats and municipalities to collect statistics through due procedures. Once the new law comes into force, the government will appoint a number of statistical officers for each subject of data collection at the district and block levels.
The legislation has been brought on the recommendation of the National Statistical Commission which had pitched for a law which could help the government in collecting credible data on time.
Source:-The Times of India Delhi 20 December 2008 P. 11
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These signs of a cheating husband appearing now and then may not mean anything in isolation, but if you notice a number of them happening with a pattern, you should take them as a warning signs that there's probably something wrong going on. You must take corrective steps to save your marriage.
Source:-http://www.hyderabadpolice.gov.in/
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Tis Hazari district court complex on Friday recieved a threat letter allegedly sent by banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claiming to blow up court complexes on Saturday. Soon after the threat, the police with dog squad checked the court premises and security was beefed up.
According to court officials, a letter was recieved by the office of district and sessions judge sent through post. The letter, carrying signature of an alleged JeM operative, threatened to blast court complexes in the Capital on Saturday without specifying any of the five district court complexes.
“I extend our challenge to your department, government, police and security agencies to stop us from achieving our goal scheduled for Saturday....We will rock all your court complexes on that day (December 13) either with the help of our fidayeens (suicide squad members) or some other manner,” the letter read. The threat letter also mentioned the fact that Lok adalats are going to be held on Saturday. Delhi Police said that they did not receive the letter themselves. ‘‘We already have maximum security at the court complexes. All the preventive measures are in place and back-up teams are ready,’’ said Sagarpreet Hooda, DCP (North).
Sources in the police said that though nothing was being taken for granted, there is no reason for citizens to panic. ‘‘The letter has numerous spelling errors and is far-removed from the nuanced text that these organizations send after each attack. Also, the letter is general in nature and looks like the drafting was done in a hurry. Since, Lok Adalats have been mentioned, we will keep the warning in mind,’’ said a senior police officer.
A similar warning was made on December four, stating that terrorists in guise of advocates would create mayhem at Tis Hazari courts complex, which was found to be a hoax by the police. However, three days later, a fresh threat was made that some bombs were planted at Patiala House courts complex, which too turned out to be fabricated.
Source:-The Times of India Delhi 13 December 2008 P. 7
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