01 Monday Apr 2013
Posted Uncategorized
in01 Monday Apr 2013
Posted Uncategorized
in16 Saturday Feb 2013
Posted Uncategorized
inKAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006
This is the audio of the Shahid Azmi Memorial Lecture delivered on 9 February 2013 byYUG MOHIT CHAUDHRYat the Indian Law Institute in Delhi. While the lecture date and topic – death penalty – were scheduled weeks in advance, it co-incidentally happened that Mohd Afzal Guru was hanged on the morning of the lecture. Shahid Azmi was a lawyer in Mumbai. He was 32 when he was shot dead on 11 February 2010.
On Shahid Azmi from Kafila archives:
Previously in Kafila by Yug Mohit Chaudhry:
See also:
More on Afzal Guru from Kafila archives:
View original post 60 more words
24 Monday Dec 2012
Posted Uncategorized
inKAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006
On 16 December, 2012, a 23-year old woman and her friend hailed a bus at a crossing in South Delhi. In the bus, they were both brutally attacked by a group of men who claimed to be out on a ‘joy-ride’. The woman was gang raped and the man beaten up; after several hours, they were both stripped and dumped on the road. While the young woman is still in hospital, bravely battling for her life, her friend has been discharged and is helping identify the men responsible for the heinous crime.
We, the undersigned, women’s, students’ and progressive groups and concerned citizens from around the country, are outraged at this incident and, in very strong terms, condemn her gang rape and the physical and sexual assault.
As our protests spill over to the streets all across the country, our demands for justice are strengthened by knowing that there are…
View original post 2,539 more words
14 Friday Dec 2012
Posted Uncategorized
inThe Airline Industry has for long been a dubious one, with the innumerable allegations of cartel formation against it and claims that no proper method for pricing of air tickets exists. Another thing that some of us have come across before, but I only thought about properly now, is overbooking. Overbooking is the practice (an internationally recognized one) of selling more airline tickets than the number of seats in an aeroplane, in anticipation of certain people either skipping or missing the flight. It is a technique by which airlines manage to fly fuller than they otherwise would have been able too. If more passengers than the number of seats do turn up, then in some cases, some passengers are upgraded to a better class in the aeroplane. In most cases however, passengers, sometimes volunteers, other times randomly chosen people, are Offloaded and given seats in other flights. International custom also dictates the paying of certain monetary compensation to the person offloaded along with arranging for his or her accommodation for the time between the flights. It seems the Airlines make more money this way, even after the compensations, than if they actually booked only the number of seats available and flew (relatively) emptier.[1]
The Consumer courts in India have also recognized the practice and have been extremely unsympathetic to the problems caused to offloaded passengers. Courts generally tend to favour the Airlines and several judgments have highlighted the argument that if reaching the destination is of paramount importance, then the person should have booked an earlier flight and not the one that would make it possible for him to reach just in time.[2] I think this is extremely unreasonable. Another thing commonly noticed is that while Airlines cling on to the contention that overbooking is a recognized practice, they do not act within time to fulfill the duties, like providing compensation, that come with the practice. The courts thankfully have also taken note of this fact and directed the airlines to pay compensation without delay in the future.[3]
In my opinion it is not fair to have a man reach the airport only to be told that he cannot get into the flight because the airline has its own economic interest in mind. It is such interest from which our state should protect us. The government should maybe pass a law regarding the same and although I hope the practice of overbooking is outlawed, at least the compensation should be reasonably high (high enough to act as a deterrent for the Airlines) and flexible enough to adequately compensate any person who has suffered any kind of loss because he was offloaded. Something should also be done to make sure such compensation is being paid to all offloaded passengers and sufficient punishment must be laid down for non-payment. Just because something is an internationally recognized practice, it is not beyond need for justification or review. As of now we would do well to remember that the current legal position is that if you claim that the work (that you are hoping to accomplish after reaching your destination) is important then you should also keep in mind the practice of overbooking and make prior arrangements accordingly.
(There have also been allegations that some Airlines deliberately perform check-in procedures slowly so that some passengers can be said to have been late, with the Airlines thus being able to justify them being offloaded. Don’t know how true these are, although there was a CNN-IBN report that claimed Deccan Airways indulged in such practices.[4] If you are an Air passenger in today’s time, beware.)