Recent Developments

The Companies Bill, 2011 has been introduced in the Lok Sabha. A copy of the bill is available here. Some aspects of the bill has been discussed here, here, here and here. The report of the parliamentary standing committee on finance which had carried out detailed deliberations on the Companies Bill, 2009 is available here.

SEBI has released a concept paper on regulation of investment advisors.As per the paper, the regulation intends to "regulate the activity of providing investment advisory services is various forms by a wide range of entities including independent financial advisors, banks, distributors, fund managers etc.".

On 12 October, 2011, the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration introduced a public discussion draft on proposed changes to the Commentary on Article 5 (Permanent Establishment) of the OECD Model Tax Convention. Public Comments are invited on the discussion draft before 10 February, 2012. 

Links of Interest

A recent article in livemint discusses the taxation of commodity derivatives.

The Karnataka High Court had an occasion to adjudicate on a Vodafone like case. The judgement is available here.

The Firm discusses the legal challenges and issues surrounding Slump Sales. There has been some debate in recent times over slump sales especially when the sale involves a core area of business. The recent divestment by Kanoria Chemicals of its Chloro Chemical Division (CCD) to Adiya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited (ABCIL) is an example of such a sale. 

Rights of a Patient

Dr. Shaila Shenoy in this article in the Hindu writes on the rights of the patient. She lists, among other things, the following as the rights of a patient:

• Right to know the identity of the doctor treating the patient
• Right to know the probable diagnosis
  
• Right to know the probable treatment
• Right to be informed of the possible financial implications of the proposed treatment
• Right to demand transfer to another facility
• Right to accept or refuse treatment after being informed of the risks
• Right to be informed before research protocol is initiated and to refuse to be a part of it
• Right to demand photocopy of the patient's entire medical records.

Following are some of the randomly googled articles that might be of interest on this topic.

Informed Consent and the Anesthesiologist
Doctrine of Informed Consent and the Patient: Different Aspects
Informed Consent Process
Informed Consent and Clinical Trials
Seeking patients' consent: The ethical considerations
Patients' Rights

The Nobel Peace Price and Politics

According to the Nobel prize website, the '[t]he Nobel Peace Prize 2010 was awarded to Liu Xiaobo "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".' The Frontline (Volume 27, Number 22, Oct 23-Nov 5, 2010) carries an article by John Cherian on the selection of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Cherian gives a few examples of controversial nobel peace prizes including those to Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama (2009), Menachem Begin (1978). Cherian points out that during the cold war, the "dissidents in Eastern Europe" were given the Nobel Prize. He also states that even the Nobel Prize for Literature has not been without controversy on a similar issue. Do check out the Frontline article from here. An interesting novel, The Prize, by Irving Wallace, is based on the Nobel Prize.

News and Reflections

The Law News E-Media had reported that a professor and two students of the National University of Juridical Sciences had written a letter to the Editors-in-Chief of the Outook and the India Today news mags expressing their displeasure on the law school rankings. In case you have not already read the newsreports and the letter, do check 'em out from these links below:

http://www.legallyindia.com/201008201213/Law-schools/nujs-ers-threaten-outlook-a-india-today-law-school-rankings-with-press-council-complaint

http://www.barandbench.com/brief/2/933/nujs-takes-on-outlook-for-faulty-ranking-methodology

You can access any of these links above to read the letter reportedly sent to those mags.

There was a specific complaint in the said letter that the said mag had invited NUJS to place ads. I quote and italicise the relevant portion of the letter:

(pardon the long quote)

"We wish to bring to your notice the fact that NUJS had received such an offer to advertise in your magazine in that particular issue by one Manish Kumar <manishk@outlookindia.com> (who claims to be the Assistant Manager of OUTLOOK) for varying rates starting from Rs. 1,00,000 and going up to Rs. 5,00,000.

The text of his email reads as below:

“From: manisk kumar [mailto:manishk@outlookindia.com]

Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 10:40 AM

To: 'registrar@nujs.edu'

Subject: Proposal for professional college issues.

Dear Sir,

Outlook – India’s Best Professional Colleges Survey – 2010

Outlook, India’s most popular and respected English news magazine is bringing out its eagerly awaited annual survey and ranking of The Best Professional Colleges in India, through a special issue in June 2010. For the past four years, Outlook’s ranking of the leading engineering and medical colleges has set the benchmark for tracking academic excellence. This year, we are expanding the breadth of the survey by covering six other professional streams – architecture, fashion design, hotel management, law, mass communication, and social work.

For parents and students, this special issue is an invaluable guidebook. For colleges and institutes, it’s a matter of prestige to be featured in this survey -- there is high peer recall of Outlook’s ranking.

The survey is based on both objective and perceptual data across relevant parameters. Conducted by leading market research firm MDRA, the survey would also undertake a random physical audit of institutes. Authenticity and evaluation process would be the key elements of this survey. Our research team is contacting close to 1,300 colleges and institutes for the survey. A brief on the categories:

Engineering – More than 600 institutes recognized by AICTE.

Medical – Over 300 (MCI approved) and approximately 100 of Dentistry (DCI approved).

Mass Communication – 60+ institutes are being contacted.

Hotel Management – More than 60 institutes.

Law – Around 50, recognized by Bar Council of India and All India Bar

Social Welfare – 50+ institutes are being contacted.

Architecture – 50+ institutes are being contacted.

Fashion Design – 60 institutes.

The survey will be based on the following parameters:

Selection Process

Academics

Industry Exposure/Placements

Faculty

Infrastructure

We invite you to advertise in this special issue dated: June 28th. Released on: June 18th. Deadline: June 10th

Full Page : Card Rate -Rs. 490,000 Special Rate: Rs. 2,00,000

Half Page : Card Rate: Rs. 3,00,000 Special Rate: Rs. 1,00,000

We look forward to your participation. Thanking you and with warm regards

Yours truly,

Manish Kumar

Assistant Manager

Outlook Group

(The entire email chain is attached as Annexure A.)

Was this email and its offer to advertise for a heavy sum in the very same issue where the rankings were to appear, done with a view to subtly inform the college that if it advertised, it faced the prospect of a better ranking? We would appreciate a clarification from you in this regard.

NUJS did not place any advertisement with your magazine. However, NLIU Bhopal did (see attachment: Annexure B). Both colleges had similar marks in the ranking i.e., 779.4: however, NLIU Bhopal was ranked at number 4, while NUJS was ranked at number 5. On what basis does one get precedence over the other? Shouldn’t both have been ranked at number 4 and the next in line should have been number 6. Isn’t this the standard practice? Please elaborate.

In any case, we hope that you will desist from this questionable practice in future. Sponsorships and paid advertisements in the very same issue in which you rank colleges taint the objectivity of ranking and create an impression of bias."

This allegation reminds me of the paid news issue that has been in the news for almost a year. On the paid news issue, have a look at these articles:

P. Sainath, The medium message and the money,
P. Sainath, Politics and the Praetorian Guard ,
Sathya Prakash M R & B K Ravi, India’s Prosperity Paradox and the Mass Media Disconnect,
Ashwin Mahesh, Invisible India is the elephant in your bedroom ,
Report of the Press Council of India on Paid News
Archna Shukla, Should Private Treaties be Made Public to Newspaper Readers?

News and Reflections

The Indian Express reports that the Minister of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Salman Khurshid wants companies to properly disclose to their shareholders the details of political contributions. He is reported to have stated:

"I think when we are looking at greater corporate governance and shareholder democracy, this area itself is a very important issue. Who you are giving money to, what purposes you are giving money for, how much is permissible under the law, how much is to be disclosed... these are very, very important issues, which I hope will reflect in the new Companies Bill as well"

As a matter of corporate governance, this is a good proposal. But as a matter of political governance, wouldn't it be nice if political parties are bound by rules similar to companies for maintaining their accounts and placing before its stakeholders (mainly public) such accounts? On the face of it, this may seem ridiculous and far-fetched, but when the CAG could be empowered to audit the accounts of certain Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), why can't political parties be subject to a similar kind of audit?

Check out today's column of Shailaja Bajpai in the Indian Express. The article is sub-titled:

"There are three sides to every event- the Doordarshan version, the private network version, and the truth"

Her article is about how the news media tries to give its own take on the events. She has written about how the news networks try to show our parliamentarians to be hooligans disrupting the House when in the Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha channels, lively and informed debates are telecast. I am reminded of this.

[Added after posting: On the propaganda model and related aspects, check out the below resources/ articles:

Edward Herman & Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: A Propaganda Model
Edward Herman, The Propaganda Model: A Retrospective
Edward Herman, The Propaganda Model Revisited
Chomsky, Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
Resources/ Bibliography on the Propaganda Model]

BTW: By the way, Jawaharlal Nehru, an alumnus of Trinity College, Cambridge University was, according to today's Mint (page 4, box titled "Leaving a Legacy"), a "charismatic Oxford-educated lawyer-politician".