• NATIONAL 

New law for removing time limit on dividend claim

The new company law proposes to remove the time limit for claiming dividend. The Companies Bill 2008 cleared by the Cabinet seeks to remove the seven-year ceiling up to which unclaimed dividend remains safe in the government's kitty. Investors can now claim their dividend even 10 years after declaration of dividend once the new Bill gets the approval of Parliament.

SC wants law to protect owners from squatters

The Supreme Court stated that it wanted a change in the law that gives ownership rights to the one who has usurped a property by squatting by taking advantage of the fact that the owners have had little time to inquire about their property. The court said that ousting of real owners from their property by squatters is a serious human rights violation. The said move will be beneficial to those who have lost their house or land to squatters.

Google, Microsoft withdraw gender ads after legal threat

Google and Microsoft have pulled adverts for sex selection products and services considered illegal in India after being threatened with legal action.

Last month, Supreme Court asked the two companies, as well as Yahoo, to respond to a complaint that they were illegally advertising do-it-yourself home kits and expensive genetic techniques to find out an unborn baby's gender.

Proposal to appoint legal draftsmen

The government has accepted that there are drafting errors in important laws including the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act, Income-Tax (I-T) Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram said that all types of conundrums arise because of drafting errors and proposed that every ministry should appoint a legal draftsman to avoid ambiguities while bringing notifications or announcement.

• INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UK music copyright company challenges EC antitrust ruling

British music royalty collection society MCPS-PRS Alliance challenged European Commission (EC) antitrust decision limiting the control of such organizations over copyright use agreements. In july, the EC ruled the current exclusivity deals the single-country societies had were effectively domestic monopolies in violation of Article 81 of the European Commission Treaty and Article 53 of the European Economic Area Agreement. The EC made the ruling after a challenge to the deals brought by radio broadcasting company RTL Group in which it sought the ability to make multinational use agreements with a single rights holder.

Pastors challenge US ban on political campaign activity by tax-exempt groups

More than 30 US pastors planned to preach about the "moral qualifications" of political candidates challenging federal tax laws that prohibit tax-exempt entities from engaging in political campaigns. The conservative Alliance Defense Fund recruited the pastors as part of its Pulpit Initiative, which the group says is "designed to protect the First Amendment rights.

Second Circuit upholds non-immigration registration system as constitutional

US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld as constitutional a former National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program, which required non-immigrant adult males from 25 predominantly Muslim nations and North Korea to register with immigration authorities and re-register annually or face deportation.

UK lawyers not complying with client identification regulations

Research group Business research firm TM Group released a report saying that the majority of UK lawyers are using client identification methods which do not comply with the county's anti-money-laundering regulations. According to the report, 65% of those polled reported using only visual checks of identification, a method not endorsed by the country's 2007 Money Laundering Regulations.