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Effective policing is an linportant component of good governance. The Punjab Assembly recently approved a new police bill for the state, having replaced the Police Act of 1861. Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have already passed their police Bills. Jammu and Kashmir is dithering on the issue, postulating insurgency in the state as an excuse.   Three, out of four states in the region have an effective two-party system, which encourages good governance. The Police Act is an important piece of legislation with far-reaching and significant ramifications ror the cornmon people and society at large. A sensitive, people-friendly police adds tremendous value to the virtues of civilised living. However, it is a matter of concern thilt governments of the region have not paid the kind of attention to the issue of policing that it deserves. The existing police setup needs immediate overhaul.   The Supreme Court noted that “time had corne to rise above limited perceptions to bring about some drastic changes in the shape of reforms and restructuring of the police before the country is overtaken by unhealthy developments.” It attributed the present distortions in the functioning of the police to the Police Act of 1861 and hence the pressing need for immediate police reforms. On September 22, 2006, it issued directives to the Centre and states for immediate compliance until they frame “appropriate legislation” replacing the existing Act.   The directives are aimed at eliminating unwarranted pressure on the state police, promoting its functional autonomy and ensuring accountability for its omissions and commissions. These include, the setting up of state security commission in each state to lay down policy guidelines of the police and evaluate their performance; minimum tenure for the Director-General of Police and other operational officers; setting up of a Police Establishment Board headed by the DGP to examine police transfers, promotions and postings; and sel ting up of independent state and districtlevel complaint authorities with binding powers to look into public complaints of police misconduct.   The court’s directives distil the recommendations of several national reports on police reform over the last 25 years and should have served as a significant reference point in the drafting of police legislation by the states in the region. Regrettably this has not happened.   Compared with Punjab and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh is the most consistent in adhering to the spirit of the apex court’s directives. Under its new police [...]

Jet launched flights from New Delhi to the Gulf. The sector was served all this while only by national carriers. The airline also launched three daily direct flights. With it, Jet also made its first international foray out of Kerala.   Jet Airways on January 5, 2008 became the first private carrier in the country to launch daily direct flights to the Gulf region. It launched flights from the capital to Kuwait and Bahrain.   The lucrative Gulf sector was served all this while only by national carriers. The Jet flight to Kuwait from the Indira Gandhi International Airport this morning left with 69 passengers on board. It was flagged off by director general civil aviation Kanu Gohain.   Jet Airways vice-president (international relations and industry affairs) P K Sinha said: “We have introduced our world class services keeping in mind the unmet demand for more flights to the gulf region.” The services will be at par with with Jet’s premier services to the western destination. Jet is also proposing to launch two new flights to Mascut and Doha from Calicut from January 23.     Sinha said the Gulf was now growing as a tourist destination and more Indians preferred to travel to these countries for holidays. There is a huge demand for better connectivity.  Simultaneously, the airline launched three other daily direct flights: Kochi-Kuwait, Kochi-Bahrain and Mumbai-Kuwait. Jet’s commercial executive vice-president Sudheer Raghavan said with a large number of Indians in the Gulf, flights to these sectors constantly register high load factors.   He added that with the launch of the Kochi-Kuwait and Kochi-Bahrain flights, Jet Airways also made its first international foray out of Kerala.The airline currently operates 355 flights daily to 55 domestic and international destinations, including New York, Toronto, Brussels, London, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu and Dhaka.