By Vignesh Ganesh, G.J. Advani Law College, Mumbai.
With the world growing in economic prosperity by making rapid strides in various fields, there is no question that the human civilization has developed and prospered over the millennium. (more…)
By Syashu Pesswani, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun.
President Pranab Mukherjee, with the press of a button at the midnight of July 1, 2017 in the Parliament’s Central Hall of India, switched to GST, the single biggest reform undertaken by the country in its 70 years of independence. It is basically established to subsume various indirect taxes levied at different levels, with the idea of reducing red-tape, plugging leakages and paving the way for a transparent indirect tax regime. (more…)
By Vershika Sharma, National Law University, Jodhpur.
The recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore has once again highlighted the importance of the relations between the two countries. India’s connection with Singapore is not something which has come up very recently. In fact it dates back to the Cholas who are credited with naming the island and establishing a permanent settlement. However the more modern relationship that has emerged between the two nations is attributed to Sir Stamford Raffles who, in 1819, established a trading station on the Straits of Malacca to protect, particularly from the Dutch, the East India Company ships carrying cargo between India and the region, especially China. Singapore was added to their colonial empire by the Britishers for a period starting from 1830 to 1867, as soon as they realised the strategic importance of the location of the nation especially from security perspective. India was among the first countries to set up diplomatic relations after the independence of Singapore on 24 August 1965. (more…)
By Anusmita Mazumder, Department of Law, University of Calcutta.
In the wake of the declaration by the Union Ministry of Urban Development of an extensive survey to study the progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission, questions on the actual success of the Mission are being raised across the country. The survey named Swachh Sarvekshan, will be conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI). It will cover all State Capitals and 53 other cities. Swachh Sarvekshan is being conducted between January 5 and 20, 2016. As the country awaits the result of the survey, let us take a look into a few details of the Mission. (more…)
By Shalvi Singh, WBNUJS, Kolkata.
Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, formulated the Accessible India Campaign as a nation-wide campaign for achieving universal accessibility for People with Disabilities (PwDs). Consequently, the government on 3rd December 2015 (which is also celebrated as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities) launched the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan). (more…)
By Sonal Srivastava, Amity Law School, Lucknow.
The “Heart of Asia” provides a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly with a view to encourage security, and political and economic co-operation among Afghanistan and its neighbours. This region led dialogue was initiated on 2nd November, 2011, in the city of Istanbul of Turkey, to expand practical coordination between Afghanistan and its neighbours and regional partners in facing common threats, including counter terrorism, counter narcotics, poverty and extremism. The United States and over 20 other Nations and organizations play the role of “Supporting Nations” to the process. India, being one of the member countries to “Heart of Asia”, has declared, in the recent ‘Islamabad Declaration’, to host the sixth Ministerial Heart of Asia Conference in the later quarter of the year 2016. (more…)
By Sandhya Shyamsundar, WBNUJS, Kolkata.
It is only seldom when one gets to see a documentary series which is visually so extravagant, narrated with such depth and one that almost covers the entire historical saga of a country that has withstood the ravages of time. Michael Wood’s ‘The Story of India’ is a BBC TV documentary series that covers the 10,000 year history of the Indian Subcontinent in six episodes. Wood traverses the length and breadth of India, meets the local people, archaeologists, historians and gathers immense information and showcases them with his own knowledge, adding flavor to the episodes.
By Shalvi Singh, WBNUJS, Kolkata.
The diplomatic relations between India and Belgium were established in 1948. Of late, Belgium has acknowledged the importance of India’s global role in economic spheres. In the past, both the countries had co-operated in the field of trade, investment and education. The Union Cabinet on 5th November 2015, approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Indian and Belgium government authorities at the federal and regional level on energy. The objective of this MoU is “to encourage and promote technical bilateral cooperation on new and renewable energy issues on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity.” Both the countries would focus on the development of renewable energy technologies in the field of solar energy, wind energy, biomass, geothermal energy and marine energy. This MoU would help in strengthening bilateral cooperations between the two countries. It would also aid Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the renewable energy sector by bringing in more and more sophisticated technology in India. (more…)
By Dipti Khatri, UPES, Dehradun.
“Sentencing” is the final stage of delivering Justice to the convict and victim. In India, punishment is given according to own applied thoughts of Judges and within statutory limit. For some offences, the maximum punishment is prescribed and for some, it is minimum. In some cases, Judges lower down the punishment using the retributive principle. However, on the same cases of similar facts Judges give death penalty setting as a deterrent for the others in the society. Some Judges tend to be lenient while others tend to be harsh. This has eventually led to improper convictions, due to irrelevant consideration and personal bias. This has also led the society to question what Judiciary should do in a particular state of affairs. (more…)
Yashika Jain, National Law University, Delhi.
A recent move by the US to mobilise funds for the two major dams that Pakistan has been striving to build has left India unsettled. U.S. hailed this infrastructure project as Pakistan’s “smartest choice” for economic development and has pledged to extend its support in funding the same. The two dams, Diamer-Bhasha Dam and the Dasu Dam are gravity dams, which are still in the preliminary stages of construction due to the series of controversies and lack of funds. Diamer-Bhasha Dam is proposed to be built on the River Indus in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Its foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan on 18 October, 2011 and majority of the funding is being provided by Aga Khan Development Network. (more…)