Saturday, 5 September 2015

Judgment Day - 8.09.2015

The Manthan Cell shall be holding the first 'Judgement Day' on Tuesday, 08-09-2015 in Academic Block-I at 1700 hrs on the following topic:
“Nikhil Soni v. Union of India” - The recent judgement of the Rajasthan High Court on the practice of ‘Santhara’
The discussion shall be focused on critically analysing the above judgement in light of the following broad themes:
• Scope of judicial intervention in religious matters: Maintainability of PILs
• Scope of suicide under Section 309, Indian Penal Code: Is Santhara suicide?
• Article 21 of the Constitution of India: Does it extend to a right to die?
• Essential tenets of a religion under Article 25 of the Constitution of India
• Legality of Euthanasia
• International Perspectives on religious freedom and the right to die

Please follow the ‘NLIU Manthan’ Facebook page, or follow us here for further updates and information on the topic.


Tuesday, 1 September 2015

Summary of the First Manthan

We would like to thank all participants for a successful 1st Manthan.
For those who couldn't make it and for anyone who wants more insight into the Land Acquisition debate in India, here's a summary of the discussion.

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Articles on Land Acquisition #13

"The proposed Bill’s good intentions are not matched by sound economic reasoning. The principal drawback, in our view, is the choice of an arbitrary mark-up over market price for compensation purposes."
(Maitreesh Ghatak & Parikshit Ghosh, The Land Acquisition Bill - A Critique and a Proposal: EPW, October 8, 2011)

Articles on Land Acquisition #12

"In May 2012, POSCO CEO, Mr. Joon-Yang Chung, wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. He stated that ‘POSCO supports the ten principles of the Global Compact with respect to human rights’ and ‘with this communication, we express our intent to advance those principles within our sphere of influence’. Evidence from the area impacted by POSCO’s project in Odisha makes a mockery of this promise."

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_48206fMI2VE8wS3NhbmY0OXM/view?usp=sharing

Articles on Land Acquisition #11

"Land acquisition resulted in substantial economic hardship for large sections of the rural population, for many of whom compensation offered was inadequate."
(Maitreesh Ghatak, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee & Anusha Nath, Land Acquisition and Compensation - What really happened in Singur: EPW, May 25, 2013)

Articles on Land Acquisition #10

"The policy also has a self-imposed penalty clause that looks to enhance efficiency. Under the policy, if there is any delay in completion of the development by the land pooling agency — DDA, the authority will have to pay a penalty of 2 per cent of external development charges (EDC) per year for the first two years and 3 per cent of EDC per year thereafter to the DE (farmers/land owners) for delay beyond the date of completion of the construction by DE or five years, whichever is later, till the external development works are completed."

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/pooling-land-unlocking-value/

Articles on Land Acquisition #9

"The Bill treats farmers and industries as antagonists. Instead, we need to aim for a partnership. The details will take a lot of working out. But let us start by accepting the principle."

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-06-20/news/32335633_1_land-acquisition-bill-land-prices-conversion-of-agricultural-land

Monday, 10 August 2015

Articles on Land Acquisition #8

Making the Land Acquisition Law more acceptable to all affected parties.
(Dhanmanjiri Sathe, Land Acquisition Act and the Ordinance Some Issues: EPW, June 27, 2015)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_48206fMI2dmRyM1pBOWM2Xzg/view?usp=sharing

Articles on Land Acquisition #7

How is land acquired in other countries?
(Ashwin Mahalingam & Aditi Vyas, Comparative Evaluation of Land Acquisition and Compensation Processes across the World: EPW, August 6, 2011)

Articles on Land Acquisition #6

Articles on Land Acquisition #5

"Of the estimated 60 million people displaced in development projects since independence, as many as 40% were adivasis. while their share in the general population has hovered around 8%."

http://www.epw.in/web-exclusives/adivasis-and-new-land-acquisition-act.html

Articles on Land Acquisition #4

"Even as countrywide protests against the land ordinance gain momentum, Adivasi communities living in mineral-rich areas are apprehensive of what awaits them as the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2015 (MMDRA) has received presidential assent and the government has drafted Rules for some clauses of the Act.
The principal Act of 1957 is as draconian a law for Adivasis as was the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 for all farmers."

Articles on Land Acquisition #3

"What is clear is that there is no economic justification in favour of government to subsidise industry by indirectly taxing the farmer."

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/parthasarathi-shome-is-there-economics-in-the-2015-land-acquisition-bill-115071401454_1.html

Articles on Land Acquisition #2

"Quite a few states have carried out land acquisition smoothly, without controversies. Here’s a look at what they are doing right and what the Centre can learn from each of them."

http://swarajyamag.com/politics/land-acquisition-learn-from-the-states/ 

Articles on Land Acquisition #1

"Even as arguments rage in New Delhi on the pros and cons of the 2013 act, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has found a way round the problem to build a new capital city on 34,000 acres of farmland. His strategy has been to make all farmers stakeholders in the new capital, so that they voluntarily “pool” their land with the city development agency"

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/51735/

Saturday, 8 August 2015

ANNOUNCEMENT OF MANTHAN DISCUSSION


07-08-2015
Mant/N/2015-16/005
ANNOUNCEMENT OF MANTHAN DISCUSSION
The Manthan Cell is proud to announce the first Manthan for the academic year 2015-2016. The students of NLIU are hereby invited to participate in the first Manthan to be held on Wednesday, 12-08-2015 in Academic Block-I at 1800 hrs. The discussion shall be on the following topic:
“The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015”
The discussion would revolve around the following broad themes:
  1. Need for consolidated Land Acquisition Laws: Comparison with laws in other countries
  2.  Specific clauses in the proposed amendment: Comparison with clauses of 2013 Act
  3.  Practical aspects of the legislation and the problems of Implementation (with relevant Case Studies)
  4.  State Acts relating to land acquisition: Legality of such Acts vis-à-vis the federal structure laid down in the Constitution of India
  5.  Ordinance making power of the Executive: Legality of successive ordinances amending the 2013 Act

Please follow the ‘NLIU Manthan’ Facebook page, or this space for further updates and information on each of the themes.


Debashri Sarkar
Faculty-in-charge

Manthan

Thursday, 6 August 2015

RECONSTITUTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE COUNCIL OF MANTHAN


06-08-2015
Mant/N/2015-16/004
NOTICE
RECONSTITUTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE COUNCIL OF MANTHAN
This is to notify the student community that the following students have been inducted into the Knowledge Council of Manthan:
Shreyasi Srivastava
V Year
Kanishk Gupta
III Year
Kevin Joseph
III Year
Ritu Anand
III Year
Sawan Shrivastava
III Year
Robin Singh Rathore
II Year
Rohan Kohli
II Year
Shivika Dixit
II Year
Devansh Srivastava
I Year
Nidhi Kulkarni
I Year
All submitted answer scripts were corrected and marked by the faculty-in-charge. Students who wish to review the same may do so by making a request to the undersigned at a reasonable hour in her chamber.


Debashri Sarkar
Faculty-in-charge

Manthan

Wednesday, 5 August 2015

The first Manthan discussion of the year

We are glad to announce that the topic for the first discussion by NLIU Manthan for this academic year shall be The Land Acquisition Bill, 2015. Follow this page for more details and articles relating to the topic. 
Here's something to get you started: http://www.prsindia.org/pages/land-acquisition-debate-139/

Welcome to NLIU Manthan

Please follow this page for updates on Manthan events, and interesting insight into the happenings in and around Manthan conferences across the year!