Tag: law

GOP’s newest attack on Biden’s climate law: China

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To Democrats, such projects and the domestic manufacturing incentives included in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act are the key to creating a homegrown clean energy industry that will end China’s dominance, while weaning the U.S. off fossil fuels. But Republicans contend that the president is recklessly pushing a quick transition away from coal, oil and natural gas — and toward green-energy sources that China dominates.
The GOP strategy plays off anger at China among lawmakers in both parties, which spiked again this month after a suspected Chinese spy balloon wafted across the U.S. before the Air Force shot it down.
“We want to stop the rush to green,” said Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), chair of the Energy and Commerce environment, manufacturing and critical materials subcommittee. Under Biden’s policies, he contended, “Energy costs are going to go higher. Quality of life for the American people is going to go down. America’s economy and energy independence is at stake. Let’s harvest those resources as much as we can here at home.”
Energy experts and members of both parties acknowledge that the U.S. cannot yet make a full break from China, which has had a decade-long head start in developing the supply chain for batteries, solar panels and other clean energy production.
But Democrats say their efforts are directed at replacing Chinese batteries and renewable equipment with U.S.-made parts. They say the attacks from Republicans, who unanimously voted against the climate law, are a transparent attempt to undermine alternatives to fossil fuels.
“Republicans sat on the sidelines while we took these huge steps in the direction of being less dependent on China,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) “So they have no high ground whatsoever on this.”
Supporters of Biden’s policies also warn that an immediate no-China approach would be a recipe for paralysis — slowing the U.S. transition to clean energy, leaving the country without crucial materials, and imperiling the fight to cut planet-warming pollution.
“We can’t make our emissions numbers without solar panels that can only come from China today,” said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), a former environmental lawyer who serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

“Being wary of them is really important, but the notion that you can just flush your contact with China is not possible,” he added. “You have to manage China. There’s going to be a period of transition. They are still going to be a very large economy.”
The flight of the balloon has only worsened U.S.-China acrimony. Beijing also temporarily cut off climate talks and other contacts with the U.S. last year after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, while China’s growing ties to the Russian energy sector have provoked consternation in Washington since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine a year ago.
China’s starring role in clean energy is undeniable, however.
On top of its world-leading position in processing critical minerals and manufacturing solar cells, wafers and modules, China dominates the production of the batteries needed for electric vehicles at every stage of the supply chain, according to a 2022 report from the International Energy Agency.
“We are still in a tight coupling with China, and it isn’t rational or responsible to talk about that relationship like we can turn it off,” said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, a research group.
China hosts about three-quarters of the global production capacity for battery cells, along with more than half the global raw material processing of lithium, cobalt and graphite, the IEA said.
Its stranglehold on the polysilicon wafers that turn sunlight into electricity in solar panels is even greater, accounting for 97 percent of the global manufacturing capacity. Lawmakers last year also enacted a federal law that prohibits the importation of goods that include polysilicon from China’s Xinjiang unless an importer can prove the product was not made with forced labor.
Since Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in August, companies have announced plans for tens of billions of dollars of green manufacturing projects across the United States, seeking a slice of the law’s $369 billion in incentives for domestically sourced clean energy.
But those projects are also drawing scrutiny from GOP lawmakers. They’ve promised a lengthy oversight process of the green energy spending bonanza bankrolled through the climate law, as well as investments stemming from Biden’s 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
“I won’t use the phrase this is the tip of the iceberg, but I would say this is the start of a long and methodical and hopefully sterile process of oversight,” said House Science Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.).
Lucas, and other lawmakers from both parties, have raised questions about China’s influence over a Texas-based battery company, Microvast, which has received initial approval for a $200 million federal grant through the infrastructure law to build a facility in Tennessee.
Microvast is a publicly traded U.S. company with a subsidiary in China, but with no ownership by the Chinese government, said Shane Smith, the company’s chief operating officer. The Energy Department has said no taxpayer funds have gone to the company yet, and that DOE is conducting a due-diligence review of the award.
Smith said the company, which has worked with DOE since the Trump administration, is now being used to score political points — though he acknowledged that some companies with links to China are worth investigating.
“Frankly, we’re just the wrong company,” he said. “Are there companies out there that are blatantly acknowledged that are Chinese-owned, that could get actual federal dollars? Yes. Why are those not the examples in what they’re trying to communicate rather than an American company?”
Conservatives and GOP state lawmakers have also begun drawing links between China and investments in their states. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced last month that he had halted efforts to bring a proposed Ford battery plant to Virginia over concerns about its links to a Chinese company and its technology. The U.S.-based auto giant said Monday that it would locate the project in Michigan instead.
In West Virginia, a Republican state delegate has questioned whether investors in a proposed battery plant there have connections to China and Saudi Arabia.
One solar energy industry executive pointed to conservative ire over a recent announcement that JA Solar, a China-based company that is one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers, will build a factory in Arizona. “The suggestion there is that IRA funds could potentially be going to companies linked to the Communist Party,” said the person, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the industry’s concerns. The person added, “Our concern is that any link to China is going to be a problem.”
But the person saw a potential bright spot: Because anti-China sentiment on the Hill is bipartisan, an opportunity could exist to channel that energy to advance manufacturing investments — if lawmakers were open to having a meaningful discussion.
Republicans, meanwhile, say Biden’s actions are undermining his stated support for developing domestic sources of critical clean-energy minerals. They point to a recent Interior Department order protecting a swath of lakes and wilderness in Minnesota, which effectively halted a proposed copper mine.
Less than a week later, EPA used a rarely employed veto authority to stop Pebble Mine in Alaska, a contentious metals project that would have extracted significant amounts of copper, gold and molybdenum but risked damaging one of the world’s largest salmon habitats
“The fact they would shut those down demonstrates the phoniness of the conviction of all this, especially with regards to [reducing dependence on] China,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
Republicans also warn that Democrats’ subsidies to clean energy developers can’t keep up with China’s government support of its own green industries, and that the U.S. won’t be able to quickly build energy and mining projects unless Congress passes legislation to streamline lengthy permitting reviews.
“You can’t compete with a nonmarket behemoth economy in a game of subsidies,” said George David Banks, a former international climate adviser in the Trump administration who now advises Republicans in Congress. “You can throw all the subsidies and still not be able to solve the problem because you can’t build anything.”
Democrats counter that Republicans have not offered a comprehensive plan of their own. They say the GOP’s focus on boosting domestic mining overlooks other aspects of the supply chain reliant on China, such as processing of metals used in batteries.
And they say the GOP’s emphasis on easing fossil fuel production and exports risks setting back U.S efforts to compete with China.
“[Republicans] need a plan, and the plan needs to be a real plan not a political plan — a nuts and bolts, how do we continue to onshore manufacturing here,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). “And right now we have the only real tool to do that, which is the industrial policy which was embedded in the IRA.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 14, 2023
What climate law? Voters clueless about Biden’s top achievement

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The sales pitch for Biden’s signature legislation would be crucial to any reelection effort he wages in 2024. But polls show that few Americans are aware of the climate law and how it could benefit them — creating a political challenge that the president’s Democratic allies acknowledge.
“If we can’t figure out how to sell that story over the next two years, we should find a different job,” Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Tom Carper (D-Del.), whose committee wrote a sizable chunk of the law, said in an interview. “And I don’t have any plans to find a different job.”
It won’t be an easy task.
“If we can’t figure out how to sell that story over the next two years, we should find a different job.”
Tom Carper (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
A third of registered voters have heard “nothing at all” about the climate law, while another 24 percent heard “a little” and 29 percent heard “some,” according to a Yale Project on Climate Change Communication poll conducted in December. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Monday found that 62 percent of Americans thought Biden had accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing.”
“I really feel sympathy with the president,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told POLITICO. “You do really important things that might have an impact and there’s a day or two of news coverage. If important political points are not getting out to the public, it’s not just the politicians’ fault.”
Republicans are offering no condolences — including lawmakers whose districts are poised to host many of the jobs the legislation would create. They contend that the law, H.R. 5376 (117th), has stoked inflation that is burdening households with high gasoline, food and home-heating prices.
“It has made the lives of American people, American families more difficult and it doesn’t matter how much spin the president puts on it — it’s been two years of failure,” said House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson of Pennsylvania, who like every other congressional Republican opposed the measure.
The Biden administration is employing two approaches to sell the law’s benefits to a largely unaware public — an effort that will take officials on the road and into people’s homes.

Biden, a self-professed “car guy,” has promoted the law and its tax credits for electric vehicles at public events such as the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and in appearances on Jay Leno’s Garage. On Wednesday, Biden spoke at a Laborers’ International Union of North America training center in Deforest, Wis., about new manufacturing jobs.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Ultium Cells in Spring Hill, Tenn., on Wednesday to champion new domestic battery manufacturing sparked by the climate law. EPA Administrator Michael Regan headed to Wabaunsee, Kan., that same day to talk electric school buses. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is on a three-state swing through Friday across Utah, Nevada and Massachusetts.
Granholm also made Thursday’s announcement of the $2 billion battery-materials loan, which will come from a 2007 DOE program that got additional funding and authority from Biden’s climate law. The company, Redwood Materials, said the loan would fund projects creating jobs in Nevada and Kansas.
“We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it,” said Casey Katims, executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of 24 U.S. governors working to help the administration slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half from 2005 levels by the end of the decade.
The focus on the middle of the country is intentional. The Biden administration championed the climate law as a jobs boon for blue-collar workers that will ease consumers’ financial burden during the country’s transition to clean energy.
“We’ve already created 800,000 manufacturing jobs even without this law. With this new law, we will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs across the country,” Biden said in the State of the Union speech, noting Intel’s plans to build a semiconductor factory outside Columbus, Ohio. That project will bring jobs that pay workers $130,000 a year, including for many positions that don’t require a college degree, he noted.
Since Biden signed the law in August, 100,000 new job postings sprouted across 31 states and 94 clean energy projects have drawn $89.5 billion in new investment, according to an analysis by Climate Power, a coalition of environmental groups. Biden administration officials and Democrats widely promoted the study, which was released Monday.
Many of those jobs are in districts represented by GOP lawmakers who opposed the legislation.
Among other political headwinds, though, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said many Americans are simply exhausted from years of crises such as the coronavirus pandemic, the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, two impeachments of former President Donald Trump and protests about police brutality and racial justice.
“To the extent that the mood improves — and I think it is and it will continue to — I think that overwhelmingly benefits the party that has the White House,” Kaine said in an interview.
Meanwhile, Biden and his team are working to inform people about the economic gains the climate law promises. They’ve also added a consumer outreach official who is tasked with making it easier for the average American to take advantage of the law’s rebates, tax credits and other incentives.
Many of the law’s tax benefits, such as rebates for home improvements and appliance upgrades, won’t be felt until a year from now when Americans file their 2023 returns. Lawmakers, regulators and U.S. allies are still fighting over which electric vehicles should qualify for a $7,500 credit.
Joshua Peck, senior policy adviser on the White House implementation team for the climate law, said it’s not essential for Americans to know the legislation’s name — but they “need to see and feel benefits, and know that they are part of the president’s agenda.”
“Over the next year or two, so many of those accomplishments will be happening on top of each other,” Peck said.
Don’t expect splashy public service announcements or advertising. Peck and his team are working behind the scenes organizing businesses, trade associations, equipment manufacturers and state energy offices to bring awareness to the opportunities the law affords.
The idea is to spread the word that more energy efficient, cleaner options are available, which begins with educating people like heating and cooling contractors, tradespeople and electric utilities about ways they can inform customers of savings.
The White House’s environmental allies are also looking to help.
“It was just signed into law a matter of months ago. It’s a big, complex law,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of government affairs with the League of Conservation Voters. “It’s incumbent on all of us to make clear to people all across the country the ways that — not the ins and outs or getting into the weeds of the legislation — but how does it benefit them? How does it save them money on their monthly energy bills? What are the rebates for making their home more efficient or electrifying the homes?”
Of course, that message runs up against Republican warnings that Biden is out to abolish traditional touchstones of Americans’ lives — including gas stoves along with older, inefficient, toilets, dishwashers, showerheads and incandescent light bulbs.
Rewiring America, a nonprofit whose work has been influential within the White House Climate Policy Office, has partnered with Redfin and Airbnb to get the message out to 10 million Americans about the benefits of converting appliances and homes to run off electric power rather than gas — tasks the climate law will make more affordable.
People already are curious: 400,000 people have used a tool on the website of Rewiring America run by a green advocacy group that calculates potential savings from the law. Those visitors all came to the tool by word of mouth and news articles, said Ari Matusiak, CEO of Rewiring America.
“If the policy is effective it is going to be embedded in the transactions that people are making and these electric machines are increasingly going to become the default,” Matusiak said. “That’s the actual goal — that it becomes the kind of no-brainer decision.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 10, 2023
Why There Is Inordinate Delay In Setting Up of National Law University?

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by Ummar Jamal
In January 2022, the result of seven district judges’ posts was declared. None of the 217 appearing candidates from Jammu and Kashmir was able to qualify for the examination.
High Court of Jammu and Kashmir
In early 2022, the Supreme Court expressed concerns over the retrogressing quality of legal education in the country. The court observed that the problem starts at law schools only. The comment by the Apex court on the quality of legal education must be seriously considered.
People from different quarters of the legal fraternity from time to time have been flagging concerns over the deteriorating quality of legal education in India. In order to address the issue and improve the quality of legal education in India, the Bar Council of India envisaged a “model law school with university status to act as a pace-setter for legal education reforms.”
In line with the second-generation legal education reform proposed by the Indian Bar Council, various state governments replicated the idea, thereby paving the way for the establishment of a total of 23 such universities so far.
While the quality of legal education is constantly deteriorating in Jammu and Kashmir, the issue can be well addressed by the establishment of a National Law University (NLU), as envisaged by the Bar Council of India.
The proposal for the establishment of the National Law University in Jammu and Kashmir traces its origin to the resolution moved by the All India Law Ministers Conference in 1995. It was unanimously resolved to set up a law school in each state modelled on the National Law School University for raising the standard of professional legal education across the country.
In 2018, Jammu and Kashmir’s law students were thrilled, when the then BJPDP coalition government passed the Jammu and Kashmir National Law University Bill in the assembly. After the act was passed, the piece of legislation needed the governor’s nod. The then governor N N Vohra raised certain questions over the proposal, which stopped the process.

However, on October 1 2019, Governor Satya Pal Malik gave assent to the bill for the establishment of a National Law University in Jammu and Kashmir.
Soon after the bifurcation of the erstwhile State into two Union Territories, after some amendments in Jammu and Kashmir National Law University Act, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs formally adopted the Act. There has been an interlude of nearly two and half years since the Act was formally adopted by the Ministry of Home Affairs. But though approved two and half years back in 2019, there has been no headway on setting up of the University.
After three decades of establishing the first National Law School in Bangalore, we currently have 23 such NLUs spread across the country. Maharashtra has three National Law Universities. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh has two NLUs, of which the recent one is at Jabalpur. The state of Uttar Pradesh is set to establish its second National Law University in Prayagraj. Many NLUs are in the pipeline in various states like Tripura, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.
Regrettably, Jammu and Kashmir despite being the 12th largest among the 37 State/UT in terms of geographical area and 19th in terms of population with more than 14 million people are yet to have its own National Law University.
Presently, Jammu and Kashmir has a total of three government Universities and seven private law colleges which offer law courses like LLB and BA-.LLB. Government universities include the University of Kashmir, the University of Jammu, Central University of Kashmir. Private law colleges include Kashmir law college, Vitasta School of Law and Humanities, Kashmir Creative Education Foundation (KCEF) Law College, Sopore Law college in Kashmir division and KC Law College, Dogra Law College and Ashoka Law College in Jammu division.
But the aforementioned government universities and private law colleges are incomparable with the National Law Universities in terms of quality of education, admission criteria, curriculum, examination, and the qualifications of the faculty members.
Starting from low placement records to lack of infrastructure, law schools in Jammu and Kashmir, are today grappling with a series of problems. They are not student-friendly. They don’t have student bodies which could represent the academic interests of students and properly put the grievances and demands of students before the administration.
The government universities and private law colleges here are more focused on teaching theory and hardly give any training for mooting, debating etc. Their pedagogy and teaching methods are antiquated. Here in most colleges internship is still unheard of concept.
In these law schools, the classic examination pattern is used where students’ grades are based on their ability to memorise a few topics rather than their analytical and practical abilities. Students memorise the laws but are left confused by their application to our daily lives.
In fact, legal education in private colleges of Jammu and Kashmir has now developed as a potential business activity for law institutions, where legal education rules go for a toss repeatedly. These collages are still accustomed to the traditional style of lecturing in a classroom. As a result, the students studying in these colleges not only lack adequate knowledge of the subject but also lack the requisite skills to adequately practise in the courts.
Ummar Jamal
In January 2022, the result of seven district judges’ posts was declared. None of the 217 appearing candidates from Jammu and Kashmir was able to qualify for the examination.
Legal education is one of the most important fields for the country’s development and preservation of democracy and the rule of law. With such serious observation by the SC and declining standards of legal education, the Jammu and Kashmir government must acknowledge this demand and set up an NLU, where every bright mind from the various socio-economic class of society could make a career in law.
(Author is a Law student at Kashmir University. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of TheNewsCaravan.)

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 10, 2023
Andhra Cabinet’s nod for National Law University at Kurnool

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Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for establishment of the National Law University in the state.
The university, the second of its kind in the country, will come up on a 50-acre campus at Kurnool.
At its meeting presided over by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at the Secretariat here, the Cabinet approved the calendar of welfare schemes for February and March starting with YSR Kalyanamastu on February 10, besides ratifying the decisions of the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) that cleared investment proposals of various companies and giving nod to fill existing vacancies in several departments.
It approved disbursal of funds to beneficiaries of welfare schemes like Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasati Deevena for students, input subsidy for farmers, YSR Law Nestam for junior lawyers, YSR Asara for women groups and EBC Nestam for women aged between 45 and 60 years in the coming months.
Information & Public Relations and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Chelluboyina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna briefed the media on the Cabinet decisions.
He said the Cabinet has also decided to establish Andhra Pradesh Medical Services Recruitment Board for filling up vacancies of state, zonal, and district level posts in Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department excluding the posts under the purview of APPSC and upgrade the 50-bedded Community Health Centre at Nandigama in NTR district to 100-bedded Area Hospital at a cost of Rs 34.48 crore.
The Cabinet also approved the Draft Bill for making an Act to constitute the Andhra Pradesh Para Veterinary and Allied Council as a regulatory body for registration, controlling and managing Polytechnic Institutions, imparting training to Animal Husbandry, Dairy, Fishery Diploma holders besides sanctioning 105 additional posts in the Andhra Pradesh Special Protection Force (APSPF).
Approval to take follow up action to provide necessary infrastructure like land and other facilities to the investors who have submitted proposals to the SIPB was also given by the Cabinet.

The Cabinet okayed the proposal for restructuring the IT division of the TTD by creating 34 new posts in different categories and also for creating 12 posts in the TTD’s Sculpture Department.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 8, 2023
Europe moves from anger toward acceptance of U.S. climate law

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The visit is a marked shift in tone from previous engagements. French President Emmanuel Macron accused the U.S. of “hurting” his country when Congress passed its landmark Inflation Reduction Act.
European officials had initially pushed President Joe Biden and senior U.S. lawmakers to make the law more inclusive of European companies. The law provides $369 billion in subsidies and tax credits that aim to incentivize purchases of electric vehicles and build up green infrastructure. One of the most hotly contested provisions, a $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, is limited to cars built in North America and with battery critical minerals sourced domestically or from a free trade agreement partner — which the EU is not.
Habeck and Le Maire say they haven’t given up that campaign. But in the face of uncertainty about how far the Biden administration will go to address their concerns, the officials said the European Union, one America’s most important trading partners, deserves at least a transparent accounting of how the U.S. government will use the law to funnel money to industry.
“We agreed on the necessity of full transparency on the level of subsidies and tax credits,” Le Maire told reporters after the meetings, as well as “necessity to ensure constant communication at the ministerial level, especially on the strategy on tax credits.”
“You cannot have any fair competition if there is not full transparency on the level of public subsidies and public tax credits that are granted to private companies,” he added.
But outside of pledges for transparency and cooperation, the meetings with U.S. officials did not appear to yield any concrete agreement to alleviate the EU’s top concern with the IRA — the North American assembly requirement for subsidized electric vehicles.
Le Maire said the sides agreed in principle that the “implementation of the IRA should include as many EU components as possible.” But he declined to detail if that meant the U.S. had budged on the EV tax credit terms, or if they would seek to maximize EU parts under existing the parameters.
The economic dustup has shown how complex and potentially adversarial the race toward a clean energy future will be. Even as they pursue their own self-interests, economies like the U.S. and EU have at least one shared goal beyond slowing climate change: ensuring China does not dominate supply chains for battery production and renewables.

For their part, European nations are already developing their own subsidy scheme to prevent a feared migration of EU manufacturing to the U.S., where energy costs are lower and states are standing by with sweeteners to dish out. After meeting with U.S. officials, the ministers said the need for Europe to respond with its own subsidy package is clearer than ever.
“One conclusion we have to draw from the meetings,” Le Maire said, is that “we see the absolute necessity for Europe to arrive at the definition and implementation of a European green tech plan.”
U.S. officials have encouraged the EU to boost its own industries, often noting there is ample room in the market for widespread government support for clean energy.
A Treasury Department readout of the meeting said Yellen stressed the need for innovation and development of technology “on both sides of the Atlantic to speed the transition to green energy and meet our collective climate goals.”
The Treasury Department provided preliminary guidance in late December on how it is going to implement key features of the electric vehicle tax credits and promised complete details in March. In a win for the EU, it hinted at adopting an expansive definition of which countries are considered U.S. free trade agreement partners. It also said imported electric vehicles would be eligible for a separate credit for commercial clean vehicles. However, many legal experts said it’s unlikely the administration could bend the law any further.
The German and French officials emphasized a promise to cooperate on creating a common market for the components that go into many clean energy products, with Habeck hailing the creation of a “critical minerals club” between the trading partners. France and Germany had already agreed last year to join a “minerals security partnership” to bolster critical mineral supply chains.
“The idea is we will find concrete measures … on how we reach more diversity in the supply chain,” Habeck said. “If that is reached, then we might have the steps for further agreements, for further alignment for the goods that are produced out of the critical minerals.”
Habeck and Le Maire also met Tuesday with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), who played a key role in crafting the final details of the IRA, particularly the electric vehicle consumer tax credit.
Speaking at an online event hosted by the news outlet Semafor before that meeting, Manchin defended the IRA bill as an important step toward achieving U.S. energy security and said it was never his or Congress’ intention to hurt Europe.
“We can bring them in to basically participating [in the IRA provisions],” Manchin said. “But every country does what they can to stimulate their market, to keep their people working, to have a strong economy. They can’t deny us from doing the same thing.”
Manchin also encouraged European officials to offer incentives to increase investment in clean energy and technologies to fight climate change. He expressed concern the EU wants “to continue to beat the living crap out of people by charging carbon taxes, carbon fees and everything [else they’re] doing, rather than giving them incentives, basically, to mature these industries quicker.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 8, 2023
Hyderabad: NALSAR University of Law signs MOU with ICRISAT

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Hyderabad: NALSAR University of Law signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics ( ICRISAT), on Monday.
The vice-Chancellor-NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Prof Srikrishna Deva Rao signed the MoU in the presence of the chair professor, IPR of NALSAR, Dr Anindya Sircar and head of legal services of ICRISAT, Dr Surya Mani Tripathi.
The significance of this MoU is to jointly work on projects in the domain of IP and technology management/commercialization by utilizing IP expertise, network and outreach, and national and international exposure.
NALSAR will collaborate for capacity building and awareness activities in the IP domain to benefit various stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem in India and across the globe.
This partnership between the two will enhance knowledge exchange and participation in each other’s programs and events relevant to IPRs.
It would further encourage visits from one party to the other by academic, research and other staff members to participate in training and capacity development programs and other related activities said their press release.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 7, 2023
SC must put end to daily abuse of law: Chidambaram after Jamia nagar violence verdict

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New Delhi: A day after a Delhi court discharged Sharjeel Imam and 10 others in the 2019 Jamia Nagar violence case, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the criminal justice system that tolerates pre-trial incarceration is an affront to the Constitution and urged the Supreme Court to put an end to this “daily abuse of the law”.
A court here on Saturday discharged 11 people, including student activists Imam and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who participated in anti-CAA protests, in the 2019 Jamia Nagar violence case, saying they were made “scapegoats” by police, and that dissent has to be encouraged, not stifled.
Reacting to the development, Chidambaram tweeted, asking whether there was even prima facie evidence against the accused.
Some accused have been lodged in jail for nearly three years. Some got bail after many months. This is pre-trial incarceration.
An inept police and over-zealous prosecutors are responsible for keeping citizens in jail before trial. What action will be taken against them?
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 5, 2023
“The Court’s conclusion: unequivocal no. Some accused have been lodged in jail for nearly three years. Some got bail after many months.This is pre-trial incarceration,” the former home minister said.
“An inept police and overzealous prosecutors are responsible for keeping citizens in jail before trial. What action will be taken against them?” Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.
The SC must put an end to this daily abuse of the law. The sooner the better.
Bless the trial courts that push back against the abuse of the law and uphold liberty
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 5, 2023
Who will give back the months or years that the accused spent in jail, he asked.
“Our criminal justice system that tolerates pre-trial incarceration is an affront to the Constitution of India, especially Articles 19 and 21.The SC must put an end to this daily abuse of the law. The sooner the better,” Chidambaram said.
“Bless the trial courts that push back against the abuse of the law and uphold liberty,” he added.

Noting that the accused were merely present at the protest site and there was no incriminating evidence against them, the court said dissent is an extension of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, subject to reasonable restrictions.
An FIR was lodged in connection with the violence that erupted after a clash between police and people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the Jamia Nagar area here in December 2019.
Imam was accused of instigating the riots by delivering a provocative speech at the Jamia Millia Islamia University on December 13, 2019. He will continue to remain in jail as he is an accused in the larger conspiracy case of the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Arul Varma said there were admittedly scores of protesters at the site and some anti-social elements within the crowd could have created an environment of disruption and havoc.
“However, the moot question remains — whether the accused persons herein were even prima facie complicit in taking part in that mayhem? The answer is an unequivocal no,” the judge said.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 5, 2023
UP: UCC, Gyanvapi on agenda in Muslim personal law board meet; Owaisi to attend

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New Delhi: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLA) has called for an Executive Committee meeting tomorrow in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow.
The meeting is believed to be convened to discuss topics like Gyanvapi, Uniform Civil Code, and Religious Conversion, among others. “Future strategy will also be engineered in the said meeting,” AIMPLA Executive Member Qasim Rasool Ilyas told ANI.
The AIMPLA has 51 Executive members including All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
Board General Secretary Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, Asaduddin Owaisi, Arshad Madani etc., will attend the meeting.
Earlier, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in Rajya Sabha told BJP MP Nishikant Dubey that a proposal to examine issues relating to Uniform Civil Code and make recommendations may be taken up by the 22nd Law Commission.
The minister told Dubey, who had raised the issue as a matter of urgent public importance on December 1 last year in Lok Sabha, that the proposal was referred to the 21st Law Commission but since its term has ended, the matter may be taken by the 22nd Law Commission.
Article 44 of the Constitution provides that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code (UCC) throughout the territory of India.
“In view of the importance of the subject matter and sensitivity involved and it requiring an in-depth study of provisions of various personal laws governing different communities, a proposal to examine issues relating to uniform civil code and make recommendations has been forwarded to the 21st Law Commission of India,” Rijiju said in his letter.

Nishikant Dubey had urged the party-led central government to expedite the process to bring in a law to implement the Uniform Civil Code.
If implemented, UCC is likely to provide one law for the entire country, applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption.
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#UCC #Gyanvapi #agenda #Muslim #personal #law #board #meet #Owaisi #attend
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 4, 2023
Influential, Powerful Encroachers Would Face Law Of The Land: LG Says

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JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated Civil Services Officers Institute (CSOI) at Jammu.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor said the institute will promote welfare of officers, their families and bring them together to build close cooperation & interaction to reinforce our democratic values & to meet the challenges of nation building.
“CSOIs in other states & at the Centre are playing important role as a nursery of ideas since many years. I am confident CSOI in J&K will render yeoman service to UT with systematic and continuous improvement in governance through seminars & debates on civil administration,”observed the Lt Governor.
Speaking on the ongoing anti-encroachment drive across the UT, the Lt Governor said some people tried to spread misinformation that common man will be impacted in the anti-encroachment drive.
“I want to assure the people that Administration will safeguard the habitations and livelihoods of common man. Only influential and powerful people who misused their position and violated the law to encroach upon the State land would face the law of the land,” said the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor reiterated that only those people who have grabbed land illegally through unfair means are facing the eviction.
“I have personally directed the DCs and SSPs to closely monitor and ensure no innocent person is affected in any manner during anti-encroachment drive,” said the Lt Governor.
Deputy Commissioners should have the knowledge of the activity of next day and media should be made aware about the names behind the encroachment of land so that the common man will get to know the truth, the Lt Governor further said.

Speaking on the role of the Civil Services Officers Institute, the Lt Governor further observed that it will work as a bridge between different fields of Civil Administration and officers will get the opportunity to learn a lot from each other’s experiences.
CSOI will strengthen the ethos of Good Governance and will evolve into a center for meaningful discussion on economic growth and social change, he added.
The expectations of the people have increased and I have full faith that we all will work with dedication to meet their expectations and tackle the challenges of the future, added the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor noted that in today’s inter-connected world, new skills of public administration and uninterrupted dialogue between common man and officers are required for smooth functioning of Civil Administration.
The Lt Governor said the success of Back to Village and My Town My Pride is testimony to our commitment of people-centric governance. The successful conduct of the two Jan-Abhiyan is the best example towards social welfare and inclusive development, he added
“I can proudly say that we have been able to establish the most transparent and active administrative system in Jammu Kashmir. The feedback received on RAS proves that the public service delivery has won the trust of the common man,” said the Lt Governor.
Highlighting the initiatives of e-Governance, the Lt Governor said more than 400 services have been made online. Remaining should also be made online soon in its true sense. The Public Services Commission has created a new milestone and declared the result in just three hours after the verification of the last candidate, he added.
Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta informed that the two CSOIs to be established in J&K.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary; Former Chief Secretaries, Retd DGP, Senior officers, HODs were present on the occasion.

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#Influential #Powerful #Encroachers #Face #Law #Land
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 3, 2023
Federal appeals court strikes down domestic violence gun law

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But then last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a new ruling in a case known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. That case set new standards for interpreting the Second Amendment by saying the government had to justify gun control laws by showing they are “consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
The appeals court withdrew its original decision and on Thursday decided to vacate the man’s conviction and ruled the federal law banning people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns was unconstitutional.
Specifically, the court ruled that the federal law was an “outlier that our ancestors would never have accepted” — borrowing a quote from the Bruen decision.
The decision came from a three-judge panel consisting of Judges Cory Wilson, James Ho and Edith Jones. Wilson and Ho were nominated by former Republican President Donald Trump, while Jones was nominated by former Republican President Ronald Reagan.
The U.S. Justice Department Thursday night issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland following the decision: “Nearly 30 years ago, Congress determined that a person who is subject to a court order that restrains him or her from threatening an intimate partner or child cannot lawfully possess a firearm. Whether analyzed through the lens of Supreme Court precedent, or of the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment, that statute is constitutional. Accordingly, the Department will seek further review of the Fifth Circuit’s contrary decision.”
Thursday’s ruling overturned the federal law and is not likely to impact similar state laws, including one in California. Still, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called the judges who issued the ruling “zealots” who are “hellbent on a deranged vision of guns for all, leaving government powerless to protect its people.”
“This is what the ultra-conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court wants. It’s happening, and it’s happening right now,” Newsom said. “Wake up America — this assault on our safety will only accelerate.”
Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, said the problem with laws like the one the federal appeals court struck down is that they are too broad and don’t take into account the details of each case.

He offered as an example a client of his whose neighbor filed a restraining order against them because they had pointed a security camera on their property.
“They lost their gun rights,” he said. “When they do a blanket prohibition without considering individualized circumstances, they shoot the dogs with the wolves.”
Thursday’s ruling demonstrates the far-reaching impacts of the Bruen decision. In California, the decision has prompted lawmakers to overhaul their law regarding permits to carry concealed weapons.
Wednesday, Newsom endorsed a bill in the state Legislature that would ban people from carrying concealed guns in nearly all public places, with an exception for churches and businesses who put up a sign saying guns are OK.
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#Federal #appeals #court #strikes #domestic #violence #gun #law
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 3, 2023