Food Security: Issues and Concerns

--V G Ranganath

The Indian Judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, has on many occasions reaffirmed that the “right to life” enshrined in Article 21 means something more than animal existence and includes the right to live with dignity: it includes all aspects which make life meaningful and complete. The National Food Security Act was brought into force from July 3, 2013. It is an act to provide food and nutritional security using human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life of dignity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Food security is no less important than national security. It needs to be given top priority in the national planning. We cannot depend on other countries for maintaining security and mitigating food inflation. This paper takes a close look at the issue of food security.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Currency War and International Trade Law: A Legal Perspective

--Ajit Kaushal and Tabrez Ahmad

There is a close connection of value of currency and exchange and international trade as money is the media of all the trade and business. A good currency culture ensures a better growth of the international trade. A flourishing trade environment further ensures development and prosperity among the participants. But when it comes to regulate the exchange rate, the parties (governments) rely more upon diplomacy and politics which is not a sign of a good international trade culture. The existing laws relating to currency manipulations are insufficient to deal with the various maneuvers of the parties in the field of currency and exchange. This paper is an appraisal of underlying intricacies of the legal regime of currency manipulations and competitive devaluation.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Commutation of Death Sentence to Life Imprisonment on Grounds of Delay:
The Ground Realities

--Ashutosh Hajela

The paper focuses on the origin and development of ‘Mercy Jurisprudence’ by the Supreme Court of India as far as the notion of commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment on grounds of exorbitant delay is concerned. The Supreme Court has of late started dealing ‘passionately’ with the delays caused in the execution of the death sentences and the delays in the disposal of the mercy petitions and has ruled in several cases that the uncalled for delays in the ultimate disposal of such matters need to be compensated by commuting the death penalty into life imprisonment. The doctrine evolved by the Apex Court has created ‘benefit’ in favor of persons convicted of terrorist activities, including the assassin(s) of Rajiv Gandhi. The paper ponders over the practical consequences or repercussions of the ‘active style’ of the judiciary in thus dealing with the cases which have already passed the test of the ‘rarest of rare’ category and are offenses definitely involving a high sense of moral obnoxiousness. The paper tries to visualize the feasibility, if any, in dealing ‘sympathetically’ with such cases and the impact of the doctrine on the sense of justice as vested in the common man. The paper also examines the impact of such ‘commutations’ upon the sense of retribution potently inherent in human beings, especially in cases involving extreme moral turpitude, cases of terrorism, etc. Further, the paper highlights the fact of inconsistencies in the decisions of the Apex Court even during a relatively short period of time which reflects poorly upon the justice delivery mechanism.

© 2015 IUP All Rights Reserved.

Maritime Arbitration: Blend of Unity and Diversity

--M Madhuri Irene

International trade and commerce accelerated by global economic policy, comprehends all means of conveyance of goods and services amongst the people of various States, thus dissolving the State boundaries for the benefit and enrichment of every society. Concomitantly, for the settlement of disputes crossing the borders, International Commercial Arbitration takes the lead to remove the impediments in the free flow of trade and commerce. Through this process, the States are strengthened economically not only by the flow of Foreign Direct Investments but also the results of international trade and commerce. Apart from the transport of goods and services on land surface and air, waters of seas and highseas provide the cheapest and bulkiest transport in the course of business. Marine study constitutes one of the best means of updating the knowledge relating to business management, and Marine Arbitration plays a vital role in the grievance redressal mechanism. Maritime arbitration has been developed based on the transnational relations comprehending many regional and international documents for peaceful settlement of disputes under the aegis of international law principles. Maritime arbitration has been adopted globally with the hope of sustaining the rule of law in settling the maritime matters thus redeeming the parties from the prolixity of judicial technicalities. Thus, Maritime Arbitration is an effective legal process to unify the interests of trade drawn from diverse commercial customs. This paper overviews the emerging problems related to arbitration clauses.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Corporate Governance: Financial Regulatory Bodies in India

--Sunitha Kanipakam

Corporate Governance (CG) may be construed as a system and process through which the behavior of a company is monitored and controlled. In the past few decades, CG has gained a lot of importance across the world. It is about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and accountability. In other words, ‘good corporate governance’ is simply ‘good business’. The establishment of SEBI, a regulatory body, has played a significant role in establishing the norms for CG in India. There are five more major financial regulatory bodies in India. Among these, three are Statutory Bodies created through Parliamentary enactments and two are part of the Ministries of the Government of India. Over the years, SEBI constituted two committees to make recommendations relating to CG in India, under the chairmanship of Kumar Mangalam Birla and Narayana Murthy. Further, the MCA had appointed the J J Irani Committee in 2004 to review the international best practices in CG, in the light of the growing needs of the Indian economy and corporate. The recommendations of these committees form the bedrock of the legal regime for CG in India. This paper discusses how the rapidly increasing economic growth that corporate India has witnessed since the 1990s has brought to the forefront the need for Indian companies to adopt CG practices and standards that are consistent with the international principles. This paper attempts to provide a broad overview of the regulatory framework governing CG and the various financial regulatory bodies in India.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Corporate Socialization: A New Facet of Participatory Prudence

--Aarti Tyagi

Indian industrial boat has been on high-seas for the last six decades and the new millennium prompted to mechanize the boat. Native industrial knowledge realized the need for bracing with the modern enthusiasm and expectations, and the Indian governance and law assurance conceded liberty to revolutionize the industrial development for the welfare of the people, a majority being the morbid mass. Corporate misgovernance is sought to be eliminated and the new industrial law, chiefly the Indian Companies Act of 2013 provided for more stringent measures to check and prevent economic frauds, and also a new dimension to inculcate a sense of public spirit in industrial entrepreneurship through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Pursuant to this goal, we have to define and redefine the concept of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ vis-à-vis sustainable industrial prosperity. To start with, not all companies are roped in this responsible concept but only companies having a net worth of 500 cr or more, or a turnover of 1,000 cr or more, or a net profit of 5 cr or more should mandatorily spend 2% of their net profits per fiscal year on CSR activities. It is hoped that in future the base of industrial and corporate sector will be expanded to include the mandate of CSR, of course, consistent with good corporate governance. This paper intends to present a picturesque view of comparative scenario of CSR focusing good corporate governance

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