RE: PUBLIC LECTURE BY WALTER KAELIN
This is to invite you to a public lecture by Dr. Walter Kaelin, hosted by the Public Interest Legal Support and Research Centre (PILSARC).
Dr. Kaelin is a legal scholar and emeritus Professor of Law at the Institute of Public Law, University of Bern and will be speaking on ‘Climate change and displacement: A challenge for international law’.
He was formerly the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. The event will be chaired by Dr. Rajeev Dhavan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Director of PILSARC.
Date: Friday, 17th December, 2010
Venue: Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Time: 6:00 p.m. onwards
Please confirm your participation to Rashmi Raman, PILSARC at ramanrashmi@gmail.com or to Priyadarshini Hariharan, PILSARC at priya.hh@gmail.com.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Friday Talk Series - December 3, 2010, PILSARC Library
Dear All,
Thank you for following the PILSARC Talk Series and helping us to create a lively debate here in the library every Friday. After last Friday’s discussion (if you missed it, our intern has put up a report which is available on the PILSARC blog) on the environmental issues surrounding mining and damming activities in India, we now hike the heat up a notch as we move on to the recent Markandeya Katju decision on live-in relationships in India as perceived by our courts. Taking it further (as was agreed upon), this Friday we meet to discuss the rights and wrongs of sexual orientation and the law as it applies to the LGBTIQs of our country.
I hope you will all come and be moved to participate actively, please feel free to bring along friends / colleagues / like minded people.
Tea and snacks are on us, as also the responsibility of steering the discussion!
Topic(s) – Katju’s judgement on live-in relationships ; law and sexual orientation in India
Lead by - Dr. Rajeev Dhavan
Where - PILSARC Library, Basement, A-131 New Friends Colony, Delhi
When – 3 December, 2010, from 5.30 p.m.
I look forward to seeing you this Friday at the PILSARC Library!
Warm regards,
Rashmi Raman
Senior Researcher,
PILSARC
Thank you for following the PILSARC Talk Series and helping us to create a lively debate here in the library every Friday. After last Friday’s discussion (if you missed it, our intern has put up a report which is available on the PILSARC blog) on the environmental issues surrounding mining and damming activities in India, we now hike the heat up a notch as we move on to the recent Markandeya Katju decision on live-in relationships in India as perceived by our courts. Taking it further (as was agreed upon), this Friday we meet to discuss the rights and wrongs of sexual orientation and the law as it applies to the LGBTIQs of our country.
I hope you will all come and be moved to participate actively, please feel free to bring along friends / colleagues / like minded people.
Tea and snacks are on us, as also the responsibility of steering the discussion!
Topic(s) – Katju’s judgement on live-in relationships ; law and sexual orientation in India
Lead by - Dr. Rajeev Dhavan
Where - PILSARC Library, Basement, A-131 New Friends Colony, Delhi
When – 3 December, 2010, from 5.30 p.m.
I look forward to seeing you this Friday at the PILSARC Library!
Warm regards,
Rashmi Raman
Senior Researcher,
PILSARC
Report on Friday Talk Series (by Akash Tiwari, Intern at PILSARC)
Environment protection in India with respect to mines and dams
• The discussion was initiated by Ms. Roohi. She laid emphasis on the trips made by her to places in Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh and described briefly the situation in the naxalite areas regarding mining activities in that area. According to her, the situation is not at all satisfactory. There is literally no check on the mining activities being carried out in this particular area. Chhattisgarh is home to tons of natural resources and mining activities in the area have been going on since its inception in Nov. 2000. For eg- in Bailadilla which is home to tons of iron ore deposits, mining activities have been causing greater damage to the surrounding areas. For eg- the color of the water used for domestic purposes has changed to red due to the mining activities and is not fit for serving any purpose. She gave a similar example of damage being cause to the environment due to unregulated mining activities in certain remote areas of Himachal Pradesh as well. She also clarified that there is no proper implementation of the provisions of any of the statutes related to protection of environment regarding the mining activities. Law on the paper is useless until and unless it is implemented.
• Students from Jamia Milia gave similar examples on unregulated mining activities and its effect on the environment. One of them gave an example of how a mining area looks like describing it as a place which looks like war zone, desolate and life-less. They also mentioned the fact that knowledge of the law is important in such discussions where you need to have the knowledge of certain legal doctrines related to environment protection such as the polluter pays principle, the principle of sustainable development etc.
• A student from the HNLU, raipur laid emphasis on the fact that until and unless situation and the grass root isn’t taken care of, nothing could be done in areas like the naxalite affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Orissa where there is lack of basic amenities. One should first correct the basic infrastructure required for human survival and then talk about environment protection.
• Lastly, Dr. Rajeev Dhawan mentioned about an article of his on Slaughter Mining related to the Mines Act, 1952. Where he has raised the issue of proper implementation of the provisions of the Act as was the issue raised by Ms. Roohi previously. He also said that the run of the river cases are the one’s which are most difficult to argue in front of the Court. He also discussed the report on Total Environment Impact. Then he went on to discuss that where there is construction there ought to be pollution. Activities like mining would eventually release dust particles and chemicals into the environment. He also mentioned about the mining belt which runs right through the Central India. He specifically mentioned the fact that PESA was a badly drafted act and that there were some shortcomings in the provisions of the Act. Then he went on to discuss the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act and said that they have contributed significantly in the protection of the environment and both of them were permissive and process oriented legislations. He also laid stress on the fact that there is a need of Informed and educated activists, not just activists. He also specified the need of environmentally active bureaucrats and also briefly mentioned some parts of the Samta judgment. He gave an example of active an informed activists in the form of CSE.
• The discussion was initiated by Ms. Roohi. She laid emphasis on the trips made by her to places in Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh and described briefly the situation in the naxalite areas regarding mining activities in that area. According to her, the situation is not at all satisfactory. There is literally no check on the mining activities being carried out in this particular area. Chhattisgarh is home to tons of natural resources and mining activities in the area have been going on since its inception in Nov. 2000. For eg- in Bailadilla which is home to tons of iron ore deposits, mining activities have been causing greater damage to the surrounding areas. For eg- the color of the water used for domestic purposes has changed to red due to the mining activities and is not fit for serving any purpose. She gave a similar example of damage being cause to the environment due to unregulated mining activities in certain remote areas of Himachal Pradesh as well. She also clarified that there is no proper implementation of the provisions of any of the statutes related to protection of environment regarding the mining activities. Law on the paper is useless until and unless it is implemented.
• Students from Jamia Milia gave similar examples on unregulated mining activities and its effect on the environment. One of them gave an example of how a mining area looks like describing it as a place which looks like war zone, desolate and life-less. They also mentioned the fact that knowledge of the law is important in such discussions where you need to have the knowledge of certain legal doctrines related to environment protection such as the polluter pays principle, the principle of sustainable development etc.
• A student from the HNLU, raipur laid emphasis on the fact that until and unless situation and the grass root isn’t taken care of, nothing could be done in areas like the naxalite affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Orissa where there is lack of basic amenities. One should first correct the basic infrastructure required for human survival and then talk about environment protection.
• Lastly, Dr. Rajeev Dhawan mentioned about an article of his on Slaughter Mining related to the Mines Act, 1952. Where he has raised the issue of proper implementation of the provisions of the Act as was the issue raised by Ms. Roohi previously. He also said that the run of the river cases are the one’s which are most difficult to argue in front of the Court. He also discussed the report on Total Environment Impact. Then he went on to discuss that where there is construction there ought to be pollution. Activities like mining would eventually release dust particles and chemicals into the environment. He also mentioned about the mining belt which runs right through the Central India. He specifically mentioned the fact that PESA was a badly drafted act and that there were some shortcomings in the provisions of the Act. Then he went on to discuss the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act and said that they have contributed significantly in the protection of the environment and both of them were permissive and process oriented legislations. He also laid stress on the fact that there is a need of Informed and educated activists, not just activists. He also specified the need of environmentally active bureaucrats and also briefly mentioned some parts of the Samta judgment. He gave an example of active an informed activists in the form of CSE.
Friday Talk Series - November 26, 2010, PILSARC Library
To all those who have been attending sessions on Friday evenings, thank you for coming and strengthening the debate here at PILSARC! Last week's discussion on Kashmir was arguably the hottest one we've had in this series!
Tomorrow, to take the heat down a notch, as decided by last week's vote, we will gather to explore the environmental concerns arising from the recent spate of judgements on mines and dams, a topic that has made activists sit up and take notice even as international conventions on environmental degradation witness an all-time high.
Please bring along friends / colleagues / interesting people you know / students, and join us as we begin to understand the promise and the price of environmental protection in India.
What - Environmental protection in India - mines and dams
Who - Lead by Dr. Rajeev Dhavan
When - Tomorrow, Friday, 26 November, 2010
What time - 5.30 p.m.
Where - PILSARC Library (Basement), A 131, New Friends Colony, Delhi - 25
Tea, snacks and copies of the available discussion materials are on us, as is the difficult responsibility of steering the conversation!
The PILSARC Friday Talk Series is intended to provide a free and informal forum for intelligent, critical, analytical minds to speak out and have their voices heard. In case I have missed out inviting people that attended the previous talks in this list, please do forward this invite to them - thanks!
I look forward very much to seeing you all here tomorrow evening!
Regards,
Rashmi
Tomorrow, to take the heat down a notch, as decided by last week's vote, we will gather to explore the environmental concerns arising from the recent spate of judgements on mines and dams, a topic that has made activists sit up and take notice even as international conventions on environmental degradation witness an all-time high.
Please bring along friends / colleagues / interesting people you know / students, and join us as we begin to understand the promise and the price of environmental protection in India.
What - Environmental protection in India - mines and dams
Who - Lead by Dr. Rajeev Dhavan
When - Tomorrow, Friday, 26 November, 2010
What time - 5.30 p.m.
Where - PILSARC Library (Basement), A 131, New Friends Colony, Delhi - 25
Tea, snacks and copies of the available discussion materials are on us, as is the difficult responsibility of steering the conversation!
The PILSARC Friday Talk Series is intended to provide a free and informal forum for intelligent, critical, analytical minds to speak out and have their voices heard. In case I have missed out inviting people that attended the previous talks in this list, please do forward this invite to them - thanks!
I look forward very much to seeing you all here tomorrow evening!
Regards,
Rashmi
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