News Type: Event

The faculty Seminar will feature a conversation between faculty member Rashmi Venkatesan and Dr. Nikhil Menon, Assistant Professor of History, University of Notre Dame. He is the author of the newly released book, “Planning Democracy: Modern India’s Quest for Development”, Cambridge University Press, 2022. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A session.

About the Speaker

Dr. Menon is a historian of modern South Asia, specializing in the political and economic history of twentieth-century India. He was educated at Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University in India and completed his PhD in History at Princeton University. Menon’s first book Planning Democracy was published in India by Penguin and elsewhere by Cambridge University Press. It was awarded the Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences by the American Institute for Indian Studies for the best book manuscript on an Indian subject. An article from this project, on India’s first computers, won the Mahoney Prize from the Society for the History of Technology. His next book project is on Indian cultural diplomacy—a history of the Indian state’s pursuit of soft power through cultural diplomacy.

Abstract

India’s Five-Year Plans were one of the developing world’s most ambitious experiments. After nearly two centuries of colonial rule, planning the economy was meant to be independent India’s route from poverty to prosperity. Planning Democracy explores how India married liberal democracy to a socialist economy. Planning not only built India’s data systems, it even shaped the nature of its democracy. The Five-Year Plans loomed so large that they linked surprisingly far-flung contexts-from computers to Bollywood to Hindutva. The book brings the world of planning to life through the intriguing story of a gifted scientist known as the Professor, a trail-blazing research institute in Calcutta, and the alluring idea of ‘democratic planning’. Set amidst global conflicts and international debates, it reveals how India walked a tightrope between capitalism and communism. Planning Democracy recasts our understanding of the Indian republic, uncovering how planning came to define the nation and revealing the ways in which it continues to shape our world today.

The Centre for Child and the Law, NLSIU, is organising a two-day National Level Consultation with State Food Commissions on 7th and 8th November 2022.

About the National Consultation with State Food Commissions

We are in the 10th year of implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 and in the 76th year of Indian Independence. But we are still tackled with issues like hunger and malnutrition. The country has secured 107th position among 121 countries and falls in the serious category as per the Global Hunger Index released on 13th October 2022. What needs to be done to tackle hunger and malnutrition? It is clear that having a legislation and schemes in place is not sufficient. There needs to be a robust implementation and monitoring mechanism in place to ensure that the intent of the law is achieved.

State Food Commissions play a critical role in this direction. They have the authority of a civil court and have powers to monitor the implementation of the Act. CCL NLSIU is organizing this National Consultation by bringing together State Food Commissions to interact, share their experiences, voice the challenges they face, and discuss the possible solutions to address the same. The consultation also aims to put forth recommendations by CCL NLSIU on law, rules and policies.

For further queries, please reach out to

Schedule

Day One: 7th November 2022

10.00 AM to 11.00 AM	Inauguration Welcome address – Prof. (Dr) Nigam Nuggehalli, Registrar, NLSIU Introduction – Dr Neetu Sharma, Coordinator, CCL NLSIU Launch of State Report Cards – Dr Nigam Nuggehalli, Prof. Babu Mathew and Dr Niranjanaradhya Presentation of the Food Insecurities and State Response (Background and overview) – Ms. Shruthi Raman, Project Coordinator, CCL NLSIU Address by Prof. Babu Mathew, Faculty, NLSIU Vote of Thanks – Ms. Sudha. S, Coordinator (Outreach Programmes), CCL NLSIU
11.00 AM to 11.15 AM	Tea Break
11.15 AM to 12.00 PM	Session 1 – Presentation by CCL on Food Security and State Responses (Individual States) – Ms. Sudha. S, Coordinator (Outreach Programmes), CCL NLSIU
12.00 PM to 1.30 PM	Session 2 – Sharing by SFCs (Jharkhand, Meghalaya) – Moderated by Prof. Babu Mathew, Faculty, NLSIU
1.30 PM to 2.30 PM	Lunch Break
2.30 PM to 4.30 PM	Session 3 – Sharing by SFCs (Punjab, Karnataka, AP) – Moderated by Mr. Haldhar Mahto, Former Member, Jharkhand State Food Commission
4.30 PM to 4.45 PM	High Tea

 

Day Two: 8th November 2022

9.30 AM to 10.00 AM	Importance of State Rules – Dr Niranjanaradhya. V.P, Development Educationist
10.00 AM to 11.30 AM	Session 4 – Sharing by SFCs (Telangana, Kerala) – Moderated by Dr Niranjanaradhya. V.P, Development Educationist
11.30 AM to 11.45 AM	Tea Break
11.45 AM to 1.30 PM	Session 5 – Presentation by CCL on Recommendations to Laws, Policies and Rules – Dr Neetu Sharma, Coordinator, CCL NLSIU Address by Dr M.T. Reju, Principal Secretary, Department of Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Karnataka
1.30 PM to 2.30 PM	Lunch Break
2.30 PM to 4.00 PM	Consolidation and way forward – CCL NLSIU
4.00 PM to 4.15 PM	High Tea

 

The faculty seminar on “Grand Narratives of Transition and the Quest for Democratic Constitutionalism in India and South Africa” will be held on November 9, 2022. The speaker for this session is Dr. Theunis Roux, Professor and Head, School of Global and Public Law, University of New South Wales (Faculty of Law), Sydney.

About the Speaker

Before relocating to Australia in January 2009, Prof. (Dr.) Theunis Roux was (for four years) the founding director of the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC), an independent research centre based on Constitution Hill, Johannesburg. His main research interest is in comparative constitutional law, focusing on the politics of judicial review in new democracies. He is a former Secretary-General of the International Association of Constitutional Law, and co-editor of the major loose-leaf commentary on South African constitutional law, Stuart Woolman et al Constitutional Law of South Africa. In addition to his academic work, he has acted as a consultant to the South African government in the areas of land restitution, land tenure reform, and regulation impact analysis.

Abstract

There are two grand narratives of the Indian and South African constitutional transitions. The first – older, and at one time virtually unchallenged – holds that these transitions were authentic moments of constitutional re-imagining. Not only did indigenous political actors craft genuinely autochthonous constitutions that were adapted to the challenges these countries faced. The constitutions they crafted extended the tradition of liberal constitutionalism in novel ways. In so doing, the Indian and South African constitutional transitions contributed to the global store of knowledge about the role of written constitutions in promoting human flourishing. The second narrative – newer but gathering strength – treats these transitions instead as great confidence tricks. Exploiting a temporary shift in the balance of geopolitical power, this narrative contends, the Indian and South African Constitutions offered majoritarian democracy with one hand and took it away with the other. Rather than autochthonous creations, both these constitutions are steeped in alien Western values. As such, they inhibit majoritarian democracy in all the ways that liberal constitutions always do, only in this instance, the additional problem is that they were imposed on unsuspecting indigenous publics. The Indian and South African Constitutions work in this way a form of epistemic silencing that is responsible for many of the ills that currently afflict these countries. After elaborating the two narratives in each setting, the paper proceeds to assess them. Rather than arguing directly in favour of one or the other, it examines their tendency to promote or detract from democratic constitutionalism. From this perspective, the problem with the second grand narrative – the decolonial story – is that it is incomplete. For us to have confidence in its prescriptions, its adherents need to explain how an inclusive, democratic constitutionalist process for moving towards a decolonial constitution can be constructed. What safeguards would be put in place to ensure that such a process is not dominated by political forces with an exclusionary conception of national identity? The first grand narrative points in the direction of incremental adjustment rather than complete constitutional overhaul. But it, too, needs to be clearer about how two supposedly progressive constitutions that are failing to live up to their expectations might be reformed to better realise their goals.

As we begin our November 2022 term, we are excited to host an Opening Week Concert featuring Indian classical Dhrupad vocalists, Anant and Dhani Gundecha from Bhopal. The concert will be held on November 5, 2022 from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Besides the performance, they will also hold a short Dhrupad appreciation workshop with a Tanpura accompaniment.

Dhrupad is considered to be the oldest form of Hindustani classical music, known for its melodic harmony and vocal power. Dhrupad has enthralled audiences, young and old, for centuries and we are excited to host two of the most promising young artists of this tradition. We hope you will join us for an evening of music as we begin our second term of the academic year.

About the Artists

Anant and Dhani Gundecha are amongst the best young Dhrupad vocalists in the country. They have been performing internationally as well as at many prestigious national platforms for many years and also teach students around the world. Trained in the traditional Guru-Shishya parampara, these are two young artists who practice and carry forward an ancient musical tradition that dates back to the time of the Vedas.

Recognitions

Anant:
1. Recipient of Scholarship to Young Musicians by Government of India
2. Won the All India Radio competition in the Dhrupad-Dhamar category, 2018.
3. Received the Blue Star Promising Young Musician, 2018.

Dhani:
1. Recipient of CCRT senior scholarship in Dhrupad vocals for the year 2018-2020

Previous performances

Here are a few links to their performances:

 

NLSIU is hosting a workshop titled ‘Transformative Constitutionalism: Comparing dimensions of the Past, Power and Social Justice in EU and Indian constitutionalism’ between November 3-5, 2022. This workshop is part of a continuing series held under the aegis of the Indian and European Advanced Research Network (IEARN).

About IEARN

IEARN is an informal network of research institutions based in Europe and in India, whose purpose is to foster research where the cooperation between European and Indian scholars arises through common interests and a sense of shared predicaments. The network is not designed to conduct the research itself. Its endeavor is to initiate and to encourage a new style of research between the participating institutes through a series of “conversations”, workshops and small meetings structured on a regular basis, which lead to further specific research activities within each of the
participating institutes.

In focusing on the European and the Indian experiences, the network simply intends to provide the initial material from which to draw questions of sufficient breadth and precision. But other relevant partners may be associated to the dialogue, especially from China and Africa.

Previous IEARN workshops have resulted, among other things, in a publication: Philipp Dann and Arun Thiruvengadam (eds.), Democratic Constitutionalism in India and the European Union (Edward Elgar: 2021). An earlier IEARN workshop was held in the NLSIU campus in 2014, details of which can be found here.

About the Workshop

The current workshop is the second in a series of workshops around the theme of Transformative Constitutionalism. In recent years, the concept of Transformative Constitutionalism has become familiar to constitutional scholars in many jurisdictions. It is one of the rare academic concepts to have travelled beyond academic publications to find place in judicial discourse (with the South African Constitutional Court and the Indian Supreme Court having invoked it substantively) as well as constitutional scholarship.

Across this series of three workshops, taking place from 2019 to 2023, we will probe how the concept of ‘Transformative Constitutionalism’ can be understood as a broader project beyond those that have so far been identified with it, in particular to examine conceptions of constitutionalism in India and the EU. We believe that when viewed comparatively, the concept will be better examined and understood, and may well help facilitate a broader understanding of concepts of constitutionalism more broadly, including thinking deeply about the crisis of constitutionalism that is confronting many polities – including those from which the participants are drawn.

The principal investigators of this project are Philipp Dann (Humboldt University), Jurgen Bast (University of Giessen), and Arun Thiruvengadam (NLSIU). Aparna Chandra (NLSIU) and Shreya Shree (NLSIU) are co-organisers of the workshop at NLSIU. We are grateful for the funding support from the Nantes Institute for Advanced Study.

The participants at this workshop are scholars of public law, most of whom focus on European and Indian law. This is a closed-doors event. Participation is by invitation only.

A post-event report of the workshop will be published on our website at a later date.

The first faculty seminar for the November 2022 term will be on the topic “The Southern Turn Towards World Comparative Law” by Dr. Philipp Dann, Professor, Humboldt University (Faculty of Law), Berlin.

About the speaker

Prof. Philipp Dann received his law degrees from the state of Berlin (1. and 2. state examination), Harvard Law School (LL.M.) and Frankfurt University (PhD and postdoctoral habilitation). He has published three monographs and several edited volumes in the area of public international law, European Union law, and constitutional law theory. He is the co-editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal ‘Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / World Comparative Law’, a journal on comparative constitutional law and the Global South. In recent years, he has published intensively in the area of law and development, comparative constitutional law, and institutional law. (From: The Global South and Comparative Constitutional Law, co-edited by Prof. Dann)

Abstract

This contribution argues that comparative constitutional studies have only in a rather superficial way reflected the constitutional experiences in the Global South and imperial / colonial dimensions of constitutionalism globally. Doing that would provide a much better understanding of the complex varieties of constitutionalism around the globe, their respective limits, borderlines and entanglements. Pursuing such a broader understanding, however, demands a new awareness about the global encounter of North and South, about colonialism and its legacies in our comparative constitutional approaches and repertoires. This would start with a Southern turn, i.e. the attempt to theorize the diverse experiences in the South and to reflect its epistemological demands. It would continue by turning back North and to the entanglements between South and North. And it could ultimately result in a reconfigured comparative study of constitutionalism and a world comparative law.

The faculty seminar on “Collaborating in times of crisis: Challenges and strategies for international research” will be held on November 7, 2022.  The speaker for this session is Dr. Victor V. Ramraj, Professor, University of Victoria (Faculty of Law), British Columbia.

About the speaker

Professor Ramraj joined the University of Victoria as Professor of Law and CAPI Chair in Asia-Pacific Legal Relations in 2014, after sixteen years at the National University of Singapore, where he twice served as the Faculty’s Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs. He holds five degrees from McGill University (B.A.), the University of Toronto (M.A., LL.B. & Ph.D.), and Queen’s University Belfast (LL.M.). He has edited/co-edited several books published by Cambridge University Press, including Emergencies and the Limits of Legality (2009) and Emergency Powers in Asia: Exploring the Limits of Legality (2010). His research interests include comparative constitutional and administrative law, transnational regulation, emergency powers, and the history of and regulatory challenges arising from state-company relationships in Asia.

Abstract

This seminar will provide an overview of the state of international and interdisciplinary research collaboration. It will address the challenges for legal researchers and institutions arising from recent changes in legal academia, legal publishing (including open access issues), and the geopolitical environment (including the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the implications of rising US-China tensions). Dr. Ramraj will also offer some reflections on these challenges based on his own research projects, including his interdisciplinary edited collection, Covid-19 in Asia: Law and Policy Contexts (New York: Oxford University Press), his research on constraints on academic freedom in Asia, and his engagements with senior university administrators on national security guidelines for scientific research in Canada. This seminar would be of interest to graduate students, legal researchers, project leaders and coordinators, and anyone interested in legal and interdisciplinary research projects that cross international and interdisciplinary borders.

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national level entrance exam for admissions to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law programmes offered by 22 National Law Universities around the country. CLAT is organized by the Consortium of National Law Universities consisting of the representative universities.

All admissions to the 5-year integrated BA LLB (Hons) programme and the 1-year LLM programme, that commence in the Academic Year 2023-2024, shall be through the CLAT 2023 which shall be held only once on December 18, 2022.

Information Brochure

View the NLSIU Information Brochure here.

Important Dates

• August 8, 2022 – Applications Open.
• October 2022 –  Release of First Sample Question Set
  Please note, the sample question sets will be sent to candidates who have paid the application fee.
• October 2022 – Open Campus Visit for registered candidates. The campus visit at NLSIU will be on October 27 & 28, 2022. Read more about our campus visit here.
• October 2022 – Release of Second Sample Question Set
• November 13, 2022 – Last Date for receiving applications.
  Note: The application deadline has been extended to November 18, 2022 (11.59 pm). View the official statement here.
• December 18, 2022 – CLAT 2023 Exam

Instructions for Candidates at NLSIU

Candidates appearing for the examination at the NLSIU campus are requested to go through the following instructions:

• CLAT 2023 examination will be held on December 18, 2022 (2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M). The duration of the test is two hours.
• Candidates shall be allowed to leave the Test Centre only after the test is over.
• Candidates shall not be permitted to enter into the examination hall after 2:15 P.M.
• Candidates must enter the NLSIU campus through Gate 1.
• Entry and exit for vehicles at Gate 4.
• Parking facility for vehicles is available in the football ground. Entry (at Gate No. 4) for parents/guardians of candidates shall be limited to the football ground.
• Candidates must show their Hall Ticket /Admit Card to enter the Test Centre.
• To download your Admit Card, click here: https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in/clat-2023/
• Candidate’s Admit card and Photo ID proof will be verified at the verification desk.
• Candidates are requested to follow the queue and the markings outside the gate.
• For other test related instructions, you may check:
  for PG Candidates: https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in/clat-2023/notifications/CLAT-2023-Test-day-Instructions-for-PG-Candidates.pdf
  for UG Candidates: https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in/clat-2023/notifications/CLAT-2023-Test-day-Instructions-for-UG-Candidates.pdf

How to get to NLSIU?

If you need help in reaching our campus, please click here.

Test Centres in Karnataka

● National Law School of India University, Bengaluru – View Seating Chart for NLSIU
● St. Joseph’s College of Law, Bengaluru
● Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bengaluru – View Seating Chart
● JSS Law College, Kuvempunagar, Mysuru
● SDM Law College, Mangaluru – View Seating Chart
● Karnataka State Law University (KSLU), Hubli

For other details on CLAT, please visit https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in/

Press Release

Read the post-examination Press Release here.

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