CfP: RGNUL Student Research Review Journal's Blog Series on Budget 2021 (Submit by March 20)

ABOUT RGNUL STUDENT RESEARCH REVIEW (RSRR)

The RGNUL Student Research Review Journal is a bi-annual, student-run, blind peer reviewed, flagship journal based at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab. It has been founded with the objective of facilitating arguments in black and white on contemporary and less explored issues through the themes chosen for the Journal as well as monthly blogs.

ABOUT THE RSRR BLOGS

RSRR, in 2017, began with its Blog Series to provide a platform for critically analysing contemporary and unexplored legal issues. The RSRR Blog Series has been ranked among the top 35 Constitutional Law Blogs by Feedspot.

CALL FOR BLOGS

The RSRR Blog Series invites submissions from students, academicians, lawyers and other professionals from the legal fraternity on the theme “A Year After Catastrophe: Looking into the Budget Session, 2021”.

A year after the global ravage forced by the novel Coronavirus, world economies continue to find strategies to overcome financial as well as other ramifications brought by the virus. In this backdrop, the Indian Parliament has witnessed certain strong and promising measures introduced with the annual Budget. The onset of 2021 witnessed 137% increase in the health budget, with the determination to fight the pandemic as an underlying driving force. Besides this, the ongoing Budget session also witnessed the introduction of certain pertinent bills dealing with diverse arenas of law, in the Parliament.

By the means of this Series, we intend to initiate a dialogue on these upcoming Bills amongst the potential stakeholders and the legal fraternity. The aim is to create a platform to bring about legal as well as policy analysis of these upcoming Bills (tabled/yet to be introduced or passed) in the context of the larger debate surrounding the modification of the Indian legal regime in 2021. The authors are encouraged to put forward the potential effects and constructive solutions for issues associated with the Bills.

BILLS OF THE BUDGET SESSION 2021

1. The Finance Bill, 2021

- The Finance Bill, 2021 proposes more than 80 amendments to existing laws, including inter alia taxation laws, company law and investment laws, in the country. The Bill proposes to increase the tax audit turnover, include provisions of faceless appeals and form Dispute Resolution Committees, in the backdrop of heavy anticipation and expectations of sound policies reversing the hardships that fell on the nation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of the Bill remains to be seen on other laws and policies in the country.

2. The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021

- The Bill proposes to abolish 5 tribunals with the aim to “streamline tribunals” and “provide a mechanism for filing appeal directly to the commercial court or the High Court”, leading once again to the longstanding debate of the need of specialization of courts, amongst other issues.

3. The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021

- Passed by the Lok Sabha, this Bill aims to ensure, amongst other things, that all stakeholders get an opportunity to seek a stay on arbitral awards, where the underlying agreement is induced by fraud or corruption, which can prove to be a new turn to ADR laws in the country.

4. The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018

- With the release of the recent report by the Standing Committee, concerns have been raised regarding the misuse of databanks, unleashing a new dimension of social justice, privacy and reproductive rights.

5. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019

- Entering into a new year of discussion, new recommendations to this Bill include the improvement of literacy and mental health via counselling amongst seniors, with an aim to improve welfare and wellbeing.

6. The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2021

- With many new amendments proposed to the Competition Act, 2002, this Bill envisages major policy changes.

7. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021

- The Bill is highly anticipated to notably lay the basis for an official digital currency with ties to the RBI, an issue being hotly debated by policy and legal experts.

8. The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021

- This Bill, has stirred a lot of controversy, as the power tussle between the Union and State Government in Delhi may get reignited because of the proposed strengthening of the powers of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

9. The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Bill, 2021

- This Bill proposes setting up a development financial institution (DFI) for the purpose of funding infrastructure projects of national importance across the country.

10. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2021

- The Bill is aimed at eliminating dehumanising working conditions of manual scavengers and the new amendment proposes mechanisation of sewer cleaning and compensation for accidents.

The submissions are, however, not restricted to the aforementioned Bills, provided they fall within the ambit of the overarching theme of Bills in discussion in the Budget Session of 2021.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. All submissions must be in Garamond, font size 12, spacing 1.5.

2. Referencing:

a. Manuscripts must include hyperlinks for relevant legal sources and other information, including any laws, treaties or other legal texts which are mentioned.

b. The Hyperlinks must only link to legal or reliable/respected news sources. The sources shall only be linked to primary sources. Hyper-linking to secondary sources may lead to re-corrections required from the authors.

c. Relevant legal sources that cannot be accessed online may be cited through endnotes. The endnotes should be in Garamond, font size 10, single-spaced. A recognized, uniform style of citation is necessary for acceptance.

3. Margins: Left 1 Inch, Right 1 Inch, Top 1 Inch, and Bottom 1 Inch.

4. Word limit for each post is 1500-1800 words (exclusive of endnotes).

5. Authors are required to provide an abstract of 100-150 words along with keywords that represent the essence of the submission. The abstract is to be submitted along with the article itself in the same document as of the blog submission.

6. The entries should be submitted only in .doc/.docx format.

7. Entries that will be selected, after the review process, shall be published on the RSRR website.

8. E-certificates will be awarded to the authors of each published blog.

9. Co-authorship up to a maximum of 2 persons is permitted.

10. The author(s) bear sole responsibility for the accuracy of facts, opinions or views stated in the submitted Manuscript.

11. Plagiarism in any form is strictly prohibited.

12. Copyright of all blog posts shall remain with RGNUL Student Research Review.

13. All moral rights shall vest with the author(s).

14. The manuscripts not abiding to the above guidelines are liable to be rejected.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

All the submissions must be made through the Google Form. Any submission made via any other mode than the one suggested or even via mail shall not be considered.

The last date for submissions for this Series is 20th March, 2021.

Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScH7R1J6AdNfeHU0r-jkvHCtNi4kR4BkWithoMUBfBsNeixPA/viewform

CONTACT

In case of any query, authors can mail us at submissionsrslr@rgnul.ac.in.

RSRR website can be accessed here. http://rsrr.in/

Previous Blog Series can be accessed here. http://rsrr.in/blog/

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