Introducing Rishabh Sancheti

Rishabh Sancheti is presently an Associate at the Office of Assistant Solicitor General of India at the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan. He is also a part-time faculty of law at the National Law University, India where his teaching portfolio includes Company Laws, Corporate Restructuring & Governance and Securitization laws. He has been a Law Trainee-cum-Research Assistant to Hon'ble Justice N. Santosh Hegde, at the Supreme Court of India. He completed European Master in Law and Economics with a full scholarship from the European Union as an Erasmus Mundus Scholar. He received LL.M. from University of Hamburg, Germany, Diploma di Master Universitario di I livello in Law and Economics from University of Bologna, Italy and LL.M. from University of Vienna, Austria. He graduated cum laude from the National Law University, India with S.R. Bhandari Memorial Gold Medal qualifying for B.B.A.-LL.B. (Hons.) with a specialization in the area of International Trade and Investment laws.

CALL FOR PAPERS

International Conference on Feminist Constitutionalism

Date: February 28 – March 1, 2009

Location: Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada

This conference intends to follow current debates in the intersection between constitutional law, constitutionalism, and feminist theory, both domestically and internationally. The discussions will address both rights and institutional issues and will welcome also the use of comparative methods and analysis.

Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to: constitutional interpretation, popular constitutionalism, human rights, access to justice, multiculturalism, reproductive rights, and social and economic rights.

Key Note Speakers:

Professor Catherine MacKinnon, University of Michigan
Professor Reva Siegel, Yale University
Professor Jennifer Nedelsky, University of Toronto

The conference committee is seeking submissions of academic abstracts not exceeding 500 words. Our intention is to consolidate the papers presented and publish them in the format of an academic book (but the final decision on this will be made after the papers are submitted).

Please send abstract submissions to one of the conference organizers (below) by email.

Submission Deadline:
September 30, 2008

Notification of Acceptance:
October 15, 2008

Conference organizers:

Professor Beverley Baines, Queen’s University (bainesb@queensu.ca)
Professor Daphne Barak-Erez, Tel-Aviv University (barakerz@post.tau.ac.il)
Professor Tsvi Kahana, Queen’s University (kahanat@queensu.ca)

Invitation to the 12th International Consumer Law Conference, 25th to 27th February, 2009

We cordially invite you to participate in the "12TH INTERNATIONAL
CONSUMER LAW CONFERENCE jointly organized by International Association
of Consumer Law and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. The
conference will be held from 25th -27th February 2008 at NALSAR
University of Law, Hyderabad.

About the Conference:

The theme of the conference is 'CONSUMER LAW - GLOBALIZATION, POVERTY
AND DEVELOPMENT' and consumer law scholars from all parts of the world
are invited to participate. The general theme of the conference
includes numerous sub-themes. In the following some of the sub themes
are mentioned.

 Creating a Legal Infrastructure to Protect Consumers in a Global Economy
 Green and Ethical Consumerism in the Global Economy
 Vulnerable Consumers and Poverty as an Issue of Consumer Law
 Rights and Responsibilities of Service Providers, including Financial Services
 Adjudicating Bodies and Consumer Redress in a Global Economy

The description is not meant to be exhaustive, and other perspectives
to the issue at hand are welcome as well. The structure and programme
of the conference will be finalized after the deadline of the call for
papers.

This conference is organized once in every two years. Previous
conferences were held in various parts of the world including Brazil,
Malta, South Africa and various other European countries. This
conference is of international acclaim and has had participation from
the policy makers and renowned academicians around the world.

Interested participants can send in a short summary (½ page) of their
paper to the organizing committee in Hyderabad. Papers are to be sent
to Dr. Vidyullatha Reddy, (e-mail 12consumerconference@gmail.com/
vidyullathareddy@gmail.com ), as well as to the President of the IACL,
Professor Thomas Wilhelmsson (thomas.wilhelmsson@helsinki.fi ).

Final deadline for abstracts is September 30, 2008. Those selected
will be informed as soon as possible after submission of their
proposals. Finalized papers should be provided before December 31,
2008. The registration fee, that includes the conference material,
lunches during the conference and a dinner, is 250 USD for
participants from abroad and 5000 Indian rupees for participants from
India. Details of the conference venue and reasonable accommodation
facilities are provided at www.nalsar.ac.in.

About Hyderabad:

Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh consists of twin cities of
Hyderabad and Secundrabad and is a bustling 400 year old metropolis
which is famous as the former seat of the fabulously wealthy Nizams of
Hyderabad. Major attractions include the following:

 Charminar:
It consists of four graceful minarets, forty four prayer spaces and a
mosque. Charminar was built around 1591 at the centre of the original
city layout. It is as much the signature of Hyderabad as Taj Mahal is
of Agra and Eiffel Tower is of Paris.
 Golconda Fort:
It is one of the famous forts in India. It is famous for its
acoustics, palaces, ingenious water supply system and the famous
fatheh rahben gun, one of the canons used in the last siege of
Golconda by Aurangzeb, to whom the fort finally fell. Its past is
narrated effectively with the unique Sound and Light Show which shows
the past of Golconda.
 Mecca Masjid:
A two hundred yards south west of Charminar it is so named because the
bricks were brought from mecca to build the central arch. Mecca Masjid
is poetry in stone with a magnificent wall and 15 graceful arches.
Towards the southern end of the mosque lie the marble grave of the
members of the Azam Jahi Dynasty
 Birla Mandir:
This white marble temple of Lord Venkateswara floats on the city
skyline, on Kala Pahad. The idol in the temple is the replica of one
at Trirupati.
 Hussain Sagar Lake:
Excavated in 1562 by Hussain Shah Wali, the lake has one of the
world's tallest monolith statutes of the Buddha standing on the rock
of Gibraltar in the middle of the lake.
 Salarjung Museum:
This museum houses one of the biggest one-man collections of antiques
of the world by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salarjung III. The objects
include Persian Carpets, Mughal miniatures, Chinese porcelain,
Japanese lacquerware, famous statutes including Veiled Rebecca and
Marguerite and Mephistopheles, a superb collection of jade, daggers
belonging to Queen Noor Jahan and Emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan,
Aurangzeb's sword and many other fabulous items.
 Shiparamam Arts and Crafts village:
Situated at Madhapur is this 30 acre village which showcases arts and
crafts of the country. It hosts annual bazaars, artists and artisans
from all over the country exhibit their talent.
 Ramoji Film City:
A dream world created for the celluloid on a sprawling 1000 acres with
every imaginable set and location. Visitors can go around in conducted
tours.
 Other major destinations include Qutb -Shahi Tombs, Archeological
Museum, Nizam's Silver Jubilee Museum, Chow – Mohalla Complex, and
Lumbini Park

Hyderabadi Cuisine

Hyderabad was known for the spectacular way its aristocracy
entertained. The cuisine owes its origin to the Mughali style of
cooking of the Asaf Jahi Period. There is a variety of Biryani's (rice
and meat preparation seasoned with spices and flavoring) kababs in
many different styles such as Boti, Jhammi, Kalmi, Shikampur, Sheek
and Legan- ke kababs, Dum- ke- kababs, Kurmas and Lukhmi (pastry).

Soliciting your participation at this Conference

Yours Sincerely

Dr. Vidyulatha Reddy

For, Organizing and Co-ordinating Team
12th International Consumer Law Conference
NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, India

Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya

Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya is a Fellow in Political Science at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. He works on issues related to democracy, governance, and the politics of the Left in India. His fieldwork primarily takes shape in rural West Bengal. At present, he is also working on a study that compares Kerala and West Bengal on various aspects including social mobilization, political participation and institutional performance especially in relation to the population below the poverty line.

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

The Cultural and Material life of Media Piracy is a three year project carried out by the Sarai programme of the CSDS in collaboration with the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore. We begin with the premise that piracy is widespread in places where a media-saturated modernity meets severe inequalities of purchasing power for books, software, recordings, videos and other knowledge products. One of the key aims of this research project will be to understand this media environment as it unfolds itself in diverse contexts. The main research node is in India with comparative work in China and Pakistan. The Sarai-ALF teams of researchers work in tandem with an international project on media piracy with fellow researchers in Brazil, South Africa and Russia. The larger study is coordinated by the SSRC (New York).

The project seeks to open different debates on piracy other than simply that of enforcement and criminality. Through research, we hope to generate discussions of cultural needs, community practices of sharing and circulation in societies of high inequality. We will also look at media industry approaches to piracy and enforcement strategies. In addition, there will be ethnographic and quantitative work on media use in neighbourhoods. The study of piracy offers a unique vantage point to study the media environment, through the sites of media and its movement across limits set by law, the complexity of user-bases, and the diversity of cultural delivery platforms.

We are looking for bright, energetic and qualified researchers who can work in collaboration with a regional and international team. Applicants must demonstrate abilities to research and write on the subject. A familiarity with the debate on piracy and the creative commons is preferable. Social science and Humanities applicants should have completed post graduate degrees and law students a four year programme.

Researcher One: Delhi
The researcher will be looking at fieldwork material on media piracy in the Sarai archive, as well as conduct neighbourhood surveys slate to begin in 2009. Work will include research papers presentations and collaborative work with the team.



Researcher Two: Mumbai
The researcher will be looking at the range of piracy strategies pursued by media industries in the film and music sectors. Research will span the larger media companies as well as the smaller companies. Work will include research papers presentations and collaborative work with the team. Applicants from outside Mumbai are also welcome to apply for this position, although Mumbai based work will be significant.



Remuneration will be Rs 28000/ a month. Interested applicants may send their CV and a written research sample to researchjobs@sarai.net by September 20, 2008.
Applications without a written research sample will not be entertained.



Links
SSRC piracy project: http://programs.ssrc.org/ccit/ip/
Sarai, CSDS : http://www.sarai.net/research/knowledge-culture/knowledge-and-culture
ALF: www.altlawforum.org
_____________________________________
The Newsletter of the Sarai Programme,
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054, www.sarai.net
Info: dak@sarai.net.To subscribe: send a blank email to
newsletter-request@sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header.
Directions to Sarai: We are 10 minutes from Delhi University, and 5 mins. from the Civil Lines Metro Station.

See Calendar and Newsletter online:
http://www.sarai.net/about-us/newsletter

From the Indian Express: Visas to Visiting Scholars

Indian missions to bypass MHA, provide visas to visiting scholars
Anubhuti Vishnoi
Posted online: Thursday, August 07, 2008 at 0132 hrs IST
New Delhi, August 6
The Indian missions will now be the interface point for foreign research scholars applying at Indian educational institutes instead of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry. As per directions by the Government, the visa rules for foreign researchers have been revised to enable them to apply directly to Indian missions abroad instead of applying to the HRD Ministry, as has been the case so far. While the move does not mean the application process will be overhauled, it is expected to cut down the waiting time for researchers by 3-4 months with the HRD ministry unable to add to the red tape.
The Indian Express had earlier reported how delays on part of the HRD ministry were keeping foreign scholars waiting for months together. Now, foreigners who desire to undertake research in India should apply to the Indian missions (concerned) abroad with the brief synopsis of the research project to be undertaken in India, the details of places to be visited, previous visits, whether the scholar has secured admission into a recognised or reputed institution and evidence of financial resources, the HRD Ministry has communicated to institutes in the country late last month. So far, universities keen to get any visiting faculty from other nations had to apply atleast three months beforehand with the HRD ministry.
Indian missions abroad will also issue visas to foreigners to attend conferences and workshops that are being organised in India “by a ministry or department of the Government of India, state governments, public sector undertakings, central educational institutions, public funded universities or an organisation owned and controlled by the Government of India or state governments, United Nations or its specialised agencies or a reputed non governmental organisation”.
The step comes as a series of measures co-ordinated by the Ministry of External Affairs with the Home Ministry and the HRD Ministry have been initiated of late to liberalise and simplify the current system for granting visas to international students.
As of now, the HRD Ministry is the nodal ministry in these matters. For instance, in case of US scholars, the ministry gets the visa applications through the United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI). It then sends each scholar’s file to Ministry of External Affairs and Home Ministry which, in turn, asks the Intelligence Bureau for clearance. Sometimes, even the Ministry concerned is asked to vet the subject.

Request for information on rape and sexual violence in BMER communities

Dr Aisha Gill (Roehampton University) would like to invite you to submit anonymised cases studies of rape and sexual violence in the BMER community that your organisation or you have dealt with in your work on issues related to violence against women (VAW) as advocates and support caseworkers. The findings will be used to build a case for the importance of specialist service provision for such women and young girls. The intended aim of this request for information of this kind is to also influence government policy across a range of VAW areas in the BMER sector. It is an opportunity for those of us working with violence against women’s issues to have an input into an important national debate about the need for specialist services that is long over due. This invitation is to also to ask you what you think are the big questions and issues for BMER women experiencing a range of abuses in their lives. For example I am interested in:

1. What are the particular issues facing BMER women in terms of reporting rape and sexual violence to the criminal justice system?
2. What are some of the main concerns for BMER women in terms of the experience of rape and sexual violence?
3. What challenges do BMER women face in relation to accessing specialist support related to rape and sexual violence?

I would like to know where gaps in knowledge and resources are and what evidence is missing to effectively lobby for change in this sector. In return for your time to send me case studies I intend to make available a policy briefing paper which can be used for lobbying purposes for the BMER VAW sector.

Please also feel free to pass this invitation on to others you think would be interested.
For more information about this piece of work contact me on a.gill@roehampton.ac.uk or call 0208 392 3893.

Your time is truly appreciated and I very much look forward to your
response. I do hope you will be able to input.

Aisha Gill

Dr Aisha Gill
Senior Lecturer in Criminology
School of Social Sciences,
Roehampton University, Roehampton Lane,
London, SW15 5SL
Tel: +44 (0)208 392 3893/ 07956 116278
Email: a.gill@roehampton.ac.uk

Gaia Von-Hatzfeldt

Gaia Von-Hatzfeldt is doing a masters in 'law and society' at the LSE. Gaia is currently working on a dissertation which is focusing on 'jan sunwais' as promulgated by MKSS, a social movement fighting corruption in rural areas of Rajasthan.

Geetanjoy Sahu

Geetanjoy Sahu is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development(CISED), Bangalore, India.
Geetanjoy recently completed Ph.D in Political Science at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. Geetanjoy Sahu's doctoral research is on Environmental Governance and Role of Judiciary in India.

Wing Commander U C Jha (Retd)

Wing Commander U C Jha (Retd) worked in the Indian Air Force for 24 years. After taking pre-mature retirement Wing Commander Jha enrolled at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU as Ph D student in July 2002. He submitted his thesis tilted "Military Justice System in India" in July 2007.

He has worked as Consultant (Legal) with National Human Rights Commission for three years. He has been visiting faculty at Indian Law Institute, the Indian Society for International Law, and the United Services Institute, New Delhi. He is also a resource person for the International Committee of the Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law.

Rohit De

Rohit De is a graduate student at the Department of History at Princeton. His primary interest is in South Asian legal history and he is particularly interested in studying the courtroom as a space where the relationship between the state and the citizen is mediated. His recent research focuses on Muslim family law, gender and the discourses of modernity in late colonial India. Rohit graduated with a B.A, LL.B (Hons) degree from the National Law School of India University and completed his LL.M at the Yale Law School in 2006. Before starting at Princeton, Rohit spent a year as the Fox International Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University

Swethaa Ballakrishnen

She is a '04 graduate of the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research and a recent ('08) graduate of Harvard Law School (where she did an LL.M with a shared focus in international finance and the sociology of legal education).


Before coming to Harvard, she was a corporate lawyer with the Mumbai offices of Amarchand Mangaldas and a research associate and lecturer at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (where she taught parts of the legal methods and family law courses and offered for senior students a seminar in international finance). At HLS, she worked closely with the Harvard History Project (her graduate thesis was a paper on the history of South Asian law students at HLS) and was on the board of the South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA).

MADHAV KHOSLA

I am a recent graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, and have begun work as a Research Assistant to Prof. Madhava Menon at the Commission on Centre-State Relations, Government of India. My primary areas of interest and public law and human rights. Last year, I had the opportunity to work at the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University where I analyzed the operation of the right to health during the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH, 1993-1996) and the problems experienced as a result of the Mission's narrow mandate that privileged civil-political rights over socio-economic rights. I have also been a Junior Ethics Fellow at the World Health Organization, Geneva, where I researched on substantive equality and the allocation of scarce medical resources. In addition, I have clerked with Justice SB Sinha and Justice HS Bedi at the Supreme Court of India, as well as worked with organizations such as Lawyers Collective, Pratham and the World Bank. My published in journals such as the International Community Law Review, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Judicial Review, Economic & Political Weekly and so on.

DOUGLAS HAY

B.A., Toronto (1967), Ph.D. (Warwick, 1976). Teaches legal and social history at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Department of History at York University, Toronto. Visiting appointments as Professor of Canadian Studies at Yale and as SSRC Professorial Fellow in Socio‑legal Studies at the University of Warwick; visiting scholar at Centre for Criminology University of Toronto and Columbia University Law School. Co‑edited and contributed to Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth‑Century England (1975), Labour, Law and Crime in Historical Perspective (1987), Policing and Prosecution in Britain 1750‑1850 (1989), Friends of the Chief Justice: The William Osgoode Correspondence (1990), Eighteenth‑Century English Society (1997) Masters, Servants, and Magistrates in Britain and the Empire (2004); articles and chapters on English and Canadian legal history appear in other collections and in history and law journals. Elected to the Board of Directors of the American Society for Legal History 1985‑88 and for the term beginning 2000, and member of the board of Law and History Review from 1983‑1992. Service on committees, boards, or journals of the Law and Society Association, the Canadian Historical Association, and the Social Science History Association. The Chorley Lecturer (London School of Economics), the Iredell Lecturer in Legal History (University of Lancaster), The Hugh Alan Maclean Lecturer (University of Victoria Faculty of Law), the Weir Memorial Lecturer (University of Alberta School of Law) the Annual Lecturer for the American Society of Legal History 2002, the Hugh Fitzpatrick Lecturer in Legal Bibliography. Co-director of the York International Master and Servant Project on employment law in what was the British Empire from the 16th to 20th centuries; current work also includes studies of the administration of English criminal law and of the court of King's Bench in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Courses taught include History of Canadian Law, Law and Social Change in an Age of Freedom of Contract, Western Legal Histories, Law Property and Freedom in Britain and its Empire, History of Criminal Law and its Administration, History of Canadian Legal Institutions, Law and Social Justice. On sabbatical leave 2008-2009.

LASS INAUGURAL CONFERENCE 2009

WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE WONDERFUL AND OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO THE CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE LASS INAUGURAL CONFERENCE

THE CALL FOR PAPERS IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED AND WE ARE EXTREMELY SORRY THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCOMODATE MORE PAPERS.

THIS IS TO FORMALLY THANK YOU ALL AND APOLOGISE TO EVERYONE WHO HAS WRITTEN SINCE WE CLOSED OUR CALL FOR PAPERS.

WE WILL BE IN TOUCH WITH EVERYONE WHO SENT AN ABSTRACT SOON. THANKS

LASS CONFERENCE STEERING COMMITTEE