Legal Updates - September 2019

FIRST WEEK

1. 14th CONFERENCE OF PARTIES (COP14) TO UN CONVENTION TO COMBAT

DESERTIFICATION (UNCCD)

 UNCCD is very important as it is expected that some good outcomes which will be notified in Delhi
Declaration, which will form the future course of action.
 In 2019, India being the global host for COP 14 will take over COP Presidency from China for next 2
years i.e. till 2021. India is among the selected few countries to have hosted COP of all 3 Rio
conventions on climate change, biodiversity and land.
 Prime Minister raised India’s target for restoring degraded land from its earlier target of 21 million
hectares (MH) to 26 million hectares (MH) by 2030.
 UNCCD is an international legally binding agreement on good land stewardship (carefully and
responsibly conducting, supervising or managing). It helps countries, people and communities to create
wealth, grow economies and secure sufficient food, water and energy.

2. AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION (AEOI) REGIME BETWEEN SWITZERLAND

AND INDIA

 AEOI kicked off from September 1, 2019. Under this mechanism, India will start receiving information
on all financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland, for the year 2018.
 It is a significant step in the government’s fight against black money and end of “Swiss bank secrecy
“era. It is the exchange of information between countries without having to request it. It aims to reduce
global tax evasion.
 It is likely to shed more light on wealth stashed away by Indians in Swiss bank accounts.
 Through this mechanism, banking details of Indians with accounts in banks in Switzerland will be
available to tax authorities (mainly CBDT) in India.

3. NGT ASKS CENTRE TO PREPARE PLAN FOR PROTECTION OF GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD

 The committee was tasked to prepare an action plan for implementation of suggestions put forth by
Wildlife Institute of India (WII) over the issue.
 Legal Updates - September 2019
 Plea stated that the reason for high mortality rate is power lines; especially high-voltage transmission
lines with multiple overhead wires as the bird have poor frontal vision.
 75% of birds have died due to collision with power lines in past 30 years.

5. PM INAUGURATES NEW JHARKHAND VIDHAN SABHA

 This newly constructed three-storey building of Jharkhand Assembly has been constructed at a cost of
Rs.465 crore.
 The foundation stone of new Jharkhand Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) was laid by Raghubar Das on 12
June 2015.
 It is being dubbed as 1st paperless Legislative Assembly in country.

6. 14 SEPTEMBER: HINDI DIVAS

 Hindi Divas (or Hindi day) is an annual day which is observed every year on 14 September all over
India since 1953, to celebrate the popularity of Hindi as an official language of India.
 Article 343 (1) of Constitution of India, in reference of Hindi as official language, reads- The official
language of Union shall be Hindi and script Devanagari. The form of the marks used for official
purposes of Union will be international form.
 Why 14 September? It is because on this day in 1949, Constituent Assembly of India had adopted
Hindi written in Devanagari script as official language of Republic of India.
 14 September 1949 also marks 50th birthday of Beohar Rajendra Simha who was among stalwarts
who rallied and lobbied pan-India in favor of Hindi.
 Their efforts came to fruition following adoption of Hindi as official language and this decision was
ratified by Constitution of India that came into effect on 26 January 1950.
 Legal Updates - September 2019
SECOND WEEK

1. UNION TERRITORIES OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR, LADAKH TO HAVE COMMON HIGH

COURT
 The Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh will have a common High Court.
 108 Central Laws would be applicable for the two UTs while 164 state laws would be repealed and 166
state laws will continue to be applicable.
 Legislative Assembly will be formed in J&K as UT but there will be no Legislative Assembly in the
Union Territory of Ladakh as it will be directly controlled by the Union Government.

2. GOVERNMENT SETS UP PANEL TO DIVIDE ASSETS OF JAMMU &KASHMIR BETWEEN 2

UTs
 Three member advisory committee under the chairmanship of former defense secretary Sanjay Mitra is to
divide the assets and liabilities of the state of Jammu and Kashmir between the two Union Territories it
has been bifurcated into. The other members of the committee include former special secretary, GST
Council, Arun Goyal and Controller General of Accounts Giriraj Prasad Gupta.
 As per Section 84 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019, the assets and liabilities of the
existing State of Jammu and Kashmir have to be apportioned between the Union Territory of Jammu and
Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh according to the various provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir
Reorganization Act, 2019.
 As per Section 85 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, the central government
establishes one or more Advisory Committees for apportionment of the assets, rights and liabilities.
 Legal Updates - September 2019
3. SRIVILLIPUTHUR PALKOVA GETS GI TAG
 Srivilliputhur Palkova has been assigned the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Srivilliputhur Co-
operative Primary Milk Producers Society had requested for the GI tag following which it was approved
by the Central government.
 It may be noted that the Palani panchamirtham, Dindigul locks and Kandangi sarees have received
Geographical Indication (GI) tags.
 The palkova is manufactured in and around the municipality of Srivilliputtur in Virudhunagar district.

4. MOTOR VEHICLES AMENDMENT ACT, 2019

 The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 is based on the recommendations of the Group of Transport
Ministers of States. The penalties in Act will be increasing by 10 per cent every year on April 1, as
notified by the Central government.
 The Bill seeks to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to provide for road safety and many of its
provisions came into effect since September 1, 2019.
 The Act provides for grant of licenses and permits related to motor vehicles, standards for motor
vehicles, and penalties for violation of these provisions. The new Act has also extended the period for
renewal of driving licences from one month to one year after the date of expiry. Only if the renewal
delayed more than a year, will the driver have to undergo a test of competence.
 Other important provisions include:
1. Compensation for road accident victims 6. Road Safety Board
2. Compulsory insurance 7. Offences and penalties
3. Good Samaritans 8. Provisions for imprisonment
4. Recall of vehicles 9. Taxi aggregators
5. National Transportation Policy
 Legal Updates - September 2019
THIRD WEEK

1. JUSTICE P LAKSHMANA REDDY APPOINTED AS 1ST LOKAYUKTA OF ANDHRA PRADESH

 Justice P Lakshmana Reddy would serve in office of Lokayukta for 5 years. He is first Lokayukta to be
assuming charge since the state bifurcated in 2014.
 The current YSR Congress government headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy amended the Lokayukta Act in
recent state budget session. This enabled the appointment of a retired judge as Lokayukta, paving the way
for constituting corruption-probing body.
 Lokayukta is an anti-corruption ombudsman organization in states. A Lokayukta investigates
allegations of corruption and irregularities against officials and is tasked with speedy redressal of public
grievances.

2. JAMMU AND KASHMIR’S PUBLIC SAFETY ACT

 The Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 is a preventive detention law, under which a person is
taken into custody to prevent him or her from acting in any manner that is prejudicial to ―the security of
the state or the maintenance of the public order. It is very similar to the National Security Act that is
used by other state governments for preventive detention.

3. 64TH COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE BEING HELD IN KAMPALA

 An Indian parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Conference.
 During the visit, Lok Sabha Speaker Birla will also be holding bilateral meetings with top leadership of
Uganda and his counterparts from other commonwealth countries to discuss matters of mutual interest
and parliamentary cooperation.
 Legal Updates - September 2019
4. CENTRE CUTS CORPORATE TAX RATE FOR DOMESTIC INVESTORS
 The Centre government has cut the effective corporate tax rate for existing domestic companies to
25.17% (from 34.94% now) and for new domestic companies, it will be 15% now. For this purpose the
government has brought in Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 to make certain amendments
in Income-tax Act 1961 and Finance (No. 2) Act 2019.

5. CABINET APPROVES PROMULGATION OF PROHIBITION OF ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES

ORDINANCE 2019
 Union Cabinet approved the Promulgation of Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (production,
manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement) Ordinance, 2019.
The decision is being seen as a major health and wellness initiative for the country.

6. FOUR NEW SUPREME COURT JUDGES APPOINTED, STRENGTH NOW 34

 Centre cleared the appointments of four new judges to the Supreme Court. With the appointment, the
judges’ strength in apex court is now 34. On August 30, the Supreme Court four chief justices for the
appointment to the top court in order to fill the vacant posts.

7. MOBILE APP FOR LAWYERS, LITIGANTS LAUNCHED BY DELHI HC

 The Delhi High Court launched a new mobile application. The app makes the services of the court
digitally accessible to litigants and lawyers. It was inaugurated the Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N
Patel.