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 CCS turns 22!This 15th August, we completed 22 years of advancing social change through public policy! It's been an exciting year for us, as we launched the Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP) - the next frontier to training young leaders in liberal perspectives in public policy and our most ambitious project thus far! Chaired by Vijay Kelkar, Former Finance Secretary, ISPP offers a one-year, full-time, Master's- equivalent residential course in Policy, Design, and Management.  Launch of the Founding Class of Policy Scholars at ISPPISPP welcomed its inaugural batch of 58 aspiring policy leaders, with the first day of classes starting on 5th August. Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor of India, gave a commencement address at the ISPP Campus in South Delhi, to start the academic year. An inaugural dinner was organised on 3rd August, providing an opportunity for interactions among our scholars, faculty, and supporters of ISPP and CCS. Gurcharan Das, Author, delivered the welcome address at the inaugural dinner. Dr Shekhar Shah, Director-General, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), delivered a lecture on accountability in public policy to close the evening. To know more about ISPP visit our website. |
 Delhi Street Vendors Win Against Arbitrary PenaltiesWe successfully appealed to the Additional Session Judge (ASJ), Saket Court, challenging the excessive and arbitrary fining of a fruit vendor in Gautam Nagar, South Delhi. In a win for the vendors and for us, after the ASJ directed the Municipal Magistrate to decide afresh, the Magistrate declared the challan invalid and annulled the penalty. Vendors across Delhi are challaned by MCD officials every month and magistrates impose heavy penalties that exceed the legally specified limits in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957. In the absence of legal awareness or aid, and with little power to resist and legally contest such arbitrary penalties, the vendors are often forced to pay these ad-hoc challans. Read our reports on the status of the implementation of the Street Vendors Act, 2014 here. |
 Law and Liberty Conference: Understanding the Legal foundations of a Free Society.This August we organised our third Law and Liberty Conference (LCC) in partnership with Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), and The Federalist Society, on 19-20th August in Pune. This year's LLC addressed the theme of 'Legal Foundations of a Free Society, with a focus on competition law and its key role in shaping economic freedoms. On the first day of the conference, we conducted a one-day policy and economics workshop. Engaging 53 participants, the workshop was followed by two panel discussions: on 'Competition Law and Intellectual Property Rights' with Dr Geeta Gouri, Former Member of the Competition Commission of India (CCI); Sajid Shaikh, Assistant Professor and Assistant Registrar (Academic), Mumbai National Law University; and Dr. Ashish Kulkarni, Professor, GIPE and on 'Society in the Internet age: Balancing Security vis-a-vis Privacy Rights', with Mr. Nikhil Pahwa, Founder and Editor, MediaNama; Mr. Murali Neelakantan, Principal, Amicus; and Mr. Prashant Narang, Associate Director-Research,CCS. The panels were followed by the Keynote Address by Dr. Shruti Rajagopalan, Associate Professor of Economics, State University of New York on an economic analysis of the right to trade (Article 19).  Engaging Journalists on the Ease of Doing Business for FarmersOn 10th August we conducted our monthly dialogue with journalists at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi. The dialogue addressed the 'ease of doing business for farmers', attended by 18 journalists representing prominent media houses including NDTV, Zee News and All India Radio, among others. The discussion was led by Barun Mitra, Founder and Director, Liberty Institute; Nimish Adhia, Assistant Professor-Economics, Manhattanville College, New York and Kumar Anand, Director-Advocacy, CCS . The discussion addressed the question of herbicide tolerant BT (HTBT) seeds and the debate surrounding their ban in India, despite their usage and contribution to increasing agricultural productivity in other countries.  Baithak: Conversations on State Capacity in IndiaThis August, Baithak, our monthly conversations in policy turned one! The Baithak has been conceptualised as a platform for CCS alumni, young students, and professionals to debate and discuss contemporary policy concerns. Engaging 23 participants this month, Shruti Rajagopalan, Associate Professor of Economics, State University of New York, spoke about India's state capacity. She discussed the enduring challenge of India's weak state capacity, manpower, and institutional design, resulting in regulations being either unenforced, or selectively and perniciously enforced.  iPolicy for Young Leaders in MumbaiWe conducted ipolicy- our flagship introductory training in public policy in Mumbai with 36 young leaders successfully graduating from the course. Mathias Pontoppidan, Strategic Advisor, A.P Moller conducted the opening session of the training, addressing the current state of the Indian economy in light of pervasive fears of an impending recession. The ipolicy also introduced the young leaders to foundational concepts in public policy analysis and evaluation, Public Choice Theory, the Right to Education Act, and other policy concerns. Our faculty and mentors included Rajeswari Sengupta, Assistant Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research; Shagata Mukherjee, Assistant Professor, Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics and Sampurna Khasnabis, Assistant Manager-Academy, CCS. |
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2019