Nature is furious and so is when we don’t respect nature. When nature’s fury arrives, nobody can fight that fury. That’s why it’s said that if we don’t respect and protect our environment or nature, nature will surely destroy us. That’s what nature did when the floods struck the hills of Uttarakhand, India in the year 2013. The devastating few days were one of the worst days in Indian history. The pilgrims who went on a pilgrimage in the hills of Uttarakhand in Kedarnath never thought they would face such a situation. Around 4000 people still after 7 years of that disaster are missing, all presumed dead by the authorities.

With nature’s fury hitting the holy place of Kedarnath, many people didn’t know what they were about to face. Some people who had gone for vacations with their families because of the summer breaks of their children never thought that he might have to face such a tragedy. The scenes their as described by the survivors weren’t at all great. The survivors claimed that the scenes at Kedarnath were really bad and horrific. Bodies were lying everywhere. Water had swept everyone away. The areas below the Kedarnath valley, where tourists usually would take rest with small hotels and lodges was fully washed away. If people before hadn’t seen that place, they wouldn’t have even known that the area contained shops and hotels. Everything was swept away, everything means everything.

The survivors claimed that water was so fierce and powerful that it even came up to the hills which they were climbing up for survival. Landslides were happening so frequently those 3 days that few people even lost their lives trying to climb up the hills and survive. The rescue operations started but with the area being at a very high altitude, helicopters as well as the whole operation was halted many times. Many rescue officers lost their lives while rescuing people. This level of devastation and destruction was never ever seen or the people who went to worship would have thought that they will face such a situation.

Eye witnesses claim how few priests as well as people went indoor in the Kedarnath temple when it started raining heavily and within a few minutes water thrashed into the temple sweeping away the door and many people inside the temple were swept away by the force of water. The destruction was for everyone to see. The damage in those 3 days was for everyone to see. But why did that destruction happen? Because of the fact how people have destroyed nature. We always destroy and play with nature as if it is for granted. But when nature takes matters in its own hands, then common people suffer.

In the end I would only suggest the people of not only this country, but the whole world that these disasters will keep on coming and destroying people and property unless we take a major step of protecting the nature. A major step to make sure that environment isn’t destroyed and is taken as a part of our human family. Don’t destroy mother nature, because when mother nature would strike, nobody would be able to survive, nobody means nobody.

Human rights begin with children rights. There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace. It is a call to all people to respect human rights of children and to reaffirm their commitment to children.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (CRC), represents a turning point in the international movement on behalf of child rights. This comprehensive document contains a set of universal legal standards or norms for the protection and well-being of children. Children have a right to be provided with certain services ranging from a name and nationality to health care and education. They have a right to be protected from certain acts, such as torture, exploitation, abuse, arbitrary detention and unwarranted removal from parental care, and children have the right to participate in the decisions affecting their lives.

India has the largest child population in the world. Children under the age of 18 years constitute 41 % of the total population of the country. India’s approach to protection and promotion of human rights of children derives from the Constitution of India, which provides for affirmative action in favour of children. It directs the state to ensure that children are not abused and are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner in conditions of freedom and dignity. India ratified the CRC in 1992 and enacted various laws in conformity of the CRC for the protection of children. In this paper a sincere attempt is made to examine and assess the implementation of the CRC in Indian legal system.

Human rights begin with children rights. There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace. It is a call to all people to respect human rights of children and to reaffirm their commitment to children.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (CRC), represents a turning point in the international movement on behalf of child rights. This comprehensive document contains a set of universal legal standards or norms for the protection and well-being of children. Children have a right to be provided with certain services ranging from a name and nationality to health care and education. They have a right to be protected from certain acts, such as torture, exploitation, abuse, arbitrary detention and unwarranted removal from parental care, and children have the right to participate in the decisions affecting their lives. India has the largest child population in the world. Children under the age of 18 years constitute 41 % of the total population of the country. India’s approach to protection and promotion of human rights of children derives from the Constitution of India, which provides for affirmative action in favour of children. It directs the state to ensure that children are not abused and are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner in conditions of freedom and dignity. India ratified the CRC in 1992 and enacted various laws in conformity of the CRC for the protection of children. In this paper a sincere attempt is made to examine and assess the implementation of the CRC in Indian legal system.

The economic sector includes many taxed supplies just as GST. There are numerous vulnerabilities and ambiguities emerging out of the definition of a “supply” in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Regulations 1999. The definition of supply is given in GST, Section 7 Which states that the expression of supply includes all forms of supply of goods abd services, it also includes sale, transfer, barter, exchange, license, giving goods on rent, lease or demolition of anything or agreed to be mad for consideration by any individual who is in the process of business, section 7 (b) also includes that supply of import service in return of consideration whether or not in the course of the business is a legit supply.
Definition of GST- Section 7 in Brief Section 7: Defines the term Supply in GST act.  Section 7 (1) (a): The following clause and sub-clause Defines if anything such ad goods or services are transfer for consideration in the due process of the business.  Section 7 (1) (b): The following sub-clause means that any services which includes importing anything ay it be goods or services for consideration it will be defined as supply whether or not it is in the due process of the business.  Section 7 (1) (c): The following sub-clause means the pursuit stated in schedule 1 are defined as supplies if done or made without consideration.  Schedule 1: The Following pursuit are to be treated under Schedule 1 as supplies without consideration. 1. Permanent transfer or scrapping of business assets where input tax credit has been benefited on such assets, such assets with or without consideration are to listed as supplies under Schedule 1. 2. Supply of either goods or services or both between business men or any related individuals as defined in section 25, the whole due process of the same should in the process of business. 3. The gifts which do not exceed fifty thousand rupees in a single financial year by an employer to employee shall not be considered as supply. 4. The supply also includes principal agent relationship in two ways if agent on behalf of the principal receives some goods or the agent on behalf of principal send some goods.

5. Import of administrations by an available individual from a related individual or from any of his different foundations outside India, in the course or on the other hand promotion of business.  Section 7 (2) (a): The clause 2 of the section 7 nevertheless is related to clause 1 of the section 7. The sub-clause a of the section 7 (2) states that pursuit mentioned in schedule 3 are neither supply of goods nor supply of services.  Schedule 3: the following schedule consist of services such as funeral assistance, employee working for employer and sale of land etc. Schedule 3 contains most of the activities which help our society to develop such as work done in parliament or courts.  Section 7 (2) (b): Pursuit listed in schedule 3 if done by central government or any statuary authority on the recommendation of the government council than the pursuit will be treated as neither supply of goods nor supply of services.  Section 7 (3): The allocation in sub section (1) and (2), the Government may, on the suggestions of the Council, determine, by notification, the exchanges that are to be dealt with shall be treated as:
   a- a supply of goods and not as a supply of services or vice-versa. References:
   http://gstcouncil.gov.in/sites/default/files/CGST.pdf
   http://northexcastudycircle.com/Image/dyks_ppt.pdf
   GST Bare Act

Case Note:

Service – Termination – Validity of – Present appeal filed against order whereby setting aside order of termination of respondent’s services – Held, record shows that pursuant to judgment of High Court, respondent no 2 has already been reinstated in service – Record would also show that respondent no 2 was in service when his services were terminated as his caste certificate was invalidated by Committee – Again he is in service after impugned judgment was rendered and therefore it would be harsh to direct termination of services of respondent no 2 – No post belonging to special backward class category is available with appellant – Therefore interest of justice would be served if Government is directed to create supernumerary post in appellant no 1 institution to accommodate respondent no 2 with liberty to get said caste certificate verified through Caste Scrutiny Committee – Hence, appeal partly allowed and appeal disposed of.

For the foregoing reasons the appeal partly succeeds. The respondent No. 1, i.e., State of Maharashtra, is directed to create a supernumerary post in the appellant No. 1 institution to accommodate the respondent No. 2 as early as possible and preferably within two months from the date of receipt of the writ from this Court. It would be open to the State of Maharashtra and the appellant to get the Caste Certificate dated June 12, 2002, submitted by the respondent No. 2, indicating that he belongs to Special Backward Class, verified from the Caste Scrutiny Committee. If the Caste Scrutiny Committee comes to the conclusion that the Caste Certificate submitted by the respondent No. 2 is valid, he would be continued in service and granted all benefits except back wages from February 6, 2002 to the date of his reinstatement in service pursuant to the impugned judgment. If the claim made by the respondent No. 2 that he belongs to Special Backward Class is not upheld by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, the appellant would be entitled to take appropriate action against him in accordance with law.

The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 carries a colonial baggage. It was introduced during a time when Colonial India witnessed over 10 million deaths due to the disease that had its birth in Hong Kong.3 Western medicine proved to be largely inefficient against the Bubonic Plague of 1896. The neglect of the Colonial Government cost them hundreds of lives each day. The Plague’s mortality rate of 60 percent made it obligatory for the Government to not only find a cure, but also control the spread of the disease. Looking at the magnitude of damage, a Plague Committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. T.R. Frasor, Professor of Materia Medica at the University of Edinburgh.4 They made a report that documented the effect of the disease and the means to curtail transmission. The report concluded that the disease was highly contagious and recognized human transmission as a means of spread. The commission recommended necessary preventive measures to disinfect and evacuate infected places, to put a control over mass transit, and to improve sanitary conditions. The commission also suggested strengthening of public health services and development of laboratories.5 It was John Woodburn who first introduced the Epidemic Diseases Bill to the Governor General and the Council. 6 The Governor and the Council hastily passed the bill in February 1897 to have better control over the situation. The executive of the presidency towns had discretion to adopt any measures that could aid in limiting the transmission. The extraordinary nature of the act was considered well suited to the extraordinary situation at hand. Various researches were conducted, Plague Research Committees were formed. Their findings showed that the chief cause of the spread was lack of hygiene and poor sanitation across the country. Plague Research Laboratory was also set up in Bombay, to find a vaccine for the plague.

Section 2(d) of the Act defines “disaster” – means a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area;
3 S K Swami, presentation as ‘Organisation of Disaster Response in India at Central and State Government Levels’, Annual Conference of Relief Commissioners, 2001.
In the popular belief, a disaster is usually associated with a natural calamity such as a cyclone or an earthquake, the disaster management act, 2005 also defines it similarly. But unfortunately, it does not specifically describe an infectious disease like the plague of 1720, cholera outbreak of 1820, the Spanish flu of 1920 or the recent most, Corona virus pandemic of 2020. It’s an ambiguous situation for the officers and the executives as how to pursue it, and thus, to address the current epidemic outbreak, the Central government has stated the corona virus outbreak as “Notified Disaster” as a “critical medical condition or pandemic situation”.

This act constitutes, The National Disaster Management Authority, State Disaster Management Authority, and District Disaster Management Authority3. These authorities make policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management for ensuring timely and effective response to disaster. Examples of powers and function of NDMA are:

1. Lay down guidelines to be followed by the different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India for the purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disaster or the mitigation of its effects in their development plans and projects;
2. Take such other measures for the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation, or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with the threatening disaster situation or disaster as it may consider necessary;
3. Provide such support to other countries affected by major disasters as may be determined by the Central Government;
4. Lay down policies on disaster management; and others
   According to the act, a National Disaster Management Authority will function under the immediate authority of the prime minister. The national authority would be the nodal body and lay down all the plans and policies assisted by the secretaries of various ministries and department heads. It speaks of a holistic approach through various departments of the government to ensure a prompt response to disasters. A chain of responsibilities and duties down to the local authorities has also been established. The act also specifies that experts in the field of disaster management shall be brought on board in an advisory capacity.

A new word that can be heard from everyone is ‘social-distancing’. Everyone is talking about it, even the NDMA has suggested social distancing in its guidelines. The NDMA is working day and night and it is safe to say that social distancing is the need of the hour right now but is staying at home the only thing that will stop the spread of this virus. Other than this, the need of the hour is being aware of a threat of this kind and being prepared on it. If we look at the Budget 2020-21, approximately Rs. 30 lakh crores are being invested for the military development and in comparison, healthcare & research is just a mere Rs. 69 thousand crores8. Healthcare is being treated rather negligently. Covid-19 pandemic will be gone at its own time because history shows that every virus has a lifeline which we can see in the case of Swine-flu, Nipa virus, Ebola, etc. These viruses came and wreaked havoc and then left, it won’t be wrong to say that we are very lucky that the covid-19 virus is curable because of the patient’s strong immunity. Disaster Management does not mean that in the event of a disaster some steps should be taken after it has struck, it should also include preparation. We are well aware that all countries are prepared to fight back if there is a full-blown nuclear war then why is no one prepared for a flu-virus that can kill more people than a war? One may think that it will be impossible to prepare as one cannot foresee the kind of virus and its characteristics beforehand. This shouldn’t prevent us from working for the future because one thing is for sure that time is not in our favor. Some proposed improvements can be:

1. Strong Health System – A strong health system is very favorable when it comes to tackling a health emergency, with some extra funding the health system can drastically improve and aid patients. This can be seen in the case of Turkey, whose strong health system has shown a positive clinical result in fighting the virus and the curve is flattening.

2. Medical Research Corp. – Just like the army in the event of an outbreak experts can be deployed in the epicenter or the ground zero to start dealing with the situation and control it.
3. Running Simulations – Another improvement that can be made to give a better insight in Disaster Management is running a simulation when there is an event of a disaster to get understanding of the intensity and to be prepared for it. It is also popularly known as “Germ-Games”. If a simulation such as this was made then the management technique could have been improved. All factors such as people’s reaction, behavior and attitude towards the virus could have been taken into consideration through this simulation method to improve management. At the moment the biggest threat that can increase the curve is people’s patience. A simulation using small pox was tested in USA in the year 2001 where the results showed that US was unable to tackle it and it led to a lot of deaths.
4. Stronger Research & Development – A strong R&D can be favorable for disaster management which are fully equipped with necessary instruments that will contribute in researching for a cure and understanding the behavior of the virus.
   These are some of the suggestions that are being proposed worldwide and what should be done in India as well. We need to have a defense system when it comes to health emergencies for proper management. An outbreak is going to create much more risk to life than any war. The death toll of the Second World War was 75 million people9, on the other hand the 1918 pandemic, popularly known as the Spanish Flu, claimed 50 million lives10 worldwide where 12 million to 13 million deaths11 occurred in India. It is important to remember that a war can always be negotiated and settled whereas negotiating with an invisible virus is impossible.

If someone is not worried about the Covid-19 Pandemic then they’re either living on an island or in space. The Covid-19 (or simply Novel Coronavirus) is a new virus that is bugging humanity since the past four months which started in a small (not so small anymore) market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Who would have thought a Bat-soup would cause so much trouble that it will shut down entire cities, affect the world economy, reduce crude oil prices and also reduce pollution, well at least some good came out of it? After the virus hit other countries different models and strategies to tackle the virus started coming up which all seem to partially work out in the long run. India was among the countries who announced a lockdown in the early stages. The National Disaster Management Authority or NMDA issued some guidelines regarding the virus for the general mass. The NDMA is an authority which is established under Section 3 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The world is constantly changing an evolving for good but at the same time nature reacts to it differently and before we know it, we are tackling a new problem one after the other. This isn’t the first time that we’re dealing with a virus of such kind, the world is familiar with many such as The Black Death, The London Plague, The Spanish Flu, Ebola Virus, Swine Flu, etc. and now the Coronavirus. They have been responsible for so many uncountable deaths in the past, which begs the question that, are we prepared? Are we prepared to deal with it or are we just at the mercy of nature?
What is Disaster Management Act, 2005 about?
The Disaster Management Act or the DMA is an act that was established in 2005 for tackling disasters that are either natural or man-made. Until now, the DMA has worked in tackling problems such as floods, earthquakes, etc. this is the first time the Act has been entrusted to tackle a matter of public health which has such a high severity. According to Section 2(e), “disaster management” means a continuous and integrated process of planning, organising, coordinating and implementing measures which are necessary or expedient for— (i) prevention of danger or threat of any disaster; (ii) mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or consequences; (iii) capacity-building; (iv) preparedness to deal with any disaster; (v) prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster; (vi) assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster; (vii) evacuation, rescue and relief; (viii) rehabilitation and reconstruction2. The objective of the act can be inferred from the sub-points given in the above section.

Are we prepared?
There used to be a time when the disasters we were most worried about was a Nuclear War or a catastrophic event that we all assumed would happen in 2012. If anything, that is going to kill over 10 million people in the next few decades it is going to be a highly infectious virus and not a war3. We are so engrossed in improving our instruments of warfare that we do not consider a flu-virus as a threat at all. A health emergency also deserves the same seriousness as other disasters. On a careful observation it can be found that the DMA is not completely ideal when it comes to tackling a health emergency such as this. The DMA has helped in controlling movement and issuing guidelines which are being followed religiously. To keep people in check the DMA also has punishments for rule-breakers (Section 514), people who spread false rumors (Section 545) and those who are taking an unfair advantage of the money or materials provided in relief (Section 536) with imprisonment or fine or both. The DMA is doing everything within its limits and powers to tackle the situation and as of now it is also working, but it still does not answer the question, Are we prepared? If we concentrate on the exact meaning of the word “prepared” it means “ready to deal with a situation”7. In this situation, we can deduce that it means having all the necessary protocols and infrastructure that is necessary to tackle this efficiently. Unfortunately, India as well as other countries in the world lack such preparedness when it comes to health emergencies specifically. In India we have the Epidemics Disease Act, 1897 but it is vague, ancient and does not talk about specific methods to tackle any such emergency, the size of this act itself shows the competency of the act towards health emergencies in India. The Covid-19 pandemic is not the only health emergency that has haunted India and also the world in recent times. All of them have been learning experiences to all of us, similarly the Covid-19 pandemic will also be a learning experience. Covid-19 has shown the true colors of human evolution when it comes to technology. No matter how much we develop there is always a chance that all of it will be pointless and nature will always find a way to emerge stronger. All of this may seem dystopian if we ponder on it but all is not lost, there is always room for change.

Notice of Arbitration

A notice of arbitration is where the whole process of arbitration starts, it sets out the claims of the party and also identifies the intention to initiate the arbitration. Unless any of the party does not show the interest to initiate arbitration the notices cannot be issued. The notice is the document where the parties show the interest to initiate Arbitration.

The opposition can reply the notice by denying the claims or make a counter claim or simply ignore the notice of arbitration.

If there is counter claim the other party can reply the defendant with the document called “The statement of defence” 

After the arbitrator is fixed the first step arbitrator takes is called “First procedural conference”

The conference is about what should be the process of arbitration they can also fix how many pleadings they are going to have in the arbitration, Pleadings are simple documents which support the claim of the party.    

The parties or, if the parties fail to agree, the arbitral tribunal must determine the rules governing communications during the course of the proceedings between the parties, the arbitral tribunal and, where appropriate, the arbitral institution.

This entails specifying the addresses of the parties and their representatives, as well as those of the arbitrators, to whom documents can validly be sent. The permitted methods of communication (ordinary mail, courier delivery, telex or facsimile, for example) should also be specified, as should items such as when time limits for exchanges of evidence or memorials will be considered to have been met (on dispatch or receipt of the documents in question), the starting point for deadlines for the recipient’s response and any extension of deadlines falling on public holidays or weekends.