The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) came up with the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) in January 2023, which aimed: "to provide a comprehensive action plan for establishing a Green Hydrogen ecosystem and catalysing a systemic response to the opportunities and challenges of this sunrise sector." The NGHM recognised India's Net Zero Target of 2070 but also underscored another important but relatively less talked about target: Energy Independence by 2047. The NGHM stated that green hydrogen was seen as playing a critical role in achieving these objectives. For the uninitiated ..read more

On 21.03.2024, an important summit related to nuclear energy was held in Brussels. On behalf of India, Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission & Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, delivered India's statement. This statement represents India's approach so far and in the near future regarding nuclear energy. This short post comments on India's statement in the summit. India's Commitment to Net Zero and Role of Nuclear Energy The statement noted India's commitment to Net Zero emissions by 2070. Towards this aim, the statement noted, India's has taken steps to increas ..read more

In a major development, the print media reports that India is in talks with various private firms to attract investment to the tune of US$ 26 billion in the nuclear sector, in order to produce electricity from sources that do not produce carbon emissions. India plans to increase the percentage of contribution by non-fossil fuel sector in electricity generation. The current contribution of the nuclear sector and other sectors towards electricity generation is given below: Installed Power Generation Capacity (2023) Particulars  Installed Capacity (MW) Percentage Fossil Fuel ..read more

The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 was amended in 2009 through the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Act, 2009. One of the main purposes of the amendment was to make the said law applicable to all categories of employees and to bring about a gender neutral term.  For that purpose, the Short Title to the Act was changed to "Employee's Compensation Act, 1923" instead of "Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923". The term "workman" and "workmen" were replaced with "employee" and "employees". To do so, Section 5 of the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Act, 2009 provided: "5. Throughout the prin ..read more

 India enacted the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDPA" or "Act") and the statute has been published in the Official Gazette. The Act along with the regulatory framework is yet to be brought to force. Section 1(2) of the Act reads: "(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision ..read more

The EU EDPB (European Data Protection Board) came up with a Coordinated Enforcement Framework (CEF) in 2020 with the objective of facilitating joint actions among Supervisory Authorities under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, 2016. The objective of the CEF was to facilitate joint actions among supervisory authorities in a coordinated manner. The legal basis of the CEF is contained in Article 61(1) read with Article 57(1)(g) of the GDPR. Article 61(1) reads: "Supervisory authorities shall provide each other with relevant information and mutual assistance in order to implement and ..read more

 It has been widely reported in the news media (see, for instance, here and here) that India and Pakistan have exchanged a list of nuclear installations further to a Press Release by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. The Press Release notes that the exchange of lists was pursuant to an agreement which was signed on 31.12.1988, which came into force on 27.01.1991. Since then, the Release notes, both countries have exchanged lists 33 times (including the present one). This short post discusses the Agreement, known as India Pakistan Non-Attack Agreement, and the title of ..read more

The five judge Bench's decision of the Supreme Court of India in Cox & Kings v. SAP 2023 INSC 1051 on the group of companies doctrine has been in the news since the decision was anncounced on 06.12.2023. Numerous articles/ posts have been written on it and we are not going to add one more to the list of such writings. Those who are yet to read the decision but do not have time can go to the end of this post, which quotes Para 165 of the decision, which summarises it. We highlight certain interesting things about the decision and the doctrine in this post. Non-Signatory Should Hav ..read more

Nuclear energy generators and suppliers using the plank of climate change to promote nuclear energy as the solution and economies okaying such an approach. It looks like nuclear energy is here to stay and possible contribute significantly to the energy share of many countries. Given this fillip to nuclear energy, there is also bound to be increasing technological solutions in the sector. Two of them are noteworthy: one is the small and modular reactors which allow nuclear energy generation through smaller nuclear plants. Thes operate in a relatively smaller scale than conventional nuclear plan ..read more

India was one of the founding signatories to the New York Convention, 1958, formally known as the Convention on Recognition & Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958. The commercial reservation meant that the New York Convention insofar as applicable to India was only in respect of international commercial arbitration and not international investment arbitration. This position was reiterated in Union of India vs. Vodafone Group Plc United Kingdom and Ors. (07.05.2018 - DELHC) : MANU/DE/1673/2018, where the Delhi High Court held: "89. Also, though the BIPA constitutes an arbitration ag ..read more