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This is a good question, let's enumerate some important laws which came in the newspapers in the past 12 months.We shall make this post crowd-sourced. And we are planning to reward our contributors by giving them credits* -Detailed Well Presented 100 word Explanation - 2000Giving Valid Links and a Small Brief - 1000Giving Names of New Laws - 500Contributors (As of now) - Jai Parimi, Divya Malika, Prasanna, Ashutosh Pandey, Arihant Pawariya (अरिहंत पावङिया), Divya Choudhary (दिव्या चौधरी), Varsha Singh, Priyanka Peeramsetty, User, Gaurav Kumar, Jagannadh, Arpit Pareek, Nikhil Deshmukh, Harshit Ladva1) The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 and the 99th Constitutional AmendmentA bill to provide for the composition of the Judicial Appointments Commission for the purpose of recommending persons for appointment as Chief Justice of India and other Judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts, its functions, procedure to be followed by it and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.Key Issues and AnalysisThe current method of appointments has been examined by various bodies including the Law Commission and the Parliamentary Standing Committee. They vary in the role of the executive and judiciary in making appointments of judges.The composition of the JAC has not been included in the Constitution, but has been left for Parliament to decide by law. This implies that modifying the composition of the JAC would not require a constitutional amendment, but may be altered by a simple majority in Parliament.The Standing Committee examining the JAC Bill has recommended that (i) the JAC be composed of three eminent persons, (ii) the broad parameters for short listing of candidates for HC appointments be laid down in the Bill, and (iii) the center also consider the setting up of state level appointments commissions comprising the Chief Minister, the Chief Justice of HC and the Leader of Opposition.2) Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Reservation Act, 2013Objective - The principle objective of the new bill is fair compensation, thorough resettlement and rehabilitation of those affected, adequate safeguards for their well-being and complete transparency in the process of land acquisition. The title has been amended to reflect this.Need - There is unanimity of opinion across the social and political spectrum that the Old Law (The Land Acquisition Act 1894) suffers from various shortcomings and is outdated. Some of these include Forced acquisitions, No safeguards, Silent on resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced, Urgency clause, Low rates of compensation, Litigation. To say the least, the Old Act needs to be replaced at the earliest by fair, reasonable and rational enactment in tune with the constitutional provisions, particularly, Article 300A of the Constitution.Link - Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 20133) Companies Act, 2013 (CSR Pref)Objective - Effective from financial year 2014-15, every company, private limited or public limited, which either has a net worth of Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore, needs to spend at least 2% of its average net profit for the immediately preceding three financial years on corporate social responsibility activities.Impact - The CSR activities undertaken by the companies will benefit hunger and poverty eradication, promoting preventive healthcare, promoting education and promoting gender equality, setting up homes for women, orphans and the senior citizens, measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward groups, ensuring environmental sustainability and ecological balance, animal welfare, protection of national heritage and art and culture and many more.Link - Companies Act, 2013, Companies - It's a good articlePRSIndia– This describes the whole of companies act – Checkpoint 135 for CSR4) Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005Objective - Landmark bill, which realized the Right to seek and access Information in line with the interpretation of Art.19(1)(a) of our constitution.Impact - Champion to ensure Transparency and accountability in the governance procedures. it enforces the right of every citizen of India to have an access to the information regarding any money given by the State to any authority, thereby causing such authority to utilize such money reasonably and judiciously and also for keeping a check over their conduct and indulgence in corrupt activities. In 2002, SC’s verdict gave the citizens have a right to know about charges against candidates for elections as well as details of their assets, since they desire to offer themselves for public service and public servants cannot claim exemption from disclosure of charges against them or details of their assets. It is a powerful tool which can be realised in changing social dynamics and needs.Criticism - Debates regarding the ambit of RTI’s scope have been articulated, to be extended, say to the political parties, temples, schools and also privatized public utility companies. Evidences of misusage have come to the limelight, say Naxalites using RTI’s to check the assets of local landlords to loot themGuide to RTI : Page on rti.gov.in5) Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act, 2005Objective - The SEZ Act is expected to give a big thrust to exports and consequently to the foreign direct investment (“FDI”) inflows into India, and is considered to be one of the finest pieces of legislation that may well represent the future of the industrial development strategy in India. The new law is aimed at encouraging PPP to develop world-class infrastructure and attract private investment (domestic and foreign), boosting economic growth, exports and employmentImpact - The government gets the capital needed to establish the required infrastructure and also the expertise. SEZ’s with relaxed import tariffs help the Import dependent and export driven industries to flourish. SEZ’s create immense employment opportunities and improve the country’s foreign export.Criticism - Practical implementation witnesses several backlogs ranging from regional disparities, grabbing arable land, labour laws issues and supply chain management which fail to be addressed effectively through the bill6) Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013Objective -The government introduced the Bill to redefine the offence of rape and amend the penal laws in line with the recommendations of the Law Commission and the National Commission for Women. The government withdrew the previous Bill and Ordinance, and introduced the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013. The changes wrt the ordinance in the act are:Impact - Popularly known as the Anti-rape bill, this came out of the protests of 2012 Delhi Gang rape case.Criticism - For not including certain suggestions recommended by the Verma Committee Report like, marital rape, reduction of age of consent, amending Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.Some detailed work: http://www.atimysore.gov.in/workshops/wppts/gender_issues/crim_law_amnd_2013_drjagadeesh_jsslaw_college.pdf7) Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013Objective - To provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. the protection against sexual harassment and the right to work with dignity are universally recognized human rightsImpact - On a broader line, this ensures safe work environment for women against sexual abuse at work place and is capable of garnering a greater female work force and these are the Major features the act provides for.Criticism - It does not cover women in the armed forces and excludes women agricultural workers, "a gross injustice to agricultural workers. The burden of proof is on the women who complain of harassment. If found guilty of making a false complaint or giving false evidence, she could be prosecuted, which has raised concerns about women being even more afraid of reporting offences. Furthermore, the law requires a third-party NGO to be involved, which could make employers less comfortable in reporting grievances, due to confidentiality concerns.8) DNA Profiling Bill, 2012Purpose - DNA analysis makes it possible to determine whether the source of origin of one body substance is identical to that of another, and further to establish the biological relationship, if any, between two individuals, living or dead without any doubt.Tip - Lawful purposes of establishing identity in criminal or civil proceedings.Impact - It will be essential to establish standards for laboratories, staff qualifications, training, proficiency testing, collection of body substances, custody trail from collection to reporting and a Data Bank with policies of use and access to information therein, its retention and deletion.DNA Data Bank Manager will supervise, execute and maintain this system and a DNA Profiling Board of eminent scientists, administrators and Law enforcement officers will administer and carry out other functions assigned to it under this Act.Link - DNA Profiling Bill - PDF9) Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill, 2011Purpose - So far, India has excellent record in nuclear safety and radiation safety; but the Central Government intends to promote nuclear energy to meet shortfall in total energy requirement of the country; and whereas such excellent safety record in nuclear safety and radiation safety is required to be sustained for growth in the nuclear energy sector.Impact - Now, therefore, it has been considered necessary and expedient to establish regulators to ensure continued excellence in nuclear safety and radiation safety in all applications of radiation and atomic energy on a large scale.10) Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010Purpose - As the name itself indicates that it is an Act to provide for civil liability for nuclear damage and prompt compensation to the victims of a nuclear incident through a no-fault liability regime channeling liability to the operator.Impact - Appointment of Claims Commissioner, establishment of Nuclear Damage Claims Commission connected there with.11) IT Act, 2000 and IT (Amendment) Bill, 2006Purpose - It is an Act to provide legal recognition for the transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly referred to as "Electronic Commerce", which involve the use of alternatives to paper based methods of communication and storage of information, to facilitate electronic filings of documents with the Government and other related agencies.Tip - It is renamed as the Information Technology Act, 2008Impact - To promote efficient delivery of Government services by means of reliable electronic records.12) National Green Tribunal Bill, 2009Purpose - For the effective disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal rights relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property.Impact - National Green Tribunal law is enacted in view of the involvement of multi-disciplinary issues relating to the environment and also to implement the decisions taken at Rio de Janeiro and Stockholm Conferences.Link - NGT Bill - PDF13) Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969Objective - It is designed to ensure that the operation of the economic system does not result in concentration of the economic power to the common detriment.The act also provides for probation of monopolistic, unfair and restrictive trade practices.Impact - The MRTP Commission if on enquiry concludes that the practice under consideration is of restrictive or unfair in nature , it may:Order discontinuation of the practice and restrict its repetition (cease and desist order ), the agreement shall be void and shall stand modified as may specified in the order. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.Link - MRTP Act, 196914) Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2008(Coal scam and SC verdict, so important)Objective - To develop and regulate mining & mineral industries and bring it under the control of one union by setting up mineral funds on National level, granting concessions, share benefit schemes while preventing illegal mining.Impact - Safeguards on regulating and safe disposal of waste in consonance with environmental norms will be incorporated. Through implementation of proper taxing and speedy approvals on action against violations illegal mining will be preventedLink - Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 200815) Whistleblower Protection Bill, 2011It seeks to establish a mechanism to register complaints on any allegations of corruption or wilful misuse of power against a public servant. The Bill also provides safeguards against victimisation of the person who makes the complaint.Highlights of the BillThe Bill seeks to protect whistleblowers, i.e. persons making a public interest disclosure related to an act of corruption, misuse of power, or criminal offence by a public servant.The Vigilance Commission shall not disclose the identity of the complainant except to the head of the department if he deems it necessary. The Bill penalises any person who has disclosed the identity of the complainant.Key Issues and AnalysisThe Bill aims to balance the need to protect honest officials from undue harassment with protecting persons making a public interest disclosure. It punishes any person making false complaints. However, it does not provide any penalty for victimizing a complainant.16) Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection) Bill 2014Objectives: The Bill seeks to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. It specifies procedural safeguards in cases of children in conflict with law. It seeks to address challenges in the existing Act such as delays in adoption processes, high pendency of cases, accountability of institutions, etc. The Bill further seeks to address children in the 16-18 age group, in conflict with law, as an increased incidence of crimes committed by them have been reported over the past few years.Coverage: The Bill defines a child as anyone less than 18 years of age. However, a special provision has been inserted for the possibility of trying 16-18 year old committing heinous offenses, as adults. A heinous offense is defined as one for which the minimum punishment under the Indian Penal Code is seven years.17) Citizens Charters & Grievance Redressal Bill, 2011. (CCGR)The Citizen's Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011 also known as The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 or Citizens Charter Bill was a proposed in Lok Sabha in December 2011. The bill lapsed due to dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 lays down obligations of every public authority towards citizens, specifying delivery of goods and services in a time-bound manner and providing for a grievance redressal mechanism for non-compliance of citizens charter.Highlights :The Bill makes it mandatory for every public authority to publish a Citizen’s Charter within six months of the commencement of the Act.The Citizen’s Charter shall list the details of the goods and services provided by a public authority; the name of the person or agency responsible for providing the goods or services; the time frame within which such goods or services have to be provided; the category of people entitled to the goods and services; and details of the complaint redressal mechanism.Grievance redress officer : It requires every public authority to designate grievance redress officers in all public offices to enquire into and redress any complaints from citizens in a timeframe not exceeding 30 days from the date of receipt of the complaint.Public Grievance Redressal Commissions : The Bill provides for constitution of the state public grievance redressal commission and the central public grievance redressal commission consisting of chief commissioners and other commissioners.Penalty : DA and Commission can impose fine of Max. Rs 50000 to concerned officials/GRO. The penalty shall be recovered from the salary of the official. Such penalty may be awarded as compensation to the appellant.Corruption Prevention : The Designated Authority and the Commissions may refer a matter to the appropriate authorities if there is prima facie evidence of a corrupt act under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. An appeal against the decision of the Central Commission shall be filed before the Lokpal. An appeal against the decision of the State Commission shall be filed before the Lokayukta.Criticism :Against federal Spirit : Citizens’ charter bill provides for GRO and Grievances Commission at state and central level, but Parliament doesn’t not have jurisdiction to enact such law. Only State legislature has jurisdiction to make laws regarding state public services.More than ten states have already enacted a Citizen Charter Act or Public Services Guarantee Act in their respective states. Many of these state laws have provisions that are much better than the proposed Bill.Lack of Autonomy : According to the bill, the commissioners may be removed without judicial inquiry.Duplication of work : Several states have their own grievance redressal laws, The mechanism provided under these laws is different from that provided under the Bill. This will lead to duplication of work and organizations.MNREGA Act, RTE Act, National Food Security Bill, and the Public Procurement Bill also have their own grievances redressal forums. This will again lead to more duplication.Sources :Copy of Bill : Page on prsindia.orgSummery of Bill : Page on prsindia.orgWiki Page : Citizen's Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011Mrual Page : Citizens Charter Bill 2011: Salient Features, Issues, CriticismRediff Page : All you need to know about the Citizen's Charter Bill18) Right to Education Act, 2009The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE), was enacted on 4 August 2009, which describes the rules and regulations for free and compulsory education of children between 6 and 14 under Article 21A of Constitution. India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010.Highlights :The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 stipulates that private schools reserve 25 per cent of seats at the entry level for children belonging to ‘disadvantaged groups’ and ‘weaker sections’.The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.Mentally and physically challenged children, entitled to free education in special schools, were included in the definition through an amendment in 2012.It also prohibits all unrecognised schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admissions.Criticism :The act has been criticised for being hastily-drafted, not consulting many groups active in education, not considering the quality of education, infringing on the rights of private and religious minority schools to administer their system, and for excluding children under six years of age.Problems faced :Poor Response : Lack of awareness about the Act, inability to meet the distance criteria and difficulty in obtaining necessary certificates from government authorities could be some of the reasons for this.The Act provides for admission of children without any certification. However, several states have continued pre-existing procedures insisting that children produce income and caste certificates, BPL cards and birth certificates.The Act is not applicable to private minority schools and boarding schools.Report on the status of implementation of the Act released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development admits that 8.1 million children in the age group six-14 remain out of school and there’s a shortage of 508,000 teachers country-wide.Conclusion :For all its flaws, the RTE Act is a progressive piece of legislation that aims to take education to the masses and fill the gaps in the social system.Sources :Copy of Act : Page on ssa.nic.inWiki page : Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education ActHindu Article : Advantages and disadvantages of RTE Act19) Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2013 (POSCO)Objective – The act aims at ensuring protection of children from sexual abuse.Pros –1. Gender Neutral bill. 53% victims of children are victims.2. Stringent punishment (upto life imprisonment)3. Covers broad range of sexual crimes such as non-penetrative sexual assault, sexual harassment, and the use of children for pornography4. Includes special procedures to prevent the re-victimisation of children at the hands of an insensitive justice delivery system5. Protects victims identity and provides assisting legal, medical and psychological facilitiesCons –1. Criminalises all consensual sexual contact below 18 years age.2. The age provision is not in consonance with other acts.3. Regressive and draconian considering today’s social realities. Children are increasingly aware of each others sexualities at early age.4. Child marriage is prevalent on large scale. The age provision ignores this reality. Liable to bogus and unjustified complaints.Source – The Hindu : Good Act, bad provision20) The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013Objective – The act aims to combat corruption in government agencies and public sector businesses in India.Pros -1. Covers the offence of giving a bribe to a public servant under abetment. Specific provisions related to giving a bribe to a public servant, and giving a bribe by a commercial organisation.2. Redefines criminal misconduct to only cover misappropriation of property and possession of disproportionate assets.3. Modifies the definitions and penalties for offences related totaking a bribe, being a habitual offender and abetting an offence.4. Introduces Powers and procedures for the attachment and forfeiture of property of public servants accused of corruption.5. The Act requires prior sanction to prosecute serving public officials. The Bill extends this protection to former officials.Cons -1. The Bill makes giving a bribe a specific offence. There are diverging views on whether bribe giving under all circumstances must be penalised. Some have argued that a coerced bribe giver must be distinguished from a collusive bribe giver.2. The Bill has deleted the provision that protects a bribe giver from prosecution, for any statement made by him during a corruption trial. This may deter bribe givers from appearing as witnesses in court.3. The Bill has replaced the definition of criminal misconduct. It now requires that the intention to acquire assets disproportionate to income also be proved, in addition to possession of such assets. Thus, the threshold to establish the offence of possession of disproportionate assets has been increased by the Bill.4. By redefining the offence of criminal misconduct, the Bill does not cover circumstances where the public official: (i) uses illegal means, (ii) abuses his position, or (iii) disregards public interest and obtains a valuable thing or reward for himself or another person.5. Under the Act, the guilt of the person is presumed for the offences of taking a bribe, being a habitual offender or abetting an offence. The Bill amends this provision to only cover the offence of taking a bribe.Source - The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 201321) Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) (Regulation) Bill 2010Objective – The bill aims at legalizing (commercial) surrogacy.Pros –1. Offers legal protection to child and surrogate mothers.2. Regulation of IVF/ART clinics and holding them Accountable for ensuring best medical practices.3. Curbs exploitation of mother. Limits number of child births per mother to five.4. Introduces age limit for surrogate mother – 21 to 35.5. Ensures Child’s citizenship to be same as parents.Cons –1. Legal back up will lead to widespread commercialization of surrogacy, posing serious ethical, moral and philosophical questions.2. Mandatory certificate ensuring legality of surrogacy in foreign couple’s home country needed. Impediments in smooth commercial functioning.3. No provision in the bill if parent’s change their mind or die. Child’s responsibility in this case is debatable.4. Plethora of in-genuine clinics in India. Exploitation of poor and illiterate mothers because of their incapability to understand legalities involved.Source - Issues of surrogacy, PIB English Features22) Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013Objective - The Bill sets up an independent authority, the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI), to regulate organisms and products of modern biotechnology.Pros –1. BRAI will regulate the research, transport, import, containment, environmental release, manufacture, and use of biotechnology products.2. Regulatory approval by BRAI will be granted through a multi-level process of assessment undertaken by scientific experts.3. BRAI will certify that the product developed is safe for its intended use. All other laws governing the product will continue to apply.4. A Biotechnology Regulatory Appellate Tribunal will hear civil cases that involve a substantial question relating to modern biotechnology and hear appeals on the decisions and orders of BRAI.5. Penalties are specified for providing false information to BRAI, conducting unapproved field trials, obstructing or impersonating an officer of BRAI and for contravening any other provisions of the Bill.Cons -1. The Tribunal has jurisdiction over a ‘substantial question relating to modern biotechnology’ – An ambiguous term.2. The Tribunal will consist of one judicial member and five technical members. This is not in conformity with a SC decision that the number of technical members on a bench of a Tribunal cannot exceed the number of judicial members.3. The Tribunal’s technical members shall be eminent scientists or government officials with experience in the field. It is unclear whether the technical expertise of the latter can be equated with the former.4. The Bill does not specify any liability for damage caused by a product of biotechnology. Therefore, it will remain open to the courts to determine liability arising out of any adverse impact of modern biotechnology.5. Tribunal will not accept complaints from civil society, in spite of the fact that the Bill directly or indirectly affects every citizen. No public consultation done.6. Non clarity over Dept of GoI that will service BRAI. No mention of mandatory labelling of GM crops.7. Takes away rights of states to decide on Agriculture, which is state subject.8. The Convener of the Selection Committee for members of BRAI will be from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), which is a vendor of genetic engineering (the technology that BRAI is supposed to regulate) in the country. Conflict of Interest will arise.Source - The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2013Unconstitutional, unethical, unscientific23) Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013ObjectiveTo set up an independent regulatory body for the coal sector that shall help in the regulation and conservation of coal resources and will benefit all stakeholders i.e. - coal companies, coal consuming industries such as power, steel, cement and coal bearing States and people, directly or indirectly associated with the coal industry.A fund called ‘The Coal Regulatory Authority Fund” is created to credit all the receipts and fees received.Constituents1 chairperson + 4 members. One each from legal , technical , administrative and financial wings. All to be selected by a committee of Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Cabinet Secretary.What will it do ?Inject transparency in allocation of coal blocks.Decide and Monitor operational norms and mining closure compliances and such.Determine pricing of the fuel and publishing surveys, information, statistics, etc related to coal sector and coal quality.Adjudicate disputes between entities and between entities and other persons.Advise government on technologies, policy, promotion, investment etc.Ref :- The Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013,Coal Regulatory Authority Bill likely in Winter session24) eWaste (Management and Handling) Act, 2011What is it ?E-waste has beendefined as “waste electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part or rejects from their manufacturing and repair process, which are intended to be discarded”.AIM :-Reduction in the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.Specifying threshold for use of hazardous material including lead, mercury and cadmium.Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) thus introduces the concept of "Extended Producer Responsibility".How will it work ?It fixes responsibilities on every producer, seller, consumer or bulk consumer, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste involved in the manufacture, sale, purchase and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or components.E.g. :Recycling of E-Waste generated during manufacturing and "End of Life" of electronic and electrical equipments.Setting up of collection centres by companies or individuals to collect E-waste and discard them.Setting up of funds by corporate to boost scientific and eco-friendly disposal of E-waste.CritiqueNo accountability set on anyone.E-Industry remains skeptical of the efficacy of this act.No specific targets set.Ref :- @E-waste management rules kick in today@Page on moef.nic.in25) Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011What is it ?The bill is intended to prevent “any act or series of acts, whether spontaneous or planned, resulting in injury or harm to the person and or property, knowingly directed against any person by virtue of his or her membership of any group."How ?The billAddresses identity-based or targeted crimes and organised mass violence as special offences.Places accountability of public officers with varying penalties for dereliction of duty it.Provides for the creation of a National Authority and the State authorities to ensure justice and reparation.Addresses issues faced by specific communities like economic boycott, denial of public service, forced migration , hostile environment etc.Empowers state and center government to intercept any messages and communication that it feels might lead to communal violence.Sets up district level authorities to assess compensation.CritiquesCurbing freedom of expression by terming it as Hate propaganda.Presumption of guilt and burden of proof on the accused – The accused will have to prove innocence.All the persons acting under this Act will have blanket of protection of action taken in good faith.Brings civil servants in direct line of fire by vaguely defining "dereliction of duty".26) Competition Act, 2002The Competition Act was passed in 2002Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established on March 1, 2009 as an autonomous body comprising of a Chairperson and six members.CCI not only hears and investigates cases based on the information received by it, but it also takes suo moto action wherever it finds that a prima facie violationCommission had taken suo-moto cognizance of the reported manipulation of the bids by manufacturers of LPG cylinders for supplying cylinders to the Indian Oil CorporationMany more such notices have been sent by CCI in the Petroleum sector, Agricuture sector etc. taking cognisance suo-moto.Role of trade associationsCompetition law treats the activities of trade associations much like any other form of cooperation between competitors.decisions or recommendations of trade associations are treated as agreements between its members and law may be breached even when they are not binding on the members.CCI imposed a nominal penalty of Rs. 1 lakh each on 27 film producers on charges of colluding through an association to exploit multiplex owners.number of cases involving the associations in the Pharmaceutical sector/Film production etc where CCI has passed orders against the associations and asked them to “cease and desist” from activities that may be anti-competitive in nature.Public Procurement and Competition LawPublic procurement is a contentious issue vis-à-vis application of competition lawpublic enterprises, which are generally the big procurers, are subject to competition assessment.Commission has decided a number of matters, including cartelization in government contracts. Penalties have been imposed on firms to discourage the anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominanceCompetition Commission of India is set to change the rules of the game and play the role of a watchdog to check anti-competitive practices in the markethttp://echoofindia.com/reflex-action/competition-commission-india-4-years-enforcement-competition-law-3216927) Prasar Bharati (Amendment) Bill, 201028) Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 200229) Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitaion Act, 2013. (Important, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan)30) Child Labour (Prohibition) Act, 198631) Scheduled Tribes and Recognition of Forest Rights Bill, 200632) Environment Protection Law, 198633) Wildlife Protection Act, 197234) The Electricity Act, 200335) Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 199636) Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 199237) Factories Act 1948/Amendment Bill 201438) Apprentice Act 1961/ Amendment Bill 201439) The Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority Act, 201340) The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 201341) Benami Transaction (Prohibition )Act, 198842) The National Food Security Act, 201343) Pesticides Management Bill, 2008*Maximum Credits per Person - 5000**Contributors earning more than 1000 credits <must> -a) Promote to at least 100 people.b) Share this list everywhere. :P :P LOL !Thank you all. :)Thanks for the A2A Anon. :)

Original Answer: What would happen if the Warhammer 30k Imperial Fist fleet arrived at Reach after Gamma Station was destroyed.(Cue the greatest music in any game ever. Thanks Bungie. Taken from Halopedia)This is actually a really interesting scenario to consider. The Battle of Reach was just about the coolest battle in the entire Halo universe. It was so awesome, in fact, that they made an entire game centered on it. (The Best Halo game, IMHO)So, while I’ll do a technical run down later, right now let’s get a timeline of events going.First, the Covenant track commander Keyes’ ship, the UNSC Iroquois to Reach.Before unleashing their full wrath against the planet, the Fleet of Valiant Prudence, comprised of several SDV-class heavy corvettes and the CSO-Class Supercarrier, Long Night Of Solace was deployed. Clandestine operations were carried out on the ground at this time.The lid was blown off the Covenant’s presence when SPARTAN Noble team engaged a team of Sangheili Zealots at the Visegrad relay outpost.After that engagement, WINTER CONTINGENCY was declared by the UNSC, and a period of skirmishing and minor engagements began. Of note, was SPARTAN Noble team’s assault on the Long Night of Solace, which ended in the Supercarrier’s destruction.(UNSC Ground forces at Szurdok Ridge. Taken from Halopedia.)At this time however, the full Covenant armada arrived, and the Space battle as seen in Fall of Reach (the novel) began in earnest.The Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice, headed by Supreme Commander Thel ‘Vadamee was comprised of 315 ships, including large numbers of SDV-Class Heavy Corvettes, DAV-Class Light Corvettes, CRS-Class Light Cruisers, CCS-Class Battlecruisers, CAS-Class Assault Carriers, and an unknown “Sniper Ship” that wielded supercharged energy projector turrets.The present UNSC fleets accounted 152 warships under the command of Admiral Roland Freemont, as well as Vice Admirals Michael Stanforth and Danforth Whitcomb. The UNSC fleet included large numbers of Destroyers, Frigates and Corvettes, as well as one Valiant-Class Super Heavy Cruiser, one Carrier, three Cruisers, and one Punic-Class Supercarrier.The UNSC forces adopted similar tactics to those that won the battle of Sigma Octanus, and volley-fired their MAC cannons, maneuvered Orbital repair stations as shields against Covenant fire, and played to the strengths of their orbital SuperMac platforms.It wasn’t enough. Between Covenant forces getting planetside and neutralizing SuperMac power generators, the “Sniper Ship” destroying major UNSC capital ships, and the overwhelming Covenant numerical advantage, the battle was ultimately lost.(The Covenant armada preparing to glass Reach. Taken from Halopedia.)130 UNSC ships were lost, and an estimated 700,000,000 civilians and military personnel died. Though, the Covenant’s aggressive tactics led to them being rather bloodied as well. Most if not all of the Fleet of Valiant Prudence was lost, including a nearly irreplaceable Supercarrier. Their primary fleet, meanwhile, lost over 100 ships, a full third of it’s strength.The UNSC gave the Covenant hell, and made them pay for every inch… but it wasn’t enough.Now then, let’s back up a bit.The Long Night of Solace is destroyed.Gamma Station begins detecting slipspace signatures approaching the Epsilon Eridani system enmasse.Soon, the Fleet of Particular Justice arrives in all it’s splendour.Scattered UNSC fleets manage to scrape together about 100 vessels to face them.Then, Gamma Station begins registering an anomaly. Strange radiation and things that Science quite frankly has no words for begin to light up their sensor screens, rapidly intensifying in magnitude.A lone satellite in Reach’s orbit manages to turn it’s cameras towards the area, and watches as space… unravels.Impossible colors ignite the void, as a churning, flickering vortex of energy manifests itself.All eyes are now upon it, and be they Human or Unggoy or Sangheili feel something wrong within it’s depths. All can feel a tug upon their souls, and can hear the voices of the damned inside their minds.The anomaly swells, widens, and suddenly disgorges something before vanishing.A fleet of strange, alien warships hangs in the void.(HUMANITY FUCK YEAH! Taken from Lexicanum.)Meanwhile, Primarch Rogal Dorn and his attendant fleets and forces have just finished bringing a new set of human systems into compliance.A standard warp jump suddenly goes horribly wrong, and the entire fleet finds itself spat out in strange new territory, facing two opposing fleets of unknown ship designs.Attempts at standard Vox communications meet with utter failure. Their technologies seem to be incompatible. The Astropath begins to scream that ‘The Astronomicon’s light is gone”, over and over, until he can be sedated.Finally, Dorn commands that they downgrade their comms attempts, using simple radio waves that any species can possibly detect.The Tech-Priests cheer as successful contact is made. They can only communicate with the other ships’ cogitators in binary, but it is enough. The holy tongue of the Omnissiah is understood universally.Their probes encounter an alien intelligence inside the organic, purple ships, that are already swiveling to face them, lateral lines beginning to flicker with arming plasma.Finally, the cogitators upon the grey, metallic ships make a breakthrough. The standard language packets, written in High and Low Gothic have been deciphered, and a rough translation algorithm is in place. A vocal channel is established.Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the VII Legion, makes contact with a human Admiral. Brief information is exchanged. Omnicidal Xenos empire, beleaguered humanity. His course of action is clear.(These Xenos picked the wrong species to genocide. Taken from Lexicanum.)His expeditionary force, comprised of a standard naval battlegroup, as well as his personal force of VII legion ships deploys into attack formation.The Imperial Fists order of battle is arranged as follows.His flagship, the Gloriana-Class Battleship, Eternal Crusader and several Battle-Barges and Strike-Cruisers hold the center of the line. Arranged in a spearhead formation around his core, are the fifty warships of the Imperial Navy. This force is led by an Emperor-Class Battleship, and contains several Grand Cruisers, and multiple squadrons of Cruisers and Destroyers, as well as flotillas of escort craft.(Covenant ships firing plasma volley. Taken from ModDB SinsoftheProphets.)With little more communication, the human political entity known as the UNSC welcomes Dorn’s aid, and gives his Tech-Priests as much information on Covenant combat capabilities as possible.The Archmagos upon the Eternal Crusader’s bridge relays his conclusions to Dorn. Enemy vessels use guided plasma bolts for primary ship-to-ship combat, with an estimated salvo yield ranging from to one hundred Gigatons to twenty five Teratons. All in all, significantly inferior to Imperial weaponry, though not outside the area of presenting a threat.This xenos ‘Covenant’ also use short ranged pulse lasers for point defence, and some manner of plasma beam projector for planetary bombardment.His weapons officer announces that the Xenos ships are spiking in power levels. Globs of plasma can be detected pooling on their sides, shimmering an incandescent lilac.Dorn transmits a firing solution to the fleet.The xenos ships release their plasma bolts, ionized globs gliding through the void towards the Imperial Fists.Simultaneously, hundreds of torpedoes are launched to meet them, while lance batteries cut crimson beams across the night sky, cutting through xenos shields and burning through the hulls below.A dozen lesser xenos ships are laid low, lance batteries having simply cut straight through their hulls.Then, the torpedoes reach the xenos formation. Pulse lasers flicker out, yet to the Covenant’s shock, the torpedoes are heavily armored. Certainly not enough to be immune to their point defence, but armored enough that it takes more than a mere tap to destroy them.Many are destroyed, but many more slip through the xenos defences and strike home. These torpedoes are monstrous things, almost the size of UNSC frigates, and when they strike home, Covenant vessels are simply sheared apart, shields overloading within moments. Then the explosive payload within detonates, reducing the impacted ships to nothing more than debris fields.Meanwhile the Covenant plasma torpedoes impact, only to splash against void shields that manifest before them. To the UNSC’s stunned awe and shock, their shields do not fail. The Covenant volley is weathered without incident.Then, the lance batteries target new ships, and fire again.(CAS-Assault Carriers at the battle of Reach. Taken from Halopedia.)To Commander Thel, it is becoming abundantly clear that the Covenant are losing the ranged engagement. These strange new ships, bedecked with human statues and other blasphemous iconography simply outgun his own fleet. He still has a nearly six to one numerical advantage over them, but if the situation continues at this pace, both fleets trading fire at maximum range, then that will soon change.Fifty of his ships are already lost. Corvettes and frigates, to be sure, but their loss is still worrying.He needs a new plan.A lance of fifty vessels, led by the Assault Carrier, Sublime Retribution are commanded to preform an in-system jump, to the flank of the enemy ships, and engage them in close quarters.The Sublime Retribution complies, and within moments, slipspace portals appear before it and it’s attendant lesser ships, and they vanish. Moments later, they appear again at extreme range, right on the strange ships’ flank.Unfortunately for them, they have just placed themselves within macrocannon range of the Imperial ships.(Imperial screening force. Taken from Lexicanum.)Imperial flanking elements spring into action at the xenos ships sudden maneuver. Dozens upon dozens of macrocannon emplacements are directed towards the xenos ships.As a hurricane of plasma fire streaks towards the Imperial fleet, a storm of hypersonic shells roar to meet them. A macroshell is about as massive as a small UNSC ship. Launched at hypersonic velocities, it operates very similarly to a MAC gun, except with a vastly larger shell.When they strike the covenant ships, the vessels simply cease to exist, torn to shreds and then vaporized by reactor eruptions.The Covenant lance swiftly loses almost all of it’s ships. Those that do not die in the opening salvo are targeted and carved apart by lance batteries.The plasma travels on, however. Targeted in greater concentration on single targets, they begin to overwhelm the shields of Imperial escorts. Several escort craft lose their shields, and have chunks of hull vaporised and melted. Yet, they carry on, regardless of damage.Damaged and torn, the Sublime Retribution moves straight into the Imperial lines, targeting all of it’s weapons banks on two damaged and unshielded escort ships. Plasma bolts coalesce and glide forth, as pulse lasers begin to rake exposed hulls.In the moments before it is torn apart by a second macrocannon salvo, the Assault Carrier claims two kills.Meanwhile, Dorn’s formation inexorably grinds on, slowly whittling the xenos ships apart with measured volley after measured volley. The Glorious Crusader has claimed nearly thirty five kills, and it’s crew is keen on tripling that number before the battle is through.(UNSC Trafalgar and attendant ships leading the charge. Taken from halopedia)Emboldened by their strange allies' staggering success, and the Covenant’s disregard of them, the UNSC begin their offensive. Spearheaded by the Punic-Class Supercarrier UNSC Trafalgar, the entire UNSC fleet of 100 ships begins an offensive at the rear of the Covenant formation.At the start of maneuvers, a full size lance of ships held the Covenant’s rear, but with the loss of 100 of their ships, the lance was repositioned to plug holes in their lines, leaving their rear exposed.The UNSC exploited this mercilessly. At first, they formed a massive firing line, and emptied as many salvoes of MAC rounds into the Covenant rear as they dared.Then, as corvette packs detached to engage them, they broke formation and withdrew to the safety net of their Supermacs. Ten Covenant ships were destroyed in the initial volley, and a further twenty were damaged to some extent. The UNSC had lost ten ships in the exchange.(Charon-Class frigate firing at oncoming Covenant vessels. Taken from halofanon wiki.)Commander Thel was incensed and despondent. His gambit had seen fifty ships dead within moments, and now the wretched humans were strafing his rear like eaters of carrion.At this point nearly half his fleet was dead, and all he had to show for it was a handful of the enemy’s escort craft. His modified long range engagement cruiser was proving invaluable, as it’s lasers could shred enemy hull armor, so he was using plasma torpedoes to wear down enemy shields, then having the ship go in for the kill.This tactic was irrelevant to the battle’s outcome, however. He had only one such vessel, and it had already narrowly escaped enemy counter fire.Withdrawal was always an option, as he was clearly outmatched, but his warrior’s pride rankled at it. Still, committing two hundred and ten ships to death against a superior foe was foolish. Perhaps a more rash Fleet Master would have ordered such a thing, but the waste of resources was not something he was willing to do.With a heavy heart, Thel commanded his second to take half of the fleet, containing all of the most valuable vessels, and withdraw from the system, taking all knowledge of these new foes to the Hierarchs.He would remain, commanding nearly a hundred lesser craft to guard their escape.An argument broke out, but finally, the Assault Carriers, and Battlecruisers, and Ranged Cruiser fled the field.Opening a frequency to every remaining ship, gripping the handrail with all his strength, he gave a single command. “Charge.”(SDV-Class Corvette moving to engage Imperial Forces. Taken from halopedia.)Rogal Dorn watches impassively from the bridge of the Eternal Crusader as half of the remaining xenos vessels engage their warp-drives. For a few moments, they sit in place, vulnerable, and at his command fire is directed towards them. A dozen major vessels are destroyed before the rest disappear.Picket forces are vigilant, but no maneuver assault falls against them. The enemy ships do not reappear.“They have withdrawn.”, The Primarch mutters.Just then, the remaining xenos flagship, and the rest of their lesser vessels accelerate towards his fleet, firing wildly as they go.Dorn commands interceptors to be deployed, and for the fleet to present broadsides.As the xenos draw closer, a hurricane of macrocannon fire sweeps through them. Moments later, squadrons of interceptors and packs of escorts plunge into the remains of their formation, destroying whatever remains.The battle of Reach is ended.Six Imperial escorts are lost, with a further ten heavily damaged.The UNSC has lost forty ships, with a further twenty damaged.The Covenant have lost two hundred and sixty ships. The survivors move with all speed to High Charity, to report their failure.With this success, Rogal Dorn makes contact with the UNSC, and begins preparations to assimilate them into the Imperium.Now for technical stuff.I think we can all agree that Imperium>Covenant. Technical ramblings would certainly be fun to quibble over, but I kinda ended up making this into a story. Maybe next time.In other news, if you like Warhammer fluff, you may be interested in checking out a blog I’ve put together: The Legion of MutationIt’s a repository for the lore of a Thousand Sons army myself and a friend are working on. Much of it is written in a similar format to this, and if you’re a fan of the space wizards, or 40k lore in general, check it out.

Thanks for the A2A.I’ll say up front that this is one of the rare questions I’ve felt like I can fully speak my mind on — and to heck with the feedback — simply because I was involved in helping to write an industry position paper on it back when the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that led to it first was published. So, I know the arguments on both sides extremely well. Often, when I get asked a really good question and I offer an experience-based answer, I receive comments that offer different points of view that simple professionalism requires me to take into consideration. However, with the politics stripped away, the 1,500 hour rule is pretty cut-and-dried, at least from where I sit.Short and sweet. speaking purely from a U.S. perspective, I think it was harsh, but I also think it was the only way to knock the airline industry out of its long-standing, well-grooved practice of making indentured servitude in a regional airliner’s co-pilot seat a mandatory rite of passage. “Safety” was and remains a secondary consideration in it (and I’ll back that point up in a moment), but to the extent that it might lead to fewer pilots having to try to sleep in crew lounges because they can’t afford to live where they fly from or get a hotel room for a decent rest, I can live with it.Short-term, it has created a “supply” shortage and caused the pot to be sweetened to lure military pilots out of uniform (which has created its own separate shortage problems for the services, especially the Air Force). Longer-term? We’ll see. However, it’s also led to what I consider an economically necessary but ill-advised push to create what amounts to an “apprentice” type of license — the Multi-crew Pilot Licence (MPL).I applaud the MPL’s notion of enhancing the training experience and leveraging technology toward creating better co-pilots for complex jet aircraft, but given the serious lapses in basic airmanship that keep cropping up in accidents — not just Buffalo, but Air France 447, Asiana 214, and others — I really think the traveling public has the right to expect a basic level of experience on the flight deck that only comes from flying. In any event, the path followed to get up to 1,500 hours still is pretty arbitrary and is way too dependent on just racking up the hours in the logbook. I’d rather see some more attention given to the quality of that experience.To the point about how safety aligns with flying hours, honestly, that’s still a topic of ongoing debate and the subject of quite a bit of research that seems to result in somewhat conflicting outcomes.Back in the Seventies, it was kind of an article of faith that more hours equaled better pilots. Then, the U.S. Navy studied the flying hour experience of a number of naval aviators involved in “major mishaps” over time; it identified an interesting “two-humped” correlation, where a lot of accidents involved “nuggets” (newbies) with less than 500 hours, but also a second cohort that had about 1,500 to 2,000 hours as well.Further digging suggested that several factors might have contributed to this observation, including instructor pilots being done in by students, some experience-driven over-confidence leading to judgment errors, and the involvement of pilots who were in staff or shore billets for a tour before returning to primary flying assignments, but nothing definitive specifically could get a rose pinned on it. It was just interesting and unexpected data.(And before you ask, I’ve been trying to track this study down literally for years — it’s not available on-line anywhere to my knowledge, and the Naval Safety Center hasn’t been able to find it for me, either. Gotta trust the Old Safety Guy’s memory on this one.)The positive effects of lots of flying time is borne out by a 2003 paper published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, which noted, “With adjustment for age, pilots who had 5,000-9,999 hours of total flight time at baseline had a 57% lower risk of a crash than their less experienced counterparts (relative risk = 0.43, 95% confidence interval: 0.21, 0.87). The protective effect of flight experience leveled off after total flight time reached 10,000 hours.” (Age, flight experience, and risk of crash involvement in a cohort of professional pilots.)A 2009 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (http://www.gao.gov/assets/300/291531.pdf) on small air cargo aircraft accidents, which predated the Colgan crash in Buffalo, stated, “GAO’s analysis of NTSB reports for the 93 fatal accidents, using an FAA flight-risk checklist, identified three or more risk factors in 63 of the accidents. Risk factors included low pilot experience, winter weather, and nighttime operations.” The key takeaway here is that low-time pilots were disproportionately represented in that sector’s pilot force. Why? They usually were trying to build hours to get better jobs.More recently, a 2015 FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) paper (https://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201503.pdf) observed the following:“Many aviation research studies implicitly assume a straight-line relation between accident rates and [total flying hours (TFH)]. They merely assume that risk decreases as pilots get more experienced. In fact, that relation appears markedly nonlinear...“Consistent with our intuition and the frequency count studies, these models suggest that a “killing zone” indeed exists. Accident rates seem to increase for GA pilots early in their post-certification careers, reaching a peak, and then declining with greater flight experience…“The net effect is that, at this point in time, we have high confidence in our data only at relatively low values of TFH.”The bottom line is that 1,500 hours is just a number. There’s no magic to it, and precious little science. It just was a convenient figure that aligned with the minimum requirements for an air transport pilot (ATP) certificate, so people jumped on it. In my opinion, it wasn’t so much an overreaction as a fairly explicable reaction of the type often seen when there’s pressure to Do Something. In this particular case, it created a lot of turbulence in a number of corners of the overall aviation sector — including the flying training community — but on balance I think it was well-intentioned, a little heavy-handed, but probably justified at the macro level.To defend this point, I’d like to point out that more than six years ago, the FAA presented a working paper (https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/international_affairs/icao/general_assembly/media/149.2A-WP-%20Next%20Generation%20Aviation%20Professionals-FINAL.doc) to ICAO’s Technical Commission on “Addressing the Future of Competent Aviation Professionals.” One part of it read as follows:“The United States, particularly the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is examining the potential of establishing alternative requirements for pilots entering Part 121 air carrier operations, such as requiring specific pilot experience. .. The FAA is also considering the development of a system for training air carrier pilots, including a review of the ICAO-developed Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) program, to determine if such a structure could be adapted to fit the needs of U.S. pilots and provide the required levels of competence and professionalism that will be required over the next 15 years.”As of 2017, MPL hasn’t happened here yet. This suggests to me that a “new normal” has followed the implementation of the 1,500 hour requirement, whereby the supply problems still aren’t hurting the ability of the carriers to fill the seats (yet) while major air carrier accidents remain at historically low levels. That seems to justify the action taken. Hopefully, it’s also led to pilots being treated as something more than easily replaced, interchangeable parts requiring minimum maintenance.