> the CPI(M) manifesto for 2024 pledges to repeal contentious laws such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), news agency PTI reported.

>Additionally, the manifesto underscores the party's commitment to defending secularism, a recurring theme from its 2019 manifesto as it claims that India is facing an “existential crisis”.

via: https://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/other/lok-sabha-polls-cpi-m-manifesto-pledges-to-repeal-caa-uapa-pmla-as-it-promises-msp-for-farmers/ar-BB1l7Nxy

> While calling unemployment the "biggest failure" of the Modi government, the CPI(M) promised inclusion of ‘Right to Work’ in fundamental rights, a law to guarantee employment in urban areas as well as unemployment allowance, filling up all vacant posts in government departments, doubling the MGNREGA budget and removing the 100-day cap. These issues were there in the party manifesto in 2019 as well.

> While ‘right to free healthcare’, an issue that was there in the 2019 manifesto as well, found prominence, the CPI(M) accused the Centre of “criminal mishandling of the Covid pandemic”. Removing death penalty from the statutes, a promise made by CPI(M) in its manifesto for at least last two times, found a place this time also.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/elections/lok-sabha-election-2024/cpim-manifesto-calls-for-bharatiya-janata-partys-defeat-warns-of-existential-crisis/cid/2011443

Quoting from manifesto: https://cpim.org/pressbriefs/cpim-election-manifesto
and https://cpim.org/sites/default/files/20240331-pdfls_election_manifesto.final_.pdf

> The CPI(M) stands for urgent electoral reforms to curb the use of money power in the electoral system. For this, the Party wants State funding of elections and a ban on corporate donations to political parties. Corporates must fund to strengthen democracy and such contributions must be credited in a State electoral fund and used for State funding.

- Withdrawal of strategic relationships with US and Israel: "The BJP government has totally surrendered to US strategic, political and security designs and to strengthen US imperialism's designs for global hegemony. The most graphic evidence is the shameful stand of the Modi government in refusing to demand an unconditional ceasefire to stop the genocidal war against the people of Palestine... The CPI(M) stands for a non-aligned foreign policy which best serves the interests of our own country. It stands for good relations with our neighbours while defending every aspect of our country’s security."

- Withdrawal from the Quad

- Promotion of ties with China: "Negotiated settlement of the border dispute with China and promotion of all round relations."

- Stop disinvestment

- Job reservation for SC/ST/OBC in private sector

- "Strengthen the Universal Right to Education, Stop Privatization of Higher Education: The National Education Policy 2020 is an outright assault on the right to education with its emphasis on commercialization, centralization and communalization. The budgetary allocations for public education are less than 3 per cent of the GDP while concessions are being given to private players to change the right to education into a right to make profit at the expense of the mass of students and young people. Simultaneously the NEP advocates a communalization of education with the most outrageous omissions and commissions in syllabi, which seek to entirely distort history, promoting unscientific and irrational thinking. The trend of centralization of authority under the central government is an assault on the rights of states in the running of educational institutions in their respective states, including in the appointment of Vice Chancellors and faculty. A most disturbing trend is the appointment of persons not on the basis of merit but on the basis of loyalty to Hindutva ideologies. The CPI(M) stands for an increase to at least 6 per cent of GDP in budgetary
allocations for education."

- Introduce inheritance tax and tax on super rich: "The CPI(M) is committed to policies to protect India’s economic sovereignty. It holds that privatization of the public sector must be revisited and reversed. A tax on the super-rich along with a general wealth tax and an inheritance tax must be legislated, workers’ rights reflected in pro-worker laws must replace the labour codes"

▮▮▮

upsc exam before 1980s was an organised mess

most IFS officers post 1947 until about 1965 were sons of erstwhile maharajas

all ICS officers became IAS officers, thus they carried on the tradition of working for their political masters

the modern craze for UPSC actually started sometime in early 1990s, before that it was just another exam which only the well connected or well heeled sat for

His father was Hiralal Sibal, long-time Advocate General of Punjab (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hira_Lal_Sibal)

Must have been a good father: his 4 sons include 2 IAS officers, 1 IFS officer (Former Foreign Secy Kanwal Sibal) and Kapil Sibal (Sr. Adv, and who by his own admission had gotten into the IAS)

Anything below a PhD is gonna be difficult in the future. It was in 2018/19 whe UGC made it mandatory for assistant professors to have a PhD. However that was withheld after protests. However, in the future, a PhD will definitely be mandatory. Moreover, a JRF is best, since it provides with a fellowship as well as gives weightage to your CV in interviews. If you can, aim for a central university for an LLM, especially since they provide a 2 year LLM. One year LLMs are not worth it. Also, a two year LLM will help you get into IIM or IIT for a PhD, since they don't take one year LLMs. Any more queries do reply.

I joined a T2 firm in July 2021 post graduation. I took 4 days off in December 2021. For the next 1 and a half year I did not take any holidays of any kind and I asked my partner for 4 days leave in May 2023. He said to me "why do you want so many leaves when I gave you leaves in December 2021". After this incident, I immediately put my papers.

If you wish to do a PhD from IIT, the basic requirement along with your masters is a national level eligibility test, for us it's NET. So, you need to clear that.

I can't disclose which IIT I am in , but I get 25k per month, however with JRF you will get more. Non-JRF fellowships, i.e., institutional support fellowship changes according to university, however a JRF will give you a common & constant fellowship. Also, a JRF will help with the fellowship, as it well give more weightage in the interviews.

Only a few IITs have a law related PhD. But since you wish to go for a PhD in sociology and anthropology, please compare which IITs provide a better faculty.

Between TISS & IIT, it depends on where you want your career to go. If you want to focus on more social-society oriented research, then TISS. If you want to focus on more tech and society, then IIT. Both have a good tag in the market. So either works.

As far as seriousness goes, according to your thesis, focus on faculty that is currently publishing and working in that field. Unfortunately most of our professors live on past laurels.

If there's anything else you need to know, please ask away.

Hey OP! Congratulations on the job! For context, I grew up in the North-East and when I graduated from law school I found myself in the very similar position that you are in right now. I had an offer from a law firm based in Mumbai and at the time options were quite scarce, so I did a whole eyes-closed-head-first thing and made the move.

I too had bouts of social anxiety and Mumbai being the grand city that it is didn't really help a lot, at least initially. I had no family, no friends, no social circle in the city and honestly, the first few weeks were really difficult. However, that came to pass. With time, things changes and inspite of crippling social anxiety, I seemed to find an interest in the city. I remember constantly telling myself to get out of my comfort zone and make conversation with people. This went a long way into helping me create my own circle in the city. I joined book clubs, cycling events, marathons, etc. I found time for myself, when I'd completely disconnect from the whole world and think.

And before I knew it, it had already been three years in the city.

Thereafter, I was looking for change, and that I got, through another job offer. Interestingly this job took me away from Mumbai, it brought me here in Delhi. I felt like the time, I stepped in Mumbai for the first time. New city, new people, unknown faces, etc. But again, time went, I found friends amongst my colleagues, my neighbours, got it touch with some prior contacts. And as things would have it, I had formed yet another social circle here in Delhi. I started liking the city, I started to appreciate the good things, I started to live.

I am sorry, if what I've written doesn't make a lot of sense, but all I aim trying to say is that always try and look at the silver lining. Step out of your comfort zone, start that conversation, attend that event/concert, accept that invitation, check out that new place, etc. You do a mix of these things and you'll eventually find a life in a new city. It has been eleven years that I have moved to Delhi and this is what feels like home.

Moreover, I won't try and sell you Delhi over Mumbai. There will never be a definite answer to which city is better. One, both have their own good and bad, and two, to each his own. As someone who wasn't from either of these cities, I absolutely despise the rental scenario in Mumbai. For any specific amount that would fetch me a 1BHK in Mumbai, I'd get a much bigger space here in Delhi and that has been a dealbreaker for me. I absolutely refuse to pay that much rent. Honestly, in the last few years, I have received outstanding offers from firms/organisations based in Mumbai, and I have rejected all of them for different reasons, one of which always being the rents.

Two, in hindsight, and having extensively used the Delhi Metro, I fear the Mumbai locals. The lack of crowds, air-conditioning, connectivity, etc., gives the Delhi Metro an edge over the Locals or the very limited Mumbai metro.

Three, and I mentioned this completely as a personal preference, I love the Delhi semi-arid/sub-tropical climate over the extreme tropical climate in Mumbai. Also, while I was in Mumbai, the monsoon made my life really difficult, while here in Delhi, it is quite the opposite and I have come to really look forward to the rains. Agreed, that sometimes, an excessive amount of rain can spell traffic trouble here in the NCR, but overall, I've always found it to be less inconvenient than in Mumbai.

Also, the roads. Mumbai roads have been suffering from congestion for a while now, and I still see that, when I travel to the city one every couple of months. Au contraire, Delhi has wider roads/streets and is a little more spread out making things teeny tiny bit simple. Delhi traffics can be a pain too but often times bearable, unlike the ones in Mumbai, which used to make me cry.

Well, those are some factors that made me prefer the NCR over Mumbai and I see life here. But as I mentioned earlier, to each his own. There are some glaring aspects where Mumbai has the upper hand, for instance AQI during the Diwali/crop-burning season, because otherwise both are equally bad these days and then there's the understanding of safety. Delhi is generally considered unsafe, partly because it might just be and partly because being the NCR, it gets relatively more media attention than the rest.

Nevertheless, I wish you the best for your time in Delhi and also your job! Have a great time!

Hello. I am pursuing LLM ( Criminal Law) from Jamia currently, will complete the same next year (June or July). Thereafter I intend to pursue PhD from IIT-D in Sociology or Anthropology. Now the problem is that I don't know anyone in real life who pursued PhD from IIT-D.
So, please enlighten me, if it's the right step or what.

Just few points to add-
- I intend to go into academia.
- I am also contemplating PhD from TISS ( Mumbai).
- I am really unaware about granting of fellowship and it's uniformity even if I clear UGC NET+ JRF.

- I want to go for a value PhD, not just something for the sake of degree.

I don't want rants and nonsensical answers.

Heyy, NLIU is still in Tier 1. I know its NIRF rankings have fallen but i genuinely would say that it has a good academic, mooting and sports culture, placement rate etc. the decision is yours, but i think NLIU is a very good choice. NLIU cannot be compared to colleges like HNLU or NLUO. NLIU is far better.

P.s. There is no such thing as Tier 1.5, its either 1 or 2.

Hope this helped :)

I have around 5.5 years of experience in the profession and am currently working as a senior associate with a mid-size law firm. I start my day around 10:30 and mostly end it by 8. My team is not toxic, and my partner is nothing short of a gentleman. I get good exposure and am currently earning around 24 LPA (inclusive of the bonus component of around 20%). The package is expected to increase to 30 LPA this financial year. At times, I feel tempted to join a tier-one firm for the package it provides. I wonder what some of those who are working at Tier 1/2 firms would suggest.

Just leaving here then for the libs of LI….

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/rahul-gandhi-bet-on-india-record-market-rally-makes-him-richer-5381169#pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Hello Everyone,

I am a student of a Tier 3 NLU, planning for academia. What are the prospects in teaching, if I do my LLM from a Non - NLU or State university? or how much it matters? Will UGC NET, with a good CGPA in Graduation and PG suffice? What should be my approach for it.
Please guide me, it's much needed.

Please also "recount" this personal incident the day your daughter puts you in a nursing home. Your words make it sound like you are proud of the way you prioritised your work over your child, but I promise you, she will never forgive you. Children always remember parents that don't show up for them - well into adulthood.

This is what the young generation doesn't understand - client service is above personal needs.

My parents and younger son had met with a road accident and were lying injured on the road. One of them managed to call me to arrange for an ambulance, and I was about to call for one, but then a client called to discuss whether we should use millions and billions or lakhs and crores in the agreement which was due to be signed in the forthcoming month. I called for the ambulance only once I convinced the client that we will do whatever the client wants and the advantages and down-sides of using either of the styles.

While my parents and younger son died due to the delay in calling the ambulance; but then client service comes first, once and always. I'm sure my parents would have known that I must be doing something important as they were breathing their last breath on the road. My younger son was too young - so he wouldn't have understood much, including the precedence of client service.

https://www.inc.in/media/manifesto

- constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC

- aid SC and ST students to study abroad

- enact a law with reference to Article 15(5) of the Constitution to provide for reservation in private educational institutions for SC, ST and OBC

- establish a Diversity Commission that will measure, monitor and promote diversity in public and private employment and education

- , minorities to have personal laws

- study abroad scholarships for minority students

- bring a law to recognize civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ communityrin

- all student educational loans will be written off and the banks will be compensated by the government

- 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer

- reserve one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025

- more women are appointed to high positions such as judges, secretaries to government, high ranking police officers, law officers and directors on the boards of listed companies

- reject the ‘one nation one election’ idea

- amend the Constitution to create two divisions in the Supreme Court: a Constitutional Court and a Court of Appeal.

- More women and persons belonging to the SC, ST, OBC and minorities will be appointed as judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court

divisions in the Supreme Court: a Constitutional Court and a Court of Appeal.
l reserve one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025

on reservations for SC, ST and OB

OP here. Do you mind sharing more about what you work? I too face similar issues of operating in cycles of highs and lows. How do you incorporate that in your work? For me, when I am going through lows, it becomes really difficult for me to function, that too in scenarios where I have less agency at work. Also please what strategies worked for your brother as well in academics and career. Just want to better understand how people strategize their ADHD.

Thank you for a very detailed answer.

The only reason I do the capital markets practice is for the fun and thrill of the practice. I love it.

My team doesn't know my family and connections, I have never revealed the scale. They think I am some small town so and so, the remoteness and vagueness helps. :) I didn't tell precisely for this reason.

Now that you say about this artificial glass ceiling, it makes a lot of sense how my boss my behaves, how his bosses behave. The no seat at the table fact is so disconcerting, repulsive.

I think I know who you are. :) I'll risk it and reach out by tomorrow evening.

OP here.

Listen, I have put in inhumane hours to master the practice to reach the level I am. I have forsaken birthdays, relationships, festivals and events for this practice.

I can outsmart some (not all mind you, definitely some) T1 Partners in meetings with respect to this practice. I can supervise work of 3-4 juniors and do my work. I can juggle 3-4 DRHPs in a single day. I kid you not, my teammate of same PQE quit my team out of shame, I don't want to brag, but so be it.

I can recall ICDR, circulars even for issues that occurred under ICDR 2009 and before. I think I do get to set out some of my terms, these are not wildly off the standard practice. My terms are bare minimum, I am not asking for a 9-5 cushy job, just respect my pre-planned vacation.

I don't know who you are, but this attitude of yours only works with people who are afraid of getting their careers railed. People who are either mediocre or who are completely reliant on this job for this lifestyle. I am not. I don't care what money hits my bank account, I don't have to pay other bills or rent, my company pays the rent, the one of the many in which I have ownership through my family.

My smallest company can afford to employ 2-3 T1 equity partners with full salary and bonuses for doing nothing. So, I am very grateful for the privilege I am born into, and the wealth that allows me to sit on this high horse.

Fun fact, the reason I practice Capital Markets is because while I was studying 12th Commerce, one of our family companies was doing an IPO and I saw the lawyers, they seemed so cool.

People like you are the reason the good people leave this practice.

I'm an upcoming A0 at T1 firm. I was excited to receive an offer from the Cap Marks team but in the past few months, reading a lot of threads on LI and also interacting with a few people I feel that Cap Marks is just very overworked.

Is it the same with other practice areas in T1 firms or is Cap Marks the winner of "the worst work-life balance and zero weekends" award?

Fluctuates depending on your experience and skills. If you are confident you meet their requirements - you can ask them to pay you as much a T1 firm and they will agree.

Couple of things to remember are:

the work hours are horrible

scope for growth is very less

experts at shipping and admiralty ▮▮▮;

while Shiv Iyer is a great person (who is also very intelligent), his ▮▮▮

Even if I take your bait, and let's hypothetically say that the lower rankers did not get jobs. How was this not a problem for the other decades when there were stellar placements almost every year? Surely, you must know that placements at IITs are not like this on any year, including during/immediately after the 2008 financial crisis which demolished jobs worldwide. Go take your agenda elsewhere.

Source: IITB 2009 placement report: https://www.civil.iitb.ac.in/~rsinha/placement/Placement%20Report%20Final%202009-10%20.pdf

IIT Kanpur 2008 placement report: https://mobileelectron.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/26502413-insight-09-placement-guide-iit-kanpur1.pdf

This response on basis the assumption that you have been offered a position at AZB. Couple of things to note:

1. AZB has a good salary, great client credits but horrible bonus structure. It's also designed in a way to trap you into sacrificing your bonus in case you want to move laterally (reviews, increments and bonuses are rarely given before September)

2. There is no guarantee that you will be made partner. You will have to demonstrate not only a high level of work skills but also pull clients.

3. Do it only if you are getting a substantial increment and factor in that they will not give you a raise the following year (on one pretext or another) and they will screw you over for your bonus whenever you leave (be it after 1 year or 10).

Delhi is a safe, clean and vibrant metropolis. No doubt she does have her share of traffic jams at rush hour, but nothing close to how bad things get in Bengaluru or Mumbai. 30-50K per month will fetch you a real home in a decent part of Delhi or an awesome apartment in Noida/ Gurgaon (over a shoebox in Mumbai). The nightlife in Delhi is unparalleled. Pick any part of south Delhi and you’ll be spoilt with options on places to party, chill, name it. The biggest draw for Delhi, in my opinion, is its proximity to the Himalayas. You can go hiking, fishing, rafting, paragliding and so much more. Essentially your life doesn’t necessarily have to end at Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, Goa or Alibaug. The roads in Delhi are mostly decent and well surveilled - so, safety wise, you are covered! Public transport is great too. The buses are going electric and the metro can take you to places where you wouldn’t want to drive! Speaking of such places, Jama Masjid is a heaven for meat and biryani lovers and Chandni Chowk is the place for bespoke jewellery, fabrics and chaat! Avoid paranthe wali gali - it’s overrated and they use stale oil. Dilli Haat and Dastakar are your go to places for crafts, clothes and food from across India. Dilli Haat has a vibe. Dastakar, not as much + it’s expensive too. Delhi will spoil you with options if you are into art and theatre. There are so many art galleries near the courts. The people of Delhi are a warm and embracing bunch. Give Delhi a go. Am sure you’ll love it.

Among Indian academics, Shouvik Guha has been doing some good interdisciplinary work in AI and law, Jhalak Kakkar and Chinmayi Arun too, among policy people, Ameen Jauhar, Prathmesh Kalamkar, lawyers like Nikhil Narendran, Anirudh Rastogi, Jaideep Reddy, Jyotsna Jayaram, Amlan Mohanty, Vibhav Mithal.

When NLS began its operations, it had to compete against well-established law schools like GLC, ILS-P (it was considered prestigious then), FoL DU etc. This made it quite challenging for NLS initially.

Additionally, when NLS started its operations, the concept of a five-year undergraduate law degree was entirely new in India. This posed difficulties in promoting this innovative approach. However, newer NLUs now benefit from the groundwork laid by NLS. They do not face the same challenges of students being unfamiliar with the concept of a five-year undergraduate law course, giving them an advantage. NLS has laid a lot of the groundwork for other NLUs.

The second last statement is not accurate. JGLS claims it as PR, but factually it is not correct. JGLS' per faculty annual scopus publications isn't higher than the top NLUs, who don't do any PR about their publications. JGLS has more faculty, hence their absolute number of publications is higher. Even then, on an average only half of their faculty publish even a single paper in scopus indexed journals every year. Despite having greater salary and access to funding than any NLU faculty.

Question is how can a Tier 1 practice sustain a low income practice like IP.

CAM will be paying IP Associates 50% less than they give to Gen Corp/Cap Marks.

Tier 1 firms generally have a namesake IP Practice for filling all the boxes. But no Tier 1 has a specialist IP team which works independently. So income doesn't become a big issue. Even then IP associates are paid far lower.

Before jumping guns - IP is the least lucrative practice in India, especially for law firms.

Tier 1 IP firms pay less than what Tier 3 corporate law firms pay in India.

That's because in India there are no high profile IP Litigations, there are no big compensation awarded and more than that India is not an IP hub like EU/US/China or even Japan.

There is a lot of hype in IP, but there is no pay. Its just voluminous filing work. But the good thing is - work life balance is great in IP and work is simple.

Not really. With an investment of at least 12 lakhs over a period of 3 years, it's not worth it as only a minor percentage of the batch is expected to get placed. Till now, no one has got a PPO. If you are looking for a 3-year LLB degree, go for DU or some other TLC and spend that money on the Judiciary. The curriculum at TLCs is more suited to govt exams that mainly look for rote-learning.

Are y'all pumping money into equities on the hedge that Modi will win and it will boost the economy? Or are you also looking at risks like a bird flu pandemic worse than Covid, China invading Taiwan, climate disasters and social unrest in India?

What therefore is a good equity-debt ratio to have now?

Hi everyone,

So I heard back from a firm in Bombay. It's a tier 2 firm and is known to be responsive. The HR person told me that they are currently only looking for 4th/5th year students. For context I am in third year and had applied for both the month of June and October. They said that even tho they are only looking for fourth/fifth year, my cv is being reviewed by some teams and they will let me know if I fit their requirements. What should I make of this??? It is a rejection, yes but seems like more than that to me. Please help a junior.

The placements in top NLUs are at least better than this. No T1 NLU has 36% of their graduating batch without a job rn. Yes, the highest package will be much higher in top IITs but only 1% of the students secure such packages. The average package in IITs and top NLUs are similar.

Hi there, I wanted to know if there are pwd folks in T1 firms or law firms in general. Are law firms accommodative of compensatory requirements for PWDs like a OCR screen reader, Text to speech software, wheel chairs etc. I have hardly come across any pwd student joining law firms

You haven't understood what I said. For a CLAT aspirant, the only reason they'd choose one NLU over another is placements. If NLU Meghalaya had the first mover advantage, it'd have the same results as NLS, and CLAT aspirants would choose NLU Meghalaya over NLS.

Just think, a new NLU today has to compete with 20+ other NLUs and perhaps 10 good private law schools for everything - faculty, resources, students, and placements. etc. that NLS never had to (at least for the 5-year law degree version).

Congress supporters are trying to make this viral claiming it shows the Indian economy is doing badly under Modi. I just want to ask them:

1. What is the GPA of those unplaced?

2. What was the entrance exam rank of those unplaced?

3. Don't the bottom 30% of those at BA, BCom, BALLB colleges also struggle? Please give the stats of how the bottom 30% of the top NLUs fared.

4. Finally, forget the bottom 30%, how do the TOP 30% of those studying pol science, history and sociology at JNU fate in terms placements? Should we shut down JNU?