Murali's Writeups...

Prof. Alexander Stubb, who was formerly the Prime Minister of Finland and is presently a professor of International Relations in Italy has virtually ruled out any possibility of an Internationally Mediated Settlement for the present Ukraine Crisis. According to him, the war in Ukraine will come to an end only when: 1. Russia is militarily defeated in the conflict 2. Mr Vladmir Putin is removed from the political leadership of Russia. Prof. Stubbs's views are worthy of respect as he earlier acted as a Mediator in the Russian aggression of Georgia 2008. According to him, Russia has now become an Imperialist Power. If the international community had acted in 2008 with as much vigour as it has in the 2022 Ukrainian Conflict, the military annexation of Crimea could have been avoided. From the point of view of a Mediator, the present Ukrainian crisis come under the category of a ‘ Realistic conflict ’ between two Sovereign nations. Both Russia and Ukraine will relentlessly purs

1. The armed conflict on the Ukraine border had been going on for about 8 months. As of date, there is no possibility of cessation of hostilities. What began as a ‘ Russian Special Military Operation’ has evolved into a full-fledged war. Together Russia and Ukraine had lost about 150,000 lives of soldiers, besides grave loss of civilian human lives and property damage.  With the Ukrainian forces making substantial military gains, Ukraine might retake most (if not all) the positions occupied by Russia after Feb 2022. The world has now begun to worry about what Mr Putin will do if a militarily defeat becomes imminent. In fact, Russia has joined the list of countries (after North Korea and Pakistan) that threatened to use Nuclear Weapons in an armed conflict even though there is no first nuclear strike against them. Hence, the return of normalcy at the Russian-Ukraine border is very important for the world to avert the Third World War.   2. In the beginning, it was Ukraine that wan

 

1. Can Foreign Offices be more transparent when they address the problems of their local population groups? 1. Recently, the British Appellate Courts had reversed the finding of the Magistrate Courts order refusing the Extradition of Louis Assange to the United States for facing a Criminal Trial for Espionage and violation of the Official Secrets Act. Edward Snowden, who is now somewhere in Russia must be quite happy that he does not face such prospects. I must record that even after the British Appellate Court ordered the extradition of Louis Assange to the USA, I am fairly sure that this is less likely to happen. We also read reports that one of the famous detenus in Tihar Jail had written to Boris Johnson, the British PM, asking him to impose economic and political sanctions against India. The point is, increased Globalisation had maximised opportunities for non-citizens’ interaction with Foreign Governments. Recently, we saw that 2 Canadian nationals were held in Chinese prison

1. In many ways the above order is path-breaking. If I am not mistaken, this is the first revocation of Plant Breeders Rights, that too owned by a market leader MNC in respect of a very popular potato snack. Around the world, the Pepsi Group of Companies is perceived to be a “ generation next ” Beverages/fast food company that sought to introduce the concept of wellness in their promotion of the health drinks market. The Plant Variety registration sought by one of the group companies of the Multinational PepsiCo was available in the Indian market way back in 1990. Originally, the applicant sought to obtain protection of this variety as a “ New Variety ”. Only when it is a ‘ new variety ’, would it have Monopoly Protection. Actually, during the prosecution of the application, apparently, because of their inability to establish ‘ Novelty ’, they converted the Application for Registration to Registration of “ Extant Variety ”, which would not have had monopoly rights protection. This w

  Hats Off State Bank of India! You Have Made a Difference – FIRST BATTLE WON! THE WAR IS NOT OVER!! 1)The recent decision of the Debt Recovery Tribunal handing over to the Indian Banks Consortium the sale proceeds of the shares held by Mr Vijay Mallya and the companies controlled by him, will bring about Rupees Six Thousand Five Hundred Crores to the kitty of all the lender banks. From and out of the recovery, SBI can appropriate around Rupees One Thousand Six Hundred Crores which they had earlier written off.   SBI , in the last financial year reported an annual profit of 23,000 Crores.This recovery of 1500croreswould mean an increase of 15% of the preceding Quarterly Profit. So, this recovery will add to the profit of this financial quarter in the SBI balance sheet. I am sure the banks and the Serious Frauds Office of the Union of India have identified other assets in South Africa and Europe. Mr Mallya himself would have other assets under his control in India which CBI or SFO w

1. This will be my third blog on Mr Kulbhushan Jadhav . Two years ago, within a span of seven days, I wrote two blogs on Kulbhushan Jadhav . The first was relating to the trivia that surrounded the ICJ Judgement, permanently staying the Pakistani military court’s order that sentenced Kulbhushan Jadhav to death. The other was more specifically focused on some of the evidentiary law aspects of the sordid saga of Kulbhushan Jadhav investigation by Pakistani authorities. Every blogger desires that even their old blogs should be read and reread! I am no exception; hence, I am providing you with the links to my earlier blogs ( International and Evidentiary Laws implication of ICJ Judgment of Mr Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case ) ( Some reflections on the International Court of Justice Judgment on Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case ).  2. An executive summary of ICJ judgement in Kulbhushan Jadhav ’s case . a. Mr Harish Salve, the superstar international lawyer, made many Indian lawyers proud. He char