Sporting the Law: Conversation with Tejaswini Ranjan, Founder of Plawyered

Plawyered March Edition Cover

Sourya Banerjee catches up with the immensely talented Tejaswini Ranjan.

Tejaswini, a fourth year CNLU student, is the Founder and CEO of Plawyered, India's only student run Sports Law magazine.

Tejaswini is also the Vice President (Events) at The Network for International Law Students, the Co-Founder of Click Internship and Founder of Pragamana (Journal of Rural Development Issues) 

Sourya Banerjee (S): Was Law something you had wanted to do ever since your school days?

Tejaswini Ranjan (T): When I was in school, I wanted to pursue journalism. But hailing from a Bihari household, dwelling in a small town and studying PCM in the intermediate, meant all I could become, was an engineer. I didn’t write engineering entrance exams, and instead luckily passed law and journalism entrances. I could somehow convince my parents for law, but not for journalism. And, that’s how I landed in law. 

(S): How important are co-circular activities according to you? 

(T): I have spent most of the fourteen years of my school life and four years of my college life in taking part in co-curricular activities. I have made contacts, minted money and learnt numerous things which I could have never learnt in the classroom.

(S): When did you first discover the entrepreneurial bug in yourself?

(T): Back in 2013, when I co-founded Click Internship with my classmates and started working with the Knowledge Steez. Then in 2014, I started a journal on rural development issues named Pragamana. We had once conducted a national essay writing competition and had also launched a free course via Pragamana.  And then randomly one day in a hot shower, I came up with the idea of Plawyered. The bug is still bugging.

(S): Was a life changing/defining moment for you, while studying in law school, which made you who you are today?

(T): When I had joined law school, some of my seniors were planning to come up with a magazine and to select writers for the same; they conducted a test in which I was also selected along with a few of my batch mates.  After the selection, I received horrible remarks for all my articles; I left the group and that was one very depressing phase for me. I had almost given up the idea of ever doing anything of that sort, but the journalism bug bugged back and here I am.

(S): Please tell us more about Plawyered. 

(T): Plawyered is a sports law blog. We now have a monthly magazine also which we started on Valentine’s Day this year. In the magazine, we have been publishing articles on topics relating to Sports law, sports industry and sports management. The content of the magazine also includes updates from CAS, WADA, Olympics, Case studies, and special coverage on any international tournament which is taking place, upcoming month’s fixtures, and monthly round up from the blog.

(S): Why Sports Law? 

(T): In 2015, I had resigned from my positions in the legal portals I was working with back then. I
wanted to do something innovative and came up with different ideas. But, starting a sports law blog was never a plan. It was one day when I was writing an article on a sports law issue and thought of starting a sports law blog as I couldn’t find anything of that sort. The other reason being sports is something I can never get bored of. As of now, I am planning to pursue higher education in sports law and management.

(S): What would you consider as your single proudest moment with respect to Plawyered till date?

(T): Coming up with India’s first sports law magazine is the proudest moment for me and this wouldn’t have been possible without Gaurav Misra who is the Publishing Editor of the magazine. I had planned to start the magazine six months back, employed authors but then, the plan failed. For this, I owe a lot to Gaurav. We received a lot of appreciation for the magazine and a lot of credit goes to him.

(S): What are your future plans with Plawyered?

(T): Plawyered started with a blog and now we have a magazine also. We have also started covering sports fests. I intend to convert Plawyered into a sports management company and if possible, also a research portal for sports law.

(S): How important is it to properly balance between studies and your passion? How do you manage to do the same?

(T): To be honest, my studies have suffered a lot because of my engagement in other activities. I consider this bad but I absolutely have no regrets for the same. I have somehow managed to pass all my law schools till date and now since I am no more working at other portals, I am able to devote comparatively more time to studies. But, most importantly, I make sure not missing cricket matches, and when in season Pro Kabbadi, ISL , Tennis matches and yes, Arsenal’s matches, in any case. Other things can wait, you know!

(S): Some words for those law students who want to chase their passions but are too scared to task?

(T): Your mates will make fun of you, your relatives will mock at you, parents will tell you how you are wasting your time and their money, buy you a book for judicial exam preparations and depict all the luxuries of a 9 to 5 job; but don’t stop! Chase your dreams, because ‘ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA’.

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Certificate Course on Securities Law Conducted by WBNUJS and NISM [Last Date of Application Extended to 15th May, 2016]

WBNUJS, one of the premier national law universities in India, in active collaboration with the National Institute of Securities Markets, has launched the Certificate Course on Securities Law, a programme first of its kind. The programme is meant for those, students and professionals alike, who want to begin their careers in legal and compliance domains in the securities markets, those aspiring to work with the various intermediaries in such markets, those who are working in the financial, legal and compliance domains facing exposure to the latest developments in the securities markets, as well as those seeking to supplement their knowledge base in securities laws or the securities markets domain.

The programme has been specifically designed to enable those with a legal background to appreciate the securities market inputs, and those with a securities or financial market background to better understand legal compliance and diligence requirements. The experience and insight offered by the programme will help the participants to fulfil the burgeoning demand for quality professionals proficient in securities laws in the Indian capital market, besides providing for existing professionals an exciting opportunity for continuing professional development and expansion of knowledge base.

The programme will help its participants to begin their career with organisations such as various reputed market intermediaries such as merchant bankers, underwriters to issues, depositories, stock exchanges, bankers to issues, credit rating agencies, mutual funds, compliance and investor-relation departments in large companies and industry groups, as well as consultants engaged in advising on matters such as corporate finance, restructuring, fund-raising plans, private placements, including reputed law firms. At the same time, such organisations will benefit from knowledge enhancement of their in-house executives through this programme.

The programme consists of an intensive 14 day-long classroom experience, 6 hours a day, with the core faculty members comprising top academicians and senior officials of the SEBI and the NISM. While for students, it can offer 2 weeks at a stretch, for working professionals, it can span over weekend classes only, as per convenience. Interactions with market experts, updated curriculum of global standards, policy-research based inputs, live projects and interface with market experts from SEBI, RBI and similar premier organisations, are some of the many USPs of the programme on offer. It will be held at least twice a year and is open to graduates of any discipline from any UGC-recognised university or equivalent, although students currently pursuing graduation may also be considered.

The course fee is INR 25,000/- (plus applicable service tax) inclusive of study materials. While admissions into the course will continue on a rolling basis, the first session of the course will commence in the second half of 1st June, 2016. Early bird registration benefits may be availed of. For further details, those who are interested can peruse the programme.

For further details, those who are interested can peruse the programme brochure and application form, available here , as well as get in touch with Ms. Vaneeta Patnaik, Assistant Professor (Law), WBNUJS, at +91-9874411183 or at vaneetapatnaik@gmail.com / vaneetapatnaik@nujs.edu. 

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Killer Robots: Legality of the future of warfare

They are here, accept it or not, and they raise many concerns both moral and legal. With no human in control of them, we give them the power to choose and eliminate their targets. Are we ready to give them this power to kill other humans? Are we ready to replicate human judgment? Are we ready for that arms race?

Fully autonomous weapons will be capable of selecting targets and using force without any human input or interaction. This would be a step beyond current remote-controlled drones and weapons which always has a “human in the loop”. These fully autonomous weapons will lack most human characteristics of judgment, compassion, and intentionality. These weapons will have a large military advantage, but the risks involved outweigh the benefits. The lack of compassion will make no difference for them between potential enemies and civilians. These will also give irresponsible states or non-state armed groups, machines that could be programmed to indiscriminately kill civilians. With no human in control of them, they will have no notion of the human right to life and the principle of human dignity. The use of force is only lawful when it is used to protect human life, as a last resort, and the force applied should be proportionate to the threat. It will be impossible to programme a robot to calculate all these principles in combat and they can’t be programmed to solve all situations, as during a war many unlikely situations will arise, which can’t be dealt without proper judgement and compassion towards your enemy forces. As inanimate machines, they will lack the value and respect for human life and significance of its loss. It is not only legal, economic reasons for which we respect other person rights, but the very reason for it is moral and if we breach that moral restraint on us, by giving machines the power to kill other humans, we won’t be far from our inevitable downfall as human civilization.

The next big question which arises is who will be liable for the acts done by fully autonomous weapons? No person who does something wrong should be allowed to escape his liability for his wrongful act, as that would be against the most basic principle of law. Each person should be personally accountable for the wrongful act done by him. Similarly, each state should be made accountable for the wrongful act or war crimes committed by it during the course of a war and should be punished for the same to provide retribution to victims. Though it will be easy to establish liability to a state, it is also important to assign the personal responsibility of these acts.

TALON: Sentry Robot

It is important for individuals to be held criminally responsible for unlawful or immoral acts, to not only provide retribution to victims but also to deter such behaviour in future. It also shows that victims’ rights have been recognized and the wrongdoer is punished for the harm they suffered.

Men are held responsible for crimes, not machines. For a crime to be established two basic elements are supposed to be present. There must be an act and mental state i.e., mens rea. It would be impossible to prove mens rea or mental state of robots as they won’t have the intentionality to commit a crime. The commanders cannot be held liable for acts of a robot as it would be difficult and almost impossible for them to have knowledge of acts committed by fully autonomous weapons during the course of a war. This would only arise if the autonomous weapon sends some kind of communication before taking the action and selecting targets, then such target would need a human to take the final decision and fall out of fully autonomous weapons scope. It would also be impossible to punish robots as they aren’t humans and commanders can escape liability by saying they didn’t have control or prior knowledge of robots acts.

Under Civil liability, the victims bring an action for compensation as a remedy to damage suffered by them. It would be difficult for them to bring and maintain a suit against manufacturers and impossible to bring a suit against military personal as most of them are immune under civil law. The manufacturers can claim manufacturing defects and software-based deficits to escape liability under civil law. The last resort would be a strict liability compensation system, which will require victims to only prove harm and not how it occurred. Not all legal systems will be ready to adapt this system and this will only provide compensation to victims and not deter such actions in future. The risks involved changes to be made and conflicts which will arise will be much greater than advantages of fully autonomous weapons.

Based on these arguments it is recommended that development of such weapons should be banned before they become reality.

About the Author:

Aatif Salar is currently a second year BBA-LLB(Hons.) student at Faculty of Law, IFHE, Hyderabad.

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In The Service Of All: Interview of Keshav Datta, Co-Founder of Sarvahitey

Volunteers celebrating with local children from the slums of Delhi. 

Sourya Banerjee catches up with the Co-Founder of Sarvahitey, Keshav Datta, alumni of Amity Law School, Delhi.

Sarvahitey is a NGO which works in the NCR region, which not only educates, trains and helps children living in the slums of New Delhi but has also organized numerous cloth donation drives and relief donation drives, specifically during Nepal Earthquakes.

Sourya (S): How did the idea of Sarvahitey come to you? 

Keshav (K): I think it can be safely said that it is not an outcome of a sudden proverbial epiphany. When we look back, the conception of Sarvahitey seems like the most obvious and natural thing for us. Sarvahitey was formed initially by 6 members: Smriti Mehrotra, Sanskriti Srivastava, Prem Prakash, Bharat Datta, Ankit Malhotra, and me i.e. Keshav Datta. All of us had been associated, and still were, with various socially inclined organizations. All of us were involved with other NGO's, non organized social initiatives, social action groups, and so forth. But Social Service had not yet become a regular part of our daily lives, and that essentiality was missing. But a constant yearn to do more, disappointment with the state of affairs vis a vis the existing organisations, and a lack of opportunities to contribute towards the society prompted us to create such an organization ourselves, which can allow everyone and anyone to contribute to the society, each in his/her own way.

(S): What were the initial hurdles that you faced?

(K): As per us, we have been rather fortunate in our endeavors. No initiative of ours has ever failed, and we've never under achieved our targets. In fact, the hard work of volunteers, generosity of donors, and our pure sincerity has brought us an  unexpected and overwhelming growth. For example, we never expected to be able to send relief material for about 5000 people hit by Nepal Earthquakes; we had never expected to be able to teach about 180 underprivileged kids regularly, and that too without an overflow of funds. Perhaps the only hurdle is to attract someone towards Sarvahitey such that he/she comes to one of our drives for the first time. Because once a person joins us in any of our drives, he/she is bound to return and enjoy the nectar of social service, which is actually a great service to Self.

(S): How many volunteers does Sarvahitey had till now?

(K): There are more than 100 volunteers, out of which about 40 remain regular and active.

(S): How do you manage your law school/legal profession, and your social service work?

(K): I think it's all about passion and interest. Sarvahitey is our passion; in fact, it is a necessary part of our lives now. We can't imagine our life without it. Now, once a person has so much enthusiasm for a project or initiative, excuses such as lack of time or energy fade away.

However, the modus operandi of Sarvahitey is such, that even the busiest of persons can take part in the initiatives. Keeping in mind the engaging student and work life, we have customized the model of Sarvahitey, such that we plan the projects and drives during the weekdays, and execute them on weekends, which are off-days. The members communicate on WhatsApp, Facebook, etc., during weekdays, and execute the field projects during weekends. It's simple and effective.

(S): Do you feel that the civil society as a whole has failed in its duties to help the economically marginalized? 

(K): It will not only be arrogant, but may also be incorrect on our part to state such. The civil society is so vast, so diverse, and so much bigger than our circle of knowledge, that it is not upon us to state that they have failed. 

Creative fondant workshop held at an Orphanage

However, it can be at least said that there is a juggernaut scope for the members of civil society to rise up, and do something for the society. With the rise of social media, we have also seen the rise of mass scale opinions of various sectors of civic society; it will be great to see a similar rise of a class of people, who actually take up actions and do something for the society.

(S): What is your biggest source of inspiration which keeps you going through all difficult times?

Christmas celebrations with children living in slums

(K): The biggest sources of inspiration for us are the smiles, the love, and the warmth, which we receive from the people. Whether it be celebrating Christmas in a Slum, whether it be dancing with underprivileged kids, or whether it be singing with kids from an Orphanage, each such moment of reception of a smile or a hug, is a great booster.

Apart from that, Lord often arranges for us to meet such people who keeping their heads low, contribute infinite more times to the society. Each person, who has something to teach us, is an inspiration.

(S): Where do you see Sarvahitey in 5 years?

(K): Sarvahitey, as the name suggests, is for the 'Hittah' of All, i.e. for the welfare of All. 5 years down the line, we would deem ourselves successful if Sarvahitey acts as an agency of change in the society. Sarvahitey would aim at benefiting maximum number of people. 

Winter Blanket Donations Drive

From the point of view of our educational drives, we would want to be able to render regular tuition classes to about 500 students, and provide them with good quality education. In near future, we will also take up Organ Donations Drives, where we would be spreading awareness about Organ Donations in India, and encouraging people to pledge their organs. 5 years down the line, we would aim at reducing the gap between supply and demand of organs to be donated, in India, which would ultimately save many lives.

(S): What has been your proudest moment regarding Sarvahitey? 

(K): Within one year, Sarvahitey has been published twice in newspapers circulated pan-India. However, we do not measure our success by such accomplishments. We measure our success by the outcome of our projects, i.e. our impact on Society. To that effect, it is very difficult to pin point one moment. 

Volunteers teaching slum kids

However, one particular incident comes to mind: We teach at a Arya Samaj Gurukul. When we began our project there, we had observed that the kids there did not have enough confidence in themselves, and their future. We took it upon our self to enhance their exposure, teach them modern sciences, and resolve their queries. It was a proud moment for us, when after a year of teaching, we could gauge the changing mindsets of students there, their ambitions widening, and yearning learn expanding. It was an ecstatic moment for us, when one particular student of ours, who had squared in his future as being a 'Pandit', now wanted to become the Prime Minister of India. To allow him to expand his horizons was our achievement and proud moment.

(S): How can others like you help you, or collaborate with you? 

(K): It's very simple: Call/WhatsApp/Message me. Simply contact me, and I shall resolve all the queries, explain our method of operation, and answer any question. We have various ad hoc and regular projects, and it is upon the volunteer to pledge any way he/she wishes to contribute.

Contact details:

Number- 09871919591

Email- keshavdatta11@gmail.com

EDITORS NOTE: Sarvahitey has been doing an amazing job in NCR for the last couple of years. But it is very very difficult for them to continue working without proper financial support. We urge all our readers to share this post extensively so that some kindhearted people may find out about Sarvahitey and come forward to financially help and support them in their endeavors. Thank you. 

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