1) Doctrine of promissory estoppel: It is a doctrine in contract law which enforces a promise whether executed as a contract or not. It prevents a “promisor” from backing out of an agreement on the grounds that there is no “consideration.
- In the Chhaganlal Keshavalal Mehta v. Patel Narandas Haribhai (1981) case, the Supreme Court listed out a checklist for when the doctrine can be applied.
- Firstly, there must be a clear and unambiguous promise.
- Secondly, the plaintiff must have acted relying reasonably on that promise.
- Thirdly, the plaintiff must have suffered a loss.
- Supreme court observed that promissory estoppel will not apply when a larger public interest is involved.
2) Central Sponsored Schemes: These are schemes that are funded partially by both the Central and State Governments. Their implementation rests on the Union territories and the States.
- The flagship schemes of the central government are called Core of Core schemes or umbrella schemes. It includes: National Social Assistance Program, MGNREGA, Umbrella Scheme for Development of Scheduled Castes, Umbrella Programme for Development of Scheduled Tribes, Umbrella Programme for Development of Minorities and Umbrella Programme for Development of Other Vulnerable Groups
- Core schemes: The funding pattern is usually 60:40. For North Eastern states, Jammu & Kashmir, and some special category states, a 90:10 ratio of funding can be seen usually.
- Optional schemes: Normally state governments plan the schemes and request the central government to fund some portion of the total outlay. The general funding pattern of the optional schemes is 50:50 (State: Centre)
- Recently, the central government has for the first time has brought in a ‘penal interest’ clause for delays in fund transfers by states.
3) Important Judgements related to RPA:
- Commachen case: seeking votes on religion violates RPA 123(3)
- Lily Thomas case: struck down sec 8(4) OF RPA
- ADR vs UOI: Mandated disclosures relating to criminal antecedents, educational qualification and personal assets of contesting candidates
- Public interest foundation and ORS vs UOI: sitting MP/MLA cases be concluded within a year of charges against them being framed.
4) Dabba Trading: Dabba (box) trading refers to informal trading that takes place outside the purview of the stock exchanges.
- Traders bet on stock price movements without incurring a real transaction to take physical ownership of a particular stock as is done in an exchange.
- In simple words, it is gambling centred around stock price movements.
- The primary purpose of such trades is to stay outside the purview of the regulatory mechanism, and thus, transactions are facilitated using cash and the mechanism is operated using unrecognised software terminals.
- ‘Dabba trading’ is recognised as an offence under Section 23(1) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act (SCRA), 1956 and upon conviction, can invite imprisonment for a term extending up to 10 years or a fine up to ₹25 crore, or both.
5) Group of Five (G-5): It is a country grouping that includes Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
- The 2003 summit of the G-8 included the participation of the five largest emerging economies: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. This gathering was later referred to as the “G8+5” at the 2005 summit. By 2007, the countries were known as the G-5
- The G-5’s website is no longer available, but an archived version says the group “plays an active role in the transformation of the international landscape with the objective of promoting dialogue and understanding between developing countries and developed ones in order to find common solutions to global challenges.”
