GITAM SCHOOL OF LAW

Dr. MVVS MURTHI

NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION

ON SPACE LAW

05-08 March, 2020

VENUE: GITAM (Deemed to be University) Gandhi Nagar Campus, Rushikonda Visakhapatnam-530045, A.P., INDIA.

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ORGNANIZING COMMITTEE

CHIEF PATRONS Prof. K. Ramakrishna Rao Shri M. Sri Bharat Chancellor, GITAM (Deemed to be University) President, GITAM

PATRON

Prof. K. Siva Rama Krishna Vice-Chancellor, GITAM (Deemed to be University)

Chair Persons

Prof.R.Anita Rao Prof.G.Raghavaiah Dean & Director GITAM School of Law

Advisory Members

Prof. Dr. V. Balakista Reddy NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

Prof. S. Sumitra Principal, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar College of Law, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

Prof. V. Rajya Lakshmi Dr. B.R.Ambedkar College of Law, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

Vasudhara Ravi Research Scholar, Centre for Air and Space Law, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

Jeymohan K Advocate, Madurai Benchof Madras High Court

Chidambaram A Advocate, MaduraiBench of Madras High Court

Conveners

Mr. L. Ashish Kumar

Assistant Professor Email: ashishkumarcharan@gmail.com

Ph: 7036213211 Mr. Vardhman Panwar Assistant Professor Email: vardhmanofficial@gmail.com Ph:8978237009

Mr. Srikant Patil Assistant Professor Email: nsrikantpatil@gmail.com Ph: 9963614330

Student Coordinators

Advika Photumsetty Email: advika.95@gmail.com Ph: 9845452684

Deena Vempalli Email:vempalli.deenalaw@gmail.com Ph: 7337077142

Phani R Email: saiphani.r@gmail.com Phone: 9705500009

Sahiti Rongali (Registration Queries) Ph: 8247653431 mcc.schooloflaw@gitam.edu

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ABOUT US: Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, popularly known as GITAM, was founded in 1980 by an inspired group of eminent intellectuals and industrialists with the objective of promoting a world-class institution of higher learning in diverse fields of professional education. In 2007, this premier institution of higher learning and research with Global standards was declared a deemed to be university u/s 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, by Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Govt. of India. GITAM is located in a picturesque campus at Visakhapatnam and Off Campus Centres in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. With a multi disciplinary approach, GITAM offers different programs at UG, PG and Doctoral levels in - Technology, Pharmacy, Science, Management, International Business, Architecture and Law. School of Law at its Visakhapatnam campus in 2012 with sole aim to achieve global standards and excellence by providing quality teaching and research for advancement of legal knowledge and dissemination of information relevant to the contemporary knowledge society. The School is offering BA LLB (Hons.), BBA LLB (Hons.), 1 year PG Programs in IPRs, Corporate Law and Public International Law & WTO and Ph.D. Programs. About GMAC-2020:GITAM, School Law, Visakhapatnam is organizing the Dr. MVVS Murthi National Moot Competition on Space Law 2020. The event is scheduled to be held from 5th to 8th March 2020 at GITAM, Visakhapatnam. GITAM Moot & Advocacy Committee (GMAC) has been set up in 2019. The objective of this Committee is to provide the students an opportunity to develop their interpersonal & Advocacy skills. Participation in Moot Court Competition enhances the art of researching and the oratory skills of a student while prepping the student to face the reality of a court room. It also aids in confidence building. Mooting gives a practical court room experience to a law student. The Convenor of the Moot Court Society, School of Law Director, Prof Dr. R Anita Rao. The committee comprises of faculty convenorsMr Ashish Kumar L Mr.Vardhman S.Panwar, Mr N.Srikanth Patil and. The Student members are Ms.Advika Photumsetty, Deena Vempalli, Phani Ragupatruni and Sahiti Rongali. The Committee successfully conducted the GITAM Regional Moot Court Competition in July 2019 which saw participation from colleges in and around Andhra Pradesh & Telangana Eligibility:The competition is open to students currently enrolled in LLB and LLM Courses in India. No more than 1 team may represent an institution. Team size and other information:Each team shall comprise of a minimum of two students and maximum of three students, with two speakers and one researcher (as needed). Location: GITAM School of Law, GITAM Deemed to be University Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Moot Problem: The year is 2050 and the race to be in space has made human kind so advanced that they now make commercial flights tobe sent into outer space. Out of the many companies providing service of private space flights, the pioneer of the sector is Orion Arrow Ltd. Orion Arrow Ltd. is a leading enterprise of the sector and also one among the first few to work on the idea of commercial space flights and turn it into reality. It is a subsidiary of a

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multibillion-dollar conglomerate Omega GR Pvt. Ltd. with its head office in Boldhaven, Aternia. Orion Arrow Ltd. was established in 2030. It is a private space equipment manufacturer working independently and providing highly advanced but low budget quality components for space programmes and missions. Focusing on propulsion systems and navigation systems of space vehicles, they always had an eye on the business of manufacturing Fully Reusable Launch Vehicles (herein after termed as FRLV). They pitched the idea to many investors but all of them apprehended that it was a risky investment except OmegaGRPvt. Ltd. They found the investment opportunity very lucrative and agreed to invest in exchange of 51% stake in the company. As Orion Arrow Ltd did not have any better alternatives, they had to agree to the deal. After they managed to get investment from OmegaGRPvt. Ltd., they wanted to amend their MOA to add manufacturing of FRLVs in the object clause and start the work on prototypes of FRLV. The problem however was that the Government of Aternia barred by law, manufacturing of any space vehicles in its territory for independent, personal or commercial usage. It was however legal for manufacturing of components of the vehicle but manufacturing the whole vehicle was not allowed under the law. The company decided to approach other countries for establishment of manufacturing units and Netherrealm was one of the countries that showed interest in letting Orion Arrow Ltd establish a manufacturing unit in their territory. The promoters of Orion Arrow Ltd during the process of amending MOA, amended the MOA by adding an extra objective of providing service of commercial space flights. A motion was passed with no opposition with full support from all shareholders. The plan was to use FRLVs they manufacture for their commercial space flights business by the completion of amendment. The company entered into MoU with the Government of Netherrealm for establishing two manufacturing units for the manufacturing of FRLVs. The MoU contained a clause that 75% of employees of the manufacturing unit will be citizens of Netherrealm and only 25% can be from a foreign state. Further, employment regulations of Netherrealm will be applicable to all the employees of the company. The main objective of Netherrealm for entering into this MoU was to get access to the technology of Orion Arrow Ltd. at a cheaper price and revive its own space agency programs which began to lag behind the space programs of other countries in recent years. Once the most advanced and successful space agency was now struggling to compete Netherrealm was not ready to stand and watch. Hence, they grabbed the opportunity that came their way and allowed Orion Arrow Ltd to establish their manufacturing units.After few years of testing capabilities of their FRLVs with help of Netherrealm’s space agency, the company used the space missions of Netherrealm as a testing ground for their FRLVs and once they were sure of their capabilities they started pushing for the approval of commercial space flights to the Government of Netherrealm. Orion Arrow Ltd was granted permission to launches from the airstrips by the Government of Netherrealm and to prevent any opposition they passed legislation in their legislative house to regulate the aspect of commercial space flights. The company originally registered under Corporate Act of Aternia, a friendly state for the State of Netherrealm worked in company’s favour as there was no major opposition in the first place. By the year 2045, they began to schedule commercial space flights and became very successful as citizens of different countries started coming to Netherrealm which in turn increased its economy significantly thereby increasing the importance of Orion Arrow Ltd.

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On 4th October 2050, a commercial space flight was scheduled as regular for take-off from the airstrip in Netherrealm. The company had two astronauts assigned to control the flight. The Space flight also carried passengers belonging to NetherRealm. Both were employees of the company and the passengers were governed by the laws of Netherrealm. The flight reached the lower orbital of space and information was conveyed to the co-astronaut that an object was approaching the travel trajectory of the flight and there were 65% chances for collision. The co-astronaut observed the path detector system on the spaceship and presumed that it was a false alarm from the ground control as the path detector system was an extra ordinary technology that could detect obstacles in the path of the flight. The path detector system is enabled to give advice to astronauts in the course of action to manoeuvre the spaceship. Relying on the system, he never informed the astronaut of the information received and hence continued with his work assisting the astronaut. Within a few minutes, path detector system initiated alarms in the cockpit of the ship informing both the astronauts that an unidentified object was travelling in the trajectory, which was likely to collide with the spaceship. The speed of the object was such that no amount of manoeuvring could have saved the ship as the object was going to collide with the spaceship the moment it exited from the gravitational force of the earth. The ship needs time to loose its exit velocity to manoeuvre in another direction and avoid the collision. Since the ship was still under the control of the exit velocity used to escape from earth’s gravitational pull, the ship failed to make it, hence collided with the object and finally exploded in the lower space orbital. The company initiated an investigation within 24 hours and a report was published stating that the ship collided with a foreign object which was a satellite launched by Kandhor. Kandhor is a country, which had been in space race with NetherRealm for long time. The satellite discussed in the report was identified as Amun-Ra, a satellite that was launched by Kandhor only 6 months before collision. This further increased tensions between NetherRealm and Kandhor. As many deceased passengers belonged to NetherRealm and before Kandhor was to be blamed for the incident, Kandhor released a press statement to save their reputation. In it, Kandhor stated that it was a peace-loving State and that their space agency lost control over the satellite only few hours before the occurrence of the incident. The State of NetherRealm with few other states like Aternia and Rimworld approached International Court of Justice to decide the liabilities claiming that Kandhor had sabotaged the mission deliberately in order to hamper the economic growth of the country. Since most of the components used in the construction of these spaceships of Orion Arrow Ltd were manufactured by the companies of NetherRealm, as it was a highly advance state when it comes to space technology and establishing an assembly in NetherRealm gave them relief on import taxes as well. This partnership was benefiting both NetherRealm and Orion Arrow Ltd, which was unacceptable to Kandhor, and hence they deliberately crashed the satellite into the space ship using it as a weapon to destroy the spaceship. The company report claims that the trajectory path of the satellite cannot be claimed with certainty but was appearing to be controlled and was not behaving like uncontrollable space debris. Moreover, the Government of Kandhor in its press conference has disagreed with the claims of Orion Arrow. Adding further to the statement, it stated that it was a shallow attempt to hide the incompetence of the employees and a terrible attempt to evade

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liability.All the parties have agreed to the jurisdiction of International Court of Justice as they are members of United Nations. The international laws applicable are the same as they are in 2019 and in parimateria in all senses in our universe. Netherrelm, Aternia, Kandhor exist in this universe as an alternate versions of United States of America, India and Iran respectively with parimateria legal, economic, social structure and international obligations (i.e. status relating international treaties). Prizes:

The Winning Team shall be awarded, Cash Prize of Rs.25,000/- and Certificate of Appreciation of Merit.

The Runner-Up Team shall be awarded Cash prize of Rs.15,000/- and Certificate of Appreciation of Merit.

The Best Memorial shall be awarded Cash prize of Rs.8,000/- and Certificate of Appreciation of Merit.

The Best Speaker shall get Cash Prize of Rs.8,000 and Certificate of Appreciation of Merit. Best Speaker shall be evaluated on the bases of performance in preliminary rounds.

The Best Researcher shall get Cash Prize of Rs.8,000 and Certificate of Appreciation of Merit

All the members of the teams that entered into Quarter Final and Semi Final shall be awarded Certificates of Appreciation of Merit.

All the members of the other participating teams shall be awarded Certificates of Participation.

Registration Procedure: Online Registration Form Link: https://forms.gle/8JTovj4g1EsxWeQY8 Interested teams are required to register by sending a scanned copy of the duly filled Registration Form to mcc.schooloflaw@gitam.edu with Subject “Registration for Moot 2020”. The last date for registration is 20th February 2020. Fee Details:All teams shall be required to make a payment of INR 3600 via online transfer (NEFT) on/before 20th February 2020. Details of the same must be sent to mcc.schooloflaw@gitam.edu before 11:59 P.M. on 20th February 2020 along with the duly filled registration form. The wire transfer/NEFT must be made to: Name of Account: M/s. SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS SCHOOL OF LAW Union Bank Account No: 761302010000486 IFSC Code: UBIN0576131 Branch: GIMSR Branch, Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam-530045 Mode of payment: Online Bank transfer in favor of M/s. SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS SCHOOL OF LAW, to account details stated above on or before 20th February 2020.The registration fee includes meals, refreshments, accommodation, and certificate of participation.

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Important Dates: Deadline for Registration: 20th February 2020 Acceptance of Registration: 21st February 2020 Last date to seek clarifications based on the Problem: 23rd February 2020 Deadline for submission of softcopies of Memorials: 24th February 2020 Deadline for Payment of Registration Fee: 20th February 2020 Oral Rounds: 6th - 8th March 2020

Rules of the Competition

1. Title and commencement: The Dr. MVVS Murthi National Moot Court Competition on Space Law, 2020 (herein after referred as GNMNMC) shall be held on 5th-8th March, 2020 at School of Law, GITAM Deemed to be University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.

2. Language: The language of the Competition shall be English.

3. Eligibility Criteria:

3.1 Law schools/Colleges/ Institutes/ Universities, recognized by the Bar Council of India, are eligible to participate. The participants should currently be pursuing their degree in law i.e., Three Year/Five Year Law/LLM Courses. Students who have completed their law courses are not eligible to participate in the competition.

3.2 Only one team can register from a particular law school/College/

Institution/ University to participate. 3.3 There shall be two speakers and one researcher designated for each team.

In case of illness of the designated speaker, the researcher may be allowed to argue for the team with prior permission of the Committee.

4. Registration:

4.1 The Participating team shall duly fill the Registration Form provided along

with the official rules and send it along with a Registration fee of Rs. 3600/- (Rupees Three Thousand six hundred only). The Registration fee shall be sent through Online Payment. The last date for receiving the registration form with fee shall be 20th February, 2020.

4.2 The participants are required to submit one passport size photograph of each team member along with the registration form.

4.3 Each team shall be allotted a Team Code on the receipt of registration fee and form. The Draw of Lots for the Preliminary rounds shall be drawn by the GMNMC Committee on 29th February, 2020 and the opponent memorial shall be mailed to the respective teams by 1st March, 2020.

4.4 The name of the Institution shall not be disclosed at the time of submission of memorials. Any such disclosure shall lead to disqualification.

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5. Written Submissions/Memorials:

5.1 All participating teams shall submit 6 sets of written memorials at the time of registration.

5.2 The cover page of memorials for the Prosecution shall be in Red and the Defence shall be in Blue.

5.3 The teams shall not indicate their names or the names of their college or the university on memorials. For all communications purposes, only the team code shall be specified.

5.4 The team code allotted to all teams shall be indicated at top right corner of the memorial, which will be communicated by way of E-mail.

5.5 All participating teams must submit a soft copy of their memorial in PDF format, for both sides by 11:59 P.M. IST on or before 24th Feb2020.

5.7 Hard copies must be exact prints of the soft copies. Non-compliance with this rule would entail negative marking which may also attract disqualification. Decision in this regard shall be taken by the Committee.

5.8 The written memorials shall conform to the set standards: 5.8.1 Written memorials shall be printed on white A4 size paper with black ink

and neatly bound. No plastic divider should be used in the memorials. 5.8.2 The font of the body of the Memorial must be Times New Roman, size 12,

with 1.5 line spacing and the font-size of footnotes, if any, must not be less than size 10.

5.9 Blue Book mode of citation (20th Edition) must be followed. 5.10 Each page must have a margin of at least an inch on all sides. 5.11 The Memorial should not exceed 25 typed pages (not including the Cover

Page) and shall consist of the following parts:

(a) Cover Page (b) Table of Contents (c) List of Abbreviations (d) Index of Authorities (e) Statement of Jurisdiction (f) Statement of Facts (g) Issues Raised (h) Summary of arguments (i) Arguments Advanced (not Exceeding 15 pages) (j) Prayer.

6. Deductions of Marks:

S. No Scheme of Deduction Marks Deducted 1. Teams submitting soft copy after 11.59pm 1 mark for each day of

IST, 24th Feb 2020. Delay

2. Non-compliance with the rules relating to the font of the body of the memorial and line spacing.

0.5 marks for each page

3. The Memorial Exceeding 25 pages. Non-compliance with the Blue book method of citation (20th edition).

1 Mark for each page 0.25 Marks for every page containing Such

4. Submitted Hard Copies and the soft copies Mismatch.

1 Mark deducted for every page containing such violation.

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7. Evaluation Criteria for Written Submission: Every memorial will be marked on scale of 100 and will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

S. No Marking Criteria Maximum Marks

Allocated 1 Knowledge of Law & Facts 15 2 Grammar and Style of Presentation 10 3 Application of Law to Facts 20 4 Analysis and Organization 10 5 Use of Authority 15 6 Proper Citation & Correct Format 10 7 Originality in Presentation 10 8 General Impression and Clarity of Thought 10

8. Structure of Rounds: The oral rounds shall comprise of:

8.1 Preliminary Rounds: 8.1.1 There shall be two preliminary rounds on 6th March, 2020 and every

team shall be given the opportunity to argue on each side. 8.1.2 The Draw of Lots for the Preliminary rounds shall be drawn by the

Committee on 29th February, 2020 and the opponent memorial shall be mailed to the respective teams by 1stMarch, 2020.

8.1.3 Each team shall get a total of 30 minutes to present their case and shall include the time for ‘rebuttal’ and ‘Sur-rebuttal’. Any extension of time beyond the specified period shall be subject to the discretion of the judges.

8.1.4 The division of time between the speakers is the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 20 minutes for one speaker.

8.1.5 Before the commencement of each round, each team shall indicate to the ‘Court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time.

8.1.6 At the end of the preliminary rounds, the top 8 teams will qualify for the Quarter Finals. The top 8 teams will be selected on the basis of scores.

8.1.7 For the purpose of calculation, the marks awarded for the written submissions shall be added to the oral round score and a team will be evaluated for 300 Marks in the round.

8.1.8 If the situation of tie still persists, then only the total oral marks of the teams from both sessions will be considered. The team with the higher score in the oral rounds will advance to the Quarter Finals.

8.1.9 If the situation of the tie still persists, then it would be resolved by flip of a coin.

8.2 Quarter- finals:

8.2.1 The Quarter Finals will be held after the completion of the preliminary rounds i.e. 7thMarch, 2020. The Quarter Finals shall be knock-out round. A team will be credited with a win in the Quarter Finals if their total marks are higher than its opponent’s team.

8.2.2 The side to be presented by the team shall be determined by way of draw of lots with the teams picking the lots after the completion of the preliminary rounds.

8.2.3 Each team shall get a total time of 30 minutes to present their case and

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shall include the time for ‘rebuttal’ and ‘Sur-rebuttal’. 8.2.4 The division of time between the speakers is the discretion of the team

members, subject to a maximum of 20 minutes for one speaker. 8.2.5 Before the commencement of the round, each team shall indicate to the

‘court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time. 8.3 Semi-finals

8.3.1 The Semi-Finals will be held on 7thMarch, 2020. The Semi-Finals shall be knock-out round. A team will be credited with a win in the Semi-Finals if their total marks are higher than its opponent’s team.

8.3.2 The side to be presented by the team shall be determined by way of draw of lots with the teams picking the lots after the completion of quarter-finals rounds.

8.3.3 Each team shall get a total of 40 minutes to present their case. This time will include the time for ‘rebuttal’ and ‘Sur-rebuttal’.

8.3.4 The division of time between the speakers in the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 25 minutes for one speaker.

8.3.5 Before the commencement of the round, each team shall indicate to the ‘court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time.

8.4 Finals:

8.4.1 The Final will be held on 8thMarch, 2020. A team will be credited with a winin the Final if their total marks are higher than its opponent team.

8.4.2 Each team shall get a total of 45 minutes to present their case. This time will include the time for ‘rebuttal’ and ‘Sur-rebuttal’.

8.4.3 The division of time between the speakers is the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 30 minutes for one speaker.

8.4.4 Before the commencement of the round, each team shall indicate to the ‘court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time.

9. Evaluation Criteria for Oral Pleading Session:

The oral pleadings would be marked on scale of 100 per judge and would be evaluated on the following grounds:

S.No Marking Criteria Maximum Marks

Allocated

1 Knowledge of Law & Facts 20

2 Interpretation of Law & its Application to the Facts 25

3 Use of Authorities 15

4 Style, Poise and Court Mannerism 10

5 Organization of Arguments 15

6 Time Management 15 10. Dress Code:

10.1 The official Dress Code for the Competition is as follows: a) Gentlemen: Black Trousers, White Shirt, Black Blazer, Black neck tie,

andBlack formal shoes;

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b) Ladies: Black Trousers/Skirt, White Shirt, Black Blazer, Black neck tie andBlack formal shoes (or) White Salwar Kameez, Black Blazer, and Black Formal shoes.

11. Queries/Disputes:

11.1 All queries relating to the Moot Problem may be clarified by sending an email to mcc.schooloflaw@gitam.eduon or before 1st March 2020.

11.2 Any dispute about the Moot Court Competition shall be referred to the GMNMC Committee before the end of the competition. In all matters of complaints or disputes, the decision of the Committee shall be final.

12. Accommodation:

Participants from outstation shall be provided accommodation by the university for the duration of the competition. Only the registered three members of the team shall be provided accommodation. The team shall make their own arrangements for any extra members. All teams shall be provided accommodation from 5th March 2020 (morning) to 9th March (morning), 2020. Note: Registration will take place on 5th March 2020 till 1.00pm. It is advised to all the participants to reach the venue on 5th March 2020 before 1.00pm. Accommodation will be provided on first come first serve basis. Last minute registrations and accommodation will not be entertained.

13. Miscellaneous:

13.1 All participants shall maintain the decorum in the Court during the competition and are expected to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the legal profession.

13.2 Scouting by any person and on behalf of any team should be brought to the notice of the committee immediately, without disturbing the round the proceedings. Any team found scouting will be disqualified and the final decision shall lie with committee.

13.3 If any team does not appear after 10 minutes after the commencement of any round as per the scheduled time, the team which did not appear shall be deemed to have given a walkover and the opponent team shall be declared as winners of the round.

13.4 The Committee reserves the right to take decisions on any matter not mentioned in the Competition Rules. Any such decision taken by the committee shall be final and binding on all the team.

13.5 Audio or videotaping of oral pleadings is NOT PERMITTED. 13.6 If a Team believes that violation of the Competition Rules has taken place

at any stage of the Competition, the Team(s), within half an hour after the completion of the round in which violation has allegedly occurred, should register a complaint with the committee. Team(s) under no circumstances shall approach the Panel with any complaints.

14 Contact: For all further communications, the Organising committee can be

contacted at mcc.schooloflaw@gitam.edu

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BONAFIDE LETTER

NOTE: Furnishing of information required herein is mandatory. A bona fide certificate issued by an appropriate authority of the Institution/ College/ University must be sent along with Memorials. Institution/College/University Information: Address……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…

Postal code…………………………………………. City……………………………………… Country……………………………….

Ph: ……………………………………………………………….. Email : ……………………………………………………………….......

Date: (Seal and Signature of Head of the Institution)

TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION

Name of Institution : …………………………………………...……………………………………………………………….……...… Address : ………………………………………………………….……...………………………………………….……...…

ARRIVAL DETAILS SL. No

Name of Participant Date & Time of Arrival

Mode of Arrival

Train/Flight/Bus No.

Other Details

1.

2.

3.

DEPARTURE DETAILS SL. No

Name of Participant Date & Time of Departure

Mode of Departure

Train/Flight/Bus No.

Other Details

1.

2.

3.

Accommodation facility required: YES/NO If Yes, then: 1. Number of Male Members: 2. Number of Female Members:

Date: (Seal and Signature of Head of the Institution)