NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
Topic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
Reference: Economic Times
Why this question:
The Asian Development Bank unveiled a $1.5 billion Covid-19 package for India recently, thus the context of the question.
Key demand of the question:
On has to analyse the role of organisations like World Bank, ADB and NDB, in the developmental process of countries like India.
Directive:
Analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by highlighting significance of global financial institutions in general.
Body:
Briefly explain the coming of and the proliferation of multilateral development banks across the world. Since 1945 the number of multilateral development banks (MDBs) has increased at a linear rate, with approximately one new MDB created every three years. Explain the causative factors responsible for creation of these institutions. Discuss the benefits and advantages they bring to the developing countries like that of India. Highlight the challenges associated.
Conclusion:
Conclude with importance of these multilateral development banks (MDBs).
Introduction:
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) are established by more than one country and subject to international law. Owners and shareholders are generally governments or other international institutions. IFIs can refer to members of the World Bank Group such as International Finance Corporation (IFC); regional development banks such as Asian Development Bank (ADB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); and export credit agencies of individual country governments, such as US Export Import Bank (EXIM).
Body:
The Asian Development Bank unveiled a $1.5 billion Covid-19 package for India on Tuesday and is in discussions with the government on further aid for specific sectors. It’s also in discussions with the country’s private sector to provide support where needed.
The multilateral lender has begun consultations with India on providing support for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and infrastructure projects through credit guarantees.
IFIs share the following goals and objectives:
- to reduce global poverty and improve people’s living conditions and standards;
- to support sustainable economic, social and institutional development; and
- to promote regional cooperation and integration.
Significance of International financial institutions:
- IFIs achieve these objectives through loans, credits and grants to national governments. Such funding is usually tied to specific projects that focus on economic and socially sustainable development.
- IFIs also provide technical and advisory assistance to their borrowers and conduct extensive research on development issues.
- In addition to these public procurement opportunities, in which multilateral financing is delivered to a national government for the implementation of a project or program, IFIs are increasingly lending directly to non-sovereign guaranteed (NSG) actors.
- These include sub-national government entities, as well as the private sector.
- IFIs are important in project finance because they play a significant role in supporting large scale infrastructure projects in emerging markets.
- They can provide critical capital and catalyze the participation of other players.
- IFIs take a long-term view with respect to an investment and have a stronger appetite for risk. They are prepared to finance projects which commercial lenders are not.
- IFIs have been set up for different reasons compared to commercial lenders. Although certain IFIs are mandated to lend based on “sound banking principles”, other considerations are relevant. EBRD and IFC invest only where it can provide “added value”, by investing in projects that could not otherwise attract private capital on similar or reasonable terms.
- Lastly, International financial institutions measure risk by the government or company’s ability to repay, its level of debt and what the group can offer as collateral in case of default.
Conclusion:
All international financial institutions have the same central goals: to promote economic and social progress in poor or developing countries by helping raise standards of living and productivity to the point at which development becomes self-sustaining.
The IFIs remain central to the functioning of the global financial system through their provision of policy advice, financing for development, global public goods, financial safety nets and rules-based framework for international economic activity.
Topic: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues. The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
Reference: Indian Express
Why this question:
International Labor Day is celebrated on May 1 to honor workers. Labor has an undeniable role in shaping the nation’s fortune. Thus the question.
Key demand of the question:
Explain the role played by Dr B R Ambedkar and Gandhiji in bringing social-economic emancipation of classes, one has to explain and analyse how the two were different in their approaches though their end goal was the same.
Directive:
Comment– here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
One can start by explaining the importance of social -economic emancipation of classes.
Body:
One must compare and contrast the approaches of the two mass leaders in ensuring social -economic emancipation of classes. Highlight points like while Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts were mainly spiritual and religious in character, Dr. Ambedkar’s efforts were mainly political and legal in character. Ambedkar has been hailed as the emancipator of the depressed classes in the country He dominated the Indian political scene during the most crucial time when India was going through a series of political crises. He secured the important rights and liberties to the under-privileged in the country. Discuss the contributions of the two in detail.
Conclusion:
Conclude with fair and balanced conclusion; highlighting the importance of the contributions of both leaders to the Indian society.
Introduction:
Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) and Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891-1956) are among the major makers of modern India. Their public careers began early, Gandhi’s in South Africa in the mid-1890s and Ambedkar’s in western India in the early 1920s. They built on the work of nineteenth century and early twentieth century religious and social reformers such as Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1833), Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1901), Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915), Swami Dayananda (1824-1883), and Jyotiba Phule (1827-1890). Each fought with rare persistence and exceptional vigor to rid India of oppression from within and without. Once they entered the public arena, there was no turning back for either of them. They maintained the momentum in their struggles for justice and equality until the very end of their lives.
Body:
Gandhi and Ambedkar offered specific goals for and pathways to the creation of a just social order in India. They differed over objectives as well as the methods for achieving their ends. In their long public careers, both of them addressed a number of crucial social and political issues. How best to remove untouchability was a major issue over which the two had fundamental differences from late 1920s onward. Perhaps it was to be expected that their very different backgrounds and commitments took them on different paths in the struggle against internal and external oppression.
Gandhiji’s approach:
- Gandhi believed that standing at the heart of the inherited Hindu tradition, including its caste system, it was possible to overcome untouchability.
- Gandhi’s insisted that untouchability was a blot on humanity and therefore upon Hinduism. It cannot stand the test of reason. It is in conflict with the fundamental precepts of Hinduism.
- Untouchability was reform “custom masquerading under the name of religion.”
- He set out to reform but not to reject Hinduism.
- Gandhi held that if the country remains dependent on the master for its material necessaries, education and social harmony it could never be independent.
- Gandhi’s love for the village was not that of a mystic or that of an orthodox, not one bound by tradition alone; he fully realized that the downtrodden, ‘Harijans’, as he called them were tied down to the village, so the village structure was of utmost concern in his scheme.
- Gandhi believed that freedom was never to be bestowed; it has to be wrested from authority by those who demand it and intend to use it,
Ambedkar’s approach:
- For his part, Ambedkar initially sought equality within the Hindu tradition, hoping to gain a place of religious and social equality with caste Hindus.
- For more than a decade, he struggled to overcome untouchability while staying within the Hindu fold.
- Finding Hinduism too flawed to be a force for justice and the Hindu orthodoxy too resistant to change, he gave up on Hinduism.
- As the representative of the Depressed Classes in the Round Table Conference, Ambedkar forcefully pleaded for living wages, decent working conditions and the freedom of peasants from the clutches of cruel landlords.
- He also fought for the removal of social evils that blighted the lives of the downtrodden.
- He went on to form the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1936 with a comprehensive programme to meet the needs and grievances of the landless, poor tenants, agriculturists, and workers.
- In September 1937, during the Poona session of the Bombay Assembly, he introduced a bill to abolish the Khoti system of land tenure in Konkan.
- He opposed the introduction of Industrial Disputes Bill, 1937 because it removed the workers’ right to strike.
- Ambedkar piloted and introduced measures for labour welfare by laying the foundation for the basic structure for the government’s labour policy. He tackled the knotty problems and won esteem and respect from employees and employers alike.
- Ambedkar did not accept the Marxist position that the abolition of private property would bring an end to poverty and suffering.
- After years of reflection and in the hopes of carrying along with him Dalits as well as caste Hindus, a few days before he died, Ambedkar turned to Buddhism.
Conclusion:
Yet, in spite of their different approaches to ridding India of untouchability, each helped to significantly weaken the hold of Hindu orthodoxy and as a consequence strengthened the social and political status of the untouchables. Making the practice of untouchability unlawful by the new Indian Government in 1950 was helpful, but it did not eradicate untouchability. Neither “affirmative action” nor exclusively Dalit led and Dalit organized politics is as effective today as in earlier years. Many years after Gandhi’s assassination and Ambedkar’s death, Hindu society remains caste- bound and the untouchables are all too frequently brutalized. As we move further into the twenty-first century, political leaders and social activists will do well to revisit Gandhi and Ambedkar and ask what, if anything, that can be learned from them.
Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources. Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Reference: The Hindu
Why this question:
With India under lockdown in its desperate attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, there is anxiety with respect to academics particularly among the graduating batches of students. This editorial analyses whether digital forms of learning are effective for Higher Educational Institutions and courses.
Key demand of the question:
Explain the nuances associated with online learning and compare it with the conventional learning methods, present both advantages and disadvantages and provide for a detailed analysis.
Directive:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
In short, start by explaining the sudden rise in the demand for e-learning amidst the present lockdown conditions.
Body:
To start with explain first the transition to virtual modes of learning from the conventional modes. Explain the difference between the two; compare and contrast. Highlight the specific concerns. List down the Limitations of online learning with respect to Education system.
Conclusion:
Conclude that before making decisive inferences it is necessary to think deeply and gather research-based evidence on the extent to which online education can be deployed to help enhance the access and success rates.
Introduction:
The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered educational institutions across the globe. Closure of schools, colleges and universities, shutdown of routine life of students and teachers, disruptions in education and the education ministry remaining incommunicado, have created an unprecedented situation and thrown many unexpected challenges to administrators, educators, teachers, parents and students.
Body:
Impacts on education due to COVID-19 pandemic:
- school and university closures will not only have a short-term impact on the continuity of learning for more than 285 million young learners in India but also engender far-reaching economic and societal consequences.
- The pandemic has significantly disrupted the higher education sector as well, which is a critical determinant of a country’s economic future.
- A large number of Indian students—second only to China—enroll in universities abroad, especially in countries worst affected by the pandemic, the US, UK, Australia and China.
- Many such students have now been barred from leaving these countries. If the situation persists, in the long run, a decline in the demand for international higher education is expected.
- The bigger concern, however, on everybody’s mind is the effect of the disease on the employment rate. Recent graduates in India are fearing withdrawal of job offers from corporates because of the current situation.
- The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s estimates on unemployment shot up from 8.4% in mid-March to 23% in early April and the urban unemployment rate to 30.9%.
Digital Education and its potential:
- This is an ideal time to experiment and deploy new tools to make education delivery meaningful to students who can’t go to campuses.
- It’s a chance to be more efficient and productive while developing new and improved professional skills/knowledge through online learning and assessment.
- The use of technology in education is resulting in different concepts in the system, for instance the move from teacher-centric education to student-centric education.
- Virtual classrooms and various online tools today allow us to make the engagement between the teacher and students as close to a real, in classroom type experience, as possible.
- These tools can also make the teachers and parent meetings as well as staff/management meetings more time and cost saving while providing the necessary interactivity.
- It is also a fact that technology-based education is more transparent and does not make difference in front vs back benchers or girls vs boys.
- State governments and private players have regularly been publishing information on various initiatives undertaken by ministries like MHRD, Department of Technical Education, NCERT and others to support and benefit youth/students.
Challenges:
- India is far behind some developing countries where digital education is getting increased attention.
- In countries where e-learning is popular, students have access to various online resources such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which help students, teachers and professionals upgrade their skills.
- The major challenge in EDTech reforms at the national level is the seamless integration of technology in the present Indian education system, which is the most diverse and largest in the world with more than 15 lakh schools and 50,000 higher education institutions.
- Further, it is also important to establish quality assurance mechanisms and quality benchmark for online learning developed and offered by India HEIs as well as e-learning platforms (growing rapidly).
- Many e-learning players offer multiple courses on the same subjects with different levels of certifications, methodology and assessment parameters. So, the quality of courses may differ across different e-learning platforms.
- Democratization of technology is now an important issue, comprising internet connectivity, telecom infrastructure, affordability of online system, availability of laptop/desktop, software, educational tools, online assessment tools, etc.
- Since our education system has not trained our teachers and students to think creatively and manage in a crisis situation, and has underplayed the importance of e-learning, they are unprepared for the transition from the classroom to online.
Going forward, the use of technology in teaching or recruitment will lead to a new era wherein the best of faculty will be available from across the globe to students. Education quality will be gauged not just by the quality of faculty but will also have quality of IT infrastructure and familiarization of the faculty will digital teaching technologies as important parameters.
Conclusion:
To summarize, education must continue. Students should keep learning. The lockdown period should be productive. Educators should think creatively and introduce innovative ways of learning. In a country where access to the Internet and high-speed connectivity is a problem, and the digital divide is an issue, it is important to address the challenges. Those who are involved in education planning and administration should give a serious thought to reducing the digital divide in the country and popularize digital learning.
Topic: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein. Role of civil services in a democracy.
Reference: The Hindu
Why this question:
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has downgraded India to the lowest ranking, “countries of particular concern” (CPC) in its 2020 report.
Key demand of the question:
Explain the scenario of communal harmony in the country, highlight the role being played by Indian polity and bring out the challenges therein.
Directive:
Debate – Weigh up to what extent something is true. Persuade the reader of your argument by citing relevant research but also remember to point out any flaws and counter- arguments as well. Conclude by stating clearly how far you agree with the original proposition.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Present brief context of the question.
Body:
To start with explain that Indian polity is a system that is spreading knowledge among people about equal rights for everyone in the country. Communal harmony is maintained by the secular way that means treating all religions in same way and it allows no intervention by the government in religious principles. Highlight the recent incidents across the country that portrayed ill side of the religious violence. The article brings to us the fact that it’s time for India to protect its freedoms, and come down heavily on religious violence. Explain it in detail and address the dimensions asked for in the question.
Conclusion:
Conclude with solutions and suggest what should be the way forward.
Introduction:
India is a vast country, with people belonging to different religions living amicably for centuries together. The rich traditions of tolerance, perseverance, plurality and assimilation have kept the identity of the country intact, and civilization thriving. Declared a secular country in the constitution, India has several provisions for protection of minority communities. The State does not discriminate on the basis of any particular religion. There are constitutional provisions for equality of opportunities for all. Despite precautionary, preventive and positive measures having been envisaged in the constitution, to rule out any feeling of being left-out, communal disturbances keep recurring. The Government has, often expressed its commitment toward maintaining communal harmony in the country, and has been taking steps- statutory, legal, administrative, economic, and so on.
Body:
The Government has taken initiatives to promote communal harmony.
- The Constitution casts an important fundamental duty on its citizens in Part IVA. Article 51-A (e) of the Constitution says that “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities.”
- It is the spirit of brotherhood that is emphasized by the use of the term ‘fraternity’ in the preamble.
- These include constitution of the National Integration Council (NIC) (1960s), setting up of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (1992) and laying down of the guidelines for the promotion of communal harmony from time to time.
- The NIC, comprising of prominent members of various sections of society, besides several union ministers and chief ministers of states, has been meeting regularly, to discuss and sort out the issues of discord.
- The Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988 was enacted by the Parliament for maintaining the sanctity of religious places and to prevent their misuse for political, criminal, subversive or communal purposes.
- Under this law, it is the duty of the manager to inform the police in the event of misuse of the place of worship. The Act also prohibits the storage of arms and ammunition inside any place of worship.
- Another initiative taken by the government, The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991, was passed to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947.
- Other than these initiatives, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has issued the “Guidelines On Communal Harmony, 2008” to prevent and avoid communal disturbances/riots and in the event of such disturbances occurring, action to control the same and measures to provide assistance, relief and rehabilitation to the affected persons.
- Communal Violence Prevention Bill, 2010 yet has to be passed by the Parliament which would help in controlling the menace of communal violence
However, in the present time, various untoward incidents are affecting the communal harmony in different parts of the country. Communalism is the most serious threat to our sovereign, secular, socialist and democratic polity. The number of communal incidents is increasing day by day, which is not a good sign for our democracy.
The result of communal violence is the loss of private property in the form of household articles of families, movables and loss of earning by loss of lives of bread earners. Even Communal peace and harmony gets completely shattered after any communal violence. It was observed in the recent past that the government has totally failed to control communal violence’s in the country.
The characterization by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) of India as a country of particular concern, in its annual report, is not entirely surprising, considering its dim and known views about sectarian violence and aggravating governmental measures over the last year.
Steps to check the growth of Communalism:
- Economic:
- Poverty is one of the major factors for communal violence. Poverty alleviation measures are thus important for promoting communal harmony.
- Eradicating the problem of unemployment among the youths, illiteracy and poverty and that too with honesty and without any discrimination.
- Reducing educational and economic backwardness of minorities like Muslims.
- This can uplift their socio economic status and reduce their deprivation compared to Hindus
- Social:
- The religious leaders and preachers should promote rational and practical things through religion promoting peace and security.
- Children in schools must be taught through textbooks and pamphlets to maintain brotherhood and respect for all religions
- Creating awareness in the society about the ill effects of communism through mass media
- Political:
- Political communism should be avoided recent Supreme court’s directives
- Identification and mapping of riot prone areas. For Example, Delhi police used drones to monitor to maintain vigil during communal festivals
- Media, movies and other cultural platforms can be influential in promoting peace and harmony.
- Social Media should be monitored for violent and repulsive content and taken off immediately.
- Recommendations of Committee on National Integration
- Joint celebration of community festivals
- Observing restraint by Hindus while taking processions before the mosques
- Formation of peace and brotherhood communities at local level to prevent anti-social elements from engaging in communal riots
- Respect for religious customs, rituals and practices
Way forward:
Utmost care and attention requires to be given to the planning and implementation of a range of measures to alleviate the sufferings of those affected by any incidents of communal violence, including the provision of relief and rehabilitation assistance to the victims of such violence.
Conclusion:
Communal harmony is the hallmark of democracy in a country governed by the rule of law. Rule of law pervades over the entire field of administration and every organ of the state is regulated and governed by the Rule of law. It is an eternal value of constitutionalism and inherent attribute of democracy and good governance has to be maintained.
Topic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
Reference: Financial Express
Why this question:
India recently amended its FDI policy by subjecting investments from countries with which it shares a land border to screening under the approval route and making them ineligible under the automatic route. Thus the question.
Key demand of the question:
Explain the scope of recent FDI policy amendments and analyse if these changes challenge the scope of WTO.
Directive:
Analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Present brief background to the context.
Body:
Bring out the concerns brought to fore by the recent FDI policy amendments. Although none of the WTO agreements directly seek to regulate it, some contain provisions that may have implications for foreign investment. One such agreement is the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Talk about the GATS, concept of most favored nation (MFN) treatment etc. Bring out the challenges.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way forward.
Introduction:
A Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an investment in by foreign investors in the foreign based company. In a decision fraught with geopolitical and economic ramifications, the Indian government amended its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to put a blanket ban on investments through the automatic route by entities from countries that share a border with India.
Body:
The move is seen as an attempt to ward off the threat of “opportunistic” Chinese takeover of Indian companies, whose valuations have been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The curbs, which were already in force for investments from Pakistan and Bangladesh, will extend to entities where Chinese citizens have “beneficial ownership” to ensure that the restrictions are not circumvented by routing investments via Hong Kong, Singapore or other countries.
FDI restrictions and WTO norms:
- One of the general disciplines is the most favoured nation (MFN) treatment, which requires members to ensure all other members equality of opportunity to supply like services in sectors where foreign competition is allowed.
- A WTO member cannot adopt a regulation affecting trade in services in a manner that affords less favourable treatment to service suppliers of a particular member than that accorded to those of any other country in respect of similar services.
- However, it doesn’t require “identity of treatment” amongst different service suppliers. It only requires that the treatment provided by a country does not prejudicially alter the “conditions of competition” between different service suppliers.
- Notably, in sectors like audio-visual, banking services, etc., the MFN obligation is subject to a number of exceptions specifically made by India in Annex II.
- Outside these sectors, China can arguably claim a violation of the MFN obligation, contending that subjecting service suppliers from some countries to a different procedure competitively disadvantages their service suppliers.
- While India might seek to justify the regulation under the general exceptions or essential security interest provisions of GATS, it may be difficult to explain why the regulation has been applied for select countries, given that threat of acquisition of domestic industries is the same from all foreign countries.
- Unlike international practice, by selectively applying the regulation to certain countries and not to others, India makes itself vulnerable to Chinese claims in respect of certain service sectors under the GATS.
Concerns raised against the move:
- China has objected to these changes, arguing that it violates the WTO principle of non-discrimination.
- The additional barriers set by Indian side for investors from specific countries violate WTO’s principle of non-discrimination, and go against the general trend of liberalisation and facilitation of trade and investment.
- The Chinese embassy not only cited its investments but also the “donations” made by Chinese companies to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
- As of December 2019, China’s cumulative investment in India has exceeded 8 billion US dollars, far more than the total investments of India’s other border-sharing countries. The impact of the policy on Chinese investors is clear.
- Chinese investment has driven the development of India’s industries, such as mobile phone, household electrical appliances, infrastructure and automobile, creating a large number of jobs in India, and promoting mutual beneficial and win-win cooperation.
- Chinese enterprises actively made donations to help India fight COVID-19 epidemic.
- China also accused India of not conforming “to the consensus of G20 leaders and trade ministers to realize a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment, and to keep our markets open.”
- Therefore, Without the appropriate legal and regulatory sanction, India might experience reciprocal measures.
- In order to protect India’s unicorn, there is need to devise a scheme of preferential or special shares which a unicorn can issue to foreign investor.
- These shares will preserve the decision making by Indian innovators, while also providing them access to foreign capital.
Way forward:
- There is a need for India to develop new legal and institutional tools. As the ones employed by US and EU member states such as data protection laws or revised mergers and acquisitions rules, and institutional bodies.
- The Chinese have already restarted manufacturing when the rest of the world still grappling with coronavirus.
- China has several months’ advantage over all other major economies and can therefore secure significant benefits.
- After each crisis in recent years, China has consolidated itself. Indian government is trying to pre-empt acquisitions.
- Countries need to strengthen their domestic capabilities to meet the Chinese challenge.
- It may be advisable for the Indian government to adopt a more facially neutral regulation that does not de jure discriminate on the basis of origin of the investment and applies equally to all countries
Topic: issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Reference: The Hindu
Why this question:
India continues to be on the ‘Priority Watch List’ of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for lack of adequate intellectual property (IP) rights protection and enforcement, the USTR said in its Annual Special 301 Report. Thus the question.
Key demand of the question:
Explain the long standing issues with respect to Intellectual property enforcement and protection in India, suggest solutions to address the same
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Present brief description of the current IP regime in the country.
Body:
To start with explain the facts pointed out by the report; India remained one of the most challenging economies for IP enforcement and protection. While India made “meaningful progress” to enhance IP protection and enforcement in some areas over the past year, it did not resolve recent and long-standing challenges, and created new ones.
- Discuss the concerns pointed out such as – innovators being able to receive, maintain and enforce patents particularly in the pharmaceutical sector;
- Concerns over copyright laws not incentivizing the creation and commercialization of content; and an outdated trade secrets framework.
Suggest solutions to these issues.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way ahead.
Introduction:
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are legal rights, which result from intellectual invention, innovation and discovery in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields. These rights entitle an individual or group to the moral and economic rights of creators in their creation.
India continues to be on the ‘Priority Watch List’ of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for lack of adequate intellectual property (IP) rights protection and enforcement, the USTR said in its Annual Special 301 Report, released recently.
Body:
The National IPR Policy (2016) is a vision document that aims to create and exploit synergies between all forms of intellectual property (IP), concerned statutes and agencies. It sets in place an institutional mechanism for implementation, monitoring and review. It aims to incorporate and adapt global best practices to the Indian scenario.
Some of the long standing issues of IPR regime in India:
- Innovators being able to receive, maintain and enforce patents particularly in the pharmaceutical sector; concerns over copyright laws not incentivizing the creation and commercialization of content
- India has an outdated trade secrets framework.
- India also further restricted the transparency of information provided on state-issued pharmaceutical manufacturing licenses, continues to apply restrictive patentability criteria to reject pharmaceutical patents.
- India has still has not established an effective system for protecting against the unfair commercial use, as well as the unauthorized disclosure, of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceuticals and certain agricultural chemical products
- India maintains extremely high customs duties directed to IP-intensive products such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) products, solar energy equipment, and capital goods. These goods categories have been persistent challenges in trade talks between US and India.
- weak enforcement by courts and the police, lack of familiarity with investigative techniques and no centralized IP enforcement agency.
- The USTR also noted that India was ranked among the top five source economies for fake goods by the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) in 2019.
- The government’s 2019 draft Copyright Amendment Rules, if implemented, would have “severe” consequences for Internet-content rights holders as the proposed rules broadened the scope of compulsory licensing from radio and television broadcasting to online broadcasting.
- Trademark counterfeiting levels were “problematic” and there are “excessive delays” in obtaining trademarks due to a lack of examination quality.
Measures taken to strengthen the IPR regime in India:
- The statutes governing different kinds of IPRs in India are Patents Act, 1970; Trade Marks Act, 1999; Designs Act, 2000; Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999; Copyright Act, 1957; Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001; Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 and Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
- The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is entrusted with matters concerning the specialized UN agency on IPRs, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), including coordination with other concerned Ministries or Departments.
- The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry is entrusted with the responsibility of administering the laws relating to Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Geographical Indications within the territory of India.
- The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 is a sui generis legislation in India providing protection for plant varieties and rights of farmers and is under the aegis of the Ministry of Agriculture.
- The preservation of biological diversity in India is under the Ministry of Environment and Forests; the Biological Diversity Act 2002 provides mechanism for regulating access and ensuring fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge.
- India has always been conscious of its obligations in the international arena, and has acceded to a number of international conventions to further the cause of IPRs globally.
- India was the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty 2013 for Access to Published Works by visually impaired persons.
- The accession to the Madrid Protocol in 2013 is a step towards global alignment for proprietors of marks.
- The Indian Patent Office has been recognized as an International Search Authority and an International Preliminary Examination Authority.
- The Intellectual Property Appellate Board hears appeals arising from the decisions of Controllers of Patents as also Registrars of Trade Marks and GIs.
Way forward:
- Fostering an environment where innovation flourishes and a knowledge economy is built, is the key idea. Hence, the policy should have a balance.
- It should encourage patenting and at the same time ensure that patentability of a product/process does not deter further innovation and progress.
- Intellectual Property must not be about patents on paper but dearth of application in reality. T
- The organizations such as CSIR and others must be encouraged to work upon socially useful applications of their patents.
- Support for innovation has to be accompanied with instruments that guard local companies against the misuse of market power, coercive bargaining and aggressive acquisition strategies.
- India needs to spread awareness on IPR in public and for its traditional industries to enable fair monetization of IP Rights.
- It needs to safeguard its patents, copyrights and traditional knowledge by ensuring easy IPR rules.
Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
Reference: The Hindu
Why this question:
The question is based on the issues being faced by the migrant workers and the need for a sturdy social policy design dedicated for them.
Key demand of the question:
Explain first the issues being faced by the migrant workers and then suggest solutions to address the same.
Directive:
Analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Explain the shades of the question context.
Body:
To start with explain the role played by the invisible hands; migrants workers in the economy. Discuss on the challenges being faced by migrants in Normal and pandemic times. Explain the need for a social policy designed that provides socioeconomic Rights and complete humanly treatment to the migrant workers.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way forward.
Introduction:
Thousands of migrant labourers have headed home on foot after national lockdown, which has created an acute shortage of labourers in major agrarian states. The inter-State migrant worker community, thousands of these migrant labourers have been leaving cities, even on foot, for their towns in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and elsewhere.
Body:
Hardship faced by migrant labourers:
- Between 100 million to 125 million people leave their villages, families and homes to find work far away wherever they can find it; their invisible hands harvest the crops and feed us, clean streets, run factories, build roads, and construct our houses.
- The migrant workers are largely dependent upon casual and daily wage labour and unorganized retail.
- The lockdown would severely affect their livelihood opportunities.
- Citing the uncertainty of employment, and therefore of money and resources, these migrant labourers sought the comfort of the social net in their towns and wanted to return back.
- Most of the migrant workers live in cramped spaces where it would be difficult to maintain physical distancing.
- The lack of hygiene and sanitation facilities makes this section highly vulnerable to such epidemics.
- An analysis of the migration trend shows that a major portion of the rural-urban migration constitutes the migration of men to cities in search of better employment opportunities.
- They are generally the primary breadwinners, and the survival of their families back home is entirely dependent on these migrant labourers. The anxiety of being affected by the virus drove many to return to their families.
Issues faced by migrant lockdown due to Government lockdown:
- The Central government announced the lockdown with just a four-hour notice, making it even harder for the migrant labourers to figure out ways to face the challenge of a lockdown.
- The lockdown has a disproportionate impact on the socioeconomic conditions of the poor and unorganized sector.
- The lack of social security among the poor makes it difficult for them to practice social distancing. They are mostly dependent upon daily and even hourly wage earnings. The lockdown would lead to an income security challenge to them.
- There have been suggestions that given the prior warnings of COVID-19, the situation could have been handled much better. There have been concerns that the decision was arbitrary, unplanned and ill-prepared.
- The lockdown was not accompanied by practical and necessary relief measures.
- The movement of the labourers towards their hometowns was not aided by the government.
- There have been some sections which have argued that if the government was willing to evacuate Indians from other countries, why similar intent is not being shown to make sure that the poor migrant labourers reach their hometown.
However, the Government’s measures were necessary:
- The need for a very short notice before lockdown was considered essential given the fact that a larger time lag would lead to large scale movement of people and make it difficult to contain the spread of the epidemic.
- The decision for a lockdown at the earliest was considered necessary given the examples of other countries like Italy and Spain where a delay in lockdown had substantially increased the number of cases. The intention was to announce the lockdown and then taken necessary actions for easing the pressure on the citizenry.
- The first priority during such a crisis has to be tackling the health challenge, which can be followed by other measures. The economic package by the government in the form of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana was directed at easing the pressure on the vulnerable.
- Given the daunting scale of tracking that would be required if the migration was allowed, the government chose not to allow migration of the labourers to their hometowns. The possible spread of the virus in the rural hinterlands would be beyond the carrying capacity of the Indian health system.
Measures needed:
- The proposed quarantine camps must be well equipped with sufficient supplies of essential items for all.
- Governments must use schools and college hostels for the migrants to stay and also utilize the Public Distribution System to provide food.
- Governments must show resolve, commitment, and compassion to deal with the migrant crisis.
- Civil society must come forward and support the most vulnerable.
- For the migrants already enroute to their places, there should be proper screening en route and they should be informed of the practical health protocols to be practiced during the first 14 days.
- These migrants need to be put under observation, further screening, isolation, testing, and quarantine where required.
- The affected families also have to be given minimum guarantees of food, health, and some income by the government during the lockdown.
Way forward:
