The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 91 to 105.
No more 66A!
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/no-more-66a
<b>In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has struck down Section 66A. Today was a great day for freedom of speech on the Internet! When Section 66A was in operation, if you made a statement that led to offence, you could be prosecuted. We are an offence-friendly nation, judging by media reports in the last year. It was a year of book-bans, website blocking and takedown requests. Facebook’s Transparency Report showed that next to the US, India made the most requests for information about user accounts. A complaint under Section 66A would be a ground for such requests.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Section 66A hung like a sword in the middle: Shaheen Dhada was arrested in Maharashtra for observing that Bal Thackeray’s funeral shut down the city, Devu Chodankar in Goa and Syed Waqar in Karnataka were arrested for making posts about Narendra Modi, and a Puducherry man was arrested for criticizing P. Chidambaram’s son. The law was vague and so widely worded that it was prone to misuse, and was in fact being misused.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Today, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A in its judgment on a <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/overview-constitutional-challenges-on-itact">set of petitions</a> heard together last year and earlier this year. Stating that the law is vague, the bench comprising Chelameshwar and Nariman, JJ. held that while restrictions on free speech are constitutional insofar as they are in line with Article 19(2) of the Constitution. Section 66A, they held, does not meet this test: The central protection of free speech is the freedom to make statements that “offend, shock or disturb”, and Section 66A is an unconstitutional curtailment of these freedoms. To cross the threshold of constitutional limitation, the impugned speech must be of such a nature that it incites violence or is an exhortation to violence. Section 66A, by being extremely vague and broad, does not meet this threshold. These are, of course, drawn from news reports of the judgment; the judgment is not available yet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Reports also say that Section 79(3)(b) has been read down. Previously, any private individual or entity, and the government and its departments could request intermediaries to take down a website, without a court order. If the intermediaries did not comply, they would lose immunity under Section 79. The Supreme Court judgment states that both in Rule 3(4) of the Intermediaries Guidelines and in Section 79(3)(b), the "actual knowledge of the court order or government notification" is necessary before website takedowns can be effected. In effect, this mean that intermediaries <i>need not</i> act upon private notices under Section 79, while they can act upon them if they choose. This stops intermediaries from standing judge over what constitutes an unlawful act. If they choose not to take down content after receiving a private notice, they will not lose immunity under Section 79.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Section 69A, the website blocking procedure, has been left intact by the Court, despite infirmities such as a lack of judicial review and non-transparent operation. More updates when the judgment is made available.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/no-more-66a'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/no-more-66a</a>
</p>
No publishergeethaCensorshipFreedom of Speech and ExpressionHomepageIntermediary LiabilityFeaturedChilling EffectSection 66AArticle 19(1)(a)Blocking2015-03-26T02:01:31ZBlog EntryNIE Steps in to Grow Konkani Wikipedia
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/nie-steps-in-to-grow-konkani-wikipedia
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) signed a memorandum of agreement (MoU) with Nirmala Institute of Education, Goa to enhance digital literacy in Konkani in the education sector across Goa.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Access to Knowledge (A2K) programme of CIS, in its sustained efforts to enhance the content and reach of <a class="external-link" href="https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/gom/Mukhel_Pan">Kokani Wikepedia </a>(which is in incubation), has signed an MoU for a period of five years with <a class="external-link" href="http://dhe.goa.gov.in/nongovtnirmalainstitute.html">Nirmala Insitute of Education</a> (NIE), a Secondary Teacher Education College established in 1963 by the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary in response to the then urgent need for trained teachers in post liberation Goa. The key objectives of this partnership are: a) to design, develop and execute a certificate course titled "Teaching in the Age of Wikipedia", which is aimed at middle and high school teacher-trainees and teachers; and b) to introduce Wikimedia projects into the pedagogic curriculum of NIE.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Both CIS and NIE share a mutual interest in conserving, developing and disseminating knowledge free of cost in Konkani, which incidentally is Goa’s official language. Konkani as a language faces several challenges — it has no official script. The population who speak it are dispersed across the world and have little motivation to further the cause of Konkani, and there are few educational venues that offer a formal course to study Konkani or offer Konkani based curriculum. NIE Principal Dr. Denzil Martins welcomed this MoU and said that "it will guide our teacher-trainees to upload relevant information in Konkani that can be freely accessed by the local population" and "provide the volunteer-trainees with skills that they will be able to use to contribute and enhance the free knowledge in Konkani". The MoU was signed by Dr. Denzil Martins from NIE and T. Vishnu Vardhan (Programme Director, Access to Knowledge, CIS) in the presence of staff and students of NIE and volunteers Harriet Vidyasagar and Gayathri Rao Konkar. Dr. Rita Paes, ex-Principal of NIE who worked to forge this MoU sent her best wishes.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K since 2013, has worked to develop partnerships with key educational institutions to promote and grow Konkani Wikipedia. It has previously worked with NIE to design and implement a program to enroll 100 B.Ed. students to increase the amount of information available in <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Events/Goan_Towns_%26_Villages_@_Nirmala_Institute_of_Education"> Goan villages and towns </a> on Konkani Wikipedia. A2K has also been instrumental in convincing Goa University to <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/re-release-konkani-vishwakosh-under-cc-by-sa-3.0"> re-release Konkani Vishwakosh (encyclopedia) under CC-BY-SA 3.0 </a> , making it freely available to public, giving them the right to share, use and even build upon the work that has already been done.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The course ‘Teaching in the Age of Wikipedia’ will enable the teacher participant to have a) a comprehensive understanding of changes due to digital technology to the knowledge domain; b) an introduction to various openness movements that inform the discourse on Open Educational Resources; c) exposure and training to participate on open knowledge platforms like Wikipedia; and d) practical examples and best practices of using Wikipedia and sister projects within the classroom context. The parties will also co-design and jointly implement programmes to introduce Wikipedia in the NIE curriculum. The curriculum for this workshop is positioned within the context of indian languages (particularly Konkani) and school education to ensure that any learning is practical and can be applied within the teachers immediate pedagogic environment. Speaking about the relevance of this course Gayathri and Harriet (who have been associated with NIE as volunteers) mentioned that "the Goa government has handed out tablets to all school going children in Goa. In order to use them effectively in the classroom will require teachers to rethink their role and teaching methodologies and this course is an important step towards that". Agreeing with this Denzil Martins feels that this course "will provide the teacher-trainees with ideas and inputs for using Wikipedia in creative ways in the classroom".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This partnership could bring huge momentum and scale for the growth of Konkani as participants who graduate from this course will as teachers act as anchors and mentors to teach and assign Wikipedia editing assignments in their respective schools and classrooms.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As Gayathri feels "such courses once fine tuned should be made available to teachers from all over the country and should be part of the package for introducing the digital technology in the school system. Today it ends with setting up computer labls in schools or distribution of hardware to students - they may have a 'computer teacher' but the class and subject teachers never become part of these new initiatives. Only when this happens can we move away from 'teaching computers' to using computers as tools to learn and teach, which is the primary objective of digital technology in schools".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS will develop this open course and welcomes anyone to partner in this effort, which will be made available for anyone to use it within their context. The efforts to build free and open knowledge platforms like Konkani Wikipedia will continue and partnerships like NIE will play a crucial role in building a robust knowledge society in India.<b> </b></p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/nie-steps-in-to-grow-konkani-wikipedia'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/nie-steps-in-to-grow-konkani-wikipedia</a>
</p>
No publishervishnuAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaFeaturedKonkani WikipediaOpennessHomepage2014-10-10T11:26:26ZBlog EntryNew Contexts and Sites of Humanities Practice in the Digital (Paper)
https://cis-india.org/raw/new-contexts-and-sites-of-humanities-practice-in-the-digital-paper
<b>The ubiquitous presence of the ‘digital’ over the couple of decades has brought with it several important changes in interdisciplinary forms of research and knowledge production. Particularly in the arts and humanities, the role of digital technologies and internet has always been a rather contentious one, with more debate spurred now due to the growth of fields like humanities computing, digital humanities (henceforth DH) and cultural analytics. Even as these fields signal several shifts in scholarship, pedagogy and practice, portending a futuristic imagination of the role of technology in academia and practice on the one hand, they also reflect continuing challenges related to the digital divide, and more specifically politics around the growth and sustenance of the humanities disciplines. A specific criticism within more recent debates around the origin story of DH in fact, has been its Anglo-American framing, drawing upon a history in humanities computing and textual studies, and located within a larger neoliberal imagination of the university and academia. While this has been met with resistance from across different spaces, thus calling for more diversity and representation in the discourse, it is also reflective of the need to trace and contextualize more local forms of practice and pedagogy in the digital as efforts to address these global concerns. This essay by Puthiya Purayil Sneha draws upon excerpts from a study on the field of DH and related practices in India, to outline the diverse contexts of humanities practice with the advent of the digital and explore the developing discourse around DH in the Indian context.</b>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This essay was published in <a href="http://iias.ac.in/ojs/index.php/summerhill/article/view/116" target="_blank">Vol 22 No 1 (2016): SummerHill</a>, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Edited by Dr. Bindu Menon. Download the essay <a href="http://iias.ac.in/ojs/index.php/summerhill/article/view/116/99" target="_blank">here</a> (PDF).</p>
<hr />
<h3><strong>Abstract</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The last couple of decades have seen an increasing prevalence of digital technologies and internet in the study and practice of arts and humanities. With the growth of fields like humanities computing, digital humanities (henceforth DH) and cultural analytics, there has been a renewed interest in the increasing role of the ‘digital’ in interdisciplinary forms of research and knowledge production. DH in particular has become a field of much interest and debate in different parts of the world, including in India. Globally, in the last two decades, there have been several efforts to organize the discourse around this field which seeks to explore various intersections between humanities and digital methods, spaces and tools1. But DH also continues to remain a bone of contention, with several perspectives on what exactly constitutes its methodology and scope, and most importantly its epistemological stake.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A specific criticism has been the Anglo-American framing of DH, located within a larger neoliberal imagination of the university and the higher education system at large. As a result, the connection of these two threads—a history of DH located in humanities computing and textual studies and its contextualization within the American university—is often represented as the history of DH. This has been met with resistance from several scholars and practitioners across the world calling for more global perspectives on the field. Drawing upon excerpts from a recently completed study on mapping the field of DH and related practices in India, this essay will attempt to outline the diverse contexts of humanities practice emerging with the digital turn, along with a reading of some of the global debates around DH to understand the discourse around the field in the Indian context.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/raw/new-contexts-and-sites-of-humanities-practice-in-the-digital-paper'>https://cis-india.org/raw/new-contexts-and-sites-of-humanities-practice-in-the-digital-paper</a>
</p>
No publishersneha-ppDigital KnowledgeResearchFeaturedPublicationsDigital HumanitiesResearchers at Work2019-12-06T05:03:33ZBlog EntryNet Neutrality Resources
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/net-neutrality-resources
<b>Submissions by the Centre for Internet and Society to TRAI and DoT, 2015-2017.</b>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/net-neutrality/2015-06-29_PositionPaperonNetNeutralityinIndia" class="external-link">Submission for TRAI Consultation on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-Top Services</a> (June 29, 2015)</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/net-neutrality/2016-01-07_cis_trai-submission_differential-pricing" class="external-link">Submission to TRAI Consultation on Differential Pricing</a> (January 7, 2016)</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/net-neutrality/2016-01-14_cis_trai-counter-comments_differential-pricing" class="external-link">Counter Comments to TRAI on Differential Pricing</a> (January 14, 2016)</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/net-neutrality/trai-consultation-on-differential-pricing-for-data-services-post-open-house-discussion-submission" class="external-link">TRAI Consultation on Differential Pricing for Data Services: Post-Open House Discussion Submission</a> (January 25, 2016)</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-submission-trai-consultation-free-data">Submission to TRAI Consultation on Free Data</a> (June 30, 2016)</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-to-trai-consultation-on-proliferation-of-broadband-through-public-wifi-networks">Submission to TRAI Consultation on Proliferation of Broadband through Public WiFi Networks</a> (August 28, 2016)</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-trai-note-on-interoperable-scalable-public-wifi">Submission to TRAI Consultation Note on Model for Nation-wide Interoperable and Scalable Public Wi-Fi Networks</a> (December 12, 2016)</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/cis-trai-submission-on-net-neutrality">Submission to TRAI Consultation on Net Neutrality</a> (April 18, 2017)</li></ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/net-neutrality-resources'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/net-neutrality-resources</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaFeaturedHomepageNet NeutralityInternet Governance2017-04-22T09:11:21ZPageNegative of porn
https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/law-video-technology/looking-closer-at-porn-with-x-ray-spectacles-savita-bhabhi-mms-video-and-others
<b>The post deals with what has been written about Savita Bhabhi in an attempt to make sense of her peccadiloes and with the seeming futility of Porn studies located in America to our different reality. I take the liberty of exploring my own experiential account of pornography since I feel that in that account (mine and others) when done seriously, certain aspects of pornography emerge that address questions that are about cinema, images, sex, philosophy and how desire works. The title is mischeviously inspired from Dr. Pek Van Andel's recent video of MRI images of people having sex.</b>
<p>Jonathan James McCreadie Lillie in his article “Cyberporn,
Sexuality and the Net Apparatus” while talking about academic engagement with
pornography (by Kipnis, Hunt, Waugh, Kendrick) points to how they share “a
common concern with analysing pornography within the various cultural
constructs and social spaces in which it appears, and in which people encounter
it”. He says that a new agenda for cyberporn research has to acknowledge that
“people have produced pornography in many different forms for many different
purposes, and the reasons why people use it or do not use it, and what meanings
they make of it, are equally diverse”. (1)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lillie points towards cyberporn reception studies – the
home/office terminal as a site of cyberporn reception – as a possible starting
point of further work on cyberporn. My interest is located in how does one
understand your own consumption of internet porn, located as it is in the
context that is not the global North and more specifically not male and not heterosexual.
Attempting to do that through the readings in porn studies (Porn studies,
edited by Linda Williams) (2), or specifically net porn studies (C’lick me –
Net Porn Reader) (3), has not been entirely fruitful though what is talked
about is highly interesting. One of the problems perhaps lies in what Lillie
says about the need for analyzing pornography within the various cultural
constructs and social spaces in which it appears, rather than separate or
floating above them. The Internet does not entirely make protean beings
(cyborgs?) of us after all, and the relevance of porn studies elsewhere can
only be partially relevant to a study here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>[Curiously though the debates within feminism and the
women’s movement around pornography in the global North – the familiar rhetoric
of the causal links between pornography and violence, do have a resonance in
similar debates in the women’s movement here. At a roundtable discussion on the
role of media at the recent Courts of Women organized by Vimochana (4), many of
the sentiments expressed by activists and organizations see a causal link
between explicit sexual material, violence and its direct negative impact on
morals, attitudes and behaviour of people.]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Linda Williams begins the volume on Porn Studies by stating that
there has been a movement from the deadlock of pro-censorship and sex positive
feminist discourse on pornography, to a stage where there is a veritable
explosion of sexual material that is crying out for analysis, and that sexually
explicit imagery is a fixture in popular culture today (obviously referring to
America but to some extent true for other contexts as well). In some ways there
is an attempt amongst academics, intellectuals, journalists and other writers
here to make sense of the pornographic material that has crept into our media
saturated cities. Many recent articles spawned by the ban on Savita Bhabhi
attempt to understand the unleashing of desire around Savita Bhabhi (from a
rock song to unashamed fandom) and to analyse the reasons for the ban or rather
what makes Savita Bhabhi threatening.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Savita Bhabhi, the [porn] [toon] [star] </strong></p>
<p>Itty Abraham undertakes a fairly detailed analysis of what
is happening in twelve episodes of Savita Bhabhi and perhaps unconvincingly
places the crux of the story of Savita Bhabhi on her cuckolded husband, Ashok
(5). He says “Their family life is relentless modern, nuclear, bourgeois, if
also gendered in familiar ways. The couple eats together (and at the same
time), they watch TV together in the evenings, and sleep in the same bed.” For
Abraham, the comic is about “these new sexual possibilities.. that begin from a
new kind of freedom to which the modern urban woman has access”. The article
suggests that we seem to be faced with a choice between the free untrammeled
Savita and her easy occupation of urban spaces protected by an aura of class
and her husband Ashok who is the hard worker earning enough to keep alive
her/our illusion of abundant urban neoliberal existence. Interestingly the
article is not attempting to make a point about pornography in relation to
ideas of culture, tradition, vulgarity or other familiar motifs in the debate
on obscenity.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shohini Ghosh’s article takes on the task to find out what
precisely is so transgressive about Savita Bhabhi (6). Savita Bhabhi is poised
between the family and husband and illegitimate desires (similar to themes in
Charulata, Hum aapke hain kaun). She points that the pleasure of the comic is
not just that there are hard core sexual scenes as much as that the husband or
a similar character cannot look at what you look at. The Indian erotica (or
pornographic text) scene too is replete with tales of incest and transgressions
with domestic workers or servants|maids as they are called in the stories.
Ghosh while acknowledging the harm-violence debate within feminism on
pornography, states that she is anti-censorship – that although it is obvious
that media, images have an impact (otherwise why would they be cause of study)
there is no neat causal link between porn and sexual violence. She ends by
saying that “pornography then is a phantasmatic arena. It does not reflect
people’s ‘real’ sex lives so much as it articulates the desires and aspirations
for imagined ones.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both articles make important linkages to other and pre-existing
debates on neo-liberal agendas, occupation of urban spaces, feminism and
obscenity. Ghosh seems to also be referring to a broader category of Indian porn and the problems posed by it. She also gestures towards the problems that might be posed if Savita Bhabhi were a real person and not a comic, but by and large most journalistic writing/analysis of Savita Bhabhi flattens out the field – asking questions as if comic characters were real persons, and not taking into account aesthetics, technology (mode of delivery) or where and how it is viewed (reception) by people. There is a difference in the way I respond to a comic about sex than to an MMS or hidden camera porn where I am aware of
the ‘realness’ of atleast some aspects of the image I’m looking at.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ‘realness’ raises certain dilemmas – the anxiety is not
as severe and troubled as in the case of Mysore Mallige which is haunted by
urban legends of the couples or only the woman committing suicide, forced
marriage at a police station etc. Nonetheless to encounter the MMS video, when
the woman is looking directly at the camera often so it does not seem like a
hidden camera or non-consensual video, is to acknowledge the taking of pleasure
at the expense of someone else which may or may not bother you, but does render
the activity far more illicit and scary. My feeling of
fear|anxiety|secrecy|aloneness when surfing pornography, whether in the office,
home or anywhere where I can be discovered, is an added layer to the experience
even if the various aspects of violation of privacy, vulnerability of the woman
in the video or the existence of a pornography industry are not uppermost in
the mind when actually viewing the clips. One of the few works done that do
address this complicated set of affects that circulate and attach themselves to
pornography is Bharath Murthy’s film on Mysore Mallige ( the next post will be
on this film and interview with Bharath Murthy). (7)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is why I would insist that the comic is a different
space for a viewer – some things such as anxieties about who this person I’m
looking at is and what happened to her do disappear, while others such as a
comic is bright, colourful and highly visible on my computer screen (for
instance) become more important. It is harder to hide surfing Savita Bhabhi in
an office than reading erotica or even downloading and discreetly watching a
small video. The aspect of how
Savita Bhabhi being a comic/drawn character changes how a viewer relates to the
material is an area of study that needs to be looked at more closely, perhaps
with the help of existing work that looks at the manga, anime, hentaii
phenomenon in Japan and parts of South East Asia.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The makers of Savita Bhabhi were anonymous till the ban and
after what seemed like a rather brief struggle with authority (SaveSavita
campaign on twitter and a blog) they vacated the public scene. As a consequence
of no real contest, the ban persists. But perhaps what is admirable is that
many people have learnt to use tools that allow them to still view Savita (and
to expose them here would be just foolhardy). In an interview online the makers
of Savita Bhabhi state .. “For one, it (comic) is a unique medium in the
context of Indian porn. We’ve had MMS’s, videos, stories, etc, but no porn
comics. Also a comic allows us to explore the fantasy in a much more vivid way
than any other medium.” This fantasy life however cannot be dismissed, as it is
indeed very real, or as they say – “based on real life fantasies of our authors
and fans. They are all something that a normal full blooded Indian male or
female would be fantasizing about on their commute to work or a lazy evening at
home.” In a short interview with the makers of the comic more recently and
subsequent to the ban they said that probably it was Savita Bhabhi’s popularity
that led to her downfall and that they set out to explore Indian sexuality,
which “obviously is a big No”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To return to Lillie’s call for a cyberporn reception studies
perhaps it is time in relation to looking at such material that we step away,
even if briefly, from these debates on feminism, vulgarity and obscenity in
Indian culture and others. In an interview dated 5th September, 2009, Ratheesh
Radhakrishnan says that what needs to be looked at when studying pornography,
is not the questions of Indian culture, religion, roles of women and gender (as
for questions related to obscenity) but the aesthetics of pornography. In his
own work Radhakrishnan deals precisely with this question in relation to the
category of ‘soft porn’ and how Shakeela becomes a star through soft porn
cinema – a star not entirely governed by the narrative of the film but
seemingly existing beyond the limit of the film itself. (8) By doing this, his
work deals with the question of how desire works in such films, which perhaps
is one of the more important question to ask about pornography. In the same
interview, he states that there is “something that takes place between the text
and the person watching” and that is what he is interested in.</p>
<p> </p>
<h1>Anti-porn</h1>
<p>Radhakrishnan’s position is interesting in relation to this
project as it opens up questions that are beyond the feminist deadlock on
pornography and also goes beyond rhetoric of the liberating potential of the
explosion of the polymorphous perverse online. The latter is where a lot of
porn studies undertaken in the global North seems to get lost. The breathless
recounting of the pornographic in the everyday, does not help since it becomes
very obvious that any analysis would not be relevant to a vastly different
context in India. (9)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Walter Metz in his article on Open Water (10) challenges the
ethics of porn studies – though he acknowledges that pornography is more a
symptom rather than a cause of anti-social behaviours that it is often linked
to (violent rape, aggressive behaviour, sexism etc.), but still raises the
question as to whether there are significant reasons to put the brakes on a
rabid, radical celebration of the liberating potential of pornography. Metz
talks about the need, within porn studies, to look at the positive and negative
impact of pornography (possibly he would extend that to looking at violent
martial arts film and other strands of cinema/new media).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Metz’s paper as such deals with Open Water as an
anti-pornographic film (here referring to the generic practice of pornography
rather than political positions) and this might be an interesting productive
mode to understand the affect produced by pornography. Though Metz qualifies
that he’s not using pornography as a genre, but rather “as a reading frame. If
one keeps thinking about pornography while watching a non-pornographic film,
what is the resulting interpretation?” Since I haven’t seen the film Open Water
perhaps my interest in such an analysis is misfounded. Metz describes the
frustration depicted in the film Open Water between the audience expectations
for a reasonably good looking, tanned, blonde couple to get-it-on and what
happens to their bodies instead in the open water of the sea and prey to
sharks, is similar to the disjuncture that takes place in one of the films part
of the Destricted project. (11)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Destricted is an interesting artistic|intellectual|new
media|film experiments in the global North around pornography. It is a series
of short films that resulted from an invitation to seven well known artists and
filmmakers to try to respond to sex and especially the phenomenon of
pornography in the contemporary. One of the films Death Valley by Sam
Taylor-Wood borrows from the Biblical tale of Onan and places a man
masturbating in the heaving, throbbing landscape of the Death Valley (the
hottest place in the Western hemisphere where the earth’s crust is constantly
changing and shifting). For precisely 7 minutes and 58 seconds, the protagonist
of the film masturbates uncomfortably without reaching ejaculation and/or
release. The painful un-release of this film, perhaps is meant to be juxtaposed
with the assumed ease of pornography’s answer to desire. However peculiarly it actually
is probably an accurate description of the experiential account of pornography
– of looking, searching, finding, downloading on painfully low speeds, watching
short clips that are blurred, shot only from one angle, badly drawn comics or
looking at largely uninspiring material which is not acquired or found easily.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In some ways the experience of watching either of these
films sounds similar to watching certain kinds of MMS video porn. For instance,
one video was of a couple doing oral sex in a toilet cubicle. The angle of the
camera was from the top and perhaps the intention behind this was to obscure
the faces of the two persons, since only the top of their heads are visible. It
did not seem like the couple were unaware of the video camera, as much as
performing for it almost unwillingly and only if the anonymity was preserved.
The video was low quality and highly blurred, to the point of any features
being indistinct beyond blackness of hair (maybe) and generic skin tone which
could be Indian, Iranian or generic South Asian. The resemblance to the
Destricted video is because again of the time it takes to reach ejaculation –
there is a painfully long uninspiring blowjob sequence. The video remains scary
and leaves one with a feeling of claustrophobia, discomfort and peculiarly
boredom or distance from what is happening. Yet perhaps it is here that the
question of realness and the affect it produces enters again. The question that
intrigues me is whether the affect produced by the video is because
there are certain gestures of the woman that seem recognizable, because she
seems like you (ethnically, racially ofcourse but also in sexual spaces she
occupies and behaviour). After having accomplished the task of coaxing semen
out of the uninspiring penis she is faced with, she folds her legs and speaks
indistinctly. In that moment she seems uncomfortably familiar, like watching a
friend having sex or maybe an aspect of yourself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> It is perhaps
interesting that it is amateur pornography these days that seems to inspire the
most complicated set of affects (unlike the schooled|disciplined and
predictable response to cinema) – shocked recognition of yourself and desire to
see it again, titillation, boredom but yet unwilling to look away, love for
celebrities, pleasure of viewing a body like yours and even sometimes a
recognition that this is what you look like during sex, fear about your own
privacy, disgust for what seems unacceptable and provokes the
moral|visual|auditory sensibilities and contempt for the material and the
people who possibly are genuinely engaged with it. The article on Pam and
Tommy’s video in Porn Studies infact displays these varied affects and
underlines William’s assertion that this bracket of material, behaviour and
practices that get termed pornography/pornographic does indeed deserve
analysis, otherwise a potentially unique and interesting way of understanding
the contemporary would be lost for squeamishness. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There are many aspects of the Minette Hillyer’s
analysis (12) that are specifically relevant only to the American contexts –
the notoriety of both the stars, the pre-existence and glorification of home
videos in most families and the acknowledgement of amateur couple porn as even
a healthy practice, perhaps suggested for couples with dull sex lives. In
India, it was infact unknown people who were catapulted into the public eye with the circulation of their video, online and offline that was later titled Mysore Mallige ; not just
the private spaces, holidays and fucking habits of already-celebrities like Pam
and Tommy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What might be relevant here from Hillyer’s analysis is the
pre occupation with the realness of amateur pornography. The article follows the travels of the Pam and Tommy home video
between different categories/genres, depending on different aspects of its
realness. The video as such, contains scenes from the normal domestic lives of
the stars and a eight minute sequence of sex in an almost fifty minute length
video. So the questions of realness are answered not by the sex in the video,
but the mundane recording of their lives, holidays, house and other details.
This question of what exactly it is – home video or pornography (domestic/private
or pornographic/public) is relevant to questions of legality (for damages upto
90 million dollars), how it circulates (a pornographic video of Pam and Tommy
without the domestic padding perhaps would not be considered real and saleable)
and genre which relates to some aspects of how people respond to the work. Ever since the advent of (cheap) video technology, pornography is rendered less
cinematic and more concerned with the presentational act (of sex) than its
representation (ibid). With MMS videos and hidden camera porn, though questions may no longer be about representation, they are still complicated questions about the aesthetics, reception of pornography and our relation to the technology that delivers it and for me viewing pornography today as only presentational does not help to understand the affects that surround and attach to it. Perhaps many strands of what is
explored in this article can be explored in relation to Mysore Mallige in the
next blog post.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just as I finish this piece, after an interview with Nishant Shah at Center for Internet and Society, another question enters the frame in relation to pleasure, moving it beyond those raised above. Is pleasure now a question that
is less about finding the corporeal thrill through pornography online, as much as
pleasure that comes from simulation and the added rush of simulating cities,
lives, personalities online. And is that pleasure, pornographic?</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>End notes:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>1. Jonathan James McCreadie
Lillie, “Cyberporn, Sexuality, and the Net Apparatus”, <em>Convergence</em> 2004; 10; 43</p>
<p> </p>
<p>2. Williams Linda (ed), <strong>Porn Studies,</strong> Duke University Press, London and Durham, 2004.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>3. Katrien Jacobs, Marije Janssen, Matteo Pasquinelli (eds),
<strong>C’lick Me: A Netporn Studies Reader</strong>,
Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2007.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>4. Courts of Women, Vimochana Bangalore, 27-29 July, 2009.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>5. Itty Abraham, Sex in the Neo-liberal City: On Savita
Bhabhi, Available at The Fish Pond at <a href="http://thefishpond.in/itty/2009/on-savita-bhabhi/#comments">http://thefishpond.in/itty/2009/on-savita-bhabhi/#comments</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>6. Shohini Ghosh, The politics of porn, Himal South Asian
Magazine, September 2009, Vol 22, No. 9.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>7. Bharath Murthy (director), Mysore Mallige, 2007.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>8. Ratheesh Radhakrishnan, “‘The
Mis-en-scene of desire’: Stardom and the case of soft porn cinema in Kerala!”
Unpublished work. Contact author for copy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>9. Bloomingdale's now sells Tom of Finland shirts and
trousers, housewives celebrate their birthdays by piercing their geni- tals,
college students dance naked instead of waiting tables to pay their tuition,
and middle-level managers schedule a session with a dominatrix in their
favorite dungeon after a game of racquetball at their regular health club. From
Joseph W. Slade, Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide,
Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>10. Walter Metz, “Shark
Porn: Film Genre, Reception Studies, and Chris Kentis' Open Water” Film
Criticism, March 22, 2007</p>
<p> </p>
<p>11 Destricted: explicit films, Marina Abramovic, Matthew
Barney, Marco Brambilla, Larry Clark, Gaspar Noé, Richard Prince, Sam Taylor
Wood (directors), 2006.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>12 Minnette Hillyer, “Sex in the suburban: Porn, Home movies
and the Live Action Perofmance of Love in Pam and Tommy: Hardcore and
uncensored”, <strong>Porn Studies</strong>, Duke
University Press, London and Durham, 2004, p.50.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/law-video-technology/looking-closer-at-porn-with-x-ray-spectacles-savita-bhabhi-mms-video-and-others'>https://cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/law-video-technology/looking-closer-at-porn-with-x-ray-spectacles-savita-bhabhi-mms-video-and-others</a>
</p>
No publishernamitaFeaturedArtCensorship2011-08-02T08:35:34ZBlog EntryNational Resource Kit: The Lakshadweep Chapter (Call for Comments)
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-lakshadweep-chapter-call-for-comments
<b>The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Lakshadweep. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Culture is responsible for welfare of persons with disabilities in Lakshadweep. The union territory has an estimated population of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.socialjustice.nic.in/statewisedisabled.php">1678</a> persons with disabilities in a total population of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.census2011.co.in/census/state/lakshadweep.html">64,429</a> people. Lakshadweep implements two schemes under Skill Development & Employment, three schemes under Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation & Recreation and has notified authorities for disability Certification and certifying Organisations & Individuals for Persons with Disabilities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/lakshadweep-chapter.pdf" class="internal-link">Click to download the full chapter</a> (PDF, 187 Kb)</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-lakshadweep-chapter-call-for-comments'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-lakshadweep-chapter-call-for-comments</a>
</p>
No publisheranandiFeaturedAccessibility2014-02-20T10:00:32ZBlog EntryNational Resource Kit : The West Bengal Chapter (Call for Comments)
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-west-bengal-chapter
<b>The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of West Bengal.</b>
<hr />
<p>Note: The chapter is an early draft and will undergo subsequent modifications. We welcome comments and feedback from our readers.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Executive Summary</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The state of West Bengal has issued the West Bengal Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules 1999 to implement the provisions under the central Persons with Disabilities (Protection of Rights, Equal Opportunities and Full Participation) Act 1995.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare is primarily responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities in the state. The government of West Bengal has issued six notifications in education, ten notifications in employment and training, ten notifications in health and rehabilitation, ten notifications in social protection and two notifications in transport for persons with disabilities.</p>
<ul>
<li>Capital: Kolkata</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Population: 91,347,736</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Population of persons with disabilities: 1,847,184 </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Literacy: 77.08%</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>HDI: 0.625 Ranked: 19th (2005 status) </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Department: Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Other authorities: Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/west-bengal-chapter.pdf" class="internal-link">Click</a> to download the West Bengal chapter (PDF, 344 Kb)</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-west-bengal-chapter'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-west-bengal-chapter</a>
</p>
No publisheranandiFeaturedAccessibility2013-11-07T06:19:34ZBlog EntryNational Resource Kit : The Kerala Chapter (Call for Comments)
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kerala-chapter-call-for-comments
<b>The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Kerala. </b>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Note: The chapter is an early draft and will undergo subsequent modifications. We welcome comments and feedback from our readers.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Statistics</h3>
<ul>
<li>Capital: Tiruvananthapuram</li>
<li>HDI Rank: 1<sup>st</sup></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Literacy: 1<sup>st</sup> in India with a literacy of 93.91 per cent</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Population:33,387,677 </li>
<li>Population of Persons with Disability: 2.7 per cent. The district of Malappuram has the highest number of persons with disabilities, followed by Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam.<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1]</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Ministries and Departments</h3>
<ul>
<li>Department of Social Welfare – responsible for protection of rights of persons with disabilities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Directorate of Social Welfare (under Department of Social Welfare) – nodal authority that implements central and state government programmes in Kerala.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Government run Organisations</h3>
<ul>
<li>The Kerala State Handicapped Persons Welfare Corporation</li>
<li>The Commissionerate of Persons with Disabilities</li>
<li>The National Institute of Speech and Hearing</li>
<li>The Central Social Welfare Board</li>
</ul>
<h3>Legal Provisions</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Kerala does not have a legislation specifically for persons with disabilities in the state but implements the central legislation – the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. The state also issues various schemes, policies and notifications for persons with disabilities. The Department of Social Welfare has implemented some central and state schemes for persons with disabilities in the state,<a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2]</a> while some schemes are being implemented by the Kerala State Handicapped Persons Welfare Corporation (KSHPWC).<a href="#fn3" name="fr3">[3]</a> These are listed below under various categories as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Accessibility</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Department of Local Self Governance vide G.O. (MS) No.41/11/LSGD, Thiruvananthapuram, dated 14/02/2011 have issued rules for housing which also include special provisions for accommodation of the requirements of persons with disabilities. These include provision of ramps, lifts, convenient parking slots and removal of architectural barriers.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Personal mobility</li>
</ul>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Persons with disabilities with a regular and reasonable income and having to travel regularly on work are given a subsidy of Rs. 2000 linked with bank loan for procuring motorised tricycles / vehicles.<a href="#fn4" name="fr4">[4]</a></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">KSHPWC supplies aids and appliances every three years to Persons with Disabilities with annual income less than Rs. 60,000 (see note 3). These include: artificial limbs, tricycles, wheelchairs, callipers, crutches, hearing aids, white canes, colostomy bags, etc. The beneficiaries are selected at medical camps held at district, block and panchayat levels.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Subsidy of Rs.10,000 is provided by KSHPWC to each self-employed young disabled person for procuring motorized tricycle upon applying in the proper format with attested copies of original bill, registration and insurance documents, and photographs (see note 3).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Education</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Through the Kerala Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010, the government provides free and compulsory education for children with disabilities until the age of 18. The rules also provide for inclusive education, special schools for severely disabled children, learning aids and appliances, training for special teachers and vocational training for children with disabilities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Three seats are reserved for persons with disabilities in arts and science colleges and engineering colleges, nine seats are reserved in polytechnic colleges, five seats are reserved in ITIs, five per cent seats are reserved in junior technical colleges and 25 per cent seats are reserved for teachers in special schools (see note 4).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Scholarships are given to children with disabilities where annual income of parents is less than Rs. 24,000 at Rs. 30 per month for children in classes I – IV and Rs. 45 per month for children in classes V – VIII. For students in higher classes, scholarships are provided for day scholars and residential students with special allowance for readers. In addition to the scholarships, students with orthopaedic impairment are given Rs. 25 per month for maintenance of prosthetic / orthopaedic aids (at the recommendation of the head of the institution) and Rs. 50 per month as transportation allowance (see note 4).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Children with mental disabilities where the annual income of parents is less than Rs. 24,000 are given scholarships upto the age of 21 at the scale of Rs. 60 per month with dress allowance of Rs. 40 and school requisite allowance (see note 4).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The government runs two vocational training centres for persons with disabilities at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode (see note 4).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Students with Disabilities who top their districts in the categories of Orthopaedic disability, speech and hearing impairment, visual impairment and mental retardation; in the SSLC and Higher Secondary exams are awarded <b>Rs. 2,500 each</b>. Awards of <b>Rs. 5000</b> are given to state rank holders in the above categories (see note 3).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Health: Details of policies / schemes for health unavailable.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Rehabilitation: The state runs community based rehabilitation programmes and vocational training centres for persons with disabilities (see note 2).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Employment: The state provides three per cent reservation in classes I, II (videG.O. (RT) No. 291/2012/SWD dated, Thiruvananthapuram 20<sup>th</sup> June 2012)<b>, </b>III and IV (vide G.O. (P)No.20/98/P&ARd dated, Thiruvananthapuram, 14 July, 1998) of state government jobs and PSUs. Three per cent reservation is also provided on part-time contingency posts and one per cent worker class vacancies in the government, corporations and companies are reserved for persons with disabilities (see note 4).</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">An age relaxation of ten years on the upper age limit is provided to persons with disabilities for applying to government jobs. Upto 10 grace marks can be given to persons with disabilities at the discretion of the Public Service Commission for direct recruitment to various posts except those that are specifically excluded (see note 4).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Persons with disabilities are allowed a special casual leave of 15 days for treating an illness that is directly connected with their disability vide G.O. (P) 249/84/Fin. Dated 9–5–84.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Loans for self employment are being given to persons with disabilities by banks through KSHPWC for setting up self employment programmes. A subsidy of Rs. 2000 linked with the bank loan is given to each beneficiary (see note 4).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">KSHPWC channelizes loans from the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation to Persons with Disabilities at low interest rates for self-employment. Applicants must have at least 40 per cent disability and their family income should not exceed Rs. 3,00,000 for rural and Rs. 5,00,000 for urban applicants (see note 3).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">KSHPWC runs the following commercial units to provide employment to persons with disabilities (see note 4): Sowbhagya Department Store – Thiruvananthapuram, Sowbhagya Department Store – Kozhikode, Sowbhagya Extension Counter, MLA Quarters – Thiruvananthapuram, Photocopier Unit, MLA Quarters – Thiruvananthapuram, and Envelope Making Unit – Thiruvananthapuram.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">KSHPWC together with the Kerala State Lotteries Department implements the scheme through which disabled persons are identified throughout the state for undertaking agency for Lottery tickets and are given financial assistance of Rs. 5,000 for purchase and sale of lottery tickets.</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Social Protection</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Persons with disabilities in the categories of vision impaired, hearing impaired and orthopaedically disabled whose annual family income does not exceed Rs.3,600 are given a disability pension of Rs.85 per month.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Conveyance allowance of Rs.100 for vision impaired and locomotor disabled employees of aided schools and government departments and Rs.50 for part time employees are given vide G.O.(P) No. 521/87/Fin, dated 15.6.87.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Free travel facility is provided to the vision impaired on buses and boats and for the locomotor disabled on buses. Persons with 50 per cent or more locomotor disabilities are given 70 per cent concession on private buses to travel upto 40 kilometres (see note 4). </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A distress relief fund has been created for persons with disabilities vide G.O. (MS) No. 4/95/SWD dated 24/1/95. A maximum amount of Rs. 2000 can be given for a case in a financial year and the amount can be extended to Rs. 8000 in exceptional cases. Persons with disabilities whose annual income does not exceed Rs. 12,000 can claim financial assistance for the following reasons (see note 4): for medical treatment including surgery, disability incurred due to an accident, any other purposes not covered by existing schemes for persons with disabilities, grant by the government under the grant-in-aid to persons with disabilities under the Deendayal Disabled Scheme (see note 2).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Under the Rajiv One Million Housing Scheme (see note 4), one per cent of the houses constructed for the economically backward class have been reserved for persons with disabilities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">KSHPWC operates a scheme for children who are below 8 years of age and have 60 per cent or more disability and whose parent’s have an annual income of less than Rs.60,000, the corporation deposits an amount of Rs. 15,000 for boys and Rs.20,000 for girls. The fund under this scheme is released after the child attains the age of 18 years for self-employment or marriage or as per requests after assessing the case. (see note 3).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A scheme run by the state offers marriage assistance to women with disabilities and to daughters of Persons with Disabilities (see note 2).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">KSHPWC runs an old-age home for persons with disabilities at Parassala (see note 3).</li>
</ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<ul>
<li>Miscellaneous</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">State awards of Rs. 3000 per head are given to outstanding and efficient employees among persons with disabilities (see note 4)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Persons with disabilities are exempted from professional tax and road tax. They are given an additional income tax exemption of Rs. 5000 (see note 4).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The state also gives grant-in-aid for voluntary organisations running homes for the disabled and financial assistance for advocates with orthopaedic or visual impairment (see note 2).</li>
</ol>
<h3>Government Orders</h3>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Category</th><th>Headline</th><th>Issuing Authority</th><th>Number & Date</th><th>Briefs</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Employment</td>
<td>Public Services Reservations for Physically Handicapped Persons – three per cent reservation for Class III and Class IV posts</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Advice) Department</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">G.O. (P)No.20/98/P&ARD<br />Dated, Thiruvananthapuram, <br />14 July, 1998<br /><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Orders issued for a maximum of 50 appointments each in the categories of subordinate service, last grade service and part-time contingent service being set apart every year for the appointment of persons with disabilities to the public services.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span>Employment</span> </td>
<td>Reservation of three per cent vacancies in Class I and II posts in Public Services for appointment of physically disabled persons – post of Assistant Engineer (Civil), Public Works Department – eligibility for full participation in the selection process and appointment in respect of certain categories of physically disabled persons – clarified orders</td>
<td>Social Welfare Department</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>G.O. (RT) No. 291/2012/SWD.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>Dated, Thiruvananthapuram 20<sup>th</sup> June 2012</span></p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">This order has been issued in clarification to earlier orders issued for identification of posts for Persons with Disabilities.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span>Building construction</span> </td>
<td><span>Kerala Panchayat Building Rules 2011</span> </td>
<td><span>Local Self Governance Department</span> </td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal">G.O. (MS) No.41/11/LSGD Dated, Thiruvananthapuram 14/02/2011.</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Notification has been issued to regulate building construction. Provides for accessibility and elimination of architectural barriers.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>Special Schools and Vocational Training Centres</h3>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<ul>
<li><span><span><span> </span></span></span><span>Centre for Training and Rehabilitation of the Mentally Retarded, Thiruvananthapuram</span></li>
<li><span>Adarsha Rehabilitation Institute for Spastics and Neurologically Impaired, Kochi</span></li>
<li><span>Asha Niketan, Kozhikode</span></li>
<li><span>Jagathy Government School for the Blind, Thiruvananthapuram</span></li>
<li><span>Jagathy Government BHSS for the Deaf, Thiruvananthapuram</span></li>
<li><span>Kunnamkulam GS for the Blind, Kunnamkulam, Thrissur</span></li>
<li><span>Kunnamkulam GS for the Deaf, Kunnamkulam, Thrissur<br /></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Non Governmental Organisations for Persons with Disabilities</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">National Association of the Blind, Thiruvananthapuram</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Kerala Federation of the Blind, Thiruvananthapuram</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Kerala Institution of the Blind, Thrissur</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">All Kerala Association of the Deaf, Thrissur</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Kerala Government Deaf Employees Union</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Association for the Welfare of the Handicapped, Kozhikode</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Kerala State Physically Handicapped Employees Association</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kerala-chapter-call-for-comments'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kerala-chapter-call-for-comments</a>
</p>
No publisheranandiFeaturedAccessibility2013-11-07T06:20:04ZBlog EntryNational IPR Policy Series: RTI Requests by CIS to DIPP + DIPP Responses
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-rti-requests-by-cis-to-dipp-dipp-responses
<b>In earlier blog posts, we have discussed the development of India’s National IPR Policy (“the Policy”); comments by the Centre for Internet and Society (“CIS”) to the IPR Think Tank before the release of the first draft of the Policy and CIS’ comments to the IPR Think Tank in response to the first draft of the Policy. Continuing our National IPR Policy Series, this article documents our requests to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (“DIPP” / “the Department”) under the Right to Information (“RTI”) Act, 2005 and the responses of the Department.</b>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-dipp-response.pdf" class="external-link">View the PDF here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Details of RTI Requests Filed by CIS</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In February, 2015, <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/rti-requests-dipp-details-on-constitution-and-working-of-ipr-think-tank">CIS had filed three RTI requests</a> with the DIPP. <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-rti-request-to-dipp-number-1-february-2015/view">The first request</a> was four-pronged, seeking information related to <i>first,</i> the process followed by the Department in the creation of the IPR Think Tank; <i>second, </i>details and documents of a meeting held to constitute the Think Tank; <i>third, </i>details and documents of all/multiple meetings held to constitute the Think Tank; <i>fourth</i>, details of a directive/directives received from any other Government Ministry/authority directing the constitution of the Think Tank and <i>fifth,</i> the process of shortlisting the members of the Think Tank by the DIPP.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-rti-request-to-dipp-number-2-february-2015/view">In our second RTI request,</a> <i>first,</i> we requested details of the process followed by the Think Tank in the formulation of the Policy; <i>second, </i>we requested all documents relating to a meeting held for the formulation of the Policy; <i>third, </i>we requested all documents held for multiple meetings for the creation of the Policy and <i>fourth,</i> we requisitioned all suggestions and comments received by the Think Tank from stakeholders <b>before</b> the release of the Policy, that is, those suggestions/comments received in November, 2014.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In our <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-request-to-dipp-3.pdf" class="external-link">third RTI request</a>, also filed on also filed in February, 2015, we had asked the DIPP to indicate all suggestions and comments received by the IPR Think Tank from different stakeholders in response to the first draft of the National IPR Policy (to have been submitted on or before January 30, 2015 <a href="http://dipp.nic.in/English/acts_rules/Press_Release/pressRelease_IPR_Policy_30December2014.pdf">as per DIPP’s Public Notice</a>).</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Responses by DIPP to CIS' RTI Requests</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The DIPP replied to our three RTI requests in multiple stages. At first, <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dipp-response-improper-payment.pdf" class="external-link">in a letter dated 12 February, 2015</a>, we were directed to resubmit our application , seemingly because we hadn’t addressed the Postal Money Order to the correct authority, and were directed to do the same. Funnily enough, we received three other responses – one for each of our RTI requests (the first of these is not dated; the second one is dated 19 February, 2015 and then revised to 26 February, 2015; and the third is also dated 26 February, 2015).</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The First Response: On the Constitution of the Think Tank</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dipp-response-1.pdf" class="external-link">first of their responses</a> to these requests, the Department has grouped our queries into five questions and provided a point-wise response to these questions, as under:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>Please indicate in detail the process followed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for the constitution for an IPR Think Tank to draft the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy under Public Notice No. 10 (22)/2013 –IPR-III dated November 13, 2014 (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In its response the Department notes that it convened an <i>interactive meeting on IPR issues</i> which was chaired by the Minister for Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge), i.e., Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman. As per the Department’s response, this meeting was held on 22 September, 2014 (<b>“the Meeting”</b>) and was aimed at discussing <i>issues related to IPRs, including finalization of the Terms of Reference for IPR Think-Tank proposed to be established </i>(sic.) The Department also notes that <i>representatives from various Ministries/Departments, Member of various Expert Committees constituted by the Department, besides IP experts and other Legal Practitioners</i> (sic) were invited to the meeting. The Department then states that the composition of the Think Tank was decided <i>on the basis of the discussions held in the department after the said interactive Meeting</i> (sic).</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>If there was a meeting held to decide on the same, please include all necessary documents including the minutes of the meeting, records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinion, advices, press releases, circulars, orders etc in which the constitution of the aforesaid mentioned IPR Think Tank was decided (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department has attached the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 September, 2014 (<b>“the Minutes”</b>) and states that there were no documents or papers that were circulated at this meeting and that the participants were asked to present their views on various IP issues at this meeting.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>Excerpts from the Minutes</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Secretary of the Department (Shri Amitabh Kant) refers to a (then) recent announcement made by the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry (<b>“the Minister”</b>) on the formulation of the National IPR Policy and the establishment of an IPR Think Tank and states that the meeting had been convened to <i>discuss on various IPR issues with IP experts and legal practitioners so that it would provide essential inputs to the policy needs of the department</i> (sic). The Minutes report that Mr. Kant further stated that the objective of the department was to have <i>a world class IP system</i> and that this included a comprehensive National IPR Policy and <i>which takes care of various issues like IP creation, protection, administration and capacity building </i>(sic). He is also reported to have said that such a stakeholder interaction was important for the government to seek inputs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Minister is reported to have said that the purpose of the meeting was to constitute an IP Think Tank that would <i>regularly provide inputs to all IP policy needs of this department as well as advice government in disparate legal aspects (sic). </i>The Minutes also report her to have said that the department would finalize an IP policy within ninety days of the Meeting, based on the inputs of the participants.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">According to the Minutes, various issues emerged from the discussion. <i>Inter alia, </i>these include <i>first,</i> that the proposal to constitute the Think Tank was a welcome measure, along the lines of similar initiatives taken by Australia, South Kora, the United Kingdom and the United States of America; <i>second, </i>that in order to remove misconceptions held by <i>foreign stakeholders</i> about IP enforcement in India, there was a need to highlight judgments of Indian courts that were favorable to <i>foreign stakeholders and MNCs</i>; <i>third, </i>that the national policies on telecom, manufacturing and IP ought to be integrated; <i>fourth</i>, that the focus of the Policy should be <b><i>increase in creation of IP including commercialization of IP and strengthening human capital and IP management</i></b> and <i>fifth</i>, that empirical studies should be conducted to examine the feasibility of Utility Models protection, that there was a need to revise the law on Geographical Indications and that the Policy should include protection for traditional knowledge and guidelines for publicly funded research.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Minister is then said to have identified six major areas during the discussion, including <i>IP institution, legislation, implementation, public awareness, international aspects and barriers in IP growth</i> as areas to be covered under the Policy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>Who attended the Meeting?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Attached with the Minutes was also a list of participants who attended the Meeting. Out of the thirty six attendees, <i>I have not been able to locate a single individual or organization representing civil society</i>. Participants include representatives from various government departments and ministries, including <i>inter alia,</i> the DIPP, the Department of Commerce, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Copyright Division from the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks and the Ministry of Culture. The Meeting was also attended by representatives of corporations and industry associations, including FICCI, CII and Cadila Pharmaceuticals; in addition to representatives from law firms including Luthra and Luthra, K&S Partners and Inventure IP and academics including, <i>inter alia,</i> faculty from the Asian School of Business, Trivandrum, Indian Law Institute, Delhi, Tezpur University, Assam, National Law University, Delhi, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>If there were multiple meetings held for the same please provide all necessary documents including the minutes of all such meetings, records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders etc. for all such meetings held (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department answered, “No”; which I’m taking to mean that there weren’t other meetings held for the formulation of the Think Tank or the Policy. This is interesting, because the Minutes (referred to earlier) speak of another inter-ministerial meeting <i>including IP experts and legal practitioners</i> slated to be held around the 10<sup>th</sup> of October, 2014, to discuss the framework of the Policy.</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><b>If a directive or directives were received by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion from any other government body to constitute such a think tank, please provide a copy of such a directive received by the DIPP from any Government authority, to constitute such a Think Tank (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department answered, “No”; which I’m taking to mean that there was no communication received by the Department to constitute this Think Tank.</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><b>Please indicate in detail the process of shortlisting the members of the IPR Think Tank by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion or any other body that was responsible for the same (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department replied that the answer to this was the same as that to the first question.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The Second Response: The Drafting of the Policy</h3>
<p>The <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dipp-response-2.pdf/" class="external-link">second of the Department's responses</a> to our requests came in the form of separate responses to each of our four questions, as under:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Please indicate in detail the process followed by the IPR Think Tank constituted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion via Public Notice No. 10 (22)/2013-IPR-III dated November 13, 2014 while framing the first draft of the National IPR Policy dated Dec. 19, 2014 (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department stated that the IPR Think Tank conducted its meetings independently without any interference from the Department. The Department then stated that the Think Tank had received comments from stakeholders via a dedicated email id and <i>conducted the interactive meeting with stakeholders while framing the draft on the National IPR Policy.</i></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>If there was a meeting held to decide on the same, please include all necessary documents including the minutes of the meeting, records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinion, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, suggestions etc. related to drafting of such National IPR Policy Think Tank chaired by Justice Prabha Sridevan (sic). </b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Department replied that since the IPR Think Tank had decided <i>its process by themselves</i> (sic), the Department<i> do not have the minutes of the meeting etc. conducted by the IPR Think Tank </i>(sic). It attached with its reply a copy of the press releases announcing the composition of the Think Tank and asking stakeholders to submit comments to the first draft of the Policy.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>If there were multiple meetings held for the same, please provide all necessary documents including the minutes of all such meetings, records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, order suggestions etc. for all such meetings held (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p>The Department replied that the response to this was the same as that to the earlier question above.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>Please provide all the suggestions and comments received by the IPR Think Tank from stakeholders after the DIPP issued Public Notice No. 10/22/2013-IPR-III dated 13.11.2014 asking for suggestions and comments on or before November 30, 2014 (sic).</b></li>
</ul>
<p>The Department replied that the comments and suggestions were received by the Think Tank directly and that therefore, the Department was <i>not in a position to provide the same.</i></p>
<h3>The<i> </i>Third Response: Stakeholder Comments</h3>
<p>In its <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dipp-response-3.pdf" class="external-link">third and final response</a> to our requests, the DIPP replied to our query as under:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>Please indicate all the suggestions and comments received by the IPR Think Tank by different stakeholders on or before January 30, 2015 on its first draft of the National Intellectual Property Policy submitted by the IPR Think Tank on December 19, 2014.</b></li>
</ul>
<p>The Department said that <i>the suggestions and comments on the draft on National IPR Policy have been received by the IPR Think Tank directly. As such this Department is not in a position to provide the same (sic.).</i></p>
<h3>Observation on the DIPP's Responses</h3>
<p><i>Prima facie, </i>the responses by the Department are rather curious, leading to a range of oddities and unanswered questions.</p>
<h3>Who Will Watch the IPR Think Tank</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In its response to our first RTI request, the Department quite clearly stated that it decided the composition of the IPR Think Tank based on discussions in a meeting that it convened, which was also chaired by the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, the parent ministry of the DIPP. In the same response, the Department also stated that it had not received any directive from any other ministry/government department directing the constitution of the IPR Think Tank, leading to the conclusion that this decision was taken by the DIPP/the Ministry of Commerce and Industry itself. Subsequently however, the Department justified its refusal to furnish us with documents leading to the development of the first draft of the National IPR Policy (contained in our second RTI request) by stating that the IPR Think Tank conducted its business without any interference from the Department, and that the Department did not have access to any of the submissions made to the IPR Think Tank or any of the internal minutes of the meetings etc. that were a part of the process of drafting the IPR Policy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Various press releases by the DIPP have stated that it has constituted the IPR Think Tank, and that the purpose of the IPR Think Tank <a href="http://dipp.nic.in/English/acts_rules/Press_Release/ipr_PressRelease_24October2014.pdf">would be to advise the Department on IPR issues.</a> Visibly, the Department intends for the IPR Think Tank to play an active role in shaping India’s IP law and policy, including suggesting amendments to laws wherever necessary. It is concerning therefore that on the question of accountability of the IPR Think Tank, the DIPP remains silent. It may be argued perhaps, that the IPR Think Tank constitutes a ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h)(d) of the <a href="http://righttoinformation.gov.in/rti-act.pdf">Right to Information Act, 2005</a> (<b>“RTI Act”</b>). In that case, the IPR Think Tank would have to fulfill, <i>inter alia,</i> all of the obligations under Section 4 of the RTI Act as well as designate a Public Information Officer. Alternatively, given that the IPR Think Tank has been constituted by the DIPP and performs functions for the DIPP, the Public Information Officer of the DIPP would have to furnish <span>all</span> relevant information under the RTI Act (including the information that we sought in our requests, which was not provided to us).</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Who are the Stakeholders</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Even a preliminary look at the list of participants at the Meeting (based on which the Department constituted the IPR Think Tank) reveals that not all stakeholders have been adequately represented. I haven’t been able to spot any representation from civil society and other organizations that might be interested in a more balanced intellectual property framework that is not rights-heavy. The following chart (based on a total sample size of 36 participants, as stated in the list of participants provided to us by the DIPP) will help put things in perspective.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Meeting.png" alt="Meeting" class="image-inline" title="Meeting" /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">What Could've Been Done?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Setting aside arguments on its necessity, let us for the moment assume that this drafting of the National IPR Policy is an exercise that needed to have been undertaken. We must now examine what might possibly be the best way to go about this.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In 2014, the World Intellectual Property Organization (<b>“WIPO”</b>) (based on whose approach the Policy seems to have been based- at least in part), produced a detailed <a href="http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/958/wipo_pub_958_1.pdf">Methodology for the Development of National Intellectual Property Strategies</a>, outlining a detailed eight step process before a National IP Policy was implemented in a Member State. While this approach is one to be followed by the WIPO and might not be entirely suited to India’s drafting exercise, specific sections on the national consultation process as well as the drafting and implementation of national intellectual property strategies might prove to be a decent starting point.</p>
<p>(More on this in an upcoming article).d</p>
<h3>Where Do We Go From Here?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The DIPP’s responses have left me with more questions, probably the subject of more RTI requests. Is the IPR Think Tank a public authority for the purposes of the Right to Information Act, 2005? To whom should questions of informational accountability of the IPR Think Tank be addressed, if there is no information available on the IPR Think Tank, and the DIPP claims to have no access to it? Do we need to re-examine the draft National IPR Policy given that there has been inadequate representation of all stakeholders? What were the suggestions made by different stakeholders, and (how) have these been reflected in the first draft of the Policy? Was there an evaluation exercise conducted before the first draft of the Policy was released in order to better inform the formulation of the Policy?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We will be looking at these and other questions as they arise, and sending some of these to the DIPP in the form of RTI requests. (Watch the blog for more).</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-rti-requests-by-cis-to-dipp-dipp-responses'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-rti-requests-by-cis-to-dipp-dipp-responses</a>
</p>
No publishernehaaAccess to KnowledgePervasive TechnologiesDIPPRTINational IPR PolicyAccountabilityFeaturedIPR Think TankHomepage2015-04-26T08:47:00ZBlog EntryNational IPR Policy Series : CIS Comments to the First Draft of the National IP Policy
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-cis-comments-to-the-first-draft-of-the-national-ip-policy
<b>The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India invited comments on the First Draft of India's National IPR Policy. The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) made this submission. The comments were prepared by Nehaa Chaudhari, Pranesh Prakash and Anubha Sinha. We also thank our intern, Varnika Chawla for her assistance.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The press release from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in which it invited comments is <a class="external-link" href="http://www.dipp.nic.in/English/acts_rules/Press_Release/pressRelease_IPR_Policy_30December2014.pdf">here</a>. The First Draft of India's National IPR Policy is <a class="external-link" href="http://www.dipp.nic.in/English/Schemes/Intellectual_Property_Rights/IPR_Policy_24December2014.pdf">here</a>. Click to <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-comments_first-draft-of-national-ipr-stategy.pdf" class="external-link">view the PDF</a>. Note: <i>In some places there might be references to paragraph/page numbers (of the document) and for that readers should refer to the PDF since the formatting in HTML is slightly different</i>.</p>
<hr />
<ol type="I"> </ol>
<h2 align="JUSTIFY">Preliminary</h2>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">This submission presents comments from the Centre for Internet and Society, India (<b>"CIS"</b>)<a href="#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a> on the proposed National Intellectual Property Rights Policy <b>("the Policy") </b>to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.<b>("DIPP"</b>).</li>
<li>This submission is made in response to the requests and suggestions from stakeholders sought by the DIPP in its Press Release. <a href="#sdfootnote2sym" name="sdfootnote2anc"><sup>2</sup></a> </li>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY">CIS commends the DIPP for this initiative, and appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the National IPR Policy. CIS' comments are as stated hereafter.</p>
<hr />
</li>
</ol> <ol type="I"> <ol> </ol></ol>
<h3 align="JUSTIFY">About CIS</h3>
<ol type="I">
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS<a href="#sdfootnote3sym" name="sdfootnote3anc"><sup>3</sup></a> is a non-profit research organization that works on among others, issues of intellectual property law reform,<a href="#sdfootnote4sym" name="sdfootnote4anc"><sup>4</sup></a> openness,<a href="#sdfootnote5sym" name="sdfootnote5anc"><sup>5</sup></a> privacy, freedom of speech and expression and internet governance,<a href="#sdfootnote6sym" name="sdfootnote6anc"><sup>6</sup></a> accessibility for persons with disabilities,<a href="#sdfootnote7sym" name="sdfootnote7anc"><sup>7</sup></a> and engages in academic research on digital humanities<a href="#sdfootnote8sym" name="sdfootnote8anc"><sup>8</sup></a> and digital natives. <a href="#sdfootnote9sym" name="sdfootnote9anc"><sup>9</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is an accredited Observer<a href="#sdfootnote10sym" name="sdfootnote10anc"><sup>10</sup></a> at the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO"), enabling us to attend formal meetings of member states and participate in debates and consultations on various issues. CIS has been attending meetings of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights since 2010. At these sessions, CIS has actively participated through various interventions, emphasizing the adoption of an approach balancing the rights holders' perspective with public interest. CIS has also attended sessions of some other committees at WIPO, made interventions wherever applicable, produced reports of these meetings, and profiled the work of other non-governmental organizations engaging in similar work on intellectual property law and policy reform. <a href="#sdfootnote11sym" name="sdfootnote11anc"><sup>11</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS undertakes research in other fields of intellectual property, in addition to WIPO-related work. Over the past five years since our inception, some of our key research has included analyses of intellectual property issues of the proposed Indo-EU Free Trade Agreement<a href="#sdfootnote12sym" name="sdfootnote12anc"><sup>12</sup></a> and other free trade agreements,<a href="#sdfootnote13sym" name="sdfootnote13anc"><sup>13</sup></a> the US Special 301 Report,<a href="#sdfootnote14sym" name="sdfootnote14anc"><sup>14</sup></a> the (2010) amendment to the Copyright Act, 1957,<a href="#sdfootnote15sym" name="sdfootnote15anc"><sup>15</sup></a> the (draft) Science, Technology and Innovation Policy,<a href="#sdfootnote16sym" name="sdfootnote16anc"><sup>16</sup></a> parallel importation, <a href="#sdfootnote17sym" name="sdfootnote17anc"><sup>17</sup></a> the (draft) Patent Manual and the subsequent Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions,<a href="#sdfootnote18sym" name="sdfootnote18anc"><sup>18</sup></a> royalty caps,<a href="#sdfootnote19sym" name="sdfootnote19anc"><sup>19</sup></a> copyright exceptions and limitations for education, <a href="#sdfootnote20sym" name="sdfootnote20anc"><sup>20</sup></a> and the preparation of the India Report for the Consumers International IP Watch List.<a href="#sdfootnote21sym" name="sdfootnote21anc"><sup>21</sup></a> </li>
</ol>
<h3>Structure of this Submission</h3>
<ol>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY">This submission is divided into 4 parts. The first<i> </i>part gives a preliminary overview of the suggestions submitted by CIS. The second part highlights the principles that should be followed in the formulation of a National IPR Policy, the third part provides detailed comments and recommendations for the National IPR Policy and the last part provides certain concluding remarks.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2 align="JUSTIFY">Principles</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY">The characterization of intellectual property rights may be two-fold - first<i>,</i> at their core, intellectual property rights, are temporary monopolies granted to <i>inter alia,</i> authors and inventors; and <i>second, </i>they are a tool to ensure innovation, social, scientific and cultural progress and further access to knowledge. This dual nature and purpose of intellectual property protection is particularly critical in developing economies such as India. Excessive intellectual property protection could result in stunted innovation and negatively impact various stakeholders.<a href="#sdfootnote22sym" name="sdfootnote22anc"><sup>22</sup></a> It is therefore our submission that the development of the IPR Policy be informed by broader principles of fairness and equity, balancing intellectual property protections with limitations and exceptions/user rights such as those that promote freedom of expression, research, education and access to medicines, cultural rights, data mining, use of governmental works, etc.</p>
</li>
</ol> <ol type="I"> </ol>
<h2>Detailed Comments</h2>
<ol type="I"> </ol> <ol>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY">This section will detail CIS' submissions on various aspects of the National IPR Policy. Submissions have been categorised thematically.</p>
</li>
</ol> <ol type="I"> <ol> </ol></ol>
<h3>On the Vision</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is submitted that the Vision of the National IPR Policy (<b>"Vision"</b>) in encouraging growth for the 'benefit of all' and in accepting the philosophy that knowledge owned 'is transformed into knowledge shared' <a href="#sdfootnote23sym" name="sdfootnote23anc"><sup>23</sup></a> is commendable.However, the vision is at odds with the methods proposed in the document. True advancement in science and technology, arts and culture, protection of traditional knowledge as well as bio-diverse resources and the true sharing of knowledge would be impaired by a system centred only around the development and maximization of intellectual property.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">An attractive social culture would be one where citizens had access to a cornucopia of ideas and information, thereby fostering an environment of cultural diversity, which would enable individuals to shape themselves. Indeed, this is not just an ideal, but is a right recognized under Article 27(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 15 of the .<a href="#sdfootnote24sym" name="sdfootnote24anc"><sup>24</sup></a> However, an IP maximization approach, which the draft stategy seems to embrace, hinders the growth of such a culture, creating a protectionist environment while preventing access to various resources which may be of use for further innovations.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The question of whether IP rights given to innovators are the most effective tools to promote innovation in society has been widely discussed in economics, politics and law, especially in the last four decades.<a href="#sdfootnote25sym" name="sdfootnote25anc"><sup>25</sup></a> Traditional arguments in favour of temporary monopolies incentivising innovation have been effectively questioned as creating monopolies on innovation, contributing to increasing prices and a distorted allocation of resources, inefficiency and a net loss of welfare. <a href="#sdfootnote26sym" name="sdfootnote26anc"><sup>26</sup></a> It has also been effectively established that most innovation is incremental and cumulative, necessitating the access to pre-existing data and works.<a href="#sdfootnote27sym" name="sdfootnote27anc"><sup>27</sup></a> It would be welcome if the huge amount of academic literature on these matter were taken into consideration by the expert group. While intellectual property rights are not <i>per se</i> antithetical to innovation, creativity, and cultural development, an IP-maximalist policy and law has been shown to harm those very objectives.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS therefore submits that the vision of the policy also reflect the commitment to the creation of a holistic and balanced framework of intellectual property rights in the nation with the recognition that an intellectual property-centric system would not necessarily be the best means of promoting creativity, innovation and access, the promotion of which are part of the stated desire of the policy.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Further, we believe that the principles of freedom of expression and of due process of law, both of which are constitutionally-recognized rights in India, should be recognized in the vision as principles that any intellectual property rights regime should respectively seek to promote and respect. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol> <ol type="I"> <ol> </ol></ol>
<h3>On the Mission</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS appreciates the commitment to establish a balanced, dynamic and vibrant intellectual property system in India.<a href="#sdfootnote28sym" name="sdfootnote28anc"><sup>28</sup></a> We recommend that the mission of the policy also include a commitment to<i>foster </i><i>a</i><i>ccess to </i><i>k</i><i>nowledge </i>as well as the commitment to creating a<i>system of intellectual property rights </i><i>which serve the public interest by strengthening </i><i>limitations and exceptions </i> <i>to IP regimes, which are aimed to provide a public interest oriented counterbalance to the monopoly rights granted under IPR laws.</i></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">We believe that preventing unreasonable and disproportionate remedies to IPR law violations are an important part of ensuring that these laws serve the public interest rather than subvert them for purely private interests. This important principle ought to find reflection in the policy's mission statement.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is suggested that in addition to public health, food security and the environment<a href="#sdfootnote29sym" name="sdfootnote29anc"><sup>29</sup></a>, other areas of socio-economic and cultural importance, including <i> inter alia,</i>foundational scientific research, education, disability rights, and access to knowledge, be added as additional areas that warrant special protection , in the mission statement.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is submitted that these commitments are essential to the creation and working of a balanced intellectual property framework that the Policy seeks to achieve. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol> <ol type="I"> <ol> </ol></ol>
<h3>On Objective 1: IP Awareness and Promotion</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The first objective of the Policy lays out a detailed action plan for creating awareness about intellectual property as well as for the promotion of intellectual property. The underlying rationale for this endeavour has been identified on various levels - that there are economic, social and cultural benefits of intellectual property;<a href="#sdfootnote30sym" name="sdfootnote30anc"><sup>30</sup></a> that intellectual property protection accelerates development, promotes entrepreneurship as well as increases competitiveness; <a href="#sdfootnote31sym" name="sdfootnote31anc"><sup>31</sup></a> and that the global regime is one of strongly protected intellectual property rights.<a href="#sdfootnote32sym" name="sdfootnote32anc"><sup>32</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is submitted that the identification of this underlying rationale is not backed by sufficient evidence. These justifications, in their pursuit of a favourable intellectual property regime do not present a balanced picture of all the facts.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Current existing empirical research does not show an unambiguous nexus between the granting of IP rights and an increase in innovation and productivity, as innovation and productivity cannot not identified with the number of patents awarded. <a href="#sdfootnote33sym" name="sdfootnote33anc"><sup>33</sup></a> This can be seen in the US economy, where despite an enormous increase in the number of patents, there has been no dramatic acceleration in technological progress. <a href="#sdfootnote34sym" name="sdfootnote34anc"><sup>34</sup></a> In fact, studies prove the contrary to be true. In the United States, patenting increased drastically over the last few decades, quadrupling from 59,715 patents being issued in 1983, to 244,341 in 2010. However, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, annual growth in the total factor productivity reduced from 1.2% in 1970-79 to below 1% in 2000-09, <a href="#sdfootnote35sym" name="sdfootnote35anc"><sup>35</sup></a> whereas the annual expenditure on research and development saw hardly any change, oscillating in a band of 2.5% of the GDP for over three decades.<a href="#sdfootnote36sym" name="sdfootnote36anc"><sup>36</sup></a> In relatively new industries such as software and biotechnology, still in their nascent stages of development, patenting has been introduced without any positive contributions to innovation. In fact, in their empirical work described in <i>Patent Failure</i> (2008), <a href="#sdfootnote37sym" name="sdfootnote37anc"><sup>37</sup></a> Bessen and Meurer have argued that increased patenting has resulted in decreased social welfare.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Further, no unambiguous connections have been found between innovation and intellectual property rights in academic studies. In a meta-study conducted in 2006,<a href="#sdfootnote38sym" name="sdfootnote38anc"><sup>38</sup></a> Boldrin and Levine observed that there was weak or no evidence which suggested that strengthening the patent regime led to an increase in innovation. Similarly, it was observed by Jaffe that "despite the significance of policy changes and the wide availability of detailed data relating to patenting, robust conclusions regarding the empirical consequences for technological innovations of changes in patent policy are few. There is widespread unease that the costs of stronger patent protection may exceed the benefits. Both theoretical and, to a lesser extent, empirical research suggest this possibility." <a href="#sdfootnote39sym" name="sdfootnote39anc"><sup>39</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In his study of 60 nations over the past 150 years, Josh Lerner concluded that "the impact of patent protection-enhancing on innovation was in fact negative, thereby running counter to assumptions made by economists that incentives affect behavior and that stronger property rights encourage economic growth.<a href="#sdfootnote40sym" name="sdfootnote40anc"><sup>40</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Even in those studies, where support is found for a positive correlation between patents and innovation, it is made clear that this correlation is not applicable to developing and least-developed countries. This, for instance, is the conclusion of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's meta-study titled "The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Technology Transfer and Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence". <a href="#sdfootnote41sym" name="sdfootnote41anc"><sup>41</sup></a></li>
<li>It is crucial that all policy be based on evidence, and not ideology.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Thus, it is submitted that any program that seeks to create awareness about intellectual property must necessarily be one that presents a balanced view, clearly stating all facts and as many diverse opinions as possible; avoiding the current situation where public interest groups and academics are sidelined in favour of rights-holders groups.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS submits that the nation-wide program of promotion on the benefits of intellectual property <a href="#sdfootnote42sym" name="sdfootnote42anc"><sup>42</sup></a> must be based on evidence. Crucially, the importance of the public domain, for which a great deal of evidence exists,<a href="#sdfootnote43sym" name="sdfootnote43anc"><sup>43</sup></a> must highlighted in any such also equally promote the importance the role of limitations and exceptions and clearly identify the issues with the intellectual property system, including the fact that it has not been proven that there is a nexus between intellectual property and innovation. The nation wide program should convey the role of different stakeholders, including libraries and archives, organizations working with persons with disabilities and educational institutions and the negative effects of a rights centric intellectual property system on such important institutions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is important that public-funded research organizations should be engaged in neutral - non-industry funded -research, and not campaigns (as identified in the policy).<a href="#sdfootnote44sym" name="sdfootnote44anc"><sup>44</sup></a> This will help identify the issues of the present intellectual property system as well as the potential for reform, tailored to the Indian context. We have to ensure that campaigns - as with policymaking and pedagogic material - are based on research rather than faith or ideology. It is further submitted that course materials to be created for educational institutions at all levels as well as for online and distance learning programs <a href="#sdfootnote45sym" name="sdfootnote45anc"><sup>45</sup></a> should include a discussion on the drawbacks of a maximalist intellectual property system, a discussion on limitations and exceptions, alternatives to intellectual property, as well as case studies from different parts of the world highlighting the use of intellectual property as well as alternatives in a socio-economic and culture specific environment. Particularly in the case of education institutions as well as online and distance learning mechanisms, which are often faced with great challenges as a result of rights-holders centric intellectual property laws, the irony in promoting a system that only acts to their detriment would be great. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol> <ol type="I"> <ol> </ol></ol>
<h3>On Objective 2: Creation of IP</h3>
<ol type="I"><ol> </ol> </ol> <ol> </ol><ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The second objective of the Policy seeks to stimulate the creation and growth of intellectual property through measures that encourage IP generation.<a href="#sdfootnote46sym" name="sdfootnote46anc"><sup>46</sup></a> This objective seeks to encourage IP generation and creation across various sectors, including the introduction of the system of 'utility models' in India. There are several problems with this objective, primarily that it assumes IP generation is necessarily a means to innovation, whereas it is submitted that the emphasis should be on innovation holistically, including by incentive mechanisms other than IP. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol> <ol> </ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> </ol></ol></ol>
<h3>On the IP-Innovation/ Creativity Nexus</h3>
<ol><ol><ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> <ol> </ol><ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is submitted that similar to the earlier objective relating to the promotion and the creation of awareness about intellectual property, the underlying rationale behind this objective too seems to be the perception that there is a positive correlation between greater amounts of intellectual property and greater innovation, and the belief that intellectual property protection necesarrily promotes innovation. However, there is relatively little research to back this assumption. Illustratively, the following example may be considered. In a study conducted by Heidi L. Williams,<a href="#sdfootnote47sym" name="sdfootnote47anc"><sup>47</sup></a> the sequencing of the human genome was used to provide an empirical context to showcase the deterioration in development due to the presence of IP. It was concluded by Williams that the presence of IP rights in the sequencing of the human genome resulted in reductions in subsequent scientific research and product development by up to 20-30%. <a href="#sdfootnote48sym" name="sdfootnote48anc"><sup>48</sup></a> Williams further observed that "if more socially valuable technologies are more likely to be held with IP, then the welfare costs for the same could be substantial." The presence of intellectual property rights, it is argued, stifles subsequent product development by restricting access to the data or technology required for further development. <a href="#sdfootnote49sym" name="sdfootnote49anc"><sup>49</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Prof. Petra Moser of Stanford has conducted a large volume of research on economic evidence on the linkages between patents and innovation. Her research, which shows that in the 19th century the majority of inventions happened outside the patent system <a href="#sdfootnote50sym" name="sdfootnote50anc"><sup>50</sup></a> indicates that alternative explanations might explain inventions better, including "the importance of a culture of entrepreneurship,<a href="#sdfootnote51sym" name="sdfootnote51anc"><sup>51</sup></a> experimentation,<a href="#sdfootnote52sym" name="sdfootnote52anc"><sup>52</sup></a> the free exchange of knowledge, <a href="#sdfootnote53sym" name="sdfootnote53anc"><sup>53</sup></a> and science.<a href="#sdfootnote54sym" name="sdfootnote54anc"><sup>54</sup></a> In a paper titled, "How do Patent Laws Influence Innovation", she concludes that "I find no evidence that patent laws increased levels of innovative activity but strong evidence that patent systems influenced the distribution of innovative activity across industries."</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Prof. Bryan Mercurio, in a paper written for the World Economic Forum and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, concludes, "The empirical evidence suggests that increasing levels of patent protection have not resulted in increased innovation. Instead, it has limited competition, and increased the cost of business, to the detriment of the world economy. Innovation has also suffered, as increasing protection has inhibited the ability of many firms to innovate." He further recommends that we "conduct further research on the correlation or causal relationship between patents and innovation, including the indirect benefits for innovation that patent protection may provide". Petra Moser notes, "Patent laws that existed in the mid-nineteenth century had been adopted in a relatively ad-hoc manner, dependent more on legal traditions than economic considerations".<a href="#sdfootnote55sym" name="sdfootnote55anc"><sup>55</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The empirical data collected by scholars, as provided above is goes to show that innovation is not necessarily benefitted by stronger patent regimes. Further, even the literature that asserts a positive correlation between the two acknowledge that this doesn't apply to developing countries. In addition, whilepatents may provide revenue to patent owners, it also makes further innovation more costly, thereby discouraging competitors from entering the arena due to high prices, and due to the large number of pre-existing patents. This effect, known as the</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Supreme Court of Canada, has for instance, has on multiple occasions recognized the importance of the public domain. In "2002, Justice Binne, writing for the majority in Théberge v. Galerie d'Art du Petit Champlain inc., stated: 'Excessive control by holders of copyrights and other forms of intellectual property may unduly limit the ability of the public domain to incorporate and embellish creative innovation in the long-term interests of society as a whole (para.32).' Two years later, in CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, Chief Justice McLachlin spoke of the importance that there be 'room for the public domain to flourish as others are able to produce new works by building on the ideas and information contained in the works of others (para. 23).'"<a href="#sdfootnote56sym" name="sdfootnote56anc"><sup>56</sup></a></li>
<li>Lastly, there is even evidence that in multiple sectors - including fashion, finance, font design, and software - lesser IP protection in the form of patents, trademarks, and copyright, actual encourages increased innovation.<a href="#sdfootnote57sym" name="sdfootnote57anc"><sup>57</sup></a></li>
</ol> <ol> </ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> </ol></ol></ol>
<h3>On Utility Models</h3>
<ol><ol><ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> <ol> </ol><ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">On the question of introduction of a new on utility models<a href="#sdfootnote58sym" name="sdfootnote58anc"><sup>58</sup></a> CIS observes that DIPP has previously considered developing a framework for granting Utility Models for 'innovations' and invited suggestions on a discussion paper on the subject.<a href="#sdfootnote59sym" name="sdfootnote59anc"><sup>59</sup></a> Reports <a href="#sdfootnote60sym" name="sdfootnote60anc"><sup>60</sup></a> suggest that Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises are in favour of the Utility Model Protection system in India because developing countries such as China and Korea have demonstrated a corresponding economic growth attributable to the introduction of the system. However, there is no evidentiary data to support this hypothesis. Studies suggest that there exist only correlations and not causal links between heightened innovative activity and implementation of utility model protection. <a href="#sdfootnote61sym" name="sdfootnote61anc"><sup>61</sup></a> Empirical evidence on the role of intellectual property protection in promoting innovation and growth in general remains limited and inconclusive.<a href="#sdfootnote62sym" name="sdfootnote62anc"><sup>62</sup></a> Reports also suggest that in China, the abundance of Utility Model has led to lowering of quality of innovation. <a href="#sdfootnote63sym" name="sdfootnote63anc"><sup>63</sup></a> In Australia, an "innovation patent" - the Australian version of utility model protection - was awarded for a "circular transportation facilitation device", i.e., a wheel. <a href="#sdfootnote64sym" name="sdfootnote64anc"><sup>64</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is this submitted that whether the ushering of a 2nd tier of protection model for lower and incremental innovations would have a positive impact on innovation in India is extremely debatable. There have been several criticisms of utility models, <i>inter alia</i>, explosion in litigation of poor quality patents and legal uncertainty - which impact small business the maximum in terms of costs <a href="#sdfootnote65sym" name="sdfootnote65anc"><sup>65</sup></a>; the system may be more utilised by foreign companies rather than local firms, in which case there is a possibility that this will lead to an increase in a flow of royalties and licensing fees to overseas producers. Utility model rights can be, and have been, used by companies to cordon off entire areas of research. <a href="#sdfootnote66sym" name="sdfootnote66anc"><sup>66</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS submits that as the policy 'intends to harness the full benefits of creation and innovation in the larger interest of society and citizens' <a href="#sdfootnote67sym" name="sdfootnote67anc"><sup>67</sup></a> the introduction of a law on utility models would be antithetical to this objective. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> </ol></ol></ol>
<h3>On Improving IP Output of National Research Laboratories, Universities <i>et al</i><b> </b></h3>
<ol><ol><ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> <ol> </ol><ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Policy seeks to improve the output of national research laboratories, universities and technical institutions, among others.<a href="#sdfootnote68sym" name="sdfootnote68anc"><sup>68</sup></a> It is submitted that these institutions are public funded institutions, <a href="#sdfootnote69sym" name="sdfootnote69anc"><sup>69</sup></a> and in effect, this recommendation of the Policy seeks to therefore promote intellectual property creation in public funded institutions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A significant chunk of research and development occurs at public funded academic and research institutions and, excessive use of IPR as a tool to creating private ownership rights over inventions may preclude use of such innovation by the public. This may also create a barrier to access the best technologies and research- which were funded by taxpayers' money to begin with. CIS supports the principle that IPRs resulting from of publicly funded research should automatically belong to the funder.<a href="#sdfootnote70sym" name="sdfootnote70anc"><sup>70</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Further, it is submitted that there exists a danger of public funded research institutions re-orienting their objectives focus only on areas of commercial value. This may lead to neglect of certain research areas. A stringent policy will create an unfavourable conflict between revenue generation and sharing of public good. The policy must ensure that it is flexible and compensates the inventors whilst permitting public access to research.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS submits that there should be no encumbrances over public funded research and inventions. The Policy must also ensure that such proposed IP creation does not prevent or interfere with dissemination of public funded research. <a href="#sdfootnote71sym" name="sdfootnote71anc"><sup>71</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS strongly supports the recent steps by government agencies (including the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Biotechnology<a href="#sdfootnote72sym" name="sdfootnote72anc"><sup>72</sup></a> as well as other institutions including the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research<a href="#sdfootnote73sym" name="sdfootnote73anc"><sup>73</sup></a>, Indian Council of Agricultural Research<a href="#sdfootnote74sym" name="sdfootnote74anc"><sup>74</sup></a> and Institute of Mathematical Sciences <a href="#sdfootnote75sym" name="sdfootnote75anc"><sup>75</sup></a>) in making scholarly research openly accessible. The benefits of implementing an open access policy with regard to scientific and scholarly works are manifold. Providing open access to scholarly research will ensure percolation of cutting edge research into the society.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is thus submitted that the Policy should adopt a more nuanced, cautious and balanced take on the creation of intellectual property, particularly taking into consideration India's economic status as an emerging economy and our international position. The Policy must recognise that there is no inherent societal merit in the mere creation of intellectual property and that innovation flourishes even in the absence of intellectual property protections. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol>
<h3>On Objective 3: Legal and Legislative Framework</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">According to the Policy, the objective sought to be achieved is the creation of strong and effective laws on intellectual property, consistent with national priorities as well as our international obligations, balancing the interest of the rights holders with public interest. <a href="#sdfootnote76sym" name="sdfootnote76anc"><sup>76</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS fully supports the view that the legislative framework on intellectual property must balance the rights of all stakeholders and be in public interest. CIS is also appreciates the importance of national priorities in the framing of India's legislative framework. CIS also notes with appreciation that the discussion in the Policy reiterates that India's laws are in compliance with the TRIPS Agreement <a href="#sdfootnote77sym" name="sdfootnote77anc"><sup>77</sup></a> as well as the stance that India will continue to utilize the flexibilities available in international treaties as well as the TRIPS Agreement<a href="#sdfootnote78sym" name="sdfootnote78anc"><sup>78</sup></a> while creating its legal framework.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS also supports the acknowledgement of the fact that India's laws need to be updated periodically, depending on various factors.<a href="#sdfootnote79sym" name="sdfootnote79anc"><sup>79</sup></a> CIS fully supports the process proposed for amendments to the law, including,<i>inter alia, </i>the conduction of objective and analytical studies and inputs from various stakeholders. <a href="#sdfootnote80sym" name="sdfootnote80anc"><sup>80</sup></a> It is submitted however, that equal weightage must be given to the inputs from all stakeholders and measures must be taken to ensure that the interests and demands of rights-holders do not outweigh the interests and demands of other stakeholders, particularly those at the other end of the spectrum, who greatly rely on the existence and guarantee of flexibilities, limitations and exceptions to intellectual property. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol>
<h3 align="JUSTIFY">On Utility Models and Intellectual Property in Public Funded Research</h3>
<ol>
<li>The Policy envisages significant changes to India's intellectual property system, including the creation of a law for the protection of utility models as well as introduction of intellectual property in public funded research.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS recommends that it would not be advisable to introduce intellectual property in public funded research as well as cautions against the introduction of a law on utility patents. A detailed submission on these issues has been made earlier in this document, in Section 3.4.3. at page 7 for intellectual property in public funded research as well as in Section 3.4.2. at page 6 on utility models. </li>
</ol><ol> </ol>
<h3 align="JUSTIFY">On the Negotiation of International Treaties and Agreements</h3>
<ol>
<li>CIS commends the recommendation of the Policy that the negotiation of international treaties and agreements will be in consultation with various stakeholders. However, CIS cautions against entering into bilateral or plurilateral international agreements which increase India's IPR obligations beyond our current obligations under multilateral agreements. It was only in 2006 that</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is submitted that FTAs often levy standards which are beyond those found in the TRIPS Agreement, and have thus been criticized. <a href="#sdfootnote81sym" name="sdfootnote81anc"><sup>81</sup></a> A central aspect of this criticism is that TRIPS-plus-FTAs reduce policy space for the implementation of TRIPS flexibilities. This also creates the impression that TRIPS only imposes a "minimum level" of protection, which must be available in all national laws of its Member States, without any apparent limitation to a further extension of such protection or intervention which one country may impose on another. The World Health Organization enunciated that "bilateral trade agreements should not seek to incorporate TRIPS-plus protection in ways that may reduce access to medicines in developing countries.<a href="#sdfootnote82sym" name="sdfootnote82anc"><sup>82</sup></a> Further, WHO members were urged in the Fifty-Seventh World Health Assembly "to take into account in bilateral trade agreements the flexibilities contained in the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and recognized by the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health adopted by the WTO Ministerial Conference."<a href="#sdfootnote83sym" name="sdfootnote83anc"><sup>83</sup></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Furthermore, TRIPS-plus initiatives consequent in the dilution into a bilateral forum, as opposed to the plurality provided in multilateral fora, provided by the TRIPS. The imposition of standards by FTAs may ultimately disturb the balance of rights and obligations which are enshrined in the TRIPS Agreement,<a href="#sdfootnote84sym" name="sdfootnote84anc"><sup>84</sup></a> and also have the potential to constrain the flexibilities provided to Member States in the TRIPS, particularly in areas which are of extreme significance to developing countries, such as transfer of technology, socio-economic development, promotion of innovation, public health and access to knowledge. Furthermore, they also tend to negate decisions which were taken multilaterally such as the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is therefore submitted that the Policy must caution against entering into any international agreement that seeks to enforce TRIPS-plus standards, contrary to India's stance (as noted by the Policy itself) that its laws were compliant with international obligations.</li>
</ol>
<h3 align="JUSTIFY">On Limitations and Exceptions</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is observed that the Policy recommends that laws be enacted to address national needs, <a href="#sdfootnote85sym" name="sdfootnote85anc"><sup>85</sup></a> but the only mentions limitations and exceptions as an area of study for future policy development.<a href="#sdfootnote86sym" name="sdfootnote86anc"><sup>86</sup></a>It is submitted that while it is indeed necessary for further research to be undertaken in the area of limitations and exceptions, it is also critical to enact new laws and amend existing ones to foster a rich environment for limitations and exceptions, in order to achieve a holistic and balanced intellectual property framework. It is further submitted that this would also be in consonance with the objective of the negotiation of international treaties and agreements in consultation with stakeholders.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">While the granting of exclusive rights over intellectual property is considered to be an incentive for further investments into innovative activities and the production of knowledge, allowing the exercise of the full scope of this exclusion in all circumstances may not meet the end goal of the enhancement of public welfare, using the intellectual property system. Therefore, it is essential that an intellectual property system be flexible allowing for certain limitations and exceptions in order to strike a balance between right holders, the public and third parties. The need for such flexibility in the intellectual property system of a country has also been highlighted by the <a href="http://www.wipo.int/patents/en/topics/exceptions_limitations.htm">World Intellectual Property Organization</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is therefore suggested that the Policy include an additional recommendation for the inclusion, adoption and periodic renewal of limitations and exceptions in India's intellectual property laws, either be enacting new legislations or by amending existing legislations wherever applicable. It is further suggested that this recommendation also inform India's negotiations at the international level, where any agreement that India might potentially sign, not invalidate or narrow in any form any limitations and exceptions and provide for their continued exercise in the broadest possible scope and manner.</li>
</ol> <ol> </ol>
<h3 align="JUSTIFY">On Standard Setting</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS commends the Policy's focus on standards in technology and standard setting organisations. CIS strongly supports the adoption of open standards as a measure that helps stimulate active competition amongst implementors of various standards, and thereby encourages innovation. The Department of IT finalized its Policy on Open Standards for e-Governance in 2010,<a href="#sdfootnote87sym" name="sdfootnote87anc"><sup>87</sup></a> and CIS strongly supports this policy, and would encourage it be adopted by all state governments as well.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS strongly recommends developing and supporting the evolution of open standards. The Policy must not encourage use of IPR to limit access to standards, because these are the foundational rules any technology must adhere to enter the market or ensure quality. <a href="#sdfootnote88sym" name="sdfootnote88anc"><sup>88</sup></a> CIS submits that access to these standards must not be limited by making them proprietary through IPR protection. Further, the Policy must support transparent standard setting processes and procedures in national and at international for a for all participants.</li>
<li>CIS further appreciates the endeavor to encourage the development of global standards influenced by technologies developed in India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS submits that it is also important to ensure that India emerges as a global player in the technology sector, not just in the development of indigenous standards, but also in the equally important space of manufacturing using existing standards, particularly in light of the Government's recent "Make In India" and "Digital India" initiatives. It is further submitted however, that in most instances, these standards are protected by patents; where patents essential to a standard would be standard essential patents. CIS suggests that the Policy recommend measures that might be adopted to ensure access to standards essential patents, including, for instance, the establishment of a government aided patent pool. It is submitted that addressing the question of access to standards and not just their development would be a holistic approach that the Policy should adopt.</li>
</ol>
<h3>On Objective 5: Commercialization of IP</h3>
<ol type="I"><ol> </ol> </ol> <ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS appreciates that the Policy seeks to promote licensing and technology transfer for intellectual property, and notes that the Policy also seeks to promote reasonable and non-discriminatory patent pooling to maximise the ability of smaller companies to commercialise IP and bring innovative solutions based on standards to the market.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS believes that the government establishing patent pools for digital technologies will promote access to knowledge and stimulate manufacturing in the information technology and electronics sectors in India, in line with the government's "Make In India" and "Digital India" initiatives. CIS has earlier urged the government to enable access to low cost access devices by establishing a government-aided patent pool of essential technologies, without which there is a high likelihood of such devices getting caught up in the 'patent wars' that have happened elsewhere around the world over smartphones.<a href="#sdfootnote89sym" name="sdfootnote89anc"><sup>89</sup></a> CIS submits that the creation of government-aided patent pools and facilitation of cross-licensing will also be helpful in resolving issues created by patent thickets and gridlocks by reducing transaction costs for licensees and solving an economic cooperation problem.</li>
</ol> <ol type="I"> </ol>
<h2 align="JUSTIFY">Concluding Remarks</h2>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Debabrata Saha, the Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, while speaking on the introduction of the Development Agenda at the World Intellectual Property Organization, with admirable clarity noted, "Let me start on a positive note by asking: with all the damage that TRIPS has wrought on developing countries could it possibly have a silver lining? Maybe - if we want to be generous. TRIPS, one might argue, did bring intellectual property to the forefront of consciousness of people everywhere, and, over time made them aware of the dangers inherent in a protective regime that takes little account of either public policy, or the state of development of a member country." It is thus imperative that when we fashion our public policy, we take account of the dangers he mentioned. He went on to note, "Intellectual property rights have to be viewed not as a self contained and distinct domain, but rather as an effective policy instrument for wide ranging socio-economic and technological development. The primary objective of this instrument is to maximize public welfare." We wholeheartedly support this position of the Indian government, and would encourage the IPR Think Tank to seek to maximize public welfare and creativity and innovation rather than maximizing IPR alone. Importantly, as Mr. Saha, speaking on behalf of the Indian government noted, IP is not an end in itself, contrary to what the current draft of the National IPR Policy seems to promote.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Flexibility is considered to be an essential characteristic in defining and shaping the intellectual property system of countries around the world. Such flexibility allows scope for further innovations and creations, thereby subserving the common good. As per Article 39 of the Constitution of India, "the State shall in particular, direct its policy towards securing that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good." It is therefore submitted that the National IPR Policy of India should be contoured in such a manner that it encourages greater use of exceptions and limitations to the otherwise exclusionary use of intellectual property, encourages the expansion of the public domain, secures proportionality in enforcement of IP rights, promotes alternatives to IP - including open access to scholarly literature, open educational resources, free/open source software, open standards, open data, and aims to create a regime of intellectual property that aims to serve the public interest and not just the narrow interest of private right holders. Such an approach should not be merely rights-based, but look at interests of the general public, especially the poor, as well, in order to further the aim of the nation to create a more egalitarian society, and adopt the Directive Principles in the Constitution.</li>
<hr />
</ol><ol></ol>
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a> <a href="http://www.cis-india.org/">www.cis-india.org</a> (last accessed 30 November, 2014).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote2">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote2anc" name="sdfootnote2sym">2</a> http://www.dipp.nic.in/English/acts_rules/Press_Release/pressRelease_IPR_Policy_30December2014.pdf.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote3">
<p><a name="_GoBack"></a> <a href="#sdfootnote3anc" name="sdfootnote3sym">3</a> <i>See </i> http://cis-india.org/ (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote4">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote4anc" name="sdfootnote4sym">4</a> <i>See </i> http://cis-india.org/a2k (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote5">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote5anc" name="sdfootnote5sym">5</a> <i>See </i> http://cis-india.org/openness (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote6">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote6anc" name="sdfootnote6sym">6</a> <i>See</i> http://cis-india.org/internet-governance (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote7">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote7anc" name="sdfootnote7sym">7</a> <i>See </i> http://cis-india.org/accessibility (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote8">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote8anc" name="sdfootnote8sym">8</a> <i>See </i> http://cis-india.org/digital-natives (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote9">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote9anc" name="sdfootnote9sym">9</a> <i>See</i> http://cis-india.org/raw (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote10">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote10anc" name="sdfootnote10sym">10</a> <i>See</i> http://www.wipo.int/members/en/admission/observers.html (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote11">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote11anc" name="sdfootnote11sym">11</a> <i>See </i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/ngo-profile-knowledge-ecology-international (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/ngo-profile-third-world-network (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote12">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote12anc" name="sdfootnote12sym">12</a> <i>See illustratively </i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/analysis-copyright-expansion-india-eu-fta (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/india-eu-fta-copyright-issues (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/a-guide-to-the-proposed-india-european-union-free-trade-agreement (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote13">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote13anc" name="sdfootnote13sym">13</a> <i>See illustratively</i> http://cis-india.org/news/inet-bangkok-june-8-2013-governance-in-the-age-of-internet-and-fta (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote14">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote14anc" name="sdfootnote14sym">14</a> <i>See illustratively</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/2010-special-301 (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote15">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote15anc" name="sdfootnote15sym">15</a> <i>See illustratively</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/analysis-copyright-amendment-bill-2012 (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/sc-report-on-amendments (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/copyright-bill-parliament (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/tpm-copyright-amendment (last accessed 16 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/copyright-privacy (last accessed 16 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/copyright-bill-analysis (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote16">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote16anc" name="sdfootnote16sym">16</a> <i>See</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/comments-on-science-technology-and-innovation-policy-draft (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote17">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote17anc" name="sdfootnote17sym">17</a> <i>See</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/exhaustion (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/parallel-importation-of-books (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote18">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote18anc" name="sdfootnote18sym">18</a> <i>See</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/cis-submission-draft-patent-manual-2010 (last accessed 18 January, 2015) and http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/comments-on-draft-guidelines-for-computer-related-inventions (last accessed 18 January, 2015) respectively.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote19">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote19anc" name="sdfootnote19sym">19</a> <i>See</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/lid-on-royalty-outflows (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote20">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote20anc" name="sdfootnote20sym">20</a> <i>See</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/exceptions-and-limitations (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote21">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote21anc" name="sdfootnote21sym">21</a> <i>See illustratively</i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/consumers-international-ip-watchlist-report-2012 (last accessed 18 January, 2015);<i> </i> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/ip-watch-list-2011 (last accessed 18 January, 2015); http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/consumers-international-ip-watch-list-2009 (last accessed 18 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote22">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote22anc" name="sdfootnote22sym">22</a> The Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and Public Interest concluded after the Global Congress on Intellectual property and Public Interest in August 2011 attended by over 180 experts from 32 countries articulate this position perfectly. Available at: <a href="http://infojustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Washington-Declaration.pdf"> http://infojustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Washington-Declaration.pdf </a> (Last Accessed: 29 November, 2014).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote23">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote23anc" name="sdfootnote23sym">23</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 5.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote24">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote24anc" name="sdfootnote24sym">24</a> Article 27(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits."</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote25">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote25anc" name="sdfootnote25sym">25</a> Julia Brüggemann, Paolo Crosetto <i>et al</i>, <i>Intellectual Property Rights Hinder Sequential Innovation - Experimental Evidence</i>, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research, Number 227, January 2015.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote26">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote26anc" name="sdfootnote26sym">26</a> Joseph E. Stiglitz, <i>Economic Foundations of Intellectual Property Rights</i>, Duke Law Journal, 57(6): 1693-1724.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote27">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote27anc" name="sdfootnote27sym">27</a> Graham M. Dutfield, Uma Suthersanen, <i>The Innovation Dilemma: Intellectual Property and the Historical Legacy of Cumulative Creativity</i>, Intellectual Property Quarterly, 2004 at 379.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote28">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote28anc" name="sdfootnote28sym">28</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 5.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote29">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote29anc" name="sdfootnote29sym">29</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 5<i>.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote30">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote30anc" name="sdfootnote30sym">30</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 6.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote31">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote31anc" name="sdfootnote31sym">31</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote32">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote32anc" name="sdfootnote32sym">32</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote33">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote33anc" name="sdfootnote33sym">33</a> Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine, <i>The Case Against Patents</i>, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 27, No.1 - Winter 2013, 3-22.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote34">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote34anc" name="sdfootnote34sym">34</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote35">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote35anc" name="sdfootnote35sym">35</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote36">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote36anc" name="sdfootnote36sym">36</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote37">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote37anc" name="sdfootnote37sym">37</a> James Bessen and Michael J. Meurer, Patent Failure: How Judges, Bureaucrats and Lawyers Put Innovation at Risk, March 2008.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote38">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote38anc" name="sdfootnote38sym">38</a> Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine<i> Supra </i>Note 32.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote39">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote39anc" name="sdfootnote39sym">39</a> B.J. Jaffe, <i>The US Patent System in Transition: Innovation and the Innovation Process</i>, Research Policy, 29, 531-557, 2000.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote40">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote40anc" name="sdfootnote40sym">40</a> Josh Lerner, <i>The Empirical Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on Innovation: Puzzles and Clues</i>, Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Growth in the Long-Run: A Discover Model (2009).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote41">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote41anc" name="sdfootnote41sym">41</a> Rod Falvey & Neil Foster, The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Technology Transfer and Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence (UNIDO Working Paper,</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote42">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote42anc" name="sdfootnote42sym">42</a> <b>¶</b> 1.2 IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 6.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote43">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote43anc" name="sdfootnote43sym">43</a> See</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote44">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote44anc" name="sdfootnote44sym">44</a> <b>¶</b> 1.3 IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 7.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote45">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote45anc" name="sdfootnote45sym">45</a> <b>¶</b> 1.5 IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 8.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote46">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote46anc" name="sdfootnote46sym">46</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 8.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote47">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote47anc" name="sdfootnote47sym">47</a> Heidi L. Williams, <i>Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation: Evidence from the Human Genome</i>, National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 16213, July 2010.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote48">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote48anc" name="sdfootnote48sym">48</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote49">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote49anc" name="sdfootnote49sym">49</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote50">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote50anc" name="sdfootnote50sym">50</a> Petra Moser, <i>Innovations and Patents in</i> Oxford Handbook of Economic History (Cain et al., eds., forthcoming), http://ssrn.com/abstract=2503503.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote51">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote51anc" name="sdfootnote51sym">51</a> <i>See generally</i> , David. S. Landes, The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present (1969).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote52">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote52anc" name="sdfootnote52sym">52</a> <i>See generally</i> , Joel Mokyr. The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress (1990).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote53">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote53anc" name="sdfootnote53sym">53</a> <i>See generally</i> , Alessandro Nuvolari <i>Collective Invention during the British Industrial Revolution: the Case of the Cornish Pumping Engine,</i> 28 Cambridge J. Econ. 347 (2004). <i>See also</i>, Robert C. Allen, <i>Collective Invention</i>, 4 J. Econ. Behavior & Org. 1 (1983).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote54">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote54anc" name="sdfootnote54sym">54</a> A. Arora & N. Rosenberg, <i>Chemicals: A US Success Story</i> in Chemicals and Long-Term Economic Growth 71 (Arora et al., eds., 1998); see also, David C. Mowery & Nathan Rosenberg, Paths of Innovation. Technological Change in 20th-century America (1998).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote55">
<p><i><a href="#sdfootnote55anc" name="sdfootnote55sym">55</a></i> Petra Moser, <i>How Do Patent Laws Influence Innovation? Evidence from Nineteenth-Century World Fairs</i>, NBER Working Paper Series 9909, http://www.nber.org/papers/w9909.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote56">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote56anc" name="sdfootnote56sym">56</a> Meera Nair, <i>A Short-Lived Celebration</i>, Fair Duty (Jan. 8, 2012), https://fairduty.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/a-short-lived-celebration/</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote57">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote57anc" name="sdfootnote57sym">57</a> See generally, Kal Raustiala & Christopher Sprigman, The Knockoff Economy (2012).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote58">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote58anc" name="sdfootnote58sym">58</a> <b>¶</b> 2.10 IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 10.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote59">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote59anc" name="sdfootnote59sym">59</a> <i>See</i> <i>FICCI Suggestions on Discussion Paper on Utility Model</i> available at <a href="http://www.ficci.com/Sedocument/20179/UM.pdf">http://www.ficci.com/Sedocument/20179/UM.pdf</a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote60">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote60anc" name="sdfootnote60sym">60</a> <i>See</i> <i>FICCI Suggestions on Discussion Paper on Utility Model</i> available at <a href="http://www.ficci.com/Sedocument/20179/UM.pdf">http://www.ficci.com/Sedocument/20179/UM.pdf</a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote61">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote61anc" name="sdfootnote61sym">61</a> <i>See</i> <i>Utility Model: A Tool for Economic and Technological Development: A Case Study of Japan</i> available at <a href="http://www.ipindia.nic.in/research_studies/finalreport_april2007.pdf">http://www.ipindia.nic.in/research_studies/finalreport_april2007.pdf</a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote62">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote62anc" name="sdfootnote62sym">62</a> U. Suthersanen, <i>Utility Models and Innovation in Developing Countries, International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development </i>(ICTSD), Issue Paper No. 13 (2006), available at <a href="http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/iteipc20066_en.pdf">http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/iteipc20066_en.pdf</a> , (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote63">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote63anc" name="sdfootnote63sym">63</a> <i>See</i> <i>China's great leap forward in patents</i> , available at <a href="http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/04/04/chinas-great-leap-forward-in-patents/id=38625/"> http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/04/04/chinas-great-leap-forward-in-patents/id=38625/ </a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote64">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote64anc" name="sdfootnote64sym">64</a> Will Knight, <i>Wheel Patented in Australia</i>, New Scientist (July 3, 2001), <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn965-wheel-patented-in-australia.html"> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn965-wheel-patented-in-australia.html </a> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote65">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote65anc" name="sdfootnote65sym">65</a> Keith E. Maskus, <i>Beyond the Treaties: A Symposium on Compliance with International Intellectual Property </i>Law, February 6, 2000.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote66">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote66anc" name="sdfootnote66sym">66</a> U. Suthersanen, <i>Utility Models and Innovation in Developing Countries</i>, International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Issue Paper No. 13 (2006), available at <a href="http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/iteipc20066_en.pdf">http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/iteipc20066_en.pdf</a> , (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote67">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote67anc" name="sdfootnote67sym">67</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 1.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote68">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote68anc" name="sdfootnote68sym">68</a> <b>¶</b> 2.3 IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 10.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote69">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote69anc" name="sdfootnote69sym">69</a> <i>See </i> <a href="http://mhrd.gov.in/technical-education-1">http://mhrd.gov.in/technical-education-1</a> (last accessed 30 January, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote70">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote70anc" name="sdfootnote70sym">70</a> <i>See</i> <i>'Expert Group Report on Role and Strategic Use of IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) in International Research Collaborations'</i> by European Commission 'available at <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/pdf/ipr-eur-20230_en.pdf">http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/pdf/ipr-eur-20230_en.pdf</a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote71">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote71anc" name="sdfootnote71sym">71</a> <i>See</i> <i>'Ministry of Science makes Open Access to Research Mandatory</i> ', available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/news/down-to-earth-july-16-2014-aparajita-singh-ministry-of-science-makes-open-access-to-research-mandatory"> http://cis-india.org/news/down-to-earth-july-16-2014-aparajita-singh-ministry-of-science-makes-open-access-to-research-mandatory </a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote72">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote72anc" name="sdfootnote72sym">72</a> DBT and DST Open Access Policy - Policy on Open Access to DBT and DST Funded Research, Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote73">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote73anc" name="sdfootnote73sym">73</a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote74">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote74anc" name="sdfootnote74sym">74</a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote75">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote75anc" name="sdfootnote75sym">75</a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote76">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote76anc" name="sdfootnote76sym">76</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 11.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote77">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote77anc" name="sdfootnote77sym">77</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote78">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote78anc" name="sdfootnote78sym">78</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at pages 10, 11.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote79">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote79anc" name="sdfootnote79sym">79</a> IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 12.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote80">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote80anc" name="sdfootnote80sym">80</a> <i>Id</i> .</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote81">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote81anc" name="sdfootnote81sym">81</a> The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health and the Contradictory Trend in Bilateral and Regional Free Trade Agreements (2004), Available at http://www.quno.org/geneva/pdf/ec onomic/Occasional/TRIPS-Public-Health-FTAs.pdf.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote82">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote82anc" name="sdfootnote82sym">82</a> World Health Organization, Report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, Recommendation 4.26 (2006), available at http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/ documents/thereport/CIPIHReport23032006.pdf [hereinafter WHO].</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote83">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote83anc" name="sdfootnote83sym">83</a> Fifty-Seventh World Health Assembly, May17-22,2004, (May 22, 2004), available at http:// apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA57/A57_R14-en.pdf;</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote84">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote84anc" name="sdfootnote84sym">84</a> Preamble, Articles 7, 8, TRIPS Agreement, 1994.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote85">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote85anc" name="sdfootnote85sym">85</a> <b>¶</b> 3.2 IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 12.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote86">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote86anc" name="sdfootnote86sym">86</a> <b>¶</b> 3.6 IPR Think Tank, National IPR Policy (First Draft) at page 13.</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote87">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote87anc" name="sdfootnote87sym">87</a> <i>See</i> <i>'Open Standards Policy'</i> , available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/news/open-standards-policy">http://cis-india.org/news/open-standards-policy</a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote88">
<p><a href="#sdfootnote88anc" name="sdfootnote88sym">88</a> <i>See</i> <i>'The BIS, Standards and Copyright'</i> , available at <a href="http://spicyip.com/2014/11/the-bis-standards-and-copyright.html">http://spicyip.com/2014/11/the-bis-standards-and-copyright.html</a> (last accessed January 28, 2015).</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote89">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#sdfootnote89anc" name="sdfootnote89sym">89</a> <i>See</i> <i>CIS' Letter for Establishment of Patent Pool for Low-cost Access Devices through Compulsory Licenses</i> , available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-for-establishment-of-patent-pool-for-low-cost-access-devices"> <span>http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-for-establishment-of-patent-pool-for-low-cost-access-devices</span> </a> (last accessed January 29, 2015).</p>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-cis-comments-to-the-first-draft-of-the-national-ip-policy'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-cis-comments-to-the-first-draft-of-the-national-ip-policy</a>
</p>
No publishernehaaCall for CommentsAccess to KnowledgeIntellectual Property RightsFeaturedHomepage2015-02-09T00:59:10ZBlog EntryNational Compendium of Laws, Policies, Programmes for Persons with Disabilities
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-of-laws-policies-programmes-for-persons-with-disabilities
<b>This compendium was compiled by the Centre for Internet & Society in collaboration with the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India. Prasanna Kumar Pincha, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, has written the Foreword. </b>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Preface</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">India, one of the longest continuous civilizations in the world is also home to one of the largest populations of persons with disabilities. According to the 2011 census, around 2.21% of its population or around 26.8 million people have disabilities of some form or the other. While the country is developing rapidly, persons with disabilities are often left out of the process. Sometimes they are completely neglected from consideration and measures do not take into account their needs by virtue of being non inclusive. On other occasions, there may be special measures for some disadvantaged groups, but persons with disabilities may not be recognised as a separate group, with distinctive needs. <br /><br />Overall, there is a clichéd understanding about the needs and abilities of persons with disabilities, limiting efforts made towards their progress. Even in cases where some effort has been made, information about these measures is not available to persons with disabilities and their family members, who are consequently unable to avail of them. Additionally, the insensitivity of rules/ schemes/ procedures/ persons makes it difficult for persons with disabilities to benefit from them. However, regardless of the reason, the fact remains that there is a huge gap in the communication of information from policy makers, administrators and law makers to persons with disabilities as well as their family members, organisations and other concerned groups and institutions. <br /><br />It is extremely important to bridge this information gap in order to enable persons with disabilities to participate equally in development. Better access to information will enable them to avail of schemes/provisions for their benefit and will consequently enable governments to assess whether they have made adequate provision in various domains as well as identify gaps which need to be addressed.<br />Finally, accessibility of information will also facilitate the participation of government and persons with disabilities in implementation of measures and increase transparency and accountability<br /><br />With this aim in mind, The Hans Foundation decided to engage with Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) to put together a comprehensive resource on disability related policies across India. It gives us great pleasure to publish this resource and we hope that it be of great help to the community.<br /><br />Ms. Sweta Rawat<br />Chairperson<br />The Hans Foundation</p>
<hr />
<p>Click to download the PDF version of the book <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-book" class="internal-link"><b>here</b></a>. (File size 1.72 Mb approx.)</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-of-laws-policies-programmes-for-persons-with-disabilities'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-of-laws-policies-programmes-for-persons-with-disabilities</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaFeaturedAccessibility2016-02-05T02:16:36ZBlog EntryMy Bubble, My Space, My Voice workshop - Perspective and future
https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/my-bubble-my-space-my-voice-workshop-perspective-and-future
<b>The second workshop for the “Digital Natives with a Cause?” research project named “My Bubble, My Space, My Voice” took place at the Link Center of Wits University, in Johannesburg, South Africa from 6 November 2010 to 9 November 2010. Samuel Tettner, Digital Natives Co-cordinator shares his perspective on the workshop.</b>
<p></p>
The workshop was organized by the <a href="https://cis-india.org/" class="external-link">Center for Internet
and Society, Bangalore</a> in partnership with <a class="external-link" href="http://www.hivos.nl/english">Hivos</a>, Netherlands and put together with indispensable help from <a class="external-link" href="http://www.africancommons.org">The African Commons Project</a>
<p>. The
workshop saw the coming together of 21 people, in the age bracket of 20 to 35, from eight African
countries, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Morocco, Egypt and Kenya.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They came in answer to a call; they came because they all felt they
were represented in some way or manner by one term whose simple nature hides a
myriad of socio-cultural nuances: <strong>Digital Native</strong>. They came thinking these
nuances were going to be explained to them, and they were wrong. The spirit of
the workshop can be summarized in one moment, where one Kenyan participant <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/users/mtotowajirani">Simeon
Oriko</a> commented after a bar camp session: “I have more questions than I came in
with!” Some of these questions were: "Who is a Digital Native?" "What is a cause" " What is the difference between information and knowledge" "How can a globalized world account for questions of indigenous cultural productions" " What are the necessary skills to use the internet" " How can the effects of an online campaign be assessed" and "is the information age a revolution"? </p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/jozi2.JPG/image_preview" alt="Joburg2" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Joburg2" /></p>
<p>They,
who at first so adamantly claimed to be digital natives, found themselves
question their assumptions and the labels assigned to them externally. Through
a series of informal and unconference style engagements, participants were able
to reflect on their ideology and practice. These engagements were facilitated
by a team of more experienced practitioners, Marlon Parker, Shafika Isaacs and
Adam Haupt, who offered their insight and perspective to elicit relevant ideas
and conversations.</p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/jozi3.JPG/image_preview" alt="joburg3" class="image-inline image-inline" title="joburg3" /></p>
<p>The
conversations centered around inquires on three focus areas: practice, politics and
ideology. Through the practice of Marlon at <a class="external-link" href="http://www.rlabs.org/about/">Rlabs</a> we learned about the key role
of “champions”, or people who have a vested interest in the organization and
are instrumental in crafting progress. Marlon also facilitated a group activity
in which participants broke into small sub-groups and had discussions around five
process-related keywords: Mobilization, Representation, Awareness, Campaign, and
Network Building.</p>
<p>We discussed politics with <a class="external-link" href="http://www.cfms.uct.ac.za/faculty/staff-directory/Adam">Adam Haupt</a> who made us aware
that the use of technology for social change is not a practice which originates
in the information age, as exemplified by South African hip-hop artists who
utilized mix tapes to spread socially conscious messages. Adam's presentations inspired participants to think of words that described their perspective and then break into groups, in an activity called "birds of a feather". In these groups, participants were able to discuss back and for about common ideas and identify differences in practice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lastly, we discussed
ideology and the power of having strongly strucutred convictions, dreams and ideals with Shafika Isaacs who invited us to frame our journey with technology in our respective projects through a 2-2 Matrix: Dream, Design, Discover and Destiny. James Mlambo, one of the participants from
Zimbabwe, has written an inclusive account of the day to day events <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/mlambo/blogs/digital-natives-workshop-sa-was-eyeopener">here</a>.</p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/jozi5.JPG/image_preview" alt="joburg5" class="image-inline image-inline" title="joburg5" /></p>
<p>Post the workshop,
participants have started pouring their perspectives, stories
and anecdotes on the <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/">website</a>. At the time of this writing, they have already started pouring all this new knowledge onto the website: congealing new perspectives derived
not only from their own practice but also form shared lessons, within this workshop and
as connected with the Asian workshop which took place in Taiwan. Some of these new
perspectives will help us to better understand many questions about digital
natives, many others will provide insight into the knowledge gaps
identified by Sunil Abraham and Nishant Shah.</p>
<p>If I have learned something from
my experience with the Digital Natives project so far is that the idea that
young people who utilize technology are doing so for self-gratifying reasons, are
selfish and immature, and are disengaged from the political context is not
simplistic but plain wrong. At least some considerable portion is motivated and engaged with their respective social and
political context. Through their practice they are challenging previously
established conceptions and are creating their own definitions of engagement. I
now see it as crucial to the future of our information society to listen to
these people and provide them with the necessary platforms and support so that
they can have the positive impact they so want to achieve and strive for.</p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/jozi6.JPG/image_preview" alt="joburg6" class="image-inline image-inline" title="joburg6" /></p>
<p>Proceedings from the workshop are available <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/africa">online</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/my-bubble-my-space-my-voice-workshop-perspective-and-future'>https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/my-bubble-my-space-my-voice-workshop-perspective-and-future</a>
</p>
No publishertettnerFeaturedDigital Natives2012-01-03T10:32:41ZBlog EntryMultimedia Storytellers: Panel Discussion
https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/multimedia-storytellers
<b>This post brings three storytellers together to find points of intersection between their methods. The format will be that of a panel discussion and it features: Arjun Srivathsa from Pocket Science India, Ameen Haque from the Storywallahs, and Ajay Dasgupta from The Kahani Project. They discuss technology, interpretation and action in storytelling. </b>
<pre>CHANGE-MAKERS: Arjun Srivathsa, Ameen Haque and Ajay Dasgupta
ORGANIZATIONS:Pocket Science India, The Storywallahs and The Kahani Project
METHOD OF CHANGE: Storytelling</pre>
<p align="justify">Over the last couple of weeks, I had the privilege of interviewing three storytellers. What struck me the most, besides from their fascinating ideas about storytelling, was how many of their ideas overlapped. As much as I would love to sit all of them in the same room and enjoy the fireworks, there are a number of logistical constraints that shut my storyteller reunion daydreams down; so for this post, I decided to be a self-appointed liaison between you and them. I will mimic this discussion by putting my conversations with them side by side, in the format of a panel discussion. Their interaction will have to happen in the realm of your imagination.</p>
<p align="justify">The questionnaire I used for my interviews was open-ended. I was curious to hear what they wanted to share about their work, as opposed to filtering and steering the conversation in a certain direction; so I let them take their own turn. While I clearly inquired about the relationship between storytelling and making change, it was fascinating to see each storyteller reach the question of ‘social impact' through different channels; testimony of the influence of their education and professional backgrounds in their work.</p>
<p align="justify">If I were to bring them together, the topic of the discussion would be: '<strong>Technology, Interpretation and Action in Storytelling</strong>'. We briefly discussed mediation and semiotics<strong><a name="fr1" href="#fn1">[1]</a></strong> in the <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/storytelling-performance#pre-production">Pre-Production</a> section of the <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/storytelling-performance">Storytelling as Performance</a> post. We mentioned then:</p>
<p align="justify" class="callout"><em>"mediums are combined to enhance the visibility of the message and the power of the experience of stories. [...] Each medium: video, audio, text, music, etc.- becomes “a new literate space” or “symbolic tool” storytellers use to portray narratives about the self, community and society (Hull, 2006)”</em></p>
<em>
</em>
<p align="justify">These thoughts were triggered by the work of the French philosopher, <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/">Paul Ricoeur</a>, who considers our self-identity a result of sign mediation and interpretation. Other themes in his work include: discourse and action, temporality, narrative and identity; also useful and relevant when exploring how storytelling and reality intersect. For example, how does building a narrative develop into a discourse that mirrors our context and existence? How does the medium chosen to carry this narrative define the language system of our discourse? Finally, let’s not forget this discussion is happening amid the digital question: how does the mediation of digital technologies enable or constrain our narratives of change?</p>
<p align="justify">Against this background, I would like to propose a discussion around five points of intersection that came up organically* during my conversations with them.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a)<strong> The power of storytelling</strong>: <br />What makes it a powerful vehicle of communication? How does this practice break from more traditional strategies of information dissemination?</p>
<p>b) <strong>Storytelling as a vehicle to make change: <br /></strong>How does the practice of storytelling intervene in the social imagination of its audience? Is it the experience or the content of stories what drives the message of change forward? Where does change happen: at the value, behavioral, community or macro level?</p>
<p>c)<strong> The role of technology in storytelling:</strong> <br />What is the part technology plays in storytelling vis-a-vis traditional storytelling? Is it a static infrastructure or does it shape the force and direction of the story? How does technology influence and impact their work</p>
<p>d) <strong>Translating awareness to action through stories: </strong><br />Can you guarantee the ideas and values imbued by the story will translate into action in the public space?</p>
<p>e)<strong> Influence of stories on citizenship and political participation:</strong> <br />Can the power of stories be leveraged to instill a sense of responsibility in the audience?</p>
<p align="justify" class="discreet">* With the exception of Arjun Srivathsa, who addressed these points in a conference I attended. He later responded to a questionnaire in which I inquired about the intersections specifically.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 align="justify">Introductions<br /></h2>
<p align="justify">We first have <strong>Arjun Srivathsa</strong>. He has a Masters in Wildlife Biology and Conservation and currently works as a Research Associate for the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS India). In tandem, he started Pocket Science India, an initiative that combines wildlife science with art and cartoons to promote conservation in India and disseminate information from scientific journal articles. He aims to bridge the gap between the work of scientists and people using art and humour.</p>
<p class="callout">
<strong>Arjun:</strong> I find the world of science and scientists very cool. Finding new things, discovering and inventing ways to understand the world better is an awesome way of life. I chose a career in science for this reason, second only to my love for nature and wildlife. But the essence of science, according to me, is not just to discover, but also to communicate. Even though wildlife research in India has progressed massively in the past few decades, the only notion people have is that of exaggerated scenes from television documentaries. When I discovered that most of the work by Indian scientists on wildlife and conservation of India is making no difference to people (mostly because they are unaware), I decided to use the easiest way to bridge the gap: through humour and art.</p>
<p align="justify">Second speaker<strong> </strong>is<strong> Ameen Haque</strong> from <a href="http://www.thestorywallahs.com/">The Storywallahs</a>. In what he calls his past life, he worked for 18 years in Advertising and Brand Strategy Consulting. Ameen also has a background in theatre and now works as as storyteller for The Storywallahs.</p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/F8U5HAI-0TI" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420">&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/center&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</iframe></p>
<p align="justify">Finally, we have <strong>Ajay Dasgupta</strong>, the founder of <a href="http://thekahaniproject.org/">The Kahani Project</a>, who also has a background in theatre and believes listening to stories is a fundamental right of children. His team works to capture stories in audio format and make them accessible.</p>
<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144633144&color=00aabb&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" height="166" width="100%"></iframe>
<p>I will now invite them to share their thoughts on the points described above. Each panelist will respond to the questions using<strong> a different medium</strong>: Arjun will comment with text and images, Ameen will comment with video and Ajay will comment using audiobytes. The idea is for each storyteller to use the medium and language they use for their own storytelling: cartoons, body language and audio respectively, as we explore how this choice mediates how they conceptualize change. I will act as a moderator and comment on common themes in the light of Paul Ricoeur’s characteristics of narratives.</p>
<h2>1. The Power of Storytelling<br /></h2>
<h3>What makes it a powerful vehicle of communication?</h3>
<p> </p>
<h2></h2>
<div class="pullquote"><span id="docs-internal-guid-10dcb36e-642b-76be-1e09-54a2a3103a5c">“narrative attains full significance when it becomes a condition of temporal existence” Time and Narrative<br /></span></div>
<div><span id="docs-internal-guid-10dcb36e-642b-76be-1e09-54a2a3103a5c"></span></div>
<p align="justify">The first characteristic of narratives according to Ricoeur is:<strong> the ability to bring independent elements and episodes together into a plot within a specific context and time</strong>. The relationship between time and narrative is addressed by the philosopher in his work <em>'Oneself as Another</em>,' in which he frames narratives as the most 'faithful articulations of human time'. This leads to an understanding of time as a framework where we can locate unique events and patterns, trajectories and sequences. Our three storytellers comment on how stories are an effective mean to communicate information, and how this information resonates because it can be located in the frame of our human existence.</p>
<p class="callout">
<strong>Arjun:</strong> Storytelling really is the nascence of any communication technique. As kids we were all told stories with bees and birds, which spoke and thought. The moral life lessons and similar “information” were served to us on these fascinating platters.</p>
<div align="center"> <img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/1524964_614398581930298_1037858013_n.jpg/image_preview" alt="Pocket Science 1" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Pocket Science 1" /></div>
<div align="center">
<div align="center"><span id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption"><span class="hasCaption"><em>Dugongs are closely related to whales and dolphins. They are peaceful mammals that swim around gracefully and feed on sea grass. <br />They are categorized as “VULNERABLE” because there are not too many of them left in the world. </em>
</span></span></div>
<span id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption"><span class="hasCaption">
<p align="center">Find full cartoon <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=614398581930298&set=a.614397888597034.1073741836.609687355734754&type=1&theater">here</a></p>
</span></span></div>
<p class="callout">At some point in life, we all seem to stop appreciating the power of storytelling. Plain reporting of information has been done to death. Even an amazing discovery written as a formal report will fail to excite audience. It is time we all get back to appreciating stories. They sell. Movies generally do better than documentaries don’t they?</p>
<p align="justify"><strong>Ameen:</strong></p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Q5fphRoT-2k" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p><strong>Ajay:</strong></p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144633135&color=00aabb&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" height="166" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<h2>2. Storytelling as a vehicle to make change</h2>
<h3> How and where does change happen?</h3>
<p> </p>
<div class="pullquote">“All action is in principle interaction [...] change happens through interaction, as others are also encouraged to change” From Text to Action</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">The second characteristic of narratives is how the <strong>episodes in our narratives involve contingencies that will be shaped and reformulated through the development of the story</strong>. The narratives are constructed in such a way that induce us to imagine possible events in the future and how we would act in said circumstances. This characteristic is supported by Ricoeur's understanding of the <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/#3.2">'self' as an 'agent'</a>, who can act and influence causation by taking initiative or interfering<strong><a name="fr1" href="#fn1">[2]</a></strong> in the story. Even if the listener cannot necessarily influence the outcome of the story (unless it is participatory storytelling), it triggers thoughts about its capability to act and its ability to change future realities, as he imagines himself n the situation of its characters. This out-of-body experience is what turns story into experience.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Our storytellers comment on how stories can influence and activate our agency and enable listeners to act towards creating change.</p>
<p class="callout"><strong>Arjun: </strong>Of course! Like I said, it is easier to influence people when you are not being preachy. Storytelling sidesteps the moral high ground that change makers are often blamed to occupy and takes a pleasantly shrewd path, as silly as it may sound.</p>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>
<div align="center"><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/PS.jpg/image_preview" alt="Pocket Science 4" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Pocket Science 4" /></div>
</th>
<th>
<div align="center"><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/PSI2.jpg/image_preview" alt="PSI2" class="image-inline image-inline" title="PSI2" /></div>
</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<em> </em><em><span id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption"><span class="hasCaption">#2:
Increase in wildlife tourism has been brought about by the increasing
population of the ‘Tourist’. This species is easy to recognize (see
figure). The species has created an ecosystem of its own. It eats any
kind of high or low profile food. Lives in resorts. Seeks charismatic
animals like the tiger. Its daily activity involves excessive use of its
camera. This species facilitates wildlife tourism </span></span></em></td>
<td><span id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption"><span class="hasCaption"></span></span><em>#9: Wildlife tourism is an excellent way to
expose people of India and abroad to its rich natural heritage [...] We
definitely need to regulate the number of tourists to avoid crowding in
the forests, but we also need to educate tourists, especially the
first-timers, about wildlife and its conservation. The tourist can be an important tool in conservation –
let’s not let it go waste!</em>"<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p align="center">Find full cartoon <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=609780439058779&set=pb.609687355734754.-2207520000.1396426793.&type=3&theater">here</a>.</p>
<p align="justify" class="callout">To the question of where we locate change, it depends on what this change is. Through my work, I often target <strong>individuals and smaller communities</strong> (say students, villagers etc.). I don't necessarily grab my paintbrush and declare that I will change the world. My idea of change is a tailored, targeted and therefore an efficient influence on individuals.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong>Ameen:</strong></p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GJpeQMltaT4" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p align="justify"><strong>Ajay:</strong></p>
<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144633137&color=00aabb&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" height="166" width="100%"></iframe>
<h2><br /></h2>
<h2>3. The role of technology in storytelling</h2>
<h3>How does technology influence and impact your work?</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Ricoeur’s thoughts on the relationship between text and action, makes us reconsider how we think about ‘<em>text</em>’ and how this reading can be applied to technology. According to him, the distinction between text and action is not at the linguistic, but at the discursive level. This is how he differentiates language from discourse:</p>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th><br /></th>
<th>Language<br /></th>
<th>Discourse<br /></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Structure</td>
<td>A system: timeless and static<br /></td>
<td>Located at a given time and moment<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Composition</td>
<td>A sequence of signs<br /></td>
<td>A sequence of events that describe, claim and represent the world<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Meaning</td>
<td>Refers to signs<br /></td>
<td>Refers to the world<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Communication</td>
<td>Provides codes for communication. <br />Necessary but not sufficient<br /></td>
<td>Communicates</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p align="justify">Using these working definitions, we can understand the medium as <strong>a language:</strong> a system that provides us with signs and codes for communication. A creative use of language and mediums will hence, enable us to create narratives and produce meaning (which will be generated and negotiated by the audience). Technology is in this case our language, and how each storyteller uses it determines new ways to create meaning: experiences, connections and associations with and within their stories. We now ask them if/how the use of this 'language' mediates and impacts their work.</p>
<p align="justify" class="callout"><strong>Arjun:</strong> Technology is the best facilitator in the realm of my science-art-communication. I depend on it extensively, to first educate myself. Then to create artwork (computer, tablet, smartphone). And then eventually I depend heavily on social media to broadcast my work. I will definitely credit the power of technology for fostering and enabling effective communication.</p>
<div align="center"><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/PSI3.jpg/image_preview" alt="PSI3" class="image-inline image-inline" title="PSI3" /></div>
<p align="center"><em># 11: The story of Ajoba was carried far and wide in newspapers, television news and the internet</em>. Find full cartoon <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=610114332358723&set=pb.609687355734754.-2207520000.1396426793.&type=3&theater">here</a>.</p>
<p align="justify" class="callout">In my capacity, I feel most confident targeting students and urban youth. But thanks to the power of social media, putting my work out there has grabbed the attention of change-makers who are capable of things that is beyond my scope. This has led to collaborations through which the reach has become wider. Teachers use my art work in their classes, some organisations are using it in forest department buildings to educate visitors, some local groups have translated my work into regional languages.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong>Ameen:</strong></p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/25EAnt1yi94" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p align="justify"><strong>Ajay:</strong></p>
<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144633141&color=00aabb&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" height="166" width="100%"></iframe>
<h2><br /></h2>
<h2>4. Translating awareness into action through stories<br /></h2>
<h3>Can you guarantee the ideas and values imbued by the story translate into action in the public space?</h3>
<p> </p>
<div class="pullquote"> “what must be the nature of action...if it is to be read in terms of change in the world?” From Text to Action</div>
<p id="docs-internal-guid-10dcb36e-6935-a65e-1136-120c46ff2174" style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">So far they have told us about the power and content of stories. However, we have yet to find out what is it in stories that make listeners translate fiction into real life action. Ricoeur's final characteristic of narratives points us in the direction of empathy and interpretation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Like discourse, action is open to interpretation. He posits t<strong>hat characters of our stories rise to the status of ‘persons’ when we evaluate their actions, including their doings and sufferings</strong>. This ethical verdict determines the identity of the character in the eyes of the audience (above any other physical or emotional characteristics) and this is what ultimately adds meaning to the events of the story, as it inspires the audience to emulate or reject this behavior through their actions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">We asked our storytellers their thoughts on how to translate stories' messages into meaningful action, or if it was even possible to guarantee this transition to begin with:</p>
<p align="justify" class="callout"><strong>Arjun:</strong> I don’t [know]. One never does, I feel. But a lot of good awareness programs have made me change little things in my life. The people or groups who initiated those campaigns don't know of this, do they? This is somewhat similar. I believe that even if ONE person in the thousand who view my work gets influenced into making little changes, then it was worth my time and effort.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong>Ameen:</strong></p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/neFe7kj8dIc" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p align="left"><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p align="left"><strong>Ajay: </strong>(Ajay commented on the impact of stories while we were discussing how to gauge the impact of his work. In our first conversation he said:<em> "Change is happening but there are no tests that can measure it and quantify it.</em>" and he elaborates on this idea below:)</p>
<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144633138&color=00aabb&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" height="166" width="100%"></iframe>
<p align="left"> </p>
<h2 align="left">5. Influence of stories on citizenship and political participation<br /></h2>
<h3>Can the power of stories be leveraged to instill a sense of responsibility in the audience?</h3>
<div class="pullquote"><br />"You can only achieve power in common by including the opinions of as many people as possible in the discourse"</div>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify">Finally, as stated in the brief of the project on methods for change, we are also interested in defining how political participation should be manifested in the public space. Ricoeur frames political action as a result of discourse and political deliberation.For a brief discussion of the relationship between storytelling and our political identity visit <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/storytelling-performance-2">Part 2 of Storytelling as Performance</a>.)</p>
<p align="justify">This last section captures the storytellers' point of view on how stories may affect our sense of citizenship and political responsibility.</p>
<p align="left" class="callout"><strong>Arjun</strong>: We are living in a society which is becoming increasingly insensitive and arrogant. There seems to be no time to stop and see the big picture: what are we doing? are our demands and lifestyles sustainable? Is the future generation secure? Impacts of our actions on the natural world.</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/1511040_609776472392509_490391694_n.jpg/image_preview" alt="Pocket Science 2" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Pocket Science 2" /></td>
<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_1533944_609777242392432_1081033930_n.jpg/image_preview" alt="Pocket Science 3" class="image-inline image-inline" title="Pocket Science 3" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <span id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption"><span class="hasCaption">#1: Most of us love seafood. And why shouldn't we? It tops the charts as some of the most delicious delicacies in the world! It so happens that we rarely think about what goes on
“behind-the-scenes” and take many things for granted. The story behind
how food reaches your plate is quite a scary one!</span></span></td>
<td> <span id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption"><span class="hasCaption">#12: So next time you feel like a getting a seafood dinner, do it with some perspective.</span></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div align="center">Find full cartoon <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.609776052392551.1073741831.609687355734754&type=1">here</a></div>
<strong>Ameen:</strong>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lO0y0QZ3vhQ" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ajay</strong>:</p>
<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144633136&color=00aabb&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" height="166" width="100%"></iframe>
<p> </p>
<h2>Closing Remarks</h2>
<p align="justify">I hope you enjoyed reading, watching and listening these three wonderful storytellers share their ideas on technology, interpretation and action. The question that remains unresolved is whether the effect of the story is shaped by the use of technology or not. At the end of the day it is the interpretation of stories -more than what it is said and how it is being said- what will determine the sustainability of these intents for change. The answers of our storytellers reinforce the notion that technology is a system, a language, a medium that transports our messages and intentions, but that inherently lacks the ability to provide guarantees for action and sway users into a lifestyle of responsible citizenship the second they pull out from their cartoon, screen or mp3.</p>
<p> The box below includes a quick run through the main ideas discussed throughout the post:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>1. <strong>On the power of storytelling: </strong></p>
<ul><li>Arjun argues that storytelling is the origin of all communication techniques, and this makes it extremely attractive for the public. <br /></li><li>Both Ajay and Ameen bring up the ability to influence behavior, shape the minds of people and transmit experiences, values and beliefs.</li><li>Both also brought up how dominant religions, ideologies, markets governments use storytelling to build movements and sustain their support</li><li>Finally Ajay comments on the issue of access: stories are powerful yet only a small share of stories are being told Hence, the need for this method to become more pervasive.</li></ul>
<br />
<p>2. <strong>Storytelling as a vehicle for change:</strong><br />Each storyteller locates change in different yet complementary spaces:</p>
<ul><li>Arjun believes it must occur at the community level and hence the approach (stories) must be tailored and targeted in order to achieve an effective influence. His approach to change is very contextual.</li><li>Ameen locates it at the behavioral level; in our ability to make decisions and choices. His approach to change is based on how we use information from stories to interact with our surroundings.</li><li>Ajay locates it at the value level: He believes stories should influence us to adjust our values and only then, we will shape our behavior accordingly.</li></ul>
<br />
<p><strong>3. Role of technology:<br /></strong>We approached technology as a 'text' and as a 'language' that creates new possibilities for meaning and interpretation.</p>
<ul><li>For Arjun and Ajay, technology enabled them to connect with other organizations and increased possibilities for partnerships and collaborations. </li></ul>
<ul><li>The three of them believe technology is an accelerator of the journey of stories and that it enables them to reach a larger audience.</li><li>Ameen argued that each medium requires different fluencies, and that the language of each medium should be adapted for the story. For example, a story will be told in different ways if using body language, video, audio, etc. He uses the example of the <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/Twitter">Twitter adaption of the Mahabharata.</a><br /></li><li>Ajay closes by noting that although technology enables, it cannot replace the storyteller. <br /></li></ul>
<br />
<p><strong>4. Translating awareness into action</strong></p>
<ul><li>Arjun and Ameen comment on the power of effectively and positively influencing <em>one</em> person. They believe the impact will exponentially spread and grow through that person's network or community.</li><li>Arjun believes you can guarantee it will turn into action.</li><li>Ameen believes you need to move them and inspire them through your characters to the point they feel they can be the hero of that story and act accordingly.</li><li>Ajay takes a more pragmatic approach towards action and shares some of the activities The Kahani Project uses to complement his storytelling sessions, such as: story-thons, story-booths and interactive storytelling, where they engage the audience in the production of their own stories.</li></ul>
<br />
<p><strong>5. Impact of storytelling on citizenship and political participation</strong></p>
<ul><li>Arun and Ajay believe this will come as a result of self-reflection and an evaluation of our impact in the world.</li><li>Ameen believes effective stories transmit the 'responsibility of action' through rhetoric. He uses the example of the popularity of India Against Corruption movement.</li><li>Ajay believes storytelling is a humanizing force that has the power of healing. He recommends institutions should utilize this method to spread confidence and inclusion among society and particularly with excluded groups. <br /></li></ul>
</blockquote>
<h2>Footnotes</h2>
<p align="justify">[<a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/multimedia-storytellers#fr1" name="fn1">1</a>] Semiotics is defined as the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. It is the study of making meaning and is essential to understand communication processes. While we will not look at any specific semiotics theory, we will focus on how stories create meaning through different signs and mediums, and how this meaning can be leveraged for making change.<br /><br />[<a name="fn1" href="#fr1">2</a>] Refer to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/">page on Paul Ricoeur</a> and the section on ‘Selves and Agents’ to learn more about how action is mediated by causation, interference and intervention. Some interesting thoughts that inspired the above post</p>
<p dir="ltr">“What must be the nature of the world … if human beings are able to introduce changes into it?. Ricoeur adopts the analysis of interference or intervention that G. H. von Wright gives in Explanation and Understanding, and shows that for there to be interference, there must be both: an ongoing anterior established order or course of things and a human doing that somehow intervenes in and disturbs that order. Moreover, interference is always purposeful. Hence an interference is not merely ascribable to an agent. It is also imputable to the agent as the one whose purpose motivates the interference.”</p>
<p>
“The second crucial question about action is “What must be the nature of action … if it is to be read in terms of a change in the world?” Ricoeur argues that every action involves initiative, i.e., “an intervention of the agent of action into the course of the world, an intervention that effectively causes changes in the world” (Oneself as Another, 109, translation modified). Initiative requires a bodily agent possessing specific capabilities and vulnerabilities who inhabits some concrete worldly situation.”</p>
<h2>Sources:</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>Dauenhauer, Bernard and Pellauer, David, "Paul Ricoeur", <em>The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy </em> (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),
URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/ricoeur/>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/multimedia-storytellers'>https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/multimedia-storytellers</a>
</p>
No publisherdenisseMaking ChangeNet CulturesResearchFeaturedResearchers at Work2015-10-24T14:26:51ZBlog EntryMarathi Language Fortnight Workshops 2019
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-language-fortnight-workshops-2019
<b>Maharashtra is a state which is rich in diversity in terms of language and culture seen in its various regions such as Konkan, Marathwada, Western Maharashtra, Northern Maharashtra and Vidarbha. Awareness needs to be created to make Wikimedia movement inclusive and diverse in these geographical regions as well as in their social strata. </b>
<h3>Collaboration for organizing events</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet & Society’s Access to Knowledge wing (CIS-A2K) launched the concept of organizing state-wide workshops to spread awareness and train editors in the nitty-gritties of Wikipedia editing and creating digital content. The campaign is now regularly conducted by Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha (RMVS), the language department of Maharashtra government with support from CIS-A2K and various institutions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These events were conducted during the Marathi language fortnight (1 – 15 January 2019) upto Marathi Language Day on 27 February 2019. The objectives of the event such as creating awareness about digital knowledge in Marathi, open knowledge resources and Wikimedia projects; explaining the history of Wiki movement; training participants in basic editing skills in Wikipedia; exploring ways to find reliable references; presenting article structure, were broadly covered in the sessions. Trainers also explained participants on copyright, community guidelines, uploading images, and so on.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K had collaborated with the state language department from 2017 onwards. In the first series of workshops, three events were conducted. In the second series in 2018 six workshops out of a total 17 workshops were conducted across the state. In the year 2019, the awareness spread to more educational institutions located in different regions of the state. In the third series, CIS-A2K conducted five workshops out of total 21 workshops conducted. CIS facilitated the process and supported some workshops remotely.</span></p>
<h3><span>The Workshops</span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/SangliWorkshop.png/@@images/ac8d36b2-0bb1-483c-917b-09b99f4dc5cb.png" alt="Sangli workshop" class="image-left" title="Sangli workshop" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The first workshop was conducted at Chintamanrao College of Commerce at Sangli. The awareness session about open knowledge sources and Wikimedia projects was organized for students and faculty in the beginning of workshop. After this one hour session, actual skill training in Wikipedia editing was done for three hours for 24 participants. They created the account and learnt the editing and image upload on Commons. The practice was done in sandboxes before working in main namespace. The students of pre-university course and graduate course attended the workshop. The commerce and management related articles were edited.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/KolhapurWorkshop.png/@@images/e0343faf-e757-452b-bc12-ae44cbbfd087.png" alt="Kolhapur workshop" class="image-right" title="Kolhapur workshop" /><br />The second workshop was conducted at Shivaji University, Kolhapur. The Marathi language department took the initiative to organize this workshop for the second consecutive year. The participants were selected from 4 colleges affiliated to university. The faculty was also actively involved. The introductory session was attended by 50 students. The editing training of three hours was conducted in computer lab, in which 24 new users participated. The editors practiced the manual of style, providing links and references, etc. on their sandboxes before working on the main namespace articles. The editors mostly worked on locally relevant topics.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/DayanandCollegeWorkshop.png/@@images/5aec339d-eed9-4cfe-98dd-8b47a0a2cd8a.png" alt="Dayanand college workshop" class="image-left" title="Dayanand college workshop" /><br /><br />The third workshop was conducted in Dayanand College at Solapur. This institution organized this event for the second consecutive year. The thematic discussion on history of Solapur was facilitated by a senior editor of Sakal newspaper. The plan for documentation of local festival - </span><i>Gadda Yatra</i><span> and history of Solapur was discussed. It is proposed to start this activity with thematic workshop. Total 15 new and old users participated in the workshop.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/SolapurWorkshop.png/@@images/0bcdf350-1af5-43a8-8e2a-ac7eebc4678c.png" alt="" class="image-right" title="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; "><br />The fourth workshop was conducted at Mass Communication & Journalism department of Solapur University. The faculty of this department took the initiative to organize this event for the second time. Total 25 new and old users participated in the workshop. The participants edited the articles related to journalism and also uploaded the images on Commons. Some editors completed the task of adding references to articles. After the meeting with the faculty, group of post graduate students were assigned 50 articles about reputed Marathi newspapers. They will complete this task as part of their online academic submissions.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/KaranjaLad.png/@@images/c87be0c1-110b-41f1-a21b-28c4df9cd0ab.png" alt="Karanja Lad" class="image-inline" title="Karanja Lad" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The fifth wokshop was conducted at SSSKR Innani College at Karanja Lad in district Washim. This was the first Wikipedia programme in this region of the state. As it was the first Wiki event, we decided to organise a two day workshop. The management and faculty participated actively in this workshop. In the workshop, references and images were added to existing articles about local heritage, tourist places and personalities. The images were uploaded to newly created categories - Karanja Lad and SSSKR Innani College on Commons. Over 100 members participated in this two day event, while 45 users edited actively on Wikimedia projects.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Follow-up</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">After the workshop, quarterly refresher sessions are planned in these institutions. The active students' WhatsApp groups will be formed for support and online training sessions. This cadre of Wiki Guides would facilitate the programs for other students. The meeting with faculty and board of studies would be held for integration of Wikimedia activities with the academic assignments.</p>
<hr />
<p>More info check out the <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Marathi_Language_Fortnight_Workshops_(2019)">Meta report</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-language-fortnight-workshops-2019'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-language-fortnight-workshops-2019</a>
</p>
No publishersubodhOpennessFeaturedMarathi WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2019-03-01T00:39:33ZBlog EntryMapping Institutions of Intellectual Property: Part B — India's National Program on Intellectual Property Management
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mapping-institutions-of-intellectual-property-part-b
<b>As a second part in the series on Mapping Institutions of Intellectual Property this blog post deals with the documents introduced at the Stakeholders’ Consultation for India’s National Program on Intellectual Property. </b>
<p>Many thanks to CIS interns Jessamine Matthew, Tanvi Mani and Upasana Chauhan for their support on this.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On the 21st of February, 2014, the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (“MHRD”), Government of India organized a Stakeholders Consultation at New Delhi (“the Consultation”) to discuss India’s National Program on Intellectual Property Management. <i>(Click here: </i><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mapping-institutions-of-intellectual-property-part-a" class="external-link">http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/mapping-institutions-of-intellectual-property-part-a</a> to read our post about this, the first in this series on mapping institutions of intellectual property). I attended this Consultation on behalf of CIS. Discussions were informed by three documents introduced at this meeting, the important parts of which have been summarized below:<a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/report-of-the-evaluation-committee.pdf" class="internal-link"><b> </b></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/report-of-the-evaluation-committee.pdf" class="internal-link"><b>Report of the Evaluation Committee on Continuation of the Scheme of Intellectual Property Education, Research and Public Outreach (IPERPO) (“the Scheme”) in the XII Five Year Plan Period 2012-2017</b></a> (PDF, 21378 Kb)</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Introduction</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Evaluation Committee involved in the preparation of this report comprised of Prof. Sudhir K. Jain, Shri T.C. James and Shri J.R. Agarwal. The rationale behind such scrutiny was to yield recommendations with regard to whether the Scheme should be continued or not. And if the answer was found to be in affirmative, to analyze the scope for improvement, phasing of expenditure and setting of targets for each component of the Scheme.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Essentially the report seeks to analyze the overall impact of the Scheme in the discipline of IP rights with respect to education and awareness. It examines the trajectory of progress of the MHRD-IP Chairs and assesses ways to monitor them more efficiently. In addition to that it also analyzes the procedure adopted to release grants to the Chairs and to recognized universities and explores the possibility of widening the scope of the Scheme.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Genesis of the Scheme</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Scheme was formulated to encourage study of IP rights and research, and create awareness about copyright and IP matters. It also aimed to develop specialized courses, train enforcement personnel, organize seminars and workshops on IPR matters, develop inputs, awareness on WTO matters and evolve strategies of regional cooperation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Under the Scheme, the purposes for which expenditure is to be incurred by the Ministry are clearly chalked out. The details of the same are given in the Report of the Committee. It also lays down the eligibility of Institutions/ Organizations that are to be selected under the Scheme.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">MHRD-IPR Chairs</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Around 20 MHRD-IPR Chairs have been set up across various universities, IITs and National Law Universities for growth and development of IPR education, research and training. The staff –pattern followed for MHRD-IPR chair is one Chair Professor, two Research associates, one Steno-cum- Documentation assistant and one group-D employee. Such appointments are supposed to be made in accordance with the rules and guidelines of the UGC. Apart from the recurring expenditure towards salaries of the above-mentioned staff, the Chairs have also been given a non-recurring provision for library, equipments and ancillary items. However, such grants are to be given upon fulfilment of certain conditions imposed under the Scheme.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The working of MHRD-IPR Chairs is overlooked by two committees-namely, the ‘Coordinating Committee’ and ‘Review Committee’. The Coordinating Committee is responsible for discussing proposed activities and resolving pending disputes while the Review Committee review their progress periodically.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Observations on Performance of IPR Chairs</h3>
<ul>
<li>Inability to find a suitable Professor level person to occupy the IPR Chair.</li>
<li>Absence of qualification- criteria for the IPR Chair in the Scheme.</li>
<li>Less focus on research component, development of human resource and teaching.</li>
<li>Few IPR-Chairs have appointed full staff which is complementary to their working.</li>
<li>Flow of fund to IPR-Chairs is interrupted dur to lack of proper documentation.</li>
<li>Uncertainty about the continuation of IPR Chairs which has a detrimental effect on their performance.</li>
<li>Active participation in seminars and workshops organized by universities, institutes and colleges on IPR awareness.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Plan Allocation and Expenditure</h3>
<p>There exists variations with respect to allocation and actual expenditure of funds due to various reasons.</p>
<h3>New Initiatives to be taken during XII Plan</h3>
<ul>
<li>New IPR-Chairs should be established to encourage research in the field of IPR and create a pool of trained human resources.</li>
<li>IPR Centres/ Cells should be set up and they should be linked to the IPR-Chairs.</li>
<li>Internal Monitoring and Information Systems should exist for effective implementation of the Scheme.</li>
<li>National Seminars/ Conference should be held annually.</li>
<li>World Intellectually Property Day should be celebrated annually with various themes as decided by WIPO.</li>
<li>Awareness about copyright and IPR should be spread through print and electronic media.</li>
<li>Copyright Office should be strengthened and modernized to bring it at par with offices in the USA, UK.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Specific Recommendations</h3>
<ul>
<li>The Committee recommended that the post of IPR-Chairs needs to be incentivized and given full functional autonomy. Moreover, the support provided by Government to the Chairs should be long-term.</li>
<li>The appointment of academic and administrative staff needs to be revised periodically.</li>
<li>Only publicly funded universities and institutes of higher learning should be beneficiaries to this Scheme.</li>
<li>The proposed activities and achievements of the IPR Chairs should be made public.</li>
<li>IPR Chairs should provide assistance to the Central Government by way of research and providing solutions to policy problems and issues.</li>
<li>Some flexibility should be allowed with respect to documentation for uninterrupted flow of accounts.</li>
<li>Provision for replacement/ purchase of equipments.</li>
<li>It should be made mandatory for IPR-Chairs to appoint full staff and conduct lon term training programmes in advanced areas of IPR at the national level.</li>
<li>The work of the IPR Chairs needs to be chalked out explicitly by the Scheme.</li>
<li>Having a scheme for converting the well-functioning Chairs into Specialized IPR Centres with the participation of MHRD.</li>
<li>Raising awareness on IPR issues and problems by holding workshops and seminars. Moreover, universities and colleges should ensure adequate participation in such seminars/ workshops.</li>
<li>School-curriculum should include Chapters on IPR.</li>
<li>Modernization of the Copyright Office should be considered to be a priority to ensure easy access and to make copyright registration easier.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/note-on-establishment-of-inter-university-centre-for-ip-rights.pdf" class="internal-link"><b><br />Note on the establishment of an Inter-University Centre for Intellectual Property Rights</b></a></p>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Inter-University Centre for Intellectual Property Rights (“the Centre”) will be established under UGC/ Ministry of HRD, Government of India. Broadly, the mission of this independent autonomous Policy Research Centre is to provide research and policy inputs in the arena of IPR. The targeted audience for these inputs will be the State and Central Governments. In addition to that, it also seeks to serve as a connecting bridge for dialogue between developing countries on IPR. To actualize the mission, it will work on inter-disciplinary research and disseminate information on various socio-legal and other aspects of IPR. It will also promote, integrate and develop models and mechanisms associated with IPR.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Functions</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In order to make IPR resources more accessible, the Centre will establish a repository of such resources by entering into collaboration with other organizations and institutions. It will also provide assistance to stakeholders by ways of and not limited to organization of seminars, awareness programmes. As a means to encourage inter-disciplinary research which is quintessential for this Centre, it would offer visiting fellowships and forge links with national and international research institutions. As a nodal centre with respect to interfacing government on IP matters, it will also have the added responsibility of reviewing performance of MHRD-IP chairs.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Broad Deliverables and Outcomes of the Centre</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Deliverables of this Centre world would include Policy Research Inputs, Research Publications, Research Monographs, Treaty Analysis, Sensitization Programmes and National and International Conferences. On the other hand, the outcomes would include Research on thrust areas, Knowledge Management in IPRs, IPR Online Resources and discussions.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Linkages</h3>
<p>The Centre seeks to link MHRD-IP Chairs, Industry Associations, Civil Society Advocacy Groups and Public Institutes with IPR research capacity.</p>
<h3>Organizational Structure and Funding</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The organizational structure of the Centre would include the Governing Council, Governing Board and the Research Advisory Council. Each Council/ Board will comprise of Chairman, Ex-Officio Members and Nominated Members. The individuals who are responsible for the nomination of members to these structures are the President, Chairman of the GB and Chairman of the Centre respectively. It has laid down the specification of such composition in its note on establishment.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">For the purpose of funding, the Centre would depend on UGC for its building infrastructure, salary and non-salary components. In addition to that it will also aim to create its own corpus by means of consultancy and other grant-in-aids. Towards capital expenditure, the required allocation would be Rs. 65 crores. While the revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs. 25 crores annually. A detailed break-down of the expenditure also been laid down by the Centre in its note.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dpr-establishment-national-ip-rights.pdf" class="internal-link"><b>Discussion Paper for the Establishment of a National Institute for Intellectual Property Rights </b></a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Introduction<b> </b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The National Institute for Intellectual Property Rights (“the Institute’) will be established as an autonomous policy research institute under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. It envisages a specialization in policy research and development cooperation in the field of IP rights. Further, it aims to provide multi-stakeholder collaborations in the fields of IPRs. It will provide policy inputs to the government of India for formulating legislations and international agreements. The Institute will serve as a common platform for dialogue among developing countries on IPR issues. Moreover, it will act as a ‘Hub and ‘spoke’ model to connect and coordinate with the MHRD IPR Chairs/ other institutions working in the field of IPRs.</p>
<p><i>Vision</i>: To be an institute of excellence in policy research and advocacy of IPR.</p>
<p><i>Mission</i>: To provide effective research and policy inputs in the field of IPR.</p>
<h3>Objectives</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Institute would serve as a think-tank to provide policy inputs on IPR at a regional, national and international level. It would work on interdisciplinary research involving multi-stakeholders and focus on IPR trade related issues and their impact on socio-economic aspects at regional, national and international levels. Further, it would disseminate information regarding the social, legal, ethical and economic aspects of IPR. It would endeavour to promote, integrate and develop ‘Academia-Industry’ knowledge structures. Models and mechanisms associated with IPR. Further, it would coordinate the activities of ‘MHRD-IPR’ chairs on behalf of the Ministry of HRD. Lastly, it would engage in capacity building and provide inputs on IPR policy makers including the judiciary.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Functions</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In order to realize the objectives elucidated, the Institute would perform the following functions. It would undertake inter-disciplinary research and provide necessary inputs to the State and Central governments to formulate the required policy in IPR. It would further establish a repository of IPR resources in collaboration with various academic institutions, organizations, chairs and stakeholders engaged in IPRs. It would also offer visiting fellowships to encourage multi-disciplinary research. It would organize and participate in seminars, conferences and awareness programs. It would also undertake consultancy and conduct training in IPR to assist various stakeholders. Additionally, it would forge links with national and international IP research institutions/ organizations and act as a nodal institute to interface various Ministries/Departments of the Government on IP related matters. In furtherance of its adjudicative functions it would also undertake a review on the performance of MHRD-IPR chairs on behalf of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Lastly, it would offer a Ph.D program in IPR in association with reputed Universities/ Institutions in India and abroad.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Institute will mainly focus on: (I) Research, (ii) Policy and Advocacy, (iii) International Collaboration and (iv) Developmental Agenda</p>
<p><i>The Broad Deliverables and outcomes of the Institute include:</i></p>
<p>Deliverables : (i) Policy Research Inputs (ii) Research Publications (iii) Research Monographs (iv) Treaty Analysis (v) Sensitization Programs (vi) National and International Conclaves/Conferences/Roundtables</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Outcomes: (i) Research on thrust areas: Preparation of occasional briefs/ annual briefs and discussion papers/ books/journals. (ii) Knowledge and Management of IPRs: Documenting and mapping the competencies on various segments of IP (iii) IPR Online resources: Online documents relating to IPR policy inputs (iv) National/ International Conferences/ Public Debate and Distinguished Lectures: To provide a common platform for deliberation on contemporary IPR practices, issues and critical analysis.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Linkages and Network</h3>
<p>The Institute will establish linkages and network with:</p>
<ul>
<li>MHRD-IPR Chairs</li>
<li>Industry Associations (National and International)</li>
<li>Civil Society Advocacy Groups</li>
<li>Public Institutes with IPR research capacity</li>
</ul>
<h3>Organizational Structure</h3>
<p>The organizational structure of the Institute would include the following sub committees:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Steering Committee: Ex-Officio Members: The Secretary, DHE,MHRD would be the president of the Committee. The members would include the Secretary of The DIPP,MOC, The Secretaries of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and The Department of Science and Technology, The Joint Secretaries of the (BP&CR),MHRD and the DIPP. MOC, GOI, The Director of (BP&CR),MHRD, The Vice Chancellor, Delhi University (Host Institution) and the Director of the NIIPR. The Members nominated by the President are the Two Members from the governing board, the two vice- chancellors of Universities having MHRD Chairs, the two directors of IITs/IIMs having MHRD IP Chairs and the two experts from the regulatory/ research councils.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Governing Board: The Chairman of the governing board shall be appointed by the president of the Steering Committee as per the procedure given in Rule 33.<br />Ex-Officio Members: These members include the Joint Secretary (BP&CR),MHRD, Joint Secretary (DIPP),GOI, The Director (BP&CR),MHRD and The Director, NIIPR who will be the member Secretary.The members nominated by the Chairman of the GB includes the Two Faculty Members of the Institute, The Two MHRD IPR Chair professors and Three National and International Experts in the field of IPR.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Research Advisory Council: The Director of the Institute is the Chairman of the Research Advisory Council. The Ex-Officio Members include the Deans and Two Professors of the Institute. The members nominated by the Chairman include two IP experts and one representative each from The Ministry of Culture, Arts, Agriculture, Information technology, Environment and Forests, Science and Technology and External Affairs, Two representatives from Civil Society Advocacy Groups and the Administrative Officer of the Institute would be a Non Member Secretary.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Funding</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Institute will be established by UGC funding for its building, infrastructure salary and non-salary components. The institute will also strive to create its own corpus by way of consultancy and other grant-in aids from relevant National/ International Organizations to compliment the UGC funding. Required allocation is estimated at Rs 65 crore towards capital expenditure relating to acquisition of land, building (Academic Block, Conference Halls, Guest House, Administrative Block, Faculty Quarters, Equipment, IT infrastructure etc) The revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs. 25 crore annually, towards meeting the operating activities of the proposed Institute.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The report also contains particulars with respect to staff requirements. It also contains estimates with respect to Non-recurring Capital Expenditure and Recurring Expenditure per annum.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Lastly, attached along with the report is the Memorandum of Association for the National Institute for Intellectual Property Rights.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The memorandum contains the objectives, functions, members of the Steering Committee and the Rules of the Institute.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Rules include the functions and powers of the Governing Board. The Board is to carry out the objectives of the Institute. It will be subject to the limitations of the Department of Higher Education, MHRD (the Department will also have the power to inspect the Institute at any time). The Governing Board will have the power to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Manage the affairs of the Institute, consider annual and supplementary budgets, </li>
<li>Create and abolish emoluments structures of various posts, </li>
<li>Appoint staff to these posts, </li>
<li>Enter into agreements with the Central or State Governments or public or private organisations or individuals for grants, donations etc, </li>
<li>Appoint Committees or Sub-Committees, </li>
<li>Delegate any administrative or financial powers to the Director, </li>
<li>Prepare budget estimate and sanction expenditure, </li>
<li>Prepare for the recruitment of offices, faculty and establishment of the Insitute, terms and conditions of scholarships, fellowships, etc. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It also contains details regarding meetings and the powers and functions of the chairman.There are guidelines for the appointment of the Director and Staff Employees.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mapping-institutions-of-intellectual-property-part-b'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mapping-institutions-of-intellectual-property-part-b</a>
</p>
No publishernehaaFeaturedAccess to Knowledge2014-06-26T15:27:18ZBlog Entry