Keyur Tripathi

Management of the trade secret assets in the domain of public interest

2020-09-09T00:17:00.003+05:30

Managing the relevant information from disclosure is one of the great aspects of trade a secret which needs to be regulated by the following order of arrangement:

Risk assessment

A trade secret protection plan, after defining the types of information to be covered, will define the risk structures and mitigation steps necessary to the danger. What are the importance of the trade secret and the correct scope of the safeguard measures?

In the terms, trade secrets information without permission may be taken, used or released, why, how, and by whom?

All related management of the company or organizations and its external independent contractors, the supply chain for suppliers or employees or other external interested persons such as rivals or rival businessmen may be subjected to the same analysis. Naturally, all secrets or sensitive information need not be worth the unique degree of disclosure protection. Benefit and risk differ from time to time depending on the needs of individual business circumstances. Therefore, we may claim that corporations have developed a hierarchy of protections needed for individual cases that represent certain objectives in order to provide extra security.

Therefore, if the risk assessment involved in the individual cases has been observed, measures for protection should be taken to safeguard the definite knowledge in accordance with the degree and severity of risk involved and the identified interest, taking into account the legal necessity for appropriate steps or measures. Those interventions may include:

Labelling attachment

For better protection of classified documents and electronic files containing trade secrets, it is important to mark them as Confidential which conveys the fact that they are subject to restricted access notice.

A variant on the above notice may be extended in the following words for the document which can be used outside the organization or institution: This document includes sensitive and proprietary information from Companys and is protected by copyright, trade secrets and other laws. The reception or possession conveys no rights, either express or implied, including any right to reproduce, transmit, publish, create, use or sell any embodiment of the mentioned material. If this document was issued in error, ignore the contents and return or kill. A single term or expression such as confidential is enough for internal record.

It is said to be appropriate for small and simple business premises to mark records in one type of disclosure protection, such as' confidential or classified.' But a comparative greater discernment is said to be needed in larger organizations, where knowledge needs to be exchanged more quickly.

A various categories representing varying degrees of confidentiality for the purposes of a single standard of security attempt [e.g. "Confidential," "classified," "trade classified"] can be obtained, bearing minor alteration labels and controls, such as counting or watermarking for confidential determination. When using the word ' trade secret' in any document, the mark will signify that this category does not mean that any similar information labelled differently is unqualified from trade secret security.

The connection or protocols, however, should be sufficiently clear for people who can come into direct or indirect contact with the information to understand their restricted access restriction.

Restricted internal physical and electronic access often requires for the purposes of potential security protections. Also, the person who requires, for example, also access to sensitive information by physical means, separated safe facilities or electronic systems that ideally regulate several levels of access with multi-factor authentication, and for that limited usage monitoring software is often necessary to alert management to high-risk behaviours.

There is a wide variety of information security products and services available for selecting defences and providing early notice of threats before any stranger hamper. Intrusions into the computer network by hackers seeking direct or indirect access to client information are becoming increasingly popular for external system security purposes. In addition to this, for example, the employee training programs will emphasize basic information safety hygiene, such as identification and prevention of attempts by outsiders to gain access to employee credentials.

A Theory of Privacy

2020-09-07T11:54:00.003+05:30

ABSTRACT

In the age of Big Data Analytics and COVID-19 Apps, the conventional conception of privacy that focuses excessively on the identification of the individual is inadequate to safeguard the identity and autonomy of the individual. An individual’s autonomy can be impaired and her control over her social identity diminished, even without infringing the anonymity surrounding her personal identity. A century-old individualistic conception of privacy that was designed to safeguard a person from unwarranted social interference is incapable of protecting her autonomy and identity when she is being targeted on the basis her interdependent social and algorithmic group affiliations. In order to overcome these limitations, in this paper, I develop a theoretical framework in form of a triumvirate model of group right to privacy (GRP), which is based on privacy as a social value (Pv). An individual has an interest in protecting her social identity arising out of her participation in social groups. The panoptic sorting of individuals by Big Data Analytics for behavioural targeting purposes gives rise to epistemic bubbles and echo chambers that impede the formation of an individual’s social identity.

I construct the formulation of GRP1 to protect an individual’s interest in her social identity and her socially embedded autonomous self. Thereafter, I emphasize an individual’s right to informational self-determination and against algorithmic grouping in GRP2. Lastly, I highlight instances where an organized group may be entitled to privacy in its own right as GRP3. I develop a Razian formulation to state that the constant surveillance and monetization of human existence by Big Data Analytics is an infringement of individual autonomy. I highlight that the violation of GRP subjects an individual to behavioural targeting including hyper-targeted political advertising and distorts her weltanschauung. As regards the COVID-19 Apps, I assert that the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the pandemic do not provide an everlasting justification for reducing the identity of an individual to a potential disease carrier. I argue that the ambivalence regarding the existence of surveillance surrounding an individual’s social identity can leave her in a perpetual state of simulated surveillance (surveillance).

I further assert that it is in the long-term best interests of the BigTech corporations to respect privacy. In conclusion, I highlight that our privacy is not only interdependent in nature, but it is also existentially cumulatively interlinked. It increases in force with each successive protection. The privacy challenges posed by COVID-19 Apps has helped us realize that while limited exceptions to privacy may be carved out in grave emergencies, there is no justification for round the clock surveillance of an individual’s existence by Big Data Analytics. Similarly, the threat to privacy posed by Big Data Analytics has helped us realize that privacy has been wrongly focusing on the distinguishing aspects of the individual. It is our similarities that are truly worth protecting. In order to protect these similarities, I formulate the concept of mutual or companion privacy, which counter-intuitively states that in the age of Big Data Analytics we have more privacy together rather than individually.

Puri, Anuj, A Theory of Privacy (September 3, 2020). Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, forthcoming.

Revisiting the Enforceability of Online Contracts: The Need for Unambiguous Assent to Inconspicuous Terms

2020-09-04T11:49:00.001+05:30

ABSTRACT

In determining the enforceability of online contracts, namely those formed from the use of smartphone applications, courts typically look to whether the contract terms were reasonably conspicuous or communicated to the consumer. With the rise of ‘browse-wrap’ contracts, where terms are not directly communicated to the consumer or where the consumer is not required to click the equivalent of an ‘I agree’ button clearly manifesting assent to the terms, courts have inconsistently applied the reasonable communicativeness standard to the detriment of consumers and application developers alike. This Comment will explore the development of browse-wrap contracting jurisprudence and the need to embrace the Specht v Netscape Communications Corp and GDPR requirements that all contracts entered into online are only enforceable once the consumer clearly and unambiguously manifests assent to the contract’s terms.

Tom Mozingo, Revisiting the Enforceability of Online Contracts: The Need for Unambiguous Assent to Inconspicuous Terms, 43 Seattle University Law Review 1065 (2020).

Managing and identifying the trade secret as a guidance for business

2020-08-24T15:00:00.002+05:30

It is necessary to first understand in order for an organization to protect its trade secrets, what that information or knowledge is, again how it participates in the valuation of the goods, services or services of the company and what the consequences of its exposure, misappropriation are. Initially the greater the responsibility lies with the commercial sector or role which discovers such knowledge of resources. Any sensitive professional information which offers a competitive advantage should be identified, at least by definition, and then subject to security measures proportional to its perceived significance and risk.

What amounts the identification of trade secret in general terms

What counts as a trade secret is a significant first step in the gross management of the valuable knowledge wealth of a corporation, whether they develop into patent applications are kept for internal protection, are used or are sold by a collaboration firm or licensing authority. Using such information laid, a policy and management system can be built, usually, we would assume it would be a disciplinary mechanism involving managers from the various business units and a few functional and non-functional areas such as legal or human resources, IT and supply chain etc. Unlike other forms of intellectual property, trade secrets are not recorded in a Government filing or listed elsewhere. They merely demonstrated the importance of information which a businessman has kept the secret, but which can be shared in active confidence in a confidential relationship with employees or with third parties and with the assurance that it will not be released.

General Legal Requirement

In practice, undertakings having to provide a common understanding/advantages of the kinds of information/knowledge they possess, which may be the subject of disclosure protection. Where the information is exchanged, it is also important to notify unique information which is considered confidential. For certain trade secrets, they are first listed in order to understand in the context of the contested cases.

Following guiding principles can help figure out whether any given collection of information and expertise should or may not qualify for security.

The value of the information or knowledge as calculated by the relative benefits it provides or by the damage caused by the disclosure or misuse or misappropriation thereof.
Information derived from different individual competences or expertise, none of which is covered as an important matter of public policy.
To the degree to which the knowledge is secure from unauthorized access or misuse by both insiders and third parties;
The time, energy and resources that the organization or organizations are spending on generating or creating some knowledge; and
The importance to the other person's ability to discover, replicate or obtain information independently.

This is important that the holder or genuine owner of a trade secret conduct the identification and determination of information as set out above in the first instance. What knowledge is considered to be a trade secret or not, may eventually, be determined on a case-by-case basis by the courts of law and depends on facts and circumstances such as the above factors. A clear definition of trade secrets is not in favour of strict laws, partially because only the owner of trade secrets can assess the importance and the relative risks to trade secrecy, hence it is important to set goals and follow risk reduction techniques.

Specific legal requirements:

Commercial value

Under current U.S. and European Union laws, a trade secret, knowledge must have some commercial or economic value; it can be either real or possible. Potential the value may exist even if the information has not led to an economic product, good, or service, even if the information includes failed experiments or other evil knowledge, usually derived from analyzes, that can help lead the way to success.

As mentioned above, interest[1] can be measured in the magnitude of the competitive advantage given by the knowledge or the harm that would result from inappropriate collection, use or disclosure of the information.

The value of information is often very difficult to measure and can continuously alter, so no minimum threshold value is set. In practical terms, any perceived advantage is likely to apply. This is worth noting that trade secrets should not be of an exclusive nature: while the information or knowledge maybe recognized and utilized by certain businesses or organizations as long as it is not revealed to others, there may be value in the fact that a company's competitors do not know it holds the information.

Reasonable steps towards preserving for secrecy

The TRIPS clearly provides as a third condition[2] for non-disclosed information that it is subject to appropriate measures to keep it secret under the circumstances, by the individual legally in charge of the information.

The applicable term is fair actions under the current US State Law (UTSA), while the standard is rational steps under the federal DTSA. The practical consequences of both of these requirements are the same, concentrating on what is fair to expect a trade secret owner to do to qualify the courts for aid in enforcing their rights. TRIPS are using the same terms for its trade secret criteria, including the third condition of appropriate measures, in the EU directive.[3]

That is fair in the European Union and the United States is a factual matter to be determined by a judge or jury in the light of the proof of the facts and circumstances of the risk environment of a business, the balance between the relative value of the confidential information, the danger of loss or contamination and the expense of many steps to reduce the risks.

The courts have no interest in demanding any drastic and unduly expensive measures to protect trade secrets from illegal disclosures.[4] They wanted only to see steps taken that were fairly proportional to the everyday economic risks of information security, including staff turnover, foreign or internal research and development partnerships and long domestic and international supply chains in the public interest at all.[5]

There appears to be no wider disparity between fair or best security attempt practices for the defence of trade secrets accepted in the European Union and the United States and other countries.

Once a conflict occurs, the proprietor of the trade secret must have the intention to maintain confidentiality to be demonstrated by his behavioural conduct. Means the owner must have ascertained that a degree of attention and effort relevant to the importance of the information and the possibility of loss or contamination has been committed.

Since information security risks are usually complex, it is required that organizations or entities evaluate and change their protection measures according to the changing environment as necessary.

[1]Recital 14 of the Directive.

[2]TRIPS, Art. 39(2)(c).

[3]Directive, Art. 2(1).

[4]UTSA 1 Commissioners Comment.

[5] Just before The directive, the European IPR Helpdesk of the EU Commission released an overview of the steps and best practices, as well as links to fact sheets on how sensitive company information and non-disclosure agreements can be handled. While these manuals are not binding, they offer organizational guidelines for taking the appropriate steps to protect trade secrets.

Trade Secrets under Contract Law

2020-08-21T23:35:00.000+05:30

No clear legislation as far as Trade Secret and Confidential Information is protected by law in India. The mechanisms from which courts in India have secured trade secrets and other important knowledge are the concepts of justice and common law violation and contractual obligations. It is from Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 that explains that the trade-restraint arrangement is void.[1]

Section 27 is general in its terms and states that all trade-restraint agreements, except as stated, are void pro tanto. Special trade security won't add additional technologies to keep the knowledge safe. This section was initially highly restrictive in declaring trade controls null and void, both general and partial. However, it is also important to remember here that the law was implemented at a time when trade was at the point of growth and the purpose underlying the provision was, in fact, to protect trade from restrictions.

There is no reason why a more liberal approach should not be taken by recognizing that certain restrictions are fair for trading laws in India while trading here was at the stage of growth. After considering the above factors, the Law Commission of India proposed in 1958 that the following paragraph be added to the main section:... except to the degree that the restraint is fair in view of the interests of the parties to the agreements and the public.[2]

It is pertinent to note that India's Law Commission in its decision on trade secret security was beyond time. The above recommendations require a fair restriction on India's right to carry on trade and encourage commercial secret law.

[1] Pollock and Mulla, The Indian Contract and Specific Relief Acts, 817-823 (Vol 1, 12^th edn, Butterworths, New Delhi 2004).

[2] The Law Commission of India’s 13th Report, Ministry of Law and Justice (1958), Para 56.

Essentials of the violation of a trade secret

2020-08-19T22:04:00.000+05:30

It is clear that the definition of ‘misappropriation’ as given in the United States and the European Union,[1] It is similar in nature in that the European Union Directive was meant to comply with Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement, which was largely based on the principles of US law. Article 4 of the Directives on the European Union describes misappropriation as the unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of trade secrets.

The possession, use or misappropriation of a trade secret without the permission of the owner of the trade secret holder shall be considered not to be genuine and, thus, unlawful if it is impeded by unauthorized users, the theft or copying of any data items, products, substances or electronic files containing the trade secret and legitimately subject to active and direct control

The use or disclosure of a trade secret is said to be invalid when:

a. The trade secret was obtained invalidly, or

b. This conduct constitutes breach of a contractual or other duty not to reveal or restrict the use of trade secrets, and occurs without the permission of the trade secret holder.

Under the original draft by the European Union Commission,[2] intention whether mala fide, bona-fide or negligence are not required an essential element of any misuse of a trade secret.

This means the true owner of the legal trade secret can effectively secure an injunction order against the person who caused damage to the true owner's property, irrespective of the rule. The acquisition of a trade secret and its use obtained from a third party and the manufacture or putting on the open market or for importation of infringing products shall be deemed invalid under the Directives if the individual concerned knew or ought to have known that the trade secret has been misused.[3]

Any cases relating to negligence allow the infringer to know it or could easily have known that it was misusing a trade secret.[4] In the U.S., the statute relating to the unauthorized acquisition of trade secrets is defined in terms of illicit means, a definition which the court has provided broader and more flexible scope and which can be understood as the equivalent of conduct that is contrary to faithful economic transactions.

This may include hacking and all other espionage techniques which do not include effective means such as independent exploration or reverse engineering. Suppose if someone in possession of a trade secret suspects they were obtained through illegal means or are subject to an active trust duty, then any unauthorized release or use is an act of misuse.

For this example, implicit trade secret knowledge may be inferred from the facts and circumstances in each individual event, such that the necessity for the disclosure in trade secret information is not explicitly understood.

The problem of unintentional or unintended assault or release is treated differently according to US law, but must be consistent with the guidelines. The liability extends prospectively until the individual receives notice that the information is a trade secret belonging to another person while no liability may be applied to it in the absence of any actual or implied knowledge.

Nevertheless, in extraordinary circumstances, the court can refuse the issuance of an injunction order in favor of the plaintiff and, instead, enforce a continuing royalty payable to the trade secret holder if the individual accused of misuse of trade secrets can show that the knowledge has been integrated in good faith into a business process such that it would be unreasonable to instruct us to continue.[5]

[1]UTSA 1(2); DTSA.

[2]Clause 3, para. 2 Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament provides the same.

[3]Directives Art. 4, Paras. 4 &5.

[4]Directives, Art. 14.

[5]UTSA Art.2(b).

The legal protection of trade secrets in comparison to other intellectual property rights

2020-08-17T22:17:00.005+05:30

The TRIPS Agreement provides for WTO member countries to secure the meeting of confidential information in relation to certain conditions, so as to enable them to “prevent the disclosure, obtainment or use of information which is not unlawfully within their control by others without their prior consent in a manner contrary to honest economic practices”[1] Although different countries shield these classified information under general unfair competition laws, unique trade secret laws were adopted in 2016 in the European Union (Trade Secrets Directive) and in the United States (Defend Trade Secrets Act, DTSA) at the federal level. The latter amended the 1996 Economic Espionage Act (EEA) to create a private or individual right of action for misappropriation or misuse of trade secrets relating to domestic or foreign commerce, without displacing any State trade secret legislation.[2]

Trade secrets are usually secured, unlike licensed intellectual property rights, without any procedural formalities-such as patents, product models, trademarks and designs, which require procedural formality. Patent types of novelty, industrial applicability or utility, or innovative phase, are not required for information to be held in the public domain as a trade secret. And likewise, it is not necessary to satisfy the originality requirement applicable to copyright, and trade secrets that consist of components in the public domain which, if combined by a particular public in ways that are not known or readily ascertainable, may provide competitive advantages and make the information valuable, precious and proprietary in nature.

Although advertising is said to be obligatory or to be of great benefit to trademarks and patents or copyrights, public disclosure eventually leads to the loss of trade secret protection. We may claim that trade secrets can be protected for an unlimited period of time, while registered rights (except for trademarks which can be regularly and indefinitely renewed but are subject to legitimate usage requirements) and copyrighted works are covered for a limited period of time only as specified in intellectual property laws.

Trade secret protection is supposed to be favored as an alternative to products and processes that are difficult to reverse engineer or that are not patentable but also offer competitive advantages to companies, or where patent protection is hard to obtain or too costly — although many of the steps needed to secure a trade secret can also be very costly and time-consuming. Small and medium-sized companies typically appear to rely much more on trade confidentiality than patenting.

Trade secrets rights are not recognized as intellectual property in the European Union Directive[3]— this contributes to the non-applicability of the Enforcement Directive to trade secrets although certain Member States, such as Italy and Slovakia, have agreed otherwise in aggregate. The functional meaning of this difference is limited in that the Trade Secrets Directive provides for an enforcement framework which is very similar to that of the Directive. In the law of the United States, trade secret protection is established by misappropriation of notions of unfair competition, and it does not prohibit individual innovation and therefore “ownership” by others, a trade secret is considered a right of intellectual property that can be marketed, licensed and taxed in the public domain.

[1] See TRIPS, Section 7, Art. 39.

[2]All States except Massachusetts and New York have adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA, 1979) in substantive form.

[3]Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament.

Veil of Ignorance or Theory of Original Position

2020-08-16T22:14:00.002+05:30

The Contractarian Principle refers to the hypothetical negotiation processes of a collection of laws by hypothetical persons who have an interest in the knowledge outcome. The result of such negotiation is, in theory, normatively justified by the ex-ante agreement authority to be bound by a set of laws. John Rawls said one of those contract theories as “the veil of ignorance.”

The veil of ignorance is a theory that indicates the state of nature predating the distribution or circulation of rights and duties in which the decision-making public does not know which place they will hold after the circulation is complete. John Rawls further argued that those who create a society under the veil of ignorance should in theory follow the law, such as choosing a distribution of wealth that maximizes the person's wealth with the least in scenario. It is suggested that if one believes the right assumptions the public working in poverty will first want to make sure that if they turned out to be the least well off at any time, then they would not be destitute at all. Many of the lawyers then argued that companies would agree to allow reversed engineering on the industrial platform because of the advantages that these regulations could bring to all.

Professor Bone opposed Contractarian theory on the basis of world corporations or organizations that would object after the agreement reached by those who do not have the right to express their world desires during the negotiations. His claim exposed many of the issues associated with Contractarian theory as their moral power is highly dependent on the hypothetical bargaining constraints, since such constraints apply to many in the business world who would prefer an free market to decide such a body of law. Despite this criticism, one set of negotiating constraints will shed light on the issues of ignorance, namely the veil. The founders would not have the capacity under the veil to decide what place they would hold, and therefore the set of rules they would agree to be fair, just and rational. On a philosophical point of view, it is unclear to the real world public will consent to, in order to provide universal financial or moral support for such collection of laws. All arguments or evidence about the reasons for set of rules will be biased because discussion about rules will mainly be biased by owners of real worlds.

In such a relationship the target is hard to achieve through business laboratory thought experiments. It is important to decide what someone would consent to if, when making the right decision, he or she did not know their lot in life. In such arena, it contributes to a clear criticism of the veil of ignorance theory; further, there is no reason to assume that the product will benefit from any particular circulation of the right associated with trade secrets.

For addressing the following questions, such as:

1. How does it require reverse engineering?

2. How is unjust enrichment a Damage Measure?

3. What is wrong meaning wider than wrongs in common law?

The response to all of the above questions depends on the results or they may all be a just result. Examination of the theory of ignorance is also useful from a normative point of view, although it is difficult to foresee the new law in the ordinary language. It is said that everyone should have recognized the balancing interest of anyone in the de novo or real position under the existing set of laws. It may qualify to explain the presence of secret trade law in society. In spite of all our efforts, we have no way of knowing whether a particular rule or set of rules is really the most efficient and successful under all given facts and circumstances, i.e. it is within the limits of reason that any sort of restricted trade secrets will result from a negotiation under the veil of ignorance if one assumes that people value what they produce. But at the same time, the public wants to build on the work of others that is in fact, a civil wrong.

Differentiation from other Intellectual Property: The word ‘trade secrets’ varies in different ways from other types of intellectual property rights. The most common distinction is focused primarily on the position of disclosures to individuals. Copyright and Patent owners are focused on the premise that creativity and invention are both covered by government intervention to promote the recovery of production or invention costs as such. In addition, the patent and copyright rights support the creation of prior work and the ability for all to use subject matter outside the scope of protected law or regulation.[1]

The trade secret owner is allowed for an indefinite period of time to retain information or knowledge that is neither new nor original. Trade secrets are handled quite the reverse in this way. Any information that may not be licensed or copyrighted is still in need of protection as long as the original owner retains confidentiality the information or knowledge.

The above discrepancies relate to the following two critiques of trade secret law, first-lack of incentives for citizens due to lack of information or knowledge sharing atmosphere and secondly, there is a very limited incentive to innovate because the owners gained security of knowledge by keeping it hidden, even in the absence of legislation. Similarity and dissimilarity of trade secrets in a particular way are as follows from other fields of intellectual property:

(i) As in the case of a patent, information or knowledge must not be original, new, valuable, lucrative or not apparent to be classified as a trade secret.[2] Trade secret information does not need to be original, even allowing information that should not be protected under copyright at all.[3]

(ii) Like copyright, trade secret laws require identical or similar information to be protected if the information is independently discovered or discovered by two parties, but the same does not apply to patents and marks.[4] More than one company that carry the same trade secrets, but each other would be unknown.

(iii) The right to exclude others shall only extend if information or knowledge is obtained in the proper manner but is not synonymous with all other types of intellectual property. It is also about the difference between fake copying and legitimate and independent creation using the copyright.[5] It is, in fact, a poor comparison, as copyright does not actually require any wrongdoing other than copying itself, whereas abuse of trade secrets requires copying and other inappropriate modes as well.

(iv) The trade secrets are similar to the patent requirement for utility purposes and to the trademark requirement for its actual use[6], as they must have some legitimate market interest by being not knowledge to others. Nonetheless, this phenomenon is relatively not high, and minimal brow sweat is typically enough for the defense.[7] Therefore, it is easy to conclude that trade secrets need only real potential value, whereas trademarks need actual use in commercial activity, which means real value at market price.[8]

(iv) Trade secrets are often unregistered for licensing purposes while trademarks and copyrights are licensed as such. A patent has to be new, or a trademark, it has to be original, but a trade secret does not always need to be an absolute secret to be a trade secret.

Since of above similarity and dissimilarity, therefore, trade secrets exist without contradicting other areas of intellectual property rights. So, ultimately, if injunctive judicial procedures are given for a region, it has to be put forward. In this way, it needs criteria to determine whether a country has an appropriate judicial system to enforce trade secret security legislation.

[1]Landes & Posner, noting that the model 'incentive' versus 'license' is applicable to intellectual property, but should not be seen as a single analysis); note, though, that patented works should not be released for publicity, however there is no doubt that when such works are released and others can legally use parts of them in new works, the public can benefit more.

[2]35 U.S.C., 101–103 (2000).

[3]ABBA Rubber Co. v. Seaquist, 286 Cal.518-526 (1991).

[4]Rockwell Graphic Sys., Inc v. DEV Indus., Inc., 925 F.2d 174, 178 (7th Cir. 1991); Cadence Design Sys., Inc. v. Avant Corp., 57 P.3d 647, 650–51 (Cal. 2002).

[5]17 U.S.C.107 (2000).

[6] Lanham Act 1(a), 15 U.S.C. 1051(a) (2000).

[7] Alex Foods, Inc. v. Metcalfe, 290 P.2d 646, 654 (Cal. Dist. Ct. App. 1955) (finding that peculiar likes and fancies of customers are protectable).

[8] Lanham Act 1(b) (registration for intent to use in future).

India’s New Education Policy: Streams Merge Into a River

2020-08-04T14:01:00.002+05:30

On July 29, the Indian government approved and unveiled a new education policy. The set of reforms encompasses a whole range of ideas and promises, from vocational education through schools to higher studies. Some of the promised changes reach deep. It is, however, a declared policy for now; the devil, as always, is in implementation. Yet the intent of the ambitious policy in itself is something worth covering, even though I will restrict myself to one aspect: The new policy declares that it will establish a common curriculum in the last classes of school education.

The plan’s full description is unavailable at the time of writing, but its summary is accessible in various sources, such as the personal website of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The summary is also comparable to the 2019 draft version of the policy, which was a 484-page document available online.

Indian school teaching branches out into three separate streams in the last two classes. These streams are science, commerce, and the arts (humanities). Such a division is followed in classes XI-XII (when children are 17-18 years old) on the level of intermediate college – which, despite its name, is the last stage of school before university. This specialization is thus intended to prepare teenagers better for future work (or future studies) by letting them pick the area that interests them.

Under the new education policy, however, it seems that these streams will form one river, as their contents are to be mixed into one curriculum. “There will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences,” the new plan for Indian education declares (commerce is not mentioned here but would surely not be left aside as separate). And yet the students are to enjoy “increased flexibility and choice of subjects,” meaning that they would now choose not between curricula, but between set subjects within one curriculum.

It is not stated directly that the streams will disappear, but it certainly seems so. Such a conclusion is reinforced by the 2019 draft version of the same policy, which envisaged a high school teaching system in which “There will be some essential common subjects for all, while simultaneously there will be great flexibility in selecting elective courses.” Not only the streams but the intermediate colleges as a type of school are to disappear as well, to be merged into high schools, which are now to cover Classes IX to XII (ages 14 to 18).

This solution relates to some core issues in the discussion on education. Should school education be seen as mainly pragmatic, as a system that prepares the pupils for professional life and endows them with other practical skills, or should it be seen as a wider system of knowledge, not all of which is directly useful in everyday life?

Choosing specialized curricula even before college is seen as pragmatic. It allows for an earlier focus, instead of forcing students to learn many different subjects at the same time; it also gives the young students agency, offering them a chance to walk along the paths of knowledge which they prefer (provided that their parents do not choose for them and that these choices are really available in a given institution).

Another view, and one I support, is that education is ideally about the complete development of a person. A wider scope of subjects burdens students with more to learn (in terms of a more diversified pool of information), but it also opens their minds to a broader outlook. A strong emphasis on pragmatism, in turn, leads to narrowing the scope of learning, usually diminishing the role of humanities. In a choice between mathematics and philosophy, what do most people perceive as more useful in life?

Let me give an example from a field I know better than other parts of Indian education: history textbooks. The textbooks brought out by the central government’s relevant institution, NCERT, are certainly of value. “Our Pasts (Hamare Atit),” the textbook used in classes VI-VII, offers interesting takes on Indian history as a confluence of many different communities. Subsequently, the “India and the Contemporary World (Bharat aur Samkalin Vishva)” textbook, used in classes IX-X, allows the student to see the history of contemporary India as set against the broader canvas of global history. Indian history then continues to be taught in classes XI-XII but along with it, the history of other countries starts to appear more visibly, with a separate textbook devoted to it: “Themes in World History (Vishva Itihas Ke Kuch Vishay).” Many students, however, were not taught from the last text, as by this time they chose other streams (history belongs to the arts stream). They thus miss a chance to learn more about the history of other nations, and, given that they had already chosen other streams, they probably did not study it at the university level either.

Moreover, the full choice of three streams may be on offer especially in larger urban centres and bigger schools. But in some of the private schools, I visited in mid-sized Indian towns, there was, in fact, no choice: the only stream available was science. The prevailing interest in the science curriculum, and resource limitations, meant that it was not feasible for the schools to offer other sets of courses.

In case a counterpoint would be raised that the schools I have been to were private, an intermediate college in India, even a private one, typically follows a government syllabus. The main purpose of the intermediate college is to prepare the students for the intermediate examinations, which open the gates leading to universities. As these examinations are organized by the state, it only makes sense for an intermediate college to follow the public curriculum. The schools I mentioned above, while private, have thus followed the government system, although they had a specific clientele they catered to. This also means that if the New Education Policy comes through, the private schools will follow the public ones in merging the three streams into one river.

There are obviously a lot of question marks over New Delhi’s current plan to do away with the rigidity of separate curricula in classes XI-XII. Will the government be able to implement this reform? Which subjects will be mandatory for all and which of them will be electable? Will, it not overburden the students? How many textbooks will have to change and when will the government be able to do this? Will this reform cover only the schools affiliated to the central government institutions or to the state education boards as well (as India is a federation, public education functions on these two levels)? Will the schools be able to adapt, also in terms of hiring cadres to cover new subjects? How will this affect the teachers and their job options?

While the plan has been unveiled recently and doubts remain, the idea to merge the streams still appears to be wise, as it may be an attempt to strike a balance between mandatory and selected subjects within one curriculum (instead of three separate curricula). It may thus save a larger part of the teaching of humanities from the iron hand of pragmatism.

7 Best Digital Marketing Courses to Take in 2020

2020-08-02T20:17:00.003+05:30

These days, unemployment is at its peak, and this COVID-19 situation gives rise to it as well. This situation is not only disturbing the mental state but affecting the professional lives as well. Everyone is looking forward to the courses or things that will help them to get rid of unemployment.

For cutting this problem, the digital marketing courses are making its place, and people are engaging in it as well. If you also wish to get rid of unemployment then here we will be going to disclose about the top 7 digital marketing courses can adapt during this tough situation. These courses will let you earn an abundance of money, and unemployment will not knock your doors at all.

But before you let yourself enrolled in any of the course, an individual needs to understand the things linked with them. Until and unless they are not sure what they will be going to get after completion of the course, there is no use of it at all.

Here will be going to disclose about the best 7 most popular digital marketing courses available that will polish your skills and let you make your career effectively.

Seven Best Courses for Digital Marketing to Choose

1. Simplilearn- Digital Marketing Specialist Master’s Program

If you wish to become someone who will act as the digital marketing Pro, then this digital marketing specialist master program is the right one for you to choose. It will not only act as a career-changing set for you but will also help you in understanding the digital strategies in detail.

A person will be going to understand about digital marketing strategies including:

PPC
Social
SEO
Advance mobile marketing
Optimization of Website rate conversion
Web analytics
Strategy and Conversion
Content marketing
Email marketing and so on.

After completion of this course, and individual will going to learn about all the basic strategy is linked with digital marketing. Also, the practical knowledge will get enhanced so that they can easily and roll themselves in in any of the expert exam available. After appearing in expert exams, and the individual will become certified. This course will let them get recognized as a specialist in digital marketing.

2. Hub-spot Academy- Inbound Digital Marketing Course

If you have ever gone through technical course learning, then Hub-spot Academy will act as a platform for you to showcase all the skills you are having. This course will help you to analyse all the tricks and techniques you have learnt, and inbound marketing techniques will help you in understanding what is going on. Each and every concept in Hub-spot Academy is explained so that an individual will not face any kind of difficulty at all. And individual able to create their own inbound marketing strategy that will help them to get more results.

In this course, the individual will be going to learn about:

Inbound marketing concepts
Email marketing
Social media promotion
Blogging
Conversion optimization
Lead nurturing
Landing pages
Customer Marketing approach and so on

After completion of the force, this also offers the student with the training session and practical exercises. These training sessions and practical exercises are organized to check out whether students are getting everything clearly or not. If you are a Hub-spot user and then there is no need for an individual to pay even a single penny for the inbound marketing course going on. After the completion of the course, a certificate will be issued to the students that will increase their chances of selection in any of the digital marketing fields they are applying.

3. Skill-share- Introduction to Social Media Strategy

When an individual will be going to learn about the concept linked with social media digital marketing, and then still there is the best one for them to choose. This course is specially designed for all those who wait to utilize all the Strategies and marketing tools available. They can choose any of the social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter Instagram, LinkedIn, and so on. With the help of all these platforms, they can understand social media Strategies and will put the things forward in the same manner.

In this particular post, a user will be going to learn about:-

Marketing
Business
Social Media
Social Media Marketing
Content Strategy
Social Media Advertising
Buffer

After understanding all these parameters, a user will gain confidence, and they can easily create their own social media strategy. This strategy will work in their favour and will help them to achieve the business goals they Desire. They just need to put some effort and time that will work in their favour after some time.

4. Coursera- Digital Marketing Specialization

In all the digital marketing courses available, Coursera hits at the top. It is quite interesting to see that this course will enhance the knowledge of an individual to the extent that they will not face any kind of difficulty at all. They will be going to understand all the strategies linked with online marketing so that they can easily implement the same.

When you are a beginner, you will be going to learn certain aspect included in it. The aspects of dealing with digital marketing environment are included here. The aspects include:-

Social media marketing
Digital marketing analytics
3D printing
Search engine optimization

Under the University of Illions master of Business Administration degree program, this course is termed as digital marketing specialization and an individual needs to learn about it as well. Whosoever is applying for this course, they will be going to learn about modern opportunities available. Perfect concepts and theory are included that will help an individual to learn about the things in an easy-going way. Moreover, after the completion of the course, certification will get offered to the student that will help them to enhance their resume appropriately. An individual just needs to spend 8 to 10 hours per week so that they can easily understand the courses in detail.

5. Wharton- Digital Marketing Professional Certification

Professional certification courses are also part of digital marketing. In all these courses, Wharton kids at the top. In this course, four tutorials are included which are related to online advertising.

With each passing module, a user will be going to learn about certain aspects dealing with digital marketing, and at the end, they will be going to get the digital marketing professional certification as well. Also, it is quite surprising to see that in this course they will be going to learn about the things which will help them to maintain their career more appropriate. This digital marketing professional certification will help the individual to know about all the ongoing Strategies and also let them understand what they can do to make things work in their favour.

In this course you will be going to learn about:

Business and e-commerce models
Social media analytics
Social media
Strategies to achieve customer-centricity and so on

After learning about all these forces, multiple opportunities will get available to the student. Also, it is to notify you that when you wish to get certified from the University of Pennsylvania, you must pay a lot of amount for the same. But the amount you will be going to pay is worth every penny. Whether you are a newcomer or you are an experience one every time you will be going to learn something new in digital marketing. Every day certain principles introduced in digital marketing which are known to enhance the practice of an individual to an extent.

6. Hub-spot- Online Marketing Courses

Hub-spot is always considered best to choose whenever it comes to look at the online marketing courses available, whenever you wish to learn about digital marketing and want to get the certification for free from a well-renowned company than hub-spot is the right one for you to consider.

The course offered to you by them includes:

Email marketing
Inbound marketing
Contextual marketing
Content marketing
Social media marketing

Apart from all these courses, it will be going to provide you with certification considering to Search Engine Optimization, Facebook ads, blogging, and so on. You just need to understand all the aspects in details. Whenever you wish to understand about the marketing strategies going on, and you wish to recognize someone as the digital marketing professionals, it is important for you to invest from time and get all the necessary details. Until and unless you have no details available, you cannot identify about it at all. Being an individual, you need to invest some time in this course so that not even a single aspect will be missed from your eyes.

7. Udacity- Digital Marketing Nano degree

Udacity also offers the best digital marketing training to all those people who want to start a career in it. There are two options available to the student wherein one option they can get them-self to engage in it just after graduation then another degree program will be the best one available. It will help them to become a master in all the platform-specific skills so that they cannot face any kind of trouble at all. It is also important for an individual to understand their learning about all the aspects in detail.

When you are going to get yourself enrolled in this course, you will be going to learn about:-

Display Advertising
Marketing Fundamentals
Content Strategy
Email Marketing
Search Engine Marketing
Metrics with Google Analytics
Social Media
Social Media Advertising with Facebook
Search Engine Optimization

Apart from engaging in it after valuation, independent study is also the option available. Here you will be going to act as digital marketing and learn new concepts regularly. It will refresh your skills and also become the best option for you to consider. You will be going to get some question and answers live session that will help you to clear your doubts and learn something new regularly. If you wish to join the digital marketing nano-degree program, you need to pay and amount of $537 for three months course or you need to pay and amount of $199 per month to sound professional. It totally depends upon the capacity of the individual and about the method they prefer.

Conclusion

These are the best digital marketing courses available. If you wish to polish your skills in a manner that you will not be going to face any trouble in future, then digital marketing is a field that will help you in dealing with it easy. And individual just need to understand the aspects in detail so that no trouble will be created to them in any case at all. After going through this article, if you have any query in your mind then feel free to ask it. We are here to help you in any manner.

Right to health as a Human Right

2020-07-25T22:23:00.001+05:30

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Since this declaration, compulsory licensing has remained a hot topic in the IP world. The global and national response needed for shifting the challenge to the promotion and protection of health and the human rights of people across the globe. The situation which is existing today is like a global public health emergency. So the countries identify the ways for addressing this situation from the human rights perspective and to address the public health concern successfully. Enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health which is the heart of the World Health Organization. WHO commitment continues to serve health as a human right which continues to give a signal for the countries to respond to the public health emergency.

Access to health can be directly related to the availability of medical care as part of the person’s individuals rights, various international convention Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979, Convention on the Rights of Child.[1] During this period, one of the major responsibility for reducing the disruption of the health-care system is on the pharmaceutical company by maintaining the supply of constant medicines, diagnostic tools and vaccines for smooth functioning. Global supply of pharmaceuticals is liked to be interrupted, particularly in the low and middle-class family.

During this pandemic, a major focus of the pharmaceuticals company should not be on the profit generation but to deal with this problem effectively by making medicine accessible to the larger population. Health should be given priority over the revenue generation. This will also help the company to outshine his image and name by providing the medicine at a low cost. While many countries like Israel, Canada, and Chile have already taken measures to speed up licensing processes and have tweaked their patent regime to dilute the rights of patent holders. There is enough pressure from the public and media on private entities, including the pharma companies which also push them toward sharing their products and patents more openly and to make joint efforts for tackling the virus along with the emergency measures taken up by the government to overcome the patent barrier. As the patent system always encourages innovation especially in the pharmaceutical sector because it recouped and profit margins attained.

Loopholes in the Ganga Action Plan (Part- II)

2020-07-22T14:53:00.002+05:30

Political Motivations behind the GAP

In the beginning, this plan was perceived as highly politically motivated because of Hindu sentiments but very soon they realized that it is a futile effort for their political purpose. Therefore they did not take an interest in this project. At the initial stage, Mr Rajeev Gandhi was very much concerned about this plan but later he did not take interest or successive prime ministers took an interest. It is evidenced by the fact that NRCA (National River Conservation Authority) held only two meetings since the GAP was launched in 1985 while the meetings were supposed to be held annually. This is sufficient to prove that there was a lack of political motivation and interest behind this project. Such a tendency created a barrier for the Ganga Action Plan when the project was on the implementing stage.

Over-Designed STPs

In practice, sufficient amount of sewage could never reach to the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), due to inadequacy of the sewer networks and the inadequate interception including diversion of sewage flowing through the nalas. A major portion of Sewage Treatment Plants remained ‘under-loaded’, which resulted in dead-investment on the STPs.

Irregular Maintenance

State government agencies which were responsible for the operation and maintenance of Ganga Action Plan assets, never given due importance in their funding for operation and management of GAP (Ganga Action Plan) assets even after courts interventions also.

Neglect of Monitoring of Important Aspects Other Than the River-Quality

The Government did not take any step towards erosion, tree cover etc. which were also important. Reduced tree cover in the Ganga basin and changed land-use pattern led to an increase in soil erosion. These seriously affected flows of the river. Besides these sediment yield and sediment deposition on the river bed etc. affect river flow.

Failure to Utilize Available Monitoring Data

The data collected hitherto was neither put together cohesively nor analyzed independently. Because of this neglect of data-analysis, lessons could not be drawn for further analysis (Operation & Maintenance) as well as for designing a new initiative to reduce pollution. Thus, this neglect led to not utilizing the lessons effectively learned from past experiences and has raised questions on government spending on monitoring programs.

In coordination in a different mechanism

The multi-tier monitoring system was adopted by the Government of India in which plans were to be monitored at the central and state level but being no coordination the different agencies and the clarity in terms of roles and responsibilities Ganga Action Plan faced failure.

Little consideration of sewage treatment infrastructure

Lack of proper sewage infrastructure system also played a role in the failure of GAP. Most of the cities like Kanpur, Varanasi and Allahabad were negligent regarding the management of sewage and did not care which resulted in flowing sewage of into the river. It was due to the nonexistence of an underground drainage system. The solid waste management system was virtually non-existed so solid waste found its place in the river.

Slow implementation of the project

The pace of implementation of GAP was quite slow since against 65 STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) under the plan, only 44 could be completed by the end of March 2004. Delays were ranging from 14 to 65 months in the completion of STPs. There was considerable a mismatch between interception and diversion devices provided and sewage treatment plants constructed to contain the pollution load of the river Ganga.

While GAP was still in progress, Central Ganga Authority in February 1991 realised that the completed works under GAP Phase-I would not give desired results unless pollution abatement works in remaining towns of Ganga and its important tributaries were also immediately taken up. Central Ganga Authority decided in February 1991 to take up Phase-II of GAP subject to the condition of 50 per cent the cost of the schemes would be borne by the concerned state government. There was considerable delay in completion of schemes due to various local and regional constraints in cost escalation and time overruns. This change in financial planning also created a delay in the implementation of the GAP.

The delays were attributable to problems in land acquisition, court injunctions, increase in the scope of work by the contractors etc. STPs performed below their capacity and thus could not operate at the optimum level of installed capacity; leave alone the achievement of the desired level of norms and standards.

Defective Organizational Set-Up

The organizational set up of NRCA (National River Conservation Authority) was hierarchically comprised of five tiers system. In which the role of state government was limited to the lowest tier addressing the execution and maintenance of schemes. The state government was also a part of hierarchy but the central government was reluctant to share its power, therefore the part played by states was minimal. All aspect of designing and program development was done by the NRCA at the central level, state government were assigned.

The task of setting up sewage treatment plants and targets, identifying polluters, and enforcing sanctions violations. The local government were missing from the organizational structure of the NRCA. There was little accountability among state and local government institutions. For example, the local government were not required to establish a revenue base for operation and maintenance. Although the NRCA monopolized all GAP related decision-making, the agencies deputed for implementing the projects were overwhelmed by the scale and scope of their duties.

Compulsory Licensing Of Drugs & Pharmaceuticals during Pandemic

2020-07-20T20:33:00.001+05:30

“ My idea of a better-ordered world is one in which medical discoveries would be free of patent and there will be no profiteering from life or death.” - Indira Gandhi

From her address to the World Health Assembly in Geneva May 6, 1981

COVID-19 put a challenge to the whole world and it also highlights the issue of public health and the human rights of people across the globe. It affected all spheres and sectors across the globe and the intellectual property regime is not the exception. The research group are engaged in the development of drugs. Some of the drugs approved for the clinical trails by WHO already possess patent protection like Remedesivir and attempt have been also made by some other countries like china to patent similar Covid-19 treatment drugs. It highlights the issue of abuse of the exclusive right of the patent holder. To address this problem various international instrument and treaties signed by the nations for compulsory licensing of patents. It is important to note that the pharmaceuticals company incurred a heavy cost in developing drugs. But the cost incurred for development for drugs is not more than the human lives. Compulsory Licensing is recognized as a legal measure against patent abuse and the public health problem. One of the important reason for granting compulsory licensing is to make medicine available and affordable to poor countries. During this time period, the pharmaceuticals company should be more focus on saving life rather than their making profit.

Nature of Patent Right

A patent is an exclusive right granted to the patent holder on the new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application for the minimum period of 20 years. Patentee holds the exclusive right to use, manufacture and sale of the product. In the absence of the competing product in the market, the patent holder enjoys a monopoly and sometimes it leads to the abuse of their dominant position in the market.

Compulsory Licensing of Patent

Since Patent grant the exclusive rights to the patent holder, but it is necessary to limit the power of the patent holder. Compulsory Licensing of the patent involves the use of the patented product and process without the patent holder consent. When a patent is granted to the pharmaceutical company it may lead to an increase in the price of the patent, due to the research and innovation and time involved in the development of drugs. High prices of drugs make the medicine unaffordable to the developing and the under-developed countries. Granting compulsory license help the state to put the cap on the prices of the drugs and provide access to essential drugs.

India and the TRIP’s

India is one of the member countries who sign the TRIPS Agreement which is implemented in 2005. Before becoming the member countries of TRIPS, India does not grant a patent for drugs. This was the time when the generic pharmaceuticals industry flourished in India irrespective of the strict patent regime in India. One of the major advantage of generic drugs that it is available at cheap prices and the disadvantage of compulsory licensing is that new and innovative drugs are not launched in India. To solve this problem, India signed the TRIPS agreement in 1995. India is a leader in the pharma industry but this situation changes after the TRIPS regime. Pharmaceuticals patenting in India is of special relevance to the current issue of public health because India pharmaceuticals company is the important supplier of the low priced drugs in the market. After signing the TRIPS Agreement, a patent on a product can also be granted in India. This leads to increase the hold on the availability, accessibility, quantity and price value of drugs. But this situation is sometimes abused by the patent holder and to counter this situation, TRIPS provides the provision of compulsory licensing.

Loopholes in the Ganga Action Plan (Part- I)

2020-07-17T17:38:00.000+05:30

Implementation

Problems of land acquisition, court cases, contractual issues and inadequate capacities in the local bodies/implementing agencies came in the way of speedy implementation. In some cases, essential components of schemes were not foreseen and estimates had to be revised. This caused cost overruns and delays. Some states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar could not provide funds timely for O&M (Operation & Maintenance) so O&M of conveying sewers and immediate pumping stations has been grossly neglected in Uttar Pradesh therefore in spite of facilities being available, raw sewage still flowing into the river.

Operation and Maintenance (O&M)

The state did not provide proper financial resources, uninterrupted power supply and skilled human resources. The problem in operation and maintenance can be defective land acquisition proceedings. It is a matter of experience that the Indian engineer design the projects on paper but they should design the scheme on the site and should do away with elements of likely disconnect or resistance so for as it is possible.

Technological Issues

Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB), technology, were adopted which is less energy-intensive but its effluent needs to be polished to meet the prescribed standards before it can be discharged into the river. Treatment facilities at many places were found inadequate due to the phenomenal growth of population and new residential colonies coming up without adequate wastewater treatment infrastructure, resulted in wastewater in excess of treatment capacity of the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) discharged into the river without treatment.

Religious Faith

Improved crematoria could not become popular due to peoples religious belief. NRCD (National River Conservation Directorate) and State Government could not popularize its use so the utilization of 29 wood crematoria constructed during 1997 in the towns of Etawah, Muzaffarnagar, Noida, Jaunpur and Sultanpur at a cost of rupees 25 lakh is quite less.

Non-participation of local stakeholders

Narrow participation of local stakeholders in the formation stage for GAP was another major drawback of Gang Action Plan. Without the involvement of local stakeholders there was a lack chance of success of Gang Action Plan. Lack of coordination between the central, state and the local governments which led to implementation delay.

Limited Scope of Issues Addressed

GAP was concentrated on tackling of sewage only but even if the entire sewage load as envisaged in Ganga Action Plan is treated, water quality could not reach up to the permissible level of bathing. The liquid industrial waste is one of the main pollution sources of the river. Besides these other sources of pollution like nursing homes and other commercial establishments etc. also were not taken into consideration seriously.

Influence of Aid on Choice of Technology

The choice of technology for sewage treatment under the Ganga Action Plan, especially the Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) technology introduced with the Dutch development aid which was an important financial source for the GAP-I. The critics argue that while adopting the technology, the MoEF (Ministry Of Environment & Forest) did not carry out any comparative assessment of the sewage treatment technologies on the criteria of suitability or efficiency. Further, they argue that the choice of UASB was highly influenced by Dutch aid and resulted in a mere waste of resources.

Inappropriate Technological Choices for Treatment

The technology adopted under the GAP ( Activated Sludge Processes) was also not suitable in local circumstances as a result it could not give the expected result. For example, in Kanpur, a sewage treatment plant was supposed to have a capacity to treat 130 MLD of sewage could only treat 70 million litres per day due to lack of sludge handling facilities. Some states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar could not provide proper electricity to these plants.

Inadequacy of Standards of Water Quality

Standards prescribed by the CPCB(Central Pollution Control Board) and M.G.K. Menon Committee are just opposite because the former is based on the scientific investigation and the latter is fixed arbitrarily. Besides this, there was no clarity regarding the envisioned outcomes which created confusion with respect to the solution of the problem. In the year 1995, when GAP was launched there was a target to acceptable standards while after two years the acceptable standard was changed to Class B water quality i.e, suitable for bathing.

Inappropriate Policy of Discharging Water into the River

Discharging partially treated sewage or effluents in the river is unacceptable practice unless there is adequate water flow in the river. Entire sewage and effluent should be treated before discharging into the river. The middle stretch of the river becomes dry in the lean season due to diversion of water for industrial and agricultural purposes. It creates a problem in treating polluted water.

Reasons/Causes Of Acid Attacks

2020-07-14T19:53:00.000+05:30

There are many reasons for acid attacks. The most common and obvious reason is “love rejection”, in which the proposer of marriage, love or sex is rejected by the victim. Families of young women are very concerned with the preservation of their daughters‟ marriageability. In addition to her physical appearance, a woman’s virginity is another resource in the marriage market, and therefore, women’s involvement in romantic relationships before marriage is taboo. Vindictive lovers, on being turned down for marriage by women or their families, resort to acid attacks to destroy the woman’s appearance and relegate her to a fate worse than death. Study of Indian News Reports, from January 2002 to October 2012 uncovered that victim’s rejection for love and marriage proposals motivated attacks in 35% of the 110 new stories, providing a motive for the attack.

Additionally, another report was published by a leading organization working for acid attack victims, The Campaign and Struggle against Acid Attacks on Women (CSAAAW) found that sexual harassment or assault in response to a woman or girl refusing such advances or demanding that the violence stop often precede such attacks. This shows the society’s outlook on women. Women still cannot fight for their rights which are the basic human right of every individual. Women are still regarded as “possession”, and a man is supposed to take up all the decisions in the family. And when a woman refuses a man, it is seen as destroying his reputation, prestige and honour, and he restores it by burning her face with acids. Men throw acid on women as a mark of their masculinity and superiority. By deforming her face, man derives a sadistic pleasure and his male ego gets satisfied. Another prominent reason may be dowry problems or other marital problems. Though taking of dowry is a punishable offence, still it is largely prevalent in many areas. It is considered as the duty of the bride’s family and has to suffer a huge social stigma if not complied with. In India, many women claim that they are attacked with acid due to the failure to meet with the monetary expectations of their in-laws. In addition to this, land and property disputes may also be said to be the key reasons for the commission of this barbaric offence.

The study of newspaper reports in India, exhibits that nearly 20% of the attacks occurred between unrelated people, due to business rivalry, sales disputes, land disputes or revenge between families. Thus, from the above discussion one can reach at the conclusion that men resort to acid attacks as a means to intimidate women and to impose their authority on her. Such kind of barbaric attacks nurtures his male ego and makes him feel that he is the proud creator of God and has created the patriarchal society. Females between 11 and 30 years are the most vulnerable to such attacks, in 36% of the incidents, the victims are targeted for rejection of marriage proposals. Therefore, the main cause that is seen to be behind the acid attack is the rejection of sexual advances.

Unlike other weapons such as guns, knives and grenades that are illegal, hard to find, or too much expressive, acid is easy to acquire. There are main four reasons behind attacks:

1. CULTURAL- Cultural attacks stem from gender, economic, or class inequalities, the culture of revenge, to calm misogyny.

2. SOCIETAL – It stem from impunity toward perpetrators, social permissiveness, history of punishment towards women, male-dominated resources.

3. SITUATIONAL - Situational attacks are seen with family conflicts, low family education, geographic situation, the emotional state of individuals, peer association, cost of acid.

4. PERSONAL – It starts from interpersonal feelings like male shame, powerlessness, the age of the perpetrator or victim, poor anger management skills, childhood neglect, antisocial behaviour etc.

Atmanirbhar Bharat: Road to Self-Reliance viz-a-viz Steps to Complete the Mission

2020-07-13T18:11:00.001+05:30

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

ABSTRACT

On 12^th May 2020 The Prime Minister of India Mr Narender Modi addressed to the nation where he first discussed the Atmanirbhar Bharat and announced an economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore. This announcement became a huge motivation for the country and creates a spark in the citizens during the time of corona pandemic.

INTRODUCTION

On 24^th March, 2020 India took its first step to fight against coronavirus by initiating a nationwide lockdown. Up till now, there had been five phases of lockdown and the testing of the virus has been increased since then. The increase in testing of the virus was made possible by the campaign initiated by our Prime Minister 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' or 'Self-Reliant India Mission'. This mission is started with a vision of creating a self-reliant India, by promoting Indian businesses and manufacturers to create more and more products and decreasing the import of goods.

Fighting against corona virus pandemic has been a big challenge for the whole world, India has faced this challenge bravely and turning the pandemic situation into an opportunity of becoming self-reliant was a courageous step, which is evident in the fact that from zero production of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) before March 2020, India today has created a capacity of producing 2 lakh PPE kits daily, which is also growing steadily. Additionally, India has demonstrated how it rises up to challenges and uncovers opportunities therein, as manifested in the re-purposing of various automobile sector industries to collaborate in the making of life-saving ventilators[1].

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan focuses on five pillars:

· Economy

· Infrastructure

· Systems

· Vibrant Demography

· Demand

Ø ECONOMY

As said PM we need to create an economy, which brings in quantum jump and not just incremental change[2].

Ø INFRASTRUCTURE

The country should build an infrastructure which becomes the identity of modern India, said PM[3].

Ø SYSTEM

The system has to be created which is based on the 21st century technology-driven arrangements and not on the ideas of 20th century asserted PM Modi[4].

Ø DEMOGRAPHY

India is the world's biggest democracy and the vibrant demography is our strength to make India self-reliant, said by PM Modi .[5].

Ø DEMAND

The demand and supply chain should be strengthened, he asserted. "The strength of our demand and supply chain should be utilized to full capacity, the PM said. He underlined the importance of strengthening all stakeholders in the supply chain to increase, as well as fulfill, the demand[6].

These are the five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan which were explained by The Prime Minister for the development and success of this campaign.

On 22^nd June, 2020 MP Parvesh Sahib Singh shared a 12-second clip showing a bull wearing the handle of the cart by himself and pulling it without the assistance of the farmer. Since being shared online, the video has garnered over one lakh views and prompted several reactions among citizens. While many were impressed by the bull’s ability to pull the cart without any assistance, others called it “atmanirbhar”.[7] It is a small example of how much the nation is motivated and is looking towards this change of self-reliant India.

In this journey from importing goods from other countries to manufacturing their own goods and services, not only the government but the private sector has also come along the way in order to support the development of the country and to achieve this vision the basic plan is to create a good public-private-partnership and to initiate it this partnership the administration is lowering the restrictions in some industries and helping the private sector to enter. India being the 5^th largest coal reserve in the world had to import 251million tons of coal worth Rs1,58,865 crore in the financial year 2020, earlier only public sector companies were allowed to mine coal in India, even though Coal India Limited(CIL) is the biggest coal mining company in the world, India has to import a major share of coal in order to reduce this import the state will lay a strong foundation for energy security and bring investment in the coal sector by marking a fundamental shift to unleash the coal sector as commercial-mine auction kickstarts, which clears the way to bring private the sector in coal mining and inviting the foreign investors in it.

Other than coal mining, the state is inviting the private sector for manufacturing of arms and ammunitions. Earlier India has been dependent on Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for procuring arms and ammunition for their safety, but now it will manufacture them. In a webinar on 10 June 2020 organised by FICCI Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said "There is a need for the private sector to be price competitive and focus on quality in production. It should not only cater to domestic needs but also be able to export its products. Only then it will achieve the vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan',".[8]

Under the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, two leading companies Samsung and One plus have decided to manufacture their T.V in India. Samsung the largest television brand in the country will now manufacture 85%-90% of its televisions in India to sell it in the country. Samsung and OnePlus have partnered with Chinese electronics firm Skyworth to manufacture television sets in its Hyderabad the facility which it runs as a joint-venture with an Indian partner, all other leading TV manufacturers such as LG, Sony, Xiaomi and Panasonic have already been making in India.

To boost its 'Make In India' and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiatives, the Commerce Ministry has asked Major private e-commerce players such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal to display the ‘Country of Origin’ filters on their platforms.

CONCLUSION

'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' is a great example of creating an opportunity out of pandemic, Prime Minister of India has shown that if a person has a vision then he can face any problem and turn it into opportunity. The announcement of this campaign is not just worded as many steps have been taken and towards its accomplishment, indulging privates sector in restricted areas of business is a sign towards boost of the economy. The time when the recession is hitting everywhere and businesses are going in loss and the economy is facing downfall, bringing this initiative clearly shows light of hope for everyone in a tough time.

Author - Adv. Akarsh Sharma

Co-author - Ms Megha Dixit

[1] National portal of India, Building atmanirbhar bharat and overcoming covid 19, (June24,2020, 4:23 p.m) https://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/building-atmanirbhar-bharat-overcoming-covid-19,

[2]Times Now Digital, Aatmanirbhar Bharat: India's self-reliance to be based on five pillars, says PM Narendra Modi, timesnownwes.com, (May 12, 2020 , 20:34) https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/aatmanirbhar bharat-indias-self-reliance-to-be-based-on-five-pillars-economy-infra-system-demography-demand-pm narendra-modi/590963

[3] Times Now Digital, Aatmanirbhar Bharat: India's self-reliance to be based on five pillars, says PM Narendra Modi, timesnownwes.com, (May 12, 2020 , 20:34) https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/aatmanirbhar bharat-indias-self-reliance-to-be-based-on-five-pillars-economy-infra-system-demography-demand-pm narendra-modi/590963

[4]Times Now Digital, Aatmanirbhar Bharat: India's self-reliance to be based on five pillars, says PM Narendra Modi, timesnownwes.com, (May 12, 2020 , 20:34) https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/aatmanirbhar bharat-indias-self-reliance-to-be-based-on-five-pillars-economy-infra-system-demography-demand-pm narendra-modi/590963

[5]Times Now Digital, Aatmanirbhar Bharat: India's self-reliance to be based on five pillars, says PM Narendra Modi, timesnownwes.com, (May 12, 2020 , 20:34) https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/aatmanirbhar bharat-indias-self-reliance-to-be-based-on-five-pillars-economy-infra-system-demography-demand-pm narendra-modi/590963

[6]Times Now Digital, Aatmanirbhar Bharat: India's self-reliance to be based on five pillars, says PM Narendra Modi, timesnownwes.com, (May 12, 2020 , 20:34) https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/aatmanirbhar bharat-indias-self-reliance-to-be-based-on-five-pillars-economy-infra-system-demography-demand-pmnarendra-modi/590963

[7]Trends Desk, ‘Atmanirbhar’: Netizens react after video of bull pulling its cart goes viral, The India Express, (June 23, 2020 6:59:36 pm), https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/atmanirbhar-say-netizen-after-video-of-bull-pulling-its-cart-goes-viral-6472558/

[8]PTI, Government to focus on domestic manufacturing of arms, ammunition to promote 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan', The Economics Times, (Jun 10, 2020, 05.10 PM), https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/government-to-focus-on-domestic-manufacturing-of-arms-ammunition-to-promote-atmanirbhar-bharat-abhiyan/articleshow/76302244.cms

CC- https://inc42.com/resources/atmanirbhar-bharat-stimulus-decoded-for-startups/

Just how big is India’s creative economy?

2020-06-29T23:03:00.000+05:30

The creative economy can be leveraged to revive economic growth in India. A large entertainment sector and diverse cultural traditions form a strong backbone of creative capital. The commercialization and monetization of creative works generate a chain of economic activity and drive the production and consumption of goods and services. Intellectual property rights, such as copyright, are at the heart of this process. Copyright provides incentives and protections for the production of new creative works. Despite this potential for generating growth and employment, the contribution of India’s creative economy was never measured using a verifiable methodology and data from the public domain, until now.

The first step to realizing the economic potential of any sector or industry is to measure its existing value. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) provides a standard methodology to evaluate the economic contribution of copyright-relevant industries in terms of value addition, employment and trade. I follow the WIPO methodology for India, using data from the Annual Survey of Industries, CMIE Prowess, and various industry reports, to estimate the value of India’s creative economy.

First, consider value addition. Globally, the creative sector has a share of 5.5% of total output, in terms of value-added. In India, gross value addition (GVA) from copyright-relevant industries was ₹89,000 crore in 2016-17, and at 0.58% share of total value-added, it is a tenth of the global average. Part of this asymmetry stems from the lack of data in the services sector. While the Annual Survey of Industries spans manufacturing activity, the data on services at the narrow industry level required to identify and estimate the value of copyright-relevant services remains unavailable. The Central Statistical Office releases GVA figures under a 2-digit industry classification. The availability of GVA figures under a 4-digit classification will give a much more realistic picture of the value contribution of copyright-related industries, especially as most creative activities are classified under services.

However, a low share of value-added to India’s gross domestic product (GDP) by copyright-relevant activity cannot be attributed solely to the lack of data on services. For instance, in manufacturing, where formal sector plants data is captured, the contribution of copyright-relevant work (including the contribution of design of apparel, toys, games and furniture, for example), is about 2.8%. This is still lower than the global average of 5.5%.

The composition of value addition across copyright-relevant industries follows the patterns of other countries, with the highest value addition from core copyright industries. These are industries which are wholly involved in copyright-relevant activities, including press, literature, dramatic arts, music and film. They contribute 45% of total value added in the creative economy. The second highest contribution is from interdependent industries, at 40%, which include distribution of creative works through radio and television. The rest of the contribution is made up of non-dedicated or partial copyright industries, which range from design to information and communication technologies.

Now, let’s look at employment and trade. The measurement exercise also reveals that copyright-relevant industries employ around 1.1 million workers in India. With the right growth impetus through policy and markets, the creative economy can create a large share of jobs in the future. This is because employment elasticity is high, with 10% growth in value-added stimulating an 8.7% increase in employment. Radio and Television account for a large share of existing employment (38.3%), closely followed by motion pictures and video (32%). Press and literature cover another 26.5%. Shares of other industries are relatively low.

The trade deficit of copyright-relevant industries totalled ₹1.10 trillion in 2016-17. The Directorate General of Excise and Customs reports India’s trade in goods, but not our trade-in services. Service imports and exports data can help improve the valuation of the creative economy.

How could policy action help? India can support value generation in the creative economy by modernizing the legal framework governing it. The Copyright Act was last amended in 2012 when the digital creative economy had limited presence. In 2012, less than 13% of Indians were connected to the internet, and most still had feature phones. Today, more than half the country is connected to higher quality internet. India sees over 400 million unique site/app visits every month, 97% of which are directed at entertainment content such as audio and video streaming. Consequently, the legal framework must be revisited and rebuilt, to support a fast-paced creative environment, with more freedom to contract, dynamic forums for dispute resolution and greater capacity for enforcement.

Lack of detailed data for the services sector as well as the informal sector remains the biggest barrier inaccurate evaluations of the true value of India’s creative economy. The WIPO methodology helps estimate the value of copyright-relevant works in developed countries more readily than in developing nations, where large segments of the economy remain informal. Qualitative aspects of copyright can further help us build understanding in this relatively understudied segment. Surveys, interviews, and community-sourced data are key resources in this regard. This includes understanding the economies of small artists and musicians, and the millions of informal workers across all creative industries. Measuring their contribution would be the logical next step.

E-Commerce In India: The Urgent Need For A Better Legal And Regulatory Framework

2020-06-29T23:01:00.000+05:30

What Is E-commerce?

Any form of business transaction that is done online or virtually through the internet comes under e-commerce. The most common example of e-commerce can be online shopping (shopping from Amazon, Myntra, and Shein, etc). It can also entail other types of activities such as online auctions, payment gateways, online ticketing, and internet banking.

There has been a rapid increase in the way people are approaching e-commerce apps. Mobile commerce, or m-Commerce, is a rapidly growing new avenue of e-Commerce that’s mostly driven by the expanding market and influence of smartphones and millennials’ comfort with shopping online. In 2018, the m-Commerce sector enjoyed a 39.1% increase in sales compared to the previous year.

Top Advertising agencies make used for representation purposes only. What Are The Various E-Commerce Laws And Regulations?

Information Technology Act, 2000

Information Technology Act, 2000 was the first enacted law by the government of India on e-commerce. The major purpose of this enactment was to give effect to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce, 1996. The General Assembly of the United Nations had adopted a resolution on January 30, 1997, commending the Model Law on Electronic Commerce for favourable consideration by the Member States.

The main aim of this Act was to provide legal recognition to the transactions that were carried out by the means of the internet and there was an exchange of electronic data by electronic means of communication (e-commerce). There are many provisions for legal recognition of the records and data that are available online. It also has digital signature rules for the attribution of e-records. The Act establishes a regulatory framework and it also lays down certain punishment for cyber crimes and offences.

Most of the provisions are related to the Regulation of Certification Authorities i.e. appointment of a Controller of CAs, the grant of licenses to CAs, recognition of foreign CAs, etc. There are offences related to cyber crimes such as hacking, damage to computer source code, publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form, breach of confidentiality and privacy, and fraudulent grant and use of digital signatures punishable.

There had been an increased number of crimes which were done through internet and the electronic media was misused by many, which is why there was a dire need to come up with cybersecurity laws so that electronic medium can also be used keeping in mind all safety factors and privacy concerns.

Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008

The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 was also incorporated to give an implementation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures, 2001 in India. The previous IT Act of 2000 was amended to make it more technology-neutral and recognized electronic signatures over-restrictive digital signatures. There were new changes such as the introduction of the concept of e signature, amendment of the definition of intermediary, etc.

To control the problem of privacy, the states assumed specific powers to control the website and to also keep a check on the misuse leading to tax evasions. This Act recognized the legal validity and also the enforceability of the digital signatures and electronic record first time India. The aim behind it was to have a secure pathway for the digital records and electronic signatures which had become an important concern since the use of electronic mediums had boosted top a great extent.

Issues Regarding E-Commerce 5 Ways You Can Improve Your eCommerce Store's Security To Get Ahead Of Your CompetitionImage used for representational purposes only.

Whenever there is a contractual relationship between two parties, there are high possibilities of disputes to take place. These disputes can be on contract terms, regulations, conditions, and negotiations. Issues related to e-commerce are copyright issues, data protection issues, and completions issues as well. Intellectual Property Rights is one of the foremost considerations for any company that is entering into an e-contract or in e-business which includes e-commerce transactions. Internet is very vast and has minimum regulations regarding protection and safety thus;

Firstly, protection of IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) is a major concern in e-business and a challenge too. Protecting IPRs in the physical world is well defined and regulated but, when it comes to the field of e-commerce, the transactions are not that. Similar domain names registered by two people or identical domain names not registered are few problems that are commonly faced. There is no specific Indian Law on domain names except the judicial pronouncements, which is not properly defined and protected.

Secondly, whenever there is an e-commerce transaction, it is very difficult to complete that online transaction without collecting some form of personal information regarding the user which is also concerned with their privacy. The IT Act deals with this concept of privacy in a very limited manner such as it only provides that privacy of a person is deemed to be violated when images of her private body areas are captured, published or transmitted without her consent in the circumstances where she would have had a reasonable expectation of privacy and a punishment of imprisonment of up to 3 years and/or fine of up to INR 2 lakhs.

Personal information relates to the identity of personal and sensitive personal data includes information on password, bank account or credit card or debit card or other payment instrument detail, etc. There is only monitory compensation. Therefore, there are frequent concerns regarding privacy.

Lastly, All the e-contracts which are entered online are to be governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1887. Acceptance of the terms and conditions is the foremost requirement for any e-contract to be valid. There are ‘click-wrap’ contracts i.e. contract created by clicking on an ‘I accept’ tab. ‘Browse-wrap’ is also a recognized form of implied contract which is created by mere browsing of a website.

All principles of contract law implied to e-commerce transactions. Some issues arise out of an e-commerce contract that can make the contract void-ab-initio. Certain provisions under the Indian Contract Act deal with unconscionable contracts such as when the consideration involved in the contract is opposed to public policy. Therefore, Indian laws speak or guide very less on some serious issues related to the validity of e-contracts.

Through the years, there has been rapid growth in the e-commerce sector which also created the need for protecting accountability and creating an effective regulatory mechanism that will have to strengthen the e-commerce sector and legal infrastructure as well. There have been frequent concerns raised regarding weak cybersecurity laws in India and the absence of the regulatory framework is why the e-commerce industry faces so many challenges instead of enjoying a consumer-friendly and business-confident e-commerce environment in India.

The government should develop a legal framework for both the domestic and international trade in India to flourish and to prevent fraud, consumer protection issues, privacy issues, intellectual property rights issues, etc. This can be a measured step to guide entrepreneurs, consumers, and even the court in a manner that this fast-emerging e-business trend can be run effectively.

No monopoly rights to 'Magic Masala': Madras High court

2020-06-28T23:36:00.000+05:30

Putting an end to an over seven-year-long legal dispute between ITC's Sun feast Yippee! and Nestle India's Maggi noodles, the Madras High Court has ruled that to promote their noodles brands neither of them can claim a monopoly over the words 'Magic Masala' and 'Magical Masala' to describe their products. ITC that began the legal battle back in 2013, after Nestle began using 'Maggi Xtra-delicious Magical Masala' to market its noodles framed charges against Nestle. Both the companies cannot claim the monopoly over the laudatory words 'Magic' and 'Magical'.

“Justice C. Saravanan said they are general English and Indian words and both the companies cannot claim the control over them as these words are laudatory and common to the trade, nobody can claim an exclusive right over their use. Therefore, it is incompetent of being monopolized by any trader. He also added that inroads made by ITC in the instant noodles segment with use of the expression Magic Masala were perhaps on account of the attractive pricing of its instant noodles as compared to Nestle. It was also because ITC has a very strong market and brand presence.”Therefore, both the companies cannot claim the monopoly over the laudatory words 'Magic' and 'Magical'. Also, he said suggestive expression such as 'Magic Masala' used in Sun feast Yipee noodles since 2010 could have become a distinctive mark entitled for protection & monopoly, only if it had been used uninterrupted for a long number of years. Whereas in the present case, Nestle had pre-empted such a move by using 'Magical Masala' in Maggi in 2013 itself.

'Magic Masala' is not a registered trademark. In fact, that if ITC had filed a trademark application to register the expression "Magic Masala" as a word mark, it would have been rejected by the trademark registry under Section 9 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The court observed, Both the companies cannot claim the monopoly over the laudatory words 'Magic', 'Magical' along with the common word 'Masala' to the exclusion of one another. It was also observed that the expression 'Magic Masala' is commonly used in the food and cosmetic industry. It is not a coined or invented word. It is inherently not a distinctive word or a descriptive term which directly and clearly conveys information about ingredients, qualities, and characteristics of the product or services are not protectable at the first instance but may qualify for protection if it has assumed a secondary meaning and identifies as a particular product or as being from a particular source It, in fact, observed that the expression was first adopted by Lays for their potato chips. It is a general name for describing the mixture of spices in the majority of the Indian languages. Therefore, it can never be appropriated.

ITC, in its petition in 2013, claimed that the noodles with the expression Magic Masala was a runaway success and had cornered about 12.5 percent of the market share in the instant noodles segment within three years. It entered the instant noodles market with two variants – Yippee! Magic Masala, and Classic Masala. ITC said that it had been selling Sunfeast Yippee! Noodles in the 'Magic Masala' variety since 2010. It, therefore, filed a suit in the high court demanding an injunction against Nestle from using 'Magic Masala' or any other similar term for its product. It had also asked for damages of over 10 lakhs. Nestle argued that both the expressions have been used as a flavor descriptor and therefore are incapable of being protected. The term 'Masala' implied a blend of ground flavors utilized in Indian cooking and it couldn't be appropriated. Neither the plaintiff party nor the respondent could guarantee a monopoly over the articulation 'Magic' or 'Magical' alongside the regular word 'Masala'.

ITC, alleged that Nestle India copied the phrase by slightly tweaking it as saying 'magical' instead of 'magic'. By doing this, it said, the company wanted to "cheat unwary and gullible customers" into buying their product instead of ITC's. The court also noted that ITC did not intend on using 'Magic Masala' as a brand or sub-brand. It said that the brand was 'Sun feast Yippee!' and that 'Magic Masala' was only used to describe the flavor and overall color scheme, layout, style and get up of the two products were dissimilar. Further, after comparing the wrappers of Sun feast Yippee Noodles Magic Masala & Maggi Xtra delicious Magical Masala, the Judge found them to be completely distinctive without any scope for confusion between them. As there is no visual or ocular similarity between the two wrappers, there is no scope to infer passing-off from a ocular or visual comparison of the two labels. However, such adoption of the expression cannot be said to be mala fide.

How Not To Depict Mental Illness and Suicide in News Reports

2020-06-25T22:30:00.000+05:30

A lot has been written over the years about the Indian media’s problematic coverage of such news. But the recent death of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput – and the media spectacle that followed – has pushed these issues back into the spotlight. Some publications, like Gujarat Samachar, went a step further and even published images of Rajput’s body. This is exactly what happened when actress Jiah Khan died by suicide in 2013; photos of her body were splattered across the internet, and India Times went ahead and published them.

This, and the images are shown, are in violation of the World Health Organisation’s guidelines on suicide reporting, which specifically calls for exercising caution in using photos, and says “explicit permission” must be obtained from family members before using visual images.

The images also go against the Press Council of India’s guidelines stating: “All subjects should be treated with respect and dignity. Special consideration is given to vulnerable subjects and victims of crime or tragedy be treated compassionately. Private grief is intruded only when the public has an overriding and justifiable interest in sharing or viewing it.”

Additionally, experts told Newslaundry that these “representational images” are insensitive and can be triggering both for readers and the family members of the deceased. They can act as triggers for those who have experienced similar tragedies, and deliberately link mental illness with darkness, suicide, weakness and vulnerability. This is a generalisation that needs to be avoided.

Take Rajput’s death. The media unearthed details from his past, including how he had sought treatment for depression, and speculation ran wild. Unscrupulous news organisations even quoted Rajput’s psychiatrist — in a complete breach of ethics — to explain his “state of mind” and personal issues. The psychiatrist later said he had not breached confidentiality or spoken to the media.

Nishta Borah, a Goa-based clinical psychologist, pointed out that it isn’t always depression or any other mental illness that leads to suicide. “There are a lot of factors like gender, sexuality, socioeconomic conditions, etc,” Borah said. “Also, it could be a decision taken in the spur of the moment, whereas depression is very different from that. It happens over a period of time, and can happen to anyone.”

After Rajput’s death, one of Borah’s clients had a panic attack after consuming all the news reports on his suicide. The client had a friend who died in a similar manner, Borah explained. “Such reportage becomes overly triggering for people like her, who already have a history of trauma,” she said. “In a few countries, if such content is shown, it comes with a warning. But in India, there is no such thing.”

Instead of visually depicting someone with a mental illness in their most vulnerable state, Borah said, why can’t we show them as people who are looking for something, or being listened to?

Traditionally, mental health in India is not really reported on, said Tanmoy Goswami, a sanity correspondent at the Correspondent. The only entry point for such reports is a suicide, he said, as a result of which a “very dangerous assumption is made: that all suicides are a result of mental illness”.

“Until recently, suicide was a crime in India, and hence used to be covered by crime reporters,” he said, “who used to try and get every detail on the method of death.”

Goswami agreed that the best way to depict mental illness is through regular photographs of people, not to look for the most sensational image in a media organisation’s image bank. The same rule applies to suicide, where organisations need to be very sensitive in their reporting. Images must not reveal methods of death or act as a trigger.

When asked about the depiction of mental illness and suicide in media reports, Meghna Mukherjee, a psychoanalytical psychotherapist in Noida, quoted a scene from the final Harry Potter movie. Meeting his erstwhile headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, in some sort of parallel universe, Harry asks: “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?” Dumbledore smiles and replies, “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Mukherjee said she finds this scene very powerful, and that it resonates with mental illness too. According to her, the manner in which the media has reported on mental illness in the past, and on Rajput’s death in the present, has “stigmatised a lot of taboo”.

Patanjali Ayurved & COVID-19 medicine

2020-06-23T23:05:00.002+05:30

Hours after yoga guru Baba Ramdev unveiled an Ayurvedic medicine — ‘Coronil and Swasari’ — on Tuesday, claiming that clinical trials on COVID-19 affected patients had shown favourable results, the Central government asked Patanjali Ayurved Limited to stop advertising the drug and sought details on its claimed “successful trial and cure”.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Ayush on the claims made by Haridwar (Uttrakhand)-based Patanjali Ayurved in treating COVID-19, the Ministry noted that it had taken cognisance of the news being recently flashed on its drug by the company. Facts of the claim related to the drug and details of the stated scientific study are not known to the Ministry, the statement said.

Patanjali Ayurved has been asked to provide, at the earliest, details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed as successful in COVID-19 treatment; site(s)/ hospital(s) where the research study was conducted; the protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI) registration, and results in data of the study, and to stop advertising/publicising such claims till the issue had been duly examined. The Ministry has also requested the concerned State Licensing Authority of the Uttarakhand government to provide copies of the license and product approval details of Ayurvedic medicines being claimed as useful in the treatment of COVID -19.

“Also, the concerned Ayurvedic drug manufacturing company has been informed that such advertisements of drugs including Ayurvedic medicines are regulated under the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder and the directives issued by the Central Government in the wake of COVID outbreak. The Ministry had also issued a Gazette Notification on April 21, 2020, stating the requirements and the manner in which research studies on COVID-19 with Ayush interventions/medicines should be undertaken,’’ the Ministry said.‘100 patients’.

Meanwhile, scientists associated with the trial said they had not yet published the results. Dr Abhishekh Sharma, Assistant Professor of Medicine, National Institute of Medical Sciences, and among those who supervised the trial, said that 100 patients, who had tested positive for the virus, were recruited for the trial. Of them, 50 were given the medicine and five dropped out midway. The remaining 50 were administered a place “69% of the 45, when tested on the third day, were found clear of the virus and half of those on the placebo recovered,” said Dr Sharma. That works out to 31 of those on the treatment tested negative, and 25 of those on placebo tested negative.

No other details on the profiles of the COVID-19 positive persons — the degree of sickness in those who enrolled for the trial, their age, whether they were on other medication prior to enrolment — were immediately available. A check on the clinical trial registry, where all trials must be registered, showed that a wide spectrum of patients was solicited. They were “asymptomatic, mildly symptomatic, moderately symptomatic and those aged 15-80”. The original aim of the study was to check the status of patients on day 3, day 7 and day 14, and whether they had improved immunological parameters due to the medicine. The medicine regime involved is the Tablet Swasari Ras (500 mg), Tablet Pure Ashwagandha Extract (500 mg), Tablet Pure Giloy Extract (500 mg), Tablet Pure Tulsi Extract (500 mg) and Anu Taila (nasal drop), according to information on the clinical trial website.

Have given info of Covid-19 medicine to AYUSH Ministry: Patanjali CEO

Patanjali Ayurved CEO on Tuesday said the firm gave all the information about its newly launched Covid-19 medicine to Ministry of AYUSH. On Twitter, Acharya Balkrishna said, "communication gap has been done away with". "This govt provides encouragement and pride to Ayurveda. Communication gap has been done away with and we have 100% fulfilled all standard parameters for Randomised Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials. We've given info for the same to Ministry of AYUSH," Balkrishna said on Twitter. The AYUSH ministry on Tuesday asked yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved to provide “at the earliest" the composition and other details of the medicine it claimed is for the treatment of COVID-19, and ordered the firm to stop advertising the product until the "issue" is examined.

Patanjali Ayurved has launched the ‘Coronil and Swasari’ medicine with the claim that it has discovered a cure for COVID-19. However, the ministry said the facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study are not known to it. Patanjali has also been asked for details of the sample size, sites and hospitals where the research study was conducted and the Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, the ministry said.

Yoga guru Ramdev's herbal medicine company Patanjali Ayurved on Tuesday claimed to have discovered a cure for coronavirus but no medical authority could immediately vouch for the claim of 'Coronil and Swasari' medicine curing the highly contagious disease within seven days. The firm claimed that the two Ayurved-based medicines have shown 100 per cent favourable results during clinical trials on COVID-19 infected patients except those on a life support system.

The medicines have been developed by Patanjali Research Center, Haridwar and privately-owned National Institute of Medical Science, Jaipur following all protocols with clinically controlled trial-based evidence, Ramdev told PTI in a telephonic interaction with PTI.

"Patanjali first conducted a clinical case study and conducted clinical control trials following all protocols of drug discovery," he said. Sidestepping questions on the drug being approved by government agencies such as ICMR, Ramdev said clinical controlled study of these medicines was done in several cities including Delhi, Ahmedabad and Meerut and the RCT (Randomized Clinical Trial) controlled with the place were conducted at Jaipur-based National Institute of Medical Sciences & Research.

The Corona kit, priced at ₹545, would be available pan India within a week. The kit will have medicines for 30 days. This is not an immunity booster but a coronavirus cure, Ramdev said. Manufactured by Haridwar-based Divya Pharmacy and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, the medicine is the result of a research partnership between Patanjali Research Institute and the Jaipur based National Institute of Medical Sciences. Ramdev said the medicines can be ordered online through a mobile app from next Monday. The COVID-19 therapy suggested by Patanjali is applicable for adults ranging between 15-80 years of age whereas children are advised to take half the dosage prescribed for adults. Patanjali's anti-COVID tablet, Divya Coronil Tablet consists of Giloy, Tulsi and Ashwagandha and is prescribed to be taken thrice a day with hot water 30 minutes after breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Analysis: Unlock 1.0 Guidelines

2020-06-21T12:50:00.005+05:30

INTRODUCTION:

As the people of India learn to live with the Covid-19 and prepare themselves for the same, the Centre unveiled new guidelines as UNLOCK1.0 after a two-month-long lockdown. Before this period country saw many changes, the majority of which was the traumatic displacement of the weaker sections, while the spread of the virus was modest. Many restrictions were unveiled very carefully considering they will be in a staggered manner in the containment zones.

According to the centre, the generic measures are observed by all the staffs, workers and patrons at all times. One of the major advantages that have been served to people is the inter-state and inter-district movement across the States without the passes. The permission for this inter-state movement has been a big relief to the people but it also came with the restrictions such as the self-monitoring of the health by the use of masks, sanitizers, self-isolation and also by the officials that have been employed to do the same. As it is a known fact that the big metro cities host about 70% of the cases. To avoid the spread of this virus that shook the country as well as the world, restrictions on the inter-state movement were allowed earlier only by the means of the passes that have been issued by the government of their respective cities. With this UNLOCK1.0 these restrictions were held up by the centre from the non-containment zones but also this power was given to their respective state governments to restrict if felt necessary.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS DEVELOPMENT:

The two month lockdown which was observed by the whole of the country minimized the loss to a huge extent. India being a country of 135 crores it would not have been possible without this complete shutdown of country. Because of this, the spread has reduced and slowly the restrictions have been uplifted by the government of the country which is followed by many cautions. These restrictions have thus allowed people to step out and go for work. The various precautions that have been taken by the government and followed by the people of the country have led to such an improvement and in turn, helped the people. Government has removed several restrictions but it the supreme duty of the people to take the precautionary measures. Covid-19 has not ended but it is the citizens who have to learn to live by this virus. Thus it is because of the citizens which have resulted in reducing the spread of the virus and it is their duty to continue this process.

SALIENT FEATURES OF UNLOCK1.0 :

This Unlock1.0 is a phase-wise dilution of the Covid-19 lockdown. It is divided into various phases that define the steps in which various amenities will be provided to the people of the country which will be followed by certain restrictions.

Phase 1 includes the opening of the religious places, hotels, restaurants and shopping malls from June8

Phase 2 includes restarting of Schools, Colleges, educational/training/coaching institutions which will be considered after the guidelines by the respective states, parents and the stakeholders.

The last Phase 3 includes the opening of the other activities such as airways, metros, cinema halls, gymnasiums, entertainment parks, assembly halls, pools, entertainment parks, bars.

Furthermore, the night the curfew will be observed from 9pm-5am and this lockdown will continue in the containment zones and more of which will be demarcated by their respective state governments.

LEGAL PROVISIONS:

To stop people from spreading this virus it was necessary to involve some legal provisions. A person who is found violating these precautionary measures that have been taken are liable to be proceeded against according to the provisions of Sections 51-60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code, 1921. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also said that anyone obstructing the lockdown enforcement could be punishable for a jail term of up to two years and the one making any false claim to be punishable for two years of jail or more.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

UNLOCK 1 is a welcome shift towards a way out of this long two-month lockdown. The whole of the country has to pay the socio-economic cost that led to the displacement of the weaker sections of the society, the blockage of the money flow in the market, restriction of the goods from one place to the another, non-availability of food to some sections of the society, loss of jobs to many between the age of 20-30 and many more. The government took right steps regarding the lockdown as this was the only way by which the spread of this deadly virus could curtail. Although, the Covid-19 is not dead, the government has uplifted the restrictions but for the government of India we are just the citizens of the country and they have to minimize the spread but for our family we are the whole world and for them, our life is worth to be taken care of.

CONCLUSION:

The government of India is taking adequate measures to keep this Covid-19 Pandemic under control. There is no one who can explain to us how much time it will take to vanish or even to create a vaccine to cure it. The aim of the government now is to unlock the Nation slowly, along with some guidelines to prevent the spread. Every citizen is advised to follow the protocols that have been issued by the government of the country. This coronavirus taught us one thing that we are a united nation and we stand by each other. Coronavirus, a deadly virus has made us realise one thing that it does not discriminate according to the race, caste, religion, rich or poor whereas it affects the ones who do not take precautionary measures and do not take care of their own self.

So, the only way to protect ourselves and our loved ones are by staying in our homes unless necessary, social distancing, self-care, taking precautionary measures and realising and acting responsibly towards our family, society, nation and most importantly humanity.

Written by- Anishka Jain
4th Year, BBA.LLB
Centre for Legal Studies, GIBS
Delhi

Boycott China call spoils Oppo’s biggest product launch in India

2020-06-18T14:46:00.002+05:30

The last few weeks have been difficult for Oppo in India. The company has been trying to regain its lost ground, in manufacturing, at its Greater Noida facility after nine employees tested positive for coronavirus. The same facility also manufactures OnePlus phones, which is why OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 have seen such staggering supplies. But, things have been improving gradually, despite all the challenges. One can assume business had started as usual, because Oppo had a big-ticket launch event coming. For a company of the scale of Oppo, it was the sort of event that would show off its might and magic, and how quickly it could bounce back from a calamity.

Only, things turned from bad to worse, ahead of D-day. Oppo was supposed to launch its high-end premium Find X2 series in India on Wednesday. Saying that the hype around the Oppo Find X2 series was huge would be an understatement. Not that the Find X2 series needed that sort of hype (Find X2 Pro and Find X2 are very capable phones in their own right) but for some context, Oppo had signed up English actor Eddie Redmayne and American YouTuber Marques Brownlee aka MKBHD to promote the phones just ahead of their India launch.

India is a key market for Oppo. And Oppo is a key smartphone player in India. It works both ways. Oppo is currently the fourth largest smartphone brand in India, ahead of Samsung. What I am trying to say is that Oppo could have gone easy on the hype-train, and yet, it would have made people sit up and take notice. Make its products do the talking, if you may. But the hype was also necessary because it’s not every day that Oppo launches a phone worth 60k+ in India so I guess there was a method to all the madness. Besides, Oppo is known for its start-studded product events anyway, so can’t say it was all very surprising.

Now that we’ve established how big the Find X2 series India launch was for Oppo, let’s come back to the part where things did not actually turn out the way the company had imagined. As opposed to its newly spun-off brand Realme, that recently claimed to be an Indian startup, Oppo is a Chinese brand through and through even though the company has sizable R&D and manufacturing in India.

Oppo was forced to cancel — or rather, modify — its biggest product launch in India in the wake of the ongoing calls across the country to boycott China (and Chinese products), that has only grown in strength after 20 Indian soldiers were killed and several others grievously injured in a face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on Tuesday. The Government of India on Wednesday directed state-run telecom operators BSNL and MTNL to refrain from buying Chinese equipment, and unless a solution is worked out soon between the two countries, things are only expected to escalate further.

Now Oppo hasn’t gone on record to say why the Find X2 series India launch went from going live stream to a pre-recorded footage. It hasn’t also confirmed why it did not really launch its biggest product of the year, Find X2 Pro, in India as planned despite sending out units to the media for review. Only the regular Find X2 pricing was revealed on Wednesday, while the real star of the show was curiously missing in all this. Oppo sent out a press release later, but again, without any information why the Find X2 Pro did not officially launch in the country on June 17 despite all the hype.

All of this happened last minute and the reason why I say this is because Indian media (including myself) was caught totally off guard by the new development. Many publications had readied their reviews and interestingly decided to drop them with speculative prices only to realize later that the Find X2 Pro hadn’t really arrived in India so to say. A classic foot in mouth situation, in my humble opinion, but just goes to show how quickly things can change. It would have been nice if Oppo had informed the media in advance, but maybe even Oppo wasn’t quick enough to realize what would transpire in the next few hours leading into the launch event. An official comment would be too much to ask at this point of time, considering the sensitivity of the matter, but we will update this piece as and when we will have more clarity.

Criminal Psychology: A Summary

2020-06-16T23:27:00.000+05:30

Psychologists approach the job of explaining negligent and criminal behaviour by focusing on one’s personality. They particularly examine the processes by which various behaviours and their respective restraints can be learned. These processes are often conceived as the interaction of biological tendencies and social happenings. One of the commonly supported theories is The Deterrent Theory, formulated by two philosophers - Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. Deterrence theory is a belief that the threat of punishment can and will prevent people from committing a crime.

This theory is based on the assumption that individuals have free will and are rational in their thinking, which will create fear of the punishment that follows when one commits a crime. Two cases were identified; in the first case, an individual learns through the process of associative learning which means they link a certain behaviour pattern with a painful stimulus. In the second case, an individual learns through imitative learning and hence avoid criminal activity as they know the consequences that follow. Beccaria's Doctrine focuses on four general principles- Equality: all offenders to be treated equally, Liberty: only the law can decree punishment for crime and nobody is to be deprived of public protection, Utilitarianism: better to prevent crimes than punish people for it/any law should be of the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people, Humanitarianism: Punishment should be fair but humane.

The limitations of this doctrine are that it fails to acknowledge individual differences, motivations, and situational circumstances; and the punishment should be interdisciplinary as it has an interrelationship with power, knowledge, and the body affected. Another theory discussed plenty is The Strain Theory which was first introduced by Emile Durkheim. This theory states that social structures within the society may pressurize an individual to commit a crime. Two propositions were central to Durkheim’s thesis - Social organization is necessary to keep undesirable human tendencies in check. Second, where social order breaks down and social norms lose their influence, anomie develops and crime increases significantly (Durkheim, 1951, cited in Wright & Fox, 1978, pp. 135–6). Despite the theory’s conceptual limitations it gained wide support and is still of importance.

According to Merton’s strain theory, anomie (a social condition where there is a disintegration of the values and norms that were previously common to society) is not the problem of an individual but the result of structural factors. Refining Merton’s Strain theory, Robert Agnew further says that the strain is caused by failure and are identifiable in three generic forms - strain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals, the strain caused by the removal of positively valued stimuli from the individual, and strain caused by the presentation of negative stimuli (Agnew & White, 1992). Agnew’s theory comprises cognitive, behavioural, and adaptations to strain to acknowledge that each individual has a different ability to cope with stress, depending on peer influence, past experiences, and more. Durkheim’s and Merton’s thoughts about anomie have had a major impact on sociological criminology.

While the anomie theory tries to explain the connection between social conditions and deviance, it does not explain why particular human beings commit precise crimes, or why maximum young people who have engaged in crime eventually become law-abiding adults (Siegel, Brown & Hoffman, 2013). Nor does it effectively explain violent crimes such as assault, rape, and homicide (Barkan, 2011). It has also been criticized for now not addressing middle-class and white-collar crime (Hirschi & Gottfredson, 1987). With these and many more ongoing developments, the anomie/strain standpoint will most likely keep attracting more following.

Criminal psychology has often ascribed that some individuals are more vulnerable to commit a crime. However, there is no substantial proof as to what the triggers may be. Circumstantial situations or coming from a financially weaker section of the society are the common assumptions made in most theories and in general as well. These theories have neither been proven right nor wrong due to the distinct findings while experimenting the same.

Biologically we can say that the physical and mental state of an individual creates different circumstances as to how a person reacts and to what lengths they can go to express a certain emotion. The choices that an individual makes helps construct an idea as to the social and situational interventions that influenced the individual to do the same. Crime is mostly assumed to be committed in the heat of the moment which is not completely incorrect but crime may involve comprehensive planning in most cases. Society has an immense amount of influence when it comes to criminals. Often the disparity between an individual, the society and its social cultures becomes the reason for originating law offenders.

The psychologists have labelled them in three one-of-a-kind categories. The first category of individuals is those who are psychologically disturbed criminals who commit more crime because of their intellectual depravity or emotional stability. Secondly, there are people who due to their sociological conditions have a negative impact on their mental prerequisites which motives them to enter the criminal world. Lastly, there are some hardened criminals who have embraced criminal activity as an ordinary way of life. However, through the above analysis, most of the psychologists believe that there are certain criminals who are far more prone to committing a crime in society.

Covid-19 and Surge in Domestic Violence Cases.

2020-06-14T23:29:00.000+05:30

As the people of India are learning to live with the Covid-19 and prepare themselves for the same, the country is experiencing many changes, the majority of which was the traumatic displacement of the weaker sections as well as the surge in the domestic violence cases. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown is helping keep the virus at bay, but at a cost — several women are locked in with their abusers with no outlet for help. The National Commission for Women, which aims to help the women who suffer from domestic violence, recorded a more than twofold rise in gender-based violence during the initial lockdown period.

As this lockdown caused the world to come at a standstill, it caused the rates of domestic violence to rise at an enormous rate. We also know that during times of economic hardship, there is an increase in violent, abusive, impulsive, compulsive, and controlling behaviour and aggression directed towards cohabiting partners. According to the National Commission of Women, the number of cases reported is most likely not proportional to the actual rise in domestic violence. This is because people locked in with their abusers may not be able to get access to a mobile phone, nor space and time to call for help. Being trapped in a space with violent or manipulative individuals could lead to increased rates and intensity of threats, physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, humiliation, intimidation, and controlling behaviour.

Another significant aspect responsible for this surge in domestic abuse is domestic labour. Gendered roles over the world have placed domestic work on women’s shoulders, which is socially and culturally often demarcated as “women’s work”. This is a social mentality of the people that need to be altered. Not able to do the work leads to the violence over the females which can be in the form of physical or verbal.

This type of violent abuse mostly prevails in the poorer sections of society. This can be because of the high rate of illiteracy, financial crises, unavailability of food etc. A majority of domestic workers are the principal income-earners of their families. As they stay in unauthorized colonies/slums in cities, usually without any ration cards and identity proof, they cannot avail benefits from the state. Their availability of food is confined to free rations distributed by NGOs or any other organizations. In this section of society, domestic violence is not only confined to the women of the house but also towards their children.

There is evidence for India that the increased consumption of alcohol by men increases domestic violence against women. During this period of lockdown non-availability of alcohol is also a major reason for this increased rate of domestic violence in the country. It’s not just about the numbers but also the psychological and social impact that the lockdown has on women. This act of domestic violence is self-degrading to the women both physically and mentally. Activists also highlight that the moment there is a shortage of food, as in a crisis situation like this when there is not much commercial activity, the immediate victims are the daughters and mothers in the houses.

With women also losing jobs during the lockdown, their vulnerability has further increased. In many circumstances, whatever little women earn is given to their husband and now, they are not able to as and when he demands. For women, the lockdown has also resulted in an increase in what is called as “unpaid work” at home. The cooking time has increased as all family members are at the house. The women in rural areas have to walk longer for collecting fuel and water thus resulting in the exploitation of women.

Young girls are more vulnerable during the time of COVID-19 as families are attempting to marry off. A part of them are the minor girls, these girls are the ones who don't know anything about the household work and are thus unable to do so. Unavailability to do this can result in the domestic violence cases for the newlyweds. The pandemic is deepening inequalities, and millions more women and girls now risk losing the ability to plan their families and protect their bodies and their health. With a lockdown in place, no one to turn to and the usual services not reaching them, women living in abusive relationships and their children are forced into or exposed to uncomfortable and dangerous circumstances

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was enacted by the Parliament of India to protect women from domestic violence. It is a civil law meant primarily for protection orders and not meant to be enforced criminally. India has a patriarchal set up wherein it became an acceptable norm to abuse women. The reasons for the crime against women are many but if we see from the feminist standpoint, we can clearly see the occurrence of domestic violence begins from the patriarchal setup, the stereotyping of gender roles, real or perceived, in society. The domestic violence protection act is a commendable recognition, it contemplates and recognizes wider forms of violence against women.

REMEDIES AVAILABLE IN INDIAN LAWS FOR THE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

In 1983, domestic violence was recognized as a specific criminal offence by the introduction of Section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. This section deals with cruelty by a husband or his family towards a married woman. A punishment up to 3 years and fine has been prescribed. The expression ‘cruelty’ has been defined in wide terms so as to include inflicting physical or mental harm to the body or health of the woman and indulging in acts of harassment with a view to coerce her or her relations to meet any unlawful demand for property or valuable security.

One-stop centres, a scheme launched by Ministry of Women and Child Development on April 1, 2015, aims to provide support to women affected by violence in private and public spaces, within the family, community and at the workplace. The women help desk/ women response team are required to get in touch with the women in distress, provide tele-counselling and visit them if needed. The woman victim could be rescued and sent to her maternal house or shelter home if needed.

We need an aggressive nationwide campaign to promote awareness about domestic violence and highlight the various modes through which complaints can be filed. National news channels, radio channels, and social media platforms must be strategically used, similar to the way in which the government has deployed campaigns advocating for physical distancing and hand washing to combat COVID-19. Citizens must be sensitised towards the increased risks of domestic violence, and bystanders and neighbours should be urged to intervene if they suspect abuse, using tactics such as the banging on the door or ringing the bell. They should also be provided with the benefit of anonymity if they choose to report a case.

CONCLUSION:

Violence against women, and particularly domestic violence forms a vicious cycle that keeps women subordinated and disempowered. While there are laws in place to protect against domestic abuse, it is not easy for the judicial system to break into the stranglehold of the patriarchal family.

Domestic violence is the one that has been and will prevail in the country more than this coronavirus (Covid-19) will exist. This has swept deep into the roots of the country and we cannot get rid of this until the people of the country are determined to do this. This domestic violence is a kind of intimate terrorism that prevails in households. This is something that is creating a void in the steps towards gender equality and progress of the country.

As we take all the necessary steps to flatten the pandemic curve, we need to be equally vigilant to make sure that the shadow the pandemic curve of intimate terrorism does not rise exponentially.

Written by- Anishka Jain
4th Year, BBA.LLB
Centre for Legal Studies,GIBS
Delhi