Chronical

Public Sector Banks

There are three issues: governance, management and operational. The governance issue
concerns with the composition and functioning of the board. Management issues relates to the
selection of CEO. Operational issues concerns with the resolution of NPAs and infusion of
capital in banks. On governance, government is working on P.J. Nayak report May 2014
report, government has decided to separate the roles of chairman and managing director in all
PSBs except SBI. Bank chairman will be selected by a panel headed by RBI governor. The
argument that there was too much concentration of power in C&MD is not correct. The board
consisted of representatives of government, RBI, EDs and representatives of officers and
workers. It is not easy for C&MD to do what they want. Nayak committee called for
separation of role after 3 phases, it opined that at the end of these phases banks will have
more autonomy and their boards will have power to appoint their C, MD, CEO and
independent directors. Government has split up the role in the very start. Drawback: even in
the face of independent committee, government can influence the chairman once appointed.
This will pit political appointee against CEO who has to deliver results. Chairman will have
his own agenda, this will leave CEO ineffective. It would have been better to split the roles
until PSB board had begun function effectively with independent directors. Nayak committee
has said that PSB boards do not have independent directors because it has government
directors which cannot be independent and stakeholder directors such as LIC which is biggest
and calls shorts on its behalf, hence these directors are not independent. Report also said that
private banks after appointing directors have done well. This is not right because directors in
private banks are appointed by the management which can hardly be independent. In PSB
things are much better as independent directors are appointed by government and they do not
depend on CEO, making them more independent. To achieve a level of independence,
government has decided to setup a Bank Board Bureau as recommended by Nayak
Committee to select CEO, independent directors and bank chairman. It will consist of three
former bankers, two eminent professionals and secretary of department of financial services.
Finance ministry has invited applications for independent directors. But some of the best
people are unlikely to send applications; they will join only if invited. The BBB needs to
scout for talent. Management issue: Previous to BBB, appointment board headed by RBI
governor appointed chairman. The problem is with government interference. If government is
willing to let go its interference then why not continue with appointment board. CEOs may be
selected by the same panel. Government has also opened the post opportunities for private
persons. This is on the belief that PSBs lack talent, flexibility in pay is also promised for the
post to attract the private persons. This belief is not right, since economic reforms PSB has
done well; the problem that they are facing now is due to their heavy involvement in
infrastructure funding which private banks are not exposed to in this high proportion.
Operational issue: NPAs are converted into equity to some extent for writing off the loans.
Government has decided to infuse capital to adhere to Basel III norms. PSB needs 20,000
crore every yeay for five years. The capital infusion is not what should have been provided by
government.

Instead of going for big bang reforms, government should appoint independent directors,
CEO and infuse capital. This is the way forward now.
Farmer distress
65% of cultivable area depends upon rainfall and more than 50% of employment is in
agriculture, in this respect, even a slight rainfall anomaly can cause distress for farmer in
India. The ratio of agricultures share in national output to its share in employment fell from
0.52 in 1980 to 0.33 in 2010, indicating that the relative income share of households
dependent on agriculture has been declining over the past three decades. The biggest fall in
the ratio was during 1990-2000. Although this ratio had increased slightly to 0.34 in 2013,
plummeting growth rates in agriculture might jeopardize the recovery. While the past decade
has seen an improvement in rural fortunes, it has not been enough to bridge Indias ruralurban divide. While rural monthly per capita expenditure grew at an anaemic annual rate of
0.8% between 1993-94 and 2004-05, it grew at a much faster pace of 3.3% a year between
2004-05 and 2011-12. Yet, urban incomes grew faster, and the difference between rural and
urban consumption increased slightly over this period. Thus, despite rising rural incomes and
falling rural poverty, disenchantment with farming has only grown in the countryside. Underlandlord tenancy system, all the inputs were managed by tenant to secure tenancy. Landlords
hardly invest any profit in agriculture. They prefer to invest in other assets with sure returns.
Lack of any investible resources with the tenants adversely affected agricultural productivity.
Green revolution has distorted production, salt fertility etc. The problem is that India
provided high security to its industries, this kept farm sector under constraints. Indias share
in total global exports of agricultural products has increased from 0.8% in 1990 to 2.1% in
2011. Indias share in total global exports of agricultural products has increased from 0.8% in
1990 to 2.1% in 2011. This share is more than the share that India has in global merchandise
exports1.7% in 2011 (0.6% in 1990). Such gains in trade have occurred despite ad hoc
restrictions on farm trade, and the absence of a stable farm trade policy. Yet, despite these
gains, vulnerabilities in the farm sector remain. With increasing integration with global
markets, the Indian farmer has also become more susceptible to price shocks. Public
intervention in agriculture must prioritize investments which lead to sustainable long-run
growth over subsidies which offer short-term fixes, both in developed and developing
countries. Social divisions within the countryside have been the main reason why Indias
rural voters have failed to push for policies that boost farm and rural incomes. Farmers
refusal to give precedence to their economic interests over their other interests and loyalties
in rural areas. Long-term investment suffers in a country such as India because even the elite
is fragmented, and finds it difficult to agree on doing something that will benefit most
members over the long run. collective action problem has become even more acute over the
past three decades, with group identities becoming more important than earlier. In such a
context, commitments on the part of the state are often not credible, and anticipating that,
different interest and identity groups settle for short-run patronage and subsidies. Instead of
pursuing industry and agriculture after independence, agriculture was ignored. Agriculture
emerged as a key constraint to the expansion of domestic markets in countries such as India,
which could not tackle land inequality, and failed to raise rural demand adequately.

Undertrials
More than 2/3rd of the prisoners are undertrials. The reason is mainly non furnishing of bail
bond amount and sureties due to poverty. Most of the cases involves compoundable offences
i.e., offences which can be settled by both parties themselves. SC ordered to form undertrial
review committees in each district with district judge, SP and DM as members to identify and
release on personal bonds, who have completed 50% of their likely punishment, as poverty
cannot be a reason for injustice. The onus of forming these committees is on NLSA in coordination with SLSA.
Judicial Delays
No scientific and standardised database to gauge magnitude of the problem. Every state has
its own standards of record keeping making comparison harder. High number of hearing per
day leading to lack of attention to each case, affecting quality. Due to increasing population,
litigation is bound to increase; this is causing more admission than disposal.
Higher Education
Budget 2015-16 has reduced the funding on higher education and RUSA. The squeeze in
public funding has been accompanied by increase in private sector. These institutions are
aimed at profit and not education. Arts and humanities subjects are being pushed aside in this
scenario. Government is trying to revive the central university act, which provides for same
examination, syllabus and transfer of faculty. It will bring all universities under same act.
This will take away the diversity of universities. DU was created in response to provide
education to wide variety of fields to large number of people through network of collages.
JNU was created to promote national integrity, scientific temper and humanism. These goals
can be achieved only with institutional autonomy. Diverse society needs decentralisation of
universities. The reform agenda is based on the principal that by bringing uniformity, it will
bring quality and skills across universities. Transfer of teachers among universities has no
academic logic and this is not in practice anywhere. The CBCS is on the unveil, which calls
for one entrance exam, one syllabus and movement of student to other institutions.
Co-operative federalism
What needs to be done to further this: 1) Prune central ministries which are occupying the
domain of state subjects due to floating of CSS. This will require both vision and political
will. 2) All CSS in this domain be managed at the right level i.e., state and local. 3) The new
bodies created to further co-operative federalism are under cabinet resolution rather than
constitution. 4) Inter-state council has b) een totally ignored which was created for coordination between states under constitutional provisions. 5) Participative policy making
between the three level is required which are currently dominated by the centre in the areas of
concurrent responsibility. 6) Reform of seventh schedule, which centre has enlarged over the
years. Health is in state list, still centre mainly drives the sector. The entries in concurrent list
such as education, acquisition of property (non-agriculture) are to be legislated in coordination with each other. LAAR, 2013, RTE, 2009 are violation of federal principal.

Location right level of policy making is a part of co-operative federalism. 7) Competitive

federalism as proposed with introduce competition among states to attract investment leading
to bringing transparency, accountability and better service delivery. This is not simple, as due
to regional disparity, states have financial, governance and administrative disparity among
them. Equity is the right answer; positive preference to weak states to compete is required.
Enhanced devolution is not the answer, asymmetric federalism is the solution. 8) 14 th FC has
only showed the way to move in this direction, a lot depends upon central government.
Instead of cutting down its own expenditure in terms of re-structuring itself, it has pruned
down CSS expenditure. 9) Respect to public mandates of governments run by opposition
parties. Involvement of state parties in central coalition can further this task instead of single
majority.
Delhi Constitutional Tussle
The laws relevant to understand the tussle are: 1) Art. 329AA of constitution, NCT Act, 1991,
rules formulated under Transaction of business and judicial pronouncement.
In case of states, chief secretary should be appointed by CM and COM. This stand has been
supported by SC in 1974, by concluding that the post of chief secretary is a sensitive one as
he is the centre of administrative functioning. There should be an understanding between CM
and CS for smooth governance in the state.
Delhi is a peculiar case, as it is neither a UT nor a State. So, Art. 239 do not apply to Delhi
which governs the UTs. Delhi is governed by 239AA and 239AB of the constitution
introduced in 1991. Art. 239AA(4) says: The shall be a COM and CM who will aid and assist
Lt. Governor in relation to matters with respect to which the LA has power to make laws
except in so far as he is by or under any law, required to act in his discretion. From this clause
it can be concluded that: 1) The Lt. Governor shall work on aid and advice of CM and COM.
Delhi government has power to legislate on all matters of State and Concurrent list except
public order, land and police. 2) Lt. Governor can act on his discretion only when there is a
particular law allowing for this. Section 41 of NCT 1991 Act, deals with discretionary powers
of Lt. Governor and it clearly states that there is no law granting discretion to the Lt.
Governor for making such appointments.
Intension of parliament while enacting these Art. Can be interpreted from the language of
clauses. The intension was to provide for a democratic elected government by the people
except three areas. Delhi has to function as a state in all other matters. Language of the clause
is same as that used for states and differs from that of UTs.
Executive power runs co-extensively with legislative powers.
Conclusions: 1) Art. 239AA(4) if read with Section 41 of NCT Act. 1991, clearly states that
Lt. Governor has to act on advice of CM and COM except police, land and public order.
These is no law providing for discretion of the Lt. Governor in matter of services. 2) Lt.
Governor shall act on advice of CM and COM in all matters under state and concurrent list,
as affirmed by SC in 1974 for all states with its reading of aid and advice. 3) The language

of Art. In constitution reflects the will of parliament which is similar to states and not with
UTs.
Transaction of business rules 23 states that 1) all orders of CM will go through Lt. Governor
but it is nowhere written that he can cancel these orders. 2) In case of dispute resolution with
negotiations should be adopted and only if there is no consensus, matter should be referred to
the president.
Ailing Education Sector
It is now accepted that the learning outcomes in the schools till 14 are dismal. The main
reason is the low quality of teachers. Central Teacher Eligibility Test needs to be cleared to
become a teacher in government school. Due to massive teaching vacancy, now authorities
are grappling with the idea that the standard of test for primary level be lowed to 8 th standard
from 10th. This may be a solution to fill the vacancy but not to improve learning outcomes.
Union government announced teacher education mission for this purpose. It is a five year
mission but the allocation is low.
It is true that education is primarily to be dealt by states. But due to financial power and
capacity of their administration, central intervention is indeed necessary. SSA, Mid-Day Meal
scheme, RMSA are responsible for improving the enrolment in primary and secondary level.
But the focus on increasing the number instead of learning has led to poor learning results.
Allocation on education sector has been slashed including primary and secondary.
In higher education, government is increasing the number of institutions such as IIT and IIM
while old ones are grappling with infrastructure and teachers vacancy. CBCS is introduced
with the belief that students can choose course which they feel can make them employable
though a system of flexible credit system.
Officially: Because of the diversity across India, students suffer from acceptance at time in
university system as well as employment agencies.
Massive open online courses with a programme called as SWAYAM. The expectations are
that IIT and IIM will put up the courses online for everybody to learn and can even get a
certificate for minimal fee. These type of courses are beneficial where learning indicators are
high and internet penetration has satisfactory figures.
APMC Act
States have their own APMC Acts. These are governed by Agricultural Produce Marketing
Committee. First transaction takes place between buyer and farmer at mandis. 1) Regulated
market makes farmer to sell to his produce to the highest bidder due to competition. This is
based on the premise that credit is de-linked from marketing. This is not true, as mostly
moneylenders provide credit and marketing is related to it. Generally market intermediaries
are the credit providers. 2) Experienced elected chairman and functionaries is important.
Monitoring should be done by farmers themselves. 3) Competition from ITC e-chaupal is

helpful. But ITC procure based on need, one commodity at a time and it may not operate at
certain period of the year. Mandis operates round the year with a number of commodities. 4)
In APMC, farmers and buyers are trying to increase their profit, this has relegated the concept
of collaboration among buyer and farmer, which may bring with itself investment to improve
productivity 5) APMC will not have much impact either on food prices or farmer incomes,
because it does not address the problem of improving the marketing infrastructure where it is
needed -- close to the demand centres. 6) Before APMC were created, traders used to buy
produce from farmers by visiting villages. Often, at very low rates. To supervise these
transactions, and give farmers a better deal, the government came up with the idea of having
all agricultural produce transactions at predetermined locations where officials could
supervise them. APMC yards (essentially, mandis) are not needed anymore.
Supply is restricted to part of a year while demand is uniform throughout. This causes price
fluctuation. In federal polity, every state has its rate and kind of taxes which creates
complexity in inter-state trade. Integration of regional markets into national market after GST
will help in: 1) Farmers to get fair price even if the demand for his produce is not from his
state. 2) Consumer will get product at reasonable price if the production is not good in his
state. Integration of international and national market opens up regional markets and farmers
to the global shocks. Hence, some restrictions are necessary. Mostly production in India is for
subsidence purpose, this leaves little for market and hence high prices. This is regulated by
APMC Act. These markets are have monopoly on marketing which again increases the prices,
apart from this, presence of intermediaries who do not provide any value addition but only
increases the price due to trading margins. This with lack of coupled regional market put
farmers at much distress.
Purpose of the Act: All states enacted these acts in 1950s, to end the exploitation of farmers
at the hands of traders who used to go to village to villages to collect produce at dictated low
prices. This act was aimed at food security, fair price to producer and consumer. States were
divided into regions; each region has Mandis and APMC committee to run it. All production
in that area needs to be brought at these mandis. This is required for notified agricultural
products including cereals, vegetables and other horticulture crops and differed from state to
state. In these mandis, market agents hold a licence and allotted a shop in the market. Farmers
and buyer can go to any agent in the market as per wish. There are a number of agents
operating in same crop leading to constant prices and buyers can come and make fair bids so
that producer can also get fair share, but it did not go this way.
Shortcomings: 1) Monopoly of government deprives farmers from better consumers and
consumers from original supplier. 2) Agents forms cartel and procure the produce from
farmers at manipulated price, they later sell this at higher price, making profits. 3) License fee
and over that fee to open shops are very high. In many mandis, farmers are not allowed to
operate. This keeps competition away from the market. 4) APMC chairman and secretary are
either elected/nominated out of agents which keeps the exploitative tendency in place. 5)
APMC is a regulator and also a market. This creates conflict of interest as part of regulator is
diluted for lucrative trade. 6) Farmers have to pay various levies pushing up prices of

produce. In addition to this many states add VAT to it. 7) Agents sometimes refuses to pay
citing some reasons and also dont give the payment slip which is necessary to get the loans.
APMC Model Act: 1) Farmers do not have to bring produce to mandis, they can sell to
whomever they want. But those who are not bringing their produce cannot stand for election
to market committee. It allows for direct purchase like ITC e-chaupal, private mandis and
contract farming. 2) Full payment to be made on the sale of the day itself. Quantity bought
and prices should be displayed at the gate. 3) PPP in management of APMC for management
and development of forward linkages such as processing and value addition facilities such as
cold storage, sorting and grading etc. 4) It also and advocates for contract farming and also
proposes a dispute redressal mechanism. 5) It mandates establish State Agricultural Produce
Marketing Standards Bureau for Grading, Standardization and Quality Certification. 6) It
proposed abolishing of commission agent system.
Progress: State are adopting APMC Model Act, but in piecemeal manner due to vested
interests. Many states have not adopted abolition of commission agent system. There is
reluctance on part of states to reform APMC legislation as it generates huge revenue. Some
states have created barriers such as high licence fee for private market and minimum distance
between private and APMC market.
Why Model APMC is inappropriate: It has given rise to conflict of interest as APMC is
regulator, market and registering authority. This causes non-level playing field in APMCs.
ES 2015-16 on APMC: 1) APMC Acts have hindered competition and also integration of
market. Multiple intermediaries have pushed up the prices. The focus should be on improving
cold chain infrastructure, distribution network. 2) 1991 reforms liberalised industries but not
agriculture. Farmers are not allowed to sell directly to consumers. 3) Restrictions such as
APMC Act, Essential commodity Act and local and state level distortions. These distort the
decision to grow and store. 4) APMC has created cartels of buyers who possess market power
and hindered modernisation of food sector. 5) To create a national market union government
has to create laws under union and concurrent list to end monopoly of APMC and other state
acts. 6) Fruits and vegetables should be taken out of purview of APMC immediately.
Promotion to private markets is needed to create alternate market before dismantling APMCs.
7) Commission charges and farmer levies should be reduced. 8) Farmer producer
organisation, SHG should be encourages to form market near urban areas. 9) Facilitating
organisation of farmers under CSR be brought to encourage companies in agri-business and
food processing to take up activity under CSR and help in supply chain. 10) Tie-up with
commodity exchange to disseminate spot and future prices.
Measures: 1) Direct Marketing: This eliminated intermediaries giving fair price to farmer
and producer. These are example in various states of such mandis. Central government
sponsors Agricultural marketing Infrastructure, Grading & standardization Scheme for
development of infrastructure for direct marketing in which capital subsidy of 25% is
available (33.33% in NE states). 2) Contract Farming: The problem is that farmers are not
open to long-term price scenarios. If contract is signed with low prices this will lead to

exploitation. 3) Future Contracts and negotiable warehouse receipts in agriculture: A

future contract is one where one party agrees to sell an asset of commodity at specified prices
on future date. These contracts are tradable like commodities. These instruments are
instruments for Risk management, price discovery and trading. This is of much utility to
farmers as they can decide the future price trends and take production decision. Farmers can
sell his produce in future market and buyer can buy at early date. In 2003, future trading is
allowed in India for all agricultural products and in 2007 Warehousing (Development and
Regulation), Act 2007, was passed. This act created a warehousing development and
regulating authority (WDRA). WDRA introduced a concept of negotiable warehousing
receipt from recognised warehouses across India. This receipt can be used to get loans from
banks, settle payments or any other type of claim. This concept is aimed at facilitating credit
to farmer and avoids distress and also mitigating risks for financial institutions inherit in
credit extension to farmers. Future markets will work in market economy, various
commodities are banned from trading, and scam at NSEL is a major setback. 3)
International trade: Indias share in world agricultural trade is low even being major
producer. This is due to heavy domestic consumption and restrictive policies. Quota tariffs
are one of the forms. Trade of basmati was liberalised after 1990s, its prices are integrated
with international prices benefitting farmers. Excess of FCI stock is off-loaded in
international market. Import of foodgrains for TPDS is done in N-E regions which is more
economical than FCI procurement and transportation.
Essential Commodity Act: Passed in 1955, it regulates production, distribution and prices of
commodities declared as essential for maintaining and increasing supplies, for securing
equitable distribution and availability at fair prices. Covered are: 1) Petroleum products 2)
Foodstuffs 3) Drugs 4) Fertilizers. Drug price control order, fertilizer control order are issued
under ECA 1955 act. The act is pro-consumer and impacts at wholesale and retail level. The
act empowers central government to prescribe stocks limits and bring hoarders to task to
increase supply and control prices. In case of difference between centre and state, former
shall prevail.
It is true that hoarding increases the prices of products, but the ban is retrograde to
liberalisation, a person who invested in cold storage has to store in the facility for profit. Ban
can demotivate investment. Thrust should be on banning long-term storage, it has been seen
that government has limited capacity to tackle illegal-stocking. In this scenario, inter-regional
and inter-temporal variations should be brought down by improving irrigation facilities and
improving competition in middle chain. These acts were created in 1950s and 1960s to
counter the challenge of food security and farmer protection. This was followed by green
revolution and liberalisation of economy.
Q - By and large, the APMCs have emerged as some sort of Government sponsored
monopolies in supply of marketing services/ facilities, with all drawbacks and
inefficiency associated with a monopoly explain and suggest alternatives. (250 words)

Q - What are Negotiable Warehouse Receipts? What are its benefits? Explain. (200
words)
Q - Why it is important to integrate National and International agricultural markets?
Examine. (200 words)
All APMCs should include e-auction of commodities. Open membership to wholesale and
retailers so that they can enter into transactions with growers. License should be abolished
and anyone can do business in APMC. All cess levied be abolished.
Below the Mandi markets, there are primary assembly markets such as village-bazaar, weekly
haat in tribal areas etc. There is wide variation in their governance. Some states run them
under Panchayati Raj institutions; some states put them under supervision of district
administration. Condition of cattle markets and fish markets are even worse. Most of them do
not have even basic amenities like sheds, sanitation or drinking water. Immediate
reforms/upgrades necessary in all these markets.
Farmers Market: 1) To sell produce directly to consumer. 2) No middleman. 3) Rythu bazaar
in AP acts as a retail outlet. These come under direct marketing. Over the years, small traders
have taken the place of farmers creating problem of middleman and commission agents.
APMC Act was to regularise the market for fruits and vegetables. In its absence, the
agriculture marketing boards, which are responsible for the mandis, will not be able to
monitor the quality of agricultural produce sold in the markets. At present, the state
government can at least monitor the price at different levels, such as wholesale and retail. But
in a free market, no one will be able to monitor prices and quantity. Big companies can hoard
fruits and vegetables to escalate prices. The move will also affect inter-state trade. Onions are
primarily grown in Maharshtra. Now small farmers in Maharshtra cannot bear the
transportation cost to sell it across India. Around 50-60 per cent of vegetables and fruits are
routed through mandis. Small farmers will have little bargaining power if they are forced to
deal directly with the corporate. Farmers in Bihar, which repealed the Act in 2006, are facing
a crisis because they do not know where to sell their produce in the absence of the mandis.
State government should set up farmer cooperatives or producer companies.
Cyber Security
In 2010, Stuxnet, which was designed to attack industrial programmable logic ontrollers, was
directed against the Iranian nuclear programme. Since the discovery of the Stuxnet malware,
other cyber weapons have made their appearance.
Wiper, a new virus was reported in April 2012 that was much more malicious, and wiped off
the data on all computers that it infected. This virus largely affected networks in Iran.
Chinese Intelligence Agencies may have planted Malware in Computers and broken into the
Headquarters of 33 Corps, Indian Army formation looking after most of the North-Eastern

border with China. The Cyber Intrusion also planted a Trojan Horse to give Chinese Agencies
remote access to the computer network.
The use of internet particularly for the distribution of obscene, indecent and pornographic
content. The use of internet for child pornography and child sexual abuse and the relative
ease with which the same may be accessed calls for strict regulation. The increasing business
transaction from tangible assets to intangible assets like Intellectual Property has converted
Cyberspace from being a mere info space into important commercial space. The attempt to
extend and then protect intellectual property rights online will drive much of the
regulatory agenda and produce many technical methods of enforcement. The major area of
concern where some sort of regulation is desirable is data protection and data privacy so
that industry, public administrators, netizens, and academics can have confidence as on-line
user.
Internet has emerged as the media of the people as the internet spreads fast there were
changes in the press environment that was centered on mass media. Unlike as in the
established press, there is no editor in the Internet. People themselves produce and circulate
what they want to say and this direct way of communication on internet has caused many
social debates. Therefore the future of Cyberspace content demands the reconciliation of the
two views offreedom of expression and concern for community standards.
Another concern is that, money laundering, be serious crime becomes much simpler
through the use of net. The person may use a name and an electronic address, but there are no
mechanisms to prove the association of a person with an identity so that a person can be
restricted to a single identity or identity can be restricted to a single person. Therefore
Cyberspace needs to be regulated to curb this phenomenon.
Digital Signatures: A Digital Signature is a technique by which it is possible to secure
electronic information in such a way that the originator of the information, as well as the
integrity of the information, can be verified. This procedure of guaranteeing the origin and
the integrity of the information is also called Authentication. A digital signature is only a
technique that can be used for different authentication purposes. The user himself/ herself
can generate key pair by using specific crypto software. Any person may make an
application to the Certifying Authority for issue of Digital Signature Certificate.
Encryption: Encrypt sensitive records and messages in transit and in storage.
Security Audit: A security audit is a systematic evaluation of the security of a companys
information system by measuring how well it conforms to a set of established criteria. It is to
find out the vulnerabilities that an organization is facing with its IT infrastructure. A
thorough audit typically assesses the security of the systems physical configuration and
environment, software, information handling processes, and user practices.

Cyber Forensics: Cyber Forensics is a very important ingredient in the investigation of cyber
crimes. Cyber forensics is the discovery, analysis, and reconstruction of evidence extracted
from any element of computer systems that allow investigators to solve a crime. Principal
concerns with computer forensics involve imaging storage media, recovering deleted files,
searching slack and free space, and preserving the collected information for litigation
purposes.
E-discovery investigation includes areas like money laundering, corruption, financial frauds,
cyber crimes, serious frauds and white collar crimes investigation, etc. Presently e-discovery
services in India are in infancy stage and this is the reason why many cases of corporate
frauds and cyber crimes remain unreported.
Cyber Laws: Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 was framed with the advent of the telegraph and
later covered yet another advance in technology, the telephone. Information Technology Act,
2000 is the most significant Act addressing conduct in cyberspace in India, there are a whole lot
of other Acts that would apply to govern and regulate conduct and transactions in cyberspace.
Take for instance online contracts. Apart from the relevant provisions of the IT Act, the Indian
Contract Act, the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 etc. would be relevant to determine the legality of such
contracts. Further the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 or in case of unfair trade
practices, the Consumer Protection Act 1986, would also be relevant. Protection of intellectual
property available on the Internet is one of the greatest challenges of the day. Be it books, films,
music, computer software, inventions, formulas, recipes, everything is available on the net.

Protection of copyrights trademarks online would entail the invocation of the Indian
Copyright Act and, the Trade Marks Act. As far as illegal activities on the net are concerned,
apart from specific provisions in the IT Act that penalizes them, a whole gamut of other Acts
would govern them. For instance in case of an Internet fraud, based on the nature of the fraud
perpetrated, Acts such as the Companies Act, 1956, the
Thus it can be inferred that while the IT Act is the quintessential Act regulating conduct on
the Internet based on the facts of a case or the nature of a transaction, several other Acts may
be applicable. Therefore, cyber laws includes the whole set of legislation that can be applied
to determine conduct on the Internet.
IT Act 2000: It intends to give legal recognition to e-commerce and e-governance and facilitate
its development as an alternate to paper based traditional methods. The Act has adopted a
functional equivalents approach in which paper based requirements such as documents, records
and signatures are replaced with their electronic counterparts.
The Act seeks to protect this advancement in technology by defining crimes, prescribing
punishments, laying down procedures for investigation and forming regulatory authorities. Many
electronic crimes have been bought within the definition of traditional crimes too by means of
amendment to the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Evidence Act, 1872 and the Bankers Book
Evidence Act, 1891 too have been suitably amended in order to facilitate collection of evidence in
fighting electronic crimes.

National Cyber Security Policy 2013

Ongoing efforts in India: The government has conducted several awareness and training
programmes on cyber crimes for law enforcement agencies including those on the use of
cyber Forensics Software packages and the associated procedures with it to collect digital
evidence from the scene of crime.
Special training programmes have also been conducted for the judiciary to train them on the
techno-legal aspects of cyber crimes and on the analysis of digital evidence presented before
them. Both the CBI and many state police organizations are today geared to tackle
cybercrime through specialised cyber crime cells that they have set up.
Cyber security initiatives and projects in India are very less in numbers. Even if some
projects have been proposed, they have remained on papers only. The list is long but
sufficient is to talk about the projects like National Critical Information Infrastructure
Protection Centre (NCIPC) of India, National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) of
India, Tri Service Cyber Command for Armed Forces of India, Cyber Attacks Crisis
Management Plan Of India, etc. None of them are Coordinating with each other and all of
them are operating in different and distinct spheres. Recently, the National Technical
Research Organization (NTRO) was entrusted with the responsibility to protect the critical
ICT infrastructures of India.
India has already launched e-surveillance projects like National Intelligence Grid
(NATGRID), Central Monitoring System (CMS), Internet Spy System Network and Traffic
Analysis System (NETRA) of India, etc. None of them are governed by any Legal
Framework and none of them are under Parliamentary Scrutiny. Thus, these projects are
violating Civil Liberties Protection in Cyberspace.
National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been formed which provides network backbone
Manages IT services, E -GOV initiatives to central and state governments.
Stakeholder Agencies: 1) National Information Board: It is an apex agency with
representatives from relevant Departments and agencies that form part of the critical
minimum information infrastructure in the country. 2) National Crisis management
Committee: The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) is an apex body of
Government of India for dealing with major crisis incidents that have serious or national
ramifications. It will also deal with national crisis arising out of focused cyber-attacks. 3)
National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS): National Security Council Secretariat
(NSCS) is the apex agency looking into the political, economic, energy and strategic security
concerns of India and acts as the secretariat to the NIB. 4) Department of Information
Technology (DIT): DIT strives to make India a global leading player in Information
Technology and at the same time take the benefits of Information Technology to every walk
of life for developing an empowered and inclusive society. It is mandated with the task of
dealing with all issues related to promotion & policies in electronics & IT. 5) Department of
Telecommunications (DoT): IT is responsible to coordinate with all ISPs and service

providers with respect to cyber security incidents and response actions as deemed necessary
by CERT-In and other government agencies. 6) CERTIn: CERT-In monitors Indian
cyberspace and coordinates alerts and warning of imminent attacks and detection of
malicious attacks among public and private cyber users and organizations in the country. It
maintains 247 operations centre and has working relations/collaborations and contacts with
CERTs, all over the world; and Sectoral CERTs, public, private, academia, Internet Service
Providers and vendors of Information Technology products in the country. 7) National
Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NIIPC): NIIPC is a designated agency to
protect the critical information infrastructure in the country. It gathers intelligence and keeps
a watch on emerging and imminent cyber threats in strategic sectors including National
Defence. They would prepare threat assessment reports and facilitate sharing of such
information and analysis among members of the Intelligence, Defence and Law enforcement
agencies with a view to protecting these agencies ability to collect, analyze and disseminate
intelligence. 8) National Disaster Management of Authority (NDMA): The National
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is the Apex Body for Disaster Management in
India and is responsible for creation of an enabling environment for institutional mechanisms
at the State and District levels. 9) Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification
(STQC) Directorate: STQC is a part of Department of Information Technology and is an
internationally recognized Assurance Service providing organization. It has also established a
test/evaluation facility for comprehensive testing of IT security products as per ISO 15408
common criteria security testing standards. 10) The Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal:
The Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal has power to entertain the cases of any person
aggrieved by the Order made by the Controller of Certifying Authority or the Adjudicating
Officer. It has been established by the Central Government in accordance with the provisions
contained under Section 48(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.The body is quasijudicial in nature.
International Organisation: 1) Council of Europe: protect societies worldwide from the
threat of cybercrime through the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. The Budapest
Convention on Cybercrime was adopted on 8 November 2001 as the first international treaty
addressing crimes committed using or against network and information systems. It entered
into force on 1 July 2004. 2) Internet Governance Forum (IGF): The IGF was established
by the World Summit on the Information Society in 2006 to bring people together from
various stakeholder groups in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet.
While there is no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy making
power in both the public and private sectors. It is convened under the auspices of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations. 3) United Nations (UN): The International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is
responsible for Information and Communication Technologies. ITU deals also with adopting
international standards to ensure seamless global communications and interoperability for
next generation networks; building confidence and security in the use of ICTs; emergency

communications to develop early warning systems and to provide access to communications

during and after disasters, etc. 4) NETmundial Confrence: In reaction to spying and
surveillance activity by National security agency of USA through PRISM, NETmundial
Global Multi-stakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance This meeting
focused on the elaboration of principles of Internet governance and the proposal for a
roadmap for future development of this ecosystem.
No Advertisement
SC has banned use of photographs of all political leaders on government backed
advertisements except PM, President and CJI, even for these dignitaries, court said that they
can choose whether they want the photograph to be published or not. TN recently filed a
review petition, its argument was that the judgement infringes on centre-state relation. In
spirit it is right, if three dignitaries at centre were provided the exception their equivalents
should also be given the same privilege. In a democracy, government advertise to disseminate
the information to the public about various initiatives for the welfare of the people. There is
no need of any personality to be there on advertisement. SC is flawed in allowing three
exceptions, instead of moving to allowing state dignitaries to have same privilege, it is better
to abolish all of them together so that wastage of public money can be done away with.
PSBs and Social Schemes
With increasing number of social schemes which are implemented through PSBs, their staffs
are becoming overburdened with little time for normal activities. This is hindering their
competitiveness in the market because of deep pocket private sector banks. During the public
drives officers have to devote entire time in these, rather than focusing on deposits and loans.
To meet the targets, KYC norms are diluted and each account under PMJDY is causing Rs.
200 for PSBs while there are no deposits in these accounts. Sometimes single person is
provided with two accounts to meet the targets making the objective useless.
Government could use india post for the same purpose which is finding its existence in
danger with more digital penetration and courier services. It has excellent reach, which is
higher than all PSBs combined. Its staff already handles saving account scheme. It disburses
wages to MNREGA workers. This makes it capable to handle cash storage, deposits and
credit, which makes it eligible to provide what PSBs are doing, i.e., india post is capable to
handle social schemes and it has more reach than PSBs. Steps needed: 1) To train its
employees in banking system. This can be done by asking its employees to pass banking
exams and making new recruits to have mandatory passed banking exams. 2) Small and
healthier PSBs could be merged with india post so that later can acquire trained employees
and also a banking licence 3) The banking side of it be brought under RBI regulations.
With this, india post can handle PSL, insurance schemes, pension schemes and financial
inclusion. This experiment has been successful in UK and in US this is being proposed
recently.

Matrimony and Caste

Preference for a caste is not socially and legally wrong unless the preference is due to
prejudice to other castes. Preference is not abolished by constitution under the untochability.
With the advent of modern class, caste system has withered but caste identities have become
stronger. Prejudice comes from hatred and disgust while pride is from the past achievements.
Choice in matrimony is less to do with hierarchy and more to do with subjective sociopolitical choices in private and public life. Traditionally, arranged marriages helped in
preserving the purity of castes. According to Indian HDI, 5% of marriages are inter-caste;
these may be baby steps but are the steps in right direction. Most of the advertisement
excludes OBCs, SC/ST. People prefer higher caste than theirs, excluding SC.ST entirely.
Constitutional divisions have passed onto personal choices. There are cases where upper
castes are accommodating OBCs but not SC/ST, this is a positive move but still
discriminatory. The castes no bar advertisements are seeking a new horizontal unity just
above a purity line.
MNREGA
1) Some assets created in rural areas are of bad quality. But this is not entirely true, under
MNREGA watershed development, drought proofing, warehouse construction, individual
toilets; playground etc. are also constructed which are increasing agricultural productivity and
boosting rural economy [MoRD report on MNREGA 2014]. 2) The money spent on this
programme could be used for skill development to provide self-employment which is
sustainable in long-run. But it is to be noted that, multi-dimensional strategy is needed for
poverty alleviation but it cannot happen over an empty stomach. The changeover has to be
overlapping in the start. 3) The income from MNREGA is supplementing the nutrition of the
rural populace helping in fighting the menace of malnutrition and also promoting
entrepreneurship. 4) It is a critical source of income for the rural women and helping them
regain their social status. 5) As the scheme is demand driven, it is self-targeting as the only
needy will come for the entitlement. It is beneficial especially to SC/ST who constitutes the
most disadvantaged section of the society. 6) MNREGA has altered the power balance in
rural areas, where landlords, labour contractors are losing their grip over the poor. 7)
MNREGA has also decreased the urban migration due to distress conditions prevailing in
rural areas. 8) There is a clear decline in work provided under MNREGA, from more than 50
lakhs in 2012-13 to 23 lakh in 2014-15. Taking cue from this data it is being said that peoples
are now not interested in menial jobs provided under MNREGA. But the other side is, there is
drastic cut in budget allocation, delay in payment, states are not enrolling more people
because of budget allocation has been cut and if they do, allowance has to be paid by the
state. This has led to killing up the demand for work under MNREGA.
Re-promulgation of Ordinances
Re-promulgation did not take place before 1990s at the centre. In 1986, SC declared repromulgation as a tool to bypass parliament and hence are a fraud on the constitution. But it
made exceptions, that re-promulgation cannot be attacked if president is satisfied that houses
has high workload and time was limited to convert ordinances into acts. This is used by the

central government after 1990s, to re-promulgate the ordinances. The judgement has left an
opening to resort to these practices due to lack of numbers and consensus on issues. The way
out is to enlarge the session of houses to provide adequate time to take up the bill rather than
re-promulgate the ordinance. The setting of house agenda, prorogue are in the hands of
executive.
Water Tribunals
The inefficiency in inter-state dispute redressal extends to factors beyond the functioning of
tribunal. These factors involves: Institutional vacuum for implementing award, noncompliance by states, politicisation and legal ambiguities. The main anomaly is exclusion of
SC jurisdiction by the constitution. The proposed permanent tribunal will act as circuitous
route to address the problems as they will recur even after the temporary tribunals are
disbanded.
The idea of temporary tribunals under Inter-State Water Dispute Act, 1956, rested on the
understanding that the water disputes will not be many. It was believed that tribunals will
provide speedy resolution and bar to SC jurisdiction will provide final authority to these
tribunals. Tribunals will also help in discretionary and deliberative decision making based on
mutually negotiated settlements which could not haven in legal litigation in SC.
But slowly tribunals have faced the problem of litigation and delays. This was aided by not
allowing the amendment of 1956 Act in the parliament. The amendments were diluted to
solve the problem through ad-hoc means rather than taking a comprehensive view of the
problem. SC jurisdiction may be reconsidered.
Lacking Defence
Recently, Government has appointed the chairman of DRDO while its DGs are running on
extensions. Failures of DRDO: LCA including Kaveri Engine ran behind schedule and cost
overruns, AEW&C system, naval version of LCA, Long range surface to air missiles and
advanced lightweight torpedo have all missed the deadlines. Failures of HAL: It could not
rectify simple design faults in HPT-32 trainer aircrafts which forced IAF to import propeller
driven aircrafts, Intermediate jet trainer aircraft is nowhere close to flying, Light combat
aircraft and multi-purpose civilian aircraft, Saras, are forever been in the pipeline. Nalanda
ordinance factory in collaboration with Israel is nowhere near completion. DRDO has set the
dream of 70% indigenisation by 2005 but the figure is around 30% by 2015 and this does not
involve high-end technology.
In 2008, Rama Rao committee had recommended that DRDO should only focus on 8 to 10
critical projects of strategic importance. Still, DRDO focus on products like dental implants
and mosquito repellents.
This has caused india to become the worlds biggest arm importer which is not a good sign of
an aspiring global power. In his book on Kargil War, General V.P. Malik mentions that two
years before the invasion army had finalised imports of AN/TPQ-37 firefinder radars from
US. Prices were negotiated but just before the purchase DRDO offered to produce them at

half the prices, DM stuck down the deal. These radars were desperately needed during kargil
war, causing soldier casualties. DRDO did not manufacture them and purchase could not be
made due to nuclear explosion embargo.
Development and defence are complimentary and not contradictory. To protect the
development gains and facilitate them by providing it a safe environment, defence of a
country is of utmost importance. But as a nation we failed in fulfilling development as well as
defence.
Some steps have been taken such as, more than 50% of items in defence list were removed
for production without licence, FDI is increased to 49% from 26%, Defence Technology
Commission to attract Investment in DRDO is yet to materialise.
GST Bill
GST is a comprehensive tax levied on manufacturing, sale and consumption of goods and
services at national level. VAT included only goods while GST will include goods and
services. In current tax regime, state tax goods but not services, centre tax manufacturing and
services but not wholesale/retail trade. GST expands the base and allows centre to tax in
states constitutional mandate and vice versa and hence a constitutional amendment is
necessary.
Pros: 1) It will subsume various indirect taxes, simplify tax administration, improve
compliance and eliminate economic distortion in production, trade and consumption. 2) By
providing credit for tax paid on input at every stage of the supply chain and taxing only the
final consumer, it avoids the cascading of taxes, thereby cutting production cost and making
export more competitive. 3) GST will harmonise the procedure and collection of taxes at
central and state level.
States: India will have CGST and SGST, levied and managed and also compliance will be
looked after at different administrations. This will cause some curtailment of states freedom.
All goods and services will be divided into different categories and rates will be fixed with
floor rate and few bands, also state cannot shift item from one to other category and exempt
them. Rates of the GST will be fixed by GST council this will curtail the individual freedom
of the states. This goes against the federal and constitutional autonomy to states to tax the
products at whatever rate they want. Loss of finance may be compensated by centre but loss
of autonomy cannot be compensated. It is being argues that, states under pressure from
pressure groups compromise on fiscal aspects which hinders in growth, GST is a good move
to avoid this which should be seen as empowering states against these interest groups. But
this means that state government are irresponsible and incompetent in handling the policy
decisions so give them less power and less discretion.
States are ruled by different political parties with different ideologies. Financial resources are
needed to further the welfare of people based on their ideologies. Those states who want
more expenditure on welfare measures will lose out as disadvantaged groups will be hit hard
by widening of indirect tax base. Including more goods and services under GST will bring

essential commodities under its purview leading to higher taxes on this; this will hit hard the
low income groups.
Indirect taxes are considered regressive as compared to direct taxes because direct taxes are
proportional to the ability to pay. Indias direct tax share is 37% as compared to SA 57.5 and
Indonesia 55%. With introduction of GST and lowering of corporation tax this will become
more regressive.
GI and India
GI has benefits beyond IP protection. It represents the art and culture of different regions in
india. It educates and empowers people to protect their culture and tradition as their own
under the law. Golden Yellow Muga Silk was registered as GI in 2007. Till 2014, there are
only 2 authorised users of this variety. This is due to the fact that, stakeholders are unaware of
the value of GI, low awareness and quality of GI is not standardised and differs from person
to person. There are incidents where the products which are adulterated are passed as GI
products. This is detrimental to economic health of the original producers.
Thanjavur Veena (Cuddalore district in TN) is a GI and is made from the wood of the
Jackfruit tree. But this may become extinct because raw materials are becoming expensive
and producers are turning to other sources of income. It is not enough to grant GI, state
should provide possible assistance for its nourishment also. The passing of skills from one
generation to another and preservation of the GIs is important.
Though GI act provides legal protection and recognition of rights or individual over the
product. But it is not sufficient because these people mostly belong to less vocal and powerful
groups than patent owners.
Kanchipuram Silk is a GI for making saree. Banarasi Saree is a GI too. Ikat is also a GI.
Government has announced training and skill development of traditional art/craft in Varanasi
which will benefit these peoples.
Challenges: 1) When GI is made in another area by the original craftsmen, will they be
entitled to retain the indications. 2) IP appellate Board has said that notice is issued in local
language so that everybody can object to grant of GI. This is required because there are cases
where one of the original producers applied for GI while others were unaware.
Outsiders cannot sell Darjeeling tea with same brand name because they will be punished. 1)
When a product is given GI status, its price increases in international market (because
consumers in first world prefer such exotic items). 2) Export increases. 3) It can also boost
tourism. 4) Poor producers have to face less competition from people selling fake products
with the same name. 5) It helps in augmenting income of poor. 6)
GI: 1) Product comes from a particular place/region. 2) Right is enjoyed by a community /
association of producers.=community right. 3) Given for Goods (physical stuff.)

Trademark: 1) Product comes from a particular enterprise/company. 2) Right enjoyed by

only one person/company=individual right. 3) Can be goods (mobile, PC etc) or service
(e.g.music, spa etc.).
Under WTO> Trade related Intellectual property rights (TRIPS), the Member nations have
to respect geographical indications. 2) Theyve to take measures to prevent violation of GI
rights. (e.g. order custom authorities seize bogus products.). 3) If a product enjoys GI status
in member nation A then, Member nation B should not grant trademark for the same.
Multiple registration: For example, Darjeeling tea is given GI tag in India, under India law.
So if someone inside /from India is selling fake Darjeeling tea, he can be jailed/fined in India.
But If a Sri Lankan guy exporting fake Darjeeling tea to France, you cannot do anything in
India. Youve to manually file petition in Frances court to protect your GI. (or India
Government need pursue the matter via WTO). So, to prevent such problem, youve to again
apply for GI status in European Unions office for Protected Geographical Indication
(PGI).
The ideal system should be: You register a product in GI office in your own country.
Database is uploaded on WTO website and notification is served to all nations. (=multilateral
register). Whoever sells fake stuff, in xyz country will be caught and prosecuted. And you
dont need to run from pillar to post in every foreign country, to protect your GI-tag.
But this Multilateral register system has not been established yet: Because there is
disagreement among WTO members. EU wants this system compulsory for everyone. But
China, Hong Kong want this system compulsory for only those country that agree to
participate in it. However, the wine and liquor business lobby of Europe is very powerful.
Hence theyve managed to get WTO to negotiate for a multilateral GI register for Wine and
liquor. Such liquor register is hardly of any use to India because our GI-expertise is
handicraft and agriculture products. India wants a common GI register for all products and
not just for liquors.
GI Act 1999: It came in force in 2003. Registrar of Geographical Indications= youve apply
to this person. Intellectual Property Appellate Board to hear appeals over the decisions of the
Registrar of Geographical Indications. Geographical Indications Registry (to keep the GIdatabase @Chennai.). GI can be given to agricultural, natural or manufactured goods
originating in the said area. GI rights are given to an association of persons, producers,
organization. (=it is a community right.) Because geographical indications are not built up
by one individual but by a community of persons. Punishments for violating GI. (e.g. some
guy selling Banaras Saree but theyre actually made in Bengal.). Registration of a
geographical indication is valid for a period of 10 years (can be renewed.).
Problems: 1) India has huge social, cultural, ethnic, food diversities= thousands of products
that would qualify for a geographical indication. 2) But Most of the people engaged in the
production of such products are small households or small units, although in the same area.
So it is often difficult to organize them into associations and apply for the GI registration.
Madurai Malli Jasmine Flowers got GI Tag. This is the first time that handmade tool is given
GI Tag. Madurai scissors also got GI tag.

A geographical indication (GI) acts as a mechanism that helps producers differentiate their
products from competing products in the market and enables producers to build a reputation
and goodwill around their products that will fetch a premium price. It comes under WTO
TRIPS agreement.
The main benefits which accrue from registration under the Act are as follows: 1) Confers
legal protection to GI in India. 2) Prevents unauthorized use of a registered geographical
indication by others. 3) Enables seeking legal protection in other WTO member countries.
From the perspective of a developing country: 1) one of the best features of the Indian Act is
the comprehensive definition given of GI, whereby agricultural, natural and manufactured
goods all come under the ambit of GI. 2) Another important aspect of the Act is the
possibility of protecting a GI indefinitely by renewing the registration when it expires after a
period of ten years. 3) Indian Act has tried to extend the additional protection reserved for
wines and spirits mandated by TRIPS to include goods of national interest on a case to case
basis. We may not have wines and spirits to protect like the West but other exotic niche
products like teas, rice etc. 4) The Act prohibits the registration of a GI as a trademark, tries
to prevent appropriation of a public property in the nature of a geographical indication by an
individual as a trademark, leading to confusion in the market. 5) The Act recognizes that a GI
is a public property belonging to the producers of the goods concerned; as such it cannot be
the subject matter of assignment, transmission, licensing, pledge, mortgage or any contract
for transferring the ownership or possession.
More GIs have been registered from the southern states. Karnataka is the forerunner followed
by AP, kerala and TN. There are only three GIs from all of north east India and none from
Uttarakhand. Punjab and Haryana have no GI either except for a joint GI on Phulkari
embroidery along with Rajasthan. Phulkari is the only GI in India which covers more than
one state. Foreign products have also been assigned GIs under the Act.
GI may be more amenable to the particular context of developing countries. GIs may
especially facilitate protection of the collective rights of the rural and indigenous
communities in their indigenous knowledge, ensuring that the entire community which has
preserved the knowledge and has passed it on with incremental refinement over generations,
stand to benefit from the knowledge and that this is not locked up as the private property of
one individual.
Other advantages of GIs are that the knowledge remains in the public domain, the scope of
protection is limited to controlling the class and/ or location of people who may use the
protected indication and the rights can potentially be held in perpetuity as long as the
product-place link is maintained.
Also, holders of a GI do not have the right to assign the indication, thus, preventing its
transfer to non-locale producers.
Muga silk is a registered GI from the state of Assam. In the present day, muga silk constitutes
the states most popular export product after Assam tea. It is registered in 2006 and is the first
registration from N-E states. The area under cultivation is decreasing due to increase in
cultivable area of rubber. This is happening due to low awareness about the benefits of GI tag
and lack of promotion of the variety in national and international market.

Geographical indication protection has not curbed the menace of fakes. Machinebased cheap
product imitations continue to be sold. Cheap raw material imports have led to the sale of
what are known as Kela saris, in the name of Banarasi saris.
Powelooms are producing cheap goods to meet the rising demands of the people. Leading to
lack in demand of GI varieties. Enforcement under the legal regime is frustrated further
through absence of will on the part of GI holders to take action against the imitators.
An important dimension of GI is that it does not protect knowledge or technology as such. It
only protects the name or indication. This essentially means that the famous Banarasi sari can
be produced anywhere in the world but it cannot be named Banarasi sari. For a priceconscious consumer, it might not make much sense to buy GI certified products at a
premium, if the same product is available elsewhere.
Weakness of Foreign Policy
1) MEA is understaffed with IFS officials. 2) These IFS officials are generalist in their
knowledge. IN globalised world where issues include climate change, defence pacts,
bilateral economic agreements etc. It is needed that IFS officials should have expertise
in one of the topics. 3) The interaction of political class and bureaucracy with
academics and private think tanks is below what is required. Though government has
some funded institutions to provide policy input but these are inadequate. 4) The
foreign policy is based on ad-hoc vision rather than long term planning. This causes
the foreign policies based on intuition and experience rather than statistical inputs or
any scientific reasoning. 5) Very few IFS officials are on deputation in other union
ministries to acquire required skills.
Way Forward: 1) Recruitment should be increased and through a separate exam to include
the area expertise. Proposal of this kind were shot down in the past. 2) There is a need to
recruit experts through lateral entry or horizontal entry. 3) There is a need to have a longterm vision of the relation with the world. Planning process is needed to be strengthened
in MEA for the purpose. 4) Recommendation of commerce ministry to have separate
cadre in Indian missions is to be considered. Inter-ministry mobility of IFS official should
be pursued so as to ensure they acquire required skills.
1 and 2 points are highlighted by standing committee report on external affairs 2014-15.
Army and Equipment
Army is struggling with inducting new carbine and assault rifles while paramilitary has
them due to their relaxed procedural steps to shortlist, evaluate, test and acquire these
equipments.
Food Production Industry
The difference in the Indian market is driven by both demand and supply driven factors:
1) Consumption behaviour: Indian consumers prefer to procure food in unprocessed and
fresh form and then convert it into a consumable form through the food preparation
process either in homes or restaurants. This is distinct from many other countries where
consumers prefer to purchase more ready-to-eat foods. The consumption behavior is

changing in the urban centers, however, as the younger generation is shifting toward
processed foods due to paucity of time. 2) Wider availability: Most food products in
India, like fruits and vegetables and milk, have a wide availability across the country,
which is very unique to India. This leads to lower need for packaging and preserving food
for transportation over longer distances. 3) Limited evolution of food processing sector:
In areas like core processing, warehousing, logistics, and production, the food value chain
in India is still nascent with limited use of modern technology and labor-intensive
processes as compared to countries like the U.S., which are characterized by large-scale
contract farming, extensive cold chains, and advanced warehousing capabilities.
These differences lead to multiple challenges like higher wastage, limited opportunities
for food fortification through nutrients and quality and safety risks.
Unorganized sector: 1) Poor hygiene and safety practices. 2) Fragmented network with
many vendors and intermediaries makes quality checks extremely difficult. Numerous
end points make inspection difficult.
Availability, affordability, quality and safety and consumer awareness are the four pillars
supporting an improvement in Indias nutrition future.
Challenges: 1) Low productivity and high use of pesticides and fertilizers. Contract
farming, percolation of better technology. 2) Poor supply chain network. 3) Limited
quality control. 4) Limited availability of skilled resources. 5) Low consumer awareness.