This book provides an in-depth analysis of the links between intellectual property rights and sustainable development, two areas of the law have until recently been largely considered in isolation. However, recent developments indicate that there are an increasing number of links between intellectual property protection and sustainable development, which need to be addressed. This book examines some of the issues arising at the international level where a number of important legal instruments have been adopted in recent years. It also examines in detail the process of implementation in India.
This book focuses to a large extent on the patents system and examines in detail issues related to the use of plant genetic resources and biodiversity. It examines some of the impacts of the existing intellectual property rights regime on sustainable development. It also examines some of the challenges linked to the extension of intellectual property rights to new areas such as life patents and plant variety protection. Further, it analyses issues related to the protection of knowledge excluded from the existing intellectual property regime such as traditional knowledge. This book also examines some of the broader issues related to the links between intellectual property and sustainable development. In particular, it analyses the relevance of the concept of differential treatment in intellectual property rights agreements and analyses the links between human rights and intellectual property protection.
Since independence internal dissent has increasingly manifested in violence, conflict and terrorism. Conflicts in the North East and the proxy war in Jammu & Kashmir on our frontiers pose a serious challenge to India’s security. The core of the problems rests on domestic roots with external influence and spread of arms and drugs aggravating the situation. Deteriorating political ethos, fermenting religious and ethnic divide and lack of responsive and effective governance has further worsened the situation. The North East and Jammu and Kashmir with their distinctive features need to be addressed separately. The study examines the historical perspective, geopolitical dynamics and contemporary experience of the people in the socio-political, cultural and economic spheres in these areas. The search for a solution goes beyond the physical boundaries of the conflict for it to be lasting and holistic. The author suggests a way forward. The book may be of interest to all, interested in the subject as well as the regions.
The history of international environmental dialogue is a history of conflict between developing and industrial countries encompassing the framework, nature, and agenda of international environmental law. The conflict is focused on who should take responsibility, in what measure, and under what conditions to contain global environmental degradation. In the face of inequality in resources and contributions to global environmental degradation, sovereign states have crafted a burden sharing arrangement rooted in differential treatment. Differential treatment refers to the use of norms that provide for different, more advantageous, treatment to some states. Real differences exist between states, and the norms of differential treatment recognize and respond to these differences by instituting different standards for different states or groups of states.
This book explores the value of differential treatment in integrating developing countries into international environmental regimes. It systematically categorizes and analyses the terms of integration, respecting differential treatment across new generation environmental treaties. It ferrets out the philosophical and practical bases for differential treatment in environmental treaties, and creates a framework within which differential treatment can be assessed. It suggests certain boundaries to differential treatment in international environmental law, and explores in detail the reach of differential treatment in the climate regime.
The conflict between industrial and developing countries has thus far significantly impaired the ambition of the international environmental agenda. The relevance of this book lies in its ability to provide a principled framework within which the conflict between industrial and developing countries in the international environmental realm can be examined and resolved.
Large dams, initially conceived of as “temples of modern India” in the Nehruvian era, came under increasing criticism in the later years due to social and ecological concerns. This book is an in-depth study of possibly the most well-known multi-purpose river valley project in north India, the Bhakra-Nangal Project.
The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution provide a comprehensive structure for rural and urban local government institutions. The constitutional status of panchayats and nagarpalikas enable them to function as institutions of self-government. Participation of the people in local governments is an important objective of these Amendments. Like gram sabhas in villages, the ward committees in towns and cities ensure proximity between the people and their elected representatives by providing a structured platform for addressing the local problems of citizens. This book critically examines whether wards committees have been a help or a hindrance to peoples participation; the extent of interaction between wards committees and the people on the one hand and elected representatives on the other; and whether wards committees have been able to secure accountability to the people. This book builds on studies conducted by CIVIC (Citizens Voluntary Initiative for the City) of Bangalore, DARSHN (Development Action through Self Help Network) in Kerala, YUVA (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action) in Maharashtra, the Eastern Regional Centre of ISS (Institute of Social Sciences) in Kolkata, and ISS, New Delhi in the respective cities of Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and West Bengal. This study also critically looks into the innovative Bhagidari system in Delhi.
In this book, Sanjaya Baru, one of India’s most respected commentators on political and economic issues, pays close attention to the strategic consequences of India’s increasingly impressive economic performance. The new turn in India’s economic policies and performance in the last decade of the twentieth century; the success of Indian enterprise in the post-WTO world; the emergence of a confident professional middle-class; a demonstrated nuclear capability; and the resilience of an open society and an open economy, in the face of multiple and complex challenges, have all shaped India’s response to the tectonic shifts in the global balance of power in the post-Cold War era.
In this collection of academic essays and newspaper columns, Baru explores the business of diplomacy and the diplomacy of business in a rising India. The role of India’s cultural and intellectual ‘soft power’ in shaping global perceptions of India are examined. The book offers a panoramic view of the geopolitics and the geo-economics of India’s recent rise as a free market democracy, and as such will interest both experts and lay readers.
Towards Water Wisdom makes a fervent plea for an urgent and radical transformation of our thinking on water. The author redefines the projected water crisis as one of mismanagement rather than scarcity, and calls for a more equitable, harmonious and sustainable management of the resource.
Water-related conflicts are also discussed, including the Indus Treaty, the differences over Baglihar, the Cauvery and Ravi-Beas disputes, and rehabilitation problems in the Narmada Valley. The author questions the idea of property rights in water and argues that the fundamental or human right to water must take precedence over contractual and economic rights. The inadequacies of India`s water laws and policies are examined and a case made for a constitutional declaration on water and a national water law.
Finally, the author widens the perspective and draws attention to a changing world that makes a change in our thinking imperative.
This work is one of the most comprehensive analyses of the extent, as well as the socio-economic and spatial characteristics, of urbanization in India. It assesses the nature of the policies and programs required for urban governance and the development and management of urban areas. The study is very relevant in the current context of economic growth and changing structural patterns of the Indian economy. The conclusion provides strong policy suggestions.
Independent regulators are a nascent institution in India. This volume examines how Indian electricity regulators in three states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi – function in practice. The goal is to contribute to debates on the role of regulators in electricity reform and on the institution of regulation in India. Drawing on extensive interviews with regulators, government and stakeholders, the authors explore the regulatory decision-making process. They develop insights into the influence of politics, public participation, and the reform context on outcomes, and the implications of each for future evolution of regulatory institutions in India. This book will be useful to policy-makers in utility sectors, electricity experts, regulators from a range of sectors and academics and NGOs interested in delivery of public services.
