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Showing posts from September, 2019

Libertarian Principles of Intellectual Property

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By Saira Banu,  Image source:  pmcorporatelaw.com Libertarianism as a philosophy emerged in an attempt to cure the unfairness that plagues our world. This blog will attempt to question the basis for its very existence, along with assessing the effect of libertarian principles on intellectual property. While it rose from a need to make living fairer, whether this principle is translated into the libertarian view of intellectual property (IP) is explored throughout this blog. Libertarianism assumes the existence of a natural harmony between productive people, and an analysis of how this harmonious existence seeks to protect or prevent intellectual property rights (IPRs) will be done. Essentially a political doctrine, human flourishing and human happiness are seen as the central takeaways of libertarian philosophy. Freedom of speech is celebrated in libertarianism, and the role and power of the government is optimally kept to a minimum to allow humans to exercise their o

Some Thoughts on National Education Policy Draft

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By Rajesh K P, The Draft National Education Policy (Committee for DNEP 2019) is a vision document which aims at a major overhaul of our present education system — school as well as higher education. The document is very detailed and gets into every aspect of the education system including governance, regulation and accreditation. With the mention of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), there is a significant change in the way we look at foundational education. There is an emphasis on revamping teacher education with higher education reforms providing ways to achieve these goals. Talking of higher education, one could see that the policy document aims at a significant revamp of the higher education system. Two major policy documents with regard to education in recent times were the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) in 2005 and Right To Education (RTE) in 2008. ECCE is expected to make its way into the RTE Act, while NCF could see a significant direction change with t

India and IPRs Laws

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By Ayush Kukreja, (Image source: LegalDocs) Copyrights, trademarks, patents, etc are terms which are often non-synonymous with economic significance and put away as indifferent to the facets of micro and macro trade. It suffices to attach the notion of ‘proprietorship’ and hence the meaning of ‘intellectual property rights’ is lost. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) basically refer to industrial and copyright laws. Industrial laws can be further broken down into trademarks, patents, industrial designs and geographical indications. While copyright laws are mostly restricted to the entertainment industry, we lay specific significance to industrial laws because they bear the most relevance for the economy. Amidst the crippling trade war between the US and China, IPRs should be given more importance now than ever. India seems to be the next target of the US conglomerates, who cannot stand the 5th largest GDP churning country free riding the tariff benefits it enjoys. Indi

Green Bonds for Sustainable Development

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By Puja Meiyammai S, (Image source:  Smart Prosperity Institute) What are green bonds? How can they tackle major environmental issues faced by India and save the environment for the future generation? In the early years, institutions like banks and non-banking sectors financed environmental projects. However, a huge investment requirement for these projects made it financially unviable. Thus, the concept of green bonds came into existence to keep these projects on track. Green bonds are fixed income financial instruments that are lined up in the process of promoting and implementing climate change and environmental solutions. The funds are raised by issuing bonds to investors who are interested in financing green projects. The green bonds assure the investors of prompt repayment of the amount that is borrowed by remunerating them with either fixed or variable rate of return. Second, they create positive public relations and help in diversification of investors. Th