AN OVERVIEW OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE I.P. HOLDERS

INTRODUCTION

‘Intellect’ refers to the creations of the mind. Intellectual Property is a type of intangible property and includes inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names and paintings.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are the Rights granted to the creators of Intellectual Property (IP) by the Government. The nature of IPR is territorial. In any country an IP has to seek protection separately under the relevant laws.

Mechanisms which are Special in nature have been kept in place for various territories in order to provide protection to different types of IPRs. It confers an exclusive right to the inventor/ creator or assignee to fully utilize the invention/ creation for a given period of time.

It’s been established that the intellectual labor associated with the innovation should be given due importance so that public good emanates from it.

This is a strong tool, to protect investments, time, money, effort invested by the inventor/creator of an IP, since it grants the inventor/creator an exclusive right for a certain period of time for use of his invention/creation.

Hence it aids in the economic development of a country by promoting healthy competition and encouraging industrial development which shall also aid in the growth of the economy.

WHAT IS AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

Intellectual Property(IP) refers to creations of the mind; inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

IP is divided into two categories: 1) Industrial Property:- includes patents for inventions,trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications. 2) Copyright:- covers literary works (such as novels,poems and plays), films, music, artistic works (e.g., drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures) and architectural design.

In Intellectual property(IP), there are Rights which relates to the rights of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and broadcasters in their radio and television programs are included.

WHAT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS?

So what do you mean by intellectual
property rights? IP rights like any other property right allow creators, or owners, of patents, trademarks or copyrighted works to benefit from their own work or investment in a creation.

These rights are outlined in Article
27 of the UDHR which provides for the right to benefit from the protection of moral and material interests resulting from authorship of scientific, literary
or artistic productions.

The importance of intellectual property was first recognized in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886). Both treaties are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

There are various pros which are more compelling than the cons.

1) The progress and well-being of humanity rest on its capacity to create and invent new
works in the areas of technology
and culture.

2) The legal
protection of new creations and this encourages the commitment of additional resources for further innovation.

And Lastly the third pros is that the 3) Promotion and protection of intellectual property spurs economic growth, creates new jobs and industries,
and enhances the quality and enjoyment of life.

An efficient and equitable intellectual property system can help all countries to realize intellectual property’s potential as a catalyst for economic development and social and cultural well-being. The intellectual property system helps strike a balance between the interests of innovators and the public interest, providing an environment in which creativity and invention can flourish.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY HOLDERS IN A QUANDARY DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

While experts are in a combat mode and the race is on to discover the cure for COVID-19, the claim of intellectual property rights for exclusive use of the cure poses a dilemma as it is not considered the most rational thing to do at the moment.

Carlos Correa addressed to organizations like WHO, WTO and WIPO via an open letter to seek support for WTO countries that invoke the ‘security exception’ contained in Article 73 of the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, to take ‘actions it considers necessary for the protection of its essential ‘security interests’ in the wake of COVID-19 threat.

It has been suggested that invocation of exception under Article 73 will be warranted to procure medical products and devices or to use the technologies to manufacture them as necessary to take cue of the present public health emergency.

By suspending the enforcement of any Intellectual Property right as given under Article 73(b) of TRIPS Agreement, an obstacle for the procurement or local manufacturing of the medical equipments shall be necessary in order to protect the population of the world will be outlasted.

The question which is raised due to the above is regarding IP rights which are aimed to aid the public by promoting technological advancement in return of providing the inventor an exclusive right over the invention, though for a limited time. Though the IP rights are at a standstill due to the outbreak the IP Registry offices all over have limited their functioning.

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Trade Mark: –

A trademark is used in order to identify a business entity and it also differentiates the goods made or services offered by a company or an individual. Names, Words, Logos, Colors, Packaging, Sounds (audible), Signs (visual) or any combination thereof are considered and can be filed as trademarks.

A trademark must be Unique and Distinctive in nature and must also avoid adjectives for eg efficient and Names of person or places (E.g. India). Even Obscene words, Religious or Government words or symbols (E.g. OM) and Common Shapes (Square) should be avoided.

The Trade mark means a mark used in relation to goods for the purpose of indicating a connection in the course of trade between the goods and some person having the right as proprietor to use that mark.

The function of a trade mark is to give an indication to the purchaser or a possible purchaser as to the manufacture or quality of the goods, to give an indication to the trade source from which the goods come or the trade hands through which they pass on their way to the market.

The Trade Marks Act, 1999 is an act which provides for the registration and better protection of trademarks for goods and services and for the prevention of the use of fraudulent marks. A trade mark is valid for a period of 10 years.

Case Name: The Coca-Cola Company v. Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd
Case Citation: Manu/DE/2698/2009

Copyright: –

Copyright is an exclusive legal right granted to the creators of an intellectual work. The owner of a Copyright has rights to reproduce, translate, adapt, perform, distribute and must be publicly allowed to display the work, etc.

Registration is not mandatory since copyright comes into existence as soon as the intellectual work is created but it is recommended to register a copyright for better enforceability, since registered copyrights have more evidentiary value in court.

(a) Types of Works covered under Copyright:-

(1) Literary including Software – Books, Essay, Compilations, Computer Programs.

(2) Artistic – Drawing, Painting, Logo, Map, Chart, Plan, Photographs, Work of Architecture.

(3) Dramatic – Screenplay, Drama.

(4) Musical – Musical Notations.

(5) Sound Recording – Compact Disc.

(6) Cinematograph Films – Visual Recording which includes sound recording.

(b) Duration of Copyright:-

(1) Literary, Dramatic, Musical or Artistic Works – Lifetime of the author + 60 years from the death of the author.

(2) Anonymous & Pseudonymous Works – 60 years from the year the work was first published.

(3) Works of Public Undertakings & Government Works – 60 years from the year the work was first published.

(4) Works of International Organizations – 60 years from the year the work was first published.

(5) Sound Recording – 60 years from the year in which the recording was published.

(6) Cinematograph Films – 60 years from the year in which the film was published.

Case Name:- Indian Performing Rights Society Ltd. v. Eastern India Motion Picture Association
Case Citation: – 1977 SCR (3) 206

Designs: – The Design Act, 2000 states that it protects the aesthetic and ornamental features of an object. As per the Act a 2D or 3D pattern of a handicraft, a product, or even an industrial commodity.

The Unique Selling Point (USP), protects the looks and feels of the product and it prevents the duplication of the product. An industrial design helps in drawing a customer’s attention and helps in increasing the commercial value of an article.

Case Name:-Cello Household Products v. M/S Modware India and anr
Case Citation:- Notice of Motion (L) No. 209/2017 in Suit (L) No. 48/2017

Patents On the 4th December, 2018, The Ministry of Commerce and Industry released the draft (rules amendment) for Patents Act 1970. These rules are mainly amended with respect to international applications, patent opposition and a few form related extensions. The Central Government proposes to make these amendments in exercise of the powers conferred by section 159 of the Patents Act, 1970.In order to align with TRIPS, inventions which are not patentable have been included even, wider rights of patentee is incorporated. Uniform period of protection is 20years. Case Name: Bajaj Auto Limited v.TVS Motor Company Limited. Case Citation: JT 2009 (12) SC 103

5. Integrated Circuits

Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design (SICLD) Act 2000 states the meaning of Semi conductor Integrated Circuit as, a product having transistors and other circuitry elements designed to perform an electronic circuitry function. There are 2 types of designs as per the act:-

(i) Layout Design – A layout of transistors and other circuitry elements including lead wires which connects semiconductor integrated circuits.

(ii) Layout-Design Registry (SICLDR) is the office where the applications on Layout-Designs of integrated circuits are filed for registration. The jurisdiction of this Registry is whole of India. The Registry, as per the guidelines laid down in the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design (SICLD) Act 2000 and the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design (SICLD) Rules 2001, examines the layout-designs of the Integrated Circuits and issues the Registration Certificate to the original layout-designs of the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits.

Case Name: Sunil Alag v. Union of India and Others
Case Citation: W.P. (C) 8152/2013

6. Biological Diversity

The Biological Diversity Act 2002 was enacted to realize the objectives enshrined in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992 which was passed by the Lok Sabha on 2nd December 2002 and by the Rajya Sabha on 11th December 2002.

It recognizes the sovereign rights of states to use their own Biological Resources due to the scarcity and also to conserve it. The Act provides for a mechanism for equal sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge. It is a federal legislation enacted by the Parliament of India for preservation of biological diversity in India.

Case Name: Environment Support Group vs National Biodiversity Authority
Case Citation: W.P. No.41532 / 2012

7. Plant Varieties and Farmers

Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Act of 2001(PPV & FR Act, 2001) confers right to breeders, researchers and farmers over their plant varieties. Reaching legislation with regards to establishing rights for farmers to save, use, exchange and sell farm saved seed.

The Act establishes nine rights for farmers of which the most important in this regard are the right to “seed” and the right to “compensation” for crop failure (Art. 39). Not only does the 2001 Act protect the rights of framers to save, use, exchange and sell farm- saved seed, it also seeks to ensure that these seeds are of good quality, or at least that farmers are adequately informed about the quality of seed they buy.

In addition, safeguards are provided against innocent infringement by farmers. Farmers who unknowingly violate the rights of a breeder are not to be punished if they can prove that they were not aware of the existence of such a breeder’s right (Art 42).

Case Name:- Monsanto Technology LLC & Ors Vs. Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd & OrsHigh Court of Delhi
Case Citation: CS (Comm) 132/2016

The Geographical Indication of Goods:- The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 states Geographical Indication as it is primarily an agricultural or food product, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts, Handloom textiles or industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory. A product is considered to be manufactured in a territory if any one of the activities of either the production or of processing or preparation of the goods takes place there. It promotes the producers prosperity of goods which have been produced in the geographical territory.

It helps the producer community to differentiate its products from other competing products that are present in the market and generate goodwill around its products. Hence, it acts as a signaling device by helping consumers to identify genuine quality products.

Case Name:- Tea Board Vs ITC Limited on 20 April, 2011
Case Citation:- GA No. 3137 of 2010 CS No. 250 of 2010

CONCUSION

The above overview clearly depicts that India has adopted and adhered to the latest IPR Regime and it has forayed into the global trade competition with a double edged sword.

WEBSITES REFERRED

(i)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3217699/

(ii)https://www.mondaq.com/india/Intellectual-Property/656402/Patents-Law-In-India–Everything-You-Must-Know

(iii) http://sicldr.gov.in/

(iv)http://www.grkarelawlibrary.yolasite.com/resources/SM-Jul14-IPR-4%20-Samantha.pdf

(v)http://www.farmersrights.org/bestpractices/success_seed_1.html

(vi)https://www.latestlaws.com/articles/all-about-geographical-indications-of-goods-act-1999-by-ritik-dwivedi/

(vii)http://cipam.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/bookletIPR.pdf

(viii)http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/Images/pdf/Final_FREQUENTLY_ASKED_QUESTIONS_-PATENT.pdf

(ix)http://www.ipindia.nic.in/act-1999.htm

(x)https://taxguru.in/corporate-law/intellectual-property-rights-vis-a-vis-covid-19.html

(xi)https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/450/wipo_pub_450.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjI-_TJxtTqAhWGlEsFHemYASEQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw2iHkUR-AGDYkrLrntA3199

(xii)https://www.pngitem.com/middle/hRRmTJo_intelligent-clipart-human-brain-business-intelligence-brain-hd/

(xiii)https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/intellectual-property-rights-copyright-patent-or-trademark-infringement-gm1054513236-281758003

(xiv)https://www.tutorialspoint.com/information_security_cyber_law/intellectual_property_right.htm

(xv)https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-will-change-the-way-we-live

(xvi)https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/registered-trademark-symbol.html

(xvii)https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-21491902-animated-copyright-red-3d-icon-loop-modules

(xviii)https://www.google.com/search?q=Design+Act+2000+India+Images&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiA6trXztTqAhUlnUsFHRUpDMQQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=Design+Act+2000+India+Images&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCAAQzQI6BwgjEOoCECc6BAgjECc6AggAOgUIABCxAzoECAAQQzoHCAAQsQMQQzoECAAQHjoGCAAQBRAeOgQIABAYUPinCFjPjglg1pYJaApwAHgAgAGRAYgB5B-SAQQwLjMymAEAoAEBsAEFwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=cMURX4DyOaW6rtoPldKwoAw&bih=682&biw=393&client=ms-android-xiaomi-rev1&prmd=ivn#imgrc=SBSWXkD4ztdRZM

(xix)https://www.lexorbis.com/indian-patent-applications-and-the-biological-diversity-act/

(xx) http://www.plantauthority.gov.in/

(xxi)http://www.ipindia.nic.in/act-1999.htm

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW AGE: VIRTUAL COURT HEARINGS: THE INDIAN CONTEXT

INTRODUCTION

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit all the countries hard but as far as the legal system is concerned, it has shown us how the coming times and the future shall be and also how things in the ‘new normal’ would be.

But there is always a Silver lining in these tough times which is the Virtual Court Hearings which has ensured that Justice isn’t delayed for the one’s who seek it inspite of these tough times as Justice delayed is Justice denied.

The lockdown has affected the functioning of courts across the globe, but the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has done much better than the top courts in countries like the UK, the US, Singapore and Canada.

The Apex Court began the hearing of urgent matters virtually till May 1st and heard them for 22 days via video conferencing in March after the imposition of lockdown in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

ABOUT VIRTUAL HEARINGS

Virtual hearings are court hearings conducted by audio-visual means, where cases are progressed without the need for participants to attend the Court in person. It also shows how the distance becomes immaterial when one has to appear before the court to argue the case.

FOR THE FIRST TIME

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India held its first Constitutional bench sitting and this is the first time since March 5 that five judges sat together in a single court hall ever since the lockdown forced the apex court to stop physical court hearings and begin hearing cases through videoconferencing from March 25 this year.

It was for the first time on Tuesday, the 14th July, 2020 that a Constitutional Bench (comprising five judges) held a virtual hearing. A bench of justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, MR Shah and Aniruddha Bose appeared wearing masks and maintaining nearly two-feet distance between them on the bench.

The first case that was heard by the five-judge bench was a legal tussle on whether Centre or States have the power to provide reservation to in-service candidates in post-graduate medical degree courses. The plea was brought up by Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association.

Opening the argument, Senior Advocate Arvind Datar exchanged the extensive compilation of his arguments including cases to be referred through Google drive with all Lawyers. One of the Lawyers, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appearing for Medical Council of India (MCI) complained about being unable to access Google Drive.

He objected to Datar referring to the same, the first hiccup encountered by the Court in the virtual proceeding. The problem was sorted as Hon’ble court asked Senior Advocate Arvind Datar to give case law citations.

As the virtual hearing proceeded the Senior Advocate Arvind Datar was inaudible to the Hon’ble Court. Hon’ble Justice MR Shah commented in a lighter vein that, “Don’t keep social distancing with your mike.” Datar heard ‘mike’ as “wife”, leaving the bench in splits.

SUCCESS STORY: DATA THAT MATTERS

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India shared the ‘success story’ of virtual court proceedings. At the beginning of June as many as 2,893 lawyers appeared in the hearings via video-conferencing, it said in the data release.

According to the data, 538 matters were taken up by the SC during the lockdown period, besides 297 connected cases. Judgment was delivered in 57 matters. Besides, 49 special leave petitions, 92 writ petitions, 138 review petitions and 58 pleas for interim relief were also taken up.

HOW THE COURTS FARED AND PERFORMED?

India has fared the best as per the above data as many other countries have been using the virtual system but their top courts that have lagged way behind in the hearing or disposal of cases.

It conducted proceedings via video-conferencing from March 25 as it has suspended the entry of lawyers and other staff into its premises and also the apex court decided to explore the feasibility of ‘physical appearance’ of advocates in real courtroom hearings after strictly adhering to the guidelines of the COVID-19 triggered lockdown and resorting to virtual hearings since March 25.

Data available on other judicial websites indicate that in the nations hit hard by the pandemic like the US, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, China, Canada, Australia etc., The organs of that state which carried out the administration of justice are mostly relying on the virtual court methodologies and online case management.

CONCLUSION

Hence after going through the above facts and circumstances it’s certainly a grand success yet there is always room and scope for improvement.

WEBSITES REFERRED:-

1)https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/law-and-practice/virtual-hearings/virtual-hearings-glossary

2)https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/may/04/virtual-hearing-indias-apex-court-way-ahead-than-many-counterparts-2138843.amp

3)https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/03/30/marketing-amidst-a-pandemic/

4)https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.hindustantimes.com/india-news/supreme-court-holds-first-virtual-constitution-bench-hearing/story-6OIJDbbzpliujLFjz1z3mI_amp.html

Who delivers the Amazon cardboard boxes???

Cardboard boxes that have been used for generations and thrived in the age of e-commerce continue to flourish or could the cardboard box be facing a new challenger? Cardboard boxes are a very big deal within the U.S. The United States is the Saudi Arabia of trees. Someone’s going to make the first box and that’s almost inevitably a mill generally in the Southeast United States. China certainly doesn’t have trees and India the extent they do have trees they’re not necessarily the right types of trees and shouldn’t be dedicated towards making boxes for us. The box business grew rapidly up through 1999 when the U.S. coordinated box market had its peak shipment. Starting in the early 2000s the U.S. corrugated box market faced multiple economic obstacles.

The great recession dragged on box demand and even after the recession demand continued to slow for commodity like soda and for the boxes that transport them. The move to digital devices also coincided with a drop in demand for copy paper and newsprint. But box makers found a grace in e-commerce sales and Amazon sale specifically which were growing at mostly integer rates within the recession and post-recession years. Those e-commerce sales have become a significant market for the containerboard industry. In 2018 told a U.S. e-commerce sales were estimated to be $512 billion almost 50 percent higher than in 2015. Amazon captured 48 percent of those sales. Most estimates are that e-commerce accounts for about 10 percent of the U.S. box market. Amazon accounts for close to 5 percent of U.S. box demand. By our estimates they are clearly the single largest box user in the US. International Paper with a third of the market I think does closer to 50 percent of all the amazon boxes evidently they got a bit more share than perhaps some of the smaller players.

Amazon said they deal with most of the big box makers across the U.S. according to analysts. Those manufacturers include International Paper, WestRock, Packaging Corporation of America and Georgia-Pacific. Some investors were turning to these companies as a way to invest in the e-commerce giant without having to purchase Amazon’s pricey stock. People didn’t really start talking about buying International Paper or WestRock as a secondary investment in Amazon till about the last five years. Despite the boost from e-commerce sales the box business still isn’t growing all that much. And since 2018 their stocks have mostly underperformed the S&P 500. In 2018, 69 percent of International Papers total revenue came from the box business and that sales volume has been mostly flat for the past five years. Although the big producers sold less boxes in 2018 than in 2000, industry consolidation has dramatically narrowed the fields.

The handful of big players remaining are based in Memphis, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia and Lake Forest, Illinois. Analysts have told CNBC that substantial industry mergers have made it easier to collectively hike prices and those price increases have helped drive revenue. There are portions of the business that are in indisputable secular decline but if you’re in the brown part of the business, making these boxes, that’s been some very welcome growth. But those extra boxes piling up on people’s doorsteps have led to a backlash from disgruntled customers who are sick of receiving golf ball sized products in supersized boxes. It used to be that you’d order a toothbrush and it would come in three giant boxes and you’d say to yourself, what is this? Well, Amazon is trying to rectify that by using fewer boxes and using other types of packaging where appropriate. With e-commerce packaging underfire Amazon decided to change the way they do shipping. In 2008, Amazon introduced the Frustration Free Packaging program. It aims to reduce the extra packaging created when retail packaged products are placed inside Amazon boxes to be shipped. Instead, products certified in the program that are roughly the size of a blender or larger need to be packaged in their own ready to ship boxes. And those boxes also need to be made of 100 percent recyclable materials. For customers that means that the packaging is easy to recycle and the box is easy to open without all the excess packaging materials.

Amazon offered vendors an incentive of a dollar per shipment to modify their packaging. And starting August 1st 2019 Amazon is charging a $1.99 penalty for each product shipped that needs to be reboxed. And basically the point of this deadline is for Amazon to get out of the business of packaging. They want their vendors to send them boxes that Amazon doesn’t have to touch or rebox. Over the last two years we have invented two different kinds of flexible mailers. One is the blue and white all plastic mailer. We’ve recently launched in the last six, eight months a paper padded mailer that’s actually fully recyclable with the paper stream. Amazon said they made about 10 million shipments using the paper padded mailer and depending on the month the plastic mailer is used about 20 to 30 percent of the time. So really when we come down to deciding if the product is of the size it can go on a mailer, it’s not likely to be damaged by going in the mailer, the mailer is always the better fitting option and frankly is easier for the customer to choose to recycle than breaking down a corrugate box. We’re driving in that direction for many different reasons. But those plastic mailers generally are not accepted in municipal recycling programs and you’ll need to bring them to a store that accepts plastic bags. The latest stats from the EPA show that corrugated boxes were recycled at a rate of 92 percent in 2015 while plastic bags, sacks and wraps were recycled at a rate of 13 percent in 2015.

When you think about what is the greatest pain point for the consumer after having it get there safely arrive on time people are concerned about receiving something that is plastic or made a poly because of the environmental concerns. Some waste management companies say plastic packaging also causes problems for the recycling systems. Plastic mailers get caught in the recycling machinery slowing down the process and raising the costs for recyclers and sometimes contaminating entire bundles. Until Scotty on the Enterprise can beam the products from the warehouse to your living room I think Amazon’s going to be good for the corrugated business. I think there’s going to be noise I think you’re going to have challenges from time to time where people say, “Should we try and the plastic pouch?”, in the long run plastic is going to be on the wrong side of history. Because Amazon is a market leader in the U.S. e-commerce sector any move away from cardboard to plastic mailers could signal a shift for the entire industry. The corrugated box could be about to undergo a major facelift. We’re seeing some major trends among consumers and what they’re expecting from e-commerce and the first one is actually this desire for increased engagement with the package. In 2015, Amazon partnered with Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment to ship orders in bright yellow delivery boxes featuring cartoon characters from the movie Minions. The boxes promoting the movie and a special Amazon U.R.L. dedicated to shopping for merchandise from the film.

The conflict of Kashmir…

On February 14th 2019, a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Indian security forces. “We’re getting reports of multiple casualties in a roadside…” He killed at least 40 Indian soldiers here in Kashmir. “The deadliest attack the region has seen this century.” The bomber was part of an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan. “Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for that attack.” 12 days later, India carried out airstrikes in Northwestern Pakistan. Then Pakistan shot down at least one Indian aircraft around here. “The most serious escalation in years.” Kashmir is one of the most disputed places on Earth. Over the course of 70 years, it’s been at the center of three wars fought between two massive armies. It’s heavily occupied by more than half a million Indian troops and a deadly collection of militias and terrorist groups.

Kashmir is the stage for the relentless conflict between India and Pakistan. But focusing on the two countries can obscure what’s really at stake: The voice of Kashmiris who are caught in a vicious cycle of violence. Kashmir is one of the most strategic places in the world, where 3 powerful countries collide: India, Pakistan, and China. China invaded and took this slice of Kashmir from India. And was given this one by Pakistan. India and Pakistan control these parts, but lay claim to more. This region is at the center of a brutal conflict over these disputed borders. So it’s important to start when they were being drawn. In the mid-1800s, India was a patchwork of several hundred provinces and princely states under British rule. A century later, when British India won independence, the British left and hastily decided to split the region into two. These areas would be a new Muslim-majority country, Pakistan. And this would be the mostly Hindu, but secular, India. The partition was bloody. “Communal hatred flares up within the Punjab.” “1 million people become refugees overnight.” “They flee from savagery and butchery that has never been exceeded, even in India’s stormy history.” Amid the chaos, some princely states were given the choice to join either country. In most cases, the ruling monarchs followed the will of their people. But this state, called “Jammu & Kashmir” was different. It was right along this new border and had a Muslim-majority population, but was ruled by a Hindu monarch. When asked to pick a side, the ruler chose to stay neutral Fearing that the monarch would join India, the Kashmiri population rebelled here in 1947 Armed tribesmen from Pakistan soon joined the fight.

The monarch turned to India for military help and in exchange agreed to join them, which sparked the first Indo-Pakistan war in Kashmir. “Continuing thus increased the threat to world peace and brought the dispute to the eye of the United Nations . The UN Security Council brokered a ceasefire in 1949, which established this line with Pakistan controlling this side and India this one. It also asked Pakistani tribesmen to withdraw and Indian troops to follow, so that Kashmir could hold a direct vote to decide its own future. But neither held up their end of the deal. Pakistan argued that Kashmir’s Muslim-majority population rightfully belonged with them. While India insisted that Kashmir was handed over to them by the Hindu monarch. So they doubled down and added Kashmir to their constution. Both countries continued to tighten their grip around it for many years . “Kashmir. Fighting is going on and heavy casualties in men and equipment have been inflicted on the aggressor.”

In 1965, the second India-Pakistan war broke out in Kashmir. Thousands of people were killed between the huge armies on both sides. A ceasefire ended the war, but didn’t change this line. Kashmir was kept divided and occupied. And another war broke out in 1971. This time the focus wasn’t in Kashmir — it was in East Pakistan. Here, India helped rebels fight for independence and dealt Pakistan a devastating defeat. This region became a new country, Bangladesh, and Pakistan lost its eastern half. This made Kashmir more important than ever: It became one of the most militarized places on Earth, as India and Pakistan deployed planes, tanks, artillery, and soldiers along the Line of Control. On the political front, in ’87, India reportedly rigged an election, declaring a pro-India party as the winner. Now this was a big turning point for many Kashmiris, who felt they were again denied the chance to vote. Thousands took to the streets in Indian-controlled Kashmir to protest the occupation. But India met the movement for independence with harsh resistance. Which quickly escalated to more violence.
“In January security forces opened fire on demonstrating separatists, turning a two-year old struggling movement into a full-blown popular uprising.” “More than 600 people are killed in clashes between troops and separatists.” Kashmiri militias, just like the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, started recruiting Muslim youth to fight for independence. And increasingly attacked the Indian military. Pakistan saw an opportunity in this insurgency. They helped introduce a new kind of militant group: Radical Islamic fighters who fought for a more pro-Pakistan Kashmir. By the mid ’90s, these groups dominated the insurgency. India responded with incredible military force, deploying 500,000 troops to Kashmir. And they cracked down on militants and protestors. Unarmed civilians were killed and many more were forced to flee the violence. And in ’98 the stakes were raised yet again. “Today India conducted three underground nuclear tests.” “Pakistan today successfully conducted five nuclear tests.” Kashmir became a battleground between two nuclear-armed nations and another war broke out in 1999. “More evidence of the attacks being launched on the Indian-controlled area of Kargil.” “The past two days have seen a number of the fiercest fighting thus far .” “Militant Muslim fighters have also crossed over into some parts of Indian-ruled Kashmir.” The 1999 war ended with another ceasefire, but that did not stop either country.

Over the years, Pakistan’s militant groups got bolder and launched terror attacks in Kashmir and outside of Kashmir. In 2001, members of Lashkar-e-Taiba bombed India’s parliament building in New Delhi killing 14 people. And in 2008, 10 militants from the same group killed 174 people and wounded 300 in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Indian military cracked down in Kashmir, firing bullets and pellets on unarmed protesters. Leaving hundreds wounded and blind. This is the vicious cycle of violence. The Indian Army’s crackdown drives some Kashmiris to join Pakistani-backed militant groups, who carry out violence against the Indian forces. It’s a cycle that Kashmiri civilians are stuck in the middle of. Which brings us back to 2019. The suicide bomber was 19-year old Adil Ahmed Dar from Pulwama, Kashmir. According to his parents, in 2016, Indian police officers stopped him and humiliated him by forcing his face into the ground. The same year he was shot in the leg at a protest. The next year, Dar left home with his brothers, to join Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistani-supported militia that radicalized him and trained him to be a suicide bomber. A year later, he drove explosives into an Indian military convoy. For more than 70 years India and Pakistan have driven a cycle of violence, retaliation, and exploitation in Kashmir. But beneath it all is the Kashmiri’s wish to make a choice. A wish that continues to be suppressed, again and again, by violence.

U.S. Defense Economy…

The police, obviously, they’re not in the business of of profiting from private acquisitions. We’ve seen extensive lobbying from defense industries who produce educational videos for police who were spending hundreds of millions of dollars to directly lobby Congress for defense spending, but also for these police programs. The police also have their own lobbying organizations that work toward security budgets and equipment for local law enforcement. The National Fraternal Order of Police is one of them and has lobbied in favor of federal grants that are responsible for the militarization of police. It’s really a variety of Homeland Security grants administered by the cops office, the home, the Department of Homeland Security, etc., that have allowed departments to directly purchase military grade equipment. And this has been essential to stimulating a domestic law enforcement market for military contractors. In some cases, the folks who provide the equipment actually directly assist police departments in making these grants. There’s even a Web site that is sponsored by these defense contractors and other providers of police equipment to aid departments in the production of these grant proposals. This whole industry grew significantly during the War on Drugs campaign in the 1970s.

Congress passed a law that focused on incorporating cooperation between the military and the local law enforcement, particularly related to countering drug crimes and the war on drugs. Right. That was sort of the first connection between the military and domestic law enforcement. In 1989, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, temporarily allowing the Department of Defense to transfer excess military equipment to federal and state agencies. The program continued until the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act expanded it to include local law enforcement and made it permanent under a new name. The 1033 program that began a massive transfer of military equipment to local police departments free of charge as long as they paid for shipping and maintenance. That 1033 program was the congressional authorization that allowed police departments to basically go online. There were catalogs of of weapons and vehicles and aircraft and watercraft and any kind of military surplus military equipment was available for the asking. And it was at no cost to law enforcement agencies.

Departments may purchase shotguns that are placed in police vehicles as a routine matter, and some departments are purchasing a variety of less lethal weaponry with their own resources. But when we see sniper equipment, armored vehicles, large amounts of body armor, this is often the result of federal spending. Since its inception, over 11,500 domestic law enforcement agencies have taken part in the ten thirty three program, receiving more than 7.4 billion dollars in military equipment. What you end up seeing is as a result of the 1033 program, local law enforcements continue to ramp up what we call special task force, like SWAT teams, gang task force, drug task force. Right. That all utilize this excess military material. In July 2014, Congressman Alan Grayson proposed that legislation to limit the transfer of certain weapons through the 1033 program. The amendment was met with immense opposition failing on a bipartisan vote of 62 to 355.
The people who voted not to change the 1033 program received 70 percent more money in campaign contributions from the defense sector than those who wanted restrictions. One of the really troubling developments about the involvement of the federal within the direct subsidy of purchases of militarized equipment is that this is often really about creating a new marketplace for defense contractors instead of really putting questions of public safety first. Besides providing free military equipment, the federal government also allows the police to purchase new equipment using their own funds. Under the 1122 program, it also gives local police departments the same discounts enjoyed by the federal government. We’ve seen instances across the country where local governing bodies, like boards of selectmen and mayors and city councilors are often unaware that tax dollars have been expended to acquire these kinds of military weapons and military vehicles. What makes both 1033 and 1122 programs so powerful is the lack of clear oversight and accountability.

The 1122 program, as an example , isn’t a grant or transfer program and thus isn’t required to be monitored by the federal . Meanwhile, the 1033 program has put lethal weapons within the hands of officers who haven’t any justifiable need for such equipment. We’ve seen instances reported of some small towns, even some college and university police departments that were acquiring military grade weapons with none demonstrable need for the utilization of these or the acquisition of these weapons. After the events in Ferguson, the Obama administration sought to tighten the 1033 program with additional requirements and restrictions after months of confrontations on America’s streets. President Obama today banned the federal government from giving some types of military equipment to local police. We’ve seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people a sense like there’s an occupying force as against a force that’s a part of the community that’s protecting them and serving them. And this led to calls in Congress to eliminate 1033 and eventually measure an executive order by the Obama administration to place some limits on the type of equipment that could be used, things like bayonets and turreted armored vehicles.
The Obama administration also required police agencies to justify purchases of equipment considered potentially lethal. President Trump, however, rescinded all of those measures within two years in office. Obama administration made some efforts to increase accountability in auditing of this. But even then, the restrictions and oversight were quite limited. Under the Trump administration, there’s even less evidence of any oversight. Any sense that we know how this equipment is being used or whether or not officers are being properly trained and how to use it. In some cases, equipment transfer through these programs has simply vanished due to a lack of oversight and poor bookkeeping.

There’ve been a number of situations where there have been audits of local police departments to try to figure out what they’ve done with this equipment. And these departments have been unable to provide adequate records. We don’t know if this is a local sheriff taking home camping supplies or if this is about, you know, stuff that’s really gone missing, has been resold or has just simply been lost. Oftentimes, the militarization of the police force might be what’s distracting them from their original purpose, protecting our communities.

Why economy of India is slowing down???

India is one among the world’s fasting growing economies. It had been touted as an economic and geopolitical counterweight to China. But recently its growth fell to its slowest pace in six years. Investment has weakened, and unemployment has risen. So what’s causing the slowdown, and how can it be reversed? Since the turn of the century, India’s economy has grown at a rapid rate, helping transform the country. Between 2006 and 2016, rising incomes lifted 271 million people out of poverty, meaning the proportion of Indians still living in poverty has fallen dramatically, from around 55% to twenty-eight . Access to electricity has also improved. In 2007 just 70% of the population had access to power. By 2017, that grew to nearly 93%.

More recently, the Indian government constructed around 110 million toilets — a huge step towards better sanitation designed to prevent the practice of open defecation. It’s a signature program of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, known as Swachh Bharat, or Clean India. All this development has been supported by a booming economy, but as lately , that expansion has begun to run out of steam. In the third quarter of 2019, India’s economic output grew by 4.5% – making it the primary time the country’s growth dipped below 5% since 2013. For context, 4.5% growth remains much above that of developed economies just like the U.S., But with 12 million Indians entering the workforce per annum , economists say the country needs annual growth rates to remain above nine percent to make sure there are enough jobs. So, what’s causing this recent slowdown? Well, officialdom argue turbulence in international financial markets is guilty.

Political uncertainty and U.S.-China trade tensions mean confidence levels among investors and consumers everywhere have sunk. The United Nations has even warned that a global recession in 2020 is now a “clear and present danger”. But back to India – many economists say the country’s growth problems are literally self-inflicted. One obvious culprit is the shadow banking sector. During the 2000s, India saw an investment boom. It was fuelled by state banks dispensing a load of loans for giant infrastructure projects. But some of the companies taking advantage of these loans couldn’t keep up with the repayments. That meant the state banks weren’t getting paid back and therefore struggled to give out new loans. To keep business moving, shadow banks stepped in. These financial institutions, which operate like ordinary commercial banks but don’t follow traditional banking rules, eventually made up an estimated third of all new loans nationwide. The loans played a pivotal role for the millions of small businesses and consumers who would otherwise have no access to credit. But in 2018, shadow banking giant Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, defaulted on its debt repayments. Its collapse sent shockwaves through the economy and shook up more traditional banks that had supported the world.
It became harder for people to shop for expensive items like cars. That hurt India’s automotive industry, which is one among the country’s biggest. It employs about 35 million people and makes up about 7% of India’s GDP. Last summer, the industry suffered its worst sales performance in nearly 19 years, and reports suggest tens of thousands of workers are laid off. The agriculture and construction sectors have also been hurting, with small and medium businesses being hit the hardest. The country’s percentage has been on an overall upward trend since July 2017, rising several percentage points to 7.7%. Higher unemployment means consumers are buying less, resulting in the unfortunate cycle of slower manufacturing, production, investment and job creation.

A survey from the Reserve Bank of India found consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in five years. But Indians still have a positive outlook for the longer term , with most consumers expecting to feel more optimistic during a year. However, if things don’t improve, debt could become another issue. Expecting better days ahead, many households have continued to spend, by taking out loans and dipping into savings. Household savings as a proportion of GDP has fallen from 23.6% to 17.2%. Meanwhile, household debt has surged to 10.9% during the same period. Critics say the govt in New Delhi has did not spot these risks and hasn’t done enough to urge the economy moving again. The Reserve Bank of India’s former governor Raghuram Rajan recently blamed the lack of significant reforms and a slowdown in investments since the global financial crisis. Even the country’s chief economic advisor recently admitted reforms are needed to form India more friendly to investors.
India has cut its corporate rate , but labor and land laws are still extremely strict. He also says the country must become pro-market, instead of just pro-business, to avoid costly government bailouts of failing sectors. But not all reforms have been good to the economy. In 2016, Prime Minister Modi tried to crack down on corruption, counterfeits and evasion by banning high value bank notes. In one night, the cash ban made 86% of all cash invalid. Three years later, many analysts say the policy disrupted the economy and did not achieve many of its original goals. In 2017, a replacement nuisance tax placed small businesses struggling and a few of them were forced to shut . In mid-2019, India’s government introduced a controversial new tax on foreign investors. Consequently, India’s stock exchange suffered its worst July performance in 17 years. Just one month later, the measure was scrapped.
The government has now refocused its efforts on international trade and investment, and thus the recent changes to the corporate rate could indeed help attract businesses and investors to India. But if the country wants to be a part of the world’s largest supply chains, it’ll need low and consistent tariff levels to encourage outsiders to take a position for the long term.

The country’s shifting export policy has harmed several of its largest industries, particularly clothing. India’s share of the worldwide apparel market has increased only slightly within the past 20 years. And though the Indian workforce is vast, both Bangladesh and Vietnam now export more. On top of that, the country’s import tariffs on the average are much above the world’s biggest economies. They’re also among the highest of the world’s emerging economies. Even U.S. President Donald Trump has called for the country to bring down its duties.

Has India’s growth actually slowed the maximum amount as we think? The government’s former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian caused a good little bit of controversy in June 2019, when he claimed the country’s official stats probably overstated GDP growth by 2.5% from 2011-2012 to 2016-2017. He says the bottom line is that India never recovered from the global financial crisis. The government denies this. But none of this has hurt Prime Minister Modi at the polls – he won by a landslide in the most recent election. So how will he keep his promise and double the dimensions of the economy by 2025? Many economists insist a well-explained economic vision would help. As would more long-term investment, better skilled workers and enhancements to infrastructure. It may not matter who or what’s responsible for India’s recent economic challenges, but bottom line – India’s economic process must recover , and fast.

India will have an Important role in scaling up vaccine production: PM Modi.

As the whole world is waiting for discovery of corona virus , the next big challenge in front of world is large scale production of vaccine so that it is feasible to common man.India is going to play major role in vaccine production as it has past experience as well as skilled doctors. India is responsible for providing 2/3 of world’s children with vaccine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his inaugural address at the India Global Week 2020, said that India will play an important role in developing and in scaling up production of the vaccine once it is discovered.

“Vaccines made in India are responsible for 2/3rd of the vaccine needs of the world’s children. Today also our companies are active in international efforts for development and production of #COVID19 vaccine. I’m certain that India will have an important role in developing and in scaling up production of the vaccine once it is discovered,” PM Modi said.

Speaking on India’s economy, PM Modi said, “India remains one of the most open economies in the world. We are laying a red carpet for all global companies to come and establish their presence in India. Very few countries will offer the kind of opportunities India does today.”

“The pandemic has once again shown that India’s pharma industry is an asset not just for India but for the entire world. It has played a leading role in reducing the cost of medicines, especially for developing countries,” the Prime Minister said.

He also further said that India will lead world in the path of revival post corona virus pandemic in terms of economic as well social development.India is power house of young talents may it be technological or scientific or doctors field.

World over, you have seen the contribution of India’s talent-force. Who can forget the Indian tech industry & tech professionals. They have been showing the way for decades. India is a power-house of talent that is eager to contribute. In these times, it is natural to talk about revival. It is equally natural to link global revival and India. There is faith that the story of global revival will have India playing a leading role,” PM Modi said.

Hope there will be discovery of vaccine soon and life comes back on track.

How IPL is making millions & billions of dollors in every single match!!!

Cricket it’s a sport that dates back over 400 years. And as of 2019 is officially played in 104 countries around the world. Cricket’s worldwide fan base is comprised of roughly one billion people in the Indian subcontinent alone makes up 90 percent of those fans. In India, the country adopted a brand new shorter format of the game has drastically cut down on playing time from days to hours. The Indian Premier League or the IPL has only been around for twelve years but it’s fast become one of the most popular and valuable cricket leagues on the planet. The IPL is brand value has nearly doubled in the last five years. In 2018 the league was valued at 6.3 billion dollars. It rakes in and 510 million dollars each year from its broadcasting rights deal making it to only cricket league in the world to crack the top 20 most valuable media rights deals in all of professional sports joining the ranks of the NFL the NBA and MLB.

So how did the IPL become one the most lucrative cricket leagues on the planet. In India. Cricket is huge. It’s been a staple in Indian sports since the seventeen hundreds. It’s currently the most popular sport in the country. The IPL is one of the richest sports properties in the world. And while the IPL isn’t the only cricket league in India it is the most successful league in the country. The 48 day annual tournament was created in 2007 with the help of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Indian businessmen Lalit Modi. Even though cricket already had a few pro cricket leagues they wanted to capitalize on the commercial success of 2020. So they modeled the IPL in a similar nature to pro sports in the US.

The IPL was specifically modeled after the likes of the NFL. Which has a decentralized league. meaning that all teams are owned and operated independently. Also similar to the NFL model the IPL is its own league with its own unique structure. There is a separate T20 World Cup where India competes. But that’s different from the IPL. even though matches are all held in India. Team rosters are chock full of top international talent. In 2018, teams spent 94 million dollars to buy 169 players in an auction. up from its 40 million dollars for 66 players in 2017. But what you’ve actually got in the IPL franchises who represent a city a place an industrial heartland and you’ve got the full support of some major entrepreneurs. So rather than let’s say Delhi again. So, you’ve got your IPL franchises based around the cities. I’m not as actually have a massive impact. in terms of global cricket. To make sure the stands are filled with as many IPL fans as possible and to maximize TV viewership. Matches are typically played in the evening and on weekends.

The IPL is a huge moneymaker in India since 2014. The IPL brand valuation has doubled to six point three billion dollars. The reason the IPL has won the largest fan base is for a single sports league in the world. During its opening week of the 2013 season the IPL broke records when 371 million viewers tuned in to watch and by the last week of the tournament a total of 769 million fans watched the 2013 IPL season. The ad revenue generated for that season was over 276 million dollars according to Star India’s managing director. High ratings and ad dollars were a big part of why a major U.S. media companies had their eyes on IPL broadcasting rights. When the IPL launched in 2008. The league issued being your rights to Singapore based sports marketing agency World Sport group. They broadcast an IPO matches on India’s Sony Max TV channel. Under the terms of the 10 year contract World Sport group paid the IPL approximately 1 million dollars per match in its first year for the exclusive broadcasting rights. The overall value of that broadcasting deal was 918 million dollars when the broadcasting deal expired in 2017.

There was a global bidding war for exclusive rights for the IPL. Fox and Sony put in competing bids while Facebook also put its hat in the ring for the 2018-2022 digital rights of the IPL making a 600 million dollar offer. Those TV and digital rights eventually went to Fox the American broadcasters struck a five year 2.5 five billion dollar deal for the global media rights of the IPL. The price per match jumped from 1 million dollars to about 8.47 million dollars per game. For comparison the NFL cost per game is around 22.5 million dollars. The English Premier League is around 13.2 million dollars. The NBA is close to 2 million dollars and the MLB is just 630 thousand dollars per game. Just two years after the ink dried on the Fox IPL deal Disney completed a 71 billion dollar deal for Fox entertainment assets one of the assets that Disney now owns is hot star. The Indian video streaming company in 2019. Streaming service at a global record for the number of people tuning into a life streaming event.

There are 18.6 concurrent viewers watching the IPL final match on the hot star’s website in app. And with that kind of viewership naming rights for the IPL are also huge for the league. Since 2008 the IPO naming rights have changed hands three times from brands DLF to PepsiCo India and finally to Vivo a mobile handset manufacturer in China. Vivo first took over title sponsorship in 2015 and in 2017 Vivo signed a fresh five year deal with the IPL worth approximately 341 million dollars in 2018. The average salary of cricket players in the IPL jumped nearly 30 percent from the year before. All thanks to the massive TV deal signed with Fox in 2017. Before the deal, players across the league had an average salary of 3.9 million dollars but in 2018 the average salary was just over 5 million dollars. And unlike other major sports leagues the IPL season is so short that players have a chance to bank even more cash in the off season.

The IPL takes place in the spring starting at the end of March or early April and continuing through May. That means cricketers have the flexibility to play for other clubs around the world. Take the Mumbai Indians player Kieran Pollard. In 2017 he and more than one million dollars for two months. They play for the Mumbai Indians and IPL in that same year. Pollard had multiple revenue streams from playing for cricket leagues in Australia Bangladesh and South Africa. But just as cricket first spread across the world in the 18th century cricket’s latest form of 2020. Similarly. Taking root across the globe. There’s even a record breaking investment for 2020 league in a country where cricket is even remotely popular, the U.S. In May, 2019, USA Cricket received a 1 billion dollar investment from American cricket enterprises to develop a 2020 league in America. It’s one of the biggest deals for development of domestic cricket in the US and the launch of the league is set to take off in 2021 since the 2020 cricket format was introduced in 2003 and has taken the cricket world by storm. And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Maharashtra govt to recruit 10,000 constables to ease work stress of police force in wake of corona crisis.

There has been lot of pressure on police force in such hard times especially in Maharashtra which is worst hit state in India.In the wake of this crisis, state government has decided to recruit as many as 10,000 new police constables to make situations under control. This is very crucial decision taken by government as state is now seeing huge surge in active corona cases. There are now 2 lakh 17 thousand case in the state with almost 10,000 deaths. Nearly 6-10 thousands new cases are seen per day.

According to an official statement, the decision was taken during a meeting presided over by Pawar at the Mantralaya, which was attended by state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and senior officials.

“A decision has been taken to recruit 10,000 personnel in the police shipai (constable) category to strengthen law and order in the state and reduce work stress on the force,” the statement quoted Pawar as saying.

A meeting had taken place under the chairmanship of Ajit Pawar in which these two decisions were taken by the committee comprises of state’s Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sitaram Kunte, Additional Chief Secretary of Finance department Manoj Saumik and other concern officials of Home & Revenue department. Maharashtra Police DIG Subodh Jaiswal and SRPF’s Additional DG Archana Tyagi were present in the meeting.

The decision will help youths from urban and rural areas to serve for the country. The recruitment process will be conducted without violating social distancing norms. The process is assured to be completed till the year end.

Moreover, 1,384 posts can be created within the ladies’s battalion and the recruitment can be accomplished in three phases, by filling 461 posts in every stage, the deputy chief minister mentioned within the assertion.

Will Oil Price go down???

America does rely on oil in many ways. It’s about 90 percent of the energy that we use in transportation. And it’s more than a third of the overall energy that we use. In fact, it’s probably going to stay that way for a lot, a lot longer. The Energy Information Agency administration predicts that going out to 2050 is still going to over a third of the energy that we’re going to use. So how was it possible for oil to reach a negative value and what does it mean for the American economy? To understand what happened, it’s important to know how a futures contract functions. So the futures market is a way to bet on the future price of a certain commodity.

Different types of oil from all across the world are traded by barrels in their individual market places. But two futures contracts serve as the major benchmark for oil price. Brent Crude trades oil from the North Sea in northern Europe, setting the standard for international oil prices. While the West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, trades a specific grade of oil traded in Cushing, Oklahoma, that serves as a domestic benchmark for oil prices. A refinery might have a contract with a producer and say, we will pay you that Brent price or we’ll pay you the Brent price minus the transportation costs. Or you know that it’s all subject to negotiation. And those two are well known. It’s a shorthand, if you will. And a lot of times other crudes are priced off of those crudes because they’re well, known the quality is high and has a long track record. Similar to most treated commodities, oil prices rely heavily on how much of it is available on the market. In other words, supply and demand. Oil like just about anything else in the world is determined that prices are determined by a willing buyer and a willing seller. And so that means that as demand goes up, more people are buying it.

The price will typically go up, supply stays the same and vice versa. If supply suddenly increases, then then typically the price will go down if the demand stays the same. The demand is determined by how much oil is needed at any given moment due to its crucial role in the economy. High demand has often been associated with a healthy economic growth. Historically, oil demand has moved with the economy of a country. It’s been very tightly tied because almost all transportation comes from burning oil and a lot of other industrial processes use oil. So when the economy is humming along strongly, the demand goes up. And when you have a recession, the demand goes down. On the other hand, supply is usually determined by the producers who have control over its output. Historically, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, otherwise known as OPEC, has played a crucial role in determining the supply. OPEC currently has 13 member countries, including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela as founding members. However, a lot has changed in recent years as the U.S. surpassed both Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest crude oil producer since 2018. Thanks to the rise in production from American shale fields. Essentially these countries and OPEC, everyone is competing for market share.

Everyone wants to produce more for their country, but also the optionality to export it to another country and especially growth regions such as China, Asia. Being an investor or a producer in the oil industry means keeping an eye on this fine balance between supply and demand, as well as the geopolitical events that could threaten the industry. Never forget about geopolitics and the impact it can have on the oil price, because that can be that X factor of why oil may have a big premium or a big discount to fundamentals that you see supply and demand. It’s because geopolitics introduces other risk factors. A historic drop occurred on April 20th, 2020, with U.S. oil prices on WTI dropped by almost 300 percent. Trading around negative 37 dollars. What happened with oil in terms of the negative pricing in April with the futures contracts was rather unprecedented. We have seen negative prices before. For example, last year we were talking about negative natural gas prices and Waha in April 2019. But that’s more due to processing or field issues, not what is happened specifically this time with the COVID 19 and in the price war. Oil prices had been under pressure since January as China battled the spread of COVID 19.

When the pandemic finally reached the rest of the world, demand took a devastating hit. People started talking about the demand going down 2 or 3 percent instead of growing by 1 or 2 percent, as was had previously been expected. But then by the time it got to the United States and all over Western Europe, the forecasts were very different. And at the trough, we probably saw demand in April bottom out, down 30 percent. So we’ve never seen anything like this, certainly in the last 40 years since world oil markets have developed. To make matters worse, a price war erupted between Saudi Arabia and Russia in early March after OPEC and its allies failed to reach an agreement on deeper supply cuts. Oil saw its worst trading day in 20, 29 years. Yesterday, both WTI crude and Brent crude lost nearly a quarter of their value, and the S&P energy sector ended the day 50 percent off its 52 week closing high. Saudi Arabia launched a price war against other key producers. As supply remains steady while demand struck record breaking lows. The petroleum industry quickly began running out of storage space to put their oil. Cushing plays a very big role as one of the main hubs of that commercial storage. And Cushing at the time of the negative contract was around 70, 70 percent full, and what was left was perhaps already committed. So that was a huge issue because Cushing plays one of the main roles in pricing the WTI contracts. As the delivery date for WTI grew near. And investors had nowhere to put the oil. They soon began a massive sell off, prompting an unprecedented crash into the negative territory. WTI special in a way, because it’s so tightly connected to physical oil. And so if you’re holding a contract for WTI, you’re expected to take possession of oil.

What was happening was the buyers who had bought a futures contract, which meant they had responsibility to take delivery of the oil, recognized that that storage was filling up and they had no place to put the oil and they didn’t want the oil. And so they wanted to get out of the contract. Usually they can get out of the contract by getting somebody else to take the oil instead at a positive price. Cause oil’s a valuable commodity. But there was nobody who wanted to take that oil, particularly because it was located in an area that was producing way more oil than they needed. And the pipelines to move oil out of that area were completely full. The historic drop quickly sent shockwaves through the U.S. financial market. The Dow plunged by over 1,200 points over the following two days, and brokerage firms like interactive brokers reported taking 109 million dollar hit to cover its customers losses. It was kind of like what happened in 2000 where we we’re wondering if the computers could roll over. Some of the traders computers couldn’t even handle the negative. They weren’t set up for a negative. So you can imagine the disarray and the surprise, you know, that some traders faced the next morning when they looked at their margin calls or what they owed based on the severity of this drop.

However, experts point out that although the event was unexpected, there was no need to panic. It was not unforeseen. The exchange itself saw it as a possibility ahead of time. They actually discussed what to do if that were to happen, reprogram their software and so forth. And at least one major media outlet reported on it a week ahead of time before it happened. Also, some other products have gone negative in the past. Things like natural gas. So I think it’s important to put it in perspective that while this had never happened with oil before, it was just on one particular instrument. The WTI was just for one day and it was seen as at least a remote possibility ahead of time that it happened. It was very few contracts. There was very little trading at those prices and the price very quickly rebounded into positive territory.

Struggles of big dairy companies in India!!!

India is that the world’s biggest producer and consumer of dairy. In 2018 alone, India produced 186 million metric tonnes of milk — about 410 billion pounds and 22 percent of the milk produced globally. Almost all of that is consumed domestically thanks to India’s dairy-heavy diet — think creamy curries, yogurt drinks, and a popular type of butter called ghee. A quick note before we proceed: this includes milk from buffaloes, which are an important source of milk in many developing countries. the point is that India loves milk.

In 2011, the French dairy company Danone hoped to capitalize on this by opening a division in India. Danone opened its own processing plant in Haryana and tried to capture some of India’s 1.2 billion dairy lovers. But less than a decade later, Danone shuttered their dairy business in India. That same year, the corporate made 28 billion dollars worldwide and was within the top three global dairy companies. With all this success, elsewhere, why did Danone’s dairy business sour in India? Let’s start with some background on Danone. Their business is broken down into three categories:

1.specialized nutrition, like supplements and formula for babies;
bottled waters and seltzers;
dairy and plant-based alternatives.

That one makes up over half of their global sales, but it’s also the one that failed in India. Danone does still sell specialized nutrition products in the country, but they don’t break out those sales figures separately. This is the same company as Dannon in the U.S. The company decided to rebrand to make the spelling less confusing for American consumers. Anyway, now for some background on India’s dairy industry. There are about 75 million dairy farmers in India. Most of them are women who own one or two buffaloes or cows to supplement the family’s income. Nearly half of India’s milk is not sold, but consumed by the farmers household. This makes India’s dairy industry much more fractured and localized than other countries where Danone operates. Take the company’s native France and one of its biggest customers, the U.S. Each has far fewer dairy farms with herds that dwarf India’s one or two animal average. This was Danone’s first big problem in India: sourcing milk is difficult. Of the half not consumed by farmers’ households, only about 15 percent goes to big organized companies or government run cooperatives. The rest goes to hundreds of small, local milk processors.

The largest companies like Amul, Mother Dairy, and Nestlé have tiny percentages of the market, and they’ve been there for decades. Market research firms Mintel and Euromonitor declined to release specific market share numbers to CNBC. However, a 2016 piece in The Economic Times of India citing Euromonitor put the figures at about 7 percent for Amul, 3.7 percent for Mother Dairy, and 2.9 percent for Nestlé. In short, tapping into the existing dairy infrastructure is effective but time consuming. Imagine the effort of contacting dozens or hundreds of local and regional dairies, processors, or individual farmers. But establishing a separate supply chain altogether is very expensive — a lesson Danone learned the hard way. And when Danone did get milk, the company focused on the wrong products. Danone pushed plain yogurt and flavored yogurt drinks — popular in places like the U.S. and France with high profit margins to boot. But in India around the time when Danone arrived, yogurt comprised only 7 percent of the dairy consumed.

The real money was in ghee, a type of clarified butter, and plain old fluid milk, a product with razor-thin margins dominated by those hundreds of local small-scale producers. Analysts explained to CNBC the simple reason why Indian consumers shunned Danone’s prepackaged yogurt. And if Indian consumers did want to buy premade yogurt, they had a slew of cheaper options than Danone. Dairy never accounted for more than 10 percent of Danone’s sales in India, a far cry from its global 50 percent. Its specialized nutrition arm picks up the slack, and the company announced a renewed focus on that division when it shuttered its dairy operation. Meanwhile, two of their biggest competitors, Amul and Nestlé, made nearly five billion and 750 million from dairy, respectively. But not all hope is lost for Danone’s dairy in India.

In January 2018, the same time that Danone ended its dairy production there, the investment arm of the company announced its part in a 26.5 million dollar investment in Epigamia, an Indian yogurt startup. This could be a sustainable move for Danone in India’s dairy industry because Epigamia offers consumers products that add value onto the plain yogurt they will make cheaply reception . But perhaps most importantly is this: while much of the population still makes yogurt the old-fashioned way, analysts predict that a growing number of consumers will want to buy premade options as they move into corporate jobs in developing urban centers. Very large numbers indeed. If only 5 percent of India’s 1.35 billion people decides to buy prepackaged yogurt, that’s over 67 million consumers — more than the entire population of Danone’s native France.

Why Apple was not so popular in India???

Apple sells millions of iPhones every year. In the year 2018, the tech giant reported selling close to 47 million units worldwide. But not all markets are created equal. India has been one of the hardest countries to crack for the Cupertino giant. Although it’s been over a decade since Apple began selling iPhones in India, the company can’t seem to get a big bite of the world’s second-largest smartphone market. India is a very price-sensitive market, which means that people pay a lot of attention to what value they are getting out of the price that they are paying for a particular product.

In the case of Apple, there’s a lot of premium being paid for the brand itself, and that’s where the price-conscious Indian consumer thinks about that if they are getting the same kind of features or specs from another phone that they can get a lower price, that makes it tougher to sell something at a much higher premium. Apple is definitely feeling the pressure. Samsung and Xiaomi accounted for the majority of smartphone sales in India in quarter three of 2018, garnering 22 percent and 27 percent respectively of the smartphone market. In contrast, Apple made up only about 1 percent of India’s smartphone market share, trailing behind Chinese phone makers Vivo and Oppo. It’s also worth noting that the premium smartphone market in which Apple operates still makes up less than 5 percent of the overall smartphone market in India.

Most of the smartphones in India that sell, they are below $200 and Apple does not have any play in that segment. This environment is one that competitors like Samsung have begun to adapt to. The South Korean powerhouse is launching its Galaxy M series budget smartphones to appeal to the Indian market. In contrast, Apple doesn’t seem too keen on changing up its India strategy. I got some ideas for you, OK? I talked to some people at Walmart yesterday. An arrangement with Walmart Flipkart to take over India with a budget phone rather than doing it piecemeal? For us, we’re about making the best product that enriches people’s lives. And so, we’re not about making the cheapest. For us, what we’ve seen is, there’s enough people in every country in the world that we play in that we can have a really good business by selling the best phones. Still, some tech investors see Apple as being out of touch with the India market. You think they are going to slash prices? I think they have to. How can you sell a $1,000 phone in a market like China where the GDP per person is $10,000? In India it’s $2,000. And if you go back to the September earnings release, they talked about the fact that India was way below where they thought.

Well, if your average GDP person is $2,000 and you’re trying to sell a $1,000 phone, it’s gonna be probably pretty hard to sell it. They probably want to eat. Another issue for Apple: stiff tariffs. I think iPhones have a specific disadvantage in the India market because of the local regulation. There is a very high import duty on the phones that are not manufactured locally in India. So for most of the big players in the India market, they are manufacturing locally so they do not have to pay that high import duty. Samsung has been manufacturing phones in India since 2007 and just last year opened the world’s largest mobile phone factory on the outskirts of New Delhi. Chinese phone makers Xiaomi and Oppo have also invested millions of dollars to build manufacturing plants in the country. That’s not to say Apple has completely ignored India.

The tech giant already manufactures its lower-cost iPhone SE and iPhone 6s models locally, through a partnership with Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron. This year, Apple is also expected to move its production of the iPhone X series into Foxconn’s plant in southern India. If you look at how we’ve done over the years, we’ve gone from a $100-$200 million business to last year we had we exceeded $2 billion. That $2 billion was flat year over year after a rapid rapid growth. And so we have more work to do. We’d like to put stores there. We would like some of the duties and so forth that are put on the products to go away. But even with its local hardware production push, Apple still fails to provide Indians with a robust software experience.

Apple has introduced turn-by-turn navigation for the India market. Before that, that significant part was missing. And beyond that, there’s not a lot of customization that Apple has done for the India market. There are not a lot of apps that specifically cater to the India market. Past complaints for Apple Maps also included missing major landmarks and having very sparse data of cities and towns. But again, Apple is working on a solution. The company has hired thousands of engineers at its mapping facility in Hyderabad to improve its services. Apple Pay is also not an option in India, though similar payment services from Samsung and Google have already been rolled out. Finally, unlike in most other markets, Apple can’t rely so much on its brand recognition to sell devices in India. The other challenge for Apple in India is that it cannot have its own retail stores or own Apple stores because of some regulatory issues, which means it has to have partners on the retail side, whether it’s the Apple premium resellers, which you see in many other countries as well, or with the third-party resellers. In order to have a larger presence in the market.

Apple has to have partnerships with thousands of these resellers, which in a country as big as India, can be challenging. Apple is still a premium status symbol for many Indians, but one that is out of reach for the majority of the population. With phones from Chinese brands like OnePlus, which was India’s best selling premium smartphone brand for the second quarter in a row, offering similar features at a fraction of the cost, Apple may have a very tough time getting a bigger slice of the India market.

Why Australia is least affected by recession!!!

America’s economy is approaching a big milestone. If it keeps humming until July 2019, it’ll be the longest expansion in U.S. history. It would be exactly one decade and one month old by then. But there’s another country with an even more impressive run It’s even called the ‘lucky country’ Three big lessons from Australia.

Be smart.
Be organized.
Be lucky.

So, if I’ve got any advice for other countries, it’s try and be as lucky as Australia That luck has to do with Australia’s treasure trove of natural resources. You know Australia is on the other side of the world and sitting on tremendously valuable minerals right at the point where the Chinese economy is just around the corner and exploding. Australia and every one its natural resources were within the right geographic neighborhood even as the Chinese economy began to begin . And it just so happens that China did a big fiscal stimulus in 2008 and spent a great deal of money building new cities. So all of these resources were drawn from places like Australia. So that also served as a huge tailwind at a time when developed markets were in a whole lot of trouble.

The year 2008 was a time of economic turmoil The Global Financial Crisis hit and markets crumbled around the world. But as it turns out this was also a year for Australia’s economic management to really show off At the time the government had a very helpful and very low level of debt. One reason? Pension reform in the 1990s. Australia set up a compulsory retirement system called the superannuation system. It requires employers put money into its employees’ retirement savings.

Since companies and citizens have to build up retirement savings, some of the financial burden to pay off pensions was taken off of Australia’s government As other economies reeled in the wake of the 2008 crisis, the Australian Government was then able to put money directly into people’s bank accounts This boosted consumer spending in order to stimulate growth In 2008, the Australian Government unlike some other developed market governments actually jumped in very quickly with fiscal stimulus, so that helped to kind of minimize the effect of the crisis The country’s numbers continued to look sluggish after the financial crisis. But they never quite dipped low enough or for long enough to satisfy the definition of a recession. It takes two quarters of negative growth to fall into a recession. Australia’s economy did post a couple of negative quarters since 2008, but no country’s perfect. Overall Australia’s economy has been managed pretty much in recent years partly due to a robust and stable financial institution.

Australia has an independent financial institution and it is a very well-run financial institution . It also has a floating exchange rate and the exchange rate helped it adjust to international shocks. Australia’s economic reforms gave it flexibility in times of hardship. For example, floating the Australian dollar In 1983, Australia’s government moved the dollar onto a floating exchange rate This meant that the dollar would be valued by supply and demand instead of being subject to influence from its government or its central bank It allows the economy to react to shocks as well Typically when an economy is hit by some sort of negative shock. The currency will adjust. It will depreciate and that helps promote exports. Another reason behind Australia’s economic diary lies in its immigration policy. Since the late 1990s, Australia has seen growth in temporary migration, many arriving to the country on student or temporary work visas. The number of temporary migrants peaked in the year 2000. However a recent change to immigration law in 2018 gave visa applicants more hurdles to get through if they wanted to come to the country Even when our GDP per capital average incomes aren’t rising by much because the number of people continues to rise that means the total GDP continues to rise at even more rapid pace Part of that’s underpinned by much faster population growth Most experts think Australia’s economy remains strong in 2019, but it’s not without risks.

Australia’s suffering at the instant from pretty weak wage growth. That’s worrying a lot of people. There’s a lot of fear right now that China is hitting a wall. That will hit demand for Australian products. The good news is to the extent that the Chinese are buying commodities hopefully will find buyers from overseas for many of those commodities if the Chinese are not there The bad news is the rest of the world economy is not doing that well.

How India’s massive Election System works?

The world’s biggest democracy just had an election. The world’s biggest democratic election It’s a marathon election A mammoth undertaking It’s the world’s biggest exercise in democracy In India, voters picked its central government for the next five years. An eighth of the world’s population was eligible to vote in this election. In the year, 2019, there are 900 million eligible voters in India making this the largest Democratic exercise in the history of humanity.

In one of the largest and most populous countries in the world, that isn’t an easy task. India has to reach voters in coastal cities in the south, in the rural regions of the west, and jungles to the east and everywhere in between. And what’s more, they want every Indian citizen to be within 2 km of a voting station. That’s only about 25 city blocks no matter where you are in the country. It’s an incredibly ambitious goal and yet, somehow they’re able to do it. This is the biggest election in the world and I wanted to know how does it work. Every election a team of state officials and security forces, get on a ship within the east of India to require off towards this island. They travel about 100 km to get here, all to securely deliver these Electronic Voting Machines or EVMS, the instrument that logs India’s votes, the heart of this elaborate election process.

India has 2.3 million voting machines for its 900 million voters. So, getting these machines on the brink of every voter may be a big logistical undertaking. That’s why India doesn’t have one polling day , instead, it’s closer to an election month with multiple phases that last weeks. This process takes more than 11 million election officials and security forces, who move from polling station to polling station to polling station from densely populated cities to the rural areas where the majority of Indians live. Once on the island with the EVMs, officials pile on to bike carts and head towards the polling station. Once they arrive, they start setting everything up for the vote.

On Election Day, voters line up, cast their vote, and get their fingers inked to prevent double voting. This is where the process ends for the voters, but for the election officials this is just the beginning. Driving a boat out to a remote island is just one of many ways that officials reach every voter. India’s vast and diverse terrain requires transportation methods of all kinds, like in the jungles of this northern state where elephants transport voting machines to reach a remote town or in the Himalayas where officials hike for hours to bring EVMS for election day. Helicopters, trains, they even use camels. But what makes India’s elections so impressive is not just how they reach everyone in such an enormous country, that’s just half the battle. It’s also the ways they try to include voters of all backgrounds into the process, a challenge that has been a part of India’s elections since the very beginning. India has 22 official languages and hundreds of dialects and when India became an independent nation, less than a quarter of the population could read and write.

The newly formed Election Commission of India created a range of symbols to correspond to each political party, like an elephant, a lotus, a hand or even an alarm clock so that from the beginning all people regardless of literacy level and language could vote with confidence. Since 1947, the literacy rate has increased significantly, but it’s still only 75 percent, so these symbols are still useful to many when casting a vote. But this is a massive sprawling operation and over the years it’s run into some pretty serious problems like allegations of election rigging and problems with a practice called booth capture, where gangs actually take over polling stations and tamper with the elections. It’s partly because of these problems that the Commission introduced these voting machines in the 1990s.

It also increased security around the elections. These efforts to include all voters and protect elections seem to be working. In 2019, India saw the highest voter turnout yet and for the firsttime women voted just as much as men. India’s elections are only getting bigger and more complicated. India has one among the fastest growing populations within the world. and in 2020, young people will make up more than a third of the country. This is the most important election within the world that takes many officials fanning out across a huge country to assist many millions vote.

Importance and Types of “LOGOS”

What is a logo? In simple words it is a face of a company. They have to work at tiny sizes, and huge. There are four specific types.
First type is the Wordmark. “the wordmark is the easiest one. And it’s the one we’re all the most familiar with. I mean John Hancock’s signature is quite a word mark. It can look crisp clean and modern just like the new Google logo looks. Or it can look somehow that it’s roots during a shared heritage the way the Coca Cola logo looks.

The second is PICTORAL. “Pictoral logos often function as a sort of rebus. It’s a picture, and it’s identifying the name of the company. Sometimes directly like Target. Sometimes indirectly like LaCoste.

The third kind is kind of the holy grail. As a designer people will come to me and they’ll say i would like something just like the Nike. They think the Nike swoosh was the Nike Swoosh the day it had been drawn. But it had been nothing the day it had been drawn.” the corporate that birthed nike commissioned a design student named Carolyn to draw some ideas. The Nike founders didn’t really like it, it wasn’t an overnight success. Then they started putting it on the sides of shoes. The shoes were good then the genius of Nike’s marketing apparatus made us further associate that product not merely with performance athletic gear but with the very idea of athletic achievement itself. That’s exactly how religious symbols work – it’s obviously not just anything inherent in about these shapes, but what these shapes have come to represent within the minds of the people who are looking at them.

Fourth sort of logo that goes beyond these three types, and may use elements of every of them: the brand System. A kind of framework, but one which will have endless permutations. The first huge, popular example of the brand system would be MTV. But google’s daily “doodles” are another great example the brand system – a well-known mark that can also point to other ideas and issues. This approach all has got to do with technological change. It wont to be if a corporation was doing a logo there’d be this operation by which it might be inscribed on all their equipment and on their airplanes and their retail facilities and gold pins and cufflinks would be made for the chief suite and placed on spitoons in ashtrays, the highest of the skyscraper, and everyone’s business card. Nowadays none of that’s important as an email signature or your twitter avatar or the small thing that sits next to your URL.

The logo really reminds people that’s what our priority is today but at the top of the day, no matter the form , style or system, it’d not matter what the logo is. It really is about thinking of those symbols as being empty vessels during a way. And then you pour the meaning into them. Some vessels are better at holding one quite meaning. They think they’re judging a diving competition, but actually of these organizations are in swimming competitions. It’s not what quite splash you create once you hit the water. It’s about how long you’ll keep your head above that water. Logos got to have an extended life, not win points during a discussion. 12 years after the birth of the nike logo, Nike came back thereto graphic design student Carolyn with a present a Nike ring together with her own trademark on it with an undisclosed amount of Nike stock.

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