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The Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force report, which has been submitted to the government for consideration, has proposed a national AVGC-Extended Reality Mission with a budget outlay to be created for integrated promotion and growth of the sector.
Draft national and State policies for the promotion of the sector have also been submitted by the Task Force, which presented the report to Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Anurag Thakur on December 22. Chaired by I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra, the brainstorming group comprised Secretaries of the associated Union Ministries, including those of Skill Development, Education, Electronics and Information Technology, besides several prominent faces of the sector.
Among the recommendations of the Task Force are a “Create in India” campaign with an exclusive focus on content creation; an international AVGC platform aimed at attracting foreign direct investment, co-production treaties and innovation in collaboration with international counterparts; national and regional centres of excellence for skill development; and leveraging National Education Policy to develop creative thinking at school level.
A University Grants Commission (UGC)-recognised curriculum for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees has also been suggested. The Task Force has proposed standardisation of admission tests for AVGC-related courses.
With an eye on the demand of 20 lakh skilled professionals in the AVGC sector in this decade, there is a need to augment skilling initiatives and enhance industry participation for training purposes and to ensure employment opportunities.
Memorandum of Cooperation may be signed between India and other developed global AVGC markets — U.S., Japan, South Korea, Germany, for providing internships (six months to a year) to Indian AVGC professionals.
The report has also recommended establishment of AVGC accelerators and innovation hubs in academic institutions; democratising AVGC technologies by promoting subscription-based pricing models for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), start-ups and institutions; indigenous technology development through incentive schemes and Intellectual Property creation; and setting up a dedicated production fund for domestic content creation from across India to promote the country’s culture and heritage globally.
Concocted history led to a sense of inferiority: PM (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 1, History)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 26 said a nation like India with such a glorious history must be full of self-confidence and self-respect, but lamented that concocted narratives taught till now had created a sense of inferiority in the country.
Mr. Modi said there was a need to get free from the narrow interpretation of the past to move forward.
The Prime Minister had announced that December 26 would be observed as ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ to mark the martyrdom in January this year.
Any country with such a glorious history must be full of self-confidence and self-respect, however, concocted narratives are taught to infuse inferiority. There is a need to get free from the narrow interpretation of the past to move forward.Mr. Modi said the new India was correcting the mistakes of the bygone decades by restoring its long-lost legacy.
When the core values of a nation go through a transformation, the future of the nation changes with time. The values of a nation can be preserved only when the present generations have clarity about the history of the land.
The youth always seek a role model to learn and find inspiration. That’s the reason we believe in the ideals of Lord Ram, find inspiration from Gautam Buddha and Lord Mahavir, and make an attempt to live through the sayings of Guru Nanak Dev, while also studying the ways of Maharana Pratap and Chhatrapati Veer Shivaji.
On the first celebration of the Veer Bal Diwas, the Prime Minister said it would remind the nation that age did not matter when it came to extreme valour and sacrifice.
Veer Bal Diwas will tell us what is India and what is its identity and every year, Veer Bal Diwas will inspire us to recognise our past and make our future. This will also remind everyone about the strength of our young generation.
On the one hand there was terrorism and on the other spiritualism. On the one hand there was communal violence and on the other there was liberalism.
States
President inaugurates ‘PRASAD’ project to create a slew of facilities at Srisailam (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Service Sector)
President of India DroupadiMurmu inaugurated ‘PRASAD’ project at the tourism facilitation centre in the pilgrim town of Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. She was accompanied by Telangana Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan
The hill town will get a pilgrim complex, amenities centres at Hatakeswaram and Sikhareswaram, renovation of the Pushkarini, aesthetic illumination at the temple, laying of Krishnaveni Road from bus station to Pathalaganga, an amphitheatre, sound and light show, digital intervention, parking areas, a toilet complex, souvenir shops, food courts, ATM and banking services with a total outlay of ₹48.03 crore under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).
The Presidential entourage was formally ushered into the shrine where Ms. Murmu and others offered prayers to the deity of Mallikarjuna Swamy.
Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister K. Satyanarayana, State Ministers BugganaRajendranath Reddy (finance), R.K. Roja (tourism and culture), Member of Parliament P. Brahmananda Reddy, MLA Shilpa Chakrapani Reddy, Government of India Secretary (tourism) Arvind Singh, AP Tourism Development Corporation Managing Director K. Kannababu, Collector Manazir Jeelani Samoon, Tourism Development Chairman Varaprasad Reddy and Superintendent of Police Raghuveer Reddy were present.
Ms. Murmu also visited Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji SpoorthiKendram, where she was accorded a ceremonial reception with Chenchu tribal dance form by the kendra’s president T.G. Venkatesh.
The President later had an interactive session with the Chenchu tribal women and learnt about their issues.
Editorial
A dismissed review petition, an egregious error (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Constitution)
When BilkisBano, sole survivor of a horrific gang-rape and mass murder in 2002, asked the Supreme Court of India to review its May 2022 judgment which directed the Government of Gujarat to consider the early release of one of those convicted of these monstrous crimes, it was an opportunity for the Court to redress an egregious error.
Sadly, it chose not to do so. In a bland, two-page order issued in the chambers on December 13, 2022, the Court dismissed her review petition.
In May this year the Court allowed a writ petition filed by RadheshyamBhagwandas Shah, alias Lala Vakil, who had been convicted by a Sessions Court in Mumbai for mass murder coupled with rape, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The conviction and sentence of Radheshyam and his co-convicts were confirmed by a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court on May 5, 2017, and this judgment in turn was confirmed by the Supreme Court on July 10, 2017.
By its judgment of May 13, 2022 the top court allowed Radheshyam’s writ petition, set aside an Order of the Gujarat High Court which had rejected the same relief sought by the convicted prisoner in that court, and directed the Government of Gujarat to consider the prisoner’s application for remission and premature release in accordance with a now-defunct policy dated July 9, 1992.
The Gujarat government acted with alacrity in granting remission and early release not only to Radheshyam but also to all his fellow life-convicts.
It was only when they were released on Independence Day this year, and felicitated with garlands and the distribution of sweets, that the nation awoke to the Supreme Court order which had made this possible. BilkisBano thus applied for a review of the Supreme Court’s judgment.
In addition, since she had neither been given notice nor been heard in Radheshyam’s petition, she requested an open court hearing in accordance with Order 47, Rule 3 of the Supreme Court Rules. The order of December 13 rejected her application for a hearing and dismissed the Review Petition by circulation in chambers.
The said order is perplexing as it completely fails to notice or engage with several of the review petitioner’s contentions. Worse, the only submission of the review petitioner which was noted, namely that four binding judgments including one by a Constitution Bench had not been followed by the Court, was brushed aside with the statement that “none of the judgments are of any assistance to the review petitioner”.
Explainer
What is the Delhi HC verdict on ‘RoohAfza’ trademark? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Intellectual Property Rights)
On December 21, the Delhi High Court, in the case of Hamdard National Foundation (India) vs Sadar Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., restrained Sadar Laboratories from manufacturing and selling beverages under the impugned trademark ‘DilAfza’.
The court observed that the trademark ‘RoohAfza’ is prima facie a strong mark requiring a high degree of protection as it has acquired immense goodwill.
A trademark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by a business organisation to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities.
It serves as a badge of origin exclusively identifying a particular business as a source of goods or services. Trademark infringement is the unauthorised usage of a sign that is identical or deceptively similar to a registered trademark.
The manufacturers of ‘RoohAfza’ moved an appeal against the rejection of its application seeking an interim injunction against Sadar Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. for their product ‘DilAfza’.
The appellant stated before the court that the trademark ‘RoohAfza’ is a highly reputed mark in the market with regard to sharbat (sweet beverage).
Furthermore, it was claimed that the design of the product ‘DilAfza’ is deceptively similar to the get-up and trade dress of the appellant’s product.
A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court restrained the respondent (Sadar Laboratories Pvt. Ltd.) from manufacturing and selling any product under the trademark ‘DilAfza’ till the final disposal of the trademark infringement suit.
The court held that “it is not difficult to conceive that a person who looks at the label of ‘DilAfza’ may recall the label of ‘RoohAfza’ as the word ‘Afza’ is common and the meaning of the words ‘Rooh’ and ‘Dil’, when translated in English, are commonly used in conjunction.
In the case of M/s KirorimalKashiram Marketing & Agencies Pvt. Ltd. vs M/s Shree Sita Chawal Udyog Mil, the Delhi High Court observed that “it is not permissible to copy a prominent part of the registered trademark of another person” and restrained the respondent from using the trademark ‘Golden Deer’ as it was deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s registered trademark ‘Double Deer’ with regards to rice.
A mark is said to be strong when it is well-known and has acquired a high degree of goodwill. The degree of the protection of any trademark changes with the strength of the mark; the stronger the mark, the higher the requirement to protect it.
News
Expedite classification of nomadic tribes in quota lists, panel tells Centre (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
The Parliamentary panel on Social Justice and Empowerment has pulled up the Union government over the “very slow” process to categorise over 260 denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes under either the SC/ST/OBC lists, which government officials have pointed to for the delay in the approval of benefits under the SEED (Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs) scheme launched in February this year.
The scheme was launched by Union Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar, with the aim of providing free competitive exam coaching, health insurance, housing assistance, and livelihood initiatives. An amount of ₹200 crore has been allocated for this scheme — to be spent over five years from FY2021-22 to FY2025-26.
As of December 26 evening, a total of over 5,400 applications had been received under the SEED scheme, none of which have been approved and no amount has been sanctioned.
The panel, in a report tabled in Parliament this Winter Session, noted that it had earlier too flagged the “inability of the Department to take necessary action” on the speedy and accurate categorisation of these communities.
After the government said that the work was proceeding and would be finished by 2022, the panel said the process was still very slow.
It added, “Delay in locating them would increase their suffering and they would not be able to get benefit of the prevailing Schemes meant for the welfare of SC/STs.”
The panel further said it expects the government to expedite this exercise and finish it in a time-bound manner and sought detailed timelines for the same.
In response to the panel’s concerns, the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment had submitted that the Anthropological Survey of India had submitted reports on categorisation of 48 DNT communities so far.
In addition, of the 267 communities not categorised so far, the AnSI has finished studies on 24 communities, with Tribal Research Institutes studying 12 of the communities.
Further, the AnSI is finalising studies on 161 communities and is expected to finish studying the remaining communities (about 70) by the end of 2022.
Centre mandates universal digital capturing of MGNREGS attendance (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Welfare Schemes)
Digitally capturing the attendance of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) has been made universal by the Centre from January 1, 2023.
The Union government, arguing for transparency and accountability in May 2021, had started a pilot project to capture attendance via a mobile application, the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS).
From May 16, 2022, capturing attendance via the app was made compulsory for all worksites with 20 or more workers. This required uploading two time-stamped and geotagged photographs of the workers.
The job fell on the mates/supervisors, who are paid only marginally more than the unskilled workers. There were widespread complaints over the lack of technical support, the necessity to own a smartphone, paying for an Internet connection, and issues with erratic Internet connectivity.
In the latest order, dated December 23, the Ministry has ordered that digitally capturing attendance is now mandatory for all worksites, regardless of the number of workers engaged, and will be applicable from January 1, 2023.
This directive comes even as many complaints and loopholes pointed out earlier by users have not been plugged yet. Siraj Dutta, who is associated with the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha in Jharkhand, points out three major problems with the new system.
The app-based attendance system carries forward the problem with electronic muster rolls, which replaced the paper muster rolls and was in use before the NMMS was introduced.
Here, the muster roll has to be generated based on demand and therefore, no worker can come and join at the worksite. And if out of the ten workers on the electronic muster roll only two turn up, usually the worksite is not opened, therefore, in a way, denying them work too.
The second big problem is the two-time stamped photographs. Often, the workers may finish their work but are forced to return to the worksite for the second photograph.
The endless conditions placed on MNREGS workers themselves, many activists feel, is enough to dissuade them from relying on the scheme, thus failing its basic purpose.
Business
Unfunded pension scheme is a tax on future generations, says Sanyal (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Concerned over revival of the Old Pension Scheme by certain Opposition-ruled States, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal said unfunded pension schemes are ultimately a tax on future generations.
Mr. Sanyal further said given the current stress in the global economy and the repeated downgrades done to the world GDP growth numbers by international agencies, it was quite obvious that 2023 would also be a difficult period.
"It should be very clear that unfunded pension schemes are ultimately tax on future generations. Therefore, one should be very, very careful to reverse pension reforms that have been done with great difficulty over the last couple of decades," he told PTI in an interview.
Mr. Sanyal was responding to a question on some Opposition-ruled States' decision to switch to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
The OPS, under which the entire pension amount was given by the government, was discontinued by the NDA government in 2003 from April 1, 2004.
Under the New Pension Scheme, employees contribute 10% of their basic salary towards pension while the State government contributes 14%.
Two Congress-ruled States, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, have already decided to implement OPS. Jharkhand too has decided to revert to OPS, while Aam Aadmi Party-ruled Punjab recently approved the reimplementation of OPS.
Asked what measures the government should take to reduce the trade deficit with China, Mr. Sanyal said one should look at the overall trade deficit.
Nevertheless, reliance on one country is an issue that we do take seriously and therefore there are efforts being made that key ingredients in pharmaceuticals or chips for manufacturing and so on are not coming from a single foreign source.
The trade deficit between India and China touched $51.5 billion during April-October this fiscal year.The deficit during 2021-22 had jumped to $73.31 billion from $44.03 billion in 2020-21, according to the latest government data.
So this is why we have as you know, given a fair amount of impetus including the production linked incentive (PLI) effort, in order to make sure that the key ingredients that are key inputs and ingredients into our industry are manufactured at least to some extent in India.
The government has announced PLI scheme for 14 sectors, including white goods, textiles and auto components.The objective of the PLI scheme is to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive, create global champions in manufacturing, boost exports and create jobs.