CASES OF DEATH SENTENCES

Execution of Veerappan’s four aides stayed

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of four associates of slain forest brigand Veerappan till Wednesday. This follows a petition filed on their behalf by advocate Shamik Narain, seeking commutation of their death sentence to life imprisonment. It will be heard on Wednesday.

Their mercy petitions had been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.

A Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices Anil R. Dave and Vikramajit Sen granted liberty to the petitioner to amend the petition by making the four convicts parties.

Earlier, the Chief Justice told senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Mr. Narain, that the petition in the present form was not maintainable. Counsel said he had received photo copies of the authorisation and the convicts’ vakkalatnamas. Their families had also given vakkalatnamas and the originals sent through courier would be received in a day or two and he should be permitted to amend the petition. Simon, Gnanaprakash, Madaiah and Bilavendra, who were convicted of killing 22 persons in landmine blasts in Palar, are in the Hindalga Central Jail in Belgaum since 2004.

Mr. Gonsalves pointed out that a Bench headed by Justice Singhvi had reserved judgment in the Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar case, whose mercy plea has suffered a long delay. The court in that case had appointed senior counsel Ram Jethmalani and senior counsel T.R. Andhyarujina as amicus curiae to assist it. The case of killers of Rajiv Gandhi was transferred to this court to be heard after the judgment, Mr. Gonsalves said. The judgment would have a bearing on all similar matters, he said and prayed for commutation of the death sentence of the four convicts to life imprisonment on the ground of an inordinate nine-year delay in disposal of their mercy petitions.

When the Chief Justice asked Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati to examine the question of delay in disposal of mercy petitions, the latter said the petition was not maintainable. The petitioner had not even mentioned why the four convicts were convicted, he said and added “they were sentenced for a crime against the state.” When the Chief Justice said “what is important is the question of delay,” Mr. Vahanvati said “the President cannot forecast [the Bhullar judgment] and decide an issue.”

Mr. Andhyarujina told the court that the Justice Singhvi Bench had called for files relating to all mercy petitions and reserved judgment in April 2012 and the decision would have a bearing on all cases.

Mr. Jethmalani urged the court not to stand on technicalities and pleaded for a stay on the execution. He said in ‘death cases’ a two-judge Bench headed by Justice Chinnappa Reddy had laid down a proposition of law that the whole process of trial, appeals and mercy petitions should be decided within two years and this judgment was followed by the Privy Council and House of Lords. However, this judgment was whittled down by a three-judge Bench. Until the judgment was pronounced in the Bhullar case, all executions must be stayed.

The 56-year-old companies act has been overhauled.

        The 56-year-old companies act has been overhauled

The Lok Sabha today passed the Companies Act 2012 that tightens disclosure norms for companies, makes it mandatory to rotate auditors every five years and seeks to regulate related-party transactions to check corporate frauds.

The new legislation also attempts to provide better protection to minority shareholders and makes it mandatory for companies to spend every year at least 2 per cent of their average net profits made during the three immediately preceding financial years on corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects.

The CSR proviso will apply to companies that have a net worth in excess of Rs 500 crore, or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more.

If a company fails to spend the amount, its board of directors will have to spell out why it couldn't do so.
The provision is hugely controversial since it is the first time that any government anywhere in the world has tried to make CSR spending mandatory, sparking a debate over ethics, social obligations and the basic principle of voluntarism in the act of giving. Many governments do, however, insist on mandatory CSR reporting.

The legislation does not precisely define what constitutes CSR though it does give companies the freedom to make the desired spending in the local areas where they operate.

Among other things, the act also proposes to tighten the laws for raising money from the public ' a move that could especially hit chit funds. Only banking companies, NBFCs and other companies allowed by regulators will be permitted to accept deposits from the public.

Deposits may be accepted only after (a) obtaining credit rating; (b) providing deposit insurance; and (c) depositing at least 15 per cent of the amount of deposits maturing during the current and next financial year in a scheduled bank

The legislation also grants statutory powers to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) which will look into acts of malfeasance, big corporate frauds and other corporate shenanigans. The SFIO, which has already started investigations into illegal chit funds operating in Bengal, will get a big fillip once the legislation comes into force.

Replying to the debate on the bill, minister of state for company affairs Sachin Pilot said though "chit funds are regulated by state governments, wherever we find that they have been using fraudulent means, we will take strict action".

Surprisingly, the act was supported by Trinamul Congress's MP Saugata Roy who made a case against chit funds and raised questions about the Sahara group's spending. "I want the bill to be stronger … I support giving the SFIO even more powers," Roy added.

The act also comes several years after the first version was introduced in Parliament. Hectic lobbying by top corporate honchos saw the bill get delayed and watered down over the years. However, with the Rs 7,000-crore Satyam fraud bursting upon the Indian corporate scene, the bill was reworked to build proper defences against large-scale frauds.

The act provides that: "Shareholders associations or group of shareholders are to be enabled to take legal action in case of any fraudulent action on the part of company and to take part in investor protection activities and class action suits."

It also seeks to treat insider trading by company directors as a criminal case. In the Satyam case, it was alleged that the promoters had rigged profits to ramp up share prices and make windfall gains on stock sales.
The new law also aims to strengthen corporate governance in firms and makes it mandatory for independent directors to constitute at least one-third of the board.

In case a company has one or more subsidiaries, it shall in addition to stand-alone financials, prepare a consolidated financial statement of all subsidiaries. Pilot also made it clear that the new law would mandate that a director's remuneration would be capped at 5 per cent of profits It also bans buy back of shares within one year of the last buyback of shares.

The number of layers of subsidiaries a firm can have will normally be restricted. Section 186 of the legislation says a company ought not to make investments through more than "two layers of investment companies" but some exceptions have been built in.

It also facilitates joint ventures and relaxes restriction on the number of partners in entities such as partnership firms and banks.

Audit firms cannot take up more than 20 assignments at any time. Independent directors will no longer be eligible for stock options but will get fees and profit linked commission, subject to rules.

The new Act also provides for a new corporate entity in the form of one-person company (OPC). It also gives powers to the government to bring a simpler compliance regime for small companies.

Officials said the new Act has drafted a single comprehensive legal framework that would govern everything corporate - from incorporation to liquidation and winding up - to be administered by the Centre. The bill also harmonises the company law framework with the imperative of specialised sectoral regulation, an official release said.

The new law has also modified provisions for audit of government companies by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CandAG). The modification has been made to enable CandAG perform such audits more effectively.

THANJAVUR VEENA TO BE FIRST INDIAN INSTRUMENT TO GET 'MADE IN THANJAVUR' TAG

Since from yearly sangam age the Thanjavur veena marks a important place in music history of Tamilnadu. For long, musicians playing the Thanjavur veena made news. Now the veena and the artisans of Tamil Nadu have a chance. The veena is likely to get a 'Geographical Indication' registration, making it the first musical instrument to get such a registration in the country.Goods having specific geographical origin and possessing "distinct qualities, reputation or characteristics essentially attributable to that place of origin" are usually given the GI tag. The registration will help the famous veena get the tag Made in Thanjavur. Such a recognition would prevent the misuse of its name/reputation. Chinnaraja G Naidu, Assistant Registrar of Trade Marks and GI Registry told The Hindu that for the first time his registry had received application for registration of a musical instrument.According to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) attorney P Sanjay Gandhi, who has obtained GI tags for a record 10 products unique to the state, the GI protection for Thanjavur Veena is to be given in favour of the Thanjavur Musical Instruments Workers Cooperative Cottage Industrial Society Limited, reported Times of India.The veena's history records back to the Vedic times. Identified with goddess Saraswati, the veena also finds mention in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. But the current form of the Saraswathi Veena with 24 fixed frets evolved in Thanjavur during the reign of Raghunath Nayak.The veena is about four feet in length consisting of a large resonator (kudam), a wooden bridge (kudurai), a tapering hollow neck (dandi) and a small resonator. And is it unique to Thanjavur because the instrument is made from a particular strain of matured jack fruit tree found only in that area.The body of the Thanjavur Veena is painted and engraved with delicate wood work, which usually consists of picture of god and goddess, motifs of flowers or birds. Great art and craftsmanship are required in the making of the Veena, and even a minute flaw can spoil the tone of the instrument.In Chennai, the creation of sabhas attracted a lot of musicians. But with the disintegration of feudalism in Thanjavur, temples there fell on bad days and lack of patronage forced musicians to migrate to cities in search of career avenuesToday, there are few musicians in the district, and only festivals and concerts serve as reminders of the days when music flourished in every village.The only link between music and Thanjavur was carried forward by the makers of the musical instruments. The craftsmanship in making the instrument was handed over from one generation to the other of Viswakarmas. But gradually, the younger generation stopped coming forward.And today, even less than 100 artisans in Thanjavur are involved in the profession.If granted, Thanjavur Veena would become the 19th product to obtain GI recognition from Tamil Nadu. And maybe, this would encourage many many craftsmen across the country.

CYBERSQUATTING – THE DIGITAL VERSION OF PASSING OFF

Introduction

In this large and tangled web of the internet called “Cyberspace” the most common way for consumers to find what they are looking for is to type the Domain name of the brand or company they looking for, the natural connection between trademarks and domain names has been explored by some who have the trademarks of others as domain names and then tried to sell those domain names back to the trademark owners or third parties at a high price, which is known as “Cybersquatting”[1]. Cyber squatting is the most crucial type of domain dispute prevalent around the world. It is summarized well in Manish Vij v. Indra Chugh,[2] the court held that “an act of obtaining fraudulent registration with intent to sell the domain name to the lawful owner of the name at a premium”. This is an abusive practice which is a form of trafficking domain names.

Types of Cyber Squatting

Cyber squatting can be of various types, most common type is typo squatting, when a cyber squatter registers domain names containing variant of popular trademarks. Typo squatters mainly rely on a fact that Internet users will make typographical errors when entering domain names into their web browsers. Some common examples of typo squatting include: The omission of the “dot” in the domain name: wwwindia.com;

A common misspelling of the intended site: india.com, A differently phrased domain name: indias.com, A different top-level domain: india.org.

Trade mark

Trade mark means a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing goods and services from one person of others and may include shape of goods, their packing and combination of colours.[3]

Deceptive similarity

Deceptive similarity[4] generally means one person using any Trade mark which is identical or deceptively similar to the Trade mark which is already in use, whether registered or unregistered, it can also be called as Passing off when one tries to pass off his goods with the Trade mark or name of another and it is an offence punishable under relevant law, but this is in regular format when it comes to cyber space.?

Deceptive similarity in Cyber space

The domain name is simply the address of an individual computer connected to the Internet. From a user's point of view, a domain name is an IP address in a human-friendly form and if the human-friendly form of the IP address coincides with the name of a business or a trademark, it becomes a valuable asset. Domain names can incorporate trademarks in a number of ways. The most obvious is the verbatim adoption of the mark followed by a gTLD, such as addidas.com. A person who is not the trademark owner and registers the trademark as a domain name engages in relatively straightforward trademark infringement. However, trademark infringement can also take the form of trademark dilution, which is prohibited under the U.S. Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA). The purpose of this act is to protect owners of famous marks against dilution and tarnishing of their mark.

Innocent squatting

A trademark is not infringed by a domain name unless the trademark existed at the time of domain name registration. This kind of cybersquatting is speculative and legitimate. John D. Mercer also identifies "innocent" cybersquatting,[5] whereby the registrant does infringe a trademark "based on some unrelated interest in the word itself, without intending harm to a trademark owner" and "concurrent" cybersquatting, whereby the registrant uses the same trademark as another commercial entity, but not within a competing industry.

Intentional squatting

The harmful kind of cybersquatting involves intentional bad faith trafficking in domain names that are the same as, or a dilution of, existing trademarks. Mercer offers a fitting definition: "an illegal cybersquatter should be one who acquires a domain name for the sole purpose of obtaining money or other advantage from the trademark owner, with no intent or desire to use the domain name, except as an instrument toward this purpose.

Creating Likelihood of Confusion

The main function of a trademark is to prevent consumer confusion. A consumer knows that he or she can get the same quality food in a McDonald’s in Chennai as he or she can from a McDonald’s in Bangalore. Given our global economy, the importance of trademarks cannot be overstated. The law of trademarks is designed to prevent competitors from confusing customers into thinking that they are buying products and services from a trusted, known source when in reality, this is not the case. A competitor who uses a trademark that is confusingly similar to an existing trademark can be prevented from doing so by the application of trademark law. This usually occurs when the holder of the trademark raises a claim or sues the alleged infringer.

In order to prove trademark infringement, the owner of the trademark must show that there is a “likelihood of confusion”[6] between his or her trademark and the allegedly infringing mark. Over many years and many cases, the courts have set forth a list of eight to 13 elements that are relevant to this determination. This article will discuss the two or three most important of these elements and provide examples of how each element is applied in practice. The most important element of the likelihood of confusion analysis is a comparison of the appearance, pronunciation, meaning, and commercial impression of the respective marks. Obviously, if the marks are exactly the same in spelling and how they are pronounced, there is a greater chance of likelihood of confusion between the marks. It is important to note that slight misspellings or changes in an established mark will not enable a competitor to use his proposed mark. For example, a beverage manufacturer could not adopt the mark “Koka Kola,” because although this mark is spelled differently from the famous Coca-Cola mark, it is still pronounced the same.

Factors for Likelihood Confusion

1. the similarity in the overall impression created by the two marks (including the marks' look, phonetic similarities, and underlying meanings);

2. the similarities of the goods and services involved (including an examination of the marketing channels for the goods);

3. the strength of the plaintiff's mark;

4. any evidence of actual confusion by consumers;

5. the intent of the defendant in adopting its mark;

6. the physical proximity of the goods in the retail marketplace;

7. the degree of care likely to be exercised by the consumer; and

8. the likelihood of expansion of the product lines

Legal Issues

As stated in the above headings the Cybersquatting cannot be brought within a purview of a single Law. It can be brought under Trademark infringement in some cases, Deceptive similarity in some cases, passing off in some cases, but regarding my concern the Deceptive similarity and passing off suits it more even it is a Trademark infringement, though there are no proper provisions to punish Cyber squatters across world, but developed countries like U.S, Canada, U.K are having provisions in their respective laws for this.

Legal resolution in different countries

The domain name disputes involving alleged bad-faith registration are typically resolved using the (UDRP)[7] process developed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)[8]. Critics claim that the UDRP process favors large corporations and that their decisions often go beyond the rules and intent of the dispute resolution policy. A UDRP complaint may be initiated at UDRP proceeding with an approved dispute resolution service provider. A victim of cybersquatting may also file an InterNIC Registrar Problem Report regarding a cybersquatter posing as a registrar.

Some countries have specific laws against cybersquatting beyond the normal rules of trademark law.

In U.S

The United States, for example, has the U.S. Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.[9] This expansion of the Lanham (Trademark) Act (15 U.S.C.) is intended to provide protection against cybersquatting for individuals as well as owners of distinctive trademarked names.

Australia

Any citizen of Australia over the age of 16 can obtain an ABN[10] (which is free) and use it to register as few or as many domain names as they like but they need to have a "close and substantial" connection to the name or it needs to be an "exact match, abbreviation or acronym" of their name.

Internationally

The copyright agency of United Nations, WIPO[11] has provided an arbitration system since 1999, wherein a trademark holder can attempt to claim a squatted site. In 2006, there were 1823 complaints filed with WIPO, which was a 25% increase over the 2005 rate. In 2007 it was stated that 84% of claims made since 1999 were decided in the complaining party's favor.

Worldwide Specific Resolution Systems

ICANN

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer -- a name or a number. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination, we wouldn't have one global Internet.

In more technical terms, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS), Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions. These services were originally performed under U.S. Government contract by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other entities. ICANN now performs the IANA function.[12]

Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy

For coordinating the assignment of Internet domain names, ICANN has established the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). The UDRP is “an alternative form of dispute resolution [designed] to combat cybersquatting”.[13] As such, dispute resolution under the UDRP provides a quick and less expensive solution to cybersquatting.

To bring a successful claim under the UDRP, a complainant must establish that the domain name is “identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights,” the registrar has “no rights or legitimate interests” in the domain name, and the “domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.”[14] Mark owners can bring UDRP administrative proceeding claims against registrants of domain names; as long as the registrants have registered the domain names through an ICANN accredited registrar.[15] These are the two main dispute resolution system for Cyber squatting issues globally.

U.S the leading protector

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act[16]

The U.S is the leading country to enact specific law for protecting consumers from Cyber squatting. This expansion of the Lanham (Trademark) Act (15 U.S.C.) is intended to provide protection against cyber squatting for individuals as well as owners of distinctive trademarked names.

A victim of cyber squatting in the United States has two options:

a. sue under the provisions of the Anti cyber squatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), or

b.use an international arbitration system created by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

In court system, jurisdiction is often a problem, as different courts have ruled that the proper location for a trial is that of the plaintiff, the defendant, or the location of the server through which the name is registered.

Indian Scenario

In India victims of cyber squatting have several options to combat cyber squatting. These options include: sending cease-and-desist letters to the cyber squatter, bringing an arbitration proceeding under ICANN’s rules, or bringing a lawsuit in state or federal court. Whatever strategy a victim of cyber squatting elects to use, that person should not dismiss the serious effects that cyber squatting can have if left unchecked.

A case could be filed with the .in registry handled by National Internet Exchange of India(NiXI) who brings the matter to fast track dispute resolution process whereby decisions are transferred within 30 days of filling a complaint.

Like always our legal system is silent on this matter too, there is no provision in the current or proposed Information Technology Act in India to punish cyber-squatters, at best, the domain can be taken back. Though there is no legal compensation under the IT Act, .in registry has taken proactive steps to grant compensation to victim companies to deter squatters from further stealing domains. Most squatters however operate under guise of obscure names.

Case study

In U.S

Intermatic Inc. v. Toeppen[17]

Plaintiff Intermatic, owner of the trademark INTERMATIC in connection with electronic equipment, sought to enjoin defendant Toeppen from using the domain name “intermatic.com.” In addition to registering “intermatic.com,” Toeppen had registered over 200 domain names containing names of well-known companies. Toeppen never used the domain name “intermatic.com” to sell or promote any goods or services over the Internet. His “intermatic.com” website initially contained information about a software program he was developing called “Intermatic,” but after a week he replaced the contents of the site with a map of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Toeppen did, however, intend to profit by selling or licensing the domain name to Intermatic. Intermatic filed a motion for summary judgment. Although the court found that certain factors weighed in favor of Intermatic on its infringement claim, summary judgment was inappropriate on that claim because of factual disputes on other factors (similarity in products, no evidence of actual confusion, and whether Toeppen willfully intended to pass his products off as those of Intermatic). The court, however, granted summary judgment to Intermatic on its dilution claim under the Federal Dilution Act, finding that INTERMATIC was a famous mark and that Toeppen’s intent to arbitrage the “intermatic.com” domain name constituted a “commercial use” under the Act. The court permanently enjoined Toeppen from using the mark INTERMATIC, from taking any action to prevent Intermatic from obtaining the domain name “intermatic.com,” and from asserting any further interest in that domain name.

In India

Yahoo! Inc. v. Akash Arora and another,[18]

CASE FACTS

Yahoo Incorporation is the owner of the well known trade mark, Yahoo and of the  domain name Yahoo.com; both the trademark and the domain name acquired a distinctive name, good will and reputation. Yahoo.com had been registered by Yahoo Inc with Network Solution Inc since 1995 and offers a whole range of web based services.

The trade mark Yahoo had been registered or was close to being registered in 69 countries. Yahoo Inc had not registered its domain name in India. Akash Arora started to offer web-based services similar to those offered by Yahoo.com under the name of Yahoo India. Yahoo Inc had sued Akash Arora for using a trade mark deceptively similar to its own and passing off his services as those offered by Yahoo Inc.

ISSUE:

Whether the act of Akash Arora in registering the domain name Yahoo India, to offer services similar to those offered by Yahoo Inc, is an infringement of the trade mark of Yahoo Inc and amounts to passing-off under the relevant sections of the Trademark and Merchandise Act?

RULE OF LAW

When a defendant does business under a name which is sufficiently close to the name under which the plaintiff is trading and that name has acquired a reputation and the publicat large is likely to be misled that the defendant's business is the business of the plaintiff, or is a branch or department of the plaintiff, the defendant is liable for an action in passing off.

ANALYSIS:

Yahoo Inc contended that Akash Arora adopted the domain name of Yahoo to offer services similar to those of Yahoo Inc and had attempted to cash in on the good will generated by Yahoo Inc. because there was every possibility of an Internet user getting confused and deceived, believing that both the domain names, Yahoo and Yahoo India belong to Yahoo Inc.. Therefore, Yahoo Inc. argued that Akash is liable for passing off.[19]

As the two trade marks/domain names 'Yahoo!' and 'Yahoo India!' were almost similar and the latter offered services similar to those offered by the former and as the latter passed them off as being offered by Yahoo Inc., the court held Akash liable for passing off and restrained him from using the deceptively similar domain name.

The decision of the court in this case is based on the rationale that where the value of a name lies solely in its resemblance to the name or trade mark of another organization, the public is likely to be deceived by the use of such name and such act would amount to passing off.

Critical Analysis

By analyzing the above cases the courts gave same decision both in India and in U.S that Cybersquatting amounts to Trademark dilution and Passing off, it seems that Cyber squatting is a serious case of Trademark infringement and there are legal remedies available for the persons who affected. Though it is a newly developed scenario in IP law and most of the IP laws not having enough provisions to punish the Squatters the courts are acting brilliantly and doing a good job in making good decisions.

Conclusion

The current situation prevailing in the world is certain that cybersquatting is a menace. It is a menace which has no boundaries. In my opinion, it is similar to terrorism. The only difference is that in the latter human life is affected. Cybersquatters have robbed businesses of their fortune. Looking from the Indian perspective cybersquatting has been prevalent since internet came to the subcontinent. The courts in India have decided many cases related to cybersquatting. It is the imperitive for the parliament to enact a law which would deal with this Cyber terrorism. As for as now there is no specific law which prohibits cybersquatting like that of the United States.

Cybersquatting has opened the eyes of governments globally and has prompted them to look into this phenomenon in a serious manner. The United States by enacting the ACPA, has taken a encouraging step in protecting domain names in its cyberspace. It is high time India and other countries come out with legislations to protect this virus from spreading. If India enacts a specific law for protecting Trademarks from Cyber squatting then it will be “One small step for a man, a gaint leap for the Mankind” as said by Neil Armstrong.

Refernces:

Bibiliography:

1. guide to cyber laws – Rodney R. Ryder

2. Trademarks act, 1999

3. The Economic structure of IPR – William M. Landens

4. Commentary on Information Technology Act – Apar gupta

5. Inside Cyber Warfare : Mapping the Cyber World – Jeffrey carr

6. Indian Law Journal

7. Brain league Journal

Webiliography:

1. www.wipo.int/

2. Cybersquatting.com

3. http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/matters/matters-0212.html

4. www.icann.org

5. www.indiakanoon.org

6. www.internetlibrary.com

[1] Guide to Cyber laws by Rodney D Ryder

[2] All India reporter 2002 Del 243

[3] Trade marks act,1999

[4] Trademarks act, 1999

[5] John D. Mercer, "Cybersquatting: Blackmail on the Information Superhighway" (2000) 6 Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law, 11.

[6] http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/matters/matters-0212.html

[7] Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy

[8] Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers

[9] ACPA of 1999

[10] Australian Business Number

[11] World Intellectual Property Organization

[12] http://www.icann.org/en/about

[13] Dara B. Gilwit, Note, The Latest Cybersquatting Trend: Typosquatters, Their Changing Tactics, and How to Prevent Public Deception and Trademark Infringement, 11 WASH. U. J.L. & POL’Y 267, 282 (2003).

[14] ICANN, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, ¶ 4(a)(i)-(iii),

[15]ICANN, FAQs, supra note 15.

[16] ACPA, 1999

[17] 947 F. Supp. 1227 (N.D. Ill. 1996) decided by ANN CLAIRE WILLIAMS, District Judge

[18]Arb. L. R. 620 (Delhi High Court).

[19] Brain league journal

THE NEEM PATENTS - AN IP THEFT

The Issues




The United States and India are currently involved in a biopiracy dispute over the rights to a tree indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, the neem tree. While the neem tree has been used in India for over 2000 years for various purposes such as pesticides, spermicides and toothbrushes, a US company has been suing Indian companies for producing the emulsion because they have a patent on the process. The dispute is over the rights of companies to conduct research and development by using patents against the interest of the people who live at the source of the resource. To what extent can multinational companies claim and patent resources from the develping countries, like India? The movement around the issue of the neem tree and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) represents a challenge to the developing countries.





Case Study




A classic case of biopiracy by transnational corporations is that of the neem tree in India. Vandana Shiva provides the background to this attempt to appropriate an invaluable biological resource of the South.


DURING 1994, Indian farmers staged one mass demonstration after another against the proposed GATT Uruguay Round agreement. In March about 200,000 gathered in Delhi demanding, among other things, that the draft treaty - known colloquailly as 'the Dunkel draft' after chief negotiator, Arthur Dunkel - should be translated into all Indian languages. On 2 October, about half a million converged upon Bangalore to voice their fears about the impending legislation, aware of the threat that GATT poses to their livelihoods, by allowing multinational organisations to enter Third World markets at their expense.



In particular, many of them began to question the Dunkel Draft's call for an international harmonisation of property rights legislation. In their demonstrations, protesters carried twigs or branches of neem, a tree found throughout the drier areas of India.


Several extracts of neem have recently been patented by US companies, and many farmers are incensed at what they regard as intellectual piracy. The village neem tree has become a symbol of Indian indigenous knowledge, and of resistance against companies, which would expropriate this knowledge for their own profit.



A tree for all seasons



Of all the plants that have proved useful to humanity, a few are distinguished by astonishing versatility. The coconut palm is one, bamboo another. In the more arid areas of India, this distinction is held by a hardy, fast-growing evergreen of up to 20 metres in height - Azadirachta indica, commonly known as the neem tree.



The neem's many virtues are to a large degree attributable to its chemical constituents. From its roots to its spreading crown, the tree contains a number of potent compounds, notably a chemical found in its seeds named azadirachtin. It is this astringency that makes it useful in so many fields.



Medicine


Neem is mentioned in many ancient texts and traditional Indian medical authorities place it at the pinnacle of their pharmacopeia. The bark, leaves, flowers, seeds and fruit pulp are used to treat a wide range of diseases and complaints ranging from leprosy and diabetes to ulcers, skin disorders and constipation.



Agriculture



The Upavanavinod, an ancient Sanskrit treatise dealing with forestry and agriculture, cites neem as a cure for ailing soils, plants and livestock. Neem cake, the residue from the seeds after oil extraction, is fed to livestock and poultry, while its leaves increase soil fertility. Most importantly, neem is a potent insecticide, effective against about 200 insects, including locusts, brown plant-hoppers, nematodes, mosquito larvae, Colorado beetles and boll weevils.


These properties, and others, known to Indians for millennia, have led to the tree's being called in Sanskrit Sarva Roga Nivarini, the curer of all ailments', or in the Muslim tradition, Shajar-e-Mubarak, the blessed tree'. Access to its various products has been free or cheap: there are some 14 million neem trees in India and the age-old village techniques for extracting the seed oil and pesticidal emulsions do not require expensive equipment. A large number of different medicinal compounds based upon neem are commonly available.


In the last 70 years, there has been considerable research upon the properties of neem carried in institutes ranging from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and the Malaria Research Centre to the Tata Energy Research Institute and the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). Much of this research was fostered by Gandhian movements, such as the Boycott of Foreign Goods movement, which encouraged the development and manufacture of local Indian products.


A number of neem-based commercial products, including pesticides, medicines and cosmetics, have come on the market in recent years, some of them produced in the small-scale sector under the banner of the KVIC, others by medium-sized laboratories. However, there has been no attempt to acquire proprietary ownership of formulae, since, under Indian law, agricultural and medicinal products are not patentable.



Patent appeal


For centuries the Western world ignored the neem tree and its properties: the practices of Indian peasants and doctors were not deemed worthy of attention by the majority of British, French and Portuguese colonialists. However, in the last few years, growing opposition to chemical products in the West in particular to pesticides, has led to a sudden enthusiasm for the pharmaceutical properties of neem.


In 1971, US timber importer Robert Larson observed the tree's usefulness in India and began importing neem seed to his company headquarters in Wisconsin. Over the next decade he conducted safety and performance tests upon a pesticidal neem extract called Margosan-O and in 1985 received clearance for the product from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Three years later he sold the patent for the product to the multinational chemical corporation, W R Grace and Co. Since 1985, over a dozen US patents have been taken out by US and Japanese firms on formulae for stable neem-based solutions and emulsions and even for a neem-based toothpaste.


At least four of these are owned by W R Grace, three by another US company, the Native Plant Institute, and two by the Japanese Terumo Corporation.Having garnered their patents and with the prospect of a licence from the EPA, Grace has set about manufacturing and commercialising their product by establishing a base in India. The company approached several Indian manufacturers with proposals to buy up their technology or to convince them to stop producing value-added products and instead supply the company with raw material.


In many cases, Grace met a rebuff. M N Sukhatme, Director of Herringer Bright Chemicals Pvt. Ltd, which manufactures the neem-based insecticide Indiara, was put under pressure by Grace to sell the technology for a storage-stable neem extract, which does not require heating or any chemical change. Sukhatme refused their offers, stating: 'I am not interested to commercialise the product.'


But Grace eventually managed to arrange a joint venture with a firm called P J Margo Pvt. Ltd. They are now setting up a plant in India which will process neem seed for export to the US. Initially, the plant will process 20 tons of seed a day. They are also setting up a network of neem seed suppliers, to ensure a constant supply of the seeds and a reliable price. Grace is likely to be followed by other patent-holding companies. In 1992, the US National Research Council published a report designed to 'open up the Western world's corporate eyes to the seemingly endless variety of products the tree might offer'.


According to one of the members of the NRC panel, 'In this day and age, when we're not very happy about synthetic pesticides, [neem] has great appeal.'


This appeal is blatantly commercial. The US pesticides market is worth about $2 billion. At the moment biopesticides, such as pyrethrum, together with their synthetic mimics, constitute about $450 million of this, but that figure is expected to rise to over $800 million by 1998. 'Squeezing bucks out of the neem ought to be relatively easy,' observes Science magazine.



Plagiarism or innovation?


Grace's aggressive interest in Indian neem production has provoked a chorus of objections from Indian scientists, farmers and political activists, who assert that multinational companies have no right to expropriate the fruit of centuries of indigenous experimentation and several decades of Indian scientific research. This has stimulated a bitter transcontinental debate about the ethics of intellectual property and patent rights.


In April 1993, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report to US Congress set out some of the arguments used to justify patenting:


'Azadirachtin itself is a natural product found in the seeds of the neem tree and it is the significant active component. There is no patent on it, perhaps because everyone recognises it as a product of nature. But ... a synthetic form of a naturally occurring compound may be patentable, because the synthetic form is not technically a product of nature, and the process by which the compound is synthesised may be patentable.'


However, neither azadirachtin, a relatively complex chemical, nor any of the other active principles have yet been synthesised in laboratories. The existing patents apply only to methods of extracting the natural chemical in the form of a stable emulsion or solution, methods which are simply an extension of the traditional processes used for millennia for making neem-based products. The biologically active polar chemicals can be extracted using technology already available to villages in developing countries, says Eugene Schulz, chair of the NRC panel. Villagers smash'em [the seeds] up, soak [them] in cold water overnight, scoop the emulsion off the top and throw it on the crops.'

W R Grace's justification for patents, therefore, pivots on the claim that these modernised extraction processes constitute a genuine innovation:

'Although traditional knowledge inspired the research and development that led to these patented compositions and processes, they were considered sufficiently novel and different from the original product of nature and the traditional method of use to be patentable.'

'Azadirachtin, which was being destroyed during conventional processing of Neem Oil/Neem Cake is being additionally extracted in the form of Water Soluble Neem Extract and hence it is an add-on rather than a substitute to the current neem industry in India.'


In short, the processes are supposedly novel and an advance on Indian techniques. However, this novelty exists mainly in the context of the ignorance of the West. Over the 2,000 years that neem-based biopesticides and medicines have been used in India, many complex processes were developed to make them available for specific use, though the active ingredients were not given Latinised scientific names. Common knowledge and common use of neem was one of the primary reasons given by the Indian Central Insecticide Board for not registering neem products under the Insecticides Act, 1968. The Board argued that neem materials had been in extensive use in India for various purposes since time immemorial, without any known deleterious effects. The US EPA, on the other hand, does not accept the validity of traditional knowledge and has imposed a full series of safety tests upon Margosan-O.


The allegation that azadirachtin was being destroyed during traditional processing is inaccurate. The extracts were subject to degradation, but this was not a problem since farmers put such extracts to use as and when they needed them. The problem of stabilisation arose only when it needed to be packaged for a long time to be marketed commercially. Moreover, stabilisation and other advances attributable to modern laboratory technology had already been developed by Indian scientists in the 1960s and 1970s, well before US and Japanese companies expressed interest in them.



Dr R P Singh of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute asserts:


'Margosan-O is a simple ethanolic extract of neem seed kernel. In the late sixties we discovered the potency of not only ethanolic extract, but also other extracts of neem ... Work on the neem as pesticide originated from this division as early as 1962. Extraction techniques were also developed by a couple of years. The azadirachtin-rich dust was developed by me.' The reluctance of Indian scientists to patent their inventions, thus leaving their work vulnerable to piracy, may in part derive from a recognition that the bulk of the work had already been accomplished by generations of anonymous experimenters. This debt has yet to be acknowledged by the US patentors and their apologists. The CRS report claims that 'the method of scattering ground neem seeds as a pesticide would not be a patentable process, because this process ... would be deemed obvious' - a statement that betrays either lamentable misjudgement or a racist dismissal of indigenous knowledge. The discovery of neem's pesticidal properties and of how to process it was by no means 'obvious', but evolved through extended systematic knowledge development in non-Western cultures. In comparison to this first non-obvious leap of knowledge, it is the subsequent minor derivatives that are 'obvious'.



From waste to wealth?



W R Grace and P J Margo also claim that their project benefits the Indian economy. It does so, they say, by'providing employment opportunities at the local level and higher remuneration to the farmers as the price of Neem Seeds has gone up in the recent times because value is being added to it during its process. Over the last 20 years the price of neem seed has gone up from Rs300 a ton to current levels of Rs3000-4000 a ton.'


In fact, the price has risen considerably more than this: in 1992 Grace was facing prices of up to $300 (over 8,000 rupees) per ton.


This increase in the price of neem seeds has turned an often free resource into an exorbitantly priced one, with the local user now competing for the seed with an industry supplying consumers in the North. As the local farmer cannot afford the price that the industry can, the diversion of the seed as raw material from the community to industry will ultimately establish a regime in which a handful of companies holding patents will control all access to neem as raw material and all production processes. P J Margo claims that this is 'a classic case of converting waste to wealth and beneficial to the Indian farmer and its economy'. This statement is in turn a classic example of the assumption that local use of a product does not create wealth but waste; and that wealth is created only when corporations commercialise the resources used by local communities.


There is a growing awareness throughout India that the commoditisation of neem will result in its expropriation by multinational companies. On 15 August, Indian Independence Day, farmers in the state of Karnataka rallied outside the offices of the District Collector in each district, to challenge the claims of those multinational companies such as W R Grace demanding 'intellectual property rights'. The farmers carried neem branches as a symbol of collective indigenous knowledge.



Last but not Least



Their campaign has been supported by many noted Indian scientists. Dr R P Singh expressed his 'whole [hearted] support [for the] campaign against the globalisation of the neem.' Dr B N Dhawan, Emeritus Scientist at the Central Drug Research Institute, maintains: 'It is really unfortunate that the benefits of all this work should go to an individual or to a company. I sincerely hope that .. the neem will continue to remain available for use by people all over the world without paying a high price to a company.'

INDIAN CONSTITUTION - Supreme Law of Nation.

      Introduction

    The Constitution of India  is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties, government and spells out the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of citizens. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 444 articles in 24 parts, 12 schedules and 94 amendments, for a total of 117,369 words in the English language version. Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation.
It was passed by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, it came into effect on 26 January 1950. 26 January was chosen to commemorate the declaration of independence of 1930. It declares the Union of India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavours to promote among them all, fraternity. The words "socialist", "secular", and "integrity" were added to the definition in 1976 by constitutional amendment. India celebrates the adoption of the constitution on 26 January each year as Republic Day.After coming into effect, the Constitution replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India.

Constituent Assembly

The Constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by the elected members of the provincial assemblies.Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Sandipkumar Patel, Dr Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Nalini Ranjan Ghosh, and Balwant Singh Mehta were some important figures in the Assembly. There were more than 30 members of scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi. The Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gururng represented the Gorkha Community. Prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, B. R. Ambedkar, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi, Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur were important women members. The first president of the Constituent Assembly was Dr Sachidanand Sinha. Later, Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly.The members of the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in 1946 on 9 December.

Drafting

In the 14 August 1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various committees was presented. Such committees included a Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee. On 29 August 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on 4 November 1947.
The architects of India’s constitution, though drawing on many external sources, were most heavily influenced by the British model of parliamentary democracy. In addition, a number of principles were adopted from the Constitution of the United States of America, including the separation of powers among the major branches of government, the establishment of a supreme court, and the adoption, albeit in modified form, of a federal structure (a constitutional division of power between the Union (central) government and state governments)
The Assembly met in sessions open to the public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution.After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on 24 January 1950. The original Constitution of India is hand-written with beautiful calligraphy, each page beautified and decorated by artists from Santiniketan including Beohar Rammanohar Sinha and others. Two days later, on 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India became the law of all the States and territories of India.
The Constitution has undergone many amendments since its enactment.

 Structure

The Constitution, in its current form (March 2011), consists of a preamble, 24 parts containing 450 articles, 12 schedules, 2 appendices and 114 amendments to date. Although it is federal in nature it also has a strong unitary bias.

Parts

The individual Articles of the Constitution are grouped together into the following Parts:

Preamble Part I - Union and its Territory Part II - Citizenship. Part III - Fundamental Rights Part IV- Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties. Part V - The Union. Part VI - The States. Part VII - States in the B part of the First schedule(Repealed). Part VIII[17] - The Union Territories Part IX- Panchayat system and Municipalities. Part X - The scheduled and Tribal Areas Part XI - Relations between the Union and the States.

Part XII - Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits Part XIII - Trade and Commerce within the territory of India Part XIV - Services Under the Union, the States and Tribunals Part XV - Elections Part XVI - Special Provisions Relating to certain Classes. Part XVII - Languages Part XVIII - Emergency Provisions Part XIX - Miscellaneous Part XX - Amendment of the Constitution Part XXI - Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions Part XXII - Short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals

Schedules

Schedules are lists in the Constitution that categorize and tabulate bureaucratic activity and policy of the Government.

• First Schedule (Articles 1 and 4)- This lists the states and territories of India, lists any changes to their borders and the laws used to make that change.
• Second Schedule (Articles 59, 65, 75, 97, 125, 148, 158, 164, 186 and 221)- – This lists the salaries of officials holding public office, judges, and Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
• Third Schedule (Articles 75, 99, 124, 148, 164, 188 and 219)—Forms of Oaths  – This lists the oaths of offices for elected officials and judges.
• Fourth Schedule (Articles 4 and 80)  – This details the allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Parliament) per State or Union Territory.
• Fifth Schedule (Article 244)  – This provides for the administration and control of Scheduled Areas^{[Note 1]} and Scheduled Tribes (areas and tribes needing special protection due to disadvantageous conditions).
• Sixth Schedule (Articles 244 and 275)— Provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
• Seventh Schedule (Article 246)—The union (central government), state, and concurrent lists of responsibilities.
• Eighth Schedule (Articles 344 and 351)—The official languages.
• Ninth Schedule (Article 31-B) - Articles mentioned here are immune from judicial review.
• Tenth Schedule (Articles 102 and 191)—"Anti-defection" provisions for Members of Parliament and Members of the State Legislatures.
• Eleventh Schedule (Article 243-G)—Panchayat Raj (rural local government).
• Twelfth Schedule (Article 243-W)—Municipalities (urban local government).System of government. 

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was the chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.

The basic form of the Union Government envisaged in the Constitution is as follows,

“

A democratic executive must satisfy three conditions: 1. It must be a stable executive, and 2. It must be a responsible executive. 3. It must be impartial to all religion, caste and community. Unfortunately, it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both conditions in equal degree. ..... The daily assessment of responsibility, which is not available in the American system is, it is felt, far more effective than the periodic assessment and far more necessary in a country like India. The Draft Constitution in recommending the parliamentary system of Executive has preferred more responsibility to stability

.”

Federal Structure

The Constitution provides for distribution of powers between the Union and the States. It enumerates the powers of the Parliament and State Legislatures in three lists, namely Union list, State list and Concurrent list. Subjects like national defence, foreign policy, issuance of currency are reserved to the Union list. Public order, local governments, certain taxes are examples of subjects of the State List, on which the Parliament has no power to enact laws in those regards, barring exceptional conditions. Education, transportation, criminal law are a few subjects of the Concurrent list, where both the State Legislature as well as the Parliament have powers to enact laws. The residuary powers are vested with the Union.
The upper house of the Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, which consists of representatives of States, is also an example of the federal nature of the government.

 Parliamentary Democracy

The President of India is elected by the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, and not directly by the people. The President is the head of state, and all the business of the Executive and Laws enacted by the Parliament are in his/her name. However, these powers are only nominal, and the President must act only according to the advice of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.
The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers exercise their offices only as long as they enjoy a majority support in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, which consists of members directly elected by the people. The ministers are answerable to both the houses of the Parliament. Also, the Ministers must themselves be elected members of either house of the Parliament. Thus, the Parliament exercises control over the Executive.
A similar structure is present in States, where the directly elected Legislative Assembly enjoys control over the Chief Minister and the State Council of Ministers.

 Independent Judiciary

The Judiciary of India is free of control from either the executive or the Parliament. The judiciary acts as an interpreter of the constitution, and as an intermediary in case of disputes between two States, or between a State and the Union. An act passed by the Parliament or a Legislative Assembly is subject to judicial review, and can be declared unconstitutional by the judiciary if it feels that the act violates the provisions of the Constitution.

Changing the constitution

Amendments to the Constitution are made by the Parliament, the procedure for which is laid out in Article 368. An amendment bill must be passed by both the Houses of the Parliament by a two-thirds majority and voting.In addition to this, certain amendments which pertain to the federal nature of the Constitution must be ratified by a majority of state legislatures.
As of September 2010, there have been 108 amendment bills presented in the Parliament, out of which 94 have been passed to become Amendment Acts.Most of these amendments address issues dealt with by statute in other democracies. However, the Constitution is so specific in spelling out government powers that many of these issues must be addressed by constitutional amendment. As a result, the document is amended roughly twice a year.
The Supreme Court has ruled in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala case that not every constitutional amendment is permissible, the amendment must respect the "basic structure" of the constitution, which is immutable.
In 2000 the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) was setup to look into updating the constitution.

T.Kallupatti my native

                                                        T.KALLUPATTI

My Native Place

Ancient History and Archaelogical Findings

Archaeological excavations has confirmed about Iron Age Historical remains in T.Kallupatti. The findings where from Upper Gundar Basin. The early history can be dated back to 5th Century A.D. T.Kallupatti and Chinnakattalai are the few places in South India with Iron Age historical remains of Copper and Gold .The findings were reported by the Journal for South Asian studies.^[1] The Archaealogical Survey of India excavated in 1977 . Its documented in the book Distinctive beads in ancient India by Maurya Jyotsna.^[2]

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[3] T.Kallupatti had a population of 10,500*. Males constitute 51% of population and females 49%. T.Kallupatti has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 64%. In T.Kallupatti, 11% of population are under 6 years of age. Floating population is high for a rural town at 25000 ^[4]

Geography

T.Kallupatti is at the Crossroads of Madurai to Rajapalayam and Virudhunagar to Theni Highways making it a rural hub.Western Ghats come on the western, north eastern and south west side of the town. The Town has a predominantly cooler temperature than Madurai city and other eastern areas due to proximity to the Western Ghats. ^[5]

Destinations from Madurai
	Western Ghats	Usilampatti	Madurai
	Peraiyur		Virudhunagar
		T.Kallupatti
	Western Ghats	Rajapalayam	Sivakasi

Community and culture

Town with Initials , the concept of Mother Village

The town has an initial similar to a person and this is actually a common thing seen in Southern Tamilnadu. The Initial for the town is the Name of the Mother Village from which it derives its existence. Its as similar to the relation between Mother and Children. This actually had been the original Tamil culture for years. Here T.Kallupatti's Mother village is Devankurichi(spelled as Thevankurichi) a small village on the road towards Peraiyur. The Devankurichi hill is a symbol of spirituality as one can see it while driving closer to T.Kallupatti. Many people throng the Agneeswaran Temple of Devankurichi for doing the last rites of those who are dead and so its equated to Kasi.^[6]

Community

T.Kallupatti is one of the areas of TamilNadu having a significant number of Telugu speaking people who had migrated during the Vijayanagara Rule. The major communities are, Kammavar Nayudu, Ganjam Reddy. Tamil communities like Maravar(Thevar sect), Brahmins form the next significant group of the town. Dalits of the area are well educated and settled except for a smaller group. Significance identities of this historical place are Ealoor(7 villages) Muthalamman Temple, Devankurichi Temple, Gandhinikatan Ashram, Teachers' training school, Govt hospitals, etc.,

See also: Kamma_(caste)

See also: Reddiar

• Ugadi is celebrated with same fanfare like other Tamil festivals and Telugu communities have local deities shared with Tamil communities.

Temples and festivals

Madurai District has the endless list of Towns with unique specialities and T.Kallupatti is not far behind in that.

• Muthalamman (Women Goddess) Temple Festival is a famous Temple Festival celebrated between 7 villages around T.Kallupatti.^[7] It is one of the rare festivals which doesn't have any Caste issues and everyone come together to help and celebrate. This is a major shift from the caste related violences during Temple festivals in Tamilnadu and Southern districts in particular. The festival involves each of the 7 villages preparing their own Sapparam for their goddess.Vannivelampatti comes closer to compete with T.Kallupatti Sapparam in terms of height. The festival comes a few days before Diwali.
• Mariamman Temple Festival is a yearly festival involving Tamil traditions. Women take Mulaipari during the festival.^[8][9]
• Solapatti Karuppaswamy Temple - Telugu and Tamil communities do offerings on a regular basis to the Karuppaswamy temple.

Karaikeni Padukalam

Karaikeni is a small village where the Padukalam is celebrated where many villages come together to have different war like activities. The history goes back 500 years when Karaikeni ruler Arasuthevar decided to resolve a dispute between 2 other small rulers. The decision was to contest a war to decide the winner. 1 of the ruler and his army was destroyed but one warrior escapes. His descendants come together every 2 years to celebrate this festival. Now the festival involves a fight between the groups in typical Tamil tradition involving Silambu.^[10][11]

Languages

• Telugu ( Spoken by Nayakars and Reddys. Telugu spoken here has some Tamil words.).
• Tamil

Gandhiniketan Ashram

The major place to visit in T.Kallupatti is the Gandhiniketan Ashram. When one travels from Madurai in Tamilnadu along the highway leading to Coutrallam the famous waterfalls, what comes strikingly into view at the 40th kilometre is the Gandhi Niketan Ashram- one of the few surviving Gandhian Institutions in India, still vibrant with Gandhian thoughts and ideals. On entering the campus of this institution located in a sprawling 40 acres of land one can feel the peace and tranquility that pervades the place.

Formation

Gandhi Niketan Ashram which has a long history and rich tradition behind it is the brain child of Freedom fighter Mr. G. Venkatachalapathy ("The Architect of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Movement in Tamil Nadu") and was started it in 1940 to help create an independent India and reconstructing Rural India as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi.

Post independence

After India attained independence in 1947, the Gandhi Niketan Ashram was involved in areas like community development, panchayati raj, and khadi and village industries. Development officials and activists from all over India were trained here to work at the grassroots. The Ashram also played a key role in the Bhoodan movement spearheaded by Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Martin Luther King, Jr. the Nobel laureate and Civil rights leader of America who visited the founder at Madras twice and got a first hand account of the experiences of Venkatachalapathy in organizing Satyagraha and constructive programmes. E. F. Schumacher, one of the founders of the Green Movement in the west and renowned author of the book “Small is Beautiful” visited the Ashram in 1962 and obtained valubable insights into the areas of appropriate technology of benefit to the rural poor. Schumacher was later seen as an adviser for the Indian planning commission in the early 70s. Late Gandhian Leaders like Thiru Muniyandi Ayya, Thiru Palraj made sure the efforts were taken through the last 30–40 years. Students still wear Khadi dress as the uniform and do all work within school and maintain them without any caste difference. ^[12]

Objectives

• To operationalise the Gandhian vision of Gram Swaraj by promoting constructive training, demonstration and development programmes
• To enable the villagers to produce their own clothing by spinning and weaving with hand spun yarn
• To promote an appropriate educational system suited to rural realities based on the Gandhian concept of Basic Education
• To eradicate the evil of untouchability and to propagate Adult Literacy
• To train the rural people to keep their villages clean.
• To improve agricultural practices and to teach villagers to produce nutritive food grains
• To educate people on the dangers of alcoholism and wean them away from liquor
• To achieve all of the above to create a village reconstruction army

e-Learning at Gandhiniketan Ashram

An ambitious programme to introduce computer-aided learning and interactive curriculum support in 1,000 rural schools in the country had been launched here. The e-learning/digital content programme was launched by former President A P J Abdul Kalam at the Gandhi Niketan Ashram School in 2008. The initiative helps students clarify their doubts sitting in their class. Schools are given infrastructure required for IT-based education which would have animation and interactive tools for various projects at the high/higher secondary school level. ^[13]

Public administration and rural development

See also: Madurai District

T.Kallupatti Block comprises about 42 Villages and is one of the effectively administered rural blocks of the state. There is 100% Electricity coverage in all villages. Protected Water Supply is available in all villages under the Block. Male to Female Ratio is 1000-1001 which shows a major shift from Usilampatti Block ( just 20 km far ) where female infanticide is high.44% of Women are employed which provides a diverse workforce. 65% depend on Agriculture. MicroFinance and Illegal Money Lending is very less in the Block as there are 15 Agriculture Cooperative Banks. All 42 Villages are Panchayats and 39 of the 42 are Revenue Villages. There are 88 Child Welfare Centres with most of them Concentrated in the T.Kallupatti Town and are well connected through village Roads. Although Peraiyur is the Taluk the Central Location of T.Kallupatti and its being on the NH 208 provided it with a statistical advantage in Development and so Peraiyur comes under T.Kallupatti block as a revenue firka.

T.Kallupatti Block

Density of Population per km2	319
Percentage of Urban Population to total Population	22.69
Number of female per 1000 males	1001
Percentage of workers to total population	51.12
Percentage of Female workers to total workers	44.24
Percentage of Agricultural workers to total workers	67.46
Percentage of gross cropped area to net area sown	99.54
Bovine population per km2	50.23
Percentage of villages electrified	100%
Percentage of Villages covered by prot. water supply	100%
No. of Police Stations	3
No. of Noon Meal Centre	88

^[14]

Sustainable development

At T. Kallupatti, 35 street lights, seven sodium vapour lamps at a bus stand and a motor pumpset of 7.5 horsepower used for an overhead tank are powered by a biomass gasifier unit. The unit of 12 KVA (kilovolt ampere) generates 220 units a day at a mere Rs.500. The bus stand and a nearby park are lit up round the clock, even in times of load shedding.

Biomass power generation method

The unit is fuelled completely by Julia Flora, a plant known as Seemakaruvellai (Thorny tree). A feasibility study for the project showed that the plant was available in abundance in the locality. This was critical to ensure long-term sustainability of the project. Self-help groups supply the wood, which is dried in the sun for 10 days and then chopped into pieces. The progress of the unit is closely monitored. The Highlights of biomass power generation method include

• Reduction in the emission of carbon and soil erosion.
• Provides a means of restoring degraded land.
• Raw materials, wood, bagasse, rice husk and other agricultural residues/wastes could be used to generate heat and electricity for agricultural and industrial processes.
• Short-rotation wood species, including casuarina, are used to fuel the biomass units.
• By harvesting crop in rotation, a standing plantation of 250 hectares will grow 10,000 tonnes of casuarina, which is sufficient to generate 1 megawatt.
• A 2,500-hectare casuarina energy plantation could support a plant of 10-12 MW.

 Police station

T.Kallupatti police station is grouped as mother villages and as Hamlets under each mother village. There are 15 mother villages. ^[16]

Transportation

By road

The Town is well connected by National Highway 208 (India) till Thirumangalam where it joins with National Highway 7 (India) to Madurai in the North. NH208 runs via Rajapalayam till Kollam(Kerala) on the south. All buses to Rajapalayam and Tenkasi run through the town and is the route for Srivilliputhur, Courtallam, Ayyappa Temple in Pamba and southern Kerala Towns including Trivandrum via Shencottah.^[17]

By rail

Nearest Railway Stations are Thirumangalam(18 km) and Virudhunagar(12 km)

 Economy

Agriculture is the highest grosser in and around T.Kallupatti. Cucumber cultivation yields more revenue along with other seasonal crops. Cucumber sales can be seen when vehicles cross the town and stop near the Bus Station.^[18] Rice is cultivated in the Western side of the Town and the block. There is also high level of black soil in the area leading to Groundnut cultivation.

Institute for Village Industries

Dr. J.C. Kumarappa Institute of Rural Technology and Development, an institutional training centre of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) at T. Kallupatti provides Six-month training in footwear and leather goods manufacturing, five-month training in tailoring and embroidery, four-month training in servicing of electronics and electrical appliances, three-month training in welding and fabrication, fancy leather and rexin goods making, motor winding, cutting and tailoring, two-month training in exercise book manufacturing, toilet and laundry soap making, handmade paper conversion (notebooks, file, cover, carry bag, etc.), fruits and vegetable processing, one-month training in spices and masala making, detergent cake making, two-week training in screen printing, week-long training in cleaning powder making, detergent powder, fruit jam, squash and pickles making, and four-day training in bio manure and vermin-compost. ^[19]

Recent industrialisation

Textile mills, handlooms and factories have come around T.Kallupatti leading to larger number of jobs for men and women. This is due to the cheap labour around the town. Textile Mills from Rajapalayam have opened their units in the vicinity. This has led to jobs for women and has accounted more than 40% jobs for women. Major workforce work in

• M/s Auro Mira Bio Energy Madurai Limited (AMBEML) on the road to Rajapalayam.
• Textile Mills on the Road towards Madurai.
• Paramount Textiles.
• Small-Scale Industrial units in Gandhi Niketan, including leather factories.
• Khadi Units.

Banking

• Indian Overseas Bank covers most of the customers and nearby villages.^[21]
• 15 Primary Agricultural Co-operative Banks.
• 2 Scheduled Banks
• 5 Nationalised Banks

^[22]

Education

Higher secondary schools

• Gandhi Niketan Higher Secondary School.(other than local students almost 60% population from the 40 villages around T.Kallupatti Study here)
• GOVT. Higher Secondary School.
• M.S.R. Matriculation Higher Secondary School - run by Dr.R.Muthukrishan.

^[23]

Primary and middle schools

• Lakshmanan Memorial English School
• Jaya Nursery English School.
• Gandhinikethan Primary School

Colleges

• DIET - Government Teacher Training College
• MSR Teacher Training Centre
• Nagalakshmi Ammal Arts and Science College