India, China Leads as Global Intellectual Property Filings Reached New Records in 2021
Global intellectual property filings- of patents, trademarks, and designs-reached record levels in 2021 driven largely by increases from Asian countries of India, China, and South Korea according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
More About The Development:
Strong growth in local patent filings in India (+5.5 percent), China (+5.5 percent) and the Republic of Korea (+2.5 per cent) drove the global growth in patent applications in 2021, propelling the share of Asian filings to cross the two-thirds threshold, the report said.
Local patenting activity in the U.S. (-1.2 per cent), Japan (-1.7 per cent) and Germany (-3.9 per cent) declined in 2021.
About The Report:
The WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report showed that innovators around the world filed 3.4 million patent applications in 2021, up 3.6 per cent from the previous year with offices in Asia receiving 67.6 per cent of all applications worldwide.
What Has Been Said:
According to WIPO, despite the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, this bucked previous economic downturn trends.
The UN agency said that despite the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, this bucked previous economic downturn trends.
“The latest WIPI data show continued and sustained growth in IP filings, driven largely by increases from Asia, with other regions also trending mostly upward,” said WIPO Director General Daren Tang. “IP filing strength during the pandemic showed that people across the world continued to innovate and create despite the economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic,” he added.
“However, the challenges facing us right now such as climate change and the achievement of the UN SDGs means that we have to continue supporting innovators and creators to use the IP system to bring their ideas to reality, and create the impact that will change our lives for the better,” he added.
About WIPO- World Intellectual Property Organization:
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN).
Formation: 14th July 1967.
Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations.
It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into force
Headquarter: Geneva, Switzerland
WIPO’s activities include hosting forums to discuss and shape international IP rules and policies, providing global services that register and protect IP in different countries, resolving transboundary IP disputes, helping connect IP systems through uniform standards and infrastructure, and serving as a general reference database on all IP matters; this includes providing reports and statistics on the state of IP protection or innovation both globally and in specific countries.
Novak Djokovic Won 6th ATP Finals Singles Title
Novak Djokovic won the sixth ATP Finals singles title win beating Casper Ruud from Norway. Novak Djokovic defeated the opponent by 7-5, 6-3 to walk away with a historic payday of $4.7m. Novak Djokovic has equaled the record of six ATP title wins of Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic Won 6th ATP Finals Singles Title- Key Points
Novak Djokovic carved out all five break points opportunities in the watch.
The Rome, Wimbledon, Tel Aviv, and Astana Champion now has ATP titles in three different cities.
He also won the title in Shanghai back in 2008, and now other wins in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Novak Djokovic is also the oldest champion in the history of the ATP Tournament.
Casper Ruud was the first Scandinavian to be a part of the ATP Finals.
He also delivered his best performance, winning in Buenos Aires, Geneva, and Gstaad.
About Novak Djokovic
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results throughout the season.
Tamil Nadu: Anamalai Tiger Reserve launched ‘jumbo trails’ in Coimbatore
The Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) has launched ‘jumbo trails’ at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, a programme aimed to educate visitors to the tiger reserve about elephants, the flora, and fauna of ATR and the aboriginal tribes who live in the hills. An initiative by ATR Field Director S. Ramasubramanian and Deputy Director (Pollachi Division) Bhargava Teja, the first jumbo trail will happen on November 26.
According to Assistant Conservator of Forests V. Selvam, the jumbo trails start at ‘Anamalaiyagam’, a newly-established forest interpretation centre at Sethumadai. The programme is organised by the Advanced Wildlife Management Training Centre (Attakatti) and implemented by Keelpoonachi Eco Development Committee.
Under the programme:
The biologist and other resource persons from the Forest Department will explain the exhibits at the interpretation centre and provide the registered participants with an overall view of ATR.
The participants will be taken to Top Slip in a Forest Department vehicle from where they will be taken for a nature trail to Ambili watch tower that offers a panoramic view of Pollachi.
During the nature trail through the forest, resource persons will explain to them about the flora and fauna seen around. Upon reaching the watchtower, residents from the tribal settlement will give them herbal tea.
Russia Replaces China to Become the Biggest Supplier of Fertilizers to India
Russia has become India’s biggest fertilizer supplier for the first time. Russian exporters reportedly grabbed a 21% share of the Indian fertilizer market in the first half of the 2022-23 fiscal year, overtaking China, previously India’s largest supplier.
More About This Transition:
Russian exports reportedly surged 371%, to a record 2.15 million tons from April to October. In monetary terms, India’s imports over this period increased by 765%, to $1.6 billion. Russia’s share of Indian fertilizer imports was hovering around 6% during the last fiscal year, while China’s stood at 24%. In the first half of 2022-23, China’s exports to India halved to 1.78 million tons amid growing Russian supplies.
About The Global Prices:
Global prices for fertilizers jumped in March after the US, the EU and allied states introduced sanctions against fertilizer supplies from Russia and Belarus. While Western countries have since backtracked on the ban, Russia has found new markets, mostly in Asia, for its exports.
About Fertilizer production:
Combined, Russia and Belarus accounted for more than 40% of global exports of potash last year. Russia accounted for about 22% of global exports of ammonia, 14% of the world’s urea exports and about 14% of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) – all key kinds of fertilizers.
India’s Import Of Fertilizers:
In June, India secured di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) from Russia at $920-925 per tonne on a cost and freight basis (CFR), when other Asian buyers were paying more than $1,000.
The surge in Russian supplies halved China’s exports to India to 1.78 million tonnes in the first half of 2022-23.
Exports from other destinations such as Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates also fell. In the 2021/22 financial year Russia’s share in Indian imports was around 6%, while China cornered 24%. Russia’s market share jumped to 21% in the first half of 2022/23, surpassing China as the biggest supplier to India.
Global prices could have rallied more had India also moved away from Russia to other suppliers such as China and Morocco, which have limited supplies for exports, he said.
India’s total fertilizer imports in the first half of 2022-23 fell 2.4% from a year ago to 10.27 million tonnes, although in value terms imports during the period surged 59% to $7.4 billion.
National Payments Corporation of India in Talks With RBI on Volume Cap Deadline
National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI), which runs the UPI digital pipeline, is in talks with the Reserve Bank on implementation of its proposed deadline for limiting the volume cap of players to 30 percent.
More About This:
NPCI runs the UPI digital pipeline. Currently, there’s no cap on volume and Google Pay and PhonePe hold the market share of about 80 per cent.
About The Whole Issue:
Back in November 2022, the NPCI had proposed a 30 per cent volume cap for third-party app providers (TPAP). The proposal was made to avoid concentration risk. However, the existing TPAPs such as PhonePe and Google Pay were given two years more to comply with the orders.
Currently, the NPCI is evaluating all the possibilities and no final decision has been taken to extend the December 31 deadline, adding that the corporation has also received proposals from the stakeholders to extend the deadline.
What The RBI Says:
Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came out with a consultation paper on charges in payment systems, which made a case for a tiered charge to be imposed on UPI transactions in line with Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions. The Central government also said that UPI is convenient and that there were no plans to put any charges on it.
India-Australia FTA Ratified By Australian Parliament
Australia’s Parliament passed bilateral free trade agreements with India and Britain, leaving those partner nations to bring the deals into force. The bills easily passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate made them law.
More About The Development:
The deals need to be ratified by the respective British and Indian parliaments before they take effect. Neither nation has yet done that. The deals are crucial for Australia to diversify its exports from the troubled Chinese market to India and to Britain’s need to forge new bilateral trade relations since it left the European Union.
What Has Been Said:
Trade Minister Don Farrell said India had demonstrated its commitment to the bilateral economic partnership through the quality of the deal struck.
“Closer economic ties with India are a critical component of the government’s trade diversification strategy,” Farrell said. Farrell said the British deal was “crucial to boosting our growth.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed the deals with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia. Albanese said he would visit India in March to advance the deal that was signed in April.
About The FTA:
The India-Australia FTA was signed in April this year, and was the trade pact that New Delhi had singed with a developed country after over a decade.
The agreement encompasses cooperation across the entire gamut of bilateral economic and commercial relations between the two friendly countries, and covers areas like Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Customs Procedures, Pharmaceutical products, and Cooperation in other Areas.
India will benefit from preferential market access provided by Australia on 100 per cent of its tariff lines. This includes all the labour-intensive sectors of export interest to India such as Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food, and agricultural products, engineering products, medical devices, and Automobiles. On the other hand, India will be offering preferential access to Australia on over 70 per cent of its tariff lines, including lines of export interest to Australia which are primarily raw materials and intermediaries such as coal, mineral ores and wines etc.
13th bilateral naval exercise Naseem Al Bahr-2022
The 13th edition of bilateral exercise between the Indian and the Royal Oman navies, Naseem Al Bahr-2022, commenced off the coast of Oman on 20 November 2022. The exercise is being conducted in two phases: the Harbour Phase and the Sea Phase. The Indian Navy’s guided missile frigate Trikand and Offshore Patrol Vessel Sumitra, with their integral helicopters, and the maritime patrol aircraft, Dornier, are participating in the exercise.
The exercise facilitates operational-level interaction between the two navies to foster mutual cooperation and enhance good order at sea. The exercise also aims to strengthen the ancient maritime and cultural linkages between India and Oman. Friendly sports fixtures were conducted amongst participants from the two navies on the sidelines of the conference. The exercise aims to intensify maritime exchanges between the two countries and enhance maritime security in the region.
Background:
India has ancient maritime tradition and maritime interaction with Oman dates back to over 4000 years BC. Bilateral relations between both countries were formally established with signing of 1953 Indo-Oman Treaty of friendship, Navigation and Commerce. It was first between India and Arab country.
Since then, bilateral naval exercises have contributed to strengthening of bilateral ties between both countries. The first exercise Indian Navy with Royal Navy of Oman was conducted in 1993.
Further signing of MoU on Defence Cooperation in December 2005 and subsequent establishment of oint Military Cooperation (JMC) in March 2006 had set foundation for increased defence cooperation. The naval cooperation between both countries since then has gradually increased in scope and scale.