The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
crucial issues such as protection of traditional knowledge, and creation of an international regime on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing were taken up by two working groups of the Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd) in December. The bodies met separately in Montreal, Canada, to address matters that will …
a recent analysis could radically improve the way humanity is trying to conserve the genetic pool of livestock. It shows that farm animals were domesticated in many locations in ancient times. The finding challenges the traditional views about animal husbandry. Many anthropologists staunchly advocate that domestication simultaneously took place only …
There exist, in India today, at least two ways of resolving water-related conflicts. One is the way the conflict over river Cauvery is being managed. The river of woes for Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha and her Karnataka counterpart S M Krishna, not a single day has passed in …
Having made a mark as a valuable tool in human forensic studies, genetics will now solve the puzzle for endangered wildlife too. Teams of researchers from Taiwan's Central Police University and the uk's Institute of Zoology in London are developing "fingerprint' tests that may soon put rhino poachers out of …
In spite of there being several instances of the use of arhar (pigeon pea or Cajanus cajan ) extracts in India, the us Patent and Trademark Office (uspto) has granted three patents on novel invention of the same to Insmed Incorporation of Richmond, Virginia. The patents have been given with …
Siriyanangai (Andrographis paniculata) is very bitter. Alagamma hid that well, when she gave a leaf to this correspondent to chew. The bile rose, and the bitterness lingered for an hour. "It shows you have not been bitten by a snake in the last one hour,' remarked Alagamma. A person bitten …
Is traditional medicine the answer to the healthcare needs of the state? In rural areas, traditional medicine is the major healthcare option. It is well respected, as western medicine system is non-existent in far-flung places. Even otherwise, traditional and modern practitioners participate equally in providing healthcare. Our medicines are highly …
Sri Lanka has proposed to draft a bill to protect the traditional knowledge associated with medicinal plants. Initiated by the country's ministry of indigenous medicine, the proposed legislation will be drafted by the National Intellectual Property Organisation of Sri Lanka (NIPOS). According to NIPOS, the bill is intended to devise …
Patents on life forms are unethical, contrary to the principles and cultural norms of various societies, and should be prohibited. This was the crux of the argument advanced by a group of African countries at the trips (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, from June …
RESOURCES AND RIGHTS: Even as the debate over access and benefit sharing of genetic resources rages on in the world, plans for a legally binding protocol have begun to take shape in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). A recent meet of the Conference of Parties to the CBD at …
by may 2003, the European Council was supposed to have reached a consensus on a directive that seeks to regulate the supply of herbal products in the European Union (eu) market. Once implemented this
Middle-aged Bedunath wears saffron-coloured clothes and sets out daily with two snake baskets slung over his shoulders. He spends the entire day walking the streets of Delhi blowing on his flute, mesmerising snakes and passersby alike. Bedunath resides in a unique colony in Delhi called Mollarbandhgaon. This community, located next …
Chinese Ritual Chinese government departments have devised a rather strange solution to the problem of congestion and traffic jams. They have requested mourners to pay homage to dead friends and relatives on the Internet, to lessen crowds at cemeteries. Each April, the Chinese observe the Qingming Festival, a traditional grave-sweeping …
The March 5 order of the Allahabad High Court, directing a 12-member Archaeological Survey of India (asi) team to excavate a 30 m x 30 m area at the disputed site at Ayodhya, has led to a renewed interest in archaeology. The order is based on explorations carried out by …
Recently, researcher P P Dhyani carried out a successful revival of part of a religious forest that existed at Badrinath. He undertook to rehabilitate the badrivan (sacred grove) around the holy shrine of Badrinath Dham by planting saplings of tree species that originally grew there. These include Bhojpatra (Betula utilis), …
Kalahandi: A Planet of Herbs o Director: Amarendra Kishore o 28 minutes o English/Hindi Kalahandi district in Orissa often hits the news, but for all the wrong reasons; hunger, poverty and mass migration to other states chief among them. To rescue the villagers from penury and provide them a dignified …
