Squandered chances

8216;Thus, even the potential benefits that could have been delivered to the people are not being done. It is, indeed, ironic that the UPA government, which, in the first place, was formed with the Left8217;s outside support precisely to have a secular government at the centre is providing grist to the mill of the communal forces due to its faulty policies8217;, it says.

Climate inaction plan

Another article titled, 8216;India8217;s Climate Action Plan: Many Points, No Direction8217; dubs the recently-released National Action Plan on Climate Change NAPCC as a document with high-sounding but vague goals which has no vision to speak of and reveals little political will to translate into action. 8216;NAPCC proclaims its intention to constitute a 8220;national strategy to firstly, adapt to climate change and secondly, to further enhance the ecological sustainability of India8217;s development path8221;. But it does not address the first in any rigorous or detailed manner while the second, going so far as to declare 8220;a directional shift in the development pathway8221;, is simply a tall claim,8217; it notes.

It goes on to add that the hand of the 8220;traditionally timid8221; and, of late, markedly pro-US and pro-Western thinking of the external affairs ministry the nodal ministry for climate negotiations is visible in stating what it expects from developed countries: very little indeed! 8216;NAPCC only calls upon them to 8220;affirm their responsibility for accumulated GHG emissions and fulfill their commitments under the UNFCCC8221;. No demand that the US join the Kyoto Treaty or a statement that humanity may be doomed if the US stays out. No demand that developed countries agree to and be accountable for 8220;deep cuts8221; far exceeding their existing Kyoto commitments as called for by the IPCC but with targets dropped from the Bali Declaration at US insistence. Clearly NAPCC has been drafted and shaped with the US as key target audience.8217;

Knowledge is power

Another article dwells on Left-ruled Kerala becoming the first state to come out with an Intellectual Property Rights IPR policy. The article titled 8216;An IPR policy for Kerala8217;, says the idea behind formulating such a policy may appear odd at first sight, since the matter comes under the domain of the central government.

8220;But within any IPR regime, a range of specific problems arise for any state, which it has to resolve without infringing upon the domain of the centre. The IPR policy of the state is concerned with such problems,8221; it says.

The scope of the document therefore is limited and it simply gives the state government8217;s approach on certain selected issues of practical importance for Kerala in the context of the new IPR regime, while eschewing general obiter dicta on that regime, it notes.

The IPR policy will seek to address protection of traditional knowledge, discuss issues related to biodiversity and look into property rights over research in state government-funded and state government-aided institutions, which have become important because of 8220;outsourcing8221; of research from abroad, it says.