Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) chairman RA Mashelkar (FRS) has been appointed by the government to represent India at the WIPO and its various meetings. WIPO's first meeting was held in June this year. The next meeting is scheduled in February, 1999.

"The election will help us put up disputed intellectual property rights-related cases on a world platform. This in turn will further help India to influence global policy matters on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)".

According to Mashelkar, besides other countries "US too backed India's candidature" for the post of chaircountry. India's selection at WIPO by 165-member countries including developed and developing nations comes at a time when disputed casesbetween India and the US, such as the Basmati rice case, still remain unsettled.

India became a member of the WIPO after signing a treaty with the 165 members of the WIPO at Budapest. A high-level 10-member standing committee of WIPO agreed to set up a $20-million WIPO Net programme that will link the intellectual property offices of around 330 countries.

Among others, the WIPO Net programme will provide all intellectual property rights-related information on the Internet and also create digital libraries on the Net.

Mashelkar was in Mumbai to release a book titled: `WTO TRIPS Agreement: Implications for Indian Biotechnology' authored by Dr Sudhir D Ghatnekar and Prof V Nahadevan of the Mumbai-based Biotechnology Resource Centre. The book has been brought out by World Trade Centre's M Visvesvarya Industrial Research and Development Centre (MVIRDC).

Speaking at the book-releasing function, Mashelkar said: "Over the next one decade, India's biotechnology-related exports have a potential to reach $50billion from the current level of $1.8 billion. With our vast biodiversity and intellectual capital we could definitely achieve this target, only if we address at the earliest some of the vital issues."

There are four main issues in this direction. One, upgrade all the patent offices in the country; two, equip the concerned staff members of these patent offices with the latest laws on intellectual property; three, change the patents act and other related policies to meet with international laws; and four, "there is an urgent need to launch a patent literacy campaign in the country."

"Trade wars in the next millennium will inevitably have to be fought on the basis of knowledge of TRIPS. It is therefore necessary that we as a country equip ourselves at the earliest with this knowledge".

Mashelkar added: "The government is seized of the importance on the subject. Accordingly, it has agreed to modernise the country's patent offices at an estimated cost of Rs 65 crore. Under the patent offices modernisationprogramme, the government has also agreed to provide a massive 5-acre plot of land on the Delhi-Mathura road."

BoI felicitates RA Mashelkar

Dr Raghunath Anant Mashelkar was the first recipient of the Bank of India Excellence Awards under the management category. The awards were presented on Sunday by former chief justice AM Ahmadi. Mashelkar, a chemical engineer by profession is also a recipient of the Padmashri.