‘ROOH AFZA has immense degree of goodwill, prima facie strong mark’: Delhi HC in trademark infringement claim

• A trademark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by a business organisation to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities.
• It serves as a badge of origin exclusively identifying a particular business as a source of goods or services.
• Trademark infringement is the unauthorised usage of a sign that is identical or deceptively similar to a registered trademark.

Strong trademark

• A mark is said to be strong when it is well-known and has acquired a high degree of goodwill.
• The degree of the protection of any trademark changes with the strength of the mark; the stronger the mark, the higher the requirement to protect it.

What is Good Governance Day, and how is it marked?

• It is observed on the occasion of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary.
• It aims to increase awareness of government services and accountability among people and inculcate “good governance” as a habit for civil servants.
• The day is celebrated to ensure that the country’s residents are treated fairly by the government and they receive advantages of various government services.
• In 2019, the government launched the Good Governance Index on this occasion.
• The GGI is a scientifically prepared tool based on various parameters of good governance which assess the level of any state at a given point of time and help in shaping future development.

Government says, AVGC sector to provide employment to over 20 lakh people in next 10 years

• The AVGC sector in the country has witnessed an unprecedented growth rate in recent times, with many global players entering the Indian talent pool to avail of offshore delivery of services.
• India today contributes about 2.5 to 3 billion dollars out of the estimated 260 to 275 billion dollars worldwide in the AVGC market.
• Task Force recently submitted report on ‘Realising AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics - Extended Reality) Sector Potential in India’ on the 22nd of December, 2022 by the Chairman of the Task Force, Apurva Chandra.

Recommendations:

• To make India a global content hub and create job opportunities in the AVGC sector, the Task Force has laid emphasis on establishing a National Centre of Excellence for the sector.
• The Regional Centre of Excellence will be instituted in collaboration with the State Governments to provide access to local industries and to promote local talent and content.
• It has been recommended by the Task Force to leverage National Education Policy to develop creative thinking with dedicated AVGC course content at school levels to build foundational skills and to create awareness about AVGC as a career choice.
• It has also been recommended to establish AVGC accelerators and innovation hubs in academic institutions, on the lines of Atal Tinkering Labs.
• The Task Force has recommended establishing a dedicated production fund for domestic content creation from the country to promote Indian culture and heritage globally.

India`s northern states to combat severe cold wave conditions for next two days

• The IMD records a cold wave when the minimum temperature is equal to or less than 10 degree Celsius at a weather station in the plains, and is 5 degrees to 6.4 degrees below the normal temperature for that period.
• A cold wave may also be recorded at a station in the plains when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 4 degree Celsius.
• For hilly regions, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 0 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees below the normal.
• The ‘normal’ temperature is calculated for every five days by taking the average temperature for these days over the past 30 years.

India will become third largest economy by 2035 : CEBR

• In its annual World Economic League Table, the Centre for Economics and Business Research said that over the next five years, India''s annual rate of GDP growth is expected to average 6.4 percent after which growth is expected to average 6.5 percent in the subsequent nine years.
• CEBR also adds that by 2037, world gross domestic product will be doubled as developing economies will catch up with the richer ones.
• The shifting balance of power will see the East Asia and Pacific region account for over a third of global output by 2037, while Europe''s share shrinks to less than a fifth.
• The global economy will face recession in 2023 mainly due to rises in interest rates by the central banks to arrest higher inflation.
• The global economy surpassed 100 trillion Dollar for the first time in 2022, but will stall in 2023 as policy makers continue their fight against soaring prices.

Centre makes digitally capturing MGNREGA attendance universal from January 1

• It was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development.
• The NMMS App permits taking real-time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGS worksites along with geo-tagged photographs.
• This will increase citizen oversight of the programme besides potentially enabling the processing of payments faster
• This facilitates them to record their findings online along with time-stamped and go-coordinate tagged photographs for all the schemes of the Department of Rural Development.
• This would also enable better record keeping of inspections by field and supervisory officials and also facilitate analysis of the findings for better programme implementation.

NCPCR warns NGOs against depiction of vulnerable children for fundraising

• It is a statutory bodyset up under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.
• It works under the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
• Members
• A chairperson who, is a person of eminence and has done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children.
• Six members were appointed by the Central Government out of which at least two are women, who are having experience in Education, Child Health, Juvenile justice Elimination of child labour, Child psychology or sociology Laws relating to children.
• Mandate:
  • The Commission ensures that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms align with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • The Child is defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group.

Expedite categorisation of denotified, nomadic, semi-nomadic tribes: House panel

• The term ‘De-notified Tribes’ stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between l87l and I947.
• These Acts were repealed after Independence in 1952, and these communities were “De-Notified”.
• The DNTs are the most neglected, marginalized, and economically and socially deprived communities.

SEED scheme

• It was launched by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

Components of the scheme:

• Free Coaching: The objective of this component is to enable them to appear in competitive examinations/ admission to professional courses like medicine, engineering, MBA, etc. for obtaining an appropriate job in the Public/Private Sector.
• Health Insurance: The primary objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to National Health Authority (NHA) in association with State Health Agencies (SHAs). These agencies will provide a health insurance cover of Rs.5 lakhs per family per year for families as per norms of “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
• Livelihood Initiatives: The primary objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). It would enhance productivity growth in key livelihood sectors for employment generation through investments in institutional support, and technical assistance.
• Financial support for Housing: It is for those who have not taken benefit of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as SC, ST, OBC and are living below the poverty line. The admissible support is Rs 1.20 lakhs in plains and 1.30 lakhs in hilly areas (per unit assistance).

Year End Review- 2019: Ministry Of Micro, Small And Medium Enterprises

Major achievements of the Ministry in the year 2022 are detailed as follows.

UDYAMI BHARAT

The Prime Minister of India launched 3 key initiatives for the MSME sector in the ‘Udyami Bharat’ programme.

• Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) scheme: The programme will focus on two result areas: 1) Strengthening Institutions and Governance of the MSME Program and 2) Supporting Market Access, Firm Capabilities and Access to Finance.
• Capacity Building of First-Time MSME Exporters’ (CBFTE) scheme: To encourage MSMEs to offer products and services of international standards for the global market.
• New features of the ‘Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme’ (PMEGP).
  • Firstly, increase the maximum project cost to Rs 50 lakhs (from Rs 25 lakhs) for the manufacturing sector and Rs 20 lakhs (from Rs 10 lakhs) for the service sector.
  • Secondly, the inclusion of applicants from Aspirational districts & Transgenders in the Special Category applicants for availing higher subsidies.
  • Thirdly, handholding support is being provided to applicants/entrepreneurs through the engagement of banking, technical & marketing experts.

POLICY INITIATIVES:

• The Udyam Registration Portal was launched It is fully online, free of cost, hassle-free, does not require any documentation, and is a step towards Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs.
• Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI): The scheme supports the establishment of collective manufacturing enterprises of artisans, to increase their production, making them produce value-added products, and enhancing the marketability of products.
• Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises: Ministry of MSME mandates 25% annual procurement from MSEs by Central Ministries/ Departments/ Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) including 4% from MSEs owned by SC/ST and 3% from MSEs owned by Women entrepreneurs.
• Procurement and Marketing Support (PMS) Scheme: The scheme promotes new marketaccess initiatives and enhances the marketability of products and services in the MSME sector.
• International Cooperation Scheme: The Scheme provides financial assistance to Industry Associations to participate in International exhibitions abroad, to organize International conferences in India and to capacity build ‘First Time MSE Exporters’ on a reimbursement basis.
• Promotion of MSMEs among SC/STs & in NER
• National SC-ST Hub (NSSH): The scheme is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among the SC/ST and fulfilling the 4% procurement mandate by the CPSEs as laid down in the Central Government Public Procurement Policy and boosting entrepreneurship among SC/STs.
• Promotion of MSMEs in NER and Sikkim Scheme: The scheme includes components viz., Setting up of new and modernization of existing Mini Technology Centre, Development of new & existing Industrial Estates and Development of Tourism Sector.

Ratnagiri’s pre-historic rock art: Why a proposed oil refinery has experts worried

• Barsu sites in the Konkan region were added to a tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites and protected by the state archaeology department and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Geoglyphs

• Geoglyphs are a form of prehistoric rock art, created on the surface of laterite plateaus.
• They are made by removing a part of the rock surface through an incision, picking, carving or abrading.
• They can be in the form of rock paintings, etchings, cup marks and ring marks.

Significance of this prehistoric rock art?

• Clusters of geoglyphs are spread across the Konkan coastline in Maharashtra and Goa, spanning around 900 km. Porous laterite rock, which lends itself to such carving, is found on a large scale across the entire region.
• It has more than 1,500 pieces of such art, also called “Katal Shilpa,” spread across 70 sites.
• This is evidence of the continued existence of human settlements from the Mesolithic (middle Stone Age) to the early historic era.
• UNESCO’s tentative world heritage list mentions seven sites with petroglyphs in Ratnagiri district — Ukshi, Jambharun, Kasheli, Runde Tali, Devihsol, Barsu and Devache Gothane, one in Sindhudurg district –Kudopi village, and nine sites at Phansamal in Goa.
• The figures depicted in the geoglyphs include humans and animals such as deer, elephant, tiger, monkey, wild boar, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, cattle, pig, rabbit, and monkey.
• They also include a high number of reptilian and amphibian creatures such as tortoises and alligators, aquatic animals such as sharks and sting rays, and birds like peacocks.