Articles by Suman Sahai

Importance of Indigenous Knowledge in IPR System Suman Sahai Now that bioresources are becoming a highly sought after raw material in the era of biotechnology, we must create a framework, for the just and proper use of and appropriate payment for indigenous technology. We need to address ourselves to a few important aspects in order to lay down a comprehensive national policy in this regard.

creditors and their political backers to bend the Deve Gowda government lo their will. Foreign investment, direct and portfolio, on a scale for outstripping anything that the Narasimha Rao government could achieve, is indeed portentous for the Indian economy and polity. Ironically, however, the Communist Party leader, Inderjeet Gupta, recently noted, as he waited to be inducted as a union minister, it India did not get "this amount of funds [$ 10 bn a year, the target for DFl set in the MCP], where will you find resources lor development". This mindset of helpless dependence on foreign capital for development, side-tracking domestic resource mobilisation and domestic agents of growth, mocks at the protestations of self- reliance and mass welfare.

American Pressure to Open Up Indian Agriculture Suman Sahai India has a strong public sector in agriculture. A vast network of scientists working in agriculture universities and government institutions such as the ICAR have time and again responded to the challenges of agriculture with innovative solutions and sophisticated technology. Instead of marginalising our institutions, now exactly is the time to give them the extra support needed to compete in the global market and to show the door to the likes of the US agriculture secretary who was in India recently to push his case that India open up its agriculture sector and promote the entry of multinational corporations.

Biotechnology has come of age today and spells mega-bucks. The state of the art technology in the field is in developed countries which possess little or no germplasm. Developing countries, rich in genetic materials, have a poor technology base. Hence the attempt by developed countries to create instruments and institutions to control the genetic wealth of the world.

Breeders' Rights Suman Sahai The government of India's draft of the Plant Varieties Act modelled on the international UPOV system seeks to embody the rationale of the industrial countries where the primary goal is to protect the interests of corporate biotechnology and the powerful seed companies.