Latest news with #GeographicalIndications
RNZ News
20-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Pacific news in brief for 21 July
Pacific trade ministers have welcomed the draft Kava Declaration. Photo: Eric Lafforgue / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP Pacific trade ministers have welcomed the draft Kava Declaration, marking a significant step toward safeguarding kava's cultural and economic importance across the region. At a gathering in Suva, Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica, and his counterparts supported enhanced legal protections and the development of geographical indications for kava. Ministers tasked a technical working group with concrete next steps for a national and international geographical indication registration. This aims to bolster kava's brand value and protecting its traditional roots. Samoa's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour has officially declared two public holidays in August to support the smooth conduct of the country's 2025 General Election. In a public notice, the Ministry confirmed that Thursday, 28 August and Friday, 29 August will be observed as national public holidays. The purpose of these holidays is to provide all eligible voters across the country with adequate time to participate in the election process. The declaration applies to all government ministries, private sector organisations, and the general public. More than 100,000 eligible voters have registered for next month's upcoming general election. Samoa's Police Commissioner Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo is describing the widespread use and trafficking of methamphetamine as a national pandemic. The Police, Prisons and Corrections Services has stepped up its campaign against methamphetamine. Over recent months, police have carried out a series of targeted raids across the country, arresting people linked to the possession of methamphetamine, drug utensils, and illegal firearms. Auapa'au said the scale of the problem now requires sustained, long-term enforcement as well as broader community support. He said the use and distribution of meth is no longer isolated to a few cases, adding that it's spreading throughout the country and destroying lives and families. Seven Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldiers have fled a police investigation in Aitape in West Sepik Province. The Post-Courier reported that the police suspect the soldiers had been hired to provide security for a candidate in the Aitape-Lumi by-election. A search was conducted in the early hours of Tuesday to find the soldiers but they are understood to have caught a flight from Wewak to Port Moresby. Assistant Police Commissioner Steven Francis said the soldiers were "illegally on the ground on an unauthorised mission and allegedly providing security and other activities for a candidate." Polling is underway for the by-election and is expected to continue until 1 August. Family members of Papua New Guinea's first ever saint are preparing to travel from Australia to Rome for his canonisation in October. A catechist during the second world war, Blessed Peter To Rot, was executed by Japanese forces, for refusing to compromise on Catholic teachings regarding marriage. A PNG Catholic community elder in Sydney, David Luke, told ABC Tok Pisin that travel preparations have begun for several of their own congregation including members of Blessed Peter To Rot's family. Blessed Peter To Rot was beatified by Pope John Paul the second in 1995, and then cleared for canonisation by the late Pope Francis, who visited PNG in September last year. Schools in the Northern Marianas are bracing for a possible fiscal cliff, according to the Board of Education. Governor Arnold Palacios is planning substantial cuts to the education budget allocation. The government is proposing a US$40 million dollar grant but the Public School System has requested just over 49 million dollars. The Board of Education has testified that if the government's proposal is implemented they could be forced to declare a state of emergency in education.
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bombay HC junks PIL against Prada on Kolhapuri sandals
Pune: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against Prada. The PIL concerned the alleged copying of the Kolhapuri Chappal design. The court stated that, under Geographical Indications (GI) law, the affected parties - specifically the producers' associations - should have come forward to defend their case. The Kolhapuri chappal is a GI product registered under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category PGDM Management Artificial Intelligence MCA Leadership Operations Management Data Science Data Science MBA Technology Design Thinking Digital Marketing healthcare Degree Others Cybersecurity Public Policy Data Analytics Finance CXO Healthcare Project Management others Product Management Skills you'll gain: Financial Analysis & Decision Making Quantitative & Analytical Skills Organizational Management & Leadership Innovation & Entrepreneurship Duration: 24 Months IMI Delhi Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Online) Starts on Sep 1, 2024 Get Details Five lawyers had filed the PIL, demanding that Italian fashion house Prada compensate the artisans who make Kolhapuri chappals. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Kulkas yang belum Terjual dengan Harga Termurah (Lihat harga) Cari Sekarang Undo The court informed the lawyers that the registered owners of the GI product should be the ones seeking redressal. However, the GI for Kolhapuri Chappal was awarded jointly to two government agencies in Maharashtra and Karnataka, not to manufacturers' associations, unlike many other GI products. These agencies have not approached the courts to defend their GI rights. Instead of pursuing legal action, the industry body Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA), which had initially written to Prada, is now looking to work jointly with the brand to help local artisans. Live Events
The Wire
14-07-2025
- General
- The Wire
The Missing Artisan – and Their Caste – in the Kohlapuri-Prada Conversation
A sandal resembling a Kohlapuri chappal in Prada's Spring-Summer 2026 collection has sparked multiple conversations around cultural appropriation. While the violence of cultural appropriation in the context of colonisation is well understood, the discourse in the subcontinent tends to brush over a far older and more troubling question that sits at the heart of subcontinental handicrafts – the erasure of the oppressed caste artisan from the centre of any conversation around the preservation of handicrafts, and the impact of that erasure on the value of the craft itself. Conversations about handcrafted leather in other countries often centre the skills of specific families or neighbourhoods of artisans, honed over generations, in processes like tanning, dyeing and stitching. Intellectual property concepts like Geographical Indications (GI) that seek to protect products whose quality or characteristics are tied to the location of their production also recognise that both natural and human factors can be tied to a region. While the Indian government has granted a GI tag to Kohlapuri chappals, the human factor – the artisans who make the Kohlapuri chappal – are rarely treated with the same reverence accorded to the makers of hand stitched leather goods in other parts of the world. In 2019, artisans (often from the Dalit Chambar community) in Maharashtra reportedly earned about Rs. 60 for a pair of handstitched chappals. Tanners (usually from the Dalit Dhor community) who make the unique vegetable dyed camel coloured leather used in Kohlapuri chappals are reportedly paid about Rs 240 per kilogram of hide processed. This apparent paradox where a craft is glorified by an urban elite, but the craftspersons are not, is not unusual in a caste-based society. Language In a traditional caste-based society, the material production of goods – including agriculture, animal rearing, weaving, tanning and the processing of wool – was largely done by the Sudra and Dalit castes while the so called upper castes reserved to themselves fields like administration, ritual knowledge and trading. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, in his classic work, Why I am Not a Hindu, points out how each Dalit-Bahujan caste was so rooted in its own production process that the language spoken by the caste was itself structured around that production. The Brahminical Telugu spoken by the 'upper' castes in his village did not even contain the vocabulary to describe the processes of production related to animal rearing or leather work. While the hierarchy of occupations coded into the traditional caste system dictated that all such work be treated as lower in status, or in the case of leather work, as impure, the goods produced were still essential to the upper castes. Hence the 'upper' castes permitted themselves to use goods produced by Dalits, including leather slippers, while simultaneously terming the tanners who made the leather and the artisans who crafted these slippers ritually impure. Castes that handle leather, in many states around India, were historically treated as untouchable. While the Constitution outlawed untouchability, this fundamentally casteist practice of placing artistic value on the goods produced without elevating the status of the artisans who make these goods has survived. Sanitising language like 'Indian handicrafts' has allowed an urban elite to wax eloquent about the beauty of these crafts while ignoring or sidelining the difficulties that are faced by the communities involved in every stage of production. Cattle, cows and violence Cattle traders in Maharashtra today (who are predominantly either Muslim or Dalit) remain subject to periodic violent attacks from Hindu fundamentalist 'vigilantes' while transporting cattle for slaughter. Dalit castes involved in the skinning of dead cattle have also been subjected to this brutal violence. In addition to direct violence, Dalits involved in the leather industry face the constant risk of legal proceedings and police harassment relating to cow slaughter. There is also a general lack of state support for tanneries in terms of funding, land, and infrastructure facilities with proper hygiene. Beyond material risks and financial exploitation, deep-rooted caste prejudice ensures the work is rarely treated with the respect it deserves, to the extent that the names of some castes historically involved in leatherwork are still used as slurs. In 2008, the Supreme Court held that the use of the word 'chamar' could be a punishable offence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, if it was used with the intent to humiliate. In 2023, Pakistani cricketer and cricket commentator Wasim Akram drew intense criticism for using the word in a derogatory manner on air. Retailers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs The internet has helped some makers of Kohlapuri chappals speak about their craft, reach a market directly and bypass middlemen but it has also grown a new generation of (often 'upper' caste) online entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on promoting Indian crafts, but who tend to reserve to themselves control over aspects like investment, design and pricing. While the GI tag has been useful in concentrating attention to the specific districts of Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka where Kohlapuri chappals are made, conversations about the industry still tend to centre the voices of retailers and wholesale manufacturers who are often not from the same caste as the tanners or the artisans who stitch the slippers. From this perspective, the unwillingness of artisans to continue in this difficult line of work is generally dismissed as 'labour shortages' and the struggles faced by tanners are bucketed into raw material shortages. The caste linked barriers that prevent artisans and tanners from growing their own businesses and reaching the more lucrative parts of the value chain within the industry are also rarely discussed in the context of preserving the craft. This is not a problem limited to handicrafts. Multiple studies have found that Dalits are significantly underrepresented among entrepreneurs. Even when they own businesses, the enterprises they own are predominantly small. Also Read: Kolhapuri Chappals Walk the Prada Runway, Yet Local Artisans Get No Benefit From it Aseem Prakash demonstrates that Dalit entrepreneurs are also subjected to what is termed 'adverse inclusion' in the market. Adverse inclusion is a phenomenon where a market participant from an underprivileged community reaps lower returns on their capital investment, regardless of the quality and prices of the goods and services offered. His study of Dalit entrepreneurs and the restrictions they face offers several reasons for this, including upper caste officials blocking registration of Dalit owned businesses at the behest of upper caste competitors; competitors blocking the labour supply to Dalit businesses forcing them to seek labour from further away; upper caste bank officials restricting financing by telling Dalit entrepreneurs that they are not culturally suitable to successfully run certain businesses; and physical and legal threats to the business, forcing them to sell goods at cost to their upper caste competitors. While many Indian influencers have spoken of the failure of the government to adequately market handicrafts like Kohlapuri chappals abroad, there is a deeper issue at play. Due to the manner in which caste restrictions have seeped into modern entrepreneurship in India, Dalit craftsman or tanners are rarely placed in a position where they can become the face of the industry, decide on the direction of its growth or even explain the uniqueness of the craft, as masters of a craft honed over generations, to the world. When it comes to hand crafted goods like leather slippers, this is a particular loss. At the heart of marketing any product is a singular question – what makes this product special? In the case of Kohlapuri chappals, it is the specific tanning, dyeing and stitching processes, each honed with knowledge built over generations. And yet, the special nature of this knowledge cannot be explained convincingly unless the artisans are given the platform and resources to explain the evolution of their skills and lauded as the irreplaceable human factor that makes the product unique. If the artisans are financially exploited, sidelined and their skills treated within the Indian market as dispensable, or worse, degrading, it is unlikely that the rest of the world will accord these skills the respect that is their due. Sarayu Pani is a lawyer by training and posts on X @sarayupani.
The Hindu
13-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Ministry of Textiles engages experts to survey Uppada Jamdani saree weaving, aims to support handloom weavers in Andhra Pradesh
The Ministry of Textiles has engaged experts from the South Zone Weavers' Service Centre (WSC), Chennai, to conduct a fresh survey on the condition of Uppada Jamdani saree weaving and the socio-economic status of handloom weavers on the Uppada coast in Kakinada district. The Uppada Jamdani technique, registered under the Geographical Indications (GI) Registry in 2009, restricts production to the Uppada region. Noted for its double-sided motifs, the craft relies on the dexterity of young girls, whose sharp eyesight enables precise movement of yarn across warp and weft. In a release, Kakinada MP Tangella Uday Srinivas said: 'Union Textile Minister Giriraj Singh has been briefed about the Uppada Jamdani craft. He has directed WSC-Chennai to assess the challenges faced by the weavers and other stakeholders.' Design & Development Focus 'The State has proposed ₹12 crore assistance under the National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP), with ₹3 crore in matching funds. Mr. Giriraj Singh has assured support from the Centre after the WSC submits its report,' said Mr. Uday Srinivas. NHDP (2022–26) aims to strengthen the handloom sector through design innovation, raw material subsidies, and better market access. In Uppada, nearly 80% of weavers are women from the fishing community. Many traditional weavers have shifted roles to become master weavers, investing in Jamdani saree production. Cooperative Collapse The lone handloom cooperative in Uppada has halted saree production, citing a lack of active weavers. By 2022, only one weaver remained with the society. Currently, no Jamdani saree designer resides within the GI region, forcing master weavers to depend on local fisherfolk for motifs. The craft was earlier revived in the late 1980s by WSC-Vijayawada. 'Over 700 people involved in weaving will benefit if the Centre extends NHDP aid,' said Mr. Uday Srinivas. The future of the craft and its artisan community now hinges on the WSC's recommendations. From 2019 to 2024, the Andhra Pradesh government provided ₹24,000 annually to each handloom family operating a loom.
Mint
11-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Is Pisco Peruvian or Chilean? Court settles the dispute for Indian brandy connoisseurs
A brandy brawl that raged through India's patent bodies over 20 years has finally come to a close, with the Delhi High Court deciding who can lawfully sell South America's premium Pisco spirit in the country. Vineyards from Peru and Chile can market their grape-based brandy as Pisco in India, the court ruled on Monday, provided the labelling clearly mentions the country of origin. Liquor industry executives and lawyers termed it a landmark decision, strengthening India's Geographical Indications (GI) framework by ensuring authentic products are properly labelled and protected. 'This judgment reinforces the consumer protection mandate at the heart of the GI Act, ensuring that consumers receive clear and accurate information about a product's origin and characteristics," added Swati Sharma, partner & head–intellectual property at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. For lovers of Pisco, a niche premium liquor produced primarily in Peru's Ica Valley since the 16th Century, it means a wider choice of the drink, and clarity over where it came from. It is a clear, strong grape brandy with around 42% alcohol, distilled from fermented black Quebranta grapes. The tussle The dispute began in 2005, when the Embassy of Peru applied for GI protection in India for 'Pisco', seeking exclusive rights over the name for its grape-based brandy produced mainly in its Ica Valley. Chilean producers opposed, stating 'Pisco' has long been used in Chile to describe similar grape-based spirits made in its own designated regions, such as Coquimbo and Atacama. They even submitted evidence of Pisco production in Chile since 1733. In 2009, India's GI Registrar accepted Peru's application, ordering it registered as 'Peruvian Pisco' to avoid consumer confusion. Peru challenged it, and in 2018, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) granted it sole rights over 'Pisco', shutting out Chilean producers. Chilean associations moved the Delhi High Court, leading to the latest ruling that both countries can use the name with clear country labels. The court also ordered the GI Registrar to update Peru's registration to 'Peruvian Pisco' and process Chile's GI application accordingly. Trademark risk 'This is one of the first Indian judgments recognizing that two countries can hold valid GI rights over the same product name if they come from distinct regions with unique characteristics. It shows Indian courts focus on market recognition and production linkage rather than nationalistic or historical claims," said Amit Kumar Panigrahi, a partner at Kochhar & Co. Geographical Indications are defined under India's GI Act and the WTO's TRIPS agreement as indications that identify a product as originating from a specific region, with examples such as Darjeeling Tea, Basmati Rice, and Kanchipuram Silk. While the high court settled the GI dispute, it could lead to trademark infringement risks if labels are incorrect, said Swati Sharma of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. 'Selling Chilean Pisco simply as 'Pisco' could infringe Peru's GI, and vice versa. Importers and retailers must review all labels, menus, and listings carefully and manage separate SKUs to avoid mix-ups." Focus on market Though imports of Pisco remain minimal — just a few hundred cases annually, mainly in high-end bars, mixology events, and five-star hotels — it sits alongside other niche premium spirits like Grappa, Mezcal, and Armagnac in India. Brands occasionally imported include Barsol (Peru), Capel (Chile), La Diablada, and ABA Pisco. In India, Pisco retails at ₹3,200–4,400 a bottle, placing it among premium spirits like Grappa and Mezcal, and just below Cognac and Armagnac. 'Allowing both Chilean and Peruvian origin Pisco may open up broader availability, improve education around the spirit, and eventually spur greater category growth," said Anant S Iyer, director general, Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies. That's when demand for premium spirits is driving the growth of India's alcoholic beverage market, whichcrossed 408 million cases in 2024 and is projected to grow over 5% in 2025. Super-premium India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) grew 23% last year as companies and consumers continue to move up the value chain. Paritosh Bhandari, advisor, Three Brothers Distillery (55North Whisky), however, said that for Pisco, price sensitivity, lack of category awareness, and competition from more familiar imports like tequila, mezcal, and rum will remain hurdles in the short term. Such niche spirits are primarily seen in high-end cocktail bars or boutique retailers in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, and Bengaluru. For instance, Latoya, a Latin American restaurant in Delhi, told Mint that they serve Pancho Fierro, a Peruvian Pisco, using around five bottles a month, according to Aloke Biswas, area operations manager at Manifest Hospitality, which operates the restaurant. "While guests don't usually opt for Pisco as a straight pour, the Pisco Sour remains quite popular, with about 10–15 cocktails sold monthly."
