GI Tag to Two Products | 13 May 2020

Why in News

Recently, Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting and Telangana’s Telia Rumal have been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Key Points

  • Sohrai Khovar Paintings:
    • The Sohrai Khovar painting is a traditional and ritualistic mural art.
      • A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other permanent surfaces.
    • It is being practised by local tribal women during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally available soils of different colours in the area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.
    • Style features a profusion of lines, dots, animal figures and plants, often representing religious iconography i.e.visual image and symbols.
    • It has been painted on the walls of important public places in Jharkhand, such as the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi.
  • Telia Rumal:
    • Telia Rumal cloth involves intricate handmade work with cotton loom displaying a variety of designs and motifs in three particular lours — red, black and white.
    • It is an art of Ikat tradition using natural vegetable dyes.
      • Ikkat is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles .
    • Uniqueness: Telia Rumal can only be created using the traditional handloom process and not by any other mechanical means as otherwise, the very quality of the Rumal would be lost.
    • The telia fabrics were used by nobles (Nizam’s dynasty) in Hyderabad. The fabric was exported to Persian Gulf, Middle East, Aden, East Africa, Singapore and Burma.

Geographical Indication Status

  • GI is an indication used to identify goods having special characteristics originating from a definite geographical territory.
  • The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 seeks to provide for the registration and better protection of geographical indications relating to goods in India.
    • The Act is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and TradeMarks- who is the Registrar of Geographical Indications.
    • The Geographical Indications Registry is located at Chennai.
  • The registration of a geographical indication is valid for a period of 10 years. It can be renewed from time to time for a further period of 10 years each.
  • It is also a part of the World Trade Organisation’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
  • Recent Examples: Tirur Vetilla (Kerala), Dindigul Lock and Kandangi Saree (Tamil Nadu), Odisha Rasagola etc.

Source:TH