Important Facts for Prelims (06th October 2018)

• 06 Oct 2018

GI Tag for Alphonso Mangoes

• Alphonso from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts of Maharashtra, have been given Geographical Indication tag (GI).
• Alphonso, better known as ‘Hapus’ in Maharashtra, is in demand in domestic and international markets not only for its taste but also for pleasant fragrance and vibrant colour.

GI Tags

• GI is an indication used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
• Such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
• For a product to get GI tag, the goods need to be produced or processed or prepared in that region.
• As a form of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), GI are distinct from other forms like patents, trademarks and copyrights because the ownership of rights in this case is with a "community" or a "group of people" rather than an individual or a corporate or non-corporate firm as might be the case with other IPRs.
• As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), India enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999, which has come into effect from 2003.
• The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 aims to provide registration and protection of GI goods in India.
• This Act is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, who is also the Registrar of Geographical Indications.
• The geographical indications registry for India is located at Chennai.
• Darjeeling Tea, Mahabaleshwar Strawberry, Blue Pottery of Jaipur, Banarasi Sarees and TirupatiLaddus, Banaganapalle mangoes are some of the GIs.

Methanol Cooking Fuel Program

• The state-owned company- Northeast and Assam Petro-chemicals, launched Asia's first canisters based and India's first "Methanol Cooking Fuel Program".
• The pilot project will include 500 households inside the Assam Petro Complex, which will be later scaled up to 40,000 households in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Goa and Karnataka.
• The safe handling canister based cooking stoves are from Swedish Technology and through a technology transfer a large-scale cooking stove manufacturing plant will come up in India in the next 18 months producing 10 lakh Cookstoves and 1 Crore Cannisters per year.
• This technology is very unique, it handles methanol extremely safely, does not need regulator or any piping system.
• The gaseous form, Methanol - Dimethyl Ether (DME), can be blended in 20% ratio with LPG. LPG-DME blending program is expected to kickstart in the country by 2019.
• The cooking medium can directly substitute LPG, Kerosene, Wood, Charcoal and any other fuel for cooking.
• 1.2 litres canisters can last for full five hours on twin burners and 8 such canisters as rack can last for one month for a family of three. The cost of energy equivalent of one cylinder of LPG for Methanol is Rs. 650, compared to Rs. 850 per cylinder resulting in a minimum of 20% Savings.
• For instance, in Manipur the cost of transportation of LPG is Rs. 200, whereas same cost for Methanol will be Rs. 12. This provides for an excellent alternative as household fuel and commercial, institutional and fuel for restaurants.
• This step is in direction of reducing import of crude and an effort to provide clean, import substitute, cost effective and pollution free cooking medium.