LIBOR – London Interbank Offered Rate – is an interest rate at which banks can borrow funds from other banks in the London interbank market. One of the worlds most widely used benchmarks for short-term interest rates, LIBOR rates were first used in financial markets in 1986. From then on Libor has been growing in stature and today it is the key reference rate for financial products worth about $ 350 trillion. Small changes in the Libor can cause ripples in the money market. LIBOR is fixed on a daily basis by the British Bankers Association and is derived from a filtered average of the worlds most creditworthy banks interbank deposit rates. Countries that rely on the LIBOR for a reference rate include the United States, Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In 2012, regulators from around the world were probing alleged manipulation of LIBOR by US and European banks. In 2013, a worldwide investigation discovered widespread manipulation of this benchmark interbank lending rates by traders and brokers. Geographical Indication A Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign used on certain goods that have a specific geographical origin and which possesses certain qualities, merits, and features that are essentially attributed to their place of origin. Most commonly, a geographical indication includes the name of the place of origin of the goods. GI is an aspect of industrial property which refer to the country or place of origin of a product indicating an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to the fact of its origin in that defined geographical locality, region or country. Under Articles 1 (2) and 10 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Geographical Indications are covered as an element of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). GI is also covered under Articles 22 to 24 of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, which was part of the Agreements concluding the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations. As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), India enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 and it has come into force with effect from 15th September 2003. The GI tag ensures that no one other than the registered users (or at least those residing inside the geographic territory) are allowed to use the popular product name. Darjeeling Tea became the first GI tagged product in India in 2004-05. Since then 194 items have been added to the list. Some of them include Aranmula Kannadi (Mirror), Chanderi Fabric, Kancheepuram Silk, Kashmir Paper Machie, Kashmir Pashmina among other
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 07:55:24 +0000
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