Guide to a good answer

Today, we will see how to write the Mains answer related to the current affairs topic ‘Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL)’ specifically related to medicinal formulations. Now, we will see how to address this topic in question-and-answer format.

Hyderabad: In the previous articles, we learnt how to write a good answer related to the current affairs topic asked in the exam. We got good responses from the readers through emails and calls to continue this series with more dynamic content. So, in this article, we are going to continue the theme of current affairs. This answer will serve as a guiding light, thus helping you in writing answers to similar topics you come across.

Today, we will see how to write the Mains answer related to the current affairs topic ‘Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL)’ specifically related to medicinal formulations. Now, we will see how to address this topic in question-and-answer format.

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This question is related to the traditional knowledge and technology part of the syllabus.

1) India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) which has a database containing formatted information on more than 2 million medicinal formulations is proving a powerful weapon in the country’s fight against erroneous patents. Discuss the pros and cons of making this database publicly available under open-source licensing.

Introduction: India has a rich traditional knowledge system comprising many fields such as science, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, philosophy, etc. It has been transferred through word of mouth for many generations before being written down in modern times.

Body:

What is a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library?

TKDL is a digital repository of the Indian traditional knowledge system, especially related to medicine. It contains data about medicinal plants and formulations being used in traditional medicinal systems in India such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga.

A) It was set up in 2001 as a collaboration project between the Ministry of AYUSH and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

B) It is available in five languages – English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

C) Objectives of TKDL:

i) To protect and preserve Indian traditional medicinal knowledge.
ii) To prevent the misappropriation of such knowledge and granting of unethical patents at International Patent Offices.
iii) To foster modern research based on traditional knowledge by providing access to the vast traditional knowledge of India.
Pros of making TKDL publicly accessible:
a) Enable access and development: Publicly available data on traditional medicinal systems on TKDL allows for greater accuracy in translation and further facilitates scientific research into traditional knowledge.

b) Intellectual Property Rights protection: Public access will discourage people from filing fraudulent patents and thus enable the protection of intellectual property rights of traditional knowledge systems.

c) Enable credit and benefit sharing: Public access of traditional knowledge will curb its misattribution and thus enable credit and commercial benefit sharing to the rightful owners.

d) In line with international practices: Other countries such as Republic of Korea and China do not impose any access restrictions to their traditional knowledge portals.

Cons of making TKDL publicly accessible:

a) Scope for misuse of open access: With an open TKDL database, people can eventually work their way through the existing systemic loopholes by making slight changes to the formulations to gain patents.
b) Misuse by large corporates for profit motives: With such vast and accessible knowledge, profit motivated corporates might try to appropriate traditional formulations to gain undue profits.
c) Scope for endless litigation: Public access to traditional knowledge might create litigation between different countries or communities for ownership rights.
Conclusion: TKDL is a powerful weapon in fighting erroneous and unethical patents. It must be made publicly accessible in line with international practice while placing robust mechanisms to curb its misuse.
Thus, today we discussed a question related to current affairs topic from the traditional knowledge and technology part of the syllabus. Do make note of important points from the above question and make your answer enriched. We will discuss a few more questions related to current affairs in the upcoming articles in this series.
To be continued…
By Anirudh Billa

Polity Faculty & Answer writing expert

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