Distributive justice and utilitarianism

Distributive justice and utilitarianism
Utilitarianism’s handling of the reality of heterogeneous populations and consequent inequality is perverse
Utilitarianism is one of several ethical theories addressing the question of how to assess the “goodness” of any state of affairs. In the history of ideas, the most distinguished proponents and defenders of utilitarianism have been the great English thinkers Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-73).

Bentham’s is one of the foremost names in British jurisprudence: A man who held the notion of “natural rights” to be “nonsense upon stilts”, he nevertheless also fought for the abolition of slavery. J.S. Mill, a child prodigy who grew into an adult genius, is known (apart from his contributions to the principles of political economy) for his tracts On Liberty and On Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism, as encompassed in what is called the “Benthamite Social Welfare Function”, is a staple feature of contemporary economic theory. Among economist-philosophers in the modern era, a notable proponent of utilitarianism has been the Nobel Prize-winning game theorist John Harsanyi.

In summary form, utilitarianism is well-served by that clichéd description of it as demanding “the greatest good of the greatest number”. Stated more rigorously, the “goodness” of any state of affairs is taken to be reflected by the sum of the utilities derived from that state by all the individuals in a community (this sum is what is called the Utilitarian or Benthamite Social Welfare Function). In comparing the “goodness” of alternative states of affairs, utilitarianism will recommend that state in which the sum of individual utilities is larger. “Utility”, for present purposes, may simply be interpreted as “desire fulfilment”. (It is said that the famously irascible Cambridge economic theorist Frank Hahn, growing weary of philosophical definitions, once told his class that “utility is the damned thing you maximize”!) In order to be able to sum utilities across individuals, some special assumptions about personal utility must be made—in particular, that utility is “cardinal” (which permits statements such as “my utility is twice as much in state x as in state y”) and also “interpersonally comparable”, that is, commensurable across individuals.

What does utilitarianism have to say about distributive justice? To fix ideas, let us ask: What is the optimal distribution of income that utilitarianism would prescribe in a two-person world? Typically, the assumption is that both individuals share the same utility function defined on income—and further, that utility increases as income increases, though at a declining rate, to accommodate the thesis of “diminishing marginal utility”. Notice that social welfare under utilitarianism is a sum of individual utilities. When will this sum be maximized? Suppose we have a fixed amount of income, say Rs100, to distribute between the two individuals, what is the optimal distribution?

Suppose the welfare-maximizing distribution is an unequal one, say, Rs40 to individual 1 and Rs60 to individual 2. Then, because of diminishing marginal utility of income, if we were to transfer some income from person 2 to person 1, the gain in utility to person 1 would be greater than the loss in utility to person 2, that is, on net, social welfare would increase with a transfer of income from the richer to the poorer person. And this must continue to be the case as long as one person has more income than the other. This is just another way of saying that an unequal distribution can never be a welfare-maximizing distribution. The optimal distribution of income, under utilitarianism, must always be an equal one.

The above equality result, some thought will reveal, is driven by the assumption of identical utility functions for the two individuals which increase with income at a diminishing rate. The condition for maximum social welfare is equalization of the two individuals’ marginal utilities—and given the assumption of identical utility functions, the accidental by-product of equal marginal utilities at the optimum is equal incomes. Take away the assumption of identical utility functions, and what do we have?

This is the problem that Amartya Sen addressed in his Radcliffe Lectures at the University of Warwick, subsequently published in book form in 1973 with the title On Economic Inequality. Specifically, he considered a situation in which, given the two-person world invoked earlier, person 1 experiences exactly half as much utility as person 2 at each level of income, because, let us say, person 1, unlike person 2, is physically handicapped. What would the utilitarian welfare-maximizing distribution of income now look like? At the optimum, the two persons’ marginal utilities would have to be equalized. This will happen when person 2’s income is twice the income of person 1.

Elementary considerations of “need” would prompt us to prescribe a greater share of income for the disadvantaged person 1. Utilitarianism does precisely the opposite. As Sen has pointed out, utilitarianism rewards the more efficient “pleasure machine”, instead of compensating the more needy disabled individual. By 1973, Sen was already anticipating his subsequently-developed “capability theory”, wherein well-being is seen to be a matter of human capability rather than desire satisfaction. Utilitarianism’s assumption of identical utility functions depends on the postulation of homogeneous populations. But the world as we know it has populations that are heterogeneous, that is, people are not identical in their non-income characteristics. Heterogeneity is of the essence of inequality, a problem which utilitarianism handles inadequately, indeed perversely.

Bolshevism: A hundred years on

Bolshevism: A hundred years on
Even though Bolshevism is probably dead, both the populist-nationalists and the liberals are likely to borrow strands from Marxism to address issues of inclusion and inequity
The Great October Revolution of 1917 in Russia began with a minor revolution in February of that year. Tsar Nicholas II, who had ruled since 1894, was forced to abdicate his throne by Petrograd insurgents and a provincial government was installed. The last tsar was brought to that situation by factors that included the bloody suppression of a revolution in 1905, anti-Semitic pogroms, a Bloody Sunday in 1905 in which the Imperial Guards fired on unarmed demonstrators, and defeat in the Russo-Japanese war. The Bolsheviks were themselves a ragtag team of anti-imperialists. Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky were not united or cohesive in their violent protests against the establishment. Lenin’s April Theses eventually became the foundational principle for the Soviet worker councils of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies and they seized power from the liberals in early November 1917 (the Gregorian calendar records the October revolution as having started on 7 November). Political communism in Soviet Russia, which was to last 72 years, was born.

Lenin’s April Theses called for power to pass to the proletariat and away from the bourgeoisie. He called for all land to be nationalized and for banks to be consolidated into a single Soviet-controlled entity. Importantly, he also advocated a Comintern, or an organization created to spread communism internationally. This last edict, to create a de facto “marketing” department, led in the following decades to Mao Tse-Tung’s revolution in China, and the advent of political communism in many countries like Spain (the only Western European country to have a Communist revolution), Vietnam, North Korea and India.

Indian communism was born in the first plenums of the Comintern. M.N. Roy attended the second world congress of 1920 as a delegate of the Communist Party of Mexico (which, bizarrely, he helped found). Roy was also the common link between Marxism and the Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary nationalist organization born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) that advocated violent overthrow of British rule. Other members of Anushilan and its sibling Jugantar group were also converted to Marxist-Leninist thinking during long periods in jail. A separate strand of Indian communism was born in Maharashtra with Shripad A. Dange, who, having become disillusioned with Gandhianism, wrote a pamphlet titled Gandhi vs Lenin. The pamphlet led to a meeting between Roy and Dange and the Communist Party of India (CPI) was activated. This organization gained prominence and notoriety when Roy, Dange, Singaravelu Chettiar and others were charged in 1924 under the Cawnpore Bolshevik Conspiracy case with seeking “to deprive the King Emperor of his sovereignty of British India, by complete separation of India from imperialistic Britain by a violent revolution”. A third thread to Indian communism, banned during British rule, came from those who were persuaded by Marxist-Leninist thinking but were part of the mainstream Congress Socialist Party (CSP). The ban was lifted during World War II when Britain and Russia became allies against Nazi Germany.

Caught between the diktats of Moscow and a national cause, the CPI made a major decision to abstain from the Quit India Movement, believing the freedom struggle would compromise its fight against fascism. This marginalized the CPI as India proceeded towards independence. When China and the Soviet Union broke with each other in the early 1960s, the CPI split as well, adding CPI (Marxist), or CPM, as a more moderate and national version relative to the internationally guided CPI. Dange and the CPI lost steam after the split and the party splintered and drifted into extremism. The CPM became a mainstream political party that has had continuing influence in the state politics of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.

Even as the All India Trade Union Congress threatens strikes and information technology workers in Bengaluru contemplate a new union, the CPM’s influence on national politics has been waning. Bolshevism, and more generally communism of the Marxist-Leninist variety, which defined the major political competition of the 20th century, has receded. China is the only large country to hang on to the tag, but its political practice today is that of a one-party state with a unique combination of central political control and market economics. As the world evolves from the industrial age to an information age and more workers become freelancers, the very nature of a “soviet” has become obsolete. Paradoxically, tsar-like authoritarians, professing to speak for the people, have filled the void.

The defining political competition of the 21st century is likely to be between populist-nationalism (Pop-Nat) and liberal democracy. Even though Bolshevism is probably dead, both the populist-nationalists and the liberals are likely to borrow strands from Marxism to address issues of inclusion and inequity. Neither the fully collective view nor the unbridled free-market view, both of which held sway for periods in the 20th century, is likely to prevail for decades to come.

We will have a very different political fight between the haves and the have-nots in this century, but that basic tussle that forced Nicholas to abdicate a century ago is set to continue. It is endemic to the human condition.

P.S. “The worst form of inequality is to make unequal things equal,” said Aristotle.

Asia’s maritime-quad might prove elusive

Asia’s maritime-quad might prove elusive
A closer look at the emerging naval dynamics in Asia makes clear that the maritime ‘quad’ isn’t still a wholly viable proposition
The “quadrilateral” is back, and with a verve that is making strategic pundits sit up and take notice. After reports emerged last week that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe would propose a four-way dialogue between the US, Japan, Australia and India during President Donald Trump’s visit to Tokyo this week, there is speculation in New Delhi that the new “quad” might seek to counter Chinese naval power in Asia. Indian analysts say New Delhi might be willing to experiment with the idea of a countervailing alliance if it addresses India’s power imbalance with China. India’s expansion of the Malabar Exercises to include the Japanese navy and the reinvigoration of defence ties with Tokyo and Canberra, they suggest, is a sign that Indian policymakers are amenable to the idea of hard-balancing in Asia.

Yet, the prospects for an Indo-Pacific “concert of democracies” in maritime Asia aren’t strong. A closer look at emerging naval dynamics in Asia makes clear that the maritime “quad” isn’t still a wholly viable proposition. First, neither Japan nor the US has given any indication that the new grouping will have a China-centric security agenda. Earlier this week, a senior US administration official rejected suggestions that the “quad” alliance was about containing China. If anything, reports from Tokyo and Washington suggest the group might be focused on finding an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The second reason why India’s nautical observers might have to wait longer for their “quad” moment is Washington’s indifference to the geopolitics of maritime South Asia. Nearly a year into Trump’s presidency, the US is yet to address New Delhi’s key concerns in its near-littorals, including China’s growing footprint in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, the Indian Navy’s inability to track Chinese submarines in the Bay of Bengal, and the strengthening China-Pakistan nexus in the Arabian Sea. Indian analysts say Washington’s real equities reside in the Western Pacific, where senior US officials expect New Delhi to play a larger security role. But even in East Asia, the Trump administration is looking circumspect, with a growing dependence on China to solve vexing problems like North Korea. From an Indian standpoint, the more Washington needs Beijing to negotiate with Pyongyang, the less leverage it has in shaping China’s strategic choices in the Indian Ocean.

New Delhi won’t be surprised if Trump’s promotion of a “free and open Indo-Pacific region” is more focused on trade, than maritime security. With rising angst among Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) members over Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Washington is under pressure to underline its commitment to the economic development of the Asia Pacific. Even if the US wanted to signal a hardening of maritime posture in Asia, it is likely to be dissuaded by Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which is showing a new enthusiasm for naval engagement with Beijing (evidenced by the first joint China-Asean maritime search and rescue exercise in the South China Sea last month). With many South-East Asian states openly acknowledging China’s role in regional security and development, it seems unlikely a proposal aimed at the containment of Chinese naval power in Asia will find much support—regardless of Beijing’s real and perceived violations in the disputed littorals.

The third reason why New Delhi might have to wait longer for a four-way naval alliance is the lack of clarity over what a naval quadrilateral really means for Indian interests. For the US and its Pacific partners, the maritime “quad” is a concept aimed at the joint implementation of a rules-based order in Asia. For India, however, the endeavour is an opportunity to develop its military capabilities to secure the Indian Ocean, a primary theatre of strategic interest. However, with Japan no longer in contention for the India’s submarine project P-75 (I), and US defence firms still unwilling to part with proprietary technology (including vital anti-submarine warfare know-how), the proposal for a close maritime cooperation holds little promise for improving India’s underwater surveillance and combat prowess.

Finally, if there is a need for a balancing coalition in Asia, it must happen only when the threat becomes clearer. Despite an expansion of PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) activity in the Indian Ocean Region, China does not pose a physical threat to Indian interests (not for the moment). Chinese naval assets haven’t challenged Indian sovereignty in its territorial waters, or ventured close to Indian islands with malign intent. Nor have PLAN ships and submarines impeded the passage of Indian merchantmen in the regional sea-lanes and choke-points. To the contrary, the Chinese navy has avoided any entanglement with Indian naval ships in the subcontinental littorals, limiting its ventures to friendly countries in the region, many of which are happy to benefit from Beijing’s economic and military power.

This does not mean India’s grievances with China are invalid. New Delhi is rightly concerned about Beijing’s use of its navy to normalize Chinese dominance of the littorals, a condition that supports Beijing’s vision of a unipolar Asia. Indian maritime observers are convinced that China’s maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean involves a “slow choke” of New Delhi’s geopolitical influence in its strategic backyard. But Beijing is going about its business carefully, ensuring that its military presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) does not cross the threshold of conflict with India. Whatever the impact of China’s naval expansion in South Asia on New Delhi’s geopolitical and strategic equities, it does not constitute an intrusion for which Beijing can be held legally, politically or militarily accountable.

At the first quadrilateral discussion in the Philippines next week, India will observe how far Japan, Australia and the US are willing to take substantive cooperation forward in the Indian Ocean. The turn of events at Manila will determine whether and how New Delhi will expand its trilateral Malabar naval exercise with the US and Japan to include Australia.

For the moment, the maritime-quad remains an idea whose time still hasn’t arrived.

India Youth Development Index and Report 2017

Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore releases the India Youth Development Index and Report 2017
Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore here today released the India Youth Development Index and Report 2017. The objective of constructing the India Youth Development Index (YDI) 2017 is to track the trends in Youth Development across the States. The Index enables recognizing the high and low performing states, identifies the weak domains and informs the policy makers the priority areas of intervention for youth development in the states.

The Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, an Institute of National Importance has come out with Youth Development Index and Report 2017. This is a pioneering attempt made by the Institute in 2010 which it followed up with the India Youth Development Index in 2017.

Constructing Youth Development Index for the year 2017 was done using the latest definition of youth as used in National Youth Policy – 2014 (India) and World Youth Development Report of Commonwealth (15 – 29 years) as well as using the Commonwealth Indicators in order to facilitate Global comparison.

In the India Youth Development Index 2017, the first five dimensions are retained same as that of Global YDI. The indicators and weights have been modified based on the availability of data at sub-national level and the importance of the indicators in explaining Youth Development with the aim of capturing the multidimensional properties that indicate progress in youth development at the sub-national level i.e., state level. Global YDI is different from YDI constructed for India in one unique way; YDI for India adds a new domain, social inclusion, to assess the inclusiveness of societal progress as structural inequalities persist in Indian society. This construction helps to identify the gaps that require intensification of policy intervention.

This report is of immense value to enable comparisons across geographical areas and categories, as human development index has done in comparing the development situation across regions, nations and localities. The index also measures the achievements made besides serving as an advocacy tool for youth development and facilitates to identify priority areas for development of Policy and Interventions.

As an effective decision – support tool, the YDI-2017 will enable the policy makers track the national and the regional progress as well setbacks in youth development policies, planning, priority identification and implementation strategies. Besides providing insights to suggest alternatives and options, it also aids in judicious allocation of resources.

Director, RGNIYD Prof. (Dr)Madan Mohan Goel made a presentation before the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rathore. Secretary, Youth Affairs Dr. A. K. Dubey was also present on the occasion.

India ranks poorly at 133 in Global Youth Development Index compiled by Commonwealth Secretariat
India ranked 133rd in the index covering 183 nations, below neighbouring countries like Nepal (77), Bhutan (69) and Sri Lanka (31) and trailing behind the South Asian average.The top 10 countries on the index are largely from Europe – Germany (1), Denmark (2), Switzerland (4), United Kingdom (5), Netherlands (6), Austria (7), Luxembourg (8), Portugal (9) – with Australia (3) and Japan (10) as the two exceptions.

Founding Ceremony of International Solar Alliance in Bonn, Germany

Curtain Raiser Event held for the Founding Ceremony of International Solar Alliance in Bonn, Germany

A Curtain Raiser Event for the Founding Ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held at Bonn, Germany yesterday.

Speaking at the event, Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India hoped that, in the spirit of affirmative action, developed countries will earmark a percentage of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) towards solar energy projects in developing countries. He suggested that Multilateral Development Banks and other financial institutions provide wholehearted support for solar projects through low cost finance, and research & technology institutions worldwide try their utmost to bring the cost of solar power and storage within the reach of all. Shri Kumar also invited corporates and other institutions to support solar energy development and deployment in every possible manner.

Recalling that the ISA initiative is the vision of Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Kumar reaffirmed Indian Government’s continued support for the ISA. He also spoke about the Government plans to increase the share of renewable energy in India’s energy mix, especially towards achieving cumulative installed renewable power capacity of 175GW by 2022.

Secretary, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Shri C.K. Mishra, underlined the need for visualising solar energy in the context of sustainable development goals. He emphasised upon the need for arranging technologies, finance and capacity building for solar energy projects, as well as for developing storage technologies. He also suggested that there is a need to work in the areas of renewable power evacuation and application of off-grid solar energy.

Interim Director General of the ISA, Shri Upendra Tripathy, informed that ISA will become a treaty-based international intergovernmental organisation on 6 December 2017. 44 countries have already signed the ISA treaty, and many more are set to join. He spoke on the ISA’s three ongoing programmes: facilitating affordable finance for solar, scaling up solar applications for agriculture, and promoting solar mini-grids in Member Nations. The discussions also covered the ISA’s Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM) project, aimed at de-risking investments into solar energy projects in developing countries, and thereby, encouraging flow of funds into the sector.

Speaking at the occasion, H.E. Ségolène Royal, Special Envoy for the implementation of the ISA, Government of France, emphasised upon five key points to accelerate global solar deployment: setting concrete goals, developing and leveraging common tools, enhancing projects, establishing decentralised PV solutions, and forging new partnerships that capitalise on complementary capabilities.

The ISA was jointly launched on 30 November 2015 by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, and then-President of France, H.E. François Hollande, on the side lines of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties 21 (CoP21) at Paris, France. The ISA is a treaty-based alliance of 121 prospective solar-rich Member Nations situated fully or partially between the Tropics, and aims at accelerating development and deployment of solar energy globally.

Where are you in India’s wealth distribution?

Where are you in India’s wealth distribution?
92.3% of adults have wealth less than $10,000 while a negligible percentage, about 760 people, have wealth of over $100 million each
Credit Suisse’s latest annual Global Wealth Report says India is home to 245,000 dollar millionaires. The country has a share of 0.7% of the global top 1% by wealth, who collectively own half the world’s total wealth. In India, 340,000 adults are part of this elite group. There are 1,820 adult Indians who have wealth over $50 million, and, at the very apex, 760 have more than $100 million.

The chart shows India’s wealth pyramid. At the bottom, 92.3% of adults have wealth less than $10,000. Above that, in the $10,000 to $100,000 bracket, we have 7.2% of Indian adults. And 0.5% of us have wealth over $100,000.

Incidentally, the upper limit of the bottom bracket, or $10,000 is very high by Indian standards because median wealth in India is a mere $1,295 per adult

........Military Honours to Two WW-I Indian Soldiers of 39th Royal Garhwal Rifles at France

Mortal remains of two Indian soldiers of 39 Garhwal Rifles were laid to rest at Military Cemetery at Laventie, France. A delegation comprising of Commandant and Subedar Major of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre, two bagpipers from the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Pipe Band and Colonel Nitin Negi, grandson of late Naik Darwan Singh Negi, Victoria Cross, attended the ceremony.

On the occasion, homage was also paid to the soldiers of Indian Meerut Division at Nueve Chapelle War Memorial by laying wreaths on behalf of the Chief of the Army Staff, Indian Army by Brigadier Indrajit Chatterjee, Commandant and Subedar Major Trilok Singh Negi, SM of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre. The Commandant expressed his gratitude to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for the excellent care and maintenance of the War Memorial dedicated to Indian soldiers in France and Flanders. He also thanked the Government of France for the conduct of the solemn ceremony.

.........................National Power Portal(NPP) – a Centralized Platform for Collation and Dissemination of Indian Power Sector Information

NPP to be a single point interface for all Power Sector Apps launched previously by the Ministry
NPPis a centralised system for Indian Power Sector which facilitates online data capture/ input (daily, monthly, annually) from generation, transmission and distribution utilities in the country and disseminate Power Sector Information (operational, capacity, demand, supply, consumption etc.) through various analysed reports, graphs, statistics for generation, transmission and distribution at all India, region, state level for central, state and private sector.

The NPP Dashboard has been designed and developed to disseminate analyzed information about the sector through GIS enabled navigation and visualization chart windows on capacity, generation, transmission, distribution at national, state, DISCOM, town, feeder level and scheme based funding to states. The system also facilitates various types of statutory reports required to be published regularly.The Dashboard would also act as the single point interface for all Power Sector Apps launched previously by the Ministry, like TARANG, UJALA, VIDYUT PRAVAH, GARV, URJA, MERIT.

NPP is integrated with associated systems of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and other major utilities and would serve as single authentic source of power sector information to apex bodies, utilities for the purpose of analysis, planning, monitoring as well as for public users. The system is available 24x7 and ensures effective and timely collection of data. It standardized data parameters and formats for seamless exchange of data between NPP and respective systems at utilities.

..............................................300 Cyber security experts to attend first ever Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (Apcert) Conference

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology organizing the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) Conference from November 12-15, 2017 in New Delhi. This is the 15th Conference of APCERT and first ever conference in India and South Asia and is expected to be attended by 21 economies.

The conference theme is "Building Trust in the Digital Economy". November 12-14 are closed for AGM and other APCERT meetings. The open session including industry, academia, civil society and Government stakeholders will be held on November 15, 2017 at Hotel The Ashok, New Delhi. This will be inaugurated by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon'ble Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, and is expected to be attended by over 300 cyber security professionals from the Asia Pacific region, USA, Europe, Industry, Academia, Government and Media.

....................................Pankaj Advani clinches his 17th world title after thrashing Mike Russell in IBSF World #Billiards Championship.

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Rasogolla hits sweet spot, gets GI tag

Rasogolla hits sweet spot, gets GI tag
The Geographical Indication (GI) Registry and Intellectual Property India has presented the Geographical Indication Tag status to Banglar Rasogolla of West Bengal and Mamallapuram stone sculptures of Tamil Nadu.

The sculptures from Mamallapuram were known to be carved in stone with characteristics of intricate designing chiselled finely, keeping with the spirit of the surrounding Pallava art and architecture. The description includes cave architecture, rock architecture, structural temples, open sculptures, relief sculptures and painting/portrait sculptures.

Rasgolla: According to one of the documents submitted by West Bengal citing historical evidence, Rasogollas invented in the Nadia district of West Bengal are 60 years old (lower end time frame). Haradhan, a confectioner of village Phulia is named as the inventor. West Bengal has given half-a-dozen historical evidences to back its claim.

About GI tag:

What is it?

A GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.

Significance of a GI tag:

Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.

Security:

Once the GI protection is granted, no other producer can misuse the name to market similar products. It also provides comfort to customers about the authenticity of that produc