On the road to Liberty

My press release titled "War Against Tobacco threatens Liberty and Economic Development, warn International Experts" was published on 6th May 2000. In a new book, War on Tobacco: At What Cost? international experts point out that the cost of the new war against tobacco is unacceptably high, both economically, and politically. Deepak Lal, Coleman Professor of International Development at University of California, Los Angeles, and one of the two contributors to this volume, reviews the recent World Bank report on tobacco and finds that contrary to the Bank’s claim, there are significant positive effects of growing and using tobacco. Mr. Gurcharan Das released the book at a function on 6 May, 2000, in New Delhi. Prof. Lal summarised his paper. Dr. Shreekant Gupta of Delhi School of Economics, commented on the paper, and the meeting was chaired by Dr. Bibek Debroy of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies. There was a livey question and answer session at the end. The prog...

My article titled "IPR promotes knowledge and economic development" was published in the newsletter of the Liberty Institute in May 1999. Over the past couple of years, the debate over Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) has increasingly become quite shrill. However, this seemed to have not enlarged the scope of the debate. The opponents have tried to portray IPR as a sell out to foreign interests, while the supporters of IPR reform keep repeating the necessity of IPR in the era of globalisation. However, the distinct advantages of having a good IPR regime, have rarely been highlighted. IPR was first recognised in England in the 17th Century, just as the industrial revolution was beginning to have an impact. The aim was to protect the interests of the inventor, and thereby encourage the development of newer and better products so that the society benefits as a result. Another critical component of IPR was that once the right was recognised, the new knowledge was open to publi...

My report titled "Liberty Institute ON THE BROADCAST BILL, 1997" was published in July 1997. Summary: We think the electronic media should not be treated differently from the print media, and should enjoy the protection under freedom of speech and the press. Consequently, the electromagnetic spectrum ought to be privatised and a market allowed to develop for trading space on the spectrum. This will ensure the optimum allocation of the spectrum among various users. Introduction Liberty Institute prepared this report suggesting a broad range of modifications to the Broadcast Bill 1997, which was introduced in Parliament in May 1977. Subsequently, the Bill was sent to a specially constituted committee of Parliamentarians from both Houses. The Joint Committee of Parliament (commonly known as the JPC) was made up of 30 senior MPs from all political parties. The Bill reflected a welcome consensus on the need to update the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885. However...