Our Rich Heritage

April 18, is the World Heritage Day. India is an ancient nation, endowed with most rich heritage, vivid national ethos and morals of exemplary standards. The Greek ambassador Megasthanes, who adorned the court of Chandragupta Maurya from 302-298 BC has explicitly  testified to it  in his historic compendium on India, entitled the 'INDIKA'  by stating that the masses in Bharat, then in 300 BC had so high  self righteous virtues in their conduct and behaviour that even during war time, when the armed forces of enemy kings were engaged in fighting, the village folks and farmer-families continued to work fearlessly in their farms, as the national ethos of "Dharma" were so firmly ingrained into their  mind and conscience that they never thought of hurting civilians, of even the enemy kingdom.

All our vast scriptural treatises are so replete with immense and ultimate scientific intellect as well as diverse doctrinal wisdom of social and behavioral sciences that they encompass all dimensions of knowledge and human conduct. The scriptural legends compiled in vary intricate but, highly meaningful linguistic verses, speak of an eternal and ever-perpetuating culture of highest ethical standards, embedded with scientific tempor and an advanced civilizational traditions. The Vedic texts, among this vast treasure of scriptures, are unanimously accepted worldwide, as the oldest available texts on our planet wherein the Rigved has been declared as past of ancient world heritage. The vedic and Pauranik literature of Bharat explicitly delve in deep, about the infinite expanse of our cosmos with ceaseless and unhindered spate of creation and extinction of galaxies. Vast range of cosmic and astronomical attributes along with several deeper intricacies of human physiology and unique scientific facts of, the physical and life sciences, as well as historical antiquities are dealt very meticulously. The Naasdiya sookta of vedas, the creationism of Puranas and the works of hundreds of astronomess and mathematician like Aryabhatt, Varahmihir, Bhaskaracharya, Brahmagupt etc. talk of cosmic perpetuity, intricate celestial phenomena, scientific laws of motion & gravitition etc and so on very aptly. The second verse of 26th chapter of Yajurved so explicitly talks of the biological fact of  electrical impulses of our heart's ventricles, that is corroborated today, as on the basis of the same principle, we aid them (heart's impulses) with a pacemaker based upon a silver ion battery as an - an electrical heart-implant.

The verse says ''Angi gun hridaye ashani gun hridayagren ¼vfXu  ân;s.k 'kfu  ân;kxzs.k½ Here 'ashani' ¼v'kfu½] as per sansknt Nighantu  (i.e. sanskrit thesoras) is a synonym for electrical impulses. Scientific epidemiology of most of the words in the Sanskrit Niruktas is so meaningful that they reveal immense treasure of scientific and other information. A single example of the term 'Yashad' standing for Zinc is enough.  It reveals about the metallurgical chemistry; that zinc after ignition can be collected on a Copper plate alone, which acts as a reducing agent. The epidemiology says 'Tamrah Yash Pradaayate iti Yashadah' ¼rkez% ;'k iznk;rs bfr ;'kn%½- Likewise the world's oldest and more than two millenia old as well as hitherto the   most systematic Sanskrit-grammar of Panini, today also has no parallel. In league with the Panini's Ashtadhyayi the world's equally old and so oldest among the available texts is the two millennia old Kautilya Arthshastra which talks of an advance economy of ancient era.

 The Valmiki Ramayan mentions of 4 tusked elephants at more than one place, which had lived on the earth since 25 million years and turned extinct just one million years ago.  This epoch is coinciding with the Treta Yug which is narrated to have commenced since 21, 25,119 years and ended 8,69,119 years ago according Puranas. No, other scripture, related to later era mentions about 4 tusked mammoths. Except the Valmiki Ramayan. This testifies for Ramayan period to have lapsed in Treta Yug, as corroborated by the antiquities archeological findings of one million year old 4 tusked mammoths.

In the area of Astronomy as well, the western astronomers were not aware of the precession of equinoxes called Ayan Chalan ¼v;u pyu½] which (live precession) completes its one full circle in 26,000 years and India has acknowledged it, calculated it accurately and sustained in calculating the monthly sankrantis or the 12 solar transits along with the nomenclature of Hindu months and so on. Now the western astronomers too agree to this phenomenon of precession of equinoxes, occurring due to swing in the spin of the earth. In the pre-Mahabharat era the names of Hindu months were Madhu, Madhav, Shuchi etc., were changed, keeping in view the precession of equinoxes when the full moon of these Madhu, Madhav and Shuchi etc 12 months begun to fall in the constellations of Chitra, Vishakha, Jyeshtha etc. So, they are now called Chaitra, Vaishakh, Jyeshth, Ashaadh and so on, based on the moon's constellation on Prunima. No calender of the world is so calibrated with advance astronomical phenomena on an ongoing manner. Ignoring all our scriptural sources, the modern historians had even pegged the Ramayan era to 1500 BC and Mahabharat era and period of lord Krishna within 700 to 1000 BC, and have also been dubbing the Indian scriptural sources as myth. The marine- archeological excavations, undertaken since 1980s by the National Institute of Oceanography, near the Dwarika-coast have already unearthed rich archeological relics of ancient Dwarika, including a 30 feet wide fortification wall of the then Dwarika town was raised 5 millenniums ago, when the Dwarika town was founded, to protect the town from sea waves. Building blocks of that era with, pottery and other objects of iron and copper, all depicting very advanced architectural and metallurgical skills of Indians dating back to 5 millennia. Indeed the Radio-Carbon and Thermoluminescence dating of the aforesaid  objects found under water, near Dwarika coast corroborate for being more than 5000 years old, in conformity with the ancient Indian pauranic writings which describe the lord Krishna's era i.e., Krishna Janma Samvat  or year of birth falling as 5243 in 2017 AD.

Besides, the archaeological relics or the remains of ancient Dwarika town, there is immense irrefutable evidence of much older civilizations like an ancient port near Dwarika with more than a thousand anchors lying in the sea bed are also enough to amaze every one. Moreover, the remains of another 12000 year old sea port at the nearby cambay (Khambhat) region of Gujarat, with more than 2500 anchors scattered on the sea-bed help to further corroborate with even our rigvedic descriptions of conduct of sea trade much before the Mahabharata era. Rigved the oldest book of the world and included in the UNESCO's list of world heritage mentions of sea trade through 'Shatritra' i.e. an ocean-going ship with 100 oars. Moreover, if India had such vast sea ports more than 12 millennia back i.e. dating back to 10 millennia B.C., it is a conclusive evidence of our inheriting very rich heritage comprising an advanced civilization, depicting well developed industrial economy, supported by commeasurating trade and commerce.

The geographical spread of our ancient heritage was also upto Indonesia in the far east, till 15th century just before the fall of 'Majaphit empire' after the Jehadi aggressions and up to Europe in the west. According to Adams and Phythian, the European archeologists, there is not a single European museum which is devoid of relics of 'Mitra' a vedic synonym for the 'Sun God' as per their book 'Mitraism in Europe'.

Several sections of scholars ignorant of the ancient history of Bharat, hold the belief that Bharat was for the first time integrated as a unified nation by the British, forgetting that Bharat had its frontiers, encompassing entire Srilanka and South-East Asia during the revgn of Chola King Rajendra, coroneted in 1014 A.D. Earlier to him, the Buddhist King Kanishka (127-150 AD) and the Kushan empire had 4 capitals at Patliuetra (Patna), Mathura, Taxila and Purushpur (Peshawar now in Pakistan) to a rule in area spread to Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan as well as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkand (Part of Xinjang Province of China), Tibet (Trivish tap), Nepal Afghansrtan. He had also built a 560 feet high Buddhist Stupa, and rdics of it were seen by even all Biruni (973-1048 A.D.), who has described it in his book. Even the Mayyan Temples of Sun and several Latin American practices, of their pre-evangelization era, reflect several Hindu traditions of Bharat.

Global governance was not an unheard concept to ancient rishis, as it was in vogue in Vedic age. One single verse of ved testify for a universal constitution regulating the global governance speaking of one nation from the land-mass upto the oceans "Prithivyaye Samudra Paryant ek radtiti" (i`fFkO;kFkZ leqnz i;ZUrk;k ,d jkM~frfr). In this hymn, utmost welfare is solicited for all empires under the reign of a common constitution for the world, whether ruled by monarchy (lkezkT;) welfare state (HkksT;a) where the empire is called bhojya and the ruler is called 'Bhoj'. Or a feudal empire (oSjkT;) where the ruler is called Virat and empire is called Vairajya and so on. Bhojya empire was there in Bhojpur-Nepal, Bhojpur-Bihar, Bhojpur UP and Ujjain etc. and urlers were called King Bhoj. The Taittiriyopnishad has dealt with various types of governance under a common rule of universal governance. All these need to be popularised and be brought in public domain.

US - CHINA TRADE WAR: Taming the Dragon

The war of words going on between the US and China on the trade front, ever since the Presidential election in the US is quite likely to escalate into a full-blown trade war, as the US President Donald Trump has already slapped tariffs on $50 billion (Rs 3 lakh crore) worth of its imports from China on 22nd March. But, scared of loosing the lucrative American Market, China has though retaliated, but quite meekly, by slapping trade restrictions over American goods worth mere $3 billion. China is shy of facing a full blown trade war with the US, with which it has a trade surplus of $375 billion. So, China has the most to loose in a fierce trade war between the two. Though, the Sino-US trade and investments are so intertwined that both sides are likely to suffer. But, the fast burgeoning trade deficit of the US has grown from $100 billion in 2001 to 375 in 2017 is more unsustainable for the US, compared with the losses of a trade war.

Defensive and Compromising Posture of China

Apprehending more heavy damage from further escalation of the trade war, China wants to avert it. The Chinese Premier Li Keqing has already offered, before the representatives of “Fortune 500 companies”, on March 26 that he would further expand imports from the US and also assured to pragmatically tackle friction and differences with US on trade-front through dialogue and negotiations. The Chinese Premier has also gently agreed that China will further open its markets to foreign investors, including the US. Indirectly conceding the accusations of Trump government of "unfair trade practices", China has agreed to be more flexible. According to the Forbes magazine, the Chinese officials have conceded that China will now import more semiconductors and other intermediates from American sources to balance the trade. Li had also offered on March 20 of phasing out tariffs on drug imports from the US. China's official Xinhua News Agency has also taken cognizance of Washington’s demand to reduce its trade surplus by at least $100 billion. The U.S. officials allege, China has also acted unfairly on technology transfers and intellectual property rights.

Trade war is Perilous for Both sides

The US is also bound to suffer severely if the trade war escalates. A trade war would cramp most top-selling China-bound American exports, including automobiles, civilian aircrafts and numerous other products. American consumers too might suffer and face a dearth of Chinese exports that they like and buy heavily today. There is a major risk for several hundreds of US companies, if China would hit back. Though, China runs at far more economic risk than the United States. Hence, so far, China's response to U.S. tariffs has been a mixture of indignation and bluster, and the actions taken have been fairly restrained. China, has more to lose from a sharp escalation in tariffs. The US President Donald Trump had in its election campaign itself had threatened to impose 35 to 45% tariffs on Chinese imports, to force China into renegotiating its trade balance with the US. He had even branded the spurt of Chinese imports as economic aggression.

Deglobalisation is Imminent

This incidence of slapping tariffs by the US and China on each other's exports is not an isolated, sudden and sporadic incidence. It is a natural fallout of the grave inequalities that have perpetuated in trade, investment and job-creations across the globe, out of deep globalization forced by rich countries since the early 90s, aimed at elimination of geo-political barriers in the way of their trade and investments. Consequently, today more than 85 percent of the world manufacturing has got concentrated with China, US, EU, Japan, Korea and Taiwan (i.e. among these 33 out of 230 countries of the World, as per UNCTAD). China alone has captured 22.5% share in world manufacturing followed by the US - 17.5%, Japan 10%, Germany 7%, and so on. The industrialized nations have pursued deep globalization to capture the markets, manufacturing and investment opportunities in around 200 developing and other countries. Bharat too has badly suffered, which now has a mere 2.1% share in world manufacturing. The MNCs, after taking over the manufacturing sector in India have shifted technology intensive activities out of country and have been running only their assembly lines. But, now China turned the tables has against the industrialized countries and has begun to flood the markets of all the industrialized countries with Chinese goods. So, the rich nations ranging from Singapore, Britain, EU and US are poised for deglobalization by raising barriers in free movement of people as well as goods. Bharat had to bring down its import tariffs manifold and had to dismantle the phased indigenization programme as well as the dividend balancing clause. All of these have affected domestic manufacturing as well as balance of payments.

Our Gain from Trade War

Bharat has greater ‘real’ trade deficit with China, then the US. The US deficit at $375 billion is only 1.87% of the American G.D.P. But, our trade deficit with China is 2.25% of our GDP for 2016-17, and is slated to grow in 2017-18, which has exceeded over $30 billion in the first six months of 2017-18, against a twelve months’ deficit of $51b in 2016-17. In the aftermath of the Sino-US trade war, the Chinese appear to have learnt a lesson and have turned more agreeable for our demand for redressing the trade deficit of Bharat as well. So, inspite of the anti-dumping duties slapped by Bharat, mostly by the NDA Government on as many as 98 products, China is readily agreeing to further curb its trade surplus with Bharat. So, now when China is facing a tariff war with the US, it has turned softer with Bharat and has also openly conceded of having unjust trade surplus with Bharat, and has also very gently agreed to curb this vast Sino-Indian trade deficit only recently on this March 26. The Chinese government, under pressure of a looming trade war with the US is now more readily agreeing that the massive imbalance in its trade with India is “unsustainable” for long-term trade growth, and is also agreeing that it needs to be addressed. It was a major trade victory for Bharat, when on March 26, visiting Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan shared this sentiment. He has clearly stated this, after his meeting in the commerce and industry ministry, and even welcomed Indian investments in China. It has promised to fully address the trade deficit of India. So, it is the time, when Bharat can secure a more balanced and accommodative Chinese response, in the aftermath of the escalating Sino-US trade war.

Locking Horns

Published in Organiser

The US and China on the trade front, ever since the Presidential election in the US, is quite likely to escalate into a full-blown  trade  war,  as  the  US President Donald Trump has already slapped tariffs on $50 billion (Rs 3.25 lakh crore) worth of its imports from China.  But, scared of losing the lucrative American Market, China has initially declared counter tariffs at over American goods worth mere $3 billion. China is shy of facing a full-blown trade war with the US, with which it has a trade surplus of $375 billion. So, China has the most to lose in a fierce trade war between the two. The Sino-US trade and investments are so intertwined that both sides are likely to suffer.  The fast burgeoning trade deficit of the US has grown from $100 billion in 2001 to 375 in 2017 which is more unsustainable for the US, compared to the losses of a trade war.

Compromising China

From further escalation of the trade war, China wants to avert it. Chinese Premier  Li  Keqiang  has  already offered, before the representatives of “Fortune 500 companies”, on March 26  that  he  would  further  expand imports from the US and has also assured  to  pragmatically  tackle on the trade front through dialogue and  negotiations.  The Chinese Premier has also gently agreed that China will further open its markets to foreign investors, including the US. Indirectly conceding the accusation of the Trump government of resorting to “unfair trade practices”, China has agreed to be more flexible. According to the Forbes magazine, the Chinese officials have conceded that China will now import more semiconductors and other intermediates from American sources to balance the trade. Li had also offered on March 20 of phasing out tariffs on drug imports from the US. China’s official Xinhua News Agency has also taken cognizance of Washington’s demand to reduce its trade surplus by at least$100 billion. The US officials allege China has also acted unfairly on technology transfers and intellectual property rights.

Perilous Trade War

The US is bound to suffer severely if the trade war escalates. A selling   China-bound   American exports, including automobiles, civilian aircraft and numerous other products. There is a major risk for several hundreds of US companies if China hits back. Though China runs a far more economic risk than the United States, China’s response to US  tariffs  has  been  a  mixture  of indignation  and  bluster,  and  the actions  taken  have  been  fairly restrained. China has more to lose from a sharp escalation in tariffs. The US President Donald Trump had in its   election   campaign   itself threatened to impose 35 to 45 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, to force China into renegotiating on trade balance with the US. He had even branded the spurt of Chinese imports as economic aggression.

Deglobalisation is Imminent

This incidence is slapping tariffs by the US and China on each other’s exports is not an isolated, sudden and sporadic incidence.  It is a natural fallout of the grave inequalities that and job-creation across the globe, out of deep globalization forced by rich countries since the early 90s, aimed at  the  elimination  of  geopolitical barriers in the way of their trade and investments.  Consequently,  today more  than  85  percent  of  the  world manufacturing has got concentrated with China, US, EU, Japan, Korea and Taiwan (i.e. among these 33 out of 230  countries  of  the  World,  as  per UNCTAD). China alone has captured 22.5  per  cent  share  in  world manufacturing followed by the US—17.5  per  cent,  Japan  10  percent, Germany 7 percent, and so on. The industrialised nations have pursued deep globalization to capture the markets, manufacturing    and investment opportunities in around 200 developing and other countries. Bharat too has badly suffered; which now has a mere 2.1 per cent share in world manufacturing. The MNCs, after taking over the manufacturing sector in India have shifted technology intensive activities out of the country and have been running only their assembly lines. But, now China has turned the tables against the industrialised countries and has begun to flood the markets of all the industrialised countries with Chinese goods. So, the rich nations ranging are poised for deglobalisation by raising barriers in free movement of people as well as goods. Bharat had to bring down its import tariffs manifold and had to dismantle the phased indigenisation programme as well as the dividend balancing clause. All of these   have   affected   domestic manufacturing as well as the balance of payments.

Bharat’s Gain

Bharat has greater real trade deficit with China,  then  the  US.  The US deficit at $375 billion is only 1.87 percent of the American GDP. But, our trade deficit with China is 2.25 percent of our GDP for 2016-17, and is slated to grow in 2017-18, which has exceeded over $30 billion in the first six  months  of  2017-18,  against  at twelve months’ deficit of $51 b in 2016-

trade war, the Chinese appear to have learnt a lesson and have turned more agreeable  to  our  demand  forredressing the trade deficit of Bharat as well. So, now when China is facing a tariff war with the US, it has turnedsofter with Bharat and has also openly conceded of having an unjust trade surplus with Bharat, and had also very gently agreed to curb this vast Sino-Indian trade deficit only recently on this   March   26.  The   Chinese government,  under  pressure  of  alooming trade war with the US, is now more  readily  agreeing  that  the massive imbalance in its trade with India is “unsustainable” for long-term trade growth, and is also agreeing that it needs to be addressed. It was a major trade victory for Bharat when on March 26, visiting Chinese Commerce Minister  Zhong  Shan  shared  this sentiment. He has clearly stated this,after his meeting in the Commerce and  Industry  Ministry,  and  even welcomed  Indian  investments  in China. It has promised to fully addressthe trade deficit of India. So, it is the time, when Bharat can secure a more balanced   and   accommodative Chinese response, in the aftermath of the escalating Sino-Us war.

(1) (PDF) Locking Hours. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324331218_Locking_Hours [accessed Nov 27 2018].

(1) (PDF) Locking Hours. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324331218_Locking_Hours [accessed Nov 27 2018].

ड्रैगन पर नकेल की चुनौती

Need to Revisit Developmental Priorities to Bridge Growing Disparities & Deprivation

Industry Consortiums to Invigorate Manufacturing

Need of 'Made' by India Products and Brands

India has less then 3 percent share in the world's nominal GDP, based upon exchange rate and mere 2.1% share in the world manufacturing, inspite of a 17.8 percent share in the world population.  China too had only 2.4% share in world manufacturing in 1981. But, today it has a 23 percent share in the world manufacturing and has thereby pushed the US to second position with 17.2% share in world manufacturing.  Moreover, of late, in the post reforms period India has even been experiencing deindustrialization, on account of liberal imports and growing foreign direct investments (FDI). Most of the foreign MNCs, which have brought FDI into India have mostly been bringing their components or completely knocked down (CKD) kits from outside and are merely assembling their products into the country. So, the real manufacturing, including manufacturing of the original equipments has been going down, ever since the onset of the economic reforms in 1990s. Besides, the Indian brands and indigenously manufactured products are also fast losing their market share, and many of these are turning to be extinct. They are being replaced by the Chinese or other foreign brands. More than two-thirds of the manufacturing in most of the sectors in India has gone under foreign ownership and control in last 24 years of economic reforms which was largely under Indian ownership and control, before the reforms. Even, many of the Indian brands too have Chinese or other imported components or even sometimes the Indian brands too are assembled outside India, mostly in China, and merely bear the tags of Indian brands. Besides, on account of dumping of cheap products by China, Industry and industrial cluster after cluster are turning sick and facing closures at a large scale. The worse target of cheap dumping are the tiny and small scale industries, ranging from toys, cycle and cycle parts glass products, leather products  furniture to electricals and so on. Therefore, there is an urgent need of pursuing the strategy to our manufacturing technology and promote 'Made by India' products and brands. In several major sectors of economy. India has only a miniscule share in manufacturing. For example, in world ship-building, share of India is just 0.01%. While South Korea, which has 5% of our area and 5% population has 26% share in world ship-building, inspite of the fact that India is 4th  largest steel producer in the world with a large pool of skilled manpower. To the contrary, wherever the industry is provided an enabling environment by the government, it had done well. For instance, in case of pharma sector, by virtue of an enabling patents regime provided since 1970 onwards till 2005, the Indian pharmaceuticals sector has become capable to contribute almost 10% by volume, in the world pharma manufacturing and now provides affordable medicines world over. Thereby, India is also called the pharmacy of the world. But, now this sector is also on rapid decline on account of changes made in the patent laws of India, since 2005 to comply with the agreement on TRIPS of the World Trade Organization (WTO). So, today, India can grow only if indigenous industry flourishes. This requires to promote domestically owned enterprises. For this the domestically owned enterprises have to enhance their technology, quality and bring economy in their operations. For launching more aand more by India Product And Brands in pace of for foreigen companies.

Relevence of Industry Consortia

For this India needs to adopt consortium approach to move fast on the path to upgrade and develop  technologies across the manufacturing value chains in different sectors, needed to make Indian manufacturing and services economical and competitive world over and attain an edge over the foreign products and services. The industry consortiums approach, already having firm footing in Euro-American and other industrialized countries can only place Indian manufacturing in the front rank, worldwide by virtue of their time tested capability to develop affordable technologies at the least cost. The major industry clusters if transformed into consortiums and consortium development in stepped up across the country, horizontally as well as vertically for most of the sectors this can only help the country to overtake other the industrialized countries including China. 

Industrial Research is a high cost prerogative and most of the industrialized countries have promoted industry-level pre-competitive cooperative researches by sharing the cost of developing latest state of the art technologies for a host of industries with liberal financial support from government via 3 cooperative routes. The 3 common cooperatives routes have been: (i) Initiating formation of industry specific consortia for technical and market research and liberal state funding of these consortia. (ii) Facilitating formation of Technology Development Cooperative Association and state funding of these. (iii) Facilitating, recognizing and supporting Technology Development Cooperation Agreements among 2 or more companies as well as by industry level agreements. The United States has enacted the Cooperative Research Act, as early as in 1984 to develop Industry Consortiums for collective industry level efforts in R&D and market researches with government support. Even the Airbus corporation was initially developed as an industry consortium of aerospace component manufacturers of Europe to launch a high-end civilian aircraft in competition with the Boeing of the U.S. This Airbus Consortium i.e. “association of Aerospace component manufacturers” from across the Europe, then developed and launched high-end civilian aircrafts under the brand of Airbus Industries consortium. The same Airbus consortium has been converted into Airbus Corporation much later. All the consortium members, who were aerospace component makers became shareholder into the corporation made from consortium.

In US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan etc. there are several hundred industry consortia, both vertical as well as horizontal, which are liberally supported by their respective  governments for pre-competitive research, technology development, market research and brand promotion. In US, there are more than 1200 consortia for the industries ranging from Photonics, Automobiles, Telecom, IT, Pharma, Energy, Agrochemicals, Biotechnology and so on. Most of which are funded by the government from 70% to 90%. The rest is contributed by the individual corporate units, member of the industry consortium concerned. Most of the advanced Researches on each industry segment are being conducted by the industry consortium concerned. Through such researches being conducted by the Industry consortia, the U.S. and other countries are powering the development of advanced technology for having an edge over other countries. India can take an edge over the whole world in technology development through consortium approach.

Concept:

A consortium is an association of two or more individuals,firms companies, associations, universities, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal, especially for group of industrial enterprises either for developing a  new technology or cultivate a market or similar other objective. Generally an industry consortium engages in pre-competitive research at industry level. But there may be other types of consortia also. Mostly, in a majority of countries consortium is a co-operative research effort among business firms, governments and universities to help the participating companies or firms to attain and maintain leadership or gain a competitive edge over their international competitors in a particular industry.

Benefits:

Mostly, the industrialised countries also emphasize over various advantages of consortia such as minimizing the cost of developing new technologies by reducing unnecessary duplication of research efforts, sharing the risks of undertaking R&D, getting immediate access to new technologies, new markets and cheap production sources, and making otherwise big and complex research projects possible.

 Consortia in US :

In the United States, technology consortia, mostly horizontal, have rapidly grown after 1984, when the Congress implemented the National Cooperative Research Act (NCRA). This law allows American firms in the same industry to establish consortia that conduct precompetitive R&D. In the United States, however, the formation of industry specific R&D consortia was earlier hindered by antitrust laws that penalized cooperation among competitors until the US Congress passed the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 (NCRA). In 1993 the NCRA was amended to include cooperative production and redesignated the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993 (NCRPA). These legislative acts reflected a new technology policy to facilitate cooperative research with sharing costs aimed at reducing risk for individual companies. Governments often liberally extend financial grants for the commercialization of new technologies crucial for any industry to grow and compete globally.

Research and development consortia in the US are required by the NCRPA to register with the U.S. Department of Justice, which recorded more than 600 new consortia from 1985 to 1996. While the NCRPA does not provide exemption from antitrust laws, it limits the damages that may be assessed if an antitrust violation occurs. Where antitrust laws provide for triple damages to be assessed, the NCRPA limits liability to single damages. In addition, any alleged antitrust violations would be judged under a rule of reason standard, rather than assuming they were illegal per se. In the years since NCRA was passed, no antitrust proceedings have been brought against registered consortia.

Under the NCRA, firms within an industry may form consortia to conduct "precompetitive" research. Precompetitive research is research that is considered generic to the development of multiple products of basic and primary value to all participants. By forming R&D consortia, manufacturing firms can avoid duplicating basic research tasks and share the results more cost effectively. As a result they are able to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.

After the implementation of the NCRA, technology consortia have increased substantially in the United States. There are now about 350 technology consortia involving about 1500 American and 50 foreign firms. As indicated above, they predominate in high-tech industries. The Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC), the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and the Software Productivity Consortium (SPC) are examples of co-operative research ventures that involve companies in similar markets.

 Common Features of Industry or Technology Consortia in the US:

•         The Primary goal of most consortia precompetitive research is to conduct on an ongoing basis, and the secondary goal is product development. The government gives liberal grant to most of the consortia.

•          The funding for technology development consortia is mostly provided by government-industry shared programs. Less than 25% consortia are funded solely by the private sector i.e. member units of the industry.

Technology Development Cooperative Association - An alternative: Such associations can be created for a variety of sectors with pre-defined contribution and pattern of sharing the benefits. Or the benefits of co developed technology can be accessed, availed and commercially exploited by all equitably.

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) - Another Alternative:Such agreements can be worked out between two or more companies, research laboratories, universities, technology institutes or any combination of these.A CRADA is an agreement inter se one or more companies, institutes, laboratories and or any of the one or more parties under which the can share technocrats, other personnel, services, facilities, equipment, or other resources toward the conduct of specified research or development efforts. Such research must be consistent with the mission of the one or more parties. The CRADA partners contribute any one variable or all of the above and funding to the project to share the benefits in predefined ratios.CRADAs involve collaborative research which may result in the sustained growth and development of inventions. Mostly a CARDA is signed with either a government or a governmental agency.

Examples :

Some examples out of several hundred consortia actively engaged in research in industrialized countries are being briefly described hereunder:

1          The Airbus example : Airbus Industries was formed in 1970 as a consortium of aerospace component manufacturers to manufacture the Airbus range of aircraft, with the retention of production and engineering assets by the partner companies and initially making the Airbus Industries consortium as a sales and marketing outfit. This arrangement some initial inefficiencies and inherent conflicts of interest to among the four partner companies as; they were both shareholders of, and subcontractors to, the consortium to make aircrafts jointly. The companies collaborated on development of the Airbus range of aircrafts, but also had intent to  guard the financial details of their own production activities to maximize the transfer prices of their sub-assemblies. But all these initial problems were overcome with shared vision and ambitions of participating companies and governments. After successfully running this consortium, it was consolidated as European Aerospace and Defence Space company. As consortium the Airbus Industries launched its first 300 seater A300 in 1972. It was converted into a joint stock company in 2001. It has facilities at 16 places across four countries viz France, Germany, Spain and UK. It now has 63,000 employees across these 4 countries and a turnover of $ 70 billion (Rs. 5 lac crores).

2.         The European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) : The EPIC is a good example of not-for-profit association with headquarters in Paris, France. EPIC serves the photonics industry community through a regular series of workshops, market studies and partnering. EPIC focuses its actions on LEDs and OLEDs for lighting, optical fiber telecommunications,laser manufacturing, sensors, photovoltaics and photonics for life sciences. EPIC coordinates its activities internationally through its membership in the International Optoelectronics Association.

EPIC was originally founded in 2003 by five companies: Aixtron, CDT, Osram, Philips, and Sagem. Today, more than 180 companies, research organizations, universities, and other industry stakeholders are members of the consortium. The membership works together to execute the mission by proposing and implementing influential initiatives of significant impact on the industrial landscape. The strength of EPIC comes from its capacity to represent the European photonics industry with a clear and articulate voice. Industry associations such as EPIC have a key role to play in identifying market opportunities and in helping their members to work together to capture the opportunity. The European photonics industry is made up of a broad community of highly innovative small companies. When economic pressures create turbulent markets and make planning difficult, an association can help companies to create partnerships and find a better way through the crisis by finding new revenue streams.

Key initiatives: The EPIC has following breakthroughs to its credit.   

      

(i)         Photonics21 i.e. European technology platform: In 2004 EPIC proposed the creation of a European Technology Platform in photonics to the European Commission. EPIC’s members worked in partnership with other European organizations to develop a vision of photonics as a well defined science leading to disruptive breakthroughs in telecommunications, life sciences, manufacturing, lighting and displays, sensors and education. The European Commission accepted this vision and established the Photonics-21 Platform at the end of 2005.

(ii)        Merging Optics and Nanotechnologies (The MONA Roadmap) : During 2005-2007 EPIC and its members developed and participated in the MONA project to create a study to identify synergies between photonics and nanotechnologies, and to identify opportunities for industry in these areas. The goal of this project is a roadmap leading from the R&D environment to mastering nano-electronics and nano-photonics technologies at an industrial scale. This roadmap has been completed and is available to the public.

(iii)       Advanced Components Cooperative for Optoelectronics Research and Development (ACCORD): Beginning in 2007, EPIC and its members initiated the ACCORD project which purchases prototype photonics components and systems from SMEs and awards them to university R&D groups based on competitive proposals. ACCORD is inspired by PTAP, (Photonics Technology Access Program), a similar exchange initiative developed by the OIDA, also a member of the IOA.

 (iv)      Leadership in Fiber Laser Technologies (LIFT) : EPIC organised and led a consortium of 20 companies, SMEs, and research labs in a proposal to the European Commission for a €17 million project to develop new technologies for higher brilliance fiber lasers. The project has been accepted and started in 2009. EPIC also initiated and manages the Linked-In site for Fiber Lasers.

(v)        Workshops on key photonics opportunities : EPIC organises workshops and symposia on key topics and opportunities identified by its membership. Proceedings and synthesis of these meetings are available to the public. Some examples are presented for workshops developed in collaboration with the SPIE.

2. CAR Industrial Consortium: The CAR Industrial Consortium has been in operation since 1999, and has since then succeeded to see  the participation of 25 automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers. Over the years, it has grown with an initial membership of 10-12 companies. The following members in the CAR Industrial Consortium are global giants from across the globe. Some of them are"

• Bosch • GM    • Renault           • Chrysler         • Honda                        • Tenneco         • Cummins

• Lubrizol          • Transportation Research Center                       • Ford  

Thus, research and development consortia can provide member companies with many benefits and take the country to ever newer heights. They are formed to share expenses and resources and to pool talent and expertise. Consortia that are formed in the United States to compete globally are eligible for government funding. The most common type of consortia is horizontal, consisting of competing firms within an industry. Vertical consortia include firms ranging from materials suppliers to finished product manufacturers. India can also undertake this initiative in all the sectors.

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