Editorial
The Washington message
AS WITH SEATTLE, demonstrators hogged the limelight in Washington at the recent spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. There is little doubt that their performance has drawn attention to the campaign against the multilateral institutions' style of functioning, specifically, and globalisation, generally. But the main point _ as with Seattle where attention was focussed on the `evil deeds' perpetrated by the World Trade Organisation _ is, first, if th e arguments employed by the demonstrators against the institutions and the current economic processes such as globalisation are valid and, second, whether an alternative course of action has been suggested that is both sensible and practicable . On both counts, the protesters seem to have a poor case, not because of any lack of sincerity of intention on their part but because of the tendency to view complex development issues through the prism of the `rich-poor, right-wrong' approach w hich is, no doubt, satisfying on moral grounds but which is quite impracticable given the rapidly increasing inter-dependence of the world economic structure.

Miscellaneous
Cricket and ethics in a plutonomy
Cricket has been rocked by one of the biggest scandals in any sport. Individual players crucial to every cricket team were till now expected to follow some implicit ethical rules. They were expected to play the game for the team's sake and to perform to the best of their abilities. Each team was expected to play to win the match. But

Intellectual property law: Scope and challenges
THE various branches of intellectual property law _ patents, trademarks, designs, and copyright _ ensure legal exclusivity in the market. In the new world economy, these property rights are invaluable in the fight to achieve and retain market shares. The term intellectual property presupposes an exclusive right to perform some well-defined activity, mainly manufacturing or marketing. The increase in the number of patents granted and trademarks registered indicate that intellectual property rights provid e immense commercial returns. The importance of recognising intellectual property rights is understood worldwide, and almost all countries have framed statutes for their protection as these laws safeguard ideas and information of commercial value.

Frightening
B. S. Raghavan

Policy
Revised PDS: Is it really pro-poor?
Considering its coverage and the impact on the poor, the targeting basis of the revised PDS needs a re-look, because it has become too restrictive. Moreover, the Government has not spelt out how it proposes to identify the population below the poverty line. In the absence of secure information about the income of every family, how will the Government stamp the ration cards eligible for PDS supplies? asks Ruddar Datt.

Technology
Telemedicine: Villages wired
IN THE typical Indian village, if a patient has to get a chest x-ray done, he has to travel to the nearest town. If he is lucky, the machine will be available and functional; the x-ray film he obtains has to again travel another 100 km to get to a good r adiologist for diagnosis. The travails involved in this exercise hardly need any elaboration.

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