Handicrafts and GI Tags of India: Crafts, Act and PYQs

The correct answer is B, Darjeeling tea. After the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 came into force on 15 September 2003, the tea of the Darjeeling hills was the first Indian good entered in the register, and its logo is still the best known Indian GI abroad. Option A is wrong because Mysore silk of Karnataka was registered later, though it is often given as a distractor because it was among the early entries. Option C is wrong because the Pashmina of Kashmir, woven from the fleece of the Changthangi goat, received its protection several years after Darjeeling tea. Option D is wrong because the Banaras brocades and saris of Uttar Pradesh were registered in the second half of the decade, after a long fight against machine made imitations. Remember the pair: first Act 1999, first GI Darjeeling tea.

The correct answer is C, 1999. Parliament passed the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act in 1999 to meet India's obligation under the TRIPS Agreement of the World Trade Organization, and the Act was brought into force on 15 September 2003. Option A is wrong because 1970 is the year of the Patents Act, a different branch of intellectual property law. Option B is wrong because 1995 is the year the WTO came into being and TRIPS became binding on India, which created the need for the law but is not the year of the Act. Option D is wrong because no GI legislation was passed in 2005; that year saw an amendment to the Patents Act instead. Candidates should keep three years apart: TRIPS 1995, the Act 1999 and its commencement 2003.

The correct answer is D, Chennai. Every GI application in India is filed at the Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai, which functions under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. Option A is wrong because Mumbai houses one of the branch offices of the patent office, not the GI Registry. Option B is wrong because New Delhi has a patent and trade marks branch office and the ministry itself, but the GI Registry was deliberately placed in Chennai. Option C is wrong because Kolkata holds the head office of the Patent Office of India, which candidates often confuse with the GI Registry. A useful way to fix this is to link the two southern and eastern cities: Patent Office head office at Kolkata, GI Registry at Chennai.

The correct answer is B, Karnataka. Bidriware takes its name from Bidar, a town in northern Karnataka, where craftspersons cast an alloy of zinc and copper, engrave it, inlay pure silver wire and then rub the surface with a special soil that turns the alloy deep black while the silver stays bright. Option A is wrong because Telangana, although next door and the home of Cherial scrolls, Nirmal painting and Pochampally ikat, is not the home of Bidri. Option C is wrong because Maharashtra is known for Warli painting, Paithani saris and Kolhapuri chappals. Option D is wrong because Kerala is known for the Aranmula metal mirror, coir products and Nettur boxes. The trap in this question is always the neighbouring Deccan state, so fix the word Bidar firmly to Karnataka.

The correct answer is A, Patan in Gujarat. In Patola weaving the yarn of both the warp and the weft is tied and dyed before weaving, so the motif is built up from the threads themselves and looks the same from either side; Patan in north Gujarat is its historic centre and the craft carries a GI. Option B is wrong because Pochampally in Telangana also produces ikat, but of a different and generally single ikat kind known as Pochampally ikat or Telia Rumal. Option C is wrong because Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh makes a light cotton silk sari with zari borders, not an ikat. Option D is wrong because Kota Doria of Rajasthan is a fine checked cotton and silk weave known for its square kota pattern. Ikat and its centres are asked almost every year.

The correct answer is B, Masulipatnam. Masulipatnam, the port town of coastal Andhra Pradesh, was the great centre of the painted and block printed cotton that European traders bought as chintz, and the same town is still one of the two homes of kalamkari. Option A is wrong because Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh was known for its fine muslin and zari weaving, not for chintz. Option C is wrong because Calicut on the Malabar coast gave its name to calico, a plain woven cotton, which is the cloth most often confused with chintz in examinations. Option D is wrong because Dhaka was famous for muslin of the finest count, the cloth called malmal and abrawan. Keep the three names separate: chintz from Masulipatnam, calico from Calicut and muslin from Dhaka.

The correct answer is C, Karnataka. Channapatna, a town between Bengaluru and Mysuru, is called the toy town of India; its artisans turn soft ivory wood on a lathe and finish it with lac and vegetable colours, and the toys carry a GI. Option A is wrong because Andhra Pradesh has its own two toy centres, Kondapalli near Vijayawada and Etikoppaka in Visakhapatnam district, which are separate GIs. Option B is wrong because Tamil Nadu is known for the Thanjavur bobblehead doll and bronze icons rather than lacquered lathe toys. Option D is wrong because Odisha is known for Pattachitra painting, Sambalpuri bandha textiles and silver filigree of Cuttack. Questions on toys usually mix Channapatna with Kondapalli, so tie Channapatna to Karnataka and Kondapalli to Andhra Pradesh.

The correct answer is A, Bihar. Madhubani, also called Mithila painting, comes from the Mithila region of northern Bihar, where women painted the walls and floors of the marriage chamber with natural colours, gods, fish, bamboo and the sun and moon, filling every gap with pattern. Option B is wrong because the best known tribal art of Jharkhand is Sohrai and Khovar wall painting, done at harvest and marriage. Option C is wrong because West Bengal is the home of Kalighat painting, Pattachitra scrolls of Medinipur and Kantha embroidery. Option D is wrong because Odisha is known for its own Pattachitra on the theme of Jagannath and for palm leaf engraving. The families of folk painting are asked in matching form, so link Madhubani with Bihar and Warli with Maharashtra.

The correct answer is B, Assam. Muga is reared on som and soalu trees in the Brahmaputra valley, and its thread has a natural golden sheen that grows brighter with washing; it is used for the mekhela chador and holds a GI in the name of Assam. Option A is wrong because West Bengal is associated with Baluchari and Murshidabad silk, which are mulberry silks, not muga. Option C is wrong because Manipur is known for its Longpi black pottery and Moirang Phee textile rather than for muga. Option D is wrong because Meghalaya is known for Eri silk and bamboo craft; Eri, the ahimsa silk, is also produced in Assam but is dull white, not golden. Candidates should remember the Assam trio: muga golden, eri warm and pat white mulberry silk.

The correct answer is C, ten years. Under the Act of 1999 a registered geographical indication, and the entry of an authorised user, is valid for ten years and may be renewed for further periods of ten years without limit, so a GI can last for ever if renewal is applied for in time. Option A is wrong because five years is not a term used for GIs in the Act. Option B is wrong because seven years belongs to no intellectual property term in Indian law and is a pure distractor. Option D is wrong because twenty years is the term of a patent in India under the Patents Act, 1970, counted from the date of filing, and it is not renewable at all. Papers like to place the patent term and the GI term in the same set of options.