Traditional Knowledge in Modern India ― Preservation, Promotion, Ethical Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms

This book demonstrates how traditional knowledge can be connected to the modern world. Human knowledge of housing, health and agriculture dates back thousands of years, with old wisdom developing and becoming modern. But in the past few decades, global communities have increasingly become aware that some of this valuable knowledge has fallen by the wayside. This has sparked systematic efforts at the local, national and global levels to connect this neglected knowledge to the modern world.

It discusses the origin of the topic, its importance, recent developments in India and abroad, and what is being done and still needs to be done in order to preserve India’s traditional knowledge. The discussions address a broad range of fields and organizations: from Basmati rice to Ayurvedic cosmetics; from traditional irrigation and folk music to modern drug discovery and climate change adaptation; and from the Biodiversity Convention to the WHO, WTO and WIPO.

Nirmal Sengupta, who studied at the Indian Statistical Institute, was until recently a National Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. He has been a Consultant to the Ministry of Commerce and Industries; Chairperson, Working Group on Flood Management for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan; Expert, Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation; and consultant to the UNDP, FAO etc. He has authored and edited several books, including “Managing Common Property - Irrigation in India and the Philippines” (Sage, 1991), and “The Economics of Trade Facilitation” (Oxford, 2007).