When we reached Darjeeling it was already evening. The jeep drive was tiring. But the whole drive was amazing as I had the window seat. The beautiful curvy road, river along the side and the whole drive as such was great. The best seat would be of that of driver. But he did not seem to be that exited. May just another day at work.

We didn’t have to search for the hotel as we had booked the hotel from Siliguri. The hotel was decent for the cost. We had a good dinner and watched Govind & Akshay comedy at Multiplex. Night was more chiller than I thought.

Matty wanted to go in the train. He had planned to go to Ghoom in Train. But he was lazy to go to railway station to buy tickets. So it was me and MK who had too. But it turned out to be very interesting. The booking counter was not yet open and I needed a smoke (only when it was cold). As it is not legal to smoke in public area we moved out.There we saw the queen getting ready for the day. Myself and MK could not resist. As we entered I was scared as to what would guards tell. But they were very friendly and allowed to take pictures with her. Of course my mobile played a major role.

Queen of hills needs warming up for the journey. According to the driver she needs an hour or more to reach the required pressure. So they will start filling her say around 5 am.

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Subash has been one of my heroes since school time. How can I miss visiting his home when I have been to Kolkatta all the way from Bangalore? After visiting to Kali Mandir we caught the metro to reach Netaji House. Unfortunately it was 4:15pm by the time we reached. And they close Netaji house by 4. Well everything I wanted to see was outside. The escape route, the car etc. I took few pictures of the house and the steps at the back of the house he used for the escape. I have the picture of the car too. Let me search them and upload.

MK and Mathang having a chat in front of Netaji house while I was clicking.

Matty in front of Netaji Bhavan.

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Our visit to VTU-Belagum was very disappointing. The VC didn’t keep his word….adding to our grieve VC was in Bangalore. And got to know that he will be in Bangalore two out of seven days.
——————copy of the appointment which I got————————–
Dear Thejesh G.N.
I am pleased to inform you that our Vice Chancellor Dr. K Balaveera Reddy
kindly consented to meet you on Saturday 6th August 2005 in the evening at
VTU Blgaum.

Yours
U.S.Hampannavar
–
Uday S. Hampannavar
Special Officer & Secretary to VC
Visvesvaraya Technological University,
Belgaum – 590 014
Phones: 0831-2405458
Fax: 0831-2405456

——————————————————————————–
We handed over the petition to registrar of VT Mr. Shivananda. Of course we are planning to meet him here in Bangalore. Well as the great quote goes “First they laugh at you, then they neglect you, then they fight you and then you win”. We will keep putting our views in front of him.

Next steps:
(1) Keep the petition alive.
(2) Meet VC at Bangalore.
(3) Start FLOSS awareness at colleges.

21 March 2005 — David Hammerstein, Member of the European Parliament, sent a letter to the Indian Members of Parliament on the subject of the patentability of software, which is subject of a bill tabled in the Indian Parliament on 18 March by Minister for Commerce & Industry Shri Kamal Nath

To
Mr. T.K. VISWANATHAN Secretary to Government of India,
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Indian National Congress, 10, Janpath,
Dr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India
Shri Kamal Nath Minister for Commerce & Industry
L K Advani Leader of Opposition

David Hammerstein Member of the European Parliament Grupo Verde/ALE

Subject: Software patents in the Parliaments of Europe and India

Dear fellow MP,

I am writing to you on the subject of software patents as Member of European Parliament. The European Parliament has opposed to make software patentable in September 2003, and in February 2005 the European Parliament by unanimous vote rejected a proposal by the Council of the European Union to request that. The debate is still open here, but speaking as a Parlamentarian I urge you to avoid any hasty and unwise steps in India.

During our debate, the US trade representative (for example in a letter of 16 September 2003) has argued that Europe was bound to have software patents due to the TRIPS treaty. We have now reached the understanding that in the making of TRIPS there is no indication that computer programs were to seen as a field of technology in the sense of TRIPS. Hence we clarified in Article 2 of our directive: “(2) The use of natural forces to control physical effects beyond the digital representation of information belongs to a field of technology. The processing, handling, and presentation of information do not belong to a field of technology, even where technical devices are employed for such purposes”.

This is in accordance with art 52 (2)(c) of the European Patent Convention that states clearly that “schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers” shall not be regarded as inventions.

Moreover, article 10 of the TRIPs treaty also clearly demands protection by copyright for computer programs; TRIPS does not mention patent protection for computer programs at any place.

Given that the majority of software patent applications at the European Patent Office is from US and Japanese countries, having software patentable is clearly not in Europe’s interest, and it is also likely also not to be in India’s interest.

I would recommend either

* to amend the Indian law in the sense as outlined at http://wiki.ffii.org/InAmend0503En

* or just to keep the acceptable present wording of the Patent Act’s 2002 version “3 (k) a mathematical or business method or computer programme per se or algorithms” and to reject the ambiguous wording that has it had been issued by the Minister of Industry Kamal Nath in December 2004 ordinance “3 (k) a computer programme per se other than its technical application to industry or a combination with hardware; 3(ka) a mathematical method or business method or algorithms;”

* or to improve the present wording of the Patent Act’s 2002 version by simply deleting “per se” in “3(k) a mathematical or business method or computer programme per se or algorithms”

With kind regards,

David Hammerstein