The first-ever "megaquake advisory" is issued by Japan: What does that signify?

Following Thursday, August 8, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in southern Japan, the nation's meteorological service issued its first-ever "megaquake advisory."

According to the warning, there is a larger than usual chance of powerful earthquakes and massive tsunamis along Japan's southwest Pacific coast at the Nankai Trough, a subduction zone (where tectonic plates collide and the heavier one slips under the other).

Nevertheless, the caution stated that this did not imply that a significant earthquake will undoubtedly occur at a particular time.

The Nankai Trough: What Is It?

The Nankai Trough is a nearly 900 km long undersea subduction zone where the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate collide, forcing the latter underneath the former and into the Earth's mantle. This builds up tectonic tension, which has the potential to produce a megaquake, or an earthquake that is larger than 8.

The 2023 study, "High probability of successive occurrence of Nankai megathrust earthquakes," which was published in the journal Nature, states that the trough has caused significant earthquakes around every 100 to 150 years. Usually occurring in pairs, these earthquakes often result in the second earthquake rupturing in the next two years; the most recent "twin" earthquakes occurred in 1944 and 1946.

Significantly, the US Geological Survey reports that the magnitude-7.1 earthquake that struck on Thursday happened on or close to the Nankai Trough. Experts are concerned that the subsequent tremor along the trough may be disastrous as a result.

When might the Nankai Trough's next megaquake occur?

According to a January 2022 report by Japan's Earthquake Research Committee, there is around a 70% chance that the next magnitude 8–9 megaquake along the trough will occur within the next 30 years.

According to the Reuters study, such a megaquake may cause tremors to travel from central Shizuoka, which is located approximately 150 km south of Tokyo, to southwestern Miyazaki.

Japan's Pacific beaches might see tsunami waves as high as 98 feet in just a few minutes following the earthquake.

According to a Nikkei Asia magazine story, a 2013 government study concluded that a significant Nankai Trough earthquake may affect an area that makes up roughly a third of Japan and is home to about half of the nation's 120 million inhabitants.

More than a third of Japan's yearly gross domestic product, or $1.50 trillion, might be lost economically as a result of the accident.

Can earthquakes, however, be predicted?

No, a precursory signal from within the ground that a major earthquake is approaching is necessary for an accurate earthquake forecast. In order to prevent it from picking up on any little movement on the surface of the earth, the signal must also only come before to significant earthquakes. There isn't any technology available right now to find these precursors.

The warning issued by Japan's meteorological office on Thursday was merely a cautionary statement, not a prediction, and Robert Geller, an emeritus professor of seismology at the University of Tokyo, told the BBC that it had nothing to do with science. Residents were advised to examine evacuation routes, get ready, and be aware of potential future warnings.

Revalidate every judgment made by contract employees: DPIIT oversees the patent office

According to a government official on Sunday, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has requested that the patent office end its Memorandum of Understanding with the Quality Council of India (QCI) and establish a committee made up of five to ten representatives from the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and TradeMarks (CGPDTM) to reevaluate all decisions made by contract employees.

This follows the suggestion made by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati in her legal opinion, which was requested by DPIIT, to invalidate all judgments made by the QCI personnel who were engaged by CGPDTM through outsourcing. She declared that any organization without the required statutory architectural powers would have its outsourced personnel performing quasi-judicial functions in a way that would be "inherently flawed and legally unenforceable." QCI is a self-governing, nonprofit organization.

According to this newspaper's article, the ASG recommended that the ministry form a committee made up of employees with the authority to render quasi-judicial decisions. According to her, this might prevent some of the decisions from being thrown out.

According to legal advice, the DPIIT informed the CG office on July 18, 2024, that it was to dissolve the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Quality Council of India (QCI) dated December 28, 2022, and to form a committee with five to ten officials from the CGPDTM office to re-validate all of the decisions made by these Contract Hearing Officers (CHOs)."

The representative emphasized that the issue concerns the "grant of trademarks, not patents."

The same has been affirmed by the High Court (HC) of Calcutta, which has overturned the decisions made by a QCI representative that the CGPDTM designated. The Trade Marks Act's Section 3(2) mandates that "officers" belong to the cadre of officers rather than being contract or outsourced workers, the HC has determined. The official declared, "The matter is to be heard."

In order to address the workforce shortage, starting on October 10, 2022, the CGPDTM "outsourced" a total of 790 employees to the independent, non-profit Quality Council of India for an annual fee of Rs 50.26 crore. Initially, the Patent Office had suggested paying Rs 62.15 crore per year for 1,114 employees. The hiring was done because, according to a study by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), a lack of people was the cause of delays in the approval of patents and trademarks.

The order was started in response to a complaint filed by Mukesh Jain, a lawyer. He claimed that the contractual employees employed by the CGPDTM office have a quasi-judicial duty to hold hearings and handle opposition and show-cause cases involving trademark applications. As a result, the directives issued are unlawful, and the official stated that normal officials in quasi-judicial roles are expected to carry them out.

On August 8, 2024, the Calcutta High Court also declared that it was unlawful to use contract workers for "quasi-judicial functions" at the patent and trademark office. The ruling of the Calcutta High Court was rendered in a case involving a challenge to a trademark opposition order issued by a "Associate Manager" of Trade Marks. Up until March 31, 2023, these officers were employed as Hearing Officers in the Trade Marks Registry "purely on contract basis."