Perambalur : California Public University today conferred honorary doctorate on SP Gupta, Chairman of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) for his contribution in the field of animal welfare and social work.

Receiving the degree, Gupta said that he had dedicated his life in serving cows and working for welfare of all other animals. He further said that the honour is recognition of all those working in the field of animal welfare.

“It is a great honour for me to receive the doctorate from California Public University.  I take the opportunity to thank my wife who has been a constant support all along my journey. This honour is recognition of all those working for animal welfare in the country,” Shri Gupta said.

Dr. B. Ramaswamy, President, Suny State University, New York, USA  &  Advisor, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Government of India, Dr Tanmoy Rudra, Executive Secretary, Confederation of Indian Universities, New Delhi and distinguished members of DK International Research Foundation (DKIRF) were present at the award ceremony.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, visited Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands today. In Port Blair, he laid a wreath at the Martyrs Column, and visited the Cellular Jail. At Cellular Jail, he visited the cells of Veer Savarkar, and other freedom fighters. He hoisted a high mast flag and offered floral tributes at the Statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

At a public event to mark the 75th anniversary of the hoisting of Tricolour on Indian soil by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the Prime Minister released a commemorative postal stamp, coin and First Day Cover.

He also unveiled a series of development projects related to the energy, connectivity and health sectors.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are not just a symbol of India’s natural beauty, but are also like a place of pilgrimage for Indians. He said the Andaman and Nicobar Islands remind us of the collective resolve of our freedom fighters.

He said the Union Government is committed to empowering and developing the islands. He said the development projects unveiled today would further this objective in the field of education, health, connectivity, tourism and employment.

He mentioned his visit to the Cellular Jail, and the point where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had hoisted the tricolour 75 years ago. He said that the Cellular Jail, where thousands of freedom fighters suffered, is no less than a place of worship for him. He said the nation will never forget the sacrifices of the freedom fighters.

Recalling Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the Prime Minister said that on Netaji’s call, many youth from the Andamans had dedicated themselves to the freedom of India. He said the flag on the 150 feet high mast, is an attempt to preserve the memory of this day in 1943, when Netaji unfurled the tricolour.

On this occasion, he announced that Ross Island would now be named Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep; Neil Island would be known as Shaheed Dweep; and Havelock Island would be renamed as Swaraj Dweep.

The Prime Minister said that today, Indians are working towards creating a strong India, in line with Netaji’s vision.

The Prime Minister said that the Government is working towards strengthening connectivity across the country. He said that remembering and honouring our heroes, helps strengthen our feeling of integration. He said the Union Government is making efforts to highlight every glorious chapter of our history. In this context he mentioned the Panchteerth related to Babasaheb Ambedkar, the National Police Memorial, and the Statue of Unity. He said National Awards have also been announced in the names of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Sardar Patel.

The Prime Minister said that the New India that is being built with the inspiration of these great leaders, has development at its core.

He said the Government is committed to developing the Islands in accordance with the requirements of the environment. He said special attention will be given to sectors such as tourism, food processing and information technology, as part of industrial development.

The Prime Minister said efforts are being made to make the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as self-sufficient as possible. He spoke of the expansion of Port Blair dockyard, which will enable maintenance of big ships. He called for a report on the condition of rural roads in the Islands within two weeks, and said that once the report has been examined, the Union Government will give whatever assistance is possible.

The Prime Minister said that a new Integrated Terminal Building is coming up at Veer Savarkar International Airport. He said the undersea optical fibre cable from Chennai, once completed, would provide good internet connectivity. He also spoke of development works in areas such as water, power, clean energy, and health. 

The United Nation’s International Day is annually held on 18^th December to recognize the efforts, contribution and rights of migrants worldwide.  The world is experiencing migration on an unprecedented scale.  There are an estimated 1 billion migrants today- one in seven people! While some people migrate seeking better opportunities, others are forcibly displaced, fleeing conflict and war. The number of people who migrated across international borders surged by 41 percent in the last 15 years to reach 244 million in 2015. Internal migration (which takes place within one’s own country) is estimated at 740 million people worldwide. Estimated internal migrants in India are 120 million. 

Migration continues to evolve and to become more complex through increased mixed migration flows comprised of many categories of migrants, involving both traditional and new countries of origin, transit and destination. Additionally, the socio-economic, bio-environmental and political context within which modern migration takes place keeps changing, determining new challenges and areas of opportunity, including in the health sector, towards the realization of migration as an effective poverty-reduction and development-enabling factor.

Migration is a social determinant of health that can impact the well-being of an individual, as well as the community.  Most migrants are healthy and young, and migration can improve the health status of migrants and their families by providing a safer haven or better education and purchasing power for ‘left behind’ family members by way of  remittances. However, the migration process can also expose migrants to health risks because of  lack access to adequate, equitable health services and financial protection. Health systems may not have sufficient capacity to manage migrant health needs especially in the case of large movements. Furthermore, human mobility, whether resulting from internal or international migration can be a critical factor in the spread of disease and/or a challenge to controlling it. The Ebola crisis reminds  us how  lack of preparedness, targeted health services and surveillance along mobility pathways undermines effective disease control measures. 

Resetting the Agenda of Migrant Health 

Acknowledging the inherent connection between migration and health, WHO Member States adopted the 2008 World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution on the health of migrants (WHA.61.17). The Resolution paved the way for the 2010 Global Consultation on Migrant Health in Madrid, which was co-organized by IOM, WHO and the Government of Spain and defined an operational framework to guide Member States and stakeholders in implementing the strategies of mentioned Resolution. This Operational Framework reaffirmed the need of adopting a rights-based, equity-driven, health system strengthening, multi-sectoral approach in addressing health and migration and identified four priority areas for action, namely: monitoring of migrants’ health; policy and legal frameworks; migrant-sensitive health systems; and, partnerships, networks and multi country frameworks. Yet, while awareness and recognition of the urgency to adapt policies and programmes, across sectors, to the health challenges brought by global human mobility is on the rise, the adaptation and development of necessary technical and policy instruments remains slow. 

Governments are faced with the challenge of integrating the health needs of migrants into national plans, policies and strategies across sectors, responding to the call to ‘leave no one behind’ and achieve Universal Health Coverage, stated by the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Coordinated efforts are needed to ensure that migrant health is addressed without discrimination throughout the migration cycle, as are efforts to adapt and strengthen the resilience of local health systems in light of more diverse population health profiles. Addressing the health needs of migrants and affected local populations reduces long-term health and social costs, facilitates integration and contributes to social and economic development.

The UN General Assembly Summit on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants has created a unique opportunity for the global community to forge a greater consensus on managing the world’s movements of migrants and refugees. It also set in motion the development of a roadmap to a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and a Global Compact for Refugees. The Global Consultation will be an important milestone to ensure adequate reflection of the health of migrants within the mentioned Global Compacts.

Sri Lanka has set an example by formulating National Migration Health Policy for internal and international migrants.  The policy has adopted evidence-based & multi-stakeholder approach for promotion of the right to health. It also ensures co-ordination with thirteen key government ministries to address other social protection needs of these migrants, including skill building, insurance, housing, and education. Asian countries including India have more to learn from Sri Lanka’s experience.

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Why India is an important patron in global migration scenario? 

Migration for livelihood is a growing phenomenon in India.  People’s migration in India is on the high rise, both international as well internal migration.  Approximately 29% of India’s population is migrating internally. According to the estimates from the National Sample Survey data in India, over US$3.846 billion was sent by international migrants and US$7.485 billion by internal migrants in 2007-08.  These evidences suggest that migration can play an important role in poverty reduction and economic development.  Migrant population is normally missed out at source and destination from all social welfare development programs, such as livelihood, education, health, insurance, and legal protection.   Hence, positive facilitation of safe migration should be specially emphasized which mainly includes access to basics and public services mainly health, education and livelihood. 

Modi Government’s ambitious ‘Skill India Mission’ and ‘Make in India’ Programs have created newer opportunities for youth in semi urban and urban areas, and to  an extent, at international level as well, and this environment has been instrumental in facilitating and increasing migration. 

India being Asia’s largest and most influential labour sending country has a greater role to play on these issues at international level.  India is facing migration challenges and has increasing need to formulate and implement strategies to improve migrants’ condition both internal and cross border. Currently, India has less or no structural policies or programs targeting the migrant’s issues in totality.  It is  time for the Indian government  to ensure coherence between national and international policies for migration and development. The Indian Government can borrow from the evidence-based policies and programs like Sri Lanka, and adapt them to the Indian scenario. There is a need to modify the existing policy structure and programs so that the needs of this marginalized group are accommodated in the various national programs, including health and other social protection. Development of a comprehensive National Migration Policy would be proactive step towards it, that can ensure health and welfare of those who migrate.After all, migrants are key group contributing to the economic development of the India by working in precarious conditions and need to get equitable fruits of growth as other sections of the society.

In the direction of improving the plight of migrants, Disha Foundation was founded in 2002 in Maharashtra, mainly to facilitate safe and productive internal labour migration. Over period of last 14 years, many solutions were tested to reach out to migrant workers, including research, interventions on health, livelihood, social security, food security, education, and also tireless advocacy with regional and national government to mainstream migration issue into policy discourse. Government’s response has been changing and there is positive dialogue on creating pro-migrant policy response, such as Odisha Labour department has set up Migration support programme for their outgoing labourers, Jharkhand government has set up helpline and anti-trafficking support unit for migrant workers, Maharashtra Tribal Department set up tribal migration research and resource center for tribal migrants. There are many successes at regional levels to create integrated solutions to address migrant’s diverse needs,and these successes need to be up scaled at national level, including creating migrant specific database and  portability of health insurance /social security services.   Currently, due to sustained advocacy by Disha, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is actively looking into these issues, and working to build integrated model to address tribal migrants needs at source and destination level, which can be well applied for other social groups as well.  But the process so far has advanced at a slow pace and is in need of a dynamic leadership for the cause of migrants- both for internal and international.  Such a leadership can ensure engagement of different ministries, and put together a comprehensive migration policy which can act as an umbrella for the rights and welfare of internal and cross border migrants of India. 

Author is Founder Director of Pioneer NGO Disha Foundation, working towards promoting safe and productive labour migration in India.

The Jaipur Music Stage, which runs parallel to the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, has announced its line-up of performances. The Jaipur Music Stage features a variety of artistes from the international spectrum showcasing a multi-genre abundance in style, sound, and history. Be it world music, ghazals, funk, rock or the Blues.   

The artistes performing at the Jaipur Music Stage 2019 include the soulful Nooran Sisters; leading Carnatic and world music vocalist Mahesh Vinayakram in collaboration with Dub FX (Benjamin Stanford), the ever-popular Punjabi folk singer Jasbir Jassi in a never-seen-before collaboration with Kutle Khan, folk-rock legends Indian Ocean, violin maestro Dr. L Subramaniam, Shillong-based blues act Soulmate, and techno masters Midival Punditz.

Kickstarting the Jaipur Music Stage on 24^th January will be the sonic explorations of Iranian Canadian duo Niyaz who will present their unique blend of world music, inspired by mystic Sufi sounds and Iranian folk. The tempo will rise exponentially with an exciting collaboration, as Jasbir Jassi brings the earthy notes of Punjabi folk alongside Kutle Khan’s energetic Rajasthani folk. This will be the first time the two Indian folk heavyweights share a stage. These two exciting performances will make the evening all about the power of folk music and the fluidity of its expression.

The evening of 25^th January will see the fiery Nooran Sisters showcase the power of their vocal-driven Sufi songs on the Jaipur Music Stage. They will be followed by folk-rock legends Indian Ocean doing what they do best: serenading crowds with their timeless tunes about India. These combustible sounds are sure to set the stage ablaze and bring to it the rich timbre of soulful folk. 

Fusion fever hits Jaipur Music Stage on the evening of 26^th January as violin virtuoso Dr. L. Subramaniam unveils his brand new set, ‘Global Fusion’; an energetic celebration of modern music in Subramaniam’s inimitable style. Midival Punditz, the original techno pioneers of India, will round off the evening’s entertainment with their pulsating electronica pulling from an eclectic variety of sounds.

On the evening of 27^th January, Shillong blues masters Soulmate are the first act of the night, and are sure to get the crowd on their feet with their brand of fire-breathing, raw-as-nature blues. Next up is another unique collaboration which will see Australian live-looping wonderkid Dub FX share the stage with mesmerising Carnatic vocalist Mahesh Vinayakram. 

As a grand finale, DubFx, Soulmate and Mahesh Vinayakram will bring the curtain down with a unique collaboration — Carnatic, blues and beatboxing all on one stage.

Speaking about the festival, Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, producers of the Jaipur Music Stage, said: ‘The Jaipur Music Stage celebrates music in all its forms. This year, Jaipur will see unbelievable collaborations between diverse artistes, as well as workshops and a music bazaar, in against a vibrant carnival-like backdrop. Jaipur Music Stage is surely the place to be when the sun goes down.”

A music market with a range of merchandise including instruments, music technology, music from indie labels and other paraphernalia, will add sizzle to this unique medley of festivities. 

The Computational Neuro Science (CNS) Laboratory at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras is using computer modelling to understand nerve cells that control spatial navigation and movement in mammals.  The team’s recent study has been published in the international journal – Nature Communications.

Spatial navigation of humans and other mammals is controlled by distinctive nerve cells in the brain, called Place Cells and Grid Cells, the discovery of which, gained John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser, the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 2014.  Place cells and grid cells form part of a complex nervous circuit that enables place awareness and memory, in effect being the GPS of the brain. 

Together, the spatial cells encode the animal’s location and trajectory in the environment.  Problems in the functions of these “GPS” cells cause severe disorientation and memory deficits associated with neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Spatial cells are key elements of the space mapping circuitry of the brain. Three dimensional neural maps generated by these cells can provide the sense of location of self, based on input signals of movement and direction that the brain receives.

Such computational models on 3D neural maps would be of use in biomedical applications; for example, they could help in unravelling the mechanisms of spatial disorientation associated with neurogenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. They also have potential applications in the engineering domains where they can be used to design bio-inspired systems for navigation of automobiles or drones.

Prof V. Srinivasa Chakravarthy, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, who heads the CNS Laboratory, uses an interdisciplinary approach linking neuroscience, computer programming, physics and maths to develop theoretical models that explain the positions and functions of spatial cells in the rat brain.

They create computer models of the nerve network in the hippocampus to simulate brain activity seen in the biological system. Neural activities associated with the movement of a virtual animal in three dimensional space are simulated.

Speaking about the research, Prof. Chakravarthy said, Â“Three dimensional (3D) spatial cells in the hippocampus are believed to support the existence of 3D cognitive maps. Through modelling, we work out the essential learning rules that are required for the development of the 3D maps in the brain.”

The models not only show the presence of the place cells, but also the behaviour of grid cells when the animal navigates a vertical plane. In addition, they show the presence of two new types of spatial cells called “3d-border cells” and “plane cells”, both of which, could play a part in the animal’s perception of and movement through heights.  All these types of cells interact to give a complete representation of the animal’s changing positions, which may be stored in the animal’s memory as a set of internal guides or maps to particular locations in its environment. 

Mr. Karthik Soman, Research student and first author of the recently published Nature Communications paper, said, Â“Our modelling studies help in understanding the neural principles governing the formation of these maps. This is the first study in the world to report the neural principles of spatial cells in three-dimensional space.”

The team now seeks to understand the behaviour of these spatial cells when there is a change in direction of movement.  The researchers hope to unravel the possible effects of other sensory stimuli such as sight, smell, and sound.

Indian Institute of Technology at Hyderabad is in the process developing Smart Phone-based sensors to detect adulteration in milk. As a first step, researchers have developed a detector system to measure the acidity of milk through design of an indicator paper that changes color according to the acidity of the milk. They have also developed algorithms that can be incorporated onto a mobile phone to accurately detect the color change.

The research, undertaken by a team led by Prof. Shiv Govind Singh, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad and comprising Dr. Soumya Jana and Dr. Siva Rama Krishna Vanjari, Associate Professors  and others, has been published in the November 2018 issue of Food Analytical Methods journal.

Speaking about the importance of this research, Prof. Shiv Govind Singh said, Â“While techniques such as chromatography and spectroscopy can be used to detect adulteration, such techniques generally require expensive setup and are not amenable to miniaturisation into low-cost easy-to-use devices. Hence, they do not appeal to the vast majority of milk consumers in the developing world.”

Prof. Shiv Govind Singh further added, “We need to develop simple devices that the consumer can use to detect milk contamination. It should be possible to make milk adulteration detection failsafe by monitoring all of these parameters at the same time, without the need for expensive equipment.”

As a first step, the research team has developed a sensor-chip based method for measuring pH, an indicator of the acidity. The researchers have used a process called ‘electrospinning’ to produce paper-like material made of nanosized (~10-9 m diameter) fibres of nylon, loaded with a combination of three dyes. The paper is “halochromic”, that is, it changes color in response to changes in acidity.

The researchers have developed a prototype smart phone-based algorithm, in which, the colours of the sensor strips after dipping in milk are captured using the camera of the phone, and the data is transformed into pH (acidity) ranges.  They have used three machine-learning algorithms and compared their detection efficiencies in classifying the colour of the indicator strips.  On testing with milk spiked with various combinations of contaminants, they found near-perfect classification with accuracy of 99.71%.

Adulteration of milk is a serious problem in India. A recent report by the Animal Welfare Board shows that 68.7% of milk and milk by-products in the country are adulterated with products such as detergent, glucose, urea, caustic soda, white paint and oil. Chemicals such as formalin, hydrogen peroxide, boric acid and antibiotics could also be added to milk to increase shelf life. 

The annual ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival has announced its second list of speakers for it’s12th edition, set to take place from 24-28 January 2019 at the traditional venue– Diggi Palace. 

The second list of 30 speakers include trailblazing Indian writers and literary powerhouses such as the bestselling Ashwin Sanghi, ranked among one of India’s most popular authors with two New York Times bestselling crime thrillers written along with James Patterson under his belt among other numerous books; the irrepressible, fearless and delightfully irreverent Shobhaa De who comments extensively on India’s socio-cultural-political contours and is author of 20 books and countless columns; the acclaimed Rana Dasgupta, author of the short story collection Tokyo Cancelled, winner of the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book for Solo and a nominee for the Orwell and Ondaatje Prizes in 2015 for Capital; Amitabha Bagchi, author of the recent Half the Night is Goneand a nominee of the Dublin IMPAC Literary Prize 2015 for This Place, Professor of English at Vassar College and a Guggenheim Fellow, Amitava Kumar whose latest work, Immigrant, Montana: A Novel, is an erotic and enigmatic exploration of the quintessential immigrant psyche; Anita Nair,Sahitya Akademi awardee and celebrated author, playwright and poet  of The Better Man, Ladies Coupé, Mistress, Lessons in Forgetting, Idris: Keeper of the Light, Malabar Mind, among others; and New York Times & Guardian columnist, BBC presenter of the popular radio show Museum of Lost Objects and much feted debutante novelist Kanishk Tharoor, author of Swimmer Among the Stars, which was named the Guardian and NPR Best Book of the Year.

The list is a vastly diverse mix of historians, impresarios, educationists, activists and administrators with KJ Alphons, India’s Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology,  Culture and Tourism and author of Making A Difference and India Mattathinte Muzhakam; Egyptian writer and cultural commentatorAhdaf Soueif, bestselling author of The Map of Loveand Founder and Chair of the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest); the legendary social activist Aruna Roy  who helped co-found the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) to campaign for wages and other rights which eventually led to transformational Right to Information movement, and wrote The RTI Story: Power to thePeople, with the MKSS Collective; Sandeep Unnithan,  Executive Editor with the India Today magazine, an expert on national security, terrorism and issues concerning the Indian military, and author of Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11and an exciting hitherto-untold naval intelligence chronicle Operation X which will be launched at the Festival; Kim A. Wagner,teacher of the history of colonial India and the British Empire at Queen Mary College, University of London, who has written extensively on the subject of ‘Thuggee’, the Uprising of 1857 and colonial violence; Makarand R. Paranjape, Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, former Professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University and prolific writer, editor and academic whose latest books include Debating the ‘Post’ Condition in India, Cultural Politics in Modern India and The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi;former bureaucrat and India’s vastly experienced 16^th Chief Election Commissioner Navin B. Chawla, known internationally for his astute steerage of the 2009 General Elections and, in his forthcoming book Every Vote Counts: The Story of theGreat Indian Election, shares a thought-provoking, informative account of the process and challenges of executing free and fair elections in the world’s largest and most diverse democracies;  erudite historian, Professor of South Asian History at Emory University, Ruby Lal who has written extensively on Mughal India along with her recently published biography, Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, lauded by The New Yorker, the Guardian, The New York Times, alike. 

India’s dizzying linguistic wealth will be on the programming radar withAshokChakradhar,a force to reckon with in Hindi literature; Manoranjan Byapari,whose tremendous struggle to emerge as a writer, having learnt toread and write while in jail at the age of 24, has been chronicled in his overpowering autobiography Itibritte Chandal Jibon; and James Mallinson, a Sanskrit scholar and writer from SOAS, London, who specialises in the history of yoga and has spent years in India living with sadhus and yogis which earned him the title of ‘mahant’ (awarded by the Ramanandi Sampradaya) at the 2013 Kumbh Mela! 

As always, the Festival list sparkles with the grit of journalist-writers with two-time Pulitzer Prize winnerSteve Coll, Dean of the Columbia Journalism School since 2013, a writer at The New Yorker since 2005 where he writes on politics, national security and the media, former reporter, foreign correspondent and senior editor at the Washington Post and author of eight non-fiction books,   Ã…sne Seierstad, award-winning journalist who has reported from war-torn regions such as Chechnya, China, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq and is author of A Hundred and One Days and The Bookseller of Kabul; Singapore-based author and journalist James Crabtree, currently Associate Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and writer of The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age; and Shubhangi Swarup, journalist, educationist, feature-writer lauded for her gender sensitive articles, who was awarded the Charles Pick Fellowship for Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.

Cinema, the body of work and the writers it has given us figure strongly in the second list withJerry Pinto, veteran film chronicler, teacher, social activist, and winner of the National Award for the Best Book on Cinema (Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb); gifted film-maker Meghna Gulzar who has made searing films such as Talvarand the more recent and perfectly–crafted Raazi and who is in the process of working on her next film based on the life of Field Marshal Sam HFJ Manekshaw MC;  and Neelesh Misra,versatile  lyricist, radio storyteller, two-time winner of the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, writer and founder/editor of Gaon Connection, India’s biggest rural media platform, and the Content Project, home to some of India’s best emerging writers. 

The Festival juxtaposes wide-ranging themes and writers with ease which the second list is evidence of, featuring in it Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairperson of Altico Capital India Ltd who is on the boards of Max Financial Services, CIPLA, Nayara Energy and Larsen and Toubro, former head of the boards of HSBC Asia Pacific, HSBC India and Nestle, who has authored 30 Women in Power: Their Voices, Their Stories and Survive Or Sink: An Action Agenda for Sanitation, Water, Pollution and Green Finance; and Devdutt Pattanaik, who has made mythology chicwriting voraciously on its acute relevance in modern times, especially in management, governance and leadership and has 30 books and 600 columns, including bestsellers such as My Gita, Jaya, Sita, Business Sutra and the 7 Secret Series, to his credit. 

Sir Roy Strong, writer and diarist, and former Director of the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum, knighted for his services to the Arts, who has written books ranging from those on the England of Elizabeth I to ones on garden design and history to diaries covering 1967 to 2003,; Ruth Padel, award-winning poet and conservationist, Professor of Poetry at King’s College, London, Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and Royal Society of Literature, author of books on tiger conservation, a novel featuring king cobras, and most recently Emerald, exploring the life and death of her naturalist mother, Darwin’s great granddaughter; and the widely-exhibited Subodh Gupta, celebrated creator of the sublime in art, sculpture and installation, who elevates the mundane into the divine in his works, will add flair to a list of speakers exuding talent and vitality.  

Union Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma rolled out the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme in New Delhi, today. The Union Tourism Minister, K.J. Alphons, had earlier launched the IITFC on 27th September, 2018 on the occasion of National Tourism Awards function & World Tourism Day. With its roll out today, the participants will now be able to register for this programme through an online digital platform.  IITFC will enable Indian citizens to develop and enhance the skills associated with tourism, and where one can incorporate knowledge about facilitating tourists across the country.

The certification program comprises of basic and advanced self-paced courses designed in a manner that the users can learn at their own time, space, path and pace. The course kicks off today with a basic introductory module alongside the registration process. This will be followed by payment initiation on 19th November 2018, where any 10+2 pass out candidate can enrol in the basic course comprising of 7 modules aimed at training the facilitators for knowledge, skills and attitude domains at a nominal charge of INR2000. Successful completion of this program would enable the learner to become a Certified Tourist Facilitator of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. A refresher course is also proposed for launch in due time for those already in the field seeking at an advanced level course to enhance their skill set.

Speaking on the occasion Rashmi Verma said that the concept of ‘tourist guide’ has changed world over and the new age tourist facilitators are ‘story tellers’. The Secretary added that this online programme will have lot of advantages like job creation for local people, harness the local experience and traditional knowledge and also it has the flexibility of any age or any place people to join. This initiative will also ensure an enriching experience for the tourists, as this initiative will address the issue of shortage of tourist guides as well as it will provide a lot of competition which will further ensure in providing best tourist facilitators, the Secretary added.

The IITFC program aspires to reach out to a far-flung audience encompassing a diversity of candidates ranging from an enthusiastic student who has recently qualified for higher secondary to an ambitious homemaker willing to grasp tourist facilitation skills from the comfort of their home. It will also act as an enabler for transforming a local citizen with no specified skills having proficiency in a regional language into a potential bread earner for their households.

The online learning management programme has been developed by M/s Wipro Limited and the content supported by the Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the premier investigation agency of the country, has been in the news for wrong reasons, for few years now. It has been accused of being used by political masters, poor investigation and inapt handling of prosecution. Accused in number of important cases have either been acquitted or discharged in the recent past, which as dented its credibility. However, the recent spate between the Director and its Special Director, who have levelled serious allegations of corruption against one another, followed by registration of FIR against the number two has brought the Agency to an unprecedented low. Though the raging feud between the two has been in public domain for some time, the Government and the CVC, who exercise superintendence in their respective fields, desisted from taking any visible action. The crisis followed by registration of FIR on complaint of an accused that money was demanded and taken for extending favour by certain persons on behalf of Special Director and his earlier allegations against his boss compelled the Superintending bodies to send both them on compulsory leave. Later on a petition by the Director CBI against the government action to send him on leave before expiry of his secure tenure, the Apex Court ordered an enquiry as regards allegations against the Director to be completed within two weeks by CVC under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge. 

All this has pained right thinking persons in the country and more so, to the officers, who spent their major part of career serving the organisation. The reputation of the CBI, known for its competence, fair and impartial investigation and successfully handling of several important and sensitive cases lies in tatters today. While the present crisis might have manifested into an ugly situation, it is a culminated result of decline in its overall functioning and standards of probity that started few years ago. The successive Directors, some of whom have been under cloud, failed to stem the rot so much so some insiders believe that the corruption in the organisation at various levels has reached alarming proportions and would require a massive purge and overhaul to restore its original glory.   

There is no doubt that there is something seriously wrong with the Agency that calls for urgent remedial measures. The suggestions made in this regard are an attempt to initiate a serious discussion on the subject. The induction process of senior supervisory officers, which has been brought into existence by amending DSPE Act (the law that governs CBI) first by CVC Act and later by Lokpal Act has failed to deliver which is evident from the fact that two former Directors are under investigation, the CVC is looking into the conduct of present Director under the oversight of a former Supreme Court Judge and even the Joint Director, now made interim Director, is also reportedly under cloud.  

The Director is appointed on the recommendation of a selection committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha (or where there is no such Leader of Opposition, then the Leader of the single largest Opposition Party) and the Chief Justice of India or Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him. The recommendation is to be made on the basis of seniority, integrity and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases. The selection committee, which selects officers from the rank of SP to Special Director, consists of the Central Vigilance Commissioner as Chairperson, Vigilance Commissioners, Secretary Personnel, Home Secretary (the Cadre controlling authority of Indian Police Service). It also provides that this Committee shall consult the Director before submitting its recommendation to the Central Government. 

On the face of it, both the Committees appear to be very formidable. However, the members of the committee mainly depend on the annual confidential reports and the vigilance clearance given the respective authorities, which by no means provide an insight, required to select right officers for premier investigating agency of the country. Moreover, the policy of inducting senior officers who have no experience of working in CBI as SP or DIG initiated by a particular Director almost a decade ago, and now almost a norm, has led to disastrous consequences. It is not to say that all such officers have proved to be failure but definitely most of them could not meet the required high standards of professional acumen and provide the desired supervision/guidance to the investigating officers in the field. 

There is need to identify officers working in the States keeping in view professional competence in the field of investigation and integrity, and encourage them to join CBI. The CVC led committee meant for selecting officers should be assisted by a body of professionals having expertise in the field of investigation and law who may interview prospective inductees and provide their inputs to the Selection Committee. The high power selection committee, designated to select Director should be assisted by a body of experts not only from the field of investigation, administration, human resource management, finance and budget control who may provide their detailed feedback to the Committee after interacting with prospective officers. The interviews may be recorded so that in case the Committee desires it may have access to the same. The committee may even call a limited number of shortlisted candidates for personal interaction to ensure that only a deserving candidate with qualities of leadership, professional competence in the field of investigation and law, as well as possessing administrative acumen is inducted. 

(The writer, an IPS officer, retired as Director General of Bureau of Police Research & Development and has served for long years in CBI, NIA & Andhra Pradesh. The views expressed are personal.)

New Delhi : Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan today announced development of a set of new firecrackers that promise to be less polluting without compromising on the sound or light effect. 

The new crackers have been developed by scientists of two national labs – Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI) based in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Nagpur. 

The researchers at CECRI have developed green crackers by modifying the chemical formulations for flower pots, `jil jil’ and so-called atom bombs. Crackers essentially comprise of alkali nitrates, aluminium powder of different grain sizes and in some cases a binder to enhance luminescence. Aluminium is used as a primary heat source and to produce the flash. 

Researchers decided to replace aluminium with magnesium on the understanding that it would reduce ignition temperature and subsequently minimise particulate matter coming from the cracker. The trick worked. Field trials were conducted at Sivakasi, which is also in Tamil Nadu and which is a major firework manufacturing centres in the country and the new composition showed positive results. 

The minister said the new products had reduced emission of particulate matter and toxic gases, had less smoke and was less noisy. The particulate matter mission was reduced by 25 to 30 per cent. 

The researchers at NEERI have developed greener version of what are called `bijli’ crackers. Three prototypes have been developed and named SWAS (safe water releaser), SAFAL (safe minimum aluminium) and STAR (safe thermite cracker). The particulate matter was reduced by 30-35 per cent in SWAS and 35 to 40 per cent in SAFAL and STAR. 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said greener crackers have been demonstrated to the manufacturers and their reaction has been positive. There was, however, a need for approval from Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), which is the nodal agency for safety requirements in manufacture, storage, transport and use of all types of explosives and petroleum. The manufacturers will have to approach it. 

He said work on several other greener crackers including electronic-based ones are underway in six other CSIR laboratories — Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur, Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and Industrial Toxicological Research Institute and National Botanical Research Institute at Lucknow. 

Dr. Vardhan, however, declined to set a time frame for the crackers to be commercialised. “We are working on them. We will let you know when they are ready for the market,” he said.