New Delhi:  Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday launched DigiVAARTA, a multi-channel citizen engagement programme that can run on both feature and smartphones. 

“DigiVAARTA is a welcome addition to the government’s drive to promote adoption and awareness on digital payments. It is an easy way to educate citizens on the use of digital tools for banking and payments,” said Mr Prasad at the inauguration of the NIC Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics in the Capital which also saw the launch of the initial phase of the DigiVAARTA programme and is focussed on increasing awareness on digital payments.

The technology underlying the multi-channel engagement programme is SAMWAD –  a platform for intuitive and interactive communication – supported by Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI). 

Developed with an objective to increase awareness and familiarity of individuals on various financial products and services and to educate the unbanked and under-banked individuals, SAMWAD provides enabling engagement across multiple channels in the form of stories, images and videos in any chosen language. 

The learnings and insights from research studies commissioned by CDFI resulted in an idea of a larger engagement tool that could be used by the government to communicate with the citizens of the country. It is this that led to DigiVAARTA, which is customized and re-branded form of SAMWAD that is being deployed for MeiTY by CDFI.

The initial phase of DIGIVAARTA will help and promote learning in digital payments and empower users to draw content on topics as per their choice. DIGIVAARTA will initially be in Hindi and English languages and will engage with users through multiple channels – over Mobile App, SMS and OBD (Outbound Dialler).

To operationalise this programme, besides Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and CDFI, National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been a key stakeholder and has helped set-up, host and liaise with regulatory and telecom service providers. 

Speaking on the occasion, Krishnan Dharmarajan, Executive Director, CDFI said, “We learnt from a pilot in rural Karnataka, that while the poor were happy to engage on the platform, they were worried about the money that was getting deducted as sms charges. So MeitY decided that such exchanges be kept toll-free, so that people could engage, learn and get empowered at zero cost. “

“We needed a special number from which Govt could broadcast at scale and where citizens could also respond. DOT and TRAI quickly saw the power of the idea, and extended their wholehearted support by granting us 14444 for the purpose,” Mr. Dharmarajan said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of the Aadhaar document but with modifications holding that the unique identity number will not be needed for opening bank accounts, admissions in schools or for getting mobile phone connections.

A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allows private entities to demand Aadhaar to access their services.

The court also said that as of today “we do not find anything in Aadhaar Act which violates right to privacy of individual citizen”.

The judgement, read out by Justice A.K. Sikri on behalf of the bench, also struck down the provision in Aadhaar law allowing the sharing of Aadhaar data, citing grounds of national security.

The judges who gave majority ruling were A.M. Khanwilkar, Ashok Bhushan, Misra and Sikri who approved the provision of money bill.

“We are of the view that there are sufficient safeguard to protect data collected under Aadhaar scheme,” the judgement said. 

Linking of Aadhaar to issuing mobile phone connections and opening bank accounts was unconstitutional, the court held.

In a separate judgement, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said the Aadhaar Act cannot be treated as money bill. Passing a legislation which was not money bill as money bill was a fraud on the Constitution.

He also observed there was a risk of surveillance of people on the basis of data collected under Aadhaar scheme and that the data could be misused. 

The majority of the bench held that Aadhaar was valid for linking with Income Tax returns. 

The verdict said that it was better to be unique than the best because being the “best makes you number one, but being unique makes you the only one.

“Uniqueness is the fundamental difference between Aadhaar and other identity proofs. There is a fundamental difference between Aadhaar and other identity proof as Aadhaar cannot be duplicated and it is a unique identification,” it said. 

The judgement said that UIDAI was established as a statutory body, providing for authentication and all residents were eligible to get Aadhaar which cannot be reassigned to anyone.

“Minimal demographic and biometric data of citizens are collected by UIDAI for Aadhaar enrolment. We are of the view that there are sufficient safeguard to protect data collected under Aadhaar scheme,” it said.

The court said that Aadhaar was meant to give dignity to marginalised sections. However, authentication of data through Aadhaar cannot be stored for more than six months.

It said Aadhaar was meant to help benefits reach marginalised sections and it took into account the dignity of people not only from the personal but also the community point of view.

“No person will be denied benefits under social welfare scheme because of failure of authentication through Aadhaar,” the court said. 

“We direct the government to ensure that illegal migrants are not issued Aadhaar to get benefits of social welfare schemes.” 

The court said that institutions like the CBSE and UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory. 

“Aadhaar for school education would not be necessary because it is neither welfare nor subsidy,” the court said, holding that Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan does not require Aadhaar.

India has marginally improved its rank to 158^thin the world for its investments in education and health care as measurements of its commitment to economic growth, according to a scientific study ranking countries for their levels of human capital.

The nation is placed just behind Sudan (ranked 157^th) and just ahead of Namibia (ranked 159^th). The United States ranked 27^th, while China placed 44^th and Pakistan 164^th.

“Our findings show the association between investments in education and health and improved human capital and GDP – which policymakers ignore at their own peril,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. Â“As the world economy grows increasingly dependent on digital technology, from agriculture to manufacturing to the service industry, human capital grows increasingly important for stimulating local and national economies.”

India’s rankling of 158^thin 2016 represents an improvement from its 1990 ranking of 162^nd. It comes from having seven years of expected human capital, measured as the number of years a person can be expected to work in the years of peak productivity, taking into account life expectancy, functional health, years of schooling, and learning.

Overall, India’s residents had 39 out of a possible 45 years of life between the ages of 20 and 64; expected educational attainment of 10 years out of a possible of 18 years in school; and a learning score of 66and a functional health score of 43, both out of 100. Learning is based on average student scores on internationally comparable tests. Components measured in the functional health score include stunting, wasting, anemia, cognitive impairments, hearing and vision loss, and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

The study, “Measuring human capital: A systematic analysis of 195 countries and territories, 1990 to 2016,” was published in the international medical journalThe Lancet. It is based on a systematic analysis of an extensive array of data from numerous sources, including government agencies, schools, and health care systems.

The study places Finland at the top. Turkey showed the most dramatic increase in human capital between 1990 and 2016; Asian countries with notable improvement include China, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam. Within Latin America, Brazil stands out for improvement. All these countries have had faster economic growth over this period than peer countries with lower levels of human capital improvement.

In addition, the greatest increase among sub-Saharan African countries was in Equatorial Guinea. Some of the world’s most rapid improvements were in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Over the past quarter century, there has been limited progress in building human capital in selected countries that started at a high baseline. The US was ranked sixth in human capital in 1990 but dropped to 27^th in 2016 because of minimal progress, particularly in educational attainment, which declined from 13 years to 12.

Health and education advocates, economists, and others should use the findings as evidence to argue for greater attention to – and resources for – improving their nations’ human capital. 

“Under-investing in people may be driven by lack of policy attention to the levels of human capital,” Murray said. “No regular, comparable reporting across all countries on human capital currently exists. Such reporting over the next generation – as a way to measure investments in health and education – will enable leaders to be held accountable to their constituents.”

Researchers found that nations with greater improvements in human capital also tend to have faster growth in per capita GDP. Countries in the highest quartile of improvements in human capital between 1990 and 2016 had a 1.1% higher median yearly GDP growth rate than countries in the bottom quartile of human capital improvements. For example, between 2015 and 2016, a 1.1% increase in the GDP growth rate in China equated to an additional $163 per capita; in Turkey, $268 per capita; and in Brazil, $177 per capita.

The study focuses on the number of productive years an individual in each country can be expected to work between the ages of 20 to 64, taking into account years of schooling, learning in school, and functional health. The calculation is based on systematic analysis of 2,522 surveys and censuses providing data on years of schooling; testing scores on language, math, and science; and health levels related to economic productivity. .

Rankings for the 10 most populous countries in 2016, in addition to China, India, and the United States were Indonesia (131st), Brazil (71st), Pakistan (164th), Nigeria (171st), Bangladesh (161st), Russia (49th), and Mexico (104th).

There were notable differences in expected human capital by sex in 2016. Across the board, expected years lived between 20 and 64 years are greater in females than in males. In addition, health status tends to be higher among females than males, with the exception of high-income countries. In terms of the overall measure, for countries below 10 years of expected human capital, rates of human capital tend to be higher in males, while countries above 10 years tend to have higher expected human capital for females

 Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the BJP’s differences with Congress President Rahul Gandhi were “political and nor personal” in nature.

Speaking at an interactive event at a management institute in Lucknow, his Lok Sabha constituency, Singh said the Bharatiya Janata Party always believed in differing on political and ideological issues and never took things to personal level.

Asked by a student about Gandhi’s increasing number of visits to temples, the Minister said this was done keeping in mind the 2019 parliamentary polls.

When a student asked him on the growing perception that India was leaning towards the US, he said New Delhi’s foreign policy was guided by the traditional credo of “Na kahu se dosti, na kahu se bair” (Friend of none and enemy of none). 

“We want good relationship with all countries,” he added.

Queried about the government’s stand on the contentious Section 370 of the Constitution, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the Minister appeared to fumble for a while and then asked the student who had asked her to raise this question.

“If I utter a word on this, it will become international news… You should wait… Some decisions have to be taken with great seriousness and deliberations.”

Rajnath Singh quickly added that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and will always remain one. “Nobody can take away the state from us.”

While smart pills have emerged as the new digital health tool that help patients and doctors track drug regimen compliance as well as increase patient adherence, its ethical issues such as patient privacy, consent and data sharing must be addressed, researchers argue.

Smart pills, or digital pills, are prescription medications equipped with edible electronic sensors that send wireless messages to devices, like patches and smartphones or tablets, outside the body when they are ingested. 

Health care providers and policymakers need to exercise caution in allowing this technology in patient care settings as it can also dump down the doctor-patient relationship, the researchers warned.

“Smart pills are a dangerous reduction of the provider-patient relationship and there is no shortcut to improving patient adherence, which happens in a larger framework of home, work and clinical environments, not to mention perceptions and emotions,” said Eric Swirsky, clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). 

Swirsky said that there is simply no evidence yet to suggest smart pills benefit patients as much as traditional medical care.

“It is naive to think that this type of surveilled compliance with provider-recommended drug treatments will function like a magic pill. 

“More likely, it will just challenge the ingenuity of patients. 

“This technology dumbs down an issue that is often very complex in the hopes of quickly solving an expensive medical challenge,” Swirsky said. 

The study, published in the American Journal of Bioethics, warned that smart pills should be evaluated based on their clinical efficacy against the standard of care drugs, like any other intervention, not based only on compliance or cost savings.

Use of data-based technology should also not outpace public policy and legislation in properly regulating how this data is shared, used or purchased by companies, said Andrew Boyd, Associate Professor at the UIC.

“Health information technology functions best when implemented in conjunction with doctors and patients in a collaborative manner,” the researchers said. 

“With no magic pill to cure the ills of the modern doctor-patient relationship, patients would be better served by providers who seek a comprehensive understanding of adherence than those who employ technology they do not understand.”

India has nearly halved its number of multidimensional poverty between 2005-6 and 2015-16 by climbing down to 27.5 percent from 54.7 percent, according to estimates from the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

But while there is much to be done, there are promising signs that such poverty can be – and is being – tackled. In India, the first country for which progress over time has been estimated, 271 million people moved out of poverty between 2005/06 and 2015/16. The poverty rate here has nearly halved, falling from around 55 percent to around 28 percent over the 10-year period.

Among South Asian countries, only Maldives has a lower headcount ratio than India at 1.9 percent, with Nepal (35.3 percent), Bangladesh (41.1 percent), and Pakistan (43.9) having higher incidences of multidimensional poverty. Though the traditionally disadvantaged groups – across states, castes, religions, and ages-are still the poorest, they have also experienced the biggest reductions in MPI through the decade, showing that they have been “catching up”. This is in line with global trends, where deeper progress among the poorest groups is reflected in the global MPI being cut by half.

Despite the massive gains made in reducing multidimensional poverty, 364 million Indians continue to experience acute deprivations in health, nutrition, schooling and sanitation. Just over one in four multidimensionally poor people in India are under ten years of age.

Pockets of poverty are found across India, but multidimensional poverty is particularly acute – and significant – in the four states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. These accounted for 196 million MPI poor people – more than half of all MPI poor in India.

But there was also progress. Jharkhand made the biggest strides among all states in reducing multidimensional poverty, with Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Nagaland only slightly behind.

Delhi, Kerala and Goa have the lowest incidence of multidimensional poverty.

Across nearly every state, poor nutrition is the largest contributor to multidimensional poverty. Not having a household member with at least six years of education is the second largest contributor. Insufficient access to clean water and child mortality contribute least. Relatively fewer people living in poverty experience deprivations in school attendance, the report says.

The MPI looks beyond income to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways. It identifies how people are being left behind across three key dimensions: health, education and living standards, and 10 indicators – nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, sanitation, cooking fuel, drinking water, electricity, housing and assets. Those who are deprived in at least a third of the MPI’s components are defined as multidimensionally poor, the report said.

The 2018 report, which is now closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, cover almost three-quarters of the world’s population. The 2015-16 district-level calculations of the incidences of multidimensional poverty for India has been sourced from the National Family Health Survey IV. The data for 2005-06 is from the National Family Health Survey III.

In 104 primarily low and middle-income countries, 662 million children are considered multidimensionally poor. In 35 countries half of all children are poor. 

The latest figures paint a stark picture of just how many are still left behind by development, but they also demonstrate that progress can happen quickly with the right approach.

 Globally, some 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty, which is almost a quarter of the population of the 104 countries for which the 2018 MPI is calculated. Of these 1.3 billion, almost half – 46 percent – are thought to be living in severe poverty and are deprived in at least half of the dimensions covered in the MPI.

“Although the level of poverty – particularly in children – is staggering so is the progress that can be made in tackling it. In India alone some 271 million have escaped multidimensional poverty in just 10 years,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “The Multidimensional Poverty Index gives insights that are vital for understanding the many ways in which people experience poverty, and it provides a new perspective on the scale and nature of global poverty while reminding us that eliminating it in all its forms is far from impossible.”

Although similar comparisons over time have not yet been calculated for other countries, the latest information from UNDP’s Human Development Index shows significant development progress in all regions, including India. Since 1990, life expectancy increased by almost 4 years in South Asia (almost 11 years in India). This bodes well for improvements in multidimensional poverty.

 Â“The MPI demonstrates the tremendous strides India has made, and continues to make, in reducing poverty. It is especially encouraging that traditionally disadvantaged groups are catching up the fastest. Not only is this in line with the core philosophy of the Sustainable Development Goals to reach the farthest first, it is also reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development pledge of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,” said Francine Pickup, UNDP India Country Director.

 The 2018 MPI is available for 1,101 subnational regions showing within-country variations in multidimensional poverty levels for 87 countries.

Traditional poverty measures – often calculated by numbers of people who earn less than $1.90 a day – shed light on how little people earn but not on whether or how they experience poverty in their day-to-day lives. The MPI provides a complementary picture of poverty and how it impacts people across the world.

“The Sustainable Development Goals call to eradicate poverty in all its forms everywhere. The Multidimensional Poverty Index helps answer that call, providing immensely valuable information for all those seeking to understand what poverty looks like for a particular place or group of people, and for those working on the policies to help people escape poverty now and into the future.”, said Selim Jahan, Director of the Human Development Report Office at UNDP.

While the MPI’s core data look at those who are poor, and the subset who are severely poor, the numbers also look at those very close to becoming poor. These people, while not quite multidimensionally poor, are living precariously and struggling to remain above the poverty line.

The data show that in addition to the 1.3 billion classed as poor, an additional 879 million are at risk of falling into multidimensional poverty, which could happen quickly if they suffer setbacks from conflict, sickness, drought, unemployment and more.

At least 90 rural activists, who work under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Thursday to thank him for the increase in their incentives, an official statement said.

Under the NRHM, the government provides villages with a trained female Accredited Social Health Activist or ASHA. 

According to the release, the Prime Minister recalled his interaction with the ASHA and Anganwadi workers across the country via video conference and appreciated them for sharing their experiences and personal accounts. 

“Today , ASHA activists shared some more accounts of how they had been instrumental in saving lives of poor mothers and children through timely intervention,” it said.

The Prime Minister appreciated ASHA workers for their skill and dedication and recalled that even Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had praised their efforts towards eradication of diseases such as Kala Azar, a severe parasitic disease.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday gave its approval to the benefit package with effect from October 2018 (to be paid in November 2018). The package covers the expenditure till 2020.

The size of the Indian economy will double to $5 trillion by 2022 with manufacturing and agriculture contributing $1 trillion each, and the various states are competing with each other to help achieve this goal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.

In his address at the foundation laying ceremony of the India International Convention and Expo Centre here, Modi said that towards achieving this target, the government is making all efforts to increase the share of exports to 40 per cent of the country’s GDP.

“The country’s macroeconomic fundamentals are strong, and all efforts are being made by various agencies to increase the share of exports to 40 per cent of the GDP,” he said.

“We plan to increase our GDP to $5 trillion by 2022 in which manufacturing and agriculture would contribute $1 trillion each.

“The states are also together in this endeavour and are competing with each other on the ease of doing business rankings,” he said. 

The high rate of India’s GDP growth in recent years had resulted in a massive employment generation, particularly in the IT, retail and tourism sectors, he added 

Referring to government’s proposal made on Tuesday of the merger of Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda to create the country’s third largest banking entity, the Prime Minister said that his administration had brought in bank consolidation which was being debated over a long time.

“The need for having dozens of government-run banks was being debated for a long time but we have acted on it. This government will not shy away from taking tough decisions in the national interest,” he said, citing the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) among such measures taken by the government.

In a first, the government on Thursday came out with a National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), containing a list of 4.5 lakh convicts with photos of about 3.5 lakh of them available.

The offenders face charges of rape, gangrape and eve-teasing.

The database, which was rolled out by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) along with Women and Child Development Ministry (WCD) here, will be maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The NDSO which is accessible only to law enforcement agencies will assist in effectively tracking and investigating cases of sexual offences and employee verification.

The registry which was approved by the Cabinet in April 2018 makes India the ninth country in the world to set up and maintain a national database of sexual offenders.

According to MHA, the state police have been requested to regularly update the database from 2005 onwards. The database includes name, address, photograph and fingerprint details for each entry. However, the database will not compromise any individual’s privacy.

MHA has already released a grant of Rs. 94.5 crore to states/UTs for establishing cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories to strengthen cybercrime investigation and conduct training programmes to enhance capabilities of police officers, public prosecutors and judicial officers.

According to the WCD ministry, the sex offenders listed in the database will be classified on the basis of criminal history to ascertain if they pose a serious danger to the community. 

“It is a matter of great pride and joy as two initiatives that my Ministry (WCD) and I had been pursuing for three years have been executed. The launch of National Registry of Sexual Offenders and Cybercrime Reporting Portal is one more step taken by our government for the safety of our women and children,” Union WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi said.

Another web portal, “Cyber Crime Prevention Against Women and Children (CCPWC)”, an initiative under the Nirbhaya Fund was also launched which will enable complainants in reporting cases without disclosing their identity. 

“Government has taken several measures to check crime against Women and Children, including provision of stringent punishment and creation of modern forensics facilities to improve investigation, creation of the Women’s Safety Division in the MHA and launching of Safe City projects for Women’s Safety,” Union MHA minister Rajnath Singh said.

The complaints registered through this portal will be handled by police authorities of respective State/UTs and complainants can also upload the objectionable content and URL to assist in the investigation by the state police.

The NCRB will proactively identify such objectionable content and take up with intermediaries for its removal. For this NCRB has already been notified as the Government of India agency to issue notices under the IT Act.

“A positive aspect of this portal is the provision for anonymous reporting, which will encourage more people to come forward with such complaints. This portal comes as a relief by providing time-bound solutions to a huge number of women and children who are being exploited in cyber space,” Gandhi added.

 Indian Institute of Technology Madras is collaborating with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) to enhance the operational life cycle of existing platforms and reduce running and operating cost by optimum use of offshore survey requirements.

IIT Madras is going to develop a Database Management System for all the 280-plus platforms of ONGC and develop software for Structural Integrity Management System (SIMS) as well.

Prof. Ravindra Gettu, Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), IIT Madras, and Mr. Dinesh Kumar, Executive Director, Head of Institute of Engineering and Ocean Technology (IEOT), ONGC, Panvel, signed the agreement for the Collaborative R&D project titled ‘Development of Structural Integrity Management System (SIMS) For Offshore Platforms of ONGC’.

Speaking on the occasion of signing the agreement, Mr. Dinesh Kumar said, 

“This kind of collaboration will go a long way in benefiting the country. This is part of a concerted effort to further industry-academic collaboration and a good start has been made between IIT Madras and ONGC. ”

The existing offshore platforms in Mumbai High have been operational for more than three decades. Though the design life has exceeded in some cases, oil and gas production still continues as their reservoirs are producing. Hence, considerable effort has been spent on maintaining the structural stability and strength of these platforms for the last 10 to 15 years by both ONGC and IEOT in terms of mitigation measures such as underwater strengthening of members, removal of marine growth and many other activities including load shedding in some cases.

The project is being spearheaded from IIT Madras by Dr. S. Nallayarasu, Professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering who has over 25 years of experience in Oil and Gas industry, research and teaching. Prior to joining IITM, his industry experience includes offshore structures and field development, structural auditing and verification, port and harbor development, marine terminals for oil and gas, FSRU-LNG facilities and FPSO’s.

Speaking about the challenges involved in this project, Dr. Nallayarasu, said, “The IEOT and Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, has been working on several collaborative projects such as non-linear ultimate strength of offshore platforms and structural integrity assessment in the past. The synergy between IEOT and IITM will be continued to develop a technology based tool for monitoring, assessment, inspection and maintenance of structural integrity of existing platforms to fulfill operational and regulatory requirements for prolonged production of oil & gas.”

Another notable feature of this project is to develop the location based design criteria specific to the platforms operated by ONGC in this region. This will become a starting point for development of codes and standards for offshore platforms in India which does not exist as of now. SIMS software is being developed in line with Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ policy under the umbrella of ONGC-PAN IIT program.