[Directed : Raj Khosla/ Produced: Lekhraj Khosla & Bolu Khosla/ Written: Akhtar Romani/Screenplay: G. R. Kamat/ Cinematography: Pratap Sinha/ Edited:Waman Bhonsle/ lyrics: Anand Bakshi/ Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal/Playback: Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd.Rafi/ Starring: Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Asha Parekh, Laxmi Chhaya and Jayant]

On 3^rd May, I was fortunate to be doing live commentary on Radio in English for the 65^th National Film Awards at the Vigyan Bhavan, I was fortunate because one of the symbols of my childhood- Vinod Khanna being awarded the 49^th Dadasaheb Phalke award, albeit posthumously. He was to me and my buddies while growing up at Karol Bagh in the seventies the most menacing dacoit Jabbar Singh, the inspiring lecturer Pramod Sharma and the stern and yet affable inspector Amar all rolled into one!

Late Vinod Khanna (1946-2017) was an enigma. There have been very few like him who started as a detestable villain and ended up as one of the most successful heroes, with a track record which could have upstaged the hit machine called Amitabh Bacchan in the 70s, had he not become a gardener as Swami Vinod Bharti in Rajneeshpuram, Oregon, USA. Vinod Khanna’s menacing act as Jabbar Singh still has the same recall value as Gabbar or Mogambo and in pantheon of Bollywood villains, Jabbar Singh ranks in the A-list along with luminaries like Lion (Kalicharan), Sir Juda (Karz), Shakaal (Shaan) and Dr. Dang (Karma) as one of the few unforgettable scoundrels who have gone on to become even more iconic than their heroic counterparts in the same movies

Sholay and Mera Gaon Mera Desh shared the very basic DNA strand in common. The unwilling vigilante heroes or hero who goes on his journey thanks to a crippled mentor- Havildar Major Jaswant Singh with one arm in Mera Gaon Mera Desh and Thakur Baldev Singh, a retired police inspector without any arms in Sholay. The villain in both films is a dacoit with similar names, the decisive coin toss and showdown at noon. 

These striking similarities have led many to assert and believe that Sholay was a remake of Raj Khosla’s Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) and also borrowed heavily from Narinder Bedi’s Khotay Sikkay (1974). Interestingly, even Khosla and Bedi had lifted the story from Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai (1954). Sippy did not buy the remake rights from any of the three movies, he even lifted the title of his movie from the film Shole (1953) starring Ashok Kumar and Bina Rai.  

Vinod Khanna did 40 films from 1968-74, the films in which he was cast as a hero, second lead or supporting actor did lukewarm business. As a villain however his films were super-hits- Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), Aan Milo Sajana (1970), Rakhwala (1971),  Anokhi Ada (1973) and  Pathar Aur Payal (1974) to name a few.

Raj Khosla went to Ajmer, and sat with the crowd between the third and the first class in Rajasthan’s oldest cinema theatre Majestic Talkies in Ajmer. A heady Khosla after hearing cinegoers’ comments about Mera Gaon Mera Desh, who did not recognize Khosla, later said that he had never had an experience like this in his life. Amazingly Ramesh Sippy also visited Ajmer and saw Sholay in Majestic Talkies, he was introduced to a fan who had seen the film 62 times till then! Ramesh Sippy overwhelmed by this fan sponsored the screening for free till the time it was screened in the theatre.

Asha Parekh began 1971 with two super hits – Mera Gaon Mera Desh, and Caravan which were the second and sixth biggest hits of the year. These were back to back hits from her mega hits Aan milo sajna and Kati Patang in 1970.Raj Khosla first helmed Asha Parekh in mega hitDo Badan (1966), whereas their second outing was a luke warm Chirag (1969). Their next two films together were blockbusters- Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). In fact her powerhouse title-role in Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978) was going to be her last histrionic and commercial hurrah before she was relegated to largely-insignificant mother or bhabhi roles except Kaalia (1981) that again made people sit up and notice her.

Asha was embroiled in major controversies with her female co-stars in her two super hits helmed by Raj Khosla. It was Simi Garewal who first alleged that Asha tried to trim her part down in Do Badan (1969), but it was Simi who bagged the Filmfare Award as Best Supporting Actress. During the making of mega hit, Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), late Laxmi Chayya claimed that Asha parekh had tried cut her part, despite the fact that Laxmi Chayya got twice the number of songs than Asha did in the film. Laxmi Chhaya as the moll with vengeance in her heart got to sing more songs than the leading lady, including Aaya aaya atariya pe, Apni prem kahaniyaan and Maar diya jaye, which is one of the tautest situational numbers in the history of Bollywood.

In Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Dharmendra the macho man was upstaged by the passion and intensity of Vinod Khanna who in one of the action packed scenes literally bled to infuse realism into the role! Dharmendra beats him with the belt in their showdown and the young actor never flinched for a minute.  Dharmendra met him in the evening and saw injury marks on his back but when he asked Vinod Khanna about them he shrugged them of as occupational hazard! Asha Parekh remembered late Vinod Khanna as her friend who always met with a smile on his face. He was a macho man but also someone with whom one could converse on a variety of topics.

Vinod Khanna would come on the sets of Mera Gaon Mera Desh in a small stylish yellow car and as third assistant it was Mahesh Bhatt’s job to usher the actor to his make-up room. Both were boys from English schools, although Vinod Khanna was uptown Malabar Hill and Mahesh Bhatt was middle class Shivaji Park. The first shot of Vinod Khanna was of him riding into the village with his fellow henchmen. He was to dismount the horse menacingly, kick open the door of the house of the village headman and draw his gun out. The shot had Raj Khosla turn around to his crew and utter what would be prophetic words, ‘This boy is going to be a star. He will set the nation ablaze!’

Mera Gaon Mera Desh was filmed in verdant locales of Udaipur district replete with the natural lakes, the luxuriant fields, the green hills and the colourful villages. Vinod Khanna was so etched in public memory as the deadly dacoit Jabbar Singh Mera Gaon Mera Desh, that Khosla mounted Kachhe Dhaage (1973) with Khanna as the anti-hero on a white steed locking horns with Kabir Bedi on a black stallion shooting again in Udaipur! Vinod Khanna and Raj Khosla again returned to Udaipur for a third time in Main tulsi tere aangan ki (1978). 

Vinod Khanna was the Chairman of the prestigious FTII twice from 2001-2002 for three months and then for three years from 2002-2005. He was elected as four times from the Gurdaspur in Punjab between 1998–2009 and 2014–2017. In July 2002, Khanna became the minister for Culture and Tourism and six months later, he the minister of state for external affairs. After losing his seat in 2009 while campaigning in 2014 there was always a demand for the dialogue from Mera Gaon Mera Desh where Jabbar Singh snarls-‘Jabbar Singh ne do baatein seekhi hain, ek, mauke ka fayda uthaana, do, dushmano ka nash karna (Jabbar Singh has learnt two things in life. One, to take advantage of the situation, and two, to destroy all enemies). 

Pran in Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960), Dilip Kumar in Ganga Jamuna (1961), Sunil Dutt in Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), Amjad Khan in Sholay (1975), Seema Biswas in Bandit Queen (1994) and Irfan Khan in Pan Singh Tomar (2012) are some of the most memorable portrayals of the dacoit on Hindi film industry.  Vinod Khanna was barely five movies old and this film was released in the same year that sent his stock soaring with Gulzar’s Mere Apne.Vinod Khanna was villain to Dharmendra in this film but it made Khanna a marquee star with a twirled-up moustache, cleft chin like Kirk Douglas, donning white dhoti and black shirt, his own lawgiver a double-barrel slung on his shoulders, profanity never leaving his lips; few have portrayed the dacoit on screen as faultlessly and majestically as Vinod Khanna did in MGMD. The film became the second hit of the 1971 and 18^th biggest hit of the decade.

In the sweltering hot weather, just drinking some refreshing drinks and slapping on some sun screen is just not enough. Along with the soaring high temperatures, we hear more and more cases of dehydration, health issues, sunstrokes and even death in extreme cases. 

There are many factors that are responsible for the increase in our body heat and environmental heat plays an important role in it. During the summers the temperatures rise and our body getting exposed to these heat episodes causing it to heat up. Another important factor that is responsible for body heat is the foods that we eat. 

So, how I can cool down in the hot weather?

Perhaps, cooling down in summers is all about how your body adapt to the seasons heat and how much can you adapt to. Here are some cool tips that you can resort to this summer to stay cool:

• Keep hydrated always: summer causes sweats, and sweating can cause dehydration, making you more exposed to heat strokes and exhaustions. Just drinking some cool water regularly throughout the day can keep your body cool and hydrated.
• Choose cotton over any other fabric: when it’s scorching outside, opting for lightweight cotton is the best option. Wear lighter colour like white and creamy as it reflects away sun’s radiation. Avoid black and other darker colour clothing’s.
• Eat small and regularly: larger meals warms up the body as it works more to process larger meals. Metabolic energy is required to break down food, hence it is advised to eat smaller meal at regular intervals.
• Lay low: hot air is lighter and rise high. Try to stay as low as possible to keep surrounded by cooler air. If you are so intrigued to stay cool, lie down on the floor.
• Rinse your hands and keep feet cool:  Washing the hands and wrists and feet with cold water before stepping out in the open heat helps drift off and cool down. Dunking the feet into an ice cold bucket of water can help take your temperature down. 
• Keep the moisturizers and lotions in the refrigerator: applying cold moisturizers on the body can provide you with the much needed rejuvenation. By keeping all your essential in the refrigerator can create this cooling effect without much effort.  

Simple foods to eat in summers to stay naturally cool 

Drinking water helps maintain body temperatures and water levels, but what about the vital nutrients that are lost through sweating. Here are some foods that will not only helps keeping cool but also will ensure that you don’t lose out on the nutrients and stay healthy, fit and fresh.

• Watermelons: 

A fruit that has more richness and benefits that could be imagined. Watermelons are amazingly delicious and healthy – full of water and nourish with you from within as it is packed with healthy nutrients, vitamins and minerals. They are a good source of antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium, magnesium, and dietary fiber.

• Coconut Water: 

Full of richness and nutrients, it definitely is a must-have for summers. Packed with the goodness of nutrients, it is a perfect for summers as it replenishes all the nutrients your body loses after sweating. It is the best ever natural energy drink packed with nutrients, as it replenishes all the nutrients our body loses from sweating. It has been used since ages for its numerous health benefits as it promotes cardiovascular health, improves metabolism, aids in digestion, prevents and treats dehydration, helps in weight loss, treats cases of diarrhea, works as a detoxifier and many more.

• Buttermilk: 

Aided with the goddesses of curd is better to have fresh. Added with some other cooling spices like coriander leaves, some cumin powder and salt for some taste makes for a perfect cooling agent in summers. Butter milk have been rated high even in Ayurveda and is known for its  many health benefits like cooling down body temperature, helps in digestion, it helps the stomach smoothen after spicy meals, it washes out fats after meals, fulfils calcium deficiency and it blessed with richness of proteins, vitamin B and potassium. All of these minerals and vitamins work wonders for our overall health.

• Cucumbers:

A storehouse of water and vital nutrients and a must in almost every salad, cucumbers entices everyone in the summer heat. A nutritionally dense vegetable that is packed with nutrients like Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Magnesium, Riboflavin, B-6, Folate, Pantothenic acid, Calcium, Iron, Phosphorus, Zinc and Silica and is naturally low in calories, fat and cholesterol. Out of its many health benefits, some impressive ones are – Alkaline producing effect on the body, are the best cosmetic for your skin, contributes to that strength of our connective tissues, aids hair growth, works as a diuretic, helps to lose weight and improves heart health. 

(The article is authored by Dietitian Sheela Seharawat. She is an entrepreneur and founder & chief mentor of Diet Clinic Health Care)

Mumbai: Thalassemia is the most common genetic based condition globally. The condition may be classified as a hemoglobinopathy which refers to genetic alteration causing structural abnormality in the hemoglobin molecule. Such defects lead to abnormal hemoglobin production and subsequent anemia. Symptom include tiredness, pale skin, bone problems, enlargement of spleen along with delayed growth and complications such as iron overload leading to cardiac, liver and immune system abnormalities.

Thalassemia is monogenic which means that a single causative factor is implicated in pathogenesis of the condition. Mediterranean, Middle East, Southeast Asian regions as well as the Indian subcontinent have reported high incidence of thalassemia as well as carriers of the condition. According to WHO statistics, globally, there are approximately 9 million pregnant carriers annually. About 56,000 new born children have a major thalassemia, including at least 30,000 who need regular transfusions to survive and close to 5500 affected die perinatally. Increasing rates of migration have also led to introduction of such genetic hemoglobinopathies into newer populations. Such new cases represent additional challenge to health services on a global scale.

Thalassemia exists in 2 major forms: namely alpha and beta thalassemia based on the hemoglobin chain that is affected. Other forms include delta and combination/compound heterozygosity variants. Beta thalassemia is further sub classified as beta-thalassemia major, intermediate and minor. Due to high frequency and severity, beta-thalassemia major is considered a major public health problem. This variant causes profound anemia that kills untreated affected children before the age of 3 years.

There is no effective treatment for thalassemia and the only way to prevent the condition is by detection of carriers and spreading awareness among the people about this emerging epidemic. Conventional treatments rely on regular blood transfusion and iron chelation therapy, or bone-marrow transplantation. Nonetheless, the financial burden and adverse effects associated with such therapies outweigh the benefits. Moreover, bone marrow transplantation calls for completely matched donors in order to minimize chance of rejection which is possible in only 25-30% cases. The need of the hour is newer therapeutic modalities that are safe and more effective which will enable affected individuals lead a normal life.

Regenerative medicine and cell based therapy have been studied in management of thalassemia with promising results. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are present in the bone marrow (along with hematopoietic-blood forming cells) and provide a supportive niche microenvironment to the affected hematopoietic cells. Additionally, MSCs are capable of self renewal and differentiation into various cell types thus have been implicated in maintenance of hematopoietic cells. Another interesting observation pertains to adipose tissue which has been described as an extra-medullary pool of functional hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Adipose derived cells may thus be researched as an additional possible source of hematopoietic cells.

A novel approach to hematopoietic stem cell transplant has been made possible by CliniMacs Prodigy System, which proposes un-matched/partially matched (haploidentical) transplants. Studies using this technology have shown that unrelated-donor stem cell transplantation is an acceptable therapeutic approach in severe thalassemia, especially for patients who are not fully compliant with conventional treatment and do not yet show irreversible severe complications of iron overload. This technology has already benefitted more than 5000 patients worldwide suffering from various hematological conditions.

“We have recently launched the first CliniMacs Prodigy System in India at our center with the hope of being able to effectively treat thalassemic individuals and also those suffering from other hematological disorders, malignancy etc. The aim is to reduce the waiting period for transplants and bring down the rate of mortality among affected individuals”, says Dr. Pradeep Mahajan of StemRx Bioscience Solutions “With a combination of mesenchymal cells for restoration of the bone marrow microenvironment and the CliniMacs Prodigy System, individuals suffering from thalassemia will be able to lead a normal life, free from major side effects associated with conventional modalities of treatment”, concludes Dr. Mahajan.

Rabies causes 59 000 agonizing and painful deaths globally every year with one person dying every nine minute, mostly children and the poor.

Rabies is a viral disease that occurs in more than 150 countries and territories – is usually fatal once symptoms appear. Dog-transmitted rabies accounts for about 99% of human rabies cases with 40% of the victims bitten by suspect rabid animals are children under 15 years of age.

The world’s poorest are the most affected as they cannot afford treatment or transport for care. People’s livelihoods are also affected when livestock get rabies, a loss estimated at over US$ 500 million per year globally.

However, rabies is 100% preventable by ensuring access vaccines and to life-saving treatment following dog bites; and by vaccinating dogs to reduce risks and ultimately to eliminate the disease.

At a high level meeting held in Kathmandu recently, the World Health Organization called upon Member States and partners to accelerate efforts to end rabies.

Eight of the 11 Member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region account for nearly 26 000 rabies deaths, 45% of the global rabies toll, as over 1.5 million people in the Region remain at risk of rabies.

“Human rabies is caused mostly by dogs and can be eliminated by increasing awareness about the disease, vaccinating dogs and most importantly by making the already available life-saving rabies vaccines, medicines, tools and technologies affordable and available to all. We can, and must break the disease cycle and save lives,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, told the global meeting ‘Driving progress towards rabies elimination’ here.

At the meeting, the global rabies partners comprising of WHO, OIE, FAO and UNICEF and rabies endemic countries from Asia-Pacific and Africa, shared and deliberated on measures to fast-track elimination of dog transmitted rabies by 2030.

Countries from Africa and Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Kenya, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, who have assessed access, delivery and distribution of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, shared outcomes of their studies. These studies were conducted with WHO support to enable GAVI take an informed decision to support rabies vaccines. The rabies endemic countries are seeking GAVI support to improve affordability and access to rabies vaccines for vulnerable populations, of which many are children.

WHO has been advocating for a shift from intramuscular to intradermal rabies vaccination, which is not only 60 to 80% cheaper, but is of shorter treatment regimen of just one week. Most countries in WHO South-East Asia Region are now using intradermal route for anti-rabies vaccines.

At the meeting, Member countries shared initiatives being rolled out as part of the new ‘Zero by 30: The Strategic Plan’, to be launched by WHO and partners to end dog transmitted rabies. The plan centers on One Health approach and addresses the disease in a holistic and cross-sectoral manner.  It aims at preventing and responding to dog-transmitted rabies by improving awareness and education, reducing human rabies risk through expanded dog vaccinations, and improving access to healthcare, medicines and vaccines for populations at risk. The plan calls for generating and measuring impact by implementing proven effective guidelines for rabies control, and encouraging the use of innovative surveillance technologies to monitor progress towards “Zero by 30”.  It also aims at continued stakeholder engagement at all levels to sustain financing for achieving “Zero by 30”.

A social enterprise ‘INKLUDE’ has come up with inclusive education products like books and games for visually impaired children and adults. INKLUDE, which aims to change the way Braille and geometrical shapes are taught to the visually impaired, has launched a wide range of educational and recreational aids which can be used by both non-sighted and sighted children together. 

Children who are visually impaired are more reliant on touch or their tactile sense to experience the world. Unfortunately, braille books and aids available are not inclusive which means it is very difficult for a sighted teacher, parent or even a friend to teach a non-sighted child to read . And when it comes to making them understand shapes and geometry, there are no books available which have proper tactile images. The books being introduced by INKLUDE are integrated with special embossing technique which does not disturb the readability of a sighted reader and at the same time can be read by a visually impaired person by sensing the tactile braille and images through their fingers.

Explaining more on this Puneet Arora, Co-Founder at INKLUDE says “Children with Visual impairement are separated from the mainstream for the simple reason that there are no books or games available for them which can be played with their sighted peers together. A normal braille book is not understood by a sighted person because it appears like a punched dots on a plain sheet of paper has no supporting text printed on them. With INKLUDE’s innovative publication ideas, we can include the non-sighted with sighted. INKLUDE products are truly inclusive which means that the same book or games can be read and played jointly by both, sighted and non-sighted.”

INKLUDE is a brand owned by Chanakya Mudrak, an award winning Delhi based printing company which has invested last five years in R&D in this domain and has worked on some of country’s prestigious inclusive projects like the development of NCERT’s inclusive Children’s exemplar books, Audio-Braille Accesible Menus, Tactile alphabet books and many more such inclusive products which are unique and unprecedented not only in India, but world over. 

INKLUDE is working indefatigably in this direction to encourage and empower visually challenged population of our country and the world, thus enabling them to lead a life of dignity and productivity. INKLUDE lays special emphasis on education and skill development. It aims to send each and every visually challenged child into mainstream school and highly advocates the concept of integrated education for social fulfilment. It ardently focuses on qualitative education and skill development.

New Delhi : Time to clear the stage once again for the house of talent Ms. Runki Goswami, known for her Telegu compositions such as Â“Ni andelasandarilo” and Â“Teen maar beatulakki” and Hindi compositions Â“kabhieajnabithi” and “Ab naahichanda” and also bringing that nostalgia alive by singing Farida Khanum, Salil Choudhury, Geeta Dutt and various others.

Taking the talent baton forward and making India proud,theGurugram-based Music Director and singer will now dazzle the music lover with her spell binding performance but this time on international stage.

With her controlled and mastered vocals, Runki, will set up a majestic mood with her journey from north to south through a myriad of rustic folk songs of India in its original form; thus engaging the international audience in musical expression with multiple language. 

In the upcoming concert in Nehru Centre, India High Commission, London, Runki will celebrate Indian Folk in its original form. This is on the same lines of for her folk performance in India International Centre New Delhi, which garnered huge applause leaving people asking for more. Given that a different dialect is spoken, a new belief and story told in every bend of a kilometre in India, Runki will try and relive some of those which are now either lying latent in the memories of the older generation or left un-nurtured by the new.

Runki has studied folk carefully and believes that folk is primarily author-less and is not about an individual, but people, their culture, lifestyle and belief system which is running through generations and prevalent till date. Moreover folk is not Bollywood which people need to know Therefore this concert is a reflection of her effort to revive and keep true Indian folk music alive not only in India but also on the international platform. The recitals will be the mirror image of the unchanging legacy of different states, their culture, customs, beliefs and faith. Runki will make sure that her music concert is just not about singing, but narrating the history and interpretation of every pastoral folk rendition accompanied by authentic instrumentals.

The upcoming live performance at India High Commission – Nehru Centre London on 30^th May 2018, will surely be enchanting for all music lovers as Runki will musically hop in and out of Indian States with almost 20 folk songs in over 10 different languages.

NEW DELHI: Making a strong pitch for pursuit of terror financing and following the drug money, Minister of State for External Affairs M.J.Akbar on Monday called for global cooperation to eliminate cross-border terrorism as terrorists do not believe in a nation state or nationalism but in faith-based space. 

“We must identify not only the frontline enemy but all its support systems. We must have honest answers to candid questions. Where does terror financing come from? We must follow the drug money. Steps currently being taken by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are most welcome, and we cannot falter in our pursuit of terror financing. We must cooperate to eliminate cross-border terrorism,” Mr. Akbar said. 

He was participating in the high-level International Conference on Countering Terrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism, hosted by Tajikistan in Dushanbe in cooperation with the UN, OSCE and EU. Mr. Akbar thanked the Tajik Government for preventing radicalized elements from spreading into the Central Asian region and beyond by their historic struggle during the Tajik civil war. 

Mr Akbar said India is fighting terrorism in Afghanistan in many ways – but chief among them is people-oriented development. “Our assistance to Afghanistan is over three billion dollars and includes, at the moment, 116 new projects in 31 provinces,” he told the conference.

Pointing out that there are no short cuts in fighting terrorism, he said terrorists and their sponsors attract the economically vulnerable into their suicide factories through lies, distortion, illusion as well as the ‘romance of regression’.

“We in India face and blunt the threat of radicalization through our shared cultural ethos and an abiding commitment to equality of faith and equitable economic opportunity. In India, every morning begins with the azaan, followed by the temple bells of a mandir, followed by the recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib in a gurdwara, followed, on a Sunday, by the peal of church bells. And because it is India, it is audible,” Mr. Akbar said.

“We are gathered here, friends, to unite and defend our very lives and civilization. We must identify not only the frontline enemy but all its support systems,” he said. 

He said the long war against terrorism must be fought along three dimensions — the battlefield, the battlefield within the mind were seeds of radicalization are being planted and the economic front. He noted that Tajikistan has banned the Islamic Rebirth Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) as a terrorist organization, without ifs and buts. 

India has signed a loan deal worth $ 200 million with the World Bank for the National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan). The loan would help the government in achieving its goal of reducing stunting in children 0-6 years of age from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022.

The POSHAN (PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment)Abhiyaan was launched by the Prime Minister on 8^th March 2018 at Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.

A large component of POSHAN Abhiyaan involves gradual scaling-up of the interventions supported by the ongoing World Bank assisted Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) to all districts in the country over the next 3-year.  The loan will support the first phase scale up to 315 districts across all states and union territories (UTs). 

With a focus on improving the coverage and quality of ICDS nutrition services to pregnant and lactating women and children under 3 years of age, the project will include investments in improving the skills and capacities of ICDS staff and community nutrition workers, instituting mechanisms of community mobilization and behavior change communication, strengthening systems of citizen engagement and grievance redress and establishing mobile technology based tools for improved monitoring and management of services for better outreach to beneficiaries during the critical 1,000 day window for nutrition impact. 

The project will additionally ensure convergence of all nutrition related schemes and provide performance based incentives to states and community nutrition and health workers, facilitating a focus on results.

Health has never been an issue in India. It has not been a priority for the people, and neither has it ever been an election issue – barring an occasional mention in the manifestos of political parties during election time.

It has been the same in the field of journalism. Health is a `beat’ that no one wants to cover – or at least it was so until a decade ago. And, there was a `valid’ reason given for it: A health reporter would never make it to the Editor’s chair. It is still believed that only political reporters make to the top post. Honestly, we have not had any health reporters who have become Editors. But then, we hardly had any dedicated health reporters in major newspapers until recently except a handful of honourable exceptions.  

While some newspapers now have health reporters, regional newspapers still have none despite the fact that health impacts each one of us. Media coverage on public health issues is large event-based, particularly when the news is bad because `good news is no news’ for journalists—at least in the health sector.  Even worse, health news or any social sector news competes with advertisements. A rich advertisement will have a better chance of replacing a health story. 

Under the scenario, the launch of the online version of the `Critical Appraisal Skills’ course for health journalists is a much-needed step in the right direction. 

As a practitioner of journalism specialising in public health, I am aware of the huge gap that exists when it comes to training reporters on health issues. Not many journalism schools have specialised courses on health, hence, this initiative by UNICEF, Oxford University, Indian Institute of Mass Communication and Thomson Reuters Foundation deserves appreciation, and with a hope that the course if adopted by journalism schools and even media houses for better health reporting. 

Having had the privilege of being associated with the course right the beginning, I am privy to the hard work that has gone into producing this valuable document. Beginning with a survey on health reporting in India in 2014 to the launch of the online course, it has been a story of collaborations, agreements and disagreements, days of discussions and deliberations, as well as  involvement of journalism students in the pilot to ensure smooth roll-out. 

When I was asked to contribute, I was a little unsure of what my contribution would be—as were the other journalists– in the entire exercise that began with some lectures on different health issues to the journalism students at IIMC who had opted for Critical Appraisal Skill Programme (CASP) – as the pilot was known then—in addition to their regular academic course. 

As we proceeded with the workshops—led by Nicholas Phythian, Will Church and Royston Martin  from Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Premila Webster and Bharti Kumarvel from Oxford University – ideas emerged and issues cropped up. Every workshop had a new set of participants who brought with them rich experience and regional diversities enriching the deliberations. The entire exercise was a learning experience for the trainers as well. 

By now the course became everyone’s baby! 

After a series of workshops in India and a short training at Oxford University, things started falling in place. By the first half of 2017, the module had more or less taken shape with Nicholas Phythian taking the lead in finalising the course that has been beautifully and simply converged into three modules – critical skills, mother and child and immunisation — from a whole universe of health issues. 

The course has been integrated as a module within all the eight communication streams that the Indian Institute of Mass Communication offers at present.  

The online course is available for entry and mid-level health reporters and aims to enhance the capacities of media representatives to generate factual and non-sensational reports. It has modules on immunisation, mother and child health and critical appraisal. 

UNICEF says evidence shows that a well-researched news story, underpinned with an evidence-based approach can help mitigate any adverse perception about large scale public health initiatives such as the Routine Immunization programmes. It also helps dispel myths and fears and ensures pro-active public participation. Here, media has a critical role to play by way of shaping the conversation.

India has one of the largest immunization programmes in the world, in terms of the number of beneficiaries, geographical coverage and quantities of vaccine used, with nearly 25 million newborns targeted for immunization annually. Over nine million immunization sessions are held across the country to achieve this. However, only 62 per cent of the children in India receive full immunization during the first year of their life.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee have identified a molecule that has the potential of antiviral activity against chikungunya virus. The antiviral activity achieved around 99 per cent reduction in the virus. At present, there are no drugs or vaccine available in the market to treat chikungunya disease.

The research team led by Prof Shailly Tomar, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Roorkee, used structure-based studies of chikungunya virus specific nsP2 protease to identify molecules — Pep-I and Pep-II — that exhibited protease inhibitory as well as antiviral activity.

Speaking about the importance of this research, Prof. Shailly Tomar said, “The nsP2 protease is a strict viral enzyme meaning it is absent in humans, and thus, is an excellent antiviral drug target for chikungunya virus. We identified a molecule that not only possesses anti-nsP2 activity but also effectively kills the chikungunya virus in the cell based assays.”

One of the two molecules — Pep-I — has higher antiviral activity against chikungunya virus.

Speaking about the future work that is going to be done in this direction, Prof Tomar said, “Derivatives of PeP-I and PeP-I like molecules are being developed that will be tested for their antiviral potential in animal model”

The research was funded by the grant from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and published recently in the Elsevier journal ‘Biochimie 

According to the researchers, any molecule that inhibits nsP2 protease should possess antiviral activity. To test the hypothesis they carried out antiviral studies using cell lines.