NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad has launched a first-of-its-kind incubator program focusing on creating an ecosystem for grooming start-ups in the field of chip design.

Christened the FablessChip Design Incubator Program, or FabCI, it will be based in the IIT Hyderabad campus.

The Fabless Chip Design Incubator is a flagship program being executed with the support of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and in partnership with CadenceÒ Design Systems, Inc., a leading provider of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software, hardware and IP.

The primary motivation for this unique incubator program is to provide a one-stop solution for start-ups focusing in the area of chip design. The vision of this incubator is to create an ecosystem wherein the incubatees are not only provided with the relevant infrastructure, hardware and software but also are mentored through the path of success with the help of mentors who are pioneers in this field.

Speaking about the launch of FabCI, Prof U.B. Desai, Director, IIT Hyderabad, said, “This new incubator program demonstrates our commitment to generating IPR in chip design. It will be another testament to the entrepreneurial culture of the Institute”.

“I am confident that FabCI will make great contributions to the growth of chip design in the country. This incubator program will also be a shot in the arm to the ‘Make in India’ campaign and help India become a global hub for chip design,” added Prof Desai.

The vision is to leverage the deep research and design expertise of the IIT Hyderabad faculty as well as external mentors to create Indian IP and to make a mark in chip design internationally. 

IIT Hyderabad has designated Cadence as the technology partner for FabCI. While there is a dedicated facility being established at the IIT-H campus for the incubator, remote access to Cadence’s tools is available to enable semiconductor innovation and entrepreneurship irrespective of location.

The incubator is fully functional already and is soliciting applications from fabless IC startups. 

Speaking about the partnership with IIT Hyderabad for FabCI program, Mr. Jaswinder Ahuja, Corporate Vice President and Managing Director, Cadence Design Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd, said, “Innovation and entrepreneurship are essential for the growth of the Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem in India. Incubators play a catalytic role in lowering entry barriers and fostering entrepreneurship. Cadence has been working with the Government of India, industry and academia for many years now to grow the ecosystem.”

Mr. Hemant Kanakia, Chief Advisor and Mentor for FabCI, said “India has an enormous potential to become a center of excellence for fabless semiconductor product and service companies. FabCI is a very good first step in realizing that potential by creating an ecosystem for start-ups in the semi-conductor sector. In my opinion, the success of FabCI depends on partnerships with Industries such as EDA tools, Fabrication Factories, Indian Electronics and Semi-Conductor Association and local subsidiaries of multinationals involved in design and manufacture of silicon products in India.”

In addition to its world-class EDA technologies, Cadence will also provide its platforms for emulation, rapid prototyping and access to its engineering expertise to ensure success of the incubator and incubatees.

NEW DELHI: Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Rajasthan has expressed discontent with the State health budget for the financial year 2018-19 and the government’s increasing inclination towards privatization of public health facilities.

In a meeting held among about 70 civil society representatives, public health experts, academicians, lawyers and Panchayati Raj Institution members from across the State, reiterated the concern that public health facilities in Rajasthan, especially preventive and primary health care services, have for long been in a state of neglect and that there is an urgent need for adequate budgets to revamp and expand existing health and nutrition related services.

The Abhiyan also expressed concern over increasing dependency of the government on health insurance scheme and public private partnership of public health facilities and cautioned that while this approach to health care may attract patients to seek treatment, but it would do little to reduce out of pocket expenditure on health or improve indicators such as maternal mortality, infant mortality, anemia, and malnutrition among others.

The Abhiyan highlighted that while the overall State health budget has shown an increase in monetary terms from Rs 10,800 crore (RE) in 2017-18 to about Rs 12,813 crore in the current budget, yet in terms of state GDP it’s not any different from the previous budget. The Abhiyan has for long been demanding that the State health budget should be increased to at least 2.5% of the state’s GDP, while it has been hovering at close to 1% since quite some years, which is grossly inadequate to deliver quality health care services to a population of Rs 7 crore. 

“What is astonishing is that this fiscal year the budget for NRHM has seen a steep decline from Rs 2,158.62 crore in revised budget estimates of previous year to Rs 1,788.61 crore in the current announcements. This would certainly mean that preventive and promotive health care services in rural and deprived areas would evident huge setback’’ a statement issued said here.

The Abhiyan stated that the focus of the current budget announcements has largely been on augmenting health infrastructure by bringing about new health facilities and upgrading the existing ones, without any thought on how the government is going to meet the mammoth shortfall of human resources which for long has been an issue of grave concern.

It is still not clear as in how much budget has been allocated for Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana, but there’s all probability that the budget for the scheme would receive a considerable hike, as was evident last year as well, given the very inclination of the government to expand and sustain its flagship scheme. 

In 2017-18 the scheme saw an abrupt raise in its budget to Rs 1,500 crore. The current budget also categorically had a mention of establishing medical colleges and other hospitals on PPP mode. This alternately means that there’s going to be more private empanelment and more public money would be diverted to private kitty. The State has already handed over more than 100 rural and urban PHCs to private agencies to be run on PPP mode.

The Abhiyan also raised concern around malnutrition and anemia among children and women. Anaemia of more than half and lesser body mass index (BMI) of more than quarter of women in reproductive age group of the state is urgently required to be corrected.  In one of its major demands Abhiyan stated that elementary education of children aged 3-6 years should be shifted from Anganwadi centres to primary schools. All government schools should have nursery section and admit children from age three onwards as is being the practice in most of the privately funded schools.

Together with this Abhiyan also emphasized that Anganwadi Centres should be engaged in Infant & Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and for dietary needs of pregnant and lactating mothers.Anganwadi centres could be turned into crèches wherever the need be. Women can leave children while going for work or spend around three hours daily with their more than six months and less than six months old child.

NEW DELHI: INDIAsize, a National Sizing Survey, will be conducted by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), to develop a comprehensive size chart for ready-to-wear industry based on the body measurements of the Indian population.

It is a scientific exercise where anthropometric data will be collected from a sample population in the age group 15 to 65 years to create a database of measurements that will result in a standardized size chart which is representative of the Indian population and can be adopted by the apparel industry.

An official statement issued by the Ministry of Textile said Aalarge percentage of shoppers face difficulty in finding clothes that fit perfectly according to their body measurements. The reason is differences in anthropometric built of people in different geographical regions across the country.

Using 3D whole body scanners, computers will extract hundreds of measurements from a scan. The data created as part of this project will be confidential and secure. The duration of the project will be around two years from the date of commencement.

Till date 14 countries have successfully completed national sizing surveys: USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Korea, China and Australia. The surveys entail measuring statistically relevant sample size pan country using human safe technology of 3D whole body scanner, a non-contact method of taking body measurements and analyzing the collected data to create size charts.

Indian apparel industry uses size charts which are tweaked versions of size charts of other countries so returns of the garments are in the range of 20% to 40% and is increasing with the growth of ecommerce and the main reason for returns are poor garment fit.

The findings of the study will impact various other sectors like automotive, aerospace, fitness and sport, art and computer gaming where insights from this data can produce ergonomically designed products which are suited for the Indian population.

The project has been approved by the government and will entail measuring of 25,000 male and female Indians in 6 cities in 6 regions of the country: Kolkata (East), Mumbai (West), New Delhi (North), Hyderabad (Central India), Bengaluru (South) and Shillong (North-East).

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet has approved the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 for introduction in the Parliament.  

The Bill comprehensively addresses the transnational nature of human trafficking. The National Anti-Trafficking Bureau will perform the functions of international coordination with authorities in foreign countries and international organizations, international assistance in investigation, facilitate inter-State and trans-border transfer of evidence and materials, witnesses and others for expediting prosecution, facilitate inter-state and international video conferencing in judicial proceedings.

The Bill addresses the issue of trafficking from the point of view of prevention, rescue and rehabilitation, and covers aggravated forms of trafficking, which include trafficking for the purpose of forced labour, begging, trafficking by administering chemical substance or hormones on a person for the purpose of early sexual maturity, trafficking of a woman or child for the purpose of marriage or under the pretext of marriage or after marriage.

The proposed law prescribes punishment for promoting or facilitating trafficking of person which includes producing, printing, issuing or distributing unissued, tampered or fake certificates, registration or stickers as proof of compliance with government requirements; or commits fraud for procuring or facilitating the acquisition of clearances and necessary documents from government agencies.

The confidentiality of victims/ witnesses and complainants by not disclosing their identity is prohibited under the Bill. Further, the confidentiality of the victims is maintained by recording their statement through video conferencing (this also helps in trans-border and inter-State crimes).

Time bound trial and repatriation of the victims – within a period of one year from taking into cognizance and immediate protection of rescued victims and their rehabilitation are some other highlights of the Bill.

The victims are entitled to interim relief immediately within 30 days to address their physical, and mental trauma, and further appropriate relief within 60 days from the date of filing of charge sheet. The Bill also has provision for creation of Rehabilitation Fund to be used for the physical, psychological and social well-being of the victim including education, skill development, health care/psychological support, legal aid, and safe accommodation among other things.    

Designated courts will be set up in each district for the speedy trial of the cases. The Bill creates dedicated institutional mechanisms at District, State and Central level. These will be responsible for prevention, protection, investigation and rehabilitation work related to trafficking.  National Investigation Agency (NIA) will perform the tasks of Anti-Trafficking Bureau at the national level present under the MHA.

Punishment prescribed in the Bill ranges from rigorous minimum 10 years to life and a fine not less than Rs. 1 lakh. In order to break the organized nexus, both at the national and international level, the Bill provides for the attachment and forfeiture of property and also the proceeds for crime.

Trafficking in human beings is the third largest organized crime violating basic human rights. There is no specific law so far to deal with this crime. Accordingly, the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 has been prepared. The Bill addresses one of the most pervasive yet invisible crimes affecting the most vulnerable persons especially women and children.

The new law will make India a leader among South Asian countries to combat trafficking. Trafficking is a global concern also affecting a number of South Asian nations.

The Bill has been prepared in consultation with line Ministries, Departments, State Governments, NGOs and domain experts.  The Draft Bill discussed in regional consultations held in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bombay with various stakeholders including over 60 NGOs. The Bill was examined and discussed by Group bf Ministers also.

NEW DELHI : Global deaths of newborn babies remain alarmingly high, particularly among the world’s poorest countries, UNICEF said today in a new report on newborn mortality. Babies born in Japan, Iceland and Singapore have the best chance at survival, while newborns in Pakistan, the Central African Republic and Afghanistan face the worst odds.

“While we have more than halved the number of deaths among children under the age of five in the last quarter century, we have not made similar progress in ending deaths among children less than one month old,” said Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF’s Executive Director. “Given that the majority of these deaths are preventable, clearly, we are failing the world’s poorest babies.”

Globally, in low-income countries, the average newborn mortality rate is 27 deaths per 1,000 births, the report says. In high-income countries, that rate is 3 deaths per 1,000. Newborns from the riskiest places to give birth are up to 50 times more likely to die than those from the safest places.

The report also notes that 8 of the 10 most dangerous places to be born are in sub-Saharan Africa, where pregnant women are much less likely to receive assistance during delivery due to poverty, conflict and weak institutions. If every country brought its newborn mortality rate down to the high-income average by 2030, 16 million lives could be saved.

Unequal shots at life 

More than 80 per cent of newborn deaths are due to prematurity, complications during birth or infections such as pneumonia and sepsis, the report says. These deaths can be prevented with access to well-trained midwives, along with proven solutions like clean water, disinfectants, breastfeeding within the first hour, skin-to-skin contact and good nutrition. However, a shortage of well-trained health workers and midwives means that thousands don’t receive the life-saving support they need to survive. For example, while in Norway there are 218 doctors, nurses and midwives to serve 10,000 people, that ratio is 1 per 10,000 in Somalia.

This month, UNICEF is launching Every Child ALIVE, a global campaign to demand and deliver solutions on behalf of the world’s newborns. Through the campaign, UNICEF is issuing an urgent appeal to governments, health care providers, donors, the private sector, families and businesses to keep every child alive by:

·         Recruiting, training, retaining and managing sufficient numbers of doctors, nurses and midwives with expertise in maternal and newborn care;

·         Guaranteeing clean, functional health facilities equipped with water, soap and electricity, within the reach of every mother and baby;

·         Making it a priority to provide every mother and baby with the life-saving drugs and equipment needed for a healthy start in life; and

·         Empowering adolescent girls, mothers and families to demand and receive quality care.

“Every year, 2.6 million newborns around the world do not survive their first month of life. One million of them die the day they are born,” said Ms. Fore. 

“We know we can save the vast majority of these babies with affordable, quality health care solutions for every mother and every newborn. Just a few small steps from all of us can help ensure the first small steps of each of these young lives.” 

India has shown impressive progress in reduction of under-five mortality, nearly meeting its MDG target, with a 66 per cent reduction in under-five deaths during 1990 to 2015. India’s progress has been far better than the world’s; the global decline in the under-five mortality during the MDG period was 55 per cent.  The recent progress is even better, with 120,000 fewer deaths in 2016 as compared to 2015. The number of annual under-five deaths in India has gone below one million for the first time in 2016.

The gains for reduction of neonatal mortality have been comparatively modest, with 55 per cent reduction during the MDG period. The progress has also been inequitable for girls in the neonatal period. India is the only big country in the world to have a higher mortality for girls as compared to boys. Poor care seeking for female newborn, with only 41 per cent of admissions in Special Newborn Care Units being females. 150,000 fewer female admissions in SNCUs as compared to male. Source – SNCU online database.

Ensuring gender equity with equal focus on boys and girls and addressing gaps in quality of care are now going to be the next frontiers for newborn survival. The issue of neglect of the girl child is much broader and needs interventions beyond health, to also address the social norms and cultural practices. It would require working both at the policy level to create an enabling environment, and at the community level, to build awareness and bring emphasis on the value of the girl child. Addressing gender inequity is everyone’s responsibility, we need to create a social movement around this. There is an urgent need to intensify our combined efforts to further bridge this gap and ensure equitable access to care for the newborn girl. There is a need to create a social movement involving all stakeholders – Government, Professional bodies, civil societies, media, political leaders and communities – truly leaving no one behind.

Following the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC), the President disqualified 20 MLAs of the Delhi Legislative Assembly last month for holding an ‘office of profit’. The legislators in question were appointed as parliamentary secretaries to various ministries in the Delhi government. The Delhi High Court is currently hearing a petition filed by the disqualified MLAs against the EC’s recommendation. There have been reports of parliamentary secretaries being appointed in 20 states in the past with court judgments striking down these appointments in several cases. In this context, we discuss the law on holding an ‘office of profit’.

What is the concept of ‘office of profit’?

MPs and MLAs, as members of the legislature, hold the government accountable for its work. The essence of disqualification under the office of profit law is if legislators holds an ‘office of profit’ under the government, they might be susceptible to government influence, and may not discharge their constitutional mandate fairly. The intent is that there should be no conflict between the duties and interests of an elected member. Hence, the office of profit law simply seeks to enforce a basic feature of the Constitution- the principle of separation of power between the legislature and the executive.

According to the definition, what constitutes an ‘office of profit’?

The law does not clearly define what constitutes an office of profit but the definition has evolved over the years with interpretations made in various court judgments. An office of profit has been interpreted to be a position that brings to the office-holder some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. The amount of such profit is immaterial.

In 1964, the Supreme Court ruled that the test for determining whether a person holds an office of profit is the test of appointment. Several factors are considered in this determination including factors such as: (i) whether the government is the appointing authority, (ii) whether the government has the power to terminate the appointment, (iii) whether the government determines the remuneration, (iv) what is the source of remuneration, and (v) the power that comes with the position.

What does the Constitution say about holding an ‘office of profit’? Can exemptions be granted under the law?

Under the provisions of Article 102 (1) and Article 191 (1) of the Constitution, an MP or an MLA (or an MLC) is barred from holding any office of profit under the central or state government. The articles clarify that Â“a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the government of India or the government of any state by reason only that he is a minister”. The Constitution specifies that the number of ministers including the Chief Minister has to be within 15% of the total number of members of the assembly (10% in the case of Delhi, which is a union territory with legislature).

Provisions of Articles 102 and 191 also protect a legislator occupying a government position if the office in question has been made immune to disqualification by law. In the recent past, several state legislatures have enacted laws exempting certain offices from the purview of office of profit.  Parliament has also enacted the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, which has been amended several times to expand the exempted list.

Is there a bar on how many offices can be exempted from the purview of the law?

There is no bar on how many offices can be exempted from the purview of the law.

It was reported in 2015 that all 60 MLAs of the Nagaland Assembly had joined the ruling alliance. The Nagaland Chief Minister appointed 26 legislators as parliamentary secretaries in July 2017. Goa, an assembly of 40 MLAs, exempted more than 50 offices by means of an ordinance issued in June last year. Puducherry, an assembly of 33 MLAs, exempted more than 60 offices by passing an amendment bill in 2009.  In Delhi, the 21 parliamentary secretaries added to the seven ministerial posts would constitute 40% of the 70-member legislature.  In all, 20 states have similar provisions.

This raises an important concern. If a large number of legislators are appointed to such offices, their role in scrutinising the work of the government may be impaired. Thus, this could contravene the spirit of Articles 102 and 191 of the Constitution.

What is the debate around making appointments to the office of parliamentary secretaries?

Interestingly, the appointment of legislators as parliamentary secretaries, in spite of the office being exempted from purview of the office of profit law, has been struck down by courts in several states.

Why has the appointment as a parliamentary secretary been struck down while other offices are allowed to be exempt from the purview of the law? If legislators can be accommodated in positions other than ‘parliamentary secretary’, why do state governments continue to appoint legislators as parliamentary secretaries instead of appointing them to other offices?

These questions have been answered in a Calcutta High Court judgment in 2015 which held that since the position may confer the rank of a junior minister on the legislator, the appointment of MLAs as parliamentary secretaries was an attempt by state governments to bypass the constitutional ceiling on the number of ministers. In 2009, the Bombay High Court also held that appointing parliamentary secretaries of the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister is in violation of Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution.  The Article specifies that the number of ministers including the Chief Minister should not exceed 15% of the total number of members in the assembly.

(Source – PRS Legislative)

StoryWeaver, an initiative of Pratham Books, a not-for-profit publisher, will creat hyperlocal libraries for children to promote and preserve children’s literature in Konkani, Bhoti and Haryanvi, to mark the International Mother Language Day.

World over, around half of the seven thousand spoken languages are feared to die by the end of the present century. In India alone, 197 languages are classified as vulnerable or endangered. Cognizant of the threat of extinction looming large on many leading languages, International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity, and promote multilingualism.

Commemorating this day, StoryWeaver is working towards nurturing the children’s book publishing ecosystem in minority languages that have limited or no children’s literature. In 2017, StoryWeaver celebrated IMLD through the Freedom to Read campaign by adding stories in 13 new languages to the platform, including stories in endangered languages such as Kurdish and languages spoken in increasingly smaller circles, like Alemmanisch and Jerriais.

Extending the spirit of the campaign to 2018, StoryWeaver is facilitating the creation of joyful, supplementary reading material in three minority Indian languages on its platform. The StoryWeaver platform currently hosts over 7000 stories in 105 Indian and global languages. Each of these initiatives will marry digital and print mediums together to create a repository of early reading literacy material in mother tongue languages. While the translations of stories to the three languages will happen on StoryWeaver, the dissemination of the books will be through print and digital modes.

Speaking of the initiative, Suzanne Singh, Chairperson, Pratham Books said, “When a language dies, with it a wealth of knowledge is lost forever. It is a death of a culture. Having rigorous discourse on this issue, and implementing mindful efforts to preserve endangered languages and its cultural capital is a requisite of every publisher and language warrior. Through Pratham Books’ open source platform, StoryWeaver, weaving stories of communities in their own languages, and increasing access to quality reading resources for children has been made possible like none other. We are also grateful to collaborate with our passionate partners whose primary mission, just like ours, is to nurture multilingual languages and take it to every child in the country.” 

StoryWeaver partnered with The Konkani Bhasha Mandal, an organization that constantly works for the language Konkani, to translate over 100 books to Konkani on StoryWeaver. Through the collaboration, 25,000 copies of 50 books in Konkani will be printed and distributed for free among more than 250 schools in Goa, impacting over 25,000 children.

Similarly, StoryWeaver collaborated with 17,000 Ft Foundation, an organization that works to improve the lives of the people of remote, high altitude mountainous villages of Ladakh, to translate 10 books to Bhoti on the StoryWeaver platform. Jointly, more stories will be added to the repository over the course of the year.

In the run up to International Mother Language Day, a translation hackathon was conducted for 25 educators from across 20 districts in Haryana. The two day residential workshop saw the translation and inbuilt peer-to-peer review of up to 70 level-1 picture books for children to Haryanvi.  The workshop was organised with the support of the Education Department of the Haryana Government.

Pratham Books is a not-for-profit children’s book publisher in 2004 with the mission to see „a book in every child’s hand?. Its key objective is to publish good quality, affordable storybooks in multiple languages to support reading acquisition among children. Since inception, Pratham Books has published over 2500 books in 20 Indian languages. The books cover a range of genres including early readers, fiction, nonfiction, and storybooks on science, history, mathematics and nature. They have had the distinction of working with many of the country’s renowned authors and illustrators and their books have won several awards as well.

StoryWeaver is an open source, digital platform of multilingual children’s stories from Pratham Books. Launched on September 2015, on StoryWeaver users can read, create, translate, download and share stories for free. By creating a collaborative framework where the creators and consumers of children’s content could interact with one another, it is an attempt to address the scarcity of multilingual, joyful reading material for children. StoryWeaver was launched in 2015 with 800 stories in 24 languages. The platform offers over 7000 stories in 105 languages of the world.

New Delhi:  Veteran diplomat Talmeez Ahmad, who has served for long in West Asian countries,  has made a  strong case for India playing a role in bringing estranged neighbours Saudi Arabia and Iran at talking point, saying vital Indian interests would be at stake in case of conflagration between the two Muslim nations.

“I am not talking about mediation, but some behind the scene diplomacy to make the two estranged countries talk to each other,”Mr Ahmad said while answering questions from the audience during the  annual lecture organised by the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents here . The topic of the lecture was ‘India and the Islamic  World: New Challenges in Turbulent Times’.

The veteran diplomat said he had been pushing for this initiative by India for quite some years, but there were a lot of people who would simply rubbish it saying that India did not have a clout  in the region, it did not have any experience, it had not done it before etc.

In Mr Ahmad’s view no other country either West Asian or European has so much credentials  with  Saudi Arabia and Iran for taking up such an initiative. He pointed out that there were eight million Indians in the Gulf each of whom supported four persons back home,  remitting 35 billion dollars  annually, thus benefiting in total 40 millions Indians.

In such a scenario,  one just could not say that India would not care if these two countries went to war, because the future of these eight million people would be at stake. Besides the livelihood  of its people, India’s  security in energy and so many other respects hinged upon peace in the Gulf, he said.

In fact, he said there was a strong desire in these countries for India to play a political role in the region. He pointed  out to the joint statement of India and Saudi Arabia issued during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2016 visit to the Arab country which said the countries wanted their partnership to go beyond their bilateral relations. ” We will  contribute to a regional order that reflects  our shared interest in stability, prosperity and tolerance,” it said.

Mr Ahmad pointed out that similar intent was expressed in the joint statement that was issued during the visit of UAE crown prince  last year. Mr Ahmad’s remarks come  in the backdrop of  India’s close relations with Saudi Arabia  getting strong  reflection  in the series of high-level visits between the two countries over the last two year. After the just concluded visit of  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani,  Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is also expected to visit India later this year.

Mr Ahmad  said it was high time that India did something substantial to encourage these countries to start dialogue to lessen the tension that threatens the peace  in the region with disturbing implications for India. Answering another question, the veteran diplomat rejected the view that India’s growing proximity with Israel might prove to be a stumbling block for its relations with the West Asian countries.

He  pointed out that some of the Arab countries like Saudi Arabia themselves were engaged with with Israel , and  even Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat encourged  India to play some role in resolving the conflict with Israel.

Mr Ahmad said  India’s relations with Israel were something not unique to the Modi government. It all started in 1990s. Mr Modi had in fact not changed  anything qualitatively  on the ground with respect to West Asia, he said, adding that the present government had rather made the engagements more robust.

Mr Ahmad, however, also said that today there was a  divide between India’s external engagement with the Islamic world and the world of Islam at home,  meaning that the composite culture of the country  was under threat and valuable heritage of a thousand years of shared history between Hindus and Muslims, which was more a cultural, ethnic and linguistic engagement was being disastrously seen through the prism of religion.

NEW DELHI : Several health groups have expressed their strong disappointment with the Supreme Court of February 12, 2018, in which the Apex Court refused to review or recall an earlier order disposing off a case against the mala fide suspension of the vaccine Public Sector Units (PSUs) and government’s tendency to pamper private sector with public money.

The court relied only on the Government’s claims regarding the revival and modernization of the suspended PSUs and did not take into account the last rejoinder of the petitioners that highlighted the increasing diversion of purchase orders to private sector at ever increasing prices. The groups are considering filing a fresh petition, as the court also said “in case there is any deficiency or neglect on the part of the Government…, the petitioner shall be free to seek appropriate redress in appropriate proceedings at the appropriate stage.”

The decade-old public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by former Union Health Secretary, S. P. Shukla and representatives of the All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), Low Cost Standard Therapeutics (LOCOST), Medico Friend Circle (MFC), and Society for Scientific Values (SSV).

The public interest litigation, S. P. Shukla and Others vs. Union of India, was triggered by the sudden suspension of the last three surviving public sector vaccine manufacturing units under the Union Health Ministry in 2008 by one of its own arms (Drug Controller General of India) citing non-compliance with good manufacturing practices (GMP), while another arm of the same ministry failed in its responsibility to invest in their modernization and GMP compliance. These units are: Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli; Pasteur Institute of India (PII), Coonor; and BCG vaccine laboratory (BCGVL), Chennai. Prior to suspension, they were jointly catering to 85% of the vaccine requirements of India’s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).

This PIL was admitted in the Supreme Court in February 2009. Over the years, the case highlighted the lack of a national vaccine policy and the government’s tendency to drift along the path laid by the private industry, such as in the introduction of dubious new and combination vaccines into the universal immunization programme at exhorbitant prices. Under the pressure of this court case, in June 2009, the then UPA government set up a Committee headed by Javid Chowdhury, former Health Secretary, who insisted on the revocation of the order suspending the PSUs and their revival for domestic production as well as modernization for GMP compliance within 3 years (i.e., by 2013). As of today, only CRI became GMP-complaint and went into production in 2015. BCGVL just became GMP-compliant and is still in trial production, whereas PII-Coonor has not even built its GMP-compliant unit, a statement issued by the petitioners said.

The chief petitioner S. P. Shukla said, “We won half the battle with the revival of the suspended PSUs and their modernization for compliance with good manufacturing practices (GMP), under the pressure of our court case and the report of the governmental Javid Chowdhury committee. But their production is yet to be restored to pre-suspension levels, the responsibility for mala fide suspension was not fixed, and even the recommendations of the Javid Chowdhury Committee have not been fully implemented.”

According to S. Srinivasan of LOCOST, one of the petitioners, “The union government has not been buying vaccines from the public sector even after their revival. Government data show that the purchase orders to PSUs are declining and those to private companies are growing despite increasing prices. We highlighted all these issues in our last affidavit of 2016 to show that the Central Government is misleading the Supreme Court, but it was not taken into account before disposing off the petition.”

“We neither have a rational vaccine policy nor rational use of vaccines – for example, selective immunization has disappeared from government policy. New vaccines and their combinations of doubtful efficacy and safety are being introduced in the universal immunization programme. By shifting its procurement towards irrational cocktail vaccines made only by the private sector, the government is systematically reducing PSUs into component suppliers to the private sector”, said Dr. Mira Shiva of AIDAN, another petitioner.

N. Sarojini from MFC remarked, “Due to lack of government orders, the revived PSUs are forced to find private buyers for survival. Prior to suspension, the public sector supplied 85% of all universal vaccines procured by the government. Today, over 90% of the government purchases are from private sector.”

On behalf of the SSV, Prof. N. Raghuram stated, “Vaccines are prescription drugs but are being promoted like consumer goods through private immunization camps. It is unethical that all these dubious practices are being done in the name of children as they cannot decide the vaccines they need. Someone must give a credible answer to helpless parents’ question as to how many vaccines are adequate for a child.”

Under pressure from this PIL, the UPA II government also formulated a vaccine policy that legitimized its ongoing practices favouring the private sector, which continues to be followed by the current government, the statement said.

Both UPA and NDA governments dragged on the case in the Supreme Court for over 7 years by seeking date after date. On October 2016, a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice disposed the case saying that the Government has revived the suspended units and made them GMP compliant. On this day, a junior lawyer had requested a passover because Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves representing the petitioners was occupied in another courtroom but this was not granted. The last affidavit filed by the petitioners which showed that the government’s claims were half-truths seemed not to have been considered by the bench.  The judgment simply stated that “in case there is any deficiency or neglect on the part of the Government in doing so, the petitioner shall be free to seek appropriate redress in appropriate proceedings at the appropriate stage.”

The petitioners filed petitions for review and recall of the order, by reiterating the substance of the last rejoinder affidavit against the Government’s claims and providing the cause list to show a genuine clash requiring the Senior Advocate to be in two courts at the same time. However, on 12 February 2018, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra reiterated the earlier order and said that the court is not inclined to review or recall the previous order but can consider a fresh petition.

New Delhi: With over 3 million registered users on Testbook.com and over 4.5 million registered users on Current Affairs App of Testbook, and 3 lakh + daily visitors, Testbook.com is emerging as India’s largest online test prep community. Testbook is catering to aspirants preparing for government exams such as SSC CHSL, CGL, GATE, RRB, Bank PO, Bank Clerk, Railways and Insurance examinations. Taking this forward Testbook has also launched Testbook Online Centres and Testbook Learning Centres in 30 cities of Bihar, Delhi, and Rajasthan where a student can visit and practice exams in a Real Exam Environment. 

The founders had noticed that a large proportion of the government job exam aspirants are from tier 2 and tier 3 cities and they often face the problem of non-reliable internet connectivity and many do not have access to computers. So, Testbook came up with a hybrid model and it launched branded Online Centres with computers, internet connectivity and power backup facility for its students. It also tied up with local teachers to start ‘Testbook Smart Labs’—Computer infrastructure and Online Learning facility at institute itself. Keeping in mind that a student who comes from tier 2/3 cities, “Testbook Pass” facility has been provided by Testbook which has made easy for students to buy the online test series as cash solutions for them. Students can purchase the Pass either from Testbook Online Centres (TOC) or Testbook Smart Lab (TSL) or network Bookstores and can activate the unique code printed on it in a single step on Testbook.com or from the Testbook Mobile App.

Testbook mobile App is widely loved by students all across the country. With a rating of 4.5, it is the highest rated e-learning education app on the google play store to prepare students for Govt. Jobs. The team behind Testbook.com is already working on leveraging the massive data that is being collected on the platform to make learning more personalized for students so that they can seek better guidance and improve faster. 

Amit Jain, SSC CGL 2016, AIR 1 said  Â“Constant improvement is possible only when we keep a track of our performance. Testbook’s detailed analysis along with high-quality questions made me better and better with each test that I attempted”

“Testbook test series was very important to my success. I am benefitted by live tests, too. I have never missed a single live test and given all test series. This helped me really in time management as you can create exam-like conditions in your home. I also appreciate the quality of questions. Daily streak kept me motivated.” Said Divyesh Vaghela who has cleared SSC CGL 2016 exam

“My whole preparation was based on the test series of Testbook. I relied on it completely, solved mock tests and then prepared the areas in which I lacked, “ said Deepshikha who has completed IBPS PO 2017 mains exam

According to a report by Google and KPMG, the online education industry in India is poised to grow eight times to become a USD 1.96 billion industry by 2021 as an increasing number of students consume content through e-routes. This sector, however, faces high drop-off rates as many online courses are self-paced wherein there are no points of engagement, which in turn result in lower completion rates. 

Our awareness level of jobs and careers are very low.  So, our job selection is often very poor. You will find that 1 million people applying for 100 open positions to hire clerks in Railways or some Govt organization.

“The lack of knowledge in terms of regarding formal education, awareness, internet etc. and also underdeveloped nature, especially in rural parts of India, people are less qualified for current Online Mode of exams. We as an organization believe in empowering each and every student who is aspiring for Government Job. Computer literacy is an important key aspect of this area. We are providing students Real Exam Environment along with computer infrastructure so that when a student sits for the online exam they should be experts with the interface used during the real exam.” said Ashutosh Kumar, Co-Founder, Testbook.com.