New Delhi : A group of researchers have concluded that there has been no increase in the levels of methane emissions in India between 2010 and 2015.

This is the first time that an independent assessment of India’s methane emissions has been carried out. 

The study used a combination of satellite, aircraft and surface observations to find out the actual amount of methane emissions from India between 2010 and 2015. The average emissions over the period were found to be similar to what India has officially reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Ruminants or cud-chewing animals (such as cows, buffaloes), waste and fossil fuels were found to contribute equally to India’s methane emissions. 

Ruminants digest their food through the process of fermentation, producing methane gas which escapes into the atmosphere. Other sources of methane include rice fields and biomass burning. Wetlands and rice paddies have water-logged soils and unique communities of plant and animal species that have evolved and adapted to constant presence of water. Due to this high level of water required as well as warm weather, they are one of the largest sources of methane. In winters, people burn more fossil fuels to keep themselves warm, resulting in a rise in methane emissions. 

The study has also revealed an increase in methane emissions in June-September followed by February–March which matches the signature of rice and winter heating. 

While India has the world’s largest ruminant population, the Ministry of Agriculture has reported 3% decrease in ruminant population between 2006 and 2014, which means that emissions from this sector are lesser. In the same way, changes in rice growing practices such as draining rice paddies in mid-season and using different fertilizers can reduce methane emissions. The use of alternate methods of keeping warm in winters too may have also helped. The net result of all this could be no increase in methane emissions. The results of the study were published in journal Nature Communications.

Methane is the second most potent greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. In contrast to carbon dioxide which stays in the atmosphere for about 100 years, methane has greater per molecule contribution to global warming, but only for about 9 years. It is for this reason methane has been identified as a target for greenhouse gas emission reduction schemes. Greenhouses gases trap heat leading to increase in temperatures on Earth.

The research team included Anita L. Ganesan (University of Bristol); Abhijit Chatterjee (Bose Institute, Kolkata); Yogesh K. Tiwari (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune); Matt Rigby, Mark F. Lunt, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, N. Goulding from UK; Taku Umezawa from Japan; Andreas Zahn from Germany, Ronald G. Prinn from US, Marcel van der Schoot and Paul B. Krummel from Australia.

Manama (Bahrain). Bahrain is buying 16 latest variants of Lockheed Martin F-16 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCAs) as part of a $3.8billion deal which also includes upgrade of the Royal Bahraini Air Force’s existing fleet of some 20-plus older F-16 jets.

The Government-to-Government deal was announced October 17 on the second day of the three-day Bahrain International Defence Exhibition and Conference (BIDEC’17) by Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF) Commander Maj Gen Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. It includes an option for three more aircraft at the same price.

The new aircraft is designated F-16 Block 70, the same variant which is being offered to India for indigenous production under the Government’s Make in India programme. Lockheed Martin has promised to shift its factory from Forth Worth in Texas to India if the Indian Air Force (IAF) selects it, and then make India the hub for its production and supply chain.

The aircraft for Bahrain are to be delivered from 2021 onwards, should be made in the US only, and will have the latest Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) combat radar, conformal fuel tanks for longer range, and some new sensors. It should also be capable of firing Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). Details have not been disclosed.

Every country decides its own requirements, but still, while there should be some differences in details regarding onboard sensors, the Block 70, being the latest variant will be mostly common to India, Bahrain and any other country which buys it in the coming years. It will be the most advanced version to date of the F-16, a 4th generation aircraft made for about 40 years but with everything new except its aerodynamic design and shell.

Company officials told India Strategic that the new variant will have the most formidable of the contemporary weapon systems, and share a few technologies from the F-35, Lockheed Martin’s 5th generation combat jet being made for the US Air Force, Navy and Marines, and several countries.

Notably, Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer, had offered F 16s for the Indian Air Force’s Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition in 2007 to match IAF’s specifications. It was not selected in that but the company is back in the fray to sell 114 of what it now calls F-16 Block 70 under the Indian Government’s Make in India programme, stipulating acquisition of 18 combat jets in flyaway condition and the rest to be progressively made in India in collaboration with the Tata Group.

Sweden’s Saab Gripen is the only aircraft in competition for IAF, and a Request for Information (RFI) on what capabilities and technologies they are offering is just about to be issued to the two companies.

As for the Bahraini deal, RBAF would have factored its own requirements and appropriate modifications. But the platform being the same, there are bound to be many similarities between the onboard technologies of what is being offered to Bahrain and what is being offered India.

Details will differ though, and accordingly, so will their capabilities.IAF is likely to ask for the passive Infra red Combat Search and Track (IRST), a system mentioned in the 2007 MMRCA tender. AESA has a much longer range, but being active, indicates the presence of its own aircraft also in the vicinity.

Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf region to buy about 20 F-16s in 1990 and an additional 10 in 2000. It has been wanting more F-16s, but the US State Department cleared their sale only in September this year after some five years of wait. RBAF pilots have combat experience, first in the 1991 Kuwait Liberation War against Iraq

Bahrain was accused of human rights violations and the Obama administration had declined to accede to the BRAF request. President Donald Trump cleared it in September 2017, and in diplomatic terms, Bahraini leaders have literally heaved a sigh of relief now with the removal of the restrictions.

Shaikh Hamad stated that the new, and upgraded F-16s, would contribute effectively to developing the Royal Bahraini Air Force with powerful, new technologies.

Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (DERASAT) – the state run think tank – and BIDEC’s Official Spokesman, and Richard Ambrose, Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Company, attended the press conference where India Strategic was also present at the invitation of the Bahraini Government.

Mr Ambrose affirmed that Bahrain is the first country in the region to sign such a deal with the company, highlighting the great developments witnessed by RBAF, and that the new aircraft will be the most modern in the region.

So far, the distinction of having the most modern F-16 has been held by the UAE Air Force, whose 60 F-16 Block 60 aircraft acquired in 2004 were the first to integrate an AESA combat radar, developed and built by war-tech giant Northrop Grumman.

As some details of the deal are yet to be filled in, company officials say that Lockheed Martin “would continue to support the government-to-government talks between the US and the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

BIDEC 2017 is being held under the auspices of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Commander and the deal apparently has the necessary approvals.

The F-16 is the largest selling military aircraft in the world, and although its aerodynamic frame was designed some 40 years ago, everything inside from a nut and bolt to engines and avionics are contemporary, and of cutting edge technologies, company officials say.

The United Nations celebrates October 16 as the World Food Day every year, with an aim to spread awareness about eradicating hunger and ensuring food security for all. In this context, we examine the status of food and public distribution in India, and some challenges in ensuring food security for all.

In 2017-18, over Rs 1,50,000 crore, or 7.6% of the government’s total expenditure has been allocated for providing food subsidy under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). This allocation is made to the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Food subsidy has been the largest component of the Department’s expenditure (94% in 2017-18), and has increased six-fold over the past 10 years.  This subsidy is used for the implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), which provides subsidised food grains (wheat and rice) to 80 crore people in the country. The NFSA seeks to ensure improved nutritional intake for people in the country.

One of the reasons for the six-fold increase in food subsidy is the non-revision of the price at which food grains are given to beneficiaries since 2002. For example, rice is given to families under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana at Rs 3/Kg since 2002, while the cost of providing this has increased from Rs 11/Kg in 2001-02 to Rs 33/Kg in 2017-18.

Provision of food subsidy

TPDS provides food security to people below the poverty line.  Over the years, the expenditure on food subsidy has increased, while the ratio of people below poverty line has reduced.  A similar trend can also be seen in the proportion of undernourished persons in India, which reduced from 24% in 1990 to 15% in 2014. These trends may indicate that the share of people needing subsidised food has declined.

Nutritional balance:  The NFSA guarantees food grains i.e. wheat and rice to beneficiaries, to ensure nutritious food intake.Over the last two decades, the share of cereals or food grains as a percentage of food consumption has reduced from 13% to 8% in the country, whereas that of milk, eggs, fish and meat has increased (see Figure 1).  This indicates a reduced preference for wheat and rice, and a rise in preference towards other protein rich food items. 

Food subsidy is provided majorly using two methods.

TPDS assures beneficiaries that they will receive food grains, and insulates them against price volatility. Food grains are delivered through fair price shops in villages, which are easy to access.

However, high leakages have been observed in the system, both during transportation and distribution.  These include pilferage and errors of inclusion and exclusion from the beneficiary list.  In addition, it has also been argued that the distribution of wheat and rice may cause an imbalance in the nutritional intake as discussed earlier.Beneficiaries have also reported receiving poor quality food grains as part of the system.

Cash Transfers seek to increase the choices available with a beneficiary, and provide financial assistance. It has been argued that the costs of DBT may be lesser than TPDS, owing to lesser costs incurred on transport and storage.  These transfers may also be undertaken electronically.^6,7

However, it has also been argued that cash received as part of DBT may be spent on non-food items.  Such a system may also expose beneficiaries to inflation.  In this regard, one may also consider the low penetration and access to banking in rural areas.

In 2017-18, 52% of the centre’s total subsidy expenditure will be on providing food subsidy under TPDS. The NFSA states that the centre and states should introduce schemes for cash transfers to beneficiaries.  Other experts have also suggested replacing TPDS with a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system.

The central government introduced cash subsidy to TPDS beneficiaries in September 2015. As of March 2016, this was being implemented on a pilot basis in a few union territories.  In 2015, a Committee on Restructuring of Food Corporation of India had also recommended introducing Aadhaar to plug leakages in PDS, and indexing it to inflation.  The Committee estimated that a switch to DBT would reduce the food subsidy bill of the government by more than Rs 30,000 crore.

Current challenges in PDS

Leakages in PDS:  Leakages refer to food grains not reaching intended beneficiaries.  According to 2011 data, leakages in PDS were estimated to be 46.7%.Leakages may be of three types: (i) pilferage during transportation of food grains, (ii) diversion at fair price shops to non-beneficiaries, and (iii) exclusion of entitled beneficiaries from the list.

In 2016, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found that states had not completed the process of identifying beneficiaries, and 49% of the beneficiaries were yet to be identified.  It also noted that inclusion and exclusion errors had been reported in the beneficiary lists.

In February 2017, the Ministry made it mandatory for beneficiaries under NFSA to use Aadhaar as proof of identification for receiving food grains.  Through this, the government aims to remove bogus ration cards, check leakages and ensure better delivery of food grains.As of January 2017, while 100% ration cards had been digitised, the seeding of these cards with Aadhaar was at 73%.

Storage:  As of 2016-17, the total storage capacity in the country is 788 lakh tonnes, of which 354 lakh tonnes is with the Food Corporation of India and 424 lakh tonnes is with the state agencies.

The CAG in its performance audit found that the available storage capacity in states was inadequate for the allocated quantity of food grains. For example, as of October 2015, of the 233 godowns sanctioned for construction in Maharashtra, only 93 had been completed.  It also noted that in four of the last five years, the stock of food grains with the centre had been higher than the storage capacity available with Food Corporation of India.

Quality of food grains:  A survey conducted in 2011 had noted that people complained about receiving poor quality food grain which had to be mixed with other grains to be edible.There have also been complaints about people receiving food grains containing alien substances such as pebbles.  Poor quality of food may impact the willingness of people to buy food from fair price shops, and may have an adverse impact on their health.

The Ministry has stated that while regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of all food items is under-taken by State Food Safety Officers, separate data for food grains distributed under PDS is unavailable. In the absence of data with regard to quality testing results of food grains supplied under PDS, it may be difficult to ascertain whether these food items meet the prescribed quality and safety standards.

Source – PRS Legislative Research

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders India has filed a petition before the High Court of Delhi to overturn the patent granted on the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) to the US pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer.

Earlier this year, the Indian Patent Office had granted patent to Pfizer for its PCV 13 product, marketed as Prevnar13, which will expire only in 2026. MSF had challenged Pfizer’s unmerited patent claims on the vaccine in India last year to enable and accelerate the availability of more affordable versions of PCV.

Globally, pneumonia causes more than a quarter of deaths in children under the age of five – nearly one million young lives lost per year. India carries the world’s highest burden of pneumonia, accounting for nearly 20% of these global infant pneumonia deaths. The PCV13, which safeguards against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria, also lowers the likelihood of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by significantly reducing common childhood infections and decreasing the need for antibiotic use among infants and children.

In a petition filed at the Delhi High Court last week, MSF India has argued that in August 2017, the Delhi Patent Office erroneously granted a patent to Pfizer by disregarding the evidence MSF produced indicating that the pharmaceutical giant’s claim to a patent was spurious. MSF argued that the mere addition of serotypes to the already established 7-valent vaccine did not involve a technical advancement – it was merely a tactic to preserve Pfizer’s monopoly for many more years.

“A public health perspective used for scrutinizing pharmaceutical patent applications is an essential bulwark to ensure wider access to essential medicines and vaccines. Examiners in the Indian Patent Office must be aware that the decision they take to grant a patent can directly affect access to life-saving medicines and vaccines in India and across the developing world,”said Leena Menghaney, the petitioner who is representing the medical aid organization in court.“MSF is appealing to the court to annul the decision to grant the patent and the patent office to hear the matter afresh,’’ she added.

The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is currently available from only two pharmaceutical corporations: Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Unfortunately, this vaccine is priced out of reach of many parents, governments and treatment providers, due to a duopoly market and a lack of sufficient competition from developing country vaccine manufacturers (DCVM). Approximately one-third of the world’s countries have not been able to introduce PCV, largely because of high prices. Those who have introduced the vaccine are struggling with its costs. South Africa spends more than 50% of its vaccination budget on purchasing PCV13 alone and this is set to continue for another decade unless patent barriers are removed to bring in more competition.

Pfizer and GSK have both been building `so-called’ patent thickets restricting development and competition in the area of PCV. One study identified 106 applications potentially relevant to the manufacturing of pneumococcal vaccines. GSK, which markets PCV10 (Synflorix), and Pfizer (previously Wyeth), have filed the most number of patents in India, China, and Brazil, in an attempt to create barriers to the development of less-expensive versions of PCV, a statement issued by MSF said.

The patent granted to Pfizer involves the method of conjugating (assembling) together serotypes of streptococcus pneumonia into a single carrier and is essential for PCV developers. The patent is a mere addition of serotypes to the already established 7-valent vaccine and does not meet the inventive step requirement; it ought to have been rejected, the statement added.

Outside of India, this application was granted and subsequently revoked by the European Patent Office (EPO) following opposition by other major pharmaceutical companies. In the US, a recent inter parties review (IPR) and post-grant opposition or ‘post-grant review (PGR)’ has been filed on this application.

Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) presently control a duopoly market for PCV that has brought in a whopping $39 billion in sales in the last 8 years. At the lowest global prices, the pneumococcal vaccine accounts for about 45% of the total cost to vaccinate a child today. About one third of countries around the world (60 countries), predominantly low-and-middle-income countries where millions of children risk getting pneumonia, have not yet been able to introduce the PCV in their national immunization systems largely due to the exorbitant prices the two corporations charge – despite a 2007 World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation. Over 50 governments have already voiced their concerns regarding inflated vaccine prices at the WHO’s annual World Health Assembly in 2015.

In India, Pfizer’s PCV had until recently been available solely in the private market with an out-of-pocket price tag of over INR 10,000, reducing the impact of the vaccine as it fails to reach the most vulnerable children.  The high price tag and absence of competition has allowed these corporations to quickly capture over 50% of the private vaccine market in India. To enable a broader dissemination, the vaccine is now being introduced into India’s Universal Immunization Program (UIP) with financial support from GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. Despite GAVI funding, the roll-out remains limited to just three states: Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, due to the high price and limited availability of the vaccine.

After successfully experimenting with olive farming, farmers in Rajasthan have now started growing strawberries.

 

Strawberries, until now have remained outside the reach of the poor. However, for the last 6 years concerted efforts are being made by a progressive farmer from Chittorgarh district, Jagdish Prajapat, to bring strawberries to the middle classes.

 

Jagdish Prajapat, resident of Nimbahera Tahsel Gram Panchayat Bangreda Mamadev, decided to do something new. Initially, he planted strawberry plants in 10 acres of agricultural land. The local climate and land-water conditions proved favourable in ripening of the fruit crop. Carrying his learnings forward, he is currently farming in 6-7 acres of agricultural land. From a small village like Bangreda Mamadev these strawberries have reached major cities including Delhi and Ahmedabad.

 

In the beginning, he brought the plants from Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra and even Himachal Pradesh. However, this year his own farming tactics proved fruitful and he managed to create crops from the strawberry plants present in his field.

 

Prajapat’ input cost is Rs. 3 lakhs per acre of land. This cost includes compost, fertilizer and manual labour. At a time 50 quintals of produce can be obtained from per acre of land in Jagdish’s field. He then neatly organizes these strawberries in 2 kilograms packs (approximately costing Rs. 200 per box) to protect the fragile fruits before transporting them in buses to various cities.

 

For successful strawberry farming, Prajapat applies all techniques suggested by the Agricultural Department. These techniques include drip irrigation, plastic mulching sheet bed for moisture protection and fertigation as per nutrients recommendation to maintain the premium quality and shape of the plants.

 

Like most plants and flowers, strawberries also have numerous varieties, Winter variety did very well in Prajapat’s farm. This plant was cultivated in the first week of September with 12,000 plants in his field. The crops are ready for harvesting by March-April. Varieties like Raniya, Pamaroj, Camilla, Nebila, Sweet Charlie, Chandler, Aofa, among others were also tried out by him but the local climate and natural resources benefitted the Winter variety more.

 

Prajapat believes that favourable air, water and soil conditions for cultivation of strawberries exist in many places in Rajasthan. “Insects and plant sickness are a challenge but all crops possess a certain degree of risk.,’’ he points out while hoping to get himself involved in strawberry processing but would only proceed in this direction after receiving ample guidance.

New Delhi : INS Kiltan (P30), third Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes built under Project 28 (Kamorta Class) was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Raksha Mantri, Nirmala Sitharaman at a ceremony held at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam. Speaking on the occasion Raksha Mantri, Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised that the Navy’s relentless pursuit of self-reliance through indigenisation is highly appreciable and this has helped the Indian Navy to seamlessly transform from a Buyer’s to a Builder’s Navy. She highlighted that the addition of INS Kiltan to the naval fleet is a reaffirmation of this transformation. She said that we need to benchmark our shipbuilding practices to international best practices and produce quality ships in a shorter time frame and at competitive costs. The Government fully appreciates the nation’s defence requirements and requisite finances for the Armed Forces and Defence industry would be made available for the modernisation and development plans of the Navy. 

Regarded as a very prestigious acquisition, INS Kiltan is one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India. The ship’s keel of was laid on 10 August 2010 and launched on 26 March 2013. Her maiden sea trials commenced on 06 May 2017 and finally was handed over to the Indian Navy by GRSE on 14 October 2017. The sleek and magnificent ship is propelled by ‘Combination of Diesel and Diesel (CODAD)’ propulsion system of four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots and has an endurance of around 3,500 Nautical Miles.

The ship has enhanced stealth features resulting in a reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS) achieved by X-form of hull and superstructure along with optimally sloped surfaces. The very low under water acoustic signature makes it a ‘silent killer on the prowl’. This has been achieved by using advanced techniques for propeller design and mountings of main machinery. The ship’s advanced stealth features make her less susceptible to detection by the enemy and help in effective employment of soft kill measure like the Chaff.

More than 80 % of the ship is indigenous with state of the art equipment & systems to fight in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions. Also, P-28 weapons and sensors suite is predominantly indigenous and showcases the nation’s growing capability in this niche area. INS Kiltan is the first major warship with superstructure entirely of composite material.

Weapons and Sensors have been installed/ interfaced on this composite superstructure for the first time on a major warship. Composite superstructure fitted on INS Kiltan ushers the usage of advanced engineering materials on Indian Naval warships with significant improvement in weight and stability parameters.

Apart from her integral ASW capable helicopter, the formidable array of weapons include heavy weight torpedoes, ASW rockets, 76 mm caliber Medium Range gun and two multi-barrel 30 mm guns as Close-in-Weapon System (CIWS) with dedicated fire control systems. She is also fitted with indigenous missile decoy rockets (Chaff) and advanced ESM (Electronic Support Measure) system to detect and map enemy transmissions and direction finder equipment. The ship boasts of a highly advanced Combat Management System and a sophisticated Integrated Platform Management System.

The ship gets her name from old INS Kiltan (P79), a Petya class ASW ship that served the nation for 18 years before being decommissioned in June 1987. Named after the coral island belonging to the Lakshadweep group of islands in India, the ship has a total complement of 15 officers and 180 sailors. The sleek and magnificent ship spans 109 meters in length, 14 meters in breadth with a displacement of 3,300 tonnes and can rightfully be regarded as one of the most potent Anti Submarine Warships to have been constructed in India.

With the changing power dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region, INS Kiltan will augment the Indian Navy’s mobility, reach and flexibility whilst proudly flying the Indian Flag. The ship is manned by a team comprising 13 officers and 178 sailors with Commander Naushad Ali Khan at the helm as her first Commanding Officer. The commissioning of Kiltan will add a new dimension to the ASW capability of the Indian Navy and the Eastern Fleet in particular. The multifarious missions that can be undertaken by the ship truly reflect the enhanced multi-dimensional capability of the Indian Navy.

Rahul Gandhi expected to take over the mantle of Congress president soon from his mother Sonia Gandhi.

The acid test for the Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi following his elevation as the president of the Congress party by December or earlier is turning around its electoral fortunes. Can the 47-year-old leader galvanise the “Old Lady of Bori Bunder” which is in a shambles. 

Having ruled the country for more than five decades and been in the forefront of the struggle for Independence, the Congress has inexplicably steadily lost its sheen with the masses. 

On the other hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the vanguard of the BJP bashing on regardless in winning major assembly elections including Uttar Pradesh with a stunning three-fourths majority. A cursory look at the India map shows large parts of the country swathed in the saffron colour. The BJP’s two failures initially were Delhi and Bihar, a battleground state in the Hindi heartland. 

However, the BJP is back in power in Patna having worked out a coalition arrangement with chief minister Nitish Kumar of the JD (U) bidding adieu to the “mahagatbandhan” and parting ways with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD. After losing the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with its lowest ever tally of 44 seats, the Congress failed to garner even one-tenth of the seats in the 543-member lok Sabha facing the ignominy of not being entitled to becoming the leader of the opposition.  

Nevertheless, the Congress remains the largest party in the opposition. At the same time Modi’s efforts in striving for a “Congress mukt Bharat” is nowhere near fruition. 

With the organisational elections in the Congress party expected to be completed by October 31, the  schedule for the election of party President is being finalised. The state units of the Congress forming part of the electoral college have begun adopting resolutions favouring Rahul Gandhi as the party president.  

The heir apparent had steered clear of becoming a minister in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress led UPA government preferring managing the party organisation for an extended period before his long awaited elevation as its numero uno. His mother Sonia Gandhi has been the longest serving Congress president for nearly 19 years. 

The Congress has been squeezed out politically with its government in only five states compared to the 14 ruled by the BJP. It may be recalled that former Congress chief Sitaram Kesri was ousted by the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body in the 132-year-old party and replaced by Sonia Gandhi. 

The abject decline of the Congress over the last three-and-a-half years and more has been sharp having failed to blunt the challenge posed by Modi. 

The party’s bane is not having mass leaders in the states because of the overbearing attitude of the Congress High Command over the years. 

The question is whether Rahul Gandhi as the new  Congress president has it in him to infuse confidence among the rank and file of the party leading to a desperate turnaround in the next general elections two years hence in 2019. Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Modi’s home state of Gujarat are round the corner. It is apparent Modi cannot afford to lose Gujarat which will be a major setback.

Rahul Gandhi will have to activate the party organisation which is no mean task as becoming Congress president is not going to bring about a instant transformation. The party needs radical, innovative changes for infusing confidence among the people at large.  

Even as the detractors of Rahul Gandhi at the AICC headquarters in the national capital believe making him Congress president will be disastrous, others exude confidence that he will emerge as a formidable leader. 

Senior party leaders maintain “the widespread opinion in the party is that Rahul Gandhi should be made the president at the earliest. This will afford him direly needed space and time to prepare for the next general elections”.  

This might well be the last chance for Rahul Gandhi who has been targeted for attack by the BJP leaders. The Congress desperately needs to enlarge its space which has become highly constricted over the last 42 months since the Modi government assumed power in May 2014. 

Can Rahul Gandhi prove the shenanigans of doom wrong and live up to the challenge staring him in the face! There is no denying the task is a formidable one. Also, can he get a Congress led opposition ready in time for the big battle with the BJP in 2019.

Cisco, software giant, has tied up with Akshaya Patra Foundation for accelerating digitization of their kitchens across 7 locations in India. The agreement is part of its global efforts to support non-profit organizations around the world that help meet critical human needs,

 

 Akshaya Patra Foundation is the world’s largest (non-profit) mid-day meal programme serving wholesome food to over 1.66 million children from 13,958 schools across 12 States in India. Digitization of Akshaya Patra kitchens and key offices will help them realize significant gains in productivity, scalability, and cost-efficiency and accelerate Akshaya Patra’s goal to reach 5 Million children by 2020.

 

As part of this agreement, Cisco will deploy an enterprise-grade network and collaboration suite connecting their kitchens and their offices by enabling end to end IT & process digitization.  The upgraded Akshaya Patra network will connect their offices in Bangalore, Gurgaon, and field kitchens across 7 locations (2 kitchens in Bangalore, one each in Lucknow, Vrindavan, Bellary, Guwahati, and Jigani) on a single network which will enable them to efficiently track their kitchen production, distribution, supply chain and logistics. 

 

Through digitization, Akshaya Patra will have faster and better connectivity in their field offices which is critical to the kitchen’s operational performance, and necessary to support virtual collaboration and knowledge sharing.  In addition, Akshaya Patra can now analyze, and operationalise disparate sets of data in near real-time helping them to improve the overall speed, security and responsiveness of the programme.  This digitization effort is expected to increase Akshaya Patra’s operational efficiency by about 5% in the initial phase, which will help them extend the mid-day meal program to over 28500 students everyday immediately. 

 

“We are excited to work with Cisco to digitize our operations. Small improvements in operational efficiency can have a big impact when you distribute at scale.  Currently most of the data collection and planning is manual; with a rapidly growing network of kitchens, the network platform we are putting in place today will help us in our digitization journey by enabling real-time data collection, streamline kitchen production, distribution and supply chain.  All of this will help us in our mission to reach more children,’’ says Sridhar Venkat, CEO, The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

 

Cisco has been associated with Akshaya Patra since 2007 through employee giving, volunteering and disaster relief assistance. In the aftermath of the 2015 Chennai floods, Cisco sponsored Akshaya Patra’s first kitchen-on-wheels. The kitchen-on-wheels can run around the clock, with un-interrupted power supply to provide 2000 meals every two hours when stationed at any site post a disaster. In the aftermath of the recent floods in Gorakhpur, this kitchen generated about 100,000 meals.

 

“In India, we focus on positively affecting and engaging with the communities in which we work, live, and play. Using the power of the network to digitally enable nonprofit organizations such as Akshaya Patra is a great example of how technology can help solve the world’s most challenging problems. We are committed to focusing on solutions that can be scaled to benefit millions in underserved communities around the world,’’ says V.C.Gopalratnam, SVP-IT and CIO-International, Cisco.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has released national guidelines for biomedical research involving human participants. These guidelines are aimed to protect and safeguard the interests of individuals, communities and society as a whole.

Two separate set of guidelines for adults and children respectively would help in understanding the complexities of ethical issues around research involving human participants. 

The ‘National Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants Â– 2017’ and the ‘National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Children’ are aimed to help strengthen the protection of rights, well-being and safety of research participants involved in all types of biomedical and health research. The revised ethical guidelines have been expanded to address newer emerging ethical challenges being faced in the country and to improve public trust in research.

The guidelines will ensure that the biomedical and health research is carried out in an ethical manner to maintain and improve the public trust towards medical research.

Research ethics is a dynamic subject and over the last decade many new concerns and issues have evolved over the ethical dilemmas faced by the scientific and ethics committees in the conduct and review of biomedical research. The ICMR undertook an extensive exercise by engaging with experts and diverse stakeholders such as patient groups, civil society, lawyers, clinicians, scientists, members of ethics committees and others through regional, national as well as public consultations in the process of preparing these guidelines.

According to Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of ICMR, medical research is the need of the hour and therefore it ’s important to not only be responsive to emerging issues, but to also build greater trust towards research. It is thus important that every stakeholder, whether a researcher or a member of an ethics committee, or a sponsor, is aware of the provisions made in the revised ethical guidelines, which would help improve the conduct of biomedical research in India, she said.

The revised National Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants, 2017 includes additions such as detailed guidance to help ethics committees in the process of review, guidance to researchers in conducting research, responsible conduct of research, obtaining informed consent, multicentre research, clinical trials of drugs and other interventions, public health research, socio behavioural research, genetics, bio-banking and datasets, research during humanitarian emergencies and disasters, etc. The document also highlights the needs for additional safeguards in the conduct and review of research carried out on vulnerable population including children, lower socioeconomic group, those with mental illness, or with rare disorders.

The National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Children have been developed specifically to address ethical issues of conducting research in children. Benefit of research carried out in adult cannot be applied to children, as the doses and duration of therapy, pharmacodynamics, adverse effects of drugs in children vary from adults. Children are potentially vulnerable and carry a greater risk of harm during research. The guideline was prepared after extensive literature review and expert consensus, and also covers the ethical and legal dimensions. Other special scenarios like school based research, research using internet, research involving HIV positive children, children in emergency situations and research in neonates or adolescents are also covered.

These ICMR guidelines aim to improve the research quality as well as safeguard participants involved in research. Both the guidelines will also support regulatory agencies and all other stakeholders involved in research enterprise, in imparting better protection of our population.

New Delhi : One thousand children and teachers from schools and organisations received training using play based methodology at the pre-Global Handwashing Day (GHD) ‘Swachh Hand Mela 2017’ organized by WASH United (WU) in partnership with the UNICEF at the National Bal Bhavan.

The necessity of such a large-scale training had been felt after it was observed that children, though aware about WASH (Water, Health and Hygiene) principles, seldom practice hygiene or inculcates them on a regular basis in their day to day practice.

As part of the training, 3 games from an innovative kit called the ‘Team Swachh Vidyalya Action Kit’ were demonstrated before children to motivate them to always use toilets and wash hands with soap before eating and after toilet use. The games have positive messaging to make handwashing with soap exciting and turn it into a habit. Students learn critical WASH behaviour through a combination of team play, discussions and action.

The Team Swachh Bharat Action Kit is for use in schools and comes fully equipped with an introduction guide, a letter from Sachin Tendulkar, an activity playbook, a planner/timetable, a full set of modular materials/props and posters. Children learn “why” and “how” to practice good WASH behavior through repetitive activities. A step-by-step guide makes the toolkit extremely easy to use for teachers. Children can play in groups with each game lasting for about 20-25 minutes. The goal is completely focused on ‘doing’ rather than memorizing which in turn lead to positive habit formation.

The kits are being implemented by NGOs across some schools in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and in Telangana where it is implemented by the Swachh Andhra Corporation. At the central level, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has acknowledged the importance of the Kit by giving them as gifts to schools that performed well in the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar in September 2017. Interestingly, everything which is available in the kit can also be made by the children themselves using locally available material. A do-it-yourself guide called Hamara! Action Kit assist children and teachers to design the material themselves.

Nirmala Nair, India Director, WASH UNITED said, “Children learn better through play! Exciting and fun games enable them to be active and generate their own insights about WASH issues. Playful experiences and competition make WASH issues “stick” much better than lectures and motivate them to act together.”

Millions of school days are lost every year because students remain absent due to diarrhea and other diseases transmitted through dirty hands. Children are most severely affected by dirty water, poor hygiene and a lack of sanitation. In India, almost 400 children under five years of age die every day from preventable diarrhea linked to poor sanitation and hygiene; this is the highest number worldwide. Countless more are left physically stunted and mentally impaired for the rest of their lives.

Nicolas Osbert, Chief of WASH, UNICEF, said, “Good hygiene practices significantly reduce the incidence of diseases such as diarrhoeas, cholera, dysentery, pneumonia, trachoma, scabies, skin, eye infections as well as infections by worms, helminths and other parasites. Something as simple as handwashing saves lives. Washing hands with soap at critical times, like after going to the toilet or before eating and before preparing food has a significant impact on children’s health. Through simple games, songs and fun activities, such as those developed by UNICEF and WASH United, children can learn about how to properly wash their hands and become hand washing champions demonstrating the practice in their families, schools and communities. UNICEF continues to support the Government of India in its continued efforts to improve children’s access to clean water and sanitation across the country.”

To commemorate Global Handwashing Day, a new educational video on handwashing was also released by WASH UNITED and UNICEF on Team Swachh Bharat social media channels. The campaign was displayed on LED screens at the National Bal Bhavan. An online campaign was also simultaneously launched via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account.

“Every school in India should have a Team Swachh Vidyalya Action Kit, so that every child can be trained in good sanitation and hygiene behaviour. We urge the corporate sector and the government to come forward and play a constructive role in building Swachh Bharat and ensure every child gets a good start in life,” said Nirmala Nair, India Director, WASH UNITED. “We want to make the WASH trainings affordable for everyone. Creating games from local and low-cost materials achieves exactly that, and increases children’s interest and ownership in the WASH games.”