Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has suspended four officers, transferred one and sent on leave its three top officials, including a secretary-level Railway Board official on the basis of prima-facie evidence in connection with derailment of Kalinga Utkal Express train at Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. The action against eight officers came hours after Member (Traffic) of the Railway Board, Mohd Jamshed, indicated that negligence appeared to have caused the derailment.

More than a dozen trains in Meerut-Haridwar route have been affected. But the restoration work has been done with full swing. The wreckage of the train has been put away from the spot of accident. The Meerut-Muzaffarnagar- Saharanpur section in Uttar Pradesh has been restored today at 1:21 AM. In an official release Chief public relations officer of Northern Railway said that 54542 Ambala-Meerut City Passenger train passed Khatauli.

The initial probe and the prima-facie reports suggest that the derailment is caused due to sheer negligence of the officials at Khatauli station. The repairmen are accountable for managing blocks and repair work on the railway tracks. During the repair work, usually train movements are suspended in that particular route. It is routine process. But the investigating officers are opined that the workers and the local officers at Khatauli station choose to neglect the caution work, left hammers and other open equipments at the tracks which resulted into derailment.

Northern Railway officials admitted, “It is a major lapse in coordination. Clamps and tools have been found near the accident site, indicating that the repair work was underway. At Khatauli railway station, the white board used for writing notices for trains has been erased. Two station masters said that they had no clue about any work underway at that route. The spot of the accident was 300 meters away from the station. No prior instructions have been given for the trains to stop or slow down at Khatauli.

A Railway Ministry statement said in New Delhi that Member (Engineer) in the Railway Board, Northern Railway General Manager and Divisional Railway Manager (Delhi) were sent on leave in the wake of the train accident. Member (Engineer) in the Railway Board is the senior-most functionary to be sent on leave.

Besides, the Railways also suspended four of its officials, Senior Divisional Engineer, Delhi division, Assistant Engineer (Meerut), Senior Section Engineer, Permanent Way(Muzzafarnagar) and Junior Engineer (Khatauli). Chief Track Engineer, Northern Railway, was also transferred as part of the action by the Railways. Meanwhile, General Manager of North Central Railway, Allahabad has been given responsibility of Delhi.                                                      

An FIR has been registered against unknown persons in the derailment of Kalinga Utkal Express. A UP police spokesperson said that sub inspector of the police post in-charge of GRP Khatauli lodged the FIR yesterday.

Meanwhile, more than 50 passengers who sustained injuries in the accident have been discharged after medical treatment, while medical treatment of another 102 injured passengers is in progress.

Timeline of the Utkal Derailment, 10 Points

1. On last Saturday evening, 23 people died and 40 seriously injured after 18477 Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed at Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh.
 

2. 14 coaches of the train derailed.
 

3.  The train was coming from Puri in Odisha to Haridwar in Uttarakhand. The accident took place at around 5:45 in the evening. Khatauli is 40 kames away from Muzaffarnagar district.
 

4. PAC, NDRF and ATS teams have been sent at the spot. Gas cutters and cranes have been deployed at the rescue. 2 NDRF teams with 45 personnel each, and have been dispatched for the scene.

5. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an inquiry into the derailment. He tweeted, “Medical vans have been rushed to the site, all efforts being taken to ensure speedy relief and rescue operations.” He also announced Rs 3.5 Lakh ex-gratia for loss of lives, 50,000 for seriously injured and 25,000 for minor injuries.

6. State machineries have set up a control room for the help. The helpline numbers are 0131-2436918, 0131-2436103, 0131-2436564.

7. PM Modi expressed grief and condolence over the tragedy. He tweeted, “Extremely pained by the derailment of the Utkal Express in Muzaffarnagar. My thoughts are with family of the deceased.”

8. UP CM Adityanath Yogi also took Twitter, “Directed overall treatment and every possible help for the injured passengers.”

9. Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered quick probe into the matter.

10. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik had also announced 5 lakhs Ex-Gratia for the deceased family, 50,000 for injured.

The much awaited judgment on the controversial debates of Talaq-e-bidat (Triple Talaq) and ‘Nikah Halala’ is likely to be pronounced by the Supreme Court on August 22nd. The bench of five judges will be submitting their judgment separately. It comprises judges from all five major Indian religions or religious institutions as Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism and Christianity; Justice Uday Lalit, CJI Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Abdul Nazeer , Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Kurian Joseph.
The judges are listening to six separate challenged petitions against the unconstitutional practices of Triple Talaq and Nikah Halala, which violate the Article 25 of the Indian constitution. Article 25 of the Indian constitution protects the right of religion but it also comes with great responsibilities- to ensure the public order, health and morality are not compromised. 
The court had reserved the verdict on 18th May this year after a six-day continuous hearing on the various pleas filed by Muslim women. The petitioners had challenged the All India Muslim Personal Law Board that the ‘draconian’ law of Triple Talaq in Shariat Law is against the fundamental rights of women, hence must be demolished. The AIMPLB had argued in the court that the matter of Triple Talaq is a prerequisite of the Shariat Law. The board members also cautioned the court to not interfere in the laws subjected to Islam and Shariat Law. However the court then had dismissed their arguments.
Senior Lawyer Kapil Sibbal for AIMPLB had argued that the issue of Triple Talaq is same as the dogma of Lord Rama was born in Ayodhya and these are matters of faiths cannot be checked on the grounds of constitutional morality. He defended the practice of ‘Triple Talaq’ citing reference from 637AD, around 1400 years ago. But the court referred it as ‘worst’ for the women. 
The Centre during the hearing was opined that such practices are against the development of Muslim women which curtail their liberty, gender equality and equal rights in the society. Centre also argued that Triple Talaq has been a tool for discrimination on the basis of sex which is prevalent today.  The government had termed all three form of divorce among the Muslim community ‘extra judicial’ and ‘unilateral’. 
Today, Triple Talaq is banned in the most of the Islamic countries including Bangladesh, Turkey, Cyprus, Tunisia, Algeria, Iran Jordan, Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Sudan, Qatar, Brunei and Pakistan.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out the practice of Talaq-e-biddat (Triple Talaq) and termed it “unconstitutional”. The Apex Court put a six-month stay on the practice, directing the Parliament to enact law within the given time period. 
CJI JS Khehar in SC: “The five-bench judges headed by CJI J.S. Khehar said during the verdict, “Triple Talaq is important to the Sunnis of Hanafi school, has to be accepted as important to their culture…Triple Talaq does not violate article 25, 14 and 21 of the constitution…Practice being constituent of personal law, it cannot be set aside on ground of constitutional morality by judicial intervention. Legislative intervention needs to be followed in respect of triple talaq.”
“Despite Rashid Ahmed decision by privy council the issues need fresh examination. All parties were unanimous that triple talaq is a heinous practice. It won’t be appropriate for the court to observe whether practice is valid as per hadith due to variations in the school.”
The judges were divided in their opinion in 3:2. The two judges were Justice Nariman and Justice Lalit. Justice Joseph termed it against the teaching of Quran. During three verdict the judges were opined that triple talaq is a part of an  Â“enforceable” fundamental right to practice religion among Muslims and not on the practice of polygamy.
Justice Kurian said, “Extremely difficult to agree with CJI Khehar that Triple Talaq is integral part of Islam.” He added that Triple Talaq was against the tenets of Holy Quran and hence violates Shariat Law. 
Timeline:
The much awaited judgment on the controversial debates of Talaq-e-bidat(Triple Talaq) and ‘Nikah Halala’ was likely to be pronounced by the Supreme Court on August 22nd. The bench of five judges submitted their judgment separately. It comprised judges from all five major Indian religions or religious institutions as Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism and Christianity; Justice Uday Lalit, CJI Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Abdul Nazeer , Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Kurian Joseph.
The judges were listening to six separate challenged petitions against the unconstitutional practices of Triple Talaq and Nikah Halala, which violate the Article 25 of the Indian constitution. Article 25 of the Indian constitution protects the right of religion but it also comes with great responsibilities- to ensure the public order, health and morality are not compromised. 
The court had reserved the verdict on 18th May this year after a six-day continuous hearing on the various pleas filed by Muslim women. The petitioners had challenged the All India Muslim Personal Law Board that the ‘draconian’ law of Triple Talaq in Shariat Law is against the fundamental rights of women, hence must be demolished.
The AIMPLB had argued in the court that the matter of Triple Talaq is a prerequisite of the Shariat Law. The board members also cautioned the court to not interfere in the laws subjected to Islam and Shariat Law. However the court then had dismissed their arguments.
Senior Lawyer Kapil Sibbal for AIMPLB had argued that the issue of Triple Talaq is same as the dogma of Lord Rama was born in Ayodhya and these are matters of faiths cannot be checked on the grounds of constitutional morality. He defended the practice of ‘Triple Talaq’ citing reference from 637AD, around 1400 years ago. But the court referred it as ‘worst’ for the women.
The Centre during the hearing was opined that such practices are against the development of Muslim women which curtail their liberty, gender equality and equal rights in the society. Centre also argued that Triple Talaq has been a tool for discrimination on the basis of sex which is prevalent today.  The government had termed all three form of divorce among the Muslim community ‘extra judicial’ and ‘unilateral’.
Today, Triple Talaq is banned in the most of the Islamic countries including Bangladesh, Turkey, Cyprus, Tunisia, Algeria, Iran, Jordan, Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Sudan, Qatar, Brunei and Pakistan.

The Supreme Court today granted bail to Lt Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit in the 2008 Malegaon serial blast case.

A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre said they are setting aside the Bombay High Court order by which the bail was denied. The apex court said it has imposed certain conditions on Purohit while granting bail.

Purohit had moved the apex court challenging the Bombay High Court’s order dismissing his bail plea.

Seven people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008, at Malegaon, a textile town in Nasik district of north Maharashtra.

A special MCOCA court had earlier ruled that the ATS had wrongly applied this law against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Purohit and nine others.

The charge sheet had had named Thakur, Purohit and co-accused, Swami Dayanand Pandey as the key conspirators. However, Thakur was last year given clean chit by the NIA.

Thousands of infants die due to infections in the first few weeks of their life. A bulk of these deaths can be prevented with an inexpensive probiotic-based preventive therapy developed by a group of Indian and American scientists. 

The therapy has been tested in over 4,500 infants from 149 villages in Odisha. Results of this trial, published this week in international journal Nature, show that the probiotic when given orally for one week after birth can reduce sepsis and death by 40 percent. In addition, it also drastically reduces respiratory tract infections. This is the largest ever clinical study of probiotics conducted among new born babies.

Sepsis is a severe complication of bacterial infection that results in around one million infant deaths globally every year. The preventive therapy is called synbiotic treatment – a combination of probiotic bacteria and a prebiotic nutrient to support the probiotic strain. While probiotics are live micro­organisms that can provide a health ben­efit, prebiotics are molecules such as certain carbohydrates in human milk or those derived from plants. 

In the Odisha study, the synbiotic prepara­tion was given daily for one week to full-term born babies when they were two to four days old. The oral preparation contained Lactobacillus plantarum, which had earlier been found to have shown good gut-colonizing properties in newborns, along with fructooligosaccharide, a plant-derived prebiotic. 

The therapy was given in addition to breast milk which is known to contain prebiotics as well as other molecules that provide immunity to babies. Only mothers who had started breast feeding their children in their first 24 hours were included in the study. 

Follow-up showed that the therapy reduced the risk of sepsis or death by 40 percent. Substan­tial reductions were seen in all three subtypes of sepsis assessed, and reductions were also observed in diarrhoea and umbilical-stump infection in infants who had not been classified as having sepsis.

“This will reduce the nagging high neonatal mortality and infant mortality in developing countries. More importantly, reduction of such infections during infancy can prevent ‘stunting’ with even more grievous consequences such as reduced cognition and chances of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes in early adulthood,” Pinaki Panigrahi of University of Nebraska Medical Center, who led the research team told India Science Wire. He said it is an affordable intervention as one-week therapy costs just one dollar.

“The trial provides evidence for the effectiveness of a global health interven­tion that could be used to complement exist­ing strategies for giving every newborn the best chance to survive and thrive,” pointed out Daniel J. Tancredi of University of California, in a commentary published in the same issue of Nature.   

Among the institutes that participated in this study are the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; Asian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar; Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar; SCB Medical College, Cuttack; and Ispat General Hospital, Rourkela, besides Universities of Nebraska, Michigan and Maryland. The community-based trial recruited local volunteers to coordinate follow up. 

The research team included Pinaki Panigrahi, Sailajanandan Parida, Nimai C. Nanda, Radhanath Satpathy, Lingaraj Pradhan, Dinesh S. Chandel, Lorena Baccaglini, Arjit Mohapatra, Subhranshu S. Mohapatra, Pravas R. Misra, Rama Chaudhry, Hegang H. Chen, Judith A. Johnson, J. Glenn Morris Jr, Nigel Paneth and Ira H. Gewolb. (India Science Wire)

A group of Indian scientists have figured out how exposure to arsenic reduces immunity. Arsenic’s role in disrupting body’s immune response by hindering development of thymus – gland that helps develop immunity-providing T lymphocytes or T cells– is known. A new study done by scientists from Lucknow-based Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) has now explained the mechanism behind this.

This may help explain why people exposed to arsenic become susceptible to infections like tuberculosis.

Researchers investigated the effect of arsenic exposure on the process by which T cells transform into specialized cells (CD4+ and CD8+) and the role of regulatory T- cells. CD4+ cells are found on helper T cells and direct the body to fight viral infections, while CD8 are found on fighter T cells that protect the body by killing infected cells.

The study exposed mice in the laboratory to arsenic. It was noticed that arsenic exposure enhanced transformation of T lymphocytes in the thymus into CD4+ cells without affecting the CD8 population. The cells then moved to the spleen and got transformed into regulatory T cells that decreased functional activity of other immune cells and further reduced immunity following arsenic exposure. CD4+ cells got converted into another form and not what they were meant to do. At the same time, secretion of cytokines that help in fighting an infection also decreased.

Researchers also found that treatment with wortmannin – a drug used for cancer treatment – can significantly bring down arsenic-induced increase in regulatory T cell population. It resulted in reversing the effects of reduced immunity by hindering conversion of CD4+ cells to regulatory T cells within the body.

“Our study is significant as it has shown that regulatory T cells can be a potential target to intervene in arsenic-induced immune suppression. This could help in prevention of prevalent infectious diseases in arsenic-affected areas,” pointed out Dr Debabrata Ghosh, who led the research team. Low cost inhibitors can be designed that potentially interfere with regulatory T cells and can be used to reverse effects of reduced immunity in arsenic-affected regions in the country. The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The research team included Ruchi Gera, Vikas Singh, Sumonto Mitra, Anuj Kumar Sharma, Alok Singh, Arunava Dasgupta, Dhirendra Singh, Mahadeo Kumar, Pankaj Jagdale, Satyam Patnaik and Debabrata Ghosh. (India Science Wire)

Are we in South Asia history negligent? This question comes up every time there is a major crisis or the border heats up. Then, historical precedents are dusted up to avoid repeating mistakes of the past. But what good can such an exercise be if the historical precedent itself was drafted with an eye on the watch; to beat the deadline.

Most other important countries value their history; their past is well recorded. In contrast our knowledge can be patchy. No wonder we in India find ourselves at a loss when a situation like Doklam crops up. The world knows the Chinese version, admittedly expansionist, but we do not have an alternative text to the so called 1890 treaty. Surely, history in that corner of the world did not begin in 1890, and it certainly did not happen then in the way Chinese interpret it.

Another part of the region that has suffered enormously is Afghanistan. In 1893 an Englishman duped the Afghan Amir into signing blindly on a piece of paper. This man was the Foreign Secretary of India, Mortimer Durand. When he arrived in Kabul, he told Amir Abdur Rahman: The Government of India had decided that for the future (only) the Persian text of all communications between them and the Amir would be regarded as binding.

Yet, a few days later, the Amir was made to sign only the English text of Durand Agreement, a language that he did not know. Consequently Afghanistan lost 40,000 square miles of its territory. And, no one has ever written about it.

Durand’s Curse by Ambassador Rajiv Dogra is the first book to raise fundamental questions and provide answers to that shock.

One of the mysteries is the physical condition of the Amir. Was he in a fit condition to negotiate with Durand?

By available information, the Amir was so ill by 1890s that he had to be carried everywhere in a palanquin. During the more serious attacks, he had fits and long periods of unconsciousness. These attacks happened between the middle of October and the end of February.

Is it just a coincidence that Mortimer Durand should have arrived in Kabul in October? Apparently, it was a well-planned move by the British who ruled and dominated much of Asia.

Ambassador Rajiv Dogra has spent hundreds of hours pouring over records that had remained locked up so far. Patient work enabled him to piece together this story and provide clues to these riddles of history. The result is a phenomenal book.  

By a sneak look that I could have, Ambassador Dogra’s Durand’s Curse reads like a thriller. He has certainly the right credentials for it.

A vetrean diplomat, he is credited with some of the major foreign policy successes; from initiating the idea of bringing Qatar gas to India to obtaining the Aini Airbase in Tajikistan. And he has the backgound as a successful writer of both fiction and non-fiction.

Unfortunately, the line that Mortimer Durand drew across a small map in 1893 has bled the Pathan heart ever since.

People on both sides of that line remain restless, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They continue to ask the question, why did the Amir of Afghanistan sign the Durand  agreement in 1893? What forced him to do so?

These and many other questions have continued to haunt generations of Afghans.

Durand’s Curse may also reveal a new dimension to Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s role. Was Nehru also responsible for Pathan misfortunes y not paying attention to their cause as the British merged them into Pakistan? At a meeting of the Cabinet on 4 July 1947, in the presence of Muslim League’s Liaquat Ali Khan, Nehru did make an attempt but was brushed aside by the British. He had said: Â“…about a month ago the press and the Radio in Afghanistan had started a campaign giving prominence to Afghanistan’s interests in the North West Frontier and the claim was made that Pathans were Afghans rather than Indians and they should have the utmost freedom to decide their own future and should not be debarred, as the proposed referendum would appear to do, from deciding either to form a separate free State or to re-join their mother-land, viz. Afghanistan.”

Sadly, he went on to add, “These claims had later been taken up on an official level with H.M.G. and the Government of India. The Government of India had refuted this (as) irredentist claim of Afghanistan to the area lying between the Durand line and the Indus River, and had pointed out that the issue regarding an independent Pathan State was a matter entirely for the Government of India and the Afghan Government had no locus standi. H.M.G.’s Minister at Kabul had mentioned the possibility that the Afghan Government’s object might be to divert public attention in Afghanistan from the internal economic situation which was precarious.”

Was Nehru the historian right in claiming that Pathans were not Afghans? Did this seal the fate of Afghans? Had Nehru said Pathans were Afghans, maybe the history and cartography of the region would have looked different. There are many such amazing chapters of history that Durand’s Curse tackles, challenging the conventional narrative.

The account put together in the Durand’s Curse provides answers and presents a spell-binding tale of intrigue and whodunit. Hopefully, this will be the first step towards uniting the Pathan people and getting them their just due of a united Pashtunistan. The world owes it to them.

On Saturday evening, 23 people died and 40 seriously injured after 18477 Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed at Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. More than 14 coaches of the train derailed. 

The train was coming from Puri in Odisha to Haridwar in Uttarkhand . The accident took place at around 5:45 in the evening. Khatauli is 40 kms away from Muzaffarnagar district. PAC, NDRF and ATS teams have been sent at the spot. Gas cutters and cranes have been deployed at the rescue. 2 NDRF teams with 45 personnel each, and have been dispatched for the scene.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an inquiry into the derailment. He tweeted, “Medical vans have been rushed to the site, all efforts being taken to ensure speedy relief and rescue operations.” He also announced Rs 3.5 Lakh ex-gratia for loss of lives, 50,000 for seriously injured and 25,000 for minor injuries.

State machineries have set up a control room for the help. The helpline numbers are 0131-2436918, 0131-2436103, 0131-2436564.

PM Modi expressed grief and condolence over the tragedy. He tweeted, “Extremely pained by the derailment of the Utkal Express in Muzaffarnagar. My thoughts are with family of the deceased.”

UP CM Adityanath Yogi also took Twitter, “Directed overall treatment and every possible help for the injured passengers.”

The Health Care deprivation in Uttar Pradesh has failed the people and chief minister Yogi Adityanath must accept responsibility for the death of more than 70 children so far at the Baba Raghav Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur. 
The cause was the dreaded encephalitis — a condition of shortage of oxygen causing inflammation of the brain leading to death.
It is an all too familiar story of waking up to an alarming situation when the water has risen over one’s head. What is worse is that children died in the neonatal and encephalitis wards on the inexcusable ground that the oxygen supply was cut off because the requisite payment had not been made to the vendor amounting to criminal negligence. 
The unfortunate statistics of baby deaths doled reveals that from a dozen to one score or more children dying in that hospital every thirty odd days spread over the last four months. 
Yogi Adityanath represented the Gorakhpur constituency in the Lok Sabha for nearly two decades till he resigned a few weeks back. Thousands of deaths having taken place at this centre since encephalitis was first detected there four decades back. 
In a span of six days earlier this month no less than 63 deaths had occured in the hospital. A high alert should have been sounded under these circumstances. Several letters were written to the authorities concerned in the last five months about the lack of oxygen in the hospital but to no avail. 
The situation became so serious in the hospital that constant supply of oxygen was unavailable being the only lifeline for seriously infected children. 
The Prime Minister dispatched experts from the national capital for extending medical support to the hospital. At the same time the ever persisting insitutional shortfalls remained rather than being corrected expeditiously.  .   
The blame must rest squarely with the state administration for the terrible state of affairs on the civic side. Gorakhpur, as is the problem with sprawling Eastern UP is prone to severe encephalitis because of poor sanitation facilities and other problems including overflowing sewers and open defecation. 
The hospital leaves much to be desired in terms of public health management and happens to be the only institution in a widespread area treating infectious diseases. Last year Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for an AIIMS at Gorakhpur.
There is imperative need to redouble efforts in strengthening primary health care facilities in the state. The tragedy is fast gaining political colour with opposition parties including the Congress accusing the state government of trying to suppress matters and find scapegoats. 
Amid differences of opinion between the UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh and his junior Anupriya Patel, the former denied that there was any shortage of oxygen. He attributed the death of children to sepsis, pneumonia and other infections.  
It was only in April this year amid much fanfare that the Yogi Adityanath government decided to go in for a major revamp of the healthcare system in the state. The endeavour is to bring the most marginalised and the poor into the health net by use of technology. 
It proposed introducing telemedicine along with mobile medical units moving from place to place with doctors and medicines. Notwithstanding these grandiose plans negligence has led to irreversible consequences which should have been anticipated and dealt with in an effective and timely manner. 
Studies reveal that in the last 15 years, UP’s population increased by 25 per cent but its public health care decreased by eight per cent. Rural health statistics indicate how successive state governments have neglected affordable, accessible and quality healthcare for the country’s most populous state of 20 crore people. 
Studies reveal that a newborn in UP is expected to live four years fewer than in neighbouring Bihar, five years fewer in Haryana and seven years fewer in Himachal Pradesh. 
UP contributes the largest of almost all communicable disease deaths. Universal immunisation plays a key role in decreasing child mortality. Is it any surprise that about half of the state’s children are not vaccinated.
Healthcare has been low on the priorities of successive governments in Lucknow. The per capita expenditure on health increased in UP from Rs 260 to Rs 372 over four years in 2010. Compare this to Rs 356 to Rs 560 in Kerala and from Rs 299 to Rs 579 in Tamil Nadu over the same period. 
As state governments have failed to increase public health institutions to match population growth, millions are deprived of basic healthcare. Consequently, existing facilities are overcrowded, made worse by substandard health facilities. 
It is a matter of serious concern that no health sub centre meets the government’s quality and staffing norms. 
(The views are personal.)

New Delhi, August 18 (India Science Wire): For the first time, the age of the artefacts of Neolithic era recovered from two important sites in northeast India has been unraveled. Indian scientists have found the age using the latest technique of optically stimulated luminescence dating. 
‘It is now confirmed that the corded pottery and polished stone tools that were recovered during excavations in Daojali Hading in Dima Haso district of Assam in 1961 are 2, 700 years old and those recovered from Gawak Abri in Garo Hills of Meghalaya in 1999 are 2,300 years old”, says Dr. Sukanya Sharma of Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT), Guwahati. She and her colleague, Pankaj Singh had conducted the study. 
The study was conducted on an experimental basis with the new technique of optically simulated luminescence dating. The age of the sites were found to be well matched with the radio-carbon dates from other Neolithic sites of the region. 
The excavation site at Daojali Hading occupies an important place in the archaeological history of India as the first evidence of an Eastern Asiatic Neolithic complex of double-shouldered Celts and cord-marked pottery in India was reported from there.The discovery had put Northeast India on the Neolithic map of the world for the first time. However precise age of the artefacts were not known.
Antiquity of the site was hypothetically stated to be of the`late Neolithic phase’. Now, with the dating of the artefacts, this hypothesis has been proved and its antiquity has been established.
The dating of the Gawak Abri site in Garo Hills is also significant as Garo Hills has the highest density of prehistoric sites in North East India. 
With the new finding of the age of the two sites, it is confirmed that human beings, with the capacity to make pottery and polished stone tools were present in the north east India over two thousand years ago.
The researchers have published their study in the latest issue of science journal, Current Science. (India Science Wire)