A leading child development organization committed to creating a lasting impact in the lives of vulnerable and excluded children, their families and communities today, honored the last mile champions, who have bridged the gaps between communities and service providers, catalyzing remarkable social and behavioral change countrywide.

This award was instituted to acknowledge the integral role of frontline community workers who have endlessly contributed at the grassroots level.

Awards were given in eight categories comprising of Anganwadi Workers (AWW), Anganwadi Helpers (AWH), Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), Community Volunteers, Youth Champions, and Outreach Workers (ORW) in Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and HIV/AIDS. Special Jury and Special Recognition honors were given to two community members in recognition of their contributions. The nominations were filed from 13 states that Plan India works in – Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam and West Bengal.

In each category, numerous nominations were received from the field and were further screened by a state level Sub Jury Committee comprised of external experts from the government, academia and civil society, among others.

The top 24 nominations were then shortlisted by facilitating partner Grant Thornton, who presented their findings to the National Jury comprised of distinguished members from government, corporates, media, and youth-led organizations who selected the final ten awardees based on marks scored against evaluation criteria and the unique initiatives of each nominee.

Shabana Azmi, veteran actress, who was the Chief Guest for the occasion, gave away the awards to the winners. Other delegates to grace the event were Govind Nihalani, Chair Emeritus, Plan India, Rathi Vinay Jha, Chairperson, Plan India Board, Ranjan Chak and Udayan Sen, Members, Plan India Board.

Bhagyashri Dengle, Executive Director, Plan India said, “Plan India’s work is possible due to the tireless efforts of front-line community workers who reach out to those most disadvantaged. They are the last mile champions who successfully enable entire families and communities to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and barriers that held them back. The Plan India Impact Awards is an initiative to recognize their efforts, tell their inspirational stories and provide   impetus to their life-changing work.”

The winner of the ASHA category award, 35-year-old Vinita Negi from Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand said, “Working as a community health worker for the past ten years has been a rewarding experience. Knowing that I have empowered others to make positive changes and take control of their health gives me an enormous sense of accomplishment.”

Another award winner in the ANM category, 50-year-old Meera Devi from Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh said, “I like helping and communicating with people. My work as a village community worker is what I like the most, and I definitely wish to continue to work for those who are unreachable and from the marginalized communities.”

Amongst the other categories, Sharif Uddin Tapadar from Assam and Basanti Jarika from Jharkhand were awarded for their contribution as an ORW in the field of WASH and HIV/ AIDS project. Bahaman Mohanta from Odisha was awarded for the best Community Volunteer. Madina and Seema Devi from Rajasthan were awarded for the best AWW and AWH. Shalini from Uttar Pradesh received the Youth Champions Award and Bharati Biswal from Odisha received the Recognition Award. A special Award was given to Sanjay Murmu for Bihar for his commendable contribution towards working for the most marginalized children and communities.

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday expressed the hope that the ongoing Doklam standoff between India and China which has entered in its third month will be resolved soon. 

Asserting that India’s security forces were capable of safeguarding the country’s borders, Mr. Singh said that India has neither expansionist designs nor attacked any country.”We don’t want confrontation; we want peace,” he said.  

Addressing a grand Pipping Ceremony of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) here, the Home Minister said that India wanted friendly relations with all its neigbhours. He said it was with this intention, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited leaders of all neighbouring countries for the swearing in ceremony of his government in May 2014. Quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said that “we can change friends, but not our neighbours.”  

Pointing out that there has been a long delay in granting promotions in the ITBP which was pending since 2011, Mr. Singh said the disciplined ITBP personnel have borne the delay with perseverance. He assured the personnel that the Home Ministry would improve their career prospects, besides resolving housing and welfare issues of the Central Armed Para Military forces.  

Speaking on the occasion, Mmister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said today’s ceremony will serve as a morale booster to the ITBP personnel. He said the gap between policy makers and those implementing it on the ground has been bridged in the Home Ministry.  

Addressing the gathering, DG, ITBP, Shri RK Pachnanda said the mass promotions today to 1,654 ITBP personnel, pending for more than six years, have been enabled by the persistent efforts of the MHA.

New Delhi : The Government is likely to approve at least another 36 Rafale Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCAs) very soon.

Details are not known but informed sources told India Strategic that although a decision was just about due, the possibility of more aircraft was also being considered in view of the Indian Navy’s requirement of 56 twin-engine shipboard fighters as also the Government’s Make in India programme. If only 36 Rafales are taken, then it would not be economical to set up their manufacturing infrastructure.

IAF is looking for a mix of about 400 single and twin engine fighters as most of its combat jet inventory is of the 1980s Soviet generation. The Mirage 2000, which was acquired from France after the US gave Pakistan F 16s in 1982, also arrived in IAF squadrons from 1985 onwards.

The nuclear-capable Mirage 2000 though is still formidable and some half a dozen of the nearly 60 have already been upgraded to contemporary standards by Thales, the French company known for making deadly Electronic Warfare (EW) systems. Thales is providing the highly sophisticated EW systems for the Rafales also.

The Indian Navy has expressed specific preference for either the Boeing F/A 18 Super Hornet or Rafale. Both these fighters were designed ab initio for aircraft carriers, and both are on offer for their industrial production in India if the numbers are viable for foreign investment and Transfer of Technology (ToT). Boeing has offered to manufacture the latest variant, Advanced Super Hornet, which is also meant for the US Navy.

Significantly, if the deal is only for 36 more aircraft, then the field would be open for a larger number of twin-engine aircraft for both the IAF and Navy. If the coming deal is for indigenous production for more than 36, then Rafale would become the final choice.

Notably, defence deals are mostly done with strategic advantages in view, besides costs. For instance, in the 1980s, the Government asked Air India to switch its choice from Boeing to Airbus A 320 aircraft as, according to French sources, France gave India some defence technology as a leverage.

It may be recalled that India had opted for the French Rafale in 2015 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris, and an agreement was sealed in New Delhi between the Defence Ministers of the two countries, Mr Manohar Parrikar and his visiting counterpart, Mr Jean Yves Le Drian, in September 2016. The first payment of 15 per cent was immediately made by India to seal the contract.

This deal, which included the cost of the aircraft, IAF-specific modifications, Weapons and Missiles, Operations and Maintenance infrastructure at two places in India’s East and West, and 50 per cent Offsets as investment in India, was pegged at about Euro 7.87 billion (or US$ 8.8 billion).

In the acquisition of another 36 aircraft, or two squadrons of 18 each, the costs should be lower by about Euro 2.5 billion plus or minus – please note this is my guesstimate only Â– as the expenses for India-specific modifications and infrastructure at two places have already been recovered. Notably, preliminary work in this regard at Ambala in Haryana and Hashimara in West Bengal has begun.

It is not known if in the coming deal there would be an Options clause for more aircraft at the same price in the near future. It was not there in the first purchase, which was acquisition of the 36 aircraft in flyaway condition.

Both these deals are G-to-G or Government to Government, to avoid any unnecessary allegations, which have invariably been a curse for the armed forces in their modernization process over the last about 25 years.

The Offsets clause would translate into construction of a modern defence industrial base as well as some ToT by the Rafale partners, that is, Dassault which builds and integrates the aircraft, Safran which provides the engines and some other onboard systems, Thales which provides the highly advanced EW systems and MBDA, which is supplying the most modern Meteor Air to Air and other missiles.

As an international arms industry standard, delivery of defence systems is 36 months after the first payment.

India’s state-run aerospace company HAL has successfully installed the powerful AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar on the IAF’s Jaguar aircraft for the first time.

The first test flight of the Jaguar with an Israeli AESA onboard was conducted August 9 from Bangalore’s HAL airport, in line with the company’s mandate to increase the aircraft’s operational life to 2028. Initial results were successful but there would be some more tests in accordance with the established procedures before the system is integrated into the aircraft’s avionics architecture.

The aircraft is now flown only in India by IAF, and to keep it operational, 30 old, disused Jaguars are being procured from France to be cannibalized for spares. The French have offered it free and an agreement between the Indian and French ministries of defence has already been signed. HAL will ship all of them on as is where is condition to India and then source spares from them, modifying some in the process as required.

HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju had told India Strategic in an interview that HAL is the only company that is servicing or overhauling the Jaguars, and for the IAF fleet, acquired from 1978 onwards, it has been fitting newer electronics onboard to keep the aircraft mission ready for many years, and the process continues

The most potent upgrade is the installation of AESA.

A Combat Radar, it has been provided by Israeli Aerospace Industries or IAI’s ELTA division, which has also supplied several electronics systems to HAL for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)Tejas also.

To fit the AESA, the Jaguar’s earlier Fire Control Radar has been removed, and now, the aircraft would be delivered to IAF with both the AESA and what is called DARIN III standard.

DARIN Upgrades

DARIN, coined by Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh in the 1980s, stands for Display, Attack, Ranging and Inertial Navigation. DARIN-I and II are already done and over with as part of periodic upgrades.

Incidentally, it was this writer who had first reported the selection of British Harrier for the Indian Navy and that of the Anglo-French Jaguar for the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a correspondent for the UNI news agency some 40 years back. IAF inducted the nuclear capable Sepecat Jaguars as Deep Strike Penetration Aircraft (DPSA) from 1978 onwards. Sepecat was a joint venture between the then British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and French Breguet, both of which, in their new avatars, have long discontinued manufacturing or servicing the aircraft.

Notably, IAF had opted for the British variant, so that limits the use of the French Jaguars as flying machines even though three or four of them can possibly still fly. Nonetheless, they would be a lifeline to keep the existing fleet operational.

IAF has more than 100 Jaguars in its operational inventory, about 20 of them specifically deployed for Maritime Strike role on coastal bases. Their original French radars were replaced by multi-role ELTA EL/M-2032 radars (not AESA) some 10 years back.

AESA CapabilityDetails of the AESA’s range and capabilities are not available but whatever model it is, it would greatly enhance the aircraft’s surveillance and precision strike capability.

Mr Raju only said that it is the state of the art, capable of tracking and engaging multiple targets, and that the imagery is high resolution and accurate, thanks to higher bandwidth of such systems and interleaved modes of operation.

It is also the first time that a Jaguar is being flown anywhere with AESA capability. An AESA radar has no moving parts, and transmits and receives signals real time.

So far, only the IL-76 AWACS aircraft of IAF fitted with Israeli Phalcon system have the AESA capability. Jaguars will be second, and Rafales, when they are inducted in 2019 – or maybe earlier – the third.

AESA Imperative on All New Aircraft

It may be recalled that IAF had specified the AESA requirement as a necessity for the first time in its tender for Medium Multi Role Aircraft (MMRCA) in 2007.

As a policy decision, highly placed sources told India Strategic, all new aircraft to be acquired from now on, including the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, will have to have the AESA capability.

DARIN III

HAL is already upgrading the Jaguars to the DARIN-III standard, for which it was granted Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) last year.

The programme includes an Open System Architecture Mission Computer (OSMAC), Engine and Flight Instrument System (EFIS), Fire Control Radar, Inertial Navigation System with GPS and Geodetic Height Correction.
Installation of AESA is apparently part of this programme now.

New Honeywell Engines

An IAF proposal is also pending before the Government for fitting new Honeywell engines on Jaguars to make them more powerful and enable them to fly over the mountains.

Right now, the twin-engine aircraft can fly only over the plains. If the Honeywell proposal, costing about $2 billion, is approved then the aircraft would get some very modern systems and be able to cross the Himalayan terrain and also exceed its range of 400 km.

Mr Raju however pointed out that as HAL has the ownership and design rights to modify and upgrade the Jaguars, “We have proposed that let Honeywell be a consultant to HAL, give us the engines, and we will integrate them.” HAL has the experience, and this way, IAF would also be spending less.

Notably though, Rolls-Royce, which had provided the Adour engines for the Jaguars, has also offered to tweak the engines a bit. There is still no decision though on whether to retain or replace the old engines.
The aircraft has a slow takeoff rate with the old twin engines, making it vulnerable to attacks from ground fire. That’s why the IAF has asked for more power and speed.

Indian Innovations

In line with the saying Necessity is the Mother of Invention, it may be recalled that within a few years of Jaguars’ induction, HAL and IAF were able to modify the aircraft with over-wing pylons to accommodate the French Matra 550 Magic 2 air-to-air missiles. And over the years, some more, particularly to the avionics. The British took the Over-wing Pylon innovation to some other Jaguars, including those for the Omani Air Force with.

It may be recalled that Indian had also modified the propeller driven US-supplied Fairchild Packet transport aircraft with a third engine, the Orpheus jet engine from the Gnat aircraft. The thrust of this engine enabled the aircraft, used during the 1960s, to fly over the Himalayas and drop supplies to the Indian soldiers deployed in tough terrain there.

Britain’s Best Customer in 1990s was India

Significantly, thanks to the selection of Jaguars and some naval systems and missiles, India became the largest customer for the British by the early 1990s.

The new avatar for the British now is the multi-dimensional BAE Systems which manufactures platforms and onboard systems for Army, Navy, Air Force, Space and Cyber. It has sold the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) to the Indian Air Force and Navy missiles, onboard systems for various platforms, and recently M777 light howitzers from its US facility.

Hawks are now being made by HAL both for IAF and Navy.

(Courtesy- India Strategic)

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)