ONE of India’s favourite parlour games came to an end on June 18th wrote The Economist and predicted that a period of uncertainty beckons amid suspicions of political interference in India. The reputed British magazine was on the dot because Raghuram Rajan, the 23rd Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), during his three year-stint gave unprecedented stature to the job by cleaning up the banking system, bringing inflation under control (10.5% to 5.67%), stemming a sustained fall in the rupee and strengthening foreign exchange reserves (from $275bn to $363 bn) to help India deal with global shocks. If compared with what is happening in economies like Brazil, will make one understand the importance of what he has done in the past three years.

The big question is why Mr Narendra Modi decided to oust his well-regarded central banker?

Only a year back, on 80th Foundation Day celebrations of RBI, he had praised him saying that both Rajan and his government thought along similar lines. He acknowledged his dependence on Rajan to understand complex economic issues. Then why this sudden change?

The disillusionment with Rajan began soon after the BJP gained absolute power. Rajan, being a much sought-after person, was fearless and began to express opinions without caring for those in power. He commented on big political economy issues without consulting anyone. The political leadership was riled when in a 2014 speech at Mumbai, Rajan said: Of course, there are many politicians who are honest and genuinely want to improve the lot of their voters. But perhaps the system tolerates corruption because the street smart politician is better at making the wheels of the bureaucracy creak, however slowly, in favour of his constituents. Later his views on intolerance and PM’s Make in India mission further intensified political bitterness against him. The support from P. Chidambaram and Yashwant Sinha further intensified BJP opinion against him. Almost during the same period there were whispers that three to four Cabinet Ministers were quite critical about his piloting the RBI and not agreeing to reduce interest rates. The BJP had promised to reduce interest rates to improve growth. This was the first lobby that began to gather against him.

The second lobby against him was in the Finance Ministry because of a feeling that the position has been snatched from them. Since RBI was established, its Governor, invariably, has been a top bureaucrat from the Finance Ministry. Of the 23 Governors, 12 were from ICS, IAS, LIC and IAAS and six were Finance Secretaries. Only five, including Rajan, were professional bankers or economists. Of the five, two were only for one month, to keep the seat warm for the waiting bureaucrat to finish his assignment.    

Sharp disagreements began to develop more than a year back on implementing the recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC). Rajan, believing in the popular American belief don’t repair till broke, termed some of the suggestions as faddish and impressionistic. Relations further deteriorated early last year when the Government decided to transfer the management of public debt to another agency without consulting Rajan. However, some measures were withdrawn when Rajan protested. Differences intensified when the government decided to appoint Deputy Governors by a new committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

Another cause of edgy relations was on the monetary policy framework agreement. The RBI, was given the responsibility of keeping inflation at four per cent (within a +/- two per cent band). It wanted a bigger role for the Governor and a larger representation for its representatives in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that would decide on crucial issues including policy rates. While the discussions were going on, some papers claimed that Rajan sought a Cabinet Minister rank for the RBI Governor and that of Minister of State for RBI’s Deputy Governors. The Government was against it and had declined ministerial status even to the top advisors in PMO like the National Security Advisor and the Principal Secretary.

The third lobby to become interested in the ouster of Rajan was that of industrialists. A nexus had developed over the past several decades between a syndicate of politicians-industrialists-bankers to siphon off depositors money. Huge loans were given to industrialists who never repaid it and were written off. Rajan initiated a process of cleaning up the bad loans of Rs 3,41,641 crore that upset India’s powerful and indebted industrialists.

The guv as he is popularly known in RBI is leaving and the Government’s credibility of retaining talented persons is falling. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen rightly told a TV channel that India is losing one of the most skilful financial economic thinkers in the world. It is sad for the country and it is sad for the government of the country too.Though India will move on, as it has during the worst of crises, Rajan will be remembered for a long time to come because he took charge of RBI when the economy was battling a currency crisis. He dextrously stabilised the economy, restored the RBI’s credibility and carried out a structural revolution in monetary policy in just three years.

What was to happen had happened and cannot be undone. But the government should handle the exit of global icons like Rajan in a more courteous way. Persons not acceptable to the Government have been asked to go in the past but with a certain amount of grace. Here the foul-mouth-method has been used. More worrying would be if a newcomer were appointed to reduce interest rates at the cost of higher inflation or becomes soft on banking reforms. Most dangerous thing is that hounding wolves have tested blood and more may be targeted in the coming months. Nominated-MP, Subramanian Swamy, has declared that his next project is to expose 27 bureaucrats who are in various Ministries and loyal to Sonia Gandhi.

(Author Dr. Halan, a commentator on politico-economic affairs, is the former Resident Editor of Financial Express and past Member of Press Council of India)

On this day, two years ago Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a decisive mandate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on its own. It was for the first time in the past three decades that a political party had won such a massive victory, signaling an end of coalition era at the Centre.

As the Modi government steps in the third year, its performance on key parameters such as economy, infrastructure, social sector, foreign policy, national security is naturally being assessed. A number of surveys have given a thumbs up to the Modi government which assumed office at the end of Congress-led UPA government’s term that had come to be identified with policy paralysis, scams and corruption. The promise of “Acche Din” (Good Times) for the people injected a new hope and fuelled high expectations towards which the Modi government will have to work tirelessly in the remaining part of its term.

If Mr. Modi has been able to revive and given a much-needed thrust to India’s foreign policy and put the country on a strong footing in the comity of nations in all international fora, he will now have to tighten the screw on implementation of the government’s schemes and programmes on the domestic front, taking States along in delivering the Centre’s schemes so that all citizens benefit from them. The initial period of catchy slogans and theme-songs is getting over and the people will start judging how programmes like Make in India, Digital India, Clean India, Skill India, Start up India are performing.

In an interview to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi countered the criticism of his government having failed to initiate “”Big Bang”” economic reforms, by asserting that he has actually undertaken the maximum reforms. But, he added: “”I have an enormous task ahead for myself.”” He said that the government has opened up more of the economy to foreign investments and made changes to curb corruption, fill gaps in rural infrastructure and make it easier to do business. “”Today, unlike before, India is not standing in a corner,”” Mr. Modi said.

His senior Cabinet colleagues took to the social media and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who holds the key to implement measures that will ensure a steady and good economic growth of India, said decision-making has been accelerated and Indian economy has gained credibility. Mr. Jaitley said that Indian economy was the fastest growing in the world. If financial inclusion by launching Jan Dhan bank account scheme has scored high with nearly 22 crore bank accounts, it is the job sector which has remained lacklustre as well as rising prices of essential commodities which still remains an area of concern. On the brighter side, the matters of governance like auction of coal blocks, spectrum and FM radio were handled well with care, growth has remained just above 7% and India’s foreign exchange reserves have touched an all-time high figure of 360 billion US dollars. The Modi government has preferred to continue the schemes of the previous government like Aadhar card, and guaranteed rural employment scheme. It has liberalized FDI rules but the country’s position on the scale of ease of doing business globally has only improved marginally.

On social front, the Modi government has attracted criticism for choking dissent, handling prestigious educational institutions in a flip-flop manner and doing precious little to inspire the confidence of minorities. It is only the slogan “”Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” under which the BJP leaders and ministers taken refuge rather than emphatically coming out with their plans and welfare measures to take the minorities along and making them a stakeholder in the governance and development of the country.

If the BJP has relied heavily and solely on the communication skills and oratory of Mr. Modi, it is now in the third year that the Brand Modi needs to be further consolidated and Team India takes it upon itself to take the implementation and delivery to the last mile. It will be for Mr. Modi to keep the fringe elements in his party in check and ensure that his rebooting the governance model and brave attempts to overhaul the system yield desired results. Communal and social harmony, internal security and employment generation are other areas where the Modi government would have to toil harder. If citizens have endorsed Brand Modi and seen India rise and being heard on global platform, they would look forward to seeing the government meet their expectations. Mr. Modi knows the enormity of the situation and, hopefully, move the government machinery in top gear so that it embarks on an action-oriented, mission mode journey over the next three years. He will also have to axe the non-performers, rabble rousers and fringe elements.

BANGALORE: The Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fits with the needs of the Indian Navy and the U.S. Defence major is keen to go through the route of “Make in India” for building a world-class industrial facility which can produce aircraft like Super Hornet.

Addressing media persons at the Aero India 2017 here, Thom Breckenridge, Vice President, Global Sales” India, Boeing Defence, Space & Security, said that Super Hornet, being offered to Indian Navy, was introduced in 2007 and has a long life span. “”We have given 700 deliveries and to countries other than the U.S. as well. In terms of maintainability and cost it is the lowest and very affordable,”” he added.

The twin-engined plane is capable of meeting all needs of the Indian Navy and the Boeing Company is uniquely placed through its presence in India and Make in India initiative to go ahead with the plan to produce Super Hornet, the Boeing official said without going into specifics about ongoing negotiations with the Indian Navy. Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet is the world’s pre-eminent carrier-capable multirole aircraft. It is a combat proven, supersonic fighter jet with a defined U.S. Navy flight plan to outpace threats into the 2040’s.

The Indian Navy last month issued a request for information (RFI) to global makers seeking a 57 ‘Multi-Role Carrier Borne Fighters’ (MRCBFs) to augment its operational capability. Navy has already ordered 45 of the twin-engined MiG 29-K from Russia, some of which have arrived and inducted. The need for additional 57 aircraft came at a time when the naval variant of the Light Combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas could have met the requirement of the Navy.

“”Boeing is prepared to bring its global scale and supply chain, its best-in-industry precision manufacturing processes, as well as the company’s experience designing and optimizing aerospace production facilities to bear in expanding India’s aerospace ecosystem and helping to realize the Make in India vision,”” Breckenridge said.  

Super Hornet is the most advanced aircraft of its kind in operation today with designed-in stealth, an AESA radar and more highly integrated mission systems than any other aircraft. It is a modern fighter that can match and tackle tomorrow’s threats. The F/A-18 Super Hornet is a supersonic, all weather multirole fighter jet that is capable of landing and taking off from an aircraft carrier. Mr. Breckenridge said that Boeing would continue its dialogue with the Indian Navy and the advanced versions of Super Hornet with enhanced engine performance could prove to be the aircraft which the Navy asked for.

As the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday and teams of DRDO and HAL rejoiced, there were scientists and allied workers CSIR’s National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bengaluru celebrating the success as they had developed fly-by-wire technology and light weight composites for the 4th generation modern fighter. 

It was CSIR-NAL which had designed, developed and certified the fly-by-wire flight control laws and algorithms for Tejas. The lab had also developed and fabricated the composite structures for the LCA Tejas, using innovative technology to keep the weight low while retaining the strength. 

It goes to the credit of the CSIR-NAL that the flight test programme for Tejas has today successfully completed a total of over 2400 flights, carried out on 14 different prototypes by 17 test pilots over a continuously expanding flight envelope meeting all the requirements.

Among the little known fact is that the National Control Law (CLAW) team had implemented the autopilot modes, simulation and modeling, including wake encounter simulation and advanced parameter identification techniques for flight validation/update of the aerodynamic database leading to safe flight envelope expansion for LCA air force variants.  Another notable contribution by the CSIR-NAL has been the development of aircraft 6-degree-of-freedom simulation technology which is a key requirement for Control Law development. 

The composite wing development for Tejas was also undertaken by the CSIR-NAL which has pioneered the development and fabrication of composite structures for the fighter, using innovative and cost-effective fabrication technologies including co-curing and co-bonding construction.

The technology developed at CSIR-NAL not only reduces the cost but also improves the structural efficiency of the aircraft by minimising the number of mechanical joints. With this innovation, composite aircraft structures have become cost effective and structurally far superior to conventional aircraft structures. It may be noted that Tejas airframe is 45 per cent composites (mostly carbon-epoxy) by weight contributing to its reputation as the world’s smallest light weight fighter aircraft.  Composites offer a very attractive option in modern aircraft development because they are lighter than metal and just as strong.

LCA has accomplished about 3200 flights, testifying the point that it is a reliable aircraft and that the LCA programme is now racing smoothly.

Action for induction of Tejas into IAF has been initiated. As of now, IAF had placed an order in 2006 for a total of 40 Tejas aircraft. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Mahohar Parrikar have lauded the indigenous development of LCA Tejas. 

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and DG ADA Dr. S Christopher, said that LCA Programme has been unique in bringing together stakeholders and partners within and outside the country. HAL has been the Principal Partner, with participation and support of IAF, IN, DRDO, CSIR, CEMILAC, DGAQA, PSUs, academic institutions, private establishments, etc.”

Airbus Defence & Space, Europe’s top defence and space enterprise, sees Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” programme as a long-term “vision” which will yield fruits in years to come. “This rule is fixed by the Prime Minister. We have to set up a factory from the scratch and establish supply chain and we will have to import equipment for it which will destroy the cost,” said Jean Pierre Talamoni, Head of Sales and Marketing, while addressing visiting journalists near Munich.

He said that “”Make in India”” was a good idea and a long-term vision but the supply chain and related infrastructure will take a few years to come by in a gradual manner. “”If we build something together and share technology, we should also be ready to share profits. India is biggest importer of arms in the world and its requirements are also varied,”” Mr. Talamoni said. Airbus Defence & Space is also stressing upon  several key drivers to bolster its future growth. These key drivers are innovation, integration, connectivity, digital technology and marketing.

Talking to journalists from across the world, Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defence & Space, said: “We have to become more agile and faster so that we can increase the speed of our business. We are also learning to integrate new ideas and use new technology to make our business grow in future.” Mr. Hoke said the group was also looking at its traditional business of aerospace and military aircraft to speed up the growth. The European giant had generated revenues worth over 13 billion Euros in 2015.

The Airbus Defence & Space CEO said that European nations, including Germany, were looking at increasing their defence budgets which would offer more opportunities for the growth in business. In a similar vein, Mr. Talamoni said the group was focusing on Customer, Services and Innovation (CSI). “The world is going fast, we have to follow the speed. After all Apple, Blackberry and Orange were only fruits 20 years ago,” he quipped.

He said the defence sector growth in Europe was pegged at about two per cent annually but it was estimated to grow at six per cent in Asia-Pacific region. “Two-third of new military aircraft opportunities are in Asia and Mid-East region. In the next 10 years 150 heavy lift, 85 tankers and 750 combat aircraft would be required and half of the requirement would be in Asia,” he predicted. Mr. Talamoni said that competition was becoming global and the Airbus group would be looking at diversifying its customer base and ensuring shorter delivery time.

He said that best selling military aircraft of Airbus like A-330 multi-role tanker transport, A400 M heavy lift aircraft, C-295 medium transport aircraft have won wide wide acceptance from a number of nations and were doing well in the global market. “However, our effort to improve upon technology, introduce innovations are continuing on all assembly lines,” he added.

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Article130.png”” alt=””Article130″” />Islamic State (IS) which has already overtaken Al-Qaeda is currently the most treacherous, wealthiest and better organized terrorist organization in the international arena. While the continuous bombarding in the IS-controlled region may have weakened the terrorist outfit, but the resolve of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his cohorts of retribution has not lessened and the danger of carrying out terrorist activities in Europe has enhanced manifold. Analysts mention that future attacks will be more sophisticated and devastating.

The US-led ‘Operation Inherent Resolve’, as well as restrictions on international funding to IS, has had adverse impact on its recruitment drive as now it is not spending lavishly on its cadres. According to an estimate, the United States and other countries made more than 10,000 air raids in the IS-controlled areas in which more than 20,000 IS supporters were exterminated and the outfit lost 35% of its territory.

IS earns money through prowling, extortion, donations and by selling petroleum products from the occupied oil fields. According to a rough estimate, in the past, IS was earning more than 1.8 million Pounds (app. 2.59 million USD) from the captured oil fields every day, but now the oil prices are considerably low and the combined forces have recaptured few oil fields from IS. Hence, its revenue is reduced to an alarmingly low level.

There are also reports that because of air strikes, financial restrictions imposed by several countries the financial condition of the outfit has deteriorated considerably and the organization is compelled to sell the important body organs of prisoners as well as injured cadres of IS. Nonetheless, the fanatics are still joining the outfit from several parts of the world and IS can target some places in Europe to prove their strength and viability. The bomb blasts in Paris and Brussels have proved the capability of the outfit in carrying out terrorist attacks in Europe and other places.

The IS is sending its cadres to Europe as refugees through migrant boats. As very large numbers of refugees are entering Europe from disturbed areas, it is very difficult for security agencies to verify the antecedents of all those who are landing on their shores. IS has emerged as a fulcrum of terrorism against Europe and America, hence several independent terror outfits as well as alienated people of the society have joined the outfit to settle their real or imaginary grievances.

IS which has an efficient, secret and protected communication system has also cultivated sleeper cells as well as support agents in Europe and these support agents would assist the action agents in carrying out terrorist activities. The European Union (EU) should constitute a joint task force to deal with the threat of IS. The task force would be more effectual and can mobilize resources early, as a single entity it can take and implement decisions more effectively. It can overcome the language barrier and can utilize intelligence more efficiently. The task force can be financed by EU and its object should be to check the terrorist activities of IS and eradicate its influence from Europe.

The European counties should emphasize on their citizens that IS is losing ground and who so ever will go to join the terrorist outfit will be exterminated in air strikes or will be slaughtered by IS under the pretext of spy. The condition of Muslims in Europe is pitiable and they are treated as second-class citizens. The European countries must realize that alienation, poverty and racial discrimination generate extremism and the younger people are inclined to join the terror outfits. Hence, on the one hand, where the government should try to curb the discrimination, on the other hand, there should be stringent punishment for engendering hatred in the society.

The IS is utilizing social media and internet to lure young people in the west to join the terrorist outfit by sending-out impressive messages as well as combat lessons on the internet. Hence, the intelligence agencies of these countries should also employ high-quality professionals to counter IS propaganda in social sights; the data analysts should recover details about the finance and should try to collect intelligence through technical means.

Several thousand jihadists who will return from Syria and Iraq once the IS is (hopefully) decimated would be a great danger to Europe as they are trained terrorists and may use Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED) to carry out terrorist activities. The security agencies should formulate a plan to handle the extremists returning from Syria and Iraq and should also start counter-radicalization and de-radicalization campaign.

The general masses, especially Muslims, should be educated about the rising danger of Islamic terrorism and safeguard the youths from becoming the prey of malicious propaganda about the establishment of Islamic Caliphate in any part of the world.

The government should involve colleges, student organizations, NGOs and politicians to counter the threat of spread of radical ideology before it subvert the democratic institutions, social fabric and rule of law. There are reports that various imams are distributing extremist literature to Muslim prisoners as well as to select persons in mosques. These imams are also collecting funds to assist terrorists. The government should take stringent measures to punish such imams or other religious fanatics.

The obliteration of IS is not enough. There is a danger that after the annihilation of IS, there would be small Islamic terrorist groups that would emerge and that these leaderless factions would get involved in reckless killings just to demonstrate their strength and influence. In fact, there is a need of eradication of all Islamic terrorist outfits and this is feasible only if various countries assisting these terror organisations stop being so munificent towards such thugs for meeting their short-term, petty ambitions. While a few (known) countries are rendering financial assistance, Pakistan and military-controlled Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) is giving arms, ammunition, training and financial assistance to several terrorist organizations. The United States as well as European countries must prevent countries and organizations to render assistance to terrorists.

The US decision of deputing additional troops and 8 Apache attack helicopters against IS to recapture Mosul town is important as retake of second most important city by Iraqi troops would be a great jolt to the terrorist outfit.

(Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi-based strategic analyst.)

(This article first appeared in South Asia Monitor on April 24, 2016. It is being reproduced here with the permission of the author)“

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Article134.png”” alt=””Article134″” />The Department of Telecommunications has notified the “”Panic Button and Global Positioning System in Mobile Phone Handsets Rules 2016″”. The Ministry of Women and Child Development had taken up the issue of installation of a physical panic button on mobile phones as one of the initiatives in June 2014. This has been done to provide safety to women in distress situation, and enable them to send out distress signal to a family member or the police authorities so that they can be rescued. The Ministry had discussed this issue with a number of stakeholders as well as Department of Telecommunications and had insisted that a physical panic button is much superior to having an App on the mobile phone. It was argued that a woman in distress does not have more than a second or two to send out a distress message as a perpetrator will often reach out to her mobile phone in the event of a physical/sexual assault. After an elaborate process of discussion and deliberation, the Department of Telecommunications as well stakeholders finally agreed to have this facility installed in the mobile phones.

Accordingly, the Department of Telecommunications has notified the rules on panic button vide notification dated 22nd April, 2016 issued under section 10 of the Indian Wireless Telegraph Act 1933. Under these rules, from January 1, 2017, all feature phones will have the facility of panic button configured to the numeric key 5 or 9 and all smart phones will have the panic button configured to three times short pressing of the on-off button. Also, from January 1,.2018, all mobile phones will be required to have the facility of identifying the location through satellite based GPS.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development will now be working with the Department of Telecommunications and the stakeholders to ensure that similar solutions be made available for existing mobile phone handsets in the form of software patches by which same buttons could be configured to send out emergency calls for concerned telephone numbers. According to the Ministry, these software patches will be made available for direct download in the smart phones and installation at the mobile phone shops by the concerned manufactures/service providers.”

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Article132.png”” alt=””Article132″” />A rolling short sample survey on mother and child health in 25 districts of Uttar Pradesh where health indicators are poor has suggested that it is important to strengthen the specific health promotion interactions between frontline health workers, women and their families on issues related to family planning, breastfeeding, complementary feedings, and immunization. “”Overall, from an equity perspective, it may also be important to target specific population groups abd blocks that may be experiencing the greatest need and may be the most vulnerable to poor outcomes due to social and supply factors,”” says the Community Behaviour Tracking Survey (first round) conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Technical Support Unit.

According to the survey, only 4% of the women who delivered in the past 2 months had received all three components of recommended antenatal care (ANC) or more ANC check-ups, 2 TT injections, and 100 iron folic tablets. While most (71%) pregnant women received 2 TT injections, only 13% received 3 of more ANC check-ups. The ANC check-ups often did not include critical elements for detecting high risk pregnancies like 37% of the recently delivered had an ANC done in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy, but only 24% had their blood pressured assessed and 26% had their haemoglobin level checked.

Women contacted by an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) during pregnancy were more likely to plan facility deliveries, and a greater proportion of women who planned to deliver in a facility had an institutional delivery. Yet, only 57% of the mothers who had delivered in the past 2 months reported that an ASHA visited them at home during pregnancy. “”It may be important for the TSU Community Resource Persons (CRPs) to focus greater attention on strengthening the quantity and quality of ASHA visits in order to influence institutional delivery rates in the focus blocks. 63% of the women who delivered had an institutional delivery (52% in government facilities and 11% in private facilities) while 37% still reported home deliveries.

The CBTS included five demographic groups which are relevant for RMNCH+A (reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent health) programming: women who had delivered in the past 2 months of the survey (done in February 2015), mothers with children aged 3-5 months, mothers with children aged 6-11 months, mothers with children aged 12-23 months, and adolescents aged 13-19 years.

Since its establishment in November 2013, UPTSU has been providing an integrated techno-managerial support to improve the planning, implementation and monitoring of health programmes in 25 high priority districts (HPDs) in the State. The TSU is providing implementation support at the community and facility levels through its Community Resource Persons and Block Community Supervisors and Nurse Mentors, respectively. The State monitoring systems are being strengthened with the TSU’s support in improving the quality and use of HMIS/MCTS data. This data from the TSU’s CBTS will further help in validating the service coverage data from HMIS and making mid-course corrections in the programme implementation at the district and block levels. The data is available for the first time from Block levels for the 100 of the 294 blocks in 25 HPDs.

Postnatal and newborn care is poor regardless of settings. Only 37% reported that an ASHA visited them at home within 24 hours of delivery or discharge from facility. The neonatal mortaliy rate estimated in the 100 TSU focus blocks was 29.9 per 1,000 live births. Improvements in postnatal care provide an incredible opportunity to decrease childhood mortality as more than 50% of child deaths occur in the first month of life, the survey says.

Of mothers delivered in the past 2 months, only 22% initiated breastfeeding within one hour of birth. When women with children aged 3-5 months were asked if the child was given anything other than breastmilk in he past 24 hours, 53% responded in the negative. Only 16% of the children aged 6-11 months were both breastfed and given complementary feedings.

Overall, 54% of the children aged 12-23 months were fully immunized (BCG, 3 doses of DPT and measles vaccine) and 12% have not received any primary vaccines. Only 4 TSU focus blocks had achieved a full immunization rate of more than 80% and for the remaining 20 blocks, the full immunization rate was less than 40%.

During the last episode of diarrhoea for children, one third had received rehydration oral solution (ORS), 19% had received zinc, and only 10% received both zinc and ORS. Overall, 73% children (up to 2 years) were treated with an antibiotic when they had symptoms of pneumonia.

On the family planning front the Survey says the prevalence of modern contraceptive use among women interviewed was 14% (0.3% IUCD, 1% female sterilization and 12% other methods). Unmet need for spacing (wanting another child after 3 years) was 19% and unmet need for limiting (not wanting more children) was 28%. In 25 TSU focus blocks, the proportion with unmet need for family planning (spacing and limiting) was over 60%. Counselling for family planning was poor with only 15% of women delivered in the last 2 months and 20% of women with children aged 3-5 months reporting having received any counseling or advice on family planning during their pregnancy.

Currently, 55% of adolescent girls (13-19 years) attend school, college or university and the coverage of Centre’s Weekly Iron Folic Supplementation (WIFS) programme is very low, with less than 3% girls having received weekly IFA tablets in the month prior to the survey. Only 3% of adolescent girls reported that hey had bought sanitary napkins from ASHA/AWW/ANM in the 6 months.”

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Article133.png”” alt=””Article133″” />India on Tuesday clearly told Pakistan not to be in denial mode on the impact of terrorism on the bilateral relationship, conveying that terrorist groups based in Pakistan and targeting India must not be allowed to operate with impunity. Indian Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar met his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry and emphasized the need for early and visible progress on the Pathankot terrorist attack investigation as well as the Mumbai case trial in Pakistan. He also brought up the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar in the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee. India also pressed for immediate consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Naval officer abducted and taken to Pakistan. Islamabad has alleged that the Indian national was a spy and charged him with encouraging insurgency in Balochistan, a charge vehemently denied by New Delhi.

The two Foreign Secretaries met on the sidelines of Afghanistan-centric “”Heart of Asia”” senior officials meeting here. “”Their discussions were frank and constructive. Both sides raised issues of concern to them,”” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. It said that the two Foreign Secretaries exchanged ideas on taking the relationship forward and agreed to remain in touch.

It is for the first time since January 2 Pathankot terror attack that the two Foreign Secretaries have met. Their formally scheduled talks had been put off after the Pathankot attack but they had remained in touch and had agreed to meet at a mutually convenient date. In its statement, Pakistan expressed serious concern over Indian agency RA&W’s alleged involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi, something which India has been denying time and again.

On its part, the Pakistani statement said its Foreign Secretary raised the issue of Kashmir stressing that it remained the “”core issue that requires a just solution in accordance with UNSC resolutions and wishes of Kashmiri people.”” Strangely, in a departure from normal protocol, the Pakistani side released the talking points even as the two top officials were still in the midst of their discussion.”

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Article137.png”” alt=””Article137″” />With the Supreme Court on Thursday passing order to hold National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2016-17, it is now clear that the All India Pre-Medical Test scheduled for May 1 will now be considered the first round of NEET and the students who were to write this exam would now be writing NEET while for all others who were to write eligibility test for medical undergraduate and dental courses in other institutions can do so on July 24 when the second round of NEET will be conducted. The results for both the examinations will be declared on August 17. Counseling would be held for 45 days between August 17 and September 30. The entire process would be completed by September 30. An approximate number of 6.5 lakh students would attend the exams across the country. The examination for medical and dental undergraduate courses across the country will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

Bench of Justices Anil R. Dave, S.K. Singh and A.K. Goel revived the NEET across all States despite strong protests from States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh that it was too late. The court revived the NEET notifications of December 21, 2010, and said the common entrance exam would be held this academic year notwithstanding any orders to the contrary from any other courts. All challenges to this order would come directly before the Supreme Court and be heard in due course, the order said. The court said the 2013 judgment quashing the NEET is not in operation as of date as the Supreme Court had recalled it on April 11. Hence, it said, there was no bar against conducting the NEET this academic year.

On April 11, the Apex Court had recalled its 2013 order scrapping NEET for admission to MBBS, BDS and PG course paving the way for holding of a common entrance test for medical under and post graduation course in the country which had earlier been opposed by the Tamil Nadu government, minority institutions and private medical college. The United Progress Alliance (UPA) government in 2011 had stalled the move by the Medical Council of India to hold a common entrance for medical courses following a strong protest by the Tamil Nadu government, which was part of the UPA. The Tamil Nadu government has done away with all entrance examinations for professional courses since 2007 to bring about rural-urban parity.

When the matter went to Supreme Court, it also rejected the proposal in 2013 but the matter became controversial as it was a majority verdict which was delivered on the day the then Chief Justice Altamas Kabir was to retire and the order was put up on the Supreme Court website even before it was pronounced. Justive A.R.Dave had dissented with the judgement. On April 11, the Supreme Court while recalling its controversial judgement scrapping single common entrance test for admission to MBBS, BDS and PG courses in all medical colleges had said “”it was delivered by a majority verdict without any discussion among members to the bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir on the day of his retirement.

A five-member Constitution Bench headed by Justice A.R.Dave was unanimous that the July 18, 2013, 2:1 verdict of the three-judge bench, “”needs reconsideration”” as “”the majority view has not taken into consideration some binding precedents.”” A common entrance test is aimed to standardize medical education in the country. At present, each state has a different standard of education. “”The decision will help safeguard the sanctity of the medical profession and make it more accountable, transparent and effective. Indian Medical Association has also been advocating the implementation of NEET on the grounds that it will bring transparency to the system of medical examinations,”” the IMA had said in a statement soon after the order.”