“

Most of the world’s population eats more salt than required, and there is strong scientific basis to believe that this is causing large adverse effects. Globally, 12.90 million people die of heart attack every year with 2.68 million in China and 1.74 million in India. High blood pressure, a major cause of heart attacks, is caused by high salt intake. Reduction is the daily intake of salt is one of the best ways for prevention of non-communicable diseases in low and middle-income countries without any adverse impact on the general health of the people. Just 1.0g lower salt intake reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke by 4.8%. Most salts are consumed as packaged or restaurant foods while a chunk of salts are added during food preparation and consumption, 10% are naturally occurring. Not much can be done about naturally occurring salts, 90% use of discretionary salt is preventable.

Science has it that salt was scarce for most hominid evolution with no adverse health consequences and was first manufactured some 6,000 years ago for a few hundred people. Several studies carried out in the developing countries, including India, have been reporting an increase in the prevalence of diet related chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like overweight and obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and cancers , especially among urban population causing 70% of the deaths in the world as per the Global Burden of Disease report.

Raised blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality and is estimated to have caused 9.4 million deaths and 7% of disease burden – as measured in DALYs − in 2010. A large number of risk factors for DALYs are nutrition-related. India is particularly hard hit. The prevalence of raised blood pressure in India is around 26 percent and is considered to be a leading cause of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and chronic renal impairment. About 1 in 3 of all adult Indians have high blood pressure, by itself making it a major public health burden. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015, approximately 3750 years of life were lost per lakh population in 2015 due to ischemic heart disease, representing more than 20% increase from 2005.  Five out of the top 10 causes of deaths in India are now due to NCDs. What is more alarming is the inexorable rise in the contribution of NCDs to all deaths, presenting a challenge for health community.

While national and international guidelines have called for reductions in average sodium intakes at the population level to tackle the population-wide burden of high blood pressure levels and the associated cardiovascular risks, much still needs to be done on ground. The report of a joint World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Expert Consultation recommended that adults consume less than 85 mmol/day (<2g/day) of sodium, equivalent to 5 g of salt daily. Reducing salt intake is identified as one of the most cost effective strategies (‘best buys’) in the global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs.

Keeping this scenario in mind, the recently concluded first-of-its-kind Salt Summit called for measures from the government, food manufacturers, private sector, restaurants, street vendors, cafeteria managers, housewives, civil society and academic and research community to reduce the use of salt. This can be done by mandatory pack labeling, mentioning sodium content targets for food, requiring salt, fat, calorie content display in restaurant menu board and a gradual reduction in salt content of chutneys and junk foods by vendors.

India is one of the first countries to have developed an action plan for meeting the NCDs 10 targets. One of the targets is 30% relative reduction in mean population intake of salt/sodium. This will also directly help in achieving the other target which is 25% relative reduction in raised blood pressure, or contain the prevalence of raised blood pressure.

The World Health Organization has established that salt consumption should not exceed 5 g of salt (2.3 g of sodium) per person per day.   In 2010, global mean sodium intake was 3.95 g/day. This was nearly twice the WHO recommended limit of 2 g/day and equivalent to 10.06 g/day of salt. Intake in men was 10% higher than in women. A recent meta-analysis showed.  It is worth pointing out that the 30% reduction in mean population salt consumption by 2025 target adopted by the WHO member states will still leave the salt consumption substantially higher than the recommended daily salt intake, suggesting the need to identify effective strategies. 

Sodium (salt) intake is reported to be a modifiable determinant of raised blood pressure. While in the United States and many Western countries, packaged foods eg bread, or chips are the main source of salt, in India, it is salt used in cooking and at the table that is the biggest source of dietary salt. A recent meta-analysis of several studies undertaken in India to estimate salt intake over the past three decades found that the overall mean weighted salt intake among Indians was 10.98 g/day. 

In earlier generations, Indians did hard labor in the fields or walked long distances even in urban India.  The high amounts of salt consumed were excreted in perspiration.  Now with millions migrating to urban settings, driving in to work, or sitting in air-conditioned offices all day long, the amount of salt consumed in everyday food is too much. “Raised blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality and is estimated to have caused 9.4 million deaths and 7% of disease burden – as measured in DALYs − in 2010,” says Dr Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, George Institute for Global Health.

The prevalence of raised blood pressure in India is around 26 percent and is considered to be a leading cause of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and chronic renal impairment. “About 1 in 3 of all adult Indians have high blood pressure, by itself making it a major public health burden. Five out of the top 10 causes of deaths in India are now due to NCDs. What is more alarming is the inexorable rise in the contribution of NCDs to all deaths, presenting a challenge for health community,” Dr. Jha adds.

Some of the common Indian food items with high salt content include pickles, papads, street food, junk food like namkeen, chips, and chinese food.  Further, street foods in India are not regulated, and many people eat home cooked food.  Thus, food labeling has some challenges in the Indian context. 

In India, we need to dispassionately examine the scientific evidence behind the need for salt reduction, learn from the strategies that have worked in other countries, and work collaboratively with multiple sectors to make change.  

It has been reported that 75 countries have a national salt reduction strategy in place, more than double the number reported in 2010. The majority of programs are multifaceted and include industry engagement to reformulate products, establishment of sodium content targets for foods, consumer education, front-of-pack labeling schemes, taxation on high-salt foods and interventions in public institutions. Legislative action related to salt reduction such as mandatory targets, front of pack labeling, food procurement policies and taxation have been implemented in 33 countries. 12 countries have reported reductions in population salt intake, 19 reduced salt content in foods and 6 reported improvements in consumer knowledge, attitudes or behaviors relating to salt.”

“

The National Regulatory Authority of India (NRA) and affiliated institutions meet the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool requirements for a functional vaccine regulatory system.

A World Health Organization (WHO) led team of international experts from several countries came to this conclusion at the end of a comprehensive review from 13-17 February 2017. “This is indeed a great achievement and we would like to congratulate the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and its affiliated institutions: Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO); Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli; Pharmacovigilance Programme and Immunization Division, and other relevant institutions engaged in the regulation, control and testing of vaccines,” said Dr Alireza Khadem, WHO Team Leader for the NRA Re-benchmarking, Group Lead, Regulatory System Strengthening Team, a statement issued by WHO has said.

 Mr C.K. Mishra, Secretary Health, Health & Family Welfare, Government of India said that the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization, in collaboration with WHO, has made exemplary efforts towards this achievement. “India is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of vaccines world-wide; this development further deepens our resolve to maintain the highest quality and efficacy of the products that are manufactured within our country and in this context, we look forward to strengthening our collaboration with WHO,” he added.

Welcoming the positive outcome of international assessment, Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India said, “It will go a long way in re-affirming India’s role in global health, including the strength of its pharmaceutical sector and drug regulatory capacity.” “WHO had scaled up its technical support to the India’s national regulatory authority over the past several years. This success is a culmination of intensive effort by the Health Ministry, including CDSCO, in collaboration with WHO, to implement a roadmap to strengthen capacity for regulation of vaccines. WHO will continue to support development of the NRA through technical advice, training and capacity building,” he added.

One of the requirements to become eligible and retain the prequalification status is to have the NRA assessed as functional against the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool. Safety, efficacy and quality are three basic parameters of assessment of vaccines. WHO has established global standards and benchmarks for assurance of vaccine quality by development of tools and guidelines, benchmarking of the NRA and Prequalification programme of vaccines.

In addition to the general framework for the system, the following regulatory functions were evaluated: registration and marketing authorization; licensing of premises; vigilance; market surveillance and control; lab access and lot release by the national regulatory authority; regulatory inspections; and oversight of clinical trials. The WHO Prequalification Programme (PQP) is aimed at facilitating access to vaccines that meet unified standards of quality, safety and efficacy as well as programme needs. It is also prerequisite for manufacturers to supply to countries through United Nations procuring agencies. A functional NRA is a criterion for WHO prequalification of vaccines, the WHO statement said.

India is a major vaccine producer that has 21 major vaccine manufacturing facilities. These vaccines are used for the national and international market (150 countries), which makes India a major vaccine supplier across the globe. India continues to meet the standards of the WHO NRA published indicators (WHO Global benchmarking Tool) on functional regulatory system for vaccines. This allows the domestic vaccine manufacturers to apply for WHO vaccine prequalification. It also allows export of Indian vaccines to the world immunization market, and will probably lead to more affordable vaccines. As for all NRA benchmarkings, sustainability of the gains made in regulatory capacity is critical. For this purpose, the team, which has just completed the assessment in India, has drawn up a detailed Institutional Development Plan. The plan will outline additional activities to be undertaken to further strengthen regulatory capacity in India in the coming years.”

“

It took the Governor of Tamil Nadu C Vidyasagar Rao nine days since the rebellion by O Paneerselvam in inviting A Palanisamy to form the AIADMK government in Chennai. It dashed the hopes of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s loyalist O Paneerselvam who lost the race in the wake of V K Sasikala taking a firm grip of the Dravidian party following her recent appointment as its all powerful general secretary.  

Palanisamy was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Governor and urged to prove his majority on the floor of the state assembly within 15 days. All the 124 odd legislators kept at a resort on the outskirts of Chennai reportedly under duress attended the swearing in ceremony.

Prior to all this amid the attendant drama, the Supreme Court busted Sasikala’s ambitions of becoming the chief minister of Tamil Nadu last Tuesday by convicting her and two others in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case. A new dimension has been added to the power struggle in the AIADMK having already split the party. The Apex court rejected Sasikala’s application seeking a week’s time to sort out matters in her party before surrendering in Bengaluru for completing the remaining period of her four-year term in jail. 

This puts the brakes on Sasikala, 61, for at least a decade from holding any public office or contesting elections. Nevertheless, she has sought to turn the AIADMK into her family fiefdom along with her hushand M Natarajan and other relatives described as the “”Mannargudi mafia””. She ensured one of Amma’s and her loyalists Palanisamy being installed as the legislature party leader facilitating him to stake claim for the chief minister’s job. Having achieved this Sasikala has ensured her vice like grip on the AIADMK seeking to snuff out any challenge.   

The reinduction of her nephew T T V Dinakaran as the deputy general secretary and S Venkatesh into the party on the specious plea that they had submitted their apologies to Amma is a case in point. Dinakaran is expected to be made a cabinet rank minister in the Palanisamy ministry. 

All of them have returned to the party fold overnight as it were after having been expelled by the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2011. It is apparent Sasikala will be calling the shots while serving her sentence in jail despite the cadres of the AIADMK having strong reservations about ‘Chinamma’ as she is known.  

In a prelude to tightening her grip on the AIADMK, Sasikala summarily expelled acting chief minister Paneerselvam and at least ten others from the primary membership of the AIADMK. It was widely believed after Sasikala’s conviction that the decks had been cleared for Paneerselvam but that was not to be. 

Eyebrows are being raised about Sasikala and her family occupying Jayalalithaa’s sprawling Poes garden residence in Chennai and carrying out  their machinations from there. Already tongues are wagging in this regard even as Paneerselvam had announced that he will turn the late Amma’s residence into a museum. Governor Vidyasagar Rao has been vindicated for biding his time till the Supreme Court gives its verdict in the disproportionate assets case. Motives were attributed to him initially for dragging his feet in not installing Sasikala as the chief minister. There is a sigh of relief that the political stalemate and administrative uncertainty has ended in Tamil Nadu.

After her conviction Sasikala has inevitably lost the coveted office of chief minister. Public perception appears to have gone against her with hardly any supporters assembled at the Poes garden residence when Sasikala’s convoy drove to Bengaluru in the forenoon on February 15. 

Paneerselvam has not thrown in the towel in this game of political oneupmanship. In a smart move he has secured the support of Jayalalithaa’s neice Deepa Jayakumar. Sasikala deliberately kept her at an arm’s length from Amma even while the latter was seriously ill in Apollo hospital. Deepa has been drawing crowds of AIADMK sympathisers since Jayalalithaa’s death. The Apex court’s verdict upheld the order of the trial court which found all the accused guilty. That has lent credence to Jayalalithaa indulging in corruption as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.  

The message from the Supreme Court is unmistakable. The high and mighty, however influential, can be brought to book without getting away scot free all the time. The malaise afflicting the AIADMK is that Jayalalithaa never thought of having in place a second rung leadership for a smooth of transition of power. She assiduously ran the party with an iron grip. The question is can Sasikala create the charisma of Amma? Impartial observers have grave doubts in this regard. As Jayalalithaa’s confidant for three decades it is evident the cadres of the Dravidian party have strong reservations about ‘chinamma’ smoothly stepping into the shoes of Jayalalithaa. 

The unsavoury developments in the AIADMK following Amma’s death has created the space for another dynamic Dravidian party coming to the fore or the national parties seeking to create space for themselves in the southern state. Tamil Nadu has been the preserve of the two Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK — for nearly four decades which is bound to change. Jayalalithaa’s death resulted in a rudderless ship being rocked by turbulence. The prevailing crisis in Tamil Nadu provides an opportunity for the two main Dravidian parties to change their style of functioning necessitating a generational shift in leadership. 

The administration is virtually at a standstill since Jayalalithaa’s death late at night on the fifth of December. The discriminating believe the morally right course in the southern state is to go in for fresh assembly elections. That is what the legislators do not want as they got elected in May last year when Amma managed a second successive term at Fort St George in Chennai. The legislators want to serve the five-year term rather than have a snap poll as they have not completed even one year.”

The day I stop enjoying playing football, I’ll leave football, said Lionel Andres Leo Messi in 2012. Now, four years later on June 28 at the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey the enjoyment for playing for his country Argentina appeared to have ended as he announced his decision to hang up his boots. This was soon after he failed to lead Albiceleste as Argentina are known failed to win Copa America Centenary tournament in USA losing for the second consecutive year to neighbour Chile with Messi failing to convert a penalty in the penalty shoot out.

Soon after the 29 year old Messi announced his decision, the social media went viral with even his famous countryman Diego Mardona asking him to reconsider his decision. Messi who was the third of the four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager in Argentina, the father Jorge was of Italian and Spanish heritage and the mother was of Italian descent.

However, Lionel’s main source of inspiration was his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches. Tragically, she died before his 11th birthday and that is why when he looks up at the sky after scoring goals is his tribute to this football loving grandmother. Suffering from growth hormone deficiency, so the family decided to move out of Argentina.

As the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelona in September 2000. First team director Charly Rexach immediately wanted to sign him, but the board of directors hesitated since it was highly unusual for European clubs to sign foreign players of such a young age. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove their commitment, and Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered a contract on a paper napkin. In February 2001, the family relocated to Barcelona, where they moved into an apartment near the club’s stadium, Camp Nou. During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantiles due to a transfer conflict with his former team Newells Old Boys. As a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without football, he struggled to integrate into the team. Being very quite and reserved his quietness made his team mates think that he was mute. At home, he suffered from homesickness after his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and little sister, María Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father.

Messi enjoys a close relationship with his immediate family members, particularly his mother, Celia, whose face he has tattooed on his left shoulder. His professional affairs are largely run as a family business: his father, Jorge, has been his agent since he was 14, and his oldest brother, Rodrigo, handles his daily schedule and publicity. His mother and other brother, Matías, manage his charitable organisation, the Leo Messi Foundation, and take care of personal and professional matters in Rosario.

It was his mesmerizing performance on the field that led to his immense global popularity and influence. He was among the Time 100, an annual list of the world’s most influential people as published by Time, in 2011 and 2012. His fanbase on the social media website Facebook is among the largest of all public figures: within seven hours of its launch in April 2011, his Facebook page had nearly seven million followers, and by November 2013, he had become only the second sportsperson, after Cristiano Ronaldo, to amass over 50 million followers. According to a 2014 survey by sports research firm Repucom in 15 international markets, Messi was familiar to 87% of respondents around the world, of whom 78% perceived him favourably, making him the second-most recognized player globally, behind Ronaldo, and the most likeable of all contemporary players.

His popularity can be gauged by the fact that a solid gold replica of his left foot, weighing 25 kg (55 lb) and valued at $5.25 million, went on sale in Japan in March 2013 to raise funds for victims of the 2011 Thoku earthquake and tsunami. A 2013 Turkish Airlines advertisement starring Messi, in which he engages in a selfie competition with Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, was the most-watched ad on YouTube in the year of its release, receiving 137 million views, and was subsequently voted the best advertisement of the 2005-15 decade to commemorate YouTube’s founding. World Press Photo selected “The Final Game”, a photograph of Messi facing the World Cup trophy after Argentina’s final defeat to Germany, as the best sports image of 2014.Messi, a documentary about his life by filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2014.

So, even though he did not win any trophy on the world stage for Argentina World Cup and Copa America but his performance for Barcelona has indeed made him a legend in football.

Meet Bulbul Sen, a bubbly retired young Indian Revenue Service (IRS) Officer of 1977 lore. The year 1977 was the year when than Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chose to end for a variety of reasons the state of emergency in the country and announce schedule for the general election. Mrs. Sen can be identified with the post-emergency ethos which included triumph of freedom of expression and expansion of space for several sections including that of the Indian women. The ladders Mrs. Sen has managed to navigate since than in this men dominated world should be a source of inspiration, envy and pride for the multitude of Indian women fighting against all odds. Mrs. Sen is MA, MBA (Slovenia), Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (Paris) who has been trained at premier national and international institutions in Public Administration, Management, Tax Administration & Tax Policy and WTO-related commercial law, like the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur, Institute International Administration Publique, Paris, the E.U. Secretariat, Brussels (Internship) and the International Centre for Public Enterprises, Ljubljana, Slovenia (for MBA, with specialisation in WTO issues).

She has varied experience in Tax Planning, Tax Management, WTO issues, Human Resource Management, administration while working in various technical & administrative posts in the Income tax Department and on deputation as Joint Secretary (Tax Planning & Legislation) in the Department of Revenue, Director in the Ministries of Commerce (International Trade Policy Division) and Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs. She also has experience in monitoring the performance of PSUs and handling consumer affairs, while Deputy Secretary/Director in the Ministry of Food, Civil Supplies & 7 Consumer Affairs. Her international experience includes representing India at various international conferences, including the Geneva and Seattle Ministerial Conferences of the WTO (1998 &1999 respectively), the Conference of SAARC Commerce Ministers, Male, the Maldives (1999), the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-Safety, Colombia (1999), the South Summit of the Group of 77 Commerce Ministers, Havana, Cuba (2000) as part of the Indian delegation headed by the then Commerce & Industries Minister ; the annual meeting of Commonwealth Tax Administrators, London, 2005, as head of the delegation; as also the Expert Group Meeting on Transparency, Competition and Objectivity in Public Procurement t, Luxemburg, Austria, 2012, as a member of the UNODC, South Asia Office’s team of Indian experts on Government Procurement. She has published articles on Tax Policy and Public Procurement Policy in several newspapers and journals. Her published books include one on the implications of joining the WTO for the developing and developed countries and the major chapters of a study on public procurement in India. Ms. Bulbul Sen is also a director on the Board of Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd.

A chance meeting of the scribe with her over two weeks ago left him wondering if she has actually been so long in the public eye for so long. Going by the long list of her accomplishments and the yearning to do more like any other fresher, she is more than a match in enthusiasm to any new entrant to the field of revenue services.

This scribe came into telephone contact with her on the evening of October 4 rather accidentally. Mrs. Sen’s husband is a former Secretary in the Union Water Resource Development Ministry who presided over the February 2013 notification of the Cauvery Tribunal water sharing award mainly between Tamil and Karnataka with the Kerala thrown in. The acrimonious discourse between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on the sharing of waters of Cauvery in this year rainfall deficit prompted the old fashioned All India Radio rooted in the tradition of facts are sacred but opinion is free to get Dr. Shyam Kumar Sarkar, to notify the original award in 2013 to its studio for a firsthand account of what actually happened.

The onerous but joyous moment to talk to Dr. Sarkar at one of the multitude of studios of the AIR headquarters on the Parliament Street fell into the hands of this scribe. Mr. Sarkar graciously agreed to be interviewed by a novice on the subject and that is how a bond emerged with the veteran bureaucrat that led this scribe to Mrs. Sarkar.

Days after the interview, the apex court had modified its own order taking into account the difficulties put forth by the Karnataka government in translating the order into reality. This scribe had called on the mobile number of Mr. Sarkar for a low down on what it meant. The phone was picked up by Mrs. Sarkar who wanted to know if this scribe would care to listen to her for a few sentences before she passed it on to her husband.

Her voice was so gentle and persuasive that it would have been difficult for anyone to say no and this scribe did not even entertain such a thought. A few sentences later Mrs. Sarkar introduced her as an ex-IRS officer currently engaged in a project that no one has attempted in the post-independent history of India. It was about procurement of goods and services through various means and sources by the mighty government of India and how she along with her another colleague friend was in the process was actually engaged in an exercise to draft a policy which does not exist till date!

This was getting rich. Look at her credentials. She until a few years ago was a former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi. Currently Mrs. Sarkar is a Consultant, Global Compact Network India which is a 13 year plus registered non-profit society functioning as the Indian Local Network of the UN Global Compact, New York. It is the first Local Network in the world to be established with full legal recognition. The India Network ranks among the top 10, out of more than 90 Local Networks in the world. It has also emerged as the largest corporate sustainability initiative in India and globally with a pan India membership of 230 leading business and non-business participants and 341 signatories, strengthening their commitment to the UN Global Compact Principles by becoming proud members of the Local Network in India.

Minutes into the talking Mrs. Sarkar wanted to know about possibilities of a wider audience for her novel project on public procurement in general and procurement policies in India in particular. A meeting was fixed up the next day. Madam Sarkar turned up with one of the books on public procurement she had penned during her bureaucratic career and an abstract of project she was working on for months now along with another colleague in the Global Compact Network India.  Sooner than later it would be a full-fledged book, a ready reference on matters pertaining to public procurement.

According to Mrs. Sarkar India’s maturity as a democracy and an economy lies that even as it faces external challenges through increased belligerence of Pakistan, cross border terrorism, slowing down of global economic growth and so on, it is steadily carrying on with its own economic reforms program. The quiet progress on General Sales Tax, the passage of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, recent interest rate cut by the RBI are but some of the manifestations of the phenomenon.

Yet there remains one area in which government needs to take an important initiative. That is in the area of public procurement, or the system of government contracting being followed by India. This is still governed largely by the dated General Financial Rules (GFR), last consolidated in 2005. Businesses today feel that these rules are not able to encompass the complex needs of a modernizing Indian economy, especially in its tendering modes; its transparency rules which should be especially helpful to promote the small scale sector, the backbone of our industry; in its lack of provisions to encourage sustainable public procurement, in its lacuna in having an adequate mechanism for redressing the grievances of bidders and suppliers; in its market access provisions to balance the competing needs of maintaining openness and promotion of domestic industry and so on. They also feel that there are a plethora of public contracts rules, which are often not in harmony with each other, and therefore create confusion, which gives opportunity for both inefficiency, on the one hand and corruption, on the other”.

She bemoans that these rules, like the General Finance Rules, are binding only on the government procuring authorities, and not on the suppliers, and, therefore, are inadequate to ensure a level playing field for all players engaged in the procurement process. The need of the hour for the Business and Industry is an updated single, overarching Public Procurement legislation to clear the uncertainty and confusion on public procurement in India, which have led to so many avoidable of procurement scams.

Mrs. Sarkar says the Manmohan Singh Government attempted in vain a policy on public procurement through the Public Procurement Bill, 2012. Businesses, including the major central PSEs, private sector majors and the SMEs, in a consultation on an appropriate public procurement regime for India held in June 2016, by the UN Global Compact India (of which these enterprises are members) have expressed the need for a government contracting law which, while treating the Bill of 2012 as a baseline document, will be more angled towards enhancing ease of doing business.

Incidentally, just a few days ago the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s online citizen engagement mygov.in platform has sought public views by November 15 on modifications needed for `The Manuals on Policies and Procedures for Purchase of Goods, Works and Consultancy, 2015. On October 21 in response to a mail from this scribe bringing this announcement to her notice Mrs. Sarkar responded with a cool “Thanks, I am aware of this public consultation by the Procurement Division, Deptt. of Expenditure, GOI.

A posting on the website says that Ministry of Finance had prepared these manuals in conformity with the General Financial Rules, 2005 and contained broad generic Guidelines. It has been now decided to revise these Manuals. Changes are sought to be made in consultation with all the stakeholders and individuals, Industries Bodies and all other stakeholders are free to send their views on MyGov. Separately, ministries/departments have been asked to send their contributions.

The initiative is significant as Government organization procures a wide variety of goods and services and executes works to perform the duties and responsibilities assigned to it. In 2006 to reduce scope for subjectivity and to improve objectivity and transparency in decision making, the Government had prepared a set of three Manuals on Policies and Procedure for Procurement of Goods, Works and hiring of Consultants in conformity with the applicable directives contained in the new General Financial Rules, 2005.

These Manuals deal with clear guidelines for Public Procurement in tune with the imperatives of a growing and liberalized economy introduce quality in public procurement. A separate Chapter at covers the Outsourcing/ Procurement of Other (non-consultancy) Services, and points out areas where Manual of Policies and Procedures for Procurement of Consultancy and Other Services ii policies and procedures are different for such outsourcing/ procurements.

Similarly, this Manual of Policies and Principles for Procurement of Consultancy and Other Services owes debt to many preceding documents of Ministries and Departments of Central and State Governments, The World Bank Group, Public Sector Undertakings and Autonomous bodies and would welcome use of new ideas and materials developed here in a similar spirit.

BHUJIA BARONS is the remarkable story of one family and how its patriarch Ganga Bishan Agarwal or Haldiram as his mother called him gained a reputation for making the best bhujia in Bikaner. Fast forward a century and the Agarwal empire has built a behemoth of snacks and sweets establishment integral to Indian culture. Quite literally the 1984 November riots following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gutted their establishment in Chandni Chowk in the national capital which went up in flames in front of their own eyes. One of the brothers Manohar saw everything that he had ever worked for, everything he had ever saved up, was right there, in those two small floors above the Sikh baker’s shop. His security and the future of his children was fast evaporating into a dark and sooty sky. 

Manohar felt a growing determination and would not give his father or grandfather the pleasure of saying “”you should have listened to me””. He silently vowed not to accept defeat but to rise again like a pheonix from the ashes. Generations of hard working members of this Agarwal family became the ‘Behemoths of Bikaner’ with revenues of more than Rs 5000 crores which is much greater than McDonald’s and Domino’s combined. 

Authored by Pavitra Kumar, an Army officer’s daughter married to Dr Aditya Raghunathan, living in Lakeville, Minnesota, vividly recalls the Agarwal family story in detail. It begins in dusty, benign Bikaner and traces the rise and rise of this home grown label, now one of the most recognised brands in the world. It all began way back in 1918 when patriarch Haldiram began making and selling a new snack — the bhujia with special ingredients that everyone knows and loves in Bikaner. This family revolutionised the snack food industry through original and ancient recipes coupled with innovative selling and marketing techniques. As with most family businesses, this too has seen its share of divisions over the years. It has in its ranks the odd black sheep as well.

Marwari families have stood strong for centuries on the bedrock of their established traditions, the most important being deference to elders. Seniority has always equalled wisdom for this community. Breaking this heirarchy is almost considered an unspoken form of heresy. If Haldiram gave an order, everyone in the household would hold their opinions, swallow hard and follow his edict. 

The brand name is used by three completely independent businesses run by Haldiram’s grandsons namely Haldiram’s Nagpur, Haldiram Bhujiawala, Haldiram’s Prabhuji and Haldiram in Kolkata; and the best known Haldiram in Delhi. 

The Haldiram Agarwal family are a bunch of very private men who hold their loved ones very close to their hearts, and their secrets closer still. These men run their business empires with benevolence, humility and originality, while tightly holding the reins of all operations. 

Visionaries, they share a common desire to learn from their mistakes and stay one step ahead of the future. In their fearlessness they have grasped ideas both good and bad, and taken a leap of faith in themselves and their abilities — to set in motion huge tidal waves of change. 

From their early start in the dusty lanes of Bikaner, their adventurous foray into Bengal, Nagpur and Delhi, to the firm launch pad of international expansion, their struggle continued as they fought to define their brand inside the gritty walls of courthouses. These are ordinary men who have achieved extraordinary feats. 

Most professionals within the Haldiram team admit that while they are developing processes within the company and enhancing existing norms, it has also been a remarkable learning experience for them to grow with the family. Haldiram’s is at the delicate cusp of emerging as a strong player at the national and global processed food industry. There are immense opportunities for professionals to be harbingers of this change and drive the company towards growth and success. 

Rarely can companies boast of multiple generations of the same family having worked for them. The Haldiram family have supported their community through the ages by inviting workers from their hometown to work with them when they have moved to other big cities. 

Haldiram’s grandsons currently at the helm of affairs realise succession planning is the key to their future success as also understanding the role of family members in the business. Ashish Agarwal recalls how he had struggled to play ‘boss’ right after passing out of management school. This business was built on the foundation of strong relationships. “”I came in the door eager to prove myself and ended up alienating several of our key contractors simply because I was too authoritative for them. Instead of seeking to first understand, I sought to change. That was the first lesson for the boss’s son.”” 

At a young age, the heirs are given the responsibility of thousands of crores of Rupees, yet there is no structure, documentation or process in place to help initiate them into the processes of business. Another grandson Pankaj Agarwal points out a lot depends on the people themselves. For instance if a fresher is brought in, trained in-house and then expected to make dosas for customers, it will be a huge challenge for him as he won’t know what temperature he has to keep the girdle plate on for the ‘perfect product’. 

Pankaj demonstrated a keen sensitivity to the challenges of the work force, driven by the desire to help facilitate them. The author found this a refreshing perspective to come across. Standardisation will help the organisation prepare itself for further expansion by setting up processes which can be easily replicated at newer outlets and factories. Delhi is the largest at approximately Rs 3000 crore annual revenue, with Nagpur approximately (Rs 2000 crore) and Bikaner (the Bikaji brand Rs 1500 crore). 

Family members wonder whether the Delhi Branch’s success is due to the ingenuity of their leaders or just luck of having bagged the capital as their territory. While each of the siblings loves the brand in similar ways, it is unfortunate that they continue to fight over their branding rights and territories. Even while being harassed by family strife, they try to make a better impact on the communities around them. They have built hospitals and schools and spent lakhs of Rupees on sustainable energy plants, indirectly helping the country become a better place. These youngsters of the Haldiram family maintain they are passionate about Haldiram every day that drives them.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)

The Silk Road : A Biography From Prehistory To The Present Day — is a remarkable book because for thousands of years it has been a traveller’s history with brief encounters in desert towns, snowbound passes and nameless forts. It was the conduit that first brought Buddhism, Christianity and Islam into China. Today its central section encompasses several former Soviet Republics and the Chinese Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. The ancient trade route controversially crosses the sights of several foreign kingdoms, buried in sand and only now revealing their secrets. It provides introduction to its languages, literature and arts coupled with rich history of this dynamic and little known region. 

Author Jonathan Clements is an expert and written many books about China including a history of Beijing and biographies of Chairman Mao and Marco Polo among others. There is a concrete identifiable Silk Road today. It is the name of the motorway that curves along the northern reaches of the Taklamakan Desert, with signage helpfully written in English so that tourists can feel they are getting somewhere. Only a handful of men and women travelled its entire length. For most of the participants in the trade route, the ‘road’ if ever there was a real one, was only to the next town or oasis. 

The ‘Silk Road’ is a modern idea, dating only from 1877 when Ferdinand von Richthofen published a multi-part atlas of China. He spoke of a single ‘Silk Road’ but spoke of it in the plural as Silk Roads. Many writers prefer the terms ‘Silk Routes’ to point out there is no single identifiable road but a number of well travelled paths and tracks, worn by caravans over the years. Towns provided these caravans to grab new supplies, rest a little and graze their animals. But the pathways between them fluctuated on the basis of weather, war and local politics – even the towns of the Silk Road could fall in and out of favour, left high and dry by the ebb and flow of trade and drastic changes in the water tables or water courses. 

Richthofen drew his line joining China to the Mediterrenean. Now was the traffic all in a single direction! Much of the silk that headed west from China was intended for Ferghana valley in what is now Uzbekistan, where it was traded for the region’s highest priced horses. No coins of the Roman Republic or early empire have ever been found in China. In fact much of the material Richthofen assumed to have reached Rome down his Silk Road may have trickled south from Xinjiang, through what is now India and Pakistan, and then by sea to Roman Egypt. There is a reasonable case to be made that the Silk Road began in Xian and ends at Colchester, the old Roman town of Camulodunum, where a tiny fragment of Silk, no bigger than a postage stamp has been unearthed and displayed in the local museum? Or Marseilles, the old Roman town of Massilia where ships from eastern Mediterrenean would unload their wares. 

The author argues that its real end is in Samarkand in what was then Sogdiana and is now Uzbekistan, the city from which eastern goods would scatter north, south and west to reach their final destinations. The Silk Road spans a much smaller area, from Xian or Luoyang, through the sand blasted Gansu Corridor that plots a trail around the mountains of Tibet, and across the fabled deserts of Xinjiang to the nexus of Kashgar, from which it leads through mountain passes out of the Chinese world and into Central Asia. None of the people involved in trade on the Silk Road regarded themselves as part of a long route stretching between China and Europe.  

The very inhospitability of the Silk Road has often made it a dumping ground for refugees, prisoners and exiles. Entire tribes feeling the steppe conquests of the Kyrgyz or the incursions of Arab invaders have been uprooted and settled among the oases. Even today, it is difficult to draw a map of the region. The mountains stay in the same place, of course, but the areas between them are literally formed from shifting sands, which can in turn block and reroute rivers. Sometimes they flow into a depression in the ground and form new lakes, for a season, or for a generation, before vanishing only to appear a few miles away. 

One of the greatest dangers to the old town of Kashgar is the simple likelihood that a single earthquake might turn it back into dust. Not for nothing is Xinjiang often called the ‘Crossroads of Asia.’ For much of its history it has been situated between four powerful cultures. To its east there is China, the ancient culture of the Yellow river, and has made use of its jades since prehistoric times. To the south the Buddhist realms of India and Tibet, which often extended religious influence over the faithful in the desert oasis. To the West through the mountain passes of the Pamirs, Central Asia which adopted a distinct and powerful new identity in the middle ages to form an Islamic influence that superseded the Buddhists. To the north the northern empires of the steppes, that long, wide strand of grassland have their narrowest bottleneck. Some inevitably turned southward instead, creating periods of Xinjiang’s history when it has paid tribute or protection money to nomads. 

Several influences have created in Xinjiang a hybridity of cultures and races that is without precedent. The author says Marco Polo, one of the most famous chroniclers of the Silk Road, and indeed one of the few people who claimed to have travelled its entire length, did so in the late 13th century, in the dying days of its influence. If one travels the Silk Road today, one not only sees the ruins of desert Cathay but the geological and geographical features and the sites of rebellions and revolutions and short lived republics. The story of the silk road by the 18th century turns in upon itself, and becomes the story of the rediscovery of the slik road as explorers like Hedin and Stein, Pelliot and Mannerheim set off to investigate one of the few regions of the world as yet unmapped. 

Historical accounts have an inevitable bias towards civilisations that leave a footprint. The Silk Road, therefore, is a slippery historical object. Entire civilisations have risen and fallen on the Silk Road leaving perilously little evidence of themselves. The destruction of the Buddha statues in Bamiyan by the Taliban in Afghanistan is a determined effort to wipe out idolatory in the name of God. The vandalism of these ancient Buddhist monuments is only the latest and most memorably in the slow attrition of all Buddhist culture from the Silk Road. Interestingly, Mao has largely sneaked away from public places. Earlier one was used to finding a statue of Chairman Mao in every city in China. Mao has ceased to be a great unifying influence. A gripping and highly informative book about this little known region.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)

NEW DELHI: The topic Sikh radicals or pro-Khalistani elements does come up from time to time but the Sikh community living in Canada is by and large peaceful and Canadian security agencies take such inputs emanating from anywhere seriously, Canadian High Commissioner in India Nadir Patel said on Friday.  

In an interaction with members of the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents (IAFAC) here, the Canadian High Commissioner said that both the countries had stepped up security and terror dialogue at the level of the National Security Advisors (NSAs). 

The High Commissioner said that Indian diaspora of nearly 13 lakhs was very strong and vibrant in Canada. Of these, five lakh are from Punjab and three lakh from Gujarat alone. He said that nearly one lakh Indian students were studying in various streams in Canada’s universities and they could find employment in Canada after completing two full time years of study. 

The High Commissioner said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government was encouraging youngsters with new ideas and technologies and start ups with fast tracking their visa and immigration process. 

He said that Canada was a strong supporters of India for entry into the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as well as reforms in the UN Security Council and India’s membership to it. 

Prime Minister Trudeau’s government had taken over nearly 18 months ago and relations with India are at present at an all time high in all fields, including trade, clean energy, investments, aviation, tourism and infrastructure, he said. Cooperation in non-traditional fields like fashion technology, design, films and communications also had a lot of potential, he added. India and Canada are already holding four strategic dialogues, he said while admitting that there were areas of “disagreement” as well but that has not affected the robust and thriving ties between the two countries.  

As Canada has embraced diversity, multi-cultural ethos, the country’s cabinet is “very young” with 50 per cent women in it as well representation given to four Indian-origin Canadian nationals who are ministers. He said that Canadian Prime Minister is likely to visit India either later this year or early next year. Canadian Defence Minister is scheduled to visit India in another two weeks, he added. 

Mr. Patel said that Canada was keen to have more cooperation in defence sector and research. He said that nearly a thousand Canadian companies were doing business in India of which 400 companies have direct presence in India.  “Very few people know that Delhi Metro coaches are from Canadian company Bombardier and the bulk of french fries are from McCain, another Canadian company. But this is only tip of the iceberg, there is tremendous potential to expand the bilateral trade,” he said.

The recent decision of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to grant permission for phase-2 clinical trials for clot specific streptokinase (CSSK) is a major step forward in testing the efficacy of this lifesaving drug for heart patients – a first of its kind in the Country (patented new biopharmaceutical molecule).

Phase two of clinical trials is carried out to test the efficacy and side effect of the drugs on human beings. 

CSSK was discovered in the Chandigarh-based Institute of Microbial Technology, a national laboratory of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). A US based pharmaceuticals company Nostrum Pharmaceutical LLC subsequently acquired rights from CSIR for further clinical development of this drug. 

This is being described as an excellent example of `Make in India’ and paves the way for more foreign collaborations for use of indigenous technology Research and Development in the pharmaceutical sector in the future overcoming the general perception of red-tapism in India.

This drug and its associated protein engineering technology was discovered and developed at CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh, by the R&D group of Dr. Girish Sahni, who was Director of the Institute and is now the Director General of CSIR and Secretary, DSIR, Government of India.

CSSK is a novel biotherapeutic molecule that has been generated by a recombinant DNA and protein engineering technologies with a innovative clot busting function, and will be used to treat acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). At the pre-clinical level, the drug has been successfully tested on monkeys where it has established, among other things, animal toxicity. Similar tests have been performed successfully on rats and mouse.

In the first phase of clinical trials, CSSK was successfully tested for safety and tolerability in healthy human volunteers. The current approval from DCGI to continue further clinical development of this molecule under on-going Phase II on heart attack patients will help define the precise therapeutic dose of CSSK needed in a phase III setting.

Congratulating Nostrum Pharmaceuticals for the progress so far, Dr Girish Sahni, DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR hoped that the current approval would help the company take the project forward in an expedited manner. He said “Nostrum has shown commitment towards developing this molecule for. Clinical  application and regulatory approval, and the success achieved so far has nurtured the hope of successfully developing India’s first ever patented new biopharmaceutical molecule, which will help save lives of cardiac patients all over the country”. 

According to Dr. Anil Koul CSSK is an excellent example of translational medical research carried out at CSIR-IMTECH and hopes that this success would continue to inspire scientists not only in the CSIR institutes but across the country to orient their research towards fulfilling unmet needs in the area of drug discovery and development.

Dr. Nirmal Mulye, President of Nostrum Pharmaceuticals LLC of Somerset, New Jersey, USA thanked CSIR-IMTECH and the role of Dr. Sahni and his teal all throughout the years for their support iim the on-going project. He said “We are glad at receiving this approval from DCGI and also thankful to CSIR-IMTECH for their unstinted support. Ours is a great example of a public-private partnership that has resulted in the development of a new bio therapeutic drug molecule which will address a very critical need of the patients across the country especially for those belonging to the poorer sections of the society”.

Four generations of Streptokinase were developed in CSIR-IMTECH by Dr.Girish Sahni. Two of these drugs i.e. the first two generations of bio generics were licensed and were successfully commercialized. They account for 50% of market share of clot busters in the country.

This success story from CSIR is a true example of cutting edge basic research leading to impactful translational research, creating a portfolio of drug molecules, a couple of which were successfully commercialised and the others are on the path of emerging as the global first. 

The Judiciary has been constrained and hampered by the staggering number of pending cases which has worsened and complicated matters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance to the Chief Justice of India J S Kehar that the Executive will share its burden has been widely seen as a positive gesture. It has the portends of bringing about a radically changed environment between the Executive and the Judiciary. 

PM Modi drew attention to the use of technology and digitalisation in the judicial system which will facilitate reducing the backlog. He was speaking last Sunday on the second of April at a function marking the 150th anniversary of the Allahabad High Court.

There is one serious glitch if the lawyers refuse to cooperate even as it becomes incumbent on them to help tackle this humongous problem of ever increasing backlog of cases. 

Lawyers must rise to the occasion rather than resorting to flimsy grounds and putting a spanner in the works. Genuine efforts must be made not only to tackle this issue hanging fire for an interminably long period but to provide justice to those suffering for decades for no fault of theirs. 

Justice delayed is justice denied. Sadly a legion of people have died waiting for the courts to decide their cases and render justice. The unjustifiable methods adopted including the obnoxious tendency of lawyers seeking repeated adjournments on flimsy grounds has been highly frustrating for the litigant.

At one point of time the previous CJI Justice T S Thakur had highlighted the delay in appointment of judges at public functions as well as during judicial hearings. At one point he wondered if the government wanted to bring the judiciary to a grinding halt by its reluctance to fill up vacancies. 

The Prime Minister’s latest remark of the Executive joining hands with the Judiciary should go a long way in providing a healing touch. The gravity of the problem of backlog of cases cannot be wished away. Use of technology can help in both liquidating the arrears along with expediting filing of documents and serving notices.  

There are indications that the government and Supreme Court Collegium might be close to reaching an understanding about a new Memorandum of Procedure for judicial appointments. If an understanding is reached on the MOP then the serious crunch of filling up the direly needed judicial vacancies at various levels can be speeded up. 

Appointment of judges coupled with filling up of vacancies and perking up the infrastructural facilities remains crucial to the speedy disposal of the backlog of cases. There were 437 vacancies in the High Courts alone on March first, 2017. Then there are the subordinate courts. There is no doubt great urgency and speed will have to be shown in making these judicial appointments. 

There are nearly 2.2 crore cases pending in the courts all over the country. Showing the way, 15 of the 28 Supreme Court judges have agreed to skip the summer vacations. Earlier, Jthe CJI had himself set an example. He did not break for summer heading a Constitution Bench hearing the National Judicial Appointments Committee case. Whether the High Court judges follow suit remains to be seen. 

It is suggested that the Centre and the States can prepare their own lists of obsolete laws and wield the axe. Frivolous cases needs to be deterred. Then there is the issue of Lawyers going on strike as evidenced on March 31 amid efforts to discipline them. They would harm their own interests if they fail to self regulate. 

At some stage outside intervention cannot to avoided. The days are not far away when institutions and parties might become the target if they fail to deliver. 

On its part the apex court is shedding its opposition to transparency by consenting to the proceedings being recorded. The process of reforms undertaken by CJI Kehar must be supported by the Modi government and those outside it.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.)