Sep 04 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Human Rights Body to Sharpen its Focus on India Inc

Gangadhar Patil

New Delhi:





Preparing to grapple with issues such as displacement, unhealthy environment & violation of labour laws

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is preparing to grapple with issues such as displacement, unhealthy environment and violation of labour laws by businesses as it seeks to sharpen its focus amid rapid industrialisation and increased economic activity .Besides, the commission plans to critically examine government policies framed for promoting business to ensure that these are not in conflict with human rights. This will be among its major focus areas in the next five years, when it is likely to conduct studies and send its suggestions to various government agencies. “Human rights violations due to business would be our prime focus in the coming years and the commission has already started studying the subject,“ said Rajesh Kishore, secretary general of NHRC. The commission has recently conducted a series of consultations with the industry representatives in this regard, he added.
Protests over major nuclear, steel, power and other projects in various parts of the country drove the commission to alter its approach, officials said, adding that the NHRC had been receiving several complaints alleging that industries had created environmental problems, violated labour laws and displaced people.
The commission has traditionally acted on a case-by-case basis without a broad framework for dealing with business-related human rights violations. Now it will examine the impact of government policies on public health, business practices, industrial processes and products, according to a report titled `NHRC India on Business and Human Rights' submitted to the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights Institutions, an international association of national human rights institutions across the world.
“NHRC would emphasis on state's duty to protect and ensure that those who are victimised have access to remedies,“ the report adds. NHRC receives many complaints every year which show government officials often fail in their duty to protect people's rights.

Sep 04 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

HEALTH THREAT - Diabetes triggering India's TB burden, says WHO study

Kounteya Sinha

London





Diabetes has now been found to be fuelling India’s tuberculosis burden.India has the world’s highest diabetes patients and is also referred to as the world’s TB capital. Now, a study to be announced by the British medical journal Lancet on Thursday, reveal that India tops the list of countries with the highest estimated number of adult TB cases associated with diabetes.
New estimates produced reveal that the top 10 countries with the highest estimated number of adult TB cases associated with diabetes are India (302000), China (156000), South Africa (70 000), Indonesia (48000), Pakistan (43000), Bangladesh (36000), Philippines (29000), Russia (23000), Myanmar (21000) and Congo (19000). “These findings highlight the growing impact of diabetes on TB control in regions of the world where both diseases are prevalent,“ says author Dr Knut Lönnroth from the Global TB Programme at WHO in Geneva.
“TB control is being undermined by the growing number diabetes patients, which is expected to reach an astounding 592 million worldwide by 2035”.
The study indicates that 15% of adult TB cases worldwide are already attributable to diabetes. These diabetes-associated cases correspond to over 1 million cases a year, with more than 40% occurring in India and China alone. If diabetes continue to rise out of control, the downward trajectory in global TB cases could be offset by 8% or more by 2035, warn the authors.





Sep 04 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Lakshadweep tops in fish consumption, Bengal 4th

Dipak Dash

New Delhi:





Consumption of fish in rural areas of Lakshadweep is over 16 times the national average with Goa at second spot. Contrary to popular belief, Kerala and West Bengal come third and fourth respectively . In rural areas of Chandigarh, there are hardly any takers.According to the latest data, Indians on an average consume just 269 grams of fish per month in rural areas while in urban areas it's 238 gram. Noticeably , just 282 of 1,000 households in rural areas consume fish, while the number is 209 households for urban areas. Compare this with Lakshadweep where the rural population consumes on an average 4.4 kg of fish a month. In urban areas, it's slightly less at 4.1 kg.
The latest Handbook on Fisheries Statistics released by the agriculture and animal husbandry ministry shows the second highest consumption is in Kerala, but it's just about half of the Lakshadweep's average. In Kerala, those in rural areas consume about 2.1 kg of fish a month, while in urban areas it is 1.9 kg.
One interesting part is almost all households in rural Goa eat fish while it's 893 per 1,000 households in urban areas. In Kerala, 884 rural households for every 1,000 consume fish. In case of urban areas, it's little less at 817. West Bengal, which ranks fourth in the list, has also over eight out of every 10 rural and urban households consuming fish. The report shows how export of fish and fish products have gone up in four years, mainly due to an exotic shrimp variety introduced in 2009 called L Vannamei.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

Tamil Nadu Top Spender in Higher Education

Tamil Nadu has topped the list of states in terms of government spending on higher education. The total expenditure on higher education by the state government stands at 1.5 per cent of its gross state domestic product (GSDP), HRD minister Smriti Irani informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

“The Centre expects the same from other states as it provides equal fund as grant under the Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme. Every state should spend at least 1.5 per cent of its GSDP for higher education,” said Prof S P Thyagarajan, former VC of Madras University.

“The investment of TN in higher education has been broad-based covering school, vocational, technical, professional and non-professional courses,” said Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Dean, Sastra University.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/09/tamil-nadu-top-spender-in-higher-education/#sthash.wiyjtU81.dpuf

HRD Minister Clarifies Controversy Over ‘Guru Utsav’ - 

Months after a controversy over a central order on the use of Hindi in social media posts and official communication, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has found itself in the middle of a fresh controversy over politicisation of education.

The fresh incident relates to a recent central government circular on Teachers’ Day celebrations that saw southern parties, including the ruling party’s own allies, suspecting it as a bid to rename the day to “Guru Utsav”. Moreover, participation was being perceived as being made mandatory for schools.

Calling the criticism ‘politically motivated’, HRD minister Smriti Irani clarified that Guru Utsav was the name of an essay competition and claimed that over 1.3 lakh students have already taken part in the contest. She further explained that participation was “voluntary” and that September 5, the birth anniversary of former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, will continue to be celebrated as ‘Teachers’ Day’. “This particular activity is voluntary in nature. If it is being politicised, then I would say it is regrettable,” Irani said.

Calling it a ‘political propaganda’, Congress party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said: “It has never happened … what sense can a Class 1 student make of the PM’s speech? Can such propaganda be done with state machinery? What is the net result besides propaganda and drama? It is time the government introspected.” The scheduled timing of the PM’s speech —from 3 to 4.45pm – have also been attacked.

The HRD Minister had responded strongly, saying: “If the Prime Minister of a free India does not have the freedom to interact with students, then it is ridiculous.”

Modi will be interacting with around 1,000 selected students at the Manekshaw Auditorium and take questions via video conferencing facility, which will be beamed live to over 18 lakh schools through Doordarshan and education channels.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/09/hrd-minister-clarifies-controversy-over-guru-utsav/#sthash.mgyTb9t8.dpuf

Sep 03 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

Your skin is much smarter than you think

MM





Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations, previously be lieved that only the brain could per form. This is according to a study from Umea University in Sweden published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. A fundamental characteristic of neurons that extend into the skin and record touch, so-called first-order neurons in the tactile system, is that they branch in the skin so that each neuron reports touch from many highly-sensitive zones on the skin.According to researchers at Umea University, this branching allows first-order tactile neurons not only to send signals to the brain that something has touched the skin, but also process geometric data about the object . “Our work has shown that two types of firstorder tactile neurons that supply the sensitive skin at our fingertips not only signal information about when and how intensely an object is touched, but also information about the touched object's shape“ says Andrew Pruszynski, who is one of the researchers behind the study.
The study also shows that the sensitivity of individual neurons to the shape of an object depends on the layout of the neuron's highly-sensitive zones in the skin.
“Perhaps the most surprising result of our study is that these peripheral neurons, which are engaged when a fingertip examines an object, perform the same type of calculations done by neurons in the cerebral cortex. Somewhat simplified, it means that our touch experiences are already processed by neurons in the skin before they reach the brain for further processing“ says Andrew Pruszynski. MM

Sep 03 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Govt Sets up Committee to Look into Green Laws

New Delhi: Our Bureau





It has been tasked with drafting proposed amendments to five environment laws

The environment ministry has set up a committee headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian to review environment-related laws and statutes even as it marked the Narendra Modi government's 100 days in power.In an order issued on Friday, the ministry has specifically listed five laws -the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Forest ( Conservation) Act, 1980, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 -for the committee to look into and suggest amendments to ensure that these laws meet their objectives.
Besides Subramanian, the committee includes former environment secretary Viswanath Anand, retired Delhi High Court judge Justice AK Srivastav and former additional solicitor general of India KN Bhat. It has two months to review the laws and recommend amendments.
The ministry has also asked the committee to suggest amendments to the existing laws to reflect the various court orders and judicial pronouncements that relate to these laws.
One such judicial pronouncement is the Supreme Court order in the TN Godavarman Thirumulpad case--the July 2011 judgment on the LaFarge Umium Mining case. In this context, the constitution of an independent environmental regulator will be one of the issues that the committee will have to consider.
In the LaFarge Umium Mining case, the court had asked the government to set up an independent environment regulator for appraising projects, enforcing environmental conditions for approvals and imposing penalties on polluters.
Despite the fact that a blueprint for a regulator had been prepared by the then environment minister Jairam Ramesh, there was no effort by the government to set it up after Ramesh was moved to the rural development ministry.
Subsequently in January 2014, the court had asked the ministry to set up the regulator by March 31.
Another issue that will arise in reflecting judicial pronouncements in the green laws is the Supreme Court orders relating to the sequencing of forest and environment clearances.
Amendments to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1976 to ensure that it is line with India's obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is pending in the Rajya Sabha. This too will be reviewed.
Increasing penalties for violations of environmental laws is expected to be among the issues that the committee will address.
The committee has been asked to draft proposed amendments to the five laws so as to ensure that the laws fulfil the objectives with which these were enacted.
Meanwhile, marking 100 days in office, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday that he had been able to rid his ministry of the `roadblock ministry' nickname it had earned for itself over the past decade. “This ministry had become notorious as a place where everything would get stalled,“ he said.
“Avenues for corruption and discretion have been plugged,“ the minister added, referring to the online submission for clearances. Javadekar also stressed on the efforts made to decentralise the clearance process by increasing the threshold of projects being considered by state governments from 15 hectares to 40 hectares.