Monday, September 22, 2014
Lessons from a disaster
As life slowly acquires a semblance of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, the extent of damage caused by the floods is unfolding. People who had abandoned their marooned houses or were evacuated are slowly getting back and assessing the damage as the water level recedes. A long haul is ahead. According to industry body Assocham, the loss in terms of damage to trade establishments, hotels and restaurants, horticulture, the handicrafts sector, transport infrastructure and communications facilities may add up to Rs.5,700 crore. While traffic on the arterial Jammu-Srinagar highway has been restored partially, most other road systems are still in limbo. The ambitious Jammu-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line project has suffered setbacks. The death toll cannot be reliably determined as yet, given the number of persons who have been listed as missing. A major source of worry pertains to the possibility of spread of diseases after the water recedes. Livelihoods, including in the tourism and farming sectors, need to be restored. The number of people rescued by the armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force is close to 2.5 lakh. The armed forces and the NDRF have played a stellar role here. The Army alone deployed around 30,000 troops. Some questions have been raised about the level of coordination among different agencies, but overall it has been a creditable effort so far.
While looking at the challenges of relief and reconstruction that lie ahead, this is also the time to consider the lessons for the State from the extreme event. While there is agreement over the fact that the level of rainfall was unprecedented, intense and rather sudden, leaving little room for timely warnings, the environmental factors that underlie the tragedy need to be given a hard look. Ecological degradation caused by unplanned development and urbanisation, and failure to preserve wetlands, has played a role. Wetlands act as a sponge, and their loss is bound to have serious repercussions. A report by the Bombay Natural History Society has mentioned that the Wular lake, once spread over 20,200 ha, has shrunk to 2,400 ha. The Dal lake in Srinagar has been reduced to almost half its earlier size, to 1,200 ha. According to the Centre for Science and Environment, over the last century more than 50 per cent of the lakes, ponds and wetlands of Srinagar have been encroached upon. The banks of the Jhelum have been overrun, reducing its drainage capacity. The story is the same with the Tawi in Jammu. Flash floods in this river washed away some 400 buildings and inundated scores of colonies, many of them in breach of the Jammu Master Plan. This, then, has been a costly environmental wake-up call for Jammu and Kashmir — as it was for Uttarakhand a year ago.
Keywords: Jammu and Kashmir floods, J&K flood relief work
Changes to MGNREGS may cut into wages
Parties feel it will dilute scheme’s universal employment guarantee
Union Minister of Rural Development Nitin Gadkari has proposed that the MGNREGS be restricted to only tribal and poor areas and the permissible labour to material ratio of expenses be changed from the current 60:40 to 51:49.
While the first proposal is being opposed by political parties, who think it will dilute the scheme’s universal employment guarantee, there has been less discussion on the second proposal even though its rationale is not matched by evidence.
Ministry data shows that in 2013-14, States spent 26.6 per cent of MGNREGS funds on material. In 2012-13, this was 27.7 per cent, much lower than the current permissible limit of 40%. In changes proposed to the MGNREGS, Mr. Gadkari has proposed that the permissible labour to material ratio of expenses be changed from the current 60:40 to 51:49. Even as the current upper limit in expenditure is not being met, the government wants to increase this from 40 to 49 per cent. The change will increase the presence of contractors in the job scheme and squeeze the funds available for wages.
“There was no prior consultation on the labour-material ratio changes and the Minister’s announcement came as a surprise to us. There is no real reason [for the change] when the States are not even spending 40 per cent [on material] right now,” said an official at the Ministry requesting anonymity.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote to Mr. Gadkari in July that the labour-material ratio in the scheme be changed from 60:40 to 50:50. But data shows that in Madhya Pradesh, only 25 per cent of Rs 2,030 crore MGNREGS funds in this financial year have been spent on material so far.
With UPA-II government tightening spending in its last years, MGNREGS allocation was reduced from Rs. 40,100 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 33,000 crore in 2013-14.
“Increasing material ratio will add Rs. 8,000 crore in expenses. This means under the current allocation, we will have that much less to spend on wages,” said a senior official.
‘Only in tribal parts’
Mr. Gadkari has also proposed to restrict MGNREGS to the poorer parts of the country. While the Minister made the proposal – which will require amending the Act – last week, the Ministry, since July, has been focusing on implementing the scheme in 2,500 backward blocks under its Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise. These blocks have been identified based on percentage of population below poverty line (BPL), as per the Planning commission estimates of 2013, and a backwardness index prepared by the Planning Commission using the 2011 Census data that uses five parameters – percentage of households primarily dependent on agriculture, female literacy rate, households without access to electricity, households without access to drinking water and sanitation within the premises and households without access to banking facilities.
Going by these parameters, in Tamil Nadu, one of the best performing States in the MGNREGS currently, only 98 of 385 blocks can be identified as backward, while in Chhattisgarh, 105 of total the 145 block fall into this category.
“This will end the universal spirit of the MGNREGS,” said Shankar Singh, an activist with Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Rajasthan.
Following malnourishment deaths, Rajasthan to screen children
All children, below the age of five, will be examined
Following reports of malnutrition deaths from Baran, the Rajasthan government has decided to screen all the children, below the age of five, in the district. There are approximately 1.6 lakh children in this age group, and children from tribal communities, particularly Sahariya tribes, are severely undernourished.
Health Minister Rajendra Rathore has asked a team of officers to visit the district to monitor the implementation of corrective measures.
In this regard, 300 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) have been trained to screen children, and special teams of doctors and paramedical staff have been deployed in the worst-affected tehsils. Malnourished children identified in door-to-door surveys by ASHAs and ANMs will be brought to treatment centres.
Since April 1,250 severely undernourished children have been identified. Of these, 212 are currently undergoing treatment.
As an incentive, the government is providing Rs. 300 to the families to bring their undernourished children to health centres and an additional Rs. 200 to the mother as compensation for wage loss during the time.
3 steps to success
Use the new format of CAT to your advantage.
The numbers are out. CAT 2014 will be conducted in 99 cities across 354 test sites. There will be four testing windows, two each on the testing dates November 16 and November 22.
The format of CAT will undergo a change this year. The number of questions in each section, Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation, and Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, has been increased to 50 from 30 last year. The total time has also gone up to 170 minutes, from 140 minutes, with the option of moving from one section to the other within the testing window. With only a couple of months to go for the exam, let us focus on the best methods of preparation and areas of focus .
Flexible time
The flexibility to move across sections will give the aspirants complete control over time management. Everyone has strong and weak areas and reallocating the available time to questions that require much more is now completely within your control. Exercise that right judiciously. Questions that can be cracked with added investment of time can be handled in that fashion. At the same time, do have the judgment to leave questions that can be complete time-stealers.
Another great way is to take a model CAT paper you have attempted before the new pattern was announced. This time around, do the same paper without the sectional time limits. Do notice the different choices you make in question selection. Your own strong and weak areas in the testing arena will be clearly highlighted in this exercise.
Model exams
There is nothing like taking a series of model examinations that replicate the actual examination in content, style and level of difficulty. These tests need to be taken under exact test conditions — in one sitting and under supervision. You will need to get into complete examination mode by shutting yourself off from all external distractions and complete the examination. Do this multiple times so that you become hard-wired to endure the 170-minute focus test. Also, these model examinations should give you a very good national performance feedback relative to the other candidates across India who will be your competitors in the actual examination.
Analysis of performance
The benefit of model examinations can be extracted only if you include a Performance Analysis Session after each exam. Ideally, these sessions should happen within 48 hours of the model exam so that the questions and your approaches in the exam are still fresh in your mind. Another visit can be done after the results or relative ranking of model exams are published.
You will certainly appreciate the interdependence of the three steps mentioned above. You can exercise better judgment of question selection only if you take a series of model exams. And without the post-exam analysis, you cannot verify the effectiveness of the choices you made. Taken together as a flowchart process and executed with the correct amount of iterations, it will definitely help you move from your current level of preparedness to one that can help you get admission into one of the top management Institutes.
Remember that a lot can be improved in two months. Also, let us keep in mind that the Government of India has decided to open six more IIMs which are likely to commence their operations in 2015-16. This is good news as there will be more seats in the IIMs from this testing year onwards.
The writer is the Director of T.I.M.E, Chennai.
Sep 22 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
New IITs to be Set Up with Foreign Help
Ritika Chopra
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New Delhi:
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Modi govt takes a leaf out of Nehru's book to set up five premier institutes
The Narendra Modi-led NDA government plans to establish five new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) announced in this year's budget with the assistance of foreign countries, just as the Congress did in the 1950s and '60s under then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's initiative.The proposed IIT in Goa will come up in collaboration with well-known institutions in the United States, an official familiar with the matter said, adding that human resource development minister Smriti Irani will accompany Prime Minister Modi to America later this month to sign a joint declaration for this purpose.
The partner countries for the rest of the proposed premier engineering schools in J&K, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will also be identified soon, the official added on condition of anonymity.
The IITs in Mumbai (then Bombay), Chennai (then Madras), Kanpur and Delhi were established in collaboration with the erstwhile USSR, then West Germany, USA and the UK respectively.
IIT Kanpur, for instance, had received technical assistance from a consortium of nine leading US institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and University of California at Berkley.
According to officials, the consortium of US institutions to help the proposed IIT in Goa will only be finalised once the two countries sign a joint declaration of intent.“The details of how many and which institutions will help IIT Goa and in what capacity will be worked out by the joint work group, which will be set up after India and the US sign the joint declaration,“ the official said.
There are 13 IITs at present, with as many as eight set up between 2008 and 2011 under the mentorship of the existing institutes during the second term of the Congress-led UPA government.
Most of the newer IITs con tinue to function out of makeshift campuses and face difficulty attracting faculty of the desired calibre.Despite such issues, the Modi government announced another five new IITs in its maid en budget for 2014-15 soon after taking charge in May. The finance ministry has allocated an initial sum of 500 crore for these institutes this year.
Responding to concerns regarding the proposed IITs against the backdrop of the wobbly infrastructure provided for the ones set up over the past few years, Irani had told ET in an interview earlier this month that she wasn't there to “fix the blame for the past but chart a course for the future“.
The partner countries for the rest of the proposed premier engineering schools in J&K, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will also be identified soon, the official added on condition of anonymity.
The IITs in Mumbai (then Bombay), Chennai (then Madras), Kanpur and Delhi were established in collaboration with the erstwhile USSR, then West Germany, USA and the UK respectively.
IIT Kanpur, for instance, had received technical assistance from a consortium of nine leading US institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and University of California at Berkley.
According to officials, the consortium of US institutions to help the proposed IIT in Goa will only be finalised once the two countries sign a joint declaration of intent.“The details of how many and which institutions will help IIT Goa and in what capacity will be worked out by the joint work group, which will be set up after India and the US sign the joint declaration,“ the official said.
There are 13 IITs at present, with as many as eight set up between 2008 and 2011 under the mentorship of the existing institutes during the second term of the Congress-led UPA government.
Most of the newer IITs con tinue to function out of makeshift campuses and face difficulty attracting faculty of the desired calibre.Despite such issues, the Modi government announced another five new IITs in its maid en budget for 2014-15 soon after taking charge in May. The finance ministry has allocated an initial sum of 500 crore for these institutes this year.
Responding to concerns regarding the proposed IITs against the backdrop of the wobbly infrastructure provided for the ones set up over the past few years, Irani had told ET in an interview earlier this month that she wasn't there to “fix the blame for the past but chart a course for the future“.
Sep 22 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
India's innovations at IIT social summit
Manash Gohain
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New Delhi
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India put its innovations on display at the Social Good Summit on September 21 and 22 during which the United Nations General Assembly has been in session. Hosted at IIT Delhi on Sunday , the first India Social Good Summit 2014, webcast live for thousands of students, had experts and students came come together to interact on one question: What type of world do we want to live in by the year 2030?
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, actor Sushant Singh Rajput and UN resident coordinator Lise Grande joined a host of youngsters who showcased their innovations. These included the smart cane for visually disabled, waterless urinals to address sanitation challenge, Gram Vaani Community Radio for reverse flow of information, and grassroot empowerment, a technology which has already impacted two million people in 15 states and replicated in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Namibia and South Africa.Speaking about life 2030, Kapur said, “What will the cellphone become in 2030? Maybe a watch, a lens in your eye. Who knows? In 2030, everyone will be equal and it will be a democratic, unbelievable world. The way technology is changing the world, it is hard to predict what all is possible in 2030.” Following the event online, health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan tweeted: “Always believed in modern technology’s potential to solve problems of poverty. Social Good Summit will showcase many inventions-best wishes.
Delighted to see youth participating actively in finding tech solutions for social good.”
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, actor Sushant Singh Rajput and UN resident coordinator Lise Grande joined a host of youngsters who showcased their innovations. These included the smart cane for visually disabled, waterless urinals to address sanitation challenge, Gram Vaani Community Radio for reverse flow of information, and grassroot empowerment, a technology which has already impacted two million people in 15 states and replicated in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Namibia and South Africa.Speaking about life 2030, Kapur said, “What will the cellphone become in 2030? Maybe a watch, a lens in your eye. Who knows? In 2030, everyone will be equal and it will be a democratic, unbelievable world. The way technology is changing the world, it is hard to predict what all is possible in 2030.” Following the event online, health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan tweeted: “Always believed in modern technology’s potential to solve problems of poverty. Social Good Summit will showcase many inventions-best wishes.
Delighted to see youth participating actively in finding tech solutions for social good.”
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