DU to bring special technology for blind students in libraries 

In a first-of-its-kind initiative for visually challenged students, Delhi University is working on Inclusive Print Access Project, a special technology that can scan books and transcribe to speech in libraries. The technology is a combination of software which has been imported from abroad. It includes a high-speed camera called ‘LEXAIR’ and a flat-bed scanner.

Anil Aneja, Officer on Special Duty at Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC), stated: “There are certain universities which have taken initiatives to meet the demands of the blind students but making special rooms for them or providing them scribes won’t really help. We wanted to keep them in the same atmosphere as the other students.”

The student will hold the book in a manner that would allow the camera and the scanner to capture the images and transcribe the text into speech. This technology will enable scanning the book, reading, converting it in PDF and book mark various sections and take notes in the margins. However, the technology cannot read images and handwritten texts.

“We have got software from Germany which can transcribe Hindi books. While the accuracy level for English text is 99 per cent, for Hindi books it is around 90 per cent but it will serve the purpose to a large extent,” added Aneja.
The project also includes software called ‘braille space’ in which the students can record their assignments and convert them into written text. Another feature is the NVDA software which will help the students in reading newspapers and browsing Internet.

The installation of this technology is estimated to cost around Rs 50,000 per college and is being implemented in 65 libraries of DU’s colleges, institutes and departments. The technology is expected to be operational in all DU libraries by end of this month.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/11/du-to-bring-special-technology-for-blind-students-in-libraries/#sthash.c2r0eu6d.dpuf

US sees 28 per cent rise in Indian students’ enrollment 

The United States of America is leading all the way as the first choice for Indian students to study abroad, a government report states. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security, the number of Indian students in US has increased by 28 per cent to 1,34,292 students. This makes India the second largest foreign student body in US after China.

Engineering, computer science, information technology and support services, and students in other STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields made up 79 per cent of the Indian students pursuing these subjects in America. Business, biology and medicine followed as the next popular field with the social sciences, humanities and liberal arts, and visual and performing arts being the least popular.

The gender balance of Indian students is similarly skewered with 89,561 male students against 44,731 female students.

According to Naveen Chopra, Chairman, The Chopras (an educational consulting group), one of the major reasons for this increase in student enrollment in US is the economy as it is growing now. This, he believes, has further resulted in a fall of the unemployment rate from 10 per cent to 6 per cent.

This increase reflects a greater trend for both Indian undergraduate and graduate students studying in the US. The total number of Indian graduate students enrolled there has jumped 26 per cent to 54,245 students, according to a new report by the American Council of Graduate Schools. This was the second consecutive year of double digit growth, building upon a 14 per cent increase last year, and a sharp reversal in trend from years past when Indian graduate school enrollment was actually decreasing.

The number of Indian students in Australia and New Zealand are also increasing. Australia, which registered a huge dip in Indian student enrollment in 2009 due to a series of racially motivated attacks on Indian students, has gained back momentum with total Indian student visa applications more than doubling from 2012 to 2013.

However, Indian enrollment in the United Kingdom has been plummeting, dropping 44 per cent from 2010-11 to 2012-13. As per the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Indian students’ enrolment has gone down from 18,535 to 10,235 students during the same period.

UK’s universities and sciences minister Nick Clark was recently in India on a 3-day visit to strengthen educational ties between the UK and India and to address “misconceptions” that Indian students might have about the difficulty of obtaining visas to the UK. During his visit he had announced a new five-year initiative to send 25,000 students from the UK to India.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/11/us-sees-28-per-cent-rise-in-indian-students-enrollment/#sthash.huKbcDZG.dpuf

New Education Policy 2015 to include common people

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani has announced that the government is in the process of framing a new education policy that will come out by 2015 and will witness the inclusion of common people in the decision-making process. This is aimed at removing the existing loopholes and providing easy access to better education to all sections of the society.

“Till now, the country’s education policy has been determined by some handful of experts only. But things would change soon. Next year, when the new education policy will be prepared, discussions will not be confined to the experts alone but the opinion of those living in villages will also be solicited,” she stated.

The minister also referred to the Udaan project, which would aim to provide free online resources to girl students of Class XI and Class XII for admission tests of premier engineering colleges. The project would focus at addressing the low enrolment ratio of girl students in prestigious technical institutions and to enable girl students to receive special incentives and support so that they can join these institutions.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/11/new-education-policy-2015-to-include-common-people/#sthash.6uREUe9E.dpuf

Resolute policies on children

UNICEF points out that progress to realise the objectives of the CRC has stalled due to diminishing aid flows in the wake of the financial crisis.

On the 25th anniversary this week of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), is the world a better place for children? It would be ill-advised to seek shelter behind a simplistic yes or no manner of response to the question, says a commemorative publication of UNICEF to mark this milestone. The reduction in mortality rates in the under-five age-group, by nearly 50 per cent, between 1990 and 2013 shows how much more can be achieved through resolute policies and concerted action. Greater recognition of the importance of investment in early childhood development over the lifespan and improvements in the general standard of living have been critical to this transformation. Yet, the proportion of children under five years who live in low-income regions has increased from 13 per cent in 1990 to 19 per cent in 2014. Clearly, countries have to aggressively expand the public provision of primary health-care services to promote maternal care and free more children from malnutrition and disease. Enrolment in early childhood education nearly doubled between 1990 and 2012. Even so, fewer than 50 per cent of those in the age group of 3-4 years in many low and middle-income states are said to have access to preschool programmes. Universal secondary education is still a far cry in many parts of the world.

Recent studies have shown that children and other vulnerable sections are hardest hit by macroeconomic imbalances. UNICEF points out that progress to realise the objectives of the CRC has stalled due to diminishing aid flows in the wake of the financial crisis. Governments must therefore constantly strive to counter persistent disparities by expanding the resource base for children’s welfare. Negotiations on the historic treaty, back in the 1980s, were animated by concerns over child abuse, adoption and the involvement of children in armed conflict. These are no less troubling questions today as nearly half the number of children in the primary school age group who are out of school reside in countries torn by civil strife. Moreover, says the United Nations, child trafficking represents 27 per cent of trafficking in humans and where two out of every three victims are girls. In countries such as India, recourse to the selective abortion of female foetuses represents the most brutal violation of basic human dignity. Indeed, human rights are inalienable and inviolable. However, the respect due to persons depends equally on their capacity to exercise and affirm their rights. The precarious situation of children is that they are not in a position to exert such a capacity and depend on the protection from positive laws and healthy parenting. Thus, the onus is on the state and society.

Keywords: child rights, UNICEF, CRC objectives, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

The risks that diabetes poses for the eyes — and what to do about it

Diabetic retinopathy often has no early warning signals. But when it comes, vision could get blocked completely

Diabetes has emerged as a public health problem globally, more so in developing countries like India. According to projections made by the World Health Organization, the number of people with diabetes in India will rise to 79.4 million in 2030. It was 31.7 million in 2000.

Diabetes affects the eyes, among other parts of the body. However, vision-threatening complications occur when it affects the retina, causing diabetic retinopathy. Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai has been running the Sankara Nethralaya Diabetic Retinopathy Programme for nearly a decade. Major epidemiological studies done under the programme, have thrown up some salient findings.

In people aged above 40 years and living in urban areas like Chennai, nearly one out of four have diabetes. The situation is better in rural India, where among those aged above 40 years, one in 10 has diabetes.

Among those with Type 2 diabetes, nearly one in five in urban and one in 10 in rural India has diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes is more common in upper middle and upper socioeconomic classes. However, once a person has diabetes, everybody has the same chances of getting retinopathy.

Young males with suboptimal glycemic control, hypertension, anaemia and microalbuminuria (kidney damage) are at particular risk. The most significant risk factor among both rural and urban populations is duration of diabetes: the risk is 6.5 times more for those who have had diabetes for more than 15 years. People who get it before 40 have double the risk of developing retinopathy and sight-threatening retinopathy than those who develop it after 40.

Visual impairment occurs in 4 per cent of those with Type 2 diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is the second most common cause of visual impairment. Cataract is the most common cause.

At the time a person is diagnosed with diabetes, one in 10 would have the kidneys affected (nephropathy) or the nerves (neuropathy). But one in 20 will have retinopathy. Obesity increases the risk. Pot belly, what is clinically called central obesity, increases the risk by two times. Diabetic retinopathy is more common among diabetics who take low-fibre diet (20 per cent) in comparison to those who take a high-fibre diet (15 per cent).

Genetic factors contribute to increased risk while some offer protection. Probably such genetic factors are what offer some protection against retinopathy.

People with suboptimal glycemic control (HbA1c>7) have a higher risk of diabetic retinopathy and those with poor control (HbA1c >8) of sight-threatening retinopathy. There is evidence to show that blood sugar control in the initial years of diabetes offers long-term protection against retinopathy. Abnormal serum lipids (especially serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol) have a significant role in diabetic macular edema, which involves the swelling of the central part of the retina that results in blurred vision.

People with a combination of suboptimal control (blood sugar, blood pressure and lipids) have a higher risk of both retinopathy and sight-threatening retinopathy. Nearly one in three diabetics with suboptimal control will have retinopathy. In those with early kidney damage (microalbuminuria) the risk doubles. If he has advanced damage (albuminuria) the risk is six times more. In a person with diabetes who also has anaemia, the risk of developing retinopathy is two times more.

Framingham risk assessment scores which take into account age, smoking status, lipid levels and hypertension give a 10-year risk profile of cardiovascular disease. If a person has a high risk score, the chances of his developing sight-threatening retinopathy doubles as compared to people who have low risk.

Abnormal sleep patterns are related to neuropathy and nephropathy. Recent evidence suggests that sleep apnea is related to the severity of retinopathy.

Type 2 patients should have their eyes screened at the time of diagnosis and at least annually then. Children and adolescents with Type I diabetes should undergo dilated fundus photography five years after diagnosis and at least annually then. Both Type 1 and 2 diabetics need an eye examination soon after conception and then early in the first trimester. Thereafter the doctor recommends follow-up based on the severity of retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy often has no early warning signals. Blurred vision may occur when the macula, the central part that provides sharp vision, swells from the leaking fluid. This makes it hard to read or drive. As blood vessels bleed, there will be specks of dark spots or clouds, floating in your vision. Sometimes bleeding might be of a severe nature, blocking vision completely: this often happens during the sleep. Even in advanced cases, the disease may progress asymptomatically. Hence, regular eye examinations are important for people with diabetes.

Mild cases need no treatment. Regular examinations are critical. Strict control of blood sugar and blood pressure levels can reduce or prevent diabetic retinopathy. In advanced cases, treatment is needed to stop eye damage from diabetic retinopathy, prevent vision loss, and potentially restore vision.

(Dr. Raman is a Senior Consultant with Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. November 14 marked World Diabetes Day.)

Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, diabetes health risks, World Diabetes Day

Nov 18 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Dental clinics hotbeds of infection

DurgeshNandan Jha

New Delhi:





The National Health Services (NHS) in UK recently issued recall orders to 22,000 dental patients--believed to be the biggest in the country's medical history--following a scare over poor infection control method at one particular clinic.The dentist allegedly used dirty equipment and failed to change gloves between patients, an irregularity common among nearly all dental clinics. In India, the risk is even greater with dental clinics mushrooming over the last decade, but without adequate precautions.
“A dental clinic has to be more careful about infection control than even the operation theatre. This is because most come as walk-in patients for invasive procedures. If proper safety methods are not adopted, the risk of transmission is high,“ said Dr Dibyendu Mazumder, president, Dental Council of India. He said most private clinics in cities operate from small rooms which have inadequate space and the practitioners tend to cut costs by spending little on equipment for infection-control, for ex ample multiple sets of sterilized instruments. The people employed for sterilization and disposal of waste have not undergone any formal training, he added. His views were echoed by Dr Ajoy Roy Choudhary , professor and head of the oral and maxillofacial surgery unit at AIIMS. Dr Choudhary said increasing awareness about oral health has spurred the demand for dental clinics that act as multi-specialty units. “They offer a range of procedures--from extraction to root canals. The risk of blood-borne infection, such as HIV , Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B, is very high if precautions aren't taken,“ he added.
According to Dr Mahesh Verma, director and principal of Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences (MAIDS), patients need to be more vigilant to avoid becoming unsuspecting victims.“You must watch out for cleanliness in and around the clinic. Ensure the dentist uses fresh gloves and sterilized equipment. These are some of the simplest ways to avoid cross infection,“ he said.
Though the demand for dental procedures has gone up, people are still not ready to pay for the procedures because they are mostly not life threatening. “If we have to buy all equipment and take into account space requirements as per international standards, we will have to shut the clinics,“ said a dentist, who runs a private clinic in South Delhi.

International Day of Tolerance

DG/ME/ID/2014/033 – original: French
Message by
Irina Bokova,
Director-General of UNESCO,
on the occasion of International Day of Tolerance
16 November 2014
Tolerance is a fundamental principle of life in society, stemming naturally from respect for human rights and human dignity. It is a principle that is more relevant now than ever and it is under serious threat. Cultural diversity is being targeted by extremist groups seeking to impose their sectarian vision on the world, and minorities are being persecuted, falling victim to attempts at “cultural cleansing”. Within societies, economic and social crises are sometimes used as a pretext for blaming and rejecting others. In tackling these challenges, we must reaffirm with determination the need for tolerance by recalling that every culture is worthy of respect and that no belief deserves the hatred or scorn of others.
This message is central to all of UNESCO’s action, guided by the conviction that lasting peace must be constructed in the minds of men and women, by nurturing the principles of tolerance and mutual respect through education, the dialogue among cultures and intellectual cooperation. In a globalizing world, it is no longer enough to live side by side, in passive indifference – tolerance requires active vigilance, renewed each day, against xenophobia, discrimination and hatred. We learn through tolerance to reconcile the universal rights that bind us together with the diversity that gives us so much, and to see that we need others, in all their diversity, so that we can be fully ourselves.
More than words, tolerance is behaviour that is also learnt in the classroom. It takes the form of openness to the diversity of cultures and beliefs and respect for freedom of expression and opinion, rooted in attachment to human rights. This is the spirit of the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022), for which UNESCO is lead agency in the United Nations system. It is also the objective of the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence,
DG/ME/ID/2014/033 – page 2
awarded this year to two human rights activists – Mr Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanat (Mali) and M. Francisco Javier Estévez Valencia (Chile).
UNESCO is committed to promoting tolerance through its educational and cultural programmes, through the International Coalition of Cities against Racism and through the mobilization of young people and global citizenship education. On the occasion of this international day, I call on all of UNESCO’s Member States and partners to reassert the transformational power of tolerance as a force for dialogue and peace.
Irina Bokova