Pearson India launches two new preparatory books for UGC NET exam aspirants in India

 Pearson India, the world’s leading learning company, today launched two new preparatory books for UGC Net exam aspirants in India. The books titled ‘Teaching and Research Aptitude’ and ‘History – UGC –NET/SET/JRF’ are authored by well known industry experts, K.V.S. Madaan and Amitava Chatterjee respectively. 

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Vikas Singh, Business Head & VP – Higher Education & Test Preparation, Pearson India, said, “Acquiring in-depth knowledge on various subject matters and concepts is imperative in preparing for this national level exam. These books will act as resourceful guides and impart holistic learning experience for NET aspirants who wish to qualify for admissions and jobs through this competitive exam.” 

‘Teaching and Research Aptitude’ covers an entire spectrum of all the important topics such as teaching aptitude, research aptitude, reading comprehension, communication, mathematical reasoning, logical reasoning, data interpretation, ICT, people and environment, en and higher education system (including governance, polity and administration). 

To ensure enhanced learning, the book carries updated facts, figures and diagrams, previous years’ papers with solutions and numerous chapter-end practice questions.

The book is written by renowned author, K.V.S. Madaan who has a teaching experience of more than 15 years. He has successfully trained many candidates for UGC-NET and other competitive examinations and has written extensively in Indian journals. The book is priced at Rs. 375.

‘History-UGC-NET/SET/JRF’ has been designed in accordance with the prescribed syllabus of University Grants Commission and comprises all aspects of ancient, medieval and modern Indian history. 

The book carries more than 2000 multiple-choice questions (MCQs), which are indispensable for Paper II and Paper III in the NET/SET examination. It also features six model test papers for self-evaluation and practice, previous six years’ solved papers and MCQs as per the last patterns to make the topics more relevant and useful for the learners.

‘History-UGC-NET/SET/JRF’ is written by Amitava Chatterjee, a prominent author with an experience of over 12 years in Academics.  He has written extensively in reputed journals of India and abroad. 

Priced at Rs. 499, the book will be available at all leading stores across the country.

About Pearson:

Pearson is the world’s leading learning organisation, present in over 80 countries and educating more than 150 million people worldwide. From pre-school to high school, early learning to professional certification, Pearson’s curriculum materials, multimedia learning tools, testing & assessment programmes among other services help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through learning.

Regulate, don’t eliminate

A sudden and arbitrary ban on commercial surrogacy will hurt all the stakeholders in this multi-billion rupee industry,particularly children who are at the core of the issue.

The government of India’s proposed ban on commercial surrogacy is a rather ill-thought-out move that could have a disastrous effect on the flourishing surrogacy industry in India.

It is disastrous, not just because it will spell an end to the multi-crore industry, but because we are talking about the human lives which are at stake. Embryonic human lives, being gestated in the safe wombs of alternate mothers, could be in jeopardy if commercial surrogacy is suddenly and abruptly made illegal. What will then happen to the women who hired out their wombs? What if they are left holding babies they never wanted because the rules changed? What will happen to the hopes of the thousands of commissioning parents, who have paid lakhs of rupees or dollars on fertility packages? What if they cannot take their babies out of the country and India does not recognise the children?

Widespread impact

Gita Aravamudan

The consequences of such official action have been visible in other countries. Thailand, a popular destination for fertility tourism, suddenly clamped a ban on commercial surrogacy earlier this year, after a couple of disasters exposed its dark underbelly. The result was chaos. A number of surrogates in various stages of pregnancy were left in limbo. Intending parents did not know how to collect their babies. Consequently, the surrogacy industry got pushed underground.

And then there was a flourishing cross- border surrogate smuggling nexus between India and Nepal, which was exposed in the aftermath of the earthquake when Indian women, who had crossed the border carrying babies for gay Israeli couples, got stuck in Nepal with their unborn babies. Nepal has subsequently banned all commercial surrogacy.

Given that an arbitrary ban on surrogacy can be disastrous, can phasing out help? And should commercial surrogacy be phased out?

India has had time to think about these issues, as commercial surrogacy has been around for a couple of decades now. The first surrogate baby in India was born in 1994. The industry has since evolved, and today India offers some of the best fertility “packages’ in the world. Intending parents with a valid fertility visa can come to India and get their IVF procedures done, hire healthy surrogates, return home, and monitor the entire pregnancy from afar. They can also get proper exit visas to take the children home after they are born. Earlier, the agreements between intending parents and surrogates were oral and the latter were often underpaid and ill-treated. Today, there are proper contracts to ensure that neither party is cheated. In many of the bigger and better organised fertility clinics, the surrogates are housed in special homes, given proper diet, medical checkups and maintenance allowances.

The baby, when it is born, has the intending parents’ names on its birth certificate and the surrogate has no more claim or obligation to the child. The contract also ensures that the surrogate gets Rs. 4 to 8 lakh depending on the number of babies she is carrying. But of course, not everything is hunky dory. There are many cases of exploited or ill-used surrogates, cheated parents, unqualified doctors and unscrupulous agents, largely because India has been unable to pass a regulatory law. The Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) Bill, first proposed in 2008, has gone through three avatars, but is yet to be tabled in Parliament. This proposed Bill covers several areas of concern, but needs updating and tweaking before it can be tabled. Even as the Bill is pending, it seems counterproductive to impose a ban on surrogacy without understanding the issues at stake.

Huge and unregulated

When I started writing my book Baby Makers: The Story of Indian Surrogacy in 2012, I had a very simple agenda. As a feminist and a writer, I wondered how a woman would feel if she had to rent another woman’s womb to carry her baby and how the woman who carried that baby would feel about it. Not an easy task, I found, as neither the surrogates nor the intending parents open up easily because they fear a social backlash. I also found that there were no proper statistics about the number of IVF clinics in India nor the number of surrogates. No one even knew what the actual turnover was. A United Nations-backed study said the industry had a turnover of $400 million, but many in the field said it was much higher. At present, the surrogacy business functions under the regulatory guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research. However, many of the fly-by-night clinics did not even bother about these guidelines.

People come to India for fertility tourism because it is cheaper or because it is unavailable in their own countries. Egg donation, which is legal in India, is banned in some countries. But in many East European countries it is big business. In India, an egg donor can get Rs. 25,000 every time she donates her eggs. This procedure too has to be carefully monitored and spaced. This is often not done because the more seedy clinics do not care about the health of the donor. Sometimes, the women themselves volunteer to donate more often because they are not aware of the dangers of ovarian hyperstimulation, and there are any number of unscrupulous “fertility experts” who are willing to oblige both commissioning parents and needy donors.

Today the minimal regulation on the fertility industry in India is obviously woefully inadequate. But any law which is put in place has to take into consideration the needs and aspirations of the various people involved in this business. Primarily there are the babies born through surrogacy whose citizenship and right to be protected by their biological parents is of primary importance.

At the bottom of the pecking order are the surrogates, who are in it because it is a means of livelihood. From their perspective, there is nothing morally or ethically wrong because the babies are conceived through “injection” (embryo implant) and not through sexual intercourse. They do sometimes get attached to the babies in their womb, but to them the money is more important and they are quick to move on after the birth of the child.

Some of the surrogates I spoke to proudly showed me their houses built from money they had earned through renting out their wombs. Many preferred foreign commissioning parents, as they paid better and gave better tips.

Some of the surrogates were poor, some middle class, some illiterate, some educated. They belonged to all communities… their need for money is what linked them. And as one woman pointed out, it was not wrong to want money for a better life and by renting out her womb, she was not hurting anyone as even her family supported her.

For the intending parents, surrogacy is a boon which gives them the child they never thought they could have. For this they are willing to pay any amount and go to any lengths to protect and nurture the surrogate carrying the baby for them. For the fertility specialists, this is the job they have been trained to do.

The problem lies with the bogus embryologists and doctors, the agents and touts who lure and cheat surrogates, as well as intending parents. They are the exploiters. Banning commercial surrogacy in India at this advanced stage will help no one. It will only create chaos and push the business underground. Banning is easy. Framing a proper law needs careful thought, good technical inputs and above all, political will.

(Gita Aravamudan is an independent journalist.)

Keywords: commercial surrogacy, Artificial Reproductive Technology bill, Baby Makers: The Story of Indian Surrogacy

Source: The Hindu, 5-11-2015

Safe workplace climate a must for women to report harassment

A 29-year-old research analyst who accused climate scientist Rajendra K Pachauri of sexual harassment in February has resigned from her job at The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), saying she has been treated in the “worst possible manner” at her workplace.

The incident came to light when the woman lodged an FIR against Mr Pachauri, alleging that the well-known environmentalist began harassing her soon after she joined Teri in September 2013. Mr Pachauri has been on leave from Teri and has stepped down as chairperson of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In her resignation letter, the analyst states that Teri failed to “uphold her interests as an employee”.

The incident suggests that in addition to taking stringent action against unwelcome acts that amount to sexual harassment, organisations must also be alert to the emergence of a hostile environment in general, and in particular after a complaint has been filed, and counter it through quick coordination with the authorities.

Employers have an obligation to create the kind of workplace that should not need an act of extraordinary bravery to report an offence. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 makes it mandatory for offices and work places to have an anti-sexual harassment policy that includes an internal redress mechanism — and the formation of a committee to file annual reports on the issue with the government.

The Act indicates that a hostile work environment in connection with an alleged offence constitutes sexual harassment. Most organisations follow norms on paper but there’s a need to ensure that pursuing justice does not threaten a woman’s career.

Employers can begin by spreading awareness about the law among employees, which will improve women’s sense of security and embolden them to report offences at workplaces.

The resignation of the Teri employee is dispiriting, especially when more and more women are stepping out for work. A speedy prosecution of high-profile cases is important for the purpose of deterring offenders.

Failure to do so will only serve to discourage millions of working women in India at a point when their full participation in the economy is essential.

Source: Hindustan Times, 5-11-2015

Ban on gutka made 53% users quit: Study

Mumbai Mirror Bureau mirrorfeedback TWEETS @MUMBAIMIRROR





Gutka ban has led to a decrease in its consumption in the state, a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) and Centre for Communication and Change India (CCCI), New Delhi with support from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Institute for India for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office revealed. The study aimed to understand the impact of state laws that ban the sale and distribution of gutka.The study was conducted in eight states -Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.Stringent laws banning gutka have had a positive impact on the users in Maharashtra and many have agreed that they consume less since the ban was enforced.
Optimistic facts like these were revealed at the Tata Memorial Hospital when findings, specific to the state of Maharashtra, were released from a study that had been conducted across the country to understand the impact of state laws that ban the sale and distribution of gutka. Maharashtra's state report is part of a larger eight state research study undertaken last year. In Maharashtra, surveys were conducted in the districts of Thane and Mumbai with current and former gutka users and tobacco product retailers to determine the impact and effectiveness of the ban. In addition, observations of 60 retail environments and indepth interviews with government officials, enforcement officials and citizens working with civil society groups were conducted to find out different stakeholders' reaction to the ban. Considering the harmful effects of gutka and paan masala, the state government disal lowed the sale, manufacture, distribution and storage of ghutka from July 19, 2012. Of the respondents who con tinue to use prepackaged gutka, a considerable portion ­ about 83 per cent reported that they consume less since the ban.
The study also showed that there is a universal agreement that gutka ban is good for the health of the youth in the country with 99 per cent responding affirma tively in support of the ban. Of the respondents who quit since ban, more than half 51 per cent reported to having attempted to stop using it after the ban came into place. Fifty three per cent of respondents agreed that gutka bans would help people to quit.
FDA commissioner Harshadeep Kamble said, “Though gutka is banned in Maharashtra, we recently seized huge a quantity of the product. During the investigations it was found that gutka is manufactured in Gujrat for its supply in Maharashtra.“

Source: Mumbai Mirror, 5-11-2015

Life's Bubble Could Burst

SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV





What you call a person is just like a bubble. This bubble doesn't have any substance of its own. The air was there, all around. It just created a shell around itself, so, suddenly it has a different quality of its own.There are thick bubbles, there are thin bubbles, there are strong bubbles, there are weak bubbles -just like people.Just like every other creature too, but when the bubble bursts, the substance that is inside the bubble, where is it?
The air has reclaimed it. Similarly , a bubble is formed in the form of an etheric body , in the form of a pranic body ,a mental body and a physical body . The physical body we can shoot down any moment we want to, but the other bodies we are not able to cut. Only what you call as existence, only that can do it.What you are calling the spiritual process is just that. It is a deeper way of ensuring you don't exist any more. The physical body is possible only because of the necessary karmic substances that are there in the form of etheric, pranic and mental bodies.
With your awareness, practices, love and with your devotion, all you are trying to do is destroy the possibility of taking on another body , destroy the very foundation over which the physical body can happen. Or, in other words, we are trying to take away the possibility of you going through the recycling bin over and over again. A mother's womb is only a recycling bag. Again and again,... we're going through the same process. So, we want to take that away .

The Realist And The Idealist

Pulkit Sharma





As children we live in a world of fantasy where everything happens according to our will. In fairy tales, the dead are resurrected, truth always wins, illnesses are cured magically , human limitations are transcended and bliss and harmony prevail and people live “happily ever after“. As we grow up, everyone around us thinks it is important to puncture this childish world of idealism and make the youngster come to terms with reality . This is done through explanations, reward and punishment.We are often given kind advice by family , friends, neighbours, teachers and traditional psychotherapists: “Be anchored in reality ,“ they say. Despite this, some of us remain idealists; or, we experience a life-long conflict between the realist and idealist part within us.The realist is someone who upholds factual, scientific truth and pragmatism and sees himself and the world as being governed by these laws. He will often follow and accept socially and culturally constructed reality and aim to live in the present. Realists wish to limit themselves with mainstream existence.
The idealist, on the other hand, is more of a dreamer; he chases perfection, unity and looks for a hidden grand agenda operative in everything.He rebels against mediocrity and wants to harness what he believes is a vast potential in self and the cosmos. For idealists, an authentic and meaningful living that makes world a better place, is the guiding force.
Modern science, medicine and psychotherapy warn us against the toxicity and hazards of idealism. They concur that because an idealist lives and chases a fantasy he is bound to fail miserably and become frustrated and psychotic. In fact many prevalent models of psychotherapy including psychoanalysis and cognitive behaviour therapy have detailed strategies to make people renounce their exaggerated fantasies and develop a robust reality principle.
The big question is: Does it really help to be a realist? While a predominant majority would say `yes', new studies in the field of positive psychology are proving the opposite. For example, in a 2014 research carried out at Florida International University with a group of students, it was found that individuals who demonstrated a high level of self-actualisation by following their ideals experienced a greater sense of well-being regardless of life's adversities.
In her teachings, The Mother explained that perhaps the grea test human misery of our times is renouncing the childish fanta sies and ideals that all of us hold, r of harsh realism. She said that in favour of harsh realism. She said that although it may seem silly to those who have not practised it ­ if we build stories in our mind that are truly beautiful, harmo nious, powerful and well-coordinated, these stories will start shaping our life.
In the Mother's practice of Integral Yoga, the dreams of childhood are potential realities of mature age provided we paint and chase those dreams with perseverance. From this perspective, realism and idealism are not divorced from each other. Idealism can give birth to a newer, better and beautiful realism.
Then why do we need to endorse a current reality which is so depressing and filled with darkness, anger, greed, hatred, violence, abuse, separateness, pain and mundaneness within and all around us? Why not use our poetic, artistic and spiritual consciousness to create a new reality that is full of truth, love, light and bliss? Somewhere, hopefully there is a rose garden that awaits us

Indiaspora rising: Country top source of OECD migrants

Lubna Kably

Mumbai:





123% Jump In Highly Skilled People In 10 Yrs

Both the countries of origin (where people emigrate from) and the pro ile of migrants has changed significantly in recent years. India now tops the list of countries of origin for recent as well as highly skilled migrants to member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).The 34 OECD membercountries include the European countries, the United States, Japan, Canada and Australia.
Indians also constitute the fourth largest diaspora in the OECD countries, according to a report re eased on Tuesday . India accounted for 8.95 lakh recent migrants above the age of 15 years in OECD countries during 2010-11.`Recent migrants' are those who have been in an OECD member-country for less than five years.
India was closely followed by Mexico (8.7 lakh) and China (8.2 lakh). OECD's report titled `Connecting with emigrants: a global profile of diasporas, 2015' noted that of diasporas, 2015' noted that in 2010-11, there were 3.1 crore highly educated migrants in OECD countries, an increase of 1.3 crore over a ten-year period. India contributed the most, with the number of highly skilled migrants from here having risen by 123% over the past decade to stand at 22.38 lakh in 2010-11.
The OECD also highlighted the growing importance of the Asian diasporas. At 38.36 lakh, India had the fourth largest diaspora, a growth of 83% over ten years.
The country was ranked ninth in 2000-01. “China and India, with about 39 lakh migrants each, have surpassed the diasporas of traditional OECD countries of origin of migrant population. This is an important change relative to the top five countries of origin in 2000-01, which were all OECD countries (viz: Mexico, UK, Germany , Italy and Poland),“ said the report.
Overall, in 2010-11, there were 11.3 crore migrants (all ages) in the OECD countries.The number of migrants aged 15 and above had increased by 40% since 2000-01 reaching 10.6 crore in 2010-11.
As regards the issue of brain drain, OECD's report doesn't comment directly on the Indian scenario, but points out that “the risk of brain drain is higher for SubSaharan Africa and Latin America, while it is less of a concern for other regions. For many countries, the rising educational attainment of their populations has mitigated the negative effects of the increasing numbers of their high-skilled migrants.“
An earlier OECD report had pointed out that the top five destinations for Indian migrants are: Australia, Germany , US, Canada and UK With a significant number of Indians overseas, US $71 bil lion was remitted to India in 2014, while the Chinese were remitted US $64 billion.
The dominance of Asia in highly skilled migration is al so reflected in the numbers of international students from the region. With 6.25 lakh stu dents in OECD countries in 2012, China is by far the top country of origin, followed by India with 1.68 lakh students The number of Chinese stu dents grew by 53% between 2008 and 2012, while that of In dians increased by just 3%.

Source: Times of India, 5-11-2015