Tata Trusts, GE Healthcare Join Hands to Train 10,000 Grads

Mumbai Our Bureau





Tata Trusts and GE Healthcare have entered into an agreement to train 10,000 graduates in various technical areas of healthcare over three years. The partnership will focus on bridging the skills gap in healthcare technical or operating staff.“Two entities are coming together to save millions of lives via affordable healthcare,“ said Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts. Tata Sons is the promoter of Tata companies and has significant shareholdings in these companies. About 66% of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the Tata family. Tata Trusts in `750 crore ) annualvests $125 million (.ly in philanthropy of which 25% is earmarked for healthcare .
“The partnership will leverage the leadership that Tata Trusts has in the areas of skilling and livelihood and GE Healthcare's expertise in designing and running technical courses in Healthcare,“ said Terri Bresenham, president of Sustainable Healthcare Solutions, GE Healthcare.
GE Healthcare Education Institute (GE HCI) will design, develop and ex ecute these courses through a mix of both classroom training and interactive training exercises. The courses will help people graduate as X-ray, Radiography, Medical equipment, Anesthesia, Operation Theatre and Cardiac Care technicians, as well as Diabetic Education counsellors.
The candidates will also undergo continuous assessment and internships during the course of this pro gram. Successful candidates, upon clearing the Healthcare Sector Skills Council (HSSC) exam, will be granted a certification from HSSC.
The candidates will be selected after a screening process and the course fee . 86,000 is made easier through loof ` ans and partial or full scholarships. In next three years, 10,000 candidates will get loan scholarships from Tata Trusts upon qualifying for the course.

Source: Times of India, 18-10-2016

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Vol. 51, Issue No. 42, 15 Oct, 2016

Editorials

At the Brunt of Tuberculosis

Setting Repo Rate by Committee

'Lesser Evil' Electoral Reasoning

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago: Veering Right

H T Parekh Finance Column

Public Sector Banks Are Adrift

T T Ram Mohan

Commentary

Muslim Women: Historic Demand for Change

Jyoti Punwani

Baby Kamble to Bama

Purnachandra Naik

China's One- or Two-child Policy

Madhurima Nundy

Framework for Issuing, Using, and Validating Identification Documents

Anupam Saraph, Lalit S Kathpalia, Anab Kidwai, Aniruddha Joshi

Sharit Bhowmik, 1948-2016

Virginius Xaxa

Scholar, Teacher, Activist

Indira Gartenberg, Mouleshri Vyas

50 Years of EPW

50 Years of EPW

Pranab Kumar Bardhan, Rajmohan Gandhi, Rahul Rao, Anand Patwardhan

Book Reviews

'Sexual States' and the Queer Struggle in India

Zaid Al Baset

Redefining Social Geography of Rajasthan

Thingnam Sanjeev

Perspectives

Ramananda Reviewed

Margery Sabin

Special Articles

Fiscal Transfers and Urban Policy

Gregory Pierce

Beech ka Raasta

Ashwin

Politics of the Guarded Agenda of National Education Policy 2015-16

Vikas Gupta

Current Statistics

Current Statistics

Appointments/Programmes/Announcements

Appointments/Programmes/Announcements

Letters

Rays of Hope in the Darkness

Rajagopal Devara

Departmental Coordination

Ashoke Kumar Das

Green Infrastructure

Pabitra Kumar Bag

MGNREGA Workers Not Paid

James Herenj, Jean Dreze, Balram, Gurjeet Singh, Jawahar Mehta

Web Exclusives

Internet Governance: Is the Internet Really Free of US Control?

Parminder Jeet Singh

UGC seeks public feedback for world class institutions

The University Grants Commission (UGS) has invited objections and suggestions, on a policy document on Establishment of World Class Institutions in the country.

The Centre drafted a proposal on world-class universities, seeking to grant them full freedom to decide their tuition fees and academic affairs.

Ten government-run and 10 privately managed institutions will be conferred world-class university status and get full exemption from the regulatory framework of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

These institutions will be free to fix tuition fees with facilities like loans and scholarships for the needy. At present, the fee in government universities ranges from Rs 20 to a few hundred rupees. It is about Rs 2 lakh per annum for BTech courses in IITs.

Government institutions are unable to hike tuition fees easily. Although their executive councils are empowered to take such decisions, the universities seldom do for fear of political repercussion.

The 10 government institutions that will be given world-class status will continue to implement the reservation policy. The private institutions are not expected to follow any quota.

According to the draft proposal, government and private institutions will have to apply for world-class university status. An empowered expert committee will examine the applications and make recommendations. If the UGC approves, the ministry will clear them.

These universities will be allowed to recruit faculty without following the UGC’s qualification norms. They can recruit foreign faculty up to 25 per cent of the total strength. They can admit up to 30 per cent foreign students. Since the institutions will not be bound by the UGC’s academic norms, they can design their own curriculum and courses. At present, the UGC prescribes a model curriculum to be followed by institutions.

These institutions will be free from any kind of inspection by the UGC.

UGC has also sought suggestions or objections, if any, on a policy document on Establishment of World Class Institutions.

The Commission has asked academicians and stakeholders to submit their feedback on the UGC (Declaration of Government Educational Institutions as World Class Institutions) Guidelines and UGC World Class Institutions Deemed to Be Universities Regulations, 2016.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has formed the said policy documents with October 28 set as the last date for submitting feedback.

It may be noted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in March, had reiterated his government’s plan to set up 20 world-class universities in the country.

As per preliminary plans, the government is expected to identify 10 government and 10 private universities and help them achieve “world-class standards”.

Source: Digital Learning, 10-10-2016

Dr Kalam remembered at IIM Shillong amidst the cheer of 'Nurturing Minds' and setting up of Dr Kalam Centre 

Shillong : Saturday, the 15th of October marked the 85th Birth Anniversary of our former president and persona par excellence, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. On this momentous occasion, the IIM Shillong family came together in a celebration of the great personality in its own special way as the Institute hosted Dr MukulSangma, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Shri V Shanmuganathan, His Excellency, Governor of Meghalaya, Shri Naveen Verma, Secretary, DoNER, Shri Ram Muivah, Secretary, North Eastern Council amongst other dignitaries. The duo presided over the signing of tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of DoNER and North Eastern Council for the setting up Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research and Analysis at IIM Shillong as approved by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). 

The build up to the event saw students from different B Schools share on social media, how Dr Kalam affected their lives and rekindle‘the Kalam’ in each one of them. An abstract art event was also organized for all the participants at the institute as a part of the celebration. 

The day started with a brain-storming session involving the dignitaries, students and faculty of the Institute. The agenda of the session was to formulate solutions for the myriad problems faced by Horticulture in the North-East and how the new Centre for Policy Research and Analysis can contribute towards the resolution of the same. 

As the Chief Minister addressed the gathering, he highlighted the need for a platform that can function as an aggregator for ideas. The message was reiterated by Shri Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya as he expressed his desire to rapidly develop the North- East and fully harness its tremendous potential and creativity. 

The day also marked the first anniversary of “Nurturing Minds”, the unique initiative of the institute that began on Oct 15, 2015, in memory of Dr Kalam to spread his lessons and promote his learnings. The program widely supported by the IIM Shillong community, and recognized across Shillong, currently reaches out to 60 children from seven schools in Shillong. To celebrate the occasion, a number of fun filled activities were lined up for the students including games and a short movie on Dr Kalam to rekindle the spirit of free thinking amongst the kids. An eye check-up camp was also organized in association with Bansara Eye Care Centre to bring in health awareness among the students. 

As the event drew to a close with the release of 85 balloons into the blue and white sky along with quotes by the great teacher, the IIM Shillong family once again renewed its endearing relationship with our beloved Kalam Sir and reveled in all that Dr Kalam has contributed towards the growth of youth and IIM Shillong in particular. 

Source: Indiaeducationdiary

Kairana and the politics of exclusion

The National Human Rights Commission’s report on the ‘Kairana exodus’ raises questions about its remit as an unbiased arbiter in conflict situations

For over three years now communal politics has been on the upswing in Uttar Pradesh. With Assembly elections due in early 2017, the communal pot has been stirred up again in this crucial State. Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the Centre, polarisation on issues such as ‘love jihad’, ‘ghar wapsi’ and the beef ban have become a regular feature of political mobilisation in Uttar Pradesh and the country at large. The urge to engage in a politics of polarisation must be understood in the context of the Muzaffarnagar violence of 2013, which worked to the party’s benefit in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Its impact can be seen from the fact that BJP leaders who were implicated in the violence were given tickets and they won their seats with large margins. For the first time, not a single Muslim candidate was elected to Parliament from the State even though Muslims constitute over 19 per cent of its population and over 30 per cent of the population in quite a few districts of western Uttar Pradesh.

The claim of an exodus

In June, the BJP’s Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Hukum Singh released a list of 346 members of Hindu families that had allegedly fled Kairana town in Shamli district of western Uttar Pradesh due to persecution and pressure fearing atrocities at the hands of Muslim criminals and extortionists. (The chief complainant is an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar violence.) BJP President Amit Shah called the allegations of a Hindu exodus an ‘eye opener’ at a public rally in Allahabad, and he later cautioned that “UP should not take Kairana lightly”. Aligarh’s BJP MP Satish Gautam declared that there is a need to find out about “other Kairanas”. It is clear from these statements that the ruling party is not averse to using the issue as a plank for political mobilisation even though it could aggravate social tensions in the region.

However, the forced exodus claim was denied by the State government and the district administration. Several investigative reports by the media, notably in The Hindu, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times and Quint, also exposed these claims. They found it to be exaggerated and false as many of the people had migrated for various reasons and some had done so in search of better opportunities. In short, the Kairana exodus was dismissed as a non-event until it was revived by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). In response to a complaint filed by Monika Arora, a Supreme Court advocate, and a vocal and active member of the BJP, the commission constituted a team from its Investigation Division to look into the complaints of exodus of Hindu families from Kairana due to fear of criminals.

A ‘partisan report’

The NHRC report released on September 21 observed that these allegations are ‘serious’ and that several Hindu families have migrated because of the worsening law and order situation after victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots settled there. It stated that: “In 2013, the post-rehabilitation scenario resulting in resettlement of about 25/30 thousand members of Muslim community in Kairana Town from district Muzaffarnagar, UP, the demography of Kairana town has changed in favour of the Muslim Community becoming the more dominating and majority community. Most of the witnesses examined and victims feel that the rehabilitation in 2013 has permanently changed the social situation in Kairana town and has led to further deterioration of law and order situation.”

The report came to this conclusion on the basis of verification of six victims/persons and telephonic verification of members of four displaced families in three randomly selected residential localities, which makes it a total of 10 out of the 346 cases of migration from Kairana for reasons of insecurity.

Overall, the NHRC report provides no substantive authentication of its controversial findings; furthermore, it provides no details of the total number of families who migrated from Kairana, the specific time frame for when these families left and the exact reasons behind their decision to do so. The five-page report comprises brief statements on the criminal incidents given by select witnesses. There is no evidence in the report that these crimes were committed by displaced people who had settled in Kairana, even though the report asserts that the presence of Muzaffarnagar riot victims has changed the demography of Kairana and this has led to a further deterioration of law and order in the town. This is a conjecture, not a fact; there is no factual evidence to establish a connection between the presence of internally displaced persons and the increase in incidents of crime mentioned in the report. In any case, there is no corroboration to back the figure of 25-30,000 Muslim victims having settled in the town.

The impression conveyed by the report that only members of the majority community are impacted by the faltering law and order situation in western Uttar Pradesh is deeply flawed. The attempt to paint a largely criminal phenomenon with a broad communal brush without citing any independent and credible evidence is surprising from an institution mandated to investigate human rights violations. Sure enough, the labelling and stigmatising of the minority community in this manner has dismayed civil society activists and victims of the Muzaffarnagar violence who have demanded a withdrawal of the ‘partisan and prejudiced’ report. Social activist Farah Naqvi, who has been working for the rehabilitation of the people displaced by the Muzaffarnagar riots since 2013, called the NHRC report nothing more than “communal rumour-mongering”.

It doubles victimisation

The 2013 communal violence had initially displaced over 75,000 people. A 2016 report,Living Apart: Communal Violence and Forced Displacement in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, based on detailed ground-level research done by the non-governmental organisations Aman Biradari and Afkar India, found 50,000 people still scattered all over Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and other districts, of whom nearly 30,000 victims were in 65 internally displaced people colonies. According to the report, 270 families (approximately 2,000 people) had settled in Kairana. It found that even after three years, riot victims are living in ghetto-like resettlement colonies with little support from the State administration. It further notes that the Uttar Pradesh administration not only failed to rehabilitate riot victims displaced from their homes and villages, it also actively encouraged Muslim refugees, who used to live in Hindu majority villages, to resettle in Muslim-majority colonies, thus escalating the social divide.

Curiously, the large-scale displacement caused by communal violence in 2013 did not lead to any investigation or recommendations by the NHRC. But the Commission saw it fit to investigate the exodus of 346 people, and what’s more, recommend the formation of a high-level committee of the Government of U.P. “to meet each of the displaced families from Kairana Town now living in districts Dehradun, Panipat, Muzaffarnagar, Roorki, Karnal, etc. of Uttarakhand and Haryana in order to redress their grievances and facilitate their return to Kairana, if so desired…” It did not make the same proposals for the rehabilitation of over 75,000 people displaced from Muzaffarnagar in 2013.

Even though communal mobilisation and internal displacement is a process that still continues in many parts of western Uttar Pradesh, it finds no mention in the NHRC report. It is mentioned only in relation to the displacement from Kairana for which the NHRC blames those who are themselves displaced by communal violence. In so doing, it displays a complete lack of sympathy for people who have been affected and displaced by violence. Rather than supporting them, what the report has in effect done is to double their victimisation by tagging them as people whose presence “has led to further deterioration of law and order situation”.

Damaging a shining legacy

The NHRC has played a critical role in investigating violations of human rights in the country. ‘In 2002, the Commission, under former Chief Justice J.S. Verma, was the first public body to visit Gujarat after the riots, and it subsequently moved the Supreme Court to transfer cases outside the State to secure a fair trial’. This legacy creates unparalleled social expectations but it also invites civil society scrutiny from national and international actors for any potentially detrimental action by the apex body. Its neutrality is critically important because that is what gives its reports and decisions credibility as a record of ground reality, without serving any person or party’s interest. Its impartiality has been undermined by the decision to investigate an exodus list supplied by a political party with a clear stake in upping the communal ante ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections. In the event, the report vindicated the ruling party’s claims but it compromised its own autonomy and non-aligned status. This is an inevitable consequence of interpreting broader societal trends like migration and security through a communal prism, which sets a perilous precedent of giving an ethnic colour to law and order problems.

The idea of the NHRC as an unbiased arbiter in conflict situations is widely perceived as essential to the promotion and protection of human rights in our democracy. As an icon of independence, the legitimacy and credibility of the NHRC or of any human rights body rest on its ability to address the problems relating to human rights in a society generally, and not those of a particular community. The public needs to have the confidence that the Commission will investigate cases of rights violation without fear or favour. Hence, the effectiveness of human rights commissions depends on how a particular commission locates itself in a society and is able to confront the issues before it. Majoritarianism is a real issue in India today. It has led to legitimate fears about this creed dictating policy and compromising the functioning of public institutions; in this scenario, it is the responsibility of rights watchdog institutions to prevent this tendency from dominating institutions. For a democracy to thrive, institutions like the NHRC have to play a counter-majoritarian role.

Zoya Hasan is Professor Emerita, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Keywords: Kairana exodus, politics of exclusion, National Human Rights Commission

Source: The Hindu, 17-10-2016

Half of world’s disabled children are kept out of schools: Report

At least half of the world’s 65 million school-age children with disabilities are kept out of the classroom because little to no money is budgeted for their needs, a disability rights groups said in a report on Monday.

Light for the World, a charity which supported the research, said stigma and misinformation surrounding disability as well as a lack of data on the numbers of disabled children contributed to the problem.

“People don’t see them (children with disabilities) as a worthy investment,” Nafisa Baboo, adviser for inclusive education at Light for the World, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“Many think for example that there’s no point investing in their education as people with disabilities can’t work.”

The rights groups said billions of dollars of potential income from the world’s poorest countries are being lost through lack of schooling and employment for people who have disabilities.

“Children with disabilities are constantly left at the very back of the queue, and the impact on both individuals and economies can be disastrous,” Julia McGeown of Handicap International said in a statement.

The report by the International Disability and Development Consortium said the exclusion of children with disabilities was a major obstacle to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030.

In September, a report by the U.N. education and cultural agency UNESCO found that the education sector globally has been substantially underfunded, and international aid to education is declining.

“The SDGs give governments an opportunity to up their game,” said Baboo, adding that donors should prioritise efforts to reverse the decline in aid for education.

The new report urges governments to provide facilities for the education of disabled children within a mainstream system.

“Inclusive education can drastically reduce out-of-school populations, it can tackle discrimination in society, and it is considerably cheaper than segregated education,” said Baboo.

“It’s not just morally right, it’s also a smart investment.”

Source: Hindustan Times, 17-10-2016

GM CROPS - How to Plant the Future

C D Mayee





India faces a massive challenge to feed its growing population, particularly in the absence of sustainable agriculture solutions. According to the UN World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision, India's population is expected to surpass China's by 2022.A combination of factors like climate change, increasing industrialisation, urbanisation and new pests and diseases coupled with regulatory challenges have connived to bring about increasing pressure on our farms over the years, limiting their capability to enhance production, especially on small land holdings as prevalent in India.
With regular droughts or floods affecting the country , productivity is taking a heavy toll and India's already bulging food import bill is likely to reach crippling proportions.
To increase farmers' income without inflationary pressure on the economy , we need to increase our productivity urgently . Technology has played a vital role in most sectors to improve quality of life, as well as the productivity of products and services. The same should apply to agriculture.
While most agriculturally advanced countries are adopting rigorously tested and proven genetically modified (GM) technology in agriculture, India has been comparatively regressive. Bangladesh has wholeheartedly embraced GM technology to resolve declining productivity by putting in place an encouraging policy environment. It has not only commercialised India's Bt Brinjal technology three years ago, but it is also at an advanced stage of field trials in other crops including Golden Rice and Late Blightresistant potato. The Philippines and Vietnam, too, are actively pursuing GM crop cultivation.
All this is possible only with government support for science and technology and free market trade. However, in India, there is a huge resistance to this technology . The furore caused by various anti-science voices have continued to discourage innovation as well as commercialisation of this promising technology . Adding to this uncertainty are the recent regulatory developments in respect of crop biotech that have the potential to stifle the flow of modern technologies to farm.
The cotton price control and compulsory licensing guidelines for GM crops proposed have already done enough damage to India's image as a technology-friendly nation. These proposals have not only discouraged R&D and innovation professionals and investors, but also the student community who want to pursue fulfilling careers in agri-biotechnology .
The Indian agri-biotech industry is suffering due to the vested interests of one influential seed industry player misusing the system. As the proposal of compulsory licensing guidelines faced stiff opposition from various corners and from key stakeholders, it appears that through the National Seed Association of India (NSAI), attempts are now being made to indirectly interfere in the intellectual property rights (IPR) regime and compulso ry licensing of GM crops through the convoluted reading of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act (PPVFRA), 2001.
This act won't protect the interest of companies involved in R&D of modern and safe technologies like GM crops. So, they should continue to be guided by the current patent law of the country . PPVFRA is designed for an altogether different purpose: that of protecting varieties.
Hence, playing up this legislation against the Patent Act for the narrow benefit of a few seed companies to appropriate technology without the obligation of paying fees for accessing the technology is a travesty of India's innovation protection system.
The PPVFRA cannot override the Patents Act. Any contrary argument will have a severe ramification not only on Indian agriculture but also on the government's policies to encourage technology transfer and innovation in the farm sector that still employs over 50% of country's workforce.
The government must look at this Act on the basis of plant varieties and its protection for which it was framed, much before GM crops came into India. It shouldn't allow vested interests to misinterpret and misuse this Act.
No country has progressed when innovations are curbed and the free market is stifled. In today's global environment, where public-private partnerships are encouraged for achieving development goals, it is disheartening that in India, we are pursuing a regressive policy at the cost of longterm interest of our small and marginal farmers.
The government must listen to industry associations and experts who have been criticising the cotton price control and compulsory licensing notification. It must intervene to ensure its decisions are broad-based and in the long-term interest of farmers, consumers, industry and the economy .

Source: Times of India, 17-10-2016