LIST OF NEWSPAPERS COVERED

BUSINESS LINE

DECCAN HERALD

ECONOMIC TIMES

HINDU

HINDUSTAN TIMES

PIONEER

STATESMAN

TELEGRAPH

TRIBUNE

1

CONTENTS

AADHAR 3-5

CIVIL SERVICE 6-7

CONSTITUTIONS 8-10

CORRUPTION 11

DISABLED PERSONS 12-13

DATTA PROTECTION 14-15

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 16-20

EDUCATION 21-27

EMPLOYMENT 28

ENVIRONMENT 29-30

HEALTH SERVICES 31-35

HOUSING 36-37

INCOME DISTRIBUTION 38-39

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS 40-46

JUDICIARY 47-48

LIBRARIES 49-51

POLICE 52-54

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 55-57

PUBLIC FINANCE 58-60

RECREATION 61

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 62-63

2

AADHAR

HINDUSTAN TIMES, JAN 25, 2018Aadhaar empowers the people, not the State

Aadhaar is legally backed by the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which covers privacy protection measures relating to informed consent, collection limitation, and use and purpose limitation and sharing restrictions.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey 

Aadhaar is the most trusted and widely held unique identification system available in India

today. It empowers 119 crore Indians with a credible identity and inspires more trust and

confidence between person to person and person to a system than any other identity document in

the country.

This is possible because of Aadhaar’s technology, its platform, and the authentication

infrastructure. Thanks to its potential of cleansing the system of fake, ghost and duplicate

identities, Aadhaar has become a game changer for the poor. It has also curbed black money,

money-laundering and checked benami dealings and banking frauds, improved tax compliance,

transparency and hassle-free delivery of State services. Critics of Aadhaar claim that it is a

surveillance tool, which may alter the State-citizen relationship, and that it has led to data

breaches and exclusions. With due respect to the critics, these allegations are unfounded.

It is relevant here to discuss the US’ Social Security Number (SSN) story, which was brought in

through an enactment in 1935, for the limited purpose of providing social security benefits

during the Great Depression. In 1942, the US expanded its scope, mandating all federal agencies

to use SSN for their programmes. In 1962, SSN was adopted as the Tax Identification Number

and, in 1976, the Social Security Act was further amended to say that any state may utilise the

SSN number for taxation, general public assistance, driver’s licence, or motor vehicle

registration law to establish a citizen’s identity.

3

This did not go unchallenged in the courts, which finally ruled that the mandatory use of the

number to be constitutional and that the “mandatory disclosure of one’s social security number

does not so threaten the sanctity of individual privacy as to require constitutional protection”.

In other cases, courts said: “Requiring an SSN on a driver’s license application is not

unconstitutional, nor is a requirement that welfare recipients furnish their SSNs” and “preventing

fraud in federal welfare programmes is an important goal, and the SSN requirement is a

reasonable means of promoting that goal”.

Shutting down Aadhaar is not the answer to the privacy question

In Britain, the National Insurance Number (NIN) is required from those who want to work, open

bank accounts, pay taxes, want to receive child benefits and even those who want to vote.

Arguing that neither SSN nor NIN is based on biometrics, critics object to the collection of

biometric data and the system of central number, which can potentially link all databases. They

must realise that the collection of biometrics by the State for a legitimate purpose is an

established practice sanctioned by law in India.

First, a citizen is statutorily required to give biometrics if s/he wants a licence, sell or buy

properties or get a passport. Two, creating a system of a central number in a central database by

the State and mandatory use of such a number and its linking in most citizen databases — be it

SSN in USA or NIN in Britain that potentially enables the State to trace every person — has not

rendered their citizens vulnerable to State surveillance. This is because there are enough

safeguards in place. Similarly, the Aadhaar Act too has safeguards that prevent it from being

used as an ‘electronic leash’ or an ‘instrument of state surveillance’.

Aadhaar is based on three principles: minimal information, optimal ignorance and federated

database. In its life cycle, an Aadhaar database has your name, address, gender, date of birth/age

4

and photograph and core biometrics, mobile number and email. The core biometrics is encrypted

and is not shared. When people use Aadhaar for accessing services, their information remains in

silos of federated databases so that each agency that uses it remains optimally ignorant. The

UIDAI’s recent measures ---- Virtual ID, UID Token, and Limited E-KYC ---- will further

strengthen privacy.

Aadhaar does not collect or receive any information from any service provider or a linking

exercise. The UIDAI responds to such verification requests by replying either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. In

few cases, if required, and the UIDAI sends only basic KYC details available with it. Thus

Aadhaar empowers the people, not the State.

Aadhaar is legally backed by the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which covers privacy protection measures

relating to informed consent, collection limitation, and use and purpose limitation and sharing

restrictions, and the UIDAI has a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of the Act. UIDAI

remains open to constructive suggestions and will continue to continuously review and

strengthen its system for the empowerment of people.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey is CEO, UIDAI(The views expressed are personal)

5

CIVIL SERVICE

DECCAN HERALD, JAN 24, 2018CEO stays IAS officer Rohini's transferAshwini Y S, Bengaluru, Rohini Sindhuri

Hours after it transferred IAS officer and Hassan Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri, the government came under the gaze of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), who directed the government to "put on hold" the transfer orders with immediate effect.

In a strongly worded letter, CEO Sanjiv Kumar reminded the ruling party that it cannot transfer deputy commissioners on election duty without the concurrence of the Election Commission of India (ECI).Deputy commissioners in the state, at present, are involved in electoral roll revision activities ahead of the Assembly polls.

The government on Monday transferred seven IAS officers, three of whom were deputy commissioners of districts, including Sindhuri.

Sindhuri's transfer took a political colour with the JD(S) attacking the government for shunting the officer as she created "hurdles" for Hassan district-in-charge minister A Manju.

Her transfer also comes just a week ahead of the Mahamastabhisheka in Shravanabelagola in Hassan district and has sparked protests in various parts of the state.

Sindhuri on Monday was transferred and posted as managing director, Karnataka Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (KSIIDC).

In his letter to Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha, CEO Sanjiv Kumar on Tuesday said the government, despite repeated reminders, had continued to ignore the ECI rules.Kumar told DH that the government had communicated to him that it had acknowledged the letter.

"I have not received anything in writing. But I had a discussion with the chief secretary. She said that the government will abide by the ECI's instructions. The ECI is serious. All instructions must be followed."

He said that his office had taken cognizance of the matter after it received information on the transfers from various sources, including the media. The government has now sought concurrence for the transfers.

6

Citing Section 13CC of the Representation of People Act, 1950, the CEO has said that all officers involved in roll revision work were on deputation with the ECI, until the final electoral roll is published on February 28.

Till the ECI gives its concurrence, the deputy commissioners have been advised not to leave their headquarters and hand over charge.

DECCAN HERALD, JAN 31, 2018Bonanza likely for state govt employeesP M Raghunandan, Bengaluru, DH News Service, Jan 31 2018, 1:40 IST

The employees are expecting the government to give them a good pay hike in view of the upcoming Assembly elections. DH File photo for representation image

The Sixth Pay Commission headed by former IAS officer M R Sreenivasa Murthy is expected to recommend a 25% to 30% hike in salary of government employees.

The panel will submit its report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday.

The four-member commission, which was constituted in June, is also expected to recommend a five-day work schedule for the employees.

It will also determine the new Dearness Allowances (DA) formula and propose quantum of various other allowances for the employees.

The chief minister is likely to incorporate the commission's recommendations in the state budget scheduled to be presented on February 16.

The employees are expecting the government to give them a good pay hike in view of the upcoming Assembly elections.

The government employees' association has been seeking pay parity with their counterparts in the central government.

7

CONSTITUTIONS

TRIBUNE, JAN 24, 2018Time for Prez to defend the ConstitutionD Shyam Babu

Taking note of recent open and brazen attacks on the Constitution, President Ram Nath Kovind must defend the Constitution, like President KR Narayanan chose to do.

On January 25, President Ram Nath Kovind will be giving his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day. Though the tradition has become an annual ritual which receives people's distracted nod, this time it assumes significance. This is also the only occasion in a year when the grand patriarch of the Republic reveals his hopes, his fears, and also what makes him tick - crucially, without the "aid and advice" of his council of ministers.

Moreover, in tune with a policy decision taken last March, Mr Kovind is likely to give his address in Hindi only. Since he assumed office in July 2017, there have been increasing attacks on the Constitution and the core values of the nation. It is the constitutional obligation of the President to protect the Constitution. It is to be seen whether Mr Kovind will treat these attacks serious enough to warrant his reaction. When it comes to defending the Constitution, one of his more illustrious predecessors left a good precedent to emulate.

Constitutional apostasy

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are critical of the Constitution for being less Indian and their preference for a more desi concoction is no secret, either. In the past, the RSS openly demanded that the Constitution be replaced with the Manusmriti, but it is no longer so specific. It is not clear whether the change is a tactical silence or a change of heart.

The current spate of attacks on the Constitution started in September last when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat highlighted the foreign sources of our Constitution and several laws and suggested that we must address the issue.

He said, "A discussion and debate should be held on this. After a comprehensive national debate, we will have to arrive at a consensus and such system should be made available to people." As a citizen, Mr Bhagwat is perfectly within his right to demand even abrogation of the Constitution and, what's more, he has articulated his views in a scholarly fashion.

8

What about two of his followers — one is a union minister and other an MLA — who swore to "bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India" and did the opposite?

Union Minister of State for Employment and Skill Development Anantkumar Hegde declared in December: "We are here to change the Constitution." The outrage his utterance caused forced him to retract the statement. When good faith is in short supply, the denial of an intent reinforces the intent.

Mr Surendra Singh, a BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh, was more brazen and definitive: he announced that India would be a 'Hindu Rashtra' by 2024. Mr Singh wants it as the icing on the cake for RSS's centenary celebrations in 2025. And the government's silence is, in any case, more revealing.

A good precedent

President KR Narayanan's vigilance foiled the earlier attempt to change the Constitution. Echoing Dr BR Ambedkar, he said on January 27, 2000: "Today, when there is so much talk about revising the Constitution or even writing a new Constitution, we have to consider whether it is the Constitution that has failed us or whether it is we who have failed the Constitution."

His timely intervention forced the Atal Behari Vajpayee government to appoint a commission to review the working of the Constitution, instead of reviewing the Constitution itself — its original intent. When, a month later, the government set up the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution, it was a body dead on arrival.

Some people saw in Mr Narayanan an 'activist' President, though he was duty-bound to defend the Constitution. Not acting in the manner at the time he did would have made his position untenable.

The oath, our hope

The Constitution places an onerous burden on the shoulders of the President, a titular head, by making him swear to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" (Article 60). The only other place having this expression is Article 159 which prescribes the oath of office for governors.

9

However, being the President's agents, the governors are part of the former in discharging this responsibility.

The nation has been fortunate to not have to unpack what the founding fathers had in mind when they expected the President as a legal person to defend the cornerstone of the nation. Interestingly, all other functionaries mentioned in the Constitution — from the Prime Minister to MLAs — are merely enjoined to "bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India." They are not even accorded the prestige of defending the law of the land; it is suffice for their station to remain faithful to the Constitution. Therefore, the President of India is uniquely placed as the defender of our secular faith, as enshrined in the Constitution and as illuminated in the Kesavananda Bharati Judgment (1973).

The President's address on the eve of our national festival, the Republic Day, is a remembrance in gratitude how our founding fathers not only brought us independence but also created a political system that is in harmony with values like equality, freedom, rule of law, etc, that transcend country and creed. It is also a pat on our backs that, no matter how stormy the nation's sailing at the moment may be, the ship of the Republic is sturdy enough to stay its course.

The nation now stands at one of those junctures where those who are called to work the Constitution are questioning its very legitimacy with impunity. What is expected of the President to do now, like most of his predecessors did, is to instill people's confidence in the Constitution.

Last word

We can ignore at our own peril GK Chesterton's wise take on eternal vigilance: "The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt. People talk about the impatience of the populace; but sound historians know that most tyrannies have been possible because men moved too late. It is often essential to resist a tyranny before it exists. It is no answer to say, with a distant optimism, that the scheme is only in the air. A blow from a hatchet can only be parried while it is in the air."

10

CORRUPTION

PIONEER, JAN 25, 2018LALU, MISHRA AWARDED 5 YR JAIL TERM IN FODDER SCAM CASE4

5

 A special CBI court today sentenced former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra to 5 years in jail in a fodder scam case.Earlier in the day, CBI judge SS Prasad pronounced Prasad and Mishra guilty in the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.62 crore from Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s.

This is the third conviction of Prasad, the RJD supremo, in fodder scam cases. 

11

DISABLED PERSONS

ECONOMIC TIMES, JAN 25, 2018Government jobs for those with learning disabilities too 

NEW DELHI: India has opened government jobs to differently abled with learning disabilities, autism and victims of acid attacks. 

Nine months after the enactment of Right of Persons with Disabilities Act in April 2017, the Centre has spelt out the rules for employing differently, increased the reservation from 3% to 4% and reserved government jobs for persons with autism, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, specific learning disabilities and acid attack victims. 

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has framed rules for reserving, advertising and filling up of government vacancies across all groups and directed all ministries to follow them starting this year. 

The office memorandum dated January 15, which has been reviewed by ET, specifies 1% reservation for differently abled with low vision and blindness, another 1% for deaf and hard of hearing, 1% for locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy and 1% for autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness. If a person has multiple disabilities, he would compete with persons in the third category with intellectual disabilities.. 

Terming it as a "landmark move", disability rights activist Javed Abidi said, "It is a paradigm shift for India. This is the first time we are including intellectual disabilities and going beyond the traditional definition of disability." 

The employment rules also specify a procedure to exempt a cadre or establishment from reservation for differently abled. If a ministry wants to exempt any cadre fully or partly from the provisions of reservation, it would make a reference to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the ministry of social justice and empowerment and give full justification for the proposal. 

The common reason for the exemption could be the nature of work to be carried out by a government department. 

DEPwD would consult Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) and then take an informed decision. Every candidate would have to furnish a certificate of disability and if selected for a government job would have to undergo a medical fitness test. 

12

The expansion of quota and the number of benchmark disabilities from the previous 7 to 21 follows enactment of Right of Persons with Disabilities Act in April 2017 and notification of rules in June 2017. 

13

DATA PROTECTION

STATESMSAN, JAN 29, 2018Government to set up apex cyber crime coordination centre

To deal with cyber crimes such as financial frauds, circulation of communal and pornographic contents, the Union Home Ministry is planning to set up an apex coordination centreand has asked states to establish a similar mechanism in every district.

It has also released Rs 83 crore for setting up of a cyber forensic training laboratory-cum-training centre for police officials in each state. The funds were given under the Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children Scheme, a Home ministry official told PTI.

The apexcentre–Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)–would be set up in Delhi.

It would coordinate with state governments and union territories, and closely monitor the cyber spaceand social media with due emphasis on vernacular content.

The centre would also block those websites which flout India’s laws and circulate child porn, and communally and racially sensitive content.

The official, requesting anonymity, said that the centre would maintain a list of suspects and the leads generated during investigations in cyber crime cases would be shared with law enforcement agencies through a “secured internal network”.

State governments have also beenasked to set up a state cyber crime coordination cell at the headquarter-level and also establish district cyber crime cells.

The ministry has already created a new wing — Cyber and Information SecurityDivision — to deal with the new-age challenge.

The move came in the wake of 1,44,496 cyber security attacks observed in the country during 2014-16.

Over a period of time, there has been a phenomenal increase in use of computers, smart phonesand internet. With this increase, cyber crimes have emerged as a major challenge for law enforcement agencies, the official said.

“The cyber crime cases are of varied types. These range from defacement of government websites, online financial frauds, online stalking and harassment, and data thefts. Each requires specialised investigative skill sets and forensic tools,” another official said.

Cyber crime cases pose technical, legal and administrative challenges in investigationwhich require strengthening of the institutional mechanism.

14

Phishing, scanning or probing, website intrusions and defacements, virus or malicious code and denial of service attacks are some types of cyber crimes.

National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) states that 5,693, 9,622 and 11,592 cyber crime cases were registered during 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively, showing a rise of 69 per cent during 2013 to 2014 and 20 per cent increase during 2014 to 2015.

The Home ministry has also advised the states to expedite setting up of cyber and mobile forensic labs, and to identify the need for research and development in specific areas of cyber space.

The states were asked to come up with suggestions for amendments in legal and policy framework dealing with such crimes.

15

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

TELEGRAPH, JAN 29, 2018Every economy is expandingPETER S. GOODMAN 32

London: A decade after the world had descended into a devastating economic crisis, a key marker of revival has finally been achieved. Every major economy on earth is expanding at once, a synchronous wave of growth that is creating jobs, lifting fortunes and tempering fears of popular discontent.

No tidy, all-encompassing narrative explains how the world has finally escaped the global downturn. The US has been propelled by government spending unleashed during the previous administration, plus a recent $1.5-trillion shot of tax cuts. Europe has finally felt the effects of cheap money pumped out by its central bank.

In general terms, improvement owes less to some newfound wellspring of wealth than the simple fact that many of the destructive forces that felled growth have finally exhausted their potency. The global crisis began more than a decade ago with the calamitous end of an American real estate bonanza that set off a global disaster involving so-called derivatives.

The long convalescence has yielded a global recovery that is far from blistering in pace, and geopolitical risks threaten its demise. Many economists are sceptical that the benefits of growth will reach beyond the educated, affluent, politically connected class that has captured most of the spoils in many countries and left behind working people whose wages have stagnated even as jobless rates have plunged.

Still, the fact that every major swath of the globe is expanding is a source of optimism. There is no guarantee that this expansion will prove more equitable. Yet, if growth were to evolve, bolstering wages while adding to the security of middle-class lives, the beginning would probably feel something like now.

"The world is less reliant on a few star performers," said Barret Kupelian, senior economist in the London office of PwC, the global accounting and consulting company. "If something bad happens in one economy, the fact that global growth is spread gives you more assurance that this is more sustainable."

The US, the world's largest economy, is into its ninth year of growth.

China has diminished fears of an abrupt halt to its decades-long growth trajectory. Europe, only recently dismissed as anaemic and hopelessly vexed by political dysfunction, has emerged as a growth leader. Even Japan, long synonymous with grinding decline, is expanding as well. Brazil is flashing tentative signs of recovery. #The result is a hopeful albeit fragile recovery, one vulnerable to the increasingly unpredictable predilections of world leaders.

16

BUSINESS LINE, JAN 29, 2018Economic reforms, not populism will be the key in the Budget: NITI Aayog VC

RICHA MISHRA  

Fiscal stress may restrain tax cuts

A topic of discussion among all today is whether Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget 2018-19 will be governed by populism or will he stick to economic reforms. While a strong view is emerging that since it will be an election Budget, Jaitley may adopt a populist approach, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman, Rajiv Kumar, thinks otherwise.

“This Prime Minister has not done anything so far that shows that he will succumb to populism,” Kumar told BusinessLine hinting that the Budget could continue with the reforms process.

However, given the fiscal stress in the economy, it may not be possible for the Finance Minister to think about cutting taxes, he said while remaining optimistic on strategic sale of Air India this fiscal.

Stating that what some may see as populism could actually be economic reforms, Kumar said, the schemes under implementation such as the Jan Dhan Yojna, or Atal Pension Yojna, or Fasal Bhima Yojna, or Saubhagya Scheme, or be it UjjwalaYojana, all can be termed as populist schemes. “But, are they? I don’t think so. These schemes are taking care of those who have been excluded from the inclusion process. These are part of the reforms initiatives taken by the government.”

“Please understand, if you have a private sector economy and if your economy is market driven, then there is a natural tendency for those who are not so well off to be left behind. Now, who takes care of them? It’s the government. And this is not populism. It is simply a necessary practice of having a smoothly working efficient capitalist market-based economy,” he pointed out.

Fiscal deficit

Asked whether Jaitley should be worrying about the fiscal deficit, Kumar said: “He should always be worrying about the fiscal deficit, as it is one of his major responsibilities. But, he should not be scared of letting the fiscal deficit targets slip, if it is needed.”

According to Kumar, “Public expenditure is counter cyclical instrument. And if the cycle demands that you borrow more to expand productive capacities or to compensate to the lack of

17

private investment or to compensate for many structural reforms you have taken which has disrupted the economic activity then even the NK Singh Committee and IMF — says that you are more than justified in breaching it.”

Breaching fiscal deficit target of 2017-18, if at all, is justified, as there was demonetisation, GST roll out, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, among others, he said adding “you had so many new things and economy requires time to settle to the new paradigm. He is fully justified.”

Revenue deficit

However, the number where the Finance Minister should be worried much more is the revenue deficit, said Kumar adding: “He should not permit revenue deficit to rise. His target should be to bring down revenue deficit to zero because revenue deficit means that you are borrowing to consume that’s never a good practice. As long as you are borrowing to expand your productive capacities you are fine.”

“Yes, you can be fiscally responsible but you cannot be a fiscal fundamentalist,” he stated.

Asked if global oil prices will be a cause of concern, he said, “Prices have firmed up and that’s an extra burden on us, but what can the Finance Minister do about it. What we can do is to lower dependence on imported oil and this is what we are doing – we have set an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable power by 2022 of which 62,000 MW is already up and running and another 30,000 MW is in the pipeline.”

TELEGRAPH, JAN 24, 2018Grossly opaqueEconomic performance should not be assessed by means of GDP aloneAnup Sinha 

This is the season for assessing the performance of the Indian economy during the financial year drawing to a close and the imminent budget announcements that will reveal what the government intends to do for the forthcoming year. The one single index that is most commonly used for the assessment is gross domestic product or GDP. Performance is assessed in terms of the rate of growth of GDP. The economy’s health is considered to be better the higher this rate of growth. Since the method of computing GDP is fairly similar across countries, the measure is comparable across nations and even to a large extent, over time. Not many people know the mysteries behind the complex measure but everyone seems to have accepted it as the primary indicator of an economy’s health. The GDP measures the value of new goods and services produced within a geographical space (nation) in a given period of time (usually one year). The new goods and services when bought and sold create incomes for the seller and expenditure for the buyer. The incomes generated help people consume those goods and services. The more income the more

18

the potential for consumption. Consumption is taken to be the basic determinant of welfare in a society.

In spite of the great popularity of GDP and its growth as measures of economic performance, it has serious limitations. Like all one-dimensional aggregates it conceals more than it reveals. For instance, the aggregate GDP and its growth tell us nothing about the distribution of the income produced, whether it is terribly unevenly distributed or not. The GDP aggregates all goods and services and hence does not reveal the composition of production: are we producing more guns and less food? We can infer nothing about the extent of absolute poverty and deprivations in terms of food, sanitation, health, education, gender parity and economic security. The measure also reveals little about the extent of unutilized resources available in an economy, like capital and labour. A good quality of life entails certain minimum rights and liberties. The GDP discloses nothing on this front too. Above all, it fails to reveal anything about environmental degradation and resource depletion that occur during production and consumption. 

The assumption behind this notion of income and its importance stems from the primacy of consumption in defining the goodness of an individual’s life. If that is indeed so, then consumption must be good for all individuals. This assertion would then be true for not only people living now, but for all people yet to come. In other words, consumption possibilities (as large as possible) must be available for all generations to come. An individual has a finite lifetime, but a nation or humanity is supposed to live for an indefinitely long time. Hence, if consumption possibilities are to remain intact for future generations to enjoy, we must ensure that the capacity to produce income through the production of new goods and services be passed on to the future.

How are goods and services produced? 

Income can be viewed as the value of a stream of returns from some stock of productive assets like capital. For example, consider a factory with machines using raw materials and labour to produce textiles. The commodity produced is textiles; and the factory, machines, raw materials and labour constitute productive assets. Without these assets, it is evident, no production and hence no income would be possible. And without income, there would be no consumption. 

In a very broad sense, all such assets can be thought of as productive capital from which a stream of income may be generated. Capital can be of many different types. The most commonly known type of capital asset is human-made, like machinery, equipment, buildings and so on. One might also think of human capital; the skills and experience that people acquire. Similarly, one can think of the sum total of knowledge that each generation inherits as capital. This can include the Pythagorean theorem as well as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Finally, one can think of nature and all the services that come from natural capital that are so essential for production. The quality of top soil, fertile land, fresh air, rain, oxygen, forests, other species of plants and animals, naturally available minerals, all constitute natural capital. It is the combination of all these that help human beings produce goods and services. It is only then that the act of consumption can take place. 

It is possible, however, to use up this portfolio of productive assets without replenishing their depreciation. In fact, it is possible to ‘eat up’ capital so as to produce more income and hence

19

more consumption. A simple example will suffice: one can cut down trees and even whole forests and sell timber to make more income and enable more consumption. However, if the forest cover is not replenished, then there will be less timber to sell in the future. Capital stock will be reduced and hence the income that can be generated from it will decline too. The GDP, however, will register a healthy growth rate when the forests are being felled. High current GDP growth rates can come at the cost of devastating impoverishment of future generations in terms of their ability to consume.

Economists have pointed out that while capital stocks can be of very many kinds, they are substitutable. If the current generation ‘eats up’ all the oil (a form of natural capital) available at the moment, it is possible that future generations may not suffer if a substitute for oil is found and made available to them for doing all the functions of oil. Then, of course, future generations need not suffer. What this implies is that capital is passed down as a non-diminishing stock for the future generation to use as it chooses to. If the stock diminishes, then the total income that can be derived from it is likely to shrink too.

While economists have claimed that all types of capital assets are potentially substitutable, ecologists and biologists have pointed out that some forms of natural capital, particularly living beings in the form of biodiversity cannot be substituted. There are two reasons for this. The first is that scientists are still not fully aware about the role different species play in providing ecological services, in biogeochemical cycles and the food web. 

It could be disastrous if, unknowingly, we make extinct a particularly useful species of bacteria. The second reason is that biodiversity is essential for the development of the ecosystem, its resilience and the diversity of its gene pool. Hence, the preservation and conservation of biodiversity is of paramount interest in maintaining the stock of natural capital. Hence, a picture of a spotted barn owl is not a substitute for the real thing. Gross domestic product and the rate of growth say nothing about the size and composition of the society’s stock of capital, including the preservation of biodiversity.

When one speaks of the future of the nation and its economic performance, one needs to discard the exclusive reliance on GDP. It can be quite misleading. It blanks out so many factors that affect the quality of life — now and in the future, for human beings and all other living creatures.

The author is former professor of Economics, IIM Calcutta

20

EDUCATION

ECONOMIC TIMES, JAN 29, 2018Visva-Bharati VC retires, leaves without handing over charge

Visva-Bharati University's officiating Vice Chancellor Swapan Kumar Dutta retired yesterday and left office without handing over the charge to anybody.

According to the university statute, the senior-most director of the institute is assigned as the acting vice- chancellor. Thus, Sabujkoli Sen, the senior most director, was supposed to become the acting VC.

However, Sen said, "I have not yet received any letter from his (VC's) office to act as the officiating vice chancellor. Though Sunday is a working day here, I cannot join as the officiating VC."

Sen also said that he knew that Saturday was Dutta's last day as the officiating vicechancellor.

Swapan Kumar Dutta, who retired yesterday, was not available for a comment on the matter.

In March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was appointed as the chancellor of Visva-Bharati.

In February 2016, then President Pranab Mukherjee had approved the dismissal of then Vice-Chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta: It was the first instance of sacking of the VC of a central university.

Since then, Dutta has been working as the officiating vice chancellor.

According to university officials, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) neither appointed a new vice- chancellor nor extended the service of Dutta till yesterday.

HINDUSTAN TIMS, JAN 25, 2018Revamped AICTE curriculum says engineering students will study Vedas, Puranas, yoga

The course on Essence of Indian Knowledge Tradition will also focus on Indian philosophical, linguistic and artistic traditions, along with yoga and Indian perspective of modern scientific worldview.Neelam Pandey 

21

Along with the internet of things, big data and bullet trains, engineering students will now have

to study the Vedas, Puranas and tark shastra (logic), according to the revamped curriculum

released by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Wednesday.

They will also be expected to know something about the Constitution and environment sciences

as part of mandatory courses whose scores will have no bearing on their final credits. The

changes will kick in this academic year. “The syllabus has been revamped by preparing a model

curriculum as an updated curriculum is a student’s right,” said HRD minister Prakash Javadekar.

The course on Essence of Indian Knowledge Tradition will also focus on Indian philosophical,

linguistic and artistic traditions, along with yoga and Indian perspective of modern scientific

worldview.

“The course aims at imparting basic principles of thought process, reasoning and inferencing,”

according to the course objective.

It is good to teach non-discipline courses as it helped broaden horizons, said Dheeraj Sanghi, a

professor of computer science at IIT Kanpur, but said that it should not be mandatory

The new curriculum lays emphasis on practical knowledge and lab work -- the credits required

for theory have been reduced to 160 from 220.

Students will also be required to intern with industries as well as the social sector. “This will help

engineering graduates connect with the need of the industry and society at large,” Javadekar said,

adding that the curriculum should be updated every year and changes made per the needs of the

industry.

Industry has often voiced concerns over the quality of engineers in the country, saying a majority

of them were not employable and had to be trained on job.

22

India’s more than 3,000 institutes produce about 700,000 engineers every year but barely half of

them find employment. In 2015-16, of the 758,000 graduates, only 334,000 got jobs through

campus placements, AICTE data says.

“Every student, on admission, would be put through a mandatory induction training to reinforce

the fundamental concepts and the required language skills for technical education,” AICTE

chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe said.

Universities have been asked to set up committees and update the curriculum every year. Vice

chancellors who attended the meeting agreed to adopt the new curriculum, an AICTE official

said.

Management programme courses, too, have been changed.

“The minimum number of credits for award of MBA (master in business administration)/ PGDM

(post graduate diploma in management) course is 102 credits,” Sahasrabudhe said.

HINDU, JAN 24, 2018Varsity introduces credit system for distance education coursesR. Sujatha

23

Varsity will also offer online courses from next academic year

The University of Madras is revamping its distance mode education programme. Foremost

among the proposed changes is the introduction of a Choice-Based Credit System at the

Institute of Distance Education from the next academic year.

Candidates will be allowed to take 20% of the required credits through Massive Open

Online Courses (MOOCs). Thus, a candidate requiring 20 credits will be allowed to take up

to five courses online.

Transfer of credits

Candidates will also be allowed to transfer their credits from regular courses to IDE and

vice-versa, to enable them to complete the programme.

To ensure a smooth transfer, the core courses will remain common to the regular and

distance modes. Candidates can also choose NPTEL (National Programme on Technology

Enhanced Learning) courses — both certificate courses and those that require them to take

exams will be permitted.

“MOOC courses are announced a month or two before a semester begins. The chairman of

the Board of Studies will identify the courses that candidates can choose,” said university

Vice-Chancellor P. Duraisamy.

24

As soft skills are not mandatory for the distance mode, they will be permitted to take other

online courses, he said. Such major policy changes are normally placed for approval in the

Academic Council which meets annually in the last week of February.

The university has decided that this procedure will be dispensed with and the Academic

Council will authorise the Syndicate for blanket approval of the courses in the interest of the

students, the V-C said.

The university has shut down its study centres outside the State, complying with a rule laid

down by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

With the Ministry of Human Resource permitting universities to offer online courses, it

plans to offer such courses from the next academic year.

“We have not admitted anyone outside the State through the distance education programme

this year. Those in the second and third years are continuing their programme to enable

them to complete their courses,” he added.

E-books, audio-visual and self-testing modules are under preparation. Weekly discussion

fora through Skype have been planned. “We cannot do away with contact classes. So

weekly contact programmes will be held,” Mr. Duraisamy said.

According to him, the university has prescribed a higher number of credits than the UGC.

STATESMAN, JAN 24, 2018Exit the Mentors

The bicentenary celebrations of Kolkata’s Presidency College ~ upgraded to a university in 2010 ~ have concluded on a disconcerting note, of a kind that is bound to rock the boat of a potential centre of excellence. In a rare moment of self-reflection, the Mentor Group ~ remarkably high profile when it was put in place by the present political dispensation ~ has urged the Chief Minister to disband the entity that boasts distinguished brains in various disciplines. On closer reflection, both dispensations have erred while attempting to go on overdrive.

The CPI-M’s cardinal mistake was not to have made the college autonomous in the truest sense of the term. It bears recall that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, an alumnus, was overruled by the party’s education cell. Trinamul constituted a Mentor Group, and thus denuded the importance of the Vice-Chancellor. It was scarcely realised that Presidency College had traditionally been run by the Principal… in consultation with departmental heads.

25

At the helm of the university, the Vice-Chancellor has had to function within the umbra and penumbra of authoritative entities, the Governing Council being another. The collective jaw-dropping at Derozio Hall on Saturday over the Mentor Group’s winding-up suggestion coincides with a major problem that the authorities have been trying to grapple with ~ vacant seats in both the science and humanities streams.

In its report, advanced to the Chief Minister, the Mentor Group has recommended its own dissolution ~ “While the government may set up a PMG (Presidency Mentor Group) as and when required, it is not a requirement”. The likes of Sugato Bose have realised that it is a dispensable embroidery that has outlived its utility.

That rare expression of candour must prompt the query ~ Was it really necessary to set up the Group in July 2011? It will be open to question too whether the Mentor Group has indeed fulfilled its role. Chief among its failures has been its inability to address the problems of student-vacancies, not to forget the resignation of distinguished brains, pre-eminently from the Departments of Physics and History. Academics, including those inducted from abroad, have resigned owing to “pay disparity” or what they call the “lack of academic independence”.

The semi-vacant classrooms bear witness to the fundamental malaise that neither the Mentors nor the Governing Council nor for that matter the other statutory bodies have devised a formula to resolve. For all the bicentenary frills and frippery, the fundamental shortcomings have regretfully been accorded the short shrift.

For now, a rational course of action will have to be devised… principally by according a free hand to the Vice-Chancellor and the departmental heads. There really is no need for the alumni association to pull up a chair at every turn. The recommendations of the Mentor Group’s sixth report urgently call for reflection though its effectiveness will now be open to question… as seldom before.

DECCAN HERALD, JAN 31, 2018Govt sets deadline for compulsory Kannada in classes I, IIBharat Joshi

According to the rules framed under the KLL Act, Kannada should have been introduced in Class I in the 2017-18 academic year. DH File photo for representation purpose

Private schools, including those affiliated to the CBSE and ICSE, have been given time till February 10 to show their willingness to teach Kannada as a subject in the next academic year.The Department of Public Instruction wants schools to teach Kannada as the first or second language in Classes I and II in the 2018-19 academic year.

This is as per the Kannada Language Learning (KLL) Act.

26

The department has directed heads of all private schools to use the Student Achievement Tracking System portal and enter the choice of their students - Kannada as the first language or second.

Based on this, February 10 is the deadline for block education officers (BEO) and deputy directors of public instruction (DDPIs) to find out their requirement of Kannada textbooks.

According to the rules framed under the KLL Act, Kannada should have been introduced in Class I in the 2017-18 academic year.

Now, with Kannada slated to become compulsory from 2018-19, it will be extended to other classes with each passing year. By 2027, Kannada will be taught from Class I-X.

The decision to make Kannada compulsory was taken after the government lost a two-decade-old legal battle in the Supreme Court on making Kannada the medium of instruction.

Karnataka has 1.13 crore students in 78,146 schools. Of them, nearly 50,000 schools are government-run.

A section of private schools, however, have slammed the move to make Kannada compulsory."There are genuine issues. Some schools don't even have a Kannada teacher," said Shalini Rajneesh, principal secretary (primary and secondary education).

"We plan to offer private schools e-learning tools and also train their primary teachers. We want to make the policy amenable," she said.

Any school that refuses to offer Kannada as first or second language as per the KLL Act will lose recognition, Shalini said.

"The Act and rules are very clear. What else can we do but derecognise schools?"

27

EMPLOYMENT

ECONOMIC TIMES, JAN 24, 2018Government to start releasing quarterly employment figures from September

NEW DELHI: The government will start releasing quarterly data on employment based on household surveys from September this year, said Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar. Kumar said recommendations of a panel on employment data has been accepted by the government. Henceforth, he said there will be data release on jobs based on household surveys. "...those surveys have already started and (from) coming September onwards on you will get quarterly data based on extensive household surveys on employment," he said in an interview to Rajya Sabha TV. Kumar further said there would be employment data based on payroll surveys. "We are starting that also...we will use the high frequency data, for example when you ask employers like Ola, Uber, Flipkart, Amazon...these organisations are not included in the employment statistics," Kumar said. The government in May last year had set up a task force headed by the then Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya to recommend ways to deal with employment data discrepancies and come up with reliable solutions to promote job creation.

DECCAN HERALD, JAN 31, 2018UP govt announces jobs to dependants of martyred jawans

The Yogi Adityanath government has said it will provide employment on compassionate grounds to dependants of martyred jawans of armed forces and central para military forces who had a domicile of origin in Uttar Pradesh. 

28

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Adityanath yesterday.

State Cabinet Minister Shrikant Sharma said: "It has been decided that dependants of jawans of armed forces and central para military forces, who attain martyrdom while discharging their duties, will be given jobs on compassionate grounds. It will be a tribute to the martyrs from the state government."

Sharma said the government has also approved installing e-pass machines at 80,000 fair price shops in the state.

By June, all fair price shops in the state will be equipped with this facility, putting a break on pilferage, he added.

ENVIRONMENT

STATESMAN, JAN 29, 018China pushes agenda for climate change leadershipAnna North, Armin Rosencranz       

Winters in Beijing are brutal. One day, the city can be shrouded in an intense smog that often disrupts daily activities. The next day might bring clearer skies, but at the hands of bitter northern winds that make the air both colder and cleaner. The Chinese government is feeling extreme pressure to clean the air. This is a health issue and the Chinese people are demanding a solution.

China was once known for pursuing progress at all costs. China’s energy supply is based heavily on coal. Coal burning has largely created China’s air pollution problem. Chinese officials announced on 1 January 2018 that over 500 car models will no longer be manufactured in China because these vehicles do not meet strict emissions requirements.  Experts estimate that this cut will only affect about 1 per cent of China’s auto industry. Nevertheless, the elimination of so many car models at one time indicates that the government is taking the air pollution issue

seriously.

China is making moves to streamline and simplify its car industry. The Chinese government is trying to merge smaller auto makers as well as phase out many superfluous vehicle models. China uses an efficient numbering system to label new versions of cars. Even when

29

manufacturers make small changes and improvements, the new vehicle gets a unique number. This simple and centralised organization enables China to announce such a large phase-out.

Ever since President Trump backed the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement in 2017, many have been looking to China as the new world leader of climate change policy. China is the world’s biggest auto market, adding 28 million vehicles to the market in 2016 alone.

Meanwhile, the US is taking historic steps backwards on emissions and climate issues.  China is pushing forward, and their automakers are stepping up as well. In the past, China was hesitant to implement strict measures that could harm the auto companies.  Now, however, they have devised a system and are pushing ahead. The Chinese government is already a major patron of electric cars. To help the auto companies, they have pledged a tax benefit for purchasing electric vehicles that will extend through 2020.

The push for clean-energy vehicles is just a piece of the larger Chinese agenda to lead the world in climate change policy. The Chinese government recently announced an ambitious carbon trading market which was intended to be opened by the end of 2017. It seems now the plan will need to be simplified to get it started, but China still seems committed to the idea.

With the European Union’s carbon trading market and China’s proposed market, a very large percentage of the world’s emissions will be incorporated into these markets. This plan will incentivise companies across all industries in China to think green. The proposed Chinese emissions trading scheme will provide further support for electric vehicles and strict emissions standards.

China will likely continue to push its auto industry in a cleaner direction. Through its commitment to curbing climate change, China will reduce its own impact while also paving a path for others to follow.

China’s projected Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) gives China the tools to assure that they honour the pledges they made in the 2015 Paris Agreement. The government will set emissions limits for companies. If the company manages to beat the emissions expectation, it can sell its excess emissions credit for profit. The government plans to lower the limits gradually over time to force Chinese industry to become cleaner. The trading scheme will initially start with the power sector and then gradually expand to other industries such as aluminium and cement.

By the time the ETS program is fully implemented in 2020, experts believe the plan will cover about 15 per cent of the world’s emissions. The plan could also make China’s peak emissions levels occur sooner than the 2030 date set in the Paris agreement. Even though there is not yet an announcement for when the market will be up and running, it provides a framework for China to deliver on the promises it made in Paris.

There is also speculation that China’s ETS could be linked with the EU’s ETS system. Europe’s ETS is much smaller than China’s proposed one, but linking the two programs would undoubtedly have significant impact on reducing global carbon emssions.

30

The writers are, respectively, a student of Tulane University, USA and a professor of law at Jindal Global University, Sonipat.

HEALTH SERVICES

STATESMAN, JAN 24, 2018Unethical healthcarePSM Rao     

hospitalIt would be perilous for society to leave health and two other sectors ~ education and food ~ to the total mercy of market forces. The startling symptoms of the health sector’s commercialisation and medical negligence are clearly discernible. As many as 63 children died in Gorakhpur (U.P.) on 13 August last year due to the interrupted oxygen supply ~ a commercial reason.

A similar ghastly incident occurred less than a month after that at Farukkabad where 14 children died because of the same reason. Similarly last month’s incident at Delhi’s Max hospital, where a live baby was declared dead, epitomises medical callousness.

The list of other unethical practices is too long for a recital here. Consider the most distressing acts of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance committed with impunity by the people of the sector:

31

* The unscrupulous hospitals accept patients not on the basis of the seriousness of the ailment urgency for treatment, but on their paying capacity. The sick without the means are not admitted, while those with sufficient money but no disease get unnecessary treatment.

* Doctors prescribe tests lured more by the kickbacks the diagnostic centres offer than on the need for such tests. They prescribe the codenamed “sink tests” with one or two ‘marked tests’. Patients are charged for all the tests and samples collected for all of them. But the actual test is conducted for the ‘marked test’ and fake normal results are given for all the other tests; the extra samples, say blood, collected is thrown into the sink, so the name ‘sink’ tests.

* Patients are unnecessarily referred to other doctors just to get a cut from them. Those who give better commission get more referrals.

* The illegal sex determination tests are conducted and the information is secretly conveyed, codenaming, for instance, a male child as ‘Ganesh’ and a female as ‘Lakshmi’.

* Surgeries like hysterectomies, C-sections, cataract, knee replacements and lower back operations are unnecessarily performed to make a fast buck.

* Pharmaceutical companies supply expensive gifts and medical equipment to entice doctors to prescribe their drugs. Apart from gifts, foreign trips and five-star accommodation are offered to doctors and their families.

* The poor and illiterate people are used as guinea pigs for clinical trials.

* The ambulance services are paid bribes for bringing emergency patients to private hospitals.

* Hospitals force doctors to generate a monthly targeted revenue to justify their high salaries whereby doctors subject the innocent to unnecessary tests and procedures.

The Medical Council of India prohibits all these unethical practices. Yet its order has had little or impact on the errant doctors and hospitals. The latest health policy, National Health Policy 2017, commits itself, “to the highest professional standards, integrity and ethics”. But the objective cannot be achieved without applying the brakes on the ongoing commercialisation of the health sector.

For the past two-and-a-half decades, private interest has been accorded precedence over universal health care. This has forced people to increasingly depend on the private sector.

The National Sample Survey has shown that 72 per cent of rural and 79 per cent of urban healthcare are treated in the private sector. Thus, the private institutions dominated in-patient treatment both in rural (58 per cent) and urban areas (68 per cent). Despite the government’s boast of several health schemes, a staggering 86 per cent of rural population and 82 per cent of the urban population are not covered by any scheme whatsoever. Another disturbing feature is that 20 per cent of child births in rural areas and 11 per cent in urban areas are taking place in the home, not in any hospital or under medical supervision.

32

The nexus between corporate hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and doctors has increased the risks and costs of healthcare to such an extent that millions of middle class Indians are driven to penury when they fall sick; every year, more than 3.5 crore people fall below the poverty line due to illness.

The current health expenditure (CHE) ~ including prepayments for insurance premiums ~ by households as estimated by National Health Accounts 2013-14, was Rs 3,06,938 crore, equal to 2.7 per cent of GDP, and 72.9 per cent of CHE or 67.7 per cent of the total health expenditure. Of this, out-of-pocket spending was Rs 2,90,932 crore, 2.6 per cent of GDP or Rs 2,336 per capita.

The private medical industry has been flourishing particularly since 1990. There are 10.4 lakh healthcare enterprises, if the very small to the very big are counted. In money terms, the industry’s size in 2017 was equal to $160 billion; it was poised to grow to $280 billion by 2020. The Foreign Direct Investment it received between 2000 and 2017 was $4.34 billion. The number of medical tourists in 2016 was 2,00,000 against 1,30,000 a year before.

The government has the capacity to overtake the private sector… if it has the will. Even otherwise it should pool the resources for public health on a priority basis. The High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage for India, instituted by the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of Dr.K. Srinath Reddy (2011) had recommended that “the Government should increase public expenditure on health to at least 2.5 per cent by the end of the 12th plan, and to at least 3 per cent of GDP by 2022”. The current level is 1.15 per cent of GDP (0.40 per cent from the Centre plus 0.75 per cent from States) against the global average of 5.99 per cent.

It added: “We recommend general taxation as the most viable option for mobilising resources to achieve the target of increasing public spending on health and creating mechanisms for financial protection. The tax ratio in India, at a little over 15 per cent of GDP, is lower than the average for countries with less than USD 1000 (18 per cent) and substantially lower than the average for middle income countries (22 per cent) for countries with per capita income between USD 1000 and USD 15000).”

In other words, the health expenditure should be borne by the government and the government should raise it through taxing the rich, placing heavier burden on broader shoulders, which is possible in India .That means that radical changes are urgently imperative. No symptomatic tinkering will do.

The present pattern of development and the rapid growth of the private sector may yield higher profit to the investors, but not better health to individuals; no ‘trickle down’ benefits, so to speak. On the contrary, there is every possibility of more and more unethical medical practices. So, the right kind of treatment for the afflicted health sector would be to delink it from the influence of market forces and to ensure a hassle-free universal health coverage without the mediation any insurance business. The government should realise that nothing can be more important than public health and should act at once to correct the course. Will it?

33

The writer is a Hyderabad-based development economist and commentator on social and economic affairs.

TRIBUNE, JAN 31, 2018Should pivot of NMC be patients or doctors?Akshay AnandModern healthcare globally owes its advancement to equal participation of biologists, engineers and AYUSH professionals.

WHEN I was invited to write the concept note for National Medical Commission(NMC) two years back, I had not anticipated arrogant responses by the medical community. The tabling of the NMC in Parliament has sharpened the division between intolerant non-academic doctors, who mock the alternate systems (and other professionals) and the nationalistic doctors who want their patients to benefit from convergence of multiple schools of medicine. Good doctors, especially surgeons, want their patients to benefit from evidence-based intervention of AYUSH, the data for which can be generated when AYUSH and modern medicine are brought together under one roof. Even the IITs have been wanting to establish technology-oriented medical colleges. The MSc-PhD biologists also want to launch genotype-based personalised medicine and diagnostic programmes for the benefit of patients. This is possible by making the practice of medicine patient-centred and not doctor-centred.

What is to be concluded from the call of the IMA to go on a national strike on the day of tabling of the NMC Bill in Parliament? Does it not betray their sense of invulnerable arrogance of lording over the healthcare system? While some doctors want to trivialise the importance of cooperation between modern and traditional medicine, the saner elements want compartmentalisation of the immediate professional interests from long-term benefits of patients.

Chinese Nobel prize in traditional medicine and impact on its NMC

The nationalistic medical community in China has been successfully chastised by the Chinese administration and the implementation of the cost-effective Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) model has ensured that all medical graduates accept Chinese traditional medicine as part and parcel of the treatment regimen. As a result, Prof Tu You You was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of Artemisinin, an anti-malarial drug extracted from Chinese herb mentioned in ancient Chinese texts of 400 AD. This would not have been possible without the Chinese-integrated MD programmes (analogous to the bridge course proposed by NMC). 

International trends in health management

34

Modern healthcare is globally regarded as multi-disciplinary and owes its further advancement to equal participation of biologists, engineers and AYUSH professionals. In the USA, the Congress approved the changing of the name of National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health to reflect its popular practice in America. In Europe, patients seek nurse prescribed treatments as an adjunct to the conventional practice. The NMC was conceptualised to reset the Indian healthcare system to make it a more collaborative and cost-effective model of integrative medicine. This would not only benefit the patient-doctor ratio in rural localities but also phase out non-efficacious allopathic prescriptions by preventive AYUSH systems.

Alienating scientists from medical advancement — who will sign the laboratory reports?

Global conventions promote PhD Genetics professionals to be most competent signatories on genetic testing reports. However, archaic rules of MCI question this. The Supreme Court, already under siege for its controversies and at an untimely prompting of MCI, appears to have recommended MD Pathologists to replace PhD Geneticists, taking the Indian Lab Medicine to medieval times. Such obsolete MCI regulations, in the guise of technical jargon serve to confuse lawmakers. If MCI is not replaced by a pluralistic NMC, with representation of non-medical professional as its permanent members, patient’s safety may be severely compromised. The Indian medical community must learn to promote intellectual freedom so that Nobel Prize winning advancements made by biologists and engineers are sustainable. 

Self or patient first? A clarion call for renewed commitment by doctors

As also pointed out by Dr Arvind Pangarhia, there is no country in the world where Medical education and ethics is regulated by an elected trade union model of doctors rather than a merit matched search model. NMC’s recipe for democratic inclusion of non medical professionals from Quality assurance, patient advocacy, health economics and S&T is a daring step which can instill patient cost audit, regulate overtreatment, empower health services to rural areas and abolish the referral ‘mini-economy’ thus directly benefitting the poor.

Integrated centres in PGI and AIIMS: Health Minister's recipe for the poor patients

The future of medical practice in India lies in embracing and integrating AYUSH systems for long-term national interests, either by bridge courses or by resurrecting a novel PhD-MD course so that country's poor patients can receive affordable healthcare services. There is no need for doctors to feel threatened as there is sufficient patient volume to be served in a populous India. A centre has been recently set up in AIIMS, New Delhi. Last week, Health Minister JP Nadda, in

35

the presence of two cabinet ministers in SVYASA, Bengaluru, announced the government's ambitious plan to equilibrate practice of all pathies under one roof, endorsing a new role for the PGI, Chandigarh, in the mission.

As the Indian population has effectively tolerated reforms like demonetisation and GST, the NMC is only a low-risk model that can potentially make healthcare truly preventive, cost-effective and accountable.

HOUSING

PUIONEER, JAN 25, 2018RERA PENALTY WAIVED OFF TILL FEB 28

Giving relief to the real estate developers, the Uttarakhand Government has waived off the

penalty imposed under Uttarakhand Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules – RERA,

2017 on the delayed registrations till February 28 this year. A decision in this respect was taken

in the meeting of State Cabinet held on Wednesday. Under RERA there is a provision of

penalties ranging from 1 percent to 10 per of total project cost on delayed registration. The urban

development Minister and Government spokesman Madan Kaushik said that the builders who

have taken the penalty money from the buyers should refund the amount as the Government

would refund an amount of Rs 2.09 Crores deposited the builders as penalty. He informed that

the builders registering under RERA after March 01 to March 31 would have to pay a penalty of

36

1 percent of the project cost. The penalty amount would increase to 2 percent during the month

of April; similarly a penalty of 5 percent of the project cost would be levied from May 1 to May

31. The penalty would increase to 10 percent from June 1 onwards. Only 200 builders have so

far registered themselves under RERA. The Minister said that the District Magistrates (DMs)

have been directed to ensure that all real estate developers and the builders are registered under

RERA. The relief of the Government is aimed at soothing the frayed nerves of the builders who

were opposing certain provisions under the act. The move is also expected to provide an impetus

to otherwise sluggish property market in the State.

In another important decision, the Cabinet also waived off penalty on filing of annual returns by

the traders. Kaushik said that the accepting the demand of the traders after implementation of

Goods and Service Tax (GST), the Government has decided that no penalty would be imposed

on filing of returns till March 31, 2018. The last date to file returns was December 31, 2017.

The cabinet also decided to give the benefit of VII Pay commission to the permanent employees

of Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) under the department of Science and

Technology. The centre has 43 sanctioned posts out of which only 15 are filled at present. The

move would impose an additional burden of Rs 13.28 lakh on the state exchequer.

 A decision to waive of stamp duty worth Rs 28.55 Lakh  for Swami Vivekananda Dharmarth

Trust hospital Shimla Byepass was also one of the decision the cabinet took on the day.

The cabinet also approved the service rules and regulation for Uttarakhand Assistant

Development officer and Assistant district Panchayati Raj officers.

37

INCOME DISTRIBUTION

HINDUSTAN TIMES, JAN 24, 2018An increasing income gap is a sign of an economy that has failed its citizens

The richest 1% of Indians, an Oxfam report says, have managed to capture 73% of all the wealth generated in the country last year. The report also goes on to calculate that for a minimum wage worker in rural India, it will take 941 years to earn what a top executive in a leading firm makes in a year.

Even as the Sensex reaches new highs, and India is touted as the next big thing in the world of

business, the annual Oxfam survey has provided some sobering data. The richest 1% of Indians,

the report says, have managed to capture 73% of all the wealth generated in the country last year.

The report also goes on to estimate that for a minimum wage worker in rural India, it would take

941 years to earn what a top executive in a leading firm makes in a year. This glaring income gap

is a huge problem for India, sitting as it is on a massive demographic dividend.

38

It is becoming increasingly clear that in the years after liberalisation, most of the benefits have

accrued only to those who were already rich (or even relatively rich) to begin with. Issues of

hunger, poverty, malnutrition and education remain largely the problem of those at the lower end

of the economic spectrum. It has been estimated that by 2020, the average age of Indians will be

29. In a young country in which a majority of the population will be of an employable age, there

is an urgent need to equip these young people with adequate education and skills, and, more

important, fruitful employment. It is through disgruntled and unemployed youth who find it hard

to make ends meet that social unrest can easily fester.

If top executives continue to earn fat salaries at the expense of those who work only for

minimum wages, and the majority of employment comes from the informal sector, this income

gap is only likely to widen. The need of the hour is for the government to create many more jobs

for young people, invest in better social welfare schemes, and improve the state of agriculture

and small businesses. An increasing income gap is the sign of an economic system that has failed

its citizens. The twin crises of agriculture and viable jobs compounded with inadequate systems

of education and healthcare could prove to be a rising India’s undoing.

39

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS

HINDUSTAN TIMES, JAN 29, 2018India-Asean summit: Modi’s Act East policy has set new benchmarks

This Republic Day showcased the new genre in Indian diplomacy, which is ambitious and confident. India’s compulsions and ambitions to play a larger role in the region will sustain its engagement with Asean

Swaran Singh 

In his characteristic style of managing foreign policy through mega events and action-driven

engagements with world leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted on Friday all 10 Asean

leaders as chief guests at India’s 69th Republic Day Parade. A similar event was first seen in

May 2014 when Modi invited all the Saarc leaders to his swearing-in ceremony. Modi’s hosting

the Brics summit in October 2016 also saw an outreach summit organised with all seven leaders

of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic

Cooperation). The last four years have been marked by Modi’s foreign visits, huge get-togethers

40

with India’s diaspora abroad and road shows at home with leaders from China, Japan and, most

recently, Israel.

Together these mark a new genre in Indian diplomacy in which this presence of 10 Asean leaders

will be remembered for setting new benchmarks in India’s engagement with Southeast Asia.

This is important for a rising India as Asean represents the most institutionalised and most

acceptable grouping for all major world powers. This has become increasingly critical given the

global power shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific where these tiger economies stand next to by

world’s most militarised nations. The unprecedented rise of China is a shared concern, and

Asean nations engage India as their alternative to an increasingly assertive China. However,

neither side seems willing to confess or address this dichotomy of their dependence and

discomfort with Beijing. Asean has failed to put up a joint front against China’s building of

artificial islands across the South China Sea where claimants like Vietnam and the Philippines

have taken opposite trajectories of accusing and acquiescing with Beijing. India’s confrontation

with China at Doklam last year saw Asean wary of taking sides.

India’s need to move over from a Look East policy to an Act East policy had been in public

debates since the 2011 Hyderabad speech of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton. But it was

formally enunciated by Modi during the 12th India-Asean summit in Myanmar in September

2014. The aim has since been to widen and deepen India’s politico-security engagement in the

Asia-Pacific with Asean at its core where Modi has sought to take it beyond, into socio-cultural

and civilisational connect that underlines India’s advantages over other world powers. Closer

links of Buddhism and Ramayana from the first millennium has been revived to strengthen

domestic constituencies for stronger relations.

The world media widely covering the 10 Asean leaders in a way marked these leaders’

endorsement of India’s growing integration into Southeast Asia which is nudging discourses on

41

Asia-Pacific geopolitics towards the new Indo-Pacific formulation with India at its centre. No

doubt China with a $12 trillion economy and a $450 billion trade with Asean remains the

elephant in the room in all these parleys. Yet India and Asean together hold the potential to

ensure China stays on course respecting norms and laws. This is where both India and Asean are

now evolving flexible strategies of ‘congagement’ (containment and engagement) of China. The

Delhi Declaration, for instance, talks of ensuring implementation of the United Nations

Convention of Laws of the Seas in the South China Sea but also alludes to accepting China’s

lead in building the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Ads by ZINC

In view of the shrinking global role of the United States, India and Asean are following the

example already set by European nations that are trying to stand on their own to ensure regional

peace and stability. The Delhi Declaration underlines specific concerns about cross-border

terrorism and freedom of navigation that commits them to an early implementation of various

agreed projects, including their Plan of Action 2016-2020.

Juxtaposed with Modi’s Neighbourhood First policy, his Act East policy saw Assam chief

minister Sarbananda Sonowal invited to join the PM’s dinner for the 10 Asean leaders. This

enthusiasm is expected to further synergise linkages between India’s Northeast and Southeast

Asia. The birth of India’s Look East policy coincided with the expansion of Asean. The addition

of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam brought Asean to share borders with India. They

were, accordingly, conceptualised to be at the centre of India’s Look East policy and their

connectivity with the tiger economies was to bring economic relief to their political turmoil.

Now with the new focus on Act East, all eight Northeast states are expected to be connected by

rail by 2020.

So, both its compulsions as well as its ambitions to play a major role in the region hold promise

to sustain this new enthusiasm in India’s expanding engagement with Asean.

42

Swaran Singh is professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

The views expressed are personal.

HINDUSTAN TIMES, JAN 24, 2018Modi’s speech at Davos: Just what the audience wanted to hear

Given the preponderance of business leaders at the event, it was always clear that Modi would pitch India and India’s economy strong at the World Economic Forum, and he did not disappoint

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers his speech at the plenary session of the World Economic Forum, in Davos on Tuesday(PTI)

Any leader asked to address the plenary session of the World Economic Forum at Davos has an

opportunity to do two things. The first is to pitch his (or her) country strongly to foreign

companies and investors. The second is to build the brand of both the individual and the country

by looking at issues and concerns beyond those that just concern his or her country. The world,

after all, is sorely lacking in statesmen (and stateswomen) of global stature.

The audience at the World Economic Forum was looking for these two big messages in Indian

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech during the plenary session of the World Economic

Forum at Davos. It wasn’t looking for anything else and, in truth, it isn’t interested in anything

else.

At the end of a speech delivered in Hindi – this was expected, and seen as a sign of confidence;

Chinese president Xi Jinping spoke in Chinese at the plenary in 2017 – it was evident that Modi

had addressed the concerns of at least this audience.

Given the preponderance of business leaders at the event, it was always clear that Modi would

pitch India and India’s economy strong, and he did not disappoint. “An inclusive, progressive,

India will continue to be the good news in an otherwise gloomy world,” the Prime Minister said,

43

echoing numbers released by the International Monetary Fund that show that the country will be

the world’s fastest growing major economy in 2018. India would be a $5 trillion economy by

2025, he added, as he rattled off the various reforms undertaken by his government, including the

Goods and Services Tax, and recent changes in Foreign Direct Investment rules. India, he said

had replaced “red-tape” with the “red-carpet” and is open for business.

Read more

The tougher task before the Prime Minister was to find common cause on larger issues. He did so

by picking three issues on which most right-thinking people have similar views: climate change,

terrorism and protectionism. The Prime Minister listed India’s long standing commitment to the

environment (from a cultural belief in humans being “children of the earth” to a very real target

of 175 GW from renewable energy by 2022); the threat that terrorism poses to humanity; and the

fading lustre of globalisation. India will remain open, Modi said, even as he emphasised that the

country did not have any imperialistic aspirations.

It would have been good to hear some specifics of how India hopes to work with other countries

to tackle the current wave of protectionism, but plenary speeches usually tend to be about intent

and direction, not details. And from that perspective, Modi’s speech at Davos was just what the

audience wanted to hear.

TRIBUNE, JAN 24, 2018The rich get richer Distributive justice is constitutional obligation

INDIA is on a dangerous growth path as the rich are getting richer and the poor are becoming poorer. It is not a cliche, anymore. The World Economic Forum’s latest “Inclusive Development Index” has found India at the 62nd position — 15 notches below Pakistan. It means that the benefit of  economic prosperity is cornered by a miniscule minority, leaving the majority high and dry. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening not only in income distribution, but also in getting access to modern education, quality healthcare, better living conditions and rewarding employment opportunities. This report also coincides with an Oxfam study claiming

44

that India’s richest 1 per cent had cornered almost three-fourth wealth created last year. The two independent reports paint a sorry picture of India’s policy of distributive justice.  

Growing inequality is also a global menace. Apparently, 42 people hold the same wealth as almost half of the world’s population. But, an egalitarian republic like India cannot afford to be in this league. The Indian Government has its constitutional obligation. It is bound to secure “economic” justice for its people and ensure them equality of “status” and “opportunity”. It is easy for the incumbent to blame its predecessors for allowing the inequality to grow in the last seven decades, but it cannot plead innocence after crippling the informal sector with its two misadventures — demonetisation and the hasty implementation of GST.

The government is doing its bit to revive the economy. After a gap of two decades, an Indian PM has joined global honchos at the WEF to hard sell “Make in India”. The reality, however, remians painful. Foreign investors still see India as one of the promising markets. The developed world refrains from investing in a place with challenging social equilibrium and enormous economic disparity. The government must look inward and review its socio-economic policies. It must harness local entrepreneurship and support micro, mini and medium enterprises to build a solid economic foundation to fulfil aspirations of millions of marginalised Indians. Immediately, it can reduce the burden of indirect taxes on the poor and compensate for the same from the rich to have social balance.

ECONOMIC TIMES, JANUARY, 24, 2018People must trust government to guarantee openness: Swiss President

DAVOS: Swiss President Alain Berset today raised concerns over some countries adopting inward-looking economic policies and the growing distrust of free trade and multilateralism, even as he asked people to trust their governments to guarantee openness of the respective economies.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Berset said leaders from across the world have assembled here to reflect together on the future of our society and the movements that influence and enrich it.

Stressing on the urgent need to act on this year's WEF motto of strengthening cooperation in a fractured world, Berset said, "If we are to continue on the path of progress, I am convinced that 2018 must be the year of international cooperation and multilateralism".

He said the world is witnessing the emergence of geopolitical upheavals and instability in many parts. \

45

There are also protracted armed conflicts which are destabilising entire societies and economies, resulting in huge population movements and feeding terrorism. There is also climate change and global inequality, he added.

"To reduce these uncertainties and guarantee security and prosperity, there has to be political will at all levels, there needs to be a partnership between national and international institutions, as well as a strong will on the part of financial institutions "

There needs to be a strong and concerted commitment on the part of international institutions towards security, peace and human rights," he said.

Yet, certain parts of the world are moving in the opposite direction -- towards a more inward-looking approach, re-focusing on national interests, a narrowing of the political horizon accompanied by a certain distrust of multilateralism and free trade, Berset noted.

The Swiss president also warned that such developments risk producing a more fractured world.

"Because if we were to cease tackling international challenges together, we would jeopardise prospects for political stability, For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service governance and economic development. We must bear in mind that if this general distrust continues to spread, it is precisely the poorest and most fragile who will be the first to suffer," he said.

It requires political support at the national level and there is no such thing as international cooperation if states are not willing to work together, Berset observed.

Taking a strong line, he said "if there is fear, the instinct is to raise the barricades. In order to guarantee openness, exchange and cooperation, people must trust that their country will support and protect them. Without strong support at home, foreign policy risks being nothing more than empty words".

At the annual gathering, Berset noted that the strong growth of the global economy feeds the illusion that nationalist and protectionist movements are just a passing phase but "they are not".

"Economic 'good news' stories must not blind us -- we need to tackle far-reaching structural problems," Berset said as he sought to send out a strong message against protectionist tendencies.

"Our continued openness to the world and the will to cooperate internationally can only be guaranteed if people do not feel powerless," he said, adding that societies can only function if people feel that they can control developments like globalisation and immigration.

46

JUDICIARY

STATESMAN, JAN 24, 2018Re-stating a basic

It ought to cause considerable discomfort in the entire legal community that a Bench of the Supreme Court of India found it necessary to aver that a matter before it would be dealt with “dispassionately” and “objectively”. To the layman an unbiased view on any case under process was a “given”, and reassuring though it might have been the observation in court only highlighted the extent to which the contaminating tentacles of party politics have encroached upon judicial space.

True that lawyers have long been part of the Indian political scenario, and played no insignificant role in the struggle for freedom, but legal practitioners of yesteryear had the principled grace to maintain a healthy distinction between personal political preferences and the cases they presented in court.

Today that dividing line has not only been erased but lawyers who also happen to be legislators often deliberately opt for an overlapping of their presentations in both forums. The injection of politics into the courtroom is intended to either pressure the court, or to buttress the “case” in the court of public opinion. One celebrated veteran had made a fine art of coming up with a special political-legal cocktail. Where all this will lead to is difficult to determine ~ it is unlikely to be a positive destination.

47

The issue before the Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India ~ seeking an independent probe into the sudden death of Special CBI Judge BH Loya was “politically loaded” from the very outset. Yet did that warrant Senior Counsel trading charges like politicians on a political platform? That the court had to strive hard to ensure restraint was obvious, that it was not “spared” and accused of trying to gag the media was provocative enough for one noted lawyer being directed to tender an apology. Also, for a warning to be issued against slamming a person because he happened to be a prominent political figure.

A few publicity-conscious counsel have been using every opportunity to attack the court, perhaps not realising the implications of denigrating the institution. Thus far the Bar Associations have failed to foster disciplined, restrained conduct ~ will it be left to the court to crack the whip? Still, there can be no writing down the criticality of the specific CBI Special Judge matter. Either the air needs to be cleared of suspicion, or the “powerful” need to be brought to book. Only the apex court can provide some closure.

One reason for the Supreme Court being dragged into murky waters is that successive governments have ducked taking hard decisions. Though the previous government was accused of “policy paralysis” the present one has not been much better on some matters. Many recent decisions impacting public life have followed judicial directives ~ junking triple talaq, withdrawing Haj subsidies, upholding the authority of the CBFC…..

DECCAN HERALD, JAN 31, 2018Supreme Court, high court judges get 200% salary hikeAshish Tripathi

The Chief Justice of India will now get a monthly salary of Rs 2.80 lakh, up from the present Rs 1 lakh.

Supreme Court and high court judges have got a 200% salary hike with the Centre notifying a new law in this regard.

The Chief Justice of India will now get a monthly salary of Rs 2.80 lakh, up from the present Rs 1 lakh.

Similarly, judges of the Supreme Court and chief justices of high courts will draw a monthly salary of Rs 2.50 lakh, up from the current Rs 90,000, according to the Act notified by the law ministry.

The judges of high courts, who get Rs 80,000 per month now, will get Rs 2.25 lakh.

The salary hike, which is in line with the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for officers of all-India services, will come into force retrospectively from January 1, 2016.

48

The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 2018, will also revise the rates of house rent allowance with effect from July 1, 2017, and the rates of sumptuary allowance with effect from September 22, 2017.

As against the approved strength of 31, the Supreme Court today has 25 judges. The 24 high courts have an approved strength of 1,079, but 682 judges are handling work currently. The move will also benefit 2,500 retired judges.

Now, the salary of judges will be at par with those of bureaucrats following the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th pay panel.]

LIBRARIES

TELEGRAPH, JAN 29, 2018Brick and mortarThe biggest retail book fair in the worldAbhijit Gupta 

Every year, an uninvited man turns up at the Calcutta book fair with a bag and a sheaf of papers. He finds a place in a clearing between two shops, or on a stretch of pavement, and settles himself. For the next twelve days, he will try to persuade anyone who catches his eye to buy one of his slim pamphlets. He is K.C. Paul, the man whose belief that the sun goes round the earth still burns with an unquenchable flame.

Paul is not one of the six hundred-odd registered participants at the book fair who are able to afford a stall, or a table in the little magazine marquee. He is one among the countless many who throng the fair ground with their pamphlets, craftwork or pet peeves. And by and large, they are allowed to do so. Often, their connection to the commerce of books is tangential, to say the least. But they have become a familiar part of the landscape of the book fair, and the fair would be poorer without them.

Which leads us to the question, what sort of a fair is the Calcutta book fair? It is not a fair for trading rights in books, as is the case with the storied Frankfurt book fair. But Frankfurt too began very much as a retail book market such as Calcutta's. K.C. Paul would have felt right at

49

home at the Frankfurt fairs of the early 17th century. Galileo published a monstrous advertisement for his Sidereus Nuncius and Kepler would himself be at the fair, gamely trying to sell his Rudolphinische Tabellen.

But the Calcutta book fair - reportedly the biggest retail book fair in the world - is taking place at a time when the brick-and-mortar bookshop is on retreat worldwide, and e-retail rules the roost. About a couple of decades ago, two predictions were commonplace about the future of the book: first, that e-commerce would replace conventional retail, and second, the e-book would replace the paper book. While the first prognostication has come to pass, the second has not. Over the last couple of years, there has been a resurgence in the number of printed books, and e-books have registered a dip. It is too early to say whether this trend will hold, but certainly, the rumours about the demise of the printed book - so confidently forecast by Marshall McLuhan and his ilk in the 1960s - have been greatly exaggerated.

This is even more the case with non-English Indian-language publishing. While a new generation of English-language readers prefer to read on Kindle or other hand-held devices, that is not the case with languages such as Bengali, where the relative economies of scale still make the printed product an affordable commodity. The low prices also mean that there may not be a sufficient margin on the cover price to make e-retail a viable option. Thus the rationale for the brick-and-mortar bookshop is still a compelling one for this sector of publishing.

But this is where delivery mechanisms have largely failed the customer. The sad truth is that there is really no bookshop of international standards in the city, leave alone in the rest of the state. Other than Seagull, there is nothing remotely like, say, Strand in New York, City Lights in San Francisco, Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, or for that matter, Higginbotham's in the southern states. College Street, with a few exceptions, is devoted to the text-book market while certain big publishers and their outlets stock only their own books. All this makes the book fair the only worthwhile retail experience for the book-buyer, crammed into a dusty, sweaty 12-day package every year.

My first trip to the book fair was when I was in school, in 1978, when my mother and I took a train from the suburbs to the city. Four decades later, this is still how it is for a large number of buyers from the districts and the suburbs. There is of course a flourishing network of book fairs in the districts, but not all publishers are able to go there. Take, for instance, the publishing enterprise I am associated with, Jadavpur University Press, the publishing arm of the university. Owing to our limited human resources, we are able to participate fully in only the Calcutta book fair. At the same time, we are acutely aware that it is in the districts where most of our readers are. For most such readers, e-retail has come as a lifeline, especially for academic titles which have a more specialized readership.

Over the past few years, I have participated in the Calcutta book fair as a seller rather than a buyer. In between sitting behind the counter of the university stall, my staff and I have had to be content with intermittent guerrilla raids on other stalls for our own buying. There is a peculiar rhythm to the buying that we have noticed. Since the fair begins on the last Wednesday of every January, the first few days see sluggish sales as people have not been paid their salaries. As soon as the fair tips into February, the sales begin to pick up, reaching a crescendo during the second and last weekend.

50

One sees two kinds of buyers at the fair - those who prefer to browse, and those with very specific needs. The latter category tends to be dominated by guardians of school-goers, who seem to have somewhat fixed ideas about what their ward should read. A university stall is not where you would expect them to fetch up, but they often do, and are disappointed when they do not find what they are looking for. This seems to suggest that there is a huge gap in good writing for children - once you are done with your Rowling, Blyton, Shirshendu, Hergé, and perchance Leela Majumdar, what next? Bengali publishing, in particular, needs to do much, much more for younger readers. Simply reprinting the old favourites - which seems to have been the flavour of the month for the past few years - is simply not enough.

Finally, and most importantly perhaps, the book fair must not be seen as a space which is craven and susceptible to arm-twisting. Unfortunately, this has happened more often than one would like, with writers being disinvited and book launches cancelled for 'security' reasons. If the Calcutta book fair has to grow and flourish, it must provide an ecosystem which makes no concessions to bigots and vested interests. Otherwise, it runs the risk of going the Frankfurt way in the 19th century, when the fair became dominated by unscrupulous and frivolous publishers, and became an event of a regional character.

The author teaches in the Department of English, Jadavpur University, and is director, Jadavpur University Press

PIONEER, JAN 25, 2018GOVT TO HOLD BOOK FAIR IN ALL DISTRICTS

A software unit developed to make use of Odia easy in the Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System (OSWAS) would be linked to the Microsoft Office software for the purpose soon.

It was revealed at a review meeting on the progress of use of Odia language in Government offices held under chairmanship of Chief Secretary AP Padhi at the State Secretariat on Wednesday.

The Chief Secretary advised officials to send the software to all departments for primary tests. Once, the software is tested effective, it would be linked to the Microsoft Office software so the Odia use in Government files and documents would be widened.

The Chief Secretary also directed the Culture Department to take steps for holing book fairs in all districts for promotion of Odia language and literature.

It was revealed that the Government has waived fees for students studying Odia in colleges and universities. It was decided to increase PhD seats in various universities as per the demand.

Reviews were conducted on implementation of “Byasakabi Fakir Mohan Chhatrabruti”, steps for translation of Odia books into other Indian languages, establishment of librarias in all high schools, publication of bi-lingual Odia books for Non Resident Odias (NROs), observance of birthday of Atibadi Jagannath Das at his native village and renovation of Satalahiri Mutt approved by the State Cabinet earlier.  

51

Among others, GA Department Principal Secretary Ashok Kumar Meena, I and PR Principal Secreary Surendra Kumar, School and Mass Education Department Principal Secretary Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra and Culture Department Secretary Manoranjan Panigrahi were present.

 

POLICE

HINDUSTAN IMES, JAN 25, 2018Eight-hour shifts for the police is a move that was long overdue

A 2015 study by the Bureau of Police Research and Development found 90% of police officers worked for more than eight hours a day and 73% didn’t get a weekly off even once a month.

For the first time in its 154-year history, the Mumbai police have switched to a compact eight-

hour duty schedule for certain ranks, police commissioner Datta Padsalgikar announced on

Wednesday. Launched as an experiment at the Deonar Police station in 2016, the plan will now

be extended to police stations across the city.

The police force in the country, often accused of inefficiency, rudeness and corruption, is

overworked and understaffed. According to data journalism site IndiaSpend, India has among the

lowest police-to-population ratios in the world. The country was short of more than half a million

52

police officers on January 1, 2015, the latest date for which nationwide data is available, the Lok

Sabha was told in July, 2016.

There were 17.2 million police officers across 36 states and Union Territories, when there should

have been 22.6 million, according to the estimates of the ministry of home affairs.

A 2015 study, ‘National Requirement of Manpower for Eight-Hour Shift in Police Stations,’

carried out by the Bureau of Police Research and Development found that 90% of police officers

worked for more than eight hours a day, and 73% didn’t get a weekly off even once a month.

“Long and irregular work hours have negative impacts on efficient policing, since weary and

overworked personnel can’t be expected to put in their best ...,” said the study. In recent months,

police personnel in Mumbai faced a number of challenges owing to long duty hours including

on-duty deaths, mental and physical illnesses . At times they were stationed in the field for 48

hours at a stretch, adding stress to their already fragile mental health.

In 2005, a committee under Soli Sorabjee set up by ministry of home affairs recommended a

draft Model Police Act that delineated the social responsibilities of the police governed by the

principles of impartiality and human rights norms, with special attention to the protection of

weaker sections.

In 2006, the Supreme Court, responding to a PIL filed by former Uttar Pradesh director general

of police Prakash Singh, issued guidelines to the states which included a clear segregation of law

and order and crime functions of the police. More than a decade later, few of these reforms have

percolated to the ground level.

Last year, frustrated over the slow pace of police reforms, former Chief Justice JS Khehar had

complained: “Police reforms are going on and on. Nobody listens to our orders.” In light of this

bleak history, the Mumbai police’s initiative to restore a semblance of work-life balance to the

53

lives of its personnel should be appreciated – and wherever possible, replicated. That’s the least

we owe to the men and women who have no fixed days off and can be called to work at any hour

of the day or night.

ECONOMIC TIMES, JANUART 24, 2017IPS officers resist Centre's fitness test plan By Dalip Singh

NEW DELHI: The central government's proposal to make physical fitness mandatory for

promotion of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers has not found many takers among states yet,

possibly due to resistance from top cops, a government official said. Home ministry had written

to all states about six months back, seeking their responses on the "smart police" concept before

formalising the policy through a notification to be issued by ministry of personnel, public

grievances and pensions. So far, only three states - Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana - have

given their feedback on linking physical fitness with IPS officers' promotions, government

sources said. While Maharashtra and Kerala have expressed their reservations on the issue,

Telangana has neither opposed nor favoured the move explicitly, the official cited earlier said.

Maharashtra, which is ruled by BJP, has argued against the move, taking the plea that cops don't

have time to sweat for toning their bodies due to their almost round the clock duty, the person

said. The ministry suspects that IPS officers may be influencing their political bosses either to

oppose or sleep over the move, out of fear of their promotions getting jeopardised. After getting

states' views, the home ministry will lay down parameters on which physical abilities of IPS

officers would be tested at the time of promotion to a higher grade. They could be based on

physical fitness standards of paramilitary forces such as CRPF, BSF, ITBP and CISF. A senior

IPS officer of UP cadre said he is not against the move per se but did not understand why IPS

54

officers are singled out. Other all India services, including IAS, IFS and IRS, too should follow

government prescribed fitness regime for climbing up their professional ladder, he argued.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

PIONEER, JAN 25, 2018UP GOVT CELEBRATE THE FIRST TIME THE STATE'S FOUNDATION DAY4

5

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday celebrated for the first time the state's foundation

day, the day when the erstwhile United Provinces was renamed as Uttar Pradesh in 1950, but

very few people know how the state got its name. The idea to mark UP Diwas stemmed from a

suggestion by Governor Ram Naik, who proposed to celebrate the day on the lines of

Maharashtra Day so that people know the history and culture of their state.

55

Pushing for the state celebrating its foundation day like many other states, Naik had some time

ago said, "I am sure all north Indians living abroad will begin celebrating Uttar Pradesh Divas as

they celebrate Ram Navmi and Janmasthmi."  

Till now, a large number of people in the state may have remained unaware of its foundation day

in view of its long history, which can be traced back to ancient times.

The state was called the Brahmrishi Desh or the Madhya Desh in the Vedic period. During the

Mughal period, its territory was divided under governors. The details of the various transitions -

from change of its capitals to the time it got its final name - are available at the UP State

Archives.

History says Uttar Pradesh came into existence on January 24, 1950, when the governor-general

of India passed United Provinces (Alteration of Name) Order 1950, renaming United Provinces

as Uttar Pradesh. The governor general's order was published in the Uttar Pradesh Gazette

(Extraordinary) dated January 24, 1950. Uttar Pradesh has witnessed various changes over the

years. It reached its present size after the hill state of Uttarakhand was carved out of the

undivided UP on November 9, 2000. But, very few know the history of how the name Uttar

Pradesh was decided upon.

According to the books on UP and documents at the archives, the state was under the Bengal

Presidency till 1834. But then the need to form a fourth presidency was felt, the three being

Bengal, Bombay and Madras. The fourth presidency was known as the Agra Presidency that was

headed by a governor. In 1836, this presidency came under the lieutenant governor.

In January 1858, Lord Canning proceeded to Allahabad and formed the North Western Province,

excluding the Delhi division. The seat of power was thus shifted from Agra to Allahabad. This

56

was followed by the transfer of the high court from Agra to Allahabad in 1868. In 1856, Awadh

was placed under the chief commissioner.

The districts were later merged with North Western Province and came to be known as 'North

Western Provinces and Oudh' in 1877. The entire province in 1902 came to be known as the

'United Provinces of Agra and Oudh'.

The first election was held in 1920 for legislative council, which was constituted in Lucknow in

1921. Since the governor, ministers and the secretaries to governor had to be in Lucknow, the

then governor Sir Harcount Butler changed his headquarters from Allahabad to Lucknow. By

1935, the entire office was shifted to Lucknow. Lucknow became the capital of the province, the

name of which was again changed to United Province in April 1937. The name was changed

once again to Uttar Pradesh in January, 1950, under the Constitution of India.

An interesting account appears in Gyanesh Kudaisya authored Region, Nation, and Heartland:

Uttar Pradesh in India's Body Politic. The comprehensive account illustrates how seriously the

post-Independence leadership in UP considered itself the heartland of the newly-independent

country. Since 1902, the province was known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh; which

in 1937 was shortened to United Province or UP. Within days of Independence, the UP

legislature began debating a "suitable name".  Nearly 20 names emerged but consensus eluded

for long.

In October 1949, the matter could not be postponed further as drafting of the new Constitution

was nearing completion and had to include the names of the provinces.  The matter was placed

before the Provincial Congress Committee that met at Banaras in November 1949. An

overwhelming majority of 106 members supported a motion in favour or 'Aryavarta' while 'Hind'

57

received 22 votes. Prominent Congress leader GB Pant conveyed the decision to the Constituent

Assembly that shot it down. Central Province-Berar member RK Sidhwa feared that United

Provinces was anxious to monopolise the name of India.

He bluntly charged UP with looking upon itself as the "super most province of India".  Finally,

then Law Minister Dr BR Ambedkar moved a Bill empowering the Governor-General to alter the

names of provinces to the Union. Pant promised to refrain from suggesting pompous names like

'Aryavarta'. Congress members from UP in the Constituent Assembly were asked to work out a

compromise on "Uttar Pradesh", and the rest, as they say, is history.

PUBLIC FINANCE

STATESMAN, JAN 31, 2018Budget concerns of common peopleBharat Dogra       The Union Budget this year will be presented in a situation of growing uncertainties for a many people, particularly those from weaker sections and the unorganised sector. While the distress of rural areas has been rightly emphasised in recent months, this should not lead to neglect of economic difficulties of weaker sections in urban areas. In fact, the two are related and the unban organized sector provides an escape, not an adequate one, but an escape nevertheless from acute rural distress for millions of people. The difficulties faced by unorganised sector workers and the reduction of work opportunities in important areas like construction have further increased the difficulties of those affected by rural distress as well.

58

Availability of subsidised food and pensions have declined or even stopped for some vulnerable people due to new Aadhaar linkages or other changes. The escape routes and coping mechanisms available to them earlier have been more difficult to access in recent times. It is in these contexts that some recent reports of hunger deaths need to be taken seriously.

Hence vulnerable people need and are looking forward to significant increase in allocations for important development and welfare schemes which benefit them, provide relief and also strengthen their livelihood base. The distress and discontent of farmers have been much in news and they certainly need significant help. But at the same time the landless sections including landless farm workers and sharecroppers should not be forgotten. Schemes like NREGA which provide work near home while creating livelihood and enhancing assets need significantly higher allocations.

Social security including pensions need more support. On the whole agriculture, rural development, social welfare and security, schemes for unorganised sector workers and urban poor need higher support as also health and education with special emphasis on weaker sections.

In fact, in health and education as well as in several other sectors it is not just higher allocations that are relevant. It is important to see the fine print to determine sub-allocations and the overall thrust of planned expenditure to examine the extent to which are priorities are addressed. In agriculture higher allocations have on occasion merely translated into higher support for agri-business interests instead of help for small farmers who really need support.

Also we need to be cautious about whether an increase in allocation is offset by some reduction in a related area. Sometimes the publicity blitz tells us of very big welfare commitment of government while the reality is quite different. To give an example, the government has often made tall claims about maternity benefits of Rs. 6,000 per child for which the flagship scheme is the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY). But the reality is that its coverage till very recently was much lower than the coverage of the previous scheme for maternity benefits (IGMSY) which it replaced.

Even when the new scheme is in place all over the country its coverage will be much lower than the commitment made by the government five years back under the National Food Security Act. So are we going ahead or moving backwards? But the presentation at the official level is as if some grand gift has been made to people.

People want real and genuine relief and not cleverly propped up or exaggerated benefits which may not be so impressive when subjected to closer scrutiny.

In their role as tax payers, common people want a tax system which does not impose a heavy burden on them and which does not expose them to a complicated and over-regulatory system. They are willing to pay the tax due to the government if the government assures then of no harassment and no exposure to needless complications requiring visits to lawyers and chartered accountants.

59

The common taxpayers and particularly the elderly or poorer among them may have computer literacy to some extent but they may not be comfortable with a lot of online accounting and tax payment modes. Hence simpler systems should be available for taxpayers where needed. In particular, a simple tax system for all elderly citizens who are not in the super-rich category is needed so that they are not stressed unnecessarily. At present we are in a strange situation where the authorities say that the system has become simpler, but a lot of taxpayers say exactly the opposite.

In the recent context it is particularly important to bring relief to those sections of small entrepreneurs, skilled artisans, handicraft units and others who to various extents have felt threatened after the introduction of GST in its present form. While the government has been announcing relief under certain categories, many small entrepreneurs and artisans still feel threatened by the adverse impact on their livelihoods.The tendency of relying too much on cesses has also proved harmful as cesses continue for too long instead of fulfilling some particular objective, and what is worse are sometimes not used for the stated purpose.

The writer is a freelance journalist who has been involved with several social movements and initiatives.

DECCAN HERALD, JAN 31, 2018Budget Session: no time for debate

After the shortest Winter Session of Parliament since 1999, with only 14 sittings, the Budget Session began on Monday with the customary President's address. Soon after the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament met and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the Economic Survey 2017-18 in the Lok Sabha, both Houses were adjourned to meet on February 1, when the Union Budget for 2018-19 will be presented. The first part of the Budget Session will last only till February 9. After a recess of nearly a month, the session will resume on March 5 and go on until April 6.

At the all-party meeting held on Sunday to discuss the business that the government proposes for the session, opposition parties have expectedly hit out at the government for such a short first phase of the session, accusing it of running away from critical issues it wanted to raise.

That the government side remained silent through the all-party meeting indicates that despite brave words, the treasury benches seem to have no appetite to face the opposition at a time when the latter appears set to pin down the government on issues such as the crisis in the judiciary, the implementation of the GST, farmers' distress and the free play violent fringe groups have been allowed in the BJP ruled states. There are only four full working days in the first part of the session, during which the Budget is to be presented. The only law that the government wants to be passed is the triple talaq bill, with an obvious political agenda.

60

In fact, a reluctance to face Parliament has been one of the pronounced characteristics of the Modi government. According to an analysis by public data analysis website, Factly, the average number of Budget Session sittings during the first NDA government was 37, which fell to 34 during the two successive terms of the UPA government. During the first three years of the Modi-led second NDA government, it has fallen to 32. This is unfortunate. In a liberal democracy, discussions and debates on important issues of the day are key functions of a Parliament apart from discussion and debate for the purpose of immediate legislation. Both the treasury benches and the opposition benefit from such discussions. It is the duty of the government to convene parliamentary sessions and to give enough time and space for debate on the burning issues of the day. As Edmund Burke famously said, "Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole." The Modi government must realise that it is not in the national interest to dilute the deliberative function of Parliament.

 

RECREATION

TRIBUNE, JAN 25, 2018No, not a banana republicCaste groups can be indulged only at national cost

THE Supreme Court has performed its constitutional dharma rather well by refusing to recall its order on the release of the movie, Padmaavat. It is a matter of satisfaction that the apex court saw through the cynical game of the BJP governments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh: both wanted the apex court to pull their chestnuts out of caste fire for them. Both governments cited the possibility of violence by the “aggrieved” caste groups as the ground for recalling the

61

Padmaavat release order. Undeterred by the violence  and arson that were staged in Ahmedabad, the apex court refused to get intimidated and cinema-lovers can hope to watch the much-awaited movie on its release on Thursday. 

It is now pretty obvious that this prolonged — and, contrived — controversy of Padmaavat is essentially a political project, aimed at rekindling medieval animosities. Certain political forces and groups are insistent on stoking social tensions, which, in turn, can be made to produce electoral dividends. After much to and fro between the producers and the censor board, the movie has received clearance. That is where the matter should have ended.  Yet, the so-called “Karni Sena” and lumpen elements remain defiant and rowdy.  

The Supreme Court did well by refusing to buy the argument of “apprehension” on the law and order count. Justice DY Chandrachud rightly noted that a street mob could not be allowed to decide whether a movie is screened or not — or, for that matter, having any say in a governance issue. All state governments have a constitutional obligation to ensure that the Supreme Court order is complied with, and any Chief Minister who refuses to fall in line would invite Article 256. The followers and patrons of outfits like the Karni Sena are doing a great disservice to the nation: they are undermining India’s image as a lawful, peaceful and orderly land, wedded to rule of law. At a time when the Modi government is desperately soliciting the goodwill and indulgence of foreign investors, we cannot allow a ridiculously miniscule minority to reduce India to a banana republic.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

BUSINESS LINE, JAN 25, 208Centre launches schemes for young scientists

The government announced on Wednesday four schemes for bright young scientists, including

one that allows them to spend up to one year in a research lab abroad to hone their skills.

62

Announcing the programmes, Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan said

this was an attempt to reward talented young scientists so that they sustain their interest in

science. Researchers aged up to 45 years are eligible.

Empowering the young

“Most of the current fellowship schemes are for senior scientists. We feel that young scientists

need to be empowered. With the new schemes, we are trying to do that,” he said.

The schemes, instituted by the Science Engineering Research Board (SERB) of the Department

of Science and Technology (DST), are expected to come into force on February 1.

Among them is overseas doctoral fellowship programme which would help doctoral students

registered in Indian universities to spend six to 12 months in foreign universities and other

institutions of repute with whom there is research collaboration. Each selected doctoral student

would be given a fellowship of $2,000 a month for the period spent in the foreign lab, apart from

travel expenses. The maximum number of students supported under the scheme is 100 a year.

Teacher associateship

Another scheme, called Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE), is aimed at

young faculty members working in a regular capacity in State universities and colleges and in

private academic institutions, who have an orientation for research. They will get a chance to

carry out research in public-funded institutions such as IITs, IISERs, and other national research

laboratories in their free time for a maximum period of three years.

63

The selected scholars will be given an annual research fellowship of Rs. 60,000. Besides, there is

a research grant of Rs. 5 lakh a year, which will be shared equally by the host and parent

institutions of the scholar. The plan is to offer 500 such fellowships every year.

Distinguished award

The most prestigious one among the new schemes is a distinguished investigator award for a

maximum of 35 brilliant young scientists who have excelled as principal investigators in

research projects funded by SERB or DST. Those recognised under the scheme will get an

additional sum of Rs. 15,000 as monthly fellowship and an optional research grant for a period of

three years.

The fourth one is meant for augmenting writing skills of Indian research scholars. Ph D students

and post-doctoral fellows will be encouraged to write at least one popular science article based

on their research work and the best 100 entries by doctoral students and 20 by post-doctoral

fellows will be rewarded with a cash prize of Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 20,000 respectively. The best

three articles by doctoral students and one by a post-doctoral fellow will be given further cash

prizes up to Rs. 1 lakh, the minister said.

64