Month: December 2019

The Tsunami We Don\’t Always See

Our hearts go out to the sufferings of people in Japan. The pictures of the tsunami rushing in and engulfing everything in sight, wreaking havoc – will stay with us. Our sympathies and support should – and will – be available to help our fellow human beings in whatever way we can.
Our horror – and the desire to do something – would obviously be even more if we saw something similar happening all around us. And in a way something similar is happening all around us, only it is not as dramatic as a physical tsunami, making it a little difficult to be noticed by most people. It is what I would call the tsunami of poor quality of education that is hitting a million schools and tens of millions of children, its impact likely to be visible over the years rather than right now, instantly, in front of our eyes.
The Tsunami Around Us
No this is not alarmist, but an effort to put across a real picture and the urgency with which it needs to be recognized and acted upon. Every day, in hundreds of thousands of locations across the country, children make their way to the school. Around a quarter of them may find their teacher not there. This number alone is staggering, ranging as it would between one and two million teachers. MILLION! And if each teacher has 30 children in his class, you can estimate the number but not really conceive how enormous it is. And it is huge not just in terms of numbers, but for each child who loses a day of learning, and does so for many days every month, it is incalculable.
Had the facilities or the teachers not been available we could have cried over our fate in terms of being an underdeveloped country. But having the infrastructure (over 98% children have a school within a kilometre, and most buildings are not bad) and teachers actually in place (though the number of vacancies is still very large) – it is horrifying to watch or at least it should be, for there doesn\’t seem to be a sense of horror, or as much of it as would shake the country into action.
However the story doesn\’t end there. It is when \’teaching\’ takes place that the impact on children is often at its greatest. Decades ago, the Yashpal Committee\’s report on The Burden of the School Bag had detailed the \’burden of incomprehension\’ a majority of children bear. And it is difficult to see if things have changed dramatically, despite changed curricula, textbooks, the use of TLM, evolving assessment patterns, new training programmes… The number of children attending school – and their diversity – too has grown in leaps and bounds, while the approach to handling their needs has remained fairly static. Hence, survey after survey shows that – despite a degree of improvement – we continue to be far from the levels of learning desired (and possible).
But it is when it comes to the process that the greatest deadening effect takes place. Rote memorization, \’explanation\’ ina language not necessarily understood by children, a disregard for the needs of children who are too poor to be able to attend regularly, (an often active) discrimination in the classroom, are the lot of a majority of our children. If you doubt this, all you have to do is visit any 10 government schools in different locations, especially those away from \’headquarters\’.
This is not to say that all government schools are bad and that the \’bad\’ is restricted to government schools. It is to point out that even if only a third of schools are like the ones described above (and the number is surely more than that), it adds up to literally hundreds of thousands of schools and tens of millions of children – a slow tsunami of poor quality education that is surely wreaking havoc on the potential of our children, our country.
Dealing With It
So after all this panic, what do we do?
As in any disaster, stay calm! First recognize that there is a problem and accept that something must be done about it.
Second, realize that you are the right person to do something about it. Anyone is, everyone is. Every small action counts. Even if you smile at a child, say an encouraging word to a teacher, raise this issue with friends, relatives and colleagues, you are doing something.
Third, if you are willing to be more proactive or are already active, please do look at the urgency of the situation. Children cannot wait for us to learn or get our act together slowly. We need to quickly:
  • Establish the minimum conditions that must obtain. These are well laid out in the RTE (Right to Education) and its rules. Raise this issue wherever you can, and directly with the school or education authorities.
  • Encourage and support the community and the school management committees (SMCs) drawn from among the community to become more active. You can help in setting them up, in record keeping, in setting the agenda, in follow up, in helping ensure that teachers take them seriously and that they in turn don\’t take an adversarial position vis-à-vis teachers. You can use your position to ensure that the educational agenda is not hijacked by the money-making or power-gaining agenda.

If you are a Head Teacher, supervisor, CRC-BRC / district level teacher educator or officer:
  • Model the kind of behaviour you want from teachers
  • Share practical steps they can take in their classes, especially in terms of activity-based teaching (see the many entries in this blog for support)
  • Encourage teachers to be innovative, support them. If they ask questions, don\’t be dismissive (pass on the questions here if you can answer them!)

If you are a planner / policy-maker / decision- maker, please start by not dismissing what you have just read here. It is real, and it is happening – and it\’s on a gargantuan scale. On any given day, the number of children who are in school and not learning is more than the population of many countries – and it is a shame. What kind of performance standards can you set in place? What kind of outcomes can you insist on? How can you prepare the institutions and the system to deliver this, monitor them effectively and enable an ongoing improvement? Once again, the many entries in this blog would be helpful – and you could always share issues you would like others to provide suggestions / inputs on.
As surely as Japan will recover from the huge earthquake and the devastating tsunami, we can deal with this too. But first we have to see it as an emergency and address it. With all our might.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

The Tsunami We Don\’t Always See

Our hearts go out to the sufferings of people in Japan. The pictures of the tsunami rushing in and engulfing everything in sight, wreaking havoc – will stay with us. Our sympathies and support should – and will – be available to help our fellow human beings in whatever way we can.
Our horror – and the desire to do something – would obviously be even more if we saw something similar happening all around us. And in a way something similar is happening all around us, only it is not as dramatic as a physical tsunami, making it a little difficult to be noticed by most people. It is what I would call the tsunami of poor quality of education that is hitting a million schools and tens of millions of children, its impact likely to be visible over the years rather than right now, instantly, in front of our eyes.
The Tsunami Around Us
No this is not alarmist, but an effort to put across a real picture and the urgency with which it needs to be recognized and acted upon. Every day, in hundreds of thousands of locations across the country, children make their way to the school. Around a quarter of them may find their teacher not there. This number alone is staggering, ranging as it would between one and two million teachers. MILLION! And if each teacher has 30 children in his class, you can estimate the number but not really conceive how enormous it is. And it is huge not just in terms of numbers, but for each child who loses a day of learning, and does so for many days every month, it is incalculable.
Had the facilities or the teachers not been available we could have cried over our fate in terms of being an underdeveloped country. But having the infrastructure (over 98% children have a school within a kilometre, and most buildings are not bad) and teachers actually in place (though the number of vacancies is still very large) – it is horrifying to watch or at least it should be, for there doesn\’t seem to be a sense of horror, or as much of it as would shake the country into action.
However the story doesn\’t end there. It is when \’teaching\’ takes place that the impact on children is often at its greatest. Decades ago, the Yashpal Committee\’s report on The Burden of the School Bag had detailed the \’burden of incomprehension\’ a majority of children bear. And it is difficult to see if things have changed dramatically, despite changed curricula, textbooks, the use of TLM, evolving assessment patterns, new training programmes… The number of children attending school – and their diversity – too has grown in leaps and bounds, while the approach to handling their needs has remained fairly static. Hence, survey after survey shows that – despite a degree of improvement – we continue to be far from the levels of learning desired (and possible).
But it is when it comes to the process that the greatest deadening effect takes place. Rote memorization, \’explanation\’ ina language not necessarily understood by children, a disregard for the needs of children who are too poor to be able to attend regularly, (an often active) discrimination in the classroom, are the lot of a majority of our children. If you doubt this, all you have to do is visit any 10 government schools in different locations, especially those away from \’headquarters\’.
This is not to say that all government schools are bad and that the \’bad\’ is restricted to government schools. It is to point out that even if only a third of schools are like the ones described above (and the number is surely more than that), it adds up to literally hundreds of thousands of schools and tens of millions of children – a slow tsunami of poor quality education that is surely wreaking havoc on the potential of our children, our country.
Dealing With It
So after all this panic, what do we do?
As in any disaster, stay calm! First recognize that there is a problem and accept that something must be done about it.
Second, realize that you are the right person to do something about it. Anyone is, everyone is. Every small action counts. Even if you smile at a child, say an encouraging word to a teacher, raise this issue with friends, relatives and colleagues, you are doing something.
Third, if you are willing to be more proactive or are already active, please do look at the urgency of the situation. Children cannot wait for us to learn or get our act together slowly. We need to quickly:
  • Establish the minimum conditions that must obtain. These are well laid out in the RTE (Right to Education) and its rules. Raise this issue wherever you can, and directly with the school or education authorities.
  • Encourage and support the community and the school management committees (SMCs) drawn from among the community to become more active. You can help in setting them up, in record keeping, in setting the agenda, in follow up, in helping ensure that teachers take them seriously and that they in turn don\’t take an adversarial position vis-à-vis teachers. You can use your position to ensure that the educational agenda is not hijacked by the money-making or power-gaining agenda.

If you are a Head Teacher, supervisor, CRC-BRC / district level teacher educator or officer:
  • Model the kind of behaviour you want from teachers
  • Share practical steps they can take in their classes, especially in terms of activity-based teaching (see the many entries in this blog for support)
  • Encourage teachers to be innovative, support them. If they ask questions, don\’t be dismissive (pass on the questions here if you can answer them!)

If you are a planner / policy-maker / decision- maker, please start by not dismissing what you have just read here. It is real, and it is happening – and it\’s on a gargantuan scale. On any given day, the number of children who are in school and not learning is more than the population of many countries – and it is a shame. What kind of performance standards can you set in place? What kind of outcomes can you insist on? How can you prepare the institutions and the system to deliver this, monitor them effectively and enable an ongoing improvement? Once again, the many entries in this blog would be helpful – and you could always share issues you would like others to provide suggestions / inputs on.
As surely as Japan will recover from the huge earthquake and the devastating tsunami, we can deal with this too. But first we have to see it as an emergency and address it. With all our might.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Missing the Aim(s) of Education!

It\’s a perennial struggle to define what we really want out of education. That is, it is a struggle for those who are vested with the responsibility of developing the curriculum, materials, evaluation and the like. For others, such as parents, things are reasonably clear. Which is where part of the problem lies.
The common man, or the consumer, or the parents of children who come to a majority of our schools, have no doubt at all that the purpose of education is to prepare children so that they can get a job (and be a worry off their heads). Many others – such as owners of private schools – boast that they get hundred percent results in the various examinations. Implying that the purpose of education is to get children to pass through examinations with flying colours (and what the purpose of the examinations is of course well known to all!)
And if you ask teachers in government schools, the ones who actually teach and are considered \’sincere\’, they will usually come out with statements such as: \’to develop a citizen, for all round development, someone with values, someone who can be called an educated person.\’
But when it comes to developing the curriculum we are somehow so reluctant to agree with these commonly held perceptions. We want something better, higher, more durable (our own approximation of the Olympics motto?) \’To produce someone who has a deep sense of values\’ is one of the most common aspirations. But what kind of values? And what to do about the fact that values are so relative (e.g. in certain situations, you actually get a medal for killing a man!). What is needed in order to be able to exercise values appropriately in a contextual and relative manner? And is that more a cognitive rather than ethical function (e.g. identifying options, weighing them against each other on various criteria, etc.)?
\’Education should develop the right kind of sanskars / culture in the student\’ is the next most popular choice. But whose culture are we talking about? A teacher trying to teach children how to use a handkerchief to blow their nose was left aghast when they reacted with amused horror as he put his handkerchief back into his pocket – they said they always threw things away after blowing their nose with rather than putting them back into their pocket! In a context as diverse as ours where the good manners of one group are easily the bad manners of others would we not end up simply extending the social control of dominant cultural group/s?
Unable to resolve this we move to discussing: what kind of society do we want to see? What would we consider a developed society? Where everyone has a job and the per capita income is high (back to jobs as the most important criterion?).  Slowly the discussion moves to recognizing the diversity in society and the need for each group / person to respect the \’other\’ and cherish, even celebrate this diversity. The need for a dynamic society that is able to overcome the divides of caste and class, race and gender is emphasized. A society where collaboration is valued and practiced, where resources are more equitably distributed and opportunity is available to each person to better his or her lot is portrayed as the desired one.
So what are the qualities needed in the children emerging from our schools in order that this vision come close to reality. Now a little more concrete set of indicators emerges – self-confidence, autonomy, decision-making ability, the ability to accept one\’s own shortcomings and confront / improve them, a more scientific attitude that helps them question given conclusions and arrive at their own inferences, and so on.
So how would this impact the subjects we are teaching? Here again we run into difficulties – since, despite our best efforts, we continue to be the prisoners of our past. The kind of ideas that come up are: include a lesson on self-confidence and one on self-dependence as well, have guidance and counselling, do scouts and guides\’ activities, and the like. As if a lesson in self-confidence or the description of a great person\’s life will help attain self-dependence!
When this is explored further, the true import of some of these \’small indicators\’ begins to sink in. To ensure that children develop self-confidence, for example, they need to experience challenges as well as successes, repeatedly.  This will generate the necessary self-belief. Clearly, then, instead of simply teaching in the regular way and appreciating the child\’s efforts, the teacher instead needs to challenge the child – by introducing tasks of which some part children can do, along with others that they would find difficult. Then it would be important to ask children to plan it by themselves, share and justify their plan to a larger set of friends and finally implementing it on their own. The experience of this implementation needs to be discussed so that lessons may be drawn for the next time. It is repeated experiences of this kind that lead to self-confidence.
For each of the changes / developments we want in our children, identifying its implications is a harrowing task. Not only is it difficult to know what to do so that the desired outcomes happen (e.g. how do you \’teach\’ to accept one\’s limitations and also go beyond them?), the emerging discussion tends to doubly challenge long-held notions and deep-rooted practice. (Such as supporting children as they learn on their own rather than teaching them as we are used to.) And if these are the qualities we desire in our children, we are really left wondering why it is that we should be teaching things such as physics or chemistry or past participle and geometric progression.

As we progress further in defining the aims of education, we seem to be moving further away from \’education\’ itself as we know it and into something that is still quite undefined and yet to be evolved. Somehow even as we define the aims, we seem to be missing them.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

ROLE OF N.C.E.R.T. IN PROMOTING THE QUALITY OF TEACHER EDUCATION

               The National Council of Educational Research and Training was established in New Delhi on 1stSeptember, 1961 for providing academic support in improving the quality of school education in India. It is the academic adviser to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) of the Government of India. It is concerned with all problems of school education in the country, and endeavors to improve such education through developing various programmes of research, publication, extension training. NCERT also provides technical advice to states as to how to improve the standard of state science exhibitions and their exhibits for national science exhibitions.

          NCERT has the National Institute of Education located at Delhi. NCERT has a large publishing house. It published model text-books, hand-books, guide books and children’s literature or supplementary reading materials. NCERT possesses a production workshop with huge qualities of materials flowing in and flowing out. The central Institute of Education which is a constituent college of the University of Delhi maintained by the NCERT and provides facilities for courses of study leading to the B.Ed and M.Ed degrees. NCERT maintains four regional colleges of education at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Mysore. NCERT assists several states in their curriculum development, writing of text books and reviewing of school text-books.
        The success of the NCERT will depend on the extent to which it gains confidence of the entire country and gets accepted by the professional group of various states in the field of school education. The impact of NCERT text books on the classroom practices has been tremendous. Beside CBSE affiliated schools, the organizations like the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan (KVS) and the Navodaya Vidyalaya Sanghatan use NCERT text books. One hopes and wishes that the NCERT’s vision is spelt out soon through a policy decision/declaration in which all undefined aspects of text book preparation and production are spelt out clearly.
ESTABLISHMENT
          Ministry of Education of Indian Government established NCERT in 1961. NCERT is an autonomous-organization, working as an academic using of the Ministry of education. It assists the said Ministry in the formulation and implementation of its policies and programmes in the field of education. It is expected to encourage student teachers and teacher educators to conduct educational research. In order to fulfill these maintain objectives, it has established National Institute of Education (NIE) at Delhi and four regional colleges of education at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Mysore. It also works collaboration with the departments in the states, the universities and institutes, following objectives of school education. It also maintains close-contact with similar national and international institutions throughout the world. It communicates result of its researches to a common man by publishing books and journals.
            The establishment of NCERT in 1961 was a major step taken for the development of school education which involves teacher education also. Amongst the significant contribution of NCERT are:
·         Revamping of Elementary and Secondary Teacher education curriculum.
·         Reorganizing of student teaching and evaluation.
·         Institution of All-India surveys on teacher education.
·         Focus on continuing education of teachers through establishments of centers of continuing education.
·         Recognition to contributions to education by outstanding school teachers and teacher educators through a scheme of national awards.
STRUCTURE
               The general body is the policy making body of the NCERT with the Union Minister for Human resource Development as its president. All the Ministers of Education in the states and union territories are its members. Besides, experts in the field of education are also nominated as members. Its membership pattern helps in taking policy decisions at the highest level.
             The governing body of the NCERT is the Executive Committee, again with the Union Minister for Human resource Development as its ex-officio president. The union minister for education is its ex-officio vice president assisting the executive committee is three standing committees dealing with finance, establishment matters and programmes.
            The principal executive and academic of the NCERT is the director who is assisted by the joint director and the secretary. All of them are appointed by the government of India.
OBJECTIVES OF NCERT
·        To launch, organize and strengthen research works in various aspects of education.
·        To ensure success of the process, a good no of curricular/learning materials have to be brought out by the NCERT.
·        To arrange for pre-service and in-service training at the higher level.
·        To provide guidance and counseling services on large scale.
·        To establish a National Institute of Education and manage for the development of research and higher training for educational administration and teachers.
·        To publish necessary textbooks, journals and other literature for achieving the objectives.
·        To organize extension centers in training institutes with the cooperation of state governments and extend facilities pertaining to new methods and technologies among them.
MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF NCERT
          The functions of NCERT broadly relate to (a) research and development, (b) in-service and pre-service training, and (c) extension and dissemination work- all these tuned to achieve the main objective of improving the quality of school education.
The NCERT, therefore
·         Develops curriculum, instructional and exemplar materials, methods of teaching, techniques of evaluation, teaching aids, kits and equipments, learning resources, etc.
·         To monitor the administration of NIE/ Regional colleges of education.
·         To prepare and publish study material for students and related teacher’s handbooks.
·         Organizes pre-service and in-service training of teachers, teacher educators and other educational personnel;
·         To undertake aid, promote and co-ordinate research in all branches of education for improving school-education.
·         Conducts and promotes educational research.
·         To search talented students for the award of scholarship in science, technology and social sciences.
·         Disseminates improved educational techniques and practices and research findings.
·         To undertake functions assigned by the Ministry of education (now HRD) for improving school-education.
·         Acts as a cleaning house for ideas and information on all matters relating to school education and teacher education.
CONSTITUENT UNITS
            The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), with six constituents has been serving the cause of qualitative improvement of school education since its inception in 1961.
The constituents of NCERT are:
·          Fourteen departments of the National Institute of Education (NIE) at NCERT headquarters, New Delhi.
·         Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), NIE campus, New Delhi.
·         Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education at Bhopal.
·         Educational Research and Innovation Committee (ERIC) at NIE campus, New Delhi.
·         Four Regional Institutes of Education at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Mysore.
        The programmes formulation is based on the National Policy of on education, interactions with the state education authorities, assistance sought by the central educational organizations, and the assessment of educational needs of the country for qualitative improvement of school education by the faculty of the NCERT.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION (NIE)
         The NIE’s activities are mainly confined to (a) research and development (b) in-service training and (c) publishing and dissemination programmes. The NIE also develops prototypes of science kits which are in fact mini-laboratories for schools. Other important areas of its work are the non-formal education for out-of-school children, early childhood education, and education of the disabled and programmes for the educationally backward minorities
          In order to fulfill the objectives of NCERT, NIE functions through nine departments, seven units and two cells as under:
Departments of NIE
v  Academic Departments
v  Production Departments
v  Department of Math’s Education
v  Department of Textbooks
v  Department of Teacher Education
v  Department of Teaching Aids
v  Department of Educational Psychology Publication Department
v  Department of Educational Psychology Workshop Department
v  Department of Text-books.
Units of NIE
v  National Talent Search Unit
v  Survey and Data Processing Unit
v  Policy, Planning and Evaluation Unit
v  Library and Documentation Unit
v  Vocationalisation of Educational Unit
v  Examination Reform Unit
v  Examination Research Unit
Cells of NIE
v  Primary Curriculum
v  Journals Cell
 CENTRAL   INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY (CIET)
              The CIET is the sixth constituent unit of the NCERT. It aims at promoting the use of educational technology, particularly mass media, for improving and spreading education in the country, and for developing an alternate system of education.
             The CIET develops (a) software in mind educational needs, (b) trains personnel working in the field of educational technology, (c) conducts research and evaluation systems, programmes and materials, (d) documents and disseminates information concerning educational media and technology.
            The CIET is equipped to take up programmes covering most of the areas of educational technology, viz., distance education, educational television, radio, films and low cost material.
Functions of CIET are as under:
·         To encourage the use of educational technology in the spread of education.
·         To organize training programmes in connection with school-broadcasting and educational television.
·         To develop learning aids based on educational technology.
REGIONAL INSTITUTES OF EDUCATION (RIE):
                 The council has four Regional Colleges of Education (RCEs) one at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Mysore. These campus colleges with the demonstration multipurpose schools attached to them. Such schools help the faculty to develop methodologies and test them in the actual classroom situation. Each college has modern laboratories, well -equipped library and residential quarters.
            All the RCEs conduct in-service training programmes both for school teachers and teacher educators. Besides teaching and extension work, the colleges also take up research and development programmes. Now they are converted in Regional Institutes of Education.
RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
             The Educational Research and Innovations Committee (ERIC) of the NCERT funds research programmes taken up by scholars both within and outside the council. The projects, however, are to have a direct bearing on either school education or teacher education. The ERIC also holds periodic conferences of educational research workers. Having funded publication of surveys of educational researches in India earlier, it has now taken upon itself the task of compiling such research volumes as well.
           The NCERT offers financial assistance to professional associations in the field of education for holding annual conferences and publishing journals.
PUBLICATIONS
    The publishing programme of the NCERT is a part of its total effort to improve the quality of school education. The NCERT textbooks published in English, Hindi and Urdu languages have the unique distinction of being at once attractive and inexpensive. These textbooks are freely adopted by states under their nationalized textbook programme. They are also used widely in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, Tibetan schools and several public schools. The NCERT brings out a wide variety of publications such as (a) research literature, (b) school textbooks including workbooks and teachers guides, (c) general books for children of different age groups, and (d) educational journals viz., Indian Educational Review (quarterly), Journal of Indian Education and Bharatiya Adhunik Shiksha(bi-monthlies), School Science(quarterly), The Primary Teacher and Primary Shikshak (both quarterlies), and NCERT Newsletter and Shaikshik Darpan (both news magazines primarily meant for in-house circulation.
              The NCERT also brings out supplementary readers under the ‘Reading to learn’ and National Integration Series. These books are specially written keeping in view the needs of school children, to promote a healthy reading habit in them.
            The NCERT develops ‘National Curriculum Frameworks’ in which, among other things, the policy directives of the National Policies on Education are kept in view. The textbook development programme of the NCERT is supposed to be guided, inter alia, by the provisos of the National Curriculum Framework. Among other things, the societal concerns mentioned in the National Curriculum Framework should find reflection in the textbooks developed by the NCERT.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
          The NCERT’s international cooperation ranges from working with the United Nations institutions like UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA etc., to assisting third world countries. The NCERT is one of the major institutions to assist the Ministry of Human Resource Developing for implementing cultural exchange agreements between India and other countries. The NCERT has been implementing a number of UNICEF assisted and UNESCO sponsored programmes and project with the help of states and union territories. The NCERT is also implementing and monitoring the UNFPA funded project on population education in both the formal and non-formal education sectors.
        Over the years the NCERT has stimulated professional growth of teachers, teacher educators, educational administrators and other educational personnel by involving them in most of its programmes including seminars, workshops, conferences and orientation programmes-through which it works. The NCERT’s work covers the entire spectrum of school education ranging from planning to evaluation. Its programmes benefit all the children from 3 and half to 18 years of age and also those who aspire to be teachers or are already in the profession.
PROGRAMMES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
           NCERT’s programmes are within the parameters of school education. A interface in the area of vocational education between the NCERT and the UGC is already in operation. The NCERT is also collaborating with IGNOU in training courses through distance education mode. It has been involving the Directorate of Adult Education in organizing programmes for training the faculty of District Resource Units of the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and principals of DIETs.
           The NCERT-CIET contributes substantial number of Educational Television and Radio programmes for children and teachers in the context of the Programmes of Mass Orientation of School Teachers (PMOST). The NCERT and the Doordarshan collaborated effectively. With the main emphasis on universalization of elementary education, NCERT has organized Special Orientation of Primary Teachers (SOPT) in collaboration with the respective states. The NCERT has been now advising and assisting the states under the Centrally Sponsored District Primary Education Programme.
         The department of women studies set up in the NCERT to formulate and implementing projects/programmes for promoting education for girls, who constitute a major segment of non-enrolled population has conducted studies and developed instructional strategies for them.
          NCERT has been providing technical support to the states in the planning and implementation of various programmes to promote vocationalisation at the plus two stages. It has also been engaged in development of competency-based curricula for different vocational courses, development of guidelines for implementing different aspects of vocationalisation of education, development of syllabi and instructional materials, training of vocational teacher educators, teachers and other personnel.The NCERT has developed a framework for semesterisation in collaboration with Boards of Secondary and Senior Secondary Education.
         NCERT has also developed conceptual materials related to educational evaluation, preparation of criterion-referenced texts and the training of test item writers in different subject areas. It has also developed a sample cumulative card along with procedures for maintaining records of pupil’s achievement and guidelines for introduction of grading and scaling in examinations. NCERT has also undertaken a programme to identify talented children in rural areas as per requirement of admission to Navodaya Vidyalays.
CONCLUSION
          National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an apex resource organization set up by the Government of India, to assist and advice the central and state Governments on academic matters related to school education. NCERT also provides technical advice in how to improve the standard of science based education. The NCERT performs the important functions of conducts and promotes educational research, improve educational techniques, practices and research findings, develops curriculum instructional and exemplar materials, methods of teaching, techniques of evaluation, teaching aids etc. The NCERT offers the pre-service and in-service training of teachers at various levels such as pre-primary, elementary, secondary and higher secondary and also in such areas as vocational education, educational technology, guidance and counseling and special education. NCERT has a large publishing house. It publishes model text books, hand-books, guide books and children’s literature or supplementary reading books. The constituents of NCERT are NIE, CIET, ERIC, RIEs etc. NCERT aims at bringing about improvement of education through various kinds of educational technologies.  It is a major step taken for the development of school education which involves teacher education also. 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Fatwa issued against bin Laden

It is possible that this is good news. However, let’s consider the other possibilities.

1. This cleric is in Spain (or occupied Andalusia as Islamists think of it). The rules of a Muslim living in a non-Muslim-ruled land are very different. Mohammad’s life illustrates how to behave. In the first half of his religious career, he was in Mecca trying to preach his religion in a hostile setting. During this period he talked about tolerance. During his second period, in Medina, he became repressive, bellicose, and strident as time progressed. Dissenters were silenced by death. Medina, a town originally founded by Jews, had an agricultural economy. Unwilling to do honest work, he plundered the caravans traveling to Mecca even the in holy month (if it’s for Islam, exceptions are allowed). He ethnically cleansed Medina of Jews and established a totalitarian type rule with imperialist aims. In less that a century, his follows conquered most of what was believed to be the world.

It is proper for a Muslim to use lies and deception in the cause of advancing Islam (taqqiya). Can we believe this fatwa or is it tactical? If this fatwa was issued by leading clerics in Islamic countries it would be far more significant – especially if issued simultaneously by religious leaders in several countries. The doctrine of ijma holds that a consensus of learned leaders of the community (ummah) will never be wrong.

2. Bin Laden is no Mohammad. After 9/11 there were street rallies for bin Laden in several Islamic countries. However, after he and his cronies were routed from Afghanistan in weeks, these rallies ceased. His actions have caused the loss of two major territories to American hegemony. He has since to regain power or execute another major terrorist attack against America.

Let’s remember, Mohammad wasn’t the guy who died on a cross but a warrior who conquered Arabia and left a military to conquer what seemed like the world. Muslims don’t like losers. Jesus never ruled and his followers lived in persecution during the 1st three hundred years of Christianity. During Islam’s 1400 years Christians lived in oppression as second class citizens groveling for favors from Muslims. Now bin Laden is on the run living in caves like the early Christians. What could more humiliating by Muslim standards?

Thus, maybe the fatwa is real – not because of a change of heart or moderation among Muslims – but because bin Laden is a loser.

I give just two possibilities for your consideration. I could give many more. We won’t know until there is a pattern of such rulings – in Islamic countries.

Agree with Red Ed


I never thought I would never agree with anything in Mr Miliband\’s economic policy. If you are wondering who Mr Miliband (or Red Ed as he is sometimes called) is, he is the head of the Labour Party in the UK. In case you haven\’t been looking, there is a general election about to happen in the UK, which nobody in the world other than the most dedicated Anglophile (this blogger is one) has even noticed. Such is the UK\’s relevance in the world today – how far has the Empire fallen.
Red Ed, is called so, because he is just one step short of being a Commie in economic policy. So how is it that I can agree anything at all with him ?
Well, he has just announced that he will control the infamous zero hour contracts that seems to be so popular with big employers in the UK.  I have blogged on this before and I find this practice an abomination.
Zero hour contracts are where you enter into a contract with a company which is as one sided as a contract can ever be. You are bound to the company – you have to come to work as soon as the company calls you. The company is bound to nothing – they don\’t have to call you even once. You sit every morning by the telephone, not knowing if you have work that day or not. If you are called, you have rush to work. They may call you to work for 1 hour, 3 or 5 or 8 – that is their choice. You have to take it and are paid by the hour. You can\’t work anywhere else because if you are called and you don\’t turn up instantly, you are fired. Obviously there are no benefits – no leave, no retirement benefits, no medical benefits, no nothing.
Predictably, Britain\’s companies are shouting down Red Ed.  They must be ashamed of their two facedness. Why don\’t the bosses be on zero hour contracts. On the days, when they are goofing around doing nothing, they shouldn\’t get paid. Not one senior manager in the UK is on zero hours contract. Frankly, they should all be – if they turn up for work only every alternate day, the company would actually do better. In the television interviews that are part of the election campaign, David Cameron, UK\’s Prime Minister and the leader of the Conservative Party had to admit that he himself could not live on a zero hours contracts. Red Ed has gleefully said that if something is not good enough for UK\’s Prime Minister, its not good enough for the people !
Both ends of the spectrum relating to employment are wrong. In the Red corner is France – with guaranteed life time employment, a million benefits and no obligation to work (in the public sector, at least). In the Blue corner is the UK where an employee is treated as a piece of shit and not a human being.  Both these systems deserve to be thrown into the dustbin.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Turn the world vegetarian

Humans love eating meat. Vegetarians and vegans (this blogger is a vegetarian) don\’t stand a chance. In quite a few countries in the world, you simply have to starve if you are a vegetarian.  In many others, your only ordering choice in a restaurant is likely to be an apology of a salad, that could more appropriately be fed to a cow !
Any chance that you can turn the human race into vegetarians ? Well, at least one company thinks so. The aptly named Impossible Foods based in California (where else)  would like to try. An interesting Q&A with the founder that I read in the Guardian, prompted this post.
The logic for turning the human race vegan is impeccable. The largest environmental impact that humans have created is from rearing animals for food – cows being the primary culprit. The resources utilised – water, land, etc – per pound of meat is also the largest. The absolutely atrocious conditions in which we rear and kill farm animals has to be a permanent blot on the human species (pig farmers in Iowa – are you listening ?) And if the population of farm animals decreases, there is a better chance of wildlife prospering,  as one of the chief causes of habitat loss is grazing. 
Of course, this is not going to happen. Go back to the first sentence of this post. 
I however have this feeling, totally unsubstantiated by data, that this might be a long term trend. Technology in food production is on the cusp of a revolution. After all humans don\’t eat meat because they like to kill animals. They eat it because they love the taste. If, and when, plant based foods are engineered to taste like meat, there is every chance that people will start to switch. Especially if it is cheaper.  And then, slowly, the ethical side of it will start to play a part. If you can satisfy your nutrition and the craving for taste without killing, why wouldn\’t you do it. After all, if many of the meat eaters actually saw how their meat was being produced, a good proportion will turn vegetarians immediately !
But this is not going to happen in a hurry. Impossible Foods is just a fad and, this being California, fads are always welcome. But good luck to them. I might even come out of retirement and open the India branch – at least it will get me into the good books of the awful gau rakshaks !
But one day, in the distant future, maybe 100 generations later, our descendants will look upon with horror at \”prehistoric man\” for killing and eating animals. And maybe somebody will read my post from the archeological archives and pronounce me as a prescient wise man !
By the way, the photo is that of a veggie burger .
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

7 Ways to Retain Optimism (Even If You Work In Improving Elementary Education!)

Got you, didn\’t it! Sooner or later, you hit a wall. There\’s a feeling that nothing works. That the system is so overwhelming that hardly anything can be done. Eventually, if you\’re someone trying to improve elementary education – whether as a teacher or resource person or administrator – you find yourself unwillingly accepting that the poor quality of education will continue to prevail in hundreds of thousands of classrooms.
Ok, so that\’s stated a little too strongly. But there is grain of truth there! Which is why, in the interest of millions of children, we need to look at how to retain the enthusiasm and optimism we started out with. So here are some ways to preserve your cheer, mental health and youthful looks despite the years you\’ve put in.
1. Think \’how\’, not \’should\’
Much too often we find ourselves talking about what \’should\’ be happening. Slowly the discussion slides into a list of things we are dissatisfied with – teachers not working, infrastructure remaining poor, lack of leadership, absence of commitment…. You can hear the pitch rising, can\’t you? Keep the pitch raised and you\’re bound to have a stressed heart!
To retain your desire to make things better (and keep your heart healthy), it would be so much better to talk of the how. What ordinary things can a teacher do? E.g. smile at children, read the textbook before the class, solve a puzzle herself to find out how much fun it is, read aloud a book to children once in a while – nothing that requires an \’order\’ or funding or special mandate or skill or training. Similarly, what can a head teacher do, burdened as she is with administrative tasks made difficult by lack of support? Share and delegate (e.g. make it fun for other teachers to participate and work as a group), discuss some of the records maintained in the school (e.g. connect children\’s attendance rates and test performance), and so on.
As you can see, you would have something doable to share. Chances are, some of the ideas might actually get picked up – in which case don\’t forget to really appreciate the person implementing them.
2. Focus on outcomes, not inputs
This is much more if you\’re a planner, administrator, supervisor, programme leader. Very often we\’re so focused on the inputs flowing from our side that we ignore what these are for. Thus it seems important to see whether material is supplied or not, the number of days of in-service training covered, physical targets fulfilled – and then one day it suddenly turns out that all this has not had much impact. We\’re left feeling that all our effort didn\’t amount to much, and a sinking feeling starts to grow. Of course we don\’t tell anyone else about it but we\’re aware it\’s there, isn\’t it?
How to overcome this situation? After all, inputs have to be provided. Sure they have – but for a purpose. It might be more useful to take a look at what all this is meant to bring about. For instance, the issue is not whether material is supplied or not but whether it is used as intended by children. This suddenly makes us see that we need to focus on training, incorporate this into the monitoring and academic support, share examples with teachers, encourage children and parents to lose inhibitions and start using material in school and at home… All of which, if done even on a small scale and only partially successful, has the wonderful effect of making you feel giddy with success. Pessimism – gone!
3. Be incremental
This point is so commonsensical and obvious that it gets ignored. Don\’t try to do everything or too much in one go (especially if you are at the district / sub-district level). For instance, for any teacher to make a real change in the classroom processes, some 40 different practices are likely to change. Try doing a full \’training\’ and expect all these changes – there\’s only chaos. Teachers do try but fail – no one\’s sure what to start with, the sequence in which to implement these changes, the steps to be taken. All it takes is one or two failures for teachers and schools to feel that nothing much can be done, that it\’s all too difficult, and doesn\’t work and is therefore not worth the effort. Soon, you begin to feel the same and are a pale shadow of the enthusiastic person who set out on a journey of change.
To get back on track on this journey, scale things down a little. Expect only a few changes at a time. E.g.
  • Give teachers a list of 6-8 possible changes (ranging from calling each child by the name, to making use of activities given in the textbooks to encouraging children to ask questions).
  • Ask them to select only 3-4 from this list (making a choice generates ownership and commitment); discuss the steps they need to take in order to bring about these changes.
  • Encourage them to make a 2-3 month implementation plan around these steps and help them monitor themselves and each other to see if the changes are actually happening.
  • Extend this cycle at the end of each 2-3 month period. Over a year or two, a dramatic change would occur – only it would have been less noticed as it happened, more successful, and breeding optimism rather than pessimism.
For those in the know, this is precisely what ADEPTS is all about and has made a positive change happen in over 22,000 (that\’s right, 22 thousand) schools in Gujarat.
4. Enter with questions, leave with (people\’s) ideas
Trainers, facilitators and academics trying to communicate with teachers end up being frustrated very soon – \’they don\’t pay any attention to whatever we say\’ is a common complaint. To which the reply is – why should they? The days are over when someone followed your ideas / views / instructions simply because you came from a so-called \’superior\’ level such as a university or senior position in the hierarchy. No, people will do things differently only if they are convinced and feel like doing it from inside. Our role is to touch people\’s hearts and minds rather than trying to shape them or fill them with our views.
How can one do this? It\’s so simple that I\’m almost ashamed to mention it! Don\’t enter a training session or a meeting with a list of things to tell. Instead, concentrate on a few key questions to ask. Questions that will generate response, reflection, and provoke people into coming out with their own views and ideas. For instance, ask questions such as:
  • If material is so easy to generate, why should we supply anything? What do you think?
  • Suggest ways in which you can use a library along with the textbook?
  • Shouldn\’t we trust children and get them to mark their own attendance instead of the teacher spending time on it?
  • When children don\’t understand decimals, exactly where do you think the problem lies?
Don\’t believe me, try it out and see what happens. At any rate, the tired old complaint will not be heard any more.

5. Don\’t see people as they are but as they\’re going to be…
Anyone who\’s responsible for helping people be different usually ends up using phrases such as \’dog\’s tail that can never be straightened\’. But that\’s because they see people as they actually are rather than what they can be like. Try this out the next time you\’re in such a situation – 
  • Look at your students / participants / team members and visualise them as being different. 
  • What qualities can you visualise them as having? 
  • What ways do you seem them adopting to make good use of the capabilities they already have? 
  • And what do you see yourself learning from them?
Gives you a different perspective, doesn\’t it? Every time I\’ve worked with a group that has been called \’difficult\’, this is what has helped me make good friends with the participants and support them in changing themselves. Not exactly rocket science, and works very well too. End result? You can imagine…
6. The system is people too
When you work on an impersonal, solid thing called a \’system\’, it\’s hard to see it changing. Indeed, it has an inertia of its own because it has usually arrived at some degree of stability over the years – and here you are, trying to destabilise it for reasons of your own! Why on earth would it meekly go along?
But if you look upon a system as a number of people bound in a set of relationships, you have several entry points where there didn\’t seem to be any in the beginning. There are bound to be persons in the system trying to make good things happen (if nothing else, just the law of averages determines that there have to be at least a few of these). Can you locate such persons? Is there a way of interacting with them, perhaps even bringing together a few of them? Can you change a few persons at a time? Is there an activity that would support or recognize their efforts, and given them the feeling that they\’re not alone? And when success (even small success) happens and is recognized, the circle of those willing to engage and dialogue, grows. With it grows the possibility of real change happening, thus reducing the chances of your growing old before your time out of sheer frustration and pessimism.
7. This is where I need your help
Please be so kind as to let me know the 7th (and 8th, and 9th) way…
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Merry Christmas

For the next few days, I will be living “off the grid” so that I can focus this Christmas season on Christ, on Church, and on family. I will return next week to continue my series on Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, and to write of other things.

Let me take this opportunity to wish each of you a merry and blessed Christmas. May God richly bless you and those you love during this holy season and in the coming new year. And (as I said yesterday to two coworkers who are retiring), may you have as much fun and excitement as you want and as much peace and calm as you want. J.

Several initiatives taken by the Ministry of Steel to support a competitive, efficient, environment friendly steel industry, adhering to global safety and quality standards

The Government’s vision to achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2024 entails investments worth INR 100 lakh crore in infrastructure sectors, including several steel intensive sectors like Housing for All, 100% electrification, piped water for all etc. Steel has several inherent advantages of durability, faster completion time, reduced environmental impact, and creation of a circular economy. Steel will have a crucial role to play in India’s rise to a $5 trillion economy.

Payroll Reporting in India – A Formal Employment Perspective

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the press note on Employment Outlook of the country covering the period September, 2017 to October, 2019, based on the administrative records available with selected government agencies to assess the progress in certain dimensions. A detailed note is annexed.

Click here to access the detailed note.

 

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Year End Review 2019- Ministry of Shipping

In the year 2019, the government has undertaken several important progressive policy interventions and new initiatives to accelerate the overall development of the shipping sector.

Enactment of the landmark Recycling of Ships Act, 2019; accession to IMO’s Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in November, 2019; measures to promote employment of seafarers; improved connectivity with neighbours and other countries for ease of movement of cargo and passengers; emphasis on cruise tourism; taking up new projects under flagship Sagarmala project are some of the key highlights of achievements of Ministry of Shipping in the year 2019.

The main achievements of Ministry of Shipping during 2019 are as below:

Enactment of Recycling of Ships Act, 2019 &accession to IMO’s Hong Kong International Convention

India became a prime destination for green ship recycling with the passing and enactment of the landmark Recycling of Ships Act, 2019. India has also acceded to IMO’s Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in November,2019.The new Act provides a legislative framework for implementation of the provisions of the Hong Kong Convention. It also contains provisions of the Convention which are not covered in the Shipbreaking Code (Revised), 2013.Withenactment of this Act, ship recycling volume is expected to double by 2024.

Accession to IMO’s Hong Kong International Convention will give boost to the domestic ship recycling industry inIndia which is one of the world’s five major ship recycling countries

Biometric Seafarers Identity Document (BSID)

India has become the first country in the world to issue Biometric Seafarers Identity Document (BSID) capturing the facial biometric data of seafarers. The new document will give a foolproof identification to our seafarers which will facilitate their movement across countries, providing ease of getting jobs and also helping in identification at any location in the world.

International Cooperation

The year 2019 saw a series of international cooperation agreements and events. In order to boost the bilateral trade with other countries and to ensure cooperation and coordination in the maritime sector, severalMoUs weresigned with neighbouring, South Asian and other countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan Maldives, Denmark and Sweden.One of the significant MoUs signed between India and Maldives will pave the way for ferry and cargo services between Maldives & Kerala. Another agreement has been signed with Sweden for mutual recognition of the certificates of seafarers in December, 2019. This will enable the employment of Indian seafarers on-board Swedish flag ships.

In another significant development, to promote movement of passenger, cruise services andcargo transit to North East Region (NER),thealternative connectivity route via Bangladesh’s Chattogram and Mongla Portswas first timeused to North East Region.This will increase trade volumes and reduce logistic costs of the cargo. Eight routes are also provided under the Agreement which would enable access of NER via Bangladesh.

The Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya digitally flagging off the IWAI vessel carrying cargo from Bhutan to Bangladesh through NW2 and Indo Bangla Protocol Route in New Delhi.

A MoU was also signed with the Germany for technology collaboration for the Central Inland & Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT) at IIT Kharagpur during the state visit of German Chancellor.

India and Nepal have agreed to include Inland Waterways connectivity as an additional mode of transport in the Treaty of Transit.An Indian waterway was used for transportation of cargo between Bangladesh and Bhutan, using India for transit on 12.07.2019, for the first time ever.

Three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between Ranong Port (Port Authority of Thailand) and the Port Trusts of Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata. These MoUs will enhance economic partnership by cutting down the sea travel time between India and Thailand from 10- 15 days to 7 days.

Ease of Doing Business

India has improved its ranking under the Trading Across Border (TAB) parameter of Ease of Doing business (EoDB) from 80 to 68. This impressive record has been facilitated due to various measures like Direct Port Delivery (DPD), Direct Port Entry (DPE), Introduction of RFID, Installation of scanners/container scanners, Simplification of procedures etc., taken by the major ports.

Cruise Operations

Promotion of Cruise Tourism and Coastal Shipping was one of the top most priorities of the Ministry of Shipping throughout this year. As Cruise Tourism has huge potential, the Ministry has taken various steps for promotion of international and domestic cruise services in India.

The arrival of the first private premium luxury cruise liner ‘KARNIKA’ has added another chapter in domestic cruise tourism in India. “KARNIKA” is offering for the first time opportunity to Indians to experience cruise tourism between Mumbai – Goa, Mumbai – Ganpatipule (Jaigad), Mumbai – Diu, Mumbai – Gulf routes.

With state of the art facilities developed at Mumbai Port, four cruise ships docked on the same day in November, 2019 at Mumbai port, a momentous occasion in its history.

Inaugural cruise services were started between Dhaka and Kolkata this year.Four cruise vessels have already travelled between India and Bangladesh in 2019.

Measures for Employment of Seafarers& Skill Development

The number of seafarers increased from 1,54,349 in 2017 to 2,08,799 in 2018 and to 2,31,776 in 2019. India has seen an unprecedented growth of Indian seafarers employed on-board Indian and foreign flagged vessels, as a result of cumulative impact of decisions of the Government to improve the quality of Maritime Training, increase in the training capacity, increase in the number of training berths, standardization of course curriculum and course material, improvement in examination system and above all by ease of doing business brought through simplified processes and with e-governance modules in the year 2019.

Issuing Biometric Seafarers Identity Document (BSID) is revolutionary step in this direction.

An agreement has been also signed with Sweden for mutual recognition of the certificates of seafarers in December, 2019.

The Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya launches the World’s first ever  “ Face Recognition Based Seafarer Identification document in India” in New Delhi.

For skill development, under the Phase 2 of Sagarmala DeenDayalUpadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDUGKY) for convergence for skill development in Port and Maritime Sector has been launched in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Besides this dedicated training centres have also been inaugurated in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.A Multi Skill Development Centre (MSDC) in Maritime Logistics at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trustwas also inaugurated in 2019. The MSDC will provide skill development in Maritime Logistics to over 1050 students per year in the Port and Maritime sector. Multi-skill Development Centres (MSDC) are being setup at all major ports.

The foundation stone for the Central Inland & Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT) at IIT Kharagpur was laid in March, 2019. The establishment of CICMT signifies a major leap in indigenous innovation and cutting-edge technology support to the Port and Maritime sector directly contributing to the Sagarmala programme and support ‘Make in India’ and is based on close collaboration amongst government, academic institutions and industry to make applied research relevant to day to day ground work in the port and maritime sector.

The Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya witnessing the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Agreement between Ministry of Shipping and IIT Kharagpur for setting up the CICMT at IIT Kharagpur, in New Delhi.

A MoU was also signed with the Germany for technology collaboration for the centre during the state visit of German Chancellor.

Shipyards and Ports

The first ever BIMSTEC Conclave of Ports was held in India in 2019. The conclave provided a platform to strengthen maritime interaction, port-led connectivity initiatives and sharing best practices among member countries.

The Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya witnessing the exchange of an MoU at BIMSTEC Ports Conclave-2019 at Visakhapatnam, AP.

 

In 2019, upgraded Port Community System has been introduced for all ports. The system enables seamless data flow between the various stakeholders through common interface. To move towards complete paperless regime, E-DO (Electronic Delivery Order) through PCS made mandatory along with e-invoicing and e-payment. The RFID Operation at KDS, CCTV Operations at Kolkata Dock System (KDS) and Rabindra Setu and three Truck Parking Terminals at KDS was also inaugurated in 2019. The RFID system will provide single window system to the port users for obtaining permit/ passes through cashless transactions.

The Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya dedicating the Oil Spill Recovery Vessel, MARUDHAM at Chennai Port Trust.

Two multipurpose berths at Deendayal Port, Kandla were inaugurated by in March, 2019. The new berths would help in reducing the congestion in the port. In 2019 a 400 bedded Super Specialty Hospital at Paradip Port at an estimated cost of Rs.200 crore with an option to further develop a Medical College and expand the hospital on PPP basis.

The Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviyadigitally inaugurated and laid foundation stone for various projects at Deendayal Port Trust.

Coastal Shipping

The ministry has undertaken several initiatives to promote Coastal Shipping,as coastal shipping isthe top most priority of the Ministry under Sagarmala. In order to continue this pace and seek further growth of coastal trade, a perspective plan up to year 2025 on development of coastal shipping in India has been prepared by Asian Development Bank. The plan takes a holistic view of the coastal shipping sector discerning its potential and challenges and addresses them with necessary infrastructure, regulatory and commercialintervention.

Maritime Heritage

The Ministry of Shipping has approved setting up of a National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal with total cost of Rs 478.9 Cr, the first of its kind world class complex in the country to showcase India’s rich Maritime Heritage dating back from Harappan times.

Other Significant Events

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation, the Multimodal Terminal at Sahibganj (Jharkhand) in September, 2019 at Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurates the Multi-Modal Terminal at Sahibganj, Jharkhand.

For a closer and active interaction between the Central Governmentand the Maritime States/UTs for augmenting the infrastructure development and safety & security of the ports, as ports play a vital role in EXIM Trade,17thMaritime State Development Council was held in October 2019.

India was re-elected to the IMO Council under Category “B” – States with the largest interest in international seaborne trade as the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has elected new membersfor IMOCouncil for the biennium 2020-21.

The instrument of accession to the Hong Kong Convention was handed over to IMO Secretary General during 31session of the IMO Assembly by Secretary Shipping Shri Gopal Krishna at London, UK.

Eligibility criteria have been relaxed by Government for Indian shipyards to qualify for ROFR in 2019. The Ministry of Shipping has amended the guidelines regarding Grant of Right of First Refusal to Indian shipyards by Government departments or agencies for procurement of vessels by them for own use or Government use.

A proposal regarding settlement of long pending subsidy claims for executed shipbuilding contracts under the shipbuilding subsidy scheme, 2002-2007 has been given approvalinOctober, 2019. This would involve release of committed liability of shipbuilding subsidy through budgetary support of approx. Rs.153 crore for a total number of 51 vessels, including retained subsidy for 47 vessels and full subsidy for 4 vessels. Guidelines for release of the subsidy are being formulated by this Ministry.

Under the current financial assistance scheme on shipbuilding (2016-2026), financial assistance of Rs. 39.7 crore for seventeen vessels has been released to four Indian shipyards. Further amended and consolidated guidelines have been issued in February, 2019 to facilitate Indian shipyards to be more competitive internationally and to boost building of river water dredgers of 10 m and above.

For more details, please click/read the link below

 

Integrated Finance is the backbone of any Ministry, says Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh at Integrated Financial Advisors Workshop

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has termed Integrated Finance as the backbone of any ministry/department, saying that desired objectives can only be achieved when a ministry/department is able to manage within its budgetary resources without compromising on operational needs. Addressing the Integrated Financial Advisors (IFA) Workshop here today, Raksha Mantri commended the Finance Division in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) for meeting the needs of the three Services and other allied organisations, like Ordnance Factories, Indian Coast Guard, Border Roads Organisation and DRDO with harmony and synergy and displaying the willingness and readiness to meet new challenges.

Shri Rajnath Singh highlighted that in the last three years, MoD has been able to fully utilise its allocations, ending the trend of non-utilisation of funds due to substantial delegation of financial powers. He said, financial powers have been delegated for capital and revenue procurement so that Armed Forces are able to make their own procurement of up to Rs 300-500 crore. Raksha Mantri added that emergency powers have also been given to the Armed Forces in view of their emergent operational needs. This, he said, has led to enhanced operational efficiency.

Raksha Mantri stressed that workshops like these not only play an important role in the evaluation of the Government’s policies and practices but also create a path for future policies. “Such events instill confidence in how responsible and committed we are to our financial matters. These responsibilities and commitments help us to make our administration accountable and the country financially independent”, he said.

Shri Rajnath Singh said, the functioning of the Government is being made effective and efficient under ‘Minimum Government Maximum Governance’, adding that performance standards are being established for government officials and mechanisms of prudence and accountability are being adopted in financial management. He said, in such a situation, this workshop creates a progressive and constructive feedback system according to which a roadmap for systemic improvements is made. Raksha Mantri hoped that the workshop will evolve more efficient methods of using delegated financial powers and expressed confidence that IFAs will act as a facilitator and help in timely implementation of projects.

In his address, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar termed IFAs as ‘eyes and ears of MoD’ and said their defining role is to guide the Services and other allied organisations in their way forward. He called for increased focus on non-financial resources saying that they are equally essential. Dr Kumar said, optimisation and utilisation of resources should be at the centre of the functioning of IFAs.

Secretary (Defence Finance) Smt Gargi Kaul described financial advice as an important pillar of good governance and accountability. She said, the role of IFAs is to help the executive achieve its goals and objectives keeping in mind financial prudence. She urged them to take a macro view, saying that micro-routine matters should not be stressed.

Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Controller General of Defence Accounts Shri Sanjiv Mittal, Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Subhash Chandra and other senior military and civil officers of MoD were present on the occasion. Financial Advisors from various ministries/departments across the country are attending the day-long workshop.

GeM Samvaad takes off in Four States

A national outreach Programme, GeM Samvaad, was launched on 17th December 2019 to reach out to stakeholders across the country and also local sellers in order to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace while catering to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers.

The outreach programme began from 19th December 2019 and during the launch week the States of Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are being covered. The outreach programme will be on till 17th February 2020 and will cover all the States and UTs.

GeM senior officers including CEO are steering the programs. They are also interacting with Buyers and Sellers attending the events. Arrangements for the outreach programmes including logistics are made by the respective State Governments. The target is to reach out to all stakeholders and learn from their experiences on their usage of GeM portal. Through this outreach programme, GeM expects to make the actual users aware about the new features and functionalities of the portal and collect feedback, which is the first step towards GeM’s ‘Voice of Customer’ initiative.

State Departments and Organizations and Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) have been using GeM for their buying needs. Sellers from the States are also benefitting through the access to national Public Procurement market using the portal. Through GeM Samvaad the marketplace is looking forward to receiving feedback from users which shall be used for making improvements and advancements in the system.

GeM has more than 15 lakh products and around 20,000 services, more than 3 lakh registered sellers and service providers and more than 40,000 Government buyer organizations. In its short journey of three years, GeM has processed more than 28 lakh orders worth Rs. 40,000 crores in Gross Merchandise Value out of which 50% has been transacted by MSMEs.

Year End Review: Department of Atomic Energy

The major policies and programmes by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) during the year 2019 are given below:

 

  1. Nuclear Power Programme:

 

  • Kaiga Atomic Power Station (KGS-1) has set the world record of 962 days of continuous operation.
  • Tarapur Atomic Power Station Units (TAPS 1 &2), connected to the grid in April and May 1969, have completed 50 years of safe operation. TAPS- 1&2 are currently the oldest operating power reactors in the world, producing reliable power at about two rupees per unit.
  • At present there are 22 reactors with installed capacity of 6780 MWe operating above 80% plant load factor in the country.
  • Six Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 MWe capacity each are at different stages of construction which would add 4200 MWe.
  • Four VVER reactors (KKNPP-3 to 6), each with 1000 MWe capacity are under construction.
  • Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), has completed supply of 37 element fuel bundles to Kakarapar Atomic Power Plant (KAPP3), first 700MWe PHWR, towards initial core requirement by establishing fabrication facility for 37 element fuel bundle manufacture.

 

  1. Medicine and Health Care:

 

  • Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), has commissioned new hospitals and has catered to the needs of more than half a million patients in 2019, among which, ~1,25,000 are new patients.

 

  • DAE has launched a global cancer care network, “NCG-Vishwam Cancer Care Connect” (NCG-Vishwam 3C) on 17th September 2019. NCG-Vishwam envisages integration of the hospitals and relevant cancer care institutes in partner countries with the National Cancer Grid (NCG) of India.

 

  • About 120 nuclear medicine centers and more than 400 radioimmunoassay (RIA) laboratories are deriving the benefit from the indigenous radioisotope products. This has benefited more than 10 lakh patients.

 

  • World’s first of its kind Glass vitrified Cesium pencil, extracted from high level radioactive waste for blood irradiation application has been developed and 7 such blood irradiators have been supplied to hospitals.

 

  • Ready to use 4 new Radiopharmaceuticals viz. 99mTc- HYNIC TATE injection for imaging of Neuro-endocrinetumours, 188Re-HEDP Cold Kit for bone pain palliation, 177Lu-EDTMP injection for bone pain palliation and 131 Iodine- Lipiodol injection for treatment of liver. These are in addition to 14 varieties of medicinal radioisotopes/radiopharmaceutical products developed and supplied for diagnostics, therapeutics and palletic use.

 

  • Clinical grade Yttrium-90 in 90Y-Acetate form has been extracted from high level waste trials for Patient trials have been started, subsequent to regulatory clearances.

 

  1. Research & Development

 

  • ECIL has successfully delivered latest model M3 EVMs – 3.3 lakh units & VVPATs – 5.8 lakh units for General Elections 2019.

 

  • Apsara-U, an upgraded swimming pool type reactor, has demonstrated that, it can produce carrier free Cu-64 radioisotope, which has potential for usage in PET scans.

 

  • A Compact facility for Reprocessing of Advanced fuels (CORAL) has been relicensed by the regulatory authority up to 2023, and the 50th reprocessing campaign of FBTR spent fuel is in progress.

 

  • Developed kit for detection of Chromium contamination of water -Developed a simple, user friendly, quick and cost effective kit for onsite determination of Cr (VI), a carcinogenic compound in water. This kit meets IS10500 as well as EPA criterion.

 

  • Many of our research facilities, including Synchrotron, Cyclotron, Dhruva, Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) etc. continued to achieve the highest ever performance. FBTR was operated at 30 MWt, a major milestone in its history, and its turbo generator was synchronized to the grid, delivering an electrical output of 6.1 MWe.

 

  • Indus synchrotrons (Indus-I and II) a national facility at RRCAT continued its operation in the three shifts, round the clock mode and 20 beamlines have been made available to users from all over the country. Nearly 1,000 user experiments have been carried out till November 2019.

 

  • RRCAT has developed two medical devices viz.

 

  1. ‘TuBerculoScope’, a low cost, compact and portable optical device for rapid detection of TB, and

ii) An ‘OncoDiagnoscope’, which is a low cost Raman probe, for in situ spectroscopic measurements of biological tissues. This is a compact and portable system for the non-invasive detection of (pre)cancerous lesions in oral cavities. This device was successfully deployed at six cancer screening camps by doctors of AIIMS, Jodhpur.

 

  • IREL has also successfully developed a flow sheet and produced 99% pure hafnium oxide from NFC raffinate. These are value added products.

 

  1. Mega Science Projects

 

  • Vigyan Samagam, the travelling exhibition a first-of-its-kind in the world showcasing all the Mega Science projects on a single platform. This is jointly organised by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Science and Technology (DST) and National Council of Science Museum, Ministry of Culture are jointly organising a multi-venue mega-science exhibition, Vigyan Samagam at Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and New Delhi. The footfalls, both at Mumbai and Bengaluru, have been very impressive with more than 2.7 lakh visitors at both the cities.

 

  •  67 ultra-stable power converters built at ECIL, Hyderabad for FAIR accelerator in Germany have been shipped to Germany after Factory  acceptance clearance from FAIR, Germany.

 

  1. Civil Nuclear Cooperation:

Progress has been made in India’s bilateral international engagement in civil nuclear cooperation with major partners.

 

Russia:

  • Discussions are underway with ROSATOM for building 6×1200 MWe nuclear power plant at a new site.

France:

  • Negotiations are in advanced stage for implementation of the Jaitapur project ( 6×1650 MWe).

U.S.A:

  • Discussions are underway with Westinghouse for building 6×1100 MWe nuclear power plant in Kovvada (A.P.)

 

(vi).  Progress in procurement of uranium from major global suppliers:

 

As part of Government’s efforts towards operationalisation of India’s international civil nuclear cooperation, significant outcomes have been achieved in fuel supply arrangements with major global suppliers viz, Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia.

 

  1. Human Resource Development

 

  • Since its inception in 2008, last year, Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), a deemed to be University of the Department, crossed the prestigious milestone of awarding 1000 Ph.D degrees and 1000 M.Tech degrees. Till March 31, 2018,
  •  HBNI awarded 1132 Ph.D degrees and 1060 M.Tech degrees. Today, a large number of the practicing oncologists in the country have been associated with HBNI academic programs. Based on its NAAC accreditation, HBNI was chosen by UGC as one of the Deemed-to-be Universities to be given enhanced autonomy.
  • Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) has started operating in its newly developed campus near Bahadurgarh from April 2017. The centre has conducted more than 18 International training programs, technical meetings, workshops, etc., on topical areas. Since signing of MoU between GCNEP and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, 10 experts from DAE have been deputed for consultancy work for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Bangladesh varying from a few weeks to less than 3 months.