Day: May 30, 2020

DARPG adopted the Mantra of Reform, Perform and Transform

Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh has launched the e-booklet on DARPG achievements for the period May 30, 2019 to May 30, 2020 on the occasion of 1st year of Modi Government 2.0. Dr. Singh complimented the Department for being the first one to present its achievements to the people and interacted with senior officials through video-conferencing.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the DARPG had lived upto Prime Minister’s vision of Good Governance and adopted the mantra of Reform, Perform and Transform in letter and spirit. He highlighted the fact that DARPG had provided immense impetus to e-Governance in Indiaby

  1. Intense pursuit of implementation of e-Office in the Central Secretariat and States and
  2. The conduct of the 22nd and 23rd National e-Governance Conferences at Shillong and Mumbai in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Further Dr. Jitendra Singh recognized that DARPG had undertaken significant reforms in handling Public Grievances by pursuing CPGRAMS reforms in several Ministries and Departments.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that success of the systemic reforms undertaken by DARPG was witnessed in the COVID 19 pandemic period where in several Ministries/ Departments could work from home without disruption in work by using e-Office and timely redressal of 0.87 lac COVID 19 Public Grievances in a record average time of 1.45 days/ grievance.

Dr. Jitendra Singh complimented the DARPG’s engagement with Government of Jammu & Kashmir in conducting a series of Regional Conferences and Capacity Building programs which were participative and innovative in taking forward Government’s agenda for good governance in J&K.

Dr. Jitendra Singh commended DARPG for bringing out 3 important publications – the Good Governance Index (GGI) 2019, the National e-Services Delivery Assessment 2019 and the Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure 2019. These publications were rich in their academic content and provided immense inputs for taking good governance forward like enabling the march towards a digital central secretariat.

Looking at the future, Dr. Jitendra Singh said DARPG has a massive responsibility in meeting new challenges of providing timely grievance redressal by improving its tool kit with feed-back call centers, upgraded software solutions and taking forward the Government’s good governance agenda with focus on e-Governance and e-Services. He also urged the DARPG to expedite putting in place an effective work from home policy.

Secretary DARPG, Dr. KshtrapatiShivaji, Additional Secretary DARPG V.Srinivas, Joint Secretaries Smt. Jaya Dubey and N.B.S.Rajput along with senior officials of the Department participated in the event which was conducted through video conferencing facility.

Please click here to see the DARPG e-booklet-

Phased re-opening of all activities outside Containment Zones; Unlock 1 to have an Economic focus

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued new guidelines to fight COVID-19 and for phased re-opening of areas outside the Containment Zones, today.  The guidelines would come into effect from June 1, 2020 and would be effective till June 30, 2020.  The current phase of re-opening, Unlock 1, will have an economic focus. The new guidelines have been issued based on extensive consultations held with States and UTs. 

A strict lockdown was imposed throughout the country since March 24, 2020.  All activities were prohibited except essential activities. Subsequently, in a graded manner and keeping the overarching objective of containing the spread of COVID-19 in view, the lockdown measures have been relaxed.

Salient features of the new guidelines

Lockdown measures would continue to be implemented strictly in the containment zones. These will be demarcated by the State/ UT Governments, after taking into consideration the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry. Within the containment zones, strict perimeter control shall be maintained and only essential activities allowed. 

All activities that were prohibited earlier would be opened up in areas outside Containment Zones in a phased manner, with the stipulation of following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), to be prescribed by the Health Ministry:

Phase I (permitted to open from June 8, 2020)

  • Religious places and places of worship for public;
  • Hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services; and
  • Shopping malls. 

Health Ministry would issue SOPs for the above activities, in consultation with the Central Ministries/ Departments concerned and other stakeholders, for ensuring social distancing and to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Phase II

Schools, colleges, educational/ training/ coaching institutions etc., will be opened after consultations with States and UTs.  State Governments/ UT administrations are being advised to hold consultations at the institution level with parents and other stakeholders.  Based on the feedback, a decision on the re-opening of these institutions will be taken in the month of July, 2020.  MoHFW will prepare SOP for these institutions. 

Limited number of activities to remain prohibited throughout the country

  • International air travel of passengers;
  • Operation of Metro Rail; 
  • Cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places; and,
  • Social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions/ and other large congregations. 
  • Dates for the opening of above activities would be decided in Phase III, based on assessment of the situation. 

Unrestricted Movement of Persons and Goods

  • No restriction on inter-State and intra-State movement of persons and goods.  No separate permission/ approval/ e-permit would be required for such movements.
  • However, if a State/ UT, based on reasons of public health and its assessment of the situation, proposes to regulate movement of persons, it would give wide publicity in advance regarding the restrictions to be placed on such movement, and the related procedures to be followed. 

Night curfew would continue to remain in force, on the movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities.  However, the revised timings of the curfew will be from 9 pm to 5 am. 

National Directives for COVID-19 management would continue to be followed throughout the country, with a view to ensure social distancing.    

States to decide on activities outside Containment Zones

States and UTs, based on their assessment of the situation, may prohibit certain activities outside the Containment zones or impose such restrictions, as deemed necessary. 

Protection for vulnerable persons

Vulnerable persons, i.e., persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, are advised to stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes.

Use of Aarogya Setu

The Aarogya Setu mobile application is a powerful tool built by Government of India to facilitate quick identification of persons infected by COVID-19, or at risk of being infected, thus acting as a shield for individuals and the community.  With a view to ensure safety, various authorities are advised to encourage the use of the application.

Click here to see the MHA Guidelines

IT Minister Launches National AI Portal of India- www.ai.gov.in

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the second tenure of the government, the Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Law and Justice and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad launched India’s national Artificial Intelligence Portal called www.ai.gov.in

This portal has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT and IT Industry. National e-Governance Division of Ministry of Electronics and IT and NASSCOM from the IT industry will jointly run this portal. This portal shall work as a one stop digital platform for AI related developments in India, sharing of resources such as articles, startups, investment funds in AI, resources, companies and educational institutions related to AI in India. The portal will also share documents, case studies, research reports etc. It has section about learning and new job roles related to AI.

On this occasion, the Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Communications and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, also launched a National Program for the youth, “Responsible AI for Youth”. The aim of this Program is to give the young students of our country a platform and empower them with appropriate new age tech mind-set, relevant AI skill-sets and access to required AI tool-sets to make them digitally ready for the future. The Program has been created and launched by the National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & IT in collaboration with Intel India, with support from Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Human Resource Development. DoSE&L will help reach-out to State Education Departments to nominate teachers as per eligibility criteria.

“Responsible AI for Youth” will empower the youth to become AI ready and help reduce the skill gap, while enabling youth to create meaningful social impact solutions. The Program is designed to reach out to students from Government schools pan India and provide them with an opportunity to become part of the skilled workforce in an inclusive manner.

Addressing the media at the launch event, the Minister for Electronics & IT, Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said “India must be a leading country in the development of Artificial Intelligence in the world, leveraging upon its vast Internet savvy population and data it is creating. India’s AI approach should be of inclusion and empowerment of human being by supplementing growth and development rather than making human beings less relevant”.

MoS for E&IT, Communications, and HRD, Shri Sanjay Dhotre, while emphasising the role of digital technologies with special reference to pandemic-afflicted world, said that such technologies have proved to be our saviours during the difficult times. These have been of very crucial help especially in the field of education, agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, finance, telecommunications, etc. He further added that the digital technologies have been great equalisers despite several odds. Highlighting the importance of the AI Portal, Shri Dhotre said that such national portal will lead to democratization of artificial intelligence in the country.

Details of Responsible AI for Youth Programme:

The National Programme is open to students of classes 8 – 12 from Central and State government-run schools (including KVS, NVS, JNV) from across the country – all 28States and 8Union Territories and aims to bring about a change in the thought process and create a bridge for the digital divide. The Program will be implemented in a phase-wise manner and in its first phase, each of the State Education Department will nominate 10 teachers as per the eligibility criteria. Teachers may also self nominate themselves by fulfilling the eligibility criteria. These teachers will be provided orientation sessions aimed to help them understand the premise and identify 25-50 potential students for the Program. The identified students will attend online training sessions on AI and understand how to identify social impact ideas/projects that may be created using AI and submit their ideas through a 60 seconds video explaining a proposed AI enabled solution.

From the submitted ideas in the form of videos, top 100 ideas will be shortlisted and these students will be invited to attend residential boot camps or online sessions (subject to COVID-19 situation); to take them through a deep dive AI journey. Post the boot-camps/ online sessions, these students will be asked to create real time projects and submit their final project in a video format on the website.

Adequate handholding will be provided by Intel certified AI coaches and mentors throughout to ensure that ideas mature as prototypes. The experts will shortlist top 50 project ideas and students will be invited to showcase their projects either face to face or in an online format. Further, top 20 innovative projects will be selected by an independent committee of experts and provided opportunities to showcase at relevant platform.

Indian Navy Commences Next Phase of Operation “Samudra Setu”

The next phase of Operation “Samudra Setu” to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas will commence on 01 June 2020.

In this phase, Indian Navy Ship Jalashwa will repatriate 700 personnel from Colombo, Republic of Sri Lanka to Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu and subsequently repatriate another 700 personnel from Malè, Republic of Maldives to Tuticorin.

Indian Navy has already repatriated 1,488 Indian nationals from Malè to Kochi during the previous phase of operations.

Indian Missions in Sri Lanka and Maldives are preparing a list of Indian nationals to be evacuated and will facilitate their embarkation after requisite medical screening. COVID-related social distancing norms have been catered onboard and evacuees would be provided basic amenities and medical facilities during the sea-passage. 

After disembarkation at Tuticorin the evacuated personnel will be entrusted to the care of State authorities. This operation is being progressed in close coordination with Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and various other agencies of the Government of India and State governments.

DST initiates COVID-19 India National Supermodel for monitoring infection

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has initiated a COVID -19 Indian National Supermodel to help monitor the future transmission of infection, thus aiding decisions involving health system readiness and other mitigation measures.

While the Government is keeping a close watch on infectivity and mortality, it is imperative to bring in a robust forecasting model for predicting the spread and enhancing disease surveillance. Numerous mathematical models for Covid-19 forecasting and surveillance are being worked out by investigators funded by DST-SERB (Science and Engineering Research Board) and other agencies.

Inspired by India’s history of using mathematical models for disaster management planning of metrological events, DST has initiated this exercise to pool in expertise in the field and create one model for the entire country that will be subjected to rigorous tests required for evidence-based forecasting, routinely practiced in weather forecasting communities.

The model will entirely rely only on the data that is relevant to COVID-19, and also have an adaptive built-in component to learn from the newer trends in the data. It will aggregate successful evidence-based mathematical and statistical forecasting models and include the best predictive analytics for robust forecasting of infectious disease spread. The supermodel could be used by the policymakers in India and around the world to overcome difficulties in predicting the rate of spread of infection and how it would burden the healthcare sector, thereby curbing the epidemic.

As part of this initiative, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and IISc, Bangalore will co-ordinate to connect and work with all COVID-19 modeling projects and programs in the country. This will help develop a set of benchmarks to assess various models and to finally deliver the COVID-19 India National Supermodel. The Coordination team will consult and work with the research groups active in modeling, various software developers, and reputed companies to ensure delivery of a suitable user interface and software.

A consultative committee will work closely with DST and SERB and coordinators (JNCASR and IISc Bangalore) and modellers of this initiative to provide critical inputs on technical aggregation, guidance, and final delivery of a robust Supermodel.

“Mathematical modeling and simulations for the spread of COVID-19 virus and its impact are not mere academic exercises but are critical needs for rational decision making, planning, and resource management. It is thus of vital importance that a robust National Model which is vetted by a large cross-section of scientific community working in the area is developed,” said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

Annual action plan approved for Bihar under Jal Jeevan mission

Bihar State presented their Jal Jeevan Mission Annual Action Plan before Ministry of Jal Shakti for consideration and approval, wherein in it is planned to have 100% coverage of all households with functional tap water connections by 2020-21. Bihar state government has set an ambitious goal of providing all the remaining households with tap connection. It’s a huge target, but the State Government is all set with the roadmap to achieve the target. A proper plan is in place for 100% coverage of all 38 districts during 2020-21. Bihar Government is also giving special attention to providing 100% of Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) in Aspirational districts, quality-affected habitations and SC/ST villages.  Because of abundance of ground water and surface water in Bihar, the State is making all efforts in this regard.

State is planning to provide tap connections to remaining 1.50 Crore households in 2020-21. Government of India has allocated Rs. 1832.66 Crore for this during 2020-21.

During the scorching summer and COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of clean water takes precedence. Washing hands and maintaining good hygiene needs clean water. Mostly the rural population depend on stand posts or wells for water, thus making it difficult for the masses to observe social-distancing. The relevance of potable water in one’s household premise is a one-stop solution for the given problem. During this testing time of CoVid-19 pandemic, such attempt to provide household tap connections in rural areas will surely improve the ease of living especially the women and girls reducing their drudgery and making them safe and leading a dignified life.

Though, there has been a considerable improvement in water situation as compared to past many years, but a long road is yet to be covered. Besides, enabling every household with tap connection, Bihar has to give equal thrust on water conservation, rainwater harvesting, grey-water management & tackling over-extraction of groundwater.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has been launched in partnership with States, to enable every household in villages to have a FHTC within the premises by 2024. It has been envisaged that each household will have potable water supply of 55 lpcd of prescribed quality on a regular and long-term basis.  it’s the endeavor of the Government to bring improvement in the lives of rural people by making provision of assured services at their doorsteps.

To implement the mission, institutional arrangements at various levels have been made and State’s PHE/ Rural Water Supply Departments are to play a critical role along with the local community. Gram Panchayat/ village water sanitation committee/ user committee are encouraged to plan, implement, manage, operate, and maintain its in-village water supply scheme. A sense of ownership has to be instilled in the village community as they are at the center of this mission. The community is also expected to play a big role in water quality surveillance.

Rural women and adolescent girls spend a lot of time and energy in getting water for day-to-day use. This results in a lack of participation of women in income generation opportunities, loss of school days for girls, and adverse health impacts. JJM is to play a significant role in bringing ‘ease of living’ for the rural community, especially women. Women must lead JJM in their villages to meet their needs and aspirations.

Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and progress towards One Nation One Ration Card

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan today listed the achievements and initiatives of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution during the last one year. The biggest achievement is the Government has been ensuring transport and distribution of free food grains to the people during the lockdown period.

Shri Paswan said the enactment of Consumer Protection Act, 2019, CWC achieves highest ever turnover, increase in the authorized capital of FCI from Rs.3,500 crore to Rs.10,000 crore and the march towards One Nation One Ration Card are among notable achievements of the Ministry during the last one year of the Government.

Food grain distribution

Shri Paswan said sufficient quantity of food grains is available in buffer stock to fulfill the nation’s increased demand during the COVID19 crisis. The Minister informed that as on 28.5.2020, FCI currently has 272.29 LMT rice and 479.40 LMT wheat. Hence, a total of 751.69 LMT food grain stock is available (excluding the ongoing purchase of wheat and paddy, which have not yet reached the godown).

He said that since the lockdown was announced on 24th March, 2020, about 101.81 LMT food grains have been lifted and transported through 3636 rail rakes. Apart from the rail route, transportation was also done through roads and waterways. A total of 213.02 LMT has been transported. 12,000 MT food grains was transported through 12 ships. Total 10.37 LMT food grains have been transported to the North-Eastern States.

He said the FCI and NAFED have undertaken a massive exercise transporting food grains to States and UTs for distribution under Atmanirbhar scheme, PM-GKAY and NFSA.

Under PMGKAY, for 3 months a total of 104.4 LMT rice and 15.6 LMT wheat is required of which 84.95 LMT rice and 12.91 LMT wheat have been lifted by various States and UTs. A total of 97.87 LMT food grain has been lifted till 29.5.2020. Along with additional food grains, 1 Kg Pulses/Dal per family per month are being given free-of-cost to all 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries for a period of three months April to June 2020 across all States/UTs. Shri Paswan said the total requirement for pulses for three months is 5.87 LMT. So far, 4.77 LMT pulses have been dispatched while 3.80 LMT Pulses have reached the States/UTs. As on 29.5.2020, 1.75 LMT pulses have been distributed by the States/UTs.

Shri Paswan said that under NFSA and other welfare schemes of the Government of India total 55 LMT food grains are required for one month. The Department has already delegated the power to Food Corporation of India (FCI) to grant extension to States/UTs for lifting the unlifted quantity to further six months i.e upto June, 2020 as 1st extension and while for the North-east  States and J & K  as 2nd extension as measures to improve offtake of foodgrain under TPDS/NFSA .

Under the OMSS, the Government liberalized the sale of food grains by the FCI to states and NGOs by offering Wheat and rice at a subsidized rate.

Shri Paswan said that States/UTs have already lifted 2.06 LMT food grains under Atma Nirbhar Bharat package. The distribution has started and shall be completed on schedule.

One Nation One Card

Shri Paswan said national portability of NFSA ration cards holders has been introduced under “One Nation One Ration Card” plan . He said the Ministry is aiming to achieve 100% seeding of ration cards with Aadhar under One Nation One Ration Card scheme by January 2021.

Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on “Fortification of Rice and its Distribution under PDS

Informing about this scheme, Shri Paswan said that a total budget outlay of Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on “Fortification of Rice and its Distribution under Public Distribution System” has been revised to Rs.174.64 Crore from earlier outlay of Rs. 147.61 Crore. The Pilot Scheme is to focus on 15 Districts, preferably 1 District per State.

Increase in the authorized capital of Food Corporation of India (FCI)

The Minister informed that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in its meeting held on 02.12.2019 approved the proposal of increase in the authorized capital of FCI from Rs.3,500 crore to Rs.10,000 crore.

Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) achieves highest turnover

Shri Paswan said the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has achieved highest ever turnover of about Rs 1710 crore during 2019-20. Government of India has received Rs 35.77 crores out of the total dividend of Rs 64.98 crore.

Sugar Development Fund

Shri Paswan said loan applications involving amount of Rs.125,05.34 lakhs were approved and an amount of Rs.188,58.91 lakhs loan was disbursed to 15 sugar factories during 01.04.2019 to 31.03.2020. A web-portal has also been launched w.e.f. 28.10.2019 for online submission of loan applications for availing various loans provided under Sugar Development Fund by the Sugar Factories.

Diversion of excess sugar to ethanol

The Minister informed that the Government has also allowed production of ethanol from sugar and sugar syrup for current ethanol supply year 2019-20 (December, 2019 – November, 2020) in order to meet the increased demand for ethyl alcohol to check the spread of Corona virus.

Production of Hand-sanitizers to fight against Covid-19

Shri Paswan said 165 distilleries and 962 independent manufacturers were given licenses to produce hand-sanitizers across the country, which has resulted in production of 87,20,262 litres of hand-sanitizers (as on 11.5.2020).

Face Mask and hand sanitizer manufacturing

Shri Paswan said that in wake Covid-19, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) allowed the grant of license to the manufacturers of FFP2 masks as per IS 9473:2002 (which are technically equivalent to N95 masks), with relaxation regarding availability of in-house testing facilities.

Patent to National Sugar Institute

The Minister said that the patent has been granted to National Sugar Institute (NSI) Kanpur for a new process on Sugarcane Juice Clarification to obtain Sulphur-less sugar.

Consumer Protection Bill, 2019

Consumer Protection Bill, 2019 was passed in Lok Sabha and by Rajya Sabha on 30.07.2019 &  06.08.2019 respectively. The President gave his assent to the Consumer Protection Bill 2019 and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was published on the official gazette on 09.08.2019.

The Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011

The Legal Metrology (National Standards) Rules, 2011 were amended to include new definitions of International System of Units (SI units) of weights and measures as per the definitions adopted by International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) vide GSR 474 (E) dated 5th July, 2019

Hallmarking

The Minister said that the hallmarking for Gold jewellery and artefacts has been made mandatory in the country vide notification on 15 January 2020 giving a period of one year for implementation.

National Laboratory Directory

He also informed the media that National Laboratory Directory has been launched by Bureau of Indian Standards containing data of more than 4000 laboratories with location and product-wise testing facility.

Tips for Writing the Book Review

Once you have made your observations and assessments of the work under review, carefully survey your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will describe the purpose or thesis of your review. Check out our handout on thesis statements. Then, outline the arguments that support your thesis.

Your arguments should develop the thesis in a logical manner. That logic, unlike more standard academic writing, may initially emphasize the author’s argument while you develop your own in the course of the review. The relative emphasis depends on the nature of the review: if readers may be more interested in the work itself, you may want to make the work and the author more prominent; if you want the review to be about your perspective and opinions, then you may structure the review to privilege your observations over (but never separate from) those of the work under review. What follows is just one of many ways to organize a review.

Introduction

Since most reviews are brief, many writers begin with a catchy quip or anecdote that succinctly delivers their argument. But you can introduce your review differently depending on the argument and audience. The Writing Center’s handout on introductions can help you find an approach that works. In general, you should include:

  • The name of the author and the book title and the main theme.
  • Relevant details about who the author is and where he/she stands in the genre or field of inquiry. You could also link the title to the subject to show how the title explains the subject matter.
  • The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes sense to your audience alerts readers to your “take” on the book. Perhaps you want to situate a book about the Cuban revolution in the context of Cold War rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union. Another reviewer might want to consider the book in the framework of Latin American social movements. Your choice of context informs your argument.
  • The thesis of the book. If you are reviewing fiction, this may be difficult since novels, plays, and short stories rarely have explicit arguments. But identifying the book’s particular novelty, angle, or originality allows you to show what specific contribution the piece is trying to make.
  • Your thesis about the book.

Summary of content

This should be brief, as analysis takes priority. In the course of making your assessment, you’ll hopefully be backing up your assertions with concrete evidence from the book, so some summary will be dispersed throughout other parts of the review.

The necessary amount of summary also depends on your audience. Graduate students, beware! If you are writing book reviews for colleagues—to prepare for comprehensive exams, for example—you may want to devote more attention to summarizing the book’s contents. If, on the other hand, your audience has already read the book—such as a class assignment on the same work—you may have more liberty to explore more subtle points and to emphasize your own argument. See our handout on summary for more tips.

Analysis and evaluation of the book

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into paragraphs that deal with single aspects of your argument. This arrangement can be challenging when your purpose is to consider the book as a whole, but it can help you differentiate elements of your criticism and pair assertions with evidence more clearly. You do not necessarily need to work chronologically through the book as you discuss it. Given the argument you want to make, you can organize your paragraphs more usefully by themes, methods, or other elements of the book. If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book under review remains in the spotlight. Avoid excessive quotation and give a specific page reference in parentheses when you do quote. Remember that you can state many of the author’s points in your own words.

Conclusion

Sum up or restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book. You should not introduce new evidence for your argument in the conclusion. You can, however, introduce new ideas that go beyond the book if they extend the logic of your own thesis. This paragraph needs to balance the book’s strengths and weaknesses in order to unify your evaluation.

Any suggestions will be welcome.

Food processing industry stakeholders to assess Covid-19

The grievance cell of Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been able to close and resolve 581 issues out of 585 received, with proactive approach and timely redressal. The task force has been taking up these issues with the respective state governments and other relevant authorities including Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs. The task force have also been in constant touch with leading industry associations and food processors across states to address any issues / challenges faced by food and allied industry so that it can run at maximum capacities. Grievances or any problems faced by Food Processing Sector, in either disruption of production or supply chain, during nationwide Covid-19 lockdown can be mailed at covidgrievance-mofpi@gov.in.

A dedicated task force and a grievance cell was set up in the Ministry, which consisted of senior officials of the Ministry and members of Invest India. Industry could reach out to the grievance cell directly or through various industry associations. The major issues which were received at the grievance cell included issues related to

  1. Plant shutdowns due to lockdown
  2. Logistics related issues, warehouse shutdown
  3. Non availability of labour
  4. Movement of staff and workers

Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries has chaired a series of video conferences with the industry associations, cold chain developers, exporters etc. on a regular basis for monitoring the situation at ground level.

The Ministry received various issues during VC interactions with cold chain promoters, on which the task force has promptly reacted and have taken up the issues with all the relevant stakeholders. Various steps were taken keeping in mind the necessities of food and allied industry to recoup with the new normalcy.

MoFPI is also a member of the Empowered Committee on Logistics and Supplies, and has been working to ensure that harvested agriculture produce can be supplied to the industry so that farmers are benefitted. Ministry of Food Processing Industries has taken several measures to ensure that the Food Processing Industry has been impacted minimally due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Scaling up of COVID testing centres (Hub and spoke model)

To scale up testing and enhance the reach across the countryCity /Regional clusters have been established in a Hub and Spoke Model to scale-up testing of COVID-19 samples in government institutions across the country. Institutes and Laboratories which have the capacity and expertise for both sample collection, handling/processing (BSL-2 facility) and testing (RT-PCR) serve as the hubs and they involve a number of laboratories which have RT PCR machines and the requisite manpower as their extended Testing facilities.

The Hubs are Government laboratories approved by respective Ministries /Departments (DBT, DST, CSIR, DAE, DRDO, ICAR etc) as per ICMR guidelines. So far 19 City /Regional clusters have been established in Bangalore, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandigarh/Mohali, Bhubaneshwar, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata, North Eastern Region, Jammu & Kashmir, Ahmedabad, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Banaras, Palampur and Delhi city.

About 100 institutions have been involved and over 1,60,000 samples tested. Seven DBT Autonomous institutes have been approved as hubs by ICMR and they are performing testing for diagnosis of COVID-19 (RGCB, THSTI, ILS, inStem, NCCS, CDFD, NIBMG). 

They are also functioning as hubs in the respective Cities/Regions and coordinating the efforts with a number of other premier Central and State Government institutions. In addition, they are working closely with the respective State Governments in obtaining samples for testing and are reporting every day to ICMR on their testing results.     Collectively in about 4 weeks, these clusters have done nearly 1,70,000 tests. These clusters will now be scaled to nearly 50 in next 4 weeks and reach remote corners of the country.

3 Jobs You Can Land with a Data Analytics Degree

With a data analytics degree, you can develop the skills you need to obtain some of the most in-demand jobs.

In today’s business environment, data is more important to companies than ever before. Data-driven insights can help organizations improve efficiencies, identify customer needs and strategize for the future. Companies need professionals who are able to analyze and distill data into actionable steps that they can use to drive their businesses forward.

With a data analytics degree, you can develop the skills you need to obtain some of the most in-demand jobs.

Here are three jobs you can land with a data analytics degree:

1. Market Research Analyst

Market research analysts study consumers’ buying habits to help businesses make more strategic decisions about how they market their products and services. Market research firms decipher which products people are most interested in, who will buy them, and at what price. Additionally, market research analysts help companies understand their position in the marketplace and what they can do to get ahead of their competitors. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for market research analysts is projected to grow 23 percent between 2016 and 2026, making it one of the fastest-growing career fields today.

2. Operations Research Analyst

As an operations research analyst, you help companies solve complex business problems, such as setting competitive prices for products and services or making decisions about how to allocate resources. For example, an operations analyst could help an airline determine what to charge for flights between two cities.

Operations analysts need strong mathematical and analytical skills. Much of their work consists of collecting relevant data, gathering input from customers and stakeholders and using statistical analysis or predictive modeling to find solutions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that there will be 27 percent employment growth in this career field, which is nearly four times the average growth of all occupations.

3. Management Consultant

Management consultants or management analysts help businesses find ways to improve efficiencies and cut costs. They collect and interpret data from a variety of sources and develop solutions that will help companies be more profitable over time. They need a strong business background and exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills.

Most management consultants work on a contractual basis and can be self-employed or work for a large consulting firm. They can also specialize in certain industries, such as human resources or healthcare. Employment for management consultants is expected to grow by 14 percent through 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With a data analytics degree, you can position yourself for some of the most rapidly growing jobs today. Herzing University offers a bachelor’s degree in data analytics and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Data Analytics program to help you start or advance your analytics-focused career.

NIT Srinagar working on material science & electrochemistry for sustainable energy

Dr. Malik Abdul Wahid from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar is a recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty award instituted by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India working in the area of energy research towards marriage of material science and electrochemistry to develop sustainable energy and affordable energy sources. His focus is mainly on electrodes and electrolyte material electrochemistry.

Fig: Dr. Malik Abdul Wahid in his lab

The major components of Dr. Malik’s current research interests include material research on the electrode development for Sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery, which offers a 20% cost reduction compared to present Lithium-ion (Li-ion) technology.  He has been focusing on the two aspects, i.e., cost reduction and efficiency elevation. For the former, he is currently focused upon stabilization of a combination of carbon-based anodes and organic cathodes. While for the latter, he is exploring the new cathode chemistries. Two of his recent projects are development of layered high capacity cathodes by suitable doping that offers high capacity and stability and Sulphate-phosphate hybrid cathodes. Similarly, Sodium (Na) metal anode hosts with heavy Na deposition capacities are being developed.  The mentioned projects are a new direction to the field of Na ion battery research.

Along with his collaborators at IISER Pune, Dr. Malik developed a Si-Phosphorene nano-composite material for efficient Si stabilization as an anode in Li-ion battery, which was published in the journal Sustainable Energy Fuels. The obtained material delivers five times more capacity than carbon-based electrodes and can be fully charged in about 15 minutes.

His team at NIT Srinagar employed a simple hydrothermal strategy to synthesize reduced graphene oxide (rGO) wrapped high aspect ratio 1-dimensional SbSe nano-structure. The work has been published in the journal Chem Phys Chem. They achieved a decent performance with the reversible capacity of 550 mAhg-1 at a specific current of 100 mAg-1which implies that 5 to 6g of synthesized material would run a high range android cell phone.

“INSPIRE Faculty award is a prestigious award and should be distinguished from a regular faculty position in any institute. To honour the positions, I have co-founded a center of excellence (COE), namely, the Interdisciplinary Division of Renewable Energy and Advanced Materials (iDRAEM) at NIT Srinagar. The COE primarily worked with my & collaborator’s research grant, but recently institute promised funding support. Additionally, with the possible support of MHRD (under the FAST scheme), the center is set to blossom and cater to some high-quality research.” Dr. Malik said.

At present, this centre co-founded by Dr. Malik caters to the research in the advanced areas of energy storage and super-hydrophobic surfaces for water harvesting, besides focusing on the local resources of J&K. Dr. Wahid has already published a paper on the application of walnut shell derived carbon as Na ion battery anode applications (ACS Omega, 2017, 2 (7), pp 3601–3609). The material has a lot of scope to be employed for advanced electrode applications. Similarly, waste dairy products and aquatic flora of Dal lake appear to have appropriate morphology to be employed as precursors for the electrode grade carbon.  Energy storage activities under iDRAEM partly focus on the synthesis of high-quality carbon materials from local precursors. Lotus stem is very promising in being porous to be employed as precursor for electrode grade carbon material.  It also undertakes challenges of developing high-quality hydrophobic surfaces by replicating the hydrophobic leaf structure of local plants of DAL lake.

[Related publications:

  1. Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2019, 3, 245-250
  2. ChemPhysChem; doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201901011
  3. Energy & Fuels, doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c01046
  4. Surfaces and Interfaces, 2020, 19, 100476]

(For more detail, please contact Dr. Malik Abdul Wahid, Email: malikwahid15@gmail.com)

IASST scientists develop herbal medicine loaded smart bandage for wounds

Scientists from Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology,Govt. of India have developed a pH-responsive smart bandage that can deliver the medicine applied in the wound at the pH that is suitable for the wound. The scientists have developed the delivery system by fabricating a nanotechnology-based cotton patch that uses cheap and sustainable materials like cotton and jute.

In the research by Dr Devasish Chowdhury, Associate Professor IASST,a nanocomposite hydrogel bound compact cotton patch incorporated with jute carbon dots was fabricated to carry out the drug release. Jute has been used for the first time as a precursor in synthesizing fluorescent carbon dots, and water was used as the dispersion medium. Herbal formulation neem leaf (Azadirachtaindica) extract was taken as the model drug to exemplify the release study.

This study published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. demonstrated the stimuli-responsive drug delivery system using natural products – jute and neem leaf extract. The jute carbon dots were immobilized in the hydrogel matrix-bound cotton patch and could effectively exemplify different drug release pattern at two different pH levels –lower at pH 5 than at higher at pH 7.

The stimuli-responsive nature of the fabricated hybrid cotton patch acts as an advantage as in case of growth of bacterial infections in a wound, and this induces release of drug at lower pH which is favourable under these conditions. This pH-responsive behaviour of the fabricated cotton patch lies in the unique behaviour of the jute carbon dots incorporated in the system because of the different molecular linkages formed during the carbon dot preparation.

DrDevasish Chowdhury’s group had earlier fabricated a compact cotton patch that showed excellent wound healing ability but posed a disadvantage because of uncontrolled release when drug was loaded to it. In the present work, they controlled the drug release of the cotton patch, thereby making it a smart wound dressing material.

Around any wound, pH changes due to bacterial infections. Hence they developed a pH-responsive drug delivery system with the cotton patch. Carbon dots which are zero-dimensional nanomaterials, due to their unique carbon core and surface functional groups can be designed to exhibit different behaviour towards different pH. They are also known for their low toxicity and great biocompatibility. Therefore, different carbon dots were used as a nano-filler in fabricating hybrid cotton patches to check the drug release behaviour.

The development of such a stimuli-responsive behavior of hybrid cotton patch paves the way for utilizing it as smart wound-dressing or bandage material. Use of cheap and sustainable material like cotton and jute to fabricate the patch makes the whole process biocompatible, non-toxic, low cost and sustainable. 

The scheme depicting the fabrication of pH responsive cotton patch

(For more details, Dr Devasish Chowdhury (devasish@iasst.gov.in) can be contacted.)

Facilitating Research and Innovation: COVID-19 Bio Banks

For the mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic, R&D efforts are directed at the development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. The specimens collected from COVID-19 positive subjects can be a valuable resource for the R&D efforts. NITI Aayog has recently issued guidelines for sharing of bio specimens and data for research related to COVID-19. As per the directives of the Cabinet Secretary, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has notified 16 bio-repositories for collecting, storing and maintaining clinical samples (oropharyngeal/ nasopharyngeal swabs, broncheoalveolar lavage, sputum, blood, urine and stool) of COVID-19 patients.

The enlistment of 16 Bio Repositories are as follows: ICMR – 9, DBT – 4 and CSIR – 3. The four Bio Repositories under the purview of the Department of Biotechnology are, NCR-Biotech Science Cluster (i) THSTI, Faridabad – Clinical samples (ii) RCB Faridabad –Viral samples, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, InStem, Bangalore  and ILBS, New Delhi .Oropharyngeal / nasopharyngeal swabs, bronchoalveolar lavage, sputum, blood, urine and stool of COVID19 patients will be collected and archived for future use to develop validated diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc.

These designated facilities will develop uniform Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for sample collection, transportation, aliquoting, storage, and sharing. The role of bio-banks for COVID-19 samples would be development of a vaccine and treatments; guidance regarding handling, including nasopharyngeal swabs; and conditions under which the higher BSL-3 practices should be followed for example, when working with cultures of the coronavirus specimens. The Department of Biotechnology would be supporting these COVID-19 designated Bio-bank facilities through a well strategized future plan so that novel technological interventions can be developed in due course of time. These designated bio repositories will use the clinical samples for R&D purpose in their respective Institutes.

In addition, they are also authorized to share the samples with academia, industry and commercial entities involved in development of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc., after scrutinising the purpose of the request and ensuring benefit to the country. Sharing of Biospecimens both Clinical and Viral is going to be key for new technology and product development by our researchers, start-ups and industry, a critical step in our journey towards becoming an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

A Rapid Response Regulatory enabling mechanism facilitated by Department of Biotechnology for COVID 19

 
 

The Department of Biotechnology has taken several proactive measures to streamline the biosafety regulation and to facilitate researchers and industries which are undertaking research and development in Recombinant DNA Technology and Hazardous Microorganisms.

1.      Operationalization of Indian Biosafety Knowledge Portal. The Indian Knowledge Biosafety Portal launched in May, 2019 was made fully operationalized and now the Department is receiving all new applications through online portal only. This has made the whole process transparent and time bound.

2.      Notification of Revised Simplified Guidelines on Import, Export and Exchange of GE Organisms and Product Thereof for R&D Purpose:  The Department issued the Revised Guidelines in January, 2020 in which Institutional Biosafety Committee have been delegated authority to take decisions on applications of import export and exchange of GE organisms and product thereof for R&D purpose for RG1 and RG2 items.

3.      Facilitation of Research and Development on COVID-19: Considering the emerging situations of spread of Coronavirus and with the understanding on requirement of rapid research and development for COVI-19, the Department has proactively taken several steps to facilitate researchers and industries involved in research on COVID19. DBT has issued following guidelines, orders and checklist on COVID 19:

  1. Rapid Response Regulatory Framework for COVID-19 to deal with application for development of vaccines, diagnostics, prophylactics and therapeutics has been notified on 20.03.2020
  2.  DBT notified “Interim Guidance Document on Laboratory Biosafety to Handle COVID-19 Specimens” on 08.04.2020.
  3. IBSCs are allowed to conduct their meeting through video conferencing up to 30thJune, 2020.
  4. Rapid response regulatory framework for development of recombinant DNA COVID 19 vaccine was issued on 26.05.2020

Scaling up of COVID testing centres (Hub and spoke model) inNationalresearch laboratories and Universities

To scale up testing and enhance the reach across the countryCity /Regional clusters have been established in a Hub and Spoke Model to scale-up testing of COVID-19 samples in government institutions across the country. Institutes and Laboratories which have the capacity and expertise for both sample collection, handling/processing (BSL-2 facility) and testing (RT-PCR) serve as the hubs and they involve a number of laboratories which have RT PCR machines and the requisite manpower as their extended Testing facilities.

The Hubs are Government laboratories approved by respective Ministries /Departments (DBT, DST, CSIR, DAE, DRDO, ICAR etc) as per ICMR guidelines. So far 19 City /Regional clusters have been established in Bangalore, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandigarh/Mohali, Bhubaneshwar, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata, North Eastern Region, Jammu & Kashmir, Ahmedabad, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Banaras, Palampur and Delhi city.

About 100 institutions have been involved and over 1,60,000 samples tested. Seven DBT Autonomous institutes have been approved as hubs by ICMR and they are performing testing for diagnosis of COVID-19 (RGCB, THSTI, ILS, inStem, NCCS, CDFD, NIBMG). 

They are also functioning as hubs in the respective Cities/Regions and coordinating the efforts with a number of other premier Central and State Government institutions. In addition, they are working closely with the respective State Governments in obtaining samples for testing and are reporting every day to ICMR on their testing results.     Collectively in about 4 weeks, these clusters have done nearly 1,70,000 tests. These clusters will now be scaled to nearly 50 in next 4 weeks and reach remote corners of the country.

Text Box: For Further Information: Contact Communication Cell of DBT/BIRAC @DBTIndia @BIRAC_2012www.dbtindia.gov.inwww.birac.nic.in

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Educational Technology article – Attributes of Open Pedagogy: A Model for Using Open Educational Resources

Openness
by Scinoptica
Openness
by Scinoptica

 My article – Attributes of Open Pedagogy: A Model for Using Open Educational Resources has recently been published in Educational Technology the magazine for managers of change in education. This article brings together some of the ideas about Open Education Practices that I have been posting over the past year. Your comments are welcomed.

Abstract
Open Educational Resources (OER) have swept in on a tide of digital information and brought sweeping changes to learning and teaching. In this article, the author establishes a rationale for the term open pedagogy, and, using current research, presents eight attributes of open pedagogy grounded in the concept of openness and Open Educational Practice (OEP). Participatory technologies present many challenges for educators, who may not know how to use them appropriately to effect change in the new culture of learning that is evolving. The question is, how can an open pedagogy benefit learners and teachers alike, and precipitate creative and inclusive communities in an OEPosphere?