The youth today is becoming extremely careless. This article says why that is.

An 18 year old girl drove her AUDI car over a security guard, kills him and goes to sleep as if nothing had happened. The teenager was trying to park her car in the parking lot of her apartment complex. This incident took place at Foreshore estate in Santhome, Chennai.

Reports say that the girl did not notice that she was running over the security guard.

The security guard named D Sivaprakasam was a retired government officer, joined the work as a security guard at an apartment complex in Santhome, Chennai just a week before. On the other side, the girl is 18-years-old named Aparna; daughter of a real-estate agent lived in the same apartment for which Sivaprakasam was a security guard. The security guard was asleep when the incident took place and the girl says that she did not notice him even after she drove over him.

According to the reports, a 68-year-old security guard named D Sivaprakasam was asleep and was driven over by an 18-year-old girl named Aparna. The girl says that she did not notice running over him until the police shown her a CCTV footage of her running over him. Aparna was parking her car in the parking lot of her apartment for which Sivaprakasam was a security guard. She ran over him with her headlights turned off. The girl says that she did not hear any cries and gone to her house and slept. The police were informed by the neighbors who saw the security guard’s body lying in a blood pool. The police investigated the incident and filed FIR against Aparna.

A First Information Report (FIR) was filed on the girl under a section 304(A) (death due to negligence).but she was given bail immediately as she has a valid driving license.

Police said that the girl did not notice that she ran over Sivaprakasam, who was asleep with a bed sheet over him and also she did not hear any cries.

The Times of India had reported that, Aparna climbed an incline before entering the parking lot and allegedly had her headlights turned off, due to which Sivaprakasam may not have been visible.

However, none of these reasons could get back Sivaprakasam and fulfill his absence in their family. Here, in this incident, we can blame neither the girl as she didn’t do it on purpose nor the security guard who slept on the parking way. But however the loss has occurred.

The girl noticing her headlights off could stop her car for a while and could them on. On the other side, the security guard could be conscious enough and could sleep on a side rather than in the driving zone. If anyone of these had happened, if anyone of the both had done the above, then this incident wouldn’t have occurred. One in two has to be cautious enough because, if both eject their negligence out, then loss will be for both.

Priya Yadav,
Sex education is a broad term used to describe human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and education about human sexual behavior. Some forms of sex education are part of the curriculum in many schools. This remains a controversial issue in many countries, particularly at the age in which children should begin to receive education regarding human sexuality and behavior. So that teenagers can be prepared to accept the changes happening at this age. Knowledge of sex education is as important as knowledge of other subjects. In India, sex education is not even mentioned in college, which results in misconceptions related to sex education, superstitions about sex, and many problems related to it. As soon as the word ‘sex’ comes to our attention in India, in today’s time it is important for us to understand that giving education to children is not a wrong thing but it helps in their proper development and upbringing. Many parents still feel hesitant to tell their children about sex education and because of this, they are unable to talk to their children about it.
In the year 2007, the Government of India started the program of adolescent education. There was constant opposition to this. Some states had banned it. Despite this, the program was implemented in select government and private schools. However, now it is necessary to understand that hesitating with this subject will not do. If children are not given the right sex education, gender-based violence, gender inequality, early and unintended pregnancies, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections will increase and become difficult to prevent. In such a situation, it is important that not only the teacher in the school but also the parents should keep away from the hesitation and talk to their child on this subject.
. Many parents feel that sex education is a one-time discussion in which they have to tell their children only about the act of sex and about puberty. But it is not so. The process of sex education becomes easy when we see it as a continuous action and discuss it in a few moments of daily life. For example, whenever you see an advertisement for sanitary napkins while watching TV, on that occasion you can talk to your child about puberty and menstruation.
. Teenagers need to be aware of sexual health in a timely manner. Through sex education, teenage children will understand the identity of good and bad relations, information about relationships and intimacy, and attitudes, beliefs, and importance. The World Health Organization has defined that sexual health is not only a disease or a debility, but sexual health is also concerned with physical, emotional, mental and social well-being.
. Youths experience changes in their physical development and behavior as they enter puberty. Therefore, education in this regard during adolescence (12-19 years) is very important.
. It is very important that adolescent boys and girls know the reasons for the changes in their body, they should be given sex education when they reach adolescence. Both boys and girls need to understand the menstrual cycle. So that girls can accept this as a normal role of nature and boys have sympathy and sensitivity towards girls going through this cycle rather than hating menstruation, tampons, and sanitary pads. To be sensitive to this issue it is necessary to know about it.
. By spreading awareness about sex, there will be awareness about other related issues including diseases like sexual diseases and HIV at the time of conception. According to the WHO, 34 percent of people in the age group of 12 to 19 in the world are infected with HIV.
. Sex education will make the youth responsible and thus they will decide to have sex with full knowledge of the possible outcome rather than eagerness and will be able to face such reactions without any negative effect.
. The youth should not be ashamed to buy contraceptive material which is a very important aspect.
. To end rape, coercive physical relationships, sex education is very important.
. Most importantly, victims of child sexual abuse have to understand that something is being done wrong with them. With which they will be able to inform their parents about unpleasant incidents. A study by the Department of Women and Child Development shows that about 53 percent of the children in the country have been victims of some kind of sexual abuse.
Parents should Explain from a young age that the way all the brushes, towels, etc. are completely private and different and should not be used by anyone else, in the same way, these parts of their body are also completely private, which you Should not be exposed to anyone else. Also, tell them that if anyone touches or rubs his limbs, he should tell you immediately. By doing this, we will be able to inform the children about the privacy of their private parts as well as protect them from child sexual abuse. Tell children about good and bad touch. Even if any close relatives, neighbors, teachers or doctors, etc. touch them with wrong intentions, keep them instructed to inform you immediately. Your training will protect your child from sexual abuse. Because many times it happens that even the wrong touch of close people, the children do not get it wrong and knowingly and unknowingly get trapped in their illusion and parents do not even feel the news of their sexual exploitation. And by the time the truth is revealed, many times it is too late.
If your teenage child has feelings of knowing about sex or experimenting on sex, then there is no harm in it. But it becomes our responsibility to teach them to postpone it to the right time. We can explain to our children in such a way that there is an appropriate time to eat and drink, sleep and wake up, just as a discipline is necessary for everything in life, similarly, there is an age to enter into sex life. When physically-mentally immature youth try to enjoy sex, they get nothing but remorse, guilt, and physical-mental discomfort. Sex is not only the medium of wishful fulfillment but is also a powerful medium for the expression of love and the birth of good children. Therefore, let them explain that sex should not be taken as an important aspect of life rather than merely as a means of fulfilling enjoyment or lust, so that sex life can be properly enjoyed.
Apart from other problems, to make married life happy, both men and women should have complete knowledge about sex. Accurate knowledge of sex is as important as knowledge of other subjects. In our country, sex education is not given even in medical colleges, as a result of which superstitions, misconceptions, and many problems related to sex arise. So every parent should teach their child about sex and give them sex education.

While COVID-19 is almost exclusively a human disease, it’s clear there can be spillover into animals. That’s probably of greatest concern in pets, because of the amount of contact we have with them and the susceptibility of some pet species (especially cats and ferrets). However, while we have less contact with other types of animals, there might still be important implications. We don’t know the range of species that can be affected and the potential animal health impacts in each species. We also don’t want this virus establishing itself in wild animals. Ultimately, we want to keep this a “human problem” by preventing movement into animal populations, for the sake of animals and ourselves. The outbreak of COVID-19 in lions and tigers at the Bronx Zoo raised concerns about risks to wild tiger populations. While there’s less human contact with those animals, they often live in fairly (surprisingly) close proximity to people, and there can (normally) be a lot of people visiting parks and reserves. The risk of infection is probably low, but we want to avoid any health hazards in threatened or endangered populations if we can.

A recent ProMed mail post discussed COVID-19 in a tiger at Pench Tiger Reserve in India. It’s unclear whether the tiger actually had COVID-19. It seems that park staff were concerned because of the reports of COVID-19 at the Bronx Zoo and that their response was out of abundance of caution rather than an actual diagnosis. Regardless, it’s something that needs to be considered in areas where people can get close to wild cats. As countries in South Asia went into lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, criminals in the illegal wildlife trade took advantage. With authorities focussed on enforcing lockdown restrictions, poachers felt less likely to be caught.
As a result, authorities in India, Pakistan and Nepal said there was a surge in illegal hunting, including of endangered animals and rare birds. To make matters worse, the economic consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown also saw people who had lost their livelihoods turn to poaching to support themselves. While these countries have battled the illegal wildlife trade for many years, the recent lockdown has shown that the black market are well entrenched. As India went into lockdown, there was a rise in poaching registered in many parts of India: From wild birds in cages, to animals caught for bushmeat, to prized commodities in the international illegal poaching tradeAs India went into lockdown, there was a rise in poaching registered in many parts of India: From wild birds in cages, to animals caught for bushmeat, to prized commodities in the international illegal poaching trade. While forest services continue to remain operational as they are a part of essential services, the lockdown and the fear of getting infected has restricted the forest personnel from patrolling, which has resulted in wildlife poaching. Coordinated global wildlife research during this period of crisis will provide unforeseen opportunities for humans to forge a mutually beneficial coexistence with other species, and to rediscover how important a healthy environment is for our own well-being.

Many people around the world are suffering from different types of addictions, including drug addiction, mobile addiction and TV addiction. Joining the bandwagon is the latest PUBG mobile game addiction and it is proving to be the worst.
PUBG addicted people are so attached to the game that they often leave their food and important tasks to play the game. This addiction has also resulted in irregular sleep pattern which is a cause of great anxiety. Many mental and physical health issues have been noted in PUBG addictions.
People with PUBG addiction are at high risk of developing health issues such as chronic migraine, weak vision, obesity, insomnia, Alzheimer’s, heart problem, depression, spondylitis and schizophrenia. They lose interest in the necessary activities for a healthy life.
It is quite common to exclude social events, important business meetings and family celebrations between PUBG mobile game addiction. They prefer to play PUBG rather than engage in any of these activities. They become angry and upset if someone else guides them otherwise. They soon become socially inactive.

Children from this addiction are most affected. Parents should take the responsibility of identifying PUBG addiction warning signs in their children as their responsibility. They should help their children get rid of it as soon as possible Like students, PUBG mobile game addict is also wasting their lives. Rather than focusing on his career, he is connected to PUBG. They are unable to think beyond winning this game. Many working professional leaves, half days, delays in depositing projects, miss important meetings, and ignore their job responsibilities due to PUBG addiction. They also depict unprofessional behavior that inhibits the growth of their career. Pub mobile game addiction is also wasting personal relations. PUBG addicts spend most of their time playing games. The time he should spend with his family and friends, he gets away from this addiction. It affects personal relationships and causes a lot of stress. PUBG was recently banned by the Indian government, amid rising tensions with the Chinese officials. Apart from the battle royale sensation, they have banned 117 other applications from Indian servers, which means that these apps will not be available to download from App Stores in India.
The players of PUBG Mobile are disappointed and continuously demanding the officials to unban the game. Mobile gamers were taken aback with the announcement of PUBG mobile India getting banned from the country. PUBG Mobile has major connections with China since its mobile developers are from that country. However, avid fans of the game may not have to worry much as they can easily access the game on PC, PS and Xbox platforms. As of now, the PUBG mobile will stay in troubled waters as the controversial game always has in India. Be it deeming the game to be addictive or downright destructive for mental health, PUBG Mobile has been alleged at various instances during its infamous run in the country which has now seemingly come to a close. However, the correlation between excessive gaming and violence has not been completely tested in Indian courts.

The Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu today called for a well-strategized collective action on multiple fronts to ensure well-being of young children for India to take full advantage of demographic dividend.

Child development should be the foundation of our development architecture, the Vice President said while releasing ‘The State of Young Child in India’ report, a comprehensive account of the challenges related to early child development in India.

The report has been prepared by Mobile Creches a policy advocacy organisation which works with the underprivileged children across India. Appreciating the report, Shri Naidu said that such reports help in policy formulation by developing greater understanding of the shortcomings and urgent needs of the children. He also appreciated the publisher Taylor & Francis Group for making the digital copy of report freely available for everyone.

Underlining the importance of ensuring healthy, happy, caring and playful early years for children for their holistic development, he observed that adequate nutrition and positive caring environment at home play an important role in a child’s development. The years from birth until the age of five were critical, he pointed out.

Shri Naidu said that for healthy development, children should grow up in an environment where their emotional, social, educational and other needs are fully met. Educated and healthy people with a good foundation in the early years contribute to the financial and social wealth of their societies.

Pointing out that poor nutrition hampers physical as well as intellectual development of children, Shri Naidu said it would make them vulnerable to illness and affect their performance in school. “We need to understand the crucial importance of this aspect of national development and take effective steps to ensure all children have a healthy start to their lives”, he added.

Quoting from the report, the Vice President said that of the 159 million children aged below 6 years in India, 21 per cent are undernourished, 36 per cent are underweight and 38 per cent do not receive full immunization. “These figures underline the crucial importance to invest in early childhood for realizing the full potential in later years”, he stressed.

Referring to several comprehensive policies and flagship programmes like the ICDS and India’s conscious efforts to meet the international commitments like the UN Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC), he said the challenges were still huge and need to be addressed.

Shri Naidu said it was important for all stakeholders, including the government, policy makers and civil society organizations to intensify their efforts in ensuring the well-being of the young child through better policies and effective programmatic interventions.

Maintaining that the children are our future, the Vice President said “we should take care of them”. He emphasised the need for uplift of the last man in true spirit of Antyodaya as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.

Ms. Amrita Jain, Chairperson of Mobile Creches, Ms Devika Singh, Co founder of Mobile Creches, Ms Sumitra Mishra, Executive Director, Shri Sanjay Kaul, IAS (Retd), Member, Dr Shashank Sinha, Publishing Director of Taylor and Francis Group, Dr Anuradha Rajivan, IAS (Retd), Lead technical advisor, Shri N Ram, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu were among the dignitaries who participated in the virtual release of the report.

Following is the full text of the speech-

“I am extremely pleased to release the ‘State of the Young Child in India’ report. It is a comprehensive account of the challenges related to early child development in India and it also makes a set of recommendations on how to address them.

I must compliment everyone associated with bringing out this informative book, which will be useful to all the stakeholders from policy-makers to academics. All of us realize the importance of ensuring healthy, happy, caring and playful early years for children. All of us care for their well-being and holistic development.

It is well-known that the years from birth until the age of five are critical. Adequate nutrition and positive caring environment at home play an important role in a child’s development.  For healthy development, children should grow up in an environment where their emotional, social, educational and other needs are fully met.

 A good foundation in the early years makes a difference through adulthood and even gives the next generation a better start. Educated and healthy people participate in, and contribute to, the financial and social wealth of their societies.

As you all are aware, poor nutrition hampers physical as well as intellectual development of children. It makes them vulnerable to illness and affects their performance in school.

It is estimated that early childhood stunting affects nearly one-in-four children younger than five globally due to lack of nutrition.  As mentioned earlier, under-nutrition and poor sanitation – can lead to developmental delays and a lack of progress in school. For a country, poor early childhood development could mean economic loss. We need to understand the crucial importance of this aspect of national development and take effective steps to ensure all children have a healthy start to their lives.

It has been mentioned in the just released report that of the 159 million children aged below 6 years in India, 21 per cent are undernourished, 36 per cent are underweight and 38 per cent do not receive full immunization. These figures underline the crucial importance to invest in early childhood for realizing the full potential in later years.

The report also pointed to the insurmountable evidence of the huge returns on investment in Early Childhood Development (ECD) at the individual, household and country levels. “Proper nutrition, stimulation and care during the first 1,000 days of life (from conception to the second birthday) has a profound impact on the child’s ability to grow, learn and rise out of poverty, and in the process shape society’s long term stability and prosperity”, it was stated.

Based on ranking and values on the Young Child Outcome Index (YCOI), the report named Kerala, Goa, Tripura and Tamil Nadu to be among the top performers, while eight states– Assam, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar– with scores below the national average lagged behind.

The report has rightly pointed to the criticality of a holistic approach to development, including public awareness and parental education, improved living conditions with access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation and reliable primary healthcare service to make a difference to health and nutritional standards among children.

India has made considerable progress over the years in child welfare.

While the Government of India has introduced several comprehensive policies and flagship programmes like the ICDS and the national nutrition mission ( Poshan Abhiyaan) for Early Childhood Development in the country, the need of the hour is to implement them effectively through proper coordination among various ministries.

The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) is an important initiative for early identification and intervention for children from birth to 18 years to cover 4 ‘D’s — Defects at birth, Deficiencies, Diseases and Development delays including disability

Similarly, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) is equally important to ensure protection, education and empowerment of the girl child.

The recently unveiled National Educational Policy rightly states that “the overarching goal will be to ensure universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education across the country in a phased manner.”

As you all are aware, India has been making conscious efforts to meet the international commitments like the UN Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), and more importantly the sustainable development goals (SDG).

But the challenges are still huge and we need to address them.

It is important for all stakeholders, including the government, policy makers and civil society organizations to intensify their efforts in ensuring the well-being of the young child through better policies and effective programmatic interventions.

In other words, there should be well-strategized collective action on multiple fronts. Ensuring the well-being of the young child assumes greater importance if India has to take full advantage of its demographic dividend.

We must continue to focus our attention on early childhood care and education.

Child development should be the foundation of our development architecture.

Dear sisters and brothers, we are all reorienting our lives and adapting to a new normal in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted our routine. The adverse impact of the pandemic on poor and marginalized families and their children has been quite severe. This is the time for all of us to come to the help of the needy, display collective resilience and overcome the hardship caused by the pandemic. The lessons learnt in this pandemic should stand us in good stead to effectively tackle any future health emergency, especially in regard to the well-being of children and other vulnerable groups.

Before concluding, I once again compliment Mobile Creches (MC) and other organizations involved in bringing out this insightful report.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that introduction of the National Education Policy 2020 was a landmark step by the Modi Government in clearing several  anomalies prevailing in the education system of the country. 

Addressing a webinar on “National Education Policy-2020:Health Education Perspective” organised by Shri Vishwakarma Skill University(SVSU), Haryana in association with Indira Gandhi National Open university (Ignou) here today, MoS Dr. Jitendra Singh said that it was the strong political will of Modi Government to take out of the box decision of introducing the National Education Policy-2020 which focuses more on skill and vocational education. The Minister said that the National Education Policy-2020 is an aptitude based rather than score based policy.  He said that this Policy will rectify all the previous anomalies prevailing the system.

The Chief of the Army Staff, General MM Naravane concluded a two day visit to Leh today. The COAS arrived at Leh on 03 September 2020 and proceeded to forward areas to undertake a firsthand assessment of the situation along the LAC. The COAS interacted with soldiers and local commanders deployed in difficult High Altitude forward areas. He appreciated their high morale and standards of professionalism exhibited by the units in safeguarding own territorial integrity. The COAS urged all ranks to remain vigilant and maintain a high order of operational readiness.

Later, at Leh, Lt Gen YK Joshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command and Lt General Harinder Singh, GOC, Fire and Fury Corps briefed him on the state of operational preparedness and on the logistics arrangements for sustenance of forces in winters. The COAS expressed satisfaction on the efforts being made to ensure operational effectiveness and capability enhancement of the forces.

Union Health Secretary Shri Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting through video conference (VC) with the Health Secretaries of 15 districts across 5Statesof Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh today. These 15 districts comprise Chittoor, Prakasam, Mysuru, Bengaluru Urban, Ballari, Koppal, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere, Ludhiana, Patiala, Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Lucknow and Kanpur Nagar. They have been exhibiting higher active caseload, fatality rates and a surge in the COVID cases for the past four weeks. In addition to the State Health Secretaries, District Collectors, Municipal Commissioners and other district functionaries also participated in the digital review meeting.

The Union Secretary shared the overall status and performance of the districts on the key parameters of testing, positivity, case fatality etc., focusing on the need of continuing containment measures, increasing testing, effective clinical management of patients.State Health Secretariesprovided an in-depth analysis on the current status of COVID-19 in these 15 districts coveringaspects of containment measures, contact tracing, surveillance activities, facility-wise case fatality rates, trends in terms of weekly new cases and deaths, etc. and shared their detailed roadmaps and action plans for the next one month.

Granularities in terms of split of RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen tests conducted in the district, re-testing percentage of symptomatic negatives from Antigen tests, testing lab utilization, home isolation status, hospitalization status and bed occupancies of oxygen-supported beds, ICU beds and ventilator etc., were also shared with the Center.

The States were advised to take steps on the following specific areas:

1. Limiting and eventually breaking the spread of the infection by implementing stringent containment measures and following social distancing measures, strict peri-meter control, and active house-to-house case search.
2. Early identification by ramping up testing across the districts, optional utilization of RT-PCR testing capacity and use of Rapid Antigen Tests as a screening test in hotspots and densely populated areas.
3. Effectivemonitoring of home isolation cases and early hospitalization in case of disease progression.
4. Seamless hospitalization and early admission for patients requiring medical support, especially in cases of co-morbid and elderly population.
5. Following effective infection control measures in hospitals to safeguard healthcare workers from contracting the infection.
6. District Collectors and other functionaries to prepare and update district specific plans to continue their efforts to manage the pandemic with the same rigor.

Dr.Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, PG and Pensions delivered the valedictory address at the NCGG-NITI one-day Workshop on Good Governance Practices in Aspirational Districts in a Pandemic through a webinar today. In his address,Dr.Jitendra Singh said that District Collectors in Aspirational Districts have out-performed many non-aspirational districts in fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic and that the performance of Aspirational Districts represents an opportunity to prove the resilience of the Indian Nation. One of the reasons for this high quality performance was that IAS officers who had served as Assistant Secretaries in Government of India had gained from their mentorship in Union Government. Dr.Jitendra Singh said that the “show must go on with due precautions” despite the pandemic, as can be seen in the conduct of several entrance examinations – the JEE/ NEET/ CSE all of which have been notified. Only because of the collective people’s effort India was able to fight the pandemic better than other countries. He urged the District Collectors of Aspirations Districts to consistently focus on achieving continuous growth in developmental indicators.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition of Metso Oyj’s (“Metso”) minerals business by Outotec Oyj (“Outotec”) under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, [Combination Registration No. C-2020/03/735].

The CCI has published the order approving the acquisition of Metso’s minerals business (“Metso Minerals”) by Outotec. All such assets, rights, debts, and liabilities of Metso that relate to, or primarily serve, its minerals business (comprising the mining, aggregates, minerals consumables, minerals services, pumps, and recycling businesses) will be acquired by Outotec. The approval is subject to modifications that are aimed at eliminating the likely anti-competitive effects of the proposed combination.

The above order was a result of an detailed inquiry undertaken pursuant to the notice given by Metso and Outotec under sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) on 12^th  March, 2020. The Commission found that the Proposed Combination is an integration of two strong and close competitors in the market for Iron Ore Palletisation (IOP) Equipment Island in India and appears to:

• limit the number of suppliers available to customer in this market in India;
• reduce the intensity of innovation in the technology for pelletizing technology and equipment;
• perpetuate the substantial market position of the Parties in the market; and reduce or eliminate the competitive pressure that would prevail in the absence of Proposed Combination;
• reduce the extent of countervailing bargaining power that the customers enjoy on account of the competition exerted by independent presence of Metso and Outotec;
• increase the cost of the entrants and rivals to compete and increase their presence in the market given that there is no likeliness of a timely and sufficient entry that could act as a competitive constraint to the combined entity; result in creation of a strong integrated player

Thus, the CCI was of the view that the proposed combination would reduce competition and confer the combined entity, the ability to increase price etc.

In order to address the competition concerns arising as a result of the proposed combination, the Parties proposed voluntary remedies / modifications (VRP). The Commission noted that VRP given by Parties eliminates the overlap between the Parties in the IOP segment in India and would effectively transfer Metso Minerals’s Indian Straight Grate (SG) IOP capital equipment business to a suitable buyer, thereby preserving the competition.

The modification essentially involves transferring a right to fully use and exploit the SG IOP capital equipment drawings, including the related registered IP by way of an exclusive and irrevocable license, subject to a lump sum upfront payment and no ongoing royalties. VRP will allow the emergence of a new competitor, thus resolving any concerns whatsoever in relation to this segment.