Author: avnishkumarpathak206153

Relevance of non-alignment movement (nam) in 21st century

In the contemporary international circumstances non-alignment or to put it more precisely its
role and usefulness in general has become a highly controversial issue, certainly more so than
earlier. Thus, the movement is passing through a critical period in its life. It finds itself today
at the crossroad and seems to be finding it difficult to comprehend the path it has to rake. It is
trying to find its identity, reorient its perception and endeavor to determine the role it has
to play in the changed context of international relations. This has resulted in a heated debate
about the validity and contemporary relevance of NAM and non-alignment as foreign policy
behavior in this post cold war “unipolar world”.
According to the critics, NAM is no longer relevant because of the changed international
environment. It is engaged that the policy of Non-alignment had some utility in the period of
cold war bipolarity, because it was child of cold war in the reaction of certain countries to the
cold war. The two main contenders for political ascendancy had almost reached the point of
extermination. It was the desire to preserve independence as distinct from merely formal
sovereignty, which led some nation to resist absorption into one or the other power blocks.
Presently the international system is no longer bipolar and the cold war is over, so what is its
relevance today is a great question.
In spite all the above statements regarding its irrelevance, the relevance of NAM in
international affairs is unquestionable. As a matter of fact, the policy of Non-Alignment was
not wholly related to a bipolar world and the cold war between the two super powers and the
block they lead. It just happened that the Non-Alignment flowered in the immediate post-world
war. Therefore, whatever the world is bi-polar or multipolar or unipolar, non-alignment as a
foreign policy choice option of the small Third World countries will remain valid. In other
words the policy will last as long as the sovereign nation system last.
The declaration of the Jakarta Summit conference 1992 assured, NAM has contributed to the
ending of bipolar in the world and to the elimination of the cold war. These new developments
have in fact fully vindicated the validity and relevance of Non-Alignment. They affirmed NAM’s
role is ensuring” its full participation in the building of the new world order”. No wonder,
then that the membership of the NAM has more than quadrupled from about 25 states in 1961 to
120 today.
The relevance of NAM continues as it looks after the interest of all Third World countries for
which the movement was created. The beginning of the Non-Alignment can be traced to
Afro-Asian resurgence as a reaction against European colonial systems and prior to that in the
struggle of underdeveloped countries against the hegemony of great European powers since the
birth of nation state system. Just when these countries begin to gain independence, they found
themselves in bipolar worlds. Seeking membership of either block meant compromised on
newly owned freedom by sovereign states, as well as an increased in international tensions,
which is turned threatened the prospects of development- socio-economic and political.
Although the term Third World has lost currency since the 1970s when other terms, such as
‘underdeveloped countries’, ‘developing countries’, and ‘South’ or ‘Global South’, became more
widely used, revisiting the term conveys a sense of the conceptual foundations on which non￾alignment rests.
As Nehru’s brainchild, in essence non-alignment means the pursuit of equality in world
affairs through pooling the diplomatic resources of Third World states in international
forums. Equality should here be understood in political-economic terms.NAM was a front of
political solidarity by supporting liberation struggles and making abstinence from military
pacts or alliances a criterion of membership.
Nevertheless, NAM together with the Group of 77 (G77–largely made up of NAM members)
succeeded to keep Third World issues on the agenda in most UN forums and agencies due to
their numerical strength. In the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO), NAM and the G77 promoted the New World Information and Communication
Order (NWICO) to rectify the perceived imbalances in information and communication
flows between the North and the South.
The end of the cold war has ended a period of strategic confrontations but an era of stable
global peace is yet to be created. In fact the cold war is dead but not the regional conflicts and
crises. The East-West conflict has dissolved but intense economic and technological
competition is emerging among several strong nations. The Non-Alignment countries have to
learn to maneuver among them and to successfully face the menace of new colonialism that is
sought to be imposed through various WTO rounds. Thus, the NAM continues to be
relevant so long as there is exploitation, war, hunger, poverty and disease on the earth.
The uniqueness of NAM lies in the fact that its goals do not merely serve the national interest of
member state but it stand to promote the cause humanity. They are universalistic in nature. It
would not be an exaggeration to say that recent positive developments on international scene
reflect the spirit of NAM.
NAM is progressively putting more emphasis on economic independence. The Non￾Alignment nations have been demanding for a legitimate share in world trades. The determination of the quality and quantity of foreign aid from developed to developing countries is also task for the Non-Alignment nation. Economic cooperation between developed and developing states forms part of the threefold strategy advocated by the NAM. These stands are:
reliance on their resources, promotion of cooperation among non-alignment states
themselves, fostering cooperation with the advanced states, with the subjects of promoting
self reliance as would restrict exploitation and contribute towards resolution of the problems of
world economy as a whole.
The fundamental concern of NAM has always been with global question of decolonization and
consolidation of freedom, disarmament and development of economies through mutual
cooperation as well as through a more equitable and just new international economic order. All
these are interrelated and to make the package of peace and prosperity for humanity.
Perhaps the most important role for NAM today lies in framing a concrete economic agenda
for a just and fair international economic order. The globalization and liberalization trends
worldwide have generated complex economic problems. The rich-poor divide has widened. The
WTO rules and procedures have failed to provide adequate economic gains to the Third World.
WTO summits have failed to reach a consensus on many issues. Its role in WTO negotiations to
advance and protect the trading rights and opportunities of developing countries and in muscling
up their negotiating position and skills would be the chief concerns. It should strive to reform
and reorient the globalization process through a strong developmental agenda. NAM has an
effective role to play in this regard provided member countries try to see the benefits from a
unified angle without any partisan considerations.
In 2007, Rejecting the US contention that Non-Aligned Movement has “lost its meaning”,
India quickly asserted that its relevance continues in promoting democratization of the
international system and New Delhi was committed to its ideals. External Affairs Ministry said
India’s “firm and abiding commitment” to non-alignment could not be questioned. “The Non￾Aligned Movement played a significant role in ending apartheid and colonialism. Today, itsrelevance continues in promoting South-South cooperation and democratization of the international system.
NAM must play the positive role in making the globalization inclusive and must strive to
achieve a faire, just international economic order.

Photo by Joseph Fuller on Pexels.com

National mission on education

Introduction

The National Mission on Education through Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has been envisaged as a Centrally
Sponsored Scheme to leverage the potential of ICT, in teaching and learning
process for the benefit of all the learners in Higher Education Institutions in
any time any where mode.

Objectives

The objectives of the National Mission on Education through ICT shall
include:
(a) building connectivity and knowledge network among and within institutions of higher learning in the country with a view of achieving critical mass of researchers in any given field;
(b) spreading digital literacy for teacher empowerment;
(c ) development of knowledge modules having the right content to take care of the aspirations of academic community and to
address to the personalized needs of the learners;
(d) standardization and quality assurance of e-contents to make
them world class;
(e) research in the field of pedagogy for development of efficient
learning modules for disparate groups of learners;
(f ) making available of e-knowledge contents, free of cost to
Indians

Components

The Mission has two major components:
(a) providing connectivity, along with provision for access
devices, to institutions and learners;
(b) content generation.

It aims to extend computer infrastructure and connectivity to over 18000 colleges in the country including each of the departments of nearly 400 universities/deemed universities and institutions of national importance as a part of its motto to provide connectivity upto last mile. Therefore, the
Mission, in addition to utilize the connectivity network of BSNL/MTNL and other providers, shall explore the possibility to provide connectivity utilizing
Very Small Apperture Terminal (VSAT), Very Personal Network (VPN) and
EduSat channels.
It seeks to bridge the digital divide, i.e., the gap in the skills to use
computing devices for the purpose of teaching and learning among urban and rural teachers/learners in Higher Education domain and empower those, who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not
been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy so that they can make best use of ICT for teaching and learning.
The Mission would create high quality e-content for the target groups.
National Programme of Technology enhanced Learning (NPTEL) Phase II and
III will be part of the content generation activity.
The peer group assisted content development would utilise the wikipaedia
type of collaborative platform under the supervision of a content advisory
committee responsible for vetting the content. Interactivity and problem solving approach would be addressed through “Talk to a Teacher”
component, where the availability of teachers to take the questions of
learners shall be ensured appropriately.

Functioning

The Mission have a three tier committee system to monitor and guide its functioning. The National Apex Committee of the Mission is chaired by

Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development, and decides on all policy
issues and prescribes guidelines for the functioning of the two sets of
Committees namely ‘Empowered Committee of Experts (also known as ‘Project Approval Board’) and ‘Core Committees of Domain Experts’. It has a
‘Mission Director’, who heads the Mission Secretariat and also acts as the
Secretary to the National Apex Committee and Project Approval Board.

Indian classical music

something beyond the mundane through the medium of the arts.
The evolution of poetry, painting and other visual arts has been preserved on stone, leaves and
paper but music being auditory, no such evidence exists. As such it is not possible to listen today
to the music of the ancient times.
Inspite of such a variety of cultural interactions, our music has remained essentially melodic. In
melody, one note follows the other, making for a continued unity of effect, whereas in harmony
musical sounds are superimposed on one another. Our classical music has retained its melodic
quality.

It is usual to begin the history of Indian music with the melodic patterns of vedic chanting. The
oldest music, which possessed a grammar was the vedic. Of course, the Rig-Veda is said to be
the oldest: nearly 5000 years old. The psalms of the Rig-Veda were called the richas. The
Yajur Veda was also a religious chant. But actual music in Northern or Southern India, of
those bygone days could not have only been of this kind. There were non-Aryan people with
their own art. For instance, Santhal music from the Eastern region of India may have been
passed down from them. While the differences are obvious, there is no doubt that such music
of the people contributed to the formation of what we now call Hindustani Classical Music.
Natya Shastra of Bharata is another important landmark in the history of Indian music. It is supposed to have been written sometime
between the 2nd century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D. Some scholars are even doubtful whether it is the work of one author and the
work might well have been a compendium – at least, the version which is available to us. The Natya Shastra is a comprehensive work
mainly dealing with dramaturgy. But a few chapters of this deal with music. Therein we get information on scales, melodic forms, tala
and musical instruments. The then contemporary music recognized two standard scales. These were called gramas. The word grama
is itself perhaps derivable from the idea of group or sect: a village, for instance. This probably lead to a set of svaras or notes being
called grama. This could roughly be translated as scales. There were then two gramas prevalent. One was called the Shadja grama,
the other one was the Madhyama grama. The difference between the two was only in one note, the panchama. To speak more
accurately. we say that the panchama in madhyama grama was one sruti lower than the panchama in shadja grama.

Sa re ga ma pa dha ni
This is the mela aaroh of the modern raga Bilaval. Besides these seven shuddha notes or svaras there are five variants, making in all
twelve notes to a saptak.
Sa re re ga ga ma ma pa dha dha ni ni
There are, of course, finer variations: these are the shrutis, It is better, therefore, to call these 12 tonal regions rather than notes.
All known ragas are grouped within this twelve tone scale. Indeed. it was a Carnatic musicologist –
Venkatmukhi of the 17th century, who gave a system of 72 melas formed out of these twelve tones. Later
on, in the 20th century, Pt. Bhatkhande, chose 10 out of the 72 to classify Hindustani ragas

Insurgency in north-east

North East India comprising the seven States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura has earned the dubious distinction
for persistent underdevelopment and growing insurgency. The fire of insurgency has been
engulfing the region in such a way that there seems to be existence of a parallel authority of
the insurgents in many parts of the region as rampant abductions, extortions and killings go
on unabated. Consequently, normal life is often paralysed and all initiatives including the
socio-economic ones are increasingly crippled as an air of fear and uncertainty pervades the
region.
Nagaland has been the epicenter of insurgency in the North East. The Naga leader,
A.Z. Phizo raised the banner of revolt at the very dawn of Indian independence, claiming
that Nagaland had never been a part of India. Although the sub national State of Nagaland
was created in 1963 in order to fulfill the political aspiration of the Nagas, the flame of
Naga insurgency could never be doused effectively and now it affects almost all the North
Eastern States in general and Manipur, Assam and Nagaland in particular as the Naga
insurgent outfits aim at political union and independence of all the territories claimed to be
Naga-dominated areas and as these outfits are providing help and training to the insurgents
in other States also. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland formed in 1980 (now split
into two factions) is the most formidable insurgent outfit in the region.
In Assam, the insurgency has grown out of mass movement over the foreigners’
issue starting in 1979. The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) which has been
committing terrorist acts with their avowed objectives of forming independent Assam has
created a serious internal security hazard. The Bodos are also up in arms under the
leadership of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). In the North Cachar
District of Assam, the Dimasa Halam (DHD) is engaged in insurgency activities. While the declared political ambition of the Bodos is for separate statehood under the Indian Union to
attain independence, the objective of DHD is not explicitly made known. Thus, Assam
faces a very complicated problem of insurgency.
Manipur is plagued by triple problems. The valley faces the insurgency of the
Meitei extremists while the hill areas are affected by depredations by the Naga militants on
the one hand and inter-tribal clashes between the Nagas and Kukis on the other. The more
prominent outfits operating in Manipur are the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). People’s
Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kuki
National Organisation (KNO/KDF) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN) (Singh, 2000).
In Tripura, the tribal-non-tribal socio-economic divide has been generating
dissension from the very dawn of the State’s accession to the Indian Union in 1948.
Although socio-economic development of Tripura has traditionally been associated with
immigration, the massive influx of the non-tribal refugees from East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh) in the wake of the division of India in 1947 reduced the tribal people into a
minority constituting less than one third of the population. As most of the immigrants
settled in rural areas, the pressure of population on land was tremendous. The sense of
being progressively marginalized gave rise to tribal insurgency in the State. In the 1980s
the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) was a formidable tribal terrorist outfit spreading
hatred against the non-tribal and it was mainly responsible for the riots that took place in
June 1980. At present there are about 20 tribal insurgent groups in Tripura, the two
prominent ones being the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the All Tripura
Tiger Force (ATTF). In recent years the non-tribal are also being involved in anti-tribal
violent activities (Ganguly, 1999).
Mizoram experienced rebellion of the Mizos under the leadership of Mr. Laldenga.
But after the Mizo Accord of 1986, there has been no major wave of insurgency in the
State. None the less, inter-tribe conflicts and suspicion against the non-tribal are not
altogether absent in the State.
Meghalaya has been free from insurgent activities. However, for the last few years
Hiniutrap Liberation Council (HNLC) has been organizing disruptive activities in the State
on certain occasions in spite of the fact that they do not have mass support.

Even Arunachal Pradesh which can be regarded as an island of peace in the whole of the North eastern Region is not totally free from trouble. The local tribal people refuse to allow the Chakmas to be absorbed in the State’s population. A rising trend of ethnic
separatism is also absorbed in the State.

Relevance of non-alignment movement (nam) in 21st century

In the contemporary international circumstances non-alignment or to put it more precisely its
role and usefulness in general has become a highly controversial issue, certainly more so than
earlier. Thus, the movement is passing through a critical period in its life. It finds itself today
at the crossroad and seems to be finding it difficult to comprehend the path it has to rake. It is
trying to find its identity, reorient its perception and endeavor to determine the role it has
to play in the changed context of international relations. This has resulted in a heated debate
about the validity and contemporary relevance of NAM and non-alignment as foreign policy
behavior in this post cold war “unipolar world”.
According to the critics, NAM is no longer relevant because of the changed international
environment. It is engaged that the policy of Non-alignment had some utility in the period of
cold war bipolarity, because it was child of cold war in the reaction of certain countries to the
cold war. The two main contenders for political ascendancy had almost reached the point of
extermination. It was the desire to preserve independence as distinct from merely formal
sovereignty, which led some nation to resist absorption into one or the other power blocks.
Presently the international system is no longer bipolar and the cold war is over, so what is its
relevance today is a great question.
In spite all the above statements regarding its irrelevance, the relevance of NAM in
international affairs is unquestionable. As a matter of fact, the policy of Non-Alignment was
not wholly related to a bipolar world and the cold war between the two super powers and the
block they lead. It just happened that the Non-Alignment flowered in the immediate post-world
war. Therefore, whatever the world is bi-polar or multipolar or unipolar, non-alignment as a
foreign policy choice option of the small Third World countries will remain valid. In other
words the policy will last as long as the sovereign nation system last.
The declaration of the Jakarta Summit conference 1992 assured, NAM has contributed to the
ending of bipolar in the world and to the elimination of the cold war. These new developments
have in fact fully vindicated the validity and relevance of Non-Alignment. They affirmed NAM’s
role is ensuring” its full participation in the building of the new world order”. No wonder,
then that the membership of the NAM has more than quadrupled from about 25 states in 1961 to
120 today.
The relevance of NAM continues as it looks after the interest of all Third World countries for
which the movement was created. The beginning of the Non-Alignment can be traced to
Afro-Asian resurgence as a reaction against European colonial systems and prior to that in the
struggle of underdeveloped countries against the hegemony of great European powers since the
birth of nation state system. Just when these countries begin to gain independence, they found
themselves in bipolar worlds. Seeking membership of either block meant compromised on
newly owned freedom by sovereign states, as well as an increased in international tensions,
which is turned threatened the prospects of development- socio-economic and political.
Although the term Third World has lost currency since the 1970s when other terms, such as
‘underdeveloped countries’, ‘developing countries’, and ‘South’ or ‘Global South’, became more
widely used, revisiting the term conveys a sense of the conceptual foundations on which non￾alignment rests.
As Nehru’s brainchild, in essence non-alignment means the pursuit of equality in world
affairs through pooling the diplomatic resources of Third World states in international
forums. Equality should here be understood in political-economic terms.NAM was a front of
political solidarity by supporting liberation struggles and making abstinence from military
pacts or alliances a criterion of membership.
Nevertheless, NAM together with the Group of 77 (G77–largely made up of NAM members)
succeeded to keep Third World issues on the agenda in most UN forums and agencies due to
their numerical strength. In the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO), NAM and the G77 promoted the New World Information and Communication
Order (NWICO) to rectify the perceived imbalances in information and communication
flows between the North and the South.
The end of the cold war has ended a period of strategic confrontations but an era of stable
global peace is yet to be created. In fact the cold war is dead but not the regional conflicts and
crises. The East-West conflict has dissolved but intense economic and technological
competition is emerging among several strong nations. The Non-Alignment countries have to
learn to maneuver among them and to successfully face the menace of new colonialism that is
sought to be imposed through various WTO rounds. Thus, the NAM continues to be
relevant so long as there is exploitation, war, hunger, poverty and disease on the earth.
The uniqueness of NAM lies in the fact that its goals do not merely serve the national interest of
member state but it stand to promote the cause humanity. They are universalistic in nature. It
would not be an exaggeration to say that recent positive developments on international scene
reflect the spirit of NAM.
NAM is progressively putting more emphasis on economic independence. The Non￾Alignment nations have been demanding for a legitimate share in world trades. The determination of the quality and quantity of foreign aid from developed to developing countries is also task for the Non-Alignment nation. Economic cooperation between developed and developing states forms part of the threefold strategy advocated by the NAM. These stands are:
reliance on their resources, promotion of cooperation among non-alignment states
themselves, fostering cooperation with the advanced states, with the subjects of promoting
self reliance as would restrict exploitation and contribute towards resolution of the problems of
world economy as a whole.
The fundamental concern of NAM has always been with global question of decolonization and
consolidation of freedom, disarmament and development of economies through mutual
cooperation as well as through a more equitable and just new international economic order. All
these are interrelated and to make the package of peace and prosperity for humanity.
Perhaps the most important role for NAM today lies in framing a concrete economic agenda
for a just and fair international economic order. The globalization and liberalization trends
worldwide have generated complex economic problems. The rich-poor divide has widened. The
WTO rules and procedures have failed to provide adequate economic gains to the Third World.
WTO summits have failed to reach a consensus on many issues. Its role in WTO negotiations to
advance and protect the trading rights and opportunities of developing countries and in muscling
up their negotiating position and skills would be the chief concerns. It should strive to reform
and reorient the globalization process through a strong developmental agenda. NAM has an
effective role to play in this regard provided member countries try to see the benefits from a
unified angle without any partisan considerations.
In 2007, Rejecting the US contention that Non-Aligned Movement has “lost its meaning”,
India quickly asserted that its relevance continues in promoting democratization of the
international system and New Delhi was committed to its ideals. External Affairs Ministry said
India’s “firm and abiding commitment” to non-alignment could not be questioned. “The Non￾Aligned Movement played a significant role in ending apartheid and colonialism. Today, itsrelevance continues in promoting South-South cooperation and democratization of the international system.
NAM must play the positive role in making the globalization inclusive and must strive to
achieve a faire, just international economic order.

About the mid day meal scheme

The Mid Day Meal is the world’s largest school feeding programme reaching out to about 12 crore children in over 12.65 lakh schools/EGS centres across the country.
Mid Day Meal in schools has had a long history in India. In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation. By the mid 1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a cooked Mid Day Meal Programme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage. By 1990-91 the number of States implementing the mid day meal programme with their own resources on a universal or a large scale had increased to twelve states.

  1. With a view to enhancing enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th August 1995, initially in 2408 blocks in the country. By the year 1997-98 the NP-NSPE was introduced in all blocks of the country. It was further extended in 2002 to cover not only children in classes I -V of Government, Government aided and local body schools, but also children studying in EGS and AIE centres. Central Assistance under the scheme consisted of free supply of food grains @ 100 grams per child per school day, and subsidy for transportation of food grains up to a maximum of Rs 50 per quintal.
  2. In September 2004 the scheme was revised to provide cooked mid day meal with 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein to all children studying in classes I – V in Government and aided schools and EGS/ AIE centres. In addition to free supply of food grains, the revised scheme provided Central Assistance for (a) Cooking cost @ Re 1 per child per school day, (b) Transport subsidy was raised from the earlier maximum of Rs 50 per quintal to Rs. 100 per quintal for special category states, and Rs 75 per quintal for other states, (c) Management, monitoring and evaluation costs @ 2% of the cost of foodgrains, transport subsidy and cooking assistance, (d) Provision of mid day meal during summer vacation in drought affected areas.
  3. In July 2006 the scheme was further revised to provide assistance for cooking cost at the rate of (a) Rs 1.80 per child/school day for States in the North Eastern Region, provided the NER States contribute Rs 0.20 per child/school day, and (b) Rs 1.50 per child/ school day for other States and UTs, provided that these States and UTs contribute Rs 0.50 per child/school day.
  4. In October 2007, the scheme has been further revised to cover children in upper primary (classes VI to VIII) initially in 3479 Educationally Backwards Blocks (EBBs). Around 1.7 crore upper primary children were included by this expansion of the scheme. From 2008-09 i.e w.e.f 1st April, 2008, the programme covers all children studying in Government, Local Body and Government-aided primary and upper primary schools and the EGS/AIE centres including Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under SSA of all areas across the country. The calorific value of a mid-day meal at upper primary stage has been fixed at a minimum of 700 calories and 20 grams of protein by providing 150 grams of food grains (rice/wheat) per child/school day.
    5.During the year 2009 the following changes have been made to improve the implementation of the scheme:-
    a) Food norms have been revised to ensure balanced and nutritious diet to children of upper primary group by increasing the quantity of pulses from 25 to 30 grams, vegetables from 65 to 75 grams and by decreasing the quantity of oil and fat from 10 grams to 7.5 grams.
    b) Cooking cost (excluding the labour and administrative charges) has been revised from Rs.1.68 to to Rs. 2.50 for primary and from Rs. 2.20 to Rs. 3.75 for upper primary children from 1.12.2009 to facilitate serving meal to eligible children in prescribed quantity and of good quality .The cooking cost for primary is Rs. 2.69 per child per day and Rs. 4.03 for upper primary children from 1.4.2010.The cooking cost will be revised by 7.5% from 1.4.2011.
    c) The honorarium for cooks and helpers was paid from the labour and other administrative charges of Rs.0.40 per child per day provided under the cooking cost. In many cases the honorarium was so little that it became very difficult to engage manpower for cooking the meal. A Separate component for Payment of honorarium @ Rs.1000 per month per cook- cum-helper was introduced from 1.12.2009.Honorarium at the above prescribed rate is being paid to cook-cum-helper. Following norms for engagement of cook-cum-helper have been made:
    (i) One cook- cum-helper for schools up to 25 students. (ii) Two cooks-cum-helpers for schools with 26 to 100 students . (iii) One additional cook-cum-helper for every addition of upto 100 students. More than 26 lakhs cook-cum-helper at present are engaged by the State/UTs during 2010-11 for preparation and serving of Mid Day Meal to Children in Elementary Classes.
    d) A common unit cost of construction of kitchen shed @ Rs.60,000 for the whole country was impractical and also inadequate .Now the cost of construction of kitchen-cum-store will be determined on the basis of plinth area norm and State Schedule of Rates. The Department of School Education and Literacy vide letter No.1-1/2009-Desk(MDM) dated 31.12.2009 had prescribed 20 sq.mt. plinth area for schools having upto 100 children. For every additional upto 100 children additional 4 sq.mt plinth area will be added. States/UTs have the flexibility to modify the Slab of 100 children depending upon the local condition.
    e) Due to difficult geographical terrain of the Special category States the transportation cost @ Rs.1.25 per quintal was not adequate to meet the actual cost of transportation of foodgrains from the FCI godowns to schools in these States. On the request of the North Eastern States the transportation assistance in the 11 Special Category States (Northern Eastern States, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand) have been made at par with the Public Distribution System (PDS) rates prevalent in these States with effect from 1.12.2009.
    f) The existing system of payment of cost of foodgrains to FCI from the Government of India is prone to delays and risk. Decentralization of payment of cost of foodgrains to the FCI at the district level from 1.4.2010 will allow officers at State and National levels to focus on detailed monitoring of the Scheme.
    8.41 cr Primary children and 3.36 cr Upper Primary children i.e a total of 11.77 cr children were estimated to be benefited from MDM Scheme during 2009-10. 11.04 Crore children were covered under MDM Scheme during 2009-10.
    During 2010-11 11.36 Cr children i.e 7.97 Cr. children in primary and 3.39 Cr. children in upper primary are expected to be covered in 12.63 lakhs institutions .
    Today, Mid day Meal scheme is serving primary and upper primary school children in entire country.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB (short for tubercle bacillus) is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease
caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active MTB
infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit their saliva through the air. Most infections in humans result in an
asymptomatic, latent infection, and about one in ten latent infections eventually progress to active disease, which, if
left untreated, kills more than 50% of those infected.
The classic symptoms are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (the last
giving rise to the formerly prevalent colloquial term “consumption”). Infection of other organs causes a wide range
of symptoms. Diagnosis relies on radiology (commonly chest X-rays), a tuberculin skin test, blood tests, as well as
microscopic examination and microbiological culture of bodily fluids. Treatment is difficult and requires long
courses of multiple antibiotics. Social contacts are also screened and treated if necessary. Antibiotic resistance is a
growing problem in (extensively) multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. Prevention relies on screening programs and
vaccination, usually with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine.
One third of the world’s population is thought to have been infected with M. tuberculosis, and new infections occur at a rate of about one per second.In 2007 there were an estimated 13.7 million chronic active cases, and in 2010 8.8 million new cases, and 1.45 million deaths, mostly in developing countries. The absolute number of tuberculosis cases has been decreasing since 2006 and new cases since 2002. In addition, more people in the developing world contract tuberculosis because their immune systems are more likely to be compromised due to
higher rates of AIDS.

The distribution of tuberculosis is not uniform across the globe; about 80% of the
population in many Asian and African countries test positive in tuberculin tests, while only 5–10% of the U.S.
population test positive.

Risk factors
There are a number factors that make people more susceptible to TB infections. Worldwide the most important of these is HIV with co-infection present in about 13% of cases. This is a particular problem in Sub-Saharan Africa
where rates of HIV are high. Tuberculosis is closely linked to both overcrowding and malnutrition making it
one of the principal diseases of poverty.
Chronic lung disease is a risk factor with smoking more than 20
cigarettes a day increasing the risk by two to four times and silicosis increasing the risk about 30 fold. Other disease states that increase the risk of developing tuberculosis include alcoholism and diabetes mellitus (threefold increase). Certain medications such as corticosteroids and Infliximab (an anti-αTNF monoclonal antibody) are
becoming increasingly important risk factors, especially in the developed world.There is also a genetic susceptibility for which overall importance is still undefined.

Transmission
When people with active pulmonary TB cough, sneeze, speak, sing, or
spit, they expel infectious aerosol droplets 0.5 to 5 µm in diameter. A
single sneeze can release up to 40,000 droplets.[44] Each one of these
droplets may transmit the disease, since the infectious dose of
tuberculosis is very low and inhaling fewer than ten bacteria may cause
an infection.

Prevention
Tuberculosis prevention and control efforts primarily rely on the vaccination of infants and the detection and appropriate treatment of active cases.The World Health Organization has achieved some success with improved
treatment success and a small decrease in case numbers.
Vaccines
The only currently available vaccine as of 2021 is Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) which while effective against disseminated disease in childhood, confers inconsistent protection against pulmonary disease. It is the most
widely used vaccine worldwide with more than 90% of children vaccinated. However the immunity that it induces, decreases after about ten years. As tuberculosis is uncommon in most of Canada, the United Kingdom
and the United States, BCG is only administered to people at high risk. Part of the reason against the use of vaccine is that it makes the tuberculin skin test falsely positive and thus of no use in screening. A number of new vaccines are in development.
Public health
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared TB a global health emergency in 1993 and in 2006 the Stop TB Partnership developed a Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis that aims to save 14 million lives between its launch and
2015. A number of targets that they have set are not likely to be achieved by 2015 due to the increase in HIV
associated tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
Treatment
Treatment for TB uses antibiotics to kill the bacteria. Effective TB treatment is difficult, due to the unusual structure and chemical composition of the mycobacterial cell wall, which makes many antibiotics ineffective and hinders the entry of drugs. The two antibiotics most commonly used are isoniazid and rifampicin and treatments can be
prolonged. Latent TB treatment usually uses a single antibiotic, while active TB disease is best treated with
combinations of several antibiotics, to reduce the risk of the bacteria developing antibiotic resistance. People with latent infections are treated to prevent them from progressing to active TB disease later in life.

Public – Police relationship in modern age

The police has always had its own unique image in the minds of the public. There is an old saying about police in Hindi which is very popular among the people ‘n inki dosti achhi, n inki dushmani achhi’ (neither friendship with police is good nor animosity). This proverb, in fact, expresses the opinion of public about the police.
It is true that the police has not been able to make its place in the heart of the people so that they can be revered by the common people as their protector. Then the bitter truth is also that they have not made much effort to improve their image and change the mindset of the public towards the police. After all whatever police does, it does to protect the people of the country and to maintain the law and order so that peace can prevail in the society. Then what are the reasons behind the lack of trust between public and police ? Why the common people is still hesitant to befriend with their ‘protector’ ?
The answer to the above question is not very difficult to find. Corruption, non- cooperational behaviour in some cases, etc. are some of the many reasons of the uncomfortable relation between public and police. For example, if a victim of sexual assault goes to police to file an FIR, there are a lot of insensitive questions are asked to her which she may not be able to answer with comfort. The sheer humiliation in the society is one of the reasons of less reporting of such heinous crime. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report of 2006, about 71% of rape crimes go unreported. This does not happen only in India. A UN study of 57 countries estimates just 11% of rape and sexual assault cases worldwide are ever reported. However, because of the increasing awareness in the society, the number of cases being reported are increasing day by day. The hesitation to report case is not only limited to the victims of sexual assault. After being robbed if a person goes to file the complain then police starts to interrogate the victim itself initially. This is the reason that many people avoid going to the police.
The other big demerit in the police system is corruption. Because of the widespread roots of corruption in police system, wealthy and powerful people think that they are above the law and they can do whatever they want. Exploitation of weaker section of the society is an easy job for them. They think that they can get away easily after any wrongdoings. The support of corrupt police officers to these anti-social elements widens the lack of trust between public and police.
It would be injustice to the police if i would say that each and every police personnel is corrupt, uncooperative and disrespectful. If any police personnels tries to do good for the society and earn the trust of the people and hence shorten the gap of mutual trust and respect by bridling those anti-social elements who are threat to the society then political pressure from big politicians to the honest officers proves to be the last nail in the coffin. Honest police officers are threatened by the powerful politicians, who are the saviors of these high profile criminals, of transfer-posting of the place or service. If they still stick to their honesty then either their department is changed or they posted somewhere else or they are forced to resign. So the nexus of criminal, corrupt police personnels and the corrupt politicians need to be rooted out in order to create a growing, peaceful society and to develop a friendly public-police relations.
In these challenging times of Corona pandemic, we have already witnessed the human aspect of police personnels where they not only do their duty by keeping their life at stake but they have also seen feeding the hungry and unprivileged people, migrant labourers, students and pilgrims who were stuck away from their home in lockdown. In some cases they even spent their own money for the treatment and food of the poor. This has increased the respect immensely for the police in common people. We can never laud enough for their benevolent job that they do. In return, the least we can do is to respect them and their family too.
The humanitarian behaviour of police in modern times strengthens the idea that the friendly relationship between public and police is not something which is unachievable and it is not far away.