Author: Admin

Track2Training for students. Learn more on https://track2training.com

Preparedness and response activities against biological emergencies

 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides requisite guidance and logistic support to the States/UTs. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme through its State and District units conducts disease surveillance in the country through a decentralized State based surveillance system for epidemic prone diseases to detect the early warning signals, so that effective public health actions can be initiated in response to health challenges in the country.

For preparedness and response against health emergencies, the National Disaster Management Authority in 2008 has issued detailed guidance on management of biological disasters (available at https://ndma.gov.in/sites/default/files/PDF/Guidelines/biological_disasters.pdf). 

Further, National Disaster Management Authority has also issued and widely circulated National Disaster Management Plan 2019 which provides an all-hazard plan with clarification on roles and responsibilities for preparedness and response activities against biological emergencies.

As per the information received from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the DBT has notified a “List of Infective Microorganisms corresponding to different Risk Groups, 2021” which provides the list of Infective Microorganisms corresponding to different Risk Groups, which determine the operational practice and minimum physical containment requirements and accordingly, allows selection of appropriate biosafety level facilities. The list can be accessed from https://dbtindia.gov.in/sites/default/files/Updated%20Risk%20Group13122021.pdf .

Furthermore, 138 bio-safety laboratories have been set up across the country under the Department of Health Research (DHR)’s Scheme- Setting up of Nation-wide network of Laboratories for managing Epidemics and Natural Calamities (VRDL). Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has a well-established laboratory infrastructure, to combat biosafety and biosecurity threats to the country, including apex lab at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune

DBT has notified the “Guidelines for the Establishment of containment facilities: BioSafety Level 2 (BSL-2) & 3 (BSL-3) and Certification of BSL-3 facility” and Regulations & Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Research and Biocontainment, 2017. The guidelines encompass biosafety standards laid by various international agencies. All the biosafety laboratories specifically BSL-4 and BSL-3 established at ICMR and its network laboratories are trained in Biosafety laboratory operationalization. The key scientific staff of ICMR-NIV, Pune has also been trained at Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA in biosafety practices.

Steps to strengthen the Healthcare System in India

 The healthcare system of the country involves a three-tier system with Sub Health Centre (Urban and Rural), Primary Health Centre (Urban and Rural) and Community Health Centre (Urban and Rural) as the three pillars of Primary Health Care System in India. Rural Health Statistics (RHS) is an annual publication, based on Health care administrative data reported by States/UTs.

Similarly, District Hospital (DH), Sub-District Hospital (SDH) and First Referral Unit – Community Health Centres provide secondary care services whereas Medical Colleges and State-level Institutions provide tertiary care services.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India provides technical and financial support to the States/UTs to strengthen the public healthcare facilities. To address the healthcare challenges, particularly in rural areas, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in 2005 to supplement the efforts of the State/UT governments to provide accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to all those who access public health facilities. Currently, NRHM is a sub-mission of National Health Mission (NHM).

Support is provided to states/UTs under the National Health Mission (NHM) for strengthening of health care facilities as per norms based on the requirements posed by them in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) and within their overall resource envelope. Under NHM, States are supported for several interventions towards strengthening the primary healthcare services in the country.

XV-Finance Commission Health Grants through Local Government announced as part of Union Budget 2021-22, for strengthening the healthcare system at primary healthcare level, has recommended grants aggregating to Rs. 70,051 Crores over the period of five years (2021-2026) through local government to strengthen the healthcare system in states.

Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) with an outlay of Rs. 64,180 Crores aims to fill critical gaps in public health infrastructure especially in critical care facilities and primary care in both urban and rural areas. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with some Central Sector components. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) Components includes support for infrastructure development for Sub-Health Centres, Urban Health and Wellness Centres, Support for Block Public Health Units, Integrated District Public Health Laboratories and Critical Care Hospital Blocks.

 

National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP)

 The Government is implementing the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) with the goal of making India leprosy free. NLEP is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the umbrella of National Health Mission (NHM). This programme is implemented in all the States/UTs.

The major focus of the Programme is to detect the cases of leprosy at an early stage and to provide complete treatment, free of cost, in order to prevent the occurrence of disability.

Major initiatives under NLEP are as follows:

  1. Leprosy Case Detections Campaign (LCDC) in high endemic districts.
  2. Focused Leprosy Campaign (FLC) in low endemic districts for case detection.
  3. Special plans for Hard-to-Reach areas for early case detection and treatment.
  4. ASHA Based Surveillance for Leprosy Suspects (ABSULS).
  5. Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign on 30th January every year.
  6. Active Case Detection and Surveillance both in rural and urban areas.
  7. Convergence of leprosy screening under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) for screening of children (0-18 years) and under Ayushman Bharat for screening of people above 30 years of age.
  8. Monitoring of the programme by Joint Monitoring Investigation and Advisory Group (JMIAG).
  9. Certificate, award and performance linked financial incentive are given to the districts for achieving leprosy elimination.
  10. Contact tracing is done and Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) with Single dose of Rifampicin (SDR) given to the eligible contacts of index case in order to interrupt the chain of transmission.

Further, 12 packs of MDT (Multi Drug Therapy) blister packs are given to Multi Bacillary Leprosy cases as per the Standard Treatment Protocol.

India has achieved the elimination of leprosy as a public health problem as per WHO criteria of less than 1 case per 10,000 population at the National level in 2005. However, there are few districts within States where leprosy is still endemic.

As per Monthly Progress Report of Central Leprosy Division, Directorate General of Health Services (as on 31st May 2022), 72,914 leprosy patients, as informed by the States/UTs, are under treatment in the country.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PMFME

 Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is implementing a centrally sponsored “PM Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme” for providing financial, technical and business support for setting up / upgradation of micro food processing enterprises in the country. The scheme is operational for a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 Crore. The details of assistance available under the scheme is placed at Annexure.

MoFPI does not set up Food Processing Industries on its own. However, it assists entrepreneurs in establishing such Industries across the country including Tamil Nadu through its Central Sector Umbrella Scheme Pradhan MantriKisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) and Centrally sponsored PMFME Scheme.

ANNEXURE

The details of assistance available under PMFME Scheme

 

(i). Support to Individual / Group Category Micro Enterprises: Credit-linked capital subsidy @35% of the eligible project cost, maximum ceiling Rs.10 lakh per unit;

(ii). Support to SHGs for seed capital: Seed capital @ Rs. 40,000/- per member of SHG engaged in food processing for working capital and purchase of small tools subject to maximum of Rs. 4 lakh per SHG Federation.

(iii). Support for Common Infrastructure: Credit linked capital subsidy @35% subject to maximum of Rs. 3 crore to support FPOs, SHGs, Cooperatives and any Government agency for setting up of common infrastructure. The common infrastructure will also be available for other units and public to utilize on hiring basis for substantial part of the capacity.

(iv). Branding and Marketing Support: Grant upto 50% for Branding and Marketing to groups of FPOs/ SHGs/ Cooperatives or an SPV of micro food processing enterprises.

(v). Capacity Building: The scheme envisages training for Entrepreneurship Development Skilling (EDP+): program modified to meet the requirement of food processing industry and product specific skilling.

STEPS TAKEN TO BOOST EXPORTS OF PROCESSED FOOD

 The efforts being made by Government for promoting exports of processed food products include:

(i) A comprehensive “Agriculture Export Policy” has been introduced to harness export potential of Indian agriculture.

(ii) Products Specific Export Promotion Forums set up by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to give impetus to the export of potential products as well as to remove the bottlenecks in the supply chain.

(iii) APEDA has also formed Export Promotion Forums (EPFs) for the products, viz., Grapes, Onions, Mango, Banana, Pomegranate, Floriculture, Rice, Dairy Products and Nutri cereals.

(iv) A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up for providing a platform for farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperatives to interact with exporters.

(v) Assistance provided through several other schemes to promote exports, including food products export, viz. Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES), Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP), Export Promotion schemes of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)& Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), etc.

(vi) District as Export Hubs (DEH) scheme is being implemented using ODOP(One District One Product) approach with an objective of converting each District of the country into a Manufacturing and Export Hub by identifying products with export potential in the district.

(vii) Under the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme for food products, marketing and branding support is provided by Ministry of Food Processing Industries for enhancing global visibility of Indian food products.

Mandatory Verification of Social Media Accounts

 Government’s objectives are aimed at ensuring Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable internet for its users.The Government is aware of the risk and danger posed by growing phenomena of misinformation, bots, criminality and users harms in general.

To ensuring Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable internet for its users, the Government has notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules 2021”). As per the rule 4(7) of the said Rules, the significant social media intermediaries shall enable users to voluntarily verify their accounts and such users’ accounts shall be provided with visible marks of verification.

INS Sumedha visits Bali, Indonesia

 As part of the Indian Navy’s Long Range Deployment in the South Eastern Indian Ocean, INS Sumedha, is on a visit to Port Tanjung Benoa, Bali, from 04 Aug to 06 Aug 2022. The ship is en route to Perth, Australia, to coincide with India’s Independence Day and celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The visit to Bali is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, enhancing military cooperation and improving interoperability with the Indonesian Navy. During her stay at Bali, the ship’s crew will engage in professional interactions, cross-deck visits and sports fixtures with their Indonesian Navy counterparts.

https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/image/INS_Sumedha_at_Bali__IndonesiaLOEU.jpg

Prior to entering Bali, the ship undertook a Maritime Partnership Exercise with KRI Sultan Hasanuddin, a Sigma class corvette of the Indonesian Navy on 02 August 2022. The exercise which included seamanship evolutions, tactical manoeuvres and communication procedures provided an opportunity for sharing professional experiences and strengthening maritime cooperation between the two navies.

INS Sumedha is an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel and is deployed for multiple roles independently and in support of fleet operations. She is part of the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam and functions under the operational command of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.

***********

Production of Defence Products

 Government has taken several steps to enhance self-reliance in indigenous design, development and manufacturing of defence products. Three Positive Indigenisation lists comprising of 310 (101, 108 and 101 respectively) items have been promulgated by Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Ministry of Defence on 21st August 2020, 31st May, 2021 and 07th April 2022, respectively with the timelines indicated against them beyond which the items would be procured from indigenous sources. The products have been offered to the industry to come forward for design & development.

Further, in continuous pursuit of self-reliance in defence manufacturing and to minimize import by DPSUs, Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence has notified two Positive Indigenisation Lists (PILs) of sub-systems/assemblies/sub-assemblies/components on 27th December, 2021 and 28th March, 2022. The 1st list contains 2500 items, which are already indigenized and 351 items which have been taken up for indigenisation. The 2nd list consists of 107 strategically important Line replacement units/major sub-assemblies. The list of these items and their details are available on SRIJAN portal for Industry to show their interest. The items are notified with a timeline beyond which there would be an embargo on their import. Till date, 154 items out of 235 items from the 1st Positive Indigenisation List and 4 items out of 107 items from the 2nd Positive Indigenisation List have already been indigenized.

With focus of Government on indigenisation and procurement of defence products from the domestic resources, the expenditure on defence procurement from foreign sources has reduced from 46% to 36% in the last 4 (four) years i.e. from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Moreover, the Government, in the last four years i.e. from 2018-19 to 2021-22, has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to 162 proposals worth Rs 2,51,130 crore approximately, under various categories of Capital procurement from domestic sources.

Further, the timelines for embargo on imports has been spread from December, 2020 to December 2028, so the assessments of savings on foreign exchange and opportunities for employment cannot be done at this stage.

Tejas Fighter Aircraft

 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a Defence PSU under the Ministry of Defence responded to a Request for Information (RFI) received from Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), Malaysia in February, 2019 for LCA class aircraft. Subsequently, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited responded in October, 2021 to Request for Proposal (RFP) issued against tender released by Royal Malaysian Air Force, Malaysia for 18 nos of Fighter Lead In Trainer – Light Combat Aircraft (FLIT – LCA) and HAL offered LCA Tejas twin seater variant. Other countries which have evinced interest in LCA aircraft are: Argentina, Australia, Egypt, USA, Indonesia, and Philippines.

The Government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in the country, thereby expanding their production. These initiatives, inter-alia, include:

  • According priority to procurement of capital items from domestic sources under Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020.
  • The announcement of 18 major defence platforms for industry led design & development in March, 2022.
  • Notification of three ‘Positive Indigenisation Lists’ of total 310 items of Services and two ‘Positive Indigenisation Lists’ of total 2958 items of the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them.
  • Simplification of Industrial licensing process with longer validity period.
  • Liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy allowing 74% FDI under automatic route.
  • Simplification of Make Procedure.
  • Launch of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) scheme involving start-ups & Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
  • Implementation of Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017.
  • Launch of an indigenisation portal namely SRIJAN to facilitate indigenisation by Indian Industry including MSMEs.
  • Reforms in Offset policy with thrust on attracting investment and Transfer of Technology for Defence manufacturing by assigning higher multipliers.
  • Establishment of two Defence Industrial Corridors, one each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
  • Opening up of Defence Research & Development (R&D) for industry, start-ups and academia with 25 percent of defence R&D budget earmarked to promote development of defence technology in the country; and
  • Progressive increase in allocation of Defence Budget of military modernisation for procurement from domestic sources, etc.

Application of Science and Technology in Defence Sector

 The Government has undertaken a number of policy initiatives for indigenous manufacturing of state-of-the-art defence products by utilising the applications of science and technology in defence sector. These initiatives, inter-alia, include: –

 

  • In order to promote indigenous design and development of defence equipment ‘Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}’ category has been accorded top most priority for procurement of capital equipment.
  • An innovation ecosystem for Defence titled Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) has been launched in April, 2018. iDEX is aimed at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Start-ups, Individual Innovators, Research & Development (R&D) institutes and Academia and provide them grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D which has potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs.
  • To enable adoption of Artificial Intelligence in defence, Defence AI Council (DAIC) and Defence AI Project Agency (DAIPA) has been created. Further, an AI roadmap has also been finalized.
  • Specific provisions have been introduced in DAP-2020under ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy (Global – Manufacture in India)’ category, wherein indigenous production is carried out with Transfer of Technology (ToT) from foreign OEM.
  • Discharge of offset obligations by foreign OEMs through ToT to Indian enterprises including government institutions has been incorporated. 
  • Government has notified the ‘Strategic Partnership (SP)’ Model which envisages establishment of long-term strategic partnerships with Indian entities through a transparent and competitive process, wherein they would tie up with global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to seek technology transfers to set up domestic manufacturing infrastructure and supply chains.
  • Defence Research & Development (R&D) has been opened up for industry, start-ups and academia with 25 percent of defence R&D budget earmarked, to promote development of defence technology in the country.
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) identified nine thrust areas for focused research, namely Platforms, Weapon System, Strategic Systems, Sensors & Communication Systems, Space, Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, Material &Devices and Soldier Support.
  • Technology Development Fund (TDF) Scheme also funds industries, especially – Start-ups and MSMEs up to an amount of Rs. 10 Crore, for innovation, research and development of defence Technologies in the field of defence and Aerospace.

 

As a result of these initiatives, many State-of-the-art products including 155mm Artillery Gun system ‘Dhanush’, Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’, Surface to Air Missile system ‘Akash’, Main Battle Tank ‘Arjun’, T-90 Tank, T-72 Tank, Armoured Personnel Carrier ‘BMP-II/IIK’, Su-30 MK1, Cheetah Helicopter, Advanced Light Helicopter, Dornier Do-228, High Mobility Trucks, INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Chennai, Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC), Arjun Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle, Bridge Laying Tank, Bi-Modular Charge System (BMCS) for 155mm Ammunition, Medium Bullet Proof Vehicle (MBPV), Weapon Locating Radar (WLR), Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), Software Defined Radios (SDR), Lakshya Parachute for Pilotless Target Aircraft, Opto Electronic Sights for Battle Tanks, Water Jet Fast Attack Craft, Inshore Patrol Vessel, Offshore Patrol Vessel, Fast Interceptor Boat, Landing Craft Utility, 25 T Tugs, etc. have been produced in the country during the last few years.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle designed and developed by DRDO, has been successfully tested in fully autonomous mode. This flight marks a major milestone in terms of proving critical technologies towards the development of future unmanned aircraft and is a significant step towards self-reliance in such strategic defence technologies.

 

Performance and Efficiency Audit of Armed Forces

 The Government has set up an apex committee to conduct “performance and efficiency” audit of the armed forces. The members of the committee include the Defence Secretary as Chairman, Vice Chiefs of the three Services, Secretary Defence (Finance)/FA(DS), Chief of Integrated Staff Committee (CISC), Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), Director General (Acquisition) and other senior officials of Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Performance /Efficiency Audit will be aimed at providing valuable inputs to the Top Level Management by way of providing reliable, objective and independent information, highlighting shortcomings in planning, implementation, systems affecting outputs/outcomes in specific and quality of expenditure/management in general.

The mandate to carry out Performance and Efficiency Audit was given to CGDA on 14th July, 2022. The broad areas that have been identified for the conduct of this Audit include Defence Capital Procurements, provisioning, logistics, inventory levels, maintenance of platforms/assets, role and performance of Authority Holding Sealed Particulars (AHSP) etc. The Apex committee can also recommend any other specific area for Performance and Efficiency Audit. This will constructively promote economy, effectiveness and efficiency in governance by creating the necessary environment of accountability and transparency in the organization and ensure that the operations are effectively carried out through continuous improvement.

Modernization of Defence Armed Forces involves the acquisition of new state-of-the-art platforms, technologies and weapon systems to upgrade and augment Defence capabilities and is a continuous process based on threat perception, operational necessities and technological changes to keep the Armed Forces in a state of readiness to meet the entire spectrum of security challenges. Government attaches highest priority to ensure that the Armed Forces are sufficiently equipped to meet any operational requirement which is achieved through induction of new equipment and technological upgradation of capabilities.

The equipment requirements of the Armed Forces are planned and progressed through a detailed process which includes Ten Years Integrated Capability Development Plan (ICDP), Five Years Defence Capability Acquisition Plan (DCAP) and Annual Acquisition Plan (AAP) and deliberations by the Defence Acquisition Council chaired by the Raksha Mantri.

Government is pursuing a large number of initiatives to achieve higher levels of indigenization and self-reliance in the defence sector by harnessing the capabilities of the public and private sector industries in the country. These measures include according priority and preference to procurement from Indian vendors and liberalization of the licensing regime.

The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)- 2020 has been driven by the tenets of Defence Reforms announced as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan of the Government of India by promoting indigenous design, development and manufacturing of defence equipment, platforms, systems and sub-systems. DAP 2020 accords the highest priority to Buy Indian (Designed, Developed and Manufactured) (IDDM). To encourage production of these weapons/platforms in India, lists of weapons/platforms for ban on import have been notified. A new category of Buy (Global-Manufacture in India) has been introduced to enable ab-initio indigenization of spares. This category encourages Foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to set up ‘Manufacturing/ maintenance entities’ through its subsidiary in India. The definition of Indian Vendor has also been aligned to the new FDI policy. The Government has introduced Make II & Make III categories with the objective of self-reliance by involving greater participation of Indian industrial eco-system including private sector. The simplified Make-II procedure has been notified for Industry funded development projects. Reservation on Orders up to Rs. 100 Crores/ year for MSMEs and Small Shipyards has been provided. Government has also promulgated the policy on Strategic Partnership in the Defence Sector to encourage broader participation of the private sector in manufacture of major defence platforms and equipment.

 

Defence Research Institutes

 As on date, there are 46 Labs/Estts including five Young Scientists Laboratories of DRDO in the country. The Government has taken following initiatives for promoting research in the defence sector:

 

  • Creation of five Young Scientists Laboratories (DYSLs) to motivate youth for newer innovations- DRDO has created five DRDO Young Scientists Laboratories (DYSLs) to attract young Scientists/Engineers to join DRDO and provide R&D environment in emerging engineering fields and advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Technologies, Cognitive Technologies, Asymmetric Technologies and Smart materials and provide adequate freedom to young scientists to prove their talent.
  • DRDO has introduced a scheme of Research Fellowships to provide opportunity to bright, young scientists/Engineers to carry out research work leading to earning of higher qualification or for acquisition of research experience.  Further, other schemes like Grants-in-Aid Scheme by Extramural Research & Intellectual Property Rights (ER&IPR), various Schemes/MOUs under Research Boards, Exhibitions, inter school and inter college level competitions etc. have also been initiated by DRDO to generate interest in Defence Technologies among school and college students.
  • Paid Apprenticeship Scheme, Internship to B. Tech/ M.Tech/ M.Sc Students, Exhibitions, inter-college level competitions etc. have also been initiated by DRDO to generate interest in Defence Technologies among school and college students.
  • Defence Industry Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE): DRDO is providing financial support through the DIA-CoE in IITs/Universities to undertake science and technology projects and to create special tests facilities in theses DRDO funded centres. Currently, 10 such DIA-CoE have been established so far by DRDO.
  • Cyber and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Courses: DRDO has conducted certified courses in AI & Machine Learning (ML) and so far more than 1000 professionals have been trained in these domains.
  • Collaboration between higher educational institution and DRDO through fellowships sponsored under Ministry of Human Resource Development funded institutions: Under this scheme, 500 students have been sponsored for PhD programmes in AICTE/Centrally Funded Technical Institutes under the Ministry of Human Resource Development to work on various DRDO projects thereby attracting young research scholars and provide them working exposures to state-of-the-art Defence technologies, high end research and development activities of DRDO.  Under this scheme, students get the opportunities to have first-hand experience of the ongoing R&D project in niche technology area.
  • Directorate of Technology Development Fund (TDF): TDF was created for projects under Technology Development Scheme.  The scheme encourages participation of public/private industries especially MSMEs and Start-ups, so as to create an eco-system for enhancing cutting edge technology capability for defence application.

 

The details of funds spent during the last five years by the Department of Defence Research & Development (DD R&D) is as under:-

 

(Rs. in crore)

Year

DD R&D Exp

2017-18

15203.04

2018-19

17049.01

2019-20

17375.13

2020-21

15706.98

2021-22

18290.98

What is h-Index

 The h-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar.

The h index was proposed by J.E. Hirsch in 2005 and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.[i]  The h index is a quantitative metric based on analysis of publication data using publications and citations to provide “an estimate of the importance, significance, and broad impact of a scientist’s cumulative research contributions.”[ii]   According to Hirsch, the h index is defined as: “A scientist has index h if h of his or her Np papers have at least h citations each and the other (Np – h) papers have ≤h citations each.”

How Calculated: Number of papers (h) that have received at least h citations. 

As an example, an h index of 10 means that among all publications by one author, 10 of these publications have received at least 10 citations each.  

Hirsch argues that the h index is preferable to other single-number criteria, such as the total number of papers, the total number of citations and citations per paper. However, Hirsch includes several caveats:

  • A single number can never give more than a rough approximation to an individual’s multifaceted profile;
  • Other factors should be considered in combination in evaluating an individual;
  • There will be differences in typical h values in different fields, determined in part by the average number of references in a paper in the field, the average number of papers produced by each scientist in the field, and the size (number of scientists) of the field; and
  • For an author with a relatively low h that has a few seminal papers with extraordinarily high citation counts, the h index will not fully reflect that scientist’s accomplishments.[iii]
Hirsch stressed that the full career publications for an author should be used for the h index.

Since Hirsch introduced the h index in 2005, this measure of academic impact has garnered widespread interest as well as proposals for other indices based on analyses of publication data such as the g index, h (2) index, m quotient, r index, to name a few.

The h-index has already been used by major citation databases to evaluate the academic performance of individual scientists. Although effective and simple, the h-index suffers from some drawbacks that limit its use in accurately and fairly comparing the scientific output of different researchers. These drawbacks include information loss and low resolution: the former refers to the fact that in addition to h2 citations for papers in the h-core, excess citations are completely ignored, whereas the latter means that it is common for a group of researchers to have an identical h-index.

Several commonly used databases, such as Elsevier’s Scopus, Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science, and Google Scholar  provide h index values for authors.

Blogger Vs WordPress: Which Is Better For You?

 There are two big-name services in the world of blogging: Blogger vs WordPress. No matter where you go on the internet looking for advice, these two names are nearly impossible to avoid because they play such an important role within the online content community.

If you’re just starting out a new blog, or making some major changes to your current layout, you’ll most likely be faced with the decision to choose between Blogger vs WordPress. Both are stellar services that are going to make your life as a blogger much easier, but ultimately, your decision must come down to one. So don’t cross over, let’s walk this path together and ensure that you don’t get lost in the wonder world of web, looking for answers.

blogger vs wordpress

Before we start!

WordPress as you might have noticed, comes in two different flavors, wordpress.org and wordpress.com. Seemingly same, but practically, not. Like in Blogger vs WordPress, hosting at wordpress.com is like renting a corporate apartment where the corporate is responsible for maintenance and facilitation of your place. While hosting at wordpress.org is similar to buying your own apartment, where you are responsible for your place’s security, maintenance and many others.

So, wherever in this post you see the word ‘WordPress’; know that it refers to wordpress.org.

User-Friendliness

WordPress is a clear front-runner in the blogging and web design community in terms of how many people actually use the platform. The founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, provided eye-opening statistics that around 18.9% of the entire Internet runs on WordPress. Compared to a 2012 study done by Blogging.org, of all the actual blogs on the Internet, WordPress makes up 43%, Blogger 35%, and the remaining blogs are Tumblr or other less known services.

However, just because something is used more often than another, it doesn’t mean it’s easier to use. The problem with WordPress is that it wasn’t designed for beginners who just want to take up blogging as a side hobby. In order to set up your own WordPress blog, you have to have some previous knowledge of things like hosting, bandwidth, HTML and SEO practices. There are WordPress services out there that will help set up your site and get you online, but WordPress itself comes as a set of files that you are expected to download and configure to your own site.

Some hosting companies have made the idea of using WordPress a little bit easier with things like one-click downloads; but it’s still a pretty steep learning curve for new bloggers to overcome. You also have to deal with paying for the costs of hosting your site and acquiring the domain name. If you opt to use one of the many WordPress services instead of setting it up yourself, you’ll be stuck with a URL such as ‘yourwebsite.wordpress.com’, which takes away from the professional image you may be trying to portray.

Blogger is entirely based on Google and makes setting up a blog a breeze. With Blogger vs WordPress all you need to get started is to sign up for the service using your Google account, or make a new account like you would if you were setting up an email account. From there, Blogger takes responsibility for all your files, backing up the systems and the details associated with operating a content site like a database. Blogger is so much easier in terms of walking you through the steps, providing you with everything you need to be successful and it’s at little-to-no cost to you.

Design & Customizability

Hosting at WordPress means stepping into the Disney world. With hundreds of featured rich-customizable design templates, you would find yourself literally lost in the WordPress arena, ensuring that your site looks unique, catchy and simply marvelous to visitors. The wide array of WordPress templates include customized designs for nearly every walk of life including fashion, entertainment, music, health, kitchen, etc.

Blogger templates, some would say, are not responsive; but let me tell you a secret. With a little search online, you can find hundreds of free, highly customizable, responsive Blogger templates that you can easily integrate into your blog, so that you, and your site visitors stay in touch with your blog through their handsets. For WordPress, however, you don’t need to wander around. By default, it has rich and responsive native designs, making WordPress ideal for mobile bloggers.

Both platforms will allow you to make modifications to the theme and features of the site if you have experience or feel comfortable to use HTML and CSS. They also both provide helpful post areas for when you go to submit new content. These post areas will also include HTML and some basic functions to change the font style and the size of your text.

One design feature between the two that may tip the scale toward Blogger in the Blogger vs WordPress discussion is that Blogger is integrated with other Google services like Google Picasa. Picasa is a photo sharing site that will allow you to share all your personal photos, or the photos that you plan on using within your posts. These can then be accessed via the text editor when you are submitting content and can be easily included with the content.

Gadgets, Widgets & Plugins

Talking of plugins, WordPress provides you with thousands of easy to integrate plugins from security to multimedia, enabling you to add any feature or functionality in your site, in a couple easy steps. Users of this platform have submitted thousands of independent plugins that you can install for just about anything you would need, from SEO to E-commerce. There are so many interesting plugins available, that blog owners often make the mistake of cluttering their site with too many and distracting their readers from the content.

Blogger may not have as many plugins or widgets as WordPress, it does have enough to provide you with what you need. Blogger’s simplicity in many ways provides it with an edge over WordPress because you are able to focus most of your time in producing great content, instead of seeing how many bells and whistles you can add on the site.

The SEO Question

Not every person that starts a blog is looking to make money off the content; some people just like to write for the sake of writing. Whatever your goals are for starting the blog, search engine optimization – or SEO for short – is a key strategy in growing your readership, so others might enjoy what you have to share.

Over 1 quadrillion searches are performed via Google each year. The goal of most SEO producers is to implement strategies that can appease Google so that their content will be ranked higher up in search query results. Blogger is a service created by Google, so it’s obvious that they added their own formulas to the service to ensure that those blogs are doing what they need to do to be found.

Sticking to Blogger means Google would optimize your blog itself from a SEO perspective. All you need to do is check / uncheck a couple of options from your dashboard and Google will start crawling your site with just a click of a button. WordPress takes a hands-on approach that will require you to know a little bit more to modify your website design and content to meet these standards.

And the Blogger vs WordPress Winner Is…

In terms of Blogger vs WordPress, both services might be worth trying out, but ultimately Blogger comes out as a winner in all four categories discussed above. For new or returning bloggers, it is a fantastic service that makes it easy to focus on what you love, regardless of all the add-ons and fancy additions of WordPress. Blogger’s simplicity is perhaps one of it’s greatest advantages and provides bloggers of all experience levels a chance to succeed.

5 Importance of Internship

 Just having a good degree is no longer enough to secure that all-important graduate job offer in today’s world. Pertinent work experience is now just as valuable as your degree and exam results when it comes to building a successful career. As a result, internships have become an essential way to help candidates make themselves stand out. The importance of an internship has been shown in several recent surveys. According to NACE’s Class of 2019 Student Survey, “More than half of all graduating seniors who applied for a full-time job (53.2%) received at least one job offer. Within this group, 57.5% of students who had an internship and 43.7% of graduating seniors who did not have an internship received a job offer.” Not bad right? Let’s keep it going.

We will discuss everything you need to know about internships and determine why interning at a company is vital to career growth.

So, let’s get started!

The concept of an internship

You need the experience to get hands-on knowledge in your career field. In today’s labour market, employers rely heavily on resumes that demonstrate relevant work history, whether it is from actual job experience, volunteer work, or interning at a company.

An internship is an official program offered by organisations to help train and provide work experience to students and recent graduates. The concept of working as an intern began a long time ago but has drastically evolved over the years. Internships first started as a labourer who would take on young individuals and teach them their art or trade. In exchange for being taught a skill, the trainee would agree to work for the labourer for a specific time. Even then, the purpose of an internship or rather an apprenticeship was to gain new skills to be able to obtain future work.

In modern interning, an intern or trainee can work for an organisation for a specific amount of time. Interns can work for 1-12 months or longer, depending on the company and the industry. Internships are popular amongst graduate and undergraduate students who need to gain research or valuable work experience. Almost every sector and type of company, from a large multinational corporation to a small startup, now offers internships. Additionally, there has been a rise in remote/virtual internships – which is the ability to intern virtually for global companies. The vast number of internship opportunities available indicates the importance of an internship in today’s world.

How valuable is job experience?

Getting work experience is an essential aspect of starting your career as a young graduate. The earlier you start gaining experience for your CV, the better. Job experience is not just restricted to an office job with a large organisation. You can get an internship at a small company or get experience by freelancing. Any experience where you use skills that you can transfer to your future career is an excellent addition to your CV. It can help you demonstrate your commitment and capabilities to an employer while highlighting the skills that are both appropriate and transferable to the post you are applying for. An internship is one of the best ways to gain that all-important job experience.

Here are the top 5 reasons we think show the importance of an internship.

Internships provide exposure to the real world

Unfortunately, in today’s job market, passing exams with high scores and getting a degree doesn’t offer the much-needed work experience, you will need to succeed in a workspace.

By partaking in an internship, you will be able to gain real-life exposure, grow your knowledge and determine if you are in the right career field. Internships not only provide you with the first-hand experience in the real working world but also enable you to understand the career trajectory for your desired job title. You can learn how to apply the knowledge you have acquired during an internship to your future workplaces.

In addition to this, it is an excellent learning curve for young graduates and students while meeting new people and making connections in the professional world.

Internships give you a platform to establish critical networking connections

Networking is the exchange of information between individuals to form acquaintances and relationships to further their professional career. An internship is an experiential learning opportunity that offers an invaluable chance for students to network and build crucial professional connections before they even graduate.

For some students, it is a stepping-stone to bonus opportunities within the same organisation, including a full-time job. The more people you meet in the professional world with the same interest, the higher your chances to grow as a professional. You will get to know how these people work, what strategies they use to tackle a difficult situation, and how they get the job done. Different people have different skills. Meeting them and watching them work will help you understand how to work with different people and in various work environments. You can use their strategies and reinvent them for your circumstances.

Internships allow you to learn more about yourself

You may start as an intern in a specific field. But the more you explore it, the more you will discover about it. Every industry has its pros and cons. Working in a real-world environment will help you understand the depths of your field and will help you determine whether it is a career you wish to pursue in the future.

An internship will help you learn about your capabilities and ultimately encourage you to have a greater understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. It can be a challenging experience at times. Still, the benefits you gain from being pushed out of your comfort zone will help you tremendously in the future when you are presented with a difficult task or situation.

Internships equip you with more than just technical skills

When you are working as a professional for an organisation, business and technical knowledge are not the only things that the industry demands. You need people skills as well – because no matter how good you are, you won’t stand a chance of succeeding in any profession unless you develop a collaborative work ethic and learn to be a team player.

On top of that, you need to know how to work under pressure, and why deadlines matter. An internship gives you exposure to the challenges of a work environment and having experience of these situations will be useful to talk about in future interviews and show employers that you will be a good fit for their company.

Internships allow you to gain a competitive edge

Everyone knows that the job market is competitive, especially in the current climate. There may be hundreds of other candidates applying for the same role as you. As a result, you need a way to help give you a competitive edge and make yourself stand out. Internships can provide you with experience and the skills to help make employers notice you and as well as showing them that you would be a good fit for their company. It also shows that you are someone who has the drive and passion and has been motivated to acquire experience outside of just University.

What do the stats say?

There is plenty of research supporting the decisive role that interning at an organisation plays in a student’s life. According to the State of Millennial Hiring Report, US graduates who complete more than three internships are more likely to secure a full-time job.
More and more institutions are emphasising that students graduate with experience and also understanding the importance of an internship. According to the same report, 81.1% of graduates say that working as an intern has helped them significantly improve their career prospects.

In the UK, Sutton Trust’s 2018 report showed “Completing an internship was associated with higher salaries, for both middle and working-class students”. These studies all show the importance of an internship in today’s environment.

Going forward, there will be a lot more remote career opportunities opening up, and it could be a viable alternative to working from an office. It is worth considering in your career plan.

If a remote internship is not for you, don’t worry, there are still other ways you can make the most out of this time. You can perhaps learn new skills like programming or volunteer with a local charity; the worst thing you can do now is to do nothing and expect something to happen.

Final Thoughts

To sum up, internships play a crucial role in shaping one’s career. It not only helps undergraduates and graduates gain real exposure to working environments but also helps them develop the necessary skills required to stand out in a saturated job market. Now that you know the importance of an internship, it is time to find a course in your chosen industry.