Tag: National Seminar

One Day National Seminar on Rice Fortification

 The Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution organised a one-day National Seminar on Rice Fortification” here today.

While addressing the seminar, Secretary, DFPD, Shri Sanjeev Chopra mentioned, “We are on track to achieve the target of 100% distribution of fortified rice across all rice consuming districts in the country.”

Government of India is committed to ensure the nutritional security of the country through fortified rice distribution across government food safety net schemes. The seminar served as a dynamic platform for multistakeholder discussions where besides government stakeholders, technical experts from institutions and academia provided meaningful insights on different aspects of rice fortification programme such as evidence, safety of consumption, operational challenges and quality assurance and quality control. The prevailing challenges and queries of states were addressed by the group of experts and deliberations were made to derive a roadmap to the programme for the coming year. 

 

From Left to Right: Dr. Kapil Yadav (AIIMS), Shri Ashok K K Meena (CMD, FCI), Shri Sanjeev Chopra (Secretary, DFPD), Ms. Elisabeth Faure (Country Director WFP India), Sunil Bakshi (Advisor FSSAI) and Dr. Sirimavo Nair (MSU Baroda)

The seminar was divided into four technical sessions, each deliberating on discussions held in prior working group meetings focussing on key aspects of rice fortification. The first of these sessions emphasised on concerns regarding safety of consumption of fortified rice for the general population as well as individuals with Haemoglobinopathies and SCD. Dr. Reena Das, Dept. of Haematology, PGIMER, Chandigarh recommended on behalf of the panel that fortified rice consumption is safe and addressed the prevailing myth regarding toxicity from its consumption. The second session led by Dr. Prashant T., Associate Professor at St. Johns Research Institute, Bangalore aimed at providing evidence-based insights from National and International experiences on rice fortification. He shared numerous studies which pointed out the effectiveness of iron fortification in the reduction of anaemia. In the third technical session, a group of experts from organisations like FSSAI, FCI, BIS, WFP, Microsave and IIT Kharagpur working at the national level as well as at the field, engaged in a discussion to explore strategies to address on-ground operational challenges to streamline the distribution process. Concluding the day’s discussions, the last technical session led by Dr. Balasubramaniam, Joint Director, FSSAI focussed on providing insights into the quality aspects and recommended strategies that may be adopted to improve the quality of fortified rice being distributed.

The seminar witnessed the launch of a national IEC campaign developed by the Department for awareness generation at the beneficiary level and release of a guidance handbook on rice fortification which will act as a ready reckoner for all guidelines, notifications and orders related to rice fortification.

The event brought together technical experts, leaders from government ministries, research institutes and international organizations fostering an enriching dialogue to build a common understanding and leverage universal supply of fortified rice in food safety net schemes.

Food Secretaries from States/UTs across the country along with technical experts in the domain and development partners working on-ground participated in the Seminar jointly reflecting upon the challenges and opportunities together for achieving the transformation of food and nutrition security ecosystem in the country.

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Integrity and ethics are the strongest qualities great institutions need to instill in students, says MIT prof at a principal’s conclave in Bengaluru

Bengaluru, 23 December 2019:

Principals from across India and Education leadership participated in The Principal Conclave
Principals from across India and Education leadership participated in The Principal Conclave

The next generation must prepare itself in a completely new manner if it wants to survive, thrive and find meaning in the emerging future. Mainstream higher education systems are falling short in preparing next generation for the 21st century. These changing times demand for changes in higher education. In order to bridge the gap between secondary and higher education, a Principal’s Conclave was hosted by Atria University at the Radisson Blu Atria, today. The event was attended by over 35 Principals from across India and Education leadership from across the world.

Dr. Babi Mitra, Executive Director NEET program at MIT delivering keynote at The Principal Conclave 2019
Dr. Babi Mitra, Executive Director NEET program at MIT delivering keynote at The Principal Conclave 2019

Dr. Babi Mitra, Executive Director, New Engineering Education Transformation program at MIT, during his key note address, said, “One of the strongest qualities of great institutions is trust and Atria University is working towards building the trust in student and teaching community. We need to create visionaries and empower them to evolve as confident, curious and creative-solution drivers equipped to tackle challenges and convert them into opportunities, whatever and wherever their context.”

 

He said that it is important to consider six elements to it make more effective to make learning more engaging. Bold vision, stakeholder engagement, strong complementary team, pragmatism, piloting and thinking, and acting like a start up can help create a committed pedagogy for the benefit of students, he said.

Mr Sunder Raju - Chairman of Atria University
Mr Sunder Raju – Chairman of Atria University

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sunder Raju, Founder and Trustee, Atria University, said, “There is a need to contemplate and engage with insightful discussions on designing student-centred learning experience. Through Principal Conclave, I wish we create a process that facilitates a learning design that leaves behind its footprint for how a new age child will be trained, developed, and evolved.”

 

“At Atria University, we want to help nurture the future citizen who can stand on their own feet in the real world. We are earnestly working to understand students better and recreate their personal learning journey. We are also creating individual customizable learning paths to encourage and foster their creative and critical thinking.” Said Mr. Kaushik Raju, Trustee, Atria University.

Left to right - Dr Alana Sobelman - Dr Arjendu Pattanayak - Dr Nagaraj K Arakere - Dr Sriram Kalyanaram - Kaushik Raju Director of Technicl Education Atria University
Left to right – Dr Alana Sobelman – Dr Arjendu Pattanayak – Dr Nagaraj K Arakere – Dr Sriram Kalyanaram – Kaushik Raju Director of Technicl Education Atria University

Anuradha Anekal, Principal, Deccan International School, who participated in the conclave said, “Students and parents these days are exposed to diverse subject matters. With information at their fingertips, they are able to make a learned choice about the stream they can choose. The conclave has shown way to different methodologies and helps educators to engage actively with learning experience.”

 

Shaheem Rahiman, CEO, Atria University said “It is gratifying to hear large number of Principals and Academicians across the world endorse our idea of Higher Education. I am grateful to Principals for the significant contributions towards defining an exceptional learning experience for our students. The workshops topics were intensely discussed with animated participation, all aimed at creating a launch pad for our future, that are our students.”

 

Creating new pedagogy

Experts and educators such as Dr. Alana Sobelman, Lecturer of Comparative Literature and Psychoanalysis at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva, Israel, Dr. Arjendu Pattanayak Former Associate Dean of Carleton College, USA, Dr. Nagaraj K. Arakere Professor, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida, and Dr. Sriram ‘Sri’ Kalyanaraman, Director, Media Effects and Tech Lab, University of Florida, participated in the conclave. More than 50 principals from across the country and academicians from across the globe attended the Conclave.

 

Atria University, through this day-long conclave, aims to create a new learning design that eases a student’s transition from secondary school learning to the higher education framework. The proposed suggestions on a new learning design would be produced as a working publication. This would be a compilation of the day’s recommendations from delegates with respect to transitional elements of higher education and a design outline for an innovative curriculum that reflects our ever-evolving global world.

 

Atria University is currently awaiting their State Private University status.