Rise Update April 2016

rise update

F O R A S K I L L E D , E D U C AT E D A N D H E A LT H Y I N D I A www.riseforindia.in

April 2016

RISE up and join There can be no denying that any country aspiring for greatness has to make sure that her children get a good start in life and its citizens are cared for and looked after.

India is a country on the move. Almost half our population is under 35; they are aspirational and are looking at the next step, the next ladder constantly. Innovation is in the air and there is a sense of exuberance and energy all around.

Nonetheless, we cannot forget that there is a vast chasm and plenty of disparity in our society. For every one person who gets a good start in life and sound healthcare, there are scores who are praying for the little things of life. Our ultimate greatness will come from looking after them.

RISE (Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education) is committed to expand the footprint of education and medicare through its two flagship programmes— the Taleem ki Taquat series of conferences and outreach programme to embrace more and more children and bring them into the education system and our Mobile Medical Units (MMU) to take cutting edge healthcare to inaccessible and remote parts of India. It’s like virtually transporting a hospital to the back of beyond.

Going forward we hope more and more aware citizens can join this invigorating odyssey of fulfillment and commitment.

The more we are the better it always will be.

P3 Melghat: Medicare in tribal heartland

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RISE, IDB tie-up for medicare programme

s a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education (RISE), a Mumbai-based NGO that is currently doing seminal work in the area of Medicare, Education and rural uplift has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Development Bank for implementing an ambitious Medicare programme in India. The programme will first be rolled out in the state of Maharashtra where RISE has already implemented Mobile Medical Units (MMU) in the rural areas (tribal) of this western state.

RISE, which is well known across India is chaired by Dimple Kapani, a former successful business person and has several distinguished personalities on its Advisory Board. The agreement was signed by Kapani, on behalf of RISE and Sayed Aqa, Vice President, IDB on behalf

of IDB. The details of the collaboration with IDB will be announced shortly after finalization.

RISE, is already involved in several path-breaking projects across India from the tribal districts of the state of Rajasthan, to the landmark “Taleem ki Taquat” an outreach programme to create awareness amongst the underprivileged section of the society on the importance of education in order to upgrade their status in life and being gainfully employed.

Dimple Kapani said, “We have been running this NGO for the last 9 years in the state of Rajasthan and now we have taken it on national level and expanded our network to other states of India like Maharashtra and we are doing it very successfully now in various areas.

We are studying various medicine projects in India and with the support of IDB, we will taking this to greater heights.”

HISTORIC MOU: Chairperson of RISE (Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education) signing the MoU with Sayed Aqa, Senior Vice President Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Jeddah on April 4. To her right is the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr Ahmad Javed

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India KVS: e Health Dial H for leader by Healthcare 2019

The Taleem Odyssey P6

rise update ONE FOR THE ALBUM:

(Left to Right) Ms Dimple Kapani, Mr Sayed Aqa, Mr Khaled M. Al-Aboodi, CEO, (ICD - Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector), Mr Zafar Sareshwala,Chancellor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Mr Ahmad Javed and Mr B S Mubarak, former Indian Consul General in Jeddah

RISE Telemedicine

ile takes healthcare to the last m

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n the healthcare sector RISE has embarked on a revolutionary journey with the use of technology as an enabler to provide primary healthcare facilities to the weaker sections of society in the remotest areas of the country with the use of satellite technology and telemedicine.

Satellite based interactive telemedicine includes initial patient evaluations, diagnosis (tele-diagnosis), and consultation (tele consultation) to rural areas in real time and at a very competitive cost.

The set up consists of a Telemedicine Kit that includes various tele health applications like thermometer, BP monitor, ECG monitor, etc. the doctor provides consultation from his clinic and has access to real time reports to form an informed diagnosis.

The Mobile Medical Units (MMU) provide state of the art last mile connectivity to rural India. This enables specialists in the city to be connected to the team of local practitioners.

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RISE's commitment to improve the physical and physiological life of the weaker sections of society in the furthest corners of the country has seen the utilization of Telemedicine

Telemedicine projects have been implemented across Melghat, a tribal region in Maharashtra along the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The Mel-

ghat project was successful and helped the team understand the requirements of primary healthcare in rural India and how it can deliver these on a pan-India basis.

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Melghat RISEs with Telemedicine Located in the interiors of Amravati district of Maharashtra, Melghat is virtually no-man’s land. The remoteness of the area has given rise to a host of diseases. A unique Telemedicine Project is ensuring quality healthcare to the local population — a majority are tribals — in the quickest possible time

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elghat, a cluster of 320 villages spread over the area of 4000 sq. km, in the northern extreme of the Amravati district of Maharashtra and on the border of Madhya Pradesh, is known for its scenic beauty, teak forests, exotic fauna and ‘malnutrition.’

Melghat means ‘meeting of the ghats’, which describes the area as a large tract of unending hills – the South-western Satpura mountain ranges form a part of the region — and ravines scarred by jagged cliffs and steep climbs. The area is majorly cut off from civilisation, with no electricity, no telephone or mobile connections. The inhabitants are mainly tribal, largely from the Korku tribe (80 per cent) and others like Gond, Nihal, Balai, Gaolan, etc. The remoteness of the area poses major healthcare challenges that comprise infant and maternal mortality, prevalence of TB, pneumonia, cancer and snake bites. In addition, there are faith healers, quacks, pujaris and bhumkas and – above all – difficulty in arranging medical expertise.

The need of the hour is to make expert advice available to the local population in the shortest possible time. RISE, with its aim to take quality healthcare to inaccessible areas, has started the Melghat Telemedicine Project. The project provides primary healthcare in remote and inaccessible areas.

The Telemedicine Kit

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Education and basic health care continues to be critically deficient amongst school-going children, as underprivileged parents tend to focus their attention on other priorities in life. Unfortunately, even parents who are highly educated remain unaware of the full spectrum of opportunities available to them in India, and hence do not become constructively employed or optimise their potential.

It was the vision to curtail some of these challenges that the telemedicine project in rural and tribal areas of Maharashtra was initiated along with

specially equipped device, the GlobalMed Transportable Examination Station (TES), is used. TES is an innovative, modular mobile examination station designed to streamline workflow by integrating seamless video conferencing with leading-edge medical devices and customised software for sharing of high definition images adhering to the stringent US FDA standards.

With the help of the TES Kit, telemedicine dissolves geographical, financial and time barriers that traditional medicine encounters. The telehealth applications can be used for basic screening in Cardiology, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Pathology and ENT. As a prelude to the statewide implementation of the tele-medicine solution, a live demonstration was done on August 13, 2015 for J P Nadda, Union Health Minister, along with Dr Deepak Sawant, Maharashtra State Health Minister. They saw the live real time consultation being given to patients in Semadoh by expert doctors from Mumbai.

Prathamik Arogya Kendra (PHC). The healthcare centre at Seamadoh village was selected for field trials and the Telemedicine facility was set up. The village is visited by the tribal people, who rarely venture out of the area even if they are aff licted by serious ailments.

The pilot session was successfully completed on January 16, 2015 with patients from Semadoh receiving live consultation from some of the leading specialists in Mumbai. The initiative was officially launched on February 2, 2015 by the Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray and named the Shiv Arogya Seva.

Since then, various live consultations have been conducted with patients being treated by experts in the field of Cardiology, Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, Dermatology, Gynecology, etc.

The Melghat initiative has proven

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Telehealth benefits to patients T elemedicine is like magic for the Indian healthcare infrastructure which can make drastic changes in rural healthcare practice by bringing world class medical facilities to remote and rural villages. People, who are suffering because of poor rural healthcare facilities in India, will be able to access high-end facilities at their door step.

Besides, telemedicine also possesses several other benefits. For example, telemedicine increases access to healthcare, improves health outcomes, assists in addressing shortages of healthcare providers and supports clinical education programmes.

It is particularly helpful in reaching out to those living in some of the most remote part of a geographically diverse India. Take for example, Maharashtra, one of the most prosperous states of the country. It’s fertile coast is contrasted by its annually parched and drought-prone interiors. While on one hand it is urban and financially vibrant, with large businesses, on the other, it has a large population which is almost cut off from civilisation and lacks even basic facilities.

Nearly half of the residents live in villages and hence raise challenges in health beginning with a cycle of malnutrition, illness and, often, early mortality. Other challenges include a lack of quality healthcare and health awareness. India got an opportunity to make its health infrastructure better with its faster growing information and communication technology. With implementation of telemedicine, it can serve weakly served or unserved parts of country.

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ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE: The telemedicine team at Melghat in action to provide high-end medical services to the people of the region

that by application of telemedicine, countries like India can make drastic changes in the health structure by leveraging its advantages. Telemedicine, which uses modern information and communication techniques to connect distant parts of world, has been serving its purpose. In fact, it can provide cheap but world class medical facilities and health education to rural parts of country – ideal for a country like India where a majority of its population resides.

RISE believes that telemedicine is emerging as one of the most effective platforms to take quality healthcare to the remotest corners of this vast country.

The technology platform on which this ambitious telemedicine scheme is being run is ‘edubeam’ from Valuable Edutainment Pvt. Ltd., who are the technology partners for this project. It is a unique end-to-end solution for effective and efficient Remote Health Care Management. It includes initial patient evaluations, diagnosis (telediagnosis), and consultation (teleconsultation). It is a satellite based solution

that facilitates the interactive exchange of information between a centralised location and multiple remote locations in real time, in a unique interactive environment and at a very competitive cost.

The platform has been successfully implemented for various applications like virtual education in municipal schools, corporate training and multi-locational coaching classes.

Some of the prominent doctors who are associated with the Telemedicine Camp at Melghat include Dr Namjoshi, renowned Cardiologist; Dr Sandeep Rane, M.D. (Med) D.M. (Cardiologist); Dr Awasthi, M.D. (Pediatrics), D.C.H., FCPS, DNB (Pediatrics), MD (Pediatrics), DCH (Pediatrics), MNAMS (Pediatrics), Dr Prakash Jindiani, M.D. (Med.) and Dr Swapnesh Sawant, Ophthalmology (Eyes). The aim of this endeavour is to facilitate free tertiary consultation to the tribal population and weaker sections of society by making modern health care available at their doorstep. The programme focuses on ensuring preparedness and strives to provide initial medical testing in an organised and time-sensitive manner.

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Rural Healthcare is top priority for KVS

A whole range of healthcare activities are undertaken under the aegis of Kautilya Vikas Sansthan (KVS), Udaipur – one of the many institutions that work under the umbrella of RISE. KVS, under the guidance of Dimple Kapani, Chairperson, RISE, attempts greater care and attention towards all-round wellness of the deprived ruralite who is neglected and denied basic health care

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ealthcare systems comprise one of the world’s most complex interdependent information systems, and are associated with many critical inferences including health and lives of patients. Statistics reveal that nearly 60 per cent of Rajasthan’s population lives in the rural areas. Therefore, extending health services to these areas is one of the major challenges.

Udaipur has a large tribal population and also a very high rate of female illiteracy. It is in this backdrop that RISE undertakes various activities under the aegis of Kautilya Vikas Sansthan (KVS), Udaipur – one of the many institutions that work under the umbrella of RISE. KVS works exclusively in the state of Rajasthan for the moment.

From its inception, rural healthcare has been on the top of Kautilya Vikas Sansthan’s agenda. The organisation has been continuously works on regular healthcare for tribal and rural poor citizen which is available for free for all. KVS attempts a greater care and attention towards allround wellness of deprived ruralite who is neglected and denied of basic health care. The organisation adapts proven rural health care administration systems to ensure successful and effective beneficial reach to the unreachable.

A host of activities are undertaken by the Sansthan for enhancing the healthcare scenario of the region. One of the most important is the blood donation camps. KVS celebrates every October 31 as Blood Donation Day and organises massive Blood Donation Camps to generate record blood units across the region. Effective promotional campaign A report by Princeton University states that there is surprisingly little information about the delivery of health care in rural India, and about the relationship, if any, between health care and health status. Some sources, such as the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health of the World Health Organisation (2001), have argued that better health care is the key to improving health as well as economic growth in poor countries, but there is little systematic evidence that gives us a sense of how easy it is to influence the quality of health care delivery in developing countries and, through these improvements, which the health of the population.

and a huge volunteer network of its own are responsible for the success of this event. It inculcates life saving ethics even in rural illiterate and successfully mobilises donors for the cause. KVS also organises regular monthly eye check-up camp at its campus. Free eye testing, distribution of medicines and lenses are provided for tribal and rural poor people. Even transportation is facilitated to pick and drop the patients from their doorsteps.

Light refreshment is also provided in addition to fruits and juices. It even extends selective financial assistance to critical surgery patients who are denied of surgery because of their financial inability.

Alakh Nayan Mandir, Udaipur, Rajasthan is the partner in this monthly cause.

Allopathic and Ayurvedic health consultations are also provided at the KVS campus. Additionally, KVS also facilitates a weekly consultation facility from Allopathic and Ayurvedic doctors for women, tribal and rural poor children and senior citizens. Another major initiative launched by Kautilya Development Society is making the society aware of ‘HIV AIDS’ under a motivational AIDS Awareness Programme named as ‘Precaution is better than cure’.

Under the guidance of Dr Sudhir Sharma, the Sansthan organised an AIDS Awareness Programme at Kumbhalgarh to give training and information related to AIDS and to make people aware of this dangerous disease.

KVS also organised a Nashamukti Programme to guide more than 1000 people about different types of addictions.

Under this programme, the Sansthan distributed 200 litres of milk to participants and pledged them not to take any kind of drugs or addictions. Further, KVS is all set to design a programme for those who want to experience the strength of yoga and meditation.

Fighting against malnutrition is one of the main aims of KVS. The latest edition of the Global Nutrition Report 2015 by the International Food Policy Research Institute highlights the concerns about malnutrition. KVS is working at combating malnutrition at the grassroots’ levels through campaigns and awareness programmes in villages and providing free medicines and consultancy to insure good health for the deprived sections of society.

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Empowering India with Taleem

No country can expect or hope to be a powerhouse unless it has an educated group of citizens. Unfortunately, India has a large base of children who do not go to schools, a high rate of dropout and parents see little incentive to put their young ones through the rigours of a sound education when they can earn from an early age. Taleem ki Taquat is an attempt to tell both children and their parents the magical power of education and how it is transformative in nature.

It is an odyssey we began in Mumbai last August and till February this year we had completed six editions across the country. As we prepare to roll out more editions, we are also working to do spillover campaigns in the catchment area where the first six meetings were held. The idea is let the germs of education be firmly planted in the minds of the young and old alike. A report.

Together for a cause: Glimpses from

the various editions of our Taleem ki Taquat initiative.

For more details, visit our website www.taleemkitaquat.in

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aleem ki Taquat is one of the f lagship programmes of RISE (Rashtriya Institute for Skill and Education). Through this programme, the idea is to outline the

Devendra Fadnavis Chief Minister, Maharashtra

the “In the 21st centuar y, India is an hum give can that ntry cou only We ld. wor the to resource capital are, hence, looking at skills.”

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agenda on education and why it is critical for society to accept and embrace the need to join in the effort to take Taleem, as education is known colloquially in many parts of India, to the

Ravi Shankar Prasad Communications and Information Technology Minister

uld “All sections of the society sho r so come out openly against terro the that economic development of new country manages to record heights.”

minorities and less privileged sections of society.

“A well-educated population, adequately equipped with knowledge and skill is not only essential to support

Najma Heptulla Union Minister for Minority Affairs

for “Education of all is a prerequisite and nt, rme owe emp ity’s mun the com ity to I appeal to the Muslim commun lly ecia esp , dren chil r thei ge oura enc girls, to pursue higher education.”

rise update economic growth, but is also a precondition for growth to be inclusive since it is the educated and skilled who can stand to benefit most from the employment opportunities which growth will provide,” notes the Approach to the XIIth Five Year Plan.

Taleem ki Taquat is a continuing

“We are very fortunate that we live in a world where access to education and knowledge and information of any kind is not difficult.”

Kiren Rijiju Union Minister of State for Home

quest to radiate this light in as many parts of India as possible. It is a journey to take the message, follow up with refresher sessions on the ground. As a first step we have initiated a series of conferences across the country that includes distinguished educationists, jurists, bankers, captains of industry, spiritual and religious leaders and Ministers to talk about education both as a policy issue as well as its core role in the evolving health of the nation. Almost every participant in each of our six editions outlined how education has shaped their own lives and how it is critical in shaping the lives of people as well as nations.

“Indian society has a very strong value system, which acts as deterrents to Islamic fundamentalism. Therefore, the Islamic State (IS) failed in its attempts to establish roots in India.”

Rajnath Singh Home Minister

Highlights Mumbai Taleem is a power which nobody can snatch from you. Whatever I and my children are today, it is because of Taleem ki Taqat.

Salim Khan, Veteran Bollywood Writer

Hearteningly, the audience at each of our six conferences overwhelmingly embraced our central theme of education first. Many of them have committed to sending their children to schools; others have used the platform to seek information on the wide avenues available for their children to pursue different interests and different skills.

A word about the programme — the mission is outreach: to take the message across cities through the subcontinent.

Taleem started in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai and the last edition, the sixth in the series, was held in the North Eastern city of Guwahati. Further conferences are planned in Nagpur, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

What next? Going forward, apart from continuing with inspiring and encouraging families to look at education as a core value, RISE will be focusing on another critical area: Skill Development. We hope to announce a series of round tables and smaller meets in the smaller towns across specific target areas like Varanasi, Mirzapur, Badhoi, Ajmer, Kutch, etc. to outline the various skill development initiatives available and how people can take advantage of it.

“If ilm (taleem or education) becomes the focal point of all religions, then all the wrong practices in the world will surely come to an end.”

Piyush Goyal Power Minister

Patna Even the mosques could take to imparting education, as we have been doing in Chennai.

Moulana Shamsuddin Qasimi, Chief Imam, Makkah Masjid (Chennai) Hyderabad Illiteracy is the common problem of all communities in India. Minorities in the state enjoy better facilities than their brethren in other parts of the country.

K Kavitha, MP, Nizamabad (Telangana) Lucknow Taleem is indispensable for India's prosperity. Islam gives great importance to Taleem.

Md Shakaib Qasmi, Director of Hujjatul Islam Academy, Darululoom Waqf Deoband Kolkata I am very impressed with communities such as Jains and Jews who have taken the right steps for education.

Moulana Dr Kalbe Sadiq Internationally renowned Islamic scholar, thinker, reformer, educationist and preacher Guwahati The government has the central responsibility for ensuring all children have a quality education. Besides, all social innovators are essential for any education.

Prof Ved Prakash Chairman, University Grants Commission

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NITI proposals to breathe new life to public health system he proposals on universal healthcare discussed at a recent meeting of the NITI TAayog can bring about a major overhaul in

India’s public health system.

The proposals by the think tank call for outsourcing primary healthcare to private doctors and promote competition between government and private hospitals at the secondary level, which involves services of medical specialists.

Media reports state that as per the proposals, access to healthcare for all Indians would be possible through this model with a nominal increase in the health sector’s share from the Union Budget if the Indian economy continues to grow 7-7.5 per cent in the next few years. The proposal recommends that all MBBS doctors in rural India should be trained as family physicians and be paid by the government for each patient they treat.

The primary health centres (PHCs) will carry out government initiatives such as immunisation and provide laboratory services and free medicines.

World Health Day: Health initiatives and Mobile Apps peaking on the occasion of ‘World Health Day’, J P Nadda, Union Minister S of Health and Family Welfare said that there was a “need to focus on the youth and adolescents of the country in our efforts to prevent and combat lifestyles diseases such as Diabetes”.

The Health Minister launched several new ehealth and mhealth initiatives, such as the ‘Swasth Bharat Mobile application’ and ‘ANM Online application-ANMOL’. ANMOL is a tabletbased application that allows ANMs to enter and update data for beneficiaries of their jurisdiction. This will ensure more prompt entry and updation of data as well as improve the data quality since the data will be entered “at source” by providers of health services themselves. The Minister stated that since the application was Aadhaar-enabled, it would help to authenticate records

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of field workers and beneficiaries.

As part of this event, the Health Minister also launched ‘E-RaktKosh initiative’.

It is an integrated Blood Bank Management Information System that has been conceptualized and developed after multiple co nsul t a t i o ns with all stakeholders. This web-based mechanism interconnects all the blood banks of the state into a single network.

Launching another mobile application, ‘India Fights Dengue’, Nadda said that this application would find wide use. “As the fight against Vector Borne Diseases, especially Dengue, can be won only with effective community participation, this App empowers the community members how to contribute towards prevention of Dengue,” added J P Nadda.

South India’s Amravati to become major healthcare hub maravati in South India’s Andhra state will soon turn into a healthcare hub with A aid from UK. The ‘Healthcare City,’ conceived

and promoted by the Indo-UK Institute of Health (IUIH), will be a mega endeavour with 1,000-bed capacity, set up at an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore. The project will comprise auxiliary units such as medical equipment manufacturing unit, medical data analytics centre, research and innovation centres.

Representatives from IUIH met Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to launch the work as soon as the government alloted a site. The delegation had also made a presentation on the master concept of the world-renowned King’s College Hospital in London.

Naidu said that making Amaravati a healthcare hub would help the state generate two lakh jobs for the local youth. He said that the auxiliary medical and health care units to be set up by IUIH would make many other companies in the auxiliary medical and healthcare services invest in the Heathcare City.

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mobile health services (MHS), ‘Swasthya Sewa’, has been initiated by the Bharuch distirct administration in Gujarat, with the aim to provide door-to-door primary healthcare services in the village. Under this scheme, mobile vans will cover at least 55 of interior and coast villages of Jambusar taluka and cater to a population of over 90,000 in an area where primary health centres are far from the reach for villagers.

The medical vans are equipped with the latest laboratory testing equipment and diagnostic machines required for primary health check-ups. Each mobile unit will have five personnel including a medical officer, pharmacist and two para-medical staff. After primary diagnosis, necessary medicines will be given to patients on the spot. These mobile units will visit each village at least thrice a

“Healthcare must adapt to cope with ageing populations” courtesy: fastcompany.com

Healthcare at doorstep for 55 villages

month.

Over `1.50 crore will be spent for the ‘Swasthya Sewa’ services. The complete management of the services has been handed over to GVK EMRI for effective implementation.

Mumbai NGO ties-up with 47 hospitals

o make healthcare affordable for the urban poor, Thane based NGO, V Care Welfare TAssociation, has tied up with 47 hospitals in

Mumbai, which will offer them 30 per cent discount on hospital bills.

The local NGO, which was registered in 2010, has since the past few months launched the V Care Health Card that provides benefits to needy patients. All that the patients have to do is become a member by paying `100 and avail the 30 per cent discount on the total bill. Among the 47 hospitals that the NGO has tied up with are Godbole Hospital, Aarogyam Hospital, Aayush Hospital, Shree Hospital, Hardev Hospital, Titan Hospital, among others.

The scheme is gaining popularity, which can be gauged from the fact that in the last few months, around 35000 people from Thane have opted for the V Care Health Card. Tushar D Rasal, President of V Care, who has worked with insurance companies in the past, said: “By year-end, we want to grow our membership to one lakh. I hope to spread this scheme to entire Maharashtra.”

Google launches health search feature

India to be a leader in e-health by 2019

tion covers over 400 disease condition, including those common to India like malaria and dengue fever. Now when people ask the search engine about common health conditions, they will see information cards with typical symptoms as well as details on how common the condition is.

The cards are available in Hindi and English and cover common local conditions. People will be able to see these new cards when they search for conditions with the Google app on Android, iOS phones and tablets as well as mobile and desktop browsers. These search results are not intended as medical advice but for informational purposes only.

sector. India’s healthcare sector to reach $160 billion in 2017, accounting for about 4.2 per cent of GDP and is expected to be a leader in e-health by 2019, according to a new report by CII-KPMG. “With the launch of ‘Digital India’’ initiative, the government is stepping towards digital empowerment. India is expected to be a leader in IT use in healthcare (ehealth) by 2019,” it said. It said Indian telemedicine, though in its nascent stage, is showing robust growth at approximately 20 per cent and is projected to grow from $8 million in 2012 to approximately $19 million by 2017.

oogle has launched a health search feature he Digital India campaign launched by in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals and the Government of India has found a G T Columbia Asia Hospitals. The health informamajor growth platform in the healthcare

n editorial in the International Journal for Quality in Health Care, pubA lished recently, has warned that age-

ing populations will present significant planning and budgetary challenges for healthcare systems worldwide. Professor Rene Amalberti, head of the Innovation Group of The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua), has advised that healthcare systems must adapt in order to cope with ageing populations worldwide.

Since 1960, the global population has more than doubled to 7.2 billion. In developed countries, people aged over 60 make up more than 20 per cent of the population and by the 2030s this will reach 40 per cent. The paper warns that, given the chronic conditions associated with ageing and complex medical histories, these elder citizens present a significant planning and budgetary challenge for health systems across acute, primary and aged care.

At a symposium in Doha, Qatar in October, 2015, ISQua invited representatives from 16 countries who collectively shared visions, diagnoses and solutions on this issue.

Professor Amalberti pointed out that in low and middle income countries there was a growing awareness of the impact of ageing on healthcare.

“However, this is seen as a longer term issue when considered against the current priorities of expanding access to care and paying for costly new treatments within limited budgets,” he added.

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rise update Non-Muslim mentors school that was once a madarsa ailash Chandra Yadav has become the first non-Muslim principal at Rehmani K Model School, Jaipur, which had its first

non-Muslim teacher in 1995. The school, located in the narrow lanes of Jaipur, once taught only religious texts as a madarsa, but now educates around 1,300 students and inculcates values of communal harmony.

According to a report in a leading daily, the children studying in the school belong to the minority community and come from lower-middle class families. Though the school board comprises Muslim members, several teachers are Hindu. The madarsa-turnedschool was started by 72-year-old Akhtar with 50 students in the early 1980s and has now grown into a Higher Secondary School.

UGC relaxes MPhil, PHD criteria for women

QUOTEMETER

he University Grants Commission has decided to relax the criteria for women and disabled canTdidates pursuing MPhil and PhD degrees. From now

on, women and those with more than 40 per cent disability will now get a year extra to complete their MPhil papers and two years more to submit PhD theses. All women candidates will also be provided maternity leave and childcare leave for up to 240 days once while they pursue these two degrees.

In case a woman scholar needs to relocate because of marriage or otherwise during her study, she would be allowed to get research data transferred to the university to which she intends to shift provided all other regulatory conditions are followed.

NIIT to train students on future technologies IIT aims to train about 20,000 students this year on future technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), robotN ics and virtual reality (VR) to meet the changing skill set

requirement of various industries.

NIIT will roll out 12-14 week courses from 150 centres and later expand them to other centres and engineering colleges as well. The fees starts at about `25,000. These programmes will cover Java Stack, Mean Stack, Big Data and Data Sciences Stack, Cloud Stack, IoT Stack, robotics and VR.

NCERT textbooks now online for free

NCERT textbooks are now available online for free on the Human Resource Ministry’s (HRD) ‘e-paathshala’ initiative.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani recently said that NCERT had also given copyrights to more than eight state governments to print books as they deemed fit to fulfill the requirements of their students. “We would also put out in public that NCERT has its own sales counter in Ajmer, Bhopal, Shillong, Bhubneswar, Mysuru, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Guwahati and New Delhi, from where schools can procure these books in bulk,”, the minister told mediapersons.

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All IIT students to have access to interest-free loans HRD ministry has proposed that all IIT students will access to interest-free loans for Tthehehave entire tuition fee under the gov-

ernment's ‘Vidyalakshmi’ scheme at the time of admission. The IIT council will shortly ratify the proposals.

Mor e ove r, performance of students in Class 12 examinations will still be crucial for JEE eligibility. To qualify, students will have to secure minimum 75 per cent marks or be in the top 20 percentile in the class XII examination. For SC, ST students, it will be 65 per cent.

“The role of educational institutions goes beyond mere pedagogy and classrooms. It is incumbent on them to mould students into responsible human beings. They have to instill in the students the civilisational values of love for motherland, performance of duty, compassion for all, tolerance for pluralism, respect for women, honesty in life, selfrestraint in conduct, responsibility in action, and discipline”. “None of our universities earlier found a place amongst the top 200 positions in world university rankings”.

Pranab Mukherjee President of India

newspaper clippings IDB signs SR200m rural health plan for India

JEDDAH: The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has signed a SR200 million agreement with an Indian non-governmental organization (NGO) to provide medical care for poor rural people.

The money is part of a SR1 billion donation which was given by a Saudi benefactor to be utilized for the benefit of poor people across the globe. The benefactor earmarked SR200 million for India, thereby funding 15 mobile health clinics, which the IDB will maintain for the first five years.

The rest of the money is reserved for the deployment of 60 mobile clinics in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Yemen, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

The benefactor followed the mechanism of the IDB because of the bank’s impeccable record of work in poverty alleviation and health care. The IDB’s funds provide support for countless development projects, emergency response teams, recovery and capacity building. Apart from Palestine, new beneficiaries include Somalia, Niger, Comoros and the minority Rohingya community in Myanmar.

“The present agreements with RISE and the previous one with the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) are Sayed Aqa aimed at establishing bridges Vice President, Islamic Development with Muslim communities Bank around the world, particularly in India, to promote business ties, educational links and social projects.”

The Mumbai-based NGO, the Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education (RISE), led by Chairperson Dimple Kapani, is engaged in promoting high-quality medical care for India’s rural poor. It is very active in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

The aid and assistance from IDB will help RISE buy sophisticated mobile health units that are custom-

Mumbai NGO signs deal with IDB to implement medicare programme DUBAI: A Mumbai-based NGO signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for implementing a medicare programme in India.

made for countries such as India. The mobile units are connected to a centralized studio in Mumbai where specialists of top hospitals are present to provide solutions in real time.

Among those present at the signing ceremony was Zafar Sareshwala, chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) and RISE board member.

Welcoming the agreement, he said: “The pact, following so closely on the heels of Prime Minister NarendraModi’s successful visit to Saudi Arabia, is being seen as one more step in cementing our ties with the Kingdom.”

ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE: IDB Vice President Sayed Sareshwala stated that RISE is also engaged in raising awareness through its flagship Aqa and RISE Chairperson Dimple Kapani sign the agreement at the bank’s headquarters in Jeddah recently. (AN outreach program “Taleem Ki Taquat” which photo) focuses on the importance of education for minorities, enabling them to find sustainable emweather relationship. These projects open up many ployment and improving their standard of living. good opportunities for the integration of businesses “In the six ‘Taleem Ki Taquat’ programs that we have conducted so far all over India, we have been able to bring top federal ministers to our programs. Interaction with them has helped Muslims and other ne“In the six ‘Taleem Ki Taquat’ glected communities solve their problems with practical programmes that we have solutions,” said Sareshwala. conducted so far all over The IDB-funded program will be rolled out initially India, we have been able to in rural areas of Maharashtra where RISE already Zafar bring top ministers to our has mobile health units. The agreement with RISE Sareshwala VC, Maulana Azad programmes. Interaction with gathered momentum after the recent visit to India by National Urdu them has helped Muslims and Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of the Islamic Corporation for University the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). The ICD other neglected communities is IDB’s private sector arm. solve their problems with Al-Aboodi was also present during the signing cerpractical solutions ” emony, when the agreement was sealed by IDB Vice President SayedAqa and RISE Chairperson Dimple into the Indian community. We will build on this to furKapani. ther strengthen our relationship. The whole notion is to Speaking at the signing ceremony, Aqa said the foster understanding between different communities.” present agreements with RISE and the previous one Kapani thanked the IDB for the funding and said with the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) are the agreement would boost ties between the two oraimed at “establishing bridges with Muslim communiganizations and nations. It will also raise the visibility ties around the world, particularly in India, to promote of the IDB in India because disadvantaged people in business ties, educational links and social projects.” rural India will benefit directly from its funds, she added.

Aqa said: “With India, we have a very good, all-

A Mumbai-based NGO signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for implementing a medicare programme in India.)

According to a statement, Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education (RISE) is currently doing seminal work in the area of medicare, education and rural uplift.

The IDB is based in Jeddah.

The programme will be rolled out first in Maharashtra where RISE has already implemented Mobile Medical Units (MMU) in the rural (tribal) areas of the state. "The details of the collaboration with IDB and the rollout plan for the MMU project with them, and the areas where this program will be implemented will be announced shortly after finalisation," said RISE. It claims to be involved in several projects across India, from the tribal districts of Rajasthan to the landmarkTaleemkiTaquat, an outreach programme to create awareness among the underprivileged section of society on the importance of education in order to upgrade their status in life and being gainfully employed, the statement said.

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newspaper clippings

ICD and RISE sign MoU on Medicare program Abdul Rahman M. Baig Apr 6, 2016

As a part of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education (RISE), a Mumbai- based NGO that is currently doing seminal work in the area of Medicare, Education and rural uplift has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Development Bank’s private sector arm, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) for implementing an ambitious Medicare program in India. The program will first be rolled out in the state of Maharashtra where RISE has already implemented Mobile Medical Units (MMU) in the rural areas (tribal) of this Western Indian state.

RISE, which is well known across India is chaired by Mrs. Dimple Kapani, a former successful businessperson and has several distinguished personalities on its Advisory Board. The agreement was signed by Mrs. Kapani, on behalf of RISE and Mr. Sayed Aqa, Vice President, ICD

on behalf of ICD. The details of the collaboration with ICD will be announced shortly after finalization.

RISE, is already involved in several path-breaking projects across India from the tribal districts of the state of Rajasthan in Western India, to the landmark “Taleem ki Taquat” an outreach program to create awareness amongst the underprivileged section of the society on the importance of education in order to upgrade their status in life and being gainfully employed.

Mrs. Kapani said “we have been running this NGO for the last 9 years in the state of Rajasthan and now we have taken it on national level and expanded our network to other states of India like Maharashtra and we are doing it very successfully now in various areas. We are studying various medicine projects in India and with the support of IDB, we will taking this more higher heights.”

MANUU chancellor paves the way for two landmark accords JEDDAH — The landmark memorandum of understanding sealed on Monday between the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the ExportImport Bank of India (Exim Bank), a specialized financial institution, wholly-owned by the government of India to finance and facilitate foreign trade, and the other MoU with Rashtriya Institute of Skill and Education (RISE), would not have been possible if not for the forward-looking initiative of Zafar Sareshwala, Chancellor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU).

Commenting on the successful signing of MoUs, he said “it was me who have invited the IDB officials to India 2-3 weeks back where they met several government officials like deputy governor for Reserve bank of India, chairman of several banks of India like Exim, IDBI, Union Bank and other banks. They also met the Indian Minister of Railways, IT, minority affairs and others. After these several meetings IDB has opened their minds towards working with India, which is not a member of the bank. Hence thus resulted in the signing of two great memoranda of understanding.”

He further said this is the beginning. My concern always was that IDB should work with India where both of them get benefitted with each other particularly with the Muslims of India. These memoranda of understanding are the part of the continuation of the visit

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of the Prime Minister of India. The first agreement was for line of credit for $100 million. “It is historic for me that this is for the first time IDB is working with a bank of India i.e. the Export-Import Bank of India. Exim Bank is already considered as the checque book for the government of India. The second agreement was between RISE and IDB for $55 million where IDB will be donating medical mobile units to India which will be fully equipped with X-Rays, ECG and all other medical facilities in both urban and specially rural areas of India. The donated mobile medical units will also be maintained by IDB for initially 5 years. We have already identified several places for this project. IDB is going to sign another memorandum of understand-

ing very soon with IDBI bank of India for about 200 million dollars. There are various areas and opportunities in India where IDB is planning to work on in future. Other than IDB, the government of Saudi Arabia is planning to set up BPO’s for Saudi women with the support of India.

SayedAqa, ICD Vice President, said IDB’s new strategy is to establish bridges and work with the Muslim community around the world particularly India and other member countries in terms of trade, businesses and to tight them closer and closer. “We have a very good relation with India now, hence this opens a lot of good opportunity for integration of business in Indian Muslim community and even beyond Muslim and business community in our other member countries. IDB president is also very much interested to work with India. This is a part of ICD’s new strategy. I hope these memoranda of understanding will build more cement and understanding between the ICD and India.”

Tarun Sharma, Regional Head Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), said that Exim Bank, since its inception, “has been both a catalyst and a key player in the promotion of cross-border trade and investment.”

He added: “We remain committed to support Indian exporters to enter new markets in their bid to expand and are convinced that our cooperation with the ICD will serve that very purpose and will be mutually beneficial for both parties.”