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PAGES: 68 VOL.6 | ISSUE: 8, SEPTEMBER, 2018
VOL:6 I SSUE:8 I SEPTEMBER, 2018 `30 Editor SUDHAKAR
Special Correspondent D Bal Reddy Correspondents Mallesh Babu Mandha Ravi Kumar G.P. Nagaraju
Reporters M.Praveen Kumar, P Vishnuvardhan Reddy Photographers M Vijay S Sridhar, Shair Ali Baig Cover & Layout T. Srinivasa Rao
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Chief Executive (Marketing) Venkata K Ganjam (GK) Chief - Business & LifeStyle K. Bharath Reddy Marketing Associate M. Akhil Raj Shaker
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EDITORIAL Editorial
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t appears the ruling TRS is still eyeing for early Assembly polls to cash in on its performance in the last four years. The TRS thinks there are advantages of early election. The party is planning to contest the assembly and Lok Sabha polls on its own and work for formation of a federal front that will oppose both the BJP and the Congress. The term of Telangana assembly ends in June next year and the assembly polls in normal course would be held along with those to the Lok Sabha. However, the TRS feels that if elections are held early, the party will win both the state as well as Lok Sabha polls convincingly. The TRS thinks it can win at least 100 of 119 seats in the state assembly and 16 of 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The TRS believes both Congress and BJP have let down the people of the country and there is a strong need for an alternative force to emerge in the country in the form of a federal front. However, the mood of the people in Telangana seems to be different. People, particularly youth seem to be of the view that the TRS has let them down. It seems youth have started to feel that the division of the state was not correct. It has not improved the things. Instead, the situation is going to become worse from bad. It seems it is this growing feeling among the common people, the voters, forcing the TRS to go for early polls, apparently to minimize the damage. Moreover, despite the tall claims by the TRS leadership, the BJP is strengthening its base while the Congress is pitching for a comeback with many NRIs and rich businesspersons competing for Congress party tickets in the next elections. Political picture beginning to change in Telangana.
Editor : Sudhakar
Note: Focus/Infocus features are marketing initiatives, any legal disputes comes under the jurisdiction of courts in Hyderabad
(Sudhakar) THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
4 Content
Sea of mourners 15 to bid adieu to Vajpayee
Tens of thousands of commoners joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah in the final journey to bid adieu to Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the former Prime Minister's body was being taken to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of Yamuna river for the last rites.
Indian women confined to the home, in cities designed for men
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The inequality between men and women in India is stark, and nowhere more so than on the streets of its cities, which are undeniably the domain of men.
25m pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat strikes 33 historic Asiad gold
Kerala shows the risk of severe floods is still evolving
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THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
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English important, but not at cost of mother tongue
Content
Eat right to keep acne away Have acne trouble? A balanced diet along with a healthy lifestyle can help you curb it, say experts and suggest what all one should eat to keep acne at bay.
India's first manned space 36 mission to send 3 persons English is not a replacement for the mother tongue, but is important in the context of the present global situation," said British Council India Director Alan Gemmell
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India's first manned space flight - Gaganyaan - is expected to send three persons, including a woman, into the space for seven days and the spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300400 km.
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No alliance with any party for 2019 20 General Elections
Is normal delivery possible after cesarean? Yes, say doctors
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THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
6 Impact
Action against corrupt SRO soon
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THE NEWS BUREAU
t appears the authorities have finally decided to take action against the corrupt joint sub-registrar of Malkajgiri, following a report published in these columns. It may be recalled a report was published in these columns about the Joint Sub-Registrar of Malkajgiri saying that authorities were not taking action against the corrupt official though he is registering government and wakf lands in collusion with certain land sharks. Subsequent to the news report, the complainant Salman Ali also approached the High Court seeking direction to the authorities concerned including the Anti-Corruption Bureau and Vigilance to initiate action. While ordering notice to the respondents the High Court has asked the departments concerned as to why the writ petition filed by Salman Ali should not be admitted. The High Court also permitted the complainant to implead Wakf Board as one of the respondents in the case. Meanwhile, the commissioner
and Inspector General of Stamps and Registration department has also ordered a detailed enquiry against Malkajgiri SRO, B. Surendra Naik and senior assistant M.K. Rambhoopal
following the complaint given by Salman Ali Sources said that the report published in these columns has compelled the authorities concerned to look into the matter seriously and action is likely to follow in the days to come.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
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To promote innovative scientific endeavor among the Indian Nationals, applications are invited for NRDC NATIONAL MERITORIOUS INVENTION AWARDS OF THE YEAR 2018 (Instituted in the year 1973), in the following three categories :
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For further details and submission of online applications visit NRDC website: www.nrdcindia.com. Last date for receipt of applications : 15/10/2018
8 Special Report
Indian women confined to the home, in cities designed for men
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he inequality between men and women in India is stark, and nowhere more so than on the streets of its cities, which are undeniably the domain of men. Of course, this is partly because there are fewer women in the population. With 940 women per 1,000 men, the nation has a low sex ratio, stemming from families’ preference for male children, as well as poor nutrition and health care for women. What’s more, just 27% of Indian women participate in the work force, compared with 79% of men. This trend is most obvious in urban areas. Although women in India mostly walk, cycle or use public transport to go to work, they are still much less visible in public spaces than men, because many do not have jobs to travel to at all. This has a significant impact on women’s health, and their opportunities in life. According to India’s 2011 census, only 17% of all people commuting to work in urban areas are women. Even in India’s large metropolitan cities, such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, the proportion of women commuters never rises above 20%. Overall, there are nearly five men to every one woman who commutes to work. This inequality is also reflected in data about drivers license holders, where men outnumber women by nine to one – compare
this to the US, where women outnumber men (albeit by a small amount). Even with its rapidly growing economy, India’s level of vehicle ownership is still very low. There are only 20 cars per 1,000 people in India, compared with more than 400 in most high income
countries. This means that the vast majority of people travel on foot, cycle or take public transport – so 83% of those women who commute to work in Indian cities will take one of these options. In England, only 27% of women travel to work by
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
one of these three modes of transport, and in the US, fewer still. According to a travel survey my colleagues and I conducted in Delhi in 2013 – which includes all journeys, and not just those to work – Indian men attain similar levels of physical activity through travel as those in the Netherlands, where cycling is very popular (though in Delhi its mostly from walking). Meanwhile, women are only half as active. Given the evidence, it’s clear that this is not because women travel more by car – it’s because
many women do not travel in the city at all. Our study found that only 20% of all the trips in Delhi are made by women, and only 25% in Bengaluru city. With lower levels of physical activity, women are exposed to higher risk of heart disease, breast cancer and depression. What’s more, more than a third of women who work in Indian cities do so from home. Confined to the home, women are socially excluded, which means they lose out on the benefits that often come from developing a social network,
Special Report
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such as emotional or financial support, access to opportunities, or participation in the social or political life of the community. For women to willingly participate in activities outside home, streets, neighbourhoods and transport infrastructure must be designed to be sensitive to the needs of women. The safety of women in public spaces should not solely depend on stricter laws on violence against women, or better law enforcement – although this has a role to play. Women’s right to move through public spaces without fear can also be safeguarded through the built environment, using principles such as “eyes on the street” – according to which people feel safer in open, attractive streets with lots of other people around, while lonely streets instil fear. Making streets safer for women would also help make public transport more accessible, as bus or train journeys typically involve walking at both ends. Stops and stations should be located in busy areas, and should be well lit at night. A plethora of other measures – such as training for transport staff and more women employees – are also needed to make journeys by public transport safer for women, as harassment on buses and trains remains a major social issue (and not just in India). With the presence of street hawkers, high population density, narrow streets and a large number of people walking and cycling, Indian cities do have some of the liveliest neighbourhoods in the world, where women can feel safe. But these neighbourhoods often exist in isolation, as cities grow in size. The challenge is to ensure safety by design at a much larger scale.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
10 Made in India
In a first, LCA naval variant lands on warship deck
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he Light Combat Aircraft's (LCA) naval variant landed on the deck of warship INS Hansa in Goa, said its maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on August 2. "This is the first of a series of engagements planned to prove the arrestor hook capability of the combat fighter," said HAL Chairman T Suvarna Raju on the occasion. The achievement pushes India into a select club of the US, Europe, Russia and China in having the capability of decklanding by a fighter aircraft. "Piloted by Captain Shivnath
Dahiya, the LCA naval prototype (NP-2) landed safely on the deck of INS Hansa at the naval shorebased test facility in Goa," said state-run defence behemoth HAL. The maiden feat involved the pilot making contact of the arrester hook system with the arresting wire at moderate taxi-in speed on the location at the test facility. The first taxi-in engagement was monitored by the landing signal officer Commodore J.A. Maolankar and test director Group Captain A. Kabadwal (Retd). The city-based aerospace major's design wing, Aircraft Research and Design Centre, developed the arrestor hook system for ship-deck operations of LCA
naval version. The LCA naval prototype was integrated with the hook system and has been operating at INS Hansa since July 28 after the landing system was verified in-air operation in Bengaluru on July 23. The prototype's carrier compatibility trials are slated at shorebased test facilities, built at the Indian naval base in Goa. The evaluation involves shorebased trials before embarking on actual deck for the LCA Navy. State-run Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the military aircraft's airworthiness certifying agency Cemilac and the Indian Navy worked together for the maiden deck landing.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Brutal Cops 11
Colonial policing still continues in Rachakonda I
THE NEWS BUREAU
SOT, Bhongir zone cops resort to illegal detention, settlements
t seems some lower level officials in the Telangana police department have no respect for the police chief M Mahender Reddy and his policy of transparent and friendly policing. Instead, some corrupt officials keep violating the laws and resort to colonial policing for illicit gains. In one such incident, two officials of the Special Operations Team (SOT), Bhongir zone of the Rachakonda police commissionerate, picked up a young man from
Erragadda in an illegal manner though they were not at all concerned with the matter. According to sources, SOT constable Ibrahim in collusion with one Mohammed Farooq of Old city, influenced the SOT inspector, Gangadhar and picked up one Abubakar Yafai of Erragadda in the afternoon of August 23 and detained him illegally at the SOT office in Amberpet. It is said Ibrahim, who is allegedly hand-in-glove with some gangs that run betting rackets and brothels, picked up the young man
to please Farooq, who allegedly helps Ibrahim in the illegal rackets in different ways. Sources said Abubakar and Farooq have some financial disputes and the latter wanted to settle scores with the former and took the help of SOT constable Ibrahim. The SOT officials, who think they can do anything in the garb of police, not only illegally detained the victim but also beat him up brutally and threatened with implicating him in serious criminal cases. It is learnt that the SOT constable Ibrahim extorted Rs 60,000
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
12 Brutal Cops
from the family of the victim and demanded Rs 40,000 more for releasing him. However, the matter somehow leaked to the media on August 24 and when the news began doing rounds on the whatsapp group of police officials and journalists, SOT officials felt the heat building up and quickly handed over Abubakar to Chaitanyapuri police. In an apparent attempt to cover up their extra judicial act, the SOT officials got registered two cases against Abubakar at Chaitanyapuri and Balapur police stations on the allegations that he had cheated some people including Farooq with fake visas. The SOT officials influenced the Chaitanyapuri police in such a way that the investigation officer did not even follow the instructions issued by the Director General of
Police, Telangana, vide Memo No. C.No.3870/C13/SCRB-TS/201718, dated 23.08.2018, with respect to amendments to Sec.41 Cr.P.C and procedures to be adopted by the police in case of arrest and nonarrest. Instead of releasing the accused on a personal bond, the Chaitanyapuri police remanded him to judicial custody on August 25. What more! Chaitanyapuri police officials organized a media conference stating that they had arrested the cheat within four hours of receipt of the complaint. However, in their hurry to cover up the wrongdoing of the SOT cops, the Chaitanyapuri police committed two more mistakes. Police claimed in the press release that the accused was apprehended at 11 am on August 25, while the investigation officer claimed in the remand diary that
Representational Image
the accused was apprehended at 6 pm on August 24. Sources close to the accused told The News that the investigation officer was supposed to find out from the Interior Ministry, Government of Dubai, whether the alleged visas provided by the accused to the complainant and some other people were genuine. In this case, police did not follow the due process of law. Instead, the Chaitanyapuri police acted at the instructions of the SOT, Bhongir zone officials, who had no jurisdiction at all in the matter. Sources also said that the Saudi government blacklisted Farooq and barred his entry into the country for committing some fraud. Consequently, he returned to India and joined hands with SOT constable Ibrahim in running the alleged illegal activities run by the latter. It is said the SOT constable has amassed huge benami properties and holds so much influence that even inspectors succumb to his whims and fancies. Sources further say that not just Ibrahim and Gangadhar, but several other police officials in Rachakonda are raking in the moolah by threatening people with foisting cases and opening rowdy sheets against those who are accused in a single case for one or the other reasons. It is said the lower level officials have scant respect for laws of the land and policies of transparency and friendly policing advocated by the senior officers because the respective unit chiefs have no control over the subordinates. This situation seems to be alarming in L B Nagar zone. It has to be seen whether the new deputy commissioner of police will be able to bring any change in the situation.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Cover Story 13
Mr. Chancellor, Please save TU
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D. BAL REDDY
elangana University was established in the year 2006 with an objective to make higher education accessible to the educationally backward district of Nizamabad in Telangana. It was envisaged to achieve world-class standards in academic excellence by imparting skill-based and quality higher education for the empowerment of rural youth by using innovative technology-driven learning methods and strengthening capacity building with sustainable development by introducing professional courses and outreach programmes, keeping in view the
vistas of International collaboration and effective governance.
However, it appears the objective is fading away even before achieving, thanks to the alleged scandals unleashed by the university Registrar, K Shiva Shankar. Several people level serious allegations of corruption and misconduct against the Registrar and complaints have been lodged against him with the higher education department against the Registrar. According to one such complaint lodged on August 18, the Registrar, belonging to the department of mass communication, has been misusing varsity funds, violate the laws of the land, blackmail and harass the staff who question his misdeeds.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
14 Cover Story
The allegations also include that Shiva Shankar had prepared an order by himself appointing himself as the Registrar by blackmailing the present Vice-chancellor and has sent the same order to the higherups concerned. The order was not approved by the Executive Council, which is mandatory. Another allegation against Shiva Shankar is that he joined the varsity through fraudulent methods though his educational qualification at that was only intermediate. The State Audit department had identified in 2012 itself the violation of UGC norms in the appointment of teaching staff. The audit department had said that certain appointments were highly irregular and need investigation and corrective measures. However, for the reasons best
known to the authorities, no investigation was conducted and no action was taken against Shiva Shankar so far. Instead, Shiva Shankar, who had allegedly joined the varsity merely on the strength of intermediate qualification, went on to become Registrar within few days of joining the varsity, the complaint against him states. The Registrar is allegedly swallowing funds, misusing his capacity to recruit people of his choice, pay salaries to the outsourced employees without their attendance being certified by the principal and shuts down certain courses without the approval of the Senate. Shiva Shankar is also facing the allegation that he conducts interviews for doctoral students though he is not eligible for the same because of lack of qualification.
The irony is that MLA of Nizamabad rural assembly constituency, Bajireddy Govardhan, had addressed a letter to the Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao in the year 2014 in connection with the irregularity and illegality in the appointment of Shiva Shankar. However, to the surprise of everyone, no action was taken by the government. The complaints, pamphlets, leaflets and news reports against Shiva Shankar have piled up for years but it appears the ruling TRS government is not ready to take action against the corrupt and erring official, who is bringing disrepute for the university. It is time, the Honourable Chancellor, look into the matter and save the university in the larger interest of the society.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Obituary 15
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Sea of mourners to bid adieu to Vajpayee
THE NEWS BUREAU
ens of thousands of commoners joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah in the final journey to bid adieu to Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the former Prime Minister's body was being taken to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of Yamuna river for the last rites. The journey began around 2 p.m. -- an hour behind schedule -from the BJP central office on the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg. Modi and Shah walked behind the flower-decked gun carriage carrying the body of Vajpayee draped in the tricolour as security personnel kept a tight watch.
People from across the country, many of them teary-eyed, threw flower petals on the casket all through the three-kilometer route as an expression of their love, respect and admiration for the late leader. Slogans like "Atalji amar rahen", "Jab tak sooraj chand rahega, Atalji ka naam rahega", "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Vande Mataram" rent the air as the procession progressed. Some people were carrying banners containing lines from poems written by Vajpayee. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also in the procession and supporters accompanying him raised slogans of "Jai Shri Ram". A number of BJP chief
ministers including, Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Union Ministers and BJP leaders accompanied the funeral procession. It passed through some populated areas of Delhi, inclduing Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, on its way to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, a designated spot for the last rites of Presidents, Vice Presidents and Prime Ministers. Earlier, Modi, Shah, veteran BJP leader L. K. Advani, Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, CPI-M General
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
16 Obituary
ugles sounded the last post, uniformed soldiers clicked their heels and a sombre silence fell over the crowd as former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's mortal
remains were consigned to the flames on August 17 evening, the sun setting on the life of a poet-politician who combined accommodative politics with graciousness. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on August 16 evening.
The venerable politician breathed his last at 5.05 PM. The 93-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader was admitted at the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion. Foster daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya lit the pyre as cries of "Atal Bihari Amar Rahe" reverberated.
Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D. Raja, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E. Palanisami were among the national leaders who paid tributes to Vajpayee at the party office after his body was brought there from his Krishna Menon Marg residence. Before the body was taken from the residence, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, DMK Working President M.K. Stalin, MDMK chief Vaiko, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and chiefs of the Army,
Navy and the Air Force placed wreaths and paid their last respects. Modi, Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Yogi Adityanath received the body near the gate of the party office. They later paid their tributes by offering flowers. Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith were among those who paid their tributes at the party office.
Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Sri Lanka's Acting Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali will attend the funeral. The mortal remains were kept in front of a large smiling picture of Vajpayee. A party flag had been placed on each side of the photograph. Among those present at the party office were union ministers, chief ministers, state ministers,
Vajpayee laid to rest, daughter Namita lights funeral pyre
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Obituary 17
MPs, MLAs and BJP officebearers. People had gathered outside the party office in large numbers since morning to pay their tributes. Security men had a hard time keeping the crowds in check. A woman from Darjeeling jumped the gate to get inside the party office. As the casket reached the party office, people turned emotional and some of them had tears in their eyes. Tight security arrangements had been made for the final procession by security forces anticipating participation of a large number of people. Vajpayee, who had passed away at the AIIMS on August 16 evening, has a pan-India appeal and his flair for foreign policy and initiatives were acknowledged globally. The country is observing a seven-day state mourning as a mark of respect for the leader who had been decorated with Bharat Ratna and was very popular.
When India scripted history in Pokhran under Vajpayee's leadership
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wenty years ago, India scripted a success story on May 11 and May 13, 1998 when five nuclear tests were performed in Rajasthan's Pokhran under the guidance of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had assumed power only a little while ago. It was a completely secret exercise only known to a select few. On May 11, 1998, Jaisalmer woke up to an ordinary day. However, there were a few bulldozers heading to a particular site to dig up welllike sites. Sand was filled into these wells. Within a few minutes, they were ignited. It was followed by a huge thunder that brought loud cheer from a few scientists at the site who had kept a constant vigil on all the developments. In Delhi, Vajpayee along with the then Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, former Defence Minister George Fernandes, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Brijesh Mishra, were sitting with bated breath. However, the moment, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who happened to be the Scientific Advisor to Vajpayee, sent a message on the hotline, saying, "Buddha smiles again", all of them jumped with joy. The former Prime Minister immediately called the scientists to congratulate them on their success. The tests left the Western world shocked and surprised. India gained a new identity after the tests. However, there were economic sanctions imposed by the US. An unfazed Vajpayee, however, continued with the next round of nuclear tests two days later.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
18 Obituary
Nandamuri Harikrishna dies
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THE NEWS BUREAU
andamuri Harikrishna, actor and politician, passed away on August 29 morning in a tragic car accident. The accident happened on the Anaparthi road near Narketpally in Telangana's Nalgonda district. He was 61. Harikrishna is also the father of popular star Tarak, known as Junior NTR. Harikrishna has another son, Kalyan Ram, an actor and producer. His third son, Janakiram was a film producer who passed away in a road accident in 2014. As news broke out about Harikrishna's death, condolences poured in from the Telugu film industry, where the NTR family occupies a place of prominence.
Several persons associated with Tollywood also expressed their grief at the news. A polit bureau member of TDP, NTR’s fourth son, Nandamuri Harikrishna found some success in the film industry as a child artiste in the 1960s and 1970s in films like Shri Krishnavataram and Talla Pellama, and had some film appearances since the 1990s. The actor-politician is also the brother-in-law of present Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and had supported the latter when an internal coup was staged within the TDP in the 90s. He was also a minister in Naidu's cabinet and later also served as a Member of Parliament.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Politics 19
PM Modi, own party-men were upset by my hug: Rahul
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THE NEWS BUREAU
ongress President Rahul Gandhi said certain 'hateful remarks' made against him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi prompted him to hug him during the no-confidence debate in Parliament and noted that 'he didn't like and was upset by it', while adding 'that some of his party members also didn't approve of it'. Gandhi said non-violence in India was a foundational philosophy of our nationhood and the entire history, while adding that 'hate could not be countered with hate, and one can fight violence only by non-violence' "That's the essesnce of being Indian. The basic idea is this that if someone hates you, that is something that they are doing. Hate is their internal emotion, it is their reaction to the world. Responding to their hate with hate is quite foolish. It is not going to solve any problem," said Gandhi while addressing a gathering at Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg. "You are in full control of how you respond to things. So, when the prime minister was making sort of hateful remarks at me, I was feeling that I needed to go and give him a hug and tell him that world is not such a bad place and it is not all evil out there," said Gandhi. "And that there are many people who actually have a lot of affection and I gave him a hug. He didn't like that. He didn't like that
because Gandhiji actually wrote it. He said the only way you can counter hate is through love," he added. The Congress leader further said: "You can't counter hate with hate because it just increases the hate. When I actually went and showed affection to the prime minister, he was taken aback, he was upset by it. But it works, it really does." Asked if it came as a surprise for his party members, Gandhi said: ":Yeah they were a bit..some of them didn't like it. Some of them told me later that you should not have hugged him." "...But I disagreed. I said no..I think the conversation, not only in India, the conversation in the whole
world somehow people think that by hating other people you will get a solution," he added. Gandhi said: "I have seen it in my own life, that you simply won't get a solution. The only solution is through conversation, the only solution eventually is by talking to people and showing them that you understand where they are coming from." He also said that the only way one can fight violence is by non-violence. "There is no other way. You might be under the illusion that you can fight violence with violence, but it will come back. You might think that you are very powerful and that you can subdue somebody else, but they will find a way of coming back."
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
20 Politics
No alliance with any party for 2019 General Elections
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THE NEWS BUREAU
elangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has said TRS would not have an alliance with any party for the 2019 general elections and that all candidates for the polls would be announced next month. "TRS is ready to face elections any time....we will announce party candidates next month itself for the coming general elections and will not have any alliance with any party," he said. On the 'Federal Front' he had proposed earlier, Rao said he would talk to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik about its formation. "A non-BJP, non-Congress Federal Front may take a little time. But it will be a reality. It cannot
happen in one day. I am not in a hurry," he said. To a query, he said TRS voted for the NDA candidate in the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman election as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called him and sought his support. On the state committee meet, Rao said the party would hold a public meeting on September 2 and present a 'progress report' of Telangana to the people. He said the TRS passed nine resolutions, including one requesting the Centre to accept the reservation bill that was passed by the state assembly. The Assembly had on August 16 passed a bill to give 12 per cent quota for socially and economically backward among the Muslims in educational institutions and gov-
ernment jobs. Without giving a direct reply on reports of an early assembly election, he said the Election Commission has the discretion to conduct it within six months of the original schedule. He claimed that various surveys by the party indicated that TRS would win over 100 seats in the assembly elections. Rao said all the settlers in Telangana would be treated as citizens of the state. He refuted the charge that the government was behind Osmania University declining permission to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to meet students on the campus on August 10. The Chief Minister said the government planned to spend Rs 50,000 crore to make Hyderabad a 'Global city'.
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22 Nature’s Fury
Kerala shows the risk of severe floods is still evolving
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ore than 350 people have died, while more than a million have been evacuated to over 4,000 relief camps and tens of thousands were stranded in the severe floods, which devastated Kerala. The crisis is a timely reminder that climate change is expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of severe flooding across the world. Although no single flood can be linked directly to climate change, basic physics attests to the
fact that a warmer world and atmosphere will hold more water, which will result in more intense and extreme rainfall. The monsoon season usually brings heavy rains but this year Kerala has seen 42% more rain than would be expected, with more than 2,300mm of rain across the region since the beginning of June, and over 700mm in August alone. These are similar levels seen during Hurricane Harvey, that hit Houston in August 2017, when more than 1,500mm of rain fell during one storm. Tropical cy-
clones and hurricanes, such as Harvey, are expected to increase in strength by up to 10% with a 2℃ rise in global temperature. Under climate change the probability of such extreme rainfall is also predicted to grow by up to sixfold towards the end of the century. The rivers and drainage systems of Kerala have been unable to cope with such large volumes of water and this has resulted in flash flooding. Much of that water would normally be slowed down by trees or other natural obstacles. Yet over the
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past 40 years Kerala has lost nearly half its forest cover, an area of 9,000 km², just under the size of Greater London, while the state’s urban areas keep growing. This means that less rainfall is being intercepted, and more water is rapidly running into overflowing streams and rivers. One of the most striking things from the videos and images emerging from the area is the brown colour of the flood waters and the extreme damage caused by landslides. Our recent research has shown that geomorphology – the processes of erosion and deposition that shape the Earth’s surface – is sensitive to rainfall intensity, so more frequent and more extreme floods mean more rapid changes across our landscapes. The floods have been described
as “the worst in 100 years” by Keralas chief minister. Similar descriptions are often used to try and define the magnitudes of a flood, such as a “one-in-100 year flood event”, despite it being widely recognised that such descriptions are ineffective for communicating flood risk. Our ways of thinking about probability and the risk of flooding, as well as measuring its magnitude, are in desperate need of updating. The 100-year flood, the flood that has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year, does not register in public consciousness. A different way of thinking about it is that a 100-year flood at a given location has close to a one in four chance of occurring within the term of a 25-year mortgage. A 25% chance your house will flood before you’ve finished paying for it is far more relatable and more likely to get people to consider and engage with their own individual risk. Likewise, governments, both regional and national, along with agencies and first responders, need to develop improved flood maps and update them to incorporate uncertainty. Alongside this, we need more effective communication and public engagement to develop
Nature’s Fury 23
flood risk literacy – long term this will help improve policy decisions. The UK’s 25-year environment plan is a step in that direction. Most critically we have to accept that, with the changing climate and changing patterns of rainfall, the behaviour of rivers will also shift. All our assessments of flood risk currently assume a static, steady-state system where rivers respond in the same way they have in the past. An increase in rainfall, and in particularly extreme events, will cause our landscapes to adjust. Rivers and their basins will become more dynamic and prone to change. How quickly rivers change, and how quickly we respond with urban drainage and flood mitigation measures, will play a significant role in our evolving flood risk. Layered on this will be how rapidly societies, and their governments, begin to adopt more resilient ways of living with water. Flooding is a challenge across individual, local, regional and global scales, and is set to increase in the future and its impacts will become more damaging. We need solutions across each of these scales to improve individual and societal resilience.
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24 Nature’s Fury
Kerala govt appoints 200 fisherfolk as coastal warden in police
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erala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the government of Kerala will appoint 200 fishermen to the post of coastal warden of the police department, as promised. The promise was made by the government after cyclone Ockhi wreaked havoc in the coastal areas in November 2017. “It was promised in the aftermath of Ockhi that persons from fisherfolk families will be appointed as coastal wardens. Keeping that promise, cabinet has decided to make 200 coastal warden appointments in the police department on a temporary basis,” said CM Pinarayi Vijayan in a statement on Facebook. Cyclone Ockhi hit the shores of
Kerala and Tamil Nadu in November 2017 and led to the death of close to 100 fishermen. This decision by the government to appoint the fisherfolk to the post of coastal warden was announced just two days after the state government felicitated the fishermen of the state who played a stellar role in the rescue operations during the recent floods. Talking at the felicitation ceremony in Thiruvananthapuram, Pinarayi Vijayan said, “They did not know of this gift. They did not know if the boats they took out would come back fine. They went out into the floods without thinking of anything, without thinking of money or their own lives or their families, to save the thousands trapped. Giving you a big salute
from Kerala.” According to official figures, as many as 669 boats went out with 4,537 fishermen, and it is estimated they would have saved at least 65,000 lives. In his speech, the chief minister spoke about how the water kept rising even after all the forces came. “The rescue operations were not reaching everywhere and that’s when they thought of the men who knew water so well, who went out into the waters for their livelihood on a daily basis. “We had trust in their strength and their survival skills. Fishermen were brought from different parts of the state, with the help of the police. They were courageous and dynamic. They became the most important aspect of the rescue mission,” the CM said.
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Nature’s Fury 25
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‘Kerala toll would have been higher if military hadn't helped’
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he death toll in the Kerala floods would have been much higher but for the timely help provided by the military, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. The calamity would have been greater if the armed forces hadn't worked hand in hand with the Kerala government, Vijayan said at a formal farewell function held here on Sunday in honour of Central forces which played a key role in rescue and relief operations. "We could directly witness the bold initiatives they took to rescue
those who were stranded in the flood waters," said Vijayan at the function held at Air Force Station at Shanghumukham. He appreciated the military and paramilitary forces who saved the helpless, braving adverse circumstances, an official statement said. "All that we can say is that your services will be kept in mind in the times to come too, with gratitude and appreciation." The Chief Minister presented citations to Air Marshal B. Suresh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command, and Rear Admiral R.J. Nadkarni, Chief
of Staff, Southern Naval Command, among others. Air Marshal Suresh said they could act efficiently because of the clear directions given by the Chief Minister. "He was leading from the front." The Air Marshal also appreciated the volunteers, fishermen and all those who were part of the rescue and relief activities and saluted the "indomitable spirit of Malayalis". Hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless in the worst floods to hit Kerala since 1924.
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26 Nature’s Fury
Kerala's devastation: Why can't we learn from others?
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Twenty years ago, in August 1998, then Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji proposed, in a meeting of China's State Council, a total ban on logging in the forest slopes of Sichuan province. It was in response to the devastating floodcrisis that China was facing in the Yangtze river basin. That policy was enacted overnight, while the floods in Yangtze river were still at its peak and rescue operations were in full swing. It was just a year after the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, but Zhu was in no mood to analyse if that extreme event was due to climate change.
He cited that similar devastation had occurred due to Yangtze floods in 1870, 1931 and 1954 when climate change was not around. Zhu declared severe punishment for logging in the same meeting and incentivised afforestation with ambitious targets by 2000 and 2010. The same month, but now 2018, India is facing the devastation in Kerala, the worst ever since 1924. With over 400 dead and a million homeless, the questions are gushing like the waters from the floodgates of its dams. Is it a natural or man-made disaster? Is it climatic event or due to global warming? It is easy and convenient to link
the causative chain to climate change. Indeed, global warming has led to a rise in ocean and atmosphere temperatures (nearly one degree Celsius over pre-industrial times) which has resulted in the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events over the last six decades. To this extent, global warming is indeed responsible for higher rainfall. But that does not explain "extreme" and "localised" rainfall. Blaming each of such weather disasters on climate change has in reality become a way for the authorities to absolve themselves from their essential responsibility of preventing the consequential colossal damage to life, infrastruc-
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Nature’s Fury 27
Floods can't discourage Sabarimala devotees in Kerala
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he floods may have wreaked havoc in God's own country, however this won't be a reason for Sabarimala devotees to not offer prayers during this Makaravilaku season. According to the Tranvancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar, although the bridges leading to Sabarimala are in abysmal state, arrangements are being made to enable smooth movement for devotees. According to Padmakumar, it may take around 15 days for the reconstruction work on the bridges leading to Sabarimala,
ture and ecosystems. Unprecedented rainfall could not have been prevented, whether it is due to global warming or not, but the resulting catastrophe could have been contained. Indiscriminate logging in Kerala has reduced the forest cover between 1920 and 1990 by 40 per cent, according to the report of Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. Nearly one million hectares of the forest land has been lost between 1973 and 2016, as per an Indian Institute of Science report. This has reduced the soil's capacity to hold the mud-slides. Illegal mining, including that of sand and stones that "bank" the flood waters,
during this period all necessary arrangements shall be made from Pamba for devotees to commute smoothly to Sannidhanam. During the deluge, Sabarimala had an estimated loss of Rs 100 Cr and for the reconstruction, all the devotees from other states should come together, the president requested. Kerala faced one of its worst floods which completely destroyed the sacred bathing place of the devotees of the Pampa coast. The traditional rituals like Niraputhari including the fullfledged Chingamasa pooja came to a halt.
Though 100 Cr loss has been estimated during the flood related destruction in the Sabarimala, there has been a financial loss of more than 30 Cr because of the suspension of the monthly prayers. The two bridges in pampa connecting Sabarimala have badly destroyed during the floods which made it more difficult for the devotees to travel. In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, the Tranvancore Devasam Board president A Padmakumar said, within 15 days, everyone will be able to pass through the other side of Pampa safe and sound.
is rampant in Kerala. Over-enthusiastic water tourism has allowed the infrastructure and habitat to be vulnerably exposed to the flood waters. The uncoordinated damwater management has left the communities and wildlife to find their own ways to save their lives. Is there way out? There are numerous examples and initiatives to learn from and to participate in. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Agency predicted the Kerala floods just a few days in advance. Collaboration with GPM and initiating disaster management measures "just-intime" could still would have
helped. Switzerland (about the same size as Kerala) has 200 major dams as against Kerala's 61. Switzerland's designated central authority coordinates safety and the operation of the flood gates. Collaborating with Switzerland on such dam-management and inundation-mapping would prepare India in future. In Kerala, dam safety analysis had not been done for any of its 61 dams. China has now acquired huge experience in disaster and flood management; five most deadly floods in human history were all in China. Cooperation with China would go a long way in managing and containing the flood damage.
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28 Nature’s Fury
Navy rescued nearly 17,000 Keralites from oods
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he Indian Navy rescued nearly 17,000 people caught in gushing waters in floodravaged Kerala, a Defence spokesperson said here on Monday. Navy personnel who were part of the rescue mission code named "Op Madad" in Kerala, displayed their skills and courage in rescuing thousands of people, Commander Sridhar Warrier, the spokesperson in
Kochi, said.In all, the Indian Navy rescued a total of 16,843 people, of which 1,173 were airlifted while 15,670 were rescued by teams using Gemini boats after Kerala experienced unprecedented rainfall, which resulted in widespread flooding, he told PTI. "Such was their efficiency that in fact, no deaths by drowning were reported in any area where Naval teams systematically organised their rescue efforts," he said.
Warrier said a robust and efficient Command, Control and Logistics Organisation of the Southern Naval Command (SNC), coordinated by Joint Operation Centre (JOC), ensured naval personnel deployed in the worst-hit areas were utilised efficiently to rescue maximum number of people. Based on inputs from the state administration, as well as feedback from the teams on ground, careful
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planning of the utilisation of resources available with the Command was done and teams were deployed in the general areas where distress calls were most concentrated, he said. "Once the resources available with the Southern Naval Command in terms of Gemini boats and divers were found to be falling short, additional resources were sought and promptly received from other Naval commands," Warrier said. SNC Headquarters also coordinated with the Air Force headquarters for airlift of personnel and equipment from Mumbai and Visakhapatnam to Kochi. He said deployment of teams to inaccessible areas was mostly done by airlift and even this was extremely difficult as landing grounds for the aircraft were not readily available due to inundation of most areas. The teams were dropped off at the closest locations and, thereafter, they moved by boat/road to the affected areas. Naval aircraft operated from the Naval Air Station INS Garuda and were deployed from Chalakudy, Thrissur to Ayroor, Pathanamthitta to airlift survivors from locations inaccessible by road, the spokesman said. Some of the rescued people were relocated to safe sites and the rest were brought to Naval relief camps set up in the T-2 Hangar and Naval KG School inside the Naval Base, he said. As the waters receded, de-induction of 92 teams and over 500 men began after obtaining clearance from the state government. He said Wayanad district was the first to be severely hit as a result of the incessant rains, which resulted in flooding and landslides. Consequently, on August 9 in
Nature’s Fury 29
view of the worsening situation and the challenges faced by the state administration, the Southern Naval Command launched "Operation Madad" to facilitate rescue and relief efforts to the affected areas, the spokesman said. Initially, Op Madad State III was executed on August 9, which was raised to State II on August 10, wherein majority of rescue and relief teams were brought to full readiness and kept on standby for immediate deployment, he said. The rains intensified considerably from August 14 which resulted in waters in major dams crossing the danger levels and forcing the state government to order opening of the shutters of some 35 of these 39 dams. "This resulted in major flooding at Ernakulam, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts mainly due to opening of shutters of four dams in Idukki district and Kakki Dam in Pathanamthitta district and led to massive increase in water levels and flow in Periyar and Pamba rivers," he said. Since the situation developed
over a period of ten days, the naval deployments were also carried out in phases. The Joint Operations Centre (JOC), Kochi became the nerve centre during the conduct of Operation Madad. The JOC was augmented with a Planning and Coordination Section, rescue coordination cell within the operations room and a team muster and kitting up point at the ground floor of the JOC building, in order to quickly deploy teams as per requirement, the spokesman said. Deployment of rescue teams peaked on August 19, wherein a total of 92 teams were deployed simultaneously across all affected areas, he added. JOC was also the nerve centre for planning and coordination with all other Services and state agencies, and carried out this task seamlessly to maximise rescue efforts on the ground.Over 300 people have died and lakhs displaced in the floods and landslides caused by the monsoon rains since August 8 across Kerala.
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30 Nature’s Fury
Kerala floods damaged 45,000 hectares farmland: Centre
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loods in Kerala have damaged paddy, banana, spices and other crops in 45,000 hectare of farmland, Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak said. The state government has been asked to submit a detailed proposal seeking central funds to provide relief to the growers, he said.
"The state has estimated damage to 45,000 hectare of farm fields. We have also got the same report. More than crops, the damage to houses and other infrastructure is more in Kerala," Pattanayak said. Paddy has been affected in 20,000 hectare and even banana plantations has been hit badly. Spices like cardamom have
been affected in 2,000 hectare or so, he said. As per the official data, area sown to paddy crop in Kerala stood at 57,000 hectare till last week in the current season, lower than 62,000 hectare in the year-ago period. The sowing of paddy, the main kharif crop, begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from July and harvesting is done from October onwards.
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Nature’s Fury 31
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Kerala floods man-made: Congress
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hiruvananthapuram: The Congress has said that the floods in Kerala, the worst in a century, were man-made and due to faulty dam management. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media that the tragedy took place because of lack of coordination between the Power Minister, the Water Resource Ministers and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). "This monsoon, Kerala received 41.44 per cent more rains and all the (sluice gates of the) dams were opened without proper analysis or impact studies... People were totally unaware that the dams were being opened," he said. In Kerala, the dams are managed either by the KSEB or the Water Resources Ministry. The worst affected districts due to the floods were Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Wayanad which have the maximum number of dams. "The rains this season were far less
than in 1924. The tragedy that took place this time was because weather forecasts were overlooked and callousness," the Congress leader said. "The Idukki dam's maximum water capacity is 2,403 feet. Since July 15, its capacity had reached 90 per cent. On July 31, the water level was at 2,395.68 feet and Power Minister M.M. Mani said a trial run would be conducted when the level touches 2,397 feet". "He did not do so. When the water level touched 2,398 feet on August 9, the first floodgate was opened," said Chennithala. He said that in Chalakuddy in Thrissur district, one of the worst hit places, the sluice gates of all the six dams were opened together. "The Kerala government has failed to learn from the Ockhi disaster. The Chief Minister had promised to revamp the Disaster Management Authority by bringing in experts. That file is still in his office... This is nothing but a manmade disaster." Dismissing Chennithala's alle-
gations, Dam Safety Authority Chairman, Justice (retd) C.N. Ramachandran Nair said: "Things are being exaggerated and I do not believe all the allegations that have been raised are true." KSEB Chairman N.S. Pillai agreed that the dams' sluice gates were opened simultanesouly but the board operated based on proper planning and coordination. "I can provide all the details of what and how we operated. Everything worked according to a proper plan," said Pillai. Power Minister Mani said all the allegations would be looked into. Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekheran said this was not a time to play blame games and "instead concentrate on the biggest relief operations the government is overseeing". About one million people are sheltered in over 3,000 relief camps in Kerala following the devastating floods, the worst since 1924. The death toll since the monsoon rains began on May 29 has been estimated at around 370.
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32 Sports
Asian Games 2018
25m pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat strikes historic Asiad gold
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ahi Sarnobat scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Games as she prevailed in a nervy shoot-off in the 25m pistol competition on August 21.. The 27-year-old got the better of Thailand's Naphaswan Yangpaiboon in a shoot-off after both shot a Games record score of 34 in the finals. In the shoot-off, Rahi hit three while the Thai shooter missed three to settle for the silver medal as the Indian improved upon her bronze medal-winning feat at the 2014 edition. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Sports 33
Rahi started the finals proceedings on a great note as she led from start till the end of 40 shots in the final. After the first three series, the Indian shooter led the charts with a score of 14. Maintaining her lead till the end of six series, Rahi's score read 25. However, she later faultered in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th series after a score of 3, 2, 2 and 2 respectively where the two shooters found themselves tied at 34 points. The tie resulted in a shoot-off where the Indian shooter, a twotime Commonwealth Games champion, fared better than the Thai opponent. Meanwhile, Japan's Minjung
Kim of Japan took the bronze medal after scoring 29. Manu Bhaker, another Indian in the fray, finished sixth after a score of 16 as she exited after the seventh series. It was surprising as Manu had earlier topped the qualifying round with a Games record score of 593, while Rahi was seventh with 580 points. Manu got 297 points in the three-series precision round, with scores of 99, 98 and 100 respectively. She scored 296 in the threeseries rapid round, with scores of
100, 97 and 99 respectively. Manu's total of 593 was eight points ahead of the second best performer, South Korean Minjung Kim. Rahi shot 97, 95, 96 for a total of 288 in the precision round. In the rapid round, she posted scores of 98, 96, 98 for a total of 292. In the finals, Rahi showed her experience to come out with a successful performance from the beginning. With Rahi's medal, India's gold medal count now stands at four. India now has 11 medals in total.
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34 Sports
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Serena Williams highest paid female athlete: Forbes
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erena Williams has been named the highest paid female athlete for the third consecutive year, according to the annual list published by Forbes on August 21. The list was dominated by tennis players with India’s PV Sindhu and former American racing driver Danica Patrick being the only two non-tennis players on the list. Sindhu was also the only Indian to feature in the top 10. Serena, who had taken a 14month break from the sport after she announced her pregnancy, returned to competition earlier in the year after giving birth last September. Despite the break, she earned $62,000 in winnings over the past year but received a whopping $18.1 million from endorsements, Forbes revealed. This means she earned twice as much off the court as compared to any other female athlete, according to Forbes. Serena will be aiming to equal the legendary Margaret Court’s alltime record of 24 Grand Slam titles, when she competes at the US Open in New York this month. She
currently stands on 23. Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, who recently captured her first Grand Slam title earlier this year at the 2018 Australian Open, was second on the list with combined earnings of $13 million. America’s reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens was third with a total of $11.2 million.
Spaniard Garbine Muguruza ($11 million) and Russian Maria Sharapova ($10.5 million) rounded up the top five. Meanwhile, among the nontennis players to make the list, PV Sindhu had a total of $8.5 million, while Danica finished with $7.5 million, giving them the seventh and ninth spots, respectively. In June, Forbes had issued a ranking of the world's 100 highestpaid athletes but did not feature a single woman. Serena Williams, who was the only woman on the list the previous year, dropped out due to her 14-month pregnancy and maternity break.
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Sports 35
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GVR Karate Academy wins laurels
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VR Karate Academy has won the laurels for imparting free training in karate for as many as one lakh people in just one year. The academy director Dr. G.S. Gopal Reddy found place in Wonder Book of Records and Kohi-Noor Book of Records recently for his exemplary work. The guests at the programmes held for presentation of the rewards lauded the services of Reddy in providing training for women and young girls in self-defense.
GVR Karate Academy was established in the year 1994. The academy provides training to the trainees at National Police Academy, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State Jail Departments, Telangana State Police Academy, Andhra Pradesh Police Academy, Police Training College, Amberpet, RTC Security personnel in unarmed combat and many other organizations. Students of the academy won medals at tournaments held at China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Dubai and in many other events.
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36 Education
English important, but not at cost of mother tongue English is not a replacement for the mother tongue, but is important in the context of the present global situation," said British Council India Director Alan Gemmell
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he British Council, which is working closely with the Delhi government to improve the English skills of students in government schools, believes the language is important in the present scenario but not at the cost of one's mother tongue. "English is not a replacement for the mother tongue, but is important in the context of the present global situation," said British Council India Director Alan Gemmell. The British Council, along with
the University of Cambridge, is running "The Language of Education in Multilingual India: Exploring Effects on Reading and Mathematics" project in Delhi government schools to explore and
develop the multilingual learning and cognitive abilities of the students. "Appropriate use of English in education systems has been part of our global charter. English has one
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Education 37
is the same. Apart from Delhi, the project is also running in Hyderabad and Patna. "One of the reasons for choosing the three cities was that we have our collaborators present in all these cities. In this project, the British Council is the strongest partner," Ianthi Maria Tsimpli, Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, said. Data collection is underway with about 1,000 child participants and the findings are expected to be
Another issue arises here. The children in government schools are mostly first generation learners who do not have any exposure to the written language. Even their exposure to the spoken language is less. "Their parents are often engaged in making their ends meet. They do not have time to even talk to their children," Marlena explained. Speaking about other key issues in the learning process, Tsimpli said: "The size of the classroom
reported in 2020. There is also another challenge. "The challenge is children are coming to schools and not being able to adapt language skills. The system has failed in teaching the children how to read, learn and express in language. This makes it difficult for them to use the language in other subjects as well. When a child finds it difficult to read a language, he will find it difficult to learn social science, science and other subjects in that language," Atishi Marlena, former advisor to Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia, said. The basic of any system should be that a child should be able to acquire the first language, she said, adding: "When he is comfortable with the first language, only then will he be able to learn all other things." Tsimpli echoed the sentiments: "Being able to communicate is the first step of learning. Until you are able to communicate in a language, you cannot learn in that language."
matters in learning. It is difficult for a teacher to teach and at the same time to keep the focus on 50-60 students." "When we came in, there were classes with over 150 students," Marlena said. One of the problems government schools face is the discipline issue. "The teacher asks the student to stand out of the class over discipline issues, but they failed to realise that the child is creating the disturbance as he is not able to pay attention to the class. He failed to learn the basic language skills. They will not access the happenings of the classrooms if they cannot read the things written on the blackboard or in a textbook," Marlena said. "The minute they start acquiring what is happening in the class, the minute they start understanding what the teacher is saying, they will pay attention and the system will transform. The challenge before us is: How are you going to make them learn," she said.
The size of the classroom matters in learning. It is difficult for a teacher to teach and at the same time to keep the focus on 50-60 students
of the highest numbers of loan words from Indian languages and it is only natural that it has become one of India's languages. It has also become an essential skill in the 21st century, an 'operating system language' across the world," Gemmell said. This research project, he said, will provide further evidence for their belief in multilingualism and the role the mother tongue plays in early years of education. The project started in 2016 to find out whether children who speak a language at home that is different from the medium of instruction in school, have lower learning outcomes than children whose home and school language
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38 Education
Here's how seating positions are linked to student's performance
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ectures are oral presentations intended to present information or teach students about a particular topic and understand how students interact and learn within the lecture theatre environment is central to successful learning. In a new study, researchers examined students' reasons for choosing particular seats in a lecture hall and investigated how seating posi-
tions correlate with student performance. Many students preferred sitting with their friends, while others were more concerned with either attracting or avoiding the lecturer's attention. Some students chose seats that allowed them to see and hear clearly, while others picked easily available seats that made them feel less anxious. Friendship groups who sat together tended to achieve similar grades, and students who sat alone
at the edges tended to do worse than average. Lecturers may be able to use these findings to provide assistance to anxious students and to support the learning of all students by encouraging interactions between the different groups. Lead author Dr. David P. Smith, said, "Interaction is a key part of learning and knowing who the students are interacting with can be a great benefit when designing activities."
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Social Menale 39
'Most Indian parents posting their kids' photos online despite threats'
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lthough Indian parents are aware that images of their children posted online could end up in the wrong hands, most of them are still sharing their kids' images online often without any consent from them, a survey by global cyber security firm McAfee revealed. The survey, titled "The Age of Consent," found 40.5 per cent of parents in India (with Mumbai being the most active) post a photo or video of their child at least once a day on their social media accounts, with 36 per cent posting a picture of their child once a week. Most parents identified the following concerns associated with sharing images online including paedophilia (16.5 per cent), stalking (32 per cent), kidnapping (43 per cent) and cyberbullying (23 per cent), but many (62 per cent) don't even consider if their child would consent to their image being posted online. "What's even more alarming is that a whopping 76 per cent of parents say they are aware that the images of their children posted online could end up in the wrong hands," the survey noted. Mumbai (66.5 per cent) was followed by Delhi (61 per cent) and Bengaluru (55 per cent) where majority of parents believed they have the right to share images of their child online without consulting them first.
"The survey reveals parents are not giving enough consideration to what they post online and how it could harm their children. Posting kids' information may compromise their personal information," said Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director - McAfee. Responsibility lies with parents to understand the implications of
their social media habits/actions and the repercussions the child may face, he added. The survey found parents from Mumbai to be most active with 48 per cent posting a picture of their child on social media at least once per day in comparison to other metros like Delhi (38.5 per cent) and Bengaluru (31 per cent). More than half of the parents surveyed (67 per cent) admit that they have or would share a photo of their child in their school uniform despite the risk of giving away personal information thus paving the way for stalkers to get added details on their child's whereabouts. While 55 per cent of parents only share images of their child on private social media accounts, 42
per cent are still sharing images on public social media accounts. "Parents from Bengaluru (59 per cent) exercise highest caution and post pictures of their children only from private social media accounts, closely followed by Mumbai (57 per cent) and Delhi (48.5 per cent)," the findings showed. While it's clear that parents are worried about physical risks to their children's safety, results indicate less concern about the emotional risks. Interestingly, it appears mothers consider the embarrassing side effect more than fathers, with 47 per cent mothers admitting that they would never post images their children would be embarrassed by, in comparison to 38 per cent of dads. To reach this conclusion, McAfee commissioned market research firm OnePoll to conduct a survey of 1,000 parents of children aged 1 month to 16 years old across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. "Many social networks will tag a user's location when a photo is uploaded. Parents should ensure this feature is turned off to avoid disclosing their location. This is especially important when posting photos away from home," said McAfee. Parents should only share photos and other social media posts with their intended audience, it added.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
40 Science & Tech
DEVICE THAT CAN HARVEST ENERGY FROM YOUR ARM A
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wearable energy-harvesting device could generate energy from the swing of an arm while walking or jogging, say researchers. The device, about the size of a wristwatch, produces enough power to run a personal health monitoring system, reported the team from Pennsylvania State University and the University of Utah. "The devices we make using our optimised materials run somewhere between 5 and 50 times
better than anything else that's been reported," said Susan Trolier-McKinstry, the Steward S. Flaschen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Penn State. Energy-harvesting devices are in high demand to power the millions of devices that make up the Internet of Things (IoT). By providing continuous power to a rechargeable battery or supercapacitor, energy harvesters can reduce the labour cost of changing out batteries when they fail and
keep dead batteries out of landfills. According to the researchers, they can double the power output using the cold sintering process - a low-temperature synthesis technology developed at Penn State. In addition, the researchers are working on adding a magnetic component to the current mechanical harvester to scavenge energy over a larger portion of the day when there is no physical activity, said the study published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Science & Tech 41
IBM India collaborates with five tech firms to tackle natural disasters
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BM has announced a partnership with several technology giants as part of its "Call for Code Global Initiative" to create solutions to mitigate the aftermath of natural disasters. The programme, launched by IBM in May 2018, now includes Persistent Systems, Invest India, Wipro Limited, Capgemini and NASSCOM. It aims to bring start-ups, academic and enterprise developers together to solve one of the most pressing societal issues of our time: preventing, responding to and recovering from natural disasters. "2017 has been the costliest year ever for natural disasters in the Indian sub-continent. At the same time, India has the second largest developer community with 3.5 million developers -- a community with great potential to create innovative solutions," Seema Kumar, Country Leader, Developer Ecosystem and Start-ups at IBM, said in a statement. "IBM intends to harness this potential by giving developers access to tools, technologies, free code, and training with experts that will strengthen our efforts towards mitigating disasters," she added. As part of the programme, IBM will provide access to Cloud, data, artificial intelligence (AI) and Blockchain technologies, along with training and code to the developers. Since the inception of the programme, over 35 organisations
have "answered the call" to help improve the world, the statement said. While tech giants like Persistent Systems, Wipro Limited and Capgemini hosted hackathons within their organisations to inspire their workforce to grow into problem solvers, NASSCOM and Invest India extended support in reaching out to start-ups and encouraging young entrepreneurs to be a part of the social change in India. There have been over 300 events in 50 cities around the world in addition to "Call for Code" days across 13 IBM Development Labs
in eight different countries to engage developers. India has held 40 similar events across all major cities in the country including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Goa, Mumbai, Nagpur, Gurugram and Chennai. In addition, in the wake of heavy rains and floods that wreaked havoc in Kerala, IBM also announced a two-day hackathon in partnership with NASSCOM, to help design and build solutions to tackle natural disasters. The hackathon is scheduled to be held in the first week of September at Thiruvananthapuram.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
42 Legal News
SC issues notice to AP over bifurcation of High Court
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n response to a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Centre with the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the 2015 judgement of the High Court division bench, the SC on August 31 sent notice to the Andhra Pradesh government to respond to the Centre. The HC division bench had ruled that the High Court for Andhra Pradesh can only be set up in Andhra Pradesh, be it temporary or permanent. The two-member bench of AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued the notice and asked the Andhra Pradesh government to respond in two weeks time. The Andhra Pradesh state was not representaed in court. The Centre in its SLP contended that under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, there is no bar that the existing common High Court cannot be divided into two respective high courts of the states (AP and Telangana) and shifted to a new building/premises in the same city until construction and constitution of a new High Court within the territory of AP state. KK Venugopal, the Attorney General representing the Ministry of Law, told the Supreme Court that the Andhra Pradesh government, despite four years after bifurcation, has not yet constructed a building for the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He stressed on the need to divide the existing HC in Hyderabad between the two states.
Venugopal argued that under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, no curbs on bifurcation of the Hyderabad High Court have been set even if construction of the building in Andhra Pradesh is pending. At present, there are 24 court halls at the Hyderabad High Court that could be allocated to Andhra Pradesh for the functioning of the new High Court.
Senior Counsel for the Telangana state government, Mukul Rohatgi, supported the central government proposal to allocate the 24 vacant halls for setting up the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He told the apex court that the Telangana state government is even ready to vacate the existing premises and choose other premises for the functioning of the Telangana High Court if required.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Legal News 43
SC quashes case against Priya Varrier's wink song
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he Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice AM Khanwilkar, quashed the criminal proceedings against actress Priya Varrier and the director of the Malayalam film Oru Adaar Love, Omar Lulu, on Friday. The ruling came in the wake of a petition filed by a religious group in Hyderabad against the lyrics of the song ‘Manikya Malaraya Poovi’, for allegedly hurting Islamic sentiments. The complaint also asked for the video to be taken down
and not be broadcast anywhere else. Strongly reprimanding the Telangana government, Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, "Somebody in a film sings a song and you have no other job but to file a case." The apex court also said that no FIR can be lodged against the actor or anybody associated with the film in future. The 18-year-old actor became popular for her wink in the song ‘Manikya Malaraya Poovi’, which created a buzz across social media platforms. After the song was released on YouTube on February 9, a First Information Report (FIR) complaint against the actor and director was filed at the Falaknama police station in Hyderabad, alleging that the lyrics of the song, describing the love between the Prophet and his first wife Khadeeja, insulted the religious sentiments of the Muslim community. According to Live Law, a criminal complaint was also filed in Maharashtra by the Raza Academy and a group of persons under the aegis of the Jan Jagran Samiti for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims. Following this, Priya and Omar had moved the Supreme Court for quashing the criminal cases against them. They had also sought a direction prohibiting the states against initiating any criminal proceedings or registering any complaint or FIR on the ground that the lyrics of the song have violated the religious sentiment of a particular community. In their petition, they said that the song ‘Manikya Malaraya Poovi’ has its origin in an old folk song from Kerala penned in 1978 by PMA Jabbar, which was first sung by Thalassery Rafeeq, in praise of the Prophet and his wife Beevi Khadija. The criminal complaint is instituted by fringe groups in various groups based on incorrect interpretation of the song, the petitioners had alleged. They also argued that the complaints have in fact "adversely affected their right to life, liberty and freedom of expression under Articles 19(1)(a), 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution".
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
44 Legal News
Ayesha Meera’s parents allege evidence destroyed in lower court, HC seeks SIT report
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he Hyderabad High Court on August 27 directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra Pradesh police probing the murder of B Pharmacy student Ayesha Meera, to submit a report on the allegations by the victim's parents that pieces of evidence in the case were destroyed. Ayesha Meera, a 17-year-old pharmacy student from Vijayawada, was brutally killed on December 27, 2007. Her body was found outside the toilet on the second floor of the Sri Durga Ladies Hostel in Ibrahimpatnam, where she was staying. Ayesha's parents alleged that her clothes and other such material evidence that were seized from the crime scene, were destroyed during the initial stages of the investigation when the case was being heard by a trial court, to protect the real killers of their daughter, who had political connections. After hearing the petitioners, the court asked Visakhapatnam DIG Srikanth, who is leading the investigation, to find out if any evidence which was presented in the lower court had been destroyed and if the SIT was aware of the allegations. As the counsel for the Andhra Pradesh government sought time to respond, the court granted four weeks' time. Last month, the HC questioned
the slow investigation process after the SIT hit a roadblock earlier as it wanted to conduct tests on the hostel warden, Inampudi Padma, her husband Siva Ramakrishna, Ayesha’s roommates Sowmya and K Kavitha, and prime accused Koneru Satish Babu, Abburi Ganesh and Chintha Pawan Kumar. Koneru Satish is the grandson of former Congress minister Koneru Ranga Rao. However, none of the accused agreed to give their consent to the SIT to conduct the tests. Background In August 2008, almost a year after Ayesha was killed and after the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) took up the case, the police arrested Satyam Babu. Satyam Babu was arrested in a
cell phone robbery case on August 17 that year and the police claimed that he had confessed to Ayesha’s murder during interrogation. In 2010, the Mahila Sessions Court in Vijayawada sentenced him to life imprisonment for Ayesha’s rape and murder. Ayesha’s parents had earlier alleged that relatives of minister Koneru Ranga Rao were involved in the murder and that the police had pinned the crime on Satyam Babu to misdirect the investigation. In April 2017, Satyam Babu was acquitted by the Hyderabad High Court. The court also ordered action to be taken against the police officials who investigated the case. The government had then decided to re-investigate the case and constituted the SIT.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Heritage 45
Rare Buddha sculpture found in Andhra Pradesh
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rare ancient six-feet threeinch tall Buddha sculpture dating back to 14th century was found at Eturu village of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh when the villagers were digging the ground to lay a stone called boddu, believed to be guarding the village. Terming the statue as a rare one, CEO of Cultural Centre Vijayawada, Sivanagi Reddy, said, "This is one of the very few sites that such a rare Buddha statue of 6 feet has been discovered in South India.
It has been identified as Amitabha Buddha, where the Buddha is seen mediating in Vajrasanam (mediation posture) with flames behind his head." The CEO also said that the statues in the celestial postures were earlier found in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh but were comparatively small in size. The sculpture is seated with folded legs, carved entirely on a granite and is 6.3 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 1.5 feet thick. "There is a mention of a Dhanyakatakam, present day Amaravati in an ancient Buddhist
temple in Sri Lanka. During 1440 AD, it is written that the sculptures in Dhanyakatakam were ruined following which a monk from Sri Lanka brought them here," the CEO added. Reportedly, after the villagers took out the sculpture, they alerted the archaeology department but denied to give it to them. Reddy said that the villagers consider it as a good sign to have unearthed such a rare statue and want to preserve it. "Following this, the statue has now been shifted to a village school," Reddy said.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
46 Life Style
Change your breakfast, dinner timings to reduce fat!
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urns out, modest changes in breakfast and dinner times can reduce body fat. During a 10-week study on 'time-restricted feeding' (a form of intermittent fasting), researchers led by Dr Jonathan Johnston from the University of Surrey investigated the impact changing meal times has on dietary intake, body composition and blood risk markers for diabetes and heart disease. Participants were split into two groups - those who were required to delay their breakfast by 90 minutes and have their dinner 90
minutes earlier, and those who ate meals as they would normally. Participants were required to provide blood samples and complete diet diaries before and during the 10week intervention and complete a feedback questionnaire immediately after the study. Researchers found that those who changed their mealtimes lost on average more than twice as much body fat as those in the control group, who ate their meals as normal. If these pilot data can be repeated in larger studies, there is potential for time-restricted feeding to have broad health benefits. Although there were no restrictions on what participants could
eat, researchers found that those who changed their mealtimes ate less food overall than the control group. As part of the study, researchers also examined if fasting diets are compatible with everyday life and long-term commitment. Dr Jonathan Johnston, said, "Although this study is small, it has provided us with invaluable insight into how slight alterations to our meal times can have benefits to our bodies. Reduction in body fat lessens our chances of developing obesity and related diseases, so is vital in improving our overall health." The full findings are present in the Journal of Nutritional Science.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Life Style 47
Eat right to keep acne away
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ave acne trouble? A balanced diet along with a healthy lifestyle can help you curb it, say experts and suggest what all one should eat to keep acne at bay. Brown rice: Brown rice is a rich source of vitamin B, protein, magnesium, and several antioxidants. For acne, vitamin B acts as our skin's stress fighter, which will help regulate hormones levels and prevent the likelihood of breakouts. Garlic: Garlic is another super food that helps fight inflammation. Garlic is full of a naturally occurring chemical called allicin, which kills off many harmful bacteria and viruses your body might be fighting, so its proven to be good for reducing inflammation in acnes. Broccoli: It is the perfect skin clearing food. It contains health building properties like vitamins A, B complex, C, E, and K. These antioxidants fight radical damage
which will assist with the luminosity of your skin. Fish: Known to be a very good source of omega-3 and 6-fatty acids, fish is excellent for an acne prone skin. These acids reduce inflammation in the skin. Sardine and salmon are very good for skin. Nuts: Deficiencies in minerals such as zinc and selenium have been linked to acne. Most nuts contain selenium, vitamin E, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, calcium and iron, which are all essential for healthy skin. Fennel: If you are looking for the perfect natural skin cleanser, eat fennel. This licorice-tasting root vegetable can improve digestion, reduce swelling and help to flush out excess fluids and toxins in your skin. Green tea: Many studies show that green tea helps fight acne. Drink more green tea throughout the day, and try applying cooled tea bags or a cloth dipped in cooled green tea to acne-prone areas of
your face for 10-15 minutes. Red grapes: The fruit and seed contain powerful natural chemicals and antioxidants that have been shown to treat inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. On top of this, grapes can also help to control the side effects of allergic reactions on skin. Alfalfa sprouts: It looks like grass, but these sprouts are packed with valuable, skin-clearing nutrients. Alfalfa sprouts contain live enzymes which help fight inflammation. Foods rich in vitamin A and carotenoids: Carotenoids are used in anti inflammatory drugs for treatment for acne. Rich sources of carotenoids include carrot juice, carrots, spinach, kale, cantaloupe, vegetable soup, mangos, papaya, instant fortified oatmeal, frozen peas and tomato juice. Fresh and canned peaches and red bell peppers provide modest amounts of carotenoid.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
48 Life Style
Sexy selfies by women linked to economic inequality
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omen tend to post sexy selfies online more in environments with greater economic inequality, rather than where they might be oppressed because of their gender. The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggest that women take sexy selfies to compete with peers and climb the social ladder. "The argument is usually that when you see sexualisation, you see disempowerment," said lead author Khandis Blake from University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney in Australia. "What we found instead is that women are more likely to invest time and effort into posting sexy selfies online in places where economic inequality is rising, and not in places where men hold more societal power and gender inequality is rife," Blake added. For the study, the team analysed tens of thousands of social media posts across 113 countries. They tracked posts where people had taken selfies and then
noted those that they were tagged sexy, hot or similar. The researchers explained that income inequality increases competitiveness and status anxiety among people at all levels of the social hierarchy, making them sensitive to where they sit on the social ladder and wanting them to do better than others. "That income inequality is a big predictor of sexy selfies suggests that sexy selfies are a marker of social climbing among women that tracks economic incentives in the local environment," Blake said. "Rightly or wrongly, in today's environment, looking sexy can generate large returns, economically, socially, and personally," she added. The researchers then found the exact same pattern in real-world spending in other appearance-enhancing areas. "So, when a young woman
adjusts her bikini provocatively with her phone at the ready, don't think of her as vacuous or as a victim. Think of her as a strategic player in a complex social and evolutionary game. She's out to maximise her lot in life, just like everyone," Blake said.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Fashion 49
Beauty regime that needs change with season
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very season brings with it a different set of skin characteristics and problems. It can get hard to keep up with the ever changing beauty regime but it is extremely important as the same beauty regime can damage the skin in several ways. Experts list down some tips for your skin to keep up with the changing seasons: The routine of cleansingtoning-moisturizing remains the same in all seasons with variations only in product types. Summers call for deep-clean cleansers. Monsoon require shine and glow cleansers whereas winters call for mild cleansers along with intense moisturizing. Toner with green cucumber and tea would be the best for the hotter weather and to keep the acne at bay. It is also very important to make sure the product being used in your beauty regime are organic as it not just helps the skin maintain its hydration but also treats it from within as the ingredients are in the purest form. Sunscreen is a must have and remain the same for all seasons, but monsoon particularly requires a water-proof sunscreen. As skin is the most active at night, it is important to use a nourishing night cream. An organic night cream not only maintain the moisture but also helps delay ageing. An organic Anti-Tan scrub is
important for the summers, whereas a regular organic exfoliating scrub is perfect for monsoon and winters, but be careful while scrubbing skin when it's rough and dry. Lip balms' importance remain constant throughout but a shea butter lip balm would work like magic, especially in winters. Do not switch over directly/entirely to another seasonal regime. Follow the tapering method to switch over Oiling the hair and/or body massages are necessary for health, flexibility, strength and vitality, and should be included in one's regimes in every season. It is also not wise to change the entire range of product/brands being used suddenly, as this may lead to untoward effects The amount and frequency of moisturisation should be adapting to the fluctuating temperatures of the changing seasons. The same
applies to cleansing regimes, which may be more frequent during summer. The Summer and Monsoon seasons bring increased potential for infections, thus adequate hygiene has to be maintained internally and externally. Toning suits all the needs of all seasons, as it helps purify clogged skin pores and minimises their enlarged appearance for a smoother, younger-looking complexion It is advised that any products or methodologies adopted should not be overused. Excessive use of makeup during transitioning seasons should be avoided Eat well, sleep well, exercise well. Always wear a smile! It helps take an optimistic approach to every day and focus on the enjoyable aspects of the changing seasons Consult an expert if any problem persists
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
50 Fashion
Make perfume stay longer during monsoon
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plashing the fragrance all around your body may disappear in the middle of the day during the monsoon season. Choosing your perfect fragrance is equally important as opting for the one that stays for long. Experts suggest how to do this. * When your skin is moisturised, that's the best time to spritz on perfume as this encourages the skin to retain the scent better. Ideally, use fragrant oils on the body as they will retain their essence for much longer. * The pulse points on your body emits heat. applying perfume on these spots will ensure that the scent is diffused as an aura from
your body. These spots are your wrists, neck, midriff and inside of your elbow * An ideal way to retain the scent of a spray-based product would be to apply a generous amount to your innerwear along with your clothes. This will create a double layer of fragrance on you enhancing its strength and longevity. * Be selective in choosing your base, mid and top notes of the perfume. Opt for an eau de parfum rather than eau de toilette. The former contains a higher concentration of oils that will not only last longer and will stay true to its original composition of note. * For the light fragrances; you can experiment by building layers
with soft fruity and citrus fragrances. Also, you can use body lotions or gels or sorbets to even keep your skin hydrated and topping up with a strong fragrance. This helps in staying your fragrance for a longer time. * The finest ways for an overall touch to your personality, apply the fragrance to your hair and they carry fragrance for a very long time. But this should not be a regular habit. Also, do not apply it directly as perfumes has alcohol which might damage your hair. The first is to spray your perfume into the air and walk through it. This will more lightly scent your locks but also help prevent damage from alcohol.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Health 51
Know how smoking harms your unborn baby
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he dangers of smoking are many, but the problem gets exponential when pregnant women opt for it as their unborn babies are also at risk. In spite of being aware of the ill effects associated with smoking, including several forms of cancer, the habit is still prevalent among
many, including pregnant women. Smoking during pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20 to 30 percent of low-birth weight babies. So, all the pregnant women should keep the following in mind before lighting a cigarette. According to Dr. Shobha Gupta, Medical Director & Infertility Specialist from Mother's Lap IVF Centre, smoking among preg-
nant women may lead to birth of premature babies. "Baby's who are born too early are always at risk of high infections and their organs are not developed properly. In extreme cases babies may even die because of low birth weight," she added. Most importantly, the placenta is at risk. It is the organ which helps to develop the uterus during pregnancy and later provides nutrition to your baby. Dr. Gupta said that if one tends to smoke during pregnancy, it may "prevent the placenta from giving proper nutrients and oxygen to the baby that is needed". "Smoking might also cause the placenta to get separated from the womb too early which is extremely dangerous for the baby and mother too," she added. Dr. Anubha Singh, Gynecologist and IVF Expert, explained that SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is 30 percent more likely to affect your baby as compared to non-smokers. Women who smoke are also twice as likely to have a miscarriage as compared to their non-smoking expectant mothers. Passive smoking also affects your unborn. Studies show that for a pregnant woman, being around the people who smoke increases the risk of their child being born at less than normal weight and may also lead to growth issues, added Dr. Anubha Singh. Hence, quitting the habit of smoking is the best option for the health of both the mother and the baby.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
52 Health
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Is normal delivery possible after cesarean? Yes, say doctors
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t is said that "once a cesarean, always a cesarean". It is commonly believed that a woman who has undergone a c-section delivery will have to opt for the same method while giving birth to her next child. But medical experts are trying to dispel this myth. According to them, Vaginal Birth After Cesarean, commonly termed as VBAC, can be adopted by any mother for her second or
third birth if she wishes to avoid the complications of c-section delivery. "Any woman with a previous caesarean section can attempt a VBAC. The majority of women, despite having a c-sect delivery, often prefer a vaginal delivery. Women are showing more courage towards this. It is safe and the established hospitals are providing full support to mothers who plan to go for a vaginal delivery," Dr Mukta Kapila, Director, Obestrics and Gynaecology, at Fortis
Gurgaon, told media. Dr Rinku Sengupta, who had been associated with the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research as Maternity Programme Head, said that in recent times two out of three women with a previous c-section deliveries attempt a VBAC and almost 90 per cent of them are successful. "Only pregnant women above the age of 40 are more at risk for stillbirths and unsuccessful VBACs. Careful consideration
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Health 53
should be given to the timing of delivery in these cases," Sengupta said. Sengupta explained that obesity is also a factor that could potentially increase the risk of uterine rupture and this can be a limitation for VBAC. She also pointed to a study that 85 per cent of normal weight women (BMI 18.5-24.9) achieved successful VBAC, while only 61 per cent of morbidly obese (BMI 40 or more) women achieved VBAC. Kapila said that before opting for a VBAC, the history of the previous delivery needed to be considered. "Under which conditions and circumstances, a caesarean was conducted -- in emergency or breach -- first needs to be identified. The mother, planning for vaginal delivery, should at least maintain a minimum gap of two years before opting for the second or third child," she stated. Often c-section delivery leaves a scar in the uterus, which, according to the medical experts, is a vital factor to be considered before they suggest a VBAC.
According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), some uterine scars (such as vertical scars which are now rare) are more likely than others to cause a rupture during VBAC. "Therefore, it is important to show medical records of prior cesarean delivery so that doctors can assess viability for a VBAC in case of increased risk of uterine rupture. Sometimes women are discouraged from trying for a VBAC because of a thin scar," Sengupta noted. However, when it comes to vaginal delivery, the first thought that crosses most womens' minds is of the labour pain which develops a fear of the VBAC. "Everyone knows that labour is painful and even an epidural injection cannot make labour 100 per cent pain-free. But with proper physical and emotional support, continuous one-on-one presence of a skilled care provider or birth partner, and use of natural methods like warm showers, massages and exercises, most mothers cope very
well with labour pain," Sengupta explained. Also, the fear of labout pain, according to the experts, can be dispelled by timely counselling and talking about the benefits and less risk involved in VBAC. Yet, there is always the chance that a VBAC might be called off at the last moment even if the mother didn't face any complications during pregnancy. "A doctor may suggest an emergency c-section if complications occur during labour. If the baby is not able to tolerate labour or the contractions aren't effective in moving the baby down the birth canal, then a cesarean may be the best way to deliver the baby," Sengupta explained. Kapila said that it is the patient's decision that gets greater priority. "There is no point in pushing a mother for VBAC if she is not mentally prepared or feels scared or delivery complications arise at the last moment. Although the doctors will recommend vaginal birth, the patient's life cannot be put at risk," Kapila said.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
54 Health
Depression in children under-recognised by parents, teachers
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arents and teachers may find it difficult to detect depression in young children, that can affect their social skills and academics, a new study shows. According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America, as many as 2-3 per cent of children aged between 6-12 might have a major depressive disorder. But parents and teachers face difficulties in recognising depression in children. The findings, appearing in the Journal of School Psychology, showed that children who show mild to severe symptoms of depression in second and third grades are six times more likely to have skill deficits, such as difficulties with
social skills or academics, than children without symptoms. However, when teachers and parents were asked to rate a child's level of depression, there was only about 5-10 per cent overlap in their ratings. "Some people would view that overlap as the truth about a child's well-being and areas of disagreement as errors, but we need to explore the possibility that each of them are seeing different aspects of children's behaviour and mental health," said Keith Herman, professor in the University of Missouri (MU), College of Education. For the study, the team completed profile analyses of 643 children in early elementary school to explore how patterns between student, teacher and parent report-
ing can be used to gain a holistic picture of a child's mental health. Herman suggested that mental health professionals could work with teachers and parents to identify depressive symptoms early by including self reports from children in mental health evaluations. "The gold standard for identifying children who might be at risk for developing depression later in life is to ask the children themselves," noted Herman. "However, even if a child doesn't say they feel depressed, certain outward behaviours might provide clues to the state of the child's mental health. It's important for teachers and parents to catch these behaviours early to prevent long-term problems that occur with depression," he said.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Feature 55
INDOMITABLE SPIRIT OF COMMITMENT The talks were broadly focused on 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
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A Journey To Realize SELF - 1 Lakh Kilometers
ndia has highest number of young minds, but the utilization of their potential for their growth and growth of the nation is not efficient and up to the mark. The number of professional courses is increasing but the quality of the candidates coming out of the professional courses is dropping drastically. Capable minds in India over past 50 years have been transforming from selflessness to selfishness and self-centric. From “Country First” we are transforming to “Personal Enjoyment First”. We are progressing as a country by increasing imports on the basic needs of Medicine, diagnostic and surgical equipment, Defence and Industrial domains. Most of the
professionals’ graduate end up taking Service oriented jobs irrespective of the field of professional course they graduate. Department of Science and Technology has a lot of schemes and Programmes to uplift the Design, Develop, Manufacturing and Research capability of young minds and students. But in reality there is hardly any growth in the output or building sucessful entrepreneurs. Hence a high need and priority to share the thought process and requirement of being Indigenously capable useful Engineers, Scientists and Entrepreneurs is felt. By continuous discussions and education at least some of the young minds are ignited to take up career
11. 12. 13.
Need for Innovation Product Development focus Conceptualization Design and Development Production and Testing Opportunities Market Focus Economic Growth through Continuous Innovation Focus on Innovative Entreprenuership and Start ups Social Talks with Young Minds Revolution and its need. Growth and Stability Filling in the gap of need and imagination and bringing out “Country First” thought process.
which is useful to realize their goals and also to excel in the engineering fields required to realize Make In India and only then we become self reliant and self sustained economy. To promote the concept of Innovation, Product Development and Make In India in young Engineers and motivate them to work for the country, an activity under the banner of “A Journey To Realize Self – Ride, Interact, Learn, Share, Work and Self realize our potential to Innovate ” was started as a single man effort by Mr. Srinivas Chamarthy on 15th July 2015.
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“We are thankful to Sri Srinivas Chamarthy for visiting our campus and delivering a technical talk to our students on the topic "Integrated engineering and product development through innovation" with a case study " The Story of a Balanced Cube" in NIT Rourkela and inspiring our students” - Prof. SK Patel, Head, Training and Placement, National Institute of Technology. Rourkela
“Srinivas Chamarthy a man with a great mission! He is riding across the country to promote innovation and product development. Today, he visited Incubation center IIT Patna and interacted with B Tech students. Great experience!” - Pramod Kumar Tiwari - Assistant Professor, Head of Incubation and Startup Center, IIT Patna
“Srinivas Chamarthy sir's dedication, insight and enthusiasm towards his dreams are very inspiring.I wish all the best and keep inspiring young engineers like us” - Gayatri, Student Mechanical Engineering NIT Surat
“A Journey To Realize Self is a great motivation and inspiration to young minds of India” – Manish Kumar, Student, BIT Mesra “We are very sure that this idea of shaping their future in core engineering might have got registered in the young budding engineers. He has promoted the idea of innovation and methodologies of research to young engineers of our institute. He instilled in our young minds, the concept of Indigenous development of technologies and Products". - Prof. Dr. K. KEERTHIVASAN, Karpagam Institute of Technology, Coimbatore
"The Beauty of this Wonderful Achievement is you have achieved by giving so much to the Young budding Engineers of Our Country, Congratulations" – Mr. Kulasekhar Kantipudi, Mechanical Engineer, Panaji, Goa
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A silent revolution to build a strong nation with a spiritual foundation – Dr. G. SENGUTTUVAN, MA,M.Ed. M. Phil. Phd. Retired School Principal, Chennai
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“One of the sleepless nights and finally the man on mission came in mind for the help, very next day i learned how my basic needs of life with my my goals should be taken along my vision for social cause and very importantly happiness of self, family and society” - Rajeev Ray, Student, NERIST, Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh
The activity is a self-funded project. As it is important to cover almost all parts of India which includes 786 chosen places, and the journey is embarked on a Royal Enfield Bike and covered more than 300 towns, cities passing through many villages till date. Travelling above ONE lakh kms and giving more than 257 lectures and 331 interactions at several places of the country and inspiring thousands of students is a Herculian task and could be executed only with highest degree of commitment and dedication. It took more than three years to reach this milestone organizing lectures by presenting case studies, which add deeper insight in student's minds to use their capability effectively. The complete activity was split into 6 phases and in each phase a specific stretch and road map was covered that constituted engineering and professional colleges in rural areas, near urban areas and
“It is an immense pleasure to us for being a part of and enlightened with the Journey to Realise Self. Hope this journey never ends. Srinivas Chamarthy is an inspiration always”. - Prabhakar J, Assistant Professor, NMREC Hyderabad
urban areas. In an academic year, the number of months available to travel was effectively 8 months removing the examinations and vacation duration of the colleges. Planning lecture schedule was a challenge in different places based on the availability of the students and time to synchronize with the already existing college activities. Therefore, the lectures were sometimes at far off and distant locations. However, the idea was to approach as many students as possible. Therefore, lectures were conducted wherever possible and in other places, only interactions could happen. Srinivas Chamarthy says, “Working on a mission like this, fulfilling all the responsibilities is a tough task but with the support of family it is very much possible to execute such missions. It is always important to balance personal life and motivation of the family members. I am very thankful to Ms. Sreedevi for being with me in
“I am confident in another 10 years the mission A Journey To Realize SEELF would result in producing world class scientists and technologists with high moral and ethical values with a vision to develop valuable products for human life.” - P. Vinesh, working in Xilinx, California, USA
this mission working to support in all the activities in my absence and team work on personal front, professional front and support of my employees like Alluraiah made me to complete the initial three years plan. It has taken more time than I have expected”. Coming to challenges, overcoming stereotype thinking of college managements was the greatest challenge. There were some wonderful Interactions with some NIT Directors and premium colleges. Some managements expressed initially some disbelief in my work. This was not an easy mission dealing with the people in regular process. But far I have succeeded in communicating my vision. There were many challenges during travel and as I was doing on the bike, the risk of the road was always running in the back of my mind. Largely I had overcome risk of the road by following traffic rules and all set directions and
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58 “A Holy and determined way to Rejunevate energy of young people around the nation” – Shailendra kumar Mishra, NIT Uttarakhand
“Thank 's a lot to Srinivas Chamarthy sir for taking out time and giving us some unbelievable insights about use of science and technology. Till now I have just been studying for the sake of marks and placement but his talk made me think about my purpose, The example of Stoke's and Green's thorem made me realize what I am missing in my current studies.” - Yogesh Deshmukh, Student, NIT Hamirpur
guidelines of road safety. However, there were small incidents in northeast and other areas where there were landslides and I slipped of the bike due to the weight of the luggage. I thank Royal Enfield Rides and Community team for support me in this journey whenever there was a need. I believe that young minds shall use their skill and capability to build products and economy and build it upto a stable and developed economy. We shall stop
working for popularity and instead have to work for building credibility through our sustainable results. We shall work with “COUNTRY FIRST” as philosophy. This is essential and we all have to undergo a transition. India envisaged concept of Selflessness. We have to adopt such methods and pave the way for building a great nation. Patriotism shall be expressed in the way we use our life for building healthy family, society and nation. This is our primary duty. I wish, and pray that my efforts shall encourage young minds I interacted and they shall work for the growth of the nation by becoming useful engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, socialists and valuable citizens of this country. Hope this life is useful to our nation. This life for this country, however small it may be.
Whatsapp No: 9160882600; Facebook group: A Journey to Realise SELF
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Telangana
I am not happy with Hyderabad roads either, says KTR
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P VISHNUVARDHAN REDDY
elangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Minister KT Rama Rao has said that he was aware about the poor condition of roads in many areas in Hyderabad, but appealed to the public to be patient. The Minister made the remarks while inaugurating phase 1 of the renovated Durgam Cheruvu in the city's IT sector. "I know you guys have complaints on roads. I am aware of that. I will get it right. Please leave it to me. I'm also not happy with the state of roads in Hyderabad. I look forward to improving them but we must understand one thing," KTR said. "Developmental works which were not done in the past, have all been taking place at once in Hyderabad at present. If the city roughly has 9,000 km of roads, we ourselves have dug up around 3,000 km to lay a water pipeline. We are facing small difficulties while restoring these, which is why there is a delay," the Minister added. The facilities that were inaugurated at the lake include a jogging and cycling track, a children’s play area, a gym area and modular toilet facilities among other things. KTR also said that the state government had also taken up several projects worth several hundred crore under the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) and said that the Mindspace flyover, situated close to Durgam
Cheruvu, would be completed by the second week of September. Hyderabad’s first cable suspension bridge is also presently being constructed from the main entrance of Ambedkar Open University at Jubilee Hills Road No 45 to the junction near Inorbit Mall, to pass directly over the lake. The Durgam Cheruvu was once, one of the largest lakes in the
Cyberabad area. However, today there have also been several unchecked encroachments on the lake even as untreated sewerage continues to enter the water body on a daily basis. The lake was once known as the 'secret lake', as it was naturally hidden between rocks, with Jubilee Hills on one side and Madhapur on the other.
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60 Space News
India's first manned space mission to send 3 persons
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ndia's first manned space flight Gaganyaan - is expected to send three persons, including a woman, into the space for seven days and the spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km. Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh said GSLV Mk III, the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability. He said two unmanned Gaganyaan missions will be undertaken prior to sending humans. As per ISRO schedule, the first and second unmanned flights would be sent in orbit within 30 and 36 months beginning from
August 2018 respectively, while the third and the first human spacecraft would be placed in orbit within 40 months -- end of December 2021 or January 2022. With a mass of seven tonnes, the Gaganyaan system module is named by the ISRO as Orbital Module -- a combination of service module and crew module. The crew module in which the three astronauts will leave for space will be made of 3.7 metre diameter and seven metre height. "The total programme is expected to be completed before 2022, with the first unmanned flight within 30 months. The mission will aim to send a threeperson crew to space for a period of seven days. Two men and one
woman would be the part of the crew members. The spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km. The programme is expected to cost less than Rs 10,000 crore," Singh said. The Gaganyaan mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address. He had said that by 2022 or even before that, some of the young boys and girls will unfurl the Tricolour in space. Sing said the complex programme will truly be a national endeavour with the participation of ISRO, academia, industry as well as other government and private agencies as stake holders. "The mission will make India the fourth nation in the world to
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launch a Human Spaceflight Mission," Singh said. To accelerate the programme, ISRO may consider seeking collaborations with space agencies from friendly countries and advanced space programmes, he said. ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said the project is in progress since 2004 and it would be completed before 75th Independence Day in 2022. "Under the Gaganyaan schedule, three flights will be sent in orbit. Of the three, there will be two unmanned flights and one human spaceflight. The human spaceflight will take 16 minutes to reach the orbit where it will stay for five to seven days. After de-boost, the Orbital Module will take 36 minutes to splash down in Arabian
Sea. The crew module will be recovered within 15-20 days," Sivan said. Describing the benefit of the Gaganyaan, Sivan said: "It will enhance science and technology levels of the country, help in national project involving other institutes, academia and industry and improve industrial growth. It will also inspire youth to take challenge in science and technology, additional human resource development and provide way for the international collaboration and policies." "It will also help in providing employment to 15,000 people. Of them 861 will be from ISRO, 1,366 from national agencies and 11,050 from industries." Sivan said the names of the as-
tronauts will be decided later but he confirmed that they will be selected from Indian Air Force and the ISRO. He said the space suit is ready for the astronauts who will be given over three years of training in India and other foreign countries. "ISRO will also launch 19 missions before 2022, five in the coming months and five in 2019. These missions include Chandrayaan 2 in January 2019 that will take nearly 40 days to reach the moon. "Four other satellite programmes such as GSAT-19, GSAT29, GSAT-11, GSAT-20 are in progress aimed at providing high bandwidth connectivity to rural and remote areas," Sivan said.
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62 Space News
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Water spotted at Jupiter's Great Red Spot: NASA
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ooking at the depths of the Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a storm that has been raging on the planet for over 350 years, NASA scientists have found water above the planet's deepest clouds. The team led by Gordon l. Bjoraker, Astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space flight center in Maryland, US, were looking from ground-based telescopes at wavelengths sensitive to thermal radiation leaking from the depths of Jupiter's persistent storm, when they detected the chemical signatures of water above the planet's deepest clouds. The pressure of the water, combined with the measurements of another oxygen-bearing gas, carbon monoxide, imply that Jupiter has two to nine times more oxygen than the sun. This finding supports theoreti-
cal and computer-simulation models that have predicted abundant water (H2O) on Jupiter, the scientists said. "The moons that orbit Jupiter are mostly water ice, so the whole neighborhood has plenty of water. Why wouldn't the planet -- which is this huge gravity well, where everything falls into it -- be water rich, too?" Bjoraker said in a statement. The location of the water cloud, plus the amount of carbon monoxide that the researchers identified on Jupiter, confirms that Jupiter is rich in oxygen and, thus, water, Bjoraker explained. "Jupiter's water abundance will tell us a lot about how the giant planet formed, but only if we can figure out how much water there is in the entire planet," said Steven M. Levin, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The revelation was stirring
given that the team's experiment could have easily failed. The Great Red Spot is full of dense clouds, which makes it hard for electromagnetic energy to escape and teach astronomers anything about the chemistry within. "It turns out they're not so thick that they block our ability to see deeply," Bjoraker noted. The data collected will supplement the information NASA's Juno spacecraft is gathering as it circles the planet from north to south once every 53 days. If Juno returns similar water findings, thereby backing Bjoraker's ground-based technique, it could open a new window into solving the water problem, said Goddard's Amy Simon, a planetary atmospheres expert. "If it works, then maybe we can apply it elsewhere, like Saturn, Uranus or Neptune, where we don't have a Juno," she said.
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Google removing 100 'bad' ads every second
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oogle is removing over 100 scam advertisements every second for violating its policies and will soon implement a verification programme to further weed out bad actors from its platform. After The Wall Street Journal reported that scammers were purchasing search ads and "masquerading as authorised service agents for companies such as Apple Inc", Google said on Saturday it is taking action against such scam artists. "Just last year alone, we took
down more than 3.2 billion ads that violated our advertising policies that's more than 100 bad ads per second," said David Graff, Director, Global Product Policy at Google. "We're taking another step. We've seen a rise in misleading ad experiences stemming from thirdparty technical support providers and have decided to begin restricting ads in this category globally," said Graff. In the coming months, Google will roll out a verification programme to ensure that only legitimate providers of third-party tech
support can use its platform to reach consumers. "One of our top priorities is to maintain a healthy advertising ecosystem, and that means protecting people from misleading, inappropriate and harmful ads," Google said. The move came after scammers were found using Google's advertising system to create misleading ads. "The ads would display a link to Apple's website, but the number in the ad would direct to a call centre that engages in tech-support scams."
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64 AP News
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AP CM REACHES OUT TO PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS
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ndhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been meeting people in the rural areas of the state as part of the 'Grama Darshini' programme to gather feedback on his government's development activities and address public grievances in the run-up to the 2019 assembly and Lok Sabha elections. He has also been meeting party functionaries to devise strategies for the elections. "As part of the Grama Darshini programme, Naidu will address at least 75 public meetings in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh before the 2019 elections to highlight the development and welfare work carried out in the state," a TDP leader said. The chief minister is also expected to interact with students of all universities in the state over the next nine months, he said. Naidu said, "In the next five months, everyone, starting with principal secretaries, will be at people's doorsteps. I will also spend three days a week among people." "Dharma Poratam is aimed at exposing the BJP's politics of betrayal and conspiracy. It did not grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh and also failed to fulfil other promises. These meetings will be organised once a month covering all the 13 districts in the state," the TDP leader said.
"As far as welfare is concerned, we have rolled out schemes catering to all sections of society. We are giving pensions to the needy. We have set up Kapu Corporation, Brahmin Corporation, SC/ST
Commissions, etc. to uplift the poor of these communities...started several schemes for the development of minorities. We recently launched Anna canteens offering a meal for just Rs 5," he said.
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India to be one of world's blockchain leaders by 2023
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ith the right amount of industry and government participation, India could be in leadership ranks in adoption of blockchain technology in the next five years, says a survey by global consultancy firm PwC. A blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that stores information across multiple systems securely to enable peer-to-peer transactions by creating a trustworthy source. Banks and other financial institutions are increasingly investing in blockchain technology as it cuts down their costs and makes their operations faster and more transparent. PwC said that a quarter of executives surveyed mention about a blockchain implementation pilot in progress (10 per cent) or fully live (15 per cent). Almost a third (32 per cent) have projects in development and a fifth (20 per cent) are in research mode. The US (29 per cent), China (18
per cent), Australia (7 per cent) are perceived as the most advanced currently in developing blockchain projects. The study surveyed 600 executives in 15 countries and territories, on their development of blockchain and views on its potential. Success of blockchain adoption will depend on the ability of the proponents /network to increase trust amongst themselves on the assets they transact on, said Sreeram Ananthasayanam, Partner, PwC India. "The approach for India is no different - and it is indeed possible for India to be in the leadership ranks of blockchain in the next five years, with the right amount of industry and government participation," he said. To make this happen, he said industry leaders will have to define a proper business case for implementation after weighing in the investments made and needed, build an inclusive ecosystem for efficiencies and the rules of engagement and plan for regulatory approaches proactively. Steve Davies, Global
Blockchain Leader, PwC opined: "A well – designed blockchain doesn't just cut out intermediaries, it reduces costs, increases speed, reach, transparency and traceability for many business processes". The business case can be compelling, if organisations understand what their end game is in using the technology, and match that to their design, Davies added. PwC further said that within three to five years, survey respondents believe China will be have overtaken the US (30 per cent), shifting the early centre of influence and activity from the US and Europe. The survey reflects the early dominance of financial services developments in blockchain with 46 per cent identifying it as the leading sector currently and 41 per cent in near term (3-5 years). Sectors identified by respondents with emerging potential within 3-5 years include energy and utilities (14 per cent), healthcare (14 per cent) and industrial manufacturing (12 per cent).
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66 Business
AP to create multiple publi platforms for transparent governance
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ndhra Pradesh Information Technology (IT) Minister Nara Lokesh said that the state government is working to create multiple platforms for the public for transparent and efficient governance. Speaking at the 24th edition of 'Technology Sabha' programme in Visakhapatnam, Lokesh said, "The idea behind this program is to create multiple platforms that would enable transparent and efficient governance for the general public, reducing inconvenience and red tape. We are working towards a start-up state and intend that goals should be achieved by 15 per cent. At present we have achieved 12 per
cent growth in the state". Further highlighting the state government's achievements, he said, "About 10 lakhs of Internet of Things (IoT) equipments are used in Andhra. According to Data Analytics
technology, despite 18 per cent less rainfall, we have grown by 24 per cent in agriculture." He further said that Centralized Control Monitoring System (CCMS) technology is being used to monitor LED lights in villages.
US dollar declines against most major currencies
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he US dollar decreased against most major currencies amid outlook of less aggressive stance of central bank of the US. In late New York trading on Tuesday, the euro was up to $1.1572 from $1.1467 in the previous session, and the British pound was up to $1.2902 from
$1.2785 in the previous session, some media reported. The Australian dollar increased to $0.7365 from $0.7327. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.67 per cent to 95.2550. The US Federal Reserve only needs to raise interest rates by three or four more times before
pausing for review, said Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan on Tuesday. The US dollar bought 110.41 Japanese yen, higher than 110.21 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar decreased to 0.9852 Swiss franc from 0.9920 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3044 Canadian dollars from 1.3049 Canadian dollars.
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The News You Like September, 2018
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