THE ANNUAL CULTURAL FESTIVAL
As the situations that have prevailed upon the world are different than the usual, Lady Irwin College has brought forth its annual cultural festival 'Quintessence‘21' as an event which is going to be one of its kind, with an unmatchable grandeur.
It is a three day event, commencing from 4th March, 2021. Like every year, it is expected to be one of the best festivals of the University of Delhi with all of the societies making it worth attending with the amalgamation of art, literature, debates, drama, dance, music, photography, fashion and much more.
The contests are going to be held online on different virtual platforms for the first two days. The Students Association of Lady Irwin College has tried its best to give the same kind of fun filled experience to the fellow students, but this time, online, in the comfort of their own homes.
‘From Quarantine to Querencia’ being the theme for this year's Quintessence, the agenda is to fill colours and joy in everyone’s lives that have gone mundane in these testing times of a pandemic. And with this promise, the guest artist this year is the much loved comedian Aakash Gupta. He is known among the youth for his humorous wits and his ability to connect with his audience. So on the final day of the event, he is expected to spread his charisma and laughter all over, bringing this beautiful event to an end.
The Lady Irwin College is all ready to set Qintessence'21 as an example, proving that whatever may come our way, we are ready to bring smiles on everybody’s faces.
Do nominated members in other State legislatures, Union Territories and in Parliament, too, enjoy voting rights during a trust vote?
Expressio unius est exclusio alterius (expression of one subject, object or idea is the exclusion of other subjects, objects or ideas)”, is a maxim in Latin, which is heard quite frequently in law classes as well as in courtrooms. It finds application in the construction of Constitutions, statutes and similar instruments. This phrase came to mind after watching the proceedings in Puducherry that led to the fall of the V Narayanasamy-led Congress Government last week.
The resignation of Narayanasamy as the Chief Minister (CM) has not surprised any of the political observers. The only question being asked by them is why did it take four years for Narayanasamy to quit his post.
Though the BJP is accused of political manipulation, encouraging defections from the ruling party to topple the Government and MK Stalin, the president of the DMK, is accused of murdering democracy, the fact is that the fall of the Congress Government was bound to happen from the day Narayanasamy was sworn in in 2016.
“Why did the Congress high command appoint Narayanasamy, who had not contested the 2016 Assembly election as CM, superseding many party heavyweights in the Union Territory?” wonders Kolahala Srenivasan, political chronicler of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. “There were seasoned leaders like former CM Vaithilingam and A Namasivayam who were in the running for the top post,” says Srenivasan.
Narayanasamy, the all-powerful Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime under Manmohan Singh, had been defeated in the Lok Sabha election held in 2014. Sources say that the interests of other Congress leaders were overlooked by the party high command while appointing him. Apparently, there was strong discontentment among the Congress MLAs when he was handpicked by the party president. The appointment of Kiran Bedi, the former super cop of Delhi as the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of the Union Territory (UT), was like opening another war front by the BJP. Consequently, the running battle between the CM and the L-G hogged the limelight in the last four years. This style of functioning of the L-G was a new experience for the population of the UT and naturally, Narayanasamy got annoyed!
The nomination of three BJP leaders as MLAs by the Union Home Ministry was also on expected lines. But the nominated legislators getting a chance to cast their votes in the trust vote held on Monday has to be explained by the BJP’s national leadership.
What sealed Narayanasamy’s fate was the resignations of K Lakshminarayanan, MLA and former Minister who was also the Parliamentary Secretary to the CM and that of D Venkatesan, an MLA belonging to the DMK. These resignations happened 24 hours before the trust vote. Lakshminarayanan had been complaining since 2016 that the party was not recognising his seniority and experience. He was hurt when he was overlooked by Narayanasamy when Speaker Vaithilingam resigned to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha poll and appointed first-time MLA Sivakozhunthu as the presiding officer of the House.
The resignation of John Kumar from the House, too, speaks about the discontentment that had set in. John Kumar was elected as an MLA in 2016 but resigned his seat to facilitate the election of Narayanasamy to the House. Though John Kumar was elected subsequently to the House in 2019, he too fell out with Narayanasamy eventually.
Though Venkatesan, the DMK MLA, announced his resignation from the House well in advance, the party leadership in Tamil Nadu kept silent over the issue. Despite the declaration by Venkatesan that he quit from the House with the concurrence of his party leader (MK Stalin), the DMK did not do anything till Tuesday to buy peace with him. It was on Tuesday that the party’s general secretary Durai Murugan announced the removal of Venkatesan from all official posts in the party.
Last month saw Stalin deputing party MP and moneybags Jagathrakshakan to rejuvenate the DMK in the UT. “This gave rise to many doubts in the minds of the Congress and DMK leaders in Puducherry. What we saw during the last two days was the impact of this decision,” said Srenivasan.
The question why Jagatrakshakan was sent to Puducherry at this juncture remains unanswered. Narayanasamy did not include his alliance partner, the DMK, in the Government and this resulted in a lot of heartburn.
Though the Congress and the DMK challenged the L-G’s nomination of three BJP leaders to the Assembly, the apex court upheld her act. But how the nominated members were allowed to cast their votes in the Assembly reminds one of the Latin maxim “expresso unius…”
Do nominated members in State legislatures, other UTs and in Parliament, too, enjoy voting rights. There cannot be one rule for Puducherry and another for the rest of the country. Let’s have the same rules for the whole country. This was what Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared when Parliament abrogated Article 370: “Now people in Jammu and Kashmir enjoy the same status as that of the rest of the Indians.” People of Puducherry, too, should get the same status. Shouldn’t they?
The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.
We still have a narrow window for vaccinating most people amid the falling number of new infections
A year ago the Coronavirus made its entry into the country. Since then, we have come a long way from the hard lockdown beginning in March-end to the second phase of the vaccine rollout which started from Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking a shot. By opting for the ICMR vaccine, he sent a clear signal that our indigenous vaccines are safe. Right now we are at a crucial stage of the pandemic’s trajectory as we still have a narrow window for vaccinating the maximum number of people amid the falling number of new infections in most parts of India. This is the time to focus on mitigation with no scope for complacency. The pandemic is not over until it is actually over in all States and the virus does not have an adequate number of susceptible individuals to infect and survive. We need to chase the virus aggressively rather than the contagion chasing us.
It has been a sort of partial success so far as we have managed to keep infections as well as mortality rates low as compared to many countries in the West with a better infrastructure and capacity to contain and mitigate the virus. However, still more needs to be done as we enter into the next stage of the trajectory with an upsurge in cases in Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Gujarat and looming signs of increasing numbers in Delhi. Vaccine hesitancy remains an issue, with half of the eligible people coming forward for the inoculation. This is a universal phenomenon seen across the globe. Much of this is due to misinformation on social media and the tendency of many individuals to wait and watch. This needs to be aggressively countered and the State has made all efforts to quell this phenomenon. This all-out effort by the Government needs to continue in order to accelerate the vaccination drive which can gain momentum if more vaccines are made available to the public and in the open market so that everyone can get the jab on demand both through the public as well as private healthcare system.
The second strategy should be to continue mass-scaleRT-PCR testing. There is no reason to scale down testing as we have seen lately in many States because that can be disastrous, especially with new mutant variants of the virus making entry into our cities. These variants will be seen in India as it is difficult to stop the transmission in view of relaxation of movement in an era of necessary international travel. More genomic sequencing would perhaps help us in early detection of these new variants arriving in the country and within India. We need to prepare for the inevitable and the focus should remain on both Covid-appropriate behaviour as well as vaccinating the masses.
Third, we need to create resilient district health systems. A weak link in most States is the poor status of district hospitals. In contrast to the prevailing political and bureaucratic response with focus on hardware (beds, ventilators, oxygen, and so on) in healthcare facilities, we should also focus on software development (capacity building and better-quality health workers) which is more important. The current pandemic provides us opportunity and finances to influence politicians and bureaucrats to build resilient and responsive health systems at both primary and secondary healthcare centres in States. Since health is a State subject, a collaborative and collective effort both by States and the Centre should be made to augment these district hospitals. Excellence in secondary healthcare is crucial and well-placed, well-funded, well-staffed and well-equipped district hospitals should be developed as the most important component of the healthcare chain to respond to future outbreaks. We have the opportunity to create a resilient secondary district healthcare system that is responsive to the needs of the public with focus on preventive, promotive, curative and restorative patient care.
(The writer is Head of Neurology Department, Lady Hardinge Medical College and SSK Hospital, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.)
Witch-hunting is used as a tool to subjugate women and there will always be a new reason to brand a woman a witch in the hinterlands of India
I can never forget the night when the entire village, including women, armed with weapons came to attack a helpless woman on the suspicion of being a witch. I would also have been killed with her had I not called the police”, recalls 72-year-old Birubala Rabha, a victim-turned-crusader from Assam’s Goalpara district, referring to a ghastly incident that took place in a small village on the Assam-Meghalaya border in 2007.
This year the primary school-educated Rabha was the recipient of the Padma Shri, India’s highest civilian award for her crusade against witch-hunting. The award was a much-deserved pan-India recognition of her work. Rabha, ostracised and branded as a witch, devoted her life for the cause of other women like her, and, through her organisation Mission Birubala, has been the force behind the State’s law to check the practice of witch-hunting in Assam.
There is no dearth of women like Rabha in Assam, who came close to death or got killed, as more than two-thirds of its districts reported incidents of witch-hunting. As per the State Government’s records, 107 people, mostly women, got killed between 2011-2019. Locally, even a village on the Assam-Meghalaya border, is called “dainigaon (village of the witches)”, where many ostracised women live in isolation.
“In rural hinterlands, a Deodhani, Bez or an Ojha (people who allegedly specialise in healing, casting out unclean spirits and telling fortunes) wields tremendous influence. They often target a widow, a single or a guardian-less woman…...with little or no formal education …… and label her a witch, when they are clueless about a malaise. Many poor people fall into their clutches, not solely out of superstitious belief, but also because of their inability to pay for a qualified doctor”, says a 2014 field report from the districts of Goalpara and Sonitpur, conducted by the Partners for Law in Development (PLD), a Delhi-based legal resource group.
Rightly, Rabha in her ‘Manuhe Manuhor Babe’ campaign, cautions gullible villagers against falling prey to such quacks who are nothing but “money-making racketeers exploiting people’s ignorance.”
The PLD’s field study in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, also reveals that “women are more often targeted for material motives.” Dibyajyoti Saikia, a human rights ac-tivist, who leads a Guwahati-based organisation, Brothers, feels that “individual factors like personal rivalry, jealousy, conspiracy come into play in such targeting in semi-urban and rural areas.” Mamani Saikia, district co-ordinator, Goalpara, further explains that “in calculated attacks, gender relationship determines the selection of targets, often driven by ulterior interests like grabbing a property or for sexual exploitation, whereas, in surprise attacks, which are more violent in nature, the goal is supposedly to eliminate an evil.”
Dalit and marginalised women are doubly prone to such attacks because of systemic patriarchy and also because of their social identity. However, Natyabir Das, a medical practitioner and a co-ordinator of Mission Birubala, says: “Though women as victims are more in number but in recent times, men are also facing such accusations.”
Now, as per the National Crime Records Bureau, more than 2,500 people, mostly women, got killed in such incidents between 2000-2016, while many believe that the number is much higher, as most States don’t list witchcraft as a motive for murder.
Nevertheless, some States like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Assam, Maharashtra and Karnataka have framed anti-witchcraft Acts. Commenting on the existing Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Act, 2005, Chhattisgarh, Dinesh Sharma, a doctor-turned-activist and founder of Andhshraddha Nirmoolan Samitee, rues that “hundreds of cases are pending under the Act. Many victims have died and without fast-track courts, the purpose of the Act is somewhat defeated.
Moreover, in such incidents of organised community violence, the law cannot overlook the complicity and accountability of a village sarpanch or a kotwal.”
Ajay Agarwal, Secretary, Association for Social and Human Awareness, Ranchi, Jharkhand, echoes similar sentiments. He says: “Though more than 1,300 women were killed since 2000 in the State, there’s no official data available under the Prevention of Witch (DAAIN) Practices Act, 2001. Some cases get registered under the IPC and only one or two get convicted, while almost the entire village is responsible for such killings.”
Assam’s new Act, notified in 2018, has been feted as India’s toughest anti-witch-hunting law, which makes any offence under it non-bailable, cognisable and non-compoundable.
However, the State’s ADGP, LR Bishnoi, highlighted that the wider scope of legal protection included in the Act with the setting up of special courts and addition of new offences related to targeting, humiliation and ostracism, and so on are hitherto not part of the IPC.
Dibyajyoti Saikia opines that “the Act is yet to make any visible impact…. and the police still have a tendency to settle cases through a compromise.” Natyabir Das says that agencies like the ASTEC (Assam Science Technology and Environment Council) have been chipping in through awareness drives, but admits that “a thorough training of police officials is required.” Executive Director, PLD, Madhu Mehra, states that the Assam Act is definitely an improvement, more like the Rajasthan Act. But, unlike Rajasthan, the State is yet to frame rules regarding compensation and rehabilitation.
Manisha Behal, Executive Director, North East Network, a Guwahati-based women’s rights organisation, also laments that the menace could have been better tackled on the ground by the frontline workers had the rules been in place.
Many activists point out that the existing legal regime, be it the IPC or special Acts, vests enormous power with the police, who are often found to be wanting in their preventive and protective role, particularly when the victim is poor or a woman.
Thus such Acts remain merely as pieces of paper failing to make any dent in the impunity attached to the practice. The legal vacuum for compensation of losses due to social ostracisation, forced displacement, or deprivation in livelihood opportunities is another drawback. Mehra, however, is sceptical about the actual realisation of compensation even if such a provision gets legal backing as the process of conviction is a long-drawn affair, with the accused mostly being as poor as the victim.
Many activists vouch for socio-legal measures like dialogue and awareness creation to help people distinguish between what is a socially permissible act and a crime. Some also voice the need for a central legislation reviving the Prevention of Witch-Hunting Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2016.
Witch-hunting is used as a tool to subjugate women and there will always be a new reason to brand a woman as a witch. As incidents of women bearing the brunt of personal vendetta and unfounded smear campaigns continue to pour in from many parts of India, the issue of witch-hunting deserves greater attention not only from the legal point of view but from a wider socio-economic perspective.
The writer is a retired Indian Information Service officer and a media educator. The views expressed are personal.
Modi’s plans and policies speak volumes about his intention to empower the ‘real’ farmers at the grassroots
Thousands of farmers in India die by suicide every year as they see no option to get out of the debt trap. The poor and marginal farmers depend upon loans for purchasing seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, irrigation and even harvesting. Most of these growers find it more convenient to borrow at heavy interest rates from moneylenders or big cultivators rather than from banks, thanks to the cumbersome paperwork and the broker-bank officials’ nexus. However, these deaths, as recorded by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), fail to shake the collective conscience of society and are just another figure for most of us. Ironically, there is no outcry, no borders are sealed, no tractor rallies organised, no national monuments sieged, no violence. This is because these deaths don’t affect the interests of the politically connected and powerful “arhatiya” community that drives the Agricultural Produce Marketing Community (APMC) in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Western Uttar Pradesh. This strong community is at loggerheads with the Government over three new agri laws for shielding its own interests. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently endorsed the provisions made for the agriculture sector in Budget 2021-22 and reiterated that the Government is working for small and medium-level farmers.
One might argue that Modi is not concerned about the farmers camping at Delhi’s borders and project him as “anti-farmer” and “pro-corporate”, but his plans and policies speak volumes about his intention to empower the “real” farmers at the grassroots. The Prime Minister has said that India needs to expand its agriculture sector to the global market for processed food. He also emphasised that the number of agro-industry clusters near villages should be increased so that the rural populace gets farm-related employment in the vicinity. It is indeed a plan that will likely empower the marginal and small farmers. If the Government succeeds in providing market access to these farmers (small and marginal) beyond mandis, it would prove to be a milestone. Further, the Government has increased the agriculture credit target to Rs 16.50 lakh crore and infrastructure fund to Rs 40,000 crore, besides doubling the micro-irrigation fund. All this proves that the Government is striving to bring systemic changes in the agriculture sector with the focus on empowering the “have-nots” among the farmers. We also would like to see the real farmers get empowered and not the ones with enough resources and money to camp at Delhi’s borders for months and hold the Government to ransom.
Climate change is real; not acknowledging it is not going to protect us from the inevitable
If the rising temperatures in the last few days of February and an unusually hot March are bothering you, it is because most of the northern, western and eastern parts of India breached the 300C-mark nearly two to three weeks before they usually do. In fact, the country needs to brace for a hotter-than-usual summer this year as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that day temperatures are likely to be 0.860C higher than normal in the north, northeast, parts of east and west India between March and May. The worst impact is likely in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, where the maximum temperatures will deviate 0.860C from their usual averages. Last week, Bhubaneswar was the first region to record 400C anywhere in the country this year and Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh should brace for summer temperatures anywhere from 0.460C to 0.710C above normal. The IMD last month had said the minimum temperature recorded in the country in January was the warmest for the month in 62 years, with South India being particularly warm. It is not surprising that we experienced a shorter winter and are getting warnings of a sizzling summer ahead as, according to a Government report on current climate change impacts and future scenarios till the end of the century, India needs to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a war footing. The failure to do so will mean major heatwaves, droughts, cloudbursts, floods and a more degraded coastline, says a report by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
Worryingly, India’s average temperature rose by around 0.70C during 1901–2018 and, unless urgent steps are taken to control GHG emissions between 2070 and 2099 average, the temperature will rise by approximately 4.40C relative to the recent past (1976–2005 average). The high GHG emissions would increase the heat on Earth’s surface by 8.5 watts per square metre. Called RCP8.5, this is the worst-case scenario used by climate modellers worldwide. In a medium GHG emissions scenario, called RCP4.5, the average temperature in India would rise by 2.70C in the last 30 years of this century. Before that, during 2040-2069, India’s average temperature would rise by 20C in a medium emissions scenario, and by 2.40C in a high emissions scenario. Despite all nations making pledges under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, current emissions are taking the world to the worst-case scenario, though other development pathways are not only available but economically more attractive in the medium and long term. So, the only option before us is to go green, else we will perish because we are already feeling the effects of a planet that has been pushed to breaking point. The most recent examples of this are the Chamoli tragedy in Uttarakhand and the “Big freeze” in Texas. It is the collective responsibility of the peoples, every business and every industry on the planet to fight climate change so that we leave a greener, cleaner world for our children and not a dying planet.
The agrarian issue is being politicised by media magicians but, for the farmers, it’s a question of livelihood and existence
Green mango flowers are now bursting and kites dance in the sky while bright yellow, purple flowers bloom one last time and farmers in Tihar Jail, New Delhi, welcome a silent spring. The warm air rustles the yellow plastic tents at the Ghazipur Border, flowing from AH2 to the Tikri Border, announcing a new season and the next phase of the Farmers’ Revolution begins.
It’s been over a month since farmer leader Rakesh Tikait’s tears galvanised the farmers from Uttar Pradesh (UP) to Rajasthan and much has happened over the spring — Basant Ritu — since then. Lakhs of devotees have cleansed themselves taking dips in the holy Ganga from Haridwar to Prayagraj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have shed expiatory tears as he reassured his followers that the three farm laws are good for farmers and for business. But the farmers of the world are not convinced.
Recently, major US-based farmer groups like Agrarian Trust, National Farmers Union and 87 other organisations have started an international movement expressing solidarity with the farmers’ revolution. Over 50 Canadian organisations have also extended support. They have been exerting pressure on their public representatives too to end this “injustice”. Their criticism comes from having suffered due to the market-led agricultural policies since the 1960s in the US. This is no longer an “international conspiracy” or “attack on India’s sovereignty” or “sedition” perpetrated by “international media celebrities like Rihanna or Greta” but a moment of true global solidarity beyond race and religion.
Foreclosures and debt have destroyed millions of US farm families. Suicides and despondency plague rural America while Big Ag grows. It’s not only the older generation but young farmer leaders like Severine Fleming who have supported the farmers’ revolution. All, save for the corporate media, see the invisible hand behind these reforms — Big Ag. Modi has led the Big Ag to India’s doors and sacrificed Indian farmers for agri-dollars.
India farmers are jubilant about the US support but, as the harvest season nears, some of them are now returning with the stories of their struggles and indignation to their villages to work the fields, while others farmers are on the road to Delhi’s borders. In Haryana, media reports indicate, hundreds of villages have pledged to send one person from each house to join the revolution. The farmers’ revolution is getting ready for the hot summer. Although the Modi Government’s version occupies the media discourse, the farmers may have outwitted the Government once again.
How? With the help of the returning farmers, their unions and leaders have now expanded their base far beyond Delhi’s borders. YouTube videos and independent vernacular citizen journalists have spread each update across the country. The tune of Farmer Revolution’s Haryanavi anthem — “Modi ji hum Dilli aage” — now sways young and old farmers from Bengal to Rajasthan.
From Ganganagar to Kerala, the farmer unions have addressed millions of people in a short span of 30 days. Now that the movement has reached a mature stage, it will spread even faster. Even the Government is finding it hard to call them “a handful of farmers” as it did in early January. Now the discourse has become “crowds don’t get the work done”. The movement today represents not just farmers but all those who work the land — migrant workers, labourers, urban mandi workers and the traders. This is a united rural India resisting a corporate auction. Meanwhile, the Government has unleashed the biggest round of privatisation of public assets since Yeltsin’s Russia.
No one knows why fuel prices have skyrocketed. Why taxes and cess keep increasing, squeezing the middle class, and yet arterial roads of Delhi have potholes? The fuel prices directly impact farmers’ input costs and offset the MSP calculations. India is being rigged for food inflation. Indian agri produce vastly outperforms against the highly subsidised imports from countries like the US.
The agricultural bubble is soon going to burst; the collateral will be rural India and millions of lives. History will repeat itself as from its ashes shall emerge a new class of neo-zamindars that shall profit from each morsel. The US is a fine example of this, where four corporations control over 80 per cent of the food and about 50 per cent of all produce is wasted!
The Modi Government needs to correct course by abandoning the laws and making a fresh start with farmers, for their movement is no longer an Indian affair or internal matter as the External Affairs Ministry is already involved in this diplomatic issue.
We as a nation should remember that India loses face in the world only because democracy dies at home. This is an agrarian issue that is being politicised by media magicians, swaying public opinion inciting more hate in society. But for the farmers, at home and abroad, it’s a question of livelihood and existence. We need to stand in solidarity because it’s a fight for the survival of our soul and roti, together.
(The author writes on agriculture and environment, and is a former Director — Policy and Outreach, National Seed Association of India. The views expressed are personal.)
AI-guided machines are capable of performing minute surgeries with accuracy and help in transporting substances which are unsafe for humans
In today’s world we are surrounded by Artificial Intelligence (AI) which finds its application everywhere, from science fiction to local hospitals. AI helps medical professionals by relieving them of routine tasks and also makes medical procedures safer and pocket-friendly for patients.
Further, AI-guided machines are also capable of performing minute surgeries with accuracy and help in transporting substances, which are unsafe for humans to handle. In medical systems, call centre staff for websites has increasingly been replaced by chatbots that use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to provide callers with information and manage queries.
In various hospitals and other health institutes, AI technologies such as fuzzy systems, Bayesian networks, artificial neural networks and smart hybrid systems are being used.
AI in medicine can be differentiated into two subtypes — virtual and real. The physical segment deals with robotics that helps in procedures, for instance smart prosthetics for people with disabilities and the treatment of the elderly. The interactive components range from applications for electronic health record systems to neural network-based guide in care decisions for patients.
There is increasing use of AI-powered robots in the surgical environment. Robotics technology can be applied in many areas that directly affect patient care. Some of their applications include disinfecting patient rooms and operating sets and reducing the risks for patients and medical personnel.
They can be used in laboratories to take samples and transport, analyse and store them. Also, the robotic lab assistant can exactly locate the vessel from which the blood is required to be taken and extract the sample without causing pain and anxiety to the patients, who are troubled a lot by the multiple pokes that a doctor or nurse makes for finding a good vein.
AI software also helps primary healthcare doctors in identifying patients who need additional treatment and have specific protocols. It will be used by medical practitioners for commenting, reviewing patient conversations and so on.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world and adversely affected multiple layers of our society. Frontline workers and particularly those who have been in direct contact with patients are exposed to major risk.
To mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus and to protect healthcare workers and patients, medical services had been largely restricted, including the cancellation of elective surgeries. This resulted in a substantial burden for patients and economic loss for various hospitals. It is in situations like this that AI-robot surgeries could be a powerful tool to maintain surgical volumes while at the same time mitigating the fear of contamination by operating procedures on patients without healthcare workers coming in physical contact.
While talking about the Coronavirus, it is imperative to mention that using AI to predict its pattern was able to help mitigate the crisis to some extent. For instance — BlueDot — a Canadian organisation specialising in infectious disease forecasting, used AI to gather data from multiple points.
It was able to predict the COVID-19 outbreak and alert people around, even before the World Health Organisation (WHO) did so. Similarly, an AI-powered chatbot, based in Singapore named SGDormBot, helped in mass screening for symptoms among migrant workers.
The pandemic has also highlighted the need for rapid screening and testing of patients to improve treatment pathways and reduce the risk of cross-infection. The use of AI here, for accessing electronic health records (EHR) of routinely-ordered tests and vital signs can produce an effective tool to screen patients in emergency departments and hospital admission units.
Data collected from EHRs can be further supplemented with data from wearable technology such as smart watches or mobile health apps and medical devices.
With the potential application of AI within the healthcare system, the question remains how this will affect the workforce. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 50 per cent of companies say that automation will decrease the number of full-time staff by 2022 and that by 2030, robots will replace 800 million workers across the world.
Also, automation of clerical processes could potentially have an impact on the non-clinical workforce of the healthcare system. Specialties such as radiology where imaging reports can be automated and produced by AI algorithms may well be the reality.
Of course, the ethics of data sharing and privacy implications for patients and their insurers is debatable. As we enter a brave new world with AI, it entails certain benefits and limitations.
The writer is a Padma Shri awardee and cardiothoracic surgeon credited with India’s first bypass. He is Chairman and CEO of Frontier Lifeline Hospital. The views expressed are personal.
The forthcoming Assembly polls to five States will go a long way in shaping regional and national parties’ future
The forthcoming Assembly elections to five States, three of which are in the South, will go a long way in shaping most regional and national parties’ political future. The polls are crucial for the three national parties, the Congress, the BJP and the Left and for regional parties, too. The Congress lost its only foothold in the South, the Union Territory of Puducherry, last week. By citing Puducherry’s example, the Congress’ opponents want to show ahead of the polls that the party would not be able to hold its MLAs together even if they were voted for. The southern States have gone into the hands of regional parties because the people lost faith in the Congress which controlled almost all the States in the South at one point in time. An alliance with the JD(S) in Karnataka, the TDP in Andhra Pradesh and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu (TN) had helped the BJP extend its influence in the South. The Congress has found allies in the DMK, the JD(S) and the UDF’s coalition partners in Kerala like the Muslim League.
The regional parties have strong leaders who can attract voters with their personality. There is JD(S) in Karnataka, the TDP and YSRCP in Andhra, TRS in Telangana, the AIADMK and DMK in TN which are shining examples of this. Except for the AIADMK, all these parties are essentially family fiefdoms of the Gowdas, Naidus and Raos. Some parties like the DMK, JD(S), TRS and the TDP have already transferred power to the second generation. Neither the BJP nor the Congress has cultivated leaders to match these regional satraps’ aura. As for the Left, its ideology has no relevance for the present generation. The BJP’s core agenda has no attraction for the South and the Congress is vague about its ideology. Nonetheless, the BJP is trying to spread its wings in the Southern States in the forthcoming elections. The latest toppling game in Puducherry shows that the defectors from the Congress and the DMK have joined the BJP, including two Ministers. The BJP could only capture Karnataka in the South. This is because of many reasons, including an absence of strong local leaders. Plus, the BJP is also perceived as a North Indian party and then there is also the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal in the South is relatively limited and his charm may not necessarily beat that of regional satraps. The BJP considers each election, even a panchayat poll, as crucial as the Lok Sabha polls. Hence, they have adopted several steps to seal their win in an increasing number of States. They include expanding the BJP’s base, projecting Modi as a doer and wooing leaders from other parties. The Dravidian parties had held sway since 1967 when the DMK wrested TN from the Congress in 1967. Since then, the Congress has aligned with one Dravidian party or the other. The BJP has been accused of ruling the State by proxy after AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa’s demise in 2016. TN alternates between the DMK and the AIADMK, and now it is the turn of the DMK.
Kerala is the only State under the control of the Left parties and it, too, alternates between the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF, and this time it is the turn of the UDF. The RSS has done a lot of work in Kerala and though the BJP has doubled its vote share since 1998, it has a long way to go. After getting its first-ever MLA elected on a BJP ticket in Kerala in 2016, the party is trying to become a reasonable force by cobbling together a coalition. But it’s still some distance away from breaking the hold of the two other national parties and failed to open an account in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. To conquer the South, the three national parties must face the might of 15 regional parties or join them. For parties like the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, AGP in Assam, the AIADMK, and the DMK in TN and NR Congress in Puducherry, these polls will be a “do or die battle.” A win in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and TN will restore the Congress’ fortunes. The CPI(M) has to protect its turf in Kerala. The BJP will shine with an improvement in all the five States.
(The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.)
The Centre should de-bureaucratise the process of running PSUs. This should be done even before privatisation is taken up
Under a big bang approach to privatisation announced in the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has divided the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) in two broad categories i.e. strategic and non-strategic. Whereas the former is broken up into four subgroups: Atomic energy, space and defence; transport and telecommunications; power, petroleum, coal and other minerals; banking, insurance and financial services, the latter includes all other sectors such as hotel and tourist services, industrial and consumer goods, trading, marketing and so on. As per the plan, all PSUs in non-strategic sectors will be privatised and all loss-making enterprises in this category will be closed. In the strategic sector, too, the Government will be open to privatisation with the caveat that at least one undertaking (and a maximum of four) will be retained in the public sector.
When seen in the backdrop of the Union Government having made an indiscriminate entry in almost every conceivable business activity, including areas such as hotel and tourist services where it had no business to be present in the first place, any initiative aimed at exiting from all of these is welcome. This has the potential to unlock value and generate huge revenue because of the high valuation that the real estate and properties under these PSUs command. As regards the strategic sector, though the Government does not rule out privatisation, the caveat of retaining a maximum of four undertakings in the public sector can defeat the purpose. For instance, currently there are around 12 oil PSUs ranging from upstream oil producers like the ONGC and OIL to downstream oil refining and fuel marketing firms IOC, BPCL and HPCL to gas transporter GAIL India Limited and engineering firm Engineers India Limited. These 12 could be consolidated into four behemoths through a process of merger and amalgamation, leaving no space for privatisation whatsoever.
Why does the Government want to put this caveat? What does it fear? Sans this, will it compromise national interest? In the above example, consider an extreme scenario, in which there is not even one PSU and the entire oil and gas space is occupied by private enterprises. Are we to infer that this will compromise India’s energy security? If this were to be the case, then why not reserve this sector exclusively for PSUs? Why allow even one private company? This line of argument is bizarre. For ensuring security in strategic items, the critical requirement is to have a minimum number of companies to ensure there is adequate competition and supply in the market. Who those firms are —whether owned by private promoters or the Government — should not matter.
In the 1970s-80s, when India needed to develop these sectors and private players were unwilling to invest, it made sense for the Government to take the lead. Since then, lot of water has flown down the Ganga. Currently, there is considerable interest among private investors and the Government itself is inviting them. Therefore, any arbitrary restriction should be avoided. Any decision to privatise a PSU should be taken on the merit of each case, irrespective of whether it is in a strategic or non-strategic area. Likewise, the mandatory closure of any loss-making enterprise should apply to all such entities without any distinction. National security concerns are always best addressed through strong, resilient and responsive regulatory and surveillance mechanisms.
Implementation is far more important than the policy. In this regard, the score of the Modi Government during the last seven years or so (it was pursued under a sophisticated nomenclature ‘strategic disinvestment’) has been disappointing. Except for two big ticket sales like the divestment of its 51.11 per cent shareholding in HPCL in 2017-18 and 52.63 per cent stake in the REC in 2018-19, there is nothing much to show. Even these sales can’t be termed as privatisation as the buyers were ONGC and PFC respectively — both PSUs.
As per the original plan, 51.11 per cent shares of the Union Government in HPCL were to be sold to a private investor. But things did not pan out as planned and in January 2018, the Government had to ask ONGC to pick up the entire stake, as it desperately needed money to meet the fiscal deficit (FD) target. In the case of REC too, it asked the PFC to buy. During 2018-19, Air India was also put on the block but failed.
During 2019-20, besides resurrecting that offer, the Government also took up sale of all of its shareholding in BPCL (53.29 per cent); ConCor (30 per cent); SCI (63.75) per cent; NEEPCO (100 per cent) and THDC India Limited (75 per cent). Sans NEEPCO and THDC which were sold to NTPC — a CPSU in the power sector — others made no progress. During 2020-21, Covid-19 spoilt the party. For 2021-22, there is not much hope either. The target for proceeds for disinvestment speaks for itself. At Rs 1,75,000 crore, this is substantially lower than the target for 2020-21 (Rs 2,10,000 crore). This is despite adding two Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and one general insurance company to the list of those (Air India, BPCL, SCI, ConCor, LIC) already under the hammer. The mandarins in the Finance Ministry have sensed that some disinvestments may not go through, others would fetch lower valuation.
There are four major bottlenecks in the way like policy flip-flops (it stymied Air India’s sale in 2018-19/2019-20); bureaucratic red tape (but for this, HPCL could have got a private suitor and BPCL’s sale could have happened in 2019/20); thrusting decisions on PSU Boards under a typical top-down approach; linking share sale to meeting the FD target. The last two reasons have the inevitable effect of delaying and reducing realisation from every sale.
The Budget offers nothing to address any of these bottlenecks. Under a business as usual approach, it will take several years, if not decades, for the sale process to get completed. The decision to set up an empowered group of secretaries to address the concerns of potential investors won’t be of much help as even under this arrangement, bureaucrats will continue to rule the roost.
The Centre should de-bureaucratise the process of running PSUs. This should be done even before privatisation is taken up. The Government may set up a holding company — on the lines of a bank investment company recommended by an RBI committee under P Nayak — where all its shares in PSUs will be vested. It should authorise the holding company to take all decisions, including share sale to private investors, in consultation with the management. To be manned by eminent professionals drawn from respective fields, the company should to be given full autonomy in its working.
This mechanism will also help in de-linking divestment from the Budget exercise and give much- needed flexibility to the holding company to decide the contours and timing of sale, taking into account the market conditions so as to maximise the proceeds from sales.
The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst. The views expressed are personal.
By praising Modi, Azad is consolidating his position within the dissenter group
There is nothing unusual in leaders of rival parties having a cordial relationship despite serious political differences. But what makes such “friendships” different from the others is their public display. The bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is a case in point. Recently, the manner in which Azad heaped praises on Modi indicates that it is something more than just geniality. Everybody appreciated when the PM first displayed it while bidding an emotional farewell to the Congress stalwart on his retirement from the Rajya Sabha. Azad echoed the sentiments as the occasion called for it. However, Azad heaping praises on the PM in Jammu, that too, a day after a few senior Congress leaders reiterated their call for leadership change, has a political message. Being one of the most senior members of the group of 23 Congressmen — unofficially termed “G23” — Azad wants to carve a space for himself within this faction and also tell the party that it must go by the advice of its “elders”. It seems that this group is sending a message that sidelining the old guard will only prove counterproductive to the party’s interests. Azad is sending a clear message to the party high command that if tall leaders like former Union Ministers Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others can stand by his side even if he heaps praises on Modi, they can also go the extra mile and stand in complete defiance of the leadership. He is increasing his bargaining power within the Congress.
By praising Modi, Azad is basically consolidating his position within the dissenter group. Modi, being an astute politician, must be aware of what Azad is up to. With the Congress old guard speaking out against the leadership, it is clear that all is not well within the “Grand Old Party”. Moreover, the G23 leaders are trying to stay relevant by upping the ante against the party leadership. They don’t want to loosen their hold on the party. The BJP has already parted ways with many of its tall leaders by creating a “Margdarshak Mandal” and these seniors are now just in an advisory role. The Congress old guard must be apprehensive of meeting the same fate. At least the restlessness shown by these Congress leaders points to this line of thought. On the other hand, it would not suffice to blame the Gandhis alone for the electoral losses that the Congress has suffered in the past few years. It was a failure on the part of these veteran leaders also. However, whether these veterans would be successful in bringing about reforms in the party, saving their positions, influencing party decisions, increasing their bargaining power or will Rahul Gandhi give an opportunity to the youngsters to lead the party and gradually do away with the “rusted bolts”, only time will tell. Well, as we eagerly wait for what Modi or Azad say next on their bonhomie, we shall continue watching the high-voltage Congress drama.
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