PM to US Indian doctors – let’s join hands for a healthy nation

Online facility for Diaspora doctors to serve in India opened by Health Minister

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in a speech which was read out by the Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan last night to a gathering of US-based Indian medical professionals said that the aim of his government is to bring about a “complete transformation” of the health sector through research, innovation and the latest technology.

The Prime Minister in an address to delegates at the 32nd annual convention of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) held in San Antonio, Texas underscored the need for all citizens to involve themselves in the national endeavour for “Healthy India”.

“It is my firm belief that our focus needs to go beyond health insurance. The way ahead lies in health assurance. We need to focus on preventive health care where public participation has a major role to play,” the Prime Minister said.

The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) is a professional body of physicians of Indian origin. It has a membership of over 52,000. AAPI works through 138 local chapters, speciality societies and alumni associations. It assists Indian doctors in the country to achieve excellence in treatment methods, training and research.

In January 2013, the Prime Minister, in his capacity as Chief Minister of Gujarat, addressed the Indo-US Health Summit organised by AAPI held in the state.

Swasth India portal

The Prime Minister’s message also resonated in Dr Harsh Vardhan’s address to AAPI members. He named specific sectors where AAPI members could contribute, like accepting teaching assignments, share knowledge on telemedicine, lend their expertise in fighting disease, help develop model primary health centres, etc. The Health Minister also unfurled the “Swasth India” portal which, apart from showcasing medical advancement and recommending panacea for the benefit of Indians, would facilitate online permission for Indian American doctors to serve in the areas of their choice in India.

“Swasth India” would make it possible for any US-based Indian doctor to select the areas they wish to serve in India, seek and receive formal approval from Medical Council of India (MCI) on their qualifications, and address all other government issues within 15 days.

“Before leaving on this trip, I had written to MCI that existing bottlenecks should be eased and if permission is held up beyond 15 days, then it should be deemed automatically granted,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said. The president of MCI, Dr Jayashreeben Mehta, was present on the occasion.

Dr Harsh Vardhan’s theme, “2020: Vision for Healthcare in India” drew warm appreciation from the audience. He stressed that under Prime Minister Shri Modi’s overarching leadership, health policy making and its implementation will not be the monopoly of the government but would be guided by the lived experience of hundreds of experts who will be urged to bring local solutions to local problems.

“For the first time we have a Prime Minister who is committed to serving every mother and child, every Indian young and old, with free and clean hospitals, generic medicines, rational drug policy, healthy lifestyles and, most importantly, enough doctors. I urge the Indian Diaspora to avail this historic opportunity to contribute to realising this dream,” the Health Minister said.

The Minister admitted that in the areas of telemedicine, seminal research, surveillance and early warning systems and, most importantly, medical insurance, he could do with the proven expertise of Indian American doctors.

On medical insurance, which was mentioned by the Prime Minister himself, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the blueprint of the world’s largest universal health insurance programme is in the process of being sharpened under his personal gaze. It is partially inspired by US President Barack Obama’s grand insurance-for-all project which is popularly known as “Obamacare”, he stated.

He rounded up, “The Prime Minister has authorised me to come up with a brand new policy soon. I need your help to write this all-important document.”

Statistics Day 2014 Celebrated

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation today celebrated the 8th Statistics Day 2014 all over India. The theme selected for the 8th Statistics Day is ‘Services Sector Statistics’ in view of contribution and importance of this sector to Indian economy.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that quality statistics play a very important role in formulation of development and investment policies. It is also crucial for improving transparency and accountability in policy planning and implementation process to ensure better governance and management for having greater control on delivery of public services. Hence, quality statistics is a very crucial for good governance. He said, this year’s theme is highly appropriate in the current economic scenario. The Service Sector has been the fastest growing sector of the Indian economy for the last ten years. It has been identified as the potential growth engine. Its share in GDP has also been growing steadily every year over the past decade. It also accounts for a higher share in employment and even in future, more employment opportunities are likely to get created in service sector. It has, therefore, become imperative to pay immediate attention towards bridging the data gaps in this sector.

शहरी विकास और सभी के लिए आवास के मुद्दे पर बातचीत के लिए दो दिवसीय की बैठक मंगलवार से शुरू होगी, वेंकैया नायडू इसकी अध्‍यक्षता करेंगे

सभी को 2022 तक आवास उपलब्‍ध कराने के केंद्रीय शहरी और विकास मंत्रालय की योजना के मद्देनजर केन्‍द्र सरकार ने शहरी विकास मंत्रालय के सभी मंत्रियों और सचिवों की नई दिल्‍ली में दो दिवसीय बैठक बुलाई है। यह बैठक शहरी विकास मंत्रालय और आवास एवं शहरी गरीबी उन्‍मूलन मंत्रालय के संयुक्‍त तत्‍वाधान में बुलाई जा रही है। बैठक का विषय है, ‘’शहरी सुशासन और सभी के लिए आवास : अवसर और चुनौतियां’’। इस दो दिवसीय बैठक की अध्‍यक्षता शहरी विकास और आवास एवं शहरी गरीबी उन्‍मूलन मंत्री श्री एम. वेंकैया नायडू करेंगे। सभी मंत्री और सचिव (आवास), केन्‍द्र और राज्‍य स्‍तर पर शहरी विकास, शहरी मामले और स्‍थानीय स्‍वायत्त सरकार जैसे मामलों पर 2 जुलाई से शुरू होने वाली बैठक में हिस्‍सा लेंगे। बैठक के पहले दिन प्रशासन सचिव, विशेषज्ञ एवं अन्‍य स्टेकधारक, जिसमें वित्‍तीय संस्‍थान भी शामिल हैं, इस बात पर चर्चा करेंगे कि शहरी इलाकों में विभिन्‍न परियोजनाओं को लागू करने में कौन-कौन सी दिक्‍कतें हैं। बैठक में इस बात पर भी चर्चा की जाएगी कि किस तरह इन चुनौतियों से निपटा जा सकता है।

वार्ता के ऐजेंडे में जवाहर लाल नेहरू शहरी नवीकरण मिशन के अन्तर्गत आवासों के निर्माण, राजीव आवास योजना के तहत भवन निर्माण में हुई प्रगति, आधारभूत संरचना, परिवहन, सोलिड वेस्ट का निपटान, पेयजल आपूर्ति, साफ-सफाई इत्‍यादि शामिल होंगे।

तीन जुलाई को मं‍त्रियों की होने वाली बैठक में उन मुद्दों पर चर्चा की जाएगी जो सचिवों की होने वाली कार्यशाला से निकलकर आएंगे। बैठक में अन्‍य सहभागी भी अपने विचारों रखेंगे। आवास उपलब्‍ध कराना आज एक प्रमुख चुनौती है। शहरी क्षेत्रों में 190 लाख आवासों की कमी का अनुमान लगाया गया है और 2022 में यह बढ़कर 300 मीलियन तक पहुंच जाने का अनुमान है। दो दिवसीय की यह बैठक प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेन्‍द्र मोदी के उस विजन का हिस्‍सा है, जिसमें बेहतर परिणाम के लिए राज्‍य और केंद्र सरकारों से मिलकर काम करने की बात कही गई है। चूंकि 50 प्रतिशत लोग अर्थात 875 मीलियन लोग निकट भविष्‍य में शहरों में रहेंगे, इसलिए शहरी सुशासन एक प्रमुख चुनौती के रूप में उभरी है। इन गंभीर चुनौतियों को अवसर में बदलने के लिए केंद्र और राज्‍य सरकारों को मिलकर प्रयास करने होंगे।

Drugs affordability and patents

India’s IPR regime is currently under attack by the U.S. pharma lobbies which have teamed up with other powerful lobbies to make out a case against India.

One of the urgent tasks before the new government is something that does not figure in common discourse but is still extremely important for its larger implications for Indo-U.S. economic ties. India’s patent regime, which protects intellectual property rights (IPRs), has come under intense scrutiny in the United States. It is the contention of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) that the environment for IPR in India has deteriorated. India has been placed on the “priority watch” list of countries, whose IPR regimes will be scrutinised during the year. The saving grace is India has not been labelled a Priority Foreign Country (PFC) in the USTR’s Special Report released at the end of April. The U.S. Trade Representative is part of the executive office of the U.S. President empowered to develop and recommend trade policy to the U.S. government.

Any penal action against India would have cast doubts on the institutions and processes of economic diplomacy in the U.S. It would have been thoroughly ill-timed: the report was released, on schedule, two weeks before a new government took office in India.

If, indeed, the USTR had categorised India as a Priority Foreign Country, it could have led to imposition of sanctions by the U.S. on Indian trade.

Yet, while there was no downgrade, India’s IP regime would be closely watched.

Pharma lobbies
India’s IPR regime is currently under attack by the U.S. pharma lobbies which have teamed up with other powerful lobbies to make out a case against India. From India’s point of view, the objective of the high pressure lobbying by big pharma in the U.S. is to stymie India’s efforts at providing affordable medicine without in any way compromising on existing treaty agreements.

Flexibilities
Big pharma is obviously piqued by India’s decision to use the “flexibilities” that are available in the existing TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement. Since 2005, when patent protection was incorporated into domestic laws, the flexibilities were used only twice. In March 2012, it issued a compulsory licence to an Indian firm for a cancer drug, whose patent holder, the German multinational Bayer, had priced it well beyond the reach of a majority of Indian patients.

Under another provision, countries have the option to deny patent to a drug that involved only incremental innovation. In April 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the 2006 decision of the Indian Patent Office denying the Swiss company Novartis’ patent on a drug precisely on this ground.

Clearly, it is not just these two instances but the fear that other developing countries would emulate India that is behind the lobbying. India should be prepared to challenge any unilateral action by the U.S. before the WTO whose disputes settlement mechanism has a good record of impartiality.

The way forward is through discussions not confrontation. India needs foreign technologies and investment. Obviously, it helps alleviate any impression that India’s patent regime is being diluted. Two points in India’s favour are (one) patent issues are decided after a due process, never arbitrarily. Two, the very few instances of using flexibilities are indicative of the fact that India uses those safeguards selectively. Very recently, despite strong recommendations from the Health Ministry, the government refused to issue a compulsory licence for production of a copy of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s cancer drug Dasatinib in India. The argument is that a case has not been made out for producing a generic version of that drug in India.

The debate should go on. There is a case for having a permanent mechanism for discussing patent-related issues, especially concerning the drug industry.

Saina clinches Australian Open

The sixth-seeded Indian, who had won the India Open Super Series earlier this year, prevailed 21-18 21-11 in a 43-minute contest against Spain’s Carolina Marin.

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal produced a dominating performance to lift her second title of the season, winning the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series after beating Spain’s Carolina Marin in the summit clash in Sydney on Sunday.

The sixth-seeded Indian, who had won the India Open Super Series earlier this year, prevailed 21-18 21-11 in a 43-minute contest which made her richer by $56,000.

The 24-year-old Saina, who enjoyed a 1-0 head-to-head record against Marin going into Sunday’s match, logged the first point and displayed some deft net play against her rival, stroking in some delectably timed volleys to take a 5-2 lead in the opening game.

But the 21-year-old Marin was not the one to give up easily and showed just why she is considered one of the most feisty players on the circuit. She narrowed the gap to 6-8 but seemed distinctly out of her comfort zone every time Saina dragged her towards the net.

Also, Marin didn’t help her cause by committing a service error to gift an easy point to Saina, who went into the interval leading 11-7 after an intriguing rally which ended with the Spaniard smashing the shuttle wide.

Marin raised her game and the decibel levels after the break but Saina was quick to counter-attack and returned her rival’s attempted smashes with quiet intensity.

In between, Marin played some fine strokes but they never came consistently enough as Saina made it 17-12. Marin’s dogged determination was there to be seen in every point she played for but that alone was never going to be enough to upstage a composed Saina.

The Indian, who didn’t seem affected at all by Marin’s aggressive outpouring of emotions after every claimed point, sealed the opening game 21-18 after her world number 11 rival smashed one into the net 23 minutes into the match.

In the second game, Marin’s determination helped her take a 3-1 lead to start with but it was not too long before Saina came back into the fray, this time on the back of some well-placed strokes from the baseline.

Perhaps taking a cue from Marin, Saina too let some emotion show as she clenched her fist and shouted ‘come on’ after every clinched point. But one of her screams came about in the middle of a rally, prompting Marin to complain to the chair umpire, who merely asked her to continue.

The distraction didn’t do any good to Marin as Saina raced to a 11-4 lead against the Spaniard, who looked to be in disarray.

After the interval, Saina kept up the pressure, regularly inducing errors from Marin, who struggled to maintain the intensity she displayed in the opening game.

Dominating the proceedings, Saina produced some of her trademark smashes to further demoralise her rival, whose shoulders had dropped by that stage.

But there was to be some moments of drama before the win came about.

Leading 19-9, Saina challenged a line call that went against her but replays showed that the shuttle had in fact landed wide. The Indian made another mistake while playing the very next point as she buried an attempted smash into the net.

But Saina made amends quite quickly and clinched the title after Marin lobbed a shuttle wide.

The smallest force ever measured: 42 yoctonewtons

What could be the smallest force that can be applied to an object? For now, scientists have measured a force of 42 yoctonewtons, the smallest force measured so far.

A yoctonewton is one-septillionth, or 10 of a Newton.

Using a combination of lasers and a unique optical trapping system that provides a cloud of ultra-cold atoms, the force has been detected by researchers at Berkeley Lab and University of California (UC) Berkeley.

If you want to confirm the existence of gravitational waves, — space-time ripples Measurements of force and motion at the quantum levels bump against a barrier imposed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle — when the measurement itself perturbs the measuring device, a phenomenon known as “quantum back-action”.

This barrier of least possible measurement is called the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL).

A wide array of strategies have been deployed to minimise quantum back-action and get ever closer to the SQL, but the best of these techniques fell short by six to eight orders of magnitude.

“We measured force with a sensitivity that is the closest ever to the SQL,” said lead author Sydney Schreppler.

The findings appeared in the journal Science.

China launches study to build rail link to Pakistan via PoK

China has reportedly commissioned a "preliminary research study" to build an international rail link connecting its border province of Xinjiang to Pakistan, a contentious project from India's perspective as it runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

China has allocated funds for preliminary research on building an international railway connecting its westernmost city of Kashgar in Xinjiang with Pakistan's deep-sea Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea, state-run China Daily quoted the director of Xinjiang's regional development and reform commission, Zhang Chunlin as saying today.

"The 1,800-km China-Pakistan railway is planned to also pass through Pakistan's capital of Islamabad and Karachi," Zhang said at the two-day International Seminar on the Silk Road Economic Belt being held in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital.

"Although the cost of constructing the railway is expected to be high due to the hostile environment and complicated geographic conditions, the study of the project has already started," Zhang said apparently referring to recurring attacks carried out by extremist groups in Pakistan.

Xinjiang itself is in a restive state due to attacks by East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) militants within the province as well as in Beijing and other Chinese cities.The province bordering PoK and Afghanistan experienced riots in recent years following protests by Muslim Uygurs over increasing settlements of Han Chinese from other provinces.

China and Pakistan have already signed a multi-billion-dollar deal to construct an Economic Corridor through PoK connecting Kashgar with Gwadar by improving the existing Karakorum road link, though analysts in China questioned its feasibility in view of present conditions.

India has reportedly conveyed its reservations in this regard to China as it is being constructed through the disputed territory.

"We will consider opening (land) ports to Afghanistan and India once social stability can be ensured. After all openness is the foundation of boosting trade," Zhang said.

Though the rail project was in the air for some time, the announcement came as China and India are set to mark 60 year celebrations of Panchsheel, the five principles of peaceful coexistence here today.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is on a five-day visit to China, will take part in the two celebrations being held here in which Chinese President Xi Jinping and Myanmar President U Thein Sein would also participate.

Chinese officials say the new rail link which runs through the Pamir Plateau and Karakorum mountains will be one of the hardest to build but forms a vital part in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as well as China's plans for the revival of the ancient Silk Road trade route.

Pakistan has already handed over the control of the Gwadar port, which provided an opening for the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf to Beijing for the first time besides a direct view of India's west coast including Gujarat and Maharashtra.

China is now running the port just opposite the Gulf of Oman, an important route for oil tankers. China plans to build a pipeline network to download the oil from ships and pump it across to Xinjiang through the proposed pipeline network.