uppcs exam is cancelled due to paper leaks

#uppcs exam is cancelled due to paper leaks

यूपीपीएससी का एग्जाम कैंसल, वॉट्सऐप पर बिक रहा था पेपर

पेपर लीक होने की खबर सामने आने की वजह से उत्तर प्रदेश पब्लिस सर्विस कमिशन (UPPSC) की परीक्षा को रद्द कर दिया गया है ।

एग्जाम से ठीक एक घंटे पहले खबर आई थी कि यूपीपीएससी के पेपर लीक हो चुके हैं। रिपोर्ट्स के मुताबिक एक पेपर की एक कॉपी के बदले परीक्षार्थियों से 5 लाख रुपये लिए गए थे।

यूपी के डीजीपी ए.के. जैन ने न्यूज चैनल्स से बात करते हुए कहा, 'एग्जाम कैंसल कर दिया गया है। जो लोग भी दोषी होंगे, उन्हें सजा जरूर मिलेगी।' उन्होंने बताया कि पेपर वॉट्सऐप पर डिस्ट्रीब्यूट हो रहा था।

एग्जाम रद्द होने की वजह से लखनऊ में विरोध प्रदर्शनों का दौर भी शुरू हो चुका है।

http://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/metro/lucknow/administration/uppsc-examination-cancelled-after-paper-leak/articleshow/46734627.cms

For a renaissance in Indian S&T

The apathy of successive Central governments towards science and technology continues in numerous ways. The premier national scientific agencies have been made to languish, and no effort has been made either to formulate a national S&T policy

No one would doubt that #science and technology (S&T) are an intrinsic part of the socio-politico-economic fabric of our society, yet the cold fact is that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government has paid scant attention to science in particular, which has been the basis of all technologies that have transformed lives through history. This is not to say that the United Progressive Alliance government did better. Let me look at the new government’s apathy towards S&T, exemplified in these ways:

No direction

Three of the leading scientific agencies in the country have been without a head for various periods. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been without a regular director-general since January 2014; he/she would also hold the position of Secretary, Department of Scientific & Industrial Research. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been without a director-general since March 1, 2015; he/she would also be the Secretary, Department of Health Research. And, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been without a director-general — he/she would also be the scientific adviser to the Defence Minister — since January 14, 2015, when the person-in-charge was removed. Between them, these organisations oversee 120 out of some 280 national S&T institutions. Till recently, another leading scientific agency, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), was also without a head for quite some time. The post of Secretary, DST, was filled only recently.

In addition, several premier research and development (R&D) laboratories function without a regular director, examples being the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi.

There is more. The last Union Budget speech had virtually no reference to science. Personally, I am aware of the erosion of excellence built painstakingly over the years in laboratories such as the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad. Its library can no longer subscribe to evenCurrent Contents leave alone other scientific journals as there is no money. I know that the ICMR cannot even pay appropriate travel allowance to those attending its meetings. I have not seen such situations arise in my scientific career spanning over six decades. The resource crunch that S&T labs face today is something unknown and is painful.

For a viable policy

No effort has been made to formulate a national S&T policy, especially when the country needs a framework and a statement on such a policy. It also needs a document that would clearly and unambiguously state a workable way to implement this policy.

Once this is done, one must then identify our unqualified successes in the fields of science and technology since Independence and give their reasons so that one knows what one has to build upon, and also identify our failures and their reasons. We can then know what needs to be taken care of in future.

At this point, I would like to give the example of Israel and highlight the quality and worldwide impact of basic scientific research done there. As an independent nation, Israel has existed for about the same period as India has. Unlike India, it has had to start from scratch. It did not inherit natural resources like India did. There is just one reservoir of fresh water, the Sea of Galilee. Its entire population is much smaller than the population of even the smallest of our four largest metropolitan cities. Yet, its output of all basic research outpaces that done in most of our 280 national research institutions. One only needs to analyse the citations of the scientific work done in the two countries and follow the worldwide technological impact of Israel’s work to understand what I am trying to highlight.

There must be a recognition of the differences between science and technology. For this, one can refer to Science and Technology Policy in the 1980s and Beyond, 1984.

The use of validated, indigenous, traditional knowledge hardly needs emphasis. For example, traditional knowledge in the area of water conservation has been well documented by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in Delhi. Where used, as in Rajasthan, the excellent results are there for all to see. Yet, in contrast, is the way in which our numerous, tribal, plant-based, traditional medical formulations, for which substantial social validation exists, have not even been documented. An example of social validation in this area is the regulation of conception in the Nicobar Islands.

New links

The documents must also recognise and identify new linkages that science has come to establish with areas such as economics, sociology, politics and law; deal with the new ethical questions that have arisen as a consequence of advances in science and technology, and work out strategies which ensure that they are dealt with appropriately in the Indian context.

We must also ensure that the cultivation of a scientific temper does not exist merely on paper but finds life and expression in practice. All actions that the government takes or supported by the people must be in line with scientific temper.

We must take a stand on those clauses of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) which have a scientific component and which are not in India’s interests. This would involve utilising existing provisions in these agreements to our advantage and passing appropriate pieces of national legislation and seeking changes to specific provisions at the international level. This was dealt with in an article in this daily (February 20, 2002) titled “Patenting India’s interests”.

There must be a definitive but liberal policy on providing venture capital for start-ups in new areas of technology. This must be through government-funded agencies such as the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India and the Industrial Development Bank of India.

The mechanism governing the release of genetically engineered organisms is unsatisfactory and ineffective. Similarly, infertility clinics have mushroomed in the last decade and may be responsible for an infructuous expenditure of several thousand crores of rupees every year, besides creating ethical problems. I advocate appropriate and workable regulatory mechanisms in these two areas.

There must be an emphasis on national security which would include sustainable development and a factoring in of interests in conservation, food, ecology, social security (including health), and defence.

A forecasting system which would enable one to project socio-economic-political scenarios against the background of developments in science and technology on a continuing basis is a must.

Basic research

Working out a policy for basic research where all worthwhile ideas that would allow India to become a leader in basic research should be pursued with vigour. Second or third-rate research that is repetitive or a trivial follow-up of leads provided elsewhere in the world must be discouraged. This will ensure that the quality-to-quantity ratio in the country in respect of basic research goes up by at least two-orders of magnitude in the next two decades.

Areas that relate to technology where the country would lay special emphasis in the next two decades must be identified. These could be in space technology, energy (especially renewable sources of energy, and increasing efficiency in the use and conservation of energy), new materials, biotechnology (including marine biotechnology), information technology, microelectronics, computers, nanotechnologies, artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, meteorology, and disaster prevention and management.

An incident in the past comes to mind. In 1982, the first robot in the country was produced by a private science society, the Hyderabad Science Society, which was founded in 1948; it received rave reviews and was met with applause when first demonstrated to the public. However, the society, which has an excellent record of public service, has faced problems, some of which affect its survival. Such a situation would never have been allowed to happen or even arisen in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, leave alone Japan, the United Kingdom or the United States.

Finally, our national science academies must be made socially accountable. I hope all these points will help usher in ‘Achche Din’ for Indian science and technology and make eminent sense to our political masters.

#Saina makes history, becomes world no.1

While the official rankings will be out on Thursday, reigning champion Carolina Marin's India Open semifinal loss on Saturday made Saina Nehwal the first Indian woman to reach the top spot.

#SainaNehwal on Saturday scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the number one spot in world rankings, reaffirming her status as the country’s most consistent performer in the international circuit.

The 25-year-old zoomed to the top after her closest challenger for the position, Spain’s Carolina Marin, lost in the India Open Super Series semifinal here.

Though the official rankings will be out only on Thursday next week, Saina has been assured of her ascent to the top owing to the reigning world champion’s 19-21 23-21 20-22 loss to third seed Thai Ratchanok Intanon.

Saina thus becomes only the second Indian overall to be world number one after Prakash Padukone had the distinction of being the numero uno men’s badminton player.

Saina plays Japan’s Yui Hashimoto in the second semifinal but the Indian ace will be No. 1 irrespective of her result on Saturday.

The London Olympic bronze-medallist has won a staggering 14 international titles in her glorious career and most recently she became the first Indian woman to make the finals of the prestigious All England Championships in Manchester.

#PSLV-C27 Successfully Launches India's Fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1D

ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C27, successfully launched the 1425 kg IRNSS-1D, the fourth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) today evening (March 28, 2015) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the twenty eighth consecutively successful mission of the PSLV. The 'XL' configuration of PSLV was used for this mission. Previously, the same configuration of the vehicle was successfully used seven times. After the PSLV-C27 lift-off at 1719 hrs IST from the Second Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, heat-shield separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of about 19 minutes 25 seconds, IRNSS-1D Satellite was injected to an elliptical orbit of 282.52 km X 20,644 km (very close to the intended orbit) and successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage. After injection, the solar panels of IRNSS-1D were deployed automatically. ISRO's Master Control Facility (at Hassan, Karnataka) took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from Master Control Facility to position the satellite in the Geosynchronous Orbit at 111.75 deg East longitude with 30.5 deg inclination. IRNSS-1D is the fourth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B and 1C, the first three satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014 and October 16, 2014 respectively. All the three satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions. IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users - and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users. A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in many locations across the country. In the coming months, the next satellite of this constellation, namely, IRNSS-1E, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2016 Applications of IRNSS  Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation. Disaster Management. Vehicle tracking and fleet management. Integration with mobile phones. Precise Timing. Mapping and Geodetic data capture. Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers. Visual and voice navigation for drivers.

Government #transparencyindex

 India ranks 37 out of 102 countries on the Open Government Index 2015, which ranks countries on how transparent their governments are and the ease with which citizens can hold their government accountable.

The report, released on Thursday by Washington-based World Justice Project, is a perception survey on a random sample in three cities in each country, and has also interviewed experts in the field of transparency.

Those that topped the list were high income countries such as Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark and Netherlands. "Richer countries rank higher as they have more resources and more people connected to the internet. But on removing high-income countries from the list, the correlation between a country's per capita gross domestic product and its rank on the Open Government Index disappears," says Juan Carlos Botero, one of the authors of the report, told TOI.

This is evident when one compares India with China. While China is on the list of upper middle income countries and India is on the list of lower middle income countries, India outperforms China by 50 ranks when it comes to transparency in governance, with China ranking 87 on the list.

Incidentally, US ranked 11 on the index, despite it facing heat over spying on its citizens. "In other studies, such as the Rule of Law Index, the US does not fare well on privacy," says Botero.

Of the four parameters used to rank countries, India ranked 27 for publicized laws and government data. But it ranked 66 on Right to Information index. In India, the survey was carried out in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, and only 1% of those studied had requested information under the Act. Botero points out that there is no correlation between a country having a RTI law and implementing it. "Countries, like Germany, do not have a freedom of information law, but score well on open governance. India, on the other hand, has a strong transparency law. It now needs to implement it," he adds. The study showed that worldwide 40% of those surveyed were aware of laws supporting their right to access government data.

Mission #Indradhanush to Put #Vaccination Efforts on High Speed 90% Children to Be Covered in Next Five Years By 2020

Vaccination is a proven and one of the most cost effective child survival interventions. All countries in the world have an immunization programme to deliver selected vaccines to the targeted beneficiaries, specially focusing on pregnant women, infants and children, who are at a high risk of diseases preventable by vaccines. The number of vaccines in the immunization programmes varies from country to country; however, there are a few selected vaccines against Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Poliomyelitis, Measles, and Hepatitis-B which are part of immunization programmes in most of the countries in the world.

Though a proven cost-effective preventive intervention, the benefits of immunization is not reaching many children who are at the maximum risk of the diseases preventable by these vaccines. Majority of the children who do not receive these vaccines live in developing countries. Studies have revealed that children are left uncovered by the routine immunisation programme either because the parents and guardians are unaware of the drive, or there is some element of apprehension or fear due to vaccination. Both these can be effectively addressed through an awareness campaign which underlines the critical importance of vaccination, and removes any apprehension harboured by the parent or the guardian.

Indian Scenario

2.7 Crore children are born in India every year. Approximately 18.3 lakhs children die before their fifth birthday. It is the low income families who lose the most children to disease. India records 5 lakh child deaths annually due to vaccine preventable diseases. Despite high childhood mortality rates due to vaccine preventable diseases, 30 percent of Indian children miss the benefits of full immunization every year. That is, an estimated 89 lakhs children across the country that either get only a few vaccines or no vaccines at all. One out of every 3 children in India does not receive all vaccines that are available under UIP.  Five percent of children in urban areas and 8 percent in rural areas are unimmunized.

 The Government of India recognizes immunization as one of the most cost effective interventions to prevent child deaths. India’s Universal Immunization Programme is one of the largest public health interventions in the country with an extensive vaccine delivery system with 27000 vaccine storage units in 35 states across the country. 80% of vaccination takes place in the outreach sessions, held in thousands each year in more than 6 lakh villages and other urban belts.

Universal Immunisation Programme (U.I.P.)

It is one of the largest in the world in terms of quantities of vaccine used, the number of beneficiaries, the number of Immunisation session organised, the geographical spread and diversity of areas covered. The national policy of Immunisation of all children during the first year of life with DPT, OPV and BCG to complete the series of primary vaccination before reaching the age of one year was adopted in 1978 with the lunching of EPI to increase the Immunisation coverage in infancy to 80%. Universal Immunisation programme UIP was launched in 1985 in a phased manner. The measles vaccine was added in 1985 and in 1990 Vitamin A supplementation was added to the program.

The Vaccination Schedule under the UIP

1. BCG (Bacillus Calmette Guerin) 1 dose at Birth (upto 1 year if not given earlier)

2. DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus Toxoid) 5 doses; Three primary doses at 6weeks,10weeks and 14 weeks and two booster doses at 16-24 months and 5 Years of age

3. OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine) 5 doses; 0 dose at birth, three primary doses at 6,10 and 14 weeks and one booster dose at 16-24 months of age

4. Hepatitis B vaccine 4 doses; 0 dose within 24 hours of birth and three doses at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age.

5. Measles 2 doses; first dose at 9-12 months and second dose at 16-24months of age

6. TT (Tetanus Toxoid) 2 doses at 10 years and 16 years of age

7. TT – for pregnant woman two doses or one dose if previously vaccinated within 3 Year

8.  In addition, Japanese Encephalitis (JE vaccine) vaccine was introduced in 112 endemic districts in campaign mode in phased manner from 2006-10 and has now been incorporated under the Routine Immunisation Programme.

India expanded its immunization programme with the introduction of three new vaccines in 2014. There is an urgent need to ensure that the benefit of complete vaccination is provided to all children in the country.

Challenges

In spite of all positive changes, there are ongoing challenges and shortcoming in the programme. The coverage with vaccines in National Immunization Programme is suboptimal and there are inter- and intra-state variations in the coverage. There are wide variations in the proportion of partially immunized and unimmunized children within states and districts. Data recording and reporting is suboptimal and disease surveillance system desires improvement. It is critical to address these reasons and identify the districts where focused efforts, systematic immunization drive and additional resources will be required for reaching all children with all available life-saving vaccines.

The challenges faced in delivering lifesaving vaccines to the targeted beneficiaries need to be addressed from the existing knowledge and learning from the past. Though the preventive efforts from diseases were practiced in India, the reluctance, opposition and a slow acceptance of vaccination have been the characteristic of vaccination history in the country. The operational challenges keep the coverage inequitable in the country. The lessons from the past events have been analysed and interpreted to guide immunization efforts.

Mission Indradhanush

The result is the ‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched on 25th December, 2014 with an aim to cover all those children who are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated. ‘Mission Indradhanush’ is a nationwide initiative with a special focus on 201 high focus districts. These districts account for nearly 50% of the total partially vaccinated or unvaccinated children in the country. Mission Indradhanush will provide protection against seven life-threatening diseases (Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Polio, Tuberculosis, Measles and Hepatitis B). In addition, vaccination against Japanese Encephalitis and Haemophilus influenza type B will be provided in selected districts of the country. Vaccination against tetanus will be provided to the pregnant women.

Between 2009-2013 immunisation coverage has increased from 61% to 65%, indicating only 1% increase in coverage every year. To accelerate the process of immunization by covering 5% and more children every year, the Mission Mode has been adopted to achieve target of full coverage by 2020. High-focus 201 districts will be taken up for implementation in the first phase. Of these, 82 districts are in just four states of UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and nearly 25% of the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children of India are in these 82 districts of four states. Moreover, 297 will be targeted for the second phase. The Mission focuses on interventions to rapidly increase full immunization coverage of children by approximately 5% annually and to expand full immunization coverage from 65% in 2014 to at least 90% children in the next five years. Four special vaccination campaigns will be conducted between March and June 2015 and this will cover all children less than two years of age and pregnant women for Tetanus Toxoid vaccine. This immunization campaign will be conducted for a period of 7-10 days every month for four consecutive months.

Micro plans developed to make the Mission mode successful will draw on the lessons learned from the Polio eradication towards systems strengthening, vaccine cold chain management, regular surveillance and monitoring of the plans to reach each and every left out and uncovered child. The government has sought technical support from various external agencies like WHO, UNICEF and Rotary to achieve the goals of this programme.

Understandably, the implementation of vaccination programme and ensuring that the benefits of vaccines reach to each and every possible beneficiary is a challenging task.  Mission Indradhanush depicting seven colours of the rainbow, aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B. The Mission Indradhanush initiative is a call for action by the Government of India to intensify efforts to expedite the full immunization coverage in the country. Full immunization will rescues lakhs of children from disease mortality and morbidity and is essential for social development.

President confers #BharatRatna on #Vajpayee

Veteran Parliamentarian and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, founder member of the Bharatiya Janata Party who is held in high esteem across the political spectrum, was on Friday conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, by President Pranab Mukherjee

In a departure from protocol, Mr. Mukherjee drove to Mr. Vajpayee’s residence at Krishna Memon marg in Lutyens’ Delhi and presented to the ailing BJP leader the prestigious award, the country’s highest civilian honour.

The event, which was attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with some close family members, was kept away from the media glare.

Mr. Vajpayee, who was Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004, and has faded from public life due to age-related illness, is lauded as a statesman and has been often described as the moderate face of BJP.

He has been credited with taking bold initiatives, notable among them being the historic bus journey to Lahore in 1999 when he signed the landmark Lahore Declaration with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with both sides pledging to push for peace and security.

Later, a tea party was hosted in the lawns of the residence which was attended by union ministers and state Chief Ministers including Jammu and Kashmir’s Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

The announcement for a Bharat Ratna for Mr. Vajpayee, the first Prime Minister from outside the Congress party to serve a full five-year term, came on December 24, a day before he turned 90.

Mr. Vajpayee’s detractors called him the “mask” of RSS but still always had good words for him.

Regarded as one of the most charismatic leaders, he was lauded as a statesman politician whose acceptability across the board broke barriers and brought BJP to centre stage of politics in the late 1980s.

'Mother India's dear son'

The Prime Minister expressed his happiness over the award that was conferred on Mr. Vajpayee by the President and said he was leader who had dedicated his entire life for the nation.

“One who dedicated his life, such Mother India’s dear son, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, we have got the privilege to confer the Bharat Ratna Award on him today.

“I express my gratitude to the President who himself came here and personally bestowed upon him, the Bharat Ratna award.

“Atalji’s life was dedicated to the nation, he lived and thought for the nation for every second. In India there are crores of workers like me in whose life Vajpayee ji is an inspiration.

“The upcoming generations will continue to be inspired by him. I will pray to God for this only that Bharat Ratna Awardee Vajpayee ji’s life continues to inspire and guide us forever,” he said.

Emerging from Mr. Vajpayee’s residence, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that Bharat Ratna was conferred on the former Prime Minister by the President at a brief ceremony because of “Vajpayee does not go out on account of his health reasons.”

The honour is in recoognition of his services to the country as a “powerful nationalist leader, one of the longest serving Parliamentarians, a poet and a thinker who was not leader of his own party but of the entire country,” he said.

A veteran Parliamentarian, he was not only a leader of India but of the whole world. He left an indelible imprint as a philosopher, poet and Prime Minister, Mr. Jaitley said, adding, “it is an occasion of joy for each one of us.”

He said the function held at Mr. Vajpayee’s residence was on behalf of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP patron L K Advani, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, Chief Ministers Prakash Singh Badal (Punjab), Vasundhra Raje (Rajasthan), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and N Chnadrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) besides JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav were among those present.

Known for bold decisions

An orator par excellence and known for taking bold initiatives, Mr. Vajpayee was widely respected within the country and abroad as a statesman of the genre of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Vajpayee’s tenure from 1998-99 as Prime Minister saw his boldness as during this period India conducted a series of successive nuclear tests at Pokhran in May 1998.

He always wanted to improve relations with Pakistan ever since he became foreign minister in the Morarji Desai Government in the late seventies.

After the Lahore bus peace overtures failed to move forward, another initiative was the historic Agra summit with General Pervez Musharraf in 2001 but that too made little headway.

A bachelor and a poet of some repute, Vajpayee was born on December 25, 1924 at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh to Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and Krishna Devi, a Brahmin family.

With his Parliamentary career spanning over five decades, Vajpayee was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1957 on Bhartiya Jan Sangh ticket.

Since its inception, 43 people including former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bhadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi besides singing legend Lata Mangeshkar and the batting mastreo have received the prestigious award.

The President will also confer the Bharat Ratna on Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) on March 30, 2015 at Rashtrapati Bhavan along with the Civil Investiture Ceremony for the Padma Awards, it said.