COMPOSITION OF UTTARAKHAND PSC (उत्तराखंड लोक सेवा आयोग)

COMPOSITION OF UTTARAKHAND PSC (उत्तराखंड लोक सेवा आयोग)
CHAIRMAN & 6 MEMBER ALONG WITH CM OF UTTARAKHAND

संयुक्त राष्ट्र पर्यावरण कार्यक्रम (UNEP) के तत्वावधान में ‘वन्य जीवों की प्रवासी प्रजातियों के संरक्षण पर अभिसमय हेतु पक्षकारों का सम्मेलन’ (CMS COP : Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals)

संयुक्त राष्ट्र पर्यावरण कार्यक्रम (UNEP) के तत्वावधान में ‘वन्य जीवों की प्रवासी प्रजातियों के संरक्षण पर अभिसमय हेतु पक्षकारों का सम्मेलन’ (CMS COP : Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals) एक पर्यावरण संधि है। यह प्रवासी जीवों एवं उनके आवासों के संरक्षण और टिकाऊ उपयोग के लिए वैश्विक मंच उपलब्ध कराता है। हाल ही में ‘सीएमएस सीओपी’ के 12वें सत्र का आयोजन मनीला, फिलीपींस में किया गया।

23-28 अक्टूबर, 2017 के मध्य मनीला, फिलीपींस में ‘वन्य जीवों की प्रवासी प्रजातियों के संरक्षण पर अभिसमय हेतु पक्षकारों का सम्मेलन का 12वां सत्र’ (CMS COP12) आयोजित किया गया।
यह पहला अवसर है जब सीएमएस सीओपी का आयोजन एशिया में किया गया।
सम्मेलन का नारा (Slogan) था ‘उनका भविष्य हमारा भविष्य है-वन्यजीव और लोगों के लिए पोषणीय विकास’ (Their Future is Our Future-Sustainable Development for Wildlife and People)।
सम्मेलन में एशिया, अफ्रीका, अमेरिका, यूरोप एवं ओशिनिया (Oceania) से 24 देशों के 34 प्रजातियों के संरक्षण प्रस्तावों को स्वीकृति प्रदान की गई।
सम्मेलन में 91 देशों के प्रतिनिधि शामिल हुए।
सीएमएस सीओपी के 13वें सत्र का आयोजन वर्ष 2020 में भारत में किया जाएगा।
सम्मेलन में चार एशियाई गिद्ध प्रजातियों लाल-मुखी गिद्ध (Red-Headed Vulture), सफेद-पूंछ गिद्ध (White-Rumped Vulture), भारतीय गिद्ध और पतली चोंच वाले गिद्ध (Slender-Billed Vulture) -को उच्चतम संरक्षण सूची में शामिल किया गया।
उपर्युक्त गिद्ध प्रजातियां विषाक्तता, शिकार, बिजली के तारों के साथ टकराव और निवास स्थान में गिरावट जैसे खतरों का सामना कर रही हैं।
भारत समेत 121 देशों के समुद्री क्षेत्रों में पाई जाने वाली व्हेल शार्क (Whale Shark) को भी संरक्षण सूची में शामिल किया गया।
सम्मेलन में ब्लू शार्क (Blue Shark) और गिटारफिश (Guitarfish) के संरक्षण के प्रस्ताव को स्वीकार किया गया।
आसियान (Asean) क्षेत्र के भीतर संरक्षित क्षेत्र नेटवर्कों के विकास और प्रबंधन के प्रस्ताव को अनुमोदित किया गया।
मध्य एशिया की दो दुर्लभ प्रजातियों-प्रजेवाल्सकी के घोड़े (Przewalski’s Horse) और गोबी भालू (Gobi Bear)- के संरक्षण हेतु मंगोलिया के प्रस्ताव को मंजूरी दी गई।
सम्मेलन में कैस्पियन सील (Caspian Seal) के संरक्षण की स्वीकृति प्रदान की गई।
उल्लेखनीय है कि कैस्पियन सील विश्व के सबसे बड़े अंतःस्थलीय (Inland) समुद्र कैस्पियन सागर में पाया जाने वाला एकमात्र समुद्री स्तनपायी है।
सम्मेलन में शेर, चिंपैंजी, जिराफ एवं तेंदुए की प्रजातियों को अतिरिक्त संरक्षण सूची से बाहर कर दिया गया।
सम्मेलन में चिंकारा (Indian Gazelle) के अतिरिक्त संरक्षण के प्रस्ताव को वापस ले लिया गया।

Biofuels are liquid or gaseous fuels primarily produced from biomass,

Biofuels are liquid or gaseous fuels primarily produced from biomass, and can be used to replace or can be used in addition to diesel, petrol or other fossil fuels for transport, stationary, portable and other applications. Crops used to make biofuels are generally either high in sugar (such as sugarcane, sugarbeet, and sweet sorghum), starch (such as maize and tapioca) or oils (such as soybean, rapeseed, coconut, sunflower).
Categories of biofuels
Biofuels are generally classified into three categories. They are
First generation biofuels - First-generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology. Common first-generation biofuels include Bioalcohols, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, Biogas.
Second generation biofuels - These are produced from non-food crops, such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of wheat and corn, and wood). Examples include advanced biofuels like biohydrogen, biomethanol.
Third generation biofuels - These are produced from micro-organisms like algae.
Biodiesel and its benefits
Bio-diesel is an eco-friendly, alternative diesel fuel prepared from domestic renewable resources ie. vegetable oils (edible or non- edible oil) and animal fats. These natural oils and fats are primarily made up of triglycerides. These triglycerides when reacted chemically with lower alcohols in presence of a catalyst result in fatty acid esters. These esters show striking similarity to petroleum derived diesel and are called "Biodiesel". As India is deficient in edible oils, non-edible oil may be material of choice for producing biodiesel. Examples are Jatropha curcas, Pongamia, Karanja, etc.
The benefits of using biodiesel are as follows
It reduce vehicle emission which makes it eco-friendly.
It is made from renewable sources and can be prepared locally.
Increases engine performance because it has higher cetane numbers as compared to petro diesel.
It has excellent lubricity.
Increased safety in storage and transport because the fuel is nontoxic and bio degradable (Storage, high flash pt)
Production of bio diesel in India will reduce dependence on foreign suppliers, thus helpful in price stability.
Reduction of greenhouse gases at least by 3.3 kg CO2 equivalent per kg of biodiesel.
Source : National Biofuel Centre
BiofuelsJatropha
Jatropha curcas is multi purpose non edible oil yielding perennial shrub. This is a hardy and drought tolerant crop can be raised in marginal lands with lesser input. The crop can be maintained for 30 years economically.
For more information click here(224KB)
Sugarbeet
Sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris Var. Saccharifera L.) is a biennial sugar producing tuber crop, grown in temperate countries. Now tropical sugarbeet varieties are gaining momentum in tropical and sub tropical countries, as a promising alternative energy crop for the production of ethanol.
For more information click here(324KB)
Sorghum
Sorghum (S. bicolor) is the most important millet crop occupying largest area among the cereals next to rice. It is mainly grown for its grain and fodder. Alternative uses of sorghum include commercial utilization of grain in food industry and utilization of stalk for the production of value-added products like ethanol, syrup and jaggery and bioenriched bagasse as a fodder and as a base material for cogeneration.
For more information click here(218)
Pongamia
There is several non edible oil yielding trees that can be grown to produce biofuel. Karanja (Pongamia) is one of the most suitable trees. It is widely grown in various parts of the country.
Salient features of Pongamia
It is a Nitrogen fixing tree and hence enriches the soil fertility
It is generally not grazed by animals
It is tolerant to water logging, saline and alkaline soils,
It can withstand harsh climates (medium to high rainfall).
It can be planted on degraded, waste/fallow and cultivable lands
Pongamiaseeds contain 30-40% oil.
It helps in controlling soil erosion and binding sand dunes, because of its dense network of lateral roots.
Its root, bark, leaves, sap, and flower have medicinal properties. Dried leaves are used as an insect repellent in stored grains.
Properties of Pongamia Oil
Non edible oil is largely extracted from seeds.
The collected seeds consist of 95% kernel
The oil content varies between 27 - 40%.
When mechanical expellers are used for recovery of oil from the kernels, the yield of oil is reported to be about 24 to 26.5%
The crude oil is yellow orange to brown in color, which deepens on standing. It has a bitter taste, disagreeable odour, and it’s non-edible.
Apart from use as a biofuel, the oil can be used for lighting lamps, lubricant, water-paint binder, pesticide, and in soap making and tanning industries
The oil is known to be used for the treatment of rheumatism and human and animal skin diseases.
The press cake (left over after oil extraction) is rich in Nitrogen and hence can be used for improving soil fertility. The press cake when applied to the soil, also has pesticidal value, particularly against nematodes.
Pongamia seed oil Vs standard petroleum/diesel
Pongamia seed oil as a bio- fuel has physical properties very similar to conventional diesel.
It is, however a clean fuel (eco friendly) than conventional diesel

Why the Van Raji tribe of Uttarakhand won’t speak its language

Why the Van Raji tribe of Uttarakhand won’t speak its language
A language once spoken by a tribal community in Uttarakhand now teeters on the brink of survival

Madan Singh Rajwar is walking down a mountain with his carpentry tools on a warm morning. The India-Nepal border is a few kilometres away. The swollen Gori Ganga river is boisterous this summer. Two years ago, the river ate the road and everything else except Madan’s village. Chiphaltara, a hamlet of 11 families, is located deep inside a mountain forest of oak and pine in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district.

And it is only here, at home, that he talks in Raji, his mother tongue, Madan tells me. “Aah, who talks in our language? No one!” he declares, grinning. “I don’t like to speak to outsiders in Raji.” I request him to speak a few sentences, and he indulges me but swiftly switches back to Kumaoni.

Madan is a member of a tribe called Van Rawat or Van Raji, meaning ‘kings’ or ‘royal people of the forest’. It has a population of 1,295 members sparsely spread over 11 villages of Pithoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand. There are 2,241 Rajis in Uttar Pradesh as well. Because of their dwindling numbers, low literacy rate and unequal development, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has classified them as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). And their language, Raji, is considered by Unesco as ‘severely endangered’.

Dominant influences

The dominant Hindu and Kumaoni cultures have no doubt influenced the lives of Raji. “I feel ashamed to talk in my language,” says Madan. “We are at the bottom of the social strata. Although everyone knows me in the neighbourhood, I don’t like to announce that I am a Raji in front of strangers like you. I am more comfortable in Kumaoni or Hindi.”

In fact, everyone I meet in Chiphaltara speaks to me in Kumaoni or Hindi. Ram Singh Rajwar, another Raji, admits he scolds his wife if she speaks to their two daughters in Raji. “I want them to learn Hindi, and later, English. I want them to go to an English-medium school,” Ram Singh says in fluent Hindi.

photo-3- Vanaraji Village Koota Chaurani Block Didihat District Pithoragar
The Raji tongue belongs to the Himalayan group of the Tibeto-Burman family of languages, says Kavita Rastogi, head of the linguistics department of Lucknow University, who is trying to revive Raji. “When a community depends on another one for roti-kapda-makan, it can lose its own language because they must continuously communicate in the language of the dominant community for business.”

Rastogi has published a book of letters in Raji. Teachers in primary schools don’t motivate Raji children to speak in their mother tongue, she says. “They call it ‘junglee bhasha,’ so the younger generation feels inferior and less inclined to speak it.”

And it is isn’t just their language that is dying — much of the Van Rawats’ traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is also on the decline. Their close proximity to flora and fauna helped the community discover the medicinal properties of plants and herbs in forests around their village. However, this knowledge has mostly diminished with the coming of hospitals and medical stores in recent times.

Fading into oblivion

Gora Devi, an older member of the village, says their village does not have a dense forest cover any more. “Earlier, if someone fractured their hand, we would cut a piece of wood and tie it around the hand — like a plaster cast. Every ailment was treated with plants and herbs. Now the hospital is nearby. We get medicines over the counter,” says Gora Devi.

Younger members like Madan and Ram Singh can no longer identify medicinal plants. Nevertheless, researchers have attempted to document the unique ethno-medicinal practices of the Raji tribe before they fade into oblivion.

Today, for livelihood, much of the tribe collects wood. When Madan is able to sell wood, he is a happy man. But those days are rare. On most days, he works for Kumaoni landholders.

Rajis were also once widely known for their excellent carpentry skills. Two decades ago, at any Raji house, every household item would be made of wood — from bed to bowl. At one time, when the tribe lived outside the village, they would come at night and keep the carved pots and bowls outside Kumaoni houses. The next night, the Kumaonis would keep vegetables and grains for the Rajis to collect. As the government banned tree felling, the culture of woodcraft died and Rajis today use steel and plastic like everyone else.

Mohan Singh Rajwar, 55, says he doesn’t remember the last time he carved something out of wood. “I don’t have the tools any more. But I don’t think I have forgotten how to carve,” he says.

Attempts by the government and NGOs to ‘civilise’ them may have robbed the Rajis of their traditions, culture and language, but they are worried about more than just their vanishing language and culture.

The Rajis live in dire poverty and can barely afford two meals a day. I meet eight-year-old Kalavati, wearing a thread around her neck with her house key strung on it. She is eating rice and dal in her one-room mud house, where she, her parents and two younger siblings live.

She made the food herself, she tells me, while her mother was away collecting fodder. In a corner of the room, a cow moos. Her textbooks stick out through the broken zip of a ragged school bag. A few clothes hang from a rope that runs from one end of the room to the other.

For Kalavati and her family, I can’t help but think cultural conservation must be trumped by a more basic concern — survival.

sun watcher, India’s Aditya-L1

sun watcher, India’s Aditya-L1

Made in India probe prepares to study solar phenomena

Sometime in 2019 or 2020 India will send ISRO’s solar mission Aditya-L1 to a vantage point in space, known as the L1 Lagrange point, to do imaging and study of the sun. This launch will happen in the early part of the next solar cycle - an occurrence in which sunspots form on the face of the sun, growing in size and number and eventually diminishing, all over a period of eleven years. It will be a mission of many firsts.

The so-called L1 point is 1.5 million kilometres away. Here, due to the delicate balance of gravitational forces, the satellite will require very little energy to maintain its orbit. Also it will not be eclipsed from the sun. The 1,500-kg class satellite will be programmed to orbit this point and image the sun’s magnetic field from space for the very first time in the world. Scientists hope to capture the close-ups of the sun from here, uninterrupted by eclipses for years.

Few other space agencies have successfully placed their satellites at this location. Among the few, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a NASA-ESA collaboration involving America and Europe, and NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) are at L1 exclusively to study the sun and space weather, respectively. Aditya-L1 is expected to be the very first to study from space two months from the time of launch, the magnetic field of the sun’s corona. The corona is the outer layer that we see during total solar eclipses. It will be the first 100% Indian mission which will not only negotiate a challenging orbit, but will also benefit the global scientific community in understanding the sun.

Deeper look

Earlier, the NASA-ESA mission SOHO was launched in 1995, and while it made many discoveries, its coronagraph, meant to image the sun, broke down shortly after the mission commenced. Hence there is currently no satellite imaging the sun from space. Aditya-L1 will not only fill this gap it will also literally, look deeper into the sun than SOHO. “The nominal mission lifetime is expected to be five years, though it is expected to go on for much longer, perhaps even ten,” says Dipankar Banerjee from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP), Bengaluru, which is collaborating with ISRO on this project.

The mission will carry seven payloads,consisting of a coronagraph, equipment that will image the sun using ultraviolet filters, X-ray spectrometers, and particle samplers all being made within the country.

The largest payload, or instrument, aboard the satellite, will be the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VLEC). This can view the sun more closely than has been done before even by SOHO.

With this advantage, the instrument has the capacity to observe the loop-like magnetic structures that form in the corona, the outer layer of the sun. “This will be the first experiment to measure the coronal magnetic field from a space platform. This was not even done by SOHO,” says Dipankar Banerjee, the Science Working Group Chair of VELC.

Between them, the three payloads — VLEC, the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) and the X-ray spectrometers — can image the sun in all wavelengths.

Like seasonal changes on the earth, the sun experiences approximately eleven-year-long cycles during which sunspots, caused by the sun’s magnetic field, start forming, increase in the ascending phase and decrease in the descending phase towards the end of the cycle.

“Studying coronal mass ejections [a phenomenon that would correlate with high sunspot activity] is not the only objective. This study can also help us understand the coronal heating problem,” says Prof. Banerjee. The ‘coronal heating problem’ refers to the fact that the photosphere, a deeper layer of the sun, is at a much lower temperature than the outer layer, the corona. Since it is believed that the heating process happens from within, what causes this heating of the outer layer, the corona, remains a mystery. Observations by Aditya-L1 of the magnetic fields bubbling out of the photosphere into the corona will help shed light on this.

First proposed in 2008 as a 400 kg-class satellite with one scientific instrument, a coronagraph, the project has since changed and grown in size and scope. Aditya-L1 will carry seven payloads. Each of these will either image the sun or sample the space around it for traces of charged particles spewed out by the sun during coronal mass ejections.

The payloads alone will weigh close to 250 kg. The biggest of these is the VLEC, about 170 kg. The next is SUIT, weighing around 35 kg; others are much lighter. Orbiting about the L1 point, due to a play of gravitational forces acting on it, Aditya-L1 will require little energy to keep it in place.

The ultraviolet (UV) imaging payload will capture the sun using UV filters, something that is not possible from Earth. the wavelength range 200-400 nanometres. This is The range of ultraviolet light to be observed is prevented from entering the lower layers of the earth’s atmosphere by the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Ozone depletion can lead to this radiation filtering through to lower levels where it can have harmful effects. Since this radiation is stopped at the stratosphere, images of the sun in this wavelength cannot be obtained on earth. Therefore, this will be the first time a UV imaging of the sun will be done.

Durgesh Tripathi and A.N. Ramaprakash of Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) are the principal investigators for the SUIT payload. “When it was decided that the project expanded and the satellite was to be placed in L1 point, ISRO called for proposals for developing more instruments. The original payload was also improved to form the VLEC and six more payloads were added,” says Prof. Tripathi.

Apart from this, the two in situ particle-detection payloads - Aditya Solar wind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) and Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) will study aspects that affect space weather. the origin of solar wind ions, their reaction to coronal mass ejections, the distribution of these in the heliosphere – the space around the sun that extends up to Pluto - and so on. The various payloads in Aditya-L1 will also study space weather.

India’s dairy sector offers numerous possibilities for entrepreneurs globally

India’s dairy sector offers numerous possibilities for entrepreneurs globally: Shri Radha Mohan Singh

Milk production increased by 18.81% in 2016-17 when compared to 2013-14: Shri Singh

Per capita availability of milk increased from 307 gm/day in 2013-14 to 351 gm/day in 2016-17

National Milk Day Celebrations

Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today on the occasion of National Milk Day said that India is the ‘Oyster' of the global dairy industry with opportunities galore for the entrepreneurs globally. Since last 15 years, India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world. This phenomenal increase is contributed to the several measures initiated by the Government of India to increase the productivity of livestock.

Shri Singh said that increasing the milk production significantly from 137.7 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 164 million tonnes in 2016-17. Milk production increased by 18.81% in 2016-17 when compared to 2013-14. Similarly, the per capita availability of milk increased from 307 gram in 2013-14 to 351 gram in 2016-17. Annual growth rate of Milk Production during the period 2011-14 was 4%, which has increase to 6% during 2014-17. The annual growth rate of world milk production has increased by 2% during 2014-17.

On this occasion the Minister said that Livestock sector contributes significantly towardslivelihoods and security net for the landless and marginal farmers. About 70 million rural households are engaged in dairying in India with 80% of total cow population. The strength of women in Dairy has reached to the 70% of the total work force (about 44 lakh) of which 3,60,000 women are in leadership roles in village dairy cooperatives and 380 women on the boards of Union and State Federations.

Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister said that the consumption of milk is rising, commensurate with increase in the purchasing power of people, increasing urbanization, changing food habits & life styles and demographic growth. Milk with its varied benefits is the only source of animal protein for the largely vegetarian population of the country. Further, factors such as increased consumer interest in high protein diets and increasing awareness & availability of value-added dairy products through organised retail chains are also driving its demand. During last 15 years, Milk Cooperatives have converted about 20% of milk procured into traditional and value added products that offers about 20% higher revenue.This share of value-added products is estimated to increase to 30% by 2021-22.

Shri Singh informed that the Government has initiated a number of dairy development schemes so that the enhanced demand due to variety of factorsis met through domestic sources by laying special focus on raising milk production through improved productivity of our dairy animals. A new scheme “Rashtriya Gokul Mission” has been initiated for the first time in the country under which 18 Gokul Grams in 12 different States are being set up. Also two awards ‘Gopal Ratna Award’ for upkeep of the best dairy animals of indigenous breeds and ‘Kamdhenu Award’ for institutions maintaining best herd of indigenous breeds. This year on World Milk Day 10 Gopal Ratna and 12 Kamdhenu awards have been awarded. Two “National Kamdhenu Breeding Centres” one each in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are being setup for conservation of indigenous breeds. In these centres 41 cattle and 13 buffalo breeds would be conserved. In order to make dairy business more profitable “National Bovine Productivity Mission” has been in initiated with creation of e Pashuhaat portal. This is playing an important role in linking milk producers and breeders for indigenous breeds.

Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister further said that a scheme titled Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) for dairy cooperative sector has been initiated with an outlay of Rs.10881 crore. This scheme would focus on creation of additional milk processing infrastructure and chilling infrastructure through setting up of Bulk Milk Coolers. Also provisions have been made for providing Electronic milk adulteration testing equipment and facilities for manufacturing value added products.

On antibiotic resistance

On antibiotic resistance
around the time the UN Climate Change Conference drew to a close in Bonn last week, so did the World Antibiotic Awareness Week, a World Health Organisation campaign to focus attention on antibiotic resistance. The global threats of climate change and antibiotic resistance have much in common. In both cases, the actions of people in one region have consequences across the globe. Also, tackling both requires collective action across multiple focus areas. For resistance, this means cutting the misuse of antibiotics in humans and farm animals, fighting environmental pollution, improving infection control in hospitals, and boosting surveillance. While most of these goals need government intervention, individuals have a critical part to play too. This is especially true for India, which faces a unique predicament when it comes to restricting the sale of antibiotics — some Indians use too few antibiotics, while others use too many. Many of the 410,000 Indian children who die of pneumonia each year do not get the antibiotics they need, while others misuse drugs, buying them without prescription and taking them for viral illnesses like influenza. Sometimes this irrational use is driven by quacks. But just as often, qualified doctors add to the problem by yielding to pressure from patients or drug-makers. This tussle — between increasing antibiotic use among those who really need them, and decreasing misuse among the irresponsible — has kept India from imposing blanket bans on the non-prescription sale of these drugs.

When policymakers did propose such a ban in 2011, it was met with strong opposition. Instead, India turned to fine-edged tools such as the Schedule H1, a list of 24 critical antibiotics such as cephalosporins and carbapenems, whose sale is tightly controlled. But even Schedule H1 hasn’t accomplished much: pharmacists often flout rules, and drug controllers are unable to monitor them. Thus, the power to purchase antibiotics still remains in the hands of the consumer. It is up to consumers now to appreciate the threat of antibiotic resistance and exercise this power with care. These miracle drugs form the bedrock of modern medicine today, and are needed for everything from prophylaxis for a complicated hip surgery to treatment for an infected knee scrape. Losing these drugs would mean that even minor illnesses could become killers, and the cost of health care will soar. Consumers need to remember that not all illnesses need antibiotics, and the decision on when to take them and for how long is best left to a doctor. Multi-resistance in some tertiary-care hospitals to bugs like Staphylococcus aureus has grown to dangerous levels. But the experience of countries like Australia shows that cutting down on antibiotics can reverse such trends. The National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance aims to repeat such successes in India. Meanwhile, awareness must be built among consumers so that they see the coming crisis and take up the baton.