PM’s Independence Day Speech 2017: Highlights, Photos

India’s Prime Minster Narendra Modi on 15 August, 2017 addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 71th Independence Day. Following are the highlights from his speech:

1. Greetings to my fellow Indians on Independence Day.

2. For the freedom and glory of the country, those who have contributed, those who suffered and sacrificed their lives, I salute all those noble souls, mothers and sisters on behalf of 125 crore people of the country from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

3. We remember the great women and men who worked hard for India’s freedom.

4. People of India stand shoulder to shoulder with those affected in the wake of natural disasters in parts of the country & the death of children in the hospital.

5. This is a special year- 75th anniversary of Quit India, 100th anniversary of Champaran Satyagraha, 125th anniversary of Ganesh Utsav.

6. The Quit India Movement was “Bharat Chhodo,” but the call today is “Bharat Jodo.”

7. We have to take the country ahead with the determination of creating a ‘New India’.

8. From 1942 to 1947, the country had demonstrated collective strength, in the coming 5 years, we have to take the country forward with the same collective strength, commitment and hard work.

9. In our nation, there is no one big or small…everybody is equal. Together we can bring a positive change in the nation.

10. We have to move forward for making a New India with the collective strength of 125 crore people without any discrimination of small and big people.

11. 1st January 2018 will not be an ordinary day- those born in this century will start turning 18. They are Bhagya Vidhatas of our nation.

12. We have to leave this ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude. We have to think of ‘Badal Sakta Hai’- this attitude will help us as a nation.

13. The country has changed, is changing and can change. We have to move forward with this belief and commitment.

14. Security of the country is our priority. Internal security is our priority. Whether it is our oceans or borders, cyber world or space for all kind of security India is capable to defeat all such inimical forces.

15. Our uniformed forces have achieved the pinnacle of sacrifice in fighting left-wing extremism, terrorism, infiltration and elements disturbing peace. The world had to recognise the strength of India and it clout in the surgical strike.

16. One rank, One Pension policy has boosted the morale of our security forces.

17. Those who have looted the nation and looted the poor are not able to sleep peacefully today.

18. No law was passed for those having Benami property for years. However after the recent passage of the Benami Act, within a short span of time, government has confiscated Benami property worth Rs. 800 crores when these things happen, common men feel that this country is for the honest people.

19. Today, we are celebrating the “festival of honesty”.

20. GST has shown the spirit of cooperative federalism. The nation has come together to support GST & the role of technology has also helped.

21. Today, the poor of the country is joining the main stream and the country is moving torwards the path of progress.

22. Good governance is about speed and simplification of processes.

23. India’s stature in the world is rising. The world is with us in fighting the menace of terror. I thank all nations helping us doing so.

24. We have to work for the progress of Jammu and Kashmir.

25. There is no question of being soft of terrorism or terrorists.

26. Neither by bullet: nor by abuses but by embracing we can solve the problem of Kashmir.

27. Our fight against black money and corruption will continue. We are trying to bring transparency through technology.

28. There is no question of being soft on terrorism or terrorists.

29. People would be the driving force behind the establishment, rather than the other way around – Tantra se Lok nahin, Lok se tantra chalega.

30. New India will be the biggest strength of democracy.

31. Nature of job is changing with changing demand and changing technology.

32. We are nurturing our youngsters to be job creators and not job seekers.

33. I want to mention those women who have to suffer due to ‘Triple Talaq’- I admire their courage. We are with them in their struggles.

34. India is about Shanti, Ekta and Sadbhavana. Casteism and communalism will not help us.

35. Violence in the name of ‘Astha’ is not something to be happy about, it will not be accepted in India.

36. The country is being run by peace, unity and harmony. It is our civilisation and culture to take everybody along.

37. We are taking the nation on a new track (of development) and are moving ahead with speed.

38. We are devoting significant attention to eastern India- Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Northeast. These parts have to grow further.

39. Our farmers have worked hard to ensure a Record foodgrain production.

40. Over 5.75 crore farmers have been covererd under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojaana.

41. Under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, 30 projects have been completed while work is on for 50 more projects.

42. Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samapada Yojana we are providing handholding to the farmers from availing seeds to accessing the markets for their produce.

43. More than 14000 un-electrified villages have been electrified.

44. 29 crore JanDhan accounts opened.

45. More than 8 crore youth have received loans without any guarantee.

46. We are fighting corruption – for the bright future of India and the wellbeing of our people.

47. Our fight against black money and corruption will continue and move forward and the loot in the country will not be allowed.

48. Our strive for a Corruption Free India has yielded results.

49. Black money worth Rs. 1.25 lakh crore has been unearthed.

50. Over 1.75 lakh fake companies have been shut down.

51. Post GST savings and efficiency in transportation sector has increased. Efficiency has gone up by 30 percent.

52. More money has come to the banks due to demonetization which will give impetus to the economy.

53. Our country has the world’s largest youth population. Today is the era of IT and let’s move ahead on the path of digital transaction.

54. Let us lead from front, promote digital economy and adopt the Bhim App.

55. We have moved from Co-operative Federalism to Competitive Co-operative federalism.

56. It had been said in the old scriptures that if a work is not completed on time, one does not get the desired results.

57. For the Team India it is the right time to commit for a New India.

58. We shall build together an India, where the poor will have concrete houses with water and electricity connection.

59. We will build such an India, where the farmers will have a peaceful sleep without any worry. He will earn double than what he is earning today.

60. Our resolve is to build an India, which provides all the opportunities to the youth and women to fulfill their dreams.

61. Our resolve is to build such an India, free from terrorism, communalism and casteism.

62. We will build together an India, where there will be no place for nepotism and corruption.

63. We will build together such an India, which will be clean, healthy and fulfill the dream of self-rule (Swaraj).

64. We aspire to build a Divya and Bhavya Bharat.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inspecting the Guard of Honour at Red Fort, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the school children after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the school children after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.

Independence Day Correctional Service Medals Announced

The President of India has approved the conferment of Correctional Service Medals to 20 prison personnel on the occasion of Independence Day, 2017. The list of awardees include one President’s Correctional Service Medal for Distinguished Service and 19 Correctional Service Medal for Meritorious Service. Following is the complete list of awardees:

President’s Correctional Service Medal for Distinguished Service

1. Smt. A. Prameela Bai, Chief Head Warder, Special Prison for Women, Hyderabad, Telangana.

Correctional Service Medal for Meritorious Service

1. Shri Madan Lal, Head Warder, Central Jail No.15, Manodli, Delhi.

2. Shri Subhash Chander Batra, Deputy Superintendent, Prisons Headquarter, Tihar, New Delhi

3. Shri Bahadursinh Bhupatsinh Zala, Jailor Group 2, District Jail, Mehsana, Gujarat.

4. Shri Suresh Pal, Head Warder, Central Jail, Ambala, Haryana.

5. Shri Diwan Singh, Head Warder, District Jail, Sirsa, Haryana.

6. Shri M.S. Hosur, Chief Warder, Central Prison, Bangalore, Karnataka.

7. Shri Viswanatha Kurup K., Superintendent, District. Jail, Kollam, Kerala.

8. Shri C.M. Unnikrishnan, Asstt. Superintendent Grade II, Sub Jail, Viyyur, Kerala.

9. Shri Prakash Baburao Ukarande, Jailor Gr.II, Yerawada Open District Prison, Maharashtra.

10. Shri Ramesh Parshuram Dhumal, Havildar, Kolhapur Central Prison, Maharashtra.

11. Shri Anil Kumar Aggarwal, Deputy Jail Superintendent, Central Jail, Narasinhpur, Madhya Pradesh.

12. Shri Harpal Singh Rathore, Asstt. Jail Superintendent, Sub-Jail, Amarwara, Madhya Pradesh.

13. Shri Sitaram Aathiya, Chief Head Warder, Central Jail, Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

14. Shri Phool Singh Garwal, Head Warder, Central Jail, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.

15. Shri Satish Prasad Tiwari, Head Warder, Central Jail, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

16. Shri Ociwell Majaw, Warder, District Jail, Shillong, Meghalaya.

17. Shri Indrajit Rout, Warder, Sub-Jail, Athagarh, Odisha.

18. Shri S. Murugesan, Warder Gr.I, Central Prison, Trichy, Tamil Nadu.

19. Shri S. Kandasamy, Chief Head Warder, Sub Jail, Tiruchendur, Tamil Nadu.

Independence Day Police Medals Announced

990 personnel have been awarded Police Medals on the occasion of the Independence Day this year. President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) has been awarded to 01 personnel, Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) to 190 personnel, President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPMDS) to 93 personnel and Police Medal for Meritorious Service (PMMS) to 706 personnel.

State Wise/ Force Wise list of medal awardees to the Police personnel on the occasion of Independence Day – 2017.

Sl.

No.

Name of States/

Organization

President’s Police Medal for Gallantry

(PPMG)

Police Medal for Gallantry

(PMG)

President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service

(PPMDS)

Police Medal for Meritorious Service

(PMMS)

1 Andhra Pradesh 52 03 12
2 Arunachal Pradesh   00 01
3 Assam   00 11
4 Bihar   03 11
5 Chhattisgarh 01 04 01 08
6 Delhi 01 02 24
7 Goa   01 02
8 Gujarat   01 17
9 Haryana 01 01 11
10 Himachal Pradesh   01 03
11 Jammu & Kashmir 25 02 17
12 Jharkhand 04 02 19
13 Karnataka   03 18
14 Kerala   02 20
15 Madhya Pradesh   03 17
16 Maharashtra 12 03 41
17 Manipur   02 13
18 Meghalaya 07 00 00
19 Mizoram   01 03
20 Nagaland   01 01
21 Odisha 17 01 08
22 Punjab   02 16
23 Rajasthan   02 18
24 Sikkim   00 02
25 Tamil Nadu   03 23
26 Telangana   02 11
27 Tripura   01 06
28 Uttar Pradesh   06 75
29 Uttarakhand   02 05
30 West Bengal   02 28
31 Andaman & Nicobar Islands   01 02
32 Chandigarh     00 01
33 Dadra & Nagar Haveli   00 01
34 Lakshadweep   00 02
35 Puducherry   00 04
CAPFS/Other Organisations
36 Assam Rifles   00 16
37 BSF 14 06 47
38 CISF   02 23
39 CRPF 53 06 62
40 ITBP   03 13
41 NSG   00 04
42 SSB   02 12
43 CBI   06 22
44 MHA(IB)   08 24
45 SPG   01 04
46 NCB   00 01
47 NHRC   00 01
48 NEPA   00 01
49 NIA   01 01
50 NDRF   00 06
51 SVPNPA   01 02
52 Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas   01 00
53 Ministry of Civil Aviation   00 02
54 Ministry of Railways (RPF)   02 14
  Total 01 190 93 706

Click here for the List of President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) & Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG)

Click here for the List of President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPMDS)

Click here for the List of Police Medal for Meritorious Service (PMMS)

Organization/State wise list of medal awardees and details are also available on MHA website www.mha.nic.in

BSNL Independence Day offer- Truly One India Launched

BSNL Independence Day offer- Truly One India: Now get the benefits of Voice/SMS STVs and Combo Vouchers while Roaming.

BSNL was the first operator to provide free national roaming on 15th June 2015. Following the same, it has now decided to allow the benefit of Voice/SMS, Special Tariff Voucher (STV) and Combo Vouchers in national roaming on the occasion of 71st independence day on PAN India basis with effect from 15 August’ 2017 in the area where BSNL operates.

The offer is beneficial to those who frequently travel including our jawans and journalists. Presently if you for any STV, the benefit is available in the home state/ Licence Service Area (LSA), but from 15th August this benefit will be available even when a person travels outside his home LSA.

For example, STV 349 which offers unlimited voice call to any network only in home LSA, now the benefit of unlimited voice call on any network will be available even when customer is travelling out from Home LSA in any area where BSNL operates.

Shri R.K.Mittal, Director (CM) BSNL Board said “Armed force personnel, Professionals, Business person & Students all will get more benefit from this scheme.”

President’s greetings on the eve of Janmashtami

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind in his message on the eve of Janmashtami has said:-

“On the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami, I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all my fellow citizens.

The ideals of Lord Krishna’s life are of universal relevance. His message of standing up for righteousness against evil, working for universal well-being and focusing on responsibilities rather than rewards is inspiring for all.

Let us commit ourselves to following the path of virtue shown by Lord Krishna and strengthen our society and nation by contributing to the well-being of our people”.

PM expresses grief over loss of lives due to landslide in HP

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the loss of lives due to landslide related accidents in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district.

“Pained by the loss of lives due to landslide related accidents in HP’s Mandi district. My condolences with the families of the deceased.

I pray for the quick recovery of those injured in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh.

Team of NDRF is going to Mandi to take part in the rescue and relief operations and provide all possible assistance required.” the Prime Minister said.

President Kovind to address nation on Aug 15 eve of Independence Day 2017

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation tomorrow (August 14, 2017) on the eve of the 71st Independence Day.

The address will be broadcast from 1900 hrs. on the entire national network of All India Radio (AIR) and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version. Broadcast of the address in Hindi and English on Doordarshan will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan. AIR will broadcast regional language versions from 2000 hrs. onwards on its respective regional networks.

New malaria analysis method reveals disease severity in minutes

Left untreated, malaria can progress from being mild to severe — and potentially fatal — in 24 hours. So researchers at the University of British Columbia developed a method to quickly and sensitively assess the progression of the mosquito-borne infectious disease, which remains a leading killer in low-income countries.

One way malaria wreaks havoc on the body is by causing excessive amounts of toxic heme, the non-protein component of hemoglobin, to accumulate in the bloodstream. Among other things, this free heme induces oxidative stress in red blood cells (RBCs), leading to their rigidification, destruction and subsequent removal from circulation — a condition known as hemolytic anemia.

In their study, which appeared in Integrative Biology, the UBC investigators found that RBCs become increasingly rigid in direct correlation with the concentration of oxidized heme, or hemin, in the blood. Since hemin is difficult to measure directly — it tends to insert itself into cell membranes — monitoring changes in RBC deformability can therefore serve as a reliable alternative marker of hemin-induced oxidative stress and malaria progression.

“Because this method is mechanical, it’s well suited for use in resource-poor countries, where the vast majority of malaria transmission takes place,” says Kerryn Matthews, a postdoctoral fellow at UBC and the study’s lead author. “Other methods of analyzing malaria severity require training or expensive equipment or chemicals that are not readily available in developing nations.”

To measure RBC deformability quickly and sensitively, the UBC investigators developed the “multiplex fluidic plunger”: a simple microfluidic device consisting of a parallel array of 34 funnel-shaped, micro-sized channels across which uniform, carefully controlled pressures can be simultaneously applied.

By loading the plunger with whole blood, docking an RBC at each channel and applying progressively higher pressures until the RBCs are squeezed through — or not, if an RBC is too stiff — one is able to determine the rigidity, or cortical tensions, of many cells at once and build an RBC deformability profile in minutes.

“The device can be easily integrated with a conventional microscope coupled with a digital camera,” says Matthews. “And the accompanying software, which does all the analysis and records the pressures, is simple to use.”

In addition to indicating the status of a malaria infection, RBC deformability information would be valuable in the development of antimalarial drugs, as well as in illuminating the mechanism by which RBCs are sequestered from circulation and destroyed.

Healthy RBCs are extremely flexible, capable of squeezing through spaces — the tiniest blood vessels, for example, or the channels between cells — that are just fractions of their original size. By rendering them less deformable, malaria parasites impair blood flow and ultimately cause organ failure and possibly death.

According to the World Health Organization, malaria killed an estimated 429,000 people and caused approximately 212 million clinical episodes in 2015. It primarily affects children and pregnant women in poor tropical and subtropical countries.

American workplace is physically and emotionally taxing: survey

The American workplace is physically and emotionally taxing, with workers frequently facing unstable work schedules, unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions, and an often hostile social environment, according to a new study that probes working conditions in the United States.

The findings stem from research conducted by investigators at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, Harvard Medical School and UCLA, and are from the American Working Conditions Survey — one of the most in-depth surveys ever done to examine conditions in the American workplace.

More than one-in-four American workers say they have too little time to do their job, with the complaint being most common among white-collar workers. In addition, workers say the intensity of work frequently spills over into their personal lives, with about one-half of people reporting that they perform some work in their free time in order to meet workplace demands.

Despite these challenges, American workers appear to have a certain degree of autonomy on the job, most feel confident about their skill set and many do report that they receive social support while on the job.

“I was surprised how taxing the workplace appears to be, both for less-educated and for more-educated workers,” said lead author Nicole Maestas, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an adjunct economist at RAND. “Work is taxing at the office and it’s taxing when it spills out of the workplace into people’s family lives.”

Researchers say that while 8 in 10 American workers report having steady and predictable work throughout the year, just 54 percent report working the same number of hours on a day-to-day basis. One in three workers say they have no control over their schedule. Despite much public attention focused on the growth of telecommuting, 78 percent of workers report they must be present at their workplace during regular business hours.

Nearly three-fourths of American workers report either intense or repetitive physical exertion on the job at least a quarter of the time. While workers without a college education report greater physical demands, many college-educated and older workers are affected as well.

Strikingly, more than half of Americans report exposure to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions. Nearly one in five workers — a “disturbingly high” fraction — say they face a hostile or threatening social environment at work. Younger and prime-aged women are the workers most likely to experience unwanted sexual attention, while younger men are more likely to experience verbal abuse.

The findings are from a survey of 3,066 adults who participate in the RAND American Life Panel, a nationally representative, computer-based sample of people from across the United States. The workplace survey was fielded in 2015 to collect detailed information across a broad range of working conditions in the American workplace, as well as details about workers and job characteristics.

Despite the importance of the workplace to most Americans, researchers say there is relatively little publicly available information about the characteristics of American jobs today. The American Working Conditions survey is designed to be harmonious with the European Working Conditions Survey, which has been conducted periodically over the last 25 years among workers from a broad range of European nations.

The American Working Conditions Survey found that while many American workers adjust their personal lives to accommodate work matters, about one-third of workers say they are unable to adjust their work schedules to accommodate personal matters. In general, women are more likely than men to report difficulty arranging for time off during work hours to take care of personal or family matters.

Jobs interfere with family and social commitments outside of work, particuarly for younger workers who don’t have a college degree. More than one in four reports a poor fit between their work hours and their social and family commitments.

The report also provides insights about how preferences change among workers as they become older.

Older workers are more likely to value the ability to control how they do their work and setting the pace of their work, as well as less physically demanding jobs. Older workers are also generally less likely than younger workers to have some degree of mismatch between their desired and actual working conditions.

The survey also confirms that retirement is often a fluid concept. Many older workers say they have previously retired before rejoining the workforce, and many people aged 50 and older who are not employed say they would consider rejoining the workforce if conditions were right.

Other highlights from the report include:

The intensity of work such as pace, deadlines and time constraints differ across occupation groups, with white-collar workers experiencing greater work intensity than blue-collar workers.
Jobs in the U.S. feature a mix of monotonous tasks and autonomous problem solving. While 62 percent of workers say they face monotonous tasks, more than 80 percent report that their jobs involve “solving unforeseen problems” and “applying own ideas.”
The workplace is an important source of professional and social support, with more than one half of American workers describing their boss as supportive and that they have very good friends at work.
Only 38 percent of workers say their job offers good prospects for advancement. All workers — regardless of education — become less optimistic about career advancement as they become older.
Four out of five American workers report that their job provides “meaning” always or most of the time. Older college-educated men were those most likely to report at least one dimension of meaningful work.
Nearly two-thirds of workers experience some degree of mismatch between their desired and actual working conditions, with the number rising to nearly three-quarters when job benefits are taken into account. Nearly half of workers report working more than their preferred number of hours per week, while some 20 percent report working fewer than their preferred number of hours.
Future reports will explore how conditions of the American workplace compare to those in Europe and in other parts of the world and selected findings from follow-up surveys using the same panel of participants. The data tables from the American Working Conditions Survey are being made available to other researchers to allow secondary use of the results.

Smartphone tracking shows fear affects where youth spend time

Youth spend less time in their neighborhoods if area residents have a high fear of crime, according to a new study that used smartphones to track kids’ whereabouts.

Researchers found that adolescents aged 11 to 17 spent over an hour less each day on average in their neighborhoods if residents there were very fearful, compared to kids from areas perceived as being safer. Higher fear of crime was linked to high-poverty neighborhoods.

This is the first study to use smartphone data to track a large, diverse sample of young people to determine where they spend their time, said Christopher Browning, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University.

“It is clear that kids who live in high-poverty areas are spending less time in their neighborhoods and that is linked to a collective fear of crime,” Browning said.

“This has never been tested before with GPS data that tracks movements on a minute-by-minute basis.”

Browning presented the research Aug. 14 in Montreal at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

This preliminary data is from the Adolescent Health and Development in Context study, which Browning leads. The study is examining the lives of 1,402 representative youths living in 184 neighborhoods in Franklin County, Ohio. This includes the city of Columbus and its suburbs.

In this study, which was conducted April 2014 to July 2016, participating adolescents were given a smartphone that they kept with them for one week. The GPS function on the phone reported their location every 30 seconds.

Overall, results showed youth spent an average of 52 percent of their waking time each day at home, 13 percent in their neighborhoods, and 35 percent outside of their neighborhoods. About 27 percent of the time when they were not at home while awake, they were in their neighborhoods.

All caregivers of youth in the study were asked to rate how afraid they were to walk in their neighborhood.

Results showed that caregivers’ ratings were only weakly connected to how much time their own children spent in the neighborhood. But the collective fear ratings of all the caregivers who lived in or regularly visited a neighborhood was strongly linked to the amount of time kids spent close to home.

“Once enough people stop spending time in a neighborhood because they are afraid, others will withdraw, whether they are afraid or not,” Browning said.

“If teens go to the local playground and there’s no one to play pickup basketball with, they will go outside the neighborhood to find their friends, or spend more time at home.”

The study looked at whether the presence or absence of amenities like schools, community centers and stores could explain why youth in high-poverty neighborhoods spent less time there. But this factor explained little when compared to the collective fear of crime.

“Many cities have social services like recreation centers that are targeted for disadvantaged neighborhoods,” Browning said.

“But our results suggest these amenities may be underutilized because young people are withdrawing from the neighborhood. Whether they are afraid to go there or just following their friends elsewhere, young people spend less time in disadvantaged neighborhoods.”

Upcoming studies using this same data set will examine whether kids in disadvantaged neighborhoods spend their extra time at home, or outside of their area.

New blood test may transform the way cancer is monitored and treated

Stanford University scientists have described a new type of test that can detect genetic mutations in minute amounts of DNA released from cancer cells into the blood. The test, which is called single color digital PCR, requires only a fraction of a tube of blood and can detect as few as three mutation-bearing molecules in a single reaction. According to the report in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, this highly sensitive test has the potential to be personalized to recognize mutations unique to any individual cancer.

“For monitoring patient tumors, only a handful of blood tests are available which are limited to only several types of cancers. Nearly all cancer patients require monitoring by whole body imaging, which can be costly, complex, and time-consuming. In contrast, molecular tests like the one we have developed will enable patients to be monitored at every visit, and thus have the potential for quickly tracking cancer growth and spread. Moreover, the test’s rapid turnaround and relatively low cost, especially compared to next-generation DNA sequencing, provide a potential opportunity for universal monitoring of more patients than is currently done,” explained lead investigator Hanlee P. Ji, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University and Senior Associate Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center.

The report describes the use of the test to analyze samples from six patients. Five patients were previously diagnosed with colorectal cancer and one with cholangiocarcinoma.

After generation of customized mutation detection assays, the researchers were able to identify tumor-derived circulating DNA from three out of six patients. In one patient, the assay was able to show the presence of three different mutations. The three patients, whose samples did not show elevated cancer DNA, were undergoing active treatment at the time of collection.

The single-color digital PCR test offers several advantages over other methods of circulating tumor DNA analysis, compared to next-generation targeted sequencing and fluorescent probe-based digital PCR assays. The main advantage is that the new technique does not rely on pre-amplification, which can introduce errors and biases.

“This test is simple enough to set up and analyze without extensive training, and therefore, it can be implemented by anyone, making it highly accessible to any laboratory. It has been truly motivating to work with a technology that will help transform the way that we monitor and treat individuals with cancer. I am excited to share our findings with the cancer research community,” noted lead author and researcher Christina Wood Bouwens, of the Stanford Genome Technology Center and the Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.

‘Smiley’ emojis in formal workplace e-mails could create frowns : University study

A smiley face emoji and similar emoticons included in work-related e-mails may not create a positive impression and could even undermine information sharing, according to a new study by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).

“Our findings provide first-time evidence that, contrary to actual smiles, smileys do not increase perceptions of warmth and actually decrease perceptions of competence,” explained Dr. Ella Glikson, a post-doctorate fellow at the BGU Department of Management, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management. “In formal business e-mails, a smiley is not a smile.”

According to a new paper, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers from BGU, University of Haifa and Amsterdam University conducted a series of experiments with a total of 549 participants from 29 different countries.

In one experiment, the participants were asked to read a work-related e-mail from an unknown person and then evaluate both the competence and warmth of that person. The participants all received similar messages. Some included smileys while others did not. The results demonstrated that in contrast to face-to-face smiles, which increase both competence and warmth, the smileys in an e-mail had no effect on the perception of warmth, and in fact had a negative effect on the perception of competence.

“The study also found that when the participants were asked to respond to e-mails on formal matters, their answers were more detailed and they included more content-related information when the e-mail did not include a smiley,” says Dr. Glikson. “We found that the perceptions of low competence if a smiley is included in turn undermined information sharing,”

In another experiment, the use of a smiley was compared to a smiling or neutral photograph. The findings show that in case of a photograph, a smiling sender was perceived as more competent and friendly than a neutral one. However, when e-mail on formal work-related matters included a smiley, the sender was perceived as less competent. The smiley did not influence the evaluation of the sender’s friendliness.

Contributing to the ongoing discussion regarding the role of gender in use and interpretation of emoticons, this study found that when the gender of the e-mail writer was unknown, recipients were more likely to assume that the e-mail was sent by a woman if it included a smiley. However, this attribution did not influence the evaluation of competence or friendliness.

“People tend to assume that a smiley is a virtual smile, but the findings of this study show that in the case of the workplace, at least as far as initial ‘encounters’ are concerned, this is incorrect,” Dr. Glikson says. “For now, at least, a smiley can only replace a smile when you already know the other person. In initial interactions, it is better to avoid using smileys, regardless of age or gender.”

Dr. Cheshin of the Department of Human Services at the University of Haifa, and Prof. Gerben van Kleef of Amsterdam University also participated in the study. The study was funded by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

New Blood Pressure Monitoring Device Developed to Make it More Accurate

Amid recent reports of blood pressure devices not being accurate, a team of doctors from Jerusalem have come up with a new oscillometry device to measure it accurately.

The device, developed by a group of researchers from the Jerusalem College of Technology and the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Israel, uses photoplethysmography technique, a pressure cuff wrapped around the arm and an electro-optic probe on the finger.

The finger probe acts as pulse oximeter that emits light into the finger and the detector measures the light transmitted through the finger. “The transmitted light exhibits pulses at the heart rate, due to cardiac-induced blood volume changes in the finger tissue,” explained lead author Meir Nitzen.

When the cuff pressure increases beyond the systolic blood pressure these pulses disappear and vice versa, enabling the correct determination of systolic blood pressure. Since the device does not eliminate the “white coat syndrome”, wherein a patient’s fear or anxiety during the test increases the measurement, they propose to avoid the effect advising the device to be used at home and in a relaxed atmosphere.

Since the old oscillometry-based automatic meters offer a low level of accuracy than the manual auscultatory technique, they advise the use of an electro-optic probe on the finger as well. The error inaccuracy levels of 10 to 15 mmHg seen in available in automatic oscillometric technique is attributed to air-pressure wave measurements in these devices.

A systolic blood pressure (BP) that measures 140 mmHg or higher and a diastolic measurement of 90 mmHG or higher (140/90 mmHg) is considered high.

The research findings have been presented at the “Cardiovascular Aging: New Frontiers and Old Friends conference” in Westminster, Colo.

However, past studies have shown that blood pressure monitoring may help patients with hypertension and stroke but did not improve blood pressure control for patients who had normal blood pressure at the start.

A study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) said, “Home monitoring depended on patients taking their blood pressure, recognizing if readings were consistently over target, understanding the need for intensification of treatment, visiting their physician for review and appropriate management by their physician.”

Sally Kerry, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary, University of London, UK, said good blood pressure control can significantly reduce the risk of recurrent stroke in the estimated 15 million people who have strokes each year worldwide.

“Home monitoring depended on patients taking their blood pressure, recognizing if readings were consistently over target, understanding the need for intensification of treatment, visiting their physician for review and appropriate management by their physician,” wrote the authors.

The study involved 381 participants aged 30 (mean 72) years from three stroke units in London, using home monitoring from March 2007 to August 2009. A total of 23% of participants were from ethnic minorities, and 45% had some disability due to stroke, including many frail, elderly patients.

 

Soon Railway Stations, Trains to be Disabled-Friendly

In order to provide better accessibility to Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), short term facilities, as detailed below, have been planned at all stations, beginning with ‘A-1’, ‘A’ and ‘B’ category stations:-
• Standard ramp for barrier free entry
• Earmarking at least two parking lots
• Non-slippery walk-way from parking lot to building
• Signages of appropriate visibility
• At least one toilet (on the ground floor)
• At least one drinking water tap suitable for use by Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)
• ‘May I help you’ Booth
In addition, long term facilities, as detailed below, have also been planned at ‘A-1’, ‘A’ and ‘B’ category stations:-
• Provision of facility for inter-platform transfer
• Engraving on edges of platform
In order to facilitate easy movement of elderly and Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), as per the existing guidelines, ‘A-1’ category stations qualify for provision of escalators/elevators while ‘A’ category, ‘C’ category and stations of tourist importance qualify for provision of escalators under ‘Desirable Amenities’. So far, 394 escalators at 167 stations and 219 lifts at 100 stations have been provided. Further, work is in progress for about 380 nos. of escalators at 133 stations and 427 nos. of lifts at 134 stations which shall be completed over a period of next two to three years.
Indian Railways have manufactured about 3450 SLRD/SRD coaches (SLRD-Second Class Cum Luggage Cum Guard Van & Disabled friendly compartment, SRD- Second Class Cum Guard Van & Disabled friendly compartment) which have a suitably designed compartment and toilet adapted to the needs of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)/wheelchair borne passengers. In SLRD coaches, wider entrance door for wheelchair borne passengers, wider berths, wider compartments, space for provision of wheelchair, larger lavatory and lavatory doors have been provided. Inside the toilets, additional grab rails on the side walls for support, wash basin and mirror at lower height have been provided. It is endeavored to have at least one such coach in each Mail/Express train having ICF design coaches.
Further, the fully air conditioned Garib Rath trains have been provided with an Air conditioned Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) friendly compartment and toilets in the power cars.
For assistance to visually impaired travelers, Braille signages are now being provided in newly manufactured coaches.
Availability of Wheelchairs on Platforms: Instructions already exist for provision of Wheelchair at stations. This facility is provided, duly escorted by coolies (on payment) as per present practice. Zonal Railways have also been instructed to provide one wheelchair per platform and in case of island platforms one wheelchair per two platforms at all ‘A-1’ and ‘A’ category stations.
Battery Operated Cars (BOCs): Zonal Railways have been authorized to introduce Battery Operated Cars (BOCs) at major railway stations for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), elderly and ailing passengers on ‘first come first served’ basis through sponsorship from individuals, NGOs, Trusts, Charitable institutions, Corporate and PSUs/Corporate Houses under their Corporate Social Responsibility free of charge to passenger or to the Railway. 70 BOCs have already been provided at 48 major railway stations. Further, instructions have also been issued to Zonal Railways to invite Expression of Interest for providing the facility of Battery Operated Car service on payment basis initially at all ‘A-1’ category stations keeping in view the financial sustainability of the service. This facility can be availed by passengers on ‘first come first served’ basis, however, preference shall be given to Senior Citizens, Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), pregnant women and medically sick passengers.
Yatri Mitra Sewa: ‘Yatri Mitra Sewa’ is being provided at major stations for enabling passengers to book wheelchair services cum Porter services etc. The responsibility of providing Yatri Mitra Sewa is entrusted to IRCTC who may provide this service ‘Free of cost’ through some NGOs, PSUs etc. under CSR or on payment basis. This service can be booked on IRCTC e-ticketing website and 139 (IVRS and SMS) or through a mobile.
Complaints on railway services are received from all walks of life through various channels viz.; Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) web portal, Complaints Management System Portal, Social media etc. which are forwarded to concerned Departments of Railways for necessary action. However, no separate data is maintained regarding complaints of railway services being Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) unfriendly.

This Press Release is based on the information given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 11.08.2017 (Friday).

Modi Ponders Make in India Initiative

Defence sector being a User driven sector, Defence Forces are actively involved in various policies & procedures related to procurement, indigenous design, development & manufacture of defence equipment, co-development & co-production with foreign OEMs, thus contributing towards ‘Make in India’ . Some of the major areas, where defence personnel are involved, are listed below:

‘Make Procedure’: ‘Make’ procedure as given out at Chapter-III of Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-2016, envisages involvement of Defence personnel at various stages of development of a defence equipment. The ‘Make’ projects are identified through a consultative process with involvement of members from Services Head Quarters (SHQs). Project Management Unit (PMU) headed by Service officer, established at SHQs, is responsible for monitoring the implementation of ‘Make’ projects of respective SHQ. The Integrated Project Management Team (IPMT) mandated to steer the Make project, is also headed by Service Officer.

Technology Development Fund (TDF) Scheme: TDF scheme launched by the Government aims at funding the development of defence and dual use technologies that are currently not available with the Indian defence industry, or have not been developed so far, thus creating an Eco-system for enhancing cutting edge technology capability for Defence application. The scheme envisages constitution of Empowered Committee and Technical Committee with representation from Armed Forces as members, which are involved in identification of technologies, Project Monitoring & Mentoring activities.

‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy & Make’ Categories of Capital Acquisition: ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy & Make’ categories of capital acquisition under DPP, envisage tie-up between Indian Vendor/ Indian Production Agency & foreign OEM, for indigenous production of defence equipment involving Transfer of Technology (ToT) of critical technologies to promote ‘Make in India’. The Defence Personnel are engaged at various stages of procurement to progress the projects categorized under these categories.

Army Design Bureau (ADB): SHQ (Army) has established an Army Design Bureau (ADB) in August – 2016 as a single point coordination with Industry & Academia. The mandate of ADB, inter- alia is to act as a central repository of technical know-how, to bring forward the innovation undertaken by field formation, to generate long-term research requirement for Indian Army etc.

In addition, a large number of personnel from the Armed forces are posted in DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation) to provide impetus to design & development of projects of the Armed forces, thus contributing to indigenization process.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre to Shri Raghav Lakhanpal in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Kidney, Heart Transplants On Rise

As per the data available with National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), 54, 110, 235 and 190 heart transplants and 720, 1024, 1368 and 805 kidney transplants have been undertaken in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. The State/UT wise details of heart and kidney transplants are given below:

 

S.No. States 2014   2015   2016   2017  
Heart Kidney   Heart Kidney   Heart Kidney   Heart Kidney  
1 Tamilnadu 41 227   51 290   100 339   Consolidate data for year 2017 Consolidate data for year 2017  
2 Kerala 6 104   14 132   18 113    
3 Maharashtra 0 89   5 106   34 229    
4 Telangana & Andhra Pradesh 1 92   19 168   15 182    
  Andhra Pradesh x x   x x   18 87    
5 Karnataka 5 72   11 91   14 142    
6 Gujarat 0 55   0 77   4 83    
7 Madhya Pradesh x x   1 6   7 28    
8 Uttar Pradesh 0 14   0 8   1 16    
9 Delhi /NCR 0 32   6 45   18 62    
10 Puducherry 0 26   1 18   1 20    
11 Chandigarh 1 9   1 69   2 51    
12 Rajasthan x x   1 14   3 16    
  Total 54 720   110 1024   235 1368   190 805  

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

Obesity in Children on Rise

Junk Food is a term used for food containing high levels of calories from sugar or fat with little fiber, protein, vitamins or minerals. These foods lead to a rapid increase in blood sugar levels (high glycemic index) which forces the body to produce high levels of insulin to counter the rising blood sugar.

As reported by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), development of obesity is multi-factorial and eating of junk and processed food is one of them. Childhood obesity is a risk factor of developing heart diseases and diabetes in later life.

The results available from 15 States/UTs of an ongoing ICMR India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) Study on the prevalence of diabetes indicate overall prevalence of Diabetes varying from 4% to 13%. According to the Report of National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, there were 641 lakh cases of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) in India in the year 2015.

Ministry of Women and Child Development had constituted a Working Group on addressing consumption of foods High in Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) and promotion of healthy snacks in schools of India, which has given its report.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) constituted an Expert Group on Salt, Sugar and Fat. The Expert Group prepared a draft report on consumption of these items and its health impacts among Indian population and recommendations on healthy dietary intake of these items. While preparing the above report, Expert Group has considered WHO guidelines on ‘Sugar Intake for Adults and Children regarding the adverse impact of high sugar in foods.

ICMR, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and other institutions carry out research and studies related to food and healthy diet. Apart from this, the consumers are made aware of food safety through consumer awareness programmes launched jointly by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) which also includes advertisements in different media, campaigns, educational booklets, information on FSSAI website and Mass awareness campaigns.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

Are your messages secure?

Researchers at Brigham Young University have learned that most users of popular messaging apps Facebook Messenger, What’sApp and Viber are leaving themselves exposed to fraud or other hacking because they don’t know about or aren’t using important security options.

“We wanted to understand how typical users are protecting their privacy,” said BYU computer science Ph.D. student Elham Vaziripour, who led the recent study. Short answer: they’re generally not.

Even though What’sApp and Viber encrypt messages by default, all three messaging apps also require what’s called an authentication ceremony to ensure true security. But because most users are unaware of the ceremony and its importance, “it is possible that a malicious third party or man-in-the middle attacker can eavesdrop on their conversations,” said Vaziripour, who was joined on the study by computer science professors Daniel Zappala and Kent Seamons and five other student researchers.

The authentication ceremony allows users to confirm the identify of their intended conversation partner, and makes sure no other person — even the company providing the messaging application — can intercept messages.

In the first phase of a two-phase experiment, the research team prompted study participants to share a credit card number with another participant. Participants were warned about potential threats and encouraged to make sure their messages were confidential. However, only 14 percent of users in this phase managed to successfully authenticate their recipient. Others opted for ad-hoc security measures like asking their partners for details about a shared experience.

In the second phase, participants were again asked to share a credit card number, but in this round researchers emphasized the importance of authentication ceremonies. With that prompting, 79 percent of users were able to successfully authenticate the other party.

Despite the drastic climb, however, researchers discovered another significant hurdle: participants averaged 11 minutes to authenticate their partners.

“Once we told people about the authentication ceremonies, most people could do it, but it was not simple, people were frustrated and it took them too long,” Zappala said.

Because most people don’t experience significant security problems, both professors agreed, it’s hard to make a case for them investing the time and effort to understand and use security features that applications offer. But because there’s always a risk in online communications, Seamons added, “we want to make it much easier to do and cut that time way down.”

The ultimate goal? “If we can perform the authentication ceremony behind the scenes for users automatically or effortlessly, we can address these problems without necessitating user education,” said Vaziripour.

This study is an extension of ongoing work on usable security in the two labs Seamons and Zappala run, funded in part by more than $1 million in recent grants from the National Science Foundation and Department of Homeland Security.

“Security researchers often build systems without finding out what people need and want,” said Seamons. “The goal in our labs is to design technology that’s simple and usable enough for anyone to use.”

Attitudes on human genome editing vary, but reach consensus on holding talks

An international team of scientists announced they had successfully edited the DNA of human embryos. As people process the political, moral and regulatory issues of the technology — which nudges us closer to nonfiction than science fiction — researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Temple University show the time is now to involve the American public in discussions about human genome editing.

In a study published Aug. 11 in the journal Science, the researchers assessed what people in the United States think about the uses of human genome editing and how their attitudes may drive public discussion. They found a public divided on its uses but united in the importance of moving conversations forward.

“There are several pathways we can go down with gene editing,” says UW-Madison’s Dietram Scheufele, lead author of the study and member of a National Academy of Sciences committee that compiled a report focused on human gene editing earlier this year. “Our study takes an exhaustive look at all of those possible pathways forward and asks where the public stands on each one of them.”

Compared to previous studies on public attitudes about the technology, the new study takes a more nuanced approach, examining public opinion about the use of gene editing for disease therapy versus for human enhancement, and about editing that becomes hereditary versus editing that does not.

The research team, which included Scheufele and Dominique Brossard — both professors of life sciences communication — along with Michael Xenos, professor of communication arts, first surveyed study participants about the use of editing to treat disease (therapy) versus for enhancement (creating so-called “designer babies”). While about two-thirds of respondents expressed at least some support for therapeutic editing, only one-third expressed support for using the technology for enhancement.

Diving even deeper, researchers looked into public attitudes about gene editing on specific cell types — somatic or germline — either for therapy or enhancement. Somatic cells are non-reproductive, so edits made in those cells do not affect future generations. Germline cells, however, are heritable, and changes made in these cells would be passed on to children.

Public support of therapeutic editing was high both in cells that would be inherited and those that would not, with 65 percent of respondents supporting therapy in germline cells and 64 percent supporting therapy in somatic cells. When considering enhancement editing, however, support depended more upon whether the changes would affect future generations. Only 26 percent of people surveyed supported enhancement editing in heritable germline cells and 39 percent supported enhancement of somatic cells that would not be passed on to children.

“A majority of people are saying that germline enhancement is where the technology crosses that invisible line and becomes unacceptable,” says Scheufele. “When it comes to therapy, the public is more open, and that may partly be reflective of how severe some of those genetically inherited diseases are. The potential treatments for those diseases are something the public at least is willing to consider.”

Beyond questions of support, researchers also wanted to understand what was driving public opinions. They found that two factors were related to respondents’ attitudes toward gene editing as well as their attitudes toward the public’s role in its emergence: the level of religious guidance in their lives, and factual knowledge about the technology.

Those with a high level of religious guidance in their daily lives had lower support for human genome editing than those with low religious guidance. Additionally, those with high knowledge of the technology were more supportive of it than those with less knowledge.

While respondents with high religious guidance and those with high knowledge differed on their support for the technology, both groups highly supported public engagement in its development and use. These results suggest broad agreement that the public should be involved in questions of political, regulatory and moral aspects of human genome editing.

“The public may be split along lines of religiosity or knowledge with regard to what they think about the technology and scientific community, but they are united in the idea that this is an issue that requires public involvement,” says Scheufele. “Our findings show very nicely that the public is ready for these discussions and that the time to have the discussions is now, before the science is fully ready and while we have time to carefully think through different options regarding how we want to move forward.”

World Bank Provides Aid for cleaning of Ganga River

World Bank has sanctioned a loan of US $ 1 billion for funding Institutional Development and for construction of priority infrastructure projects for municipal waste water treatment and solid waste treatment on the main stem of Ganga in the five Ganga basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.

Government of India has withdrawn a cumulative amount of US $ 91.26 million (Rs. 550.48 crore) under this loan till date.

Cleaning of river is a continuous process. Namami Gange Programme has been launched as a holistic approach covering all existing ongoing projects and new initiative. Under Namami Gange project total number of 173 projects for various activities such as sewage infrastructure, river front development, ghat and crematoria, ghat cleaning, river surface cleaning, afforestation and biodiversity conservation and rural sanitation etc. have been sanctioned. Out of 173 projects 41 numbers of projects have been completed so far.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.