Monthly Archives: October 2017

Burma’s Star Tortoise Makes a Comeback

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The Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota), a medium-sized tortoise found only in Myanmar’s central dry zone, has been brought back from the brink of extinction thanks to an aggressive captive-breeding effort spearheaded by a team of conservationists and government partners.

Efforts to restore the tortoise are described in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Herpetological Review.

The tortoises now number over 14,000 individuals, up from an estimated population of just a few hundred animals in the early 2000s. Burgeoning demand from wildlife markets in southern China beginning in the mid-1990s virtually wiped out the tortoise in a matter of years until viable populations could no longer be found, and the species was considered ecologically extinct.

In 2004, The Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division of the Myanmar Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)/Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) Myanmar Program established three “assurance colonies” to hedge against the extinction of wild populations. The three colonies began with an estimated 175 individuals, mostly confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers.

The colonies were sited at facilities within existing wildlife sanctuaries. After the colonies were established, conservationists had to determine the species’ husbandry requirements including diet, feeding, reproduction, and hatchling care. Herpetologists from WCS’s Bronx Zoo helped design the breeding centers as well as provide husbandry expertise. In addition, veterinarians and molecular scientists from the Bronx Zoo conducted health screenings of the captive population to determine what diseases might be present (no major diseases of concern were discovered). Bronx Zoo vets continue to consult with WCS Myanmar vets on various health cases, confirming diagnoses and recommending treatment options.

Approximately 750 animals have been released into wild areas of the sanctuaries, and the long term objective of restoring viable populations in every protected area in the central dry zone is now biologically attainable. However, political and social challenges need to be resolved before large-scale reintroduction takes place to ensure the tortoises are not taken by poachers.

Said lead author Steven Platt, a herpetologist with WCS’s Myanmar Program: “This is the modern day equivalent of saving the bison from extinction. A team of conservationists spearheaded an aggressive captive breeding effort, and have brought an animal back from the brink to where it now has the potential to be reintroduced into the wild in large numbers.”

Said Andrew Walde, Chief Operating Officer of Turtle Survival Alliance: “The Myanmar WCS/TSA partnership is a model chelonian conservation success story. If you had told me more than 10 years ago when the project started that we would have more than 10,000 Burmese Star tortoises, and that we would have returned nearly a thousand to the wild, I wouldn’t have believed it. It is success stories like this that make all the hard work worth it.”

WCS works to save turtles and tortoises around the world. In 2012, WCS launched an organization-wide program to revive some of the most endangered turtle and tortoise species. Efforts include breeding programs at the Bronx Zoo in New York, head-start programs abroad, and working with governments and communities to save species on the brink of extinction.

WCS tortoise conservation in Myanmar is supported by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, the Panaphil and Uphill Foundations, and the Turtle Conservation Fund.

Brand Finance Downgrades India at 8th in Value, down by 1%

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Brand Finance has evaluated the 100 most valuable nation brands of 2017 and placed India as the 8th most valuable nation brand in the world with a value of US$2 trillion, less by 1% year on year attributed to decline in growth for six quarters in a row.

David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, said, “Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s administration needs to fulfil his promise to rejuvenate India’s economy. Reforms must be introduced to maximise job creation, provide fiscal support and to boost economic growth. However, the less than impressive track record of implementing change renders the nation’s outlook unstable. This poses a threat to its future nation brand value. If Modi is able to carry out the proposed changes effectively, that may be enough to push value growth up next year. At the same time, few realise that India has already surpassed China and the US as the top recipient of greenfield foreign direct investment and the key task is to maintain this position.”

India versus China

On China, Brand Finance report said China is the fastest-growing nation brand of 2017 in absolute terms, with a change of over US$3.1 trillion year on year. This figure is equal to the entire nation brand value of Britain, which illustrates just by how much China is outpacing other countries, it said.

In relative terms, China’s nation brand value grew 44% year on year, or at a 20-times faster pace than the United States’. However, at US$10.2 trillion, China’s nation brand value is still only half that of America’s and sustaining growth will be key to narrow the gap.

Chinese companies make up 50 of the Global 500 most valuable brands, increasing from only 8 in 2008. Chinese brands lead in 4 sectors – banks (ICBC), spirits (Moutai), insurance (PingAn), real estate (Dalian Wanda) – as opposed to zero in 2008. The country also celebrates an annual Chinese Brands Day on May 10th and has a nationwide China Council for Brand Development, dedicated to research on brand building and brand evaluation.

The forthcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will mark the end of the Central Committee’s five-year term which has seen a revolutionary change in China’s approach to brands. In a virtuous circle, Chinese brands and the transformed national image of China as an emerging global power are reinforcing each other and further add to the country’s attractiveness to investors and tourists.

US under Trump Effect

With a value of US$21.1 trillion, the United States remains the most valuable nation brand in the world but the meagre growth of 2% year on year is putting its dominance at risk in the long run.

The United States’ nation brand value’s stagnation can be attributed to macroeconomic challenges, like the declining participation rate caused by the mass-retirement of baby boomers, ultimately contributing to a slow pace of GDP growth compared to previous expansions.

However, perceptions of Donald Trump’s presidency are not exactly helping Brand America either. Trump’s administration is seen as increasingly unpredictable and although tax relief promises can boost FDI in the short run, a failure to fulfil them, considering that many propositions of new legislation fell through in Congress, will make investors’ confidence disappear.

America’s image in the world is also waning. Sabre rattling in the Middle East and Asia, closing borders to migrants and refugees, and breaching global commitments in relation to climate change, have all seriously undermined the United States’ global leadership. Recovering that influence in the future may be close to impossible.

East and West: Trading Places

The dynamic between American and Chinese nation brands is mirrored by the broader trends of Western stagnation and Asian advance. Established European nation brands, such as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, record either a decline or a negligible growth of value. At the same time, Asian nation brands grow at breakneck speed. Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea have all added between 37%-43% to their nation brand value.

Southern Europe growing fast

Unlike their sluggish Northern neighbours, Southern European countries can boast record nation brand value growth year on year. Infamously branded as ‘PIGS’ during the Eurozone Crisis, Portugal (up 22%), Italy (up 34%), Greece (up 41%), and Spain (up 46%), as well as smaller Cyprus (up 57%), have since all introduced necessary reforms and regained the confidence of analysts and investors. Channelling those new levels of trust to a long-term advantage will be the most difficult task of those responsible for managing nation brands of Southern European economies. It seems particularly challenging in the case of Spain, which is balancing on the brink of anarchy following the Catalan independence vote.

Brand Britain shows resilience

The Brexit process has not yet brought the widely expected negative consequences. Brand Britain relies however on the government’s ability to mitigate potential dangers in the near future. Although uncertainty has caused a slight drop in the UK’s brand strength, from a score of 86 to 85, brand value is up 6% year on year to US$3.1 trillion. Britain should now engage with the world, especially booming Asian markets, to sustain growth and dispel negative perceptions.

Iceland: Money is Coming

Iceland is the fastest growing nation brand of 2017, up 83% from last year, and may only continue to enjoy unrivalled growth in the near future. The country’s tourism industry is booming and expanding its share of GDP at the expense of the traditionally dominant fishing sector. Thanks to the hit television show, Game of Thrones, which films most of its winter scenes in Iceland, the country has seen a record 1.8 million foreign visitors in 2016, up 40% from 2015.

The first two months of 2017 saw a 59% increase on the same period of 2016 and the figure is expected to reach 2.4 million by the end of this year. The increase in visitors brings great financial benefits to the nation. Tourists spent US$212 million in 2016, using credit and debit cards alone, and as the number of visitors is forecasted to increase, so will the injection of money.

Future Looks Bright for Singapore

Singapore has not only maintained its position as the strongest nation brand this year, but with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) of 92.9, it is also the only one to score over 90. Singapore’s reputation for investing in its citizens has particularly boosted its ‘People and Skills’ result, factored in the BSI calculation.

The SkillsFuture movement initiated by the government, which allows every Singaporean aged 25 and above to secure S$500 for professional development, helps to maximise the nation’s potential. More than 400,000 people undertook training in 2016, an increase from 379,000 in 2015. The state’s willingness to invest in the development of its people demonstrates a nurturing element that many other nations have yet to adopt.

Indian Origin CEO of Spike Unveils New Concorde Supersonic Jet Ahead of NASA

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Reminding the shortest trans-Atlantic Concorde flights in the 1980s, a new supersonic jet that can travel from New York to London in just three hours at 1,354 mph has successfully test-flown on Saturday without any passengers by Spike Aerospace Indian origin CEO Vik Kachoria.

The prototype of S-512 Quiet Supersonic Jet can carry 18 passengers and it was test flown unmanned for the first time after a series of wind tunnel tests, said Spike Aerospace, the firm behind the new Concorde project.

Apart from Spike, NASA’s project was unveiled last month about a viable commercial supersonic jet capable of breaking the 767 mph sound barrier. The prototype was tested inside a massive wind tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center so far.  However, Spike has taken lead with first trans-Atlantic test successfully carried out in three hours with the design and flight controls in tact.

Vik Kachoria, President and CEO of Spike, said: “The SX-1.2 test flights were conducted in a real world situation, and provide significantly more data than wind tunnel tests done in an artificial environment.We were able to test not only handling, but also a range of other considerations.”

Spike Aerospace CEO Vik Kachoria

The test included adjustments made mid-air to its mass, balance and controls and the aircraft was piloted by engineers KrishnaKumar Malu and Mike Ridlon at a private airfield in New England in the US.

Malu said: “These test flights are providing incredibly valuable information which we can use to refine the design.I am very excited about how helpful these tests will be to our supersonic development program.”

Spike hopes to make its S-512 supersonic aircraft ready by 2021, with its first commercial flight available by 2023. The prototype can reduce the flight from London to New York by eight hours, to just 3 hours and 30 minutes.

“Flying 450 mph faster than any other civilian jet, the Spike S-512 will enable customers to do more and enjoy more out of life,” Spike said.

Here are some specs of S-512:

Spike S-512 Quiet Supersonic Jet Key Highlights:

  • Speed: Mach 1.6 (1,100mph)
  • Passengers: 12-18
  • Range: 6200nmi
  • Sonic boom less than 75 PLdB
  • Patent-pending Quiet Supersonic Flight technology
  • Innovative Multiplex Digital Cabin
  • 40% time savings for 13% additional cost

The Spike S-512’s cabin incorporates patent-pending Multiplex Digital technology offering panoramic displays through wide windows with room for up to 18 passengers and fully customizable interior configuration, good for private air travel, said the aerospace company on its website.

The spike S-512 promises the expansive, high-definition screens spanning each side of the cabin with displays showing any view one wishes, whether it’s real-time aircraft surroundings, favorite movie or a work presentation – all with a simple touch on a mobile device.

The cabin of the S-512 assures quiet and comfort with bespoke leather seating, reduced noise or higher levels of silence, higher oxygen levels and high-speed wireless Internet connectivity. It has eliminated traditional windows allowing the S-512 to offer unprecedented noise reduction for smooth, relaxing supersonic flights.

 

 

 

Health Ministry discontinues Paper Greetings, switches to eGreetings

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With the aim to reduce use of paper and give a boost to digital initiatives of the Government and to promote a contemporary and eco-friendly method of sending greetings, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to go forward with e Greetings instead of paper-based greetings starting this festive season. In a circular issued today, the Health Ministry has advised its staff to send festival greetings in the form of eGreetings. Further, the Ministry has also said that it will not entertain any request for printing of season’s greeting card. The eGreetings can be sent through the eGreetings portal of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology developed as part of the “Digital India” initiative.

The eGreeting portal created by DeitY and NIC allows users to select and send greetings from multiple occasion-specific templates. Government Departments can also customize the greetings by adding tag-lines and messages related to their programmes and schemes. The portal includes greetings for various occasions, including days of national importance. The portal also addresses eGreetingsof the specific needs of government organizations. For instance, specific templates can be created for National Science Day, Women’s Day, various health days, as well as for national campaigns. Each department can create its own greetings and slogans to connect with their employees, colleagues and stakeholders. The designs and templates of the greetings are being crowd sourced. The portal is also open to use by all citizens. This would promote greater interaction and participation of citizens in the process of creative work for the government as well as dissemination of information pertaining to subjects of national importance.

The portal is also open to all citizens for sending eGreetings to their family and friends. Users can access the portal using the link http://egreetings.india.gov.in.

The female brain reacts more strongly to prosocial behavior than the male brain

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Behavioral experiments have shown that when women share a sum of money more generously than men. To gain a more in-depth understanding of this behavior, neuroscientists from the Department of Economics looked at the areas of the brain that are active when decisions of this kind are made. They are the first to demonstrate that the brains of men and women respond differently to prosocial and selfish behavior.

Selfish behavior activates reward system more strongly in men

The striatum, located in the middle of the brain, is responsible for the assessment of reward and is active whenever a decision is made. The findings show: The striatum was more strongly activated in female brains during prosocial decisions than during selfish decisions. By contrast, selfish decisions led to a stronger activation of the reward system in male brains.

Disrupted reward system leads to more selfish behavior in women

In the second experiment, the reward system was disrupted by administering medication to the participants. Under these conditions, women behaved more selfishly, while men became more prosocial. The latter result surprised the researchers. As Soutschek explains, “these results demonstrate that the brains of women and men also process generosity differently at the pharmacological level”. The results also have consequences for further brain research, with Soutschek stating that “future studies need to take into account gender differences more seriously”.

Culturally conditioned behavior patterns are decisive

Even if these differences are evident at the biological level, Soutschek warns against assuming that they must be innate or of evolutionary origin. “The reward and learning systems in our brains work in close cooperation. Empirical studies show that girls are rewarded with praise for prosocial behavior, implying that their reward systems learn to expect a reward for helping behavior instead of selfish behavior. With this in mind, the gender differences that we observed in our studies could best be attributed to the different cultural expectations placed on men and women.” This learning account is also supported by findings that indicate significant differences in the sensitivity of the reward system to prosocial and selfish behavior across cultures.

Denied 3 Times, Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 Finally Goes to ICAN

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After three denials, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) after three unsuccessful expectations in the last three years.

The committee will award ICAN for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons. More than that the upcoming threat of use of a nuclear bomb by North Korea has forced the panel to see the reason to vouch for nuclear peace.

“There is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by North Korea. Nuclear weapons pose a constant threat to humanity and all life on earth,” saaid the Nobel committee.

Through its work, ICAN has helped to fill a legal gap heralding the rationale for prohibiting nuclear weapons. ICAN is a coalition of NGOs from around 100 different countries pledging to stigmatise, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. To date, 108 states have signed the commitment, known as the Humanitarian Pledge.

ICAN has been spearheading a prohibition of nuclear weapons under international law. On 7 July 2017, 122 of the UN member states acceded to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and ratified by 50 states. The nuclear ban will become effective and binding under international law for all the countries that are party to the treaty.

“This year’s Peace Prize is therefore also a call upon these states to initiate serious negotiations with a view to the gradual, balanced and carefully monitored elimination of the almost 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world,” it said.

With this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to pay tribute to ICAN for giving new momentum to the efforts to achieve this goal, said the citation.

‘Increased risk’ donor organs a tough sell to transplant patients

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Increasingly, transplant surgeons must initiate a tough conversation: explaining to patients what it means to accept an organ from a person who died from a drug overdose.

Organ donors who recently injected drugs, as well those who were incarcerated or had sex for drugs or money, are among a growing group of people classified as being at “increased risk” of an infectious disease such as hepatitis C or HIV.

But the label may not be doing patients any favors, according to a study about transplant trends and organ discard.

National organ transplant numbers show the United States Public Health Service’s increased risk of infection label (PHS-IR) is associated with hundreds of available organs going unused each year.

Despite the very low risk of disease transmission, patients in need are saying no to these organs, which account for 1 in every 5 deceased donor organs today.

Better guidance is needed for surgeons and patients on how much risk an increased-risk label actually presents to patients, says study author Daniel Kaul, M.D., director of the Transplant Infectious Disease Service at Michigan Medicine.

For a study published in Transplantation, Kaul led an analysis of Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data showing organs labeled as increased risk are 7 percent less likely to be used than organs without the label.

“Overall utilization was less despite the extraordinarily low risk of disease transmission,” says Kaul, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan. “The organ may have gone to the next person on the transplant waiting list, but it might not have been used at all.”

Also troubling, utilization rates of PHS-IR organs varied dramatically by geography. Depending on the donation service area, transplantation of available adult kidneys from increased-risk donors ranged from 20 to 100 percent, the analysis found.

“What that tells us is there may be a different understanding of true risk associated with this label — from one center to another and even within a center, from one organ specialty to another,” Kaul says.

If the increased-risk label did not exist, an estimated 313 more transplants could be performed in the United States each year, according to the study.

All organs identified as increased risk were less likely to be used with the exception of livers, for which transplant rates were nearly identical.

A possible explanation? Patients with liver failure may be too sick to say no. By comparison, a patient needing a kidney may continue dialysis and wait for another organ offer.

Favorable Odds

For most patients with end-stage organ failure, the immediate risk of dying is greater than the risk of getting an organ with an infection.

After rigorous screening, the risk of HIV or hepatitis C transmission from organ donation is low, at less than 1 percent — much less, for example, than the lifetime chances of dying in a motor vehicle accident.

Co-authored by Michael Volk, M.D., a former U-M physician now practicing in Loma Linda, California, and others, the study was published in a special issue of Transplantation that looked at reducing organ discard while safely maximizing organ availability.

Researchers analyzed criteria of donors from 2010 to 2013. The rate of nonutilization of increased-risk organs, the authors write, is likely now even higher because of a 2015 change to the PHS-IR criteria. Combined with the opioid epidemic, the change resulted in an increase in the proportion of organs with this label from 12 percent to 20 percent.

With little guidance about magnitude of risk, the stigma surrounding drug addiction can lead someone to turn down an organ that could save his or her life.

As of early October, about 116,500 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant.

Pushy or laid back? Economic factors influence parenting style

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Settling on a parenting style is challenging. Is it better to be strict or more lenient? Have helicopter parents found the right approach to guiding their children’s choices?

A new study co-authored by Yale economist Fabrizio Zilibotti argues that parenting styles are shaped by economic factors that incentivize one strategy over others.

Zilibotti and co-author Matthias Doepke, a professor of economics at Northwestern University, assert in a paper published in the journal Econometrica that economic conditions, especially inequality and return to education, have influenced child-rearing strategy.

“All parents want their children to succeed, and we argue that the economic environment influences their methods of childrearing,” said Zilibotti, the Tuntex Professor of International and Development Economics at Yale. “For instance, greater occupational mobility and lower inequality today makes an authoritarian approach less effective than generations ago. It’s not that parents spare the rod because they are more concerned about their children’s wellbeing now than they were 100 years ago. Rather, parenting strategies adapted to the modern economy.”

Zilibotti and Doepke assert that parents are driven by a combination of altruism — a desire for their children to succeed — and paternalism that leads them to try to influence their children’s choices, either by molding their children’s preferences or restricting them. These motivations manifest in three parenting styles: A permissive style that affords children the freedom to follow their inclinations and learn from their own experiences; an authoritative style in which parents try to mold their children’s preferences to induce choices consistent with the parents’ notions of achieving success; and an authoritarian style in which parents impose their will on their children and control their choices.

“There is an element of common interest between parents and children — a drive for success — but there is tension where parents care more about their children’s wellbeing as adults,” Zilibotti said. “We postulate that socioeconomic conditions drive how much control or monitoring parents exercise on their children’s choices.”

The researchers apply their model across time periods and between countries. Parenting became more permissive in the 1960s and 1970s when economic inequality reached historic lows in industrialized countries and parents could realize a return on letting children learn from their own experiences, they argue. Across countries, they document a link between parenting, on the one hand, and income inequality and return to education, on the other hand. Using the World Value Survey, where people are asked which attitudes or values they find most important in child rearing, they identify permissive parents with those emphasizing the values of imagination and independence in rearing children, whereas authoritarian and authoritative parents are those who insist on the importance of hard work and obedience, respectively. They show that parents in more unequal countries are less permissive. The same pattern emerges when they consider redistributive policies. In countries with more redistributive taxation, more social expenditure, and even stronger civil right protection, parents are significantly more permissive.

The researchers assert that their theory can help explain the recent rise of “helicopter parenting,” a version of the authoritative style in which parents seek to influence their children’s choices with a combination of persuasion and intensive monitoring. They argue that the style gained purchase in the United States as economic inequality increased, inducing a shift to more intensive parenting to strengthen children’s drive for achievement and prevent them from risky behaviors. Meanwhile, they argue, more permissive parenting remains popular in Scandinavian countries, where inequality is lower than it is in the United States.

PM welcomes and conveys best wishes to all teams taking part in the FIFA U-17 World Cup

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has welcomed and conveyed best wishes to all teams taking part in the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

“A warm welcome and best wishes to all teams taking part in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. I am sure FIFA U-17 World Cup will be a treat for football lovers”, the Prime Minister said.

MI-17 V5 Helicopter Accident

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An Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter crashed at around 0659h on 06 Oct 17 after getting airborne from a helipad North of Tawang. This was the second routine air maintenance sortie of the day for the aircraft at a forward area.

The helicopter was carrying supplies to a forward post of the Indian Army in the hilly terrain. The helicopter crashed close to Dropping Zone and caught fire immediately. Seven defence personnel were onboard, included five Indian Air Force personnel Wg Cdr V Upadhyay, Captain of the aircraft, Sqn Ldr S Tewari, Co-pilot, MWO AK Singh, Flt Gnr, Sgt Gautam Kumar Flt Engr, and Sgt Satish Kumar, Flt Gnr and two Army personnel Sep HN Deka and Sep E Balaji, and all of them sustained fatal injuries during the crash. A court of Enquiry has been ordered to establish the cause of the accident.

Nobel Prize for Physics, 2017 – Indian Connection

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The 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics has been conferred to three scientists namely Rainer Weiss, Barry C Barish & Kip S Thorne under the LIGO Project for their discovery of gravitational waves, 100 years after Einstein’s General Relativity predicted it. The Nobel Prize for Physics 2017 celebrates the direct detection of Gravitational waves arriving from the merger two large Black holes in a distant galaxy a Billion of light years away. Gravitational waves carry information about their dramatic origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained. This opens a new window to Astronomy since Gravitational Waves are an entirely new way of observing the most violent events in space.

This is a proud moment for India also, since the discovery paper has 39 Indian authors/scientists from nine institutions-, CMI Chennai, ICTS-TIFR Bengaluru, IISER-Kolkata, IISER-Trivandrum, IIT Gandhinagar, IPR Gandhinagar, IUCAA Pune, RRCAT Indore and TIFR Mumbai. primarily funded through individual/ institutional grants by Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science & Technology and Ministry of Human Resource Development AE, DST and MHRD, who are co-authors of this discovery paper.

Late Professor CV Vishveshvara of RRI, Bengaluru (DST AI) and Professor SV Dhurandhar of IUCAA, Pune and some other Indian scientists made seminal contributions to this field which contributed towards the principles behind the LIGO Detector.

The group led by Bala Iyer (currently at ICTS-TIFR) at the Raman Research Institute in collaboration with scientists in France had pioneered the mathematical calculations used to model Gravitational Wave signals from orbiting black holes and neutron stars. Theoretical work that combined black holes and gravitational waves was published by C. V. Vishveshwara in 1970. These contributions are prominently cited in the discovery paper.

An opportunity for India taking leadership in this field has opened up with the LIGO-India mega-science project that was granted ‘in principle’ approval by the Union Cabinet on Feb 17 2016. LIGO-India brings forth a real possibility of Indian scientists and technologists stepping forward, with strong international cooperation, into the frontier of an emergent area of high visibility and promise presented by the recent GW detections and the high promise of a new window of gravitational-wave astronomy to probe the universe.

The global science community is unanimous that the future of Gravitational wave astronomy and astrophysics, beyond the first discovery, lies with the planned global array of GW detectors, including the LIGO-India observatory. Inclusion of LIGO-India greatly improves the angular resolution in the location of the gravitational-wave source by the LIGO global network. For the discovery event observed by the two advanced LIGO detectors in the US, with a hypothetical LIGO-India in operation, there would have been 100 times improvement in the angular resolution.

The LIGO-India proposal is for the construction and operation of an Advanced LIGO Detector in India in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratories, USA. The objective is to set up the Indian node of the three node global Advanced LIGO detector network by 2024 and operate it for 10 years. The task for LIGO-India includes the challenge of constructing the very large vaccum infrastructure that would hold a space of volume 10 million litres that can accommodate the entire 4 km scale laser interferometer in ultra high vacuum environment at nano-torrs. Indian team is also responsible for installation and commissioning the complex instrument and attaining the ultimate design sensitivity.

The LIGO-India project is being jointly executed by lead institutions: the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune of the University Grants commission, and DAE organisations, Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore and the Directorate of Construction & Estate Management (DCSEM) of DAE.

LIGO-India is being jointly funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). A LIGO-India Apex committee, together with the LIGO-India Project Management Board (LI-PMB) and LIGO-India Scientific Management Board (LI-SMB), were constituted in August 2016 to oversee the project execution, and there has been rapid pace of progress since then. LIGO-India is on track for commencing operations by 2024.

Ministry of Women and Child Development to celebrate the BBBP Week from 09th to 14th October

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National wide activities and awareness generation campaigns to mark the celebration of BBBP Week.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development will be celebrating the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Week from 09th to 14th October, 2017. The week is being celebrated in view of the International Girl Child Day on 11th October, 2017. The theme of the program will be “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Week- The Daughters of New India”.

Briefing the media in New Delhi today, Secretary WCD, Shri Rakesh Srivastava said that the International Girl Child Day is celebrated every year to promote empowerment of girls and reinforce gender equality. It also provides a platform to raise issues, concerns and challenges faced by girls. In order to influence national and mainstream discourse in favour of girls and women and visibility to BBBP, which is one of the flagship programmes of Government of India, Ministry of WCD will be celebrating the BBBP Week, he explained.

BBBP Scheme (Celebrate Girl Child, Enable her Education) was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22nd January, 2015 at Panipat, Haryana as a comprehensive programme to address the declining CSR and related issues of disempowerment of women over a life-cycle continuum. The Scheme is being implemented in 161 districts of the Country and has completed two and half years of its implementation on ground. During this period, the States/UTs/Districts have undertaken several innovative initiatives to address the issue of declining child sex ratio and promote value of girl child.

The collective and coordinated efforts undertaken at national, state and districts level has been successful in establishing a substantial improvement in the number of girls being born in the target districts. As per the HIMS data for the 161 districts of BBBP, an increasing trend in Sex Ratio at Birth is visible in 104 BBBP Districts during 2016-17 as compared to the period 2015-16. Similarly, 119 districts have reported progress in registration of pregnancies in the first trimester during 2016-17 as compared to 2015-16. During the same period, Institutional deliveries against the total reported deliveries have improved in 146 districts in comparison to the previous year.

In this background, the BBBP districts have been requested to organize activities in a campaign mode to observe the Week starting from 9th October – 14th October 2017 to create awareness and sensitize community in their respective districts. The week-long celebration will witness various awareness generation activities and community engagement programmes such as Oath ceremonies, prabhat pherries, rallies, nukkad natraks, street plays, joint door to door campaigns by AWWs and ASHAs, Posters/Slogan-writing/ Drawing/Painting competition among school children, tree plantation in the name of girl child, distribution of birth certificates, opening of Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts, sensitization/orientation/counseling sessions and talk shows on gender, health and nutrition, legal rights and Acts.

At the National level, the occasion will also be marked by a Panel Discussion to be held on 11th October, 2017 coinciding with the theme for this year’s International Day of the Girl –“Girls Progress=Goals Progress: What Counts for Girls” to engage key sport influencers and women and girls role models from the field, to generate support through their voice and reach. Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of WCD will be addressing the audience at the Panel Discussion, in whichsome of India’s leading women Sports Icons and local BBBP Champions will take part. Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Dr. Virendra Kumar will kickstart the BBBP week celebrations in New Delhi on 09th October, 2017.

President to Inaugurate India Water Week 2017

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Five Day International event to be attended by 1500 delegates from 13 countries.

President Shri Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate India Water Week – 2017 on October 10, 2017 in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari and Union Ministers of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal and Shri Dr. Satya Pal Singh. About 1500 delegates from India and 13 other countries will attend the five day international event. The theme of India Water Week – 2017 is “Water and Energy for Inclusive Growth”.
The 5th edition of India Water Week (IWW) will be celebrated with a multi disciplinary conference and a concurrently running exhibition enriching the theme and showcasing the technologies and solutions available for the areas under deliberation of the meet. The event will have the following major components:
Water, Food and Energy Security – Essential requirement for sustainable development.
Water for inclusive Growth
Sustainable energy development – Key for all round economic growth.
Water and Society
A large group of international and national persons of eminence are being invited for sharing their experiences in the field of Water and Power Management, Technical and Sociological interventions for achieving water and energy security in their individual areas and manage the assets created on a participatory basis. In addition, there will be special sessions involving dignitaries, delegates, politicians, experts from the fields related to the event. Expert professional bodies and think tanks are invited to put up Side Events addressing specific issues under the theme.
State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh have confirmed their participation as sponsor. Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Department of Science and Technology, Damodar Valley Corporation from Central Government Ministries/Organisations/Departments have also confirmed their participation as sponsor.
The Business to Business Exhibition “India Water Expo 2017” co-located with the conference will also be organized from 11 to 14 October, 2017 to focus on the latest technologies providing solutions to the water management issues.

Water Resources are the prime input to the growth and prosperity of the nation. Keeping in view the vital role of water in all aspects of life and also in assuring the development of economy, the Ministry of Water Resources has been observing “World Water Day” on the national level. During the year 2011, Ministry of Water Resources decided that the national level of celebrations be transformed to international level on the lines of the events taking place at Singapore and Stockholm.

Water and energy are essential needs in day to day life. At the same time, these are most important inputs for any efforts for social upliftment and economic growth of the country. With the increasing demand by the growing population and improvement in economic status, the demands on the available resources are increasing and we have to constantly strive towards stretching the same water to satisfy larger needs. As a result, there is an urgency to conserve and utilize the limited availability of water resources in an optimum and efficient manner. As a community resources, water needs to be managed and deployed in an equitable manner. The effective and efficient water management is possible through better understanding of issues, mutual cooperation among all stakeholders and adoption of comprehensive and integrated approach.

In order to establish an international event focused on water resources of India, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India has been organising India Water Week since 2012 as an annual international event. Four editions of India Water Week have been organised so far in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

The recommendations/action points emerged during earlier events of India Water Week have been sent to all concerned Ministries of Central Government as well as to all State Governments for their appropriate implementation.

It is planned to make the IWW-2017 event more participatory by involving farmers and Water User Association (WUA), NGOs, Experts and other stakeholders. The Inaugural function will be followed by Plenary Session. It is proposed to have a presentation of theme paper, presentation by Foreign Partner European Union, Platinum Sponsor Netherlands and presentations by invited speakers. Also World Water Forum will make small presentation on forthcoming 8th World Water Forum to be held in Brazil in March, 2018.

Women use gossip to compete for a man’s attention

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Although both men and women gossip, women may be more likely to use gossiping and rumour-mongering as tactics to badmouth a potential rival who is competing for a man’s attention. Women also gossip more about other women’s looks, whereas men talk about cues to resource holding (e.g., wealth) and the athleticism of their competitors. According to Adam Davis of the University of Ottawa in Canada, gossiping is a highly evolved social skill and an intrasexual competition tactic that relates to women’s and men’s evolved preferences. He therefore sees it as essential for interpersonal relationships, and not a flaw of character. Davis is the lead author of a study in Springer’s journal Evolutionary Psychological Science that provides the first verifiable evidence for a positive link between intrasexual competitiveness, the amount of gossip that people take part in, and whether they are OK with such talk or not. Scholars agree that gossip has evolved as an efficient way to learn more about others, and to enforce group norms. It is also a method by which people can learn more about their rivals, and can call into question their reputation, especially when they are vying for the same romantically or sexually desirable mates.

In this study, 290 heterosexual Canadian students between the ages of 17 and 30 years old completed three questionnaires. One measured how competitive the participants are towards members of the same sex as their own, especially in terms of access to the attention of potential mates. The other questionnaires measured the tendency and likelihood of the participants to gossip about others, the perceived social value of gossip, and whether it is okay to talk about others behind their backs.

It was found that people who were competitive towards members of their own sex had a greater tendency to gossip. They were also more comfortable with the practice than others. Women had a greater tendency to gossip than men, and they also enjoyed it more, and saw more value in participating in such chit-chat. Men were more likely to gossip about the achievements of others. Such talk among women often targeted the physical appearance of another, and was used to share social information. Women also found gossip to have greater social value, which may allow them gather more information about possible competitors in the game of finding a mate. It may also help to hone their ability to gossip in future.

According to Davis, these findings provide evidence that gossip is an intrasexual competition tactic that corresponds to women’s and men’s evolved mate preferences. It also reflects the different strategies used by the sexes in their quest to find suitable mates.

“The findings demonstrate that gossip is intimately linked to mate competition and not solely the product of a female gender stereotype that may be viewed as pejorative,” states Davis, who believes that therapists, counsellors, educators, and the general public should rethink their stance about gossip. “It is a highly evolved social skill essential for interpersonal relationships, rather than a flaw of character.”

Trends, benefits, and costs of working remotely

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A new assessment indicates that working remotely is a growing trend, and while it is associated with higher organisational commitment, job satisfaction, and job-related well-being, these benefits come at the cost of work intensification and a greater inability to switch off. The findings are published in New Technology, Work and Employment.

“Work is gradually being detached from traditional places such as the office, factory, or shop. Our study also shows that employers benefit from increased effort as workers strive to show that working remotely is not a slacker’s charter,” said Prof. Alan Felstead, co-author of the analysis. “However, remote workers find greater difficulty in redrawing the boundaries between work and non-work life.

Black tea may help with weight loss, too

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UCLA researchers have demonstrated for the first time that black tea may promote weight loss and other health benefits by changing bacteria in the gut. In a study of mice, the scientists showed that black tea alters energy metabolism in the liver by changing gut metabolites.

The research is published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

The study found that both black and green tea changed the ratio of intestinal bacteria in the animals: The percentage of bacteria associated with obesity decreased, while bacteria associated with lean body mass increased.

Previous studies indicated that chemicals in green tea called polyphenols are absorbed and alter the energy metabolism in the liver. The new findings show that black tea polyphenols, which are too large to be absorbed in the small intestine, stimulate the growth of gut bacterium and the formation of short-chain fatty acids, a type of bacterial metabolites that has been shown to alter the energy metabolism in the liver.

“It was known that green tea polyphenols are more effective and offer more health benefits than black tea polyphenols since green tea chemicals are absorbed into the blood and tissue,” said Susanne Henning, the study’s lead author and an adjunct professor at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, which is part of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Our new findings suggest that black tea, through a specific mechanism through the gut microbiome, may also contribute to good health and weight loss in humans.”

“The results suggest that both green and black teas are prebiotics, substances that induce the growth of good microorganisms that contribute to a person’s well-being,” she said.

In the study, four groups of mice received different diets — two of which were supplemented with green tea or black tea extracts:

Low-fat, high-sugar
High-fat, high-sugar

High-fat, high-sugar and green tea extract

High-fat, high-sugar and black tea extract

After four weeks, the weights of the mice that were given green or black tea extracts dropped to the same levels as those of the mice that received the low-fat diet throughout the study.

The researchers also collected samples from the mice’s large intestines (to measure bacteria content) and liver tissues (to measure fat deposits). In the mice that consumed either type of tea extract, there was less of the type of bacteria associated with obesity and more of the bacteria associated with lean body mass.

However, only the mice that consumed black tea extract had an increase in a type of bacteria called Pseudobutyrivibrio, which could help explain the difference between how black tea and green tea change energy metabolism.

Dr. Zhaoping Li, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, chief of the UCLA Division of Clinical Nutrition and the study’s senior author, said the findings suggest that the health benefits of both green tea and black tea go beyond their antioxidant benefits, and that both teas have a strong impact on the gut microbiome.

“For black tea lovers, there may be a new reason to keep drinking it,” she said.

The findings build on a 2015 UCLA study that demonstrated that both green tea and black tea helped prevent obesity in mice that consumed a high-fat, high-sugar diet.

Turtle Sanctuary to be set up in Allahabad

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In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam have been approved under Namami Gange programme.

The project at an estimated cost of Rs 1.34 crore would include development of River Biodiversity Park at Sangam (confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati), establishment of a Turtle Rearing Centre (Permanent nursery at Triveni Pushp and makeshift annual hatcheries) and awareness about the importance of river Ganga and imperativeness of its conservation has been approved.

This project will provide much needed platform to make the visitors aware of their place in the ecosystem, their roles and responsibilities, improve their understanding of the complexity of co-existence with the environment and help generate awareness for reducing the impact of human activities on critical natural resources. The task of dissipating knowledge about river Ganga will be taken up ardently in this project, which is 100% centrally funded.

The sustenance of more than 2000 aquatic species including threatened gharials, dolphins and turtles in river Ganga exemplifies the rich biodiversity of this lifeline to over 40 per cent of the country’s population. Rivers Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad are home to some of the most endangered fauna like turtles (Batagur kachuga, Batagur dhongoka, Nilssonia gangetica, Chitra indica, Hardella thurjii etc.), the National Aquatic Animal – Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica), the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and numerous migratory and resident birds.

Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 to be Held in Hyderabad, November 28-30

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A high-level delegation from the Government of India and the United States met today, at NITI Aayog to plan the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which will be held November 28-30 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre in Hyderabad, India.

The Summit will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump, who leads the U.S. delegation.

The GES is the preeminent annual gathering of emerging entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders from around the world. Through networking, mentoring, and workshops, the GES empowers entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas, build partnerships, secure funding, and create innovative goods and services that will transform societies. This year, the focus will be on women entrepreneurs and the tremendous potential women bring to entrepreneurship.

GES 2017 will create an environment that empowers innovators, particularly women, to take their ideas to the next level. Women represent tremendous promise for economic growth and prosperity — but in both developing and developed countries, also face tremendous barriers to building businesses. This year’s theme is “Women First, Prosperity for All” to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit in all its strengths and diversity.

GES 2017 will be attended by over 1600 delegates, including entrepreneurs and investors, CEOs of major knowledge-based industries, representing the full measure of entrepreneurial talent from diverse backgrounds across the world. The participants will be truly global, representing 160 countries, with representation from every region of the world. Entrepreneurs will represent a diverse range of geographies, industries, business size and scalability. Investors and representatives from organizations that support entrepreneurs will be hand-picked to catalyze investment, networking and mentoring. There will be special emphasis on empowering young and women entrepreneurs and the role they play in making communities more prosperous and secure through enterprise.

NITI Aayog is taking the lead in organising this Summit for the Government of India. Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog stated that this is a unique opportunity for Indian Startups and Innovators to interact and network with the finest entrepreneurs of the world. He acknowledged the support of Government of Telangana in hosting the Summit at Hyderabad, and said “India, the oldest civilization, welcomes civilizations from across the world to GES 2017. We need to harness technology to solve some of the most pressing problems in healthcare delivery, education, energy, safe drinking water and agriculture, among others for the benefit of communities at large. Innovation and entrepreneurship will play a decisive role towards this end. I am sure this will be a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to interact with the best.”

Jennifer Arangio, Senior Director at the National Security Council, The White House, said “The United States is proud to partner with India for this year’s GES. Uniting under the theme Women First, Prosperity for All, the Summit will highlight the Trump Administration’s commitment to the principle that when women are economically empowered, communities and countries thrive. Hosting GES in India is a signature of the broad and enduring partnership between our two countries. We thank our co-host, the Government of India, for their support, energy and hospitality, and look forward to a high-impact Summit that brings together ground-breaking U.S. entrepreneurs and investors with their counterparts from around the world.”

Innovations developed by entrepreneurs have transformed the world’s economies by creating jobs, increasing productivity, and improving the quality of life for people everywhere. The summit will primarily focus on four thematic sectors: Energy & Infrastructure, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Financial Technology & Digital Economy, and Media & Entertainment sectors.

The GES 2017 agenda consists of breakout sessions, master classes, and workshops. Three networking sessions are planned in the schedule to enhance opportunities to interact with other GES 2017 participants. The summit will have Breakout Sessions where panelists will discuss key themes, innovative industries, and other aspects of entrepreneurship that are being highlighted in GES 2017. Master Classes are immersive, and typically focus in depth on a certain topic. Workshops invite more hands-on, interactive conversations on a chosen topic between the panelists and the audience.

NITI Aayog and the U.S. Embassy are planning a series of ‘Road to GES’ events in collaboration with different agencies to generate enthusiasm and attract the attention of different stakeholders.

As part of the summit, there will be a virtual exhibition of India’s innovative prowess in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. It is also proposed to showcase India’s heritage, social entrepreneurship and craftsmanship in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Culture.

For more information, visit www.ges2017.gov.in and www.ges2017.org

How much is that call worth?

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Call centres can be expensive as well as the source of lots of consumer angst. But companies can get more bang for their buck by doing a better job of coordinating marketing decisions that drive customers to call centres with operational ones about handling them once they get there, says a new study from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

The study, co-authored by Professors Philipp Afèche and Opher Baron in the Rotman School’s Operations Management and Statistics Area, and Mojtaba Araghi, an assistant professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, provides an integrated marketing-operations framework to help companies design more effective service policies for their call centres and other service channels.

The framework builds on a theoretical model that maps the flow of new and existing customers through the call centre and their consumer decisions afterwards, based on their experience.

Unlike previous research, the model links call centre capacity, service quality and how that quality influences future consumer behaviour.

“Our model highlights that it is important for companies to be able to answer questions like: How does a particular customer behave if they don’t get served? What’s the chance that they will leave the company — or spend more, depending on the service quality they’ve received?” says Prof. Afèche. This can give companies insight into designing different service levels for different types of customers, depending on their value to the company.

Too often, says Prof. Afèche, call centres react in response to marketing decisions, rather than the two functions working together to determine which customers to target in a marketing campaign and what capacity needs to be there to serve them. Traditional ways of measuring customer value, meanwhile, can ignore how that value is affected by service quality, leading to poorer decisions about attracting and keeping them.

“Our model gives companies a more complete picture of the value of a customer,” says Prof. Afèche.

Getting things right at the call centre has been shown to be vital to businesses. Previous research has shown that companies use call centres for 80% of their customer interactions and 92% of customers base their opinion of the company on what happens during their call. Four out of ten customers who end their business with a company place the blame squarely on a customer service call that went badly.

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One hour of exercise a week can prevent depression

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A landmark study led by the Black Dog Institute has revealed that regular exercise of any intensity can prevent future depression – and just one hour can help.

Published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the results show even small amounts of exercise can protect against depression, with mental health benefits seen regardless of age or gender.

In the largest and most extensive study of its kind, the analysis involved 33,908 Norwegian adults who had their levels of exercise and symptoms of depression and anxiety monitored over 11 years.

The international research team found that 12 percent of cases of depression could have been prevented if participants undertook just one hour of physical activity each week.

“We’ve known for some time that exercise has a role to play in treating symptoms of depression, but this is the first time we have been able to quantify the preventative potential of physical activity in terms of reducing future levels of depression,” said lead author Associate Professor Samuel Harvey from Black Dog Institute and UNSW.

“These findings are exciting because they show that even relatively small amounts of exercise – from one hour per week – can deliver significant protection against depression.

“We are still trying to determine exactly why exercise can have this protective effect, but we believe it is from the combined impact of the various physical and social benefits of physical activity.

“These results highlight the great potential to integrate exercise into individual mental health plans and broader public health campaigns. If we can find ways to increase the population’s level of physical activity even by a small amount, then this is likely to bring substantial physical and mental health benefits.”

The findings follow the Black Dog Institute’s recent Exercise Your Mood campaign, which ran throughout September and encouraged Australians to improve their physical and mental wellbeing through exercise.

Researchers used data from the Health Study of Nord-Trøndelag County (HUNT study) – one of the largest and most comprehensive population-based health surveys ever undertaken – which was conducted between January 1984 and June 1997.

A healthy cohort of participants was asked at baseline to report the frequency of exercise they participated in and at what intensity: without becoming breathless or sweating, becoming breathless and sweating, or exhausting themselves. At follow-up stage, they completed a self-report questionnaire (the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) to indicate any emerging anxiety or depression.

The research team also accounted for variables which might impact the association between exercise and common mental illness. These include socio-economic and demographic factors, substance use, body mass index, new onset physical illness and perceived social support.

Results showed that people who reported doing no exercise at all at baseline had a 44% increased chance of developing depression compared to those who were exercising one to two hours a week.

However, these benefits did not carry through to protecting against anxiety, with no association identified between level and intensity of exercise and the chances of developing the disorder.

According to the Australian Health Survey, 20 percent of Australian adults do not undertake any regular physical activity, and more than a third spend less than 1.5 hours per week being physically active. At the same time, around 1 million Australians have depression, with one in five Australians aged 16-85 experiencing a mental illness in any year.

“Most of the mental health benefits of exercise are realised within the first hour undertaken each week,” said Associate Professor Harvey.

“With sedentary lifestyles becoming the norm worldwide, and rates of depression growing, these results are particularly pertinent as they highlight that even small lifestyle changes can reap significant mental health benefits.”