Padma awardees- Scientists, Grasroot innovators, Farmers

 SCIENTISTS

Dr Ravi Prakash Singh, alumnus of GPB, (Genetics and Plant Breeding), Institute of Agricultural Sciences BHU has been awarded with the prestigious Padma Shri award for his outstanding contributions to Science & Engineering. As an eminent *Wheat Scientist*, Ravi Prakash Singh has pioneered high-yield wheat varieties, positively impacting millions across the globe.

Dr. Narayan Chakraborty, the 2024 Padma Shri awardee, is a name synonymous with groundbreaking research in arsenic toxicity.As a Visiting Professor in the Post-Graduate Department of Zoology at Maulana Azad College, Kolkata, and a Scientific Consultant and Director at the West Bengal Biotech Development Corporation, Dr. Chakraborty’s expertise has been instrumental in shaping policies and interventions to address arsenic contamination.

Dr. Ram Chet Chaudhary, awarded the Padma Shri, is celebrated for his pioneering work in agriculture, particularly in developing Kalanamak rice varieties. Kalanamak rice, an aromatic and nutritious variety native to Uttar Pradesh, owes its resurgence to Dr. Chaudhary’s efforts. From cataloging and conserving various strains to developing high-yielding varieties through hybridization, his work has been pivotal in saving Kalanamak rice from extinction.

Dr. Shailesh Nayak, the recipient of the prestigious Padma Shree, is a luminary in the field of oceanography. He pioneered India's first automated Tsunami Warning System, significantly bolstering the nation's disaster response capabilities.As the Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), he conceptualized, installed, and operationalized this crucial system, enhancing India’s capabilities in disaster management and response.

Dr. Eklabya Sharma, awarded the Padma Shri, is an esteemed ecologist with over four decades of experience in sustainable mountain development, particularly in the Himalayan region.

Prof Ram Chander Sihag, who has been selected for the Padma Shri award, has made remarkable contributions in the field of beekeeping in the country. Prof Sihag, a retired agriculture scientist, began his career with Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, in 1979.

Dr Hari Om (65), who has been working in the field of natural farming, will be conferred with the Padma Shri award in the science and engineering category. Dr Hari Om, along with Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, had taken up natural farming at Gurukul in Kurukshetra.

GRASS ROOT INNOVATORS

Shri C V Raju and Shri Moa Subong, grassroots innovators from Andhra Pradesh and Nagaland, respectively, are amongst the 106 Padma Shri awardees announced for the year 2023. While the awards recognized Shri C V Raju’s efforts of reviving the traditional art of making Etikoppaka toys by adoption of eco-friendly technologies, Shri Moa Subong will be awarded for S&T based innovative ways of creating Naga folk music.

FARMERS

Read more: https://eng.ruralvoice.in/national/farmers-honoured-with-padma-awards-for-promoting-agriculture-despite-all-odds.html?

This happens only in India- Guidelines for coaching institutes

(Source: https://youtu.be/djDF4AkTw4I?si=SdIvP6RZ6VLgumNy)

The guidelines were prepared as a response to issues related to the private coaching centers more so in the context of rising student suicide cases, fire incidents, lack of facilities as well as methodologies of teaching have been engaging the attention of the Government from time to time.

The controversy is guidelines state that coaching centers shall not enroll students below 16 years of age or that student enrolment should be only after the secondary school examination. Most of the students are enrolled in class to prepare for competitive exams after XII.

Curious case of Kota:

Till the 90s, Kota was struggling as an industrial city and the final nail on the coffin came with the closing of various units of JK Synthetics in 1997 due to financial problems. Vinod Kumar (VK) Bansal, a mechanical engineer employed with JK Synthetics had already started looking for an alternative career and began tutoring class 7 students in 1981 and gradually started taking in class 10 & 12 students as well. He tasted success in 1985 when his first student “cracked” the IIT-JEE (no known as JEE Advanced) getting admission into one of the hallowed Indian Institutes of Technology. This is how “Bansal Classes” came into being in 1991. There are more than 150 coaching institutes in the town that are vying for the best students. Most of them are among the best coaching institutes in India that admit students only after they clear an entrance exam! Imagine the irony – you’ve got to clear an entrance exam to join a course that again prepares you to clear another entrance exam!

Preparation in Korea:

Koreans consider the Suneung exam as the first step (and also almost final) for an individual to step into the labor market. Exam results not only determine which university you will go to, but also determine career and friends for your future life. Most of the teachers here think that if the Korean students fail the Suneung exam, they'll fail the rest of their life. In Korea, passing a university will be a ticket to help you have the opportunity to work in big companies. Therefore, most Koreans believe that if you pass this exam, your future will be really bright. To reach that "bright future", Koreans also have to practice hard throughout their school life, especially high school students. They have to get up early in the morning to go to school, spending about 10 hours there. When they leave school, they all go to tutoring classes and exam centers until 10pm and 11pm. Then they come back home and self-study until 1 or 2 am. On average, Korean high school students study for about 16 hours in one day to prepare for the Suneung exam. 

Especially Koreans have a strict concept about sleeping hours: 

• Sleep 3 hours, you have a chance to enter SKY schools (top 3 universities in Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University)

• Sleep 4 hours, you can get into other universities,

• Sleep 5 hours, don't dream of going to college.

Indian parents and students are not wrong in embracing private tuition. Is there any alternative?

ICMR invites suggestions for revision of National Essential Diagnostics List

Since 2018, the WHO recommends the development and implementation of National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) to facilitate availability of In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) across the various tiers of the healthcare pyramid, facilities with or without a laboratory onsite. The Indian Council of Medical Research released the first National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) in 2019 to make the availability of diagnostics an essential component of the health care system.

Since considerable time has elapsed following the release of the first NEDL in 2019, ICMR invites suggestions for revision of the existing list i.e. addition or deletion of diagnostic tests, from all the relevant stakeholders.

The applicant should submit suggestions on addition or deletion of diagnostics tests to the current list using the Google form https://forms.gle/93Rn586J3Pksv9Wc6 latest by February 29, 2024.

Report from Australia recommends Demandside Innovation policy

Why $30b in business innovation support is not working?

This is addressed in the report. 

Recommendations and policy considerations 

Demand-side drivers and the need to innovate 

1. Effectively identify businesses with the need to innovate and focus interventions on the barriers specific to that sector. Actions could include: 

1.1 Selectively support businesses with the need and risk appetite to innovate to deliver novel products and/or services for growing domestic and international markets. 

1.2 Design incentive programs that target businesses and industries critical to Australia’s industry policy objectives and align business and funding risk-taking in both direction and magnitude. For example, design funds and guidelines to filter applications based on business motivation and ambition, and provide advice, connections and resources specific to their needs to de-risk their opportunity. 

1.3 Focus government interventions on businesses seeking to service growing export market opportunities and transitioning internal markets with innovative new-to-market products or services that over time will contribute to improving Australia’s economic complexity. 

1.4 Effectively aggregate demand for innovation through coordination of whole-of-government policies, such as the transition to a net-zero economy, and the development of sovereign advanced manufacturing capabilities required to meet domestic and global needs. This will create competitive, dynamic markets for innovation in priority areas.

Further reading on Demand side innovation policy: