SCIENCE & DEVELOPMENT

Claiming Victory in Defeat: The Spectrum Auction Fiasco

THE government is in a complete denial on its spectrum auction fiasco. Only Rs  65,000 crore worth of spectrum – or 11.6 percent of the expected price of Rs 5.6 lakh crore – on the block was sold. Out of this, the government would get only Rs 32,000 crore this year, leaving a gaping hole in its revenue projection of Rs 98,994.93 crores in the budget for this year, as 'other communications services', the bulk of which is expected to be spectrum fees.

The Fake Nationalism of Make in India

FAKE nationalism of the Hindutva variety is not limited to only the national movement, where the RSS was conspicuous by its absence. It is also manifest in Modi's Make in India, which is an offer to global capital to exploit India's cheap labour, along with various tax breaks and subsidised land. This is in contrast to how self reliance and development was seen in the national movement. It saw developing knowledge as integral to the process of developing the country and its people.

Leapfrogging to Stage VI Vehicular Emission norms

THE government finally issued the long awaited gazette notification for the sharply compressed timetable for introduction of Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission norms for vehicles and other petroleum combustion engines, broadly conforming to the Euro VI emission norms. It had earlier released an almost identical draft of this policy in January 2016 and had given all stakeholders time to respond.Currently and as of 2010, Bharat State IV (BS-IV) emission norms prevail in 13 metropolitan and other major cities, while the less stringent Bharat Stage III norms prevail in the rest of the country.

National Health Accounts Depicts The Crisis in the Health Sector

India continues to have one of the most privatised health systems in the world. India’s public health expenditure in terms of percent of GDP (1.15 percent) spent on healthcare places India at 12th from the bottom, in the company of countries such as Myanmar, Haiti, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Pakistan.THE union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) supported National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) has recently published (August 2016) the National Health Accounts for 2013-14.

Jio's Entry: Paradigm Shift Treating Voice as Data

Make no mistake, Reliance Jio's entry into mobile data and voice services is going to cause a tectonic shift in the industry. Not because the rates for data are low; or voice is free. The Jio rates are not significantly lower than what other players are offering. Nor is it due to the PM himself “lending” his image to Jio, an Ambani product.So why do I call this is a tectonic shift? Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio has now birthed the convergence paradigm that all voice calls should be treated as data. Everyone knew this was coming.

Oppose Niti Ayog's Proposal for Corporate Takeover of Medical Education

What is important to note here that almost all the complaints of violations of norms and of recommendations for closure of colleges pertain to those in the private sector.In a move that is fraught with far reaching and extremely adverse consequences for medical education in India, the Niti Ayog has recently (on August 7, 2016) published a report titled "A Preliminary Report of the Committee on the Reform of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956". The report is designed to reform the entire system of medical education in India.

Self-driving Vehicles: Coming Soon!

There is some or other news almost every day about autonomous vehicles, also popularly known as “driverless” or self-driving cars. Either some or other company is announcing ever-earlier dates when it plans to introduce autonomous vehicles into the market, or some new city or region, usually in the US or Europe, or is granting permission for trials of autonomous vehicles.

Gau Raksha and the War against India's Poor

THE toxic activities of gau raksha samitis that have sprung up all over the country has led to increased attack on not only Muslims but also dalits. This was the pattern in the past, and also the pattern today. Even as the protests against the Una attacks rocked the country, Bajrang Dal targeted dalits in Chikmaglur in Karnataka, the eighth such attack in the last two years. This was followed by the beating of two dalit men in Lucknow for skinning a dead cow.

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