Orissa: Children issues must get appropriate and proper media coverage

Sambalpur:The two day long “Media Workshop on Issues Concerning Children of Odisha”, organised by Development Media Collective and MASS, concluded here today with resource persons and participants emphasising on a strategic action plan to cover children’s issues.  The workshop, which was organised with support of the National Foundation for India and UNICEF, New Delhi, was participated by 50 journalists and development practitioners from across the state.
Joining as the Chief Guest in the workshop, veteran journalist Prof. Durga Prasad Nayak, advised the present day journalists to go beyond event reporting and working only on press releases.  “You have to be investigative and dig out the real issues concerning the children.  We have to harp on issues again and again till we are sure that the people at the helm of affairs have taken appropriate action”, said he. “Our Constitution, when it was formulated, talked about guaranteeing free and compulsory primary education within ten years.  However, it’s shameful that we are still not able to guarantee that.  This is a gross violation of the right of the children and we must focus on this and the factors that are responsible for this to be able to bring positive changes in the society”, emphasised Prof. Nayak.
Senior journalist Prafulla Das from The Hindu, joining as the Chief Speaker, said how development priorities have been changing favouring destructive development which negatively affects the ecology that provides sustenance to livelihood of the rural population; and how this means further marginalization of the children of the poor and deprived communities.  “While reporting about children, we should not get biased by what’s flowing in from dominant sections of the society, but we must dig down the facts and see matters as the children want to see those”.  Highlighting how a group of elite class sitting in Delhi raised the issue of children joining their parents in their struggle against the steel major POSCO, he said that, “while all in the society saw the children participating in the demonstration with their parents, a very few could bring to the notice how this was but natural and how situation of the school and other development activities in a normal condition are more precarious in those areas which has been forcing children to stay underdeveloped.  It’s our role to go beyond and see things in an integrated way”, said he.
“Children have special issues that may be ignored by adults most of the times.  Hence, the media should take proper care to report their issues from their perspectives”, said Ranjan Panda, Convenor of Development Media Collective, while narrating the objectives of the workshop.  He said, DMC has been working for last half a decade as an informal platform between journalists and development thinkers and practitioners to promote reporting, action and advocacy on development issues of the state and this is the third workshop so far, this time dealing with children issues.
Archana and Reena, two child reporters from Koraput, participating in the workshop, narrated their experience of effecting some positive changes in their schools, parents and villages through constant reporting.  Ch. Santakar, a journalist from Koraput, who has been supporting this UNICEF assisted initiative, emphasized on ‘child participation’ in all development activities for bringing in holistic development.
Ms. Madhumita Das, a Clinical Psychologist, discussed on the Juvenile Justice Act and other Acts and Provisions that the journalists should be well versed with while reporting on children issues.
Among others, Bhagabat Prasad Nanda, Priya Ranjan Sahu, Siba Shankar Nanda and Saroj Mohanty discussed about various aspects of reporting and journalistic ethics.
Kandala Singh and Barsha Poricha from National Foundation for India participated and described NFI's activities with regard to media and communication. They urged upon the media houses of Odisha to employ more women journalists so that this field can be inclusive.
The workshop concluded with the participants and resource persons resolving to strengthen the forum “Development Media Collective “ through regular interactions and activities including a strategic plan to report and work on children issues so that the children of the state, especially those belonging to the deprived sections and from vulnerable pockets, get their due opportunity to childhood and development.

Orissa to host to host 99th National Science Congress at Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: After a gap of half a century, State is going to host 99th  National Science Congress here at Bhubaneswar. After thorough scrutiny, and long deliberations, National Institute of Science and Educational Research (NISER) and National Science Congress Association has selected KIIT Deemed University as the right place for smooth organizing of such a mega event.

As per tradition of the Science Congress, the 99th National Science Congress Congregation will be started from 3rd January and end up on 7th January. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 99th Conference and will also declare it's closing ceremony. Scientists, Research Scholars, Noble laureates, Women Scientists and Young Scientists will participate this mega event across from the world.
Around 100 Scientific Organizations all over the Country will participate the Exhibition to exhibit their products and technologies. The Department of Science and technology, govt. of Orissa will also participate the Exhibition like previous years in Celilong(Meghalaya), Kerla, and Chennai. An official of the Deptt. informs that the Deptt. has been consecutively achieved the  ³Best State Award´ for it's unique Exhibition in 96 th ,97th and 98th  Science Congress.
Prof. Githa Bali, Vice Chancellor of Karnatak State Women¶s University, Bijapur who has got expertise in Neurophysiology will be the Chairperson as declared in 98th  Science Congress, Chennai. The 99th  Science Congress will focus on hot topics like climate changes, Food Security, clean-green energy from renewable sources, Space technology, food and nutrition, preventive maternal and child care, tracking neurodegenerative diseases, women in science and science for women, science Education in Rural Areas.
Apart from this, India's highest Science Award coined by Late Biju Pattnaik ³Unesco-Kalinga Science Award´ will be offered by the Prime Minister to the winners on the inaugural day. UNESCO has constituted a Jury Board for world wide selection, said Bimal Das, President of Kalinga Foundation Trust. Director General of UNESCO Ms. Areena will attend the ceremony. 50 Scientists and 6 Noble laureates will be invited for this particular category of UNESCOKalinga Award Ceremony.
Besides, financial assistance, the State Government will provide transportation, security and other arrangements for smooth and successful conduct of the event. In this regard, a high level meeting under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary is likely to be held today, as per information gathered from Science & Technology Department.

NEET not to end multiple tests burden

BHUBANESWAR: National eligibility cum entrance test (NEET) replacing state-level entrance examinations for admission into undergraduate medical courses will not ease the burden of multiple tests for medical aspirants in Orissa. They will still have to appear for theOrissa joint entrance examination (OJEE) for admission into pharmacy, Ayurveda and homeopathic courses.
"NEET is for MBBS and BDS courses. OJEE will still be held for pharmacy, Ayurveda and homeopathic courses," said OJEE vice-chairman Dr Sitaram Mahapatra.
This entails an additional burden for some students. "I am preparing for MBBS. But in worst case, if I fail to get through MBBS, I want to join pharmacy or Ayurveda. So now, I have to prepare for OJEE and NEET simultaneously with completely different patterns," said Ajay Lenka, a student. Orissa has around 960 B Pharma seats.
While NEET is tentatively scheduled for May 13, dates for OJEE will be announced soon, Dr Mahapatra said. Some of the states, such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are against the national level overarching test, but Orissa toed the Central line after "its concerns were addressed".
"Earlier, we feared our seats would go to candidates of other states if sufficient number of students from Orissa failed to qualify the test. But the MCI assured that a percentile system will be worked out so that sufficient number of students from each state makes it to their respective state merit list," said Dr Mahapatra, adding that the state has no problem with the pan-India test.
Dr Mahapatra, who is also the joint director of medical education and training, said one bonus for Orissa may be the two years commitment of serving in rural areas of the state by all those taking admissions in state medical colleges. So far, only 85% candidates in Orissa JEE merit list make a commitment to serve in rural areas of the state for two years. There is no such norm for 15% candidates drawn from AIPMT for the all-India quota of seats. "Now since all students will be drawn from the same entrance examination of NEET, there can't be separate set of rules. We have conveyed to the Centre to have a clause of admission where all students have to commit for two years rural posting in the state," he said.
Meanwhile, Medical Council of India has uploaded core syllabus of physics, chemistry, botany and zoology for NEET on its website www.mciindia.org. Indicating stricter enforcement of norms, MCI has decided to debar any candidate found indulging in any malpractice during the entrance exams from appearing in NEET for life.

Education takes a back seat in flood affected areas of Orissa

Jajpur: Piles of debris including bricks, bits of wood, concrete and broken household goods are becoming visible throughout flood-ravaged areas of Jajpur district, as the floodwater begins to recede.
In his village Ratnagiri , Saroj Das (13), with his parents and three siblings, rummaged through a pile of destroyed belongings in their house. The structure itself is badly damaged but still partially intact.
"I am looking for my school text books and pencils," said Saroj, gazing at a few drenched, mud-stained pages in his hand. "If I can find even a few things I may be able to go back to school".
Saroj ' s father, Ramesh , who lost two cows, and his paddy crops in the floods, told : "I dont think we will be able to send the children back to their private school. It is impossible now to raise money for fees, books and uniforms - and I need their help to work the land."
"It could be months before affected children can get back to school. This is both because of the impact of floods on families and on the school buildings. Those in better shape are being used as relief camps and may not be vacant for a long time," , said the headmaster of a school in flood affected area asked not to be named.
The upper primary school building in village Bari looking mauled bears testimony to the pronouncement. The flood waters receded, leaving the school building completely unusable. "People are struggling with bare necessities. Children are not coming to school," said Bhaskar Das a teacher of the school.
"Rebuilding primary and upper primary schools and high schools and re-equipping them with teaching-learning material will cost crores of rupees. The authority directed the district education department to submit the list of the damaged and partly damaged schools to the district administration within a week", said Anil Samal the district collector of Jajpur.
"About 220 primary schools and 50 high schools have been damaged in the flood as a result the fate of at least 45,000 students is now at stake. There are many obstacles before schooling can resume. A very large proportion of families have been impoverished and their children have been helping them in supplementing their income", said Paresh Das the vice-president of the district teachers' association.
In many villages, people are still living on embankments and schooling remains a dream for people struggling with the problems of shelter, food and water. Children have been trying to help. The sight of children catching fish sometimes in their school uniform is not uncommon in the flood affected areas.
"However two weeks on from the worst floods in the district there is little sign that the thousands of school-age kids who lost their villages are any nearer to going back to lessons", said Santosh Das of Bari.
"I look at all this dirt , trash and I wonder when can school start", said Ashok Jena a class V student of Kaimati Primary school of village Kaimati under the worst flood hit Bari block as he gazed at his transformed school rooms and verandas now littered with cow dung , debris and trash . Since more than two weeks, some villagers converted the school rooms as their cattle sheds and tethered cattle on the verandas of the school.

GRAS Academy intoduces three new courses across all its centers

Gras Academy, a pioneer in the field of vocational skills industry in India has introduced three new courses - GRAS multi skill programme, GRAS account pro and Gras compu tech across all its centers.

 

GRAS account master pro course is spread over a period of 6 months to 12 months and the fee is Rs. 13,100 and Rs. 24,100 respectively. GRAS multi skill programme is for duration of 6 months and the fee is Rs. 10,600. Gras compu tech is also spread over a period of 6 months to 12 months and the fee is Rs. 16,100 and Rs.35,100 respectively.

 

Some of the other courses that have gained recognition over a period of time are GRAS speak smart English, Mobile Tech, Hardware networking, Tally and Tally Pro, Data Master, etc.

 

Ajay Kumar Swarup, Founder Director of GRAS Academy while explaining the rationale behind introduction of new courses across all the centers said “The knowledge and skills gained from studying the courses prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation. It is sometimes referred to as technical education as the trainee directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques or technology.”

 

“There are very few sectors in India which have registered such voluminous growth. Indian service industry is aligning its standards with the best of global benchmarks and this has a lot of healthy repercussions for aspiring young professionals.” As of now, the need of skill development and training is buttressing its drive to develop the students by infusing entrepreneurial skills amongst them”, he further added. 

 

Gras Academy has lead the way, in the field of Vocational education in India, with a focus on offering courses that have enabled thousands of students across India and avail for employment opportunities in various sectors of the industry.

 

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), has decided to fund GRAS Academy which aims to skill 1.3 million youth in different trades across 21 states and 176 districts over a 10‐year period. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) is also associated with Gras Academy for conducting the assessments of passing out students and providing them with an industry relevant certificate, thus certifying their skill set which they acquire during their training at GRAS.

 

GRAS supports its students to find employment through its dedicated placement division. Leading industry and corporate bodies, from diverse sectors spanning from FMCG, telecommunications, IT, BPO and retail etc. have associated with the academy. Some of the organizations where students have found career opportunities include:

 

Pepsi, Matrix Cellular Services Pvt Ltd, Wifi Communications Pvt Ltd, Vodafone, e4e Healthcare Services, Aryan Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, Azzurro, Big Apple, Big Bazaar, Café Coffee Day, Costa Coffee, HG Retail Private Ltd, KFC, Home Stores India Ltd, Liliput Kidswear, Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Raymond Retail, Pizza Hut, Nirulas, Pantaloon, Tata Motors, Tata Westside, Vishal Megamart, Ginger Hotels, Yum Restaurants, HDFC Life Insurance, SADRAG, Trak Services Pvt Ltd and World Vision India.

Pay Rs 900 to get HS answersheets

Any student who wants to get a copy of his HS Board examination answerscript under the Right to Information Act has to shell out Rs 900. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, however, has put the cost to Rs 200. This after the Supreme Court had allowed the disclosure of answerscripts of any examination conducted by any agency in India, under the RTI Act.

The argument given by both the boards for charging the fee is that the entire process of providing answerscripts is an “arduous task that involves expenses on the part of the board and considerable involvement of manpower”. “We have to collect the answerscripts from where it is stored. Then we have to get its photocopy, and then give it to candidate,” said Mukhtinath Chattopadhyay, president, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. Chattopadhyay, however, added that the fees could be modified if the state government wants it to be changed.

Govt raises FDI cap in FM radio to 26%

The government on Friday relaxed the foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for the FM radio segment by raising the limit of foreign capital inflows to 26 per cent from 20 per cent. It has also eased the FDI norms regarding construction of old-age homes and educational institutions.

These amendments were done as part of the fourth revision of the Consolidated FDI Policy. The new norms would be effective from October 1. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and industry had issued the first Consolidated FDI Policy in April last year with the objective of updating the document every six months.

In July, the Cabinet had approved raising the FDI limit during the third phase of expansion of FM radio broadcasting services.
“This would give foreign shareholders in private radio channels more power to take decisions which was earlier not possible. Besides, this would also induce foreign investors to look into the sector more actively. However, even if the government would have increased it to 49 per cent, rights of the foreign shareholder would have remained the same. But that would have generated more interest among the investors to come in the sector,” said Akash Gupt, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The move is expected to improve the content of all the radio channels operating on Friday, which will lead to technology upgrade and draw more investments, added Tushar Chawla, associate partner, Economic Laws Practice.
In the new Consolidated FDI Policy, DIPP exempted construction activities in the education sector and in old-age homes from the conditionalities imposed on FDI in the construction sector, such as the requirement of minimum area and built-up area, minimum amount of investment and lock-in period.
“This would definitely lead to more foreign capital coming in the vocational education and training institutes. The education sector requires large spaces and big campuses and treating those activities, as FDI was unnecessarily raising a lot of complexities. This would also address the demand-supply gap in the education industry,” said Hemal Zobalia, executive director, KPMG.
As far as old-age homes are concerned, DIPP said, this would now lead to more supply of such homes, which were suffering due to shortage of requirements.
The government on Friday also included several activities such as research and development (R&D) in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and life sciences under the industrial parks scheme, under which FDI of up to 100 per cent is allowed through the automatic route.
“The coverage has been expanded to specifically include R&D in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, given the urgent need to augment research and development infrastructure in these areas as also expand production facilities,” DIPP said. The new policy has also changed FDI policy on conversion of imported capital goods.
In last revision of the FDI policy, the government had allowed conversion of imported capital goods and machinery and pre-incorporation expenses to equity instruments.
The government relaxed it further by allowing such payments to be made directly to the company by the foreign investor.
The DIPP also liberalised the policy concerning introduction of provisions on pledging of shares and opening of non-interest bearing escrow accounts with certain conditionalities. An escrow account is meant for carrying out certain specific financial transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, buy-back of shares, take-overs and custody.
“This will streamline the process for bringing in FDI and provide the investors with options,” DIPP said.