Concept of Family ID card is on the table

From genetics to social perspective to spiritual understanding to occupational and educational choices, a lot depends on family when it comes to development of individuals and young minds generation after generation. This directly and collectively is responsible in defining the tone and tint of India as a country and its national Identity. For Indian democracy too, family stands probably as the most important social institution. In a way family is an inevitable parameter to plan not only for proper welfare delivery but to achieve new growth benchmarks too. For all of this though, a strong data log is a requisite for a planning of this stature. And the concept of a family ID is a topic of interest.

India has been exploring prospects of establishing a “universal family ID” ecosystem in the country – which is to be built on the same concept as Aadhaar card being the unique identification number for every Indian citizen. A miniature implementation of the same can be seen in the Haryana Government’s 2019 move wherein it came up with the ‘Parivar Pehchaan Patra’ (PPP) through which the state government enrolled around 54 lakh families living across the state. Under PPP, each family counts as a single unit and is allotted a unique 8-digit identity number, which becomes the family health id number for each member.

The move can be a game changer for government in especially combating the menace of corruption. This is because of the larger transparency that family ID can bring to the surface, by giving direct details of beneficiary families and cancelling all the goofed-up and old data presently registered in the existing systems. Further, because of the lack of authentication and verification processes, a common challenge the administration has been facing is ‘exclusion’ or ‘duplication’ of beneficiaries from welfare schemes. There have also been cases where beneficiaries belonging to same family have received benefits using different IDs. Presence of PPP protects from such cases to happen. The family identifier card, with a strong data inventory, can help in streamlining beneficiary identification and registration processes, ensure data symmetry and interoperability, in order to ensure smooth transfer of benefits to the public.

Family plays a key role in defining the health status of an individual whether it is through genetics or through shared social and physical environment. In terms of healthcare too, a family ID will mean a complete record of family level health details, a database that can lead to a better health infrastructure and aid facilities by the government. Family data will thus give a lot of inputs to the government, administration and scientific institutions so that they can plan utilisation, consumption and expenditure in an optimal manner and open gates to innovative solutions for a plethora of environmental, physical, educational, and even social ailments. This kind of documentation may even be of great assistance to struggling groups, especially families being run by single-mothers, old guardians, children who have lost both their parents, etc.

As powerful and useful as this idea may be, certain loopholes also need to be taken care of, especially in cases of deaths/births registration, missing documents within families, divorce cases, etc. However, this is a small bottleneck compared to the ease this data can extend. One can go back to the time when the government rolled out the concept of making Aadhar card for all. Though the idea was not loved by many and faced criticisms in the initial years, there is no denying the fact that the full scale implementation by India has led to a massive capacity-building across the country bringing out system excellence, administrative ease and a confidence of taking up projects of large scale implementation. The concept of creating and maintaining family ID records possesses a similar untapped potential.

Why use forecast when real data is available

One sure learning of global financial crisis of 2008 has been the inherent flaws of over dependence of data modelling. The pricing of derivatives were dependent too much on data modelling and ignores the real risk and ignores the real risk of basis, fact tails. WHO seems to have ignored all such learning and resorted to flawed data modelling for projecting on sensitive topic of pandemic induced debts. Despite India’s objection to the process, methodology and outcomes of the modeling or mathematical model or exercise, World Health Organisation (WHO) released the excess mortality estimates. WHO has done this without adequately addressing India’s concerns and taking into account what India’s system of data generation and production says. The World health agency did this despite the fact that India had already informed WHO that given the availability of authentic data published through the Civil Registration System by the Registrar General of India (RGI), modeling or mathematical models should not be used for projecting excess mortality numbers for India.

The branch of Economics dealing with such projections is Econometrics. Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. A basic tool for econometrics is the multiple linear regression model. Econometric theory uses statistical theory and mathematical statistics to evaluate and develop econometric methods. While using such techniques, Economists are well aware of the limitation of these modeling techniques and try to steer away from controversies esp when real data is available.

Under the law in India, the chief registrar of every state is given one year to send the compiled data on births and deaths to the RGI for collation and publication. India did it right by firmly conveying its concern that the robust and accurate data generated through the legal framework of states must be respected, accepted and used by WHO, rather than relying on factually inaccurate mathematical projection based on non-official sources of data as India has a robust, efficient and comprehensive system for registering deaths. All Covid fatalities have systematically been recorded with full transparency following a legal process in the country.

The WHO and other mathematical modelers’ approach towards the data provided by the Indian agencies, appeared ridiculous as they went ahead with their calculations as if India had no system in place to enumerate the deathcount. The WHO simply plunged into calculating mortality based on minuscule samples collected through informal and unconfirmed channels and sources. All this has happened when Civil Registration System (CRS) and Sample Registration System (SRS) data have been made available. Indian law mandates that the informers and the registrar must complete the process of registration within 21 days regarding death and birth. The RGI has a statutory duty to declare these figures. The CRS figure is about 81 lakh deaths for the calendar year 2020, which is 4.7 lakh higher than the previous year. India has even more reliable system than the CRS is SRS. It is the world’s largest demographic survey and has been in practice since the sixties. Through eight million house visit, a corpus of data on fertility and mortality is created.

But, the WHO’s technical advisory group selected India for its modeling or mathematical model without engaging with the RGI. They relied upon media reports, inadequate information received from RTI responses and other unconfirmed sources without thinking that none of these sources is representative enough to justify its decision to cover a country as large as India. Clearly, it’s a disservice to a time honoured and decade old national system. WHO’s act is also against UN systems, which rely only on national data sources. This seems to be simply an attempt to sensationalise and show the country in a poor light, at a time when in spite of resource churn and poor healthcare infrastructure, its global stature and presence is increasing due to its proper handing of the pandemic handing at home and helping the needy countries. Hence, it was an attempt to tarnish India’s image as a responsible country.

Inherent Strengths of India to build Global Soft Power

The concept of cultural diplomacy refers to the exchange of ideas, information, art and other important aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding. Therefore, cultural diplomacy is always considered a long term investment, creating a positive view and impressions of a country among the people of the other country. Many nations, especially India, have gotten over the perspective of seeing military might and economics as the sole factor defining the foreign policy directives. The realities of the 21st century are as such that a nation cannot command power in the international system on the basis of hard power alone, it needs soft diplomacy too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited Nepal and the foundation-laying ceremony of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture in Lumbini was one of the main highlights of the visit. Nepal and India enjoy age-old historical, cultural, traditional, religious and social relations. These close, comprehensive and multidimensional relations often add value to their bilateral economic ties and help understand each other’s aspirations and sensitivities. But mainly it is ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, that has always guided India’s overtures towards the world including its neighbours. And this phenomenon started happening thousands of years earlier in Indian context, when cultural and religious emissaries from India moved around the globe with life messages.

Religious tourism is another way to spread this soft power across India’s borders, including through the ‘Buddhist Circuit’. This constitutes a journey purely for internal peace. It is a journey through austere stupas and ancient monasteries reverberating with the mystical chants of sacred Buddhist mantras. Every point on the Buddhist circuit has a history steeped in myth and meaning, every monument stands testimony to faith fused into reality. Another example is the ‘Ramayana Circuit’, which is equally immense.

Though, India possesses a relatively small chunk of Buddhist population, it is still legitimate for it to endorse Buddhist diplomacy given a number of reasons, including the fact that the faith originated in India. More than 95% of Buddhist populace resides in the Asian continent and is highly intrinsic to a number of countries including Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Laos as far as their national values and identities are concerned. An already well-established international Buddhism network across the geographical spread of these countries plays a key role in lives of millions of people following this faith, a fact churning a lot of potential for Indian Foreign Policy. These countries also matter for India to counter the Chinese influence in the region. These countries are important for India’s Foreign Policy, a fact that was best highlighted when India changed its ‘Look East’ Policy with ‘Act East’. This move may lead to creating a strong impact in the realm of cultural diplomacy, which is also an integral part of the ‘Panchamrit’ resolution of the present government. The government adopted five principles under this as new pillars of India’s foreign policy structure. Apart from ‘Sanskriti evam Sabhyata’, meaning cultural and civilisational linkages, other four prinicples are ‘Samman’, ‘Samvad’, ‘Samriddhi’, and ‘Suraksha’.

India’s cultural diplomacy lies in its love, tolerance and understanding, which are more relevant than ever before in a world where the forces of fundamentalism and extremism are raising their ugly heads. It’s composite culture spread worldwide, reflects the evolution of its own history. The manner in which India seamlessly absorbed other cultures but never lost its own sheen, is something rarely found elsewhere. Cultural bonding can also be one of the ways to prevent conflict and promote peace. Indian spirituality has had a global presence for centuries. One of its important manifestations in today’s world is the large number of Yoga centres spread across the world. At the personal initiative of PM Modi, the UN General Assembly recognised 21st June as International Day of Yoga.

Optimal Utilisation of Spectrum and Going Digital

To make way for the new the old has to be weaned off. New ways of content dissemination need to be explored and adapted to optimally utilize the prized resources. Spectrum being one of them. Talking about Natural Resource hardly brings attention to spectrum. But, telco revolution seen in the country and other parts of the developing world over last few decades has highlight the crucial nature of this national resource. Defining precious and priceless in the current world does culminates to spectrum, a natural resource available, exploited and in demand. And there is dearth of this exquisite resource. The haves and the have-nots both trying to secure and acquire depending on their position.

The backbone of the communication industry, spectrum plays an important role as basic support for infrastructure building and investment. Demand is ever increasing and the availability for use is highly restricted especially when talked in the context of free space. The wired backbone can support distribution from a central hub to downstream nodal hubs over the Optical fibres, or even to subscriber base but the real context is the distribution of Radio frequency spectrum in free space, the mobile cellular network, the terrestrial broadcast of Radio & Television services, satellite connectivity and direct to home.

The technological advancement which is in dire need of this resource has also provided the solution for optimum utilization of spectrum – and that is to Go Digital! Broadcast technology has also adapted itself by going Digital. The once analogy Cable TV network has now become Digital with not only the quality enhancement but also statistics generation for the subscriber base and their preferences. Television broadcasters have gone digital with the Direct to Home(DTH) technology.

Earlier where with analog transmission a bandwidth of 36MHz was required for quality transmission of one analog channel through satellite link, the current scenario is 20 to 24 TV Channels being combined digitally in the same 36MHz spectrum bandwidth. Further for pan-India connectivity for any content the need was for a large matrix of transmitter as one TV transmitter had a coverage range of around 70 Kms.

DTH has been a major effort by the Public Broadcaster in paving way for release of the crucial resource. Old and the outdated technology also lacks the industry support. As a service to the Nation, the Analog Terrestrial Transmitters of Prasar Bharati are being switched off to not only release the much demanded spectrum but also to pave way to the regional language services availability across the footprint. Dr L Murugan, Minister of State, Information & Broadcasting has rightly stated in his tweet on the 25 successful years of TRAI “On the occasion of its silver jubilee, addressed the officials today. Elaborated upon reforms undertaken at Doordarshan and how phase-out of Analogue Terrestrial Transmitters has resulted in availability of valuable spectrum.”

Another key development in the broadcasting scenario is the launch of Digital services over the IP Network. A network which has potential to add bandwidth being rigged as a cluster of Optical Fibres and Satellites. Digital over IP has a further significance in its reach, whereas in Terrestrial relay the reach depends on the hight of the tower and the power of the transmitting setup, and in satellite relay the reach is limited to the footprint area, the reach over the IP Backbone can be considered infinite on account of its availability across the World Wide Web. And, the current initiative of the Government of India to reach one and all in India and build brand India globally with timely and accurate information dissemination, Prasar Bharati News Services & Digital Platform (PBNS) has been continuously edging towards a meaningful presence for the people of India and the global Netizens.

Need to Rejuvenate Rural Economy for Atmanirbhar Bharat

Buddha Purnima unites humanity all over the world for a common cause – to celebrate the three main events of the life of Buddha- his birth, enlightenment and nirvana. It builds awareness of the teachings of Buddha in a way that respects all cultures at a time when divisions on many counts are flagrant all over the world. Celebrated in several countries including Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Tibet and Mongolia, this day marks Lord Buddha’s day of enlightenment after almost eight years of complete sadhana or penance. The story holds a number of messages for the humanity all across the globe.

Buddha Purnima commemorates the life of a historical figure whose teachings have changed the lives of millions. There is no denying the fact that the words and preachings of Buddha and other great ascetics and spiritual teachers, like Lord Mahavira, Guru Nanak Dev, etc. have had a strong impact on people for centuries. Such illuminated souls used to have an influence so strong that it would turn folks into disciples, disciples into monks.

It is part of recorded history of this land that Buddha and Mahavir used to move from village to village with a big band of monks. The status of villages was such that they could prove to be good hosts for such a large number of guests. These seem to be very local affair i.e. managed at the village level itself. It is a matter of wonder as to how were these villages and rural settlements so organised and facilitating at that time. Catering to such a large troop for days becomes a heavy affair economically, resourcefully and spatially. A common pattern has been seen in expansion of various religions – Buddhism spread wherever Buddha traversed, Jainism spread with movement of Lord Mahavira, Bishnoi Panth with Guru Jambheshwar, and so on. Such a spread thus, is a result of a lifetime of spiritual journeys with villages or remote settlements being like pearls in a necklace. Similar excerpts are seen in stories of Ramayana & Mahabharatha where village settlements and forest and tribal folks have catered to great men/preachers along with their followers and associates. Villages thus seem to have played an important role in a planned and hospitable manner in India’s history. Similar strength of rural economy needs to be recreated today as empowering villages will mean deep-rooted and true development.

The hallmark difference of modern India vs the one of glorious past is the status of villages. Panchayats despite being a decentralized organization have not gotten to deliver on accountability and people’s participation objectives. At best, they are acting as Central and State Governments’ nodal agencies for implementation. Crux of the matter is dependence on the governments for Finances. Unless the tax raising capabilities get vested with Panchayats, real reforms and true empowerment will remain far cry. Further, the damages done by Land Acquisition Act 1894, Agriculture Act 1938 etc need to be reversed for rejuvenation of the sustainable village ecosystem. Damage had begun with Lord Mayo’s resolution (of 1870) on decentralization being adopted which took away the autonomy of village Panchayats to introduce British model of administration in India. Aatmanirbhar Bharat is not possible unless it’s villages become Aatmanirbhar Gaon once again.

Total number of villages in India is 5,93,731 where 72.2% of India lives today. Available and useful land for Agriculture in the country is around 3,946 lakhs acres, second largest in the world & is fit enough to produce food for entire globe. Thus, well-structured planning and implementation is key to rejuvenate and tapping the full potential of such an empowering resource.

Museum Visits for timeline of Human Evolution

It is a pleasure to present Indian Museums and cultural preservation focused edition of #PBNSdailyMagaize today. Ministry of culture has asked museums to remain open without any entry free for the week of May16-20. The celebrations in India are being done with the theme of ‘power of museums’, which is in sync with the theme of International Museum Day 2022 (18th May), ‘The Future of Museums: Recover and Imagine’. This theme is inspired by the changes the world has experienced in the last year and urging people to re-imagine the museums of the future, to respond to the issues we face in the present. It is interesting to note that DYPIU, Pune organised an online symposium on “The Prehistoric Narrative of Humans in the Indian Subcontinent”. Key themes highlight the need to have a fresh look at our history and heritage. A visit to museums seems to be a must do activity from various perspectives.

Cultural preservation too is being seen as an important aspect in New India. Recently, PM Modi has brought back 157 Indian antiquities back to the Indian soil from the US. ASI has retrieved as many as 36 antiquities from foreign countries over the last five years. 55 vigrahas have been returned to India, 42 of which, including that of Goddess Annapurna, have been acquired back in the last 7 years. Parallely, restoration work on heritage sites, historic sites & monuments, excavation processes, renovation initiatives, etc. are being taken up across the country on directions of various govt departments in order to preserve heritage and revive cultural remains.

Whatever we are today has a lot to do with our past and hence study of yesterday and today is leading to our future. Whether it is our biology, perspective or environment, everything present today has its roots in the past. Most of pre-history being studies in classes today are related to holocene period only, which is just the tip of the iceberg. South Asian cultural phases needs to be looked into time periods earlier than that into Mesolithic, Upper and Middle Paleolithic, Acheulian and even pre-acheulian period. What is the significance of studying deep past? Common human origins and complex stories of evolution leading to who we are today, carving out our behavioural and biological evolution.

Last decade has seen tremendous interest in the Cultural History of India. 2020-21 budget mentioned Rakhigarhi, Dholavira and Lothal. Before discovery of Harappan Civilzation some 100 years ago, history of South Asia had discontinuity which got filled with hypothetic scenarios like straight jump from stone age, or Aryan invasion or outsiders bringing culture to this land etc. Now many scholars are looking at multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research with firm belief that small data available at this stage is providing only indication not conclusions. Archaeology, History, Art History, Architectural History, Heritage Science, Geo-archaeology, Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, GIS and Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management are some of the areas that tell stories of true evolution and studies of all these subjects are inter-linked so deeply that answer to one question in one area may emerge as key discovery or clue to solving many other mysteries and enigmas. Thus, research and undertakings here are worth spending resources and time on. Equally important is thinking of ways to preserve and protect such sites from perishing.

Further, Human origin, health and disease are rather closely nit than we imagine. India can be called an ethnic museum with over 4,635 anthropologically well defined population, including 532 tribes, 72 primitive tribes ( 36 still following hunters and gatherers lifestyle). A more detailed scientific study of our past promises discovery of population-specific disease associated genes in South Asia. Though, a genome from Harappan civilisation is from a population that is largest source of South Asians. The population has no detectable ancestry from Steppe pastoralists or from Anatolian and Iranian farmers, suggesting farming in South Asia arose from local foragers rather than from large-scale migration from the West.

Further, Archaeological investigations using remote sensing techniques show astonishing results in expanding our understanding of past. Landscape morphology and spatial patterning of archaeological signature when viewed from above gives a sense of evolution and effects of various natural and human causes. For example, the expanse of Nalanda site is much bigger than the current ASI property, perhaps 40-50 times surrounded by an encompassing canal or Agra having over 50 riverfront palaces, gardens and 2-tier city walling etc.

One who is proud of rich cultural heritage, always works hard to maintain the high level of civilisation and tries to enhance the living standard of fellow citizens. This is where the expand from Angkor Wat, Cambodia to Lebanon’s Baalbek temple needs to have a fresh look and last few years point to a good start of the process. Sea level fluctuations governed the destiny of Lothal, Dwarka, Dholavira, Ramsetu and other coastal towns on Ancient India.

Clearly, Global Warming is big existential challenge humanity is facing right now. Global Warming has clear consequences in terms of Accelerated rise in sea level, change in monsoon pattern, Increase in intensity and frequency of storms, Change in Fisheries pattern etc. Past records from oceanography and geological studies point huge fluctuations in sea level, and highlight the need to delineate natural and human induced changes. New thrust is there to enhance the understanding of past sea level changes through the study of microfossils with special reference to foraminifera in marine sediments of Indian Ocean and adjoining seas.

Implementing Amrit Sarovars to fight existential crisis

“Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink!” Humanity seems to be heading towards such a situation on a planet covered mostly by oceans. The global water picture is alarming with over 400 crore people, almost two thirds of the world’s population, experiencing severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. Over 200 crore people live in countries where water supply is inadequate. It is being projected that around half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025. Some 70 crore people could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030. By 2040, roughly 1 in 4 children worldwide will be living in areas of extremely high water stress.

India too is fighting acute crisis scenario. Water crisis is acquiring alarming proportion in many parts of India- a country traditionally known for its rivers and multitudinous other water sources, thanks to the conventional wisdom of the people. Currently country is reeling under severe heat waves with the mercury crossing 45 degrees celsius at a number of places, adversely affecting life and livelihood of scores of people. The seriousness of the situation can be conjectured from a number of facts put forth by the Niti Aayog and other government agencies. Around 60 crore people in the country face high to extreme water stress. About three-fourth of the households in India do not have drinking water at their premise and rely on unsafe sources of water. Nearly 70% of available water is contaminated and major rivers are dying because of pollution and other factors, pushing India at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index. As many as 256 of 700 districts in India have reported critical or over-exploited groundwater levels and are bereft of useful water sources. 21 cities- including Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Chennai- probably exhausted their groundwater resources in 2021.

In such a gloomy backdrop, concept and implementation of 75 Amrit Sarovar in every district seems to be the right cure. Each of these Amrit Sarovar will have approx. area of one acre with a water holding capacity of 10,000 cubic meter. This Mission is to be completed by 15th August 2023 with around 50,000 Amrit Sarovar may be constructed in the country within this period. So far, 12,241 sites have been finalised for construction of Amrit Sarovars by states/districts, out of which, works have started on 4,856 Amrit Sarovars. And, the country’s first “Amrit Sarovar” has been inaugurated just now at Patwai, Rampur(UP).

This mission is acquiring the shape of a public movement as the government is trying to ensure people’s participation to make it a success. For this, local freedom fighters, their family members, Martyr’s family members, Padma Awardees and citizens of the local area, wherein an Amrit Sarovar is to be constructed, will be engaged at all stages. Without doubt, this is the worst existential crisis humanity is facing. Work is needed on several fronts simultaneously like stopping overuse, checking water pollution, expanding water related infrastructure and taking effective measures to stop the changing weather patterns due to climate change.