Ratan Tata to Head Railways ‘Kayakulp’ Council
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Taking immediate follow up action in implementing the Budget announcement, the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has now constituted the ‘Kayakulp’ Council and has appointed Shri Ratan Tata to head this Council. The purpose of the Council is to recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways.
This Council would be a standing body ad would interact with all stakeholders and other interested parties. This Council would initially also have Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary, All Indian Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) and Dr. M. Raghavaiah, General Secretary, National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), the two recognized federations representing the railway employees as members.
The other members of the Council would be announced in due course.
This setting up of the Council is yet another fulfillment of the promise
made in the Railway Budget Speech. The Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu while presenting the Railway Budget 2015-16 in Parliament on 26th February 2015 said –“Every dynamic and thriving organization needs to innovate and re-invent its practices. In accordance with the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for Innovation, Technology Development and Manufacturing, the Indian Railways intend to set up an innovation council called “Kayakalp” for the purpose of business re-engineering and introducing a spirit of innovative in Railways.”
This Council would be a standing body ad would interact with all stakeholders and other interested parties. This Council would initially also have Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary, All Indian Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) and Dr. M. Raghavaiah, General Secretary, National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), the two recognized federations representing the railway employees as members.
The other members of the Council would be announced in due course.
This setting up of the Council is yet another fulfillment of the promise
made in the Railway Budget Speech. The Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu while presenting the Railway Budget 2015-16 in Parliament on 26th February 2015 said –“Every dynamic and thriving organization needs to innovate and re-invent its practices. In accordance with the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for Innovation, Technology Development and Manufacturing, the Indian Railways intend to set up an innovation council called “Kayakalp” for the purpose of business re-engineering and introducing a spirit of innovative in Railways.”
The differentiated impacts of climate change - II
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Last time we looked at the differing impacts that climate change had on various countries and framed the discussion through the lens of a prisoner’s dilemma: two prisoners in separate cells; if they cooperate they’re free if they don’t they both go to jail.
This time we ask: “What do the prisoners do in this dilemma, and where does that leave the world?” The US “prisoner” has muddled incentives - parts of him lose heavily in the changing climate, parts are unaffected while some powerful parts of him stand to lose if status quo is altered. The payoff of the Chinese “prisoner” is uniformly negative if status quo persists - so he would prefer to see cooperative action on climate change. What of the two other “prisoners” - the EU and India?
European countries look like the poster children of action on climate change. Emissions of greenhouse gases (the causative agents of global warming) are down since 1990 and; a further binding 40% reduction in greenhouse gases (from 1990 levels) is targeted by 2030.
Europe achieved its targets for three reasons: the 2009 financial crisis and the 2011 Euro crisis caused the European economy to falter (and lowered the amount of energy it used), the outsourcing of production of a substantial fraction of the “stuff” consumed by European customers (and the emissions associated with producing the stuff) and the pursuit of renewable power. How they perform in future will depend on what their “payoff” is.
Air pollution (some of which exacerbates global warming) causes half a million deaths in Europe annually; Glacier melting and the flooding of rivers and rising sea levels threaten low lying countries like the Netherlands (where up to an eighth of the country lies below sea level). Intense water scarcity and increasing summer temperatures hurt agriculture and tourism income of Southern Europe. Many northern European countries benefit with lower heating costs, higher agricultural productivity and longer tourist seasons. There are winners and losers within Europe, but because Europe is developed, the losers can manage the changes.
Given the manageable negative payoff from climate change, why is Europe acting? Part of it maybe a desire to gain prominence in the world stage, a stage increasingly being dominated by the US and China. They can get leadership credibility only if they lead by example. Second, a higher sense of social equity in European countries may be driving action through a social justice angle. Third, European companies stand to gain from action on climate change. Some of the world’s leading wind energy manufacturers and LED lighting companies are European. 92% of responding Euro 300 companies report that climate regulation presents an opportunity to their business.
Now, India. India is and will be badly affected by the changing climate. We are a hot, dry and poor country - thus vulnerable to the heating and drying aspects of climate change (think floods, droughts, lost livelihoods and increased infection) and with limited financial space to adapt. We have abundant reserves of relatively inexpensive coal. We have a young country with a large poor and middle class hungry for iphones and commercial dreams. They will want the government to spend on education and jobs, not on carbon sequestration. We cannot take on binding unilateral targets of emission without ambitious binding emission reduction commitments and financial assistance from developed countries. Why? India cannot afford to cut its emissions aggressively - but even if it did, this would be futile if the rest of the world continued to emit for then, the world would still get warmer.
Taken together, India’s payoffs if status quo persists are very negative unless everyone cooperates; China’s is negative; US’s is very mixed; Europe, though the status quo payoff is not very negative, by credibly signalling that they will always cooperate, has made it more likely for others to cooperate . Returning to the prisoner’s dilemma, if prisoner A knew with certainty that prisoner B would always keep silent (say he had a secret camera in prisoner B’s room), it is extremely likely he would keep quiet, thus enabling both of them to be set free. Consider this: Europe made its 40% emissions reduction public announcement in October 2014. The China and US joint announcement to curb greenhouse gas emissions came a month later, in November, after eluding the world for so long.
The depressing truth is that the differentiated “payoffs” from climate change makes substantive action unlikely in a consensus based forum like the UN. We could try for better success by framing the issue on moral grounds like slavery and shame countries into complying by invoking reputational consequences. But that’s a long shot.
This time we ask: “What do the prisoners do in this dilemma, and where does that leave the world?” The US “prisoner” has muddled incentives - parts of him lose heavily in the changing climate, parts are unaffected while some powerful parts of him stand to lose if status quo is altered. The payoff of the Chinese “prisoner” is uniformly negative if status quo persists - so he would prefer to see cooperative action on climate change. What of the two other “prisoners” - the EU and India?
European countries look like the poster children of action on climate change. Emissions of greenhouse gases (the causative agents of global warming) are down since 1990 and; a further binding 40% reduction in greenhouse gases (from 1990 levels) is targeted by 2030.
Europe achieved its targets for three reasons: the 2009 financial crisis and the 2011 Euro crisis caused the European economy to falter (and lowered the amount of energy it used), the outsourcing of production of a substantial fraction of the “stuff” consumed by European customers (and the emissions associated with producing the stuff) and the pursuit of renewable power. How they perform in future will depend on what their “payoff” is.
Air pollution (some of which exacerbates global warming) causes half a million deaths in Europe annually; Glacier melting and the flooding of rivers and rising sea levels threaten low lying countries like the Netherlands (where up to an eighth of the country lies below sea level). Intense water scarcity and increasing summer temperatures hurt agriculture and tourism income of Southern Europe. Many northern European countries benefit with lower heating costs, higher agricultural productivity and longer tourist seasons. There are winners and losers within Europe, but because Europe is developed, the losers can manage the changes.
Given the manageable negative payoff from climate change, why is Europe acting? Part of it maybe a desire to gain prominence in the world stage, a stage increasingly being dominated by the US and China. They can get leadership credibility only if they lead by example. Second, a higher sense of social equity in European countries may be driving action through a social justice angle. Third, European companies stand to gain from action on climate change. Some of the world’s leading wind energy manufacturers and LED lighting companies are European. 92% of responding Euro 300 companies report that climate regulation presents an opportunity to their business.
Now, India. India is and will be badly affected by the changing climate. We are a hot, dry and poor country - thus vulnerable to the heating and drying aspects of climate change (think floods, droughts, lost livelihoods and increased infection) and with limited financial space to adapt. We have abundant reserves of relatively inexpensive coal. We have a young country with a large poor and middle class hungry for iphones and commercial dreams. They will want the government to spend on education and jobs, not on carbon sequestration. We cannot take on binding unilateral targets of emission without ambitious binding emission reduction commitments and financial assistance from developed countries. Why? India cannot afford to cut its emissions aggressively - but even if it did, this would be futile if the rest of the world continued to emit for then, the world would still get warmer.
Taken together, India’s payoffs if status quo persists are very negative unless everyone cooperates; China’s is negative; US’s is very mixed; Europe, though the status quo payoff is not very negative, by credibly signalling that they will always cooperate, has made it more likely for others to cooperate . Returning to the prisoner’s dilemma, if prisoner A knew with certainty that prisoner B would always keep silent (say he had a secret camera in prisoner B’s room), it is extremely likely he would keep quiet, thus enabling both of them to be set free. Consider this: Europe made its 40% emissions reduction public announcement in October 2014. The China and US joint announcement to curb greenhouse gas emissions came a month later, in November, after eluding the world for so long.
The depressing truth is that the differentiated “payoffs” from climate change makes substantive action unlikely in a consensus based forum like the UN. We could try for better success by framing the issue on moral grounds like slavery and shame countries into complying by invoking reputational consequences. But that’s a long shot.
New way to regenerate heart tissue found
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In a discovery that may pave the way for regeneration of damaged heart tissue, scientists have successfully stimulated the mouse heart to grow new cells.
Researchers have shown that a subset of RNA molecules, called microRNAs, is important for cardiomyocyte cell proliferation during development and is sufficient to induce proliferation in cardiomyocytes in the adult heart.
The team found that the loss of the microRNA cluster miR302-367 in mice led to decreased cardiomyocyte cell proliferation during development.
In contrast, increased expression of the microRNA cluster in adult hearts led to a reactivation of proliferation in the normally non-reproducing adult cardiomyocytes.
This reactivation occurred, in part, through repression of a pathway called Hippo that governs cell proliferation and organ size.
“The Hippo pathway normally represses cell proliferation when it is turned on,” said Ed Morrisey, from the University of Pennsylvania.
“The cluster miR302-367 targets three of the major kinase components in the Hippo pathway, reducing pathway activity, which allows cardiomyocytes to re-enter the cell cycle and begin to regrow heart muscle. This is a case of repressing a repressor,” he said.
In adult mice, re-expression of the microRNA cluster reactivated the cell cycle in cardiomyocytes, resulting in reduced scar formation after an experimental myocardial infarction injury was induced in the mice.
There was also an increase in the number of heart muscle cells in these same mice.
However, long-term expression of more than several months of the microRNA cluster caused heart muscle cells to de-differentiation and become less functional.
“This suggested to us that persistent reactivation of the cell cycle in adult cardiomyocytes could be harmful and causes the heart to fail,” he said.
The investigators surmised that cardiomyocytes likely need to de-differentiate to divide, but they may lose their ability to contract over time.
“We overcame this limitation by injecting synthetic microRNAs with a short half-life called mimics into the mice,” he says.
Mimic treatment for seven days after cardiac infarction led to the desired increase in cardiomyocyte proliferation and re-growth of new heart muscle, which resulted in decreased fibrosis and improved heart function after injury.
Importantly, the team found that the transient seven-day treatment did not lead to the progressive loss of cardiac function as seen in the genetic models of increased microRNA expression.
The findings appear in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Researchers have shown that a subset of RNA molecules, called microRNAs, is important for cardiomyocyte cell proliferation during development and is sufficient to induce proliferation in cardiomyocytes in the adult heart.
The team found that the loss of the microRNA cluster miR302-367 in mice led to decreased cardiomyocyte cell proliferation during development.
In contrast, increased expression of the microRNA cluster in adult hearts led to a reactivation of proliferation in the normally non-reproducing adult cardiomyocytes.
This reactivation occurred, in part, through repression of a pathway called Hippo that governs cell proliferation and organ size.
“The Hippo pathway normally represses cell proliferation when it is turned on,” said Ed Morrisey, from the University of Pennsylvania.
“The cluster miR302-367 targets three of the major kinase components in the Hippo pathway, reducing pathway activity, which allows cardiomyocytes to re-enter the cell cycle and begin to regrow heart muscle. This is a case of repressing a repressor,” he said.
In adult mice, re-expression of the microRNA cluster reactivated the cell cycle in cardiomyocytes, resulting in reduced scar formation after an experimental myocardial infarction injury was induced in the mice.
There was also an increase in the number of heart muscle cells in these same mice.
However, long-term expression of more than several months of the microRNA cluster caused heart muscle cells to de-differentiation and become less functional.
“This suggested to us that persistent reactivation of the cell cycle in adult cardiomyocytes could be harmful and causes the heart to fail,” he said.
The investigators surmised that cardiomyocytes likely need to de-differentiate to divide, but they may lose their ability to contract over time.
“We overcame this limitation by injecting synthetic microRNAs with a short half-life called mimics into the mice,” he says.
Mimic treatment for seven days after cardiac infarction led to the desired increase in cardiomyocyte proliferation and re-growth of new heart muscle, which resulted in decreased fibrosis and improved heart function after injury.
Importantly, the team found that the transient seven-day treatment did not lead to the progressive loss of cardiac function as seen in the genetic models of increased microRNA expression.
The findings appear in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Transformed bowling now India's strongest weapon
Bowlers have raised the bar significantly and, with the help of a sprinkling of run-outs, have dismissed the opposition in all seven matches on their way to the semi-finals.
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The same bowling which was India's weakest link coming into the World Cup has remarkably become their strongest suit as the reigning champions eased into the last four in impressive style.
India's bowling looked toothless and jaded during their 2-0 test series loss in Australia as well as in the following ODI Tri-series, where they failed to win a single match.
With experienced Ishant Sharma ruled out before the tournament by injury, it looked like Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side would be reliant on batting to fire their World Cup defence.
Over the last month, however, Dhoni's bowlers have raised the bar significantly and, with the help of a sprinkling of run-outs, have dismissed the opposition in all seven matches on their way to the semi-finals.
"It was a concern," former India captain Rahul Dravid conceded said after India's 109-run win against Bangladesh in the quarter-final on Thursday.
"Ishant Sharma was in the original team, he had injury issues. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was thought to be one of India's leading one-day bowlers in the lead-up to the World Cup but there were question marks about his (fitness).
"Who are the guys who are going to deliver for us at the death? Are we going to be able to take wickets up front? The middle overs were a concern. Is Ravichandran Ashwin able to bowl in overseas conditions? All those questions have been answered."
After bundling out Bangladesh for 193, India overtook South Africa's record of taking all 10 opposition wickets in six consecutive matches.
The team have also not conceded a single score of 300 or above in their seven matches, Zimbabwe's 287 being the highest total against them.
What has also been highly pleasing for the team is that their three fast bowlers have regularly clocked speeds over 140 kmph and used the short ball brilliantly to peg batsmen on their backfoot.
"Bowling coach Bharat Arun is working really hard with the fast bowlers here," said opening batsman Rohit Sharma, the man-of-the-match in the quarter-final.
"They are here; they want to prove something, which is why you can see the energy right from ball one. It's not the 140 they are bowling but the kind of energy they are bowling with and the discipline they are showing in the last seven matches that we have played. It's really good."
The results have been obvious.
Mohammed Shami led the ranks of highest wicket-takers with 17 from six matches on Thursday, with his fast bowling colleague Umesh Yadav not too far behind with 14.
Dhoni attributed the change in fortunes to their ability to bowl consistently at a particular line and length and said they now believed in building pressure rather than trying for too much variety.
"They are bowling at good pace, all of them are fit, and if they can keep hitting that one area, I think it will be good because that's something where we have been lacking."
India's bowling looked toothless and jaded during their 2-0 test series loss in Australia as well as in the following ODI Tri-series, where they failed to win a single match.
With experienced Ishant Sharma ruled out before the tournament by injury, it looked like Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side would be reliant on batting to fire their World Cup defence.
Over the last month, however, Dhoni's bowlers have raised the bar significantly and, with the help of a sprinkling of run-outs, have dismissed the opposition in all seven matches on their way to the semi-finals.
"It was a concern," former India captain Rahul Dravid conceded said after India's 109-run win against Bangladesh in the quarter-final on Thursday.
"Ishant Sharma was in the original team, he had injury issues. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was thought to be one of India's leading one-day bowlers in the lead-up to the World Cup but there were question marks about his (fitness).
"Who are the guys who are going to deliver for us at the death? Are we going to be able to take wickets up front? The middle overs were a concern. Is Ravichandran Ashwin able to bowl in overseas conditions? All those questions have been answered."
After bundling out Bangladesh for 193, India overtook South Africa's record of taking all 10 opposition wickets in six consecutive matches.
The team have also not conceded a single score of 300 or above in their seven matches, Zimbabwe's 287 being the highest total against them.
What has also been highly pleasing for the team is that their three fast bowlers have regularly clocked speeds over 140 kmph and used the short ball brilliantly to peg batsmen on their backfoot.
"Bowling coach Bharat Arun is working really hard with the fast bowlers here," said opening batsman Rohit Sharma, the man-of-the-match in the quarter-final.
"They are here; they want to prove something, which is why you can see the energy right from ball one. It's not the 140 they are bowling but the kind of energy they are bowling with and the discipline they are showing in the last seven matches that we have played. It's really good."
The results have been obvious.
Mohammed Shami led the ranks of highest wicket-takers with 17 from six matches on Thursday, with his fast bowling colleague Umesh Yadav not too far behind with 14.
Dhoni attributed the change in fortunes to their ability to bowl consistently at a particular line and length and said they now believed in building pressure rather than trying for too much variety.
"They are bowling at good pace, all of them are fit, and if they can keep hitting that one area, I think it will be good because that's something where we have been lacking."
DK Ravi's death: Cops to probe IAS officer called woman batchmate 44 times the day he died
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The death of Karnataka IAS officer DK Ravi, which occured earlier this week under mysterious circumstances, has snowballed into a major controversy.
While a probe still has to ascertain whether the 36-year-old Ravi, of the 2009 batch, committed suicide or was murdered, new information has come to light which could be crucial to the ongoing investigation.
According to Ravi called his 2009 batchmate 44 times in a span of an hour the day he died. The Karnataka police has approached the woman IAS officer for questioning as part of the investigation. According to the report, Ravi also sent a few text messages to the woman before his death.
The woman IAS officer, who is posted in southern Karnataka and has a child, was friends with Ravi prior to his marriage to Congress politician Hanumantharayappa’s daughter Kusuma. The Indian Express report further added that Ravi's Facebook page had a few posts referring to the same woman.
Former Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy slammed the ruling Congress for maligning the IAS officer's reputation. The Indian Express quoted the leader as saying, "What is the intent of revealing this information? How can the state CID investigate when this information has already been revealed."
The 36-year-old Ravi was the joint commissioner in the commercial tax department since November 2014 following his transfer from Kolar where he was the deputy commissioner.
Police Commissioner MN Reddi had ruled out any foul play from the circumstances under which Ravi's body was found. However, the police had not found any suicide note, IANS had reported.
As public anger mounted over the mysterious death of the upright IAS officer, Ravi's family raised doubts over police's claim that he committed suicide, saying that he was under "political pressure", and insisting on a CBI probe.
"My son wouldn't have committed suicide. He is not like that. He was strong hearted. My son was not a coward. I had not given birth to a son who could commit suicide," Gowramma, the mother of DK Ravi, told PTI.
Not buying the police version, the Opposition had also demanded a CBI probe, instead of a CID inquiry as announced by the state government. After two days of protest, the Karnataka government said there was no need for a CBI investigation into the case and maintained that just a CID probe would be enough.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, "This is not a case to be handed over to the CBI."
While a probe still has to ascertain whether the 36-year-old Ravi, of the 2009 batch, committed suicide or was murdered, new information has come to light which could be crucial to the ongoing investigation.
According to Ravi called his 2009 batchmate 44 times in a span of an hour the day he died. The Karnataka police has approached the woman IAS officer for questioning as part of the investigation. According to the report, Ravi also sent a few text messages to the woman before his death.
The woman IAS officer, who is posted in southern Karnataka and has a child, was friends with Ravi prior to his marriage to Congress politician Hanumantharayappa’s daughter Kusuma. The Indian Express report further added that Ravi's Facebook page had a few posts referring to the same woman.
Former Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy slammed the ruling Congress for maligning the IAS officer's reputation. The Indian Express quoted the leader as saying, "What is the intent of revealing this information? How can the state CID investigate when this information has already been revealed."
The 36-year-old Ravi was the joint commissioner in the commercial tax department since November 2014 following his transfer from Kolar where he was the deputy commissioner.
Police Commissioner MN Reddi had ruled out any foul play from the circumstances under which Ravi's body was found. However, the police had not found any suicide note, IANS had reported.
As public anger mounted over the mysterious death of the upright IAS officer, Ravi's family raised doubts over police's claim that he committed suicide, saying that he was under "political pressure", and insisting on a CBI probe.
"My son wouldn't have committed suicide. He is not like that. He was strong hearted. My son was not a coward. I had not given birth to a son who could commit suicide," Gowramma, the mother of DK Ravi, told PTI.
Not buying the police version, the Opposition had also demanded a CBI probe, instead of a CID inquiry as announced by the state government. After two days of protest, the Karnataka government said there was no need for a CBI investigation into the case and maintained that just a CID probe would be enough.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, "This is not a case to be handed over to the CBI."
Terror attack at police station in J&K, 2 killed; gunbattle on
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JAMMU: A policeman was among two persons killed and nine others injured, including seven CRPF men, when a group of militants of a 'fidayeen' squad dressed in Army fatigues stormed a police station in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in the wee hours on Friday.
A militant was also killed in the operation, according to an injured CRPF constable Bharat Prabhu.
Police officers said a group of two to three militants of a 'fidayeen' squad stormed Rajbagh police station in the wee hours and opened indiscriminate fire.
This is the first major militant attack in J&K since the PDP-BJP government has taken charge in the state.
"It is a fidayeen attack," IGP Jammu Danish Rana said. Prabhu said the militants wearing Army uniforms intercepted a jeep going from Jammu to Pathankot on the pretext of checking the vehicle.
The ultras then hijacked the jeep which had three passengers on board and fled towards the Rajbagh police station where they opened fire on a sentry and killed him.
The militants then hurled grenades at the police station and opened indiscriminate fire.
Nine persons have been injured in the attack — seven CRPF personnel, a policeman and a civilian.
The encounter is still going on.
Deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh told reporters outside the assembly that militants have attacked the police station.
A militant was also killed in the operation, according to an injured CRPF constable Bharat Prabhu.
Police officers said a group of two to three militants of a 'fidayeen' squad stormed Rajbagh police station in the wee hours and opened indiscriminate fire.
This is the first major militant attack in J&K since the PDP-BJP government has taken charge in the state.
"It is a fidayeen attack," IGP Jammu Danish Rana said. Prabhu said the militants wearing Army uniforms intercepted a jeep going from Jammu to Pathankot on the pretext of checking the vehicle.
The ultras then hijacked the jeep which had three passengers on board and fled towards the Rajbagh police station where they opened fire on a sentry and killed him.
The militants then hurled grenades at the police station and opened indiscriminate fire.
Nine persons have been injured in the attack — seven CRPF personnel, a policeman and a civilian.
The encounter is still going on.
Deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh told reporters outside the assembly that militants have attacked the police station.
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