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By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai, May 9 (IANS) The dedollarisation is a gradual journey and has to face various challenges, including geopolitical angle, said industry officials.



The reported decision of India and Russia to suspend talks to settle bilateral trade in rupees is a big setback for the exporters, said an exporter.

Simply put, dedollarisation means lesser reliance on the US dollar as a medium of exchange in international trade.

"Lot of geopolitical angles would come into play in respect of dedollarisation. It depends on the kind of pressure India could face," Rakesh Shah, Director Nipha Group and former Chairman of Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) told IANS.

For instance, Myanmar is in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist and India is going for trade with that country which may not be liked by other countries, Shah said.

The Kolkata-based 65-year-old Nipha group ships out engineering goods world over.

According to Shah, the reported decision of India and Russia to suspend talks on settling trade payments in Rupees is a big setback for the Indian importers.

"Dedollarisation can work if the trade between two countries is equal. If it is lopsided then it would falter," Shah said.

In the case of India-Russia trade, the former imports a huge quantity of oil from Russia after its war against Ukraine and the Western sanctions.

On the other hand, the exports to Russia from India are not much and the trade balance is lopsided in favour of Russia.

So, what will Russia do with the Indian Rupees? Some of the oil imports from Russia are being settled in some Middle East currencies, Suman Chowdhury Chief Economist and Head-Research, Acuite Ratings & Research told IANS.

Recently Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that the country has accumulated billions of rupees in the Indian bank accounts.

Lavrov said in order to use the money, it has to be converted to another currency and the matter is being discussed.

According to Shah, India can eliminate some products from the basket for rouble payment.

Further fluctuation in currency will also be a hurdle for dedollarisation. For dedollarisation to work, the currency should be stable, Chowdhury added.

According to Shah, during the days of the USSR, the exchange rate was fixed between India and that country which was not a realistic one.

He said immediately after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out all the business came to a halt and with rupee-rouble payment business started to pick up though the contract size came down as compared to pre-war period. The exchange rate was a fair one.

Shah said there is a lot of business potential in Russia for machinery components and that country will not be getting the items from Europe.

According to Chowdhury, for dedollarisation to work for India, the country should be a big exporter and the other option is to look at other currencies.

"The euro is not globally accepted and in the case of yuan it is a political challenge," Chowdhury said.

According to him, dedollarisation is not an easy path. Unless there is a synchronised plan, say a common BRICS currency, it is difficult to challenge the US dollar's position as a universal currency and a safe haven investment.

However, the good thing that people have realised is to reduce the dollar as the reserve currency and the primary medium of settling trade.

In the last six months the dollar has weakened and is weakening against many currencies, Chowdhury said.

"India can look at smaller neighbouring countries where the trade balance is in its favour for rupee trade. And some steps are being taken in this regard," Chowdhury said.

Whether dedollarisation happens at the macro level, at the corporate levels the 'dollar colonialism' can be removed subject to some compulsory exemptions, an industry official told IANS.

"As regards India, the US dollar has creeped into our corporate lexicon in a subtle way -- say in terms of denoting the financial numbers, market size and others," he said.

"Indian corporate sector can use only the Rupee in their communications instead of the dollar. The European corporations denote their financial numbers only in euros. The 'dollar colonialism' can be removed in India as a first step towards dedollarisation," the official added.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Measles is rising again in several countries including India, the US, the UK, New Zealand, Indonesia, amd Ethiopia.

Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family and it is normally passed through direct contact and through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body.

With four confirmed cases, a measles outbreak has been reported in the Pukhri medical block of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh. Following the outbreak on April 18, the Health Department has initiated active case search and identified 17 more children with measles-like symptoms.

The deadly disease of measles has also been reported in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai.

In the UK, the Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported a "very concerning" rise in the number of people catching measles in the country. In 2022, the country saw 54 cases, but the number stands at 49, in just four months of 2023.

Indonesia has recorded a total of 2,161 suspected measles cases (848 laboratory-confirmed and 1,313 clinically suspected) between January 2 and April 3, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Although measles is endemic in Ethiopia, the annual number of confirmed measles cases has "increased significantly" with 6,933 cases reported till May 1, the WHO said.

The global health body, in a recent report said, the number has been rising -- from 1,953 in 2021 to 9,291 (an increase of more than 375 per cent) in 2022.

New Zealand detected a second case of measles with health experts warning it has the potential to "spread like wildfire" if people aren't immunised.

Maine in the US has also detected 2 cases of measles, while American Samoa has declared a measles emergency after one confirmed and 31 probable cases of the viral infection.

The main symptoms of measles are a fever and a rash. But it can cause more serious complications including meningitis, and an infection can be fatal. That is why the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is part of routine childhood immunisations.

Health experts note that the rise is due to decline in routine vaccination due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A recent report released by UNICEF showed that 67 million children across the world missed out on either some or all routine vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, and 48 million children didn't receive a single dose during this time period.

India had 2.71 million children in 2021 who did not receive even a single dose of vaccine against DTP3. About more than 3.5 million, accounting for 15 per cent of the world's total, missed the vaccine in India, as per the report.

Measles jumps from person to person so readily that 95 per cent of people need to be immunised to block its spread.

"We are calling on all parents and guardians to make sure their children are up to date with their two MMR doses. It's never too late to catch up, and you can get the MMR vaccine for free on the NHS whatever your age," Dr Vanessa Saliba, from the UKHSA, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a WHO report said that India is targeting a vaccination coverage of 95 per cent with two doses of measles and Rubella (MR) vaccine to achieve MR elimination. The MR vaccine is given free under India's Universal Immunisation Programme. India also vaccinated over 344 million children between 2017 and February 2023 through a wide-age range MR vaccination campaign.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Ed-tech platform Physics Wallah (PW) on Monday said it plans to invest Rs 100 crore towards strengthening its UPSC vertical, and launched the first centre for for UPSC test preparation in Rajinder Nagar area here.

The edtech unicorn will invest the money towards augmenting its UPSC offerings for both online (UPSC Wallah) and offline (PWOnlyIAS) segment and aims to train over 3 lakh aspirants in the next three years.

"At PWONLYIAS, we are not just creating another coaching center; we are building a community of dedicated and passionate learners who are determined to achieve their goals," said Alakh Pandey, Founder and CEO, PW.

PWOnlyIAS plans to open over 10 offline centres in the next three years, including in Jaipur, Allahabad, Patna, Lucknow, Indore, Pune and more.

Additionally, PWOnlyIAS is bringing state PCS courses in online mode, and has launched paid and free courses in Hindi and Hinglish for Bihar (BPSC), Uttar Pradesh (UPSSC), Madhya Pradesh (MPPSC) and in Marathi for Maharashtra (MPSC).

"We are dedicated to expanding the reach of PWOnlyIAS to every corner of India, ensuring that no deserving aspirant is left behind. Over the next three years, we aim to capture a 20 per cent market share of PW UPSC aspirants," said Sumit Rewari, CEO, PWOnlyIAS.

PWOnlyIAS has designed a unique CTR-led course for its online and offline mode that includes tools like smart revision, progress tracking, concept clarity classes, doubt-solving sessions, and pen-holding sessions for answer writing to help aspirants excel in competitive exams.

The company has also onboarded 50 experienced faculty members who will undergo training under the faculty training programme (FTP).

PW has over 23 million subscribers across 48 YouTube channels and more than 10 million+ app downloads with a 4.5 rating on Google Play Store.

--IANS
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Jalandhar, May 7 (IANS) The Mahila Kisan Union, a member of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, on Sunday said despite the promise by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to provide compensation for crop loss owing to unseasonal rains in April, farmers are still deprived of relief.

In a statement here, Mahila Kisan Union president Rajwinder Kaur Raju said officials of the Revenue Department were refusing to accept the girdawari (crop assessment) reports sent by the Patwaris about the loss to Rabi crops.

"The affected farmers have not received even a single penny for the crop damages, ranging from 25 to 75 per cent."

The woman farmer leader said before winning assembly elections in 2022, Mann had given guarantees that the farmers would be given compensation at the rate of Rs 20,000 per acre even before the girdawari report.

"But as the government was formed, Mann has gone back on these guarantees and other promises given to the farmers."

She asked the ministers and leaders of the AAP government, including the Chief Minister, that instead of false propaganda campaign through newspapers, TV channels and social media, they should actually work on the ground and redress the grievances of the public.

The leader said even in Mann's assembly constituency Dhuri, the sugarcane growers have been struggling to get their dues.

He asked the leaders of Samyukta Kisan Morcha Punjab and all farmer organisations to give an ultimatum to the government to provide immediate compensation to the affected farmers.

--IANS
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By Vishal Gulati
Leh, May 7 (IANS) One lakh saplings, 90 per cent of them are of willow and poplar species, will be planted in the arid Ladakh region on May 17 with an aim to achieve its 85-90 per cent survival rate, volunteers of the plantation drive said on Sunday.


A record-breaking 150,000 plus trees have already been planted in the Ladakh region and they are thriving under the care of the Kung Fu nuns, led by Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the 1,000-year-old Drukpa Order based in the Himalayas.

To achieve the high survival rate of sapling in the land of extremes, where rainfall is rare and water, essential for irrigating the farmlands and household chores, mostly comes from melting snow, a solar-powered micro irrigation system has been installed with the local administration support.

The community non-religious plantation drive named 'Trees for Life' is backed by international network of non-profit organisations, Live to Love, whose volunteers, comprising Buddhist monks and nuns, twice broke the Guinness World Record for most trees planted simultaneously.

In 2012, Live to Love, founded by the Gyalwang Drukpa, a recipient of UN's Millennium Development Goals Award for his humanitarian and environmental work, entered its name in the Guinness World Records history by breaking a record of the Philippines for "Most Trees Planted Simultaneously" by planting 99,103 Ladakhi willow saplings by involving 9,814 volunteers near the world-famous Hemis monastery in less than an hour.

Previously, 9,033 volunteers of Live to Love planted 50,033 saplings in October 2010. The Philippines had planted 66,000 saplings within an hour in January 2011.

A spokesperson for Live to Love told IANS the plantation drive will be performed over an area of 60 acres in Liktsey, a small hamlet with some 30-odd mud-brick houses, where villagers are largely growing barley and apricots, by involving some 5,000 volunteers, comprising government officials, leaders of various faiths, locals besides Kung Fu nuns and international volunteers.

They will plant saplings in specially dug pits. A majority of the saplings are of Ladakhi willow and poplars.

"We are also planting fruit-bearing saplings mainly of apricot, apple, plum, walnut and pears. To reduce vulnerability of saplings to drought-like situations and improve their survival rate, a high-efficiency irrigation system has been set in place by the local administration. For this, water will be lifted from the nearby Indus river," he added.

Ladakh is a cold arid desert on high altitudes where the annual precipitation is between 100 and 150 mm, inadequate to meet the average moisture requirements of the plants.

According to Live to Love, the campaign will green Ladakh's barren lands, create natural watersheds, reduce erosion of soil, and mitigate devastating flashfloods and landslides. Animals will have habitats and Ladakhi communities will be able to enjoy lush forests.

Volunteers of Live to Love from Nepal and Bhutan will participate in the May 17 initiative.

Earlier, two mass plantation drives were carried out in Changa village, nearly 40 km away from Leh town, where there is a thick forest cover now.

In 2012, His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa personally joined the record-breaking attempt to encourage participants.

"It is totally a non-religious initiative to be carried out under the guidance of Gyalwa Dokhampa, who is coming from Bhutan," said the spokesperson.

The young spiritual leader Gyalwa Dokhampa believes Buddhism is not a religion but a way to find happiness. Based in Bhutan and Nepal, he teaches worldwide and brings a young viewpoint to traditional teachings.

As a spiritual teacher, he loves to interact with the youth on preserving the environment.

"During our walking experience in Ladakh in the Himalayas, we saw how much rubbish trekkers left behind which went into the water streams. These water streams are the source of about 30 to 40 per cent of the world population. Our goal was to pick up all of the non-biodegradable garbage," Gyalwa Dokhampa had told IANS in one of his recent interviews.

As a spiritual leader with a deep commitment to action, Gyalwa Dokhampa, who spent his initial years in Darjeeling and shared his knowledge with students in the US, Europe, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, has published numerous books of interest.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at gulatiians@gmail.com)

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) India's Parul Chaudhary and Avinash Sable broke the national records in the women's and men's 5000-meter runs, respectively, at the Sound Running Track Festival held in Los Angeles.

Avinash bettered his own national record by clocking 13:19.30, more than a six-second improvement from his previous time of 13:25:65 late on Saturday night.

However, the headlines were made by 28-year-old Parul, who broke the 13-year-long record set at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou by Preeja Sreedharan, bettering it by more than five seconds.

Parul clocked 15:10:35, while the previous national record stood at 15:15.89.

"I am feeling great that I have been able to break a record that has been intact for the last 13 years. I am thankful to my coaches, IIS and JSW Sports for constantly supporting me and ensuring that all my requirements for training are taken care of," said Parul, who is an Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) athlete, about her achievement.

The 2019 Asian Championship bronze medallist also commented on her training in the US, saying that it has benefited her.

"I have been training in the United States since April, and I would say that this training has really benefited me. I have been getting the exposure that is needed, and I would continue training outside the country to improve my results, " she said.

"Every day I set a new target and aim to achieve it. My next target is to qualify for the World Championships, and I am confident that I will do it. My next competition is on the 19th of May, and I want to improve my performance," she added.

--IANS

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Mau (UP), May 7 (IANS) Eight teachers in a government school in Mahpur have turned Saturdays into a Happiness Day for students.

Headmaster Prem Shankar Tiwari and his team that took the initiative, said, "It gives us such joy to see our students having fun. Normally, we see such events in private schools. Then we decided to introduce it in our government school too."

After the interval on Saturdays, the students of all classes gather in the common area where the teachers of the school treat them to surprises.

Last Saturday, the students gorged on 'Paani Puri' and this Saturday, they had their fill of watermelon.

As the party began, watermelons were cut and kept on the table and the students were invited to sink into the fruit. They were also informed of the benefits of watermelon.

"Watermelon not only keeps dehydration at bay in summer, but also provides our body with powerful antioxidants and essential vitamins," explained a teacher.

The teachers bring the Saturday goodies for the children form their own earning and claim that the smile on the children's faces more than compensates for the money spent.

--IANS
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New York, May 7 (IANS) Heart inflammation post Covid vaccination was not caused by antibodies created by the jab, rather it was the result of a more generalised response involving immune cells and inflammation, finds a study.

Myocarditis is a generally mild inflammation of heart tissue which can cause scarring but is usually resolved within days.

The increased incidence of myocarditis was seen primarily in males, who had been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines -- designed to elicit immune responses specifically to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among males aged 12 to 17, about 22 to 36 per 100,000 experienced myocarditis within 21 days after receiving a second vaccine dose.

For the study, scientists at Yale University conducted a detailed analysis of immune system responses in those rare cases of myocarditis among vaccinated individuals.

They identified the immune signature of these heart inflammation cases.

"The immune systems of these individuals get a little too revved up and over-produce cytokine and cellular responses," said Carrie Lucas, associate professor of immunobiology, at Yale.

The findings, published in the journal Science Immunology, rule out some of the theorised causes of the heart inflammation and suggest potential ways to further reduce the incidence of a still rare side effect of vaccination, the authors say.

Earlier research had suggested that increasing the time between vaccination shots from four to eight weeks may reduce risk of developing myocarditis.

Lucas noted that, according to CDC findings, the risk of myocarditis is significantly greater in unvaccinated individuals who contract the Covid-19 virus than in those who receive vaccines. She emphasised that vaccination offers the best protection from Covid-19-related disease.

"I hope this new knowledge will enable further optimising mRNA vaccines, which, in addition to offering clear health benefits during the pandemic, have a tremendous potential to save lives across numerous future applications," said Anis Barmada, doctoral student at Yale School of Medicine.

--IANS
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By Deepika Bhan
Something very serious is happening in the Poonch-Rajouri border of Jammu and Kashmir. Since October 2021, five targeted terror attacks have been executed and at least 20 soldiers killed.


The way these strikes have been carried out are totally different from the routine terror attacks taking place in Kashmir. These attacks seem to be well-planned and executed in typical guerrilla warfare style. In all these cases, none of the perpetrators has been caught.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on May 6 rushed to Jammu division's Rajouri district to take stock of the Army's anti-militancy operation in the Kandi Forest, where five soldiers were killed and an officer was wounded in a blast on May 5 during a combing operation.

According to the Army, the personnel who were killed in the explosion were part of a team involved in a joint operation launched to track down the militants involved in the Poonch ambush.

This is the second major terror attack on the Army in a fortnight. On April 20, five soldiers were killed when terrorists ambushed an Army truck in Tota Gali area of Bhatta Durian in Poonch district, which is adjacent to Rajouri.

Shortly after the attack, a massive operation to track down the militants was launched. However, none could be caught. And the terrorists managed to strike again on May 5.

Since October 2021, militants have killed at least 29 people, including 20 soldiers, in this area between Bhatta Durian-Chamred forests in Poonch and Pargal-Dangri in Rajouri. On August 11, 2022, five Army jawans were killed and two terrorists eliminated during an attack on an Army camp at Pargal in Darhal area of Rajouri district.

On October 16, 2021 four soldiers, including another JCO, lost their lives in a gunbattle with terrorists at Bhatta Durrian in the Mendhar tehsil of Poonch. Army searched for the terrorists in the Pir Panjal forests for about a fortnight but they could not be traced.

On October 11, 2021, five Army soldiers, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) were killed in an encounter with terrorists at Chamrer forests in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district.

Besides the attacks on the Army and security forces, the terrorists on January 1 this year attacked Hindus in the Dhangri village in Rajouri. Seven Hindus, including two minors, were killed in firing and the IED blast perpetrated by terrorists.

The paramilitary forces and the Army have been launching massive search operations, but they have not had much success. The failure to locate the terrorists may have emboldened them to risk more such adventures, but there are factors that make the operation tough for the forces.

The districts of Poonch and Rajouri border the Line of Control in Jammu and therefore pose a challenge to security. The area along the Line of Control is riddled with dense foliage and forest cover where the visibility is low. And, the chances of terrorists escaping without resistance after carrying out the attacks are high due to the hilly nature of the terrain.

The two districts are very sensitive areas as they share a border with the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) areas of Bhimber, Mirpur, Kotli and Rawlakote on the other side.

Hills and forests may help the terrorists escape, but the involvement of locals cannot be ruled out. After the April 21 Poonch attack, J&K DGP Dilbag Singh said such attacks cannot be carried out without local support.

The police have said that some locals do help these terrorists move from one place to another, provide them shelter, and some people also give them information about the movement of forces.

The terror attacks that have been taking place in the Rajouri-Poonch belt show its volatile nature. This also underlines the situation in Jammu division, which was largely unscathed by the kind and scale of terror violence witnessed in Kashmir over the past three decades.

Terrorists are repeatedly showing their ability to execute carefully choreographed ambushes in this region and perhaps their sponsors in Pakistan may be wanting to create a new epicentre of militancy in the UT. Having failed to set Kashmir on fire after Article 370 was abrogated by the Centre, Pakistan has been trying to create situations areas adjacent to the LoC.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is trying to revive terrorism in Poonch and Rajouri to divert attention of security forces from the Kashmir operations as in the last two to three years the latter have succeeded in breaking the backbone of militancy in Kashmir. The ISI has been dropping weapons, ammunition and IEDs using drones, and pushing in terrorists through the LoC.

The challenges for the security forces are huge, especially because the perpetrators invariably manage to vanish.

The frequency of the attacks have increased, perhaps to cloud the G20 events are scheduled to be held in Srinagar on May 22-23. Pakistan has expressed "strong indignation" after India updated its G20 calendar to include meetings in Srinagar in J&K and Leh in Ladakh.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has asserted that Pakistan has nothing to do with G20 and that they also have nothing to do even with Srinagar and Kashmir. He also added that Pakistan should talk about when they will be vacating illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK).

The security forces, meanwhile, are making the best efforts to curb the terror threat, but Poonch-Rajouri is emerging as one of the difficult and challenging belts for them.

(Deepika Bhan can be contacted at deepika.b@ians.in)

--IANS
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By IANSlife
New Delhi, May 7 (IANSlife) As the school year winds down and summer vacation approaches, children are bursting with excitement. They can't wait to spend their days playing with friends and engaging in fun activities.


Luckily, parents have the British Council's Summer Camp to turn to for the perfect solution to provide their children with a summer full of exciting learning experiences and personal growth. With batch one starting from May 22 to June 2 and batch two from June 5 till June 16, the summer camp is a fantastic opportunity for children to explore their creativity and passions in a fun and engaging environment. The specialised course themes - 'Fire my imagination!' and 'Motivate me!' - are designed to cater to children of ages 6 - 17, making each child's experience unique.

Whether it's through storytelling or practical exercises, this summer camp is the ideal fusion of enjoyment and education. Children will have the chance to develop their English language abilities, boost their self-esteem, and pick up a number of other life skills like creativity, leadership, cooperation, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

Children will have a sense of accomplishment and advancement after summer camp in 2023. With the aid of our knowledgeable teachers, they will work on projects and be able to evaluate their accomplishments and reflect on their growth. They get a wonderful chance to meet new people, widen their views, and develop a perspective on the world. The camp will give kids a life-changing experience and a strong basis for future study.

Details:

Age group: 6 to 17 years.

Duration: 20 hours (2 hours/day) for 10 days

Mode: Face-to-face classroom learning

For more information, visit www.britishcouncil.in/summer-camp-2023

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

--IANS
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