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According to the first official estimate made by the Statistics Ministry on Friday, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will slip to 7% in the current fiscal year ending in March 2023 as a result of weak demand. India’s GDP grew by 8.7% between 2021 and 2022. If the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) prediction comes true, India’s GDP growth will be less than the 7.6% expansion Saudi Arabia is predicted to have. The projections are higher than the Reserve Bank’s 6.8% projection even though they are substantially below than the government’s prior forecast of 8–8.5% growth. The NSO estimated that the manufacturing sector’s output would slow to 1.6% from a 9.9% increase in FY22. Similar estimates place mining industry growth at 2.4% in the current fiscal year against 11.5% in 2021–22. According to the NSO, “Real GDP or GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in the year 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 157.60 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2021-22 of Rs 147.36 lakh crore, released on 31st May, 2022.” According to the report, real GDP growth is expected to slow to 7% in 2022–2023 from 8.7% in 2021–2022 period. Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices is projected to be ₹273.08 lakh crore in 2022–2023 as opposed to the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2021–2022 of ₹236.65 lakh crore, published on May 31, 2022. According to the NSO’s announcement, nominal GDP growth is projected to be 15.4% in 2022–2023 compared to 19.5% in 2021–2022 The RBI had reduced the country’s GDP growth prediction for the current fiscal year from 7% to 6.8% in December due to the persistence of geopolitical concerns and tightening of global financial conditions. The NSO also provided growth predictions for many industries. In comparison to the 3 percent growth seen in the previous fiscal year, the agriculture industry is expected to rise by 3.5% in FY2022-23. According to estimates, the trade, hotel, transportation, communication, and services connected to broadcasting segment will increase by 13.7% from 11.14% in 2021–2022. Though growth in the construction sector is anticipated to slow from 11.5 to 9.1% from a year ago.

At its “Google for India” event on December 19, 2022, the American technology giant Google introduced a number of new features. The company announced a new endeavour to digitise doctor’s prescriptions and expand its search functionality. Additionally, the tech behemoth unveiled its Multi Search feature, which would let users add text, screenshots, and images to their inquiries. Additionally, Google included the “Search in Video feature,” which gives users of smart devices the chance to search inside of videos. The tech giant has additionally stated that its Files by Google app for Android would offer secure access to Digilocker documents. The tech giant unveiled an AI and ML model that can interpret handwritten prescriptions at the Google for India conference. According to a blog post by Google, this technology will let users understand handwritten prescriptions and help pharmacists digitise handwritten medical records. This function is currently being developed, and no choice will be made solely based on the judgement of AI and ML technology. Google also intends to add a Multisearch feature to its search engine. Users will be able to take screenshots or photographs and add text to their search terms for quick results. The feature will be accessible in several Indian languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, and others, according to a Google announcement. During the Google for India event in New Delhi, the company also unveiled a new search feature. It is presently being tested with the beta version, which will allow users to search for specific sections of a YouTube video. A specific location, item, or moment may now be searched for by viewers thanks to the technology company within a YouTube video. The users would benefit from time savings as they can find items they were looking for right away. This feature is still being tested but is shortly to be available to everyone. “We’re piloting the ability to search within videos on your phone’s Search app. Just type in your query using the ‘Search in video’ feature and find exactly what you’re looking for,” the company stated. Speaking of accessing Digilocker documents, Google disclosed that it will assist customers in using Digilocker on Android to securely access genuine digital documents. Starting today, users will have access to their Digilocker digital documents via the Files by Google app for Android. It was created in cooperation with the National eGovernment Division, says the tech giant.

A parliamentary committee expressed concern about the decline in membership at the Delhi Public Library and suggested that the government create a virtual library through large-scale text digitization. According to the 328th report of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture, ‘Action Taken by the Government on the Recommendations/Observations of the Committee contained in its 310th report on the subject Functioning of Central Libraries in the Country,’ the Delhi Public Library has seen a decrease in membership in recent times, with the COVID-19 pandemic being one of the reasons. “It has come down to 1.5 lakh membership from what it was prior to coronavirus period i.e. 1.85 lakh. Being a model library created in 1951 in Asia with UNESCO’s technical, financial assistance, it should lead other libraries in country and extend all possible help in their growth. Delhi Public Library should make all out efforts to increase its membership/viewership in the interest of general public,” according to the report. In their response, the Ministry of Culture acknowledged that there has been a “perceptible decline” in the membership of the Delhi Public Library (DPL) over the last two years.  “This was mainly due to the Covid situation and also absence of reading habit among the society. However, Delhi Public Library has been striving to increase its membership by conducting outreach activities, approaching schools/ colleges/ RWAs, distributing membership forms and waiving of membership fee,” the ministry said. The Committee also proposed that the Indian public library system be changed while keeping current advancements in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in mind, in order to provide minimum network-based services to the urban and rural populations. Libraries should be created as Community Information Centre models, and computerization of libraries should be implemented quickly to improve them, according to the report. In their reply, the culture ministry stated that it has already built the Indian Culture Portal, where knowledge and cultural resources from diverse Ministry of Culture institutions are now available in the public domain on a single platform. “This project is part of the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative to showcase information about India’s rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage both at home and abroad,” according to the ministry. This portal contains documents, photographs, audio-visual files, and other data from archives, museums, academies, and libraries throughout the country. It contains around 2.5 lakh digital artefacts with metadata. It also has around 9 lakh bibliographic entries. The content is divided into 19 categories, including rare books, e-books, archives, paintings, and union catalogues, among others. It also contains nine content categories, including stories, snippets, historical cities, and forts. Currently, the portal is available in English and Hindi. It is accessible via the Indian Culture App, which is available for both Android and iPhone.

The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), an apex-level autonomous institution of the Government of India, has begun capacity building programmes for senior officers in the Jammu and Kashmir administration, according to a Personnel Ministry statement issued on Tuesday. According to the statement, the capacity building initiative is scientifically designed to enable civil servants in Jammu and Kashmir to provide robust and seamless services to the people. The cutting-edge knowledge and new skill set obtained throughout this programme will assist these civil servants in providing efficient public service delivery to better people’s lives, according to the statement. In July 2021, it was decided to train 2,000 senior Jammu and Kashmir government officials, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the J&K Institute of Management, Public Administration, and Rural Development (J&KIMPARD) and the NCGG to promote excellence in capacity building and reorient officers of the Jammu and Kashmir government. In order to put this MoU into action, the NCGG has already held three such capacity-building programmes for Jammu and Kashmir officials. In his inaugural address, NCGG Director General Bharat Lal emphasised the importance of translating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of good governance into concrete action. He emphasised the importance of changing the strategy and acting as facilitators to attract investment, encourage entrepreneurship, and increase job creation by assuring public service delivery. According to Lal, “we are living in a highly competitive and globalised world” and as a result, businesses need to be supported in order to attract investment. He asserted that everyone’s time is valuable and that rapid service delivery and time value must go hand in hand. Lal emphasised the obstacles and stated that the reorientation programme will enable officers to give technology-enabled solutions to people’s problems. “The aim is to reorient the officers to enable them to work with single-mindedness to improve the quality of life and create opportunities for the people of Jammu & Kashmir. The officers are given exposure to the best practices in governance from across the country to emulate these practices of good governance, transparency and efficient service delivery in Jammu & Kashmir,” the statement said. The fourth capacity-building programme is set at the NCGG campus in Mussoorie from November 28 to December 9. The training modules are produced by practitioners, experts, and academicians in the fields of public administration and good governance, including e-government. The NCGG, established by the Centre in 2014, is tasked with training civil servants from India and other nations. The Centre has also trained a substantial number of officers from Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia, Gambia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Laos, Vietnam, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Cambodia in recent years.

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) find it challenging to make eye contact with others in everyday situations. The difficulty of simultaneously scanning the brains of two people has prevented scientists from studying the neurological basis of live social interaction involving eye contact in ASD, despite the fact that eye contact is an essential component of everyday interactions. However, Yale researchers have pinpointed particular brain regions in the dorsal parietal region of the brain connected to the social symptomatology of autism utilising cutting-edge technology that enables imaging of two individuals while they are in live and natural situations. According to the study, these brain responses to live face and eye contact may serve as a diagnostic for the diagnosis of ASD and a gauge of how effectively autism treatments are working. The study’s results were released in the PLOS ONE journal. Joy Hirsch, co-corresponding author and the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, Comparative Medicine, and Neuroscience at Yale, said, “Our brains are hungry for information about other people, and we need to understand how these social mechanisms operate in the context of a real and interactive world in both typically developed individuals as well as individuals with ASD.” Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, a non-invasive optical neuroimaging technique, the Yale team, led by Hirsch and James McPartland, Harris Professor at the Yale Child Study Center, examined brain activity during brief social interactions between pairs of adults, each of whom included a typical participant and one with ASD. Both individuals wore caps with numerous sensors that both transmitted light into the brain and captured changes in light signals with data on brain activity during face-to-face and other types of eye contact. The researchers discovered that persons with ASD displayed considerably less dorsal parietal cortex activity during eye contact than participants without ASD. Additionally, the less activity in this area of the brain was seen, the more severe the overall social symptoms of ASD as determined by ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition) scores. During genuine eye-to-eye contact but not while looking at a video face, neural activity in these regions was synchronised between normal participants. The absence of this expected increase in neural connectivity in ASD is consistent with the challenges faced in social interactions. We now know more about the neurological underpinnings of typical social interactions as well as the neurobiology of autism and social differences, according to Hirsch. Source: ANI

The first “National Credit Framework” (NCrF), which integrates credits acquired via school education, higher education, and vocational and skill education, was launched by the Union ministry of education on Wednesday. The draft of the NCrF was made available for public feedback by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who referred to it as a “game-changer.” “It will open numerous options for further progression of students and inter-mingling of school and higher education with vocational education and experiential learning, thus mainstreaming skilling and vocational education. NCrFwill also enable students who have dropped out of mainstream education to re-enter the education ecosystem,” he said. While there is already a credit-based system in place for technical and higher education, school and vocational education will be integrated for the first time. The NCrF seeks to integrate learning across all areas, including academics, career-related skills, and experiential learning, which includes relevant experience and professional levels attained. A high-level committee made up of representatives from the UGC, AICTE, NCVET, NIOS, CBSE, NCERT, education ministry, DGT, and skill development ministry prepared the draft NCrF. According to Pradhan, who emphasised that NCrF will aid in making India’s economy $5 trillion in the next 25 years, NCrF will be the most essential instrument under NEP 2020 for realising these goals. India is embracing technology at an unprecedented rate. Reforms must be implemented to reward education, training, and experience. A crucial step toward obtaining 100% literacy in the following two to three years will be to give credit for learning new information, receiving practical training, and having positive social effects. The draft states that credits will be granted based on learning hours from the fifth grade to the PhD level. As of now, 30 total learning hours per credit are being evaluated. In order to assign credits and credit levels, the draft stated that “NCrF recognises no hard separation between different areas of learning, i.e. arts and sciences, vocational and academic streams, curricular and extra-curricular for the purpose of assignment of credits and credit levels.” Every learning can be “creditized” under NCrF if it has been assessed. Exams, class tests, training and skilling, field trips for skill education, on-the-job training, internships, apprenticeships, experiential learning, and relevant experience are all ways to earn credits in addition to traditional classroom instruction and learning. Other ways to earn credits include laboratory work, innovation labs, sports, games, yoga, physical activity, performing arts, music, handicraft work, social work, NCC, bag-less days, and examinations. By converting classroom instruction to competency- and learning-outcome-based education and learning, such a strategy would also narrow the achievement gap in learning outcomes, according to the draft. The Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) will be used to operate the NCrF. An ACB for higher education was introduced last year by the University Grants Commission, which oversees higher education in India. The ABC serves as a digital database for student credits. It is currently only applicable to higher education. ABC may digitally record the academic and other credits obtained from accredited institutions, allowing for the redemption of credits and the granting of the appropriate award while taking into consideration the credits obtained at different NCrF levels. To facilitate quick verification and portability, the credits may also be connected to Digi locker. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advocates for “no hard separations” between vocational and academic streams, will be put into effect in part by the NCrF. According to the policy, through 2025, at least 50% of students in the K–12 and higher education systems must have access to vocational education. Additionally, in order to increase open and distance learning options, credits will be given to students who participate in online programmes. This would aid in overcoming the limitations of physical infrastructure & scalability while boosting access, equity, and affordability and assuring quality and accountability, according to the draft. Source: PIB

A new drug developed by US scientists can turn the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus against itself, shielding people from being infected. The medicine, NMT5, is expected to be effective against the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, according to experts from The Scripps Research Institute. The medication coats SARS-CoV-2 with chemicals that can momentarily change the human ACE2 receptor, a molecule the virus typically grabs onto to infect cells. It is detailed in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. The ACE2 receptor blocks the virus’s entry into human cells when it is near. Stuart Lipton, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute and the study’s principal author, said: “What’s so neat about this drug is that we’re actually turning the virus against itself.”  The research team examined a library of compounds and identified NMT5 as having two crucial characteristics: it could identify and bind to a pore on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 and chemically alter human ACE2 using a nitroglycerin warhead. The scientists realised this might make the virus a means of self-destruction. They examined and tested NMT5 in both animals and isolated cells. The research demonstrated how NMT5 firmly adheres to SARS-CoV-2 viral particles as the viruses circulate within the body. The details of how the medicine adds a chemical, akin to nitroglycerin, to specific molecules if it comes close enough were then made public by the researchers. NMT5 adds a “nitro group” on the receptor when the virus is close enough to ACE2 to infect a cell. This alters the structure of ACE2 for around 12 hours, making it impossible for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to attach to it and infect cells. “What’s really beautiful is that this only knocks down availability of ACE2 locally when the virus is coming at it. It doesn’t knock down all the function of ACE2 elsewhere in the body, allowing for normal function of this protein,” Lipton stated. The drug inhibited 95% of viral binding in cell culture tests measuring how efficiently the Omicron form of SARS-CoV-2 can bind to human ACE2 receptors. According to the researchers, NMT5 significantly reduced viral levels in hamsters with COVID-19, reversed blood vessel damage in the animals’ lungs, and reduced inflammation. They said that the drug demonstrated efficacy against more than a dozen other viral variations, including the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta strains. The majority of anti-viral medications function by specifically inhibiting a virus, which can force it to develop treatment resistance. The researchers believe that the drug will likely be successful against many more SARS-CoV-2 variations because NMT5 is simply using the virus as a carrier. Because it doesn’t rely on attacking parts of the virus that frequently evolve, Chang-ki Oh, a senior staff scientist and the study’s first author, anticipated that the drug would remain effective even as new variants emerged. The molecule has only been tested in animal models, but the researchers are currently developing a drug version to test for usage in humans while doing additional safety and efficacy studies in animals.  

During the launch of 5G services in India on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that since even the country’s poorest people have always stepped forward to adopt new technologies, technology has truly become democratic in its truest sense. In his view, and that of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, this is a significant milestone. “Talking about Digital India, some people think that this is just a government scheme. But Digital India is not just a name, it is a big vision for the country’s development,” PM Modi made this statement when introducing 5G services and addressing the 6th India Mobile Congress at Pragati Maidan in Delhi. The objective of this vision, according to PM Modi, is to make technology that benefits the general public and collaborates with it accessible to them. In his words, “I have seen even the poor of the country always come forward to adopt new technologies… Technology has become democratic in its truest sense,” he stated.  Modi added that there was a time when a small number of wealthy individuals questioned the benefits of digital technology for the underprivileged. “Many people made fun of my vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat…a handful of elite people used to think digital is not for the poor. Go see what political leaders used to say in Parliament. But I had the conviction in the inquisitiveness of the common public,” PM Modi said. He continued, “I have always had faith in the understanding of the country’s common man, his conscience, and his curious mind.”  PM Modi urged everyone to observe his transparency. According to the prime minister, fewer people are using the internet in countryside than in cities. PM Modi also recalled a time when, as Gujarat’s chief minister, he went to an event in a remote village and was shocked to discover tribal women using their cellphones to take pictures. “I was so surprised. I went to them and asked them what they will do with these photos. They said, ‘download karenge’. They knew the word ‘download’,” PM Modi recounted. According to PM Modi, there were only two mobile manufacturing facilities in India in 2014, but there are now more than 200. “Internet users now consume 14GB per month. This used to cost Rs 4,200 per month in 2014. But now it costs somewhere between Rs 125 to Rs 150,” PM Modi stated.

The social and emotional development of children may be hampered by voice-controlled smart gadgets like Alexa, Siri, and Google Home, says an expert in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare. The Archives of Disease in Childhood released the study’s findings online. According to Anmol Arora of the University of Cambridge, these gadgets may have long-term repercussions by limiting children’s capacity for empathy and compassion as well as their ability to think critically. While voice-control devices may serve as “friends” and help youngsters learn to read and communicate better, their sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) and “human” sounding voices have raised worries about the long-term consequences on children’s developing brains. The author identifies three main areas of concern. These include inappropriate responses, inhibiting social growth, and hindering learning. He provides several well-known instances of inappropriate responses, such as a device that advised a 10-year-old to try touching a live plug with a coin. He notes that privacy concerns have also surfaced in relation to the recording of private conversations and that it is difficult to apply strict parental restrictions on such gadgets without drastically impairing their performance. He notes that since there is no requirement for a “please” or “thank you,” and there is no need to take voice into account, these devices are unable to educate children how to behave respectfully. Use of the devices is a poor way to acquire social interaction because it prevents non-verbal communication, according to his writing. “While in normal human interactions, a child would usually receive constructive feedback if they were to behave inappropriately, this is beyond the scope of a smart device.”  The early research on the use of voice assistants as social companions for lonely adults is encouraging. He points out that it’s not quite obvious, though, if this also applies to children. He emphasises that this is crucial at a time when COVID-19 limits may have already hampered children’s social development and they may have been spending more time alone with smart devices at home. Devices are made to quickly find answers to questions and search for information when it is requested, but the author worries that this may impede the natural ways that kids learn and take in knowledge. He claims that this process cannot be replicated by these devices because when children ask an adult a question, the adult can ask for context information, explain the boundaries of their knowledge, and test the child’s logic. He says that conducting research is a crucial learning experience that fosters logical reasoning and critical thinking. The population has benefited greatly from the rise of voice devices. The author recognises the significance and value of their capacities to quickly give information, help with daily tasks, and provide social companionship to lonely individuals. But he argues that “urgent research is required into the long-term consequences for children interacting with such devices.” In his conclusion, he states that “Interacting with the devices at a crucial stage in social and emotional development might have long-term consequences on empathy, compassion, and critical thinking.” Source: ANI

Several states had secondary school dropout rates that were greater than the national average of 14.6%, including West Bengal, Gujarat, Bihar, and Tripura, according to official data. These states have been advised by the central government to take further measures to lower the dropout rate. The Project Approval Board (PAB), which is part of the Ministry of Education, received this information from the minutes of its meetings about the “Samagra Shiksha” programme for 2022–2023. Between April and July, these meetings were held with several states. As stated in the new National Education Policy, the government aspires to achieve a 100% Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at the school level by 2030 and views dropout as a barrier. According to the PAB, the dropout rate at the secondary level in 2020–21 was 21.4% in Bihar, 23.3% in Gujarat, 23.8% in Madhya Pradesh, 16.4% in Odisha, 16.6% in Jharkhand, 16.6% in Tripura, and 16.6% in Karnataka. The documents state that there were approximately 61,051 children with special needs (CWSNs) enrolled in Delhi schools throughout the relevant period, of which 67.5 percent either dropped out or were unable to be located. The Delhi administration has been tasked by the PAB to swiftly finish the process of resettling dropout children into the system of mainstream education. In Andhra Pradesh, the secondary dropout rate was 37.6% in 2019–20; however, that number dropped to 8.7% in 2020–21. The PAB has urged the state to keep up its efforts to further lower the dropout rate. The documents state that in Uttar Pradesh, secondary school dropout rates were 12.5% in 2020–21, with an average of 11.9% for boys and 13.2% for girls. In ten districts in West Bengal, there are more than 15% of secondary school dropouts. The state has been urged by the PAB to create a unique action plan to lower this rate. Over 30% of secondary school dropouts were recorded in 19 districts in Assam in 2020–21. In eight districts of Nagaland, this rate exceeded 30%. In Kerala, 7.1% of secondary school students dropped out, compared to 8.41% in Uttarakhand and 10.17% in Goa. According to a recent UNICEF poll, 25 percent of girls drop out of school owing to marriage and 33 percent are affected by domestic work. The UNICEF reported that it was also discovered in numerous locations that children began working as labourers with their families or cleaning people’s homes after finishing school. Anil Swarup, a former secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, recommended “mapping” children who are not enrolled in school at the ward and gram panchayat levels. Additionally, he recommended holding teacher-parent level meetings in schools at least once a month to raise awareness of this crucial topic. He said that dropout kids should be found and contacted by going to their homes because, occasionally, poor exam results or a difficult family situation are also reasons why students leave school. Source: PTI