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Friday, October 10, 2025 1:32 AM

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Govt. is currently seeking to merge accreditation and ranking bodies after proposing the merger of JEE Main, NEET with CUET

Putting puzzle

The union government is now keen on combining the accreditation (NAAC) and ranking (NBA) bodies after making a strong argument for the merger of national level engineering and medical entrances with the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG). The National Board of Accreditation, or NBA, is entrusted with accrediting only institutions of technical education, whereas the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, or NAAC, is the only government agency authorised to accredit universities and colleges. NBA is also responsible for publishing the NIRF, an annual ranking of higher education institutions. A committee headed by Bhushan Patwardhan, chairman of the executive committee of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), has been established by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to begin the process of developing a single accreditation and ranking system, one of the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP). The move is significant since it follows the recent announcement by UGC chairman Jagadesh Kumar regarding merging the NEET, JEE Main with CUET-UG exams. The government is also planning to combine AICTE and UGC into the Higher Education Commission of India, or HECI, a single, all-encompassing higher education regulator. The National Accreditation Council (NAC) is a meta-accrediting body that should be established, according to the NEP 2020. Presently higher education institutions are accredited and ranked by a variety of organisations and systems that function independently of one another. Technical programmes are accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), whilst non-technical or general programmes are accredited by the NAAC. According to a source, the National Institute of Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranks all higher education institutions in India. The source also stated that the NEP envisions the formation of the National Advisory Council (NAC), a body that will ensure the coordinated operation of these bodies and align them with NEP goals. The committee is led by Patwardhan, a former vice-chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), and includes Dr. Surender Prasad, the former director of IIT Delhi, Indranil Manna, the vice chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology in Ranchi, K. N. Ganesh, professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Tirupati, B. J. Rao the vice chancellor of the Central University of Hyderabad, and Dr. Manju Singh (joint secretary, UGC). Singh will serve as the committee’s coordinator. The six-member committee will study the NIRF ranking system, NBA’s process for accreditation, and NAAC’s methodology for accreditation. Along with developing a framework to align the three to create the proposed NAC, it will suggest a suitable mechanism to enable communication between the bodies. According to the NEP, “accreditation of institutions will be based primarily on basic norms, public self-disclosure, good governance, and outcomes, and it will be carried out by an independent ecosystem of accrediting institutions supervised and overseen by NAC.”

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PM Modi pitches India’s emerging clean energy market at G7, urges investment from member nations

Article on Gov

In the midst of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and while attending the G7 Summit in Germany, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the Group of Seven (G7) countries to consider supporting and investing in India’s emerging markets for clean energy technologies. The US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan make up the G7, an informal alliance of industrialised economies. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz extended an invitation to PM Modi to join the G7 Summit this year as a partner country. Along with India, partner countries Indonesia, Argentina, Senegal, and South Africa also attended the summit. India is currently developing into a significant market for sustainable energy technologies. The G7 nations can spend money on manufacturing, research, and innovation in this area. At the G7 Summit at a session on “Investing in a better Future: Climate, Energy, Health,” Modi emphasised that the scale that India can provide for every new technology can make it accessible for the entire globe. The fundamental concepts of the circular economy are deeply ingrained in Indian culture and way of life. “When a large country like India shows such ambition, other developing countries also get inspiration. We hope that the rich countries of G7 will support India’s efforts…” he said. Modi reaffirmed the pledge made by India at the COP26 summit of the United Nations on climate change in Glasgow in November 2021: that the nation will reduce its emissions to net zero by 2070, not adding to greenhouse gases. “All of you will agree that energy access should not be the privilege of only the rich,” Modi added, alluding to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has caused energy costs to rise globally. “A poor family also has the same rights on energy. And today, when energy costs are sky-high due to geopolitical tensions, it is more important to remember this.” Modi met with all of the G7 leaders outside of the meeting, where the major topic of conversation was how to get energy as a result of the global fuel crisis brought on by the Russia-Ukraine war. As Europe looks for methods to wean itself off Russian gas, the PM and Scholz discussed ways to improve their energy cooperation during their one-on-one discussion. India has received harsh criticism from Europe for continuing to purchase Russian oil despite the country being subject to western sanctions, but India has retaliated. Modi praised Scholz in a tweet for the “warm hospitality during the @G7 Summit.” “We discussed cooperation in key sectors like commerce and energy. We also had deliberations on furthering environmentally friendly growth for our planet,” he continued. The two leaders met for the second time this year at this gathering. The previous meeting took place on May 2 during the PM’s trip to Berlin for the India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations.

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Akasa intends a test flight next week, anticipates starting its operations by July end

HR Article

According to Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube, the newest airline in India, Akasa, plans to launch its commercial operations by the end of July and will conduct a proving flight with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of the nation as soon as next week. In an interview at the startup airline’s office in Mumbai, Dube said that Akasa, funded by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, will likely acquire its air operator’s certificate within days of the proving flight, apply for airport slots, and begin selling tickets within two to three weeks. The domestic value carrier’s initial routes will concentrate on point-to-point services. According to Dube, a former executive at Delta Air Lines Inc. who once led Jet Airways India Ltd., international flights are expected to begin in the second half of 2023. “We don’t believe in the hub concept. Akasa’s network will be focusing on flights from Indian metro cities to tier two and tier three cities,” Dube said. Aditya Ghosh, the executive who oversaw low-cost carrier IndiGo for nearly 10 years, is one of Akasa’s other backers. Akasa has ambitious growth goals, with the goal of acquiring 18 aircraft in the fiscal year that ends in March 2023. According to Dube, Asaka should get one to two planes a month from an order placed in November for 72 Boeing Co. 737 Max jets valued at $9 billion at list prices. Akasa will not only compete on prices in India’s fiercely competitive aviation business. While the airline intends to be cost-competitive, Dube stated that having excellent customer service and an employee-centric culture will also be important to its long-term success. “I don’t think India has excess supply — India will need 1,000 planes over the next 20 years. The pie is growing faster in India,” he stated. In fact, India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, stated earlier this year that the country may need to add as many as 120 jets per year to keep up with demand. The nation is preparing by expanding airports, even in the tiniest places, hiring more pilots and crew, and upgrading maintenance facilities. In advance of the launch of its commercial flights, Asaka has employed more than 100 pilots in addition to cabin staff at its own pilot training facility in Delhi. Dube said that the airline has the newest and greenest fleet in India, if not the entire globe, thanks to its fleet of brand-new aircraft powered by LEAP-1B engines from CFM International Inc. He claimed that by using brand-new planes and engines, Akasa would have a fuel efficiency of 15 to 17%. “Due to its operating procedures and practises, Akasa will also have a competitive advantage on the cost of fuel.” Source: Bloomberg

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Why is a clean environment necessary for our Health?

Health Article

A clean environment is essential for human health and well-being. At the same time, the surrounding environment can be a source of stressors that have a negative impact on health, such as air pollution, noise, and hazardous chemicals. Climate change has a negative impact on our health, resulting in heat waves, floods, and changes in the distribution of vector-borne diseases. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation can all have an influence on human well-being by jeopardizing ecosystem services such as access to freshwater and food production. Human health and well-being are directly affected by the quality of the environment. Clean air and water, fertile land for food production, and energy and material inputs for production are all provided by good natural surroundings. Green infrastructure also aids in temperature control and flood prevention. Green and blue landscapes also provide vital recreational possibilities and promote well-being. Impact of pollution on our environment It is critical to protect our environment since our health and survival on the planet are intimately linked to environmental health. Dirt and pollution can be found in many regions around the world, and a huge portion of the world’s population lives in these unpleasant and squalid conditions. People are drinking contaminated water and breathing polluted air, resulting in a wide range of health concerns for many people. We can live a healthy life if we live in a clean environment, which we may attain by knowing the importance of a clean environment. Unfortunately, we see very little being done to address this issue, and we are gradually polluting more areas of the planet. Finding clean environments is extremely challenging in many places of the world nowadays. Governments around the world are increasingly becoming more aware of the issue. Everyone on the planet must recognise the value of a healthy environment for everyone’s health. Any pollution that has a negative impact on the environment has a negative impact on humanity as a whole. Alarming health hazards Various types of significant health problems, such as cancer, are on the rise around the world today, and the main cause of these health problems is increased pollution in our environment. Pollution is bad in which ever form, whether it is caused by humans or industry. There are numerous examples of industries around the world that have contaminated the water supply in the areas where they operate. Today, there is a general awareness of rising pollution levels, and as a result, we are seeing some efforts from all walks of life; however, there is still much work to be done by all of us in order to have a clean and healthy environment. As environmental factors continue to have a negative impact on individual and population health, environmental health advocacy is a primary issue in the public medical domain. Take, for example, the impending threat of climate change. Climate change, according to environmental health specialists, may modify disease patterns, making communities more vulnerable to various illnesses. Climate change has also been linked to more floods, wildfires, and superstorms, all of which can have major health repercussions. Climate change is estimated to kill roughly 250,000 people every year between 2030 and 2050, according to the WHO. The United Nations Fundamental Rights Council declared in the 1990s that enjoying a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right. Leading civil society figures explained why this is so important for everyone’s health. How can the environment be kept clean and green? Increasing the amount of green space and planting more trees is a big step in keeping the environment clean and green. Proper garbage disposal of all kinds should be promoted and, if necessary, rewarded. Vehicle emissions should be monitored, and environmentally friendly fuel alternatives should be promoted. Deforestation must be discouraged and punished. If forestation is deemed necessary, a new area must be cultivated for forestation. Non-biodegradable materials, such as plastic, should be removed from circulation. People must be taught the value of maintaining a clean and green environment. Awareness campaigns are helpful in this regard, and they should begin in schools and community centres. Outdoor fire crackers and open fires must be inspected. Conclusion Given the preceding, it is reasonable to conclude that a clean and green environment is a basic prerequisite of modern society. Pollution of the environment, such as air, water, and land, has had a tremendous impact on human life. The air quality is poor, the water is hazardous to drink, and the soil is poisoned, all of which contribute to a variety of illnesses. As a result, in order to improve survivorship, pollution must be addressed and reversed. It is only possible to live a healthy life if the basic demand of clean air and land is provided. A clean and green environment implies less pollution and a higher quality of life. Green, on the other hand, has a proven link to better health. A green atmosphere literally means a lot of trees and foliage. Trees play an important role in air purification by absorbing harmful pollutants and releasing oxygen. Greenery also has a calming and calming influence on humans. The natural environment relies significantly on trees and plants to provide refuge and food to smaller insects, animals, and birds. Maintaining a healthy evolution of life in your local city as well as in the country as a whole necessitates keeping the environment clean and green.

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IPL Media Rights: Total rights sold for Rs 48,390 cr

Article on MEA

The BCCI has garnered Rs 48,390 crore from a three-day e-auction of media rights for the IPL’s 2023-2027 cycle, with Disney-Star securing TV rights for the Indian subcontinent and Viacom18/Reliance sweeping the digital segment. The bidding was done per-game, which means that the rights holders will pay the cricket board Rs 118.02 crore per match for the next five-year cycle. Every IPL season currently has 74 matches, and that number is expected to rise. Over the course of five years, the total number will be 410. Package A – TV rights for the Indian subcontinent – was acquired by Disney-Star for Rs 23,575 crore. Packages B and C were picked by Viacom18/Reliance, which would pay the board Rs 23,758 crore. Package B covers digital rights for the Indian subcontinent, while Package C is a special bouquet of 18 matches per season with non-exclusive digital rights for the same territory. Package D — world rights for TV and digital — was shared by Viacom18 and Times for Rs 1,057 crore. To put these figures in context, Star India won the IPL media rights for the 2018-2022 cycle with a composite bid of Rs 16,347.5 crore, which included both TV and digital, with a per-match payment of Rs 54.5 crore. This time, the value of IPL media rights increased threefold, with digital proving to be the most important factor. The BCCI predicted a gain of more than Rs 45,000 crore after setting the combined base price at Rs 32,890 crore — and it wasn’t far off. The elimination of composite bids in favour of higher bids in the digital market was the pinnacle of its business strategy. “India has seen a digital revolution & the sector has endless potential. The digital landscape has changed the way cricket is watched. It has been a big factor in the growth of the game & the Digital India vision,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted after the e-auction. The fourth edition of MICA Ahmedabad’s Indian Over-the-Top (OTT) Platforms Report 2021 (post-pandemic consumption) revealed that digital subscriptions increased by 49%. Viewership was highest among those aged 15 to 34, a demographic that caters to the IPL’s ardent fans. However, Disney-digital Star’s platform Hotstar played a key role in the transformation, bringing the game to consumers’ smartphones. Uday Shankar, the former chairman-turned-CEO of Star India, orchestrated the move after pulling off a Packer-like coup in cricket broadcasting in 2017. Shankar was on Viacom18/Reliance’s side five years later when the company fought off Star’s aggressive bidding, according to sources. “The BCCI will utilise the revenue generated from IPL to strengthen our domestic cricket structure starting from grassroots, to boost infrastructure and spruce up facilities across India and enrich the overall cricket-watching experience,” Shah wrote. “Now, it’s time for state associations, IPL franchises to work together with the IPL to enhance the fan experience and ensure that our biggest stakeholder — ‘the cricket fan’ is well looked after and enjoys high quality cricket in world-class facilities, he added. With effect from June 1, the BCCI has already announced a significant increase in monthly pensions for retired cricketers and umpires, benefiting about 900 people. The IPL easily surpassed the Premier League, where broadcasters pay roughly $11 million per match, with $15.1 million each match (converted to US dollars). It was a “red-letter day for Indian cricket,” according to Shah. But, with just approximately ten countries taking cricket seriously as a commercial proposition, the main question is whether recouping the money will be a problem. In cricket, an exponential increase in media rights revenue, according to an IPL franchise executive, is anticipated to raise the team purse as well. For the following two years, the budget has been fixed at Rs 95 crore and Rs 100 crore.

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Reimagining higher education through the ‘PHYGITAL’ mode of learning: Enhancing student employability

It was almost unimaginable until recently that practical training for skill-based vocational courses could be given so efficiently online! The desire to utilize digital technology in combination with traditional training techniques has enabled us re-imagine skilling in higher education in many new ways, thanks to the push from COVID-19. “Not only did the pandemic force us to reconsider how we delivered skill training; the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also asks for speeding up skill-based training through “Blended learning” or in a “Phygital mode.” In simple terms, phygital learning is the combination of physical and digital learning environments or platforms. Learning in a phygital paradigm aids in the development of domain skills as well as the development of digital abilities. As a result, a phygital model that includes workplace experience, vocational competence, and crucial employability skills has a favourable impact on the learners’ professional career preparedness,” said Chandan Anand, Founder, CEO & Group Editor of ArdorComm Media Group while moderating the panel session at ArdorComm- Higher Education and EdTech Conclave & Awards 2022, Pune on 6th May 2022. In what ways phygital education helps in making teaching learning easier and stay motivated? To propel discussion on this, the eminent higher education leaders and industry experts emphasized on the same. Sanjay Padode, Founding President and Chancellor, Vijaybhoomi University; Chairman, JAGSOM said, it is important for us to understand that there are three aspects in this context. First is physical, second is digital and the third is employability. We are trying to figure out how the phygital world is actually going to impact employability. So, let’s look at the physical world and the digital world, they have been existing for the last 20 years, its just that during COVID 19 it has impacted us and digital has emerged because that was the only option over the last two years, so digital just emerged off. Fortunately, it is good to know that earlier we were completely physical so it’s completely polarized and in the last two years it has been completely digital. The phygital is going to happen now, where we have understood the limitations of digital right now and we know the powers of physical. So, there’s a big debate going around amongst all the educators. I know a lot of faculties who are very comfortable in class, and talk with people. Many students are not coming to the classes, these are some of the sub-challenge of the phygital world. What’s really happening is that its not really about physical teaching or digital teaching, it’s a broader impact. It is the impact on the physical and digital all over. For example, let’s say I’m in Harvard in the physical time and I have a five-year experience, and gave up a cozy job, obviously if I’ve got into Harvard I must be a top performing student, so I must be having a cozy job, I give that up to go into a two-year program so I’m losing some money and I’m shelling out a huge amount of 100-200 thousand dollars from my pocket to go through the program. Now I go to Harvard, lockdown happens, one month I’m learning from home and then I realize ok now that I’m learning from home why don’t I go back to my job guy and tell can I work from home. So, the job guy says that’s good you start working, so I start working, and at some point, of time I realize this arrangement is working well. And then COVID disappears and Harvard says please come back to classroom, students say why the hell did I lose my job. Now that I have tested the fact that I can learn from home and work from home, why the hell should I give it away. See the mixing of physical and digital is happening in the student’s mind. Now how do we leverage learning, we take cognizance of the fact that this possibility exist, now here is an opportunity where we have a learner who is in the work place. So, I don’t have to arrange for internships, how we can bring that in a class and merge is going to determine how you are going to enhance employability. We have to understand how we can leverage both of these facets to do that. Prof. (Dr.) G.K.Shirude, Vice-Chancellor, Sri Balaji University, Pune said, afterall learning never ends, never stops. Even pandemic has not, rather given us a different opportunity and opened up the creative eyes of the society as well as the digital platform. Phygital from decades together have no issues, we are accustomed with that habituated with that and therefore vigilance up to some extent. But the credit goes to the pandemic because it has given a big push as far as the transformation process is concerned. Whenever I say digitalization is concerned I will always prefer that unless the youngsters, our learners, they are not habituated by using these tools they are not going to be accepted in the industry. So, whenever we talk about employment and phygital, now there is no question as far as physical or digital. Physical is going on society has accepted it, and students have accepted it. Again, there are two things, I’m talking about ‘India’ and not talking about ‘Bharat’, where the infrastructure is quite well and particularly Digi-education is always focused, target oriented and employment is the target. What is the outcome that is expected from the students? It is where they are going to be placed. So now there are three questions whenever we talk about the phygital and employment. What are the expectations of the students from us now? What are the expectations of the parents from us? And what are the expectations of the industries from the institutes and universities? If we have these three questions in our mind, particularly whether the universities or whether the PG programs or standalone institutes are concerned. The question is very simple K+S which creates the

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THE Impact Ranking 2022: India is the fourth best represented nation, with 8 universities in the top 300

Edu Article

The Times Higher Education (THE), the publisher of the globally recognised THE World University Rankings, has unveiled the Impact Rankings for 2022. In a record year, 1,524 universities from 110 countries/regions were ranked on their progress toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 18 tables — one for each of the 17 SDGs. India moves into the top 50 in the world, with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham claiming 41st place overall and eighth place for SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and SDG 5 (gender equality). Lovely Professional University is ranked sixth for SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and is ranked joint 74th in the overall table. India is the joint fourth most-represented country in the rankings, with a total of 64 universities (the same number as Turkey). Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2022 have ranked Calcutta University first among all central and state-aided public universities in the country. In the sub-category of ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth,’ the university is placed 14th globally. India was represented in the rankings by at least 64 universities, making it the fourth most well-represented country. India has eight universities among the top 300 universities in the world. OP Jindal Global University (JGU) has also featured in the 600-800 band. The university received a 60.3 out of 100 score. Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences is ranked second in the world for SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), sixth for SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), and eighth for SDG 10 (reduced inequalities). Chitkara University has ranked fourth in the country in Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and is among the top five in almost all United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The university ranks between 201 to 300 among 1,400 universities from over 100 countries across the world. THE Impact Rankings claim to be the “world’s only rankings evaluating universities’ contributions to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” and they evaluate institutions’ commitment to sustainability in four areas: research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching. Progress is tracked for each of the 17 SDGs as well as for the entire set of goals. This year, a total of 1,524 institutions from 110 countries/regions participated in the rankings, up 23% from previous year, demonstrating the growing prominence of the SDGs inside higher education institutions around the world. Western Sydney University in Australia takes first place in the overall rating, which comprises 1,406 institutions, after topping the table for SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and coming in second for SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). “It is inspiring to see such a large, diverse, and rapidly-growing community of universities from all continents committed to subjecting themselves to scrutiny, to measure and demonstrate their impact and to showcasing the best practise in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer, THE. Students, as well as governments, are increasingly demanding such commitments and these demands will strengthen. ” “It is particularly exciting to see that universities outside the traditional Western elites are shining out as beacons in this fresh approach to university rankings, giving an exciting new perspective on a diverse sector and broadening student choice,” he added.

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According to the researchers, cell-derived therapy may aid in the repair of abnormal heart rhythms

Article on Health

According to a new study from Cedars-Smidt Sinai’s Heart Institute, vesicles secreted by human heart cells may repair damaged tissue and prevent lethal heart rhythm disorders. The study, published in the European Heart Journal, could pave the way for a new approach to treating ventricular arrhythmia, a leading cause of sudden cardiac death. Experts describe the research as “poised to turn this entire field on its head” in an accompanying editorial. Ventricular arrhythmias can develop after a heart attack damages tissue, resulting in chaotic electrical patterns in the lower chambers of the heart. The heart eventually becomes so fast that it cannot support the circulation, resulting in a lack of blood flow and, if left untreated, death. The current options for treating ventricular arrhythmias caused by heart attacks are far from ideal. These include medications with severe side effects, implanted devices that deliver an electric shock, and radiofrequency ablation, a procedure in which parts of the heart are purposefully destroyed to disrupt disruptive electrical signals. Unfortunately, all of these have high recurrence rates. “An ablation is a counterintuitive approach because you are destroying heart muscle in an already weakened heart,” said Eugenio Cingolani, MD, senior author of the study and director of the Cardiogenetics-Familial Arrhythmia Program at Cedars-Sinai. “We thought, ‘What if, instead of destroying damaged tissue, we tried to repair it?’” With this in mind, the team set out to test a new approach in laboratory pigs that had suffered a heart attack. They injected some of the laboratory pigs with exosomes, which are tiny, balloon-like vesicles produced by cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs), which are progenitor cells derived from human heart tissue. Exosomes are tough particles that contain molecules as well as the molecular instructions to make various proteins, making them easier to handle and transfer than parent cells or CDCs. Eduardo Marban, MD, PhD, executive director of the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai and the Mark S. Siegel Family Foundation Distinguished Professor, was the first to develop and characterise CDCs. They’ve been used in a number of clinical trials for a wide range of diseases, most recently Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In one group of pigs, CDC-derived exosomes were injected into their hearts, while the other received a placebo. “The exosomes reduced the amount of scar tissue formed in the injured regions of the heart, normalising the rhythm without weakening the heart,” said co-author Dr. Marban. MRIs and tests to assess the electrical stability of the heart were performed on the animals. The laboratory pigs that had received the exosome therapy showed significantly improved heart rhythms and less scarring in their hearts four to six weeks after injection. Marine Cacheux, PhD, and Fadi G. Akar, PhD, both of Yale University, summarise the pros and cons of various experimental gene and cell-based approaches being studied for cardiac arrhythmias in an editorial published in the same issue of the European Heart Journal. According to Cacheux and Akar, Cedars-Sinai researchers “appear to have successfully combined the best features of cell and gene therapies to address a major unmet clinical need.” The authors note that Cedars-approach Sinai’s to repairing scarring in the heart is novel, and they describe the study as “a paradigm-shifting body of work.” Source: With inputs from ANI

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BUDGET TOWARDS EDUCATION SECTOR 2022

Union Budget 2022 for Education Sector looks like a wakeup call due to the pandemic. The emphasize on digital education and the plan to introduce ‘Digital University’ clearly shows that the government has understood the need of the future and started looking at long term benefits for the education sector. 750 virtual labs for science and maths and also 75 skilling e-labs is sure to take Indian education to global level. The education budget looks more inclusive, i.e. considering the people from downtrodden and rural societies who cannot access internet but can still avail the facilities of television and Radio and also the announcement of vibrant villages programme under which DTH access will be provided to Doordarshan is a highly feasible and welcome move. E-learning in regional languages is another proof of inclusivity. However, the development of e content is a tedious process and lot of training should be required for the teachers to develop the same. The focus on skill development and vocational education will pave way for better employability and is also in line with NEP 2020. The skill hub initiative of MoE and MSDE will be a boon to the youth for them to skill, upskill and reskill as per their choice and need. The e-portal DESH-Stack will be a great platform for those who seek to find the right job opportunities. The announcement of ‘National Tele mental Health programme’ which will include a network of 23 Tele mental health centres of excellence is definitely a need of the hour programme considering the impacts that the Pandemic has caused not just on physical health but mental health too. Even though the overall budget allocation for education is not very high but considering the key allocations the educational reach would be wider.   The Author is Dr. B.Sendilkumar, Dean & Director-Health Sciences, Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation-DU, Salem

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Adopting Plant-based diet can relieve migraine symptoms, suggests doctors: Study

Health Article

Doctors have recently suggested that it’ll be worthwhile to adopt a plant-based diet that’s rich in dark green leafy vegetables, for those that are affected by the symptoms of chronic migraine. This study was published online in the ‘BMJ Case Reports Journal’. the advice comes after they treated a person who had endured severe migraine headaches without aura for over 12 years. He had tried prescribed medicines (Zolmitriptan and Topiramate); cutting out potential ‘trigger’ foods, including chocolate, cheese, nuts, caffeine, and dried fruit; and yoga and meditation in a bid to blunt the severity and frequency of his headaches. Nothing had worked. Over one billion people worldwide have migraines, characterized as one-sided, pulsating headaches lasting 4-72 hours, and sometimes accompanied by sensitivity to noise and light and sometimes prodromal auras. Migraines are either episodic (fewer than 15 days a month) or chronic (15 or more migraine days a month plus migraine features on a minimum of 8 days of the month). Successful migraine treatment is defined as a halving in the frequency and length of attacks, or as an improvement in symptoms. While drugs can help prevent and treat the condition, a growing body of evidence suggested that diet might also offer an efficient alternative with none of the side effects related to some medicines, said the report authors. Six months before his clinic referral, the man’s migraines had become chronic, occurring on 18-24 days of each month. He described the pain as starting suddenly and intensely in the forehead and temple on the left side of his head. The pain was throbbing in nature and typically lasted 72 hours. His headaches were accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and vomiting. On a scale of 0-10, he scored the pain severity as 10-12 out of 10. Blood tests revealed that he did not have high levels of systemic inflammation and that he had a normal level of beta-carotene (53 ug/dl). This was likely derived from his daily consumption of sweet potatoes, which, although high in beta-carotene, are relatively low in the nutrients liable for the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of carotenoids, identified the report authors. These are instead found in dark green leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale, and watercress. Systemic inflammation and oxidative stress are implicated in migraine. The report authors advised the man to adopt the Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday (LIFE) diet, a nutrient-dense, whole-food, plant-based diet. The LIFE diet included eating a minimum of five ounces by weight of raw or cooked dark green leafy vegetables a day, drinking one 32-ounce daily green LIFE smoothie, and limiting the intake of whole grains, starchy vegetables, oils, and animal protein, particularly dairy and red meat. After two months on the LIFE diet, the person said that the frequency of his migraine attacks had fallen to only one day a month; the length and severity of the attacks had also lessened. Blood tests showed a considerable rise in beta-carotene levels, from 53 ug/dl to 92 ug/dl. He had stopped taking all his migraine meds. Even when he tried certain ‘challenge’ foods, like egg whites, salmon, or iced tea, which triggered headache attacks, these were much less painful and much shorter in duration than before. After three months, his migraines stopped completely and that they haven’t returned in 7.5 years. The man was allergic, and previously published research suggests that better control of allergies may cause fewer migraine headaches. in this case, the man’s allergy symptoms improved to the point that he no longer needed to use seasonal medication. He was also HIV positive, and HIV has been linked to a heightened risk of migraines, so it’s certainly possible that the man’s HIV status and antiretroviral drugs had contributed to his symptoms, said the authors of the report. But it wasn’t possible to review this further without stopping the antiretroviral treatment, which is a limitation of the study, they acknowledged. However, they concluded, “This report suggests that an entire food plant-based diet may offer a secure, effective and permanent treatment for reversing chronic migraine.” “While this report describes one very adherent patient who had a noteworthy response, the LIFE diet has reduced migraine frequency within three months in several additional patients (personal communication).” Source: With inputs from ANI

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