Ground Reality

AS THE WORLD   is all set to take a quantum jump in the international education, there is a dire need to effect massive transformation in the teaching sector with quality product and value for money. Statistics suggest that the need for international education will increase from meagre 1.8 million international students in 2002 to 7.2 million within next seven years.  This rise shall create huge challenges as well as opportunities. In the given scenario, India is sitting on a goldmine of opportunity to attract foreign students in universities as also to arrest the outward flow of talent.  Currently some 3,60000 students are going out of India for quality education abroad, draining some 1,30000 Crores rupees of foreign exchange, while the education budget of central government is around Rs. 85000 Crores. Internationalization at home and globalization of higher education should therefore form an important aspect of the strategic framework of India's...

The Central government has recently  put its stamp of approval on various amendments in the National Medical Commission(NMC) Bill following concerns raised in various quarters on a few provisions.    According to official sources, these Amendments to the NMC Bill come in the backdrop of its consideration in the Lok Sabha and subsequently being referred to the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee (DRPSC). The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved these changes. The Government has considered the recommendations made by the Standing Committee in its report tabled in the House on March 20, this year and general feedback, particularly the views of medical students and practitioners regarding certain provisions of the Bill. Amendments among other things include: Final MBBS Examination to be held as a common exam across the country and would serve as an exit test called the National Exit Test (NEXT). Having considered th...

Researchers have identified specific genes that may trigger the development of sleep problems, and have also demonstrated a genetic link between insomnia and psychiatric disorders such as depression, or physical conditions such as type 2 diabetes. The study in the journal Molecular Psychiatry , which is published by Springer Nature, was led by Murray Stein of the University of California San Diego and the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Up to 20 percent of Americans and up to 50 percent of US military veterans are said to have trouble sleeping. The effects insomnia has on a person’s health can be debilitating and place a strain on the healthcare system. Chronic insomnia goes hand in hand with various long-term health issues such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as mental illness such as ...

                                     Shivom-a blockchain-enabled healthcare platform that aims to be the largest unique genomic and healthcare research hub globally,has announced a project with the state of Andhra Pradesh in healthcare, especially in the area of genetic science and FinTech for Financial inclusion projects today. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, the eighth-largest state in India with 60 million people, plans to revamp its health-care system to provide more personalized care following a major pilot of the Shivom platform. “Our partnership with Shivom explores the possibilities of providing an efficient way of diagnostic services to patients of Andhra Pradesh by maintaining the privacy of the individual data through blockchain technologies,” said J A Chowdary, IT Advisor to Ch...

Regular meditation sessions can have a long-lasting effect on a person’s attention span and other cognitive abilities, says an extensive study.   Regular and intensive meditation sessions over the course of a lifetime could help a person remain attentive and focused well into old age, the study has found. This is according to the most extensive longitudinal study to date examining a group of meditation practitioners. Published in Springer’s Journal of Cognitive Enhancement , the research evaluates the benefits that people gained after three months of full-time meditation training and whether these benefits are maintained seven years later. Lead author Anthony Zanesco, now at the University of Miami in the US, however, cautions that further research is needed before meditation can be advocated as a sure-fire method for countering the effects of aging on the brain. This study follows up on previous work by the same group of researchers at the University of...

Drug related deaths is cause of major concern among people across the world and a recent study has shown that Drug-related deaths have grown to be a major US public health problem over the past two decades. Between 2006 and 2015 there were more than 515,000 deaths from drug overdoses and other drug-related causes. The economic, social, and emotional tolls of these deaths are substantial, but some parts of the US are bearing heavier burdens than others. Evidence from the first national study of county-level differences suggests that addressing economic and social conditions will be key to reversing the rising tide of drug deaths, reports the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. “The drug epidemic is a pressing concern among policymakers,” noted Shannon M. Monnat, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA, who conducted the study. ...

Cooperative behaviour to acquire food resources has been observed in hunting carnivores and web-building social spiders. Now researchers have found comparable behaviours in a fish species. A tiny striped fish called  Neolamprologus obscurus  only found in Lake Tanganyika in Zambia excavates stones to create shelter and increase the abundance of food for all fish in the group.   Led by Hirokazu Tanaka of the University of Bern in Switzerland and the Osaka City University in Japan, this study is the first to document how team work in fish helps them to acquire more food. The research is published in Springer’s journal  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology . Neolamprologus obscurus  is a highly sociable species of cichlid found only in the southern reaches of Lake Tanyanika. These zebra-striped fish feed mainly on shrimp and other invertebrates found along the bottom of the lake. At night, shrimp move into the water column, but by dawn they sink...