Digital India: The challenges facing Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated "India Digital Week", aimed at reinvigorating an $18bn campaign to strengthen India's digital infrastructure.

The initiative introduces nine "pillars" that the government will expand on, in its push to try to bridge the country's digital divide. Prashanto K Roy explains the significance of each pillar and what challenges the government faces in trying to implement them.

Broadband Highways

Digital India aims to have broadband networks that will span India's cities, towns and 250,000 villages by end-2016, along with a system of networks and data centres called the National Information Infrastructure.

The vision is grand.

If successful, it could transform citizen access to multimedia information, content and services. It also gives the government access to a great deal of information.However, laying cables doesn't ensure they will be used.After years of broadband and nationwide fibre-optic infrastructure targets, India remains stuck at a total of 15 million wire line broadband users. Yet mobile broadband use has exploded, currently standing at 85 million users, driven by apps like Facebook and WhatsApp, and the sharing of images and videos.Experience shows that it is communications and content, not empty pipes, that drive network usage. And manufacturing content is not a government strength.

This project needs content and service partnerships with telecom companies and other firms, with new entrepreneurs.

Universal Access to Phones

This focuses on mobile network penetration, with a plan to fill the gaps in connectivity in India by 2018. Though mobile networks have reached most populated parts of India, the last mile is a long one: 42,300 villages still exist outside the reach of a mobile signal.

"Universal access" does not, however, guarantee a working network. Even in its major cities, India's mobile network is so stressed that many say it's broken, with call failures and drops a common complaint.An intense shortage of spectrum has driven up costs and driven down service quality for India's telecom industry.But the problem is much bigger than dropped calls. As many as 85% of India's 100 million broadband users are mobile.

As users ramp up multimedia use, and the next 100 million mobile broadband users come on board, networks will not be able to keep up. Digital India needs more spectrum.

Public Internet Access

This aims to increase the number of government-run facilities (Common Service Centres or CSC) that provide digital services to citizens, especially in remote or rural areas with low connectivity.

The objective is to increase the 140,000 facilities to 250,000, or one in nearly every village. It also aims to convert 150,000 post offices into multi-service centres. The vision is that the longest distance a villager or tribesperson should have to travel should be to the nearest CSC.

This project was first approved in 2006, but moved slowly in its initial years. One of the big boosts from Digital India could be the dramatic ramp-up the mega-project is setting as a target. Citizen services will be one driver of adoption.

e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology

Of all the "pillars" of Digital India, this is the oldest and most mature initiative.

For decades, hundreds of e-governance projects have been piloted across India. Many were quick successes that however died out once the chief promoter, often a bureaucrat on a two-year posting, moved on.

The processes and services include digitising manual databases, introducing online applications and tracking, using online repositories for citizen documents, introducing publicly-visible government workflow automation, and public grievance redress.

Experts say that almost every e-governance project that India needs has been successfully piloted somewhere in the country. The daunting task for Digital India will be to take successful pilot projects, replicate and scale them up.

e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services

e-Kranti comprises 41 large e-governance initiatives, called "mission mode projects". They span e-education (all schools to get broadband and free wi-fi, as well as MOOCs - Massive Online Open Courses), e-Healthcare and technology for farming, security, financial inclusion, justice, planning and cyber-security.

The sheer scale of these projects helps ensure that they do not meet the fate of most e-governance projects in India, which remain pilots.

Several have been completed successfully, including the overhauled passport service, and the "MCA21" project for company registration from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Information for All

This set of web, mobile and social media platforms aims to connect citizens with the government. It is already well under way, both on social media, and the citizen portal MyGov.in.

The present BJP-led government has been widely lauded for its social-media savvy and its use of digital outreach tools. Prime minister Narendra Modi is one of the world's most influential Twitter users, with over 13 million followers (and another 7 million on his official @PMOIndia account)

But critics say that these digital channels are used mostly in broadcast mode, with Mr Modi responding to very few, filtered, questions, and no criticism, especially from media. His supporters say he uses them to connect directly to citizens, bypassing media.

Electronics Manufacturing

This plan aims for "net zero imports" in electronics, or imports that match exports by value, by 2020.

This is ambitious.

As of now, India stands to import three quarters of the $400bn worth of electronics products it will consume in the next five years. Hardware exports as of now are still under $10bn. This calls for a very big ramp-up in local manufacturing.

The plan includes incentives for big chip fabrication as well for mobile and set-top box manufacturers, and clusters and incubators for start-ups.

That's probably the biggest push and global image makeover being attempted by the Modi government, via its "Make in India" campaign launched last year.

Critics of the programme say that the "manufacturing first" focus can slow progress when the objective should be on something else, like education (such as with the UPA government's Aakaash tablet programme).

There is also a school of thought that "net zero" imports should be seen on a wider canvas - for instance across technology products and services.

India exports nearly $100bn worth of technology and business process services.

IT for Jobs

This is a project to train 10 million students from smaller towns and villages for IT sector jobs over five years.

Among the plans: Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) locations in every north-eastern state, 300,000 service delivery agents to be trained for IT services, and 500,000 rural workers to be trained by telecom operators for their own needs.

The challenge here is not just the numbers, but quality. The technology sector increasingly finds that the dwindling manpower resources available for its jobs are under-trained and mismatched to its needs.

Most firms are forced to invest a great deal into their own training for "fresher" recruits.

Early Harvest Programmes

These are the low-hanging fruit, and the projects already under way.

For instance, a new messaging platform for government employees has over 13 million mobiles and 2 million emails in the database; biometric attendance for all central government offices in Delhi, wi-fi in universities and in public locations, eBooks in schools, SMS-based weather information, disaster alerts.

The challenge remains usage.

For instance, the project aims to provide secure email as the primary form of communications within the government, and to the outside world.

Official email has been available for well over a decade in India, though its security is debatable. Yet most government officials and politicians prefer to use personal email services from Gmail and other public providers that can be accessed on their mobile phones.

Homeopathic and herbal remedies for surviving bioterrorism attacks - A disaster plan for emergency preparedness

To protect against a bioterrorism attack such as anthrax, plague or smallpox, perform a bioterrorism risk assessment to put in place an effective disaster plan for survival. Emergency response and preparedness is best achieved by preparing a kit beforehand, including natural remedies known for their ability to save lives and detox after a bioterrorism attack.

Homeopathic remedies

Buy all homeopathic remedies for a bioterrorism disaster plan in 30C potency. This brief overview offers recommendations for emergency treatment, not standard homeopathic protocol. Learn to recognize disease symptoms for speedy emergency response and preparedness.

Prophylaxis: To protect against a bioterrorism outbreak in your vicinity, open remedy bottle and take one sniff of the indicated highlighted remedy, once daily for a week or until threat has passed.

Exposure: After exposure to a bioterrorism pathogen, sniff the highlighted open remedy bottle once or more often immediately to antidote effects. Repeat as needed.

Health preparedness remedies for bioterrorism disaster plan

A variety of counter terrorism health approaches are useful for biological attacks. Combine homeopathy with herbs and supplements for best results. Buy a homeopathic first aid book and learn to use it. One good examples is The Homeopathic Emergency Guide, by Thomas Kruzel.

Anthrax

Symptoms: Bacterial infection with flu-like symptoms followed by corrosive, blackened skin ulcers. Inhalation of anthrax causes difficulties breathing, pneumonia, shock, coma, death. Gastrointestinal anthrax causes diarrhea, vomiting, hemorrhaging, burning, restlessness, thirst, anxiety, fear, septicemia and death.

Homeopathy: Anthracinum and Arsenicum album are the two main remedies for a disaster plan. Additional remedies are Lachesis, Pyrogenium, Tarentula cubensis, Phosphorus, Bryonia

Smallpox

Symptoms: Flu-like symptoms with purple rash followed by high fever and pus-filled bumps. Skin infection develops from open sores with possible hemorrhaging and death.

Homeopathy: Variolinum, Malandrinum, Sarsparilla, Thuja, Baptisia

Plague

Symptoms: Bubonic plague produces large, pus-filled lumps on skin over lymph nodes. Pneumonic plague attacks the lungs causing breathing difficulties, pneumonia, septicemia. Both forms lead to death.

Homeopathy: Pestinum and Crotalus horridus for hemorrhagic plague; Lachesis, Arsenicum album are effective for bubonic plague; Phosophorus for pneumonic plague

Botulism

Symoptoms: Staggering gait, confusion, headache, double and blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, descending muscle weakness

Homeopathy: Botulinum and Gelsemium, Arsenicum album, Belladonna Alternate one of these based on individual's symptoms with Botulinum until symptoms recede.

Hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus

Symptoms: Initial onset with fever, headache, nausea followed by blood trickling from eyes, gums, nose. Black, bloody vomit with death resulting from organ failure.

Homeopathy: Crotalus horridus twice daily

Additional Ebola prophylactic treatments: alternate Echinacea extract with Crotalus horridus once weekly until threat is out of area. Take each remedy twice daily.

Herbs, supplements, home remedies

Calendula - non-alcoholic liquid calendula treats skin ailments ranging from bacterial infections to yeast. Mix with water and use as a wash for any skin lesion or sore. 

Manuka honey treats sepsis and other bacterial infections when applied topically.

Pascalite clay detoxes, removing pathogens from the body. Mix with calendula, manuka honey, purified water into a paste and apply to skin lesions. Keep moist, reapply as needed.

Echinacea used to treat blood poisoning and other septic bacterial skin conditions topically and/or internally.

Coconut oil and young coconut juice both detoxify blood, destroying pathogens. Coconut juice rehydrates the body and replaces plasma in emergencies when blood transfusions are unavailable. Use either topically on wounds to disinfect, kill fugal infections, and replenish damaged skin. Buy only raw, organic products.

Thiosinaminum, homeopathic ointment, is highly effective for scar removal after disfigurement. 

Food grade diatomaceous earth detoxifies blood and liver from heavy metals and biological toxins

Additional remedies for health preparedness are garlic, colloidal silver, sea salt, baking soda, oil of oregano, olive leaf extract, activated charcoal, ipecac.

Re-Timer Light Therapy “Sunglasses” May Help Regulate Circadian Rhythms

Worn like a pair of sunglasses, Re-Timer emits a soft, UV-free green light onto the eyes to stimulate the part of the brain responsible for regulating the 24-hour body clock, making it easier to fall asleep at night and wake in the morning, the company says.

“The human body clock likes to delay if given the chance, which means we have a natural tendency to stay up a bit later at night and get up later in the morning,” says Re-Timer inventor, sleep psychologist, and professor Leon Lack. “In summer, getting exposure to morning sunlight stops that natural late drift but in winter it’s harder to keep the late drift in check so people struggle to get out of bed in the morning. This disrupts their body clock and can cause bouts of depression, particularly in the morning. But the Re-Timer mimics outdoor light, thereby regulating the body clock, which in turn has a positive effect on brain chemicals linked to mood.”

Launched in 2012 following 25 years of sleep research at Flinders University, Australia, the portable device can also counter jet lag, keep shift workers more alert, and get teenagers out of bed by advancing or delaying the sleep-wake cycle, according to the company.

Re-Timer CEO Ben Olsen says about 30% of all Re-Timer sales are used to treat the winter blues.

He says the device is more effective and convenient than any other light therapy unit on the market because it emits a soft, UV-free light and, unlike conventional systems, it does not require the user to sit close to the unit for lengthy periods of time.

“Most light boxes and lamps emit a very bright light of up to 10,000 lux, which is the amount of brightness required for the light to reach the user’s eyes from where they are sitting,” Olsen says.

“But the Re-Timer emits just 506 lux on the highest setting, which is all that’s needed because the light is closer to the user’s eyes, and you only have to wear the glasses for 30 minutes as opposed to the required 60 minutes you have to sit in front of a traditional light device,” he says. “It’s also a lot more convenient because being portable, you can wear it while making a coffee and getting ready for work–and at the same time treating the winter blues.”

Olsen recommends wearing the glasses for 30 minutes per day immediately after waking in the morning to advance the body clock.

Nature Bright Company Sponsors Annual Meeting of the Society for Light Treatment & Biological Rhythms

Nature Bright Company announced today their title sponsorship of the 27th annual meeting of the Society for Light Treatment & Biological Rhythms (SLTBR), to be held in San Diego, California on June 27th & 28th. The annual meeting will cover important light treatment topics, including wake therapy, sleep and circadian health, and chronobiology.

As the leading sponsor, Nature Bright Company has assisted with the planning of this year’s meeting, playing a key role in the planning of the Congress Dinner. Joshua Chen, Cofounder & CEO of Nature Bright Company, will deliver the banquet’s guest speech highlighting the importance of embracing the ‘light renaissance’.

“Human beings have worshipped sunlight for millennia. Since the opening of the first commercial power station in Manhattan in 1882, our nights have become brighter and sleeping hours have become shorter. With the advance in light therapy technologies, we can help our bodies return to the natural circadian rhythms and improve society’s health,” explained Chen.

Nature Bright Company is a corporate partner of SLTBR, an international scientific non-profit organization that promotes research and knowledge of the effects of light on various organisms, including human mental health. SLTBR members and partners have been responsible for many of the advancements in light therapy and chronobiology as well as pioneering their application in practical medicine.

“We are proud to serve as the title sponsor for this year’s SLTBR meeting, which welcomes over 80 clinicians, researchers, and students from 10 different nations. Nature Bright Company is thrilled to be a part of the advancement of the light therapy industry and our knowledge of biological rhythms,” said Ann Huang, Cofounder & Vice President of Marketing at Nature Bright Company.