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AIPSN Statement on Chandrayaan-3 – Press Release

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27 Aug 2023

AIPSN Statement on Chandrayaan-3

The All India Peoples Science Network (AIPSN) salutes the scientists, engineers, technical staff and all others at ISRO, its affiliated Institutions, and all associated PSUs, other companies and contractors for the grand success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission’s soft landing on the moon by the Vikram Lander and the Pragyaan Rover. The precision, with which the Mission was executed from launch to lunar orbit, and especially the autonomous powered descent of the Lander to the lunar surface, was indeed remarkable. In particular, AIPSN congratulates the ISRO team and associated experts for their collective, transparent and goal-oriented analysis of the factors leading to the crash of the Lander during Chandrayaan-2, and the subsequent corrective measures taken with respect to testing, hardware and software. This process and the visible success of Chandrayaan-3 has been a commendable example of the scientific method, evidence-based reasoning and peer review, which should be widely communicated to students, media and the public at large. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission s a tribute to the vision and leadership during the first few decades after Independence and the paths charted towards self-reliance in science and technology.

AIPSN views the Chandrayaan-3 Mission as an important milestone towards future missions, both robotic and crewed, to the moon and other extra-terrestrial bodies.  AIPSN notes that this demonstration of India’s capabilities in space technologies puts India in the vaunted company of a very few nations with such capabilities, and brings with it many opportunities and challenges. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission comes at a time of increased international interest in exploration of the Moon, including possible establishment of permanent or long-term crewed stations on the Moon or in orbit around it, which may later even be used as a gateway to exploration beyond our Moon. Such future activities carry with them great responsibilities and India, as one of the nations that would be participating in them, should prepare itself to shoulder these responsibilities on behalf of all humankind.

The Moon, our solar system, and outer space beyond it, are all a common good, knowledge about which belong to humanity as a whole, as the Prime Minister noted when he addressed the nation after the successful landing of the Vikram Lander.  The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1967), notes that “exploration and use … shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind.” It further declared that “outer space…is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” AIPSN notes with concern that many countries, companies and others are speaking about exploiting their advanced space technology for commercial or strategic benefit. The US-led Artemis Mission explicitly accepts this possibility and, unfortunately, so does India’s new Space Policy which has not been placed or discussed in Parliament as such Policies should be. AIPSN calls upon the Government to clearly declare that it regards the Moon and other extra-terrestrial bodies as a common good of all humanity, and that it is opposed to national or corporate exploitation of any resources found in such bodies. India should also press for revitalization of the Outer Space Treaty and setting up of an international regulatory system under the United Nations to ensure that space remains a common good of all humankind.

The Government also needs to reconsider its naming of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site as “Shiv Shakti Point,” since this appears to run counter to the naming convention of the International Astronomical Union. The IAU requires that features of the moon be named after astronauts or scientists including physicists, mathematicians etc who have contributed to this field, e.g. Aryabhata and Homi Bhabha, which have been accepted by IAU in the past. The Government should propose such a name as would conform to IAU norms and therefore gain international acceptance.

 

For Contact:

Asha Mishra, General Secretary, AIPSN Mobile: 9425302012   Email: gsaipsn@gmail.com

  1. Raghunandan , Mobile: 9810098621
AIPSN Condemns raids at Newsclick: Call to stop the harassment and denial of democratic rights
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AIPSN Condemns raids at Newsclick: Call to stop the harassment and denial of democratic rights

 

Click to see the letter sent to press/media

 

Click to get pdf of AIPSN Statement English

 

 

All India Peoples Science Network (AIPSN) Statement

5 Oct 2023

 

AIPSN Condemns raids at Newsclick:

Call to stop the harassment and denial of democratic rights

 

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. In Feb 2021 the Enforcement Directorate raided the offices of the web based news and current affairs portal Newsclick and the residences of its editors and director. AIPSN, many media houses, civil society and all those working to strengthen critical thinking and scrutiny of government policies in the public, were shocked and raised their voices. Now on 3 Oct 2023, the Special Cell of the Delhi police conducted an early morning raid on the houses of several journalists and technicians and confiscated their electronic gadgets including laptops and mobile phones. The raid started from 6 am at over 100 places in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Mumbai. Amongst those whose houses and offices were raided by the Delhi Police were the Editor of Newsclick, Prabir Purkayastha, the former Managing Editor of NDTV, Aunindyo Chakravorty, senior journalist and researcher, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, and senior journalists including Urmilesh, Abhisar Sharma, Bhasha Singh, Subodh Verma,  Anuradha Raman, Aditi Nigam, Pranjal, Sumedha Pal, Mukund Jha and some others. The police also searched and seized the devices of satirist and stand-up comedian Sanjay Rajoura, historian Sohail Hashmi, author Gita Hariharan, D. Raghunandan of Delhi Science Forum and Kiran Chandra of Free Software Movement of India. In addition, the Delhi police raided the office and residence of Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand of Sabrang India in Mumbai. It also raided the house of Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the CPI (M) party and confiscated a device of the son of a staff member. 46 people including 9 women were questioned either at home or taken away to the special cell. Shockingly, the Delhi Police sealed the office of Newsclick and arrested Newsclick’s founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha, and also Amit Chakravarty of Newsclick, a polio survivor and person with disability who uses crutches, under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Over two years the government agencies were unable to find anything substantive; the Enforcement Directorate has not filed a complaint accusing Newsclick of money laundering, the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police has not been able to file a chargesheet against Newsclick for offences under the Indian Penal Code, the Income Tax Department has not been able to defend its actions before the Courts of law. However, the Enforcement Directorate had attached Newsclick’s assets after starting a probe into its funding. This was done after The New York Times alleged in an article without any evidence that the news portal was among Chinese propaganda outlets being funded by American tech mogul Neville Roy Singham.

Now, ahead of the elections, the draconian UAPA has been used with farcical allegations such as “The analysis of the e-mails  further shows that Neville Roy Singham, Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty are in direct touch with each other wherein they were found to be discussing how to create a map of India without Kashmir and to show Arunachal Pradesh as disputed area”. None of the people questioned and whose electronic properties were seized were served with any notice. Those ‘taken away’ for questioning were done so without any information of charges against them. Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty were arrested but not given the FIR. A letter by 16 media bodies to the Chief Justice of India points out that the seizure of devices integral to their work, was done without ensuring the integrity of their data—a basic protocol essential to due process. It calls for the courts to frameguidelines for “the interrogation of journalists and for seizures from them, to ensure that these are not undertaken as fishing expeditions with no bearing to an actual offence”; and “finding ways to ensure the accountability of State agencies and individual officers who are found overstepping the law or willfully misleading courts with vague and open-ended investigations against journalists for their journalistic work.” The raids have been condemned and called “an egregious assault on the right to privacy, the right to dignity, as well as the freedom of journalists to practice their profession fearlessly,”

Newsclick’s coverage of various issues in science and technology (S&T), public policies related to S&T, Covid19 pandemic, farmers protests, Delhi riots, CAA protests  have provided an alternative and informed perspective often unabashedly critical of the  government. AIPSN is deeply disturbed by these raids on Newsclick and harassment of journalists, academics, artists and science activists. Newsclick has clearly stated, both now and before, that all these charges are not true.

At this crucial point in our nation’s history as a secular, democratic society bound by the Constitution of India, AIPSN expresses its solidarity with Newsclick, other independent media outlets and journalists and urges the Government to not strangle voices of dissent so essential for science.

AIPSN deplores this attempt to intimidate and silence journalists, academics, scientists, writers, and artists. AIPSN strongly condemns this hounding and witch-hunting of people committed to self-reliance, people’s centric development, and democracy.

 

For clarifications contact:

 

Asha Mishra, General Secretary, AIPSN

gsaipsn@gmail.com, 9425302012, Twitter: @gsaipsn

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No to centralization and privatization of research funding: Remit NRF bill to Parliamentary Standing Committee

Click here to see the signature campaign which closed on 30July

Press Coverage in Newsclick  TheHindu

Click here to see the press release on AIPSN letter head 

Links here  to download the press release in pdf: English , Tamil 

Read this to see a detailed AIPSN statement on the NRF

Press Release

             All India Peoples’ Science Network (AIPSN) says no to centralization and privatization of research funding and asks the Union Government to remit National Research Foundation Bill to Parliamentary Standing Committee on S&T, Environment and Forests for a comprehensive assessment.

The National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023 seeks to replace the Science and Engineering Board (SERB) Act, 2008 by establishing an entity that will not be a fully publicly funded, dependent on corporates, philanthropic bodies and international foundations for funds, centralized in decision making via the Prime Minister as ex-officio President and the Union Ministers of S&T and Education as ex-officio Vice-Presidents and controlling the directions of academic research across disciplines and domains of application.  The original rationale of NRF was to redirect the flow of funds to the state universities to strengthen them as academic institutions.

In the five year allocation of Rs 50,000 crores for R&D through the NRF, 72% of will be financed by the private sector (through as yet unidentified process), and only 28% funded by government. The funding structure will seek the establishment of a stronger intellectual property mechanism of the Bayh-Dole kind which has been resisted by the academic institutions. In the current proposal corporates and elite institutions with access to power centers will have an edge.

Only 1% of the institutions of higher education engage in active research. In terms of the percentage of GDP, India’s spending on research and development (R&D) is among the lowest in the world. In 2022, India only spent 0.65% of GDP on R&D. The public funding for R&D has come down from 0.8% at the start of the 2000s to about 0.65% now; full time equivalent (FTE) researchers in the higher education sector declined from 39.96% in 2015 to 36.48% in 2018. Researchers employed in the publicly funded research sector declined from 30.32% in 2015 to 23.13% in 2018.

The NRF would not be able to address any of these structural impediments to the promotion of academic research and research of societal application and public value.  The state universities need more qualified teachers and researchers in permanent posts. Rampant feudalism, gender and caste based oppression, lack of culture of collaboration are major obstacles to the climate for research and innovation. The NRF hands over executive control and channel of funding to the governing body with much say for corporate entities with no representation to state governments in the Union Government funds for R&D.

It is important to involve academics from all over the country, the state higher education councils and the line ministries of the Union Government to ensure decentralized decision making. The NRF can undermine the possibility of harnessing the energy of multiple sources of initiatives. Joint planning is a more effective way of realizing diversity and plurality of missions in the world threatened by climate change and inequality.

            AIPSN demands that the “National Research Foundation Bill 2023” be re-examined. This bill should be sent to the Department Related Standing Committee on S&T, Environment and Forests for a comprehensive assessment. The Committee should invite the development authorities, line departments of the union government and state governments, the representatives of organizations working with the scientific community and individuals to submit their views on the Bill. The centralisation of funding, lack of academic oversight, not addressing the existing structural problems, privatisation of funding in NRF Bill needs re-examination and a thorough open scrutiny by the scientific community.

 

For Contact:

Asha Mishra, General Secretary, AIPSN Mobile: 9425302012   Email: gsaipsn@gmail.com

P.Rajamanickam, AIPSN Higher Education Desk Convener, Mobile: 9442915101

 

 

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AIPSN Response to the JPC on the amendments to Forest (Conservation) Act (1980)

Click here to see the pdf of AIPSN Response 

click here to see the email that was sent  

Click here to see the earlier response to the MoEFCC on 1 Nov 2021

 12.06.2023

All-India Peoples Science Network

            Submission of AIPSN on Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023

 

Due to large-scale degradation of forests in India due to mining and other development activities, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 was enacted by Parliament. This Act regulated many unlawful activities within forests and legislated several compensatory measures to redress any loss of forest due to activities by public or private entities. The Union government introduced the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha on March 29th this year in order to bring about certain changes in the original FCA 1980, specifically in order to taken into account certain domestic and international developments since then, to clarify certain ambiguities in the original enactment, and to exempt certain types of forest land from restrictions imposed by the original Act.

 

The All-India Peoples Science Network submits the following suggestions to the various provisions of the proposed Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023.

 

  1. The introductory sections of the Bill draw attention to the Government’s announced goal of net-zero emissions by 2070, the overall aim of bringing one-third of the country’s land area under forest or tree cover, and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target of creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.”
  2. There is a serious problem of viewing forests and green cover exclusively through the prism of carbon sequestration, ignoring all other ecological services of forests.
  3. It is also problematic to conflate forests with tree cover. The former is a complex mix of species providing, besides carbon sequestration, a variety of ecological services including rainwater harvesting and storage in aquifers, preventing top soil run-off and loss, and also providing fuel, fodder, medicinal plants, fruits, oilseeds and a variety of other means to sustain human lives and livelihoods in surrounding areas, besides sustaining considerable bio-diversity including wildlife. However, plantations for commercial or “social” forestry may only provide limited tree cover, carbon sequestration services and commercial value, and the two cannot be equated in any manner. Efforts to conflate these two, in this Bill and in other government policy, will mean only that commercial plantations are being prioritized over natural forests with multiple benefits, and that grounds are being created for converting forests to plantations, couched in the language of “sustainable development” and carbon sequestration.

 

  1. The Amendment proposes to exempt certain tracts of forest land from restrictions on non-forest activities.

 

  1. land within 100 kilometres along international borders, LoC or LAC to be used for land within 100 kilometres along international borders, LoC or LAC to be used for “strategic linear projects of national importance and concerning national security”
  2. up to 10ha in any forest land to be used for security related infrastructure
  3. up to 5ha for developing infrastructure of defence-related or paramilitary forces in areas affected by Left-Wing Extremism

 

  1. 100 km of forest land in border areas in the North, North-East or along the LOC or LAC encompasses almost the entire length of the Western and Eastern Himalayas, North-east India, while the international border along the North-East States and West Bengal covers huge swathes of eco-sensitive areas. These areas also include two important Biodiversity Hotspots of the world out of the total 4 hotspots in India. These Biodiversity hotspots are not only biologically rich but also deeply threatened. The two Biodiversity hotspots along the Eastern Himalayas and the North East border or LAC areas are also ecologically sensitive and home to several rare wildlife species. Similarly, almost the entire Sunderbans, a globally unparalleled unique delta and forest region which is currently severely threatened by sea-level rise caused by climate change, lies within 100 km of the Indo-Bangladesh border. Any diversion of forest land for non-forest developmental activities will be disastrous for this highly eco-sensitive, vulnerable and threatened ecosystem which also sustains a large, mostly poor population. It is also difficult to comprehend the exemption sought for “linear projects,” since most projects along the LAC or border areas are likely to be non-linear roads, settlements etc. Perhaps shelter is being wrongly taken behind the concept of “linear projects” such as electricity transmission lines, pipelines etc. which are already exempt.
  2. Similarly, acquiring up to 10ha or even 5ha of forest land in any part of the country in the name of security and Left-Wing extremism will entail destruction of important and dense central Indian forests. It is well known that creation of even infrastructure of 5-10 ha in dense forest areas will also entail access roads, perhaps electricity lines, water supply and other infrastructure involving additional destruction of the forest system. Again, forests in these regions also support substantial mostly poor tribal populations, including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) who are as vulnerable as the eco-system they derive their sustenance from.
  • It is strongly urged that exemption for all such projects be sought on a strictly case-by-case basis.

 

  1. The definition of Forest in the Bill is unacceptable. One of the major provisions of the Bill is to cover only land that has been declared or notified as a Forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 or under any other law. It also seeks to recognize lands that were recorded as forests on or after October 25, 1980. Many lands in government records are in fact recorded as forests many years or even decades before 1980. As per the latest Forest Survey of India’s State of Forest Report (2021), out of the total forest area of 7,75,288 sq.km, 1,20,753sq.km is categorized as “unclassed.” These account for approximately 15% of India’s total forest cover, and in some states and Union Territories, unclassed forests are a massive portion of the total forest cover.
  2. The Bill attempts to retrospectively “de-recognize” certain classes of forests under the guise of these lands being private lands, plantations etc.
  3. The Bill is therefore a ploy to overturn the 1996 Supreme Court judgment in the famous Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India and others which ruled that the term “Forest” will not only include forest as understood in the dictionary sense, but also any area recorded as forest in Government records irrespective of the ownership.

 

  1. The Bill under Section 5(2) empowers the Union Government to unilaterally “specify the terms and conditions subject to which any survey, such as, reconnaissance, prospecting, investigation or exploration including seismic survey, shall not be treated as non-forest purpose.” This is highly objectionable, and allows for invasive activities such as prospecting with potential for serious ecological damage. This clause should be withdrawn.

 

  1. Forests come under the Concurrent List in the division of power between the Union Government and the State Governments. However, the Bill under Section 6 empowers the Central Government to issue any directions as it deems necessary to State Governments in pursuit of implementation of provisions of the Bill. This too is highly objectionable, violative of the Constitutionally-granted powers of the State Governments and should therefore be withdrawn.

 

  1. In view of the above, AIPSN is of the view that the proposed Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, placed by the Union Government in the Lok Sabha be withdrawn in its present form. The need of the hour is restoration, protection and improvement of devastated forest ecosystems, rather than diversion or alteration in the use of forest lands in large parts of the country in one guise or another.

 

 

For Contact:

Asha Mishra                                        D. Raghunandan

General Secretary, AIPSN                  Convenor, Environment Desk, AIPSN

Mobile: 9425302012                           Mobile: 9810098621

Email: gsaipsn@gmail.com

Press Release “AIPSN Appeal To Strengthen and Not Shutdown Vigyan Prasar”
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Press Release “AIPSN Appeal To Strengthen and Not Shutdown Vigyan Prasar”

click here to get the pdf of PressRelease-VP-AIPSN-26Apr2023nolrhd

click here to get the pdf of pressrelease-VP-AIPSN26Apr2023lrhdunsd

See here for Newsclick coverage

Click here to see  Gmail-PMO-VPappeal and AipsnLetterToPMO-regVP-27Apr2023 sent to PMO

Click here to see Gmail-MoS- VPappeal and AipsnLetterToMoS-regVP-27Apr2023 sent to MoS S&T

Click here to see Gmail-DSTSec-VP-appeal and AipsnLetterToDSTSec-regVP-27Apr2023 sent to Sec DST

 

                                                                             26 Apr 2023

Press Release

AIPSN Appeal To Strengthen and Not Shutdown Vigyan Prasar

It was shocking and disturbing to learn from the press article titled “An Institution Dies” in The Statesman of 24 Apr 2023 that there is a proposal to close Vigyan Prasar, by August of this year. Vigyan Prasar (VP) was set up in 1989 with a mandate for science popularization, communication and building scientific temper. VP is now an autonomous organization under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and is one of the well acknowledged and visible organizations of the DST. VP is a successful organization which has taken up notable initiatives. Still, Niti Aayog has recommended that Vigyan Prasar (VP) be closed and a cell be set up at the DST to perform the functions of VP. The idea seems to be that the objectives can be met and there will be reduction of human and financial resources. Moreover, such an arrangement would be favorable for outsourcing as a way to lower the recurring expenditure. This move in effect will pave the way for contract labor and privatization. Both are not conducive to a continued engagement with science popularization and development of scientific temper and spirit of enquiry which VP has fulfilled as a constitutional mandate under Article 51A (h).

The role of scientific literacy in building a modern society cannot be underestimated. This task is taken extremely seriously by our neighbour China. In 2002, it promulgated a law to popularise science –“Law of PRC on Science and Technology Popularization”. In 2006 its policy document “Outline of National Scheme for Scientific Literacy (2006-2010-2020) was issued. National representative surveys are conducted by its ‘China Research Institute for Science Popularization’ (CRISP), which show that scientific literacy among Chinese citizens has grown from 1.6% in 2005 to 3.7% in 2010 to 8.47% in 2018. As per its 2020 science popularization policy ‘guideline document’ 15% is targeted for 2025 and 25% for 2035.As per this guideline “science popularization is equally vital as scientific and technological innovation”, and is playing a key role in the remarkable technological and economic progress of that country. China has a budget of Rs 20,000 crores for science popularization of which Rs 16,000 crores is government funding. Closing of VP may result in a saving of about Rs 20 crores, but the long term damage to the economy and national interest is inestimable.

Vigyan Prasar has built communication capacities and engaged the people following knowledge enrichment inculcating scientific temper, nurturing critical thinking amongst citizens of the country through Indian languages including local dialects. VP has been inclusive and embraced every strata of the society be it women, physically challenged, tribals, people from remote and geographically inaccessible regions for S&T communication, popularization & extension by producing content. VP has been the only organization in the country that has been working pan India on science & technology communication, popularization and hands-on outreach. The number of school children and youth whose lives it has touched over 32 years across more than 700 districts is enormous. It has acted as an interface between society, scientists, media and policy makers. The expertise, capability and skills that Vigyan Prasar has nurtured and grown will be lost if it is closed or reduced to a cell. VP is not a publicity exercise which can be done by a cell of DST. The development, aggregation and content generation is a skill set that has been nurtured over 30 odd years which cannot be replaced through outsourcing.

Therefore, a decision to shut down Vigyan Prasar is shortsighted, ill considered and contrary to the national interest and objectives. Science popularization and scientific literacy is indispensable for the nation  as we seek to go forward to becoming a modern , technologically and scientifically advanced knowledge society. For serious and fundamental reasons  this national comprehensive perspective cannot be provided by the private sector.

All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) appeals to the Government of India to strengthen, rather than close, Vigyan Prasar as its functions do not overlap with any other department of the Govt of India. The country needs more science communication, not less, and on a far greater scale, in all the Indian languages. We have a constitutional obligation to nurture the scientific temper among citizens, and science communication ought to be acknowledged as core mandate of the DST and not relegated to a PR cell outsourcing activity. The country needs a cadre of science communicators, and institutions such as VP need expansion and strengthening towards achieving this. The closing of Vigyan Prasar will be an irreplaceable loss to the country. Vigyan Prasar needs to continue and be empowered even more to serve the country in terms of science communication, popularization, developing critical thinking and scientific temper as part of our Constitutional mandate.

 

Asha Mishra

General Secretary AIPSN

gsaipsn@gmail.com @gsaipsn

 

The Success and Notable initiatives of Vigyan Prasar

 

Vigyan Prasar has produced about 300 books by well known science writers and scientists. These books are appreciated in almost all States in India and also outside the country. The people in VP have been recognized by many awards such as UNESCO Kalinga award in Science Popularization, National Science Popularization Award, Indira Gandhi Prize for Science Popularization of Science, Atmaram Award for Popular Science Book writing. The monthly bilingual journal, in English and Hindi, from VP called Dream 2047 reaches out to young college students and other sections of society.

The contribution of the VP towards nation building has been immense. Some of the notable initiatives by Vigyan Prasar are listed here:

  • The Vigyan Basha programme of VP to take science in the mother tongue; this is not limited to only the languages in the 8th schedule but also tribal languages spoken by large sections. Science publications were made in Indian languages (Bangla, Tamil, Kannada, Urdu, Gujrati, and Marathi).  Monthly newsletters,  Tajassus (Urdu), AriviyalPalagai (Tamil) Bigyan Katha (Bangla) and Kutuhal ( Kannada). There has never been such a massive effort to reach the public with scientific information in their mother tongue. This requires a dedicated team of experts with both science and communication backgrounds.
  • India Science Wire which converts research publications from Indian labs into news stories, and helps showcase science and technology developments in Indian institutions. It has been the first time media were galvanised and provided space to cover S&T with inputs from India Science wire regularly. The Indian Science News Feature Service released more than 500 stories with over a lakh tweet impression.
  • The India Science TV OTT channel provides videos in Hindi and English for Indian audiences on latest issues. Since it is the only Government based S&T channel which is available as an app it has been able to reach the youth. It has produced more than 2000 films in a period of less than two years with 85 million reach. 500 new video programmes were made. 600 were telecasted on DD Science channel and India Science OTT platform. These programmes were also made available on the video-on-demand section of India Science OTT platform https://www.indiascience.in/
  • The production of 25 different Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kits that has been a game changer to inculcate the importance of hands-on approach.
  • The two international level science festivals which were the first of its kind in the country.
  • The international connections of VP is also seen in the publishing workshops for researchers organised with the American Chemical Society (ACS).
  • The implementation nationwide by VP of International Year of Light, Astronomy – for example – declared by the UN and National Year of Mathematics, Biodiversity, to mention just two, declared by the Government of India. The reach of these programs has been remarkable.
  • The tie-up with All India Radio to take science based content through engaging plays and local involvement in different States of India reaching around 85 percent population of the country on various scientific themes, especially rural population in their own language . The project through All India Radio covered 118 Stations, made 1040 Radio programmes in 19 national languages and dialects.
  • The thirty-five Vigyan Melas, exhibitions, and fairs for Tribal Children were a good example of needed outreach.
  • The Gandhi@150 project –Digital exhibition, was organized by VP at 17 locations
  • Extensive efforts to provide reliable and authentic information on the issues of national importance and pride such as Covid-19, development of Vaccine on Covid-19 recently and in the past on issues like celestial events and other breakthrough in science and technology by Indian labs and institutes.

 

For contact

Asha Mishra 9425302012

Krishnaswamy 8012558638

Dr. Narendra Dhabolkar Award for Science and Scientific Temper work of AIPSN
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Dr. Narendra Dhabolkar Award for Science and Scientific Temper work of AIPSN

Click to read the pdf of the article  on Universalizing Scientific Temper from AIPSN published in the Maharashtra Foundation Souvenir in English and Marathi.

The award ceremony for Dr. Narendra Dhabolkar Award instituted by Maharashtra Foundation took place in Pune on Saturday 28th January 2023. President AIPSN Satyajit Rath and General Secretary AIPSN Asha Misha received the award on behalf of AIPSN. The EC of AIPSN was also represented by Convenor of Scientific Temper Desk Arunabha Misra  along with Vivek Monteiro, Geeta Mahashabde , others from BGVS Maharashtra and Samata Coordinator. The President AIPSN Dr. Satyajit Rath gave the acceptance speech. The article on Universalizing Scientific Temper from AIPSN was published in the Maharashtra Foundation Souvenir.  The EC of AIPSN had earlier decided to accept only the non-monetary part of the award. The memorial plaque shown in picture here was received.

AIPSN response to draft FHEI regulations from UGC
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AIPSN response to draft FHEI regulations from UGC

click here to see the pdf file of the AIPSN response to UGC

click here to see the email sent to UGC 

                  AIPSN Response to draft FHEI regulations from UGC       

cover letter

18 Jan 2023

To

Prof. Rajnish Jain

Secretary UGC

secy.ugc@nic.in

ugcforeigncollaboration@gmail.com

 

 

Sub: Response on the draft FHEI regulations from UGC

                                    Ref: Yr Lr F.No 1-3/2022(NEP) dt 5 Jan 2023

 

Based on the request in your above referred letter from the UGC site, please find attached the response from AIPSN on the draft University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023

 

Do acknowledge the receipt of this document.

 Look forward to having all the inputs received made available publicly.

 AIPSN calls upon UGC to abandon this draft regulation to setup and operate campuses of foreign higher educational institutions in India and instead initiate an open discussion with the stakeholders in India to enable the higher education system in India to first function properly to achieve that Education Ambedkar wanted: “Education is what makes a person fearless, teaches him the lesson of unity, makes him aware of his rights and inspires him to struggle for his rights”.

Yours sincerely

 

Asha Mishra

General Secretary, AIPSN

Mobile: 9425302012

 

 

 18 Jan 2023

All-India Peoples Science Network

Response to draft University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023

Sub: Response on the draft FHEI regulations from UGC

            Ref: Yr Lr F.No 1-3/2022(NEP) dt 5 Jan 2023

 

 

The response from AIPSN is given in two parts: a) Procedural inconsistencies and b) Long term deleterious impacts

  1. Procedural inconsistencies
  2. A democratic exercise has once again been hijacked and made a mockery of in a process that has become familiar. Force a bill, act, ordinance, directive or regulation without any discussion to plead that it is good for the nation. This has happened, to mention a related few instances, in the case of NEP, UGC ABC, STIP and others. The same has now also happened with this UGC FHEI draft regulations being put up on 5th Jan 2023 on the UGC website with the last date to respond as 18th Jan 2023.
  3. The question naturally arises what is the urgency? There has to be more time given. As it is a scheme that is meant for students, the students need to be involved in the discussion. The time could be given till 30th April 2023 and then the responses can be made public before a new draft is circulated.
  4. There is no possibility of postal response. The online and internet access in India is not uniform across the country and in different social strata. Sufficient time is needed for postal responses also from students and others to respond offline also.
  5. It is surprising that UGC has chosen a gmail id for soliciting responses rather than use an official government email id or website for the responses. If UGC does not have this capability even, how is it going to interact with the FHEIs? Or is it an indication that this process will be outsourced to a private party?
  6. Long term deleterious impacts
  7. The entry of FHEIs will make higher education more elitist – increase the costs and reduce the access and quality of higher education that will be available to the socially and economically marginalized. It will lead to further commercialization of the higher education system.
  8. The draft regulations violate social justice. There is no mention even of Reservations and the FHEIs are given a free run in the appointments of faculty and staff as Clause 6.1 says “6.1.The Foreign Higher Educational Institutions shall have the autonomy to recruit faculty and staff from India and abroad as per its recruitment norms.”

 

  1. There is no provision for Reservation in the student admissions. Clause 5.4.only says “Based on an evaluation process, full or partial need-based scholarships may be provided by the FHEI from funds such as endowment funds, alumni donations, tuition revenues and other sources.” Moreover the FHEIs are given a free run in fixing the fees as mentioned in Clause 5.1 and 5.2 “5.1. The campus of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions may evolve their admission process and criteria to admit domestic and foreign students. 5.2. It shall decide the fee structure, which should be transparent and reasonable.”

Effectively socially and economically marginalised sections will not be able to get the benefits. The entry of FHEIs will further increase the access divide between the privileged from the historically and socially underprivileged.

 

  1. Clause 5.3 states “The Foreign Higher Educational Institutions shall make available the prospectus on its website at least 60 days before the commencement of admissions, including fee structure, refund policy, number of seats in a programme, eligibility qualifications, and admission process.”

Without getting the approval of UGC publishing the prospectus is favouring the FHEIs to fix their fees as high as is possible. FHEI is considered as like our new HEIs.

 

  1. 6.3.It shall ensure that the foreign faculty appointed to teach at the Indian campus shall stay at the campus in India for a reasonable period.

Since students may join on the basis of the foreign faculty and if they leave the students may be affected. This is also unreasonable. The foreign faculty must be retained till the students’ requirements are met.

 

  1. Clause 3.1 and 3.2 of the draft regulations states:

“3.1. If the applicant is a foreign university, it should have secured a position within the top 500 of overall / subject-wise global rankings, as decided by the Commission from time to time; 3.2.In the case of a foreign educational institution, the applicant should be a reputed institution in its home jurisdiction.”

There are several overall and subject-wise global rankings of Universities. Which of the ones is UGC talking about here? Saying that “as decided by the Commission from time to time” only suggests the room for favouritism and undue influence. Clause 3.2 provides a large leeway for accommodating foreign educational institutions as there is no objective way to decide “reputed institution in home jurisdiction”. Moreover, there is much debate about rankings’ interpretation, accuracy, and usefulness. The expanding diversity in rating methodologies and accompanying criticisms of each indicate the lack of consensus in the field. Further, it seems possible to game the ranking systems through excessive self-citations or by researchers supporting each other in surveys. UNESCO has questioned whether rankings “do more harm than good”, while acknowledging that “Rightly or wrongly, they are perceived as a measure of quality and so create intense competition between universities all over the world”. So clause 3.1 and 3.2 merely end up as fig leaves to give an air of quality to the FHEIs that are only intent on making money in India from Indian students.

 

  1. Clause 4.1 talks of “An Undertaking to the effect that- (i) the quality of education imparted by it in its Indian campus is at par with that of the main campus in the country of origin, (ii) the qualifications awarded to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as equivalent to the corresponding qualifications awarded by the Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in the main campus located in the country of origin for all purposes, including higher education and employment;”. This is reiterated in Clause 7.2 and 7.4 “7.2.It shall ensure that the quality of education imparted by it in its Indian campus is at par with that of the main campus in the country of origin. 7.4. The qualifications awarded to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as equivalent to the corresponding qualifications awarded by the Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in the main campus located in the country of origin.”

The question arises how will the “at par” and “equivalence” be determined and enforced. What happens if it is found that these are not there as in the undertaking given. We have a history of private educational institutions that are nothing but glorified shops selling qualifications and with no serious action being taken on them for their violations. It will be only the students and the families of the students that will pay the price and suffer for the violations.

  1. Clause 7.5. says “The qualifications awarded under these Regulations shall be equivalent to any corresponding degree awarded by the Indian Higher Educational Institution with the following stipulations: (i) there shall be no further requirement of seeking equivalence from any authority; and (ii) the degree shall have all benefits, rights, and privileges as obtained in the case of a degree awarded by an Indian Higher Educational Institution ordinarily.

The equivalence must not only be in India but also in other countries as is available when degree is from its parent country.

  1. Clause 4.3 mentions “4.3.The Commission shall constitute a Standing Committee to examine matters related to the Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India.”

There is no specification of what will be the constitution of the Standing Committee. Will it involve representatives of student and teachers organisations? Will the civil society groups be represented? What is the level of openness and transparency that will be guaranteed in the constitution and functioning of the Standing Committee?

 

  1. Clause 7.7 glibly talks of “The Foreign Higher Educational Institutions should arrange for adequate physical infrastructure in terms of built-up space for their academic programmes.”

We know how many private universities operated and still operate from houses and shops. Many a time courses are offered without adequate infrastructure. How can the “adequate” referred to in this clause be decided and implemented? It should be defined on the basis of number of courses and students as surety to the students. Otherwise in effect, most FHEIs will come on fishing expeditions and wind up shop if not profitable.

 

  1. The worst crime in the Indian context against the marginalised sections that higher education has to empower is the regulation in effect allows for open profiteering in education. Previously under the garb of “non profit” the private higher educational institutions used to make money from students and their families. Now as Clause 8.3 tells “Cross-border movement of funds and maintenance of Foreign Currency Accounts, mode of payments, remittance, repatriation, and sale of proceeds, if any, shall be as per the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999 and its Rules.” The FHEIs do not even have to put back the profits into India for education or other social purposes. They are allowed to send the profits out of the country. This amount will ultimately become more than the so-called drain of foreign exchange by students going abroad for studies.

 

  1. AIPSN calls upon UGC to abandon this draft regulation to setup and operate campuses of foreign higher educational institutions in India and instead initiate an open discussion with the stakeholders in India to enable the higher education system in India to first function properly to achieve that Education Ambedkar wanted: “Education is what makes a person fearless, teaches him the lesson of unity, makes him aware of his rights and inspires him to struggle for his rights”.

For Contact:

Asha Mishra

General Secretary, AIPSN

Mobile: 9425302012   Email: gsaipsn@gmail.com

Statement on GM Mustard Trials
by

Statement on GM Mustard Trials

8.12.2022

click here to read the AIPSN Statement in  English 

 

 

Statement on GM Mustard Trials 

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) on 18th October 2022 permitted production and field testing of hybrid seeds of genetically modified (GM) Mustard named DMH II. Commercial release of the seeds has still not been allowed pending open field trials. The approval would be for 4 years extendable depending on compliance with various conditions. The current approval is the most significant step in India regarding GM food since a moratorium was announced on the release of Bt Brinjal in 2010.      AIPSN notes that many scientists and farmers organizations have expressed serious concerns on different grounds regarding the GEAC decision.Noting that the GEAC release also specifies that the field trials would study the impact on pollinators and other insects,AIPSN strongly suggests that such studies be conducted over a longer period and on a range of other ecological parameters as well.

Concerns have also been expressed about the herbicide-tolerance built-in to the GM hybrid. Whereas the GEAC release clarifies that the particular “bar” gene is a marker for herbicide tolerance only during“hybrid seed production… not for cultivation in the farmer’s field under any situation” it would have been better if seed production trials take place in a controlled rather than in an open environment so as to assess various risks before conducting open field trials.

AIPSN urges that open field tests if any be conducted with utmost precautions and in carefully selected locations to ensure strict isolation from neighboring fields of mustard. The trials should be conducted by public bodies such as ICAR or agricultural universities etc under supervision of an independent committee of experts from different relevant disciplines including ecologists, eco-toxicologists, pollination biologists, farmers’ organizations and concerned civil society organizations. The trials should be conducted with full transparency, and the data generated should periodically be placed in the public domain.

AIPSN welcomes exploration of different kinds of science-based solutions to the problems of agriculture including the present need to find solutions for low productivity of edible oilseeds and increasing dependence on imports in India. AIPSN urges the government to also explore a wide variety of diverse technological options including bio-technological solutions that are ecologically, socially and economically viable within the framework of innovation through the public sector research system. Further, in order to make an immediate dent on production and imports the government should encourage farmers to increase mustard production by announcing a higher MSP and include mustard oil in the items to be sold through public distribution system.

AIPSN notes that, in contrast to earlier releases by agri-business corporations, DMH-II has been developed by a public sector laboratory in Delhi University in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Nevertheless, DMH-II is a hybrid seed which has to be purchased by the farmer every season, not a variety which can be bred by farmers themselves. So there is concern whether the technology of seed production, or the production and distribution itself, would remain with PSUs or handed over to private entities, with possibly adverse effects on prices, availability and access by farmers. AIPSN urges the government to strengthen the contribution of the public sector in production of mustard seeds also.

Finally, AIPSN urges that any eventual decision on commercial release must be taken after thorough rigorous assessments of results of these trials and based on a detailed plan for regulatory systems and institutional framework governing modalities of seed production and distribution, including provisions for public scrutiny of the same.

 

For Contact:

Asha Mishra                                        Parthib Basu

General Secretary, AIPSN                    Convenor, Agriculture Desk, AIPSN

Mobile: 9425302012                           Mobile: 9831967500

Email: gsaipsn@gmail.com