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Not Available ; There is an urgent need for identification of the eco - friendly/cleaner production system that is more productive and profitable; efficient user of energy, water, and carbon - based inputs, and also environmentally safer. The four years study was conducted from 2016 to 2019, where the dominant rice - wheat cropping system is practiced extensively after Green Revolution. The objectives of the experiment were to evaluate: (1) energy budgeting, (2) carbon auditing, (3) production and economic efficiency of diverse cropping systems for upland rainfed as well as irrigated ecosystems of eastern India. Tillage and cropping system treatments were laid out according to a completely randomized block design and replicated thrice. Ten cropping sequences were comprised of: (T1) a farmers practice of transplanted rice - wheat - mungbean, (T2) conventional till - direct seeded rice (CTDSR) - wheat - mungbean, (T3) soybean - maize, (T4) CTDSR - mustard - urdbean, (T5) foxtail millet - lentil - fallow, (T6) pearl millet - chickpea - fallow, (T7) finger millet - toria - fallow, (T8) sorghum (grain) - chickpea - fallow, (T9) maize cobpigeon pea, and (T10) sorghum (fodder) - mustard - urdbean. Energy contributions of different inputs were 4255, 1221, 818, and 412% for fertilizers, diesel, labour, and electricity, respectively. The amount of indirect (fertilizer, chemicals, and machinery) and direct (diesel and electricity) non - renewable energy inputs were 4060 and 1826%, respectively. Indirect renewable energy input (seed and crop residues) was 17% as compared to 1524% of direct - renewable energy (human labour and irrigation water). The maximum energy input was recorded for T1 (53511 MJ ha1). The maximum biomass production (40.2 Mg ha1) was recorded with T9, while the maximum benefit: cost ratio (3.64) was noted for T10 and T8. The highest specific energy (33.5 MJ kg1) and energy productivity (0.92 kg MJ1) were recorded in T8 treatment. Irrespective of cropping systems, retention of crop residues accounted for 28.658.5% of total carbon input. The carbon sustainability index was 57 times higher for the millet - based production system [T6 (9.32) and T8 (10.27)] compared to cereal - based systems [T1 (1.66) and T2 (1.21)]. Diversification of the rice - wheat system through climate - resilient millets - based production system reduced 84% energy consumption and 87% carbon footprint. The millet - based production system also helps in reducing the carbon input by 172% and improves the energy use efficiency by 61% compared to the cereal - based cropping system. Therefore, the study has an innovative idea to support the crop modelling, policymakers, government planners, researchers, and producers to achieve the sustainable development goals in Indo - Gangetic Plains and similar agro - climatic conditions of South Asia.

Not Available ; Fish is an essential component of the diet of the most populace in Assam and fish farming has been one of the sources of livelihood in rural areas. Assam ranks first in fish production among North-eastern states of India. However, fish production is not sufficient to meet the demand despite having vast aquatic resources in the state. The present study was undertaken to determine the decadal growth of fish production in the state using the compound growth rate. The study also attempted modeling and forecasting of fish production in Assam using Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) methodology. For the present study, time-series data on fish production in Assam from 1980-81 to 2018-19 was obtained from the Directorate of Fisheries, Government of Assam. Data for the period 1980-81 to 2014-15 was utilized to build an ARIMA model and validated through the remaining data from 2015-16 to 2018-19. The best suitable model for the state?s fish production was ARIMA (1, 1, 0) based on the values of the model selection criterion. The actual fish production and forecast values using a fitted model were in close agreement. The out-of-sample forecast values of fish production in the state for the subsequent years 2019-20 to 2022-23 showed an increasing trend from 336.97 to 358.21 thousand metric tonnes. Considering the vast aquatic resources in the state, the study calls for serious attention by policymakers, researchers, and developmental agencies for harnessing the potential of fisheries resources for making the North-east region self-sufficient in fish production as a whole and Assam in particular.

The COVID virus and the pandemic are defying the general laws of epidemiology and virology. The pandemic shows how the economy can be crippled due to health care. Health is a key area which directly drives the economy. Incapacity in health policy leaves us vulnerable as a country. Global organizations and development partners have been too keen to lend technical help, policies, and procedures to India. Gone are the days when India used to receive any international funding in the health sector but at present most of the money is our own. We often take stewardship for implementation of these surrogate policies and procedures countrywide. The International donors and development partners pushed India on the path of selective primary care - disease based vertical programs. It was part of a geopolitical strategy. It is not resources but capacity. Capacity to make any innovation or change. There is a need for a new public health order in India. A massive change; a massive reform. Covid is an opportunity to think, push for institutional capacity building. As far as COVID pandemic is concerned, we need to strengthen the general health system in India, and not yet another vertical National Covid Control Program (NCCP) - Eliminate Covid by 2050; committing all national resources to one disease only. There is an urgent need for India to shift from selective primary health care to a comprehensive health care model. We have capacity and resources, we only need a national resolve! It is time to protect national interest. We cannot keep ourselves artificially vulnerable for ever.

Public Health has always been important for the general public, governments, and governance as it deals with the objective of improving population health through prevention, promotion, and health education. Public Health is defined as "the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society" (Acheson, 1988; WHO). The COVID 19 pandemic has brought a focus on the concept of public health more than ever. Independent departments of Public Health do not exist at medical colleges in India. Public health is a multidisciplinary domain. The body of knowledge is cross-cutting and multidimensional in nature. Public health education is optimal only with the contribution of the participating faculty from different educational and professional backgrounds. Lack of strong public health academics may adversely impact the capacity to formulate indigenous public health policy. In many parts of the developing world, public health policies are heavily influenced by the knowledge developed by the western universities within the domain of global health. Global health policies and goals become synonymous with national health goals. For the democratic republic of India, there is an urgent need to strengthen the public health education system so that the future challenges of health, safety, economy, security can be met The National Medical Commission (NMC) has invited comments on the draft postgraduate medical education regulations 2021. It is an apt opportunity to fundamentally reform public health education in India.

The world is passing through the unprecedented crisis of COVID 19 pandemic. A large section of the global population has been living under mandatory mass quarantine, the lockdown, as a strategy towards slowing down the expansion of the pandemic. This lockdown is being eased out across world in a phase wise manner. India being one of the most populous countries is hardest hit by the pandemic and soon the number of positive cases is likely to touch one million mark. One of the most significant phenomenons observed during the Indian lockdown, has emerged as the long march of migrant workers from cities to their native places. Bihar, one of the Indian provinces is the major provider of migrant labourers for Indian agriculture and the industry sectors. As depicted on social media and television, the plight of migrants was disturbing and exposed modern Indian democracy's vulnerabilities. Many of them had to walk on foot for thousands of kilometers, with their hungry families, from the industrial cities to their native places. Nothing has changed for the migrant workers through the past three centuries, including the first century of postcolonial India. Why are they called migrant workers? Are they not citizens of India? How come being Bihari—a native of Bihar province, one of the primary sources of migrant workers in India, become a stigma? So how did the historical symbol of the most significant accomplishments of Indian history, literature, science, and culture come to be identified with poor migrant workers' image? Bihar's underdevelopment is often blamed on corrupt local politicians and caste politics. However, the history of migrant workers from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh states of India is worth a closer attention for possible solutions. The phenomenon has a historical linkage with the fall of once upon a time the great Indian civilization; centuries of occupation, colonization, slavery, and indentured servitude. India has made steady progress in economic terms since 1947, India's independence from the ...

The 'Academy of Family Physicians of India (AFPI)', is a non-profit organisation registered in New Delhi with a membership base, spread over all India. AFPI is working towards the establishment of a distinct academic discipline 'family medicine' for doctors pursuing primary care vocation within the mainstream medical education system in India. AFPI adopted a multi-pronged approach engaging political leadership, bureaucracy, higher judiciary and other stakeholders. In 2018, a public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India. In pursuance to the Supreme Court of India order, AFPI approached the ministry as well as the Medical Council of India. In 2018 we had received written assurance from the Prime Minister's Office - PMO that the family medicine discipline will be addressed in the NMC bill. Earlier family medicine was mentioned only as part of the National Health Policies (NHP 2002 and NHP 2017) and finally, it has become part of the act, the National Medical Commission Act 2019.

Family medicine is the internationally recognized nomenclature for the academic discipline, knowledge domain, and medical specialty of primary care doctors, working in the community setting. Family medicine is defined as a specialty of medicine which is concerned with providing comprehensive care to individuals and families by integrating biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences in the community setting. The distinction of family medicine lies in the tradition of medical generalism, promoting whole person care, in a life cycle mode; providing optimal preventive, promotive, and curative healthcare services in a wide spectrum of setting from home to hospital. In 2016, 92(nd) report of the department-related parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare on the "Functioning of the Medical Council of India" has emphasized the need for postgraduate in family medicine. The committee report has noted that "the medical education system is designed in a way that the concept of family physicians has been ignored. The committee recommends that the Government of India in coordination with State Governments should establish robust PG Programs in Family Medicine and facilitate introduction of Family Medicine discipline in all medical colleges. This will not only minimize the need for frequent referrals to specialist and decrease the load on tertiary care but also provide continuous healthcare for the individuals and families. The successive National Health Policies of Government of India–NHP 2002 and 2017 have emphasized the need of family medicine training in India. The recently enacted National Medical Commission Act 2019 has mandated NMC to promote training in family medicine at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Therefore, in the background of the stated policies of the Government of India the concept of family doctors, which was earlier neglected should be institutionalized within the mainstream medical education system of India. It is now time to accelerate and upgrade family medicine training ...

The National Medical Commission is being constituted through an act of parliament, the NMC Act 2019. This new medical education regulator will take over the role of the Medical Council of India which is being currently run on adhoc basis through a board of governors (BOG). As per the provision of the NMC Act 2019 under section 24 (1) (c), the Under Graduate Medical Education Board is mandated to to develop competency based dynamic curriculum for addressing the needs of primary health services, community medicine and family medicine to ensure healthcare in such areas. Similarly under section 25. (1) (j) the Post Graduate Medical Education Board is mandated to promote and facilitate postgraduate courses in family medicine. It is important to note that the recently announced (2019) and highly publicized new MBBS curriculum the word "family medicine' has not been even mentioned in the 600 pages document. Through repeated engagements in the form of RTIs, and written representations, it appears that the experts of the Medical Council of India in the past have either deliberately blocked the development of family medicine in India or do not have the basic scholarship within this domain, despite clear direction from NHP and parliamentary standing committee. This has largely happened because there was never any representation of practicing family physicians in the Medical Council of India. The presence of practicing family physicians on the National Medical Commission should be mandatory.

The National Medical Commission—NMC—Act has been passed in the Indian parliament. NMC replaces the MCI—Medical Council of India act and promises to facilitate in delivering quality primary health care. Family medicine has been mentioned thrice in this act and both undergraduate and postgraduate boards of the NMC have been mandated to promote family medicine discipline.

Fevers - undifferentiated, often unacknowledged, is one of the largest morbidity afflicting in primary care settings and the overall healthcare ecosystem in India. FEVER is probably also the largest public health entity in terms of DALY - (Disability Adjusted Life Years) impacting the working population both in urban as well as rural areas; however, it remains unaddressed by public health programs, which are largely organized through vertical disease-focused national programs. The family physicians see a high volume of undifferentiated fevers throughout the year with seasonal and regional variations in India. Family doctors are not formally linked with the public health programs as India continues to march on selective primary care. Family physicians and medical officers are the most vulnerable for exposure to undifferentiated patient load. The first two health workers who died of COVID 19 in India (Indore) were practicing family physicians. Two mohalla clinic doctors tested positive in Delhi and two other general practitioners have been found to be infected in Mumbai. The media discussions have been on increasing capacity for critical care and the number of ventilators etc., It is also important for the governments to urgently review the functionality of PHCs, CHCs and district hospitals, and create a framework of partnership with standalone family physicians and general practitioners as well as nursing home, small hospitals to play a constructive role in managing the epidemic.

Recently, Dr Deben Dutta who was volunteering at a tea estate in the Assam state of India was beaten to death by a strong mob of 250 persons. Earlier a junior doctor was grievously injured leaving a fracture in skull by a similar furious mob at NRS Medical College Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal. Not long ago policemen were seen assaulting a doctor on duty in the CCTV in Bihar. A yet another video showed a politician slapping a senior professor. Such incidences are not uncommon in India these days where doctors have become punching bags for everyone. There are multiple dimensions to this issue, however, the main reason is overcrowding, often leading to inhuman situations but often overlooked. Doubling and tripling (more than one patient on one bed) of beds is a norm. Three patients on one bed is common visual at public hospitals. There is a demand of stringent punishment (12 years) for any citizen for attack on doctors. A new act cannot suspend fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution of India. State has primary duty to protect the right to live with human dignity as fundamental rights of each citizen, both doctor/patients alike under article 21 of the constitution.

The Lancet, a leading health science journal, has published a political editorial, raising interest in the impact of British colonization on the current status of healthcare, economy and development of the Indian subcontinent. Over two centuries, the East India Company and the British empire siphoned out at least £ 9.2 trillion; or $44.6 trillion; since the exchange rate was $4.8 per pound sterling during much of the colonial period. It is to be noted that the life expectancy of Indians at birth was just 22 years in 1911. Food grain was available, however the purchasing power of ordinary Indians was being squeezed. The per capita annual consumption of food grains went down from 200kg in 1900 to 157kg on the eve of World War II, and further down to 37kg by 1946 (Prof Utsa Patnaik). The Indian sub-continent has still not recovered from the systemic malnutrition inflicted upon the population. Today, just under two billion people, or a quarter of the earth's population, live in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The landlocked populations of these countries are known as the black hole of humanity, waiting for ultimate catastrophe- either natural or man-made humanitarian crisis. What happens to these countries now was determined long before and planned by the British empire when their representatives packed bags and transferred power to the local natives. The partition of India was the most tragic ever human genocide artificially perpetrated in the human history. More than 14 million people were displaced and close to two million people died or went missing. It was the parting gift by the British empire to the people of the Indian sub-continent. This was more tragic than the holocaust. A permanent scar and hatred that would not heal even after a century was created by the British empire. The 200 years of anti-incumbency and hatred against the British was forgotten and used to build a civil war. Enough hatred was fumed between the native population of India and Pakistan. This hatred was further institutionalized between ...

Being a doctor in today's time is a tough experience in many parts of the world. Many young people motivated by the traditional image of profession and desire for service opted for this vocation without anticipating today's challenging environment. Bad press, violence against doctors, tough employment conditions, unemployment, and lack of societal respect have become common phenomenon across the world. It is indeed time to introspect. The institution of medical profession is rapidly transforming not necessarily only under the influence of rapidly changing technology. The presented viewpoint is an analysis on impact of changing global political scenario on the future of medical profession.

More than a 1,000 delegates from 40 countries participated in the 15(th) WONCA World Rural Health Conference held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, from 26-29(th) April, 2018. The theme of this conference was "Healing the Heart of Healthcare - Leaving no one behind". The conference was organized by the Academy of Family Physicians of India in association with WoRSA - WONCA Rural South Asia. WONCA is the World Organization of Family Doctors. The conference aspired to bring rural healthcare on global agenda. SDG 3 though focuses on healthcare; however rural healthcare hasn't been emphasized enough. The conference was formally endorsed by the National Health Mission (NHM) under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and the Niti Ayog – the National Policy Commission under Government of India. An extensive scientific program with 13 keynote speakers, 250 oral presentations, 85 e-posters, 60 workshops, 26 Ideathon presentations, 20 panel discussions and 10 symposiums spread over 8 parallel meeting rooms, ran over 4 days, kept the delegates engaged throughout. A national consultation on strengthening rural health care witnessed rural health experts from across the world deliberating on rural health challenges and solutions. Niti Ayog – the policy commission the highest policy making body in India cohosted a national consultation on strengthening rural healthcare in India, during this conference. The conference brought together stakeholders of rural health and primary health care, to address current and future challenges in rural health. The conference culminated with the unanimous adoption of the Delhi Declaration, calling for people living in rural and isolated parts of the country to be given special priority if nations are to achieve universal health coverage. The Declaration identifies six areas as priorities to achieve "Health For All Rural People": equity and access to care, rural proofing of policy, health system development, developing and educating a workforce fit for purpose, realigning the research ...

The Indian medical education system has been able to pull through a major turnaround and has been successfully able to double the numbers of MBBS graduate (modern medicine training) positions during recent decades. With more than 479 medical schools, India has reached the capacity of an annual intake of 67,218 MBBS students at medical colleges regulated by the Medical Council of India. Additionally, India produces medical graduates in the "traditional Indian system of medicine," regulated through Central Council for Indian Medicine. Considering the number of registered medical practitioners of both modern medicine (MBBS) and traditional medicine (AYUSH), India has already achieved the World Health Organization recommended doctor to population ratio of 1:1,000 the "Golden Finishing Line" in the year 2018 by most conservative estimates. It is indeed a matter of jubilation and celebration! Now, the time has come to critically analyze the whole premise of doctor–population ratio and its value. Public health experts and policy makers now need to move forward from the fixation and excuse of scarcity of doctors. There is an urgent need to focus on augmenting the fiscal capacity as well as development of infrastructure both in public and private health sectors toward addressing pressing healthcare needs of the growing population. It is also an opportunity to call for change in the public health discourse in India in the background of aspirations of attaining sustainable development goals by 2030.