Nasheman News : Although the number of Indian research journals has spiraled to over 21,000 in 10 years, they are sadly not making a mark globally, says Subash Lakhotia, a leading academician at the Banaras Hindu University.
In a hard-hitting editorial in the “Current Science” journal that is likely to kindle a fierce debate, the emeritus professor with over 50 years of research experience has put the blame for this predicament squarely on the country’s science establishment, academies and its top scientists.
While on one side a large proportion of research journals from India are “predatory” or bogus, “it is a matter of concern that even the journals of long-standing do not attract high-quality research output even from (scientists) within the country,” the editorial says.
According to Lakhotia, India’s older and established journals were started decades ago by well-known scientists and learned societies “with a clear conviction that a country needs to have its own good research journals to support growth of competitive and quality research”.
“Unfortunately today, most of our established and reputed scientists do not like to publish in Indian journals,” he says. The present tendency to publish in journals outside India “will retard the process of building up a scientific tradition for India and keep her in a position of semi-dependence in the world of science”, the editorial warns.
Top Indian scientists not only fail to publish their work in local journals but think it below their “level” to review the manuscripts of other researchers for journals published in India.
Lakhotia says he found many young researchers around the country are willing to publish their research results in journals from India but “their single major inhibiting factor is the fear that they would receive low or no scores for publications in Indian journals when their seniors evaluate them”.
The editorial puts the blame partly on India’s scientific establishment, saying it does not seem to have strong faith in the quality of research journals published within the country “as none of them” has a significant impact factor — frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field.
The editorial also notes that a large number of Indian research journals now have “co-publishing” arrangements with commercial publishers abroad ostensibly to improve their global visibility. Lakhotia says this justification “is fallacious and not much change has occurred in the quality of what is published in their pages”.
The only advantage is that the journals can share a percentage of profits earned by their co-publishing commercial houses that charge substantial amounts for the journal articles down-loaded from their sites. “In my perception such acts impinge on the academic autonomy of the academies/learned societies that publish these journals.”
Lakhotia says India’s science establishment continues to look down upon papers and researchers who publish in Indian journals, notwithstanding their association with a “foreign” brand name.
If established scientists in the country do not wish to publish in Indian journals, do not wish to review manuscripts for these journals and, more importantly, directly or indirectly penalise those who publish in them, “these journals would continue to struggle and fail to become internationally competitive”, Lakhotia warns.
The editorial adds: “Our established researchers should publish some of their original research output in Indian journals, participate in critical review of manuscripts when invited by an editor, and, more importantly, must not look down upon researchers just because they have published in Indian journals.”
Lakhotia concludes by saying that “as a community, we need to strive hard to be proud of our journals rather than be apologetic. Individuals and institutions must be assessed on the basis of what they publish rather than where they publish.”
“I am in substantial agreement with Lakhotia,” Professor Mamannamana Vijayan at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru and former President of the Indian National Science Academy, told this correspondent, adding: “However, I do not know how to completely solve the problem when the centre of gravity of world science remains in the West.”
“Of course, Professor Lakhotia is right,” says Subbiah Arunachalam, a Chennai-based information consultant who had been editor of several scientific journals.
“Many (or most) senior scientists in India have abandoned their responsibility to nurture science. No doubt they are keen to do good research and publish in top journals, but what about contributing to the development of a community of active researchers or supporting research institutions (and smaller universities and colleges) in the neighborhood?”.
Professor Lingadahalli Shashidhara, at the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, says he only partly agrees with Lakhotia.
“Some introspection is needed on why we need Indian journals in a digital world,” Shashidhara told this correspondent. “If we publish in Indian journals the kind of work that is being published by hundreds of other such journals, we tend to lose out on quality if we only depend on Indian submissions,” he added.
“Considering that the Indian scientific community is large enough to spin out its own schools of thoughts (evolution, biodiversity-ecology, high-energy physics, astrophysics/astronomy — to name a few), Indian journals should focus on such topics giving not only appropriate platforms to Indian community, but also pushing the frontiers of knowledge,” Shashidhara contended.
Banks on nationwide strike on Wednesday, services likely to be affected
Nasheman News :Services of banks are likely to be affected on Wednesday due to a nationwide strike call given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) to protest against bank mergers and pay revision.
The strike is likely to affect the country’s banking sector. It has been called to oppose the amalgamation of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank by the consortium of nine unions in the banking sector which includes the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).
“10 lakh bank employees and officers of the 21 public sector banks, old generation private banks and foreign banks under the banner of the UFBU will join the one-day strike on December 26 against merger of public sector banks and wage revision of bank employees,” NOBW Vice President Ashwani Rana was quoted as saying in a statement issued on Tuesday.
On wages, the unions are demanding a hike of 25 per cent, increment for all bank employees under scale 1 to 7 (instead of the IBA’s offer to only those employees in junior scale of 1 to 3) and rejection of the proposal to introduce variable pay.
Though wage revision in state-run banks happens every five years, it may be difficult for them to raise wages substantially as high NPAs and losses have hurt the sector.
“Bank employees wage revision is due since November 1, 2017. So far the IBA (Indian Banks’ Association) has offered 8 per cent wage hike which is not acceptable to the United Forum of Bank Unions,” he said.
According to Rana, the Additional Labour Commissioner had called a conciliation meeting on December 20 to wade off the strike.
“The United Forum of Bank Unions served a strike notice to the Indian Bank Association and the MDs of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank on merger of these banks. Since there was no assurance by the IBA on stopping the merger of these three banks and fresh offer on wage revision, the UFBU decided to go ahead with the strike on December 26,” Ranan said.
Sun setting on 28% slab, 3-tier GST with single standard rate ultimate aim: Jaitley
Nasheman News : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday hinted that the country may eventually have a single standard rate of GST through merging of 12 and 18 per cent slabs, adding that the 28 per cent slab will soon be phased out, except in case of luxury and “sin goods”.
He said the country should eventually have a Goods and Services Tax (GST) structure which would have only slabs of zero and five per cent and a standard rate, with luxury and “sin goods” as an exception.
“A future roadmap could well be to work towards a single standard rate instead of two standard rates of 12 per cent and 18 per cent. It could be a rate at some mid-point between the two. Obviously, this will take some reasonable time when the tax will rise significantly,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post.
Regarding the highest tax slab of 28 per cent, the Minister said with the GST transformation completed, India was close to completing the first set of rate of rationalisation by phasing out the highest slab except in luxury and sin goods.
“The sun is setting on the 28 per cent slab… Today, barring tobacco products and some luxury goods, almost all items had been transferred from 28 per cent slab to 18 and 12 per cent.
“Only cement and auto parts are items of common use which remain in 28 per cent slab. Our next priority will be to transfer cement into a lower slab. All other building materials have already been transferred to 18 and 12 per cent… The 28 per cent slab is now a dying slab,” he said.
Attacking the Congress and other opposition parties, Jaitley said their criticism of the GST was “ill-informed” and “motivated”.
He said during the pre-GST regime, a large number of commodities were taxed heavily and that the Congress legacy was a 31 per cent indirect tax.
“Those who oppressed India with a 31 per cent indirect tax and consistently belittled the GST must seriously introspect. Irresponsible politics and irresponsible economics is only a race to the bottom,” he added.
Jaitley said the political noise outside the GST Council was inconsistent with the harmony inside as at its 31 meetings, the body has “behaved with utmost responsibility” taking several thousand decisions unanimously and with consensus.
Referring to the government falling short of the collection targets, the Minister said the targets set in the GST regime were unprecedentedly high, with a 14 per cent increase over 2015-16 tax collections guaranteed.
“Thus, even when 18 months have not been finished since the launch of GST, on this day every state has a target of improving its revenue with three 14 per cent increases compounded annually over the base year of 2015-16. This is close to a 50 per cent being reached in the second year itself,” he said.
“It is almost an unachievable target. Yet six states have already achieved it, another seven are within a striking distance of achieving it and only 18 are still more than 10 per cent away from achieving it.”
Jaitley said that those states which do not achieve the target of 14 per cent are paid out of the compensation cess.
“The requirement of compensation cess in the second year is expected to be much lower than the first year,” he said, adding the average monthly tax collected in the first year was Rs 89,700 crore as compared to Rs 97,100 crore per month in the second year.
“This increase in the tax collection has to be factored keeping in mind the significant rate reduction which has taken place in the GST” which amounts to about Rs 80,000 crore per year, he said.
AUTO MOBILE CORNER
The Latest Info On Hyundai Santro
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Powering the new Santro 2018 is a 1.1-litre, 4-cylinder engine that makes 68PS/99Nm (petrol) & 58PS/84Nm (CNG) respectively. The petrol version will be available with a 5-speed AMT over & above the standard 5-speed manual gearbox.
As expected Hyundai, has aggressively priced the Santro 2018 with prices starting at Rs 3.89 lakh, & topping out at Rs 5.65 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Hyundai Santro Variants
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Car Review By : Faizan Rizwan
Bangalore Metro purple line some technical snag.Causes delay
In yet another interruption in service in the Purple Line of Bengaluru’s Namma Metro, trains running on Monday morning faced a brief technical snag. This resulted in unforeseen delays causing inconvenience to passengers. For a brief period between 10am and 11am, information boards in the train stations went blank and trains came to a halt or moved slower than usual. Some passengers were stuck in stations for more than 30 minutes.
Trains have been plying at intervals of 15 minutes since December 12 when structural damage in the metro track’s bridge near the Trinity Metro Station were spotted. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has already announced that trains will not run between MG Road and Indiranagar from 8pm on December 28 to December 30.
A metro passenger said, “Not only are the trains running late, but it is stopping for more than three-five minutes in every station.” The metro officials and security personnel in the stations were not informed of the problem.
“There is a technical glitch in Purple Line between MG Road to Baiyappanahalli. Trains will be running slow till restored in this section. Hence expect delays in this line . Inconvenience regretted,” Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited tweeted.
The resultant delays in the stretch in turn caused a disruption in the services along the entire stretch between Mysore Road and Byappanahalli. Train services along the Green Line were, however, unaffected.
After the issue was resolved, the Chief Public Relations Officer Chavan told media, “Our priority is to ensure that the rest of the services are running smoothly. We are trying to ascertain what caused the problem.”
BMRCL officials said that the delays were caused due to a problem in the metro’s signaling system in both directions between the two stations. Informed sources said the snag was caused by an interruption of power supply but it is yet to be ascertained.
PM releases Rs 100 coin in memory of Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Nasheman News : A day ahead of the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his successor Narendra Modi on Monday released a commemorative Rs 100 coin to honour the late leader, who passed away in August.
Addressing a gathering at the Parliament House Annexe here, Modi said Vajpayee never compromised on the ideologies of the party and always spoke about national interest.
“For some people, power is oxygen…they can’t live without it…A long part of Atalji’s career was spent in the opposition benches but he spoke about national interest and never compromised on the ideology of the party.
“For long, the voice of Atalji was the voice of the nation,” Modi said.
“I assume that there must be invitations from other ideologies for joining hands to remain in power. Such things must have happened. But he never compromised.
“He was among those who could die for the nation, but would never compromise on the ideologies,” Modi said.
Vajpayee wanted democracy to be supreme. He built the Jana Sangh but when time came to rescue democracy he and others went to the Janata Party, Modi added.
“Likewise, when the choice was between remaining in power or comprising on ideology, he left Janata Party and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party” which “has become among the largest of political parties”, the Prime Minister said.
Hailing Vajpayee as “the best orator”, Modi said “the mind is not ready to believe that Atalji is no longer with us. He was a stalwart loved and respected across all sections of society.
Modi said e would go to Vajpayee’s memorial on Tuesday — his birth anniversary — to reiterate his commitment to the ideology and path shown by the leader.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma, BJP national President Amit Shah and veteran BJP leader and Vajpayee’s contemporary L.K. Advani were also present at the event to release the coin.
Commemorative coins are usually issued to celebrate some special occasion or to mark a special event. They also have been issued as a mark of respect towards some distinguished individuals or monument.
The coin, Modi said, is a small effort to show our respect to the former Prime Minister, “whose life is a message for all of us”.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on August 16 at the age of 93 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here following a prolonged illness.
GST rate change 28% removed for 7 Items
GST, the government’s biggest tax reform, sets rates from 28 per cent to 5 per cent on most items, replacing an array of central and state duties.
To simplify the indirect tax regime, the government moved most goods to a reduced GST rate.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council removed seven items from the 28 per cent tax bracket, the government said in a statement on Saturday. Six items – such as pulleys gear boxes, monitors and TVs (up to 32 inches), digital cameras and video game consoles – moved from 28 per cent to 18 per cent while one item – parts and accessories for carriages for people with disabilities – moved from 28 per cent to 5 per cent, the release added. Now, the 28 per cent slab is restricted to only luxury and sin goods, apart from auto parts and cement — tax rates on which could not be cut due to the high revenue implication. The new GST rates will be effective from January 1, 2019, Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley said while briefing reporters after the 31st GST Council meeting.
The GST Council has also removed four items from 18 per cent slab. Three items – such as articles of natural cork – moved from 18 per cent to 12 per cent while one – marble rubble – moved from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. Total four items have been moved from 12 per cent slab while three items have been moved to 5 per cent such as natural cork and walking stick
GST rate reduction will have an overall impact on revenue of Rs. 5500 crore, said Mr Jaitley.
Due date for GST annual return and audit report has also been extended till June 30, 2019.
GST, the government’s biggest tax reform, sets rates from 28 per cent to 5 per cent on most items, replacing an array of central and state duties.
Markets open in red on Friday
Mumbai, The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) on Friday opened on a negative note during the morning trade session.
The Sensex of the BSE which had closed on Thursday at 36,431.67, opened on Friday at 36,449.27, touched a high of 36,450.36 and a low of 36,327.31.
The Sensex is trading at 36,394.06 down by 37.61 points or 0.10 per cent.
On the other hand, the broader 50-scrip Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 10,944.25 points after closing at 10,951.70 points.
The Nifty is trading at 10,938.20 points in the morning.
Government to infuse Rs 83,000 cr in banks by March: Jaitley
New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the government will infuse Rs 83,000 crore in public sector banks in the remaining part of the fiscal taking the total recapitalisation of banks during the year to Rs 1.06 lakh crore.
“Today we have asked for the parliamentary sanction for (issuing) additional recapitalisation bonds of Rs 41,000 crore… As of today, of the Rs 65,000 crore recapitalisation plan for 2018-19, Rs 42,000 crore is still remaining.
“Therefore, with this additional Rs 41,000 crore, we will now have Rs 83,000 crore for the balance year and that will make this year’s recap to a total of Rs 1.06 lakh crore,” Jaitley said after tabling the Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Lok Sabha.
The second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2018-19 involving a gross spending of Rs 85,948.86 crore includes the package of Rs 41,000 crore for banks. It will not require any additional cash outgo as the capital infusion is planned through bonds.
Jaitley said the distribution process for the Rs 83,000 crore capital infusion in state-run banks will be decided on the basis of performance of banks by the Department of Financial Services (DFS). About Rs 23,000 crore have already been infused this fiscal.
Capital infusion will be done under four heads to help banks meet regulatory capital norms, help better performing banks under RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) to get out of it, facilitate non-PCA banks that are near the “red-line” and to strengthen amalgamated banks.
Financial Services Secretary Rajeev Kumar said the capital infusion will help at least four of the total 11 PCA banks meet their regulatory capital norms. Overall strengthening of the banks will encourage lending and thereby economic growth of the country.
“We have made provisions to give capital to 4-5 banks (in PCA) depending on performance and on the Q2 and Q3 results. The figures will be decided (later) but there are chances that we equip at least 3 to 5 banks to meet the norms,” he said.
As per the current regulatory norms, the PCA banks will have to achieve 9 per cent Capital to Risk-weighted Asset Ratio (CRAR), 1.875 per cent Capital Conservation Buffer and the 6 per cent net non-performing assets (NPA) threshold to come out of PCA and restart lending.
“About the PCA banks, the performances we are looking at is the lower level and declining trend of net NPAs, whichever PCA bank has shown better performance in terms of reduction in NPAs and the improvements in return on assets. Name of these banks will be worked out.”
Kumar said there are three non-PCA banks that are near the threshold and in the danger of falling into the PCA category. These banks, including Punjab National Bank, will be provided capital to strengthen their base, he said.
There are three to four banks namely State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank and Vijaya Bank that have maintained regulatory capital even higher than the prescribed minimum and would not need any capital infusion.
“The process of NPA recognition that started in 2015 is almost complete. The last quarter has showed improved performance. While recognition of NPAs peaked at 7 per cent in March 2015, it has now come down to 0.59 per cent as of September 2018,” Jaitley said.
The government had initiated a comprehensive clean-up of the banking system under its 4R’s approach of recognition, resolution, recapitalisation and reforms. Since 2015-16 till end of this fiscal, the total capital infusion in public sector banks will be over Rs 3 lakh crore.
“The NPAs recognition is complete, recapitalisation is in full swing, it has been enhanced further, recovery is also in full swing, the last H1 (April-September 2018) recovery is to the tune of Rs 60,726 crore,” Kumar said.
The trend is likely to continue as the creditor-debtor relationship has changed because of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and debarment of the connected parties, he said.
“PSBs are showing tremendous improvement in terms of recognition, in terms of provisioning, recovery, reforms and therefore this is the time that we empower them and equip them with the capital so that the banks are ready to support the fastest growing economy,” he added.
10 lakh bankers to strike work on Dec 26 against mergers
Chennai, With the failure of conciliation talks, about 10 lakh bankers in private and government banks will go on strike on December 26 protesting against the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said on Thursday.
“During the conciliation meeting held in Delhi today (Thursday), the Additional Chief Labour Commissioner advised the three banks and IBA (Indian Banks Association) to hold negotiations with the unions and convey the Union’s concerns to the government,” AIBEA General Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam told IANS.
“No assurance came from either IBA or the government. Hence the conciliation talks failed and the December 26 strike stands,” Venkatachalam added.
The AIBEA is part of the nine unions in the banking sector under the umbrella body of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).
According to Venkatachalam, the strike was only against the bank mergers and there was no deadlock on the wage revision talks with IBA.
India is largely unbanked or underbanked with low density of banks. Mergers will kill bank branches while the focus should be on recovering the huge outstanding loans, the AIBEA said.
With Christmas on December 25, banks would effectively be closed for two days, affecting the banking public.
Though the bankers had wanted the strike on December 24, a Monday, for a bigger impact as the banks would then be closed for four consecutive days (December 22-25), the unions decided to strike on December 26 to lessen the impact on public.
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