Indian business post

Improve the Efficacy of School Feeding Programmes

Development Seminar |No Free Lunch: Using Technology to Improve the Efficacy of School Feeding Programmes

Friday, July 27, 2018, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Brookings India, No. 6, Second Floor, Dr. Jose P. Rizal Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi

Dear Mr. Sagar,

I am writing to follow up on our invitation to you for attending our next Development Seminar on “No Free Lunch: Using Technology to Improve the Efficacy of School Feeding Programmes” with Prof. Sisir Debnath, Assistant Professor, Indian School of Business.

Abstract: Malnutrition among vulnerable children is often targeted using free school feeding programmes in developing countries. Prof. Debnath studies the role of technology in improving the delivery of school feeding programmes. Using the rollout of a mobile-based monitoring mechanism (Interactive Voice Response System or IVRS) that aids in cross-tallying the number of beneficiaries in the delivery chain, he finds that increase in resulting accountability reduces leakages in school lunch provision in Bihar. He contrasts the provision of meals in districts of Bihar and its contiguous neighbouring states from an independent survey with the official state records. Independently collected data reveals that the technology reform increases the likelihood of lunch provision in a school by 20 percentage points and finds that the increase in take-up is also accompanied by an improvement in the quality and quantity of meals.

Speaker Profile: Sisir Debnath is an Assistant Professor in the Economics and Public Policy area at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He received his Ph. D., from the University of Virginia in 2013. His primary research interests are in the areas of health, gender, and education in developing countries. Some of his current research involves investigating the effects of the social network in affecting the demand for tertiary care for publicly provided health insurance in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. His other working projects evaluate the role of information and communication technology on the provision of public goods.

Please RSVP: psharma@brookingsindia.org and contact nmehta@brookingsindia.org for media inquiries.

My Best,

Shamika Ravi

Dr. Shamika Ravi
Research Director, Brookings India
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

China to invest $14bn in S. Africa

Many agreements were signed between China and South Africa during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit. This includes nearly $15 billion in investment for the African country. The two countries also vowed to strengthen economic ties.

China and South African relations have developed into a comprehensive, strategic partnership. The two countries have witnessed increasing political mutual trust, practical cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and strategic coordination. They’ve now pledged to draw a new blueprint for further developing bilateral relations.

“We have full confidence in the bright prospects of our cooperation and friendship going forward. The president and I both believe that our two parties and countries are good friends, good partners, good brothers and good comrades,” Xi said.

“We must continue to view our bilateral relationship from a strategic height and to continue to push forward our collaboration with the long term perspective.”

China is South Africa’s largest trading partner, while South Africa is China’s largest trading partner in Africa. Both presidents emphasized the need to ensure that citizens from both countries should directly benefit from the relations.

The two leaders have also pledged to build cultural centers in both countries. President Ramaphosa is expected to pay a state visit to China later this year. He will also attend the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing later this year.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that China would invest $14 billion in the country. The statement came after Ramaphosa held talks with President Xi Jinping in Pretoria on the eve of a multilateral summit, AFP reported. Ramaphosa came to power in February pledging to revive the economy and attract investors after Jacob Zuma was ousted from office at the end of a nine-year reign dominated by graft scandals and low economic growth. “We have signed several agreements and memorandums of understanding that are intended to further deepen our relations, including investment commitments to the value of $14 billion,” Ramaphosa said. Among the deals signed on Tuesday was a $2.5 billion loan to South Africa’s state-run power company Eskom, which is burdened by massive debts.

‘MACRON’S WATERGATE’ IS ALEXANDRE BENALLA

French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to take the hit for the unfolding Alexandre Benalla affair, saying he’s responsible for all the actions of his violent aide, who was filmed beating demonstrators during a May Day rally.

“If they are looking for the one responsible, the only one responsible is me and me alone,”Macron told fellow parliamentary party lawmakers on Tuesday, as quoted by BFM TV. “If they want the one responsible, he’s in front of you. Let them come and get me. I answer to the French people.”

Emmanuel Macron’s presidency is being battered by its worst scandal so far and at the center of it is the protester-beating bodyguard Alexandre Benalla, a young man with a surprisingly successful career On May 1, a man wearing a police helmet was filmed roughing up unarmed protesters at an anti-Macron rally in Paris. In mid-July, he was identified as Macron’s bodyguard Benalla. This has given rise to a scandal that could swell up to what the opposition called& with French politicians baffled by the lengths to which Macron’s team has gone to protect the bodyguard.

Macron on Tuesday called the scandalous May 1 events a “betrayal,” adding that he had “trusted” Benalla. The French president at the same time stressed that he was also the one who authorized a “sanction” against the rogue aide, adding that none of his staff was above the law.

The said sanction, however, had seemingly only taken effect when the affair went public, which forced the presidential administration to sack Benalla.
Immediately after the incident, Benalla got away with only a two-week suspension without pay. The violent aide was later spotted overseeing the security of the French football team’s bus during their triumphant return from the 2018 World Cup.

Chess or Poker for Super Brains, C. Gayle Promotes Adda52

August03, 2018 (C) Ravinder Singh ravindersinvent@gmail.com

When in 1973 I was playing my first ever Chess Tournament on table One and won that match – my brain was processing each move like a Super Computer Deep Blue* evaluating some billions of moves for each movement of Chess pieces. Playing Chess and Indoor Games I was Programming a natural my own ‘SUPER COMPUTER’ at practically no cost.

Then I realized had to pay ‘Entry Fee’ and buy Tea and Snacks at National Level tournament – I switched to INVENTING. Secured Patents and Represented India at EXPO’85 World Exhibition of Inventor. All my competitors have SUPER COMPUTERS in the world.

For complete human development – Indoor Games like Chess, Poker, Career, and Money Games etc for Sharp Brains and Outdoor Sports Athletics, Cricket, Football, Tennis, Kabaddi & Kho Kho, Badminton, Hockey, Cycling, Wrestling, Judo, Karate for Physical Development Indoor Sports like Squash, Billiard, Bowling, Badminton, Table Tennis etc are all essential – more than education up to School Level.

Sports makes a person Mentally Tough, Intelligent, Ability to Analyze and Make Quick Accurate Decisions.

Adda52, an Indoor Games IT Company has appointed Chris Gayle as its Brand Ambassador.

India should be promoting BRAIN GAMES than Children reading same books hundreds of times for over two decades and as Mr. Mohandas Pai said ‘Education Cost from Nursery to Post Graduation Cost Rs.1 Crore’ and then most are found to unemployable – Because They Have Not Developed their Brains.

Indian Education System should switch to 40% School Work and 50% Sports & Games and 10% Part Time Jobs – in my case it was 20% & 80%.

Sports Economy may exceed $100b by 2022 creating million jobs serving 200m young Indians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke8pq-cpOGk

*Deep Blue WIKI ‘It was a massively parallel, RS/6000 SP Thin P2SC-based system with 30 nodes, with each node containing a 120 MHz P2SC microprocessor, enhanced with 480 special purpose VLSI chess chips. Its chess playing program was written in C and ran under the AIX operating system. It was capable of evaluating 200 million positions per second, twice as fast as the 1996 version. In June 1997, Deep Blue was the 259th most powerful supercomputer according to the TOP500 list, achieving 11.38 GFLOP on the High-Performance LINPACK benchmark.’

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS

Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770, 9871056471, 9650421857

Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,

Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects