Sealing Row: What happened at Arvind Kejriwal Residence during the meeting

The issue of sealing is not new in the Capital. Sealing started more than a month ago on Dec 22, 2017. In the process many local businessmen raised their voice against it. More details about sealing can be easily found on the internet. On Tues (Jan 30, 2018), Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal called a three party meeting at his residence. Parties invited were: 

1. All BJP MPs (Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel couldn't make it) and MLAs 
2. Three MCD Councillors 
3. AAP MLAs 

AAP team wanted this to be an open discussion among selected representatives in the presence of media. In all the footage surfaced on media and social media, BJP members and Councillors haven't seen be seated (empty seats can be seen in front of them). The planned meeting didn't go well and ended without a fruitful discussion. Without having a seat, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari started the discussion with other Delhi issues and governance model. It started good as Arvind Kejriwal can be seen taking notes and rest of team listening to them.  

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari talking about issues (before they left) 

By the end of the day, BJP MP and others end up filing a police complaint against some of AAP members for manhandling them. I couldn't find the videos of members entering in the meeting room but have the videos after they entered and started chatting/discussion with each other. Following is the video when BJP members and Councillors started leaving the meeting room. 

Manoj Tiwari and Vijendar Gupta talking about measures their team and MCD took (members leaving the meeting) 

In between above two videos, Arvind Kejriwal and team requested all of them to have seat, tea and discuss the issues. 

Arvind Kejriwal requesting members to have seat and tea (video 1)

Arvind Kejriwal requesting members to have seat and tea (video 2) 

Arvind Kejriwal requesting members to have seat (Photo 1) 

Arvind Kejriwal requesting members to have seat (Photo 2) 

Front view of members of BJP and Councillors leaving the meeting room. 

Rear view of members of BJP and Councillors leaving the meeting room.  

Slogan raised against BJP and their members while they were leaving the venue.  

Arvind Kejriwal visited the marked and talked to the vendors after meeting was ended without proper discussion.  

Manish Sisodia coming to Boston for India Conference Feb 10-11, 2018

In just under two years, since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took charge of the Delhi government in February 2015, their performance, despite interference by the centre, has been exemplary. They have especially generated substantial traction in the education and health sectors, attracting  attention worldwide. Its no surprise then, that the deputy chief minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia  has been invited to speak at the India centric Conference in USA called India - Disruptive Innovations, to be held at Harvard Business School  and Harvard Kennedy School, Boston on February 10 and 11, where he will speak on the simple but concentrated efforts they took, to turn Delhi's government schools completely around, positively impacting the lives of almost 16 lakh students. Representatives from other political parties like Suresh Prabhu from the BJP and prominent members of the Indian media like Ravish Kumar will speak at the conference as well.

About a 100 dedicated AAP volunteers, from across USA and Canada, will be sharing space and ideas with Manish Sisodia, who has since taking charge, been recognized as the country's most successful education minister.

Though  Sisodia has been a successful finance minister too, ensuring that the tax revenues went up, after the government reduced indirect taxes to win trust in the industry, the subject he returns to most often is the education system in Delhi. He along with party leader and chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal are of the firm belief that the quickest way to put an end to widespread poverty in the city and country, is by ensuring quality education for the poor children, with which they can make a significant difference in their lives, in one generation alone.

The image one gets of government schools anywhere in the country is of ramshackle buildings, with poor facilities like proper class rooms, badly maintained washrooms if any, hardly any teachers, and poor implementation of midday meals, all contributing to a high dropout amongst students, with most of them failing to exhibit age and grade appropriate  learning .

Things were no any different in Delhi schools when AAP came into power. Sisodia, who has been a school teacher in the past, quickly got to work, allocating  25% of the annual budget, a whopping sum of Rs 11,300 crores and the highest in the country, towards education alone.

Though AAP has been constantly dead locked with the Lieutenant Governor, over allotment of lands to build new schools, there was no force stopping them from turning the existing ones around.

Their biggest success came from forming the School Management Committees (SMC), which is mandatory according to the providions of the Right to Education Act 2009, but which was either defunct or non existent before Sisodia took charge. The SMC's which is a simple concept of involving both the parents and the teachers in the student's welfare, thereby making them  equally accountable, has been so successful that  a team from Harvard university,  is studying the impact of it.

One of the biggest concerns of these schools was that 50% of the students of the 1024 government schools dropped out in the 9th grade, or held back. Almost 9.5 lakh students from 6th to 9th grades too lacked the requisite grade level competence in the languages and maths. These students were segrated into smaller groups, guided by a teacher, who focussed on improving reading and writing abilities, on par with their grades, all of which was constantly monitored. All this produced results soon enough, with more students clearing their tenth standard than ever before, while students in the lesser grades, gained increased competence in their core subjects.

Original article written by: Vijaylakshmi Nadar

5 Years of Aam Aadmi Party and Me

It is hard to realize the fact that Aam Aadmi Party has already completed 5 years since its inception in 2012. Under some special circumstances, AAP was registered as a political party and fought its first ever election in 2013. Since its formation and many ups/downs, I'm still in full solidarity with the party principles and supporting them in every possible way. I might have been too young or disinterested in politics but before AAP's formation, I never heard any noise related to election manifestos. But after forming government for the first time, AAP took steps which showed their diligence in executing their election promises. This was not easy for them due to political interference in a Union Territory. Path to a good governance was hard and they faced intense criticism. However, they proved to be quick learners. 6 years later, AAP is still facing challenges every day. I have been often asked by people in public gatherings and events "aur bhai tumhare Kejriwal ke kya haal hai"? (How is Kejriwal doing?). This might sound as if I am spending all my hours in the shadow of  AAP, but people do like to hear about developments and performance of government in the capital. 

AAP euphoria started in 2011 when Janlokpal Aandolan was at its peak. I (including many others) joined the movement in Hyderabad. Public passion and support poured into the movement which created a strong wave of dissent against corruption. Ruling as well as non-ruling politicians tried hard to break the movement. However, unrelenting public pressure forced the politicians to discuss Janlokpal Bill overnight in The Parliament. Bill passed was subpar. Media backed by political parties also fueled the dilemma of mere activists (not public representatives) spearheading a political cause. Janlokpal bill supporters were challenged to form their own political party if they wanted to pass the bill the way they drafted. In the end, country saw the sudden and movie-like transformation of a NGO worker into a national party leader. 

I still remember when I went to the Janlokpal protest venue in Hyderabad and made my first willful donation. The movement had different implications for every voice in the crowd. It was just a mundane fun event for some people who bribed the policemen when caught for traffic violation (ironically their excuse was "sir, please let us go, we are going to attend the anti-corruption movement"). While all these developments were ongoing, I had to leave the country for further studies. Nevertheless, my support for the party continued. Since 2014, I have donated over Rs. 40,000 in total at regular intervals to the AAP development fund. 

AAP discussion forums, meetups, and other endeavors made me understand in detail the internal fabric of the functioning of a political party. My transition from a bystander to a more active participant in the political scenery involved a steep learning curve. In the process I even had to sacrifice my friendships. 

At present, there might be multiple reasons that the ruling parties are not able to take actions as promised and clean the internal mess. I believe that only a complete overhaul of established parties at an administrative and leadership levels can bring a positive change. This was one of the reasons that I decided to support the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party. 

Quality Education for All: Education transformation incorporating Learning, Training and Mentoring by Delhi Government

You might have seen pictures of Delhi schools with swimming pools, smart class and gyms surfacing over social media. The educational revolution which has gained momentum after a continuous hard work of 3 years cannot be completely understood by looking at photos of newly constructed school buildings, partial media coverage or press conferences. Even I was not aware about all the micro details and changes around various projects until I read the detailed 2018 "Quality Education for All" report launched by Delhi Government. The report which was released in the third week of Jan 2018 is 94 pages long and took sometime for me to read it completely. The document contains micro details of projects with their objective, methodology and results. Complete report is available to read and download at the end of this blog. In case you don't have time to read the entire report, I'm writing this blog mentioning key-points of the report. Transformation of Delhi education system is achieved by focusing on different aspects as listed below.

1. Learning 

1.1 Chunauti 2018 

• Launched in Jun 2016 
• Impacting 9.5 lac students from grades 6 to 9 
• Aimed to bridge the learning gaps of grade 6-8 and ensuring zero dropouts in grade 9  
• Students divided on the basis of their learning levels and provided with additional learning support 

1.2 Reading Campaign 

• Launched on Teacher's day and concluded on Children's day of 2016 
• Focused on children of Std 6 to 8 of the Directorate of Education, Delhi 
• Target group determined on the basis of reading level of students as determined through baseline 
• Basic learning material for the campaign was developed by Pratham. It consisted of  short stories, paragraphs and word cards 
• Onsite support to school teachers was provided through regular visits by Mentor Teachers 
• Among the targeted group, about 1 lac students learnt to read an advance story which is a proxy of grade appropriate reading 

1.3 Pragati Series 

• Collaborated with NGO Pratham to create foundational learning material for classes 6 to 8 called Pragati  
• The idea was expanded by SCERT Delhi to create Pragati series of supplementary learning material which is aligned with the topics of respective subjects and grades 
• Basic content for Pragati was created by teachers, edited by Mentor Teacher and reviewed by subject experts from DIETs 
• So far, four editions of Pragati books namely Pragati 1, 2, 3, and 4 already printer and circulated through regular revisions that incorporate the feedback of teachers 

1.4 Summer Camps 

• Organized across 1024 schools of Delhi 
• Focused on developing activity based learning process among the students 
• Themes for the summer camp were Learning and Fun 
• Activities involved reading content, art and craft activities and some role play, dance or games 
• Weekly showcase by children motivated parent to participate in the camp 
• SMC members and teachers encouraged the parents to visit the camp 

1.5 Learning Maths with 'Jodogyan' 

• Started in 2015 for children in classes 1 and 2 and to extend with one class each year to go up to class 5 
• Teachers were sensitized to a diffrent view of mathematics involving thinking and reasoning 
• Children were supported to solve problems by supporting the use of methods that they can connect to, for instance; the empty number line 
• The results of the mid-term assessment conducted in May 2017 show a three-fold  improvement as compared to baseline 
• By midline about 40% of the children of the programme were able to locate numbers correctly 

1.6 Kala Utsav 

• Kala Utsav is held to showcase the rich heritage and culture, customs and traditions of other states to enable people to understand and appreciate the diversity in India 
• NCT of Delhi was paired with Sikkim for the year 2016-17 
• Participation from 4235 students across 750 schools 
• Delhi State won First prize in Music at the National Level in 2016 

1.7 Research on Early Childhood Care and Education 

• Catering to the need of 3-6 year-old children with learning and well-being 
• ECEDC will provide high quality play based preschool experience 
• 10 Centres to engage children in slum clusters 
• Provide sites for faculty and student research 

2. Bridging the Gap Between School and Home 

2.1 Empowering School Management Committees 

• DoE partnered with the NGO Saajha to work on SMCs through a two pronged intervention model i.e. intensive and scale model 
• SMC members were trained on increasing effectiveness of SMC training content, delivery, thus building a smooth state level process 
• Simplified grievance resolving process were instituted and responsiveness to the need of the school and the parents was increased 
• SMC sabhas were conducted for parent representatives of all schools in a constituency talk to the concerned department one on one about the issues faced by the school 
• Through SMC app, schools, communities, and parents were connected directly with decision makers through a simple mobile application 
• SMCs conducted Reading Melas aimed to help achieve the common goals set under 'Every child can read' plan 

2.2 Mega Parent Teacher Meeting 

• Started in 2016 as Mega PTM across all government school on the same day 
• Mega Parent Teacher Meetings were introduced in each Govt schools under DoE 
• DoE effectively publicized the event through FMs and newspapers leading to parents turning up to schools in large numbers 
• Points related to student regularity, punctuality, need for planning from the beginning of the session were discussed among teachers and parents 

3. Mentoring 

3.1 Mentor Teacher Program 

• Conceptualized in 2016, about 2000 teachers of DoE selected as first batch of Mentor Teachers (Mts) for 2 years 
• MTs got an opportunity to visit NIE Singapore to attend a 5 day workshop on mentoring and reputed organizations in India as part of their own training 
• Provided regular on-site support to teachers in their assigned 5-6 schools 
• Facilitated workshops organized by SCERT for 20,000 TGTs and 3000 Asst. teachers during the academic year 2016-17 and thereafter regular workshops for all teachers at zonal level 
• Edited content for Supplementary Learning Material (Pragati) for grades 6-8 
• Supported the Teacher development coordinators in finding contextual solutions to challenges at school level 

3.2 Teacher Development Coordinator Program 

• Piloted in selected schools of DoE, Delhi in 2014 
• Each school had one full time teachers were selected as 'Education leader' to lead network activities with his/her peers 
• Education leaders were provided professional development training on facilitation skills, sharing classroom best practices through a dedicated Program Manager  
• Education leaders assessed the progress of network teachers on a monthly basis 
• Currently operational in 90 schools of Delhi with participation of 1300 teachers 

3.3 Transformative Learning through Human Values  

• Value Education Program under the umbrella of 'Cell for Human Values and Transformative Learning' 
• Multiple workshops held for School Students, DIET trainees, Teachers, Teacher Educators, CRCs, BRPs SMC members, parents etc. 
• Workshop focused on enhancing humanness, human values and human consciousness 

4. Training 

4.1 Principal Development Program 

• Program to help identify the leadership qualities among the principals, nurture it, and then spread it among others 
• Some Government schools in Delhi were chosen to become 'the' model of development for other school 
• Series of workshops and interactive sessions at SCERT, DIET and DoE schools were conducted as a part of the Principal Development Program 
• Currently operating in 1024 Govt secondary schools through 60 motivated facilitators 
• Exposure and educational trip to IIMs, Cambridge and Finland 

4.2 Online capacity building program for teachers 

• Started in December 2016 
• To build capacity of In-Service Teachers through online training for updating content knowledge as well as classroom delivery 
• Content is provided through an app platform and can be accessed on the Smartphone through a Mobile Application called Chalk Lit and from the web www.chalklit.in 
• 2285 teachers already trained through the platform 
• The training on content are mapped as per the annual academic calendar of schools 

4.3 Hands-on training of Special Educators 

• Special Education Teachers (SETs) were supposed to learn & develop Teaching Teaching Learning Material 
• Collaboration with NGOs to conduct hands on training for the SETs 
• Prepared the SETs for effective planning, implementation and evaluation of Individual Education Plan (IEP) and group lesson plan 

4.4 Establishing a Public Model of teacher education 

• SES will act as an hub for teachers' education and research 
• Will strengthen the teaching mechanism 
• Research will add value to budding teachers 
• Teachers can refer back to an expert at SES 

5. Infrastructure for Excellence 

5.1 Library in every school 

• The GNCTD allotted 100 crores in its annual budget of 2017-18 for setting up new libraries in the schools of Delhi 
• Initiative to promote reading habit and inculcate sense of creativity among among students 
• Introduced class libraries for 4500 sections from classed Nursery to V across 454 Sarvodaya Vidyalayas of Delhi 
• Introduced 400 New Libraries for Middle Classes (VI to X) in schools having high strength of students 
• Modernize library facilities for 1029 schools of DoE 
• MoU signed with Room to 'Read India Trust' to create unique library experiences for students of primary classes 

5.2 Construction of new school buildings 

• 8000 new classrooms constructed 
• 54 model schools upgrading their infrastructure 
• Labs with modern facilities constructed 

5.3 Appointment of Estate Manager 

• Estate manager for each Govt school appointed to look after the schools building 
• Estate manager supports in lightening the administrative burden of the HoD and helps in overall upkeep of the school 
• Liasonning with the external bodies like PWD becomes easier due to Estate Manager's involvement 

5.4 Initiatives in Sports 

• Encouraging the students to adopt sports in their school time and participate at school level 
• Cash incentive to the sportspersons right from zonal level to international level 
• Financial assistance to the sportspersons for participating in international tournaments doubled 
• Large sums of money sanctioned for infrastructure development of sports facilities in the city 

6. Innovations in Higher, Technical and Vocational Education 

6.1 Reforms in Vocational Education 

• RMSA set a Program Management Unit (PMU) with three philanthropic organisations 
• Through regular Monitoring by the PMU, the quality of training have increased 

6.2 Setting up World Class Skill Centre 

• World Class Skill Centre – “HUNAR” has been set-up under the aegis of DTTE 
• Providing courses in the field of: Retail services, Hospitality, Finance and Accounts and Information Technology 
• Center to train 10,000 students per year conceived at Jonapur 

6.3 Facelift of ITIs 

• Degree level, diploma level and certificate level institutions functioning under DTTE 
• 50,000 youth pass out of the portals of these institutions as skilled workspace every year 
• 25+ Centres of Excellence were created with the help of industrial partners in government ITIs 
• Traditional labs have been converted into state of the art labs with latest tools and technology 

6.4 Incubation centres for startups 

• Proposals were sought from the interested Educational institutes under DTTE to set up incubation centres 
• 11 Incubation Centres were established and a grant of Rs 1.5 crore as a seed money for each 
• Accessible to the current students, alumni, faulty/staff including retired person and any other person 
• Experienced alumni have come forward to share their experiences and help the budding incubatees 

6.5 Course on Sports Pharmacy 

• DPSRU is first of its kind Pharmacy University in India and second in the world 
• DPSRU signed an MoU with Sports Infrastructure & Talent Development Society (SITDS) to conceptualize innovative courses in sports sciences 
• 50 students enrolled in the first batch 
• Course to equip young students with operational management tools and skills to ascertain their employability in fields, directly or indirectly related to sports 

6.6 University Students Internship Program 

• DTU has launched University student internship program to provide opportunity to expose students to real life environment 
• Interns take up activities like university website development, database for publication, documentation etc 
• Interns in various departments has provided a helping hand to the HODs and deans 
• Program has reduced the gap between the students and the administration 

6.7 Bachelor of Vocational (B. Voc.) programme 

• Nine Institutes of Technology were affiliated by GGSIPU for launch of B.Voc course from the academic year 2015-16 under NSQF 
• The program provides vertical mobility to students coming out of 10+2 with vocational subjects 
• ITI Students aspiring for graduate level courses were given direct entry in B.Voc Programme 
• School of Vocational Studies, AUD launched in 2017 providing Bachelor's degree in Retail, Hospitality and Child Care 
• Focus on employability and entrepreneurship 

6.8 Financial assistance to students 

• The schemes aim at providing financial assistance to the needy students who are otherwise deprived of higher education 
• A good number of students willing to pursue higher studies outside Delhi will be benefited 
• Government guarantees the loan on behalf of the student 
• 1544 students have applied for the financial assistance under this scheme 
• Till date education loans of approximately Rs 7.8 crores to 239 students have been sanctioned in the current academic year 
• Financial burden has been taken away on the part of students and parents 
• A financial friendly environment is created for higher education 

6.9 Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 

• Infosys Foundation has provided a grant of Rs 24 crore 
• Centre deals with applied aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Pattern Recognition, Computer Vision and Deep Learning 
• 35 Research papers published in reputed international journals 
• Over 20 PhD students working on AI 

6.10 Prison project of National Law University 

• Centre for Constitutional Law, Policy, and Governance (CLPG) established in 2014 
• Impacting under-trials in Tihar Prison 
• Assisting jail authorities in implementing Section 436 A, CrPC 
• Formats of custody warrants revised by Delhi HC 
• Students got an opportunity to contribute to legal policy 

The list highlighted points from report is quite long. Hope you enjoyed and understood the key transformations happening in Delhi Education System. Education is key for the development of any nation. At the end it is rightly said by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. 

There is so much poverty in our city and our country. There is only one solution to this and that is high quality education. If every child from a deprived background gets good education then within one generation, every family can pull itself out of poverty. This is the change that our nation needs because only an educated nation can become a developed nation. 

Read complete document below. 

You can see these 10 unimaginable photos of Delhi government schools here.

Comparative Analysis of R&D Performance between India and rest of the BRICS nations

Research & Development (R&D), which shapes the future of any country is defined as "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications." Basic and applied research along with experimental development drives technological innovations. Quality and quantity of innovations are driven by R&D expenditure which decides the amount of manpower and resources employed. R&D performed in a country includes R&D activities from all sources, including government, business, non-profit and higher education institutions; and total expenditure on R&D is defined as Grand Expenditure on R&D, also known as GERD. It is used as R&D indicator worldwide. More details about GERD can be found on OECD manual.

The ratio of GERD and GDP can explain the scope of R&D activities in a country. Indian nationals are well known for their contribution to research in all areas but India is still struggling in retaining best of them in the country. While ground realties many vary from one geographic location to another, I tried to analyze on a national level (in this blog) the R&D expenditure and number of employees working in research in India. It will be unfair to compare India's GERD with developed nations because India is still in a developing phase. So the comparison is made among BRICS nations. GERD data is downloaded from UNESCO website where BRICS data is available only for the year 2010 and the data for the year 2015 is missing for Brazil and South Africa. Original data can be downloaded from here.

GERD as Percentage of GDP 

With technological innovations, R&D activities can support a nation in reaching new heights. It also create new jobs which are necessary for continuous progress of a nation and its citizens. A ratio of GERD vs GDP is used as an indicator to show R&D activities in a country. Some of the countries dedicate close to 4% of their GDP on R&D e.g. in 2010 top 5 countries with largest GERD/GDP ratios were Israel (3.94%), Finland (3.73%), Korea (3.45%), Japan (3.14%) and Denmark (2.93%).

Among BRICS countries, India spent only 0.8% of its GDP on GERD, which was little higher than South Africa's 0.7%. India's GERD/GDP ratio came down to 0.6% in 2015. Brazil, Russia and China, all three spent more than 1% of their GDP on R&D where the ratio for China (country with largest population in the world) was highest among BRICS nations and close to OECD average. In contrast, the situation of R&D expenditure in India (which has the second largest population in the world) at a ratio of 0.6% - 0.8% is alarming. This value is also less than half of the world's average ratio.

GERD by Sector of Performance 

Out of India's 0.8% GERD/GDP ratio in 2010, a major portion (61.09%) of R&D was performed by government sectors (e.g. government research labs and organizations). Business enterprises performed 34.8% of R&D. Higher Education institutions that play an important role in the country's economy performed only 4.11% of total R&D. On the other hand, South Africa which had minimum ratio in 2010, Higher Education institutions performed maximum among BRICS countries (Brazil data not available during the data download). India's government owned institutions like ISRO and DRDO are known for their contribution in the world and many countries rely on ISRO satellite launch technology. One thing to be noticed here is that Government labs may not be able to generate required volume of jobs as the technological innovations are bound by organization walls. Whereas Higher Education institution expose their lab technologies to world by encouraging entrepreneurship. More entrepreneurs are generated, more jobs are created. This is why it can be observed that South Africa's Higher Education institutions and business enterprise performed 26.78% and 49.66% of R&D respectively. Similar case can also be observed for Russia and China.

Number of Researchers per Million Inhabitants 

Along with total expenditure on R&D, number of employees working in R&D also affect the research outcomes in a country. According to 2010 data, India had an average 156.64 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) researchers per one million inhabitants. Compared to other countries, 156.64 researchers per million is an alarming number for India which has the second largest population in the world. This affects the demand-supply ratio which keeps on increasing every year. In 2010, Russia had maximum 3088 and China 902.96 researchers per million inhabitants. This is the reason Russian technology is recognized and many countries depends on it. China , which leads the manufacturing sector and taking over as the world's largest economy is investing more in R&D, increasing its GERD expenditure and employing more and more researchers. South Africa, whose GERD/GDP ratio was less than India in 2010 employed 362.62 researchers per one million inhabitants which was more than twice the number employed in India. On a good note, India was able to increase its researchers to 215.85 in 2015 from 156.64 in 2010. This number might have increased due to initiatives such as INSPIRE fellowships introduced in 2013. However, India's GERD/GDP ratio was down to 0.6% in 2015 which is not possible without reducing R&D expenditure in some areas (both Government and Higher Education institution performed research percentage were down to 52.47% and 3.94% respectively in 2015 compared to 61.09% and 4.11% respectively in 2010).

Researchers by Sector of Employment  

As indicated by GERD by the sector of performance, number of researchers complement the expenditure. In 2010, India employed 45.59% researchers in government sector and 38.73% in Business Enterprise. Only 11.46% researchers (17.94 researchers per million) worked in Higher Education Institutions in India. Brazil employed a maximum of 67.8% and South Africa employed 59.12% which represents the second largest number of researchers per million in Higher Education institutions.

Conclusion

For any country, Higher Education institutions play an important role. Along with increasing overall R&D expenditure, India needs an attentive focus on R&D performed in Higher Education institutions. Research curriculum should be designed in such a way that R&D activities can be encouraged by maintaining education institution independence and allowing public-private research collaboration. This can be achieved by focusing and developing policies such that:

1. GERD/GDP ratio is increased. Target ratio should be close to 2% which is also average among OECD countries. Once achieved, this can be further increased to a higher ratio in coming years. 
2. Number of researchers per million inhabitants are increased. This can also result from increased R&D funding which will employ more researchers. Building additional research facilities will also demand for additional researchers. 
3. Higher Education institutions R&D outcomes are increased. While Higher Education institutions maintain its purpose and don't deliberately works for corporates, private research participation should be encouraged. This will not only financially support institutions, but develop new public-private research programs and gives students an opportunity to engage in industry focused research. 

Spam Calls in the US and Canada (with phone numbers)

Updated on May 2nd, 2018. 

If you live in North America specially in the USA and Canada and receiving calls from unknown numbers on a regular interval then most likely these are promotional calls and they don't leave message on your voicemail box. And believe me some of them are really frustrating calls and look for personal details. Hiding your phone number is not easy these days as it is required my many websites for authentication and shopping. And one doesn't know what will happen next? Where does the calling companies get the number from? 

I experienced that any person who is calling from an important place or work, leaves a voicemail and a callback number. So far I have blocked 59 numbers and if you are receiving repeated calls from these numbers, feel free to block them. You wont miss anything which is important. These are automated calls made by a computer program and have no mercy for the person whom they are calling. To know if it is computer generated call, pick the call and don't say anything, it will disconnect by itself. Because computer programs cannot identify if there is a person at the other end. It will connect to a representative only when computer recognize a person's voice on the receiver end (e.g. Hi, Hello ...). Computer generated calls use caller IDs from different areas and some companies have a set of these. They will keep you calling from different IDs. Interestingly once there was a person involved who used a caller ID from my local area. When I asked about their office location, phone was disconnected. 

Phone numbers which I blocked with respective areas (Updated on May 2, 2018). 

Phone Number (+1)	Area	Country
202 249 7596	Washington DC	USA
212 220 2222	New York City	USA
239 895 9022	Florida	USA
305 784 2030	Miami	USA
321 250 3204	Brevard County	USA
321 325 1067	Brevard County	USA
323 300 6822	Los Angeles	USA
343 344 1410	Ottawa	Canada
365 777 7268	Ontario	Canada
407 337 2220	Orlando	USA
407 358 6622	Orlando	USA
416 284 0704	Toronto	Canada
416 284 0704	Toronto	Canada
416 422 2177	Toronto	Canada
416 920 6086	Toronto	Canada
424 226 3399	Los Angeles	USA
424 283 4030	Los Angeles	USA
469 998 9290	Dallas	USA
479 250 0254	Arkansas	USA
561 258 7159	Palm Beach County	USA
561 321 6963	Palm Beach County	USA
561 513 6238	Palm Beach County	USA
561 675 3479	Palm Beach County	USA
561 757 4105	Palm Beach County	USA
561 786 2103	Palm Beach County	USA
561 829 2127	Palm Beach County	USA
561 902 3149	Palm Beach County	USA
587 718 7347	Alberta	Canada
602 737 1379	Arizona	USA
602 926 7450	Arizona	USA
619 378 1515	San Diego	USA
619 530 0241	San Diego	USA
647 478 5493	Toronto	Canada
647 649 4914	Toronto	Canada
647 797 7196	Toronto	Canada
669 327 2047	Santa Clara County	USA
705 220 5428	Ontario	Canada
786 452 9852	Miami	USA
800 298 1292	Toll Free
800 445 6732	Toll Free
800 677 2943	Toll Free
844 275 7210	Toll Free
850 213 2967	Florida	USA
855 456 3102	Toll Free
855 834 2140	Toll Free
863 451 3143	Florida	USA
866 211 8881	Toll Free
866 231 1497	Toll Free
866 457 9436	Toll Free
866 612 8483	Toll Free
866 683 6523	Toll Free
877 452 5120	Toll Free
888 3200870	Toll Free
902 700 6934	Nova Scotia	Canada
914 575 6517	New York	USA
950 972 6820	California	USA
954 362 9478	Broward County	USA
954 900 7218	Broward County	USA
973 735 0020	New Jersey	USA

If there is a number which you have blocked, you can leave that number in the comment section, I will add it to the list.