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May 24, 2025
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How to Take Care of a Loved One Infected with COVID-19

By
Hency Thacker
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Usually, when a loved one is under the weather, the natural instinct is to provide them with as much care and comfort as possible. However, caring for a loved one who is infected with COVID-19 is not as simple, for there is a risk of transmission. And in case the caretaker gets infected, they get incapacitated from caring for themselves.
Such instances are not uncommon in this pandemic. These instances have generated fear among people from opting for home-treatment. People are relying on hospital care even in non-severe cases, increasing the burden on healthcare machinery. In order to avoid this, it is important for people to have a know-how about caring for a loved one infected by COVID-19 at home for non-serious cases.
Following are some of the practices recommended by experts with regard to caring for a COVID-19 patient at home safely while avoiding transmission.

Isolation

COVID-19 transmission occurs when an infected patient comes in direct contact with other people. Therefore, if a loved one has COVID-19, the first step in home isolation. If possible, the infected family member should remain quarantined in a separate room where they will eat and sleep, and they should use a separate bathroom.

Entering the Patient’s Room

The patient can stay at home in case the symptoms are not too severe. In such a case, it is not harmful to family members to go into the infected party’s room to drop off food, but both the patient and the caregiver should wear a mask, and if possible, an inexpensive plastic face shield or lab goggles to cover your eyes in addition to your nostrils and mouth as eyes are a potential entry point for the virus.

Performing Chores for the Patient

Experts have said, it is appropriate to perform chores for the patient such as preparing food, doing their dishes, cleaning their room, changing their sheets, etc. However, the caretaker must ensure that the dishes are done thoroughly using soapy water, clothes and sheets should also be put for washing with detergent immediately after its removal. The caretaker must also wash their hands immediately after coming in contact with anything touched by the patient. They should wash their hands even otherwise.

Treatment of the patient

The caretaker needs to ensure that the patient does not slip to the critical stage. Therefore, careful monitoring of their health is important. For this, they should check temperatures of the patient twice a day while expecting a higher number in the afternoon than early morning.
A helpful tool in caring for a COVID-19 patient is a pulse oximeter. A Pulse Oximeter can be used to measure oxygen levels of the patient. High readings in the 90s to 100s in a pulse oximeter is considered normal. A number in the low 90s is alarming. In case those are the results, the caretaker needs to seek medical attention for the patient immediately.
The caregiver should have a physician or a health-care contact whom they can contact at any time and keep them updated regarding the recovery of the patient in order to ensure effective recovery of the loved one. It is always beneficial if the physician is aware of the medical history of the patient so that they can pick up signs of danger early on and can save the life of the patient.
The symptoms to look out for in the patients include difficulty in breathing, fever spiking (especially in older people), delirium or signs of dehydration like fatigue, dizziness or overly-yellow urine.

Mental support to the patient

The recovery process of COVID-19 is slow, taxing and done in isolation. This can affect the mental health of the patient along with their physical health. Protecting the mental health of the patients is the main USP of at-home care for the patients. The patients at home can feel loved and cared for by the family. The caregiver or even the family members can visit the patient a few times a day to ask about their well-being, provided that they take the necessary precaution in terms of maintaining social distancing and hygiene.
It is important to note that we are fighting with the pandemic. Not its victims. Unnecessary boycotting of patients will not lead to anything but more transmission of the disease. The wise thing to do at this time is, follow all the precautionary measures and hope for the best.

Sonu Sood starts job search app for migrants

By
Kasmin Fernandes
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He has done it again! Bollywood actor Sonu Sood is really living up to his new Messianic image. After transporting thousands of stranded workers and students in the cities back to their homes, he is heeding the pleas of students stuck abroad. First on the list are Indian students in Kyrgyzstan.
The first charter flight with the students took off from Bishkek for Varanasi yesterday and the second flight to Vizag is leaving at 3 pm today. The actor has scheduled more charter flights over the next two months. Sood joined hands with the airline SpiceJet for this worthy endeavour.

Repatriating students in Kyrgyzstan

SpiceJet said in a press statement released yesterday that it will run nine charter flights for Sood to repatriate over 1,500 students from Kyrgyzstan. “SpiceJet operated the first charter flight from Bishkek (capital of Kyrgyzstan) to bring back 135 students to their hometown of Varanasi today,” the airline announced.
Apart from this association with Sood, the carrier has also flown over 400 charter flights to repatriate close to 65,000 stranded Indian citizens from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka. Besides, under the Vande Bharat Mission, SpiceJet has conducted 25 flights to bring back more than 4,500 Indian nationals from places like Ras Al-Khaimah, Jeddah, Riyadh, Muscat, Damman to Ahmedabad, Goa, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Mumbai and others.

Job search app for workers

The actor has gone one step further in his efforts to save unemployed workers. He has launched ‘Pravasi Rojgar’ app to provide information on employment opportunities especially for manual labourers. The actor wanted to do something for the workers who lost their source of income when they returned home. He noticed that when he was trying to send them home by bus, most of the workers were worried about being unemployed. The app will feature more than 500 reputed companies which have openings for skilled and unskilled workers.
Sood told ABP News, “For the past several months, efforts were being made to design a portal which could help migrant workers find a suitable job amid this pandemic. It has been prepared with a lot of hard work. I hope that it will benefit millions of migrant labourers who lost their jobs due to the Coronavirus-induced lockdown.”
Jobs in these companeis are largely available in construction, retail, auto sector, logistics, security and e-commerce. Apart from making their job hunt easier, the Pravasi Rojgar will also train the workers in soft skills and English speaking. Now that’s what we call a responsible star!

Saviour for poor COVID-19 patients

We can’t ascertain how this busy man is managing these heroic feats; he’s also lending a hand to the families of COVID-19 patients who find treatment unaffordable. He has been organising aid for surgeries and hospital arrangements for some people who wrote to him on Twitter.

BKT reaches out to 4 lakh people in the wake of COVID-19 Pandemic

By
The CSR Journal
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Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT Tires), the Indian multinational group and global player in the Off-Highway tire market has contributed towards the cause of Corona relief by providing help to over 4,00,000 affected people in the country. The organization contributed towards the effort by providing specially cooked meals, daily needs packets, crucial hospital equipment and important preventative gear to frontline workers in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease.
Due to the lockdown imposed by the pandemic, the livelihood of daily wage labourers and workers was significantly impacted. To help ease their plight, BKT distributed specially cooked meals to over 4,00,000 people in collaboration with the foundation Akshaya Patra. This activity was carried out by the BKT team members located in various parts of India with the help of BKT distribution partners as well as the local district administration.
In addition to the distribution of cooked meals, food aid and daily needs packets were provided by BKT in various parts of the country, including in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. More than 3,00,000 kgs of wheat flour, 60,000 litres of cooking oil, 60,000 kgs of lentils, 60,000 kgs of salt, 1,20,000 kgs of rice, 60,000 kgs of sugar, 60,000 kgs of spice bags and 60,000 bottles of soap were distributed.
The medical and paramedical staff in the front line in hospitals have seen an enormous increase in the risk of being infected by SarsCov2. Besides normal safety procedures, it is necessary to use personal protective equipment. BKT, in collaboration with SIN and Monte Bianco Apparel Brands, donated 25,000 PPE kits to medical staff treating COVID-19 patients, consisting of a protective suit with hood, a face shield, a mask, a pair of gloves and shoe covers.
The pandemic has also brought about other unprecedented challenges in the healthcare sector. Patients with severe COVID19 infection often require assisted ventilation and monitoring of their vital parameters like pulse, BP, oxygen saturation and other vital functions. BKT supplied 12 number of Hemodynamic monitors at a total cost of INR 1,15,20,000 to Tata Memorial Hospital. These monitors are an important part of the ventilators, which are the lifesaving critical equipment used for patients suspected or diagnosed with COVID19 infections.
The staff of BKT provided concrete support to the relief funds by gifting a day’s salary and raising 10,000,000 INR. This amount was doubled by the Chairman of the board, Mr. Arvind Poddar to ensure help for as many affected people as possible.
Speaking about the donation,  Mr Rajiv Poddar, Joint MD of BKT said “Our greatest belief as an organization is to grow together, and we want to make sure that we do everything in our power to help reach as many people as possible during this pandemic. This is a time when humanity should triumph over everything else, and we have put in great effort to help ease the plight of people all over the country, so we can all come out stronger.”
BKT’s relief funds reached several vulnerable groups such as displaced migrants stuck in the lockdown, workers who lost their livelihoods due to the virus, and people in dire need of preventative gear. It also aided in providing equipment of grave importance to hospitals and to extend support to the volunteers working towards providing relief to children, affected families, and the elderly. Since its inception, BKT has actively donated to several noteworthy causes such as education, relief for farmers amongst others and will continue to do so actively and passionately.
Disclaimer: This media release is auto-generated. The CSR Journal is not responsible for the content

CSR News: Karam Industries collaborate with UPSIDC and Pollution Control Board for a tree plantation drive

By
The CSR Journal
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With an objective to contribute in preserving the environment, KARAM – India’s one of the leading Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacturing companies – organized a tree plantation drive in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) and Pollution Control Board (PCB) as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative – KOSHISH. In first of many steps towards a greener and more sustainable tomorrow, the company successfully planted over 3,000 trees in the Green Belt area of the UPSIDC today.
Considering the manifold benefits of trees including the release oxygen into the air, maintaining biodiversity, conserving water, preserving the soil, controlling the climate, and providing shelter for the fauna of the region in which they are planted, their importance in maintaining ecological balance cannot be overlooked.
Understanding the importance of giving back to the society and playing a part in making the world a better place, KARAM team partnered with the officials of UPSIDC and pollution control board (PCB) to acknowledge the great work being done by the departments and encouraged their teams to take part in the tree plantation drive.
Speaking about the initiative, Ms. Kavita Nigam, Chief Human Resources Officer at KARAM Group said, “As a responsible corporate brand, we have always believed in leading by example and bringing about a positive influence in our society. We are focused on preserving a pollution free ecosystem and create a sustainable future for the present and future generations. In this vein, we have taken yet another landmark step to address the acute challenges in afforestation and subsequent air pollution through the tree plantation drive. We are looking forward to expanding the programme to cover different parts of the country in the near future.”
Disclaimer: This media release is auto-generated. The CSR Journal is not responsible for the content

Can we Achieve Zero Hunger by 2030?

By
Hency Thacker
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Hunger and Malnutrition are rising across the globe with increasing population and declining resources. According to a study jointly conducted by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, UNICEF, UN World Food Programme, International Fund for Agriculture and the World Health Organization, almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019 – up by 10 million from 2018, and by nearly 60 million in five years (2014-2019).
The study titled State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is the most authoritative global study tracking progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition. Thus, it is very important to take the findings of the study into consideration and develop a framework to address the issue of malnutrition and hunger.
Hunger is an uncomfortable or painful physical sensation caused by insufficient consumption of dietary energy. For many years, FAO has used the prevalence of undernourishment indicator to estimate the extent of hunger in the world. In this context, “hunger” can also be referred to as undernourishment.

Findings of the Study regarding Hunger

Chronic Hunger: After steadily diminishing for decades, chronic hunger has slowly been rising since 2014. There has been no change in the same so far.
Regional Hotspots: Hunger is highly concentrated in Asia. In fact, the continent is home to the greatest number of people that suffer from hunger (381 million), followed by Africa (250 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (48 million).
Rate of Hunger: The rate of undernourishment (hunger) in Africa is double compared to Asia and it is expected that by 2030, Africa will be home to more than half of the world’s chronically hungry.
Impact of Covid-19: The Covid-19 pandemic could also push over 130 million more people into chronic hunger by the end of 2020.

Findings of the Study regarding Malnutrition:

Affordability: The study has estimated that 3 billion people or more of the total population on earth, cannot afford a healthy diet. In sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, this is the case for 57% of the population. The key reason behind malnutrition is the high cost of nutritious foods and the low affordability of healthy diets for vast numbers of families.
In fact, the study mentions that the cost of a healthy diet is far more than USD 1.90/day, which is the international poverty threshold. It puts the price of even the least expensive healthy diet at five times the price of the diet which necessarily fills stomachs with only starch.

Recommendations by the Study

In this bleak scenario, achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (2) of ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030 is going to be a challenging feat. Not only this, but such a scenario can also lead to a future that will only aggravate such a problem because undernourished persons are likely to have low productivity in the future which in turn will increase the income gap as well as food insecurity, turning the issue in a vicious circle. In order to tackle it, the study gave the following recommendations.
Shifting of Diet: A global switch to healthy diets is required to check the backslide into hunger while delivering enormous savings. This will not only be beneficial to the development of individuals but will also reduce the health costs associated with unhealthy diets. In addition to this, the diet-related social cost of greenhouse gas emissions, estimated at USD 1.7 trillion, could also be cut by up to three-quarters by 2030.
Transform Food Systems: The transformation of food systems will not only reduce the cost of nutritious foods but also increase the affordability of healthy diets.
In order to achieve the above goals, the study calls on governments of the world to take the following measures in their respective countries.
– Streamlining nutrition in approaches to agriculture.
– Working to cut cost-escalating factors in production, storage, and transport.
– Improving the distribution and marketing of food in order to reduce inefficiencies and food loss and waste.
– Supporting local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods and secure their access to markets.
– Prioritizing children’s nutrition as the category in greatest need.
– Fostering behavioural change through education and communication.
– Embedding nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies.
The study is a wake-up call for the governments as well as the citizens. It is a reminder that there are many people who are at a disadvantage merely because of lack of nourishment. It is prudent not just for the benefit of the society but also for the sake of humanity to address the issue in every capacity and ensure that the SDG of global hunger is met surely on time, if not earlier than that.

Applied Materials expands on ESG scope with series of 10-year initiatives

By
The CSR Journal
-
In a keynote address at the 50th annual SEMICON West, Applied Materials, Inc. president and CEO Gary Dickerson unveiled how the company is expanding the scope of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments with a series of 10-year initiatives that will be driven within the company and in collaboration with suppliers, customers and the computing industry.
Gary Dickerson, CEO, Applied Materials
Gary Dickerson
Furthering Applied’s new vision to “Make Possible a Better Future,” Dickerson introduced a framework for generating positive ESG impact at the company, in the industry and throughout the world. “I strongly believe our responsibility as leaders is to leave the world in a better place,” said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO. “At Applied Materials, making a positive contribution to the community is at the foundation of our culture. I am excited to join forces with our employees, suppliers, direct customers, and the computing and electronics industries to Make Possible a Better Future.”

A More Sustainable Company

To reduce the environmental impact of its operations, Applied is announcing the following goals: 100% renewable energy sourcing in the U.S. by 2022 and worldwide by 2030, and a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 2030. Applied also announced today that it signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Apex Clean Energy, a key step toward reaching its renewable energy targets. In addition, the company committed to setting targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and reporting in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

A More Sustainable Industry

Applied is driving several initiatives with its customers and suppliers to promote greater sustainability industry-wide. This includes improving the eco-performance of its existing and new systems with hardware and software upgrades that reduce energy use, chemical use and cleanroom space requirements.
As part of its new “ecoUP” initiative, the company announced a “3 by 30” goal for its manufacturing systems: on a per-wafer basis, Applied targets a 30% reduction in equivalent energy consumption along with a 30% reduction in chemical consumption, and a 30% increase in throughput density – which is the number of wafers processed per square foot of cleanroom space – by 2030.
In addition, Applied Materials launched the SuCCESS2030 initiative (Supply Chain Certification for Environmental and Social Sustainability) aimed at creating a more sustainable and just supply chain for semiconductor and display manufacturing. SuCCESS2030 will optimize material and parts selection, procurement, packaging, warehousing, transportation and recycling to reduce energy and emissions and conserve resources. The programme also aims to promote ethics, human rights, diversity and inclusion throughout the supply chain.
“Memory and storage are essential to the growing data-driven economy,” said Manish Bhatia, Micron Technology Executive Vice President of Global Operations. “Micron has set clear goals to advance our environmental footprint in our operations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water use and waste management. We are challenging our suppliers and technology partners to develop more sustainable solutions – from facilities design and construction to efficient fab operations – and Applied Materials has really stepped up.”
“The industry-leading SuCCESS2030 programme being announced today aligns with Intel’s 2030 corporate responsibility goals and is core to building a responsible and sustainable end-to-end supply chain for the future of semiconductors,” said Shaheen Dayal, Vice President of Fab Technology Sourcing at Intel. “Together, we are invested and share the growing sense of urgency to address broad challenges no one can tackle alone and can only be solved by collaborating across major organizations, industries, and countries.”

A More Sustainable World

On a global scale, AI has enormous promise to accelerate research in areas such as climate change, disease prevention and public health, yet it also consumes a growing amount of power. For AI to reach its true potential, major advances in the power, performance, area-cost and time-to-market (PPACt) of semiconductor devices are needed. Applied is helping enable these advances with the industry’s largest and broadest portfolio of technologies and products which spans creating, shaping, modifying, analyzing and connecting structures and devices. An example of this is Applied’s new Selective Tungsten process technology that removes a critical bottleneck to continued 2D scaling in foundry-logic nodes.
“As we push deeper into the AI era, the world is growing ever more reliant on semiconductors, and our promise to create a better future for all has never been more dependent on our ability to work collectively across our industry and the electronics ecosystem,” said Dickerson. “We need to break down barriers, from Materials to Systems™ and from Systems to MaterialsTM, connecting dots in new ways between system designers, developers, integrators, chipmakers, and equipment and materials suppliers.”
Disclaimer: This media release is auto-generated. The CSR Journal is not responsible for the content

What can we learn from previous disease outbreaks?

By
Kasmin Fernandes
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Given that COVID-19 is only one of a series of emerging zoonoses, the experiences of the disease outbreaks in the past can inform strategies for the future.
Overall efforts to strengthen systems for prevention, detection and response to emerging infectious diseases in Asia have had mixed results. Significant investment has been made by development partners and developing countries following the epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of type A and subtype H5N1 in 2004. Surveillance and diagnostic capacity have been built but HPAI remains endemic in key countries across much of Southeast Asia and in Egypt. Efforts to strengthen capacity in Africa to detect and manage pandemic threats have only just started and services lag behind Asia.
While few would argue against setting up programmes to respond to zoonotic outbreaks, there are concerns that, first, our responses may end up costing more than the diseases themselves, and, second, that these costs may be borne disproportionately by the world’s poorest people. During the bird flu pandemic, which started in 1997, there were several attempts to “restructure” the poultry industry, which in effect meant discouraging poor “backyard” poultry farmers, many of whom were women with few other ways to generate an income. A recent study in Egypt found that large-scale culling of poultry in response to an outbreak of bird flu (HPAI) was associated with an increase in childhood malnutrition.
Likewise, bans on wildlife trade, while sometimes successful, have in other cases led to unintended consequences, such as when a ban on polar bear products impoverished livelihoods in indigenous Arctic communities and reduced the communities’ tolerance for polar bears near their communities and participation in shared management initiatives. Response measures inappropriately targeting wildlife—such as poisoning or depopulation efforts—may threaten biodiversity and ecosystem services. These lessons reinforce the notion that interventions must weigh possible benefits with potential trade-offs; such an approach can help to optimize resource use and ensure equitable solutions.
While SARS appears to be eliminated, MERS continues to cause human deaths, because the virus still circulates in the intermediate host (dromedary species of camels). Vaccines were initiated for SARS but did not progress beyond phase-one human trials. Vaccines are currently under development for MERS but not yet approved.
A race is now on among the large private pharmaceutical companies, academic units and small biotech companies to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. More than 100 companies are involved in this work, but there remain real challenges, not only to develop an effective vaccine for this novel coronavirus, but also for quickly mass-producing it in sufficient quantities, and ensuring that it is available to all regardless of income, to protect every one alive on earth.

Report: Over 50% children in 16 states go to private schools

By
The CSR Journal
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About 70% children in urban centres and a quarter from rural households attend private schools. Over 50% students in 16 Indian states are enrolled in private schools, making their reform equally important. These are the findings from a new report titled State of the Sector Report on Private Schools in India.

What is the report about?

Central Square Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works towards ensuring quality school education, and Omidyar Network India, an investment firm focussed on social impact, released this report jointly. It highlights the need to improve learning outcomes in private schools which educate nearly half of India’s school-going children.
The report is a comprehensive analysis of existing research and evidence on the sector. It suggests reforms to streamline the operations of private schools with a focus on improving student learning. It aims to be a ready reckoner for policymakers, academicians, researchers, philanthropists and educationists amongst other stakeholders associated with the sector.

Why are more kids enrolled in private schools?

The increased enrollment can be attributed to the rising demand of aspirational parents. A large number of parents — about 70% — pay less than Rs. 1000 per month as school fees. The report finds that 73% of parents with children in private schools believe these schools provide a better learning environment. However, student performance is only marginally better than government schools after adjusting for disadvantages in student backgrounds. About 35% of rural private school students in Grade 5 are unable to read a basic Grade 2-level paragraph.
The report finds that parents lack the means to make informed decisions while choosing schools based on learning performance. Board Examinations, among the only few reliable and standardised metrics to assess learning, are held in the last few years of schooling making it difficult for parents to judge the quality of schools during the early years of education. Moreover, nearly 60% of the private schools across India do not go up to a Board Examination grade.
Highlighting the fact that private schooling is not popular among the elite alone, Ashish Dhawan, the Founder-Chairman of CSF, emphasised that many families from underprivileged households send their children to private schools as well. “Today the private school sector in India is the third-largest school system in the world. These numbers are mainly made up of parents from low- and middle-income backgrounds who believe their children will have better learning outcomes in private schools. It’s critical now to institute a system that will give parents assessment-based information based on key stage examinations at Grades 3, 5, and 8, as the NEP suggests.”
Amitabh Kant, the CEO of NITI Aayog, released the report at a digital event and spoke of its importance in drawing attention to the sector: “With 12 crore students enrolled in private schools, we have to pay attention to how the sector runs. We need reforms that make it easier for the sector to improve learning levels of children. Quality education has been this government’s priority and NITI Aayog is drafting a model regulatory act in consultation with all stakeholders. We will see fruitful results if we work together to bring about better learning opportunities for India’s children.”
And speaking about the creating a demand for quality education, Roopa Kudva, Managing Director, Omidyar Network India, said, “We need to empower parents to make informed decisions based on learning quality when choosing a school. In the absence of meaningful information on how schools perform on learning, parents tend to give weightage to tangible parameters like school infrastructure or English as the medium of instruction. Philanthropy capital can play a vital role in setting the ground in three main areas: greater awareness building, increased transparency from the schools themselves and improving the quality of engagement between parents and the schools.”

Under-regulation of learning outcomes

In the absence of a standard metric to measure learning outcomes, it may be hard for parents to judge how much their children are learning in school in absolute terms, or how good their school actually is in comparison to other schools in their neighbourhood that charge similar fees. Grade 10 and 12 board exam pass percentages, sometimes used as a school learning marker, do not cover 60% of India’s private schools which end at Grades 5 or 8. Subsequently, parents tend to choose schools based on proxies for learning like “English medium” or the “School Infrastructure”.
The information gap also means that schools are less likely to invest in learning-focused, invisible improvements like teacher training and quality, and more likely to spend on things that are observable by parents but may not lead to much improvement in learning, like computer labs, or marketing that proclaims English medium instruction.

Over-regulation of inputs

The second barrier is the over-regulation of inputs and a lack of policy focus on learning. Input-focused regulations prescribing playgrounds, computer labs, teacher salaries, etc., tend to be contextually unfit for under-resourced low-fee schools which make day-to-day operations difficult for them. Extensive licensing requirements deter quality providers from entering the sector and limits competition.
For instance, opening a private school in Delhi calls for 125 documents, and applications move through at least 155 steps within the Directorate of Education. The non-profit nature of the education sector also discourages high-quality providers from entering or scaling up. These regulations have a direct impact on the capacity of private schools to deliver high-quality education.
The report also dives into the five-pillar sectoral reforms that account for the above-mentioned challenges and can help improve learning outcomes:
1. Create a universal learning indicator to help parents compare learning performance across schools and make informed decisions
2. Develop a pragmatic accreditation framework that factors in constraints of low fee schools and state capacity to implement while focussing on learning outcomes and child safety
3. Establish an independent regulatory agency for the private school sector
4. Review non-profit mandate and existing fee regulations to attract investment and enable easy access to credit for schools
5. Strengthen RTE Section 12(1)(c) which mandates 25% reservations for underprivileged children to ensure more robust targeting and fee reimbursements
Disclaimer: This media release is auto-generated. The CSR Journal is not responsible for the content

APSEZ is first Indian port to sign up for Science-Based Targets

By
The CSR Journal
-
Strengthening India’s commitment to the ‘Paris Climate Agreement’, APSEZ (Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone) has signed up for the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

What is Science Based Targets initiative?

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and is one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments. The initiative champions science-based target setting as a powerful way of boosting companies’ competitive advantage in the transition to the low-carbon economy. Science-based targets are greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets that are in line with the level of decarbonization required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

APSEZ joins taskforce

APSEZ has also signed commitment as a supporter to the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), which develops voluntary, consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders. A total of 16 Indian companies are supporting the TCFD out of which two are Adani Group’s subsidiaries.
“As a group, we are committed to a sustainable future driven by continuous interventions in our processes and operations. APSEZ is committed to SBTi and TCFD to ensure emission reductions are achieved with defined targets towards the goal of becoming carbon neutral. This is another significant step demonstrating the Adani Group’s stated commitment of contributing to India’s COP21 targets and global climate goals.” said Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director of APSEZ.

Tackling climate change

“We have less than 10 years to fundamentally change our economies or we will face catastrophic consequences,” said Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, one of the SBTi partners. “For the first time, we are seeing business and climate leaders coalesce around a common call-to-action, sending a powerful signal that science-based target setting presents a significant opportunity for businesses to step up when it comes to tackling climate change and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, one of the SBTi partners, said: “The science is clear: in order to limit the catastrophic impacts of climate change, we must ensure warming does not exceed 1.5°C. The ambition is high but it’s achievable — and science-based targets give companies a roadmap for getting there. Corporations worldwide have an unprecedented opportunity to be at the very forefront of the transition to a net-zero economy — and there is no time to lose.”
APSEZ is one out of a total of 43 Indian companies who have signed a commitment letter to SBTi. A total of 909 companies are taking science-based climate action and 392 companies have approved science-based targets through SBTi.
Disclaimer: This media release is auto-generated. The CSR Journal is not responsible for the content

SEEDS reaches out to flood-affected Assamese folks

By
The CSR Journal
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Over 5.5 million people have been affected due to floods in India this year and the state of Assam has experienced the worst flooding over the last ten years, affecting over 3.6 million people. This time, affected communities are facing an additional threat given the ongoing COVID crisis that requires health and hygiene safeguards and social distancing in the relief camps. NGO SEEDS stands with Assam in these difficult times and is reaching out to 100,000 affected people with their immediate needs in the districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Barpeta and Morigaon.
SEEDS is promptly reaching out with safe drinking water, dry food, hygiene and family utility kit. This also includes key items required for COVID-19 safety. A team member from the region informed, “The situation at the ground level is worse than ever. There are drinking water, food and hygiene issues. Thousands of families are battling with the intense flood situation coupled with the challenges of ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They are in need of urgent humanitarian aid.”
Dr Manu Gupta, Co-Founder, SEEDS, said, “With millions of people displaced by the floods, it has become critical that relief reaches them at the earliest. Our team is working relentlessly to analyse and meet the immediate requirements of the affected people in an effective manner. We are also taking necessary precautions to mitigate the risk of the pandemic.”
The floods have caused extensive damage to the houses, water sources, toilets and other infrastructures. Due to incessant rains and increased water in these regions and COVID-19 looming large, it is essential for communities to have a roof over their heads at the earliest. SEEDS will also work towards providing repair and restoration of homes and schools as part of the recovery intervention. It urges citizens to extend their support to help families of Assam, build back better.
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Hindi Manch

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