Dr Kaushik Sarkar

21/09/2023

23/06/2023

📢 Exciting Conversation with honourable Union Cabinet Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Labour and Employment, Sh. Bhupender Yadav BJP at 🌟

I had the privilege of engaging in a candid conversation with Sh. Bhupender Yadav ji yesterday, where we delved into the development agenda and political values highlighted in his insightful book "The Rise of the BJP." It was an honor to discuss India's leadership in several key areas, including the green economy, climate change, digital transformation, soft power, employment opportunities, and people's movement. 📚

During the interview, Sh. Yadav ji shared invaluable perspectives on how India is spearheading the transition to a green economy, emphasizing the significance of sustainable practices for long-term prosperity.💚

We also explored the government's vision for tackling climate change, with Sh. Yadav ji outlining India's proactive approach in mitigating environmental risks and promoting a resilient future.🌱

Another crucial aspect we discussed was India's digital transformation journey. Sh. Yadav ji highlighted the role of technology in empowering our citizens and driving inclusive growth across various sectors.💻

Furthermore, we touched upon the concept of soft power and its significance in strengthening India's global influence. Sh. Yadav ji emphasized the rich heritage and diversity that make India a powerhouse of soft power, fostering international collaboration and goodwill.🌍

Our conversation also revolved around employment opportunities and the government's commitment to creating a thriving job market for all. Sh. Yadav ji shared valuable insights on the measures being taken to boost employment in both organized and unorganized sectors.🤝

Lastly, we discussed the importance of people's movements and their role in shaping India's future. Sh. Yadav ji highlighted the power of collective action and the government's commitment to engaging with citizens to drive positive change.🙌

I will be posting a video of our engaging conversation very soon. Stay tuned to gain valuable insights from Sh. Bhupender Yadav ji himself!📹

Let's work together to create a brighter future for India, where sustainable development thrives, digital innovations empower, soft power influences, employment opportunities flourish, and people's movements drive positive change.🌟

30/05/2023

https://youtu.be/gQT_u7rBMsM

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13/05/2023

What a fabulous body of work

https://fb.watch/kuVzC7loHp/?mibextid=cr9u03

03/05/2023

I am delighted to be speaking at the upcoming Devex CheckUp event on the sidelines of the 76th World Health Assembly on May 24th and 25th. The event, themed "Accelerating Innovation in Global Health," presents a unique opportunity to deliberate on strategies to get ahead of the curve through improved access to medicines, quality healthcare services, blended financing, and scalable innovations.

In today's fast-paced and dynamic world, climate change poses an unprecedented challenge to every sector and the global health industry is not immune to it. Therefore, it is vital that we adopt a proactive and results-driven approach to combat this issue head-on. I am excited to share my insights on how countries can leverage innovation and cost-effective sustainable solutions to build resilience against climate change.

This event promises to be a game-changer, and I am excited to share thoughts with all those who are serious about driving change and making a meaningful impact on global health. Let's be the disruptors, not the disrupted, and create a sustainable future for generations to come.

Register now at https://pages.devex.com/devex-checkup-at-wha-76.html and let's turn the tide on climate change.

Join the journalists who bring you the global health newsletter Devex CheckUp — in person or online — for two days of insightful conversations with the individuals who are shaping the future of global health.

18/04/2023

Revolutionary AI Assistant 'Sara' by Innovaccer Accelerates Knowledge Extraction for Healthcare Executives

Innovaccer, a healthcare data analytics firm, has unveiled its latest innovation in the form of Sara, an advanced conversational AI assistant that aims to help healthcare executives and administrators gain meaningful insights from the massive amount of data available to them. Sara's capabilities enable executives to ask complex questions and get immediate answers on clinical, financial, or operational metrics. Its cutting-edge features allow for the granular analysis of specific information, resulting in swift identification of operational challenges and population health insights. The disruptive change brought about by Sara's speed of response is particularly noteworthy, as it obviates the months-long wait executives typically have to endure while data teams build dashboards.

Named after the Hindu goddess Saraswati, who symbolizes knowledge and order, Sara embodies these values in its design. Kanav Hasija, Innovaccer's Chief Product Officer, notes that there is a firewall between lean data and good knowledge in healthcare. Despite healthcare executives' access to digitized information, they still find it challenging to extract knowledge from the data. Sara aims to expedite this process by facilitating the swift acquisition of insights and meaning from vast amounts of data.

Innovaccer's announcement also includes five additional data-powered solutions aimed at helping providers improve their clinical, financial, and operational performance metrics. These solutions encompass a customer relationship management tool, a health equity analytics tool, software to enhance discharge care planning, a tool for visualizing market dynamics, and software to enhance coding accuracy.

While Sara is initially designed for healthcare executives and administrators, Innovaccer is also developing a similar assistant for nurses and doctors that may be launched later this year. This assistant will enable clinicians to ask questions about patient charts and receive quick answers, improving decision-making in clinical settings. Overall, Innovaccer's new solutions aim to promote greater efficiency in the healthcare industry and provide better healthcare services to patients.

18/04/2023

Antitrust Penalties on Google by Competition Commission of India: A Call to Prioritize Fair Competition in the Health Tech Industry

The recent antitrust penalties levied against Google by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for its anti-competitive practices in the Android mobile ecosystem and the Play Store market have highlighted the growing global concern over tech monopolies' market dominance and their adverse effects on competition in the digital economy. These penalties are a call to action for tech giants to prioritize fair competition in the health tech industry.

The surge in venture capital and private equity funds, globalization, and a thriving startup ecosystem in the health tech industry have created new regulatory challenges that require measures to prevent unfair discrimination. As an independent and market-friendly anti-trust regulator, the CCI champions competitive markets and remains neutral on market dominance. The CCI's actions against Google show that anti-competitive behavior will not be tolerated, and corrective measures will be taken to restore competition in the health tech industry.

The CCI's move against Google serves as a warning to other tech giants that their market dominance will be scrutinized, and corrective measures will be taken to restore fair competition in the digital economy. The fines imposed by the CCI on Google are unprecedented and underscore the importance of a level playing field in the health tech industry. The corrective measures taken by the CCI are a crucial step towards fostering innovation in the health tech industry, promoting fair competition, and ensuring that consumers have access to innovative and affordable health technology solutions.

17/04/2023

Sustainable Food Value Chain: Addressing Challenges to End World Hunger and Ensure a Better Future

The Sustainable Food Value Chain is an essential approach to ending world hunger while promoting economic, environmental, and social sustainability. However, the latest report on Food Security and Nutrition reveals that the world is not on track to meet SDGs targets to eliminate hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition. In 2021, hunger affected 828 million people, and almost 924 million people suffered from food insecurity, representing a significant increase from 2019 figures. The joint child malnutrition estimate showed that 149M under-five children are stunted, 45M are wasted, and 39M are overweight. Moreover, the Ukraine conflict pushed 95 million people into extreme poverty.

To ensure sustainable food systems, we must consider factors such as agricultural practices, poverty, malnutrition, land degradation, water scarcity, social inequality, and climate change. Achieving food security and sustainability for the projected 9.7 billion people by 2050 requires increasing food output by 70 percent, raising ecological concerns. Therefore, we must focus on "ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns" as emphasized in Goal 12 of the SDGs.

Economical, environmental, and social sustainability must be considered to build a Sustainable Food Value Chain. The food industry provides employment for 1.1 billion people, and smallholder farmers provide ecosystem functions, climate services, and income growth, particularly in rural areas. Short food supply networks are better for small and medium-scale producers, and traceability technologies like Blockchain, RFID, and barcode systems are essential for sustainability. Industry 4.0 technology can decrease food loss and waste through better information exchange, highlighting the importance of inter-organizational collaboration for food sector sustainability.

17/04/2023

Regulatory Challenges and Tech Monopolies: Impacts on Global Health

The escalating apprehension concerning tech monopolies and regulatory obstacles in the United States and India reverberates through global health, especially in the realms of healthcare access and innovation. The overarching dominion of colossal tech companies poses a perilous risk of restrained access to crucial healthcare information and services, resulting in a paucity of competition, escalated prices, and diminished innovation.

Tech monopolies' control over the information flow impedes smaller entities' competitive edge, consequently, impeding access to essential healthcare information for patients. This, in turn, gives rise to the absence of transparency and accountability, ultimately compromising public health.

Moreover, the amplifying concentration of power within tech behemoths is responsible for impeding healthcare innovation. Usually, the onus of driving healthcare innovation falls on small startups and entrepreneurs, but with tech monopolies' omnipresence, they may struggle to establish themselves in the market, leading to a lack of innovation.

Additionally, the burgeoning assimilation of data amongst tech giants poses a threat to data breaches and privacy concerns, endangering healthcare data like patient records.

Therefore, regulatory action is of utmost importance to ensure equitable competition in the market, safeguard patient privacy, and foster healthcare innovation. The appointment of Lina Khan as the youngest-ever chair of the Federal Trade Commission and the Competition Commission of India's measures against Google augur well towards accomplishing these objectives. However, further resolute action is indispensable to confront novel challenges that arise in the face of technology's rapid evolution.

17/04/2023

Building Organizational Resilience: Key Capabilities for Global Health Organizations to Navigate Disruption and Drive Growth

In the rapidly changing landscape of the business world, it is imperative for companies, including global health organizations, to cultivate organizational resilience. The key capabilities that must be prioritized to achieve this are agility, self-sufficiency, adaptable leadership, and investment in talent and culture.

Agility involves a paradigm shift towards expeditious, data-informed decision-making, which may produce "good enough" outcomes, allowing leaders and teams to test, learn, and swiftly adapt to change. McKinsey's research posits that companies with agile decision-making processes are 2.7 times more likely to be top performers in their industries.

Self-sufficient teams with a sense of ownership of outcomes and empowerment to execute strategic plans can help foster resilience. Research by Deloitte found that organizations with robust feedback and coaching cultures are 1.9 times more likely to have employees who are confident in their abilities to navigate change.

Adaptable leaders who coach team members through change, catalyze new behaviors, and develop capabilities are crucial to organizational resilience. The Harvard Business Review has found that organizations with adaptable leaders are 1.5 times more likely to innovate and 1.7 times more likely to have engaged employees.

Investing in talent and culture can also help build resilience, as adaptable environments are more likely to attract and retain top talent. PwC's study shows that organizations that invest in talent and culture are 2.2 times more likely to be viewed as successful by employees and 1.5 times more likely to have increased revenue growth.

To build resilience, senior management should assess all four capabilities simultaneously. Decision-making speed, operating models for quick pivots, and attracting the "right" talent are critical factors. Companies can establish decision-making bodies comprising senior leaders or key stakeholders and implement effective meeting and time management practices to accelerate decision-making processes.

The post-COVID-19 era has seen executives implement changes in meeting structure and cadence to ensure productivity and focus on problem-solving. Meeting-free days and innovation-focused activities can also help teams manage their time effectively.

Research demonstrates that building organizational resilience pays off in the long run. Companies that fared better than their peers during the last economic downturn increased their earnings by 10 percent, while their peers lost nearly 15 percent in earnings. By focusing on agility, self-sufficiency, adaptable leadership, and investment in talent organizations can navigate disruption and drive growth.

17/04/2023

IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report: A Groundbreaking Achievement in Climate Science with Profound Implications for Global Health

Examining the State of Our Planet and the Urgent Need for Action
The IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) is a significant global endeavor that examines the state of our planet and its impact on human health. The report, which took eight years to complete and involved the contributions of scientists and scholars from various disciplines worldwide, presents findings from tens-of-thousands of peer-reviewed papers, making it the most extensive study of climate change to date. While it may not have been the most captivating headline, its critical takeaways emphasize the dire need for immediate and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

Climate Change and Global Health: Implications
Climate change has significant implications for global health, with vulnerable and marginalized communities disproportionately affected. The difference between the levels of warming, ranging from 1.1 degrees to 2 degrees, will have a substantial impact on human well-being, ecosystem health, and political stability. The report underscores that the impact of climate change on human health will only worsen if immediate and significant action is not taken. In particular, policymakers must implement adaptation policies and plans to address the potential warming that could exceed 3 degrees Celsius, which would have severe consequences for human health.

Essential Components of Public Health Initiatives
The transition to sustainable systems requires good governance, access to finance, and behavior change, all of which are essential components of public health initiatives. The report emphasizes the need for redirecting investments away from fossil fuels, which would also have significant health benefits, as the burning of fossil fuels contributes to air pollution, respiratory diseases, and premature deaths. Thus, the IPCC's AR6 report has far-reaching implications for global health and underscores the urgency of addressing climate change to protect human health.

The Significance of the AR6 Report: Implications for Humanity's Future
The completion of the AR6 report took longer than anticipated due to the complexity of the subject matter and political events. Nonetheless, it represents a remarkable accomplishment in process and scholarship, and its findings have far-reaching implications for humanity's future. The report's release highlights the need for continued global collaboration and action to address the significant challenges facing the planet, particularly in terms of the impact of climate change on human health.

16/04/2023

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

The dearth of skilled workers has emerged as a critical challenge for organizations, which is projected to worsen in the near future. Nearly 90% of businesses anticipate encountering a significant skills gap in the coming years, exacerbated by the rapid digitalization and automation of work activities, which are further driving skill shifts. According to research, about 40% of Americans and 34% of Western Europeans are likely to switch occupational groups by 2030, and with 40% of workers intending to leave their jobs, attrition is posing a significant obstacle in retaining critical skills within organizations.

Consequently, companies need to transform their approach to talent, moving from attraction to hiring for potential and, more importantly, enterprise-scale skill development. People development is fundamental for attracting, retaining, and driving long-term market advantage. This article proposes eight essential steps that people leaders must adopt as they build their organizational capabilities.

However, redesigning people development is complex and challenging, necessitating responding to changes in modern employee behavior, keeping up with the pace and scale of business capability-building needs, and incorporating the latest advancements in learning technology. Nonetheless, there are eight essential imperatives that organizations can implement to tackle the challenge.

One strategy companies can adopt to overcome the talent shortage is to rethink their recruitment practices. For instance, people with unconventional career paths may possess demonstrated ability to master new skills and absorb new knowledge. Adopting such a recruiting strategy demands a commitment to help these employees expand their skills to fit their roles by emphasizing people development.

Developing employees effectively requires organizations to consider their expectations and needs, including empowering them to access relevant content anytime, anywhere. Modern employees expect learning to be contextualized, personalized, easily accessible in consumable formats, incorporated into daily workflow, and supported by timely nudges. Organizations must learn to create intentional moments of connection in a hybrid "phygital" world and rethink how to integrate the best of both worlds into their people development.