No, Facebook Did Not Panic and Shut Down an AI Program That Was Getting Dangerously Smart 08-04

Image credit : Shyam's Imagination Library

In recent weeks, a story about experimental Facebook machine learning research has been circulating
with increasingly panicky, Skynet-esque headlines.

“Facebook engineers panic, pull plug on AI after bots develop their own language,” one site wrote. “Facebook shuts down down AI after it invents its own creepy language,” another added. “Did we humans just create Frankenstein?” asked yet another. One British tabloid quoted a robotics professor saying the incident showed “the dangers of deferring to artificial intelligence” and “could be lethal” if similar tech was injected into military robots.

References to the coming robot revolution, killer droids, malicious AIs and human extermination abounded, some more or less serious than others. Continually quoted was this passage, in which two Facebook chat bots had learned to talk to each other in what is admittedly a pretty creepy way.

Bob: I can i i everything else

Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to

Bob: you i everything else

Alice: balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me

The reality is somewhat more prosaic. A few weeks ago, FastCo Design did report on a Facebook effort to develop a “generative adversarial network” for the purpose of developing negotiation software.

The two bots quoted in the above passage were designed, as explained in a Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research unit blog post in June, for the purpose of showing it is “possible for dialog agents with differing goals (implemented as end-to-end-trained neural networks) to engage in start-to-finish negotiations with other bots or people while arriving at common decisions or outcomes.”

The negotiation system’s GUI. Gif Credit: Facebook AI Research

The bots were never doing anything more nefarious than discussing with each other how to split an array of given items (represented in the user interface as innocuous objects like books, hats, and balls) into a mutually agreeable split.

The intent was to develop a chatbot which could learn from human interaction to negotiate deals with an end user so fluently said user would not realize they are talking with a robot, which FAIR said was a success:

“The performance of FAIR’s best negotiation agent, which makes use of reinforcement learning and dialog rollouts, matched that of human negotiators ... demonstrating that FAIR’s bots not only can speak English but also think intelligently about what to say.”

When Facebook directed two of these semi-intelligent bots to talk to each other, FastCo reported, the programmers realized they had made an error by not incentivizing the chatbots to communicate according to human-comprehensible rules of the English language. In their attempts to learn from each other, the bots thus began chatting back and forth in a derived shorthand—but while it might look creepy, that’s all it was.

“Agents will drift off understandable language and invent codewords for themselves,” FAIR visiting researcher Dhruv Batra said. “Like if I say ‘the’ five times, you interpret that to mean I want five copies of this item. This isn’t so different from the way communities of humans create shorthands.”
Facebook did indeed shut down the conversation, but not because they were panicked they had untethered a potential Skynet. FAIR researcher Mike Lewis told FastCo they had simply decided “our interest was having bots who could talk to people,” not efficiently to each other, and thus opted to require them to write to each other legibly.

But in a game of content telephone not all that different from what the chat bots were doing, this story evolved from a measured look at the potential short-term implications of machine learning technology to thinly veiled doomsaying.

There are probably good reasons not to let intelligent machines develop their own language which humans would not be able to meaningfully understand—but again, this is a relatively mundane phenomena which arises when you take two machine learning devices and let them learn off each other. It’s worth noting that when the bot’s shorthand is explained, the resulting conversation was both understandable and not nearly as creepy as it seemed before.

As FastCo noted, it’s possible this kind of machine learning could allow smart devices or systems to communicate with each other more efficiently. Those gains might come with some problems—imagine how difficult it might be to debug such a system that goes wrong—but it is quite different from unleashing machine intelligence from human control.

In this case, the only thing the chatbots were capable of doing was coming up with a more efficient way to trade each others’ balls.

There are good uses of machine learning technology, like improved medical diagnostics, and potentially very bad ones, like riot prediction software police could use to justify cracking down on protests. All of them are essentially ways to compile and analyze large amounts of data, and so far the risks mainly have to do with how humans choose to distribute and wield that power.

Hopefully humans will also be smart enough not to plug experimental machine learning programs into something very dangerous, like an army of laser-toting androids or a nuclear reactor. But if someone does and a disaster ensues, it would be the result of human negligence and stupidity, not because the robots had a philosophical revelation about how bad humans are.

At least not yet. Machine learning is nowhere close to true AI, just humanity’s initial fumbling with the technology. If anyone should be panicking about this news in 2017, it’s professional negotiators, who could find themselves out of a job.

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The User Experience: Why Data – Not Just Design – Hits the Sweet Spot 08-03

The successful user experience is about meeting a consumer’s needs on an individual level – a “segment of one” not “one-size-fits” all, many experts say. But what does that look like in practice? “What really differentiates companies is their personalization through data — which allows them to build unique experiences that lead to increased engagement and better outcomes, …” write Scott A. Snyder, president and CSO of Mobiquity and a senior fellow at Wharton, and Jason Hreha, founder of Dopamine, a behavior design firm, in this opinion piece.

Today, design has a seat at the table. With the success of products like the iPod and the iPhone, businesses have realized that a good user experience is key for the bottom line.

Yet even with this determined focus on design, most digital experiences fall short of user expectations. Of the 700 million websites that exist, 72% fail to consistently engage users or drive conversions. Of the 1.6 million apps available, just 200 account for 70% of all usage, and three out of four apps aren’t even used beyond the initial download.

So where did things go wrong? Or more importantly, how can we get them right? Surprisingly, the answer does not lie with design. It lies with data.

Netflix is an example of a company that pays attention to user experience. Early on Netflix chose not to charge late fees, like Blockbuster did, in order to help build its subscription DVD business. Netflix soon put Blockbuster out of business, but also came under threat from other online video streaming businesses like Sling and Roku. Fortunately, Netflix was able to use its viewing analytics to create personalized content recommendations, and even create its own shows geared toward viewer interests, such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.

For Netflix, the user experience was the price of entry, and the viewing data they gathered and analyzed became the strategic advantage of the business. Because of their approach, we don’t order special TV/Movie packages anymore. Instead, thanks to Netflix analytics, we have our viewing experience tailored to who we are. This is one example of a new breed of data-driven user experiences created by companies like Amazon, Pandora, Sephora, Nike, Progressive and Disney.

Good user experience design has become table stakes. If you don’t do it well, you can’t even get out of the gate in this hyper-competitive digital world. What really differentiates companies is their personalization through data — which allows them to build unique experiences that lead to increased engagement and better outcomes for the user and company. However, there is a fine line between “helpful” and “annoying” in the digital world, and the price of getting your data-driven personalization right or wrong may be the difference between a delighted customer and one who will never come back to your brand.

Good user experience design has become table stakes. If you don’t do it well, you can’t even get out of the gate in this hyper-competitive digital world.

How Can We Achieve Truly Personalized Experiences?

There are three reasons why digital solutions fail to engage users long term and drive positive outcomes: segmentation, relevance and rewards.

1. Segmentation: Behavioral

Are you someone who likes competition and rewards? Or are you someone motivated by helpful nudges from friends and family? Do you respond to text messages during work, or do you catch up on your personal messages at night? Do you travel a lot? Do you have a “wearable” (or are willing to use one)?

These are the types of questions we should be asking our users. We can either ask them directly, or infer answers from user interactions and behaviors. People are all different — but you wouldn’t know it by looking at most digital products. The majority of applications create a one-size-fits-all experience that fails to engage even a fifth of those who sign up. The good news is that we have the ability to collect individual behavioral data from users so that we can segment them more accurately, and present them with experiences that speak to their unique experiences and preferences.

2. Relevance: Getting Context Right

View enlarged image

In order to deliver relevant, impactful interactions at the right moment, we need to understand each user’s context. But context is much more than just time (when?) and location (where?). With richer data being collected from both users and third-party sources, context is now evolving to include situation (what am I doing?) and emotion (how am I feeling?). An expanded definition of context is shown in the figure above.

(Reference: Mobiquity and Wireless Innovation Council Research, 2014)

With this multifaceted model of context, we move closer to the ideal “segment of one” (a unique profile for each user at a given point in time). You would not want to send weight loss content to a customer who is maintaining a healthy weight, or give a shopping coupon to a stressed out traveler in an airport security line. Context-aware applications like Google Now and Tempo AI (acquired by Salesforce) leverage a user’s calendar as a source of context, so that they know when a user may be busy, in a meeting or enjoying downtime. This information is used by these applications to adjust their content and experience to fit the context-determined mindset of each individual user.

Context-aware applications like Google Now and Tempo AI (acquired by Salesforce) leverage a user’s calendar as a source of context, so that they know when a user may be busy, in a meeting or enjoying downtime.

Most users are only willing to share their data if they perceive that they will get real benefits in return. More than 60% of consumers want real-time promotions, yet 67% don’t trust retailers with their data (Opinion Lab Survey, 2015). We have the opportunity to do better.

3. Reward: Overcoming the Effort versus Benefit Challenge

In order to get, you have to give. Unfortunately, most applications ask for too much and offer too little. Twitter It’s common for apps to have a long-winded sign-up process that asks you every question under the sun. This is not a recipe for success.

Popular applications like Waze and Pandora are case studies in proper information gathering. They provide us with immediate benefits right after we download their apps. Waze improves our driving route in exchange for our location. Pandora gives us a personal DJ, tailored to our tastes, in exchange for rating the songs we’re listening to. In both these cases, our effort seems minimal in comparison to the benefits we get back. Contrast this with the majority of digital solutions that ask for a lot of data (like registration, profile, location, etc.) before delivering one ounce of benefit. We have to “earn the right” to collect the type of data we need to appropriately segment users. We have to win the “benefit versus effort” trade-off with our users by providing them with immediate, tangible benefits and using the data being collected to further personalize their experiences.

Evolving to a Data-driven UX Approach

Eighty-six percent of mobile marketers have reported success from personalization — including increased engagement, higher revenue, improved conversions, better user insights, and higher retention. However, only 1.5% of apps personalize their experiences (Mobile Marketing Automation Report, VB Insight, July 2015). In order to get to true personalization, and deliver greater effort than benefit, we need to make our user-experience (UX) design data-driven.

A traditional UX design process starts with user research followed by user flow creation, persona creation, storyboards/wireframes creation, and (finally) a graphical mock-up or prototype of the design. The desired result of this process is a single beautiful design that attempts to deliver the best possible experience to meet the needs of all the different user types.

By knowing something about each user’s behaviors, motivations and contexts, we have the opportunity to deliver a variation of the core experience that is best suited to each individual user by using robust analytics and an adaptive user interface.

But the reality is that all users are not the same — and they don’t all want to interact with your app in the same way. By knowing something about each user’s behaviors, motivations and contexts, we have the opportunity to deliver a variation of the core experience that is best suited to each individual user by using robust analytics and an adaptive user interface. In a data-driven UX approach like this, we start with the desired outcomes and behaviors we are trying to achieve with the target user base.

We then develop an initial behavioral segmentation model, and identify the optimal interaction strategies and user experience for each segment. And finally, we use analytics and machine learning to have our system adapt over time, so we can further optimize the design and underlying interaction models.

The figure below depicts the difference between a traditional and data-driven UX approach.

View enlarged image 

Make it Real

Data-driven UX design is a fundamental shift in how companies approach product design and development. While the journey is not easy, the potential payoff is huge in terms of long-term engagement and positive outcomes for your customers. If you want to move to this new model, you need to consider the following:

1. Expand your definition of context beyond location and time. Situation and Emotion matter.

2. Deliver immediate benefits to users before asking for more of their data. There is a fine line between useful and creepy.

3. Segment your users based on digital behaviors, preferences, motivations and context to drive the most relevant interactions.

4. Set up a big data and analytics environment capable of capturing and acting on behavioral analytics data in real time.

5. Use analytics and machine learning to adapt the target interactions for each user-segment over time, based on user responses.

6. Recruit a new breed of user experience designers—those with analytics skills to support the design of adaptive user experiences.

7. Start with desired outcomes, then pilot and adjust quickly.

It’s no longer good enough to know your customers. It’s what you do with that knowledge that really matters. Your customers are willing to engage and share their data if they perceive a real benefit for them.

Are you ready to live up to your end of the bargain?

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Donald Trump's 'merit-based' immigration plan may benefit Indian professionals 08-03

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has announced his support for a legislation that would cut in half the number legal immigrants allowed into the US while moving to a "merit-based" system favouring English-speaking skilled workers for residency cards.

If passed by the Congress and signed into law, the legislation titled the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act could benefit highly-educated and technology professionals from countries such as India.

The RAISE Act would scrap the current lottery system to get into the US and instead institute a points-based system for earning a green card. Factors that would be taken into account include English language skills, education, high- paying job offers and age.

"The RAISE Act will reduce poverty, increase wages, and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars. It will do this by changing the way the US issues Green Cards to nationals from other countries. Green Cards provide permanent residency, work authorisation, and fast track to citizenship," Trump said at a White House event to announce his support to the RAISE Act.

Standing along with two top authors of the bill -- Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue Trump said the RAISE Act ends chain migration, and replaces the low-skilled system with a new points-based system for receiving a Green Card.

This competitive application process will favour applicants who can speak English, financially support themselves and their families, and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy, he said, adding that the RAISE Act prevents new migrants and new immigrants from collecting welfare, and protects US workers from being displaced.

Trump said this legislation will not only restore America's competitive edge in the 21st century, but it will restore the sacred bonds of trust between America and its citizens.

"This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first," he said.

The RAISE Act will be re-orienting Green Card system towards people who can speak English, who have high degrees of educational attainment, who have a job offer that pays more, and a typical job in their local economy, who are going to create a new business, and who are outstanding in their field around the world, Senator Cotton said.

Senator Perdue said the current system does not work. "It keeps America from being competitive, and it does not meet the needs of the economy today," he said.

"Today we bring in 1.1 million legal immigrants a year. Over 50 per cent of our households of legal immigrants today participate in our social welfare system. Right now, only one 1 out of 15 immigrants who come into our country come in with skills that are employable. We've got to change that," he said.

"We can all agree that the goals of our nation's immigration system should be to protect the interests of working Americans, including immigrants, and to welcome talented individuals who come here legally and want to work and make a better life for themselves. Our current system makes it virtually impossible for them to do that," said Senator Perdue.

According to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the higher entry standards established in this proposal will allow authorities to do a more thorough job reviewing applicants for entry, therefore protecting the security of the US homeland.

The additional time spent on vetting each application as a result of this legislation will also ensure that each application serves the national interest, he observed.

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How to start a startup at IIM Ahmedabad 07-31

How to start a startup. Talk by successful entrepreneurs at IIM Ahmedabad  

Video Embeds from IIM Ahmedabad YouTube  channel.

How To Start A Startup (HTSAS) | Season 1 - A Look Back

1. How to Start a Startup | Session 1- Sanjeev Bikhchandani

2. How to Start a Startup | Session 2 - Raghunandan G Founder Taxi for sure

3. How to Start a Startup | Session 3 - Girish Mathrubootham  Founder Freshdesk

4. How to Start a Startup | Session 4 - Sahil Barua Founder Delivery

5. How to Start a Startup | Session 5 - Ritesh Agarwal Founder OYO Rooms 

Please also view my article

"How to Formulate Strategy for a Startup"

Notification by Medical Council of India. 07-29

ADVISORY TO STUDENTS SEEKING ADMISSION IN MBBS

It has come to the notice of Medical Council of India that certain unscrupulous elements are misleading students by alluring them that they would get them admitted in MBBS course in Medical Colleges. In this regard, it is brought to the notice of all concerned that admissions for MBBS in all Medical Colleges falling within the purview of Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 for the academic year 2017-18 has to be through the common counseling conducted by: 

1.The Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India for 15% All India Quota seats in Government Medical Colleges of the contributing states and for All MBBS seats in Medical Colleges run by Deemed Universities.  The Designated Authority of the State/ Union Territory Government in respect of MBBS seats in Government Medical Colleges and Non-Governmental Medical Colleges.

2. Admissions made without common counseling is impermissible and illegal.

3. By way of this Advisory all Candidates interested in taking admission in Medical Colleges should check the status regarding grant of permission by the Central Government to the colleges from the website of Medical Council of India i.e. https://www.mciindia.org/ and only after verifying the status of the permission should proceed to take admission.

4. It has also come to the notice of the Council that certain unscrupulous elements are promising students admission and are also demanding capitation fee for such admissions. These activities are illegal and students are cautioned not to be misled by any such frivolous statements made by these college authorities.  

5. It is further brought to notice of all concerned that following Medical Colleges have not been granted permission by the Medical Council of India / Central Government for admitting students in MBBS for academic year 2017-18 and 2018-19:  
S. No. State Name of the Medical College

Status
1.  Andhra Pradesh RVS Institute of Medical Sciences, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh 
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

2.  Andhra Pradesh Nimra Institute of Medical Sciences, Andhra Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

3.  Andhra Pradesh Gayatri Vidya Parishad Institute of Health Care and Medical Technology, Visakhapatnam, AP
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.
S. No. State Name of the Medical College

Status
4.  Andhra Pradesh Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Murakkambattu Village, Chittoor,  Andhra Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

5.  Chhattisgarh Raipur Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur, Chhattisgarh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

6.  Chhattisgarh Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences, Junwani,  Bhilai, Chhattisgarh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

7.  Chhattisgarh Govt. Medical College, Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh 
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18.

8.  Delhi Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, New Delhi
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

9.  Gujarat  Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819 against increased intake from 100 to 150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

10.  Haryana World College of Medical Sciences & Research Village - Gurawar, Jhahhar, Haryana
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

11.  Haryana N.C. Medical College & Hospital, Israna, Panipat, Haryana
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

12.  Jharkhand Patliputra Medical Sciences, Dhanbad, Jharkhand
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 50 -100. The college is recognized for 50 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 50 seats.

13.  Karnataka Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Mangalore, Karnataka
 Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

14.  Karnataka Akash Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Devanhalli
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.


15.  Karnataka Sambharam Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Kolar, Karnataka
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

16.  Karnataka Sri Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur 
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 130 – 150. The college is recognized for 130 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 130 seats.

17.  Karnataka Al Ameen Medical college & Hospital, Bijapur, Karnataka
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

18.  Karnataka Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 120-150. The college is recognized for 120 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 120 seats.

19.  Kerala Kerala Medical College, Palakkad, Kerala
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

20.  Kerala S.R Medical College & Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

21.  Kerala Al-Azhar Medical College and Super Speciality Hospital, Thodupuzha, Kerala.
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

22.  Kerala  Mount Zion Medical College, Pathanamthitta, Kerala
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18.

23.  Kerala DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

24.  Kerala Government Medical College, Painav, Idukki, Kerala
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18.

25.   Kerala Kannur Medical College, Not permitted for admission for
S. No. State Name of the Medical College

Kannur the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

26.  Madhya Pradesh
Sakshi Medical College & Research Centre, Guna, M.P.
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

27.  Madhya Pradesh
Advanced Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Bhopal
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

28.  Madhya Pradesh
Modern Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819

29.  Madhya Pradesh
Sri Aurobindo Medical College, Indore
 Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

30.  Maharashtra Institute of Medical Science and Research, Vidyagiri, Satara
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

31.  Maharashtra Jawahar Medical Foundation’ Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College, Dhule  Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819. 

32.  Maharashtra Maharashtra Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Talegaon, Dabhade, Pune 
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

33.  Maharashtra Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Center, Navi Mumbai 
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819 against increased intake from 150-250. The college is recognized for 150 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 150 seats.

34.  Maharashtra Dr. Ulhas Patil Medical College & Hospital, Nashik
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.
35.  Orissa Hi-Tech Medical College & Hospital, Rourkela
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

36.  Punjab Chintpurni Medical College, Gurdaspur 
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

37.  Rajasthan American International Institute of Medical Sciences, Bedwas, Udaipur
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.


38.  Rajasthan Ananta Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Nathdwara, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Rajasthan  Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

39.  Tamilnadu Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Institute of Medical Sciences, Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tamilnadu. Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

40.  Tamilnadu Annaii Medical College Hospital & Research Institute, Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

41.  Tamil Nadu Karpagam Faculty of Medical Sciences & Research, Coimbatore
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18.

42.  Tamil Nadu Madha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam, Chennai
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

43.  Tamil Nadu Melmaruvathur Adhiprasakthi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Melmaruvathur. Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

44.  Telagana RVM Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Mulugu Mondal, Medak Distt. Telangana. Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

45.  Telangana Mahavir Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranga Reddy,  Vikarabad, Telangana
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

46.  Telangana Malla Reddy Medical College for Women, Jeedimetla, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

47.  Telangana  SVS Medical College, Mehboobnagar 
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150.  The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

48.  Telengana Mediciti Institute of Medical Sciences, Ghanpur, Ranga Reddy, A.P. 
 Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150 The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

49.  Uttar Pradesh Glocal Medical College, Super Specialty Hospital & Research Center, Mirzapur, Saharanpur, U.P. Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

50.  Uttar Pradesh G.C.R.G. Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

51.  Uttar Pradesh Krishna Mohan Medical College & Hospital, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

52.  Uttar Pradesh Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences, Gajraula, J.P. Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

53.  Uttar Pradesh Saraswati Medical College, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

54.  Uttar Pradesh Prasad Instt. Of Medical Sciences, Lucknow
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

55.  Uttar Pradesh Varunarjun Medical College, Banthra, Distt.  Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

56.  Uttar Pradesh Hind Institute of Medical Sciences, Ataria, Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18.

57.  Uttar Pradesh Major S D Singh Medical College and Hospital, Fathehgarh, Farrukhabad
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

58.  Uttarakhand Shridev Suman Subharti Medical College, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

59.  Uttar Pradesh Saraswathi Institute of Medical Sciences, Hapur 
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819 against increased intake from 100-150.  The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

60.  Uttar Pradesh Era's Medical College & Hospital, Lucknow
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

61.  Uttar Pradesh Rohilkhand Medical College & Hospital, Bareilly
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

62.  Uttar Pradesh Subharati Medical College, Meerut   
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

63.  West Bengal Gouri Devi Institute of Medical Sciences, Durgapur, Burdwan, West Bengal
Debarred from admission for the academic year 2017-18 & 201819.

64.  West Bengal IQ-City Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18.

65.  West Bengal ICARE Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Haldia, West Bengal
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18.

66.  West Bengal North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

67.  West Bengal Midnapore Medical College, Midnapore
Not permitted for admission for the academic year 2017-18 against increased intake from 100-150. The college is recognized for 100 MBBS seats, hence, it is permitted for admission for 100 seats.

                                                                                                          Sd/- (Dr. Reena Nayyar) Secretary I/C

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US relaxes visa norms for Indians 07-25

Introducing relief for H-1B petitioners, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has decided to resume premium processing for certain cap-exempt H-1B petitions effective immediately.

Those included under the petitions are H-1B petitioners coming from an institute of higher education, a nonprofit organisation related or affiliated with an institute of higher education or is a petitioner with non-profit research or governmental research organisations.

The petitioners from this move will avail the benefits of the premium processing that may be exempt from the cap.

The official Twitter channel of USCIS tweeted the notification on Monday evening announcing their decision to resume H-1B premium processing for certain cap-exempt petitions. The H-1B visa has an annual cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year.

Moreover, there is an annual "master's cap" of 20,000 petitions filed for beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher. Premium processing will also resume for petitions that may also be exempt if the beneficiary will be employed at a qualifying cap-exempt institution, organisation or entity.
Starting Monday, those cap-exempt petitioners who are eligible for premium processing are allowed to file Form I-907, request for premium processing service for Form I-129, petition for a non-immigrant worker.

The petitioner can file Form I-907 with an H-1B petition or separately for a pending H-1B petition. USCIS had previously announced that premium processing resumed on June 26 for H-1B petitions. The services mentioned that these petitions were filed on behalf of physicians under the Conrad 30 waiver program as well as interested government agency waivers.

USCIS plans to resume premium processing of other H-1B petitions as workloads permit. USCIS will make additional announcements with specific details related to when we will begin accepting premium processing for those petitions. Until then, premium processing remains temporarily suspended for all other H-1B petitions.

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What Cowboys Can Teach Us About Feeding the World 07-24

I will be the first person to admit that I’m a city boy. I grew up in Seattle, where my main agricultural experience as a kid was the farmers who sold freshly picked fruits and vegetables at Pike Place Market.

Since then I’ve visited lots of small farms as part of my work with the foundation. But nothing prepared me for where I recently found myself: in the wilds of the Australian outback watching a cattle rancher artificially inseminate a cow.

It’s a pretty graphic procedure to say the least, but I was impressed by how high tech the whole process was at Wylarah Station (a station is the Australian term for a ranch). The Australian Agricultural Company—or AACo—relies on cutting edge genomics to breed wagyu beef cows, some of the most elite cattle in the world.

AACo is one of the foremost experts in the developed world on tropical cattle production. Although they use innovation to raise higher quality beef that they can sell for a good price, I was more interested in learning about how their methods could help farmers in low income countries with similar climates.

Farmers across sub-Saharan Africa are already raising cattle—beef and dairy—in massive numbers. Ethiopia, Sudan, and Tanzania are among the world’s top 15 cattle producing countries. While there are legitimate questions about whether the world can meet its appetite for animal products without destroying the environment, it’s a fact that many poor people rely on cattle for both nutrition and income. I believe they should be able to raise cattle as efficiently as farmers in rich countries do.

I’m optimistic that technology can improve the quality of African cattle. A typical dairy cow in the United States produces nearly 30 liters of milk every day. Compare that to your average cow in Ethiopia, which produces just 1.69 liters of milk a day. If you want to increase milk yield, you can’t just take a high-producing Holstein cow from Wisconsin and drop it into the tropical savannah. Unlike indigenous breeds, temperate cattle have no natural resistance to tropical diseases—like trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness—and they struggle to get enough nutrition from local food sources.

Instead, you could breed cattle that will flourish in the local climate. That means using artificial insemination—like the process they use at Wylarah Station—to crossbreed a native female cow (with her built-in resilience to tropical heat and diseases) with a bull from a genetic line that produces lots of milk.

Our foundation is already tackling this, but AACo’s technology could make the process much more precise than it is today. One of the things that amazed me most during my visit was how much they know about the ancestry of their cattle. The animals on their ranch have a more detailed family history than most people do. If farmers in Africa were equipped with the same level of knowledge, they could handpick the best possible cow parents and breed a better calf. But that leads us to another problem.

Because they lack adequate storage, most African farmers rely on artificial insemination stations (yes, that’s what they’re really called) to provide sperm samples. Depending on how far a farmer lives from a station, the sample can sometimes heat up too much and effectively die before it is delivered. Many farmers decide not to take the risk. Instead they get their cows pregnant the old-fashioned way, which makes it harder to control genetic integrity and can lead to calves that are less resilient or produce less milk.

AACo is looking into methods that extend the viability of sperm samples. Similar technology is currently used in Europe to improve the success rate of fertilization, but it hasn’t been tried yet with tropical cattle. If successful, it could double the amount of time a sample can survive outside of storage and make it easier for more farmers across Africa to use artificial insemination.

Beyond breeding, Wylarah Station uses technology to ensure that their herds receive proper nutrition. I was surprised to see their ranch hands use smart watches to track how much the cows are drinking.

The whole operation was a far cry from the John Wayne cowboy movies I used to watch as a kid.

In the past someone had to manually inspect all of the water troughs scattered across the ranch, driving hundreds of kilometers every day. Now they receive a notification on their watch when a sensor detects that a tank needs attention. The whole operation was a far cry from the John Wayne cowboy movies I used to watch as a kid.

Not all of AACo’s innovative approaches could work in the poor world. It’s unlikely that every farmer in Africa will be wearing a smart watch anytime soon (if ever). But as smartphone usage continues to grow across the continent, it’s easy to imagine a future where Africans might use an app to order the perfect bull DNA or make sure their cattle are eating enough—something that an African ICT company called iCow is promoting in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania with help from our foundation.

There’s a lot we can learn from Wylarah Ranch about how to more efficiently raise cattle, but I can’t ignore the big question: should we rely on animals for food at all? Eating too much meat contributes to higher levels of obesity and heart disease, and raising animals contributes to climate change. That’s why I’ve invested in companies working on meat substitutes, which could one day eliminate the need to raise and slaughters animals entirely.

Although it might be possible to get people in richer countries to eat less, we can’t expect people in low income countries to follow suit. When I went vegetarian for a year in my late 20s, all I had to do to get my daily serving of protein was buy a can of beans or a container of tofu at the grocery store. It’s not so easy for families in poor communities to get the nutrition they need.

For them, meat and dairy are a great source of high-quality proteins that help children fully develop mentally and physically. Just 20 grams of animal protein a day can combat malnutrition, which is why our foundation’s nutrition strategy wants to get more meat, dairy, and eggs into the diets of children in Africa. Cattle are also a huge economic driver in some parts of Africa. In Ethiopia alone, cattle account for 45 percent of their agricultural GDP. In addition, livestock can actually contribute to ecosystems by stimulating pasture growth, enhancing biodiversity, and recycling energy and nutrients.

As more people in poor countries move into the middle class, they will likely eat more beef and drink more milk. But we can mitigate the impact of that growth on the environment by increasing production from the cows they already have. The cowboys of Wylarah Ranch have mastered the art of raising tropical cattle. I don’t know yet how African farmers can benefit from their expertise—our foundation is just starting to dig into this—but I’m excited about the possibilities.

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