aditya
14:36
Next IAS Prelims 2021 Test 15 With Solution PDF
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Friday, June 18, 2021
GS SCORE Fact Files: Major Amendments to the Indian Constitution PDF
aditya
14:29
GS SCORE Fact Files: Major Amendments to the Indian Constitution PDF
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The HINDU Notes – 18th June 2021
aditya
14:23
📰 Class 12 marks: SC approves CBSE's 30:30:40 formula
Students unsatisfied with the evaluation formula can take up Class 12 exam to be held when situation is conducive.
•The Supreme Court on Thursday gave in-principle clearance to the schemes placed on record by the CBSE and ICSE to assess the final marks of Class 12 students whose Board exams were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
•The CBSE has divided the marks’ assessment process into two components — theory and practical.
•The theory component would be assessed by first giving 30% weightage to average scores obtained by students in Class 10 in their three best performing subjects out of a total five. Secondly, another 30% weightage would be given to marks based on the theory component of the final exam taken in Class 11. Finally, 40% weightage would be given for marks obtained in one or more unit tests, mid-term exams and pre-board exams in Class 12.
•So, if the total marks for theory is 80, the 30% weightage of Classes 10 and 11 would come to 24 marks each. The 40% weightage derived from performance in various tests conducted in Class 12 year would translate to 32 marks.
•On the practical component side, calculation would be on the “actual basis” of the marks uploaded by schools on the CBSE portal. According to the scheme, the total marks awarded should be in consonance with the past performance of the school in Class 12 Board examinations.
Result committee
•A result committee under the principal would be formed in each school comprising two seniormost postgraduate teachers from the same school and two postgraduate teachers from neighbouring schools. The committee has been given the liberty to prepare the result by following the policy. The CBSE would aid them by establishing a help desk and also by providing software support, etc, to prepare the result. The CBSE said it would declare the results by July 31, 2021.
•In case any candidate is not satisfied with the assessment done, based on the policy, he or she would be given an opportunity to take the examinations to be conducted by the Board when the situation is more “conducive”.
•“Most of the candidates will be happy with this scheme… When there is a manageable number you can consider holding a physical exam later,” a Bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari addressed Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Union of India, which is CBSE’s controlling authority.
CISCE formula
•The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) assessment formula would include taking into consideration the students’ Class 10 ICSE Board exams, project and practical work in subjects, best marks obtained in school exams in Classes 11 and 12 and the best performance of the school itself in the past six years.
•“The situation which CBSE and ICSE faced was unprecedented. It has never before happened in the history of this country. We had to innovate. A committee of 13 experts went through numerous alternatives to finally decide on this policy,” Mr. Venugopal submitted.
•Mr. Venugopal said the committee led by Vipin Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, held a meeting with the principals of CBSE-affiliated schools. The feedback was obtained from 229 Sahodaya School Complexes, comprising 7,734 schools, regarding the policy which would determine the future of about 14.5 lakh Class 12 students this year.
Two suggestions
•On its part, the court asked Mr. Venugopal to “incorporate” two suggestions in the final schemes.
•“First, you have to provide an in-built dispute resolution mechanism in the policy for students unhappy with their assessment. Secondly, specify the timeline for the declaration of results and the date by which the optional (physical) exams would be conducted in the policy itself,” Justice Khanwilkar addressed Mr. Venugopal.
•The court declined a primary plea made by some interveners, represented by senior advocate Vikas Singh, to revisit its earlier order recording the government’s decision to cancel the Class 12 Board exams.
•“This plea cannot be taken forward. We had already accepted the decision in principle. An opportunity is given in the policy for students who want to appear in the physical exams… No prejudice is thus caused to any student,” the court said.
•However, the court, while asking the CBSE and the ICSE to go ahead and notify their respective schemes, scheduled the case again on June 20 to give some of the interveners, including Mr. Singh, to study the schemes and come up with any further suggestions.
•“You (CBSE/ICSE) go ahead and notify the schemes. If there any further suggestions to be incorporated, we can direct you to do so by way of a corrigendum,” the court told Mr. Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the CBSE.
📰 SC says continue demolition of 10,000 unapproved buildings in Aravali forest land
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Vision IAS PT 365 Government Schemes Prelims 2021 PDF
aditya
16:53
Vision IAS PT 365 Government Schemes Prelims 2021 PDF
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Daily Current Affairs, 17th June 2021
aditya
16:48
1) World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought: 17 June
•World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed on 17th June every year. The day is celebrated to raise awareness of the presence of desertification and drought, and highlight methods of preventing desertification and recovering from drought.
•“Restoration. Land. Recovery. We build back better with healthy land” is the theme for 2021 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
2) PM Modi Virtually Addresses 5th edition of VivaTech in Paris
•Prime Minister, Narendra Modi virtually addressed the 5th edition of VivaTech. VivaTech is one of the largest digital and startup events of Europe, held in Paris every year since 2016. PM Modi was invited as a Guest of Honour to deliver the keynote address at VivaTech 2021, which has been organised from 16-19 June 2021 in Paris. During his address, PM Modi invited the world to invest in India based on the five pillars: Talent, Market, Capital, Eco-system and, Culture of openness.
3) Cabinet approves Deep Ocean Mission of Ministry of Earth Sciences
•The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the implementation of “Deep Ocean Mission”. This mission is proposed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), to explore the deep ocean for resources and develop deep-sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources.
4) SIPRI Yearbook 2021: China, India, Pakistan expanding nuclear arsenal
•Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI) has released the SIPRI Yearbook 2021. The report assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security. China is in the middle of significant modernisation and expansion of its nuclear weapon inventory, and India and Pakistan also appear to be expanding their nuclear arsenals.
5) Central Govt launched “Project O2 for India” initiative
•The government of India has launched ‘Project O2 for India’ to step up production of medical oxygen to meet the potential increase in demand due to further waves of the pandemic. ‘Project O2 for India’, an initiative of the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India (GoI), aims to help stakeholders working to augment the country’s ability to meet the rise in demand for medical oxygen.
•Under the project, a ‘National Consortium of Oxygen’ is enabling the supply of critical raw materials such as zeolites, setting up of small oxygen plants, manufacturing compressors, final products such as oxygen plants, concentrators, and ventilators. Besides, the consortium is also working to strengthen the manufacturing ecosystem for long-term preparedness.
6) Defence Minister Approves Budgetary Support of Rs 499 cr for innovations
•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore for iDEX-DIO (Innovations for Defence Excellence – Defence Innovation Organisation) for the next five years. The funds will be used to provide financial support to nearly 300 start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and individual innovators with a larger goal of ensuring self-reliance in the defence sector. The scheme is in sync with the government’s push to cut imports of military hardware and weapons and make India a hub for defence manufacturing.
7) Microsoft names CEO Satya Nadella as chairman
•Microsoft Corp, named Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadella as its new chairman. He took over as the software giant’s CEO in 2014, succeeding Steve Ballmer. He is credited with bringing new energy to the company, founded in 1975. The company also appointed former chairman John Thompson as a lead independent director.
•The top-level executive change comes just over a year after Gates stepped down from the board, saying he would focus on philanthropic works of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s biggest charities.
8) IIT Bombay Hosts Conference of BRICS Network Universities 2021
•The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) is hosting a three day virtual “Conference of BRICS Network Universities”. This conference is being held as a part of India’s Chairmanship of the 13th BRICS Summit in 2021. The basic objective of BRICS Network University is enhancing educational cooperation in general, and especially in the realm of research and innovation. The theme of the Conference of BRICS Network Universities is “Electric Mobility”.
9) ADB inks USD 484 million loan with GoI to upgrade road network in Tamil Nadu
•The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed a $484 million loan, to improve transport connectivity and facilitate industrial development in the Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) in Tamil Nadu. “The project is key to providing seamless road connectivity across industrial clusters, transport gateways and consumption centres, and help reduce logistics and production costs for CKIC’s targeted industries to boost their competitiveness.
The HINDU Notes – 17th June 2021
aditya
16:31
📰 In six months, trans ID portal has issued 1,500 certificates
Official says it will be available in 5 regional languages soon
•Just over six months after it was launched, the Centre’s national portal for issuing certificates of identity to transgender persons has issued 1,557 certificates as of Wednesday, according to Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry data.
•A total of 2,805 applications had been received since the launch of the portal on November 25 last year. Of them, 1,125 came from Andhra Pradesh, 696 from Odisha, 246 from Madhya Pradesh, 225 from Gujarat and 101 from Puducherry, data accessed by The Hindu showed.
•Many States, however, had applications in single digit. Assam and Goa saw one application each; Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir had two each; and Punjab and Chhattisgarh had three applications each.
•Out of the total, 2,327 applications were found to be valid, out of which 1,557 applicants had been issued certificates and 770 were pending, the data showed.
•Among the issues related to the portal raised by trans activists was the language barrier.
•Grace Banu, a Dalit and trans rights activist based in Tamil Nadu, said the portal was available for those who understand English or Hindi, leaving out a large part of the country.
•Speaking during a webinar organised by Bahujan Economists, a platform for students and researchers in economics from marginalised communities, on Tuesday, she said trans persons were finding it difficult to access welfare schemes for lack of IDs and the portal wMoreas not accessible to many.
More accessibility
•When asked to comment, a senior official of the Ministry said the portal, which was available in English at transgender.dosje.gov.in, would be made available in five regional languages also by July to make it accessible to trans persons from across the country.
•The official added that the format of the application could be translated soon.
•However, integrating the information into the central database would take longer.
•The official said the portal would be made available in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, and one North Eastern language would be included by the end of June or early in July.
📰 OFB corporatisation gets Cabinet approval
GS SCORE GIST Of YOJANA APRIL 2021 PDF
aditya
07:40
GS SCORE GIST Of YOJANA APRIL 2021 PDF
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Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Inflation - May 2021
aditya
20:15
Why in news?
The official data for wholesale (WPI) and retail (CPI) inflation for May 2021 was released.
What is the current inflation scenario?
- WPI - The wholesale price index (WPI) hit an all-time high of 12.49% in May 2021.
- It touched the double-digit mark of 10.49% in April (2021).
- This is the fifth straight month of rise in WPI inflation.
- CPI - Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached its highest levels in 6 months, at 6.30%.
- This is much higher than April's 4.23%.
- It is also outside the Monetary Policy Committee's inflation targeting range of 4 (+/-2)%.
- The breach is witnessed for the first time since November 2020.
What led to the rise?
