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Saturday, August 01, 2020

Daily Current Affairs, 01st August 2020

21:06





1) NASA & ULA launched Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission
•The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has launched “Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission” with United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket to the Red Planet “Mars”. The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission was launched from Space Launch Complex 41, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program which is a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet.

 •The ULA Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage will initially place the Mars 2020 spacecraft into a parking orbit around Earth. NASA has launched the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission to search for signs of ancient life and collect samples to send back to Earth.

2) Russia chaired 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting
•The 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting was held under the presidency of Russia. The Environment Ministers of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa participated in the meeting held via the video conference. The meeting was preceded by the BRICS Working Group meeting. India will host the next meeting in 2021.

 •Union Environment Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar represented India in the BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meet. During the meet, the minister highlighted the efforts made by India in controlling Air pollution such as the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which was launched in 2019.




3) SIDBI & TransUnion CIBIL launches portal “MSMESaksham”
•The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched one-stop knowledge portal named as “MSMESaksham” in association with TransUnion CIBIL. The platform has been launched for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). MSMESaksham is a comprehensive financial education and knowledge platform for MSMEs and will support them in managing their credit obligations.

 •MSMESaksham will provide MSMEs quick access to finance and empower them by making them financially aware and loan-ready so that timely and affordable financial support is realised. It will also guide them across their credit life cycle. It will also comprise a consolidated list of all the schemes launched by the Centre and state governments for MSMEs.

4) Ministry of Tribal Affairs receives SKOCH Gold Award
•SKOCH Gold Award has been awarded to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) for its “Empowerment of Tribals through IT enabled Scholarship Schemes” project. The project was launched to show Government of India’s commitment to realize the dreams of Digital India and bringing transparency as well as ease in the delivery of services. MoTA integrated the 5 Scholarship Schemes with DBT Portal under the guidance of DBT Mission in order to align with the larger vision of ‘Digital India’.

 •The 66th SKOCH 2020 Competition was held with name “INDIA RESPONDS TO COVID THROUGH DIGITAL GOVERNANCE”. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) participated in the DIGITAL INDIA & E-GOVERNANCE-2020 Competition.

5) Hamed Bakayoko named as Prime Minister of Ivory Coast
•Ivory Coast‘s Defence Minister, Hamed Bakayoko has been named as the Prime Minister of the country. He was presently serving as the as interim PM of the country since the sudden death of former Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly.

 •Hamed Bakayoko was a founding member of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) party and was also in charge of the party’s daily newspaper, Le Patriote. He also served as the minister of new information and communication technology from 2003 to 2011 in the national unity government. He has also been a mayor of Abobo, one of most populous districts of the country, since 2018.
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VISION IAS NEWS TODAY July 2020: Daily Current Affairs Compilation

13:39

VISION IAS NEWS TODAY July 2020: Daily Current Affairs Compilation





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The HINDU Notes – 01st August 2020

13:19




📰 ‘Rigorous consultations done before framing new National Education Policy’

Education Minister says there will be a major effort from both the Centre and the States to invest in a large number of teachers in all regional languages
•The State governments will take a decision on the medium of instruction in schools under their jurisdiction, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank says on the new National Education Policy (NEP). He expresses concern over a severe scarcity of skilled language teachers and the policy’s recommendations on governance and financing reforms.
Is the policy decision to make the mother tongue the medium of instruction till Class 5 going to be implemented mandatorily across the country, or is it optional for each State Education Department to adopt? Has the Centre taken the States’ views on board on this issue? Have any States raised concerns on implementing this?
•The Ministry of Education has conducted a rigorous consultation process to ensure an inclusive, participatory and holistic approach while framing the NEP. Over two lakh suggestions from 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, 6,600 blocks, 6,000 urban local bodies (ULBs), 676 districts were received.
•Most developed countries have made an earnest effort to ensure that the child studies in the mother tongue so that both parents and children participate in education in the early years of the child. Young children learn and grasp non-trivial concepts more quickly in their home language/mother tongue.
•Thereby, the New Education Policy states that, “Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/ local language/ regional language.” The RTE Act 2009 also states that the medium of instruction, as far as practicable, shall be the mother tongue.

•The decision regarding the medium of instruction in schools coming under their jurisdiction is to be taken by the respective State governments.

What is the timeline for implementing this decision? Are there sufficient teachers trained for this in all regional languages?

•There has been a severe scarcity of skilled language teachers in India. There will be a major effort from both the Central and State governments to invest in large numbers of language teachers in all regional languages around the country, and, in particular, for all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. States from different regions of India may enter into bilateral agreements to hire teachers in large numbers from each other, to satisfy the three-language formula in their respective States, and also to encourage the study of Indian languages across the country.

•Language teaching too must be improved to be more experiential and to focus on the ability to converse and interact in the language and not just on the literature, vocabulary, and grammar of the language. Languages must be used more extensively for conversation and for teaching-learning.

•A number of initiatives will be adopted to foster languages in school as well as higher education. Strong departments and programmes in Indian languages, comparative literature, creative writing, arts, music, philosophy, etc. will be launched and developed across the country, and degrees including four-year B.Ed. dual degrees will be developed in these subjects.

Will the private and public schools affiliated to the CBSE and the ICSE be asked to mandatorily convert to teaching in the mother tongue only till Class 5? How about Kendriya Vidyalayas that are directly controlled by the Centre?

•The beauty of this policy is flexibility. The intent of the policy follows the mandate given under the Right to Education Act. We will try to take everyone along in the process of making a vibrant India.

The NEP mentions traditional Indian knowledge systems to be included in the curriculum. What are some of the topics and themes you think need to be included, and who are the experts that the Centre will rope in to ensure that this is done?

•We have just come out with the policy. This will be the mandate of the National Curriculum Framework Committee to decide what topics constitute traditional Indian knowledge systems.

•“Knowledge of India” will include knowledge from ancient India and its contributions to modern India and its successes and challenges, and a clear sense of India’s future aspirations with regard to education, health, environment, etc. These elements will be incorporated in an accurate and scientific manner throughout the school curriculum wherever relevant.

The original NEP draft from Dr. K. Kasturirangan’s panel had proposed a Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog as an apex body to oversee all education in the country to be headed by the Prime Minister. Why was this removed from the final policy?

•Upon conducting several rounds of consultations, it was decided that there is a dire need to strengthen and empower the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) which will have a much greater mandate and not only be a forum for widespread consultation and examination of issues relating to educational and cultural development.

•The remodelled and rejuvenated CABE will be responsible for developing, articulating, evaluating, and revising the vision of education in the country on a continuous basis, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the corresponding apex bodies of States. It shall also create and continuously review the institutional frameworks that shall help attain this vision.

The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill has been at the draft stage for over a year now. When will it be introduced in Parliament?

•The Ministry of Education is almost ready with the Cabinet note for the same and will take approval of the government soon.

Will the proposed increase of public funding for education to 6% of GDP be sufficient to finance all the proposed reforms? If not, how does the Centre propose to raise the needed funds for implementation?

•The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in the education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.

•In particular, financial support will be provided to various critical elements and components of education, such as ensuring universal access, learning resources, nutritional support, matters of student safety and well-being, adequate numbers of teachers and staff, teacher development, and support for all key initiatives towards equitable high-quality education for underprivileged and socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Why was it important to change the name of the Ministry from Human Resource Development to Education?

•The name shifts the focus to the core work of the Ministry. The core work is imparting education to the millions of children and youth of the country. Now every personnel working in the Ministry will have this constant vision before him to improve the education system of the country.

📰 Fiscal deficit touches 83% of full-year target
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THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 01.08.2020

09:04
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Friday, July 31, 2020

Daily Current Affairs, 31st July 2020

18:52





1) DIAT develops ‘Aashray’ to combat COVID-19
•Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) has developed ‘Aashray’, a medical bed isolation system to combat COVID-19 by preventing or minimising the spread of the virus.

2) ICRA appoints N. Sivaraman as MD and Group CEO
•The domestic rating agency, ICRA has appointed N Sivaraman as its new managing director and group chief executive officer for three years. He succeeds former MD and Group CEO Naresh Takkar. The post has been left vacant for one year after the termination of Naresh Takar in August 2019.

 •Sivaraman will drive ICRA Group’s business strategy and innovation, build organisational capabilities, nurture a strong culture of analytical excellence, strengthen the independence and objectivity of ratings and enhance the company’s thought leadership.

3) Hardik Satishchandra Shah becomes new Private Secretary to PM Modi
•2010-batch IAS officer, Hardik Satishchandra Shah has been appointed the Private Secretary (PS) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on co-terminus basis. He is is currently serving as a Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Before moving to the PMO last year, he worked as the PS to Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar.




4) Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur tops Niti’s aspirational districts ranking
•Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh has topped the list of aspirational districts in Overall Delta Ranking by government think-tank Niti Aayog for the February-June 2020 period. Ri-Bhoi (Meghalaya) and Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh) have been placed at the second and third positions.

 •The delta rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas during February-June this year. Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure were the development areas that were taken into consideration for the ranking.

5) MobiKwik launches personal UPI payment link mpay.me
•Digital wallet company, MobiKwik has launched “mpay.me” UPI link service that allows users to send and receive money from any UPI payment app. This single link created using mpay.me can be shared anywhere to send and receive money and will work seamlessly on mobile as well as desktop.

 •Through mpay.me, users will now be able to generate their own mini personal payment gateways using their phone numbers. Users can share it with anyone over chat, SMS, email, etc to collect payments. All MobiKwik UPI users that have their personal payment link already can use this service. Payments can be made using this link through any UPI app: MobiKwik, GooglePay, PhonePe, Paytm etc.

6) Harikrishna finishes 2nd at Biel Chess Festival
•Indian Grandmaster, P Harikrishna has finished second in the rapid section of the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland. The World No. 26 scored 10 points, two less than Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland, who finished on top. Earlier, the Indian GM had finished on top in the ACCENTUS Chess960 tournament, with 5.5 points.
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Vision IAS PT 365 Updated Current Affairs March to May 2020 Hindi PDF

11:49

Vision IAS PT 365 Updated Current Affairs March to May 2020 Hindi PDF





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Vision IAS PT 365 Supplementary Material 2020 Hindi PDF

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Vision IAS PT 365 Supplementary Material 2020 Hindi PDF





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The HINDU Notes – 31st July 2020

11:31




📰 A long road

The Centre will have to convince States that the National Education Policy benefits all

•The National Education Policy 2020 announced by the Ministry of Human Resource Development sets for itself the goal of transforming the system to meet the needs of 21st Century India. In a federal system, any educational reform can be implemented only with support from the States, and the Centre has the giant task of building a consensus on the many ambitious plans. The policy, inter alia, aims to eliminate problems of pedagogy, structural inequities, access asymmetries and rampant commercialisation. The NEP 2020 is the first omnibus policy after the one issued in 1986, and it has to contend with multiple crises in the system. It is no secret that primary schools record shockingly poor literacy and numeracy outcomes, dropout levels in middle and secondary schools are significant, and the higher education system has generally failed to meet the aspirations for multi-disciplinary programmes. In structural terms, the NEP’s measures to introduce early childhood education from age 3, offer school board examinations twice a year to help improve performance, move away from rote learning, raise mathematical skills for everyone, shift to a four-year undergraduate college degree system, and create a Higher Education Commission of India represent major changes. Progress on these crucially depends on the will to spend the promised 6% of GDP as public expenditure on education. The policy also says that wherever possible, the medium of instruction in schools until at least Class 5, but preferably until Class 8 and beyond, will be the home language or mother tongue or regional language. This is a long-held view, and has its merits, although in a large and diverse country where mobility is high, the student should have the option to study in the language that enables a transfer nationally. English has performed that role due to historical factors.

•There are some good elements to the NEP 2020 that will generate little friction, and need only adequate resourcing. Provision of an energy-filled breakfast, in addition to the nutritious mid-day meal, to help children achieve better learning outcomes, is one. Creation of ‘inclusion funds’ to help socially and educationally disadvantaged children pursue education is another. Where the policy fails to show rigour, however, is on universalisation of access, both in schools and higher education; the Right to Education needs specific measures to succeed. Moreover, fee regulations exist in some States even now, but the regulatory process is unable to rein in profiteering in the form of unaccounted donations. The idea of a National Higher Education Regulatory Council as an apex control organisation is bound to be resented by States. Similarly, a national body for aptitude tests would have to convince the States of its merits. Among the many imperatives, the deadline to achieve universal literacy and numeracy by 2025 should be a top priority as a goal that will crucially determine progress at higher levels.

📰 An education policy that is sweeping in its vision
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New National Education policy(Hindi) 2020 PDF Download

08:09
New National Education policy(Hindi) 2020 PDF



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