Parliament passed the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, which aims at having India’s own national measures for protecting the Antarctic environment as also the dependent and associated ecosystem. The bill is in pursuant to India’s accession to Antarctic Treaty, the Protocol on Environment Protection (Madrid Protocol) to the Antarctic Treaty and to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The main aim of the Bill To ensure de-militarization of the region along with getting it rid of mining or illegal activities. It also aims that there should not be any nuclear test / explosion in the region. Till provides a harmonious policy and regulatory framework for India’s Antarctic activities through well-established legal mechanisms and will help in efficient and elective operations of Indian Antarctic Programme. It will also facilitate India’s interest and pro-active involvement in the management of growing Antarctic tourism and sustainable development of fisheries resources in Antarctic waters. It will also help in increased international visibility, credibility of India in Polar governance leading to international collaboration and cooperation in scientific and logistics fields. The Bill also proposed to set-up the Indian Antarctic Authority (IAA) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, which shall be the apex decision making authority and shall facilitate programmes and activities permitted under the Bill. It shall provide a stable, transparent and accountable process for the sponsorship and supervision of Antarctic research and expeditions; Ensure the protection and preservation of the Antarctic environment; and shall ensure compliance by Indian citizens engaged in the Antarctic programs and activities with relevant rules and internationally agreed standards. India today has two operational research stations in Antarctica named Maitri (Commissioned in 1989) and Bharati (Commissioned in 2012). The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources was signed at Canberra on the 20th day of May, 1980, inter alia, for the protection and preservation of the Antarctic environment and, in particular, for the preservation and conservation of marine living resources in Antarctica. India ratified the Convention on 17th June, 1985 and is a member of the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources under that Convention. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed at Madrid on 4th October, 1991, inter alia, to strengthen the Antarctic Treaty system and for the development of a comprehensive regime for the protection of the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems. India signed the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty on 14th January, 1998. Antarctica lies south of 60 ñ South Latitude, which is a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science and should not become the scene or object of any international discord.
Education for Girls
Education is a subject in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of schools are under the jurisdiction of the State Government. Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education is implementing a centrally sponsored Integrated Scheme for School Education ‘Samagra Shiksha’, effective from 2018-19, for universalization of quality education throughout the country in coordination with the States and UTs. Bridging gender and social category gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of the Samagra Shiksha. From the year 2018-19 to 2020-21, the Drop-out rate of girls at Secondary level has decreased from 17.03% to 13.7%, Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at secondary level has increased from 76.93 to 79.45 and GER at higher secondary level has increased from 50.84 to 54.65. (Source: UDISE+). Under Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of gender segregated toilets in all schools. As per UDISE+ 2020-21, 97.45% Government schools have gender segregated toilets. Also, there is a provision of Composite School Grant which may be used for annual maintenance and repair of existing school buildings, toilets and other facilities to upkeep the infrastructure in good condition. School Health Programme, under Ayushman Bharat which is a joint collaborative initiative of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and DoSEL, Ministry of Education, a module on ‘Growing up Healthy’ has been incorporated, which interalia includes information on physical challenges during adolescence and attaining puberty. National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is implementing the Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) as part of the National Population Education Project (NPEP). One of the learning outcomes of AEP is to make the learners aware of the concerns of adolescence, i.e. process of growing up during adolescence and to inculcate in them positive attitude regarding these concerns. Moreover, all States and UTs have been requested to take necessary steps to create awareness amongst adolescent girls in schools about safe usage and benefits of Sanitary Napkins. It has also been communicated that subsidized sanitary napkins are available at the Jan Aushadi Kendras set up by the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilisers, Government of India. Under Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in the Educationally Backward Blocks, which are residential schools for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL). Further, Special State Specific Projects for varied interventions under equity are emphasized for enhancing access, retention and quality of girls by promoting enrolment drives, retention and motivation camps, gender sensitization modules etc. Financial Support is also being provided under State Specific projects as per the allocation of flexi fund under quality to the state subject to viable proposal received from the respective State and UTs. Such projects include Life Skills, Awareness programmes, Incinerators, Sanitary Pad Vending Machines etc. Samagra Shiksha aims At integrating Vocational Education with general academic education in all Secondary/Senior Secondary schools including KGBVs; Enhancing the Employability and Entrepreneurial abilities of the students, providing exposure to work environment; Generating awareness amongst students about various career options so as to enable them to make a choice in accordance with their aptitude, competence and aspirations.
Education in Mother Toungue
Education in Mother Tongue Section 29(f) of Chapter V under Right to Education Act, 2009 clearly states that, “medium of instructions shall, as far as practicable, be in child’s mother tongue.” Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of the States/UTs. As envisaged in para 4.11 of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, is to be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language. Thereafter, the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible. The NIPUN Bharat Mission of the Government of India through its Mission Implementation Guidelines suggests that teaching learning process and development of teaching learning material should be done in mother tongue. Similarly, Vidya Pravesh- a three-month play-based school preparation programme for Grade-I and NISHTHA FLN (Foundational literacy and Numeracy) have also re-emphasised the same. As per Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2020-21, there are 28 languagesin which teaching learning is going on in grades (1-5). The languages are as follows: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, English, Bodo, Khasi, Garo, Mizo, French, Hmar, Karbi, Santhali, Bhodi, Purgi.
School Innovation Council
School Innovation Council (SIC), an initiative taken by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) was launched on 1 July 2022 and has been introduced to all schools of all the states including Rajasthan. It is a council of teachers, students, and experts from industry and academia to conduct round the year activities for students and teachers on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, monitored through the SIC portal of the MIC, to record the influence at the ground level. SIC will enable mindset change, awareness, and training onIdeation, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, design thinking, Intellectual Property Rights, start-up finance, and HR among teachers and students. It will also enable the ranking system for schools on the level of innovation-oriented activities. NEP 2020 envisages the education system to include a ‘light but tight’ regulatory framework to ensure integrity, transparency, and resource efficiency of the educational system through audit and public disclosure while encouraging innovation and out-of-the-box ideas through autonomy, good governance, and empowerment. Besides, NEP has a provision for School Complex Management Committees for more robust and improved governance, monitoring, oversight, innovations and initiatives by local stakeholders. In order to strengthen the mentoring capacity of teachers for cultivating and handholding innovative and ingenious ideas from students, the School Innovation Ambassador Training program (SIATP) was launched through online Mode. Under SIATP, teachers undergo 72 hours of training, and those who qualify all the five modules i.e. 1. Design Thinking & Innovation; 2. Idea generation & Idea hand-holding; 3. Finance/Sales/HR; 4.Intellectual Property Rights(IPR); 5.Entrepreneurship and Prototype/ Product Development; with a minimum 50% as passing marks are recognized as “Innovation Ambassadors” which makes them competent to nurture the young school students on Ideation, IPR, product development, design thinking, problem-solving, critical thinking and skills of entrepreneurship.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT)
It is a central sector scheme was launched in 2014 to address comprehensively all issues related to Teacher Training/ Capacity Building and Professional Development of Teachers. Under the components, the total 95 Centres were established throughout the country through which faculties/Teachers have been trained.
National Education policy 2020
National Education Policy 2020 has been announced on 29.07.2020. The National Education Policy 2020 proposes various reforms in school education as well as higher education including technical education. A number of action points/activities for implementation in school education as well as higher education are mentioned in the National Education Policy 2020. NEP, 2020 aim to increase the GER to 100% in preschool to secondary level by 2030 whereas GER in Higher Education including vocational education from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035 Salient Features of NEP 2020 Ensuring Universal Access at All Levels of schooling from pre-primary school to Grade 12; Ensuring quality early childhood care and education for all children between 3-6 years; New Curricular and Pedagogical Structure (5+3+3+4); No hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams; Establishing National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy; Emphasis on promoting multilingualism and Indian languages; 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. Assessment reforms – Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired; Setting up of a new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development); Equitable and inclusive education – Special emphasis given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs); A separate Gender Inclusion fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups; Robust and transparent processes for recruitment of teachers and merit based performance; Ensuring availability of all resources through school complexes and clusters; 13. Setting up of State School Standards Authority (SSSA); 14. Exposure of vocational education in school and higher education system; Increasing GER in higher education to 50%; 16. Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education with multiple entry/exit options; NTA to offer Common Entrance Exam for Admission to HEIs; Establishment of Academic Bank of Credit; 19. Setting up of Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs); Setting up of National Research Foundation (NRF); 21. ‘Light but Tight’ regulation; Single overarching umbrella body for promotion of higher education sector including teacher education and excluding medical and legal education- the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI)-with independent bodies for standard setting- the General Education Council; funding-Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC); accreditation- National Accreditation Council (NAC); and regulation- National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC); Expansion of open and distance learning to increase Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). Internationalization of Education Professional Education will be an integral part of the higher education system. Stand-alone technical universities, health science universities, legal and agricultural universities, or institutions in these or other fields, will aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions. Teacher Education – 4-year integrated stage-specific, subject- specific Bachelor of Education Establishing a National Mission for Mentoring. Creation of an autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration. Appropriate integration of technology into all levels of education. Achieving 100% youth and adult literacy. Multiple mechanisms with checks and balances will combat and stop the commercialization of higher education. All education institutions will be held to similar standards of audit and disclosure as a ‘not for profit’ entity. The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest. Strengthening of the Central Advisory Board of Education to ensure coordination to bring overall focus on quality education.
Drone Policy 2021
(i) Every drone, except for those meant for research, development and testing purposes, is required to be registered and should have a Unique Identification Number (UIN). (ii) An airspace map of the country segregating the entire airspace into red, yellow and green zones is available on the digital sky platform. Operation of drones in red and yellow zones is subject to the approval of the Central Government and the concerned Air Traffic Control (ATC) authority respectively. No approval is required for operation of drones in green zones. (iii) The State Government, the Union Territory Administration and Law enforcement agencies have been empowered under the Rules to declare a temporary red zone for a specified period. (iv) Drones are required to have the necessary type certification issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). No type certification is however required in case of nano drones (up to 250 gram all-up weight) and model drones made for research and recreation purpose. (v) The owner and operators of drones are required to furnish the necessary personal details including their Indian passport number etc. for issuance of any registration or licence. (vi) Rule 17 of the Drone Rules, 2021, lays down the provision of transfer of drone to another person by way of sale, lease, gift or any other mode, after providing requisite details of the transferor, transferee and unique identification number of the drone on the digital sky platform along with the applicable fees. (vii) Authorisation of Remote Pilot Training Organisations (RPTO) will be done by DGCA within specified time limits. (viii) Drone operations that violate the provisions of the Drone Rules, 2021 are punishable under Rule 49 of the Drone Rules, 2021 as well as provisions of any other law, for the time being in force.
Dhadi Singing
It is a tradition of Punjab was begun by Guru Hargobind to inspire bravery among armed men in the battlefield. Desh Raj Shashli and his fellow artists brought the audience to tears with the narration of the atrocities braved by the martyr, Udham Singh.
Powada
Powada is a rich traditional style of singing ballads popular in Maharashtra. Powada singing has also played an important role in the socio-cultural and political development of the region. Its origin is considered to be from the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
United Nations High Sea’s Treaty
It is also referred as ‘Paris Agreement for the Ocean’, the treaty to deal with Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction has been under discussion for several years. The proposed treaty concerns the ocean existing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zones that lie from the coast of a country to about 200 nautical miles or 370 km into the sea, till where it has special rights for exploration. Waters beyond that are known as open seas or high seas. The treaty was to be negotiated under the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 which governs the rights of countries regarding marine resources. As there is no treaty for conserving the health of vast swathes of the earth’s oceans, a UN resolution in 2017 had decided to rectify this while setting 2022 as the deadline. The pandemic resulted in many delays, and later, a High Ambition Coalition, which now has more than 100 countries including India, the US, and the UK, came about and put the focus on ‘30×30’ goals – protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. After the latest deadlock, talks will only resume next year, unless a special session is called. Some aspects of negotiations included establishing marine protected areas to put limits on certain activities, environmental impact assessments or clearances for sustainability of works, financial support to countries and sharing other scientific knowledge. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has said binding agreements are needed for this treaty to be effective.