General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - December 2018

Dec 2018

Nov 23, 2020

Odisha Revises School Merger Decision

Following protests by the opposition in the Assembly, the Odisha government revised its decision on merger of schools, specifically for scheduled areas.
Areas declared scheduled areas under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution with a preponderance of tribal population have a separate legal and administrative framework. Three districts in the state fall completely under the scheduled areas while nine others fall partially under it.
School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said that closing down schools was never the intention. "In scheduled areas, only schools with less than 15 students will be merged with other schools."

CBSE 2021 Exam

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has reportedly changed the question paper pattern for class XII board examinations, focusing more on multiple-choice questions and those based on case studies.
Notably, several schools, after the release of sample question papers for Classes X and XII, observed that weight age for MCQs has been increased by 10 per cent. According to reports, the new pattern is intended to test students' ability to understand.
The board has reduced the syllabus for class 10th and 12th by 30 per cent due to which at least 4-5 chapters have been reduced in every subject. The change is going to be implemented from this session.

Nov 22, 2020

JNU Authorises Formation of Committee to Look into NEP Implementation

The Academic Council (AC) of Jawaharlal Nehru University authorised the formation of an apex committee to look into the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Among other things, it will discuss converting three-year BA programmes into four-year programmes, and introducing new four-year courses.
The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) and JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) were not invited for the meeting, which the former alleged showed the "scant regard that the Vice-Chancellor and his team has for democratic practices".
In a statement, Rector I Chintamani Mahapatra said, "The Council members felt JNU should take the lead in implementing NEP-2020 in earnest and authorised the formation of an apex committee comprising representatives from different schools and centres to deliberate and come up with its recommendations."
Some of the major issues that came under focus were: (a) possibility of converting the existing three-year BA programmes into four-year programmes, (b) starting new four-year undergraduate programmes, (c) offering masters-level programmes in online mode on subjects which do not require lab or experimental work, (d) strengthening further the inclusive policy of the university to provide better opportunities for students coming from socially and economically disadvantaged sections, (e) increasing intake of international students, and (f) promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among students and faculty members.

Amazon Launches AFBP to Prepare MBA Graduates for Leadership Roles

Amazon launched its flagship leadership development programme 'Amazon Future Builders Program' (AFBP) for students enrolled in premier B-Schools in India, including IIMs, ISB and XLRI and prepare them for leadership roles at the company. The programme allows students to gain a breadth of experience across Amazon's businesses through a two month 'incubator' period, followed by a 24-30 months period where they gain domain expertise in particular 'Lines of Business' (LoBs).
AFBP will be offered at top business schools in India starting with the financial year 2021 final placement season.

Nov 21, 2020

India Successfully Met 2017 Target of Newborn Mortality Rate

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that India has successfully met the 2017 target of newborn mortality rate of 24 per 1,000 live births and is making strides to fulfil the target of stillbirth rate of 19 per 1,000 total births by this year.
Vardhan, during an event to mark the National Newborn Week-2020, also released a detailed progress card on India Newborn Action Plan (INAP) targets.
The theme of this National Newborn Week is 'Quality, equity, dignity for every newborn at every health facility and everywhere' and it is being observed from November 15 to November 21.

Nov 20, 2020

Five MBBS Seats Reserved for Covid Warriors' Children

The Centre announced its decision to reserve five MBBS seats under the central pool for children of Covid warriors, introducing a new category called 'wards of Covid warriors' for the academic year 2020-21.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said that the seats may be allocated for selection and nomination of candidates from among wards of "Covid warriors", who lost their life due to Covid or died accidentally on account of Covid-related duty. He stated, adding that the state or UT government will certify eligibility for this category.
The selection of candidates will be made by the Medical Council Committee (MCC) through online application on the basis of rank obtained in the NEET-2020 conducted by National Testing Agency.

Indian Universities No. 15 in Employability of Graduates

India features among the top 15 countries with universities producing the most employable graduates. In the Employability Rankings 2020, India has improved its ranking from 23 in 2010 to 15 in 2020, even as UK and US varsities showed decline.
The study by Times Higher Education and French consultancy, Emerging, for most employable locations for higher education, shows how top institutions in the US and the UK have masked the general decline of American and British universities in terms of employability. Countries which have been taking employability more seriously over the past 10 years are becoming more attractive than the US and the UK for students.

Nov 19, 2020

Mumbai School of Economics to Begin Centre on Financial Research and Teaching

After receiving a nod from the management council last week, Mumbai University's Mumbai School of Economics and Public Policy is set to start a centre for research and teaching in finance.
The seed money for the centre, a sum of Rs. 5 crore, has been donated by former chairperson of UTI and alumnus Dr. S. A. Dave.
The centre aims to engage with research and training modules for the industry. In a matter of few months, certificate and diploma programmes in financial economics and related fields such as data science, quantitative finance, business analytics etc, will be offered to students.

IIT Guwahati Signs MoU with CSIR-NEIST for Dissemination of Science in North East India

IIT Guwahati and CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in November 2020 at IIT Guwahati. The MoU will enable IIT Guwahati and CSIR-NEIST to collaboratively work on jointly offering training programs and carry out advanced research in the areas of Disaster Management and Water Resources.
IIT Guwahati will jointly organise training programmes for the teachers from North East to promote the dissemination of Science through online courses and interaction from the next academic year.

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