General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - January 2019

Jan 2019

Nov 25, 2020

First Woman in South Sudan to Head South Sudan University

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir for the first time appointed a woman to chair the governing body of a university.
Awut Deng Achuil, currently the Minister of General Education and Instructions, will chair the council of the University of Bahr El-Ghazal.
The university was established in 1991, when South Sudan was still part of Sudan. The country gained its independence in 2011.
Ms. Achuil was also the first woman to serve as South Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
She relinquished the post following the appointment of a unity government in February to end conflict between rival groups in South Sudan.

Kenyan University Beats Oxford in Law Competition

Kenya's Kenyatta University has beaten the UK's Oxford University in the semi-finals of a competition for aspiring lawyers.
Oxford - one of the most prestigious universities in the world - was the defending champions in the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.
It sees students being given a hypothetical human rights case to argue, with teams from around the world participating in the annual event. It was held virtually this year.
Kenyatta University was represented by third-year and second-year students Sidney Tambasi Netya and Martin Kioko Munyoto respectively, who are both studying law.

Nov 24, 2020

Airtel Partners with Vedantu to Provide Classes via DTH Channels

Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel and Vedantu, the pioneer in LIVE online learning, announced an innovative partnership to make quality education accessible to students across India by leveraging the deep reach of Airtel.
Under the partnership, two dedicated DTH channels -Vedantu Materclasses — will be available exclusively to the 17 Mn Airtel Digital TV customers at the highly affordable price of Rs. 4 per day. The channels will cater to students from Classes 6 to 10 and Classes 11 to 12 respectively, and will cover Maths and Science.
The learning will be delivered by best-in-class faculty including graduates from IIT and AIIMS with proven track records in teaching. The medium of teaching will be a mix of English and Hindi with plans underway to add regional language content, where possible.

PM Modi to Address 100th Foundation Day of University of Lucknow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the celebration of the centennial foundation day of the University of Lucknow on November 25. The PM will address the students via a video conference. The university was established in 1920 and is celebrating its 100th year.
Prime Minister will unveil the university's centennial commemorative coin. He will also release a special commemorative postal stamp issued by India Post and its special cover during the event.
The varsity is dedicating an entire week to the celebrations which started from November 19 and will conclude on November 25.

IIT Guwahati Develops Error Free Data Transmission System

A research team led by IIT Guwahati faculty, Dr. Bosanta Ranjan Boruah, Department of Physics, IIT Guwahati, and Dr. Santanu Konwar, presently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics, Abhayapuri College, Assam, has developed a novel free-space optical communication system for information transfer.
In free-space communication, data in the form of voice, text or image is transmitted using light wirelessly rather than through optical fibres and it represents the next generation of communications technology.

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.

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