General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - January 2019

Jan 2019

Sep 23, 2020

Policy-makers Discuss Ways to Address Gender Gap in New Science Tech and Innovation Policy

Low percentage of Indian women in science and gender gap, especially in terms of women leaders in the subject, and ways to address them in the new Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP), 2020, were discussed at a webinar.
Vijay Bhatkar, the president of Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA), who presided over the discussion, emphasised that sustainability and self-reliance is possible only when women are given their due importance.
Several issues in terms of the low institutional mechanism to nurture women innovators, age-barrier issues, leaky pipeline, funding for women-led start-ups, leadership, gender bias and the need for women entrepreneurs, inclusive and diverse science technology and innovation ecosystem while addressing stereotypes with regard to family and parenting were deliberated upon.
At the discussion, Akhilesh Gupta, the head of STIP, 2020, presented some major interventions suggested during the track-two expert consultations, like mandatory positions in academics, 30 per cent representation of women, leadership role to senior women scientists in research and administration.

Sep 22, 2020

IIIT Amendment Bill Gives National Importance Tag to Five New Institutes

The parliament passed a bill to declare five newly established Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) as institutions of national importance. The five new IIITs set up under the Public Private Partnership mode are in -- Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur.
The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 has alreaby been passed by Lok Sabha in the previous session in March 2020.
The bill was introduced in the Upper House by Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
There are 25 IIITs in the country out of which 5 are purely run by the central government and 15 operate under public private partnership (PPP) mode.

SC Cancels Bengaluru Law Entrance Exam

The Supreme Court quashed the National Law Admission Test (NLAT-2020), conducted by National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, earlier this month for admission to its law courses. As per the court, All national law universities have to conduct themselves in a manner which fulfils the cause of education and maintain the trust reposed on them.
A Bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, directed the NLSIU to admit students to law courses as per the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) to be held on September 28.
The Bench, which had allowed the university to hold NLAT, but restrained it from declaring results, said CLAT results should be declared at the earliest to enable law universities to commence the admission process as soon as possible and start the course by mid-October.

Sep 21, 2020

Second Phase of Punjab Achievement Survey Begins

According to the PUNJAB school education department, all arrangements for the second phase of the Punjab Achievement Survey (PAS) have been completed. The survey will be conducted from September 21 to October 3 and the final phase in November.
The survey is being conducted to assess the learning outcomes of students of government and government-aided schools. State Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla has directed the department to ensure the survey is a success.
the survey will be conducted for classes I to XII. For class I students, there will be 10 questions for each subject. and for classes II to V there will be 15 questions for each subject. Each question will be of 2 marks. For students of classes VI to X, each paper will have 20 questions and one paper will have 40 marks. The primary classes survey examination will start on September 21 and will be ending on September 25 while the survey of students from classes VI to X will start on September 21 and end on September 26. Surveys for XI and XII will begin on September 21 and end on October 3.
For the first time, Punjab is conducting PAS on the lines of National Achievement Survey (NAS) to assess learning outcome levels of government and aided school students and to prepare them for NAS.

Sep 20, 2020

FSSAI Constitutes Task Force on Vegan Food

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) constituted a task force to look into guidelines/ provisions for vegan foods in the country. The task force comprises seven members, including Shankar Narayan, founder-president, Satvik Vegan Society (formerly Indian Vegan Society.
Mr. Narayan founded the society in 2004 as a registered charitable trust. The society is a member of the International Vegetarian Union and Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisation.

Sep 18, 2020

Brucellosis Outbreak in China

More than 3,000 people in northwestern China have tested positive for a deadly bacterial infection after an outbreak caused by a leak at a biopharmaceutical company last year.
The National Health Commission (NHC) of Lanzhou confirmed that at least 3,245 people in the city of Lanzhou - the capital of Gansu province - have been diagnosed with the infectious disease usually caused by drinking unpasteurised milk or contact with livestock. However, the infection can also be caused by inhaling the bacteria, which appears to be the case in Lanzhou.
Authorities have now discovered that the Zhongmu Lanzhou biological pharmaceutical factory, which was making brucellosis vaccines for animals, accidentally vented an aerosolized version of Brucella (the bacteria that causes brucellosis) into the air last summer due to the use of expired sanitizers and disinfectants.
This has led to the spread of the bacterial disease across the surrounding area through the air. S
ome experts fear that the zoonosis disease can have more serious side effects, including inflammation of the liver and spleen, respiratory issues, lasting damage to the reproductive system that can lead to infertility in men.

US Embassy in Kabul Warns of Extremist Attacks Against Women

The US Embassy in Afghanistan is warning that extremists groups are planning attacks against a "variety of targets" but are taking particular aim at women.
The warning issued doesn't specify the organisations plotting the attacks, but it comes as the Taliban and government-appointed negotiators are sitting together for the first time to try to find a peaceful end to decades of relentless war.

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