General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - January 2019

Jan 2019

Dec 08, 2019

Mission Buniyaad Improved Students' Reading Levels

The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), after a study carried out in 30 government schools, found out that the Mission Buniyaad scheme had led to a marginal improvement in reading and mathematics proficiency levels of students.
Launched in April 2018, the scheme aims to improve learning levels of students studying in classes 3 to 9 in government schools. The objective was to ensure that students would be able to learn grade appropriate texts and solve basic mathematics problems.
Students had been given tests at the beginning of the session in April 2018 and at the end of the three-month intervention in June 2018. The report analysed these tests of over 2,000 students from 30 government schools in northeast Delhi and found out that there had been a 12% and 20% increase in students studying in Classes 3 to 5 when it came to reading stories in Hindi and solving divisions respectively. For students in Classes 6-9, the increase had been 15% and 25% respectively.

Measles Outbreaks Continue Unabated

Even as India successfully carried out the vaccination of over 324 million children between 9 months and 15 years the unprecedented global measles crisis is set to enter the third year. According to a report released by WHO, 4,13,000 measles cases were reported by mid-November in 2019 as against 3,53,236 reported cases in 2018. Measles cases more than doubled in 2018 compared to 2017.
India initiated one of the world's largest Measles-Rubella campaign to eliminate measles and control rubella in the country. As of November 5, this year (2019) more than 324 million children and adolescent have been vaccinated with one dose of MR vaccine in 34 states.
However, reported measles cases continue to rise for the third straight year globally. Five countries — Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Somalia and Ukraine — accounted for nearly half of all measles cases in 2018.

Dec 07, 2019

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad Signs Agreement with Japanese Institutions

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) will take up more studies on earthquakes and smart cities in collaboration with Japanese Institutes and companies.
In a major boost to Indo-Japanese research ties, the IITH will work with four Japanese Institutes in areas including earthquake engineering, besides joint doctoral programmes.
IIT Hyderabad, signed the MoUs with four Institutions. The four institutions are: National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience; Shizuoka University on Doctoral Degree Sandwich Program; Saitama University on Academic Exchange of faculty, students and implementation of cooperative Research Projects and National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) to strengthen Research collaboration.

Dec 06, 2019

Tripura Announces Super 30 Scheme

Tripura's BJP-IPFT government announced a new educational scheme 'Super 30' with effect from the 2020-21 academic year to fund coaching fees of school students from the science stream in Kota-based entrance coaching centres every year. The scheme will train them to crack engineering and medical entrance examinations, such as JEE or NEET.
As per Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE), 3690 students appeared in science stream in the senior secondary stream this year. While many of them apply in entrance coaching centres, most don't get their shot due to lack of resources to enroll in the best coaching classes of the country.
'Super 30' will involve Rs. 2.40 lakh coaching fee for every student on an average annually. The project would be started on a pilot basis with an initial financial involvement of Rs. 72 lakh in the first year and Rs. 1.44 crore in the next year.

Dec 05, 2019

Samoa Measles Outbreak

Red flags have been erected across Samoa to mark unvaccinated households as the government shut down to deploy all resources to reining in a deadly measles outbreak.
More than 4,200 cases of measles have been reported across the Pacific island nation in recent weeks, including 62 deaths -- with 2 fatalities in the last 24 hours. None of the victims were vaccinated.
The decision to shut government services for two days is the latest in a series of drastic steps Samoan authorities have taken to stop the outbreak of a disease that was thought to be almost eliminated globally, but has made a dangerous comeback in recent years.

Madhu App for E-learning Launched in Odisha

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched a smart learning app called 'Madhu' for the schools' children in the state. The app which was launched by the Chief Minister was named after Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das and developed by the Ganjan district administration in accordance with the 5T initiative of the Odisha state government.
The mobile app is aimed at helping the school students in the state to learn their lessons via videos and tutorials available on the app. The courses have been prepared in a way to make the video lectures more interesting and self-explanatory with the help of high-quality teaching-learning material.
The mobile app consists of video lectures and is available in the Odia language by leading subject experts and educationists.
The first phase of the app consists of study materials for Mathematics and Science subjects from classes 5 to 8.

Dec 04, 2019

VP Naidu launched nutrition anthem

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the "Bharatiya Poshan Anthem" which aims at taking the message of making India malnutrition-free by 2022 to all corners of the country.
The anthem was conceptualised by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, penned by noted lyricist Prasoon Joshi and sung by Shankar Mahadevan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in March 2018 launched the 'Poshan Abhiyan or National Nutrition Mission' with an objective to make India malnutrition free by 2022 by ensuring holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children.

Mumbai Central got first 'Eat Right Station' certification from FSSAI

The Mumbai Central station of Railways was conferred with the 'Eat Right Station' certification with four stars rating by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), as a part of 'Eat Right India' movement launched last year.
According to a press note, the Mumbai Central Railway Station is the country's first "Eat Right Station."
FSSAI, along with Western Railways (WR) and Indian Railways Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), trained food handlers, both in canteens and base kitchens. They inspected catering establishments at the station and certified and rated the standard of food.

Chinese Students Topped Latest PISA Education Survey

Students from China and Singapore came out on top in an international survey of educational achievement.
Results of the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, were released. The test is given every three years to 15-year-olds around the world. It measures their knowledge in reading, science and mathematics.
The best-performing students in all three subjects were in China. They attend schools in and around Beijing and Shanghai, and two provinces: Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Singapore finished in fifth place in the study.
Overall, the test results show American students scoring above average in reading and science, but below average in math.
The test is administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

IRS approved to develop and rank educational institutions: HRD Minsiter

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry informed the Lok Sabha that "India Rankings Society (IRS)" was given the accorded approval in August with an objective to develop and evolve methodologies and system for the ranking of higher educational institutions.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishaank' informed Lok Sabha in a written reply, "The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Executive Committee in its 127th meeting held on 21.08.2019 accorded approval for the creation of independent society in the name and style of "India Rankings Society (IRS)" with an objective to develop and evolve methodologies and system for ranking of higher educational institutions and based on such methodologies , rank and rate them under various categories , domain and sub-domain."

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