General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - January 2019

Jan 2019

Jun 18, 2019

All Colleges must be Made Autonomous

In a huge departure from government policy, the draft new education policy (NEP) recommended that colleges in the country be made autonomous to improve quality.
The draft says institutional, academic and administrative autonomy will lead to faculty being more motivated to innovate.
At the same time, institutions will be enabled to run cutting-edge programmes, develop innovative curricula and, given knowledge of circumstances and requirements, govern locally.
As of March 31, 2019, there were 907 universities in India — 399 state universities, 126 deemed to be universities, 48 central universities and 334 private universities — with dozens of private colleges working under each of the 399 state universities and several more affiliated to central universities.
Besides this, there are medical and engineering colleges providing undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Jun 17, 2019

IGNOU to Offer Yoga Certification

Days ahead of International Yoga Day on June 21, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) launched a certificate programme, which will start from July 2019.
The programme will be offered by the university's School of Health Sciences under SP Arora, the school's director.
After studying the programme, the learner will be able to understand basic principles and practice of yoga. The programme also aims to make applicants aware about the history and the contributions of various yogis in the field of Yoga and improve the practitioners' physical as well as mental health.
The university is also planning to start an undergraduate and postgraduate programme next year as well due to all the interest surrounding yoga.
Students need to have completed their Class 12 from any recognised board to be eligible for the course, which will be offered at regional centres in Delhi, Dehradun, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Ladnun, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.
Applicants would need to pay Rs. 10,000 for the programme, which could last from a minimum of six months to a maximum of two years.
The programme will have a total of three courses—introduction to yoga and yogic texts; yoga and health; and Shat Kriyas, Yogic Kriyas, Asanas, Pranayama, Mantra Japa.
While the first two are theory courses, the third is a practical course.

Jun 16, 2019

First Woman to Walk on Moon

More than 50 years after the end of the Apollo programme, NASA plans to return to the moon by 2024 to test the next generation of spacecraft ahead of an eventual crewed mission to Mars.
The new programme has been named Artemis and it will see the first woman to walk on the moon.
It's likely that the candidate will be selected from among NASA's current roster of 12 female astronauts.
All 12 moonwalkers between 1969 and 1972 were men, and it wasn't until 1983 that Sally Ride became the first US woman sent to space.
Four women of the 21st class of astronauts, recruited in 2013, represent a good mix of youth and experience.
Anne McClain, an ex-army helicopter pilot, and Christina Koch, an engineer are currently on the International Space Station till June. Koch will soon beat the record for the longest time a woman has been in space - at 11 months.
Their colleagues Jessica Meir and Nicole Mann are also qualified and in the middle of their ISS training.
There's no upper age limit for space, which is good news for Sunita Williams, who is preparing for her third space mission and will be 58 in 2024.

Schools in Nepal Make Mandarin Compulsory

A Chinese government's proposal of covering salaries of teachers in Nepal who teach Mandarin have prompted many private schools in the country to make it mandatory for students to learn the language, according to a media report.
The move came at a time when the Chinese involvement in Nepal is surging, largely on the back of Beijing's BRI project.
As per the guidelines laid down by the curriculum development centre, a government body which designs school-level academic curriculum, schools in Nepal are allowed to teach foreign languages, but they cannot make those subjects mandatory for students.
The schools are aware of the provision, but overlooked it as they are getting Mandarin teachers for free.

Jun 15, 2019

Task Force on Women's Safety

Days after announcing a scheme making public transport free for women in the city, the Delhi government set up a task force on women safety and improving quality of public transport for women in the national capital.
The task force will conduct both off and on ground review and monitoring of all existing schemes for women's safety in Delhi and propose news plans for strengthening them. The task force is meant to ensure safety and improve quality of commuting for women travellers in public transport in the Capital.
The task force, which will be constituted under Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot, will be looking into key safety features in public transport such as CCTVs in buses, panic buttons, efficiency of the bus marshal scheme and issues pertaining to women safety in general.

Jun 14, 2019

Centre Reduces Contribution Rate for ESI

From July 1, both employers and employees' contribution under the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Act, which gives insured workers medical benefits among other facilities, would be reduced.
The total contribution towards ESI was reduced from 6.5% of an employee's wage to 4%, with the employer's share cut to 3.25%, from 4.75%, and the employee's contribution lowered to 0.75% of wage, from 1.75%.
This would benefit 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh employers.
The financial liability on employers would also be reduced, leading to improved viability of the establishments, increased ease of doing business and likely improved compliance with the Act.
The current rates had been in place since January 1, 1997.

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