General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - January 2019

Jan 2019

May 11, 2019

Khuda Bakhsh Library Continues to Draw Foreign Scholars

Rare Persian and Arabic manuscripts and published material at Patna's Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, one of the national libraries under the ministry of culture, continues to attract foreign researchers and scholars.
While the library remains a favourite destination for visitors from countries like Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Uzbekistan, its unique repository of oriental manuscripts has also been drawing research scholars, writers and academicians from the US and from many European countries and China.
The collections at the library include works by Rumi, Shahnama by Firdausi, Diwan- e- Hafiz, which carries signature of Mughal Emperor Jehangir, the Khandan-e-Timuria and Badshahnama.
The library has more than 21,000 manuscripts in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Pashto.
The collections at the library also have Mughal miniatures and books written on deer skin.

May 08, 2019

Maharashtra to Erase Virginity Test from Textbooks

Soon, the controversial 'virginity test', or 'two-finger test', will no longer be taught to medical students in the state.
A curriculum panel of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has approved the removal of chapters about the test from textbooks, following a petition by a Wardha doctor that it was unscientific, violates human rights and doesn't in any way aid a sexual assault investigation.
Perhaps the first in the country to do so, the decision was taken in a Board of Studies meeting held in April. The final decision will be taken by the academic council of the MUHS before the change reflects in textbooks.
In December 2018 Dr Indrajit Khandekar, who teaches forensic medicine at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram, wrote to the Medical Council of India, Union health ministry and MUHS, pointing out that several chapters were devoted to teaching future doctors about 'virginity', its 'external and internal' signs and the role of hymen.
Based on these chapters questions on virginity are routinely asked in exams.
The books only spoke of female virginity and even had chapters and vivid infographics differentiating between a 'true virgin' and 'false virgin'.

Hike Ties Up with IIIT-D

Homegrown mobile messaging platform Hike announced collaboration with Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIIT-D) for developing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the country.
This collaboration is in line with the company's goal to facilitate research collaboration with Indian universities and research institutions.
According to research by Itihaasa, India currently ranks third, far behind China as the leader of research in the field of AI.
Through this initiative, Hike aims to help bridge that gap along with stakeholders in the ecosystem.
The area of research will comprise natural language processing (NLP), speech, link prediction, deep learning and computer vision.
The company is currently building one of the largest repositories of AI and ML enabled stickers for its recently announced local messaging platform, Hike Sticker Chat.

France to Recognise Four Indian Academic Qualifications

Four Indian academic qualifications - Senior School Certificate (SSC), Bachelor's and Master's degrees and PhDs - from government approved institutions will now be recognised by the French government with effect from May 1.
Similarly the French equivalents of these qualifications will be recognised by the Indian government.
This has been made possible by an agreement between France and India for the Mutual Recognition of Academic Qualifications signed during President Emmanuel Macron's maiden visit to India in 2018.
The agreement will come into force on May 1, was inked on March 10, 2018 during the India-France knowledge summit, the first high level summit for university, scientific and technological cooperation held by the two countries.
It is the first such inter-governmental agreement that India has entered into.
As per the agreement, the educational qualifications from India (from government-approved institutions) which are now recognised by the French government are All India Senior School Certificate Examination (AISSCE) (CBSE, state boards, pre-university (PU) or any equivalent qualification recognised by the Government of India), Bachelor's degree, Master's degree and Ph.D.
The educational qualifications, recognised by the French Ministry of Higher Education and which will now be recognised by the Indian government, are Baccalaureat (equivalent to AISSCE), License (equivalent to Bachelor's in India), Master's and Master's level qualifications (equivalent to Master's in India) and Doctorat (equivalent to Ph.D. in India).
Professional degrees such as law, medicine or those of other professions regulated by a professional council are excluded.
France ranks third globally, welcoming the highest number of foreign students.
In 2018, 8,000 Indian students chose France to pursue their higher education - mostly in the English medium

May 07, 2019

Deadline to Secure Admissions under RTE Act Extended

The state education department has extended the deadline for getting admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act till May 10.
This decision has been taken as 24,124 seats under RTE are remaining as on May 4, the earlier deadline.
Out of the total 67,706 seats declared in the first lottery which was declared in April, only 44,110 admissions have been taken in the state.
Considering the lesser number of admissions taken, Sunil Chauhan, director of the state primary education department, has extended the deadline for the second time.

May 06, 2019

EDMC Immunises over 5,000 Girls

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has immunised over 5,000 girls studying in 368 of its primary schools against human papillomavirus (HPV), a viral infection that causes genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer.
Under the civic body's immunisation programme, over 26,000 eligible girl students between the ages 10-14 were identified in 2017. Twenty per cent of them have been administered the HPV vaccine so far.
In India, 132,000 new cases of HPV are diagnosed and 74,000 deaths occur due to the virus every year.

May 04, 2019

No More Heavy Bags to School

Children weighed down by heavy school bags will finally get some relief.
The Karnataka government issued an order directing all schools in Karnataka, including government, aided and unaided institutions, to ensure that the weight of a school bag is no more than 10% of the child's weight.
As per the order, a bag of a student in class 1 or 2 should weigh no more than 2 kg.
The prescribed weight increases progressively, with students in Class 9 and 10 allowed to carry bags in the 4 to 5 kg range.
The order also states that the students in Classes 1 and 2 should not be given any homework.
Instead, schools must set a timetable in advance, which will limit the number of books that have to be brought to class every day.
All class work should be kept in the school itself, either in files or books.

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