General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - July 2019

Jul 2019

Mar 17, 2021

Rajya Sabha Passes Bill to Raise Abortions Limit to 24 Weeks

Rajya Sabha passed a bill to raise the upper limit for permitting abortions from the present 20 weeks to 24 weeks for "special categories of women" including rape survivors, victims of incest, minors and the differently-abled.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 was passed by voice vote. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha about a year ago.
A demand to send the bill to a select committee of Rajya Sabha was defeated by voice vote, along with some other amendments proposed by members.

Mar 16, 2021

IIT Mandi Researchers Develop Method for Efficient Removal of Heavy Metals from Water

A research team at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, led by Dr. Sumit Sinha Ray, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, has developed a fibrous membrane filter using a biopolymer-based material to remove heavy metals from water.
The results of this research have recently been published in the prestigious Elsevier journal, Polymer. The paper has been co-authored by Dr. Sinha Ray and his research scholar, Ashish Kakoria, along with Dr. Suman Sinha Ray, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Acid mine drainage containing large quantity of heavy metals is a menace. Heavy metals in water could lead to several neurological problems in human including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis, and it is important to develop filters to treat effluents that are released into water bodies to prevent pollution.

Free Education for Classes 9 to 12 in Haryana

During the presentation of the budget after a Covid-hit financial year, the government of Haryana has announced the plans of imparting free education for students of classes 9 to 12 in the state, to motivate more students to graduate from school.
For the fiscal year of 2021-22, the budget announced by the Haryana government mainly focussed on health, agriculture, and infrastructure to recover from the losses incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
While announcing the budget for the next year, the government of Haryana also introduced a new initiative in the education system of the state called the 'KG to PG' programme, which will help students pursue higher education with ease.

Mar 15, 2021

UK's New Student Exchange Scheme

Schools, colleges and universities from across the UK can now apply for government funding from a 110-million pound to enable students to study and work across the globe, including in India, as part of the new Turing Scheme.
Named after celebrated English mathematician and code breaker Alan Turing, the new scheme marks a major post-Brexit move as it replaces the European Union (EU) specific student exchange programme called Erasmus, as a means to widen the network of students travelling to study abroad.
The Department for Education (DfE) confirmed that India, already a top source of international students to the UK, may well be among the leading list of countries with which UK universities seek to strike student exchange projects.
"The Turing Scheme is a truly global programme with every country in the world eligible to partner with UK universities, schools and colleges.

Tata Motors Launches 'Wheels of Love'

Tata Motors launched 'Wheels of Love', a holistic programme that supports new parents in the workforce.
This is a move to promote a progressive culture of care, inclusion and sensitisation within the organisation across levels. A specially curated book, also aptly titled, Wheels of Love, puts forth various beliefs to enable new and expectant parents to successfully manage the needs of a growing family while also fulfilling their career goals.
This guide book also provides valuable insights for managers to support their team members as they progress through the various stages of parenthood.

CBSE Launches Artificial Intelligence Platform

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) launched an artificial intelligence-driven platform- 'AI student community', in collaboration with Intel. Through this platform, students can participate together and share their experiences.
The platform will also focus on creating AI-enabled social impact solutions and spreading awareness of artificial intelligence. Through different types of programmes delivered on this platform, the students will be able to participate in national and international competitions, as per CBSE.
Interested students can register at the official website- cbseacademic.nic.in under the tab 'AI Student and Community'. They have to create their login id and password.

Maths, Physics, Chemistry not Compulsory for Engineering Admissions

In a major change in the eligibility criteria for engineering courses, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the technical education regulator, has made Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM) optional for students who wish to pursue technical courses like biotechnology, textile or agriculture engineering at the undergraduate level. However, PCM remains mandatory for most engineering subjects like computer science.
In a virtual release of the handbook, AICTE chairperson Anil Sahasrabudhe said that the revised regulation is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) vision that encourages flexibility in the choice of subjects. "In 2010, AICTE made only physics and maths mandatory for nearly seven to eight subjects. We have been facing challenges as new disciplines have emerged where many students questioned why they have to study chemistry when they don't use it in their entire career. Similarly, many students demanded to study biology as they need to pursue biotechnology. Therefore, we are creating a new window for students who have either not taken maths or physics or chemistry but can enter into engineering," Sahasrabudhe said.

Mar 14, 2021

Anna University Pulled up for Giving Reservation to EWS

The Anna University was pulled up by the Madras High Court for allegedly providing 10 per cent reservation, within the 49.5 per cent reservation, to candidates belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) in admission to M Tech Biotechnology and M Tech Computational Technology courses.
"The (earlier) orders passed by this court should be carried out in full and any deviation will attract the consequences. The newly introduced reservation clause has created unnecessary confusion," Justice B Pugalendhi said.
The judge made the observation when pleas from two aspiring candidates came up.
The university had suspended the two courses, following the insistence of the Centre that it should adhere to its 49.5 per cent reservation alone and not the 69 per cent quota policy of the Tamil Nadu government in the admission of students to these two courses.
The judge in February had directed the University to admit students to the two courses following the Central government's 49.5 per cent reservation for the current academic year.

IIT-Delhi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Partner to Support for Interdisciplinary Research

Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi announced its partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (HUJI) to support collaborative and interdisciplinary education and research initiatives. Student exchange is another key partnership priority, which will help students get benefitted from the academic and entrepreneurial environments of the two institutions.
IIT Delhi lays great emphasis on international collaborations. Both the institutions have agreed to seed fund researchers in their respective institutions to collaborate with each other. These interactions will lead to long term partnerships between the two institutions benefiting the two countries.

Mar 13, 2021

Samsung Opens New Innovation Lab at Delhi Technological University

Samsung India has inaugurated a Samsung Innovation Lab at Delhi Technological University (DTU) under the Samsung Innovation Campus initiative.
At the lab, students and faculty at DTU will work on advanced technology training as well as joint research collaborations on domains such as Application Framework, Multimedia, Health and Security.
With this addition, Samsung now has eight technical labs spread across the country as part of its Samsung Innovation Campus initiative, which was earlier called Samsung Digital Academy.
As part of the lab, engineers at Samsung R&D Institute, Noida (SRI-N) will work on collaborative research projects with DTU students and faculty on smartphone domains based on technology areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Computer Vision. So far, over 200 students have worked with SRI-N engineers on research projects and have received training.

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