71st Republic Day
Context :
India celebrated its 71st Republic Day on January 26, 2020.
Guest of Honour: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
- Bolsonaro is the third Brazilian President to be invited as Chief Guest for India’s Republic Day Parade.
- Before him, India hosted President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 1996 and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2004, as chief guests for the Republic Day Parade.
January 26th :
The Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950, a date specially chosen to coincide with the anniversary of ‘Purna Swaraj Diwas’.
January 26, 1930 was marked as ‘Purna Swaraj Diwas’, or the day the nation would attain complete freedom from its colonisers by the Congress.
- The members of the drafting committee felt that the birth of the constitution should be observed on a day that held some significance in their fight for independence.
- When India was ultimately granted freedom by the British in 1947, but on August 15 and not January 26, the date was instead assigned to celebrating India’s Republic Day.
- This was the day the Indian Independence Act was consequently repealed and India was established as a democratic republic, no longer a dominion of the British Crown.
What was showcased at the parade :
- Dhanush Artillery Gun.
- Rafale and Tejas aircrafts.
- Anti-Satellite Weapons System (ASAT).
- Gujarat – Rani ki Vav – Jal Mandir.
- Meghalaya – Living Root Bridge.
- Punjab – 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
Global Talent Competitiveness Index
Context :
Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI) for 2020 has been released.
About GTCI :
- GTCI, launched in 2013, is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of countries to compete for talent.
- It is released by INSEAD business school in partnership with Adecco Group and Google.
- The report measures levels of Global Talent Competitiveness by looking at 70 variables such as ease of hiring, gender earnings gap, and prevalence of training in firms.
Performance of India :
- India is placed at no. 72.
- Although more could be done to improve the country’s educational system (68th in Formal Education), India’s key strength relates to growing (44th) talent, due to its levels of lifelong learning (40th) and access to growth opportunities (39th).
- The country’s highest-ranked sub-pillar is employability, but the ability to match labour market demand and supply stands in contrast to the country’s poor mid-level skills.
Global performance :
Switzerland, the United States and Singapore lead the index.
Key observations:
- The gap between talent champions and the rest of the world is widening.
- A similar gap is also seen in the universe of artificial intelligence. AI talent is scarce and unequally distributed across industries, sectors, and nations.
- More than half of the population in the developing world lacks basic digital skills.
“Shiv Bhojan” scheme
Context :
Maharashtra government launched the “Shiv Bhojan” scheme on the occasion of the 71st Republic Day on 26 January 2020. It has been launched on a pilot basis.
Shiv Bhojan scheme :
- Under the Shiv Bhojan scheme, the thalis or lunch plates will be available to people at designated centres and canteens during a stipulated time in all the districts.
- District Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh inaugurated the Shiv Bhojan Thali canteen at the civic-run Nair Hospital in Mumbai.
- Another centre was inaugurated by Tourism Minister and Mumbai suburban district Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackeray at the Collector’s office in Bandra.
- Under the scheme, at least one canteen has been started at district the headquarters the state on a pilot basis.
Accretion Burst Event
Context :
Astronomers have recently found that the funnelling of matter into a forming star happens at different rates over time, as per the rotating disc of gas and dust theory.
Sometimes the forming star swallows up a huge amount of matter, resulting in a burst of activities in the massive star.
This is called an accretion burst event.
It is incredibly rare: only three such events have been observed, out of all the billions of massive stars in the Milky Way.
Need for these understandings:
Astronomers don’t yet fully understand how massive stars in our galaxy are formed. So far, observations have only yielded some pieces of the puzzle.
This is because nearly all the known massive stars in our galaxy are located very far away from our solar system. They also form in close proximity to other massive stars, making it difficult to study the environment where they take shape.
Maser Monitoring Organisation (M2O) :
After the first detection of an accretion burst, in 2016, astronomers from around the world agreed in 2017 to coordinate their efforts to observe more.
This led to the formation of the Maser Monitoring Organisation (M2O).
The primary goal of M2O is to make the atronomy community aware of the importance of Maser monitoring. It is also to increase the number of sources monitored, the number of transitions monitored at, and increase cadence of observation.
What is a Maser :
A maser is the microwave (radio frequency) equivalent of laser. The word stands for “microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”.
- Masers are observed using radio telescopes and most of them are observed at centimetre wavelength: they are very compact.
- A maser flare can be a sign of an extraordinary event such as the formation of a star.
Sources: the Hindu.
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan
Context :
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has approached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to take notice of the alleged corruption in the implementation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).
- The alleged acts of corruption in the implementation of RUSA were discovered in July, 2019 after Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) director pointed out serious irregularities in the utilisation of funds.
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan :
- RUSA is the centrally sponsored scheme launched in October 2013 that aims at providing strategic funding to higher education institutions throughout the country.
- The scheme is being operated in mission mode for funding state universities and colleges to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.
- Funding is provided by the central ministry through the State governments and Union Territories (UTs), which in coordination with the Central Project Appraisal Board monitors the academic, administrative and financial advancements taken under the scheme.
- Since 2016-17, the government has spent an average of Rs 1,500 crore every year on RUSA.
Objectives :
- Improve the overall quality of state institutions by conforming to the prescribed norms and standards.
- Adoption of accreditation (certification of competency) as a mandatory quality assurance framework.
- Promoting autonomy in state universities and improving governance in institutions.
- Ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination system.
- Ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational institutions and ensure capacity building at all levels of employment.
- Create an enabling atmosphere for research in the higher education system.
- Correct regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved and underserved areas.
- Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities to the disadvantaged.