Current Affair 1:

Parliamentary report on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

 

This article will be based the recent report of Parliamentary Committee. Recently, the Action Taken Report on the same was presented in the Parliament. While the government has accepted 26 of the 33 recommendations made.

Before proceeding, read the history of this Act:

Mandate of the Act

The mandate of the Act is to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

 

Some important salient features of Act,

Few recommendations:

1. Standing committee called for amendment in Act to provide additional days of work

2.  Committee called out DoRD for citing only the obstacles for the implementation of any novel concept instead of examining it

3. Feasibility of linking existing women centric works with MGNREGA should be explored

4. Doorstep medical facilities for job cardholders has been recommended by the committee

 

Current Affair 2:

Experiential Learning for 21st Century Programme

 

News:

National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), Ministry of Tribal Affairs and CBSE in collaboration with  TATA trusts, TISS and MGIS  launched Experiential Learning for 21st Century Programme for Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) Principals and Teachers.

It is believed that this program is unique in the area of experiential learning pedagogy and will be instrumental in advancing the cause of the National Education Policy, 2020 as part of their Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

The Experiential Learning for 21st Century Programme has been conceptualized as an online programme for educators i.e., teachers and principals to help them adapt classroom learning to real life experiences.

The program was offered free of cost to all the selected teachers and principals from November, 2021 till April, 2022. The selected teachers were trained as “Teacher Leaders” who shall be espousing the Experiential Learning Pedagogy to all EMRS teaching fraternity in a phased manner.

In first phase, the program was launched on 20th November, 2021 for 350 teachers from CBSE and Eklavya Model Residential Schools located in 6 States, namely Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

In the second phase, the 8-week professional development training programme is targeted to include 300 teachers from EMRSs across the states including Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand besides previously included states.

About Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)

EMRS started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas in order to enable them to avail of opportunities in high and professional educational courses and get employment in various sectors. The schools focus not only on academic education but on the all-round development of the students.

Grants were given for construction of schools and recurring expenses to the State Governments under Grants under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution.

In order to give further impetus to EMRS, it has been decided that by the year 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an EMRS.

Eklavya schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalaya and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development. Across the country, as per census 2011 figures, there are 564 such sub-districts out of which there is an EMRS in 102 sub-districts. Thus, 462 new schools have to be opened by the year 2022.

Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools (EMDBS)

Wherever density of ST population is higher in identified Sub-Districts (90% or more), it is proposed to set up Eklavya Model Day Boarding School (EMDBS) on an experimental basis for providing additional scope for ST Students seeking to avail school education without residential facility.

 

Current Affair 3:

What’s lumpy skin disease?

 

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) — a viral cattle outbreak — has been wreaking havoc in several Indian states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab, killing a reported at least 8,000 animals in the past few weeks, though ground workers claim the numbers to be much higher.

About Lumpy skin disease:

Lumpy skin disease is caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), a member of the Capripoxvirus (CaPV) within the Poxviridae family — the same family which causes monkeypox — the outbreak of which was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation last month.

 

1. Lumpy skin disease virus shares the genus with sheep pox virus (SPPV) and goat pox virus (GTPV), which are closely related.
2. LSDV is a large, double-stranded DNA virus that is very stable, and mutates very slowly.
3. As a result of this, the virus’ farm-to-farm spread cannot be followed by sequencing the virus samples.
4. This is in contrast to bovine diseases like foot-and-mouth disease, which has small genetic variations while it spread from one animal to another, leaving telling footprints of how the disease spread.
5. Lumpy skin disease is widespread and endemic throughout Africa, excluding Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya.
6. It is host-specific, causing natural infection in cattle and Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).
7. However, for buffalo, the disease severity and death rate are much lower due to their higher natural immunity compared to cows, say experts.
8. Some LSDV strains can also replicate in sheep and goats. They have also been known to have affected giraffes and impalas.
9. Lumpy skin disease does not affect humans.

Symptoms and recovery

1. The first case of LSD can often be traced to the legal or illegal transfer of cattle between farms, regions, or even countries.
2. In fact, the movements of cattle may allow the virus to jump over long distances, say experts
3. The incubation period in animals varies between four and seven days, but it may also last up to five weeks.
4. The disease gets its name from the large, firm nodules that develop on the skin of cattle as a result of the disease.
5. Clinical signs include nasal discharge — usually the first to be observed.
6. This is followed by a high fever which may persist for approximately a week, followed by a sharp drop in milk yield.
7. The cattle then develop lumps of 10-50 mm in diameter. The cattle also develop swollen limbs.
8. Sometimes, painful ulcerative lesions develop in the cornea of one or both eyes,leading to blindness in the worst cases.
9. There is currently no specific antiviral for the disease and most treatment is symptomatic. Vaccines being administered in India are the same as that for goatpox virus.

Current Affair 4:

International Telecommunication Union’s Regional Standardization Forum (RSF) for Asia and Oceania region

 

News:

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organized a Regional Standardization Forum (RSF) on “Regulatory and Policy aspects of Telecommunications/ICTs” as a physical event on 8 August 2022.

The theme of the Forum is “Regulatory and Policy aspects of Telecommunications/ICTs”.

The Regional Standardization Forum is a platform for constructive exchange of ideas, discussing standardization topics including inter alia India’s experience in various sectors of technology like Sustainable Digital Transformation and the Role of ITU Standards, Harnessing Technologies for Digital and Financial Inclusion in Emerging Markets, evolving Data Value Chain and Digital Health.

The Forum was hosted by the Ministry of Communications of India.

Department of Telecommunications will also host an exhibition at the same venue to showcase various innovative Digital products/services of India.

The Forum will be succeeded by ITU-T Study Group 3 Regional Group Asia and Oceania (ITU-T SG3RG-AO) from 09th August 2022 to 12th August 2022. The meeting is open for Member States and Sector Members of ITU-T and over 130 participants will contribute in the meeting.

 

 

<< Previous Next >>