Daily Current Capsules

1 to 5 September 2023

NCERT as Deemed-to-be-University

• NCERT has been given the status of a Deemed-to-be-University.
• NCERT has established a formidable presence in research, actively shaped school education, teacher training, and adult literacy.
• NCERT on becoming a research university will offer opportunities for global collaborations and contributions to the global educational landscape
• As the apex organisation for school education, the NCERT undertakes various activities and programmes, including educational research and innovation, curriculum development and development of textual and teaching-learning materials.
• The NCERT has been granted the deemed-to-be-university status in the ‘De Novo’ category.
• A De-Novo deemed university is an institution that can apply to the UGC for setting up a new institution as deemed-to-be-university, which will undertake study and research in unique and emerging areas of knowledge that are not offered by any existing institution.

Know! about National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)

• The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation set up in 1961 by the Government of India to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on policies and programmes for qualitative improvement in school education.

The major objectives of NCERT and its constituent units are to:

• Undertake, promote, and coordinate research in areas related to school education; prepare and publish model textbooks
• Organise pre-service and in-service training of teachers
• Develop and disseminate innovative educational techniques
• Practices; collaborate and network with state educational departments, universities, NGOs
• Act as a clearing house for ideas and information in matters related to school education
• Act as a nodal agency for achieving the goals of Universalisation of Elementary Education.
• NCERT is an implementation agency for bilateral cultural exchange programmes with other countries in the field of school education.

Prelims Pointers

• In 2023, NCERT constituted a 19-member committee including author and Infosys Foundation chair Sudha Murthy, singer Shankar Mahadevan, to finalise the curriculum, textbooks, and learning material for classes 3 to 12.
• Jadui Pitara- a play-based learning-teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3-8 years developed by NCERT will come up as an instrument of change that will benefit 10 crore children of the country

Source –

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1954096

ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society)

• The Government of India has decided to organise a literacy week from 1^st September to 8^thSeptember 2023 to celebrate International Literacy Day for generating awareness among all the stakeholders/ beneficiaries/ citizens about the ULLAS- Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram.
• A Centrally Sponsored Scheme ULLAS- Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram on Education for All (erstwhile termed as Adult Education), was approved by the Government of India for implementation during FYs 2022-27 in alignment with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The Scheme has five components, namely

1. Foundational Literacy and Numeracy,
2. Critical Life Skills,
3. Basic Education,
4. Vocational Skills,
5. Continuing Education.

ULLAS: Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram

• A Scheme of Adult Education under ‘Education for All ‘ is in consonance with the objectives of NEP 2020 and SDG 4.0. It targets to achieve 100% Adult Literacy by 2030.
• With an aim to create awareness about the objectives of ULLAS: Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram, a week-long literacy activity from Sept 1 to Sept 8, 2023, along with the celebration of International Literacy Day on 8th September 2023 shall be observed in registered Govt. Schools

Source

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1954006#:~:text=The%20literacy%20week%20would%20encompass,on%20the%20ULLAS%20mobile%20app.

Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2023

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has been rated “A+” in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2023
• The Bank Governors who earned an “A+” grade in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2023 are Shaktikanta Das from India, Thomas J Jordan (Switzerland), Nguyen Thi Hong (Vietnam)
• The Central Banker Report Cards, published annually by Global Finance since 1994, grade the central bank governors of 101 key countries, territories and districts, including the European Union, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Bank of Central African States and the Central Bank of West African States.

Source

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/rbi-governor-shaktikanta-das-rated-a-in-global-finance-central-banker-report-2023-11693616524045.html

Aarogya Maitri’ initiative and Project BHISHM

• INS Delhi departed Colombo, Sri Lanka on 03 September 2023, after a two-day visit to the port city.
• The visit concluded with a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) at sea off Colombo between INS Delhi and SLN ship Vijayabahu.
• As part of India’s ‘Aarogya Maitri’ initiative to provide essential medical supplies to friendly countries, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Shri Gopal Baglay, presented state-of-the-art Arogya Maitri Cube to the Hon’ble Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament during a reception hosted onboard INS Delhi.
• These medical cubes have been indigenously developed under the Project BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri).

Know! also about Aarogya Maitri Cube

• India has unveiled the world’s first portable disaster hospital, known as the ‘Aarogya Maitri Cube.’
• This innovative healthcare solution, developed under the BHISHM project (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri), consists of 72 cubes, organized into three frames, with each frame containing 12 mini-cubes.
• India’s Aarogya Maitri Cube, airlifted and versatile, houses critical medical equipment, including operation theatres, mini-ICUs, ventilators, and more, supporting 200 survivors for 48 hours.

Source

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1954477

DST institutes key drivers in Aditya-L1 mission

• India’s Aditya-L1, a space observatory with 7 payloads heading for a vantage point to study the Sun
• IIA, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), had initially proposed a ‘suitable coronagraph’ payload to be mounted on a small satellite offered by ISRO.

Payloads

Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC)

• Led by IIA, the VELC was designed, assembled, characterized, tested, and integrated at the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) campus in Hosakote and delivered in close collaboration with ISRO.
• The VELC will image the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, closer to the Sun than ever before, at high resolution and time cadence.
• The payload has 40 different optical elements of high precision and will be kept at a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius in space.

Other Payloads

• In addition, Aditya-L1 carries an ultraviolet imager, two X-ray spectrometers, and four in-situ instruments to measure plasma parameters.
• These are made by various centres of ISRO and IUCAA with contributions from many other institutions.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

• IIA and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), another institute of DST, designed an automated algorithm to detect Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) on board Aditya-L1 using the VELC instrument.
• It will be the first of its kind to track the huge bubbles of gas threaded with magnetic field lines that are ejected from the Sun, disrupting space weather and causing geomagnetic storms, satellite failures, and power outages.
• This algorithm has been hard-coded by ISRO and will be used to detect CMEs automatically on board Aditya-L1, making it one of the first onboard intelligence algorithms for this purpose as no similar thing has been attempted in previous NASA or ESA missions studying the Sun.

Know! about Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

• CMEs are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona.
• They can eject billions of tons of coronal material and carry an embedded magnetic field (frozen in flux) that is stronger than the background solar wind interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength.
• CMEs travel outward from the Sun at speeds ranging from slower than 250 kilometers per second (km/s) to as fast as near 3000 km/s.
• The fastest Earth-directed CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours.
• Slower CMEs can take several days to arrive.
• They expand in size as they propagate away from the Sun and larger CMEs can reach a size comprising nearly a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun by the time it reaches our planet.

Source

https://dst.gov.in/dst-institutes-key-drivers-aditya-l1-mission-design-primary-payload-first-automated-algorithm-detect#:~:text=The%20two%20main%20science%20drivers,and%20communication%20networks%20at%20Earth.

PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 Mission

• Aditya L1 launched successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Cenre in Sriharikota
• PSLV will carry the Aditya L1 mission on a 125-day voyage to the Sun.
• The Aditya L1 spacecraft will stay in Earth’s orbit for sixteen days.
• After four months of journey, the satellite will be placed on the L1 point in the halo orbit around the Sun.
• The satellite was placed into Earth’s elliptical orbit. Now, the space agency will perform orbit-raising exercise within fixed duration

Know! about the mission

• Aditya L1 shall be the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun.
• The spacecraft shall be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth.
• A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses.
• This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time.
• The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.
• Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium
• The suits of Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide most crucial informations to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particle and fields etc.

The major science objectives of Aditya-L1 mission are:

• Study of Solar upper atmospheric (chromosphere and corona) dynamics.
• Study of chromospheric and coronal heating, physics of the partially ionized plasma, initiation of the coronal mass ejections, and flares
• Observe the in-situ particle and plasma environment providing data for the study of particle dynamics from the Sun.
• Physics of solar corona and its heating mechanism.
• Diagnostics of the coronal and coronal loops plasma: Temperature, velocity and density.
• Development, dynamics and origin of CMEs.
• Identify the sequence of processes that occur at multiple layers (chromosphere, base and extended corona) which eventually leads to solar eruptive events.
• Magnetic field topology and magnetic field measurements in the solar corona .
• Drivers for space weather (origin, composition and dynamics of solar wind .

Aditya-L1 Payloads

• The instruments of Aditya-L1 are tuned to observe the solar atmosphere mainly the chromosphere and corona.
• In-situ instruments will observe the local environment at L1.
• There are total seven payloads on-board with four of them carrying out remote sensing of the Sun and three of them carrying in-situ observation.

Source

https://www.isro.gov.in/Aditya_L1.html

International Solar Alliance

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) convened its 5th regional meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, on August 31, 2023, with the support of the Government of Rwanda.
• This significant event witnessed the participation of 36 countries and ministers from 15 nations.
• During the meeting, Shri R. K. Singh, the President of ISA and Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy of the Government of India, virtually inaugurated nine solar power demonstration projects spanning the Republic of Uganda, the Union of Comoros, and the Republic of Mali.
• Among these, four projects were located in Uganda, two in Comoros, and three in Mali.
• The ISA has provided grants for these projects, which include the solarization of rural healthcare centers and primary schools.

Know! about ISA

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for bringing energy access, ensuring energy security, and driving energy transition in its member countries.
• The ISA strives to develop and deploy cost-effective and transformational energy solutions powered by the sun to help member countries develop low-carbon growth trajectories, with particular focus on delivering impact in countries categorized as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
• Being a global platform, ISA’s partnerships with multilateral development banks (MDBs), development financial institutions (DFIs), private and public sector orgnaisations, civil society and other international institutions
• The ISA is guided by its ‘Towards 1000’ strategy which aims to mobilise USD 1,000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030, while delivering energy access to 1,000 million people using clean energy solutions and resulting in installation of 1,000 GW of solar energy capacity.
• This would help mitigate global solar emissions to the tune of 1,000 million tonnes of CO2 every year.
• The ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate change through deployment of solar energy solutions.
• It was conceptualized on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015.
• With the amendment of its Framework Agreement in 2020, all member states of the United Nations are now eligible to join the ISA.
• At present, 116 countries are signatories to the ISA Framework Agreement, of which 94 countries have submitted the necessary instruments of ratification to become full members of the ISA.

Prelims Pointers

• ISA also celebrated the winners of its SolarX Startup Challenge, aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and clean energy in African ISA member countries.
• This initiative recognized 20 companies from 10 African nations as winners.
• The ISA also discussed its Global Solar Facility, which aims to boost innovative solar technologies in Africa through private investment.

International Aerospace Conference

• Union Minister for Civil Aviation inaugurated the ‘International Aerospace Conference: Moving Towards Inclusive Global Value Chains’.
• It is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 1st and 2nd September 2023 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
• The International Aerospace Conference is a G20 initiative in the aerospace sector under G20 and B20 priority, focusing on developing inclusive global value chains for Global trade and Investment and aims to promote and strengthen trade and investment among the G20 countries.

Know! also about Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

• The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering Industry, Government and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.
• CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, with around 9,000 members from the private as well as public sectors
• CII charts change by working closely with Government on policy issues, interfacing with thought leaders, and enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities for industry through a range of specialized services and strategic global linkages.

‘Green Hydrogen Pilots in India’ Conference

• In the run-up to the 18^th G20 Summit, a day-long conference on “Green Hydrogen Pilots in India” is being held in New Delhi, on 5^th September, 2023.
• The conference will showcase various Green Hydrogen Pilots being implemented by both public and private sector companies of India.
• The conference will also present pioneering innovative pilots and progress in green hydrogen technology.
• The conference is being hosted by NTPC Ltd.
• The conference will not only illuminate the path forward but also inspire concerted efforts to achieve the objectives of the National Green Hydrogen Mission.

Know! about National Green Hydrogen Mission

• India has set its sight on becoming energy independent by 2047 and achieving Net Zero by 2070.
• To achieve this target, increasing renewable energy use across all economic spheres is central to India’s Energy Transition.
• Green Hydrogen is considered a promising alternative for enabling this transition.
• Hydrogen can be utilized for long-duration storage of renewable energy, replacement of fossil fuels in industry, clean transportation, and potentially also for decentralized power generation, aviation, and marine transport.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet on 4 January 2022, with the intended objectives of:

• Making India a leading producer and supplier of Green Hydrogen in the world
• Creation of export opportunities for Green Hydrogen and its derivatives
• Reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels and feedstock
• Development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities
• Attracting investment and business opportunities for the industry
• Creating opportunities for employment and economic development
• Supporting R&D projects

Mission Outcomes

The mission outcomes projected by 2030 are:

• Development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW in the country
• Over Rs. Eight lakh crore in total investments
• Creation of over Six lakh jobs
• Cumulative reduction in fossil fuel imports over Rs. One lakh crore
• Abatement of nearly 50 MMT of annual greenhouse gas emissions

Types Of Hydrogen Based On Extraction Methods

Depending on the nature of the method of its extraction, hydrogen is categorised into three categories, namely, Grey, Blue and Green.

• Grey Hydrogen: It is produced via coal or lignite gasification (black or brown), or via a process called steam methane reformation (SMR) of natural gas or methane (grey). These tend to be mostly carbon-intensive processes.
• Blue Hydrogen: It is produced via natural gas or coal gasification combined with carbon capture storage (CCS) or carbon capture use (CCU) technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
• Green Hydrogen: It is produced using electrolysis of water with electricity generated by renewable energy. The carbon intensity ultimately depends on the carbon neutrality of the source of electricity (i.e., the more renewable energy there is in the electricity fuel mix, the “greener” the hydrogen produced).

The Pradhan Mantri Dakshata Aur Kushalata Sampanna Hitgrahi (PM-DAKSH) Yojana

• The Pradhan Mantri Dakshata Aur Kushalata Sampanna Hitgrahi (PM-DAKSH) Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme, was launched during 2020-21.
• The main objective of the Scheme is to enhance competency level of the target groups to make them employable both in self- employment and wage-employment for their socio-economic development.
• The target group under this scheme are SCs, OBCs, EBCs, DNTs Safai Karamcharis including waste pickers etc.
• The age criterion of scheme between 18-45 years and income criteria is no income limit for SCs, SafaiKaramcharis Including waste picker and DNT.
• The annual  family income should be below Rs.3 lakh for OBCs and the EBCs (Economically Backward Classes) annual family income below Rs.1 lakh.

Source

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1954579

Education to Entrepreneurship Partnership

• Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship launched a 3-year partnership “Education to Entrepreneurship: Empowering a generation of students, educators and entrepreneurs” between Ministry of Education, Ministry Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Meta in New Delhi today.
• 3 Letters of Intent (LoI) were exchanged between Meta and NIESBUD, AICTE and CBSE.
• Education to Entrepreneurship partnership will take Digital Skilling to the grassroots.
• It will build capacities of our talent pool, seamlessly connect students, youth, workforce & micro-entrepreneurs, with futuristic technologies and transform our Amrit Peedhi into new-age problem solvers and entrepreneurs.
• Under the partnership with NIESBUD, 5 lakh entrepreneurs will get access to digital marketing skills by Meta over the next 3 years.
• Budding and existing entrepreneurs will be trained in digital marketing skills using Meta platforms in 7 regional languages to begin with.

Know! about NIESBUD

• The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development is a premier organization of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, engaged in training, consultancy, research, etc. in order to promote entrepreneurship and Skill Development.
• The major activities of the Institute include Training of Trainers, Management Development Programmes, Entrepreneurship-cum-Skill Development Programmes, Entrepreneurship Development Programmes and Cluster Intervention.

Source

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1954601#:~:text=Union%20Minister%20for%20Education%20and,and%20Meta%20in%20New%20Delhi

Gujarat Declaration

• World Health Organization (WHO) has released the outcome document of first WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023 in form of “Gujarat Declaration”.
• The declaration reaffirmed global commitments towards indigenous knowledge, biodiversity and traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine.
• WHO underlined that India as host of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre at Jamnagar, Gujarat has an important role in scaling up WHO’s capacities to support member states and stakeholders in taking forward the summit action agenda and other relevant priorities.
• The First global summit on Traditional Medicine was organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and co-hosted by the Ministry of Ayush, from August 17-18, 2023, at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Source

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1954558

Teachers’ Day 2023

• Every year, India celebrates Teachers’ Day on 5th September to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the country’s first Vice President and former President, scholar, philosopher, and Bharat Ratna awardee, who was born on this day in 1888.

Know! about Dr. Radhakrishnan

• Dr Radhakrishnan was India’s second President and the first Vice President.
• He was also a scholar, philosopher, and Bharat Ratna awardee.
• Dr. Radhakrishnan completed his education, including a master’s degree in Philosophy, through scholarships.
• In 1917, he also authored a book called ‘The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore’.
• From 1931 to 1936, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University and then the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University in 1939.
• He was also awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
• In 1963, he was admitted as an honorary member of the British Royal Order of Merit
• When Dr Radhakrishnan became the President of India in 1962, a few students requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday.
• However, Dr Radhakrishnan asked them to observe it as Teachers’ Day instead. Since then, September 5 has been announced as Teachers’ Day.

Know! also about World Teachers’ Day

• World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October to celebrate all teachers around the globe.
• It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO World Teachers’ Day has been celebrated since 1994.
• World Teachers’ Day is co-convened in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF and Education International (EI).

Source

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/teachers-day-2023-why-is-teachers-day-celebrated-on-5th-september-explained-11693874343908.html

https://www.unesco.org/en/days/teachers

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