Here’s how to attempt GATE 2021

 GATE 2021: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay will conduct the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE 2021) on February 6, 7, 13 and 14. The exam will be held online as per the COVID-19 guidelines.

At this stage, the focus should be on how to retain what has been already prepared, how to manage time, and what should be the exam day strategy.

How to attempt GATE 2021?

How to manage time in the exam: Many good students drop a rank because they could not attempt one or two exam questions due to time constraints. To beat the time, you need to practice racing against time. To do so, practice previous year GATE question papers or take mock tests. While doing so, keep a time limit of 2.5 hours. Though GATE is a 3 hours exam but practising under pressure will help in understanding time management.

Practice strategy to attempt the paper: On the day of the exam, it shall be convenient to plan how to attempt the paper. You can make a set of plans for the same. Now apply these plans while you practice the GATE mock tests or previous year papers. This way you can find out which plan works the best for you.

How to revise to retain the maximum: Forgetting is natural. Thus, training the brain to retain maximum information is important. For this, one may follow the steps below.

– Revise the syllabus when your brain is more attentive and active. It can vary from person to person. Identify at what time the brain is most active and do revision at that time.

– Write down the important points as you revise. The brain retains pictures for a longer period of time. Hence if you write what you read, the brain takes a picture of the written material and stores it for a longer period.

– Focus on one topic at a time. Do not leave one topic in the middle and move on to the next one. Complete one topic entirely and then move on to the next.

How to keep stress at bay: It is natural that as the exam approaches, one might feel panicked. Thinking a lot about what is left and stressing how to complete the leftovers causes panic. Now, the solution is to focus on what has been done and not to think about what is left. This is the time to make strong topics stronger, rather than starting anything new.

Focus only on preparation: Amidst COVID-19, there is a lot of demand from the students for postponement of GATE 2021. However, unless IIT Bombay provides an official announcement in this regard, the exam will be held as per the schedule. Therefore, diversion of any sort must not be entertained. The extra mile that you will walk now for GATE preparation can take you in the toppers category.Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is a national level engineering entrance exam. IITs conduct it for admission to PG programs M.Tech, ME, PhD. In addition to this, the scores of the exam is also used for recruitment in PSUs.

Source: Indian Express, 4/02/21

Quote of the Day

 

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.”
Charlie Chaplin

“हंसी के बिना बिताया हुआ दिन बर्वाद किया हुआ दिन है।”
चार्ली चैपलिन

The Little Book of Encouragement book by Dalai Lama

 The Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama have recently launched his new book “The Little Book of Encouragement”. The book comprises of 130 quotes. The book has been edited by Renuka Singh while published by Penguin Random House.

Highlights

• The Dalai Lama while launching the book highlighted that, he is one among more than seven billion human beings who are alive today amid the COVID-19 pandemic. So, he has committed to promote the human happiness.
• He further highlights that; we think happiness comes from money and power. But little we know the role of the mind or that the key to happiness is inner peace.
• He has asked the readers to discuss the thoughts from the books with friends and put these thoughts in day-today life practice.
• He further termed the climate change and global warming as very serious issue, apart from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dalai Lama’s take on Sino-India ties

He wrote on the Sino-India relation that, both India and China have developed a sense of competition in the recent times. The countries have high population and are powerful nations. Yet, they cannot destroy each other and have to live side-by-side. Further, on Tibet issue he suggested the Tibetans to consider the Chinese as brothers and sisters than as enemy.

About Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama title has been given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism. Tenzin Gyatso is the current and 14^th Dalai Lama. He lives in India as a refugee. The Dalai Lama id considered to be the successor tulkus. The tulkus are considered to be the incarnations of Avalokiteśvara (a Bodhisattva of Compassion).

Tenzin Gyatso

He is also known as Tenzin Gyatso. He was born on July 6, 1935. He is considered as the living Bodhisattva, an emanation of Avalokiteśvara. He is the current Dalai Lama.

Current Affairs – February 03, 2021

 

INDIA

Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management to be set up in Chennai

On the occasion of World Wetlands Day on February 2 Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Babul Supriyo announced the establishment of a Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM) as a part of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, which is an institution under the Ministry.

India has 42 Ramsar sites for conservation of wetlands

India has rich wetlands famous for its biodiversity. As of December 2020, there are 42 Ramsar sites in India. The Ramsar Convention is an international agreement promoting the conservation of wetlands. The Convention was adopted at Ramsar in Iran in 1971 and came into force in 1975.

‘Aatmanirbharta’ named Oxford Hindi word of 2020

‘Aatmanirbharta’ implying self-reliance has been named by Oxford Languages as its Hindi word of the year 2020 as it “validated the day-to-day achievements of the countless Indians who dealt with and survived the perils of a pandemic”.

CHRI calls for withdrawal of sedition cases file against journalists in India

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) on February 2, 2021 called for the withdrawal of sedition cases file against journalists in India and called for the repealing of sedition and criminal defamation laws. The CHRI said police forces in various States had used colonial era laws like sedition and criminal defamation as well as economic offences to “silence media”.

NIA to probe Jan 29 blast near Israel Embassy

The Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the January 29 explosion near the Israel Embassy in Delhi. An IED was set off at a pavement near the embassy, damaging a few cars. A handwritten note found near the explosion site, addressed to Ambassador Ron Malka, said it was just a trailer to avenge the killing of Iranian military commander Qasim Soleimani and others.

Economy & Corporate

BSE Sensex closes at 49,797.7 points (+1,197), Nifty50 at 14,648 (+367)

The Indian markets extended their historic Budget-day rally into second day on February 2, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 1,197 points, or 2.46 per cent, to settle the day at 49,797.7 points. The broader Nifty50 index closed at 14,648, up 367 points or 2.57 per cent.

RBI appoints firm to audit HDFC Bank’s IT infrastructure

HDFC Bank on February 2, 2021 said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed an external IT firm for carrying out a special audit of its IT infrastructure in the aftermath of repeated service outages at the country’s largest private sector lender over the past two years. In December 2020, RBI temporarily barred HDFC Bank from launching new digital banking initiatives and issuing new credit cards after taking a serious view of service outages at the lender over the last two years.

SC asks Franklin Templeton to disburse Rs 9,122 crore to investors

The Supreme Court has directed Franklin Templeton to distribute Rs 9,122 crore to unitholders of the six schemes that were shut by the mutual fund house in April 2020. The fund house has been directed to distribute the money to unitholders within twenty days from February 2. Earlier, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund had updated the unitholders that its six shut schemes have received Rs 14,391 crore from maturities, pre-payments and coupon payments since their closing down in April.

Banks’ NPAs decline to ₹8.08 lakh crore in Sept 2020: Govt

Non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans of the banking sector came down from a high of ₹10.36 lakh crore at the end of March 2018 to ₹8.08 lakh crore at the end of September 2020 due to various initiative of the government, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur informed the Rajya Sabha on February 2, 2021.

Delhi HC directs all parties in Amazon-Future dispute to maintain status quo

India’s Future Group needs to maintain status quo with respect to its $3.4 billion retail assets deal, the Delhi High Court said on February 2, 2021, giving interim relief to Amazon.com Inc as it battles to foil Future Group’s asset sales to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Amazon, locked in protracted legal disputes with Future, alleges the Indian firm violated contracts by agreeing to sell its retail assets to rival RIL in 2020.

World

Sri Lanka backs out of pact with India, Japan on terminal at Colombo Port

Sri Lanka has backed out of an agreement with India and Japan to develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port. According to the tripartite agreement of May 2019, Sri Lanka, Japan and India were to jointly develop the strategic terminal with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) holding a 51% stake and India and Japan holding 49% together. Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in this regard on February 2, 2021.

World Wetlands Day observed on Feb 2

World Wetlands Day was observed on February 2, 2021 with its theme as ‘Wetlands and Water’. It emphasizes the importance of wetlands as a “source of freshwater and encourages action to restore them and stop their loss”.

Ford Motor Co, Google join hands to offer cloud-based data services

Ford Motor Co will tap into software, artificial intelligence and cloud computing offered by Alphabet Inc’s Google to develop new consumer services and modernize internal operations, the companies said on February 1, 2021. Ford will incorporate Google’s Android operating system into its Ford and Lincoln vehicles starting in 2023.

Assam CM launches schemes for college students, literary bodies

 

Education Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state governments plan to provide pocket money to college students in the near future apart from the money provided for the purchase of textbooks.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday launched two schemes to provide monetary assistance to college students and literary bodies of the state.

Under Pragyan Bharati scheme, 3,26,046 college students were given Rs 1,500 each for purchasing textbooks, while a total of Rs 161 crore was reimbursed for the free admission of 4 lakh eligible students.

The second scheme is Bhasha Gourab, under which the state government provided 21 Sahitya Sabhas (literary bodies) with a total of Rs 43 crore as a contribution towards their corpus funds.Under the scheme, 600 writers have also got Rs 50,000 each to help in their literary activities.

The young generation must strive for knowledge through education and utilise the opportunity provided by the two schemes, the chief minister said.

The state government is committed to providing higher education to the poorest of the poor, he said.

Sonowal also urged parents and teachers to encourage the younger generation to take part in sports and cultural activities for their holistic development.

Literature is a reflection of the society and the Assam government is taking steps for providing financial assistance to writers and indigenous Sahitya Sabhas, he said

Education Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government has taken steps for providing primary education till Class V to all students in their mother tongues.

He also said about the state governments plan to provide pocket money to college students in the near future apart from the money provided for the purchase of textbooks.

Because of the relentless efforts of the state government, Assam is at the second position in the country in the index for educational development and also second in the performance of taking education to the poor, Sarma added.

Source: Indian Express, 2/02/21

NTA UGC NET December 2020 online registration begins

 

• Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the UGC NET 2020 examination online at ugcnet.nta.nic.in. on or before March 2, 2021.The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday invited the online applications for the UGC National Eligibility Test (NET) December 2020 cycle on its official website.

• Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the UGC NET 2020 examination online at ugcnet.nta.nic.in. on or before March 2, 2021. However, the last date to pay the application fee is March 3, 2021.

  The agency will be conducting the computer-based UGC NET December 2020 exam from May 2 to 17, 2021.

  NTA conducts the UGC-NET exam for ‘Assistant Professor’ and for ‘Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor. The test consists of two papers. Both the papers will be conducted in a single three-hour duration.

  Application fee:

  Candidates belonging to the general category are required to pay an application fee of ₹1000, while candidates from the General-EWS and OBC-NCL category need to pay ₹500.

  For candidates coming from the reserved category, the registration fee is ₹250.

• Source: Hindustan Times, 3/02/21

Quote of the Day

 

“Anger is never without an argument, but seldom with a good one.”
Indira Gandhi

“क्रोध कभी बिना कारण के नहीं होता, लेकिन वह कारण कभी-कभार ही अच्छा होता है।”
इंदिरा गांधी