Monday, February 22, 2021
Current Affairs – February 22, 2021
INDIA
10th round of India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting concludes
The 10th round of India – China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in Moldo. Two sides positively appraised the smooth completion of disengagement of frontline troops in the Pangong Lake area.
Indo-U.S. exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ comes to an end in Rajasthan
The closing ceremony of the joint military exercise between the Indian and U.S. Army, ‘Exercise Yudh Abhyas-20’ was held at Mahajan Field Firing Range on February 21, 2021. This was the 16th edition of the joint exercise and it began on February 8. The aim of the exercise was to focus on counter terrorism operations under the mandate of the United Nations.
India to provide USD 50 million credit to Maldives for maritime capability building
India has signed a USD 50 million line of credit (LoC) agreement with the Maldives to facilitate maritime capability building of the island nation. According to a joint India-Maldives joint statement, the agreement was signed between the Government of Maldives and EXIM Bank India. The agreement was signed during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the island nation.
National anthem played in Nagaland assembly for first time in almost 6 decades
Almost 60 years after Nagaland attained statehood, the national anthem was played inside its assembly for the first time this February. The move is historic for a state that has been ravaged by decades of secessionist violence and protracted peace talks that still hang fire. Nagaland attained statehood on December 1, 1963, and was the 16th state of the Union.
Economy & Corporate
88 Railway projects dedicated to nation worth over Rs 1000 cr by Piyush Goyal
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on February 21, 2021 inaugurated and dedicated a host of infrastructure projects and projects related to passenger amenities at various railway stations in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka through video conferencing. 88 Railway projects were dedicated to the nation worth over Rs. 1000 crores making Indian Railways future ready.
Centre plans to permit sale of 50% of coal/lignite produced by captive blocks
The Centre plans to permit sale of 50 per cent of coal/lignite produced by captive blocks, a move aimed at augmenting the production and increasing the availability of dry fuel. The government plans to do so through incorporation of a provision in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR).
World
International Mother Language Day celebrated on Feb 21
International Mother Language Day was celebrated on February 21, 2021. In 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO had declared 21st February as International Mother Language Day. The theme for this year is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society”. In India, Union Education Ministry has been celebrating the day as Matribhasha Diwas since 2015.
Russia reports world’s 1st case of bird flu strain H5N8 being passed to humans
Russia has registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus named A(H5N8) being passed to humans from birds and has reported the matter to the World Health Organization (WHO). Seven workers at a poultry plant in Russia’s south had been infected with the H5N8 strain in an outbreak at the plant in December.
Sports
Novak Djokovic wins Australian Open tennis men’s singles title
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic won his ninth men’s singles title at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne by defeating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final 7–5, 6–2, 6–2 played on February 21, 2021. Men’s Doubles title was won by Croatia’s Ivan Dodig & Slovakia’s Filip Polášek. Women’s Doubles title was won by Belgium’s Elise Mertens & Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka. Mixed Doubles was won by Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejčíková & Rajeev Ram of US.
India’s Ankita Raina wins women’s doubles title at Phillip Island Trophy tennis
India’s Ankita Raina on February 19, 2021 won her maiden WTA title as she and her Russian partner Kamilla Rakhimova clinched the doubles event in the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne. The Ankita-Kamilla pair beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova and Anastasia Potapova 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 in the final. The win will propel the 28-year-old Ankita to top-100 in the WTA rankings in doubles. She will be the second Indian woman player to be in top-100 after Sania Mirza.
TISSNET 2021: Check paper analysis, selection process details
TISSNET 2021: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) conducted the TISSNET 2021 on February 20. TISSNET is the National Entrance Test (NET) for admission to MA, M.Sc and integrated degree programmes of the institute. As per memory-based reports from candidates who took the test, the overall level of difficulty of the question paper was moderate.
The unofficial answer key is available now. The entrance exam was conducted as a computer based test, where candidates were required to solve 100 MCQ type questions in 100 minutes. Tata Institute of Social Sciences evaluates candidates on the basis of English proficiency, mathematical skills, logical reasoning and general awareness.
The level of difficulty of the English and mathematics/ logical reasoning sections were between easy to moderate in the TISSNET exam analysis. Questions from general awareness were moderate to difficult in terms of the level of difficulty.
The overall number of good attempts is anticipated to be at 70 out of 100. The number of good attempts is deemed to be the highest in the general awareness section as reported by the candidates. Next, TISS will publish the TISSNET result. On the basis of which, candidates will have to appear for next rounds.
The TISSNET selection process is a bit unconventional. The entrance exam is only the first step of the stairway to the final merit list. Candidates have to take the TISSPAT in the second stage while those who prefer HR and LR and ODCL programmes, have to take the TISSMAT exam.
Only after qualifying for these exams, can a candidate appear in the final online personal interview. In the overall selection process, the TISSNET exam carries only 30 per cent marks weightage while TISSPAT/ TISSMAT carries 40 per cent marks weightage. The rest of the marks (30 per cent) are carried by the online personal interview.
Once the merit lists are out, candidates can check their score at the official website i.e. tiss.edu. Since the scorecard is issued through individual candidate login, one must have the registered email ID and password. Those who qualify in the first stage by securing the TISSNET cut-offs, will have to appear in the subsequent TISS PAT or MAT exam depending on the programme they choose.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has not revealed any official dates on which the result is releasing. However, once the result releases, candidates must get ready to appear in the PAT or MAT exam. The details of these exams are on the official website which is why candidates are being advised to keepOnce the second stage selection exams are over, the merit lists are again released to indicate qualifiers of the exam. Based on the score, candidates are called to appear in the online personal interview, which is the final selection stage.
TISS PAT is a 45 minutes long test which is expected to notify the complete scheme and pattern of the exam very soon. Similarly, those who appear in the TISS MAT exam may note that it is also conducted as a 45 minutes long test carrying 50 marks. The question paper carries only objective type questions in the MAT exam. a regular tab of the website tiss.edu.
Source: Indian Express, 21/02/21
Providing migrant workers a political voice
The economy has been opening up and many migrant workers have started going back to their jobs, but this issue must not be relegated to the margins. It’s time migrant workers get the respect, protection and rights they are entitled to as citizens.
Niti Aayog has formulated a draft national policy on migrant workers. According to a report in The Indian Express, the policy, prepared in consultation with seven ministries, civil society organisations, and international institutions, proposes instituting mechanisms to “enable voting” for migrant workers because their political inclusion will enhance political accountability. It also suggests setting up inter-state coordination mechanisms between states to facilitate migrant movement; making migrant wings a part of labour departments; and getting source states and destination states to work with each other.
The migrant crisis, triggered by the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic, saw, according to official figures, over 10 million migrant workers returning home. The pandemic also revealed the fact that the Indian State doesn’t have adequate data and information about this large pool of citizens. This was quite astonishing since migration has been an integral component of India’s political economy, and the presence of migrant workers routinely places additional demands on basic infrastructure in destination towns and cities.
The Niti Aayog draft, which will now be sent to the labour ministry, en route to Cabinet and Parliament, has several excellent workable ideas. A key issue is creating political incentives — the fact that migrants are spread out, and may not end up voting in either source or destination states, means that they have often been underestimated as a political constituency. Enabling their political voice will be key to making them effective stakeholders and forcing the system to take their interests on board. The economy has been opening up and many migrant workers have started going back to their jobs, but this issue must not be relegated to the margins. It’s time migrant workers get the respect, protection and rights they are entitled to as citizens.
Source: Hindustan Times, 21/02/21
Friday, February 19, 2021
Quote of the Day February 19, 2021
“Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into opportunities.”
Dheerubhai Ambani
“कठिनाइयों में भी अपने लक्ष्यों का पीछा करते रहें, और विपत्तियों को अवसरों में बदल दें।”
धीरूभाई अंबानी
Sandes- India’s new instant messaging platform
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has launched an app called Sandes. This instant messaging platform is similar to WhatsApp. It can be used for any type of communications by anyone. It requires a mobile number or an email id to get registered with the app.
Highlights
- The need to launch the app was felt to ensure a secure communication between the employees because the “Work from Home” culture has gained the momentum in the backdrop of nationwide lockdown that was imposed in March 2020 amid the spread of Covid-19.
- NIC released the first version of the app in August 2020.
- The app can be used by central and state government officials for intra-organisational and inter-organisational communication.
- This app was initially launched for Android users and mainly for government officers.
- Later, the service was also extended to iOS users and it is now available for the common public as well.
- This app is a part of the government strategy to push the use of India-made software.
- It will help in building an ecosystem of indigenously developed software and products.
Background
The ministry of home affairs in the year 2020 had issued the advisory for the government employees to not use the platforms like Zoom for official communications because of security concerns. Before that, the Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) had also issued an advisory against Zoom with respect to the safety and privacy concerns.
Features
The interface of the application is similar to other applications that are available in the arena. This app has no option to transfer chat history between two platforms. However, the chats on the government instant messaging systems (GIMS) or the Sandes App can be backed up with a users’ email. The app requires a valid mobile number or email id to register the user. It comprises of the features like broadcast message, group making, message forwarding and emojis. It also has an additional safety feature. The platform allows the user to mark the message as confidential. Thus, it makes the recipient aware that the message should not be forwarded to other users.
Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship Programme- Key Facts
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship recently rolled out the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme in all the districts India.
Highlights
- The programme was earlier working across 69 districts.
- Fellows under the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship will acquire the academic expertise and technical competency.
- The expertise will help them to understand the overall skill ecosystem.
- It will also help the fellows to get attached to District Skill Committees.
- The ministry of skill development has also joined hands with Kerala Institute of Local Administration so as to conduct the capacity building programmes for district officials from the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Lakshadweep.
- The partnership between the two will be more focused towards strengthening the overall quality of skill training.
- The ministry highlighted that, this fellowship programme along with the recent launch of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0 and other academic partnerships with IITs, IIMs, KILA and GIZ-IGVET under the SANKALP scheme will help in empowering the districts and ensure the demand-driven skilling.
About SANKALP Scheme
The SANKALP scheme stands for the “Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion”. This programme is assisted by the World Bank loan. The scheme was launched with the objective of strengthening the district skill administration and the District Skill Committees (DSCs).
Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme
MGNF is a two-year fellowship programme. It was launched with the objective of boosting the skill development at the district level. It has been designed under the SANKALP scheme. The scheme was launched with the aim of addressing the challenge of non-availability of personnel in order to implement the programmes at district, state and national levels. Under the programme, the fellows should be aged between 21 to 30 years to get enrolled.
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