Daily news will speed up the preparation for the Civil Services Examination and it also plays a crucial role to grasp the current affairs topic comprehensively. Here we have covered most of the topics related to various categories including National, International, Sports, Science and Technology, and so on.
1. Annual State of Education Report (ASER) survey
– The Annual State of Education Report (ASER) survey findings were conducted in September. It provides a glimpse into the levels of learning loss that students in rural India are suffering, with varying levels of access to technology, school and family resources, resulting in a digital divide in education.
Facts about Annual State of Education Report (ASER)
– It is a nationwide survey of rural education and learning outcomes in terms of reading and arithmetic skills.
– It’s been conducted by the NGO Pratham for the last 15 years. This year, the survey was conducted via phone calls.
Key findings of the survey are:
– Around 20% of rural children have no textbooks at home. Less than 35% of children in Andhra Pradesh had textbooks. In West Bengal, Nagaland and Assam, more than 98% had textbooks.
– About one in three rural children had done no learning activity at all, in the week of the survey.
– About two in three had no learning material or activity given by their school that week, and only one in 10 had access to live online classes.
– 3% of rural children aged 6-10 years had not yet enrolled in school this year, as compared to only 1.8% in 2018.
– Enrolment patterns also show a small shift toward government schools, with private schools seeing a drop in enrolment in all age groups.
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2. SERB – POWER
– Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare today launched a Scheme titled “SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)” designed exclusively for women scientists.
– It is a scheme to mitigate gender disparity in science and engineering research funding in various S&T programs in Indian academic institutions and R&D laboratories.
– As per Dr. Harsh Vardhan “Enhancement of participation and promotion of women in the research workforce is one of the prime priorities of our Government”.
– SERB – POWER Scheme will have two components namely (i) SERB – POWER Fellowship (ii) SERB- POWER Research Grants
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 29 October, 2020
3. Operation Meri Saheli
– Indian Railways has launched “Meri Saheli” initiative for focused action on the security of women across all zones with an aim to provide safety and security to lady passengers travelling by trains for their entire journey from starting station to destination station.
– “Meri Saheli” initiative taken for focused action on the security of women travelling in trains.
– The “Meri Saheli” initiative was started as a pilot project in South Eastern Railway in September 2020 and after getting encouraging response from lady passengers, it was extended to all zones and KRCL w.e.f. 17.10.2020. The operation is gathering momentum.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 28 October, 2020
4. India-Central Asia Dialogue: Second Meeting
– India recently virtually hosted the second meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue.
– In January 2019, the first meeting of the dialogue was held in Samarkand, the Republic of Uzbekistan.
– All the nations strongly condemned terrorism and reaffirmed their determination to combat it by destroying terrorist safe-havens, networks, infrastructure and funding channels.
– It is necessary for every country to ensure that their territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks against other countries.
– All countries called for the settlement of the Afghan conflict on the basis of Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.
– They appreciated India’s efforts to modernise the infrastructure of the Chabahar port in Iran.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 27 October, 2020
5. Green light by the Government for ‘green’ firecrackers this year
– On 3 November, the Delhi government scheduled to launch an anti-firecracker campaign.
– In the national capital, now only ‘green’ firecrackers can be manufactured, sold and used.
About Green Crackers
– They are referred to as ‘green’ firecrackers as they have a chemical formulation that produces water molecules, which substantially reduces emission levels and absorbs dust.
– ‘Green’ firecrackers are the crackers with reduced emission and decibel level.
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