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Daily PIB/ 22 March
General Studies- II
Topic- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
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New India Literacy Programme
Context:
The Union of India has approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, namely, “New India Literacy Programme (NILP)”
- The NILP has been approved for the next five financial years (2022-27) in order to integrate all the aspects of adult education with the National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP).
- The Education ministry has chosen to use ‘Education for All’ rather than ‘Adult Education,’ since the previous terminology was not applicable to non-literates aged 15 and above.
Objectives:
It aims to support the States and Union Territories in promoting literacy among non-literates in the age group of 15 and above.
Coverage:
It will cover across the country covering 5 crore non-literates during the implementation period from 2022-23 to 2026-27.
Funding:
The scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of Rs.1037.90 crore including Central share of Rs.700.00 crore and State share of Rs.337.90 crore.
Components of NLIP:
The scheme has five components namely,
- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy,
- Critical Life Skills,
- Vocational Skills Development,
- Basic Education and
- Continuing Education.
The salient features of the NILP are:
- involvement of school students, pre-service students of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), school teachers, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, NYKS, NSS, NCC volunteers,
- school to be unit for implementation of the scheme
- use of ICT and online implementation of the scheme through ‘Online Teaching Learning and Assessment System’ (OTLAS) material and resources through digital modes, viz, TV, radio, cell phone-based free/open-source Apps/portals, etc.
- Assessment tests to be conducted in schools by State/UTs and evaluation of learners by NIOS/SIOS; assessment on demand through OTLAS and generation of e-certificates,
- Sample achievement survey and
- Online MIS.
Implementation:
- The scheme will be implemented through volunteerism through online mode.
- The training, orientation, workshops of volunteers, may be organized through face-to-face mode. All material and resources shall be provided digitally.
- School will be Unit for implementation of the scheme.
- Schools to be used for conducting surveys of beneficiaries and Voluntary Teachers.
Need for:
- As per Census 2011, the absolute number of non-literates of the country in 15 years and above age group is 25.76 crore (Male 9.08 crore, Female 16.68 crore).
- Also, in consideration of the progress of persons certified as literates being to the tune of 7.64 crore under the Saakshar Bharat programme implemented during 2009-10 to 2017-18, it is estimated that currently around 18.12 crore adults are still non-literate in India.
General Studies- II
Topic- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
NIPUN Bharat Mission
Context:
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India has launched the National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.
This mission is called National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) on 5th July 2021 under the aegis of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha.
Highlight:
- NIPUN Bharat Scheme aims to achieve the goal of universal proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3, as envisaged by National Education Policy 2020
- NIPUN Bharat will be implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy.
- A five-tier implementation mechanism will be set up at the National- State- District- Block- School level in all States and UTs, under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha.
Aims and objectives:
- It aims to cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years.
- The teachers need to focus on every child for developing basic language; literacy and numeracy skills which will help them develop into better readers and writers.
- Thus, NIPUN Bharat envisages making the experience of learning at the foundational stage Holistic, Integrated, Inclusive, Enjoyable, and Engaging.
Expected outcomes of NIPUN Bharat Mission:
- Foundational skills enable to keep children in class thereby reducing the dropouts and improve transition rate from primary to upper primary and secondary stages.
- Activity based learning and conducive learning environment will improve quality of education.
- Innovative pedagogies such as toy-based and experiential learning will be used in classroom transaction thereby making learning a joyful and engaging activity.
- Intensive capacity building of teachers will make them empowered and provide greater autonomy for choosing the pedagogy.
Significance:
- The mission focuses on different domains of development like physical and motor development, socio-emotional development, literacy and numeracy development, cognitive development, life skills etc. for Holistic development of the child.
- NIPUN Bharat is envisaged to support and encourage students, along with their schools, teachers, parents, and communities, in every way possible, to help realise the true potential of our children and propel the country to new heights.
General Studies- III
Topic- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Forest cover in the country
Context:
Continuous efforts are being made to achieve the goals as envisaged in the National Forest Policy and over the years the Forest and Tree cover of the country has been showing a positive trend.
- The National Forest Policy 1988 envisages to have a minimum of one-third of the total land area of the country under forest or tree cover.
- The increase in forest cover may be attributed to plantation/ afforestation activities, better conservation and protection measures, natural regeneration and enhancement of existing forests.
Highlights:
- The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country.
- As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country.
- Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 sq km.
- Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest.
India’s definition of forest:
As per India State of Forest Report, Forest cover is defined as:
“All lands, more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 percent irrespective of ownership and legal status. Such lands may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. lt also includes orchards, bamboo and Palm.”
India’s definition of forest has been taken on the basis of above three criteria only and very well accepted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for their reporting/communications.
As per Kyoto Protocol’s definition:
As per decision 19/Conference of Parties (CP) 9-Kyoto Protocol, the forest can be defined by any country depending upon the capacities and capabilities of the country as follows:
Forest– Forest is defined structurally on the basis of-
- Crown cover percentage: Tree crown cover- 10 to 30% (India 10%)
- Minimum area of stand: area between 0.05 and 1 hectare (India 1.0 hectare) and
- Minimum height of trees: Potential to reach a minimum height at maturity in situ of 2 to 5 m (India 2m)
Chrome facts for Prelims
Surajkund International Crafts Mela
35th Surajkund International Crafts Mela inaugurated at Surajkund, Haryana.
- The Mela is organized by the Surajkund Mela Authority & Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.
- The fair was upgraded to an international level in 2013.
- Jammu & Kashmir is the ‘Theme State’ of the 35th Surajkund International Crafts Mela 2022, which is showcasing its unique culture and rich heritage through various art forms and handicrafts from the state.
- Uzbekistan will participate as the partner nation for this year’s Mela.
Significance of Surajkund Mela
- The Surajkund Crafts Mela was hosted for the first time in 1987 to showcase richness and diversity of the handicrafts, handlooms, and the cultural heritage of India.
- The Surajkund Mela is unique as it showcases the richness and diversity of the handicrafts, handlooms and cultural fabric of India.
- It is the largest crafts fair in the world.
- The Mela was initiated in 1987 to promote the pool of skilled artisans, who used indigenous technology, but were suffering due to the cheaper machine-made imitations.
History of Surajkund:
Surajkund, the site of popular Surajkund International Crafts Mela is located at a distance of 8 km from South Delhi in Faridabad.
- Surajkund derives its name from the ancient amphitheatre, meaning ‘lake of the sun’ constructed here in the 10th century by Raja SurajPal, one of the Tomar chieftains.
- ‘Suraj’ means ‘Sun’ and ‘Kund’ means ‘pool/lake or reservoir’.
- The place is built against the backdrop of the Aravalli Mountain range.
- As the historians tell us, this area fell under the domain of the Tomar clan. Raja Suraj Pal, one of the chieftains of the clan of sun worshipers, had a sun pool built in this area.
- It is believed that a temple also stood in its periphery. Archaeological excavations have revealed existence of a Sun temple here based on ruins that can be seen even now.
Women Transforming India Awards
NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is organizing the fifth edition of the Women Transforming India Awards (WTI) on 21 March 2022.
About the WTI:
- The Women Transforming India awards are an annual contest supported by the United Nations in India, Indian government website MyGov, and NITI Aayog.
- They honour “exceptional women entrepreneurs, who are breaking the glass ceiling and challenging stereotypes”.
- The first awards were given in 2016.
Women Entrepreneurship Platform:
Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is an aggregator portal that aims to catalyse the entrepreneurial ecosystem for women and address information asymmetry.
- To build a vibrant ecosystem for women-led enterprises, the platform works to strengthen industry linkages and increase awareness of existing programmes and services.
- To date, more than 900 women entrepreneurs have been benefitted through 77 programmes and events hosted on the platform.
Exercise LAMITIYE-2022
The 9th Joint Military Exercise LAMITIYE-2022 between the Indian Army and Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) is being conducted at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Seychelles.
- Exercise LAMITIYE-2022 is a biennial training event which is being conducted in Seychelles since 2001.
- Notably, in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries; Exercise LAMITIYE with Seychelles is crucial and significant in terms of security challenges faced by both the Nations in the backdrop of current global situation and growing security concerns in the Indian Ocean Region.
Parsi New Year Navroz
Navroz or Nowruz or the Persian New Year is celebrated in several countries across the world this year on March 20-21.
- Nowruz begins on spring equinox, marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Navroz is also known as Jamshed-i-Navroz, after the Persian King, Jamshed.
- The king is credited with having created the Persian calendar, or the Shahenshahi calendar.
- The Parsi community follows the religion Zoroastrianism, which was founded by Zarathustra in Persia.
- The Iranian New Year is celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm among various Parsi communities across the world including India.
- On this day, people pray for prosperity and good health for each other. They also declutter their houses, minds and houses of the things unnecessary.
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