BIHAR

With a focus on quality education, Bihar to start new universities

The Bihar government is expected to place bills to set up four new universities for medical, engineering, fine arts and skill development in the state in the upcoming budget session. Having new universities is a welcome move, but the state also needs to uplift the existing education institutes that are crying for attention.

The proposed bills to set up four new universities, says Gyandeo Mani Tripathi, dean School of Educational Training and Research, Aryabhatt Knowledge University (AKU), says is a welcome move to minimise the pressure on the existing universities. He adds that instead of calling it a new university it is better to call it the decentralisation of the existing AKU which was established in 2010.

Bihar, being home to old educational institutions needs to think of reviving the old educational institutions. “Bihar Vidyapeeth, set up by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 and has been lying defunct since 1942, can be revived. The government can consider developing this as an institute to offer teaching courses.

INTERNATIONAL

World Pulses Day: 10 February

The United Nations designated World Pulses Day is observed every year on 10 February.

The day has been established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognize the importance of pulses (dry beans, lentils, dry peas, chickpeas, lupins) as a global food.

In 2018, the UN General Assembly decided to mark 10 February as World Pulses Day. The first WPD was held on February 10, 2019.

Theme 2021: “Nutritious Seeds for a Sustainable Future”.

NATIONAL

Beneficiaries of Anganwadi Dropped by 2 crores in 7 years

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in Parliament, the number of beneficiaries under the government’s “Anganwadi” plan has been reduced by nearly 20 million.

During 2014-2015, approximately 1.4 million grams of Anganwadi Center recruited approximately 1.045 billion pregnant women, lactating mothers and children between 6 months and 6 years old. By March 2020, this number has fallen to 85.5 billion.

The number of children also dropped from 8.49 million in 2014-2015 to 6.86 million in March 2020.

The number of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers dropped from 19.95 million in 2014-15 to 16.68 million in March 2020. The government did not emphasize the reasons for this decline.

For the first time, ISRO tests satellites developed by private sector

For the first time in its history, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has opened its UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru for testing satellites developed by the private sector.

Two satellites, developed by the Indian startups SpaceKidz India and Pixxel (incorporated as Sygyzy) were tested at the UR Rao Satellite Centre.

ISRO also helped these two companies in fixing problems with the solar panels on their respective satellites.

So far in its history, the space agency has only taken help in manufacturing and fabrication of various parts of satellites and rockets from the Indian industry.

Both these two companies will also test their engines at the Sriharikota spaceport and Thiruvananthapuram rocket centre in coming days.

Exim Bank to provide Fund for Maldives project

The Reserve Bank of India announced that the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will provide USD 400 million for the Maldives project. It will provide funding for the “Great Male Connection” project.

The Export-Import Bank has signed an agreement with the Maldives government to provide a supported credit line of US$400 million on October 12, 2020.

The Greater Male Connectivity project is the project from Male to Thilafushi Link project in the Maldives. The credit line agreement will come into effect on January 28, 2021. The service life of the terminal is 60 months after the project completion date.

The Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) project is the electoral pledge of the current President of the Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The project will connect Gulfafaru Port and Thilafushi Industrial Zone through a 6.7-kilometre-long bridge.

SAKSHAM Portal Launched by TIFAC

The Technical Information, Forecasting and Assessment Committee (TIFAC) has launched a job portal called SAKSHAM to map workers’ skills in accordance with MSME requirements. It also initiated a seaweed cultivation mission.

TIFAC emphasized that the Saksham portal will help eliminate middlemen and labour contractors. This will also help determine the skill level.

The portal will also help develop skill cards for “Shramiks” (workers). The plan will facilitate the placement of 1 million blue-collar jobs across India.

The portal will directly connect workers with small and medium enterprises without the need for middlemen or labour contractors. The portal will also reduce the difficulty of workers finding jobs in nearby MSMEs.

The portal is significant because it can help workers find jobs that are forced to return to their hometowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jalabhishekam Water Conservation Campaign on 11th February

Union Defense Minister Ranjanath Singh the “Jalabhishekam Water Conservation Campaign” held the inauguration ceremony for 57,000 floating structures, almost from New Delhi.

These water structures were built in Madhya Pradesh. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan conducts water conservation work in Madhya Pradesh with public participation.

Conservation work will help achieve water conservation goals and establish a self-reliant Madhya Pradesh.

The Minister of Defense emphasized that the “Jalabhishekam” movement is achieving the goal of “water for every farm and every person”. This sport will help improve the village.

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