BIHAR
Only 14% of school students in Bihar have access to computers’
At a time when online study has been the only option available for students owing to the Covid pandemic, only 14% of the school students in Bihar have access to computers.
According to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) report released recently, less than one in five schools had working computers and only a limited number of them had internet connection. It is even more surprising to know that 73% students in neighbouring Jharkhand have had access to computers, the report said.
The minister said the government is already seized of this problem and had, some time back, requested the central government to sanction necessary funds under Samagra Shiksha Yojana for providing necessary digital devices like smartphones and laptops to the students and install good number of computers with internet connectivity in all the schools so that our children do not suffer.
INTERNATIONAL
Second Biggest Dam of the World – China
The Government of China formally became the first two producing units of the Baihetan Dam, the world’s second-biggest hydroelectric dam, to begin generating energy. The Baihetan Dam is set up in southwestern China on the Jinsha River.
About the dam:
♦ The dam is a 289-meter-tall (954-foot-tall) double-curvature arch dam, having sixteen generating units.
♦ Each unit will generate a potential of 1 million kilowatts, making it the second-largest in dimension after the “Three Gorges Dam” opened in 2003 on the Yangtze, with 22.5 million kilowatts of generating capacity.
♦ Through the Baihetan Dam, the Chinese authorities aim to curb surging fossil gasoline demand through constructing extra hydropower capacity.
♦ Both the dams have been built with the aid of the state-owned Three Gorges Group Corp., the world’s largest hydro, solar, and wind generation investor.
NATIONAL
National Doctors Day – 1st July
National Doctors’ Day is designated on 01 July yearly in India with the aid of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). The day is celebrated to honour the exceptional physicians and assist us to apprehend the significance of doctors in our lives and price them, to offer them our respects by commemorating one of their biggest representatives.
History of the day:
The day commemorates the beginning anniversary of the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy who was born on 1st July, 1882, and died on the same date in 1962.
Not-for-Profit Hospital Model in India
A report on India’s non-profit hospital model was published by the NITI Aayog.
Highlights:
♦ The NITI Aayog released a report on the not-for-profit hospital model in an effort to close the information gap on such institutions and facilitate robust policymaking in this area.
♦ The study provides insights into the operating model of non-profit hospitals. It presents research-based findings on such hospitals—categorized by ownership and service premise—and then compares them to private hospitals and Union government health schemes.
♦ The not-for-profit hospital sector provides both curative and preventive care.
♦ It connects healthcare, social reform, community engagement, and education.
♦ It uses government resources and grants to provide low-cost healthcare to people without regard for profit.
♦ The study discussed in detail the cost control strategies implemented by non-profit hospitals.
Enforcing Contracts Portal – Justice Department
Enforcement Contract Portal” was unveild by the Department of Justice.
About the portal:
♦ The website (https://doj.gov.in/eodb/) is intended to be a comprehensive source of information about the legislative and policy reforms being undertaken on the “Enforcing Contracts” parameters.
♦ It contains the most recent information on the operation and disposition of commercial cases in the Dedicated Commercial Courts of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata
♦ The portal also hosts online reports from all high courts on the commercial court-affiliated mediation and arbitration center to supervise and promote institutional mediation and arbitration through the pre-institutional mediation and settlement (PIMS) of commercial cases.
The Ganga River Basin Glacial Lake Atlas has been Published
Due to growing concerns about the impact of climate change on Himalayan glaciers, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has released an updated Atlas of Glacier Lakes, which are part of the Ganges River Basin.
Highlights:
♦ In the Ganga basin, approximately 4,707 glacial lakes have been mapped.
♦ A similar exercise was carried out for the Indus River basin in December 2020.
♦ The current study used Resourcesat-2 (RS-2) Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensor-IV (LISS-IV) satellite data to map glacial lakes with a water spread area greater than 0.25 ha.
♦ Glacial lakes are classified into nine types, which are further divided into four categories based on the process of lake formation, location, and type of damming material.
Area covered in the map:
♦ The mapped area extends from the Ganga River’s orgin to the Himalayan foothills, covering a catchment area of 2,47,109 square kilometres.
♦ The study of the Ganges River Basin partially covers India and a part of the transboundary area.