BIHAR
Bihar: Air quality monitoring station at TMBU soon
An air quality monitoring station (AQMS) is likely to be set up in the postgraduate department of physics on the premises of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU).
The AQMS will monitor and give data on concentration of different pollutants in the air as well as some weather elements.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between TMBU and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, in February 2017 for setting up the AQMS for supporting scientific researches in the fields of air pollution, climate monitoring and weather forecast.
AQMS is equipped with various devices and gas sensors to measure the level of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone. It also measures suspended particulate matter in the air, including PM10 and PM2.5.
INTERNATIONAL
Vivekananda Yoga University: World’s first yoga university outside India launched in Los Angeles
As part of the 6th International Yoga Day commemorations, the world’s first yoga university outside India has been launched in Los Angeles.
It offers programmes that combine scientific principles and modern research approaches to ancient Indian practice.
Eminent Indian yoga guru Dr H R Nagendra, Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA), is the first Chairman of VaYU.
The university will help thousands of yoga teachers in the US whose yoga education was limited to 200 or 500 hours of certificate programmes to progress further into university-based higher education.
The applications for fall 2020 semester are open with the first day of classes starting on August 24 in a virtual mode.
NATIONAL
Passport Seva Divas: 24 June
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) celebrated Passport Seva Divas (PSD) on 24 June, 2020, to commemorate the enactment of the Passports Act on 24 June, 1967.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said there has been a complete transformation of passport delivery service in the last six years.
The Ministry has taken significant initiatives for the simplification of Passport Seva rules.
The number of documents have been reduced and passport issuance process has been eased.
EAM informed that the procurement process for production of chip-enabled e-passports is being carried out and their introduction will greatly strengthen the security of Indian travel documents.
Govt decides to bring cooperative banks under RBI through an ordinance
The Union Cabinet decided to bring all co-operative banks under the Reserve Bank of India through an ordinance.
Government banks, including 1,482 urban cooperative banks and 58 multi-state cooperative banks, are now being brought under supervisory powers of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
After the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Banks fiasco last year, the Union Cabinet in February amended Banking Regulation Act to strengthen the cooperative banks in the country.
During Budget 2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced that cooperative banks will be brought under the ambit of RBI.
There are more than 8.6 crore depositors in over 1,500 urban and multi-state cooperative banks across the country.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates Devika and Puneja Bridges in Udhampur & Doda Districts
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated two important bridges in his Lok Sabha constituency, namely Devika bridge in Udhampur and Puneja bridge in Bhaderwah, through a Virtual ceremony.
The Bridge on River Devika in Udhampur has been completed by the Border Roads Organisation within fifteen months.
The Puneja Bridge was also constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in 36 months.
The 10-meter-long Devika Bridge construction resolves the traffic issues of the region and this will also help in smooth passage of army convoys and vehicles.
While the 50-meter-long Puneja Bridge is strategically very important from a defence point of view.
Rohini Commission set to get nod for its ninth extension
The Justice Rohini Commission- set up in October 2017 to recommend sub categorization of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and ensure that marginalized sub castes get due benefits- is set to get its ninth extension.
The Rohini Commission was to originally submit its report by March 2018.
The move to grant yet another extension to the Commission comes at a time when elections are due in Bihar- a state where OBC sub categorization of any kind will have huge political impact.
Ministry of HRD released roadmap for 2020-21 NCERT
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has released the roadmap for NCERT for the year 2020-21. The move comes as it has been decided to set up a Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission under AtmaNirbhar Bharat. The move also focuses on Samagra Shiksha towards a Learning Outcome centric approach.
MHRD & Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) has directed the NCERT to develop the required resources for implementing these in an effective and timely manner which will lead to an all-around improvement in learning outcomes and learning levels of students.
Infographics, posters, presentations will explain each of the Learning Outcomes (LOs), for each subject, and for each grade for classes 1-5 will be completed by October 2020 and for classes 6-12 by March 2021.
Online Teacher training courses for teachers of each grade for classes 1 to 5 will be conducted in phases by December 2020 and for classes 6 to 12 in phases by June 2021.
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