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Expected Questions NTA NET November 2017 Paper 1: Higher Education Set 3

Nai Roshni Scheme: Minority Women

Women empowerment and Leadership Development Program for Minority Women in 2012 - 13

Confidence among minority women, including their neighbours from other communities

  • Women and children being worst sufferers in a poverty-stricken family need most support.
  • Empowering women, especially mothers.
  • Embolden minority women to move out and assume leadership roles and assert their rights
  • “Nai Roshni” run with the help of NGOs, Civil societies and Government Institutions.

Trained women are helping families & neighbours in raising essential demands and claims from various Government authorities.

Nai Udaan

Financial Assistance for Minority Community Candidates Selected in the Civil Services Examination Financial assistance under “Nai Udaan” for coaching for administrative services examination will be increased for youth belonging to Minority communities- Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain, Buddhist and Parsi.

National Achievement Survey (NAS) , Government Education Programs & Teachers′ Performance

Government is Running a Number of Schemes for Education

Elementary Education: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, Strengthening of Teachers Training Institute, Schemes for Infrastructure Development of Private Aided/Unaided Minority Institutes (IDMI) , Mahila Samakhya, Strengthening for providing quality Education in Madrassas (SPQEM)

Secondary Education: Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) , Inclusive Education for Disable at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) , Incentives to Girls at Secondary Stage, National Merit cum Means Scholarship, Financial Assistance for Appointment of language Teachers, Adolescence Education Program, Girls Hostel, Model School, ICT at School, Vocationalization of Secondary Education, Model School Under PPP Mode

Adult Education: Saakshar Bharat, State Resource Center (SRCs) , Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSSs) , Assistance to Voluntary Agencies, and Teacher Education

  • Sarva Shiskha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) to improve teaching standards:
    • Regular in-service teachers′ training
    • Recruitment of additional teachers for improving pupil-teacher ratio
    • Academic support for teachers through block and cluster resource centers
    • Maths and Science kits and lab equipment
    • Special teaching for learning enhancement
    • ICT facilities in schools
    • Vocational education component at the secondary level
  • Activities under ‘Unnati’ project to improve English language skills.
  • States and UTs are helped on early grade reading, writing, & comprehension, and early Mathematics programs through sub-program of SSA namely ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (PBBB) in classes I and II.
  • Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) program, a sub-component of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) - motivates children of 6 - 18 years in Science, Mathematics and Technology through observation, experimentation, inference drawing, model building, etc.

National Achievement Survey (NAS)

NCERT conducts periodic national surveys of learning achievement of children in classes III, V and VIII and X. 4 rounds conducted for class V and 3 rounds for classes III & VIII.

  • Improvement in learning achievement levels from first round to fourth round.
  • Privately managed schools performed better than Government and Government Aided schools, in all the subjects
  • Only first round of NAS conducted at class X level- not possible to comment on the comparative learning achievement.

New National Achievement Survey (NAS)

  • Government to now conduct NAS with district as the sampling unit.
  • Include reference on class-wise, subject-wise Learning Outcomes for each class in Languages (Hindi, English and Urdu) , Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science
  • Students learning assessment will be according to the Learning Outcomes developed by NCERT.

Scheme “Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India (SPPEL) ” for Protection of Dialects

Implemented by Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) , Mysore

Aims to protect, preserve, and document all mother tongues and languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 people.

Dialects being part of a language are covered under this program.

  • UGC has a Scheme for “Establishment of Centres for Endangered Languages” with centres approved in nine Central Universities.
  • 7 Universities approved for UGC grants under scheme ‘Funding support to the State Universities for study and research in indigenous and endangered language in India’
  • Project between Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda & BHASA, a Non-Governmental Organization for Promotion and Preservation of Indigenous and Endangered languages approved by UGC.

Difference between a Dialect and a Language?

  • Mutual intelligibility: Two languages where speakers can understand each other are considered dialects of the same language, whereas two languages where the speakers cannot understand each other are separate languages.
  • Historically two dialects with close enough continuous contact will remain mutually intelligible. With enough separation in time and space dialects will eventually turn into separate languages

State of Indian Languages

  • There are 22 major languages in India, written in 13 different scripts, with over 720 dialects.
  • Official language as Hindi written in the Devanagari script, as well as English.
  • No national language declared by the Constitution
  • Hindi and English used for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary etc.

Schemes for Welfare of Tribal Women

  • Scheme of Girls & Boys Hostels for STs: Central assistance given to States for construction or extension of hostel buildings- 100% central share for girls′ hostel and for boys′ hostel in Naxal affected areas. Funding for other hostels is on 50: 50 basis.
  • Scheme for Strengthening Education among Girls in Low Literacy Districts: Scheme being implemented in 54 identified low literacy Districts where the population is 25% or more, and female literacy rate is below 35% , or its fractions, as per 2001 census. Other tribal blocks fulfilling this criteria are also covered. Areas inhabited by Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and naxalite affected areas are given priority. 100% assistance for running and maintenance of educational complexes for girls which include free education, boarding and lodging, books, uniforms, medical help, coaching, incentives to girls, awards, etc. Scheme converges Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhyalaya
  • Scholarships: Pre Matric Scholarship, Post Matric Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship, Scholarship for Top Class Education and Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for students.
  • Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub Scheme (SCA to TSS) (SCA to Tribal Sub Plan or TSP) : It is 100% grant for providing support for education, health, sanitation, water supply, livelihood, skill development, minor infrastructure etc.
  • Grants under Article 275 (1) of Constitution: It is 100% grant to promote welfare of or raise level of administration of Scheduled Areas. Funds are provided for various sectoral interventions.
  • Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana: National Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) , under Ministry of Tribal Affairs provides loans to women for income generation activity at concessional rate of 4% per annum.
  • Following schemes by Ministry of Women and Child Development benefit all women, including women:
    • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
    • One Stop Centre Scheme
    • Women Helpline Scheme
    • UJJAWALA: A Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration of Victims of Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation
    • Working Women Hostel
    • Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme for the Children of Working Mothers.

Which Are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) ?

Have low development indices based on Dhebar Commission report & satisfy one of the following requirements:

  • Practice of hunting and gathering
  • Zero or negative population growth
  • Extremely low level of literacy in comparison with other tribal groups

Schemes for Tribal Education

  • Ashram Schools: Funds provided for making residential schools for STs for primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary level of education.
  • Hostels: Central assistance given for construction of new hostel buildings or extension of existing hostels.
  • Scheme of strengthening education among ST Girls in Low Literacy Districts: 100% assistance given for running and maintaining educational complexes for girls.
  • Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) : EMRS set up with capacity of 480 students per school to provide quality middle and higher education to students.
  • Scholarships: Post-Matric Scholarship for Students and Pre-Matric Scholarship for students of IX & X.
  • Ministry of Tribal Affairs provides a series of measures to address dropouts, and for continuing education of tribal children including:
    • Development of Bilingual Primers containing text both in regional and tribal language
    • School vacation to be in synchronization with major tribal festivals
    • Residential schools (200 - 300 students capacity) in block headquarters
    • 100% screening of children for Sickle Cell Anemia or Trait,
    • 100% physical enrolment of children.
  • 109 special focus districts identified.
  • Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) scheme provides residential schools for girls at upper primary level with minimum of 75% seats are for minority, , and OBC girls. KGBVs cover 69% ST girls in Special Focus Districts.

Tribal Financial Schemes

National Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC- Ministry of Tribal Affairs) , provides concessional loan to individuals or groups of STs for undertaking Income Generation Activities through State Channelizing Agencies and PSU Banks upto double the poverty line limit of ₹ 98,000/- p. a. for rural areas and ₹ 1,20, 000/- p. a. for urban areas.

Schemes of NSTFDC

  • Term Loan scheme: NSTFDC provides Term Loan for any income generation scheme upto 90% of the cost of the scheme, costing upto ₹ 25 lakhs per unit.
  • Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana (AMSY) : women get loans upto 90% for scheme costing upto ₹ 1 lakh at a concessional rate of interest.
  • Micro Credit Scheme for Self Help Groups: Provides loans upto ₹ 50,000/- per member and ₹ 5 Lakhs per Self Help Group (SHG) .
  • Adivasi Shiksha Rrinn Yojana: Financial assistance upto ₹ 5 lakh is provided to students for pursuing professional education including Ph. D.
  • Tribal Forest Dwellers Empowerment Scheme: Financial assistance to ST given land rights under and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 through loan upto 90% of the scheme provided.
  • Scheme for NGOs: Provides loans upto ₹ 50,000 per SHG through NGOs.

Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership

Government of India approved the establishment of Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) at village Jasaur Kheri & Kheri Jasaur, near Bahadur Garh, District Jhajjar, Haryana. GCNEP sixth R&D unit under Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) .

5 Schools

  1. School of Advanced Nuclear Energy System Studies (SANESS)
  2. School of Nuclear Security Studies (SNSS)
  3. School on Radiological Safety Studies (SRSS)
  4. School of Nuclear Material Characterization Studies (SNMCS)
  5. School for Studies on Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technologies (SARRT)

Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya Resigns

Panagariya had joined as the first vice-chairman of the Niti Aayog in January 2015.

  • Indian-American, first Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog, is second high profile academic-economist after former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan to quit a top job in India to return to the teaching profession in the US.

About Dr. Arvind Panagariya

  • Panagariya is a close associate of noted trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati
  • Honoured with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honors, in March 2012.
  • Holds PhD from the Princeton University
  • Worked with the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, IMF, and UNCTAD in various capacities.
  • Would join Columbia University, USA

Schemes for Fixing Quality and Dropout Rates in Schools

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for universalization of elementary education for Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 that entitles all children between the age group of 6 to 14 years free and compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education. Following are some important components:

Illustration: Schemes for Fixing Quality and Dropout Rates in Schools
  • 2.06 lakh primary schools have been sanctioned under SSA.
  • Section 4 RTE Act, 2009 provides special training for out of school children who have missed academic years so that they can be mainstreamed in formal schools.

Dropouts

As per Unified District Information System, average annual dropout rate at primary level is 4.13% in 2014 - 15 from 4.34% in 2013 - 14. Steps taken to reduce the dropout rate include:

  • Strengthening of school infrastructure and facilities
  • Residential hostel buildings for children not covered by regular schools
  • Provisioning for additional teachers
  • Regular training of teachers
  • Free textbooks and uniforms.
  • Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme provides residential upper primary schools for girls from , and OBCs, and Minority communities.
  • Mid-Day Meal Scheme enhances enrolment and retention of children in schools.

Quality of Education

  • Learning Outcomes for each class in Languages (Hindi, English, and Urdu) , Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science, and Social Science finalized until elementary level.
  • SSA supports interventions to improve teaching standards through:
    • Regular in-service teachers′ training
    • Recruitment of teachers for improving pupil-teacher ratio
    • Academic support for teachers through block and cluster resource centers
    • School grants for development of appropriate teaching-learning materials
  • Central Government conducted two studies of teachers′ attendance in 2006 and 2013- overall attendance improved from 81.7% to 84.3% at primary level and from 80.5% to 81.3% at upper primary level. Steps to improve teachers′ attendance include:
    • Monitoring teachers′ attendance through School Management Committee
    • Biometric attendance on pilot basis.

NITSER Amendment Bill IIIT Public Private Partnership Bill

NITSER (National Institutes of Technology, Science Education, and Research) Amendment Bill passed in Rajya Sabha on 26th July, 2017.

Bill proposes two new Institutions namely Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati and IISER Berhampur in the Second Schedule of the NITSER Act, 2007.

Existing IISERs

Five IISERs at Kolkata (2006) , Pune (2006) , Mohali (2007) , Bhopal (2008) , and Thiruvananthapuram (2008)

With two new IISERs there are now seven.

Illustration: NITSER Amendment Bill IIIT Public Private Partnership Bill

Indian Institute of Information Technology Public Private Partnership Bill 2017

  • Rajya Sabha passed Indian Institute of Information Technology Public Private Partnership (IIIT-PPP) Bill 2017 to grant degrees to the students in IIITs set up in PPP mode.
  • 15 IIITs established in PPP mode to be declared Institutes of National Importance and granted statutory status.
  • IIITs in PPP mode involve State Government and industry partners
  • Supposed to be self-sustainable within 5 years with appropriate financial process in place.
  • Principle is autonomy to Institutes with fine balance between autonomy and accountability

Current Scheme of Public Private Partnership

Funding from Centre: State: Industry as 50: 35: 15

Total 15 IIIT covered by the Bill:

  • 5 (five) in 2013 - 14 at Kota, Chittoor, Guwahati, Vadodara, Tiruchirapalli.
  • 3 (three) in 2014 - 15 - Sonepat, Kalyani, Una
  • 4 (four) in 2015 - 16 - Lucknow, Senapati, Dharwad, Kottayam
  • 3 (three) in 2016 - 17 - Nagpur, Pune, Ranchi
  • 3 (three) to start in 2017 - 18 - Bhopal, Surat, Bhagalpur

Prime Minister՚s Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir

Implemented since 2011 to encourage the youth to pursue higher education in educational institutions outside the state with initiatives to ensure the benefits availed by all deserving students.

Students having domicile of Jammu & Kashmir State and those who have passed class 12th examination in academic year 2016 - 17 or 2015 - 16 or appearing in 2016 - 17 from the J&K Board or CBSE affiliated schools located in J&K are only eligible for registration.

Committee to Study Data Protection Issues

The Union Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY) constituted an expert committee to study and identify key data protection issues and recommend methods for addressing them.

  • 10 member committee comprising of members headed by Supreme Court Retired Judge Justice B N Srikrishna
  • Includes representatives from department of telecommunications (DoT) , IT ministry, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and academic community
  • Ministry of electronics and information technology to be a driving force
  • The IT ministry assisted by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy working towards data protection legislation.

What՚s is Vidhi Centre?

Vidhi is a not-for-profit company set up under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. A legal think-tank who helped draft the Aadhaar Act of 2016 and the recent Bankruptcy Code

  • Assist government with better laws.
  • Provide research and drafting support
  • Work conducted by Public Law, and Financial Regulation & Corporate Law verticals.
  • Disseminates independent research critical to India՚s future.

Vidhi Centre՚s Areas of Research

  • Judicial Reform: Data-driven approach for reforms addressing problem of judicial delays.
  • Health, Environment and Law: Conducts empirical, interdisciplinary research involving environmental and public health issues.
  • Education Law: Conducts legal research on enforceability of the Right to Education Act, and school regulation.

Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 Declares IIMs as Institutions of National Importance

Bill empowers IIMs to attain global excellence in education, research, and allied areas. It provides administrative, academic, and financial autonomy to them to grant degrees.

  • Declares IIMs as Institute of national importance
  • Allows IIMs to grant degrees to their students
  • Grants them complete autonomy, combined with adequate accountability
  • Establishes coordination of IIMs as an advisory body.
  • Empowers IIM board to drive the institute management and select Chairperson and Director of IIM.

New IIM Board for Decisions

  • Board to have greater participation of experts and alumni.
  • Include women and members from .
  • Periodic review of the performance of IIM by independent agencies with results in public domain.
  • Place the Annual Report of the IIMs in the Parliament and CAG (Comptroller and auditor general of India) auditing their accounts

Skill India and SANKALP- Biggest Global Skill Park to be in Bhopal

India՚s biggest Global Skill Park will come up on 37 acre land allotted in Bhopal. It will be established with the support of Singapore՚s Institute of Technical Education and Education Services (ITEES) .

About Global Skill Park

  • Prepare skilled youths for jobs in private companies
  • ‘With Industry -For Industry’ .
  • Capacity to train 1000 students every year

Skill India

  • Campaign launched by Prime Minister on 15th July 2015 to train over 40 crore (400 million) people different skills by 2022.
  • UK entered into a partnership under this program- enable young student to experience the school system of the other country developing an understanding of the culture, traditions and social and family systems.
  • Oracle to build a new 2.8 million sq. ft. campus in Bengaluru to train more than 0.5 million students each year in computer science skills through partnerships to 2,700 institutions in India
  • Japan՚s private sector to set up six institutes of manufacturing to train 30,000 people over 10 years
  • Through Japan-India Institute of Manufacturing (JIM) and Japanese Endowed Courses (JEC) in engineering colleges.
  • The first three institutes would be set up in Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan in the summer of 2017

SANKALP

  • Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Program
  • Provide market relevant training to 350 million young Indians.

Swayam, Swayam Prabha DTH Channels & National Academic Depository Launched

SWAYAM, 32 SWAYAM Prabha DTH Channels and National Academic Depository Were Launched at the National Convention on Digital Initiatives Organized by MHRD

SWAYAM Portal

  • SWAYAM is a Massive Open Online Courses platform- MOOCs.
  • Designed for three cardinal principles of Education Policy- access, equity, and quality.
  • Indigenous IT platform for hosting all courses from 9th till post-graduation – free and interactive courses

4 Quadrants

  • Video lectures
  • Reading material
  • Self-assessment tests
  • Discussion forum

Seven National Coordinators

  • NPTEL for engineering
  • UGC for post-graduation education
  • CEC for under-graduate education
  • NCERT & NIOS for school education
  • IGNOU for out of the school students
  • IIMB for management studies.

32 SWAYAM Prabha DTH Channels

SWAYAM PRABHA conceived as group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting of high-quality educational programs on basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.

Everyday 4 hours content would be repeated 5 times a day

  • Channels uplinked from BISAG, Gandhinagar.
  • Content provided by NPTEL, IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS.
  • INFLIBNET Centre maintains the web portal.

Contents

  • Higher Education: All courses certification-ready, the platform being developed for offering MOOCs courses.
  • School education (9 - 12 levels) : For teacher՚s training and children education
  • Curriculum-based courses for life-long learning.
  • Assist students (class 11th & 12th) prepare for competitive exams.

National Academic Depository (NAD)

  • National Academic Depository (NAD) is an initiative of MHRD
  • Facilitate digital issuance, storage, access and verification of Academic Awards issued by Academic Institutions.
  • Initiative under “Digital India” theme towards achieving Digital enablement of the Education Records.
  • Digital, Online, Trusted, Verifiable Certificates which are accessible in a secure manner at all times

Gharib Nawaz Skill Development Centres

Short term job oriented skill development course for youths belonging to minority communities. Besides providing various job-oriented skill development courses, Gharib Nawaz Skill Development Centres of Ministry of Minority Affairs will also offer certificate course in GST accounting and programming and other related subjects.

  • “Centres of empowerment” of Minority youths. 100 Navoday Vidyalaya type schools will be opened in Minority concentrated areas & 23 Gurukul type residential schools.
  • Would be established in 100 districts of India with Nai Udaan scheme
  • Provide quality education to each and every child, launched by Ministry of Minority Affairs as mega education campaign “Tahrik-e-Taleem” .

“3E” - Education, Employment, Empowerment to ensure Minorities becoming part of mainstream development process.

National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) plays a vital role in implementation of various schemes of Minority Affairs Ministry at the grass root level.

JIGYASA

Jigyasa, a student- scientist connect program launched by CSIR & Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to promote scientific temperament in the students.

  • Signing of MoU between CSIR & KVS to extend student՚s classroom learning with that of a very well planned research laboratory based learning.
  • Enable students and teachers to practically live the theoretical concepts taught in science by visiting CSIR laboratories and by participating in mini-science projects.
  • Connect 1151 KVS with 38 National Laboratories of CSIR targeting 100,000 students and nearly 1000 teachers annually
  • Major initiative taken up by CSIR at national level, during its Platinum Jubilee Celebration Year.

World Class Minority Institutions

  • A high-level 11-member committee, under Ministry of Minority Affairs to chalk a roadmap for educational empowerment of Minorities.
  • Establish 5 world class educational institutions for traditional and modern education to minority students in technical, medical, Ayurveda, Unani fields.
  • Institutes can get started in next two years.
  • Proposed 40% reservation for girls

HRD Ministry: No Detention Policy to be Removed from Next Academic Year

HRD Ministry to remove no-detention policy from the next academic year. The rule stated that Under the Right to Education Act, no child was to be detained or held back in any class or expelled till the completion of elementary education covering classes 1 to 8.

No-Detention Policy

  • Students up to class VIII automatically promoted to the next class even if they do not get a passing grade.
  • Implemented as part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) under the RTE Act
  • Prevent dropouts & create pressure fear environment
  • CCE lays emphasis on evaluating a child through the year- not just in one or two term exams.
  • TSR Subramanian committee on Education recommended the no detention policy till Class V and exams be held from Class VI onwards.
  • Vasudev Devnani committee earlier recommended the revocation of No-Detention Policy.

Science Express

The current theme is ‘Science Express Climate Action Special (SECAS) ’ focusing on Climate Change and Science & Technology

About Science Express

  • Successfully completed 8 phases of journey which included 4 phases as ‘Science Express’ , 3 phases as ‘Biodiversity Special’ and another as ‘Climate Action Special’ .
  • Flagship program of the Dept. of Science & Technology (DST)
  • Innovative mobile science exhibition on a 16 coach AC train, traveling across India since October 2007
  • Exhibiting at 495 locations
  • Entry is free and open to all
  • Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC) , Ahmedabad manages SECAS across India.
  • Longest running and the most visited mobile science exhibition with twelve records in the Limca Book
  • Phase I to IV exhibit research in Science and Technology
  • Phase V to VII based on biodiversity
  • Phase VIII was this years ‘Science Express Climate Action Special (SECAS) ’
  • Solar panels installed on the rooftop of Science Express coaches 11 - 13 for harnessing solar energy.

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) , South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) at National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi

Establishment in Varanasi

  • Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA) to be set up in Varanasi
  • Modern laboratory to determine quality and status of heavy metals in grain and straw.
  • Enable capacity building across the rice value chain
  • First international center in eastern India for harnessing and sustaining rice production.

About National Seed Research and Training Centre

  • Established by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare
  • For conducting field experiments & grow out tests in off-season.
  • Have a separate National Seed Quality Control Laboratory serving as a Central Seed Testing Laboratory (CSTL)
  • CSTL to keep uniformity in seed testing among all State Seed Testing Laboratories at the national level.

All Higher Institutes to Take Ranking Test

All higher institutes to join the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) with the number of institutes participating in the rating dropped to 2,995 in 2017, from 3563 in 2016. HRD ministry to relax criteria for rankings.

  • India has 39,000 colleges, 11,000 standalone institutions, and over 760 universities for total of 51,000 institutions.
  • NIRF saw participation of only 6% institutes due to lack of awareness, non-eligibility or lack of documentation.

UGC: Degrees for Online Courses

  • New draft of regulations for Online Education
  • Helpful for students and executives to get UGC recognized degrees online except for engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, and physiotherapy
  • With “Swayam” , universities offer 20% of their courses through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) . With new regulation, institutions can design, develop, and deliver online programs leading to the award of a degree or diploma via internet, once recognized.
  • Delivery process can be online or via a suitably designed online technology platform

Advantages of Online Learning

  • Learning Anything
  • Comfort and Safety
  • Self-Paced
  • Lower Costs

Professor Yash Pal No More

Yash Pal (26 November 1926 – 24 July 2017) will be remembered as an Indian scientist, educator and educationist known for study of cosmic rays, and for building Indian institutions for education

  • Started career at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)
  • Served as chairperson of UGC from 1986 to 1991.
  • He also served the nation as Chief Consultant of Planning Commission and Member of Scientific Council, International Centre for Theoretical Physics.
  • Known for his contribution to the study of cosmic rays
  • Served as chancellor of JNU, New Delhi from March 2007 to March 2012

Awards

  • Honored with the Padma Bhushan (1976) & Padma Vibhushan (2013) , the third and second highest Indian civilian honors.
  • Received Indira Gandhi Prize for Popularization of Science (2000) and Meghnad Saha Medal (2006) for his outstanding contribution to science
  • In 2009, received Kalinga Prize, by UNESCO for the popularization of science.
  • Awarded the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for excellence in public administration, academics and management

Educationist: School Education

  • 1970s: Path breaking Hoshangabad Science Teaching Program
  • 1993: Served in National Advisory Committee with report entitled “Learning without Burden” regarded as a seminal document in Indian education.
  • Chaired steering committee on NCERT for drawing up the National Curriculum Framework

Higher Education

Chaired committee on higher education for examining reform of higher education in India. Committee emphasized idea of a university, and advocated a number of major structural changes.

Science for Children: Schemes and Programs

Department of Science & Technology (DST) has used several mechanisms, schemes, programs and projects across the entire length and breadth of the country to popularize science.

National Children՚s Science Congress (NCSC)

  • Launched in 1992 to encourage and engage school students in the age group 10 – 17 years to find possible science and technology (S&T) solutions for challenges in local localities and communities.
  • Each year, about 500,000 rural & urban students participate at the District level competitions.

India International Science Festival (IISF)

Conglomeration of different scientific components, with a focus on students and the young scientists-

  • Science Village (3000 school students from rural background)
  • Young Scientist Conference (with 3000 scientists from various R&D institutions)
  • Mega Science Expo with the participation of all the scientific and R&D institutions across India

Supported by Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati for the second

successive year in 2016.

National Council of Science Museum (NCSM)

  • Comes under Ministry of Culture
  • Organizes Science & Engineering Fair, Innovation Festivals and Mobile Science Exhibition Program.
  • Has fleet of 24 exhibition buses with science exhibits traveling in rural areas mainly

Science Scholarship to Women

‘Women Scientist Scheme’ of DST, provides career opportunities with fellowship to unemployed women scientists and technologists for pursuing research in frontier areas of Science and Engineering.

  • Women Scientists Scheme-A (WOS-A) for conducting research in Basic & Applied Sciences
  • Women Scientists Scheme-B (WOS-B) for S&T interventions for Societal Benefit
  • Women Scientists Scheme-C (WOS-C) for Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) professional

Achievements

  • 400 women scientists awarded financial support under Women Scientist Scheme
  • 30% absorbed in mainstream through regular employment
  • 40% able to complete their PhD while pursuing the program
  • Not a centrally sponsored scheme, hence no State or UT wise allocation of funds

International Scholarship for Women

  • AAUW International Fellowships for Women: Full-time study or research in USA to women not US citizens or permanent residents.
  • Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowships for Women: Fellowships to women from developing and emerging economies to pursue PhD or Post-doctorate studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines worldwide.
  • Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund for Women: Grants to women from developing and middle-income countries to further their education and strengthen the professional and leadership skills
  • PEO International Peace Scholarship for Women: Provides scholarships to women from other countries for graduate study in USA & Canada.
  • UNESCO-L՚Oreal Fellowships For Women in Science: L՚Oreal in partnership with UNESCO, awards fellowships to women researchers pursuing doctoral or post-doctoral research programs in life sciences
  • Amelia Earhart Fellowship for Women in Aerospace-related Sciences and Engineering: 35 women pursuing doctoral degrees in aerospace-related sciences or aerospace-related engineering.
  • Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarships for Women: Encourages women to excel in computing and technology.

Government Schemes for Education Loans

  • Central Scheme to provide Interest Subsidy (CSIS) : Full interest subsidy available to economically weaker students, for studies in India, for educational loans disbursed on or after 1st April, 2009 during the period of moratorium.
  • Padho Pardesh Scheme: Awards interest subsidy to meritorious economically weaker students of notified minority communities for overseas studies.
  • Dr Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loan for Overseas Studies for OBC: Interest payable for the period of moratorium is borne by the Government.
  • Vidya Lakshmi Portal: Allows students to apply online and track education loans facilitating processing and disbursal of loans. All Scheduled Commercial Banks provide Education Loan to students with simple interest charged during the study period up to commencement of repayment. Accrued interest is added to the principal amount for calculating the repayment EMI (Equated Monthly Instalment) .
  • Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans (CGFSEL) : Provides collateral free loan upto ₹ 7.5 lakh.

Manishika