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Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules 28th January 2019 National 2019

Relevance IN – Prelims( about 2019 republic day ) + Mains GS Paper I – Indian national movement

What’s the NEWS

 Republic day 2019 in is being celebrated on 26th of January. In 2019, India is celebrating its 70th Republic Day. First Republic Day of India was celebrated in 1950.

Know! some facts regarding Republic Day of India

 Republic day in India is celebrated every year with great pride on 26th of January to honour the as it came into force on the same day in the year 1950.  It had replaced the Act, 1935 into the governing document of India.

 The new Indian Constitution was sketched and approved by the Indian Constituent Assembly and decided to celebrate it on 26th of January every year as India became a republic country.

 Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa“, the fifth and current President of South Africa will be the Chief Guest on 70th Republic Day of India 2019.

 The declaration of awards has also been done on the eve of Republic Day. Former Mr. has been awarded with Bharat Ratna. Nanaji , the social activist and former BJP leader as well as the famous Assamese singer Sri Bhupen Haarika has been awarded Bharat Ratna, posthumously.

 Prime Minister inaugurated the ‘National War Memorial’ near India Gate on the eve of Republic Day to honour the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the nation.

 This year, will be flying an aircraft which will run by blended bio-fuel on the Republic Day 2019 fly-past with 10 percent of bio-fuel in it. The aircraft will fly over Rajpath with a ‘V’ shape formation resembling ‘Victory’ sign.

 Republic Day Parade 2019 will also witness the inclusion of M777 Howitzer and K9 Vajra, the self propelled gun which are the latest artilleries inducted in the . T-90 tanks, SU-30, Mig 29, Jaguar aircrafts will also be major attraction of the parade.

 This will be the first time in the history that 4 veteran soldiers of the ‘Azad Hind Fauz’ aged above 90 years will take part in the parade at Rajpath.

 It will be the first time that a woman officer would be leading the Army Services Corps in the 2019 Republic Day parade. The Daredevils Motorcycle Team will also include a women officer in their team this year.

 It will be the first time in history that all women contingent of Assam Rifles, which is one of the oldest paramilitary forces of India, will take part in the Republic Day parade this year.

 Param Vishisht Sewa Medal will be awarded to the Army Chief General Vipin Rawat for his great contributions to the Indian Army.

Know! about the inception of Republic day

 India got freedom from the British Rule on 15th August 1947. At that time, there was no permanent constitution of the country.

 It was on 4th November 1947 that the first draft of the Indian Constitution was presented by the drafting committee to the national assembly.

 The first draft of the Indian Constitution was signed by the national assembly in both versions, i.e. English and Hindi on 24th January 1950.

 Thereafter, the Constitution of India came into effect on Republic Day, i.e. 26th January 1950. Since then, 26th of January is being celebrated as the Republic Day in India. On this day, India was declared as the Purna Swaraj Country and thus we began celebrating this day as the anniversary of the Purna Swaraj Day.

 The Constitution of India empowered the Indian Citizens to select their own government. The oath was taken by Dr. as the first president of India

Know! when Beating Retreat Ceremony is celebrated

 The Beating Retreat Ceremony is celebrated on 29th January in the capital city of Delhi. This ceremony is organized right after three days of the Republic Day celebration, i.e. on 26th January.

 The Beating Retreat Ceremony in Delhi officially marks the end of the Republic Day celebration.

Importance of Beating Retreat Ceremony

 This festival of ‘Beating the Retreat Ceremony’ is observed every year in Delhi with a view to commemorate the age-old customs and tradition, which the soldiers brought to an end while approaching a war during the sunset.

 This ceremony is marked as the official culmination point of the Republic Day celebrations. The whole view looks so majestic when the definite units of our military forces perform live executions.

Inauguration of Museums by the Prime Minister

What’s the NEWS  Prime Minister inaugurated Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Museum, Yaad-e-Jallian Museum (museum on the Jallianwala Bagh and World War I), the Museum on 1857- India’s first war of Independence, and Drishyakala-Museum on Indian Art within the Red Fort complex.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Museum  The Subhash Chandra Bose museum at Red Fort was inaugurated to mark the Netaji’s 122nd birth anniversary.

 This Museum on Subhash Chandra Bose and the showcases different artifacts related to Netaji and Indian National Army which includes a wooden chair and sword used by the Netaji, medals, badges and uniforms.

Yaad-e-Jallian Museum  The Yaad-e-Jallian Museum provides an authentic account of Jallianwala Bagh massacre happened on April 13, 1919.

 The Yaad-e-Jallian Museum will also showcase the heroism, valor and sacrifices made by Indian soldiers during World War-1.

Museum on 1857- India’s first war of Independence  The Museum on 1857- India’s first war of Independence portrays the historical narrative of 1857 war of independence, showcasing the valor and sacrifices made by Indians during the period.

Drishyakala-Museum on Indian Art  The Drishyakala-Museum on Indian Art showcases Indian art works from 16th century till India’s independence.

Human Resource Development India and OECD sign agreement to enable India’s participation in Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) to be held in 2021

Relevance IN – Prelims ( facts about PISA ) + GS Paper II development in the field of education )

What’s the NEWS  An agreement has been signed between India and OECD for India’s participation in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2021

Know! more about the agreement  The Government of India has decided that India will participate in the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) to be conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2021.  The participation in PISA 2021 would indicate the health of the education system and would motivate other schools /states in the subsequent cycles.  This will lead to improvement in the learning levels of the children and enhance the quality of education in the country.

Following are some of the important features of India’s participation in PISA

 Schools run by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and schools in the UT of Chandigarh will participate.  PISA covers a sample of 15-year-old students representing all forms of schooling i.e. public, private, private aided etc.

Know! all about PISA  PISA is a competency based assessment which unlike content-based assessment, measures the extent to which students have acquired key competencies that are essential for full participation in modern societies.

 It would lead to recognition and acceptability of Indian students and prepare them for the global economy in the 21st century.

 Learnings from participation in PISA will help to introduce competency based examination reforms in the school system and help move away from rote learning. The CBSE and NCERT will be part of the process and activities leading to the actual test.

 More than 80 countries, including 44 middle-income countries, have participated in the assessment since the first round of testing in 2000.

Know! the key features of PISA

 PISA is a triennial international survey (every three years) which aims to evaluate the education system worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students.  Students are assessed in reading, mathematics, science and collaborative problem-solving.  Participation in PISA allows benchmarking performance against a wide range of countries

 PISA uses test items aligned with international benchmarks. Test items are adapted to the local context and language, pilot tested and validated before being used for the test.  OECD have agreed to contextualize the questions for Indian students.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

 It is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 36 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

 It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

 Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries. Education ASER Report on seven northeastern States

Schools lag behind in toilets for schoolgirls as only one-third of schools had usable washrooms in 2018

Nationally, about 66.4% schools provide girls with toilets.

Relevance IN -Prelims( about ASER report) + Mains GS II ( government policy intervention + development in the field of education)

What’s the NEWS  An average of 34.96% schools in the eight north eastern States had usable toilets for girls in 2018 compared to 36.66% in 2016, data analysed from the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018 report revealed.

Know! the performance of each states  With 75.7% schools – a marginal increase from 75% in 2016 – having usable toilets for girls, Sikkim performed better than the national average of 66.4% last year.

 Nagaland was the next best State with 47%, an increase from 40.9% in 2016, followed by Mizoram with the highest percentile increase from 25.3% to 34.9% in these two years.

 The other five states performed poorly, the steepest drop for Assam being 38.3% from 54.2% in 2016. had 9.1% schools having fewer usable toilets for girls, followed by Meghalaya (8.6%), Arunachal Pradesh (7.6%) and Tripura (7.3%). National picture  Nationally, substantial improvements are visible over this eight-year period in the availability of many school facilities mandated by RTE. The fraction of schools with usable girls' toilets doubled, reaching 66.4% in 2018.  The percentage of schools with books, other than textbooks, available rose from 62.6% to 74.2% between 2016-18.

Awards Bharat Ratna Awards 2019

Relevance IN – Prelims( factoids)

What’s the NEWS  President Ram Nath Kovind announced the country's highest civilian award-- the Bharat Ratna-- to be given to former president Pranab Mukherjee, social activist Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumously) and musician Dr (posthumously). Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued congratulatory notes for the three personalities.

Pranab Mukherjee  Pranab Mukherjee served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. A veteran congressman, Pranab Mukherjee had held various key portfolios like Finance, Defence and External Affairs as Union Minister. He is the outstanding statesman of the present time.

Nanaji Deshmukh  Nanaji Deshmukh laid great emphasis on education as a social worker. The first Saraswati Shishu Mandir was established by him at in 1950.

 He was a member of RSS and also served as general secretary of .

 Nanaji Deshmukh took part in Jai Prakash Narayan movement during .

Bhupen Hazarika  Bhupen Hazarika was a playback singer, lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam, widely known as Sudhakantha.

 He mainly wrote and sang in the Assamese language. His works were marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages.

 He also served as a channel to introduce the culture and folk music of Assam and Northeast India to Hindi cinema at the national level.

Padma Awards 2019

What’s the NEWS

 The government of India has announced the Padma Awards 2019. The 112 prominent personalities honoured with the Padma Awards include comprises 4 , 14 Padma Bhushan and 94 Awards. Know! all about Padma Awards

 Padma Awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities: social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

 Padma Awards were instituted by the government of India in 1954 to be awarded to citizens of India in recognition of distinguished contribution in the sphere of activities such as industry, literature, science, sports, medicine, social service, education and public affairs.

 The awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day. The recipients of these awards can also include foreigners who have contributed in various ways to India.

 The recommendations for Padma Awards are submitted to the Padma Awards Committee, constituted by the The committee submits their recommendations to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister further forwards the list to the President of India for further approval.

The three categories of awards:

 Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.

 Padma Bhushan is awarded for distinguished service of high order.

 Padma Shri is awarded for distinguished service in any field.

Judiciary

Know! the statics of vacancies of Judges across High Courts

Relevance IN – Prelims( factoids) + Mains GS Paper II – structure organisation and functioning of judiciary +appointments of various constitutional posts

Summit exclusively for The Hindu

Prelims Perquisites

Nari Shakti – Word of the year 2018

 The word Nari Shakti is chosen as the word of the Year 2018 by the Oxford dictionaries.

 The announcement regarding this was made in the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF).

What was 2017 Word of the Year

 In 2017 Oxford dictionaries for the first time had announced the Hindi word of the year. Aadhaar was declared as the word of the year in 2018.

Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF)

 Jaipur Literature Festival is described as the greatest literary show on Earth. JLF brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders, sports people and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue.

 The Jaipur Literature Festival set against the backdrop of Rajasthan’s stunning cultural heritage and the Diggi Palace in Jaipur is a flagship event of Teamwork Arts.

State Specific Yuva Swabhiman Yojana

What’s the NEWS

 The government of has announced the Yuva Swabhiman Yojana to provide employment for the unemployed youth from the economically weaker sections of the society.

Know! about bout the Scheme

 Yuva Swabhiman Yojana scheme aims to provide employment to the youth belonging to the weaker section of the society mainly in urban areas of the state.

 The scheme aims to provide 100 days of employment to youngsters from economically weaker sections of the society in urban areas.

 The youths would also be given skill training as component of skill training has been added to enable the youth to explore the available opportunities.

 To enhance the job opportunities the government of Madhya Pradesh has also announced changes in industrial policy with a clause under which industries would be eligible to get the state government incentives only if they hire 70 per cent staff from Madhya Pradesh.

Prelims Practise Question

Consider the following statements

1. PISA is an annual international survey which aims to evaluate the education system worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15- year-old students.

2. The Beating Retreat Ceremony is celebrated right after three days of the Republic Day celebration

3. The recommendations for Padma Awards are submitted to the Padma Awards Committee, constituted by the Prime Minister and Home Minister of India

Find out the correct statement from the option given below

a. 1 only b. 2 only c. 3 only d. All of the above

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