PUNJAB

16% state schools lack toilets for girls: Survey

At least 16 per cent of the 28,200 schools, including 19,500 government ones, in the state lack toilet facilities for girls and 10 per cent for boys, reveals the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released last week.

The report, compiled by NGO Pratham, added that at least 28 per cent schools (approx 7,900) do not have playground facilities and 17 per cent lack even drinking water facility.

The survey on ‘Beyond basic reading and mathematics: everyday calculations’ (14-16 years) revealed that 50 per cent of the children could not apply their classroom learning to their daily lives. The report also indicated that mathematics remains a serious challenge for students of Class V as 23 per cent students failed to do basic subtraction(s).

At least 15 per cent Class VIII students, who were ready to pass out, did not have a mentionable reading ability and many of them are unprepared for higher studies. Only 45 per cent students prefer using library books, a decline from the 66 per cent mark in 2010, the survey showed. The silver lining for the state is that girls in all age groups here are outperforming boys — a trend opposite to the national pattern.

INTERNATIONAL

· JAXA launched satellite into space to deliver artificial meteors

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)launched a rocket carrying a satellite on a mission to deliver the world’s first artificial meteor shower into space. ALE Co. Ltd, a start-up based in Tokyo, developed the microsatellite for the celestial show over Hiroshima early 2020 as the initial experiment for what it calls a “shooting stars on demand” service.
The satellite is to release tiny balls that glow brightlyas they hurtle through the atmosphere, simulating a meteor shower. They would glow brightly enough to be seen even over the light-polluted metropolis of Tokyo. The rocket carried a total of seven ultra-small satellites that will demonstrate various “innovative” technologies.

NATIONAL

National Museum of Indian Cinema

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC)in Mumbai on 19.1.2019. The state-of-the-art Museum, built at a cost of Rs. 140.61 crore,aims to take its visitors through an absorbing journey of over a century of Indian cinema in a story telling mode with the help of visuals, graphics, artifacts, interactive exhibits and multimedia expositions.

The creation of the Museum has been guided by the Museum Advisory Committee headed by Shri ShyamBenegal. An innovation Committee headed by Shri Prasoon Joshi was also constituted to provide an upgrade to NMIC.

The Museum is housed in two buildings – the New Museum Building and the 19th century historic palace Gulshan Mahal – in the Films Division campus in Mumbai.

Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY), the flagship scheme of the Central Government for employment generation has crossed the milestone of one crore beneficiaries as on January 14, 2019.
PMRPY was announced on August 07, 2016 and is being implemented by Ministry of Labour and Employment through the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO).

Under the scheme, Government is paying full employers’ contribution of 12% (towards Employees’ Provident Fund and Employees’ Pension Scheme both), for a period of 3 years in respect of new employees who have been registered with the EPFO on or after 1st April 2016, with salary up to Rs. 15,000 per month.

UNNATI– Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly & Training programme of ISRO in Bengaluru
Space Technology has been provided with more budgetary allocations during the last five years and now it is utilised in Infrastructure Developments like roads, Railway lines and most importantly in disaster management.
UNNATI, a capacity building programme on Nanosatellite development, is an initiative by ISRO to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations conference on the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space (UNISPACE-50).

UNNATI programme is planned to be conducted for 3 years by U.R. Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO.

Govt approves setting up of three new naval air squadrons

The Government has approved setting up of three new naval air squadrons in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu as part of efforts to bolster the Indian Navy’s overall strength.

Government has also sanctioned recruitment of manpower for manning additional aircraft in existing Dornier surveillance squadrons in Kerala and Andaman Islands.

A contract for procurement of 12 Dornier aircraft was signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited two years back and their delivery is commencing soon.

The new Dornier 228 maritime surveillance aircraft to be delivered to the Navy are fitted with improved ‘state of the art’ sensors and equipment which includes glass cockpit, advanced surveillance radar, optical sensors and networking features.

BHEL and LIBCOIN to Build India’s First Lithium Ion Giga Factory

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Libcoin are in dialogue to form a world class consortium to initially build 1GWh lithium ion battery plant in India. Its capacity will be scaled up to 30GWh.

This project will bring energy independence by replacing oil imports with abundant renewable. This project also includes “Made by India, for India”.

Various Indian cities including Delhi have been struggling to cut down their pollution level for last several years and electric transportation has been considered as one of the viable approaches to cut down emission. The number of electric cars in the world already hit million-mark last year and the International Energy Agency has projected almost 140 million electric cars globally by 2030, if countries meet Paris climate accord targets, in which India has already committed to actively participate.

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