Representation of Women in Armed Forces

Recently, Captain Abhilasha Barak, created history by becoming the first woman officer to join the Army Aviation Corps as a Combat Aviator (pilot).

Captain Barak has been assigned to the second flight of the 2072 Army Aviation Squadron that operates the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). While women officers in the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy have been flying helicopters for long, the Indian Army paved the way for women pilots in 2021 by starting the ‘Army Aviation course’.

Army Aviation Corps is the component of the Indian Army which was established on 1st November, 1986, headed by a director-general at the Army headquarters in New Delhi.

It was inducted into ‘Operation Pawan’ which was a crucial test for the newly formed corps.

The Army Aviation Corps of the Indian Army primarily carries out the evacuation of the injured troops during operations or health emergencies in the high-altitude areas.

State of Women’s Representation in the Military

The Army, Air Force and Navy began inducting women as short-service commission (SSC) officers in 1992. This was the first time when women were allowed to join the military outside the medical stream.
One of the turning points for women in the military came in 2015 when Indian Air Force (IAF) decided to induct them into the fighter stream.
In 2020, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the central government to grant permanent commission (PC) to women officers in the Army’s non-combat support units on par with their male counterparts.
In early 2021, the Indian Navy deployed four women officers on warships after a gap of almost 25 years.
There are 9,118 women currently serving the army, navy and air force.
According to 2019 figures, women comprise only 3.8% of the world’s second-largest army – compared to 13% of the air force and 6% of the navy.

Significance

Gender is not a Hindrance: As long as an applicant is qualified for a position, one’s gender is arbitrary. In modern high technology battlefield technical expertise and decision-making skills are increasingly more valuable than simple brute strength.
Military Readiness: Allowing a mixed gender force keeps the military strong. The armed forces are severely troubled by falling retention and recruitment rates. This can be addressed by allowing women in the combat role.
Effectiveness: The blanket restriction for women limits the ability of commanders in theatre to pick the most capable person for the job.
Tradition: Training will be required to facilitate the integration of women into combat units. Cultures change over time and the masculine subculture can evolve too.
Global Scenario: When women officially became eligible for combat positions in the American military in 2013, it was widely hailed as another step towards the equality of sexes. In 2018, the UK military lifted a ban on women serving in close combat ground roles, clearing the way for them to serve in elite special forces.

The United States, Israel, North Korea, France, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and Canada are among the global militaries that employ women in front-line combat positions.

It is the right of every woman to pursue a career of her choice and reach the top since Equality is a constitutional guarantee.

Biodiversity – Types and causes of loss

Diversity at all the levels of the biological organisation ca be classified into-

(i) Genetic diversity: A single species might show high diversity at the genetic level over its distributional range. India has more than 50,000 genetically different strains of rice and 1,000 varieties of mango.

(ii) Species diversity: The diversity at the species level; for example, the Western Ghats have a greater amphibian species diversity than the Eastern Ghats.

(iii) Ecological diversity: At the ecosystem level, India, for instance, with its deserts, rain forests, mangroves, coral reefs, wetlands, estuaries, and alpine meadows, has a greater ecosystem diversity than a Scandinavian country like Norway.

Patterns of Biodiversity

Latitudinal gradients: Species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator toward the poles. A forest in a tropical region like Equador has up to 10 times as many species of vascular plants as a forest of equal area in a temperate region like the Midwest of the USA.

What is so special about tropics that might account for their greater biological diversity?

(a) Speciation is generally a function of time, unlike temperate regions subjected to frequent glaciations in the past, tropical latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for millions of years and thus, had a long evolutionary time for species diversification,

(b) Tropical environments, unlike temperate ones, are less seasonal, relatively more constant and predictable. Such constant environments promote niche specialisation and lead to a greater species diversity

(c) There is more solar energy available in the tropics, which contributes to higher productivity; this in turn might contribute indirectly to greater diversity.

Species-Area relationships: Within a region species richness increases with increasing explored area, but only up to a limit. The relation between species richness and area for a wide variety of taxa is a rectangular hyperbola.

log S = log C + Z log A, where,

S= Species richness

A= Area

Z = slope of the line (regression coefficient)

C = Y-intercept

Causes of biodiversity losses

The accelerated rates of species extinctions that the world is facing now are largely due to human activities. There are four major causes ( ‘The Evil Quartet’ )

(i) Habitat loss and fragmentation

(ii) Over-exploitation

(iii) Alien species invasions: When alien species are introduced unintentionally or deliberately for whatever purpose, some of them turn invasive, and cause decline or extinction of indigenous species

(iv) Co-extinctions: When a species becomes extinct, the plant and animal species associated with it in an obligatory way also become extinct.

Does the continents used to be together?

It started during the time of world war-II, some scientists identified that the ocean floor had unique features like ridges, trenches etc. This led to the discovery of the term Tectonics – is the scientific study of forces (convection currents in the mantle) and processes (collisions of the lithospheric plates, folding, faulting, volcanism) that control the structure of the Earth’s crust and its evolution through time.

Along with the concept of Tectonics came into the picture- THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

Continental drift refers to the movement of the continents relative to each other.

To be a little specific, this continental drift theory was given by Alfred Wegener in 1920’s

According to Continental Drift Theory there existed one big landmass which he called Pangaea which was covered by one big ocean called Panthalassa.
A sea called Tethys divided the Pangaea into two huge landmasses: Laurentia (Laurasia) to the north and Gondwanaland to the south of Tethys.
Drift started around 200 million years ago (Mesozoic Era, Triassic Period, Late Triassic Epoch), and the continents began to break up and drift away from one another.

EVIDENCES

Wegener, trained as an astronomer, used biology, botany, and geology, described Pangaea and continental drift. For example, fossils of the ancient reptile mosasaurs are only found in southern Africa and South America. Mosasaurs, a freshwater reptile only one meter (3.3 feet) long, could not have swum the Atlantic Ocean. The presence of mosasaurs suggests a single habitat with many lakes and rivers.

Wegener also studied plant fossils from the frigid Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. These plants were not the hardy specimens adapted to survive in the Arctic climate. These fossils were of tropical plants, which are adapted to a much warmer, more humid environment. The presence of these fossils suggests Svalbard once had a tropical climate.

Finally, Wegener studied the stratigraphy of different rocks and mountain ranges. The east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa seem to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and Wegener discovered their rock layers “fit” just as clearly. South America and Africa were not the only continents with similar geology. Wegener discovered that the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, for instance, were geologically related to the Caledonian Mountains of Scotland.

Surrogacy

Recently, a petition was filed before Delhi High Court, challenging the exclusion of a single man and a woman having a child from surrogacy and demanding commercial surrogacy’s decriminalisation.

The Petitioner argued that the personal decision of a single person about the birth of a baby through surrogacy,a is a facet of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Thus, the right of privacy of every citizen or person to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters fundamentally affecting a decision to bear or beget a child through surrogacy cannot be taken away.

What is Surrogacy?

About:

Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman (the surrogate) agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple (the intended parent/s).
A surrogate, sometimes also called a gestational carrier, is a woman who conceives, carries and gives birth to a child for another person or couple (intended parent/s).

Altruistic surrogacy:

It involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.

Commercial surrogacy:

It includes surrogacy or related procedures undertaken for a monetary benefit or reward (in cash or kind) exceeding the basic medical expenses and insurance coverage.

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021

Provisions:

Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, a woman who is a widow or a divorcee between the age of 35 to 45 years or a couple, defined as a legally married woman and man, can avail of surrogacy if they have a medical condition necessitating this option.
It also bans commercial surrogacy, which is punishable with a jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakhs.
The law allows only altruistic surrogacy where no money exchanges hands and where a surrogate mother is genetically related to those seeking a child.

Challenges:

The exploitation of the Surrogate and the Child:

One could argue that the state must stop the exploitation of poor women under surrogacy and protect the child’s right to be born. However, the current Act fails to balance these two interests.

Denies Legitimate income to Surrogates:

Banning commercial surrogacy also denies a legitimate source of income of the surrogates, further limiting the number of women willingly to surrogate.
Overall, this step indirectly denies children to the couples choosing to embrace parenthood.

Emotional Complications:

In altruistic surrogacy, a friend or relative as a surrogate mother may lead to emotional complications not only for the intending parents but also for the surrogate child as there is great deal of risking the relationship in the course of surrogacy period and post birth.
Altruistic surrogacy also limits the option of the intending couple in choosing a surrogate mother as very limited relatives will be ready to undergo the process.

JEE ADVANCE EXAM CENTRES 2022- CITIES, LOCATION, CODES AND ADDRESS

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay has released the list of JEE Advanced 2022 Exam centres as well as the brochure. The centres are a list of all the cities where the authorities will administer the exam. JEE Advanced COVID-19 instructions are also available for candidates taking the exam.

JEE Advanced exam centres 2022 will be divided into 7 zones – IIT Bombay Zone, IIT Delhi Zone, IIT Guwahati Zone, IIT Kanpur Zone, IIT Bhubaneswar Zone, IIT Madras (Hyderabad) Zone and IIT Roorkee Zone. The list of JEE Advanced exam centres 2022 will be released along with the official brochure. The following tables can be referred to check JEE Advanced 2022 exam centres list.

Candidates can check the details regarding the allotted exam centre in the JEE Advanced 2022 admit card. JEE Advanced 2022 exam date is August 28.

JEE ADVANCED EXAM Centres List is given below:-

JEE Advanced (formerly known as IIT JEE) is the second phase of the JEE examination and is usually conducted after the JEE Main exam. It is an important test for engineering aspirants (especially for those who are seeking admission in premier engineering institutes such as IITs). JEE Advanced is a computer-based exam and is usually conducted by seven different Indian IITs (IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Roorkee, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and IIT Guwahati) on a rotational basis.

Candidates can appear JEE Advanced only for two consecutive times. IITs under the guidance of Joint Admission Board (JAB) on rational basis will conduct the JEE Advance. only 10000 candidates get success to get seat in 23 different IITs. As the number of IITs increasing, seats in IITs also increasing. Depending on the rank secured in JEE Advanced candidates get admission in the IITs depending on the list of IITs from top to bottom.

A total of 1,41,699 candidates appeared in both paper 1 and 2 of the JEE (Advanced) Exam 2021. As many as 41,862 candidates have qualified the JEE-(Advanced) 2021, of which 6,452 are girls.

Black hole – The basics

A black hole is not really an empty hole or space. Black holes are points in space that are so dense they create deep gravity sinks.

It is formed by a death of a massive star. A black hole takes up zero space but does have mass, that used to be a star. And black holes get more massive as they consume matter near them.

There’s a boundary at the edge of a black hole called the event horizon, which is the point of no return — any light or matter that crosses that boundary is sucked into the black hole. It would need to travel faster than the speed of light to escape, which is impossible.

When a massive star (more than 8 times bigger than Sun) runs out of nuclear fuel in its core hen it’s gravity causes the core to collapse upon itself. This huge weight of its constituent matter falling in compresses the dying star to a point of zero volume and infinite density– called the singularity.

A black hole cannot be observed but only detected by the effects of its enormous gravitational fields on nearby matter.

In April 2019, the scientists at the Event Horizon Telescope project released the first-ever image of a black hole.

Supermassive black holes are found at the centre of most galaxies, including our own Milky Way. The one in our galaxy is called Sagittarius A*.

Interesting Facts-

If our Sun were suddenly replaced by a black hole with Mass equal to that of sun, the orbits of the planets wouldn’t change.

If you travelled close to the black hole, you could escape, as long as you don’t enter the event horizon.

If you entered the black hole, you could still see everything outside, since light can enter a black hole.

You wouldn’t notice anything special about the event horizon, since it isn’t a solid surface.

Once you enter the event horizon, you will pulled into the singularity.

Use of Cases for Data Exploration

Data exploration analyzes data to identify patterns and trends, either manually or through software tools. Data exploration identifies new insights that can help improve business performance. You can also use it to identify potential problems and areas for improvement. Data exploration is a critical step in data analysis. There are many reasons you might want to use data exploration in your business. Perhaps you want to better understand your customer base, or you want to find new growth opportunities. Maybe you’re looking for ways to improve your operations or cut costs.

Keep reading to learn more about use cases for data exploration and how to benefit your business.

Cases of Use For Data Exploration

Data exploration is an essential process for businesses of all sizes. The data that a company collects can provide valuable insights into how to improve operations, marketing, and customer experience. However, data exploration can be difficult and time-consuming without the right tools and techniques to identify helpful data patterns to inform business decisions. There are several reasons for using data exploration, including:

Identifying customer trends: By analyzing customer data, businesses can identify trends in purchasing behavior, demographics, and other factors. You can use this information to make informed decisions about what products or services to offer customers and how to market them.

Analyzing competitor activity: By studying the competition, businesses can learn what strategies they are using and how successful they are. Data exploration can also help companies understand their competition and how they stack up against them. This information can help businesses determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to the competition and make strategic changes accordingly.

Optimizing operations: Data exploration can help optimize operations by identifying areas where businesses can improve. For example, by analyzing production data, a business may discover that it’s producing more of a specific product than is needed or waste in the production process. Identifying these issues allows companies to address them and improve efficiency.

Troubleshooting: If something goes wrong in a business, it’s often necessary to troubleshoot the issue to find a solution. Data exploration can help by identifying the cause of the problem.

Why Use Data Exploration

Data exploration can also be used internally within businesses to improve operations and optimize manufacturing processes or target marketing campaigns more effectively. Additionally, data can improve employee productivity or customer satisfaction levels. Data exploration can help you understand your data.

By exploring your data, you can better understand the patterns and trends that exist within it. This can help you make better decisions about how to use that data. It also helps identify problems when exploring your data; you may identify outliers, inconsistent values, and missing data. This can help you fix those problems before you begin your analysis. You may find that certain variables are related to each other through data exploration. This can help you identify potential relationships you may want to investigate further. You may also find patterns that you wouldn’t have otherwise identified by exploring your data, helping you make better decisions about using that data. Businesses can generate hypotheses about how certain factors may influence specific outcomes and can then be tested through further analysis or experimentation.

Of course, data exploration is just one piece of the puzzle. But, data exploration can be a powerful tool for improving your business. No matter your specific goal, data exploration can be an invaluable tool. By analyzing your data in a more in-depth way, you can better understand what’s happening within your business. This can help you make more informed decisions, and it can also help you identify potential areas for improvement.

How did the second largest dynasty came to India?

So, the Mughals were the Muslims who created an empire in India that held power for roughly 200 years between the early 16th and early 18th centuries. Although technically the Mughal empire didn’t come to an end until after the Indian rebellion against the British in 1857.

The Mughals were not the first Muslims in India, those would have been merchants and they werent even the first muslims to rule significant parts of India. The first muslim rulers, and the honor goes to Delhi sultanates which began in 1206 in Northern India. The Delhi Sultanates didn’t last very long, and it was replaced by a bunch of regional kingdoms and one of them the Lodi Sultanate had the misfortune of falling to the founder of the Mughal dynasty, Babur in 1526.

At the height of its power the Mughal empire controlled an estimated one quarter of the Earth’s economy. It’s massive population is over 150million people which is double that of European continent at the time, this colossal state had very unlikely origins. One year after CHRISTOPHER COLOMBUS discovered the new world and failed to find a quicker route to India, a 11year old soon to be fugitive on the other side of the planet named Zaheer Alden who in later simply known as Babur meaning tiger had just inherited his fathers tiny kingdom of Ferghana(modern day Uzbekistan). over the next few years he desperately tries to survive his family, both his paternal and maternal uncles controlled armies with a goal of ending his life.

On his father’s side Babur was descended from the turco Mongol war world Tamerlane and Genghis Khan on his mothers side. Throughout his teen years he repeatedly captured and lost control of the old timur at capital of Samarkand and his home of Ferghana. after decades of his disunited family butchering each other, the weakened remnants of the once mighty Timurid Empire was swept aside by the Turkic’s and the Iranians(Safavid empire).

After left with nothing, but his mother, a bunch of trust worthy individuals and another bunch of enemies, Babur took a refuge in the mountains of Afghanistan and slowly expanded his small bunch of followers into an army seizing control of the strategically important city of Kabul in 1504. Babur maintained friendly relations with Safavid shahs of Iran from where he obtained his first fire arms, canons and more. His ultimate aim to retake Samarkand failed and his ambitions to control have turned to Central Asia of which it was ruled by wealthy Delhi Sultanates.

At the battle of Panipat(1st battle in 1526),fought between the Timurids under Babur and Ibrahim Lodi. In 1526, the Mughal forces of Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabulistan, defeated the much larger ruling army of Ibrahim Lodi ,Sultan of Delhi. A much smaller timid army used matchlock firearms and canon behind an entrenched barricade of 700carts, defeat a much larger traditional Indian Army, 1000 elephants at the vanguard.

In the following year, Babur defeated a confederation of Rajput states solidifying his control over northern India. Babur did not get to enjoy his life long dream of establishing a great empire for very long. at the age of 47 he died of a sudden illness for which some suspected it as poisoning and other as natural death.

SC Recognises Sex Work as a Profession

Recently, in a significant order, Supreme Court has recognised sex work as a “profession” and observed that its practitioners are entitled to dignity and equal protection under the law. The court invoked its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.

Highlights of the Supreme Court Judgment

Sex workers are entitled to equal protection of the law and criminal law must apply equally in all cases, on the basis of ‘age’ and ‘consent’.

When it is clear that the sex worker is an adult and is participating with consent, the police must refrain from interfering or taking any criminal action.
Sex workers should not be “arrested or penalised or harassed or victimised” whenever there is a raid on any brothel, “since voluntary sex work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful”.

A child of a sex worker should not be separated from the mother merely on the ground that she is in the sex trade.

Further, if a minor is found living in a brothel or with sex workers, it should not be presumed that the child was trafficked.
In case the sex worker claims that he/she is her son/daughter, tests can be done to determine if the claim is correct and if so, the minor should not be forcibly separated.

The media should take “utmost care not to reveal the identities of sex workers, during arrest, raid and rescue operations, whether as victims or accused and not to publish or telecast any photos that would result in disclosure of such identities.

Challenges Faced by Sex Workers

Discrimination and Stigmatisation:

The rights of sex workers are non-existent, and those doing such work face discrimination due to their criminalised status.
These individuals are looked down upon and have no place in society, and most times are treated harshly by their landlords and even the law.

Abuse and Exploitation:

Most times, sex workers are exposed to a slew of abuses that range from physical to mental attacks.
They would face harassment from clients, their own family members, the community, and even from people who are supposed to uphold the law.

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SCHOOL CHILDREN

Social media has become the most predominant platform to interact with people. The reels that we watch in Instagram or YouTube Shorts all are a par of social media.

School students are more active in these types of platforms. One of the most major impacts that social media has had on teenagers today is how we perform in school. It is one of the most distracting activities of everyday life. Recent experiments at UCLA have shown that nucleus accumbency was very active when teenagers saw that they had received a lot of likes on their photos that would influence to further use Instagram more often.

The risks might be related to how much social media teens use. A 2019 study of more than 6,500 12- to 15-year-olds in the U.S. found that those who spent more than three hours a day using social media might be at heightened risk for mental health problems. Another 2019 study of more than 12,000 13- to 16-year-olds in England found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.

Some other major impacts that social media has had on teenagers is peer pressure and cyber bullying. On any social media site, you can send a direct message to anyone that you want without even having to their phone number or having to follow them. This makes it so easy to cyber bully someone. Peer pressure has increased ever since social media has become popular. Teenagers look at pictures/videos of their peers doing illegal things such as drugs, drinking, etc. 55% of teens tried drugs for the first time because they felt pressured by their friends. 70% of teens who smoke say that they started smoking because their friends smoke or they felt peer pressure to try smoking.

HOW TO PROTECT FROM THIS PLATFORM?

Set reasonable limits:
Talk to your teen about how to avoid letting social media interfere with his or her activities, sleep, meals or homework. Encourage a bedtime routine that avoids electronic media use, and keep cellphones and tablets out of teens’ bedrooms. Set an example by following these rules yourself.
Monitor your teen’s accounts:
Let your teen know that you’ll be regularly checking his or her social media accounts. You might aim to do so once a week or more. Make sure you follow through.
Explain what’s not OK:
Discourage your teen from gossiping, spreading rumors, bullying or damaging someone’s reputation — online or otherwise. Talk to your teen about what is appropriate and safe to share on social media.
Encourage face-to-face contact with friends:
This is particularly important for teens vulnerable to social anxiety disorder.
Talk about social media:
Talk about your own social media habits. Ask your teen how he or she is using social media and how it makes him or her feel. Remind your teen that social media is full of unrealistic images.

The Nation’s New Education Policy,2020

In this I want to analyze the NEP’ 2020 in the simplest way possible.

This is India’s 3rd NEP.

the first one was in 1968 under Indira Gandhi government
the second was in 1986 under Rajiv Gandhi Government
In 1992 under PV Narasimha Rao government the NEP was modified.
the third one is in 2020

The right to education was drafted under Article 21A in which the children between the age group of 6- 14years should get free and compulsory education.

2014 BJO manifesto – The New Education Policy

It was then when Ms. Smriti Irani became HRD minister in 2015, she created a new committee in which the Chairman was TSR Subramanyam. this committee submited the report on 7th my 2016.

The Objectives of the committee is to:

improve the quality of education
Credibility of education
addressing the gaps in education implementation
On october 2016, The Ministry released the drafts and gave suggestions. but nothing happened as per plan.

After this a new committee was formed in which Dr. K. Kasturirangan former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, made up a team of 9 members and they drafted the National Education Policy 2019 and this was later approved by The union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved and was passed as The New Education Policy 2020 on July 29, 2020.

3 most important changes in the NEP 2020

Human Resource development(HRD) ministry was renamed as Ministry of Education.
Government proposed that the GDP investment in education to be increased from 1.6% to 6%.
focusing on gross enrollment ratio, it will be increased to 50% by 2035.

everything can be done when there will be a dynamic change happens in this regular educational system. Now, that is what happened in which alongside of education, extra curricular activities, interests were given equal priorities. Also, people tend to have multiple interests in which they want to extend their career opportunities. Till 2019, students have the opportunity to either enter into any one of the field of interests like science, Arts, Commerce.

10 years	age 10-16
2years	age 16-18

old Academic Structure

5years	Anganwadi/pre-school- age (3-6) class 1 and 2 at age (6-8)
3years	class 3-5 at age (6-8)
3years	class 6-8 at age(11-14)
4years	class 9-12 at age (14- 18)

modified/ revised academic structure

Changes in School Education

students to learn coding from class 6
Mother tongue to be a medium of instruction till 5th grade.
Report card will be comprehensive based on skills+ capabilities.

Holistic Undergraduate programme:

flexible curriculum, vocational subjects, Inter- disciplinary combination of subjects- which means till now we have division of backgrounds like commerce, science, arts etc., but from now there will be no division and can choose whatever they want to pursue.

Languages:

offered Sanskrit in every level of education .
other classical languages + literature are also available.

Academic Bank of Credits – which means if a person discontinues or chooses to pursue other background of education, till whatever education or year the person have pursued till that level the academic certification will be provided

Changes for Teachers

NCERT- National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021 was created with the help of NCERT
By 2030, for teaching the minimum degree qualification/ 4year integrated B.Ed

the entire objective of NEP is, Universalization of Education Achieving Global standards of Education for which, the students who leaves or graduates will get the knowledge at global reaching.

UGC Norms for Dual & Joint Degrees in India

University Grants Commission (UGC) came into existence on 2nd December, 1953. It became a statutory body by an Act of Parliament in 1956, for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education.

Recently, the UGC has released Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions to offer Joint Degree, Dual Degree, and Twinning Programmes Regulations, 2022.

Under these regulations collaborating institutes will be allowed to offer three kinds of programmes — twinning, joint degrees and dual degrees.

Dual Degree Programmes: The approved amendments include a provision for “dual degree programmes” — both the Indian and foreign institutions will give separate and simultaneous degrees for a course of the same discipline, and at the same level.

Easing Regulation: Indian universities that meet a minimum academic standard will not need UGC’s permission to offer such programmes.

Joint Degrees: Students enrolling for these programmes will have to go abroad to earn credits, but they will not have to seek admission separately while doing so.

In the draft amendments, foreign partner institutions are required to be among the world’s top 1,000 in global rankings.

Dual Degrees: For dual degrees, students will have to complete at least 30% of their course credit at the foreign institution.

The degrees awarded by both the Indian and foreign institutions will indicate the credits earned at the respective institutions.
At the end of the course, the student will be awarded two degrees, separately and simultaneously, by the Indian and foreign institution.

Twinning Arrangement: A student can study a programme partly in India and partly in a foreign university, but the diploma or degree will be awarded just by the Indian university.

Students will have to complete up to 30% of the course’s credits at the foreign institution by means of an exchange programme.

Exception: The new regulations are not applicable to programmes offered online and in the open and distance learning mode.

Significance: The new regulation will prompt Indian students to get a foreign degree and enhance their employability in the international market.

SHOULD THERE BE AN ANTI-BULLYING ACT?

“Be strong, but not rude; Be kind, but not weak; Be bold but not bully.” RIM JOHN

Bullying is the behaviour of a person or majority group who threatens, harms, or insults another person or the minority or weak group. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that threatens people with the use of electronic devices.

About 20% of students ages 12-18 experienced bullying nationwide. Students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied said they thought those who bullied them: Had the ability to influence other students’ perception of them (56%); Had more social influence (50%); Were physically stronger or larger (40%); Had more money (31%). Nationwide, 19% of students in grades 9–12 report being bullied on school property in the 12 months prior to the survey.

The following percentages of students ages 12-18 had experienced bullying in various places at school:

Hallway or stairwell (43.4%)
Classroom (42.1%)
Cafeteria (26.8%)
Outside on school grounds (21.9%)
Online or text (15.3%)
Bathroom or locker room (12.1%)
Somewhere else in the school building (2.1%)
Approximately 46% of students ages 12-18 who were bullied during the school year notified an adult at school about the bullying.
Among students ages 12-18 who reported being bullied at school during the school year, 15 % were bullied online or by text.
An estimated 14.9% of high school students were electronically bullied in the 12 months prior to the survey.

According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics:
One third of the globe’s youth is bullied; this ranges from as low as 7% in Tajikistan to 74% in Samoa. Low socioeconomic status is a main factor in youth bullying within wealthy countries.
Immigrant-born youth in wealthy countries are more likely to be bullied than locally-born youth.

Yes, There is a serious need to have strong legislation on Anti-bullying laws in India. The government of India is taking steps to conquer bullying in schools, colleges, and on the internet.

Cyclones – Why and How are they named?

Have you ever wondered how do scientists decides the name for cyclones? Read the whole article to learn it.

Weather forecasters give each tropical cyclone a name to avoid confusion. Each year, tropical cyclones receive names in alphabetical order. Women and men’s names are alternated. The name list is proposed by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of WMO Members of a specific region, and approved by the respective tropical cyclone regional bodies at their annual/bi-annual sessions.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The practice of naming storms (tropical cyclones) began years ago in order to help in the quick identification of storms in warning messages because names are presumed to be far easier to remember than numbers and technical terms. In the beginning, storms were named arbitrarily. An Atlantic storm that ripped off the mast of a boat named Antje became known as Antje’s hurricane. Then the mid-1900’s saw the start of the practice of using feminine names for storms.

In the pursuit of a more organized and efficient naming system, meteorologists later decided to identify storms using names from a list arranged alphabetically. Thus, a storm with a name which begins with A, like Anne, would be the first storm to occur in the year. By the end of the 1900’s, forecasters started using male names for those forming in the Southern Hemisphere.

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Centre. The original name lists featured only women’s names. In 1979, men’s names were introduced and they alternate with the women’s names.

Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2019 list will be used again in 2025. The names of tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean is however not repeated. Once used, it will cease to be used again.

Why are cyclones given a name ?

Naming of Tropical Cyclones (TCs) helps the scientific community, disaster managers, media and general masses to

identify each individual cyclone.
use of short, distinctive given names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods.
create awareness of its development.
remove confusion in case of simultaneous occurrence of TCs over a region
rapidly and effectively disseminate warnings to much wider audience

These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

Criteria for name selection

The proposed name should be neutral to (a) politics and political figures (b) religious believes, (c) cultures and (d) gender
Name should be chosen in such a way that it does not hurt the sentiments of any group of population over the globe
It should not be very rude and cruel in nature
It should be short, easy to pronounce and should not be offensive to any member
The maximum length of the name will be eight letters
The proposed name should be provided along with its pronunciation and voice over

Protocol to Select a name for a cyclone

For north Indian Ocean including Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the RSMC, New Delhi assigns the name to tropical cyclones following a standard procedure.

The naming of the tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean commenced from September 2004. This list contained names proposed by then eight member countries of WMO/ESCAP PTC, viz., Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. A new list containing 169 names has been made available in 2020.

Source : Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre, New Delhi and World Meteorological Organisation

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