RAJASTHAN

23% habitations in Rajasthan have no access to secondary schools’

The objectives of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), launched by the Centre in March 2009 to make quality education accessible and affordable, have not been met, according to the 2017-18 CAG report tabled in the assembly.

The project had targeted students in the 14-18 age group.

While there has been steady progress in implementing the scheme during the 2013-18 period, the report noted that 22.55% habitations (34,065 out of 1,51,042) did not have access to secondary schools within the prescribed limit of five kilometres.

This shows that the objective of RMSA to ensure universal access to secondary education by 2017 has not been met.

In 44% (99 out of 225) schools, the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) ranged between 31:1 and 190:1. This pointed to the asymmetrical distribution of teachers in schools and did not reflect the overall state-level PTR that stood within the prescribed limit of 30:1. The government has failed to provide basic infrastructure facilities in every school even after nine years of implementing RMSA, it said.

Though the gross enrolment ratio (enrolment in Class IX and X as a percentage of total population) in the 14-15 age group in the state increased from 71.12% in 2013-14 to 78.87% in 2017-18, it’s still far away from achieving the goal of universal access to secondary education.

INTERNATIONAL

India remains second-largest arms importer in 2019

India retains its position as the second-largest arms importer in the world followed by Saudi Arabia, says a new report  by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

India neighbour Pakistan ranked 11th.

The SIPRI report shows how Russia gradually lost the lucrative Indian arms market over the years, though the communist country remains a key supplier.

Although India remains the main recipient of Russian arms in 2015-19, accounting for 25% of the total, Russian arms exports to India fell by 47 per cent between 2010-14 and 2015-19.

The USA became the second-largest arms supplier to India in 2010-14.

China, on the other hand, accounted for 51% of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2010-14 and for 73% in 2015-19.

NATIONAL

Gujarat tops in domestic solar rooftop installations

Gujarat has topped the list in the installations of solar rooftop plants across the country with about 50,915 systems being fixed on domestic rooftops in the state.

Maharashtra follows with 5,513 installations.

Of 79,950 systems installed across the country, Gujarat has topped with 64 per cent or two-thirds of total domestic solar rooftop installations.

The total capacity of the 50,915 systems installed on domestic rooftops in the State is 177.67 MW, whereas the total systems installed across the country have a combined capacity of 322 MW.

The State government has adopted a solar rooftop scheme ‘Surya Gujarat’ to cover about eight lakh domestic electricity consumers under the scheme by 2022.

The electricity generated through the domestic rooftops is being consumed by the households, while the excess units are purchased by the State discoms at the rate of ₹2.25 per unit.

Govt to make sanitary napkin disposal bags mandatory from January 2021Union

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that Sanitary napkin makers will be asked to supply a biodegradable bag with each napkin from January 2021.

The possibility of getting infected because of handling used Sanitary Napkins thrown in the garbage was brought to notice by many of the women garbage collectors.

That’s why the Environment Ministry has taken the decision to ask Makers of Sanitary Napkins to provide biodegradable bags so that Napkins can be wrapped in these bags before being thrown in the garbage.

Mr. Javadekar announced that the sanitation norms for Corporations and municipalities will now be applied to villages with a population of more than three thousand.

Poshan Abhiyaan celebrated its second anniversary

The second anniversary of the Centre’s Poshan Abhiyaan Poshan Pakhwada was celebrated on 8 March. The focus of the two-week-long Poshan Pakhwada 2020 is ‘Men for Nutrition.’ The aim is to increase male engagement in Poshan Abhiyaan. It aims to improve Nutritional Indicators.

NITI Aayog’s data states that Andhra Pradesh ranked first in the overall implementation of Poshan Abhiyan. As part of the program, the State has trained all Angan Wadi Workers on modules created based on lifecycle approach with the support of incremental learning Approach (ILA).

Tamil Nadu State has topped the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the program. The Integrated Child Development Scheme has been rejuvenated with the Centre’s Poshan Abhiyaan mission. The program is revitalizing India by reaching out to the children and mothers across the nation.

POSHAN Abhiyaan:

Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) Abhiyaan or National Nutrition Mission is the Government of India’s flagship program. It improves nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The scheme reduces malnutrition in the country in a phased manner, through a life cycle approach, by adopting a synergized and result oriented approach.

Centre to set up at least one PMBJP Kendra in every block of the country

Government plans to set up at least one Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya JanAushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendra in every block of India by the end of 2020. The announcement was made by the Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Dr.Jitendra Singh at the Jan Aushadhi Diwas celebration in Kathua, J&K.

The government for Jammu & Kashmir launched the PMBJP to promote affordable and quality generic medicines among the people. The speed of development in UT of J&K has increased manifold after the creation of Union Territory (UT) as all the progressive Central laws have been directly implemented without any hindrance.

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) campaign was launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) in 2008. It was launched under the name Jan Aushadi Campaign. Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) is the implementation agency of the scheme. PMBJP aims to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses.