1. Bangladesh will be connected to North-East by 2024
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While virtually addressing the delegates at a function organised by the Indian Chambers of Commerce, Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperations Amit Shah said that the government will connect capitals of all the eight States by air, seven of the eight state capitals will be connected through rail, and a network of roads is operational.
He said the northeast states will be linked by road and railway to Bangladesh in a year or two, creating many opportunities in the region.
Key Points:
- The connectivity problem in the North East is being resolved by signing a land border agreement with Bangladesh. The North East will be connected to the ports of Bangladesh in two years and this will open up a huge avenue for setting up industry in the North East and for connectivity to the rest of the world.
- In a year or two, the North East region will be connected with Bangladesh by rail and road and after that, there will be immense possibilities to go East. The trade with Bangladesh will get a boost with the start of the Agartala-Akhaura railway link.
- Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) signed with Bangladesh in 2014 ensured proper connectivity in the region.
North East States and Capitals:
States Capital
- Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar
- Assam Dispur
- Manipur Imphal
- Meghalaya Shillong
- Mizoram Aizawl
- Nagaland Kohima
- Tripura Agartala
- Sikkim Gangtok
- The capitals of all the eight States will be connected by air.
- The capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected by rail, work to extend similar connectivity in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya are underway.
2. NFHS -5 Data Released by the Union Health Ministry
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- The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has released the National Family Health Survey - 5 data.The NFHS-4 was released in 2015-16 and the latest, which captured population health indicators in 2017-19, was delayed due to the pandemic.
Who Conducts the Survey?
- The NFHS is conducted by the Union Health and Family affairs Ministry.
What is the usefulness of the NFHS data?
- The main objective of successive rounds of the NFHS is to provide reliable and comparable data relating to health and family welfare and other emerging issues.
- It provides information on important indicators which are helpful in tracking the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.
Important Highlights of the NFHS -5 data
- The Total Fertility Rates (TFR), an average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level. The urban TFR is 1.6 and rural 2.1. All states except Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Manipur and Meghalaya, have attained TFR l of 2.1.
- Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially from 54% to 67% at all-India level.
- Full immunization drive among children aged 12-23 months has recorded substantial improvement from 62 per cent to 76 per cent at all-India level.
- Institutional births have increased substantially from 79 per cent to 89 percent at all-India Level.
- Child Nutrition indicators show a slight improvement at all-India level as Stunting has declined from 38 per cent to 36 per cent, wasting from 21 per cent to 19 per cent and underweight from 36 per cent to 32 percent at all-India level.
- Exclusive breastfeeding to children under age 6 months has shown an improvement in all-India level from 55 percent in 2015-16 to 64 per cent in 2019-21
Terms :
TFR (Total Fertility Rates)
- It refers to the average number of children which a woman can give birth to during her reproductive life cycle .
- According to the UN Population Division, a TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is called replacement-level fertility. If replacement level fertility is sustained over a sufficiently long period, each generation will exactly replace itself. The population of the country will neither increase nor decline if the fertility rate of the country is 2.1
Malnutrition in Child Nutrition:
- According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Malnutrition refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilization. It consists of both undernutrition and overweight and obesity, as well as diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
- Undernutrition manifests in four broad forms: wasting, stunting, underweight, and micronutrient deficiencies.
Wasting:
- Wasting is defined as low weight-for-height .It usually occurs when a person has not had food of adequate quality and quantity and/or they have had frequent or prolonged illnesses.
Stunting:
- Stunting is defined as low height-for-age.It is the result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition, usually associated with poverty, poor maternal health and nutrition, frequent illness and/or inappropriate feeding and care in early life
Underweight
- Underweight is defined as low weight-for-age. A child who is underweight may be stunted, wasted or both.
Micronutrient
- Micronutrient deficiencies are a lack of vitamins and minerals that are essential for body functions such as producing enzymes, hormones and other substances needed for growth and development.
National Family Health Survey (NFHS)
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.
Institutions involved in Survey
The NFHS is a collaborative project of the International Institute for Population Sciences(IIPS), Mumbai, India; ICF, Calverton, Maryland, USA and the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, designated IIPS as the nodal agency, responsible for providing coordination and technical guidance for the NFHS.
Survey and its Phases
The First National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1) was conducted in 1992-93.
The Second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) was conducted in 1998-99 in all 26 states of India
The Third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) was carried out in 2005-2006.
The Fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) was carried out in 2015-2016.
The Fifth National Family and Health Survey(NFHS-5)was conducted in two phases, in 2019 and 2021.
3. “Kaiser-i-Hind” butterfly:
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Why in the news?
Recently, Arunachal Pradesh, govt. approved “Kaiser-i-Hind” as the state butterfly.
Key highlights:
- Kaiser-i-Hind is scientifically known as Teinopalpus imperialis. In literal terms, it means Emperor of India.
- Kaiser-i-Hind' is a large and brightly colored butterfly.
- It is an elusive swallowtail butterfly, which carries 'India' in its name.
- They are also found in Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, Myanmar, southern China and Vietnam.
- This butterfly with a 90-120 mm wingspan is found in (West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim and Manipur) along the Eastern Himalayas.
- It flies high in the canopy of broad leaved temperate evergreen forests.
- The Kaiser-i-Hind is protected under Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature has red-listed the Kaiser-i-Hind.
Butterfly:
- Butterflies are insects from the order Lepidoptera of phylum Arthropoda which also includes moths.
Significance:
Rich Biodiversity:
- Abundance of butterflies in any area represents the rich biodiversity.
Indicator Species:
- The butterfly acts as an indicator species.
- An indicator species provides information on the overall condition of the ecosystem and of other species in that ecosystem. They reflect the quality and changes in environmental conditions as well as aspects of community composition.
Pollinator:
- It acts as a pollinator by helping in pollination and conserving several species of plants.
India's Largest Butterfly:
- A Himalayan butterfly known as Golden Birdwing (Troides aeacus) has been discovered as India’s largest butterfly after 88 years.
- The female butterfly was recorded from Didihat in Uttarakhand, the male was from the Wankhar Butterfly Museum in Shillong, Meghalaya.
- With a wingspan of 194 mm, the female of the species is marginally larger than the Southern Birdwing (190 mm).
Other butterflies in news:
- The Malabar Banded Peacock or the Buddha Mayoori which was recently declared the ‘State Butterfly’ of Kerala will have a dedicated butterfly park in Kochi.
Other states to have state butterflies are:
- Maharashtra: Blue Mormon.
- Uttarakhand: Common peacock.
- Karnataka: Southern birdwings.
4. National Achievement Survey 2021
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Why in the News?
Recently, the Union Government has conducted the National Achievement Survey (NAS) across India, assessing about 38 lakh students from 1.23 lakh schools in 733 districts in 36 States and Union Territories.
- This survey will help in assessing the learning interruptions and new learnings during covid-19 pandemic. After assessment, it will help in taking remedial measures.
Key highlights:
- The survey will cover government, government-aided and private schools that will help to assess the learning interruptions and new learnings during the pandemic and help to take remedial measures.
- The ministry of education surveys with the help of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
- The survey was last conducted in 2017 and was scheduled to take place in 2020. However, due to the Covid situation, it was postponed until this year (2021).
What is National Achievement Survey :
- National Achievement Survey was launched in 2001-02 and is a school-level survey, conducted by the ministry of education, which attempts to assess grade-level competencies of children.
- Grade-level competencies of children are assessed through the testing instruments prepared by the NCERT for each class.
- As per the official website, “NAS gives a system level reflection on the effectiveness of school education.
- It provides a system level reflection on the effectiveness of school education.
About NAS 2021:
- NAS 2021 is set to cover the entire spectrum of schools including Government Schools of Central Government as well as State Government, Government Aided Schools and Private schools across India.
- As per the official statement, “NAS 2021 will help in the systematic understanding of the consequences that prolonged closure of schools have had on students' learning in terms of their socio-emotional and cognitive development.”
NAS 2021 test:
- The questions in NAS 2021 will be focused on family background, involvement of parents, safety and facilities in school, learning during the pandemic, and facilities for children with special needs.
- NAS 2021 will hold separate assessments for Classes 3,5,8 and 10.
- Grade 3 and 5: Language, EVS, and Mathematics
- Grade 8: Language, Science, Mathematics, and Social Science
- Grade 10: Language, Science, Mathematics, Social Science, and English.
- The test will be conducted in 22 mediums of instruction covering Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Garo, Khasi, Konkani, Nepali, Bhutia, and Lepcha
Additional Information:
Govt. Initiatives:
National Education Policy, 2020:
- The Union Cabinet had approved the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 with an aim to introduce several changes in the Indian education system - from the school to college level.
- The two earlier education policies were brought in 1968 and 1986.
- The Cabinet has also approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Education.
