HARYANA

24% kids in rural Haryana have no access to smartphones

Even as the state government claims that online education has largely stabilised, a recent survey has revealed a stark digital divide among the children studying in government and private schools. One in four students in government schools in rural areas still don’t have access to smartphones to attend online classes.

According to the Annual Survey of Education Report-2020 conducted across 625 villages, nearly 24% students of government schools in rural areas have not been able to attend online classes amid the ongoing Covid pandemic as they don’t have access to smartphones. In the case of private school students, the figure is around 13%. Moreover, over 30% of state-run school students have got no TV sets at home.

The survey has also found that 14% students of government schools and 10% of private schools still don’t have textbooks for their respective classes.

The report has further highlighted that the lack of access to smartphones is relatively high among the households with parents in the ‘low’ education category. Over 37% students from such households don’t have access to smartphones, while merely 8% of parents with high education levels are not digitally connected to access online classes.

The new education curriculum has put the onus of ensuring progressive learning outcomes on the parents’ shoulders. But, there too, is a stark divide among the government school students and those in private schools. While around 28% students who didn’t receive any help from the family were from government schools during the Covid-induced lockdown, it was only 20% in case of private school students.

INTERNATIONAL

World Food Day: 16 October

World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.

The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The theme for this year’s World Food Day 2020 is “Grow, Nourish, Sustain Together”.

Asia Power Index 2020

India has been ranked at 4th position, with a score of 39.7 out of 100, in the Asia Power Index 2020, released by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.

The Asia Power Index 2020 ranks 26 countries and territories to assess the relative power of states in Asia.

The United States has retained its position as the most powerful country influencing the Asia-Pacific with a score of 81.6.

It is followed by China (76.1) and Japan (41) at second and third spot respectively.

Global tuberculosis report 2020

WHO has published a global tuberculosis (TB) report every year from 1997.

The report published by WHO provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, progress in prevention, diagnosis & treatment of the disease at the regional level and country level and global level.

This is done in the context of global strategies and targets endorsed by WHO’s the Member States, broader development goals set by the United Nations & targets set in the political declaration at the 2018 United Nation high-level meeting on Tuberculosis.

Global TB reports from previous years are available from the WHO Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS).

The most recent time-series of estimates are published in the 2020 global TB report.

NATIONAL

PM Modi to release commemorative Rs 75 coin to mark 75th Anniversary of FAO

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release a commemorative coin of 75 rupees denomination to mark the 75th Anniversary of Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO on 16 October 2020.

The journey of FAO in making the vulnerable classes and masses stronger, economically and nutritionally, has been unparalleled.

The Prime Minister will also dedicate 17 recently developed biofortified varieties of eight crops to the nation.

These varieties, along with other food ingredients, will transform the normal Indian thali into nutri-thali.

SCALE India Android App launched by LSSC

Leather Sector Skill Council launches SCALE India Android App for Enhanced Quality Assurance under Skill India Mission.

The SCALE platform assists employees to upgrade their skills basis changing market dynamics. The aim is to meet the evolving industry demands and get certified on the new skills acquired. It brings candidate/trainee, employer, employee, assessor and trainer – all at one place.

SCALE app virtually works on any smart handheld device, desktop/laptop, smart phones, tablets etc.

The app will also helps in engaging employers with other stakeholders and also provide a marketplace for human capital for the leather industry.

The assessments are currently available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali, with plans to add more regional languages in a phased manner.

This app will help candidates in the skilling ecosystem to get assessed and certified on their knowledge, skills and behaviour on a specific qualification pack.

SCALE App provides access to micro learning modules for the betterment of the knowledge.

Centre claims better enforcement as Pocso cases rise 19% in 2019

While crimes against children registered a 4.5% increase last year as compared to 2018, there was a 18.9% rise in cases filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) over this period.

Of the 1.48 lakh crimes against children reported in 2019, 46.6% related to kidnapping and abduction, 31.9% to POCSO Act, 3.3% dealt with rape and 2.9% were cases of assault against women with intent to outrage her modesty. Cases dealing with heinous crimes like murder declined by 5.9% as compared to 2018.

Maharashtra accounted for 13.2% of the total crimes against children reported in 2019, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh whose share was 12.8% each. Delhi had the second highest rate of crime against children (cases per lakh population) at 139.

According to NCRB report on ‘Crime in India — 2019’, the 18.9% rise in 2018 in cases registered under POCSO Act, last amended in mid-2019 to provide for death row penalty for aggravated sexual assault and add tougher provisions against child pornography, was however less than the 22% increase in 2018 over 2017.

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