UPSC EXAM QUIZ 29.08.2024

Explanation:

• Ministry of Education has launched the second cycle of its Capacity Building Program on Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) under the Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Programme (MMTTP), aimed at empowering Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to better support students with learning disabilities.
• The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recognizes learning disabilities, advocating for HEIs to be aware and sensitised to address these challenges, ensuring equitable and inclusive education for all.
• The MMTTP, launched in 2023, aims to improve the quality of higher education in India by providing teachers with specialised training and knowledge in various areas.
• It has been restructured from existing mechanisms, such as University Grants Commission (UGC)-Human Resource Development Centres (HRDCs) and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching Centres (PMMMNMTT), to better support teacher training.
• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, mandates the government to ensure that PWDs enjoy the right to equality, life with dignity, and respect for their integrity, while also providing for their education, employment, social security, healthcare, and accessibility rights.
• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 mandates the government to ensure that persons with disabilities are entitled to live a life with dignity and equality

Explanation:

• Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering has raised concerns about the increasing frequency of mass wasting events in Tibet's Sedongpu Gully since 2017, with implications for India's northeastern states due to the region's proximity and river systems.

What are the Key Highlights of the Study

• Increased Frequency of Mass Wasting: The study documents a significant rise in mass wasting events in the Sedongpu Gully since 2017.Using satellite data from 1969 to 2023, the study identified 19 major mass-wasting events, categorised into ice-rock avalanches, ice-moraine avalanches, and glacier debris flows. Notably, 68.4% of these events occurred after 2017.Over 700 million cubic meters of debris have been mobilized in the Sedongpu Gully catchment since 2017. This substantial volume of debris has implications for downstream river systems.

Explanation:

• Union Cabinet has approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which will provide assured pension to government employees after retirement.
• The scheme will be effective from April 1, 2025, when central government employees migrate from the current National Pension System (NPS) to UPS.
• State governments will also have the option to adopt the Unified Pension Scheme.

What are the provisions of the Unified Pension Scheme

• Assured pension: It will be 50% of the employee's average basic pay in the last 12 months before retirement for a minimum qualifying service of 25 years. This amount will reduce proportionately for shorter service periods up to a minimum of 10 years.

Explanation:

• The Union Cabinet has approved continuation of various schemes of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and merging them into three major components under an integrated Central Sector Scheme called ‘Vigyan Dhara’.

Components: The scheme has three broad components.

• Institutional and Human Capacity Building related to Science and Technology (S&T),
• Research and Development
• Innovation, Technology Development and Deployment

Existing schemes like INSPIRE programme will fall under one of these three components.Period: The scheme has been proposed for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 of the 15th Finance Commission.Primary Objective: The primary objective of the ‘Vigyan Dhara’ scheme is to promote research, innovation and technology development along with capacity building in S&T to strengthen the S&T ecosystem in the country.Gender Equality: The scheme will undertake targeted activities to increase the participation of women in S&T, with the ultimate goal of bringing about gender equality in S&T.

Explanation:

• Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL).
• The objective of the MoU is to develop new types of zinc materials and promote commercialization of zinc-based batteries.
• Zinc-ion battery: Zinc-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses zinc ions as charge carriers instead of lithium and sodium ions.
• Zinc is a blue-grey metallic element and is a good conductor of electricity.
• Sphalerite, smithsonite, willemite etc. are the ores of zinc.
• The most common alloy is brass, which is a mixture of zinc and copper.