National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022
Context:
The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), is yet again the top higher educational institute in the country .
- This is the seventh consecutive edition of NIRF.
Relevance:
GS II- Education
Dimensions of the Article:
- Highlights of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022:
- About NIRF
Highlights of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022:
According to the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022,
Top 3 Institutes:
- The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M)
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru
- IIT Bombay
Top 5 Universities:
- IISc
- Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Jamia Millia Islamia
- Jadavpur University
- Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Top five colleges:
- Miranda House
- Hindu College
- Presidency College
- Loyola College
- Lady Shri Ram College for Women
Top five medical institutes
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences
- Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh
- Christian Medical College, Vellore
- National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru
- Banaras Hindu University.
Top five management institutes
- Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad
- IIM Bengaluru
- IIM Kolkata
- IIT Delhi
- IIM Kozhikode
About NIRF
- The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India.
- There are separate rankings for different types of institutions depending on their areas of operation like universities and colleges, engineering institutions, management institutions, pharmacy institutions and architecture institutions.
- The ranking framework evaluates institutions on five broad generic groups of parameters, i.e.
- Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR),
- Research and Professional Practice (RP),
- Graduation Outcomes (GO),
- Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)
- Perception (PR).
- Rankings help universities to improve their performance on various ranking parameters and identify gaps in research and areas of improvement.
Fundamental Duties
Context:
The Supreme Court has allowed the Centre’s request for two months’ time to file a reply to a petition seeking the enforcement of fundamental duties of citizens, including patriotism and unity of nation, through “comprehensive, and well-defined laws”.
Relevance:
GS II- Polity (Indian Constitution)
Dimensions of the Article:
- Details
- How were the fundamental duties incorporated in the Constitution?
- What are the fundamental duties of the citizen?
Details:
- The need to enforce fundamental duties arises due to new illegal trend of protest by protesters in the garb of freedom of speech and expression.
- Vandalism, blocking of road and rail routes in order to compel the government to meet their demands is a sheer violation of the FDs which are generally not enforceable.
How were the fundamental duties incorporated in the Constitution?
- The fundamental duties were incorporated in Part IV-A of the Constitution by The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976, during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.
- Article 51(A) describes 11 fundamental duties — 10 came with the 42nd Amendment; the 11th was added by the 86th Amendment in 2002, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister.
- These duties are not enforceable by law.
- However, a court may take them into account while adjudicating on a matter.
- They were made a part of the Constitution to emphasise the obligation of the citizen in return for the fundamental rights that he or she enjoys.
What are the fundamental duties of the citizen?
Article 51(A) says it shall be the duty of every citizen of India:
- to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
- to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
- to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
- to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
- to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
- to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
- to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;
- to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
- to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
- to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement;
- who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.
The last subsection, (k), on the education of children, was added in 2002 by The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act. The same amendment also introduced Article 21A in the Constitution: “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.”
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme
Context:
According to recent guidelines issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme will be extended to all Districts.
Relevance:
GS-II: Social Justice and Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- What are the Guidelines?
- About Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
- Criticism of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
What are the Guidelines?
- The ministry has now targeted improvement in the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) by 2 points every year, improvement in the percentage of institutional deliveries at 95% or above.
- Increasing girls’ participation in sports by identifying talent and linking them with appropriate authorities under ‘Khelo India’.
- Promoting self-defence camps, construction of girls’ toilets, making available sanitary napkin vending machines and sanitary pads, especially in educational institutions, awareness about PC-PNDT (Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) Act 1994, etc.
- PC-PNDT act aims to ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception and prevent the misuse of a prenatal diagnostic technique for sex-selective abortion.
- Zero-budget advertising and encouraging greater spend on activities that have on-ground impact.
- In 2021 parliamentary committee on empowerment of women in its report stated that nearly 80 % funds for the BBBP scheme has been used for advertising, and not on sectoral interventions such as women’s health and education.
- Strengthen One-Stop Centres (OSCs), set up to help women facing violence, including domestic violence and trafficking, by adding 300 OSCs in districts which either have a high rate of crimes against women or are geographically large, preferably in aspirational districts.
About Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
- The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme, launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2015 in Haryana with the objective of bringing behavioral change in the society towards birth and rights of a girl child, has resulted in increased awareness and sensitization of the masses regarding prevalence of gender bias and role of community in eradicating it.
- Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao is a campaign of the Government of India that aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls in India. The scheme was launched with an initial funding of ₹100 crore.
- A joint initiative of MoWCD, MoHFW and MoHRD (now Ministry of Education).
- According to census data in India, the child sex ratio (0–6 years) in India was 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, which dropped to 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
- In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio of India 2011 is 919 females per 1000 of males.
- The Sex Ratio 2011 shows a downward trend from the census 2001 data.
- During the last 6 years the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved by 16 points from 918 in 2014-15 to 934 in 2019-20.
- Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls in the schools at secondary level has improved from 77.45 to 81.32.
- During the last 6 years since its inception, the BBBP scheme has been aiming at changing the mindset of the public to acknowledge the rights of the girl child.
- The scheme has resulted in increased awareness and sensitization of the masses regarding prevalence of gender bias and role of community in eradicating it.
- It has raised concerns around the issue of declining CSR in India.
- As a result of collective consciousness of the people supporting the campaign, BBBP has found its place in public discourse.
Main Objectives:
- Prevention of gender-biased sex-selective elimination.
- Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child.
- Ensuring education and participation of the girl child.
- Protecting rights of Girl children.
Criticism of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
- Excessive expenditure on communication-related activities: The committee noted that the massive spending on advertisements was despite the clearly laid-down formula for utilization of funds.
- Inefficient allocation and release of funds: The C&AG issued a study criticizing the scheme’s execution, saying that fewer than 20% of the total funds provided by the Centre were actually spent at the state level in 2016-17.
- Implementation challenges: The scheme faces several challenges ranging from underutilisation of available funds, to lackadaisical implementation and failure of monitoring mechanisms, particularly at the state and district levels.
- Unbalanced expenditure patterns: The expenditure planned for the BBBP is highly skewed towards just one pillar of the BBBP scheme. This provides no provision for improving the scheme’s long-term, quantifiable effects on education and health.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Context:
Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest additions to the China and Russia-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping.
Relevance:
GS II- International Relations
About Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO);-
- It is a permanent intergovernmental international organization.
- It’s creation was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
- It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St. Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002, and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
- The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.
- Its membership was expanded to include India and Pakistan in 2017.
- The SCO also has four observer states i.e. Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus and Mongolia, which may be inducted at a later date.
- Headquarters: Beijing, China.
