KARNATAKA
K’taka pays less than 5% edu budget outlay towards RTE fees, says report
Karnataka accounted for the third highest number of children studying in private schools under the 25% Right To Education quota, but was seventh when it came to the fee reimbursed by the government to each beneficiary student.
This is according to the Bright Spot Report: Status of Social Inclusion, published recently by Delhi-headquartered NGO Indus Action.
The data pertains to 2018-19, a year before the Karnataka government diluted the RTE quota, saying it was incurring a huge financial burden in reimbursing schools. The new Karnataka RTE norms provide for reservation in private schools only if no seat is available in government or aided institutions near the applicant’s residence.
Nationally, 17 states have implemented the 25% quota in unaided schools for children from low-income households, benefiting around 41.3 lakh. Four states account for 68% of them: Madhya Pradesh has the highest number (11 lakh), followed by Rajasthan (6.7 lakh), Karnataka (6.4 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (3.9 lakh) .
According to the report, the highest amount of reimbursement per student is in Tamil Nadu (Rs 25,155- Rs 33,146), followed by Delhi (Rs 26,708- Rs 26,908) and Tripura (Rs 21,138). The lowest is in Jharkhand (Rs 5,100) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 5,400). The per-child fee cost in Karnataka is fixed at Rs 8,000-Rs 16,000 and going by the top-end of the band, Karnataka comes seventh among states.
INTERNATIONAL
India, US signs 2 MoUs and 1 Letter of Cooperation during Trumps State visit to India
US President Donald J. Trump along with the First Lady Melania Trump visited India on 24-25 February. During his visit, 3 MoUs and 1 Letter of Cooperation were signed.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mental Health between Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of the Republic of India and Department of Health and Human Services of the Government of the US.
An MoU was signed on the Safety of Medical Products between Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) within the Directorate General of Health Services of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Republic of India and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America.
An agreement to purchase more than $3 billion of American military equipment
A Letter of Cooperation was signed between India’s Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and ExxonMobil India LNG Limited and America’s Chart Industries Inc.
NATIONAL
Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2020 concluded
The 5th edition of joint military Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2020 concluded at West down Camp, Salisbury Plains Training Area, UK. The exercise was held between India and the United Kingdom. Brigadier Tom Bewick, Commander of UK 7 Infantry Brigade and Brigadier Gavin, Defence Attache of the UK in India attended the closing ceremony of the event.
The exercise was aimed to conduct company-level joint training with an emphasis on counter-terrorist operations in urban and semi-urban areas.
The exercise included joint training in urban and semi-urban areas.
Important lectures, demonstrations, and drills related to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations were rehearsed and executed jointly.
ISRO to launch geo imaging satellite on March 5
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that GSLV-F10 will launch geo imaging satellite, GISAT-1, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on March 5.
GSLV-F10 will launch geo imaging satellite (GISAT-1) from the second launch pad of the SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
Weighing about 2,275 kg, GISAT-1 is a state-of-the-art agile Earth observation satellite that will be placed in a ‘geosynchronous transfer orbit’ by GSLV-F10.
Subsequently, the satellite will reach the final geostationary orbit using its onboard propulsion system.
Operating from geostationary orbit, GISAT-1 will facilitate near real-time observation of the Indian subcontinent, under cloud-free conditions, at frequent intervals.
MP becomes first state to launch unified vehicle registration card
Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to introduce the unified registration card and the second state to launch the unified driving license after Uttar Pradesh.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had issued the guidelines to bring uniformity in driving licenses and vehicle registration cards across the country in March last year.
The new cards will have more exhaustive information printed on both sides of the cards.
The unified smart cards for driving license and vehicle registration will each have a QR code that will help in verifying authenticity of the data printed on the cards.
The unified driving license card will also have information about the ability of the driver to drive in hilly and dangerous areas and an emergency contact number.
NPCI launches ‘UPI Chalega’ campaign for payment mode to gain currency
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in association with the payment ecosystem players have co-created an industry campaign “UPI Chalega” to promote UPI as easy, safe, and instant mode of payment.
The campaign is aimed to guide users towards the right usage of UPI and help create a habitual change, use of UPI in their daily life.
The campaign also focuses on safety aspects while transacting on UPI enabled apps.
The campaign targets users across all ages and aims to promote how to safely use UPI.