09-10-07-23 Daily-Odisha-OPSC Current Affairs

Thehigher Education departmenthas decided to set up a dedicatedpension cellfor its retired employees.

During a review meeting chaired by thehigher educationministerAtanu Sabyasachi Nayak, he directed the officers to maintain Integrity and transparency during pension disbursement in adherence with the 5T Governance.

A dedicated pension cell should start functioning immediately and the employees must receive their pension on the very day of retirement. All the pending pension cases must be cleared up within a specific timeline, said a government statement quoting the minister.

After the dedicated pension cell starts functioning, retired employees will get a single window facility to air their grievances and solve their problems instead of approaching several officers of the department, said an official. The minister also said efforts are on to fill up vacancies of TEACHING and non-teaching staff in colleges.

In the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0, which was released by the Union Education ministry, Delhi has improved to the third position this year. It is only behind Chandigarh andPunjab, which are in the first and second positions, respectively. In 2020-21, the national capital was in the eighth position.

The index measures the performance of states/Union territories on a uniform scale to catalyse transformational change in the field of school education. PGI 2.0 scores are the aggregate scores of six domains of educational attainment of states/UTs– Learning outcomes, access, and facilities, Equity, Governance processes and teacher education and training.

None of the states/UTs has attained the highest grade-Daksh-this year. The topmost grade attained in PGI 2.0 is Prachesta-2 (with score range of 641 to 700). Prachesta-2 is the sixth highest grade out of the 10 listed in the index.

PGI terms learning outcome as the most important domain. Punjab, Chandigarh andRajasthanare on top in this domain with Prachesta-2 grade. “However, unlike other domains, which are relatively easier to comply with, improving learning outcomes takes time and patience. All other domains support learning outcomes and ultimately converge towards it,” said the PGI 2.0 document. In this category, Delhi didn’t fare well and only managed to get Akanshi-1.

In a step towards promoting digitisation and in sync with Digital India mission, DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday launched here an National Cadet Corps (NCC) Integrated Software.

The NCC Integrated Software, developed in PARTNERSHIP with Institute for Space Applications and Geo Informatics (BISAG), is a single window interactive software for Cadets, designed on the Entry to Exit Model.

The NCC Integrated Software is based on the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modis vision of Once a Cadet always a cadet, and will digitalize the entire process from the stage of enrolment as a cadet in NCC till exit registration as alumni.

This will enable seamless issue of certificates, creation of an all India Database of NCC cadets at the time of their EMPLOYMENT.

During this event, the NCC and State Bank Of India (SBI) also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of Raksha Mantri to open zero balance accounts of all NCC Cadets with debit card, chequebook & passbook facility under SBIs Pahli Udaan scheme. About five lakh cadets will be benefitted by this MoU every year.

The account will remain functional till completion of training or attaining 18 years of age whichever is later. This will not only introduce the cadets to the national Banking system but also provide them with a ready platform to avail benefit of other govt schemes through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) of funds into their accounts.

Under the DBT initiative, the Ministry of Defence has reformed the physical uniform distribution process to make it more transparent and seamless, allowing direct bank transfer of uniform allowance in the bank accounts of the NCC cadets.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on Friday agreed on a flexible net zero target of 2050 actively propagated by the developing nations, with a net zero goal by or around that is closer to 2050 and a clause reading if the national circumstances allow.

The IMO agreeing on a considerable reduction of the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) in the global shipping , which is at present a major contributor to <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Climate-change”>Climate Change with one billion tonnes of emission per year, went softer on the strict net zero targets by 2050, which was actively propagated by the developed nations and some of the island nations.

The member states, however, have agreed to the indicative checkpoints of reducing emissions at least by 20 per cent, striving for 30 per cent by 2030, and at least 70 per cent, striving for 80 per cent by 2040.

The shipping industry accounts for almost 3 per cent of global emissions. The shipping industry is crucial to global trade carrying up to 90 per cent of commercial cargo. But ships use some of the most carbon-heavy fuels to power their engines.

The civil Society organisations, while accusing IMO of failing to align the shipping industry with the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, said the level of ambition agreed is far short of what is needed to be sure of keeping the global heating below 1.5C. The London-based IMO is a specialised agency of the United Nations which is responsible for measures to improve the safety and security of international shipping and to prevent pollution from ships.

India also thanked the Inter-sessional Working Group on GHG Emissions for explicitly addressing the human element, including the impact on seafarers and other maritime professionals in the safe implementation of the 2023 IMO GHG strategy.