13.06.23

Rajasthan records its lowest enrolment growth in higher education in 18 years

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Rajasthan recorded its lowest ever Growth of 0.14% in the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher Education in 2022-23, a phenomenon that has baffled experts and plunged into question the Ashok Gehlot government’s claims about the state emerging as an education hub in the country.
As per the government’s data, the latest growth rate is the lowest in the last 18 years, as enrolment data is available only from 2005. In 2022-23, a little over 2,000 students were added to the previous year’s tally of 13.02 lakh. What has surfaced as an alarming situation is that for the first time, the enrolment of boys has decreased by 1.52% from 2021-22 despite the state having opened 117 new colleges in the last one year.

In absolute numbers, while 13.02 lakh students enrolled at all levels in the state in 2021-22, it was only 13.04 lakh in 2022-23. Experts say that considering the rise in Population in the state, the Average rise in enrolment every year should be at least around 5%.

As per the report available on the website of the department of higher education, General-EWS andScheduled Tribes(ST) recorded a negative growth (-2.89% and -1.68% respectively) in enrolment while that for SC and OBC remained marginally up (1.89% and 1.45% respectively).

An analysis of the growth figures of the last five years makes the fall in enrolment growth in 2022-23 hard to understand. In 2018-19, the growth rate was 5.12% and in the following years it was 7.16% (2019-20), 5.26% (2020-21), 3.41% (2021-22) and 0.14% (2022-23).

Need to develop new techniques to audit ‘Blue Economy’: CAG Girish Chandra Murmu

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(CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu said that Supreme Audit Institutions should develop new techniques and capabilities to audit marine life or the Blue economy to ensure Sustainable Development.

In order to fulfil their commitment towards sustainability goals in consonance with SDG 14 Life below Water the governments are reorienting policies and regulatory structures to conserve and sustainably use the Oceans, seas and Resources“>Marine Resources for sustainable development.

Government imposes stock limits on wheat to prevent hoarding

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In order to manage overall and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, the government has decided to impose stock limits on wheat for traders, wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors. The order will be applicable with immediate effect and will be applicable until March 31, 2024.

In order to manage overall food security and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, the government has decided to impose stock limits on wheat for traders, wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors. The order will be applicable with immediate effect and will be applicable until March 31, 2024.

Stock limits will be applicable for each entity individually such as: traders/wholesalers- 3000 tonne; Retailer- 10 tonne for each of the retail outlets; Big Chain Retailer- 10 tonne for each outlet and 3000 tonne at all their depots and Processors – 75 per cent of annual installed capacity.

Further, the centre has also decided to offload 15 lakh tonnes of wheat in the first phase from central pool stock under Open Market Sale Scheme to control retail prices of wheat.

Wheat will be sold in lot sizes of 10-100 tonnes. Registration for this auction is open on the Fci‘s e-auction platform. It has also been decided to offload rice under the open market scheme in order to moderate the prices.

China could potentially have as many ICBMs as U.S. or Russia by turn of decade: SIPRI

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The size of Chinas nuclear arsenal increased from 350 warheads in January 2022 to 410 in January 2023, and it is expected to keep growing, according to estimations by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The key finding in SIPRI Yearbook 2023 is that the number of operational nuclear weapons started to rise as countries long-term force modernisation and expansion plans progressed.

According to SIPRI estimates, the nuclear arsenals of India grew from 160 in 2022 to 164 in 2023 and that of Pakistan from 165 to 170.

The nine nuclear-armed states the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israelcontinue to modernise their nuclear arsenals and several deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2022

Lower house of Japans Parliament passes bill to promote LGBTQ+ awareness

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The powerful lower house of Japan’s parliament on June 13 passed a bill to promote understanding ofLGBTQ+ issuesamid protests by activists that last-minute revisions by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative party favoured opponents of sexual instead of guaranteeing equal rights.

Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations which does not have LGTBQ+ legal protections.