Excellence by Saikat Sir: 07/16/20

Union HRD Ministry released the guidelines for Digital Education.
The ministry has recommended a cap on the screen time for students. As per the guidelines, online classes for pre-primary students should not be for more than 30 minutes. It further mentions that two online sessions of up to 30-45 minutes each should be conducted for classes 1 to 8 and four sessions for classes 9 to 12.
The HRD minister informed that PRAGYATA guidelines have been developed from the perspective of learners, with a focus on online/blended/digital education for students who are presently at home due to lockdown.
The PRAGYATA guidelines include eight steps of online education that is, Plan, Review, Arrange, Guide, Yak(talk), Assign, Track, and Appreciate.
The guidelines outline suggestions for administrators, school heads, teachers, parents, and students in the following areas: 1. Need assessment; 2. Concerns while planning online and digital education like duration, screen time, inclusiveness, balanced online and offline activities, etc level-wise; 3. Modalities of intervention including resource curation, level-wise delivery, etc.; 4. Physical, mental health, and wellbeing during digital education; 5. Cyber safety and ethical practices including precautions and measures for maintaining cyber safety and 6. Collaboration and convergence with various initiatives.

The country’s “first cable-stayed” Indian Railways bridge – the magnificent Anji Khad Bridge will soon connect Katra and Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir.
The country’s first cable-stayed railway bridge is being developed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, which is a Government of India undertaking. The cable-stayed railway bridge is a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.
The Anji Khad Bridge has a single pylon, standing at a height of 331 metres above the river bed. The total length of the Anji Khad Bridge is 473.25 metres. The length of the viaduct is 120 metres and the central embankment has a length of 94.25 metres. It has support of 96 cables. The Anji Khad Bridge has been designed to handle heavy storms of strong winds.
Also, Pump Concreting System arrangement was used to increase efficiency, providing higher safety for workers and saved the construction time by about 30 per cent. The Anji Khad Bridge will have an integrated monitoring system by means of numerous sensors installed at various locations on the bridge.
The USBRL project also involves the Chenab river bridge. The Chenab bridge, once completed, will become the world’s highest rail bridge.

The coal ministry plans to link the mining plan portal with Parivesh website.
PARIVESH is a single-window hub for online submission, monitoring, and management of proposals submitted to the Environment Ministry by project proponents to seek various types of clearances.
Auction of coal mines for commercial mining organised by Ficci.
The government may go for an investment of 50,000 crore in eastern part of the country in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha to ramp up coal evacuation.
Last month, the government launched the auction process for 41 coal blocks for commercial mining, a move that opens India’s coal sector for private players, and termed it a major step in the direction of India achieving self-reliance.

Union Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, e-inaugurated a National Skill Training Institute (NSTI), Extension Centre located at the campus of Government ITI in Imphal through a Video conference.
The inaugural was held during the Digital Conclave held on the occasion of the World Youth Skills Day and the fifth anniversary of ‘Skill India’ mission, organised by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.
The NSTI, Extension Centre, Manipur, at the campus of Govt. ITI, Takyel will facilitate training of Trainers in the Crafts Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) trades of Motor Mechanic Vehicle , Carpentry and Electrician initially by making use of existing infrastructure & Equipment in the ITI for the benefit of ITI Passed outs in the Northeast Region.
The NSTI, Extension Centre, Manipur was e-inaugurated in the presence of the Minister of State for Power, New & Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, R. K. Singh, Manipur State Labour & Employment Minister, Dr. Thokchom Radheshyam and other top officials of New NSTI meet future demand to the existing 21,768 CITS trained instructors of 17,683 & 4,085 in both Engineering & Non Engineering trades respectively in the North Eastern region of 7 states.

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