Prelim Bits 28-02-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

PARAKH

NCERT selects Educational Testing Service (ETS) for establishing national assessment regulator PARAKH.

• Setting up PARAKH was outlined in National Education Policy (NEP 2020) to help remove disparities in scores of students enrolled with different State boards.
• The Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH) will work on setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognised school boards in the country.
• Educational Testing Service (ETS) has been chosen by the National Council for Education Research (NCERT) for setting up the regulatory platform.

Educational Testing Service (ETS) conducts key tests such as TOEFL and GRE. It also conducts National Achievement Survey (NAS). Related topic - NAS 2021

• PARAKH will be an independent organisation affiliated to the Education Ministry.
• It will be looking into 3 major areas
  1. Large-scale assessment like the National Achievement Survey.
  2. School-based assessments.
  3. Capacity building.
• PARAKH will develop some norms and standardised guidelines for assessment, including summative tests and constant new forms of assessing students.
• The guidelines will be stressing upon the diversity in school education in India due to geographic differences and multiple languages.
• PARAKH would bring in the "uniformity in assessment” across the 62 boards in 36 States and Union Territories.

References

1. The Hindu - India's first national assessment regulator
2. Times of India - PARAKH to help tackle inequity of coaching

Women 20

The 2-day inception meet of Women20 was held at Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

• W20 (Women 20) is an official engagement group under the G20 focused on gender equity.
• W20 was established during the Turkish presidency in 2015.
• Its primary objective is to ensure that gender considerations are mainstreamed into G20 discussions and translated into the G20 Leaders’ Declaration as policies and commitments.
• These policies and commitments will foster gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
• W20, under India’s presidency, is focused on actualizing Prime Minister’s vision of “Women-Led Development”.
• There are 5 priority areas of W20 under India’s Presidency.

The inception meet will be followed by 2 other W20 International meets at Jaipur, Rajasthan in April.

The W20 Summit will be held in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu in June 2023.

References

1. PIB - W20 (Women 20) for India's G20 Presidency
2. Deccan Herald - Two-day Women20 inception meet in Aurangabad
3. G20 - W20 - India 2023

Raman Effect

Every year, February 28 is celebrated as National Science Day, to commemorate the discovery of the “Raman effect”.

• The Raman Effect was the discovery which won physicist Sir CV Raman his Nobel Prize in 1930.
• In 1986, the Government of India, under then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, designated February 28 as National Science Day to commemorate the announcement of the discovery of the “Raman Effect”.
• Raman Effect - The phenomenon in which when a stream of light passes through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.
• This happens due to the change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.
• The change in the energy of the light is affected by the vibrations of the molecule or material under observation, leading to a change in its wavelength.

Rayleigh scattering effect is the scattering of light by particles in a medium without a change in wavelength.

• Uses - The character of the scattered radiations enables us to obtain an insight into the ultimate structure of the scattering substance.
• This lead to the birth to a new field known as Raman spectroscopy as a basic analytical tool to conduct non-destructive chemical analysis for both organic and inorganic compounds.

References

1. IE - National Science Day 2023: The Raman Effect and Sir CV Raman

Global IP Index

India has been ranked 42nd out of 55 countries in the US Chamber of Commerce’s latest International IP Index report.

• The International Intellectual Property Index is released annually by the US Chamber of Commerce.
• The index evaluates the protection of IP rights in 55 of the world’s leading economies, together representing around 90% of global GDP.
• The index aims to help nations navigate toward a brighter economic future marked by greater innovation, creativity, and competitiveness.
• The report covers everything from patent and copyright laws to the ability to monetise IP assets and the ratification of international agreements.
• The report shows a torrent of proposals (both domestic and international) are threatening to erode intellectual property (IP) rights.
• India - Ranked 42^nd out of 55 countries.
• According to the report, India is ripe to become a leader for emerging markets seeking to transform their economy through IP-driven innovation.
• India has generous R&D and IP-based tax incentives and a strong awareness-raising efforts regarding the negative impact of piracy and counterfeiting.

References

1. FE - India ranks 42nd out of 55 nations in global IP index
2. Economic Times - India ranks 42 in International IP Index

Municipal Bond Index

India’s first ever municipal bond index has been unveiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

• The India Municipal Bond Index (IBMX) will track the performance of Municipal bonds issued by Indian Municipal Corporations.
• IBMX will be unveiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
• Constituents - IBMX will have 28 municipal bonds, which were issued by 10 issuers, as its constituents.
• Process - The index constituents are assigned weight in the index in accordance with their outstanding amount.
• It is computed using the total return methodology including price return and coupon return.
• The index will be reviewed quarterly.
• Base - The index has a base date of January 1, 2021, and a base value of 1,000.
• Regulation - SEBI (Issue and Listing of Municipal Debt Securities) Regulations, 2015
• It circulated guidelines for urban local bodies or local government bodies to raise funds by issuing these bonds.
• Utility - The municipal bond market finance the borrowing requirements of different municipal corporations in India.
• The raised money helps municipal corporations fund new projects and in turn improve civic infrastructure.
• Market - The thriving municipal bond market in India has seen a three-fold rise in fund raising since 2017.
• In 2022, fundraising through Municipal Bonds stood at Rs.6,252 crore through this route compared to Rs.2,342 crore in 2017.

References

1. BL - NSE launches India’s first Municipal Bond Index