1.Premier institutes IISc and NLSIU top NIRF-2024 ranking list
Highlights:
- Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has announced the India Rankings for all the categories
- The announcement event was held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Minister of State for Education Sukanto Majumdar
- NIRF rankings lists have been released for 16 different categories.
- Three new categories- state universities, skill universities and open universities have been added this year.
- The other categories include universities, colleges, research institutions, engineering, management, pharmacy, medical, dental, law, architecture and planning, agriculture and allied sectors, and innovation.
Top Institution in all Categories:
- IIT Madras has topped the overall category followed by IISc Bengaluru in second place, IIT Bombay in the third position.
- Under engineering category, IIT Madras has again topped followed by IIT Delhi in second place and IIT Bombay in the third spot.
- For medical category, AIIMS Delhi has ranked on top, second spot is acquired by PGIMER, Chandigarh and third place is acquired by Christian Medical College, Vellore.
2.Government schools in state struggle with low admissions
Context:
- In an alarming development, a significant number of primary and secondary government schools in Karnataka are struggling with poor admissions.
- Data reveals that 17,605 schools have fewer than 30 admissions, including 4,398 of them having less than 10 students admitted for the current academic year.
- The state has approximately 47,000 primary and secondary government schools, and schools with poor admission face a potential risk of closure.
- According to officials, schools with fewer than 30 admissions are there in every district.
- 30 govt schools shut down in 2 districts due to lack of students
What are the Constitutional Provisions and Laws related to Education in India?
Constitutional Provisions:
- Part IV of Indian Constitution,Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), has a provision for state-funded as well as equitable and accessible education.
- The 42ndAmendment to the Constitution in 1976 moved education from the State to the Concurrent List.
- The 86thAmendment in 2002 made education an enforceable right under Article 21-A.
- Article 21Aof the Constitution makes it obligatory on the State to provide free and compulsory education to children between the age of 6 and 14 years.
Related Laws:
- Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009 aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years and enforces education as a Fundamental Right.
- It alsomandates 25% reservation for disadvantaged sections of the society.
Government Initiatives:
3.India at Paris Olympics 2024
Context:
- TheParis Olympics 2024 have concluded with India finishing 71st in the medal tally, a decline from its 48th place in Tokyo 2020.
- Despite winning six medals, including one silver and five bronze, the nation experienced several near misses and disheartening outcomes that have sparked discussions about the future of Indian sports.
What were the Highlights of India’s Performance at Paris Olympics 2024?
NOTE:
- Neeraj Choprasecured a silver medal in javelin with a throw of 45m. This was his second Olympic medal, making him India’s fifth two-time Olympic medallist.
- Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal.
- She also became the first athlete from independent India to win two medalsin a single Games by clinching a medal in both individual and mixed team events.
- India won three shooting medals, including the first-ever Olympic medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions, achieved by Swapnil Kusale.
- This was the highest tally for India in shooting at the Olympics.
- Indian athletes competed in 69 medal events across 16 sports, such as archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, and tennis.
- Lakshya Senbecame the first Indian to reach the semi-finals in men’s badminton at the Olympics, finishing fourth.
- Wrestler Vinesh Phogat after reaching the finalin the women’s 50 kg category, Phogat was disqualified for being overweight by 100 grams.
- To date, India has won a total of 41 Olympic medals.Notable milestones include Norman Pritchard’s Silver Medals (1900 Paris), KD Jadhav’s Bronze (1952 Helsinki), Karnam Malleswari’s Bronze (2000 Sydney), Abhinav Bindra’s Gold (2008 Beijing), and Neeraj Chopra’s Gold (2020 Tokyo).
- Men’s Hockey has won 13 medals, including eight golds, and Wrestling has won eight medals.
- India’s best-ever Olympic performance was at Tokyo 2020, with seven medals, including one gold.
- India’s second-best performance was in the2012 London Olympics when it won six medals(two silver and four bronze).
