ISSA Good Practice Award for Asia and Pacific 2024

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Recently, India was honoured with the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Good Practice Award for Asia and Pacific 2024 at the Regional Social Security Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), received five Certificates of Merit for five different programs.

EPFO also received a Special Mention for the Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan Patra), showcasing the commitment of EPFO to support pensioners with digital ease.

• The Digital Life Certificate also known as the Jeevan Pramaan Certificate is an additional facility for filing Life Certificates for pensioners enabled by the biometric authentication system that is Aadhaar-based. 

The Five Award Categories

• Communication Channels: – Reaching stakeholders through different Media
• E-proceedings: – Use of information and communication technology in justice delivery
• Nidhi Aapke Nikat 2.0: – Ensuring last-mile delivery of Services
• Multilingual Call Centres: – Effort towards an inclusive grievance redressal 
• Prayaas – Prioritizing Pensioners

International Social Security Association (ISSA)

• It is the world’s leading international organization founded in 1927 for social security institutions, government departments and agencies.
• The ISSA was founded under the auspices of the International Labour Organization, and today has over 320 member institutions from over 160 countries.

Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav

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The Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

About Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav

It is a three-day cultural festival, being celebrated for the first time from December 6 to 8.

It aims to showcase the beauty, diversity, and promise of the eight states of Northeast India—Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, and Sikkim. 

Known as the ‘Ashtalakshmi’, these states represent the eight forms of prosperity as embodied by the goddess Lakshmi: Prosperity, Opulence, Purity, Wealth, Knowledge, Duty, Agriculture, and Animal Husbandry. 

The mascot of the festival is Purvi, a young girl who symbolises unity and diversity.

The event aims to offer a dynamic stage for showcasing Northeast India’s vibrant textile sector, tourism opportunities, traditional craftsmanship, and distinctive Geographical Indication (GI) tagged products.

It showcases over 250 artisans who will display unique handicrafts, handlooms, and agri-horti products, including 34 GI-tagged items.

The event showcases the investment opportunities in Northeast India in the following domains:

• Infrastructure Development 
• Handloom and Handicrafts 
• Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries 
• Tourism and Hospitality  

The festival has been conceptualized as an annual event that will continue to honour the diversity and cultural richness of Northeast India, propelling the region towards further economic advancement.

PM e-Vidya DTH Channel for Indian Sign Language

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Recently, the Union Ministry for Education inaugurated Channel 31 on DTH (Direct-to-home) dedicated to Indian Sign Language (ISL) for the hearing-impaired.

PM e-Vidya 

It was launched in 2020 as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan by the Ministry of Education.

It aims to provide multi-mode access to education through digital, and on-air platforms to minimise learning losses.

It aligns with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Key Components of PM e-Vidya:

• DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for School Education): It is a national digital platform providing high-quality e-content, including QR (Quick Response) coded energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform). 
• PM e-Vidya DTH TV Channels: Initially 12 DTH channels, now expanded to 200 channels, providing supplementary education in multiple Indian languages for classes 1-12 across States/UTs.
• SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds):  A national massive open online course (MOOC) platform offering higher education courses with credit transfer provisions. 
• Radio, Community Radio & CBSE Podcast - Shiksha Vani: These platforms are used to broadcast educational content to a wider audience, especially in areas with limited internet access.
• Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY): E-content designed specifically for visually and hearing-impaired students

Indian Sign Language (ISL)

• It is a well-structured language that serves as the primary means of communication for hearing-impaired individuals.
• In 2020, the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) signed an MoU with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to translate textbooks for classes I–XII and other teaching materials into ISL.

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2024

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Recently, the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2024 has been awarded to former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet.

Michelle Bachelet

• Bachelet served as the President of Chile for two non-consecutive terms (2006–2010 and 2014–2018).
• She was the first female President of Chile.
• From 2010 to 2013, Bachelet was the first Director of the newly created UN Women. 
• She also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022.

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development

• The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is an annual award established in 1986 by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.
• It is presented to individuals, organizations, or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to international peace, disarmament, and development.
• The recipients of the award are chosen by an international jury, comprising distinguished personalities from various fields.

Award Components: 

• A monetary prize of ₹2.5 million (₹25 lakh). 
• A citation recognizing the recipient's efforts.

The Turner Prize 2024

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Recently, the Indian-origin artist Jasleen Kaur was announced as the winner of the Turner Prize 2024 for her work “Alter Altar” which pays tribute to her family history of migration to Scotland.

The Turner Prize 

• The prize is named after an English painter JMW Turner (1775-1851), known for his paintings of sceneries, the ocean and dramatic depictions of light.
• It was founded by a group called the Patrons of New Art and it was first awarded in 1984. 
• The Turner Prize is awarded to a British artist. ‘British’ can mean an artist working primarily in Britain or an artist born in Britain working globally.
• Tate Gallery hosts the Turner Prize. Four artists are shortlisted each year, and an independent panel of judges, selected by Tate, evaluates their work to determine the winner. 
• The winner of the Prize is awarded £25,000 while each shortlisted artist gets £10,000.
• Before Jasleen Kaur, the only other Indian-origin artist to have won the prize was sculptor Anish Kapoor in 1991.

PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024

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Recently, the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education conducted the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024.

PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024

The Ministry of Education established PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) under NCERT as part of recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

PARAKH oversees the National Achievement Survey (NAS), now called PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024.

• The last National Achievement Survey (NAS) was held in November, 2021.

The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan is a baseline study to understand the achievement of the stage-specific competencies at the end of foundational, preparatory and middle stages (i.e., Students currently in 3rd, 6th and 9th Grades) and help to take remedial measures. 

It will cover the entire spectrum of schools i.e., Government Schools (Central Government and State Government), Government Aided Schools and Private schools across the country.

Around 23 lakh students from 88 thousand schools in 782 districts across 36 States and UTs participated in the Sarvekshan this year. 

A Portal has been launched to enable coordination with various key functionaries for the smooth conduct of the Sarvekshan