Education
Online ATAL Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) + Mains ( GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources)
What's the NEWS

• Union Education Minister inaugurated 46 online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) to train teachers of higher education institutions associated with All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) in thrust and emerging areas in technology.
• The FDPs will be conducted in 22 Indian states.

Know! about Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs

• The ATAL Academy is conducting FDPs in online mode, including the process of registration till certificate disbursal mechanism. In the year 2020-21, new thrust areas in the field of Engineering, Management, Life Skills, Design & Media have been incorporated.
• The online FDPs will be conducted according to the new National Education Policy (2020)
• Out of 1000, 499 FDPs have already been completed with more than 70,000 faculty members already trained.
• In 2019-20, 185 five-day face-to-face FDPs in nine thrust areas -- Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Block-chain, Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, 3D Printing & Design, and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality -- benefited around 10,000 participants.
• The main objective of ATAL Academy is to provide quality technical education in the country and to promote research and entrepreneurship through training in various emerging fields. IITs, IIITs, NITs CU and research labs are organizing these ATAL FDPs

Know! about 'Flipped Classroom' and 'Blended Learning' concept.

• Digital learning and the increasing use of smart devices such as computers, smart phones, and tablets have enhanced student learning.
• CBSE teachers have been trained under the 'Flipped Classroom' and 'Blended Learning' concept.
• In the flipped classroom model, students can take online lectures at home as per their convenience and the next day in class, they do assignments related to that lecture.
• This method not only improves learning ability, but also students' scores.
• Under this, teachers record their lectures and post videos online, which can be accessed by students.
• Students watch these videos and study at home and when they come to class they are ready with that lecture.
• The next day, teachers in classrooms provide activities related to the post lecture and students participate

The ATAL Academy to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records.

• It has recognized the FDPs as a world record, under which 1,000 online FDPs in over 100 emerging areas will benefit one lakh faculty members across premier institutions like IITs, NITs, and IIITs. This year the online FDP program will cost Rs 10 crores

Governance
UMANG's international version launched
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about UMANG and its international version) + Mains (GS II good governance, transparency and accountability)
What's the NEWS

• To mark the occasion of 3 years of UMANG and 2000+ services milestone, an online conference was organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
• Key partners of UMANG - Employee Provident Fund Organization, Employee State Insurance Corporation, Ministries of External Affairs, Health, NPPA, DAR&PG, Education, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and senior Officers from the Cabinet Secretariat were also present during the conference.

UMANG's international version

• In coordination with Ministry of External Affairs, UMANG's international version was launched for select countries that include USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE, Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
• It will help Indian international students, NRIs and Indian tourists abroad, to avail Government of India services, anytime.
• It will also help in taking India to the world through ‘Indian Culture' services available on UMANG and create interest amongst foreign tourists to visit India.
• The international version of the UMANG App can be downloaded by going to the Play Store of specific countries.
• UMANG
• To mark the milestone of 2000+ services on UMANG and its 3 year journey, the Ministry launched an e-Book which presents major milestones of UMANG and major services available on UMANG App classified into various categories for different segments of society

UMANG Awards

• The Ministry unveiled the newly instituted UMANG Awards for Partner Departments of Centre and States based on the highest number of transactions across services.
• In the Central Department category, EPFO was bestowed the Platinum Partner award, followed by DigiLocker as the Gold Partner while ESIC and Bharat Gas services were declared the Silver Partner
• The Bronze Partner award was announced for HP Gas, Doordarshan, National Consumer Helpline, CBSE, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, Jeevan Pramaan & Jan Aushadhi Sugam.

UMANG mobile app (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance)

• The UMANG mobile app (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is a Government of India all-in-one single, unified, secure, multi-channel, multi-lingual, multi-service mobile app. providing access to high impact services of various Government of India Departments and State Governments.
• UMANG has now grown to provide 2039 services (373 from 88 Central departments, 487 from 101 departments of 27 States and 1,179 services for utility bill payments)

International
US officially withdraws from Open Skies transparency pact
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Open Skies treaty)
What's the NEWS

• The US has exited the Open Skies treaty, which allows countries to observe one another's militaries.
• Six months after US President Donald Trump announced his administration's decision to withdraw from the Open Skies accord
• The treaty provides for inspection flights over member countries' territories to monitor military activities.
• US officials claim that Russia violated the Open Skies treaty by blocking surveillance flights around certain areas, including the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and the border with Georgia.

Know! about the Treaty on Open Skies

• The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 in Helsinki by 23 member nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
• It now has 33 members, with Russia ratifying it on May 26, 2001.
• In 2017, the Trump administration imposed certain restrictions on Russian observation flights above its territory, after which the Russian government announced similar measures for the US.
• President Trump pulled out the US from several international treaties, including the 2016 Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, and the 2015 Paris Climate Change deal.

Miscellaneous
India to launch deep sea mission

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Deep Ocean Mission + about PMS )
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences will soon launch an ambitious 'Deep Ocean Mission' that envisages exploration of minerals, energy and marine diversity of the underwater world
• The mission, which is expected to cost over Rs 4,000 crore, will give a boost to efforts to explore India's vast Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf
• The mission will also involve developing technologies for different deep ocean initiatives.

Deep Ocean Mission

• The multi-disciplinary work will be piloted by the MoES and other government departments like the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Department of Biotechnology, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will be stakeholders in this mission
• Some of the technologies involved will be developed by organisations such as the ISRO and DRDO.
• One of the main aspects of the mission will be design, development and demonstration of human submersibles
• Another aspect is exploring the possibility of deep sea mining and developing necessary technologies
• The move strategically significant as it will enhance India's presence in the Indian Ocean where other players like China, Korea and Germany are active.
• India has been ear-marked nearly 1.5 lakh square kilometres of area in the central Indian Ocean for exploration.
• The mission will also involve procurement of more advanced deep sea vessels for explorations. The existing vessel Sagar Kanya is nearly three-and-half decades old.
• In September 2016, India signed a 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration of Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS) in the Indian Ocean.
• The ISA is an institution set up under the Convention on Law of the Sea to which India is a Party.
• The 15-year contract formalised India's exclusive rights for exploration of PMS in the allotted area in the Indian Ocean.
• The ISA earlier approved 10,000 sq. km for India with a 15-year PMS exploration plan along the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) and Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) region of the Indian Ocean.

Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS)

• Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS), which contain iron, copper, zinc, silver, gold, platinum in variable constitutions, are precipitates of hot fluids from upwelling hot magma from deep interior of the oceanic crust, discharged through mineralized chimneys.
• PMS in the Ocean Ridges have attracted worldwide attention for their long term commercial as well as strategic values.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS