💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (July Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Distribution: weekly

  • Places in news: Solomon Islands

    The Solomon Islands has defended plans to sign a security deal with Beijing that could allow China to boost its military presence in the South Pacific island nation. This has left Australia very concerned.

    Solomon Islands

    • Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu.
    • It has a land area of 28,400 square kilometres and a population of 652,858.[10] Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal.
    • The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands.
    • It also includes the North Solomon Islands (a part of Papua New Guinea), but excludes outlying islands, such as the Santa Cruz Islands and Rennell and Bellona.
    • The islands have been settled since at least some time between 30,000 and 28,800 BCE, with later waves of migrants, notably the Lapita people, mixing and producing the modern indigenous Solomon Islanders population.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Smart Policing

    Context

    On March 11, speaking at the NCRB Foundation Day, the Union Home Minister remarked that the second phase of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) is set to be completed by 2026.

    Increasing use of technology for policing

    • the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), a Rs 3,500 crore project, is set to be completed by 2026 with increased use of artificial intelligence, fingerprint systems and other tools of predictive policing.
    • One crore fingerprints had already been uploaded and if these were available to all police stations as part of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), there would no longer be any need to pursue criminals.
    • The existing systems of ICJS and CCTNS empower the state to cross-reference data between different pillars of the criminal justice system.
    • Recently, the Indore Police Commissioner unveiled a “fingerprint-based criminal record data fetching system” in which a small thumb impression machine can be added to a phone.
    • If the fingerprint recorded matches with the police database, all information about a person’s criminal record will be pulled up.

    Issues with the use of technologies

    • Privacy concerns: The enthusiasm for generating and cross-referencing data to make policing more efficient ignores privacy concerns and structural faults of policing.
    • The Supreme Court in K.S Puttaswamy declared a fundamental right to informational privacy as paramount and noted that any measure that sought to collect information or surveil must be legal, necessary, and proportionate.
    • Fear of mass surveillance: Integrating “fingerprint-based criminal record data fetching system” to the list of predictive policing practices will give birth to mass surveillance, particularly of certain oppressed caste communities, based on little evidence.
    • Nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes were ascribed “criminality by birth” and considered as “hereditary criminals addicted to systematic commission of non-bailable offences” under the colonial Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.
    • It has been replaced with the murky Habitual Offenders (HO) provisions, which have acted as a tool for police to continue to attribute criminality to Vimukta communities, by mandating their surveillance through regular check-ins at police stations.
    • Mere suspicion or FIRs filed against an individual are sufficient to trigger the discretionary powers of the police.

    Consider the question “Use of technology in policing can make it better at the same time run the risk of making it more dangerous.” Critically examine.

    Conclusion

    With the increasing adoption of technology in policing, we must pay attention to the risks involved and the issue of misuse.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • When Nehru took Pak to the UN over Kashmir in 1947?

    Finance Minister sought to remind Parliament that it was the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who internationalized the Kashmir issue by taking it to the United Nations.

    Kashmir at UN

    • The United Nations has played an advisory role in maintaining peace and order in the Kashmir region soon after the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.
    • India took this matter to the UN Security Council, which passed resolution 39 (1948) and established the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate the issues and mediate between the two countries.
    • Following the cease-fire of hostilities, it also established the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to monitor the cease-fire line.

    Why did Nehru agree to these terms?

    • In December 1947, because the British perhaps suggested Nehru that this matter will not be resolved unless you take it to the UN.
    • British were convinced that an intermediary was needed.
    • Nehru, a loyalist to the British agreed upon the terms laid by Mountbatten.
    • It was Nehru who first put forth the idea of a referendum under the aegis of UN soon after independence.
    • There is evidence to believe Sardar Patel was uncomfortable with Nehru taking the matter to the UN, and thought it was a mistake.

    Issue: Adventurism by Pakistan

    • The discussions in the Security Council on our complaint of aggression by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir took a very unfavourable turn.
    • Pakistan then succeeded, with the support of the British and American members creating a western bias against India.
    • Pakistan is misusing this till date paving wave for third-party intervention.
    • It is an issue which should not have gone to a global forum, it is essentially an Indian issue.

    Article 35 of UN Charter

    • There has been some debate on whether India chose the wrong path to approach the UN.
    • In 2019, Home Minister said that had Nehru taken the matter to the UN under Article 51 of the UN Charter, instead of Article 35, the outcome could have been different.
    • India pointed out that J&K had acceded to India, and that the “Government of India considered the giving of this assistance by Pakistan to be an act of aggression against India.
    • Articles 33-38 of the UN Charter occur in Chapter 6, titled “Pacific (peaceful) Settlement of Disputes” :

    These Articles lay out that:

    1. the parties to a dispute that has the potential for endangering international peace and security are not able to resolve the matter through negotiations between them, or by any other peaceful means, or with the help of a “regional agency”
    2. the Security Council may step in, with or without the invitation of one or another of the involved parties, and recommend “appropriate procedures or methods of recommendation”
    3. Article 35 only says that any member of the UN may take a dispute to the Security Council or General Assembly
    4. Article 51, which occurs in Chapter 7, titled “Action With Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression”
    5. It says that a UN member has the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if attacked

    Issues with the internationalization of Kashmir

    • Kashmir issue no longer remains bilateral; it has thus been internationalized.
    • However, India has been successful in perhaps internationalizing terrorism but not the Kashmir problem.
    • But unwarranted statements against India’s sovereign concerns are increasing these days.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Vacancies in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

    Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions told  the Lok Sabha that as on January 1, 2021, there were 5,231 IAS officers in the country — 1,515 (22.45 per cent) fewer than the sanctioned strength of 6,746.

    About IAS

    • The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India.
    • Considered the premier central civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service.
    • Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states.
    • IAS officers may also be deployed to various public sector undertakings and international organizations.

    Functions of the IAS

    • Upon confirmation of service, an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate.
    • Completion of this probation is followed by an executive administrative role in a district as a district magistrate and collector which lasts several years.
    • After this tenure, an officer may be promoted to head a whole state administrative division, as a divisional commissioner.

    How are officers recruited in the IAS?

    • Direct recruits are selected through the Civil Service Examination (CSE) every year; the number of recruits is decided by a committee that takes several factors into account.
    • Since 2012, 180 IAS officers have been recruited every year through the CSE.
    • A committee has been constituted to arrive at a suitable formula to determine the intake of IAS officers every year from CSE-2022 to 2030.
    • Some officers are promoted from the State Civil Services (SCS), and a limited number are promoted from among non-SCS officers.
    • Filling of vacancies through induction from State Services is a continuous process.
    • The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) holds Selection Committee meetings with state governments.

    Is the shortage a new trend?

    • The shortage has been a constant feature ever since — it was the least in 2001 (0.79 per cent), and the most in 2012 (28.87 per cent), as per available data.

    How is the sanctioned strength decided?

    • There is a provision for quinquennial cadre reviews for every cadre of the All India Services under the relevant Cadre Rules.
    • The Cadre Review Committee (CRC) is headed by the Cabinet Secretary with the Secretary DoPT, Secretary Expenditure, Secretary Administrative Ministry, and the senior-most member of the service/cadre in question as its members.
    • Cadre review is an ongoing process, and some states are taken up by rotation every year for review — in 2020-21.
    • For example, it was decided to revise the strength and composition of the IAS in UP and Bihar, and of the IPS in Manipur.
    • The sanctioned strength, therefore, keeps changing.

    What impact can a shortage of IAS officers have?

    • IAS officers are given a wide range of high-level responsibilities.
    • In states, their work relates to the collection of revenue, maintenance of law and order, and supervision of policies of the central and state governments.
    • They function as executive magistrates in revenue matters, and as development commissioners.
    • They supervise the spending of public funds and, at a senior level, contribute to policy formulation and decision-making in consultation with Ministers.
    • They serve the central government under deputation.

    Other issues

    • State governments have sometimes refused to send IAS/IPS/Indian Forest Service officers to the Centre saying they are short of officers.
    • The Centre has recently proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules in order to exercise greater control in central deputation of IAS officers.

    Why can’t we have more IAS officers?

    • The B S Baswan Committee, said in its report submitted in 2016 that “any number above 180 would
    1. Compromise quality
    2. Exceed the LBNSAA’s (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration’s) capacity and
    3. Lead to a distortion in the career pyramid of IAS officers, particularly for senior posts in the Government of India
    • The Committee recommended that “vacant posts in the Centre and states can be filled by deputation where the number of deputationists would be less than the present.”

    Issues with shortage of Officers

    • Bureaucracy deficit is, perhaps, compelling states to take recourse to such means as appointing non-cadre officers to cadre posts.
    • States allow them to continue in such posts beyond the permissible time limit besides giving multiple charges to serving officers.
    • Such measures compromise the efficiency of administration.

    Way ahead

    • The DoPT should increase the annual intake of IAS officers significantly keeping in view the evolving needs of Indian administration.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • GSAT 7B and India’s other Military Satellites

    The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh cleared the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of a GSAT 7B satellite.

    What are the GSAT 7 series satellites?

    • GSAT 7 satellites are advanced satellites developed by the ISRO to meet the communication needs of the defence services.
    • The satellite was injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.
    • The GSAT 7 satellite was launched in August 2013 from an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
    • It is a 2,650 kg satellite which has a footprint of nearly 2,000 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean region.

    Utility of this satellite

    • This satellite is mainly used by the Indian Navy for its communication needs.
    • The GSAT 7 provides a gamut of services for military communication needs, which includes low bit voice rate to high bit rate data facilities, including multi-band communications.
    • Named Rukmini, the satellite carries payloads in UHF, C-band and Ku-band, and helps the Navy to have a secure, real time communication link between its land establishments, surface ships, submarines and aircraft.

    What will be the role of the GSAT 7B satellite?

    • The GSAT 7B will primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Army.
    • Currently, the Army is using 30 per cent of the communication capabilities of the GSAT 7A satellite, which has been designed for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
    • The GSAT 7B will also help the Army enhance its surveillance in border areas.
    • While many features of this satellite are still a closely guarded secret, it is expected that the state of the art, multi-band, military-grade satellite shall be a shot in the arm for the communication and surveillance needs of the Army.

    What is the role of the GSAT 7A satellite, which is already operational?

    • The GSAT 7A was launched in 2018 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
    • It has gone a long way in boosting the connectivity between the ground radar stations, airbases and the airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) of the IAF.
    • It also helps in satellite controlled operations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which gives a great deal of reliability to the operations as compared to ground-controlled operations.
    • This satellite has 10 channels in Ku band with switchable frequency for mobile users, one fixed Gregorian or parabolic antenna, and four steerable antennae.

    Future plans

    • A GSAT 7C satellite is on the cards for the IAF, and a proposal to this effect was cleared by the DAC in 2021.
    • This satellite would facilitate real time communication with IAF’s software defined radio communication sets.
    • It will increase the capability of the IAF to communicate beyond the line of sight in a secure mode.

    What other kinds of military satellites does India have?

    • An Electromagnetic Intelligence Gathering Satellite (EMISAT), developed by ISRO, was launched in April 2020 through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45).
    • It has an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) package called Kautilya, which allows the interception of ground-based radar and also carries out electronic surveillance across India.
    • The ELINT package provides the capability in direction-finding of radar and fixing their locations.
    • It is placed in a 748-km orbit, and is said to be based on the Israeli satellite system.
    • This satellite circles the globe pole-to-pole, and is helpful in gathering information from radars of countries that have borders with India.
    • India also has a RISAT 2BR1 synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, which was launched in December 2019 from Sriharikota.
    • It has the capability to operate in different modes including very high resolution imaging modes of 1×0.5 metre resolution and 0.5×0.3 m resolution with a swath of 5-10 km.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Sovereign green bond (SGB)

    Context

    The other two major budget announcements pertain to the issuance of sovereign green bonds and a central bank digital currency. While geopolitical turbulence might make the current moment inopportune for experimentation, the government seems firm on both the proposals and they will most probably be rolled out.

    Sovereign green bond (SGB):  how it is different from a traditional bond

    • The sovereign green bond is a novel idea.
    •  It will be a part of the government’s borrowing programme.
    • The gross borrowing programme of the government is pegged at Rs 14.95 lakh crore.
    • The SGB (sovereign green bond) raised will be part of the aggregate borrowing programme and has to be used for projects which are ESG (environment, social and governance) compliant.
    • Hence, if the bond is being used to finance a power project or road, or in case it is used to finance revenue expenditure, it has to be ESG compliant.
    • If they succeed at the central level, green bonds can be replicated by states.

    Challenges for SGB

    • Pricing challenge: As these bonds are different from G-secs (government securities), they may have to provide a better return as all ESG compliant companies have to make special investments that will push up costs.
    • Low-interest rate: Further, given the low-interest rates prevailing today — real returns on deposits are negative — the SGBs can be issued as tax-free bonds, open to the public.
    • This will evince a lot of interest given that these are government-issued bonds.
    • The RBI and the government have been trying to get retail investors to participate in the government’s borrowing programme, and this move will expedite the process.

    Central bank digital currency (CBDC) and challenges

    •  For launching such a currency, the RBI has to address certain fundamental questions.
    • 1] Will it replace currency: Is a CBDC going to replace currency at some point in the future?
    • One must remember that there are several sections in India that are not conversant with technology.
    • 2] How will it be different from digital payments: If it is going to coexist with currency, how different will it be for the public from the digital payments that are being made today?
    • Will people need to choose between a mobile wallet and a CBDC wallet?
    • 3] Security of owner’s information: any issuance of CBDC on a voluntary basis also raises a question on the security of the owner’s information.
    • CBDC has to be clear on the issue of confidentiality as it is bound to be a matter of concern.
    • 4] The future of the banking system: If people have to be incentivised to move voluntarily to the CBDC, the cash exchanged must earn interest or else all money will go to bank accounts where a minimal interest rate can be earned.
    • Will we require savings bank accounts with commercial banks in case all cash goes to the RBI?
    • Will we then require ATMs for cash withdrawal? Will bank tellers become redundant? Will we need logistics companies that handle cash?
    • These finer issues need to be addressed by the RBI as the widespread use of CBDC will progressively lead to lesser need for banks.
    • 5] Issue of security: Any financial system that runs on technology can be hacked.
    • It has to be foolproof and power failure resistant.
    • There is a real danger of cyber fraud increasing as the majority of the population is not tech-savvy.
    • Similarly, there is always downtime for bank servers when banking transactions cannot be carried on.
    • This cannot be allowed to be the case with CBDC as it has to be available on a 24 x 7 basis.

    Consider the question “What are green bonds? How the green bonds can act as a tool to achieve the targets of sustainable development as a means of finance?”

    Conclusion

    The arguments for CBDC are compelling on the grounds of keeping up with the central banks of other countries, and the possibilities of taking advantage of new technologies like blockchain. But before embarking on these measures, it might be useful to keep in mind the issues flagged above.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • What is Article 355 of Indian Constitution?

    Considering the law and order situation in West Bengal, some politicians demanded the invoking of Article 355 to ensure the State is governed as per the provisions of the Constitution.

    What is Article 355?

    • It states that-

    “It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”

    Cases for its invocation

    • This article thus comes handy when there are communal violence incidents. Over the period, this article has gained a different texture.
    • We know that the “public order” and “police” are state subject and states have exclusive power to legislate on these matters.
    • These subjects were entrusted to states because states would be in better position to handle any law and order problem.
    • Management of Police by states was also seen as administratively convenient and efficient.
    • However, there might be some circumstances where states are unable to maintain public order and protect people.
    • In such situation, centre can invoke article 355 and take measures such as taking law and order of state under its own hand, deployment of military etc.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Mid day Meal Scheme

    A parliamentarian has recently asked the government to re-start the mid-day meals in reopening schools and to ensure that the meals provided are cooked and nutritious.

    What is the Mid-Day Meal Scheme?

    • The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal program designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
    • It was launched in the year 1995.
    • It supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in:
    1. Government, government aided, local body schools
    2. Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres,
    3. Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and
    4. National Child Labour Project schools run by the ministry of labour
    • The Scheme has a legal backing under the National Food Security Act, 2013.

    Objective: To enhance the enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among school going children studying in Classes I to VIII

    History of the scheme

    • In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation.
    • By the mid-1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a same scheme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage.
    • In 2001, the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this programme in their schools within 6 months.

    Features: Calorie approach

    • Primary (1-5) and upper primary (6-8) schoolchildren are currently entitled to 100 grams and 150 grams of food grains per working day each.
    • It also include adequate quantities of micronutrients like iron, folic acid, Vitamin-A, etc.
    • The calorific value of a mid-day meal at various stages has been fixed at a minimum:
    Calories Intake Primary Upper Primary
    Energy 450 calories 700 calories
    Protein 12 grams 20 grams

     

    Why in news?

    • The flagship report of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 estimated that as of April 2020 369 million children globally were losing out on school meals, a bulk of whom were in India.
    • As many as 116 million children — actually, 116 million hungry children — is the number of children impacted due to indefinite school closure during the pandemic.

    Why discuss it now?

    • The recent Global Hunger Index (GHI) report for 2020 ranks India at 94 out of 107 countries and in the category ‘serious’, behind our neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
    • The index is a combination of indicators of undernutrition in the population and wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age), and mortality in children below five years of age.

    What measures were resorted to counter this?

    • In March and April 2020 the GoI had announced that the usual hot-cooked mid-day meal or an equivalent food security allowance/dry ration would be provided to all eligible school-going children even during vacation.
    • Nearly three months into this decision, States were still struggling to implement this.

    What lies ahead?

    • Across the country and the world, innovative learning methods are being adopted to ensure children’s education outcomes.
    • The GHI report calls for effective delivery of social protection programmes.
    • With continuing uncertainty regarding the reopening of schools, innovation is similarly required to ensure that not just food, but nutrition is delivered regularly to millions of children.
    • For many of them, that one hot-cooked meal was probably the best meal of the day.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Abel Prize awarded to American Mathematician

    The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded the Abel prize for the year 2022 to American Mathematician Dennis Parnell Sullivan, for his contributions to topology in its broadest sense, and in particular its algebraic, geometric and dynamical aspects.

    Abel Prize

    • The Abel Prize is a prize awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians.
    • It is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modeled after the Nobel Prizes.
    • It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) (increased from 6 million NOK in 2019).
    • Its establishment was proposed by the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie when he learned that Alfred Nobel’s plans for annual prizes would not include a prize in mathematics.
    • The laureates are selected by the Abel Committee, the members of which are appointed by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

    Has any Indian won this prestigious prize?

    • R. Srinivasa Varadhan, an Indian-American citizen won the Abel Prize in the year 2007 for his valuable contribution in “probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviation”.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • [Yojana Archive] Reinventing Teachers’ Education

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Context

    • The National Education Policy’s stated goal is to reinstate teachers as the most respected members of our society.

    Evolution of Teacher Education

    (a) Colonial Period

    • The current style of schooling and teaching emerged during the British rule in India.
    • This system focused on a behaviourist paradigm where education was concerned with preparing students to be disciplined, English-speaking clerks, to submissively execute the tasks of the British administration.
    • It prepared teachers too as mechanics mainly concerned with classroom teaching.

    (b) Post-independence

    • There has been a slow paradigm shift in the system of teacher education in India, with the successful introduction of National Curriculum Framework (NCF)-2005, National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) 2009, and Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009.
    • The Justice Verma Commission in 2012 also stressed upon the need to improve the quality of pre-service and in-service teacher education.
    • In 2014, the erstwhile Ministry of Human and Resource Development (MHRD) restructured its B Ed. programme by doubling the duration of the programme to two years.
    • The new teacher education curriculum, designed by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) introduced several changes in the curriculum.

    Need for reinventing Teacher Education

    • In order to develop 21st-century skills like critical thinking – it is important for educators to develop skills like analysis, evaluation skills.
    • There is a need to imbibe skills amongst students like communication, creativity, critical thinking and collaboration which we value as 21st-century skills.
    • Students now do not rely solely on textbook information for their learning and they are far more aware.
    • So, the educator here needs to go beyond the textbook.
    • Educators need to command more respect by bringing in more professionalism in the way they deal with students and parents, control and manage the classroom environment.

    Challenges to Teachers’ Education

    • Poor training: The present system of training and recruitment is churning ill-equipped and poorly trained teachers.
    • Lack of regulations: Mushrooming of colleges providing B Ed courses with no proper regulatory oversight.
    • Directionlessness: Teacher Education Institutions have been working in isolation from rest of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
    • Non-retention of Youth: There has been no system to ensure only motivated and meritorious individuals select teaching as a profession.

    Teacher Education Post NEP- 2020

    • Recognising the power of teacher, NEP 2020 has put in place systemic reforms that would help teaching emerge as an attractive profession of choice for bright and talented young minds.
    • It has put in place different interventions like:
    • Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP)
    • National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST)
    • National Mission for Mentoring (NMM)
    • At least 50 hours of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for every teacher in a year
    • Eligibility requirement:  The four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), a dual-major holistic bachelor’s degree programme offering B.A., B.Ed/B. Sc., B. Ed., and B.Com. B.Ed, will be the minimum entry requirement for teachers.

    Key features

    • Multi-disciplinary approach: All stand-alone Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) will be required to transform to multidisciplinary institutions by 2030.
    • Professional Standards: The roll out of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) is a continuum in teacher education so far as it would cover expectations for the role of teacher at different levels of expertise/experience at different stages of his/her career, and the competencies required for that stage.
    • Mentoring:  National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) for schools will be operationalized by NCTE by creating a large pool of outstanding senior/retired faculty as potential mentors for mentees (school teachers, Principals, teacher educators, etc.)
    • Focus on continuous learning:  NEP, 2020 envisages each teacher to undergo at least 50 hours of CPD per year.
    • NISHHA:  NCERT has initiated the NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement) integrated training programme. It is an online programme for different stages of school education– Teachers, Head Teachers/Principals, and other stakeholders in Educational Management and Administration.

    Conclusion

    • The multipronged approach adopted by NEP, 2020 is likely to revitalise the teacher education, allow bright students to opt for ITEP as a matter of choice rather than by chance.
    • Interventions like NPST, NMM, CPD, etc. contribute to qualitative changes in teachers’ pedagogic transaction.
    • Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had said “Enlightened citizenship has three components: education with value system, religion transforming into spiritual force, and creating economic prosperity through development”.
    • We repose faith in our teachers to become torch-bearers for the young generation and shape India’s development and sustained progress in the right direction.