26-04-23 Daily -Goa- GPSC Current Affairs

Even as the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in institutes of higher Education has touched 33.8%, the has set out to take it to 50% by 2035.

From 2016 to 2021, the male student’s Average GER was around 28.8, while for girls, it was 34.2.

Education secretary Prasad Lolayekar told TOI that the state’s target is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), which mandates that enrolment in higher education should touch 50% by 2035.

Unesco defines GER as the “total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a Percentage of the eligible official school-age Population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year”.

He said that BITS-Pilani’s Goa campus in Zuarinagar has 4,200 students, and if these are added to Goa’s GER, it would be 36.2%. “As of date, BITS-Pilani shows their enrolment in Rajasthan, which is not correct. As per the rules, it should be shown in the state (Goa) number,” he said. The education secretary said that the directorate of higher education has written to the all-India higher education survey authority to include BITS-Pilani’s enrolment in the state GER.

Meanwhile, the gender parity index for Goa stands at 1.2% in higher educational institutes. Explaining this, Lolayekar said 1.2% means that for every 100 males enrolled in higher education institutes, there are 120 females.

Indias narrowed to a 20-month low of $15. 2 billion in April as goods imports and exports shrank in the wake of lower commodity prices amid weak demand in Europe and the US.

Latest data released by the commerce department pegged goods exports at $34. 7 billion, which was 12. 6% lower than a year ago and the steepest fall since August 2020 when it crashed 12. 7%. It was also the third straight monthly decline.

Similarly, imports contracted 14. 1% to $49. 9 billion the sharpest fall since the 33% decline last October and marked the first time since August 2021 when the monthly value of shipments coming into the country was under $50 billion, according to data available with the government and theRBI.

The government is drawing comfort from the Services export numbers, which have so far bucked the trend. During April, services exports were estimated to have increased 26% to $30. 4 billion, while imports were pegged at $16. 5 billion, a 17% increase.

Besides, the commerce ministry revised the trade numbers for the last financial year. Export of goods and services in 2022-23 is estimated to have increased 14. 7% to $775. 9 billion, around $6 billion higher than the earlier estimate. Imports were around $894. 2 billion, 17. 7% higher, resulting in a trade deficit of $118. 3 billion.

The numbers also showed that goods exports increased 6. 7% to cross the $450-billion mark for the first time, while imports were estimated to have gone up 16. 5% to $714 billion during the last fiscal year.

A coolsummeror pre-monsoon season this year can impact the onset and progress of the southwest rains in India, top weatherexpertsare of the view.

If the landmass of India tends to cool down during summer, as happened this year, the temperature gradient between the land and sea decreases. This can lead to a delay in the onset of the southwestmonsoonover the Indian subcontinent, which normally sets overKeralaaround June 1.

The evolution of wind and convective patterns in the Asia-Pacific region are also important. A cyclone is also soon likely to form over the Bay of Bengal. This can play an important role in the evolution of thermal, dynamic and convective patterns, leading to monsoon onset over the region. The next few days would be crucial to determine the timing of the monsoon onset this year . IMDs forecast on monsoon onset will be released soon, based on these parameters.

The devastatingfloodsthat occurred in the country between 1985 and 2020 during the summermonsoonseason were directly associated with Atmospheric Rivers, a phenomenon of a stream of water vapour moving in the sky like a river flowing on the land, says a new study.
It says severe weather events like the 2013 Uttarakhand floods and the 2018 floods in Kerala that claimed several lives were all due to severe Atmospheric Rivers (ARs).

The study, jointly conducted by Climate scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, the National institute of technology, Srinagar, and the University of Washington, says a warming climate is increasing the moisture-holding capacity of Atmospheric Rivers, which leads to concerns about more devastating floods in the future.

ICAOs Focus on Reducing Carbon Emissions:

ICAO has been tasked with reducing carbon emissions from international civil aviation. To achieve this goal, the global body has adopted several key aspirational goals, including a two per cent annual fuel efficiency improvement through 2050, carbon neutral Growth, and net zero by 2050. These goals are clubbed under CORSIA and LTAG.

CORSIA is to be implemented in three phases, and financial implications due to offsetting have to be borne by individual airlines, depending upon their international operations. It is applicable only to flights originating from one country to another.

ICAO is an intergovernmental specialized agency associated with the United Nations (UN) that was established in 1947 by the Convention on International Civil Aviation (1944) known as the Chicago Convention. The headquarters of ICAO is located in Montreal, Canada.