Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 17 Mar 2023

BIS Launches ‘Learning Science via Standards’ Series

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), has launched a new initiative called ‘Learning Science via Standards’, aimed at helping students understand the practical applications of scientific concepts, principles, and laws in the manufacturing, functioning, and testing of products.

It is in line with BIS's earlier ‘Standards Clubs’ initiative, which has already formed over 4200 clubs with more than one lakh student members. Standards Clubs undertake student-centric activities like debates, quiz and competitions, including standards-writing competitions. BIS provides financial support to these clubs for up to three activities in a year.

The ‘Learning Science via Standards’ initiative is expected towards bridging the gap between theory and real-life use of science education and promoting a culture of quality and standardization in the country.

Atal Innovation Mission Launches ATL Sarthi

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) NITI Aayog launched ATL Sarthi, a comprehensive self-monitoring framework to strengthen the ecosystem of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).

AIM is establishing ATLs in schools across India to foster curiosity, creativity, and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design thinking mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc. So far (March 2023), AIM has funded around 10,000 schools to establish ATLs.

ATL Sarthi is a tool to enable the ATLs to be efficient and effective. The initiative has four pillars ensuring the performance enhancement of ATLs through a self-reporting dashboard known as ‘MyATL Dashboard’ and Compliance SOPs for schools to ensure financial and non-financial compliances, on-ground enablement of ATLs in collaboration with relevant local authorities through Cluster-based Approach and providing ownership to schools to analyze their performance through Performance-Enablement (PE) Matrix.

Bumchu Festival: Sikkim

Bumchu is an annual holy water vase ritual commemorated in Tashiding Monastery, one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites, located on a hilltop overlooking the Rangeet River in Sikkim.

Bumchu means “pot of sacred water” in Tibetan. The water inside the vase is shared among the worshippers. The water is thought to have healing qualities and to grant luck and riches to those who drink it. The celebration takes place on the 14^th and 15^th of the first lunar month, which often falls in February or March.

Legend has it that in the eighth century, a great Buddhist guru who brought Buddhism to Tibet, blessed the location of the monastery. Later the monastery was founded in the 17^th century.