The National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF), established by the Ministry of Education, recently announced its national rankings for universities which have been found flawed by various experts. 

How does the NIRF ranking of institutes work and what are the issues associated with it?

Ø  The NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) ranks institutes in India based on various categories and disciplines. However, there are certain issues associated with the ranking methodology. Here’s an overview:

Ranking Methodology:

Ø  The NIRF ranks institutes based on their total score, which is determined using five indicators with different weightages: Teaching, Learning & Resources, Research and Professional Practice, Graduation Outcomes, Outreach and Inclusivity, and Perception.

Ø  These indicators focus heavily on research and professional practices, primarily utilizing bibliometric measures such as the number of papers published and citations received. Other forms of intellectual contributions, like books, monographs, and non-traditional outputs, are often sidelined.

Issues with NIRF Ranking:

Ø  Research Bias: The evaluation methodology places significant emphasis on research output, primarily measured through bibliometric indicators. This approach may not fully capture the diverse range of intellectual contributions, including non-research forms, and can lead to a bias towards certain types of research.

Ø  Inadequate Evaluation: Some argue that a more comprehensive evaluation methodology is needed to assess institutes. Solely relying on bibliometrics might overlook important aspects like the quality and impact of research, collaborative efforts, and contributions to society beyond academia.

Ø  Lack of Subject Expertise: The reliance on bibliometric indicators is driven by their efficiency and convenience, as they can be easily quantified. However, this approach may neglect the expertise and nuanced assessments that subject experts can provide, resulting in a limited evaluation of an institute’s overall performance.

Ø  Resource and Time Constraints: Qualitative assessments performed by subject experts require more resources and time compared to bibliometrics. The allure of using bibliometrics lies in its efficiency, but it may not provide a comprehensive understanding of an institute’s strengths and weaknesses.

Ø  It is important to note that bibliometrics can be valuable tools for assessing research output, but when used as the primary evaluation method, they may not capture the full range of an institute’s intellectual contributions and performance. There is a need for a balanced and inclusive evaluation methodology that considers multiple dimensions of an institute’s achievements.

What are the consequences of flawed rankings?

Ø  Misleading Prospective Students and Parents: Flawed rankings can misrepresent the quality and reputation of institutions. This can mislead prospective students and parents in their decision-making process, leading them to choose institutions based on inaccurate or incomplete information.

Ø  Unfair Competition and Incentives: Rankings can create a competitive environment where institutions feel pressured to manipulate data or focus on specific indicators to improve their ranking. This can lead to unhealthy competition and a diversion of resources away from areas that are crucial for institutional growth and development.

Ø  Undermining Credibility: Flawed rankings undermine the credibility and usefulness of the ranking framework itself. If rankings are not perceived as accurate and reliable, they lose their value as a tool for assessing and comparing institutions. This can erode trust in the ranking system and make it less effective in providing meaningful insights.

Ø  Neglecting Comprehensive Excellence: Rankings that heavily emphasize certain indicators or overlook important aspects of institutional excellence, such as innovation, diversity, social impact, and community engagement, fail to provide a holistic view of an institution’s strengths and contributions. This limits the understanding of an institution’s overall performance and its impact beyond traditional metrics.

Ø  Impact on Foreign Institutions: Flawed rankings can also affect the perception, reputation, and competitiveness of foreign educational institutions that establish campuses or collaborations in a country. If the ranking framework is flawed or biased, it may unfairly disadvantage foreign institutions, hindering their ability to attract students and partnerships.

What measures can be taken to enhance the NIRF Ranking system?

Nurturing Faculty Research:

Ø  Institutions should provide adequate resources, incentives, and recognition to support faculty research output.

Ø  This includes funding for research projects, access to research facilities and equipment, opportunities for collaborations, and recognition of research achievements through awards and promotions.

Balanced Evaluation Criteria:

Ø  Bibliometrics should not be used as the sole criteria for evaluation.

Ø  Instead, a combination of metrics and qualitative assessments, such as peer review, should be employed to make informed decisions about the quality and impact of research output.

Institutional Repository:

Ø  Establishing an institutional repository can serve as a platform to showcase and disseminate research publications and their impact.

Ø  This can enhance the visibility and accessibility of the institution’s research output, contributing to its reputation and influence in the academic community.

Improving Teaching-Learning Process:

Ø  Institutions should focus on enhancing the teaching-learning process by developing outcome-based curricula, incorporating innovative pedagogies, and actively seeking student feedback.

Ø  This can ensure that students receive a high-quality education and have a positive learning experience.

Enhancing Graduation Outcomes:

Ø  Institutions should strive to improve graduation outcomes by enhancing placement services, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, and providing opportunities for higher education and skill development.

Ø  This can enhance the employability and future prospects of students.

Promoting Outreach and Inclusivity:

Ø  Institutions should actively work towards increasing diversity among students, faculty, and staff.

Ø  Engaging with local and global communities through collaborative initiatives, community service, and research partnerships can promote inclusivity and broaden the institution’s impact beyond its campus.

Transparency in Rankings:

Ø  NIRF Rankings, or any ranking system, should be transparent about the data they collect, the methodology used, and how that data is utilized to calculate the total score.

Ø  This transparency can help institutions understand the ranking process and identify areas for improvement.

The 9th International Day of Yoga (IDY) was celebrated on June 21st with various events and initiatives taking place across the country.

This year’s IDY theme, “Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,”

Key Highlights of IDY 2023:

Ø  Tribal Artisan Yoga Mats: TRIFED collaborated with the Ministry of Ayush to provide yoga mats crafted by tribal artisans, showcasing India’s diverse cultural heritage and traditional art forms.

Ø  Ocean Ring of Yoga: Indian Navy and Merchant ships will organize yoga demonstrations at ports and vessels of friendly nations, promoting global participation and fostering cultural exchange.

Ø  Yoga from the Arctic to Antarctica: The Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Ayush will coordinate yoga events in countries along the Prime Meridian line and UN member countries. Yoga sessions will be conducted at extreme regions like Himadri in the Arctic and Bharati in Antarctica.

Ø  Yoga Bharatmala and Yoga Sagarmala: Indian armed forces, including ITBP, BSF, and BRO, will organize a chain of yoga demonstrations. Yoga Sagarmala will feature yoga along the Indian coastline, including yoga sessions on the flight deck of INS Vikrant.

Ø  National Level Initiatives: The Prime Minister will lead a yoga session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, demonstrating India’s commitment to yoga on a global platform. The Ministry of Ayush encourages “Har Aangan Yoga” or Yoga in the courtyard of every house, promoting yoga practice at the village level.

About the IDY

Ø  The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated annually on 21 June since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.

Ø  The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in his UN address in 2014, had suggested the date of 21 June, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world.  

Significance of Yoga

Ø  The Prime Minister spoke of Yoga’s role during the pandemic, on the occasion.

Ø  While Yoga is not a part of culture across countries, enthusiasm has increased globally.

Ø  He stressed the importance of breathing exercises like pranayama and anulom-vilom for strengthening our respiratory system.

Ø  The mantra of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ which India has followed since ages, is now finding global acceptance.

Ø  We all are praying for each other’s wellbeing, If there are threats to humanity, Yoga often gives us a way of holistic health.

M-Yoga App

Ø  India and WHO took an important step by launching M-Yoga app world-over, which will provide many videos of yoga training based on common yoga protocol in many languages. This will contribute to the efforts of ‘One World One Health’.

Ø  M-Yoga has been developed by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, Ministry of Ayush in partnership with the World Health Organisation.

A backgrounder to M-Yoga App

Ø  The Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organization (WHO) had jointly undertaken a project in mid 2019, focusing on mobile-Yoga. It envisaged the concept of the ‘Be Healthy, Be Mobile’ (BHBM) under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030.

Ø  Be Healthy, Be Mobile (BHBM) initiative is a global partnership led by WHO which supports the scale up of mobile health (m-Health) technology within the scope of the National Health system to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Facing criticism, the Centre has withdrawn the draft Live-stock and Live-stock Products (Importation and Exportation) Bill, 2023.

Live-stock Importation Act 1898 -

The Live-stock Importation Act, 1898 is in force till date.

It has only 5 Sections —

Ø  Section 1 (Short title and local extent);

Ø  Section 2 (Definitions);

Ø  Section 3 (Power to regulate importation of live-stock),

Ø  Section 3A (Power to regulate Importation of live-stock products);

Ø  Section 4 (Power of State Government to make rules); and

Ø  Section 5 (Protection to persons acting under Act).

Ø  This act regulated only importation of live-stock.

Livestock Bill 2023 -

About — The Bill is meant to replace the Live-stock Importation Act, 1898, and the Live-stock Importation (Amendment) Act, 2001.

Ø  It frames guidelines for the import and export of live animals.

Ø  It is different from the existing law in three key aspects:

Ø  It allows export of live animals,

Ø  It widens the scope of animal import-export (including cats and dogs among ‘live-stock’), and

Ø  It takes away state governments’ powers to regulate this area.

Draft prepared by —

Ø  The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

Need for a new bill —

Ø  The present law that regulates import of live-stock is 125 years old.

Ø  The Live-stock Importation Act, 1898, being the pre-constitutional/pre-independence Central Act. Hence, a need has been felt to align it with the contemporary requirements and prevailing circumstances related to sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures.

What is new in the proposed draft?

Development of exports of live-stock and live-stock products —

Ø  The earlier law regulates only importation of live-stock, while the proposed draft Bill has provisions to regulate live-stock exports also.

Ø  The Section 4 of the proposed Bill provides the government the power to make arrangements for promotion and development of exports of live-stock and live-stock products.

Expanded the definition of live-stock —

Ø  The proposed draft bill has 10 Sections, and has expanded the definition of live-stock to include feline and canines also.

Ø  As per the 1898 act, live-stock includes horses, kine, camels, sheep and any other animal which may be specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.

Live-stocks and live-stock products as commodity —

Ø  The Centre has defined the live-stocks and live-stock products as commodity in the proposed draft Bill.

Ø  Commodity means live-stock, products of live-stock origin, live-stock genetic material, biological products and pathological material of live-stock origin.

Takes away some power of state government —

The proposed draft bill takes away some powers of state governments to regulate this area.

Criticism faced by the proposed draft Bill -

Animal rights organisations have said that allowing the live export of animals from India is a blanket free pass for the abuse of millions of animals farmed for food and other uses.

According to 2021 figures released by the United Nations, almost 2 billion of the 80 billion land animals raised for food around the world are exported alive to different countries.

National Commission for Backward Classes(NCBC) is processing the request for the approval of about 80 more castes in six States, (Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana) for the inclusion in the OBC list. 

About Other Backward Class (OBC):

Ø  OBC refers to socially and educationally backward classes of citizens.

Ø  The Supreme Court has ruled that the creamy layer, i.e., socially and economically advanced individuals within the OBC category, should be excluded from reservations.

Role of National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC):

Ø  NCBC is a statutory body responsible for reviewing requests for caste inclusion in the Central OBC list.

Ø  The commission forms a Bench to examine proposals and forwards its decisions to the Union government.

Ø  Once approved by the cabinet, legislation is enacted, and the President notifies the changes.

Constitutional Provisions:

Ø  Article 15(4) empowers the state to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, including OBCs.

Ø  These provisions include reservation of seats in educational institutions, financial assistance, scholarships, and housing.

Ø  Article 16(4) allows the state to enact laws for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of OBCs.

Achievements of the Union Government:

Ø  Since 2014, the government has added 16 communities to the Central OBC list in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Ø  The 105th Amendment to the Constitution affirms states’ rights to maintain their own OBC lists, preserving the benefits for 671 State OBC communities.

About National Commission for Backward Classes

Ø  102nd Constitution Amendment Act, 2018 provides constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

Ø  It has the power to look into welfare claims and programmes for socially and academically disadvantaged groups.

Ø  Prior to this, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was responsible for the NCBC as a statutory organisation.

Background of NCBC

Ø  Two Backward Class Commissions were appointed in 1950s and 1970s under Kaka Kalelkar and B.P. Mandal respectively.

Ø  Kaka Kalelkar commission is also known as the First Backward Classes Commission.

Ø  The Supreme Court ordered the government to establish a permanent committee to consider, investigate, and recommend the inclusion and exclusion of various Backward Classes for the purpose of benefits and protection in the Indra Sawhney case of 1992.

Ø  The National Commission for Backward Classes Act, passed by parliament in 1993 in accordance with these directives, established the NCBC.

Ø  The 123rd Constitution Amendment bill of 2017 was presented in Parliament in order to better protect the interests of underprivileged groups.

Ø  The National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, was repealed by a different law that was approved by Parliament, making the 1993 Act obsolete.

Ø  The bill got the President assent in August 2018 and provided the constitutional status to NCBC.

Composition:

Ø  The Commission consists of:

Ø  Chairperson

Ø  Vice-Chairperson

Ø  Three other Members in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Govt of India.

Ø  Their condition of service and tenure of office has been notified by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Ø  NCBC is headquartered in Delhi.

Ø  Constitutional Provisions

Ø  Article 340 deals with the need to, inter alia, identify those “socially and educationally backward classes”, understand the conditions of their backwardness, and make recommendations to remove the difficulties they face.

Ø  102nd Constitution Amendment Act inserted new Articles 338 B and 342 A.

Ø  The amendment also brings about changes in Article 366.

Ø  will be required if the list of backward classes is to be amended.

NCBC- Powers and Functions

Ø  The commission investigates and monitors all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the socially and educationally backward classes under the Constitution or under any other law to evaluate the working of such safeguards.

Ø  It participates and advises on the socio-economic development of the socially and educationally backward classes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State.

Ø  It presents to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards. The President laid such reports before each House of Parliament.

Ø  Where any such report or any part thereof, relates to any matter with which any State Government is concerned, a copy of such report shall be forwarded to the State Government.

Ø  NCBC has to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the socially and educationally backward classes as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify.

Ø  It has all the powers of a civil court while trying a suit.

The $100 billion climate finance goal, which developed countries committed to in 2009, will be succeeded by the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) in 2025.

What is the New Collective Quantified Goal?

Ø  A commitment of ‘$100 billion per year till 2020’ to developing nations from developed countries was a target set at the Conference of Parties (COP) in 2009.

Ø  But estimates since then show addressing climate change may cost billions, and even, trillions of dollars.

Ø  Therefore, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement agreed on setting a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCGQ) for climate financing prior to 2025 — a reference point which accounts for the needs and priorities of developing nations.

Ø  The NCGQ is thus, termed the “most important climate goal”. It pulls up the ceiling on commitment from developed countries.

Ø  The NCGQ is expected to be finalised by 2024. It will replace the current climate finance goal of $100 billion annually from developed countries.

What is the need for a New Finance Goal?

Ø  Out of the promised $100 billion per year, developed countries provided $83.3 billion in 2020, as per a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. These figures may be misleading and inflated by as much as 225%, an Oxfam analysis found, as “there is too much dishonest and shady reporting”.

Ø  Moreover, the $100 billion target set in 2009 was seen more as a political goal, since there was no effort to clarify the definition or source of ‘climate finance’.

Ø  The economic growth of developed countries has come at the cost of high carbon emissions, and thus they are obligated to shoulder greater responsibility.

Ø  While funds available for climate finance have quantitatively increased, they are inaccessible, privately sourced, delayed and not reaching countries in need.

Ø  A recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found roughly 5% of climate finance comes from grants; the rest through loans and equity which burden developing countries with a “debilitating” debt crisis.

Ø  Countries most in need of finances have to wait years to access money and pay interest high rates, thus increasing their debt burden.

What do developed countries say?

Ø  Developed countries argue that NCQG must be viewed as a “collective goal” for all developed and developing countries.

Ø  Experts worry this argument pushes the “net zero” pathways onto developing countries, which cannot feasibly pay for mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, along with sustainably developing key elements of infrastructure.

Ø  Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that's produced and the amount that's removed from the atmosphere.

Ø  It can be achieved through a combination of emission reduction and emission removal.

Ø  Countries also argue for mobilising private-sector investments and loans as the critical component of climate finance.

Way forward -

Ø  Countries are on a tight deadline to agree upon the NCQG ahead of 2024.

Ø  There is no official number yet, but a global transition to a low-carbon economy requires investments of at least $4 trillion to $6 trillion a year.

Ø  Some argue that instead of identifying a single aggregate figure, the NCQG could also set separate targets (or sub-goals) for focus areas such as mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.