• Global Firepower’s Military Strength Rankings for 2024 was released recently.
• It assesses 145 countries, taking into account more than 60 factors such as the number of troops, military equipment, financial stability, geographic location, and available resources.
• These factors together determine a PowerIndex score, where lower scores indicate stronger military capabilities.
• The United States has the most powerful military globally, followed by Russia and China in second and third place, respectively.
• India holds the fourth position.
• Pakistan is at number 9 while Bhutan has the least powerful military in the world.
• The report includes 145 countries and also examines how each nation’s ranking has changed from one year to the next.

• Prime Minister recently commemorated Thiruvalluvar Day, honoring the memory of the great Tamil sage, Saint Thiruvalluvar.

About Saint Thiruvalluvar

• Thiruvalluvar, also known as Valluvar, holds a significant place in Tamil culture, standing as one of its most distinguished literary figures.
• Living during the Sangam era of Tamil classical culture, Thiruvalluvar is revered as a poet, philosopher, and a wise man.
  • The Sangam era, known for its eminent poets, witnessed the emergence of the earliest Tamil literature, which has endured for over 2,000 years.
  • , his masterpiece, consists of couplets covering various aspects of life, including morality, politics, the economy, and love.
  • It contains 1330 couplets (kurals) that are divided into 133 sections of 10 couplets each.
  • Widely regarded as a unique and highly esteemed piece of Tamil literature, Thirukkural is considered one of the greatest works on ethics and morality, known for its universality and secular nature.

• Prime Minister recently visited and offered prayers at Sreekrishna Temple, Guruvayur.

 About Guruvayur Temple

• Guruvayur Temple is one of the most famous religious spots in Kerala and in the country.
• The temple attracts people from all over the world for its architectural beauty, and rich history.
• Set in the Thrissur district, this temple is also known as the Dwarka of the South.
• The temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and the young form of Lord Krishna, is also known as Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple.
• The statue of Lord Vishnu installed here has four arms.
• One has the conch Panchajanya, another has a discus Sudarshana Chakra, the third one has the mace Kaumodaki and the fourth is holding a lotus with a Holy basil garland.
• The temple is also known for its elephant festival.
• It is also noted for being home to a large population of captive male Asian elephants.
• Guruvayur Satyagraha was a non-violent protest that took place in 1931–32 in an effort to allow entry for untouchables into the Guruvayur Temple.
  • It was led by K. Kelappan, who undertook a hunger strike for 12 days.
  • It finally led to Travancore Temple Entry proclamation in 1936.

• The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued instructions for Residential Private Schools interested in joining the 2023–24 Scheme for Residential Education for Meritorious Scheduled Caste (SC) Students (SHRESHTA).
• Eligible schools must be
  • private residential institutions affiliated with CBSE up to class 12,
  • operational for at least 5 years, and
  • boasting a pass percentage of 75 or more in class 10 and 12 over the last 3 years.
  • These schools should possess adequate infrastructure to accommodate at least 10 additional SC students in classes 9 and 11 combined, with residential status verified by OASIS data.

About SHRESHTA

• The scheme aims to fill the gap in service-deficient SCs dominant areas through the efforts of grant-in-aid institutions and residential high schools offering high-quality education.
• It also intends to provide an environment for socio-economic upliftment and overall development of the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
• This initiative is overseen by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE).
• Enrollment under the scheme is designated for students entering Class 9 and Class 11.
• The CBSE disclosed that the National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS), conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), selects 3,000 students annually for the scheme.
• Allocation to schools is determined through web counseling based on merit and student preferences.
• The scheme will cover the tuition fee, the hostel fee, and the mess fees for qualifying students.

• The Annual Status of Education Report 2023 was released recently.

• The ASER 2023 report, released by the NGO Pratham Foundation, focuses on the youth of the age group 14-18 years.
• The report titled “ Beyond Basics” carried out an intensive survey in 28 districts across 26 states, eventually interacting with 34,745 youngsters of the aimed age group.
• Unlike the usual country-wide ASER surveys, ASER 2023 is not large in scale; only one or two rural districts in each state have been surveyed.

Major findings

• Overall, 8% of 14-18-year-olds are enrolled in an educational institution.
  • Beyond Standard X, more than half are enrolled in the Arts/Humanities stream (55.7%), followed by STEM (31.7%) and Commerce (9.4%).
  • A mere 0.7% reported studying agriculture.
• Only 6% of surveyed youth report taking vocational training or other related courses currently.
• A higher percentage of males (40.3%) than females (28%) report doing work other than household work for at least 15 days during the preceding month.
• 95% of males and 90% of females know how to use a smartphone.
• About 25% of this age group still cannot read a Std II level text fluently in their regional language.
• 45% of youth in the age group 14-18 have basic arithmetic proficiency.
• Building foundational literacy and numeracy may be needed for about a fourth of youth in the 14-18 age group.

• The Chhattisgarh government has introduced Mahtari Vandana Yojana 2024, aiming to offer monthly economic assistance of ₹1000 to women, totaling an annual aid of ₹12,000, thereby empowering women through financial support.
• The amount received under the scheme will be directly deposited into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts which can be utilized for health, personal expenses, and even starting small businesses.

• The country’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been rated as the second most valuable IT services brand in the world in the 2024 Global 500 IT Services Ranking by Brand Finance.
• Accenture has topped the global list whereas Infosys stood at the third place.
• HCLTech has emerged as the fastest-growing IT services brand with 15.9% YoY growth in brand value.

• The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India is organizing the 9th edition of IISF and its autonomous organization National Innovation Foundation-India is the coordination and implementation body of IISF 2023.
• This time, 22 countries are also participating at IISF 2023.
• The central theme is “Science and Technology Public Outreach in Amrit Kaal.”
• The India International Science Festival (IISF) is a collaborative endeavour between Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Space and Department of Atomic Energy in partnership with Vijnana Bharati – a science movement spearheaded by scientists of the nation with swadeshi spirit.
• Organised since

• The Tripura government has allocated land for the rehabilitation of the last batch of Mizoram Bru refugees, who were granted permanent settlement in Tripura.
• A total of 6,959 Bru (also known as Reang) tribe families comprising 37,136 persons, were to be permanently settled in 12 different locations across four districts in the State.

About Bru tribe

• The Bru or Reang are an ethnic group living in the northeastern states of India, mainly in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam.
• In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
• The tribe belongs to Tibeto-Burman family
• Language- Kaubru
• They are still a nomadic tribe, majorly involved in Jhum Cultivation.

• • World Economic Forum has agreed to set up its Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in the Hyderabad, state capital of Telangana.
  • It will be an autonomous, non-profit organisation with a thematic focus on healthcare and life sciences.
  • The three pillars on which C4IR work are-
    • 4IR technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, blockchain and others.
    • Public-private cooperation– for example India recently announced drone services, an area where C4IR work with the Centre and several state governments.
    • Multi-stakeholder partnership- C4IR collaborates with various sectors —government, industries, start-ups, civil society, and consumers — for inclusiveness.

  What is fourth IR?

  • Industry 4.0—also called the Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR—is the next phase in the digitization of the manufacturing sector, driven by disruptive trends including the rise of data and connectivity, analytics, human-machine interaction, and improvements in robotics.
  • The term 4IR was coined by Klaus Schwab, executive chairperson of the WEF, in 2016.