Notes:
The Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announced in Rajya Sabha that the ‘Khelo India Scheme’ has been extended from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
An amount of Rs 8750 crore has been estimated for implemetation of the new Khelo India Scheme. This data has also been provided to the Ministry of Finance by the Sports Ministry. Rs 657.71 crore has been allocated in the Budget for 2021-22 under the Khelo India Scheme.

Notes:
As per a recent report from SBI’s research team authored by the bank’s chief economic adviser, Soumya Kanti Ghosh, the duration of second wave might last up to 100 days counted from 15 February.
Though India is currently seeing a spike in daily coronavirus cases, the report said that that we are in better place this time to control the pandemic with vaccines being administered. The report also revealed that increasing the speed of vaccination is the only way to fight COVID-19.

Notes:
A recent study with researchers from India and Brazil published a research article entitled “Large-scale connection to Deadly Indian Heatwaves.”
As per the study, the heat waves during the summer season of April and May could be due to the significant warming up of the Arctic region. They state that the Indian heat waves occur due to a mechanism called “Quasi-Resonant Amplification (QRA).

Notes:
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced a competency-based assessment framework for classes 6-10 based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The assessment aims to improve the overall learning outcomes of students mainly covering three subjects namely English (reading), Science, and Maths. British Council along with AlphaPlus as the UK knowledge partner, designed and developed this framework.

Notes:
Russia’s lower house of parliament the State Duma has recently approved a bill, to enable its incumbent President Vladimir Putin to run for two more terms starting from 2024.
The draft law on elections was approved following the constitutional amendments adopted in a nationwide referendum in July 2020. The bill grants Putin the possibility of holding the office for two more terms until 2036.