An explainer on the process of how NCERT textbooks are prepared, in light of a recent controversy over a class 8 textbook chapter on 'judicial corruption' that led to a Supreme Court ban.
The Supreme Court has modified its previous order regarding three academics involved in a controversial NCERT textbook chapter on corruption in the judiciary, allowing government bodies to make independent decisions about their association with the academics.
The Rajasthan government's decision to discontinue four school textbooks has ignited a political controversy, with the Education Minister defending the move and the Congress party accusing the government of attempting to erase history.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has expressed strong disapproval of a chapter in an NCERT Class 8 textbook addressing judicial corruption, prompting government action and a Supreme Court ban on the book's circulation.
The NCERT's class 8 textbook is under scrutiny for its content on judicial corruption, potentially leading to its removal after government concerns and objections from the judiciary.
IIT-Gandhinagar is reviewing Michel Danino's position as guest professor after the Supreme Court directed institutions to disassociate from him due to a controversy over a chapter on judicial corruption in a withdrawn NCERT textbook.
The NCERT has issued a public apology and withdrawn a social science textbook for Class 8 after the Supreme Court objected to a chapter on judicial corruption. The court imposed a ban on further publication of the book.
Three academics involved in drafting a controversial NCERT textbook chapter on corruption in the judiciary have approached the Supreme Court to defend their work, stating it was a collective effort and not the view of any single individual.
The Centre has directed the NCERT to review all textbooks after the Supreme Court raised concerns about 'offending' content on corruption in the judiciary in a Class 8 social science book.
The NCERT has apologised for 'inappropriate content' in a Class 8 textbook chapter discussing judicial corruption, following Supreme Court criticism. The textbook will be rewritten, and its circulation has been put on hold.
School students in Rajasthan will no longer study two-part supplementary textbooks with state Education Minister Madan Dilawar arguing that these reading materials are not required because they glorify the Nehru-Gandhi family and carry no marks for students.
'Many senior Bangladeshis feel Bangladesh will fall into anarchy if the Jamaat becomes an important part of a future government or has disproportionate influence in the government.'
The Congress in its poll manifesto had promised to undo the changes made to school textbooks when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, and had also promised to scrap National Education Policy.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday approved the revision of Kannada and Social Science textbooks of Classes 6 to 10 in the state for this academic year by removing the chapters on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founder K B Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar among others.
The Kerala government will review the implementation of the Centre's PM SHRI scheme in the state following controversies and concerns. A cabinet sub-committee has been formed to study the scheme, and further proceedings are on hold pending the committee's report.
Operation Sindoor has not yet been formally called off. What was the crying need to send a team when it was known that there could be a match with Pakistan? asks Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
A controversy has erupted after an NCERT Class 8 textbook depicted present-day Rajasthan as part of the Maratha Empire, drawing criticism from royal families and political leaders who call the depiction factually incorrect and misleading.
A number of academicians as well as political scientists Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar, who were part of the textbook development committee of the NCERT, had asked the council to drop their names from textbooks over 'several substantive revisions of the original texts'.
The 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) will be headed by National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) chancellor MC Pant and develop textbooks for classes 3 to 12.
The SCERT, however, maintained that the error occurred due to oversight.
"A controversy is going on these days that Darwin's theory of evolution has been removed from science books by the NCERT and the periodic table has been left out, but I would like to state here publicly that nothing of this sort has happened," he said.
Palshikar and Yadav, who were chief advisors for the original Political Science books for classes 9 to 12, said, "While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created.
The NCERT has dropped references to the demand for a separate Sikh nation of Khalistan from the class 12 political science textbook following objections from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), according to top education ministry officials.
Agreeing that Ambedkar's cartoon in an NCERT textbook was objectionable, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said orders have been issued to withdraw it and stop distribution of these books, and promised concrete action in the matter.
More than 1,800 scientists, science teachers and educators have written an open letter raising concerns about the chapter on 'Theory of Biological Evolution' being dropped from the NCERT textbook for Class 10.
Strongly defending the move to revise school textbooks, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Monday alleged that confusion is unnecessarily being created among the people and students, along with attempts to create communal hatred by spreading falsehood.
For the home side, it has been a season of mixed returns so far. After early defeats to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians, KKR roared back to form in their last outing -- a commanding win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
'You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks'
For lakhs of 10th class students in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh is not a part of the country, as the north-eastern state is reportedly "missing" from the map in their geography textbooks.
Both Houses of Parliament were rocked recently over the issue with members alleging distortions in the books portraying patriots and certain castes in bad light.
The ICSE, however, maintained the board did not publish or prescribe textbooks, and that schools had to deal with the issue.
Earlier this month, a controversy had erupted over the reduction of syllabus by the Central Board of Secondary Education due to the COVID-19 situation, with the Opposition alleging that chapters on India's democracy and plurality are being "dropped" to propagate a particular ideology.
On a night packed with drama, milestones, and momentum swings, five batters rose above the rest to set Eden Gardens alight.
The UGC chief said the NCERT is fully justified in carrying out rationalisation of its textbooks' contents.
'...but subjecting our heritage to rigorous evidence-based understanding.'
The change in the syllabus comes in the wake of the implementation of the National Curriculum Framework, which suggests that the textbooks should connect knowledge to real life situations.
The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), however, said the withdrawal of anyone's association is out of question as textbooks at the school level are developed on the basis of knowledge and understanding on a given subject and at no stage, individual authorship is claimed.
As per the NCERT, the decision has been taken to reduce the content load on students in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The signatories to a letter sent to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani include Kanti Prasad Bajpai, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University professor who currently serves as the vice dean at the National University, Singapore, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a former vice-chancellor of the Ashoka University, Rajeev Bhargava, a former director of CSDS, Niraja Gopal Jayal, a former JNU professor, Nivedita Menon, a JNU professor, Vipul Mudgal, the head of civil society watchdog Common Cause, K C Suri, a former professor at the University of Hyderabad who is now associated with the Gitam University, and Peter Ronald deSouza, a former director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.
The NTA had treated the two options as correct answers to the Physics question and had granted four marks to those examinees who had marked these options.
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