PIB Summary- 13th November, 2024 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Maulana Azad and Acharya Kripalani

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PM pays tributes to Maulana Azad and Acharya Kripalani on their Jayanti.

About Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

• The National Education Day of India is celebrated every year on 11 November to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India.
• Born on 11 November 1888 and died on 22 February 1958.
• He was senior Muslim leader of Indian National Congress during Indian independence movement.
• He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad (word Maulana is honorific meaning ‘Our Master’) and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name.
• In 1923, at age of 35, he became youngest person to serve as President of Indian National Congress.
• He served as Congress president from 1940 to 1945, during which Quit India rebellion was launched.
• He also worked for Hindu-Muslim unity through the Al-Hilal newspaper.

About Acharya Kripalani

• The Jivatram Bhagwant’s Kripalani, also called Acharya Kripalani, (born November 11, 1888, Hyderabad, India [now in Pakistan]died March 19, 1982, Ahmadabad), prominent Indian educator, social activist, and politician in both pre- and post-independence India,
• The Kripalani Ji who was a close associate of Mohandas K Gandhi and a longtime supporter of his ideology.
• The Acharya kripalani ji wife was famous the Sucheta Kripalani, the India’s 1st women Chief Minister.
• He was a leading figure in the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) during the 1930s and 40s and later was a founder of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP).
• He grew close to Gandhi ji  and at one point, he was one of Gandhi’s most ardent disciples.
• He had served as the General Secretary of the INC for almost a decade. 
• He had experience working in the field of education and was made the president to rebuild the INC. 
• The disputes between the party and the Government over procedural matters affected his relationship with the colleagues in the Government. 
• The Kripalani was a familiar figure to generations of dissenters, from the Non cooperation movements of the 1920s to the Emergency of the 1970s.

QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025

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India with a total of 163 universities ranked is the most represented country in the recently released 16th edition of the World University Rankings: Asia by Quacquarelli Symonds.

QS World University Rankings:

• The QS World University Rankings are annual rankings released by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
• These rankings aim to evaluate and compare the performance and quality of universities worldwide.
• The methodology used by QS takes into account various indicators, including academic reputation, faculty-student ratio, employer reputation, sustainability, employment outcomes, international research network, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio.
• In addition to the overall rankings, QS also provides rankings by subject, region, student city, business school, and sustainability, catering to specific areas of interest and focus.

Highlights of the QS Asia Rankings 2025

• The ranking evaluates 984 institutions across 25 countries in Eastern, Southern, South-Eastern, and Central Asia.

Top Institutions:

• Peking University maintains its position at the top of the rankings.
• The University of Hong Kong is ranked second.
• The National University of Singapore holds the third spot.

India’s Performance:

• Two Indian institutions are ranked within the top 50.
• A total of seven Indian institutions make the top 100.
• The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) is the highest-ranked Indian institution, placed 44th.

Notable Improvement:

• The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) marked a significant rise by climbing 70 positions to rank 148th.