Today in History (March 20^th,2017)

The state of Uttarakhand declared the Yamuna and the Ganga as “living entities”.

Summary of Today’s News

NASA astronauts return to Earth after 9 months in space

• Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, along with Nick Hague (U.S.) and Aleksandr Gorbunov (Russia), return to Earth.
• Mission lasted 286 days, exceeding the typical six-month rotation on the International Space Station (ISS).

Spacecraft and splashdown

• SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship named Freedom carried the astronauts back to Earth.
• Capsule re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and deployed parachutes for a splashdown off the Florida coast at 3:27 a.m. IST.
• Freedom experienced temperatures of 2,000°C during re-entry.
• The capsule was greeted by a pod of dolphins and recovery boats for safety checks.

Recovery and support

• Astronauts helped out of the capsule onto mobility aids after landing.
• Thumbs-up gestures and waving to ground teams as they were assisted.
• Larger recovery vessel hoisted the spacecraft aboard.

Post-return arrangements

• Astronauts will be flown by helicopter to Houston to meet their families.
• Physical rehabilitation program to begin post-return.

Space mission details

• Astronauts left the ISS 17 hours earlier after final farewells with the crew.
• Mission originally intended to test Boeing’s Starliner on its first crewed flight but delayed due to spacecraft issues.
• Wilmore and Ms. Williams, veterans of two prior space missions, flew to the orbital lab in June last year, on what was supposed to be a days-long roundtrip to test out Boeing’s Starliner on its first crewed flight. But the spaceship developed problems and was deemed unfit to fly them back, instead returning empty.
• Their 286-day stay is the sixth-longest single-mission duration in U.S. history.
• Frank Rubio holds the U.S. record with 371 days in 2023, while Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov holds the world record at 437 days aboard Mir station.

APAAR ID Overview and analysis

• APAAR stands for Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry.
• It enables the ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ to store academic achievements and facilitate transitions between institutions.

Objective:

• It aims to streamline and enhance the academic experience for students throughout India by assigning a unique and permanent 12-digit ID to each student, consolidating their academic records into a single accessible platform.
• It is emphasised as not only a vital tool for tracking the educational progress of 260 million students in India but also as an aspirational and globally recognized document for students.
  • Linked to Aadhaar and stored in DigiLocker, providing standardized data on marksheets and institutional affiliation.
  • Developed through the Unified District Information System For Education Plus (UDISE+) portal, which tracks regional academic data.

Purpose of APAAR

• • Aims to facilitate rapid processing and verification of academic transcripts.
  • Part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020‘s reforms for education data collection and policymaking.
  • The Education Ministry has encouraged schools under CBSE to achieve “100% saturation” of student registrations for APAAR.

Is APAAR Mandatory?

• • Officially, APAAR is not mandatory—it is described as voluntary on the official site.
  • However, circulars by CBSE and FAQ pages do not clarify its voluntary status.
  • Some States (e.g., Uttar Pradesh) and schools are pushing for universal registration, creating confusion.
  • The Union government reaffirmed the voluntary nature of APAAR in December 2024.

Concerns about Data Security

• • Lack of clarity over the policy documents and the collection of personal data of minors.
  • Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) argues the data collection without a law backing it is unconstitutional.
  • Teachers question the necessity of APAAR, as data is already collected through UDISE+.
  • Concerns over the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which prohibits tracking and behavioral monitoring of children.
  • Potential risks due to open APIs and data-sharing channels without proper safeguards.

How APAAR ID is Generated

• • Teachers and schools guide parents in generating the APAAR ID.
  • Schools verify student’s demographic details (e.g., name, date of birth), and parents fill out a consent form.
  • Any data mismatch (e.g., names) must be corrected before generating the ID.

Opting Out of APAAR

• • Parents can opt out by writing to schools, using templates provided by the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC).
  • Despite its voluntary nature, some regions (e.g., Uttar Pradesh) pressure schools to ensure APAAR generation, even threatening de-recognition of madarassas not participating.
  • Parents have had some success in opting out by presenting the voluntary nature of the program.

Summary (The Gist)

• • APAAR is voluntary, though some schools and States push for its adoption.
  • Parents have the option to opt out by contacting schools directly.
  • Concerns about data security and constitutional issues around the collection of minor’s data persist.