• Women teachers have outnumbered their male counterparts, per the Unified District Information System for Education report for 2019-20. Of the total 96.8 lakh teachers in India, 49.2 lakh are women.
• There were 35.8 lakh female teachers in 2012-13, which has gone up to 49.2 lakh in 2019-20. The number of male teachers increased from 42.4 lakh to 47.7 lakh in the same period.
• However: Female teachers number their male counterparts only at the primary level. The report pointed out that from upper primary level, the number of male teachers continues to be more than female teachers, nationally.
• Sample this: In primary classes, the number of female teachers is over 1 lakh, but there are only around 27,000 men. In primary grades, it’s 19.6 lakh women and 15.7 lakh men. By the time it reaches upper primary, the equation changes: men are 11.5 lakh and women 10.6 lakh. From then on, the gap increases. In secondary schools, there are 6.3 lakh men and 5.2 lakh women. In higher secondary, it’s 3.7 lakh and 2.8 lakh.
• In government and government aided schools across India, the number of male teachers is higher. However, when it comes to private unaided schools, the number of female teachers is high.
• State of states: The trend of male teachers outnumbering women in higher grades is seen in several states including Karnataka. However, there are states like Kerala, Delhi, Meghalaya, Punjab and Tamil Nadu where women surpass men even in secondary and higher secondary classes.

• Also: Unlike other countries, there are differential salaries in India between primary and secondary school teachers, explains Maya Menon, founder director, Teacher Foundation. “And male Indian teachers prefer to teach in secondary school because they get paid more, especially with government scales. Private schools that have more male teachers tend to be the International schools where the pay is better than other private schools,” she added.

Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal activist in incarceration for over nine months under the charges of instigating violence and conspiring with the Maoists against the government, was put on ventilator support at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai on Sunday. “He remains in a critical condition,” his friend and colleague Father Joseph Xavier told Scroll.in.

• Swamy, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was arrested in October last year following the investigations into the violence-hit Bhima Koregaon anniversary in 2018. He is among several activists and scholars charged under the anti-terror law UAPA.
• He is being treated at the hospital since May 30 following the directions of the Bombay High Court. He tested positive for Covid-19 on the same day.
• The continued incarceration of Swamy and others has been criticised by rights activists and civil society. Recently, over 2,000 academics and writers called for the immediate release of Swamy and 15 other co-accused in the case.

Reactions:

• “The NIA and central government are solely responsible for the sufferings of this elderly person and the current state of affairs,” tweeted the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a civil rights group.
• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) ordered the Maharashtra government to ensure every possible effort is made to save Swamy, NDTV reports.

Note: A third-party forensic analysis of co-accused Rona Wilson’s laptop had revealed that key evidence, including an alleged correspondence with Maoists on a supposed plan to assassinate PM Modi, was planted through malware by an unknown attacker.

• A ban: The Jammu and Kashmir administration Sunday banned the use and possession of commercial drones and unmanned aerial vehicles in Srinagar, two weeks after unknown actors used drones to attack an Indian Air Force Station in Jammu. The order was issued under Section 144 of the code of criminal procedure.
• A suspect: The ban may change little on the ground, however, as security agencies suspect the drone attack to have originated from Pakistan. The aerial distance from the Jammu station to the border is about 14km. Drones are also being used to deliver arms and ammunition from across the border.
• A theory: The National Investigation Agency believes the Jammu attackers used two drones, which flew north of the shrine of Baba Budhan Ali Shah, in the airport complex, before heading back west in the direction of the Indo-Pak border, News18 reports. Eyewitness accounts suggest the drones likely flew a course high over the Tawi river that leads to the border, before descending to stage the attack, it added.

Pakistan Sunday accused India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of orchestrating last month’s car bombing near the Lahore residence of 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed that killed three people and left 24 injured. National security adviser (NSA) Dr Moeed Yousaf claimed that “the whole drama about some mysterious drones flying in Jammu and Kashmir” was a “deflection tactic” in the face of Pakistan gathering proof of the alleged Indian hand in the bombing.

The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), an apex body that takes a call on the use of land from various conservation areas for development activities, had approved the diversion of around 1,792 hectares of wildlife habitat — equivalent in size to 3,349 football fields — for 48 projects in 2020, when the pandemic had severely restricted ground visits for taking crucial decisions.

• Shrinking tiger habitat: Among approved diversion from environmentally critical protected areas, around 1,040 hectares of land was approved for diversion from eco-sensitive zones while nearly 594 hectares were approved from within tiger habitats for linear projects, defence and infrastructure development. The remaining 158 hectares of land was diverted in wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and conservation reserves, it said.
• And… The apex body had also approved deletion (de-notification) of 1,08,983 hectares (around 1,089 sq km) of protected areas from Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh and Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

The findings were made by New Delhi-based not-for-profit organisation, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), which analysed all the wildlife clearances granted by the Standing Committee of the NBWL last year.

• It found that the body considered a total of 82 proposals, out of which 25 were for diversion within wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Most of the projects cleared were for linear diversion within sanctuaries, national parks and tiger reserves.
• “Linear projects are known to be especially destructive because they fragment the entire landscape and interrupt the movement range of animals,” it said.

The union environment ministry did not respond to the TOI’s questions on findings of the study, but an official on request of anonymity said the decision to denotify area of the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh was taken to simply rationalise the boundary of the sanctuary as the portion was basically non-forest land being used for agriculture and habitation for years. “The forest area will continue to be part of the sanctuary,” he said.

• A Philippine military aircraft carrying combat troops crashed around noon on Sunday in the country’s south, killing at least 42 army soldiers on board and three civilians on the ground, while at least 49 were rescued from the burning wreckage. In the country’s worst military air disaster in nearly 30 years, some passengers managed to jump from the fuselage before the aircraft exploded and was gutted by fire.
• The aircraft had 96 people on board, including three pilots and five crew and the rest were army personnel. Only five soldiers remained unaccounted for.
• The Lockheed C-130 Hercules — one of two ex-US Air Force aircraft handed over to the Philippines as part of military assistance this year — was transporting troops, many of them new soldiers who had just undergone basic training, from the southern Cagayan de Oro city for deployment in Sulu.
• “They were supposed to join us in our fight against terrorism,” Sulu military commander Major General William Gonzales said. Government forces have been battling Abu Sayyaf militants in the predominantly Muslim province of Sulu for decades.
• It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. Regional military commander Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan said it was unlikely that the aircraft took hostile fire. Per agencies, the plane had attempted to land at Jolo airport, but overshot the runway without touching down. It failed to regain enough power and height and crashed at nearby Patikul.
• Sunday’s accident comes after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed last month during a night-time training flight, killing all six on board.

• Harry Kane struck twice as England thrashed Ukraine 4-0 late on Saturday to reach their first European Championship semifinal since 1996. The England captain raced onto a Raheem Sterling through ball to fire in the opener from close range after just four minutes in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico — England’s earliest goal in a Euro match since 2004.
• Harry Maguire headed home a second less than a minute into the second half and Kane soon nodded in his side’s third as Ukraine crumbled. Substitute Jordan Henderson completed the rout with his first international goal to ensure the Three Lions’ comfortable passage into the last four.
• Semifinals: Italy vs Spain (July 7, 12:30 am), England vs Denmark (July 8, 12:30 am)
• Copa America: Lionel Messi scored a free kick and served up two assists as Argentina beat Ecuador 3-0 on Saturday to set up a semifinal clash against Colombia. It was Messi’s 76th goal for Argentina, taking him to within one of Pele’s South American record.
• Earlier, David Ospina celebrated becoming Colombia’s most capped player (112 appearances) by saving two penalties during their shootout victory over Uruguay in another quarterfinal. Colombia converted their first four penalties to win 4-2, after the match finished 0-0 after 90 minutes.
• Semifinals: Brazil vs Peru (July 6, 4:30 am), Colombia vs Argentina (July 7, 6:30 am)

• Jeff Bezos is set to hand over the reins of Amazon to Andy Jassy on Monday, 27 years after he founded what was then a website to sell books and is now a $1.7 trillion behemoth shipping everything from toilet paper to pre-fabricated homes and buttressing much of the internet through its cloud business.
• He will retain a key role in the company as executive chair, but will no longer focus on the day-to-day operation.
• The world’s richest person, with more wealth than some developed nations, instead, will turn his gaze to space, with his private exploration company Blue Origin.
• To mark the new era, on July 20, Blue Origin is to take Bezos, his brother, aerospace pioneer Wally Funk, and a winner of a charity auction, on a short suborbital flight to space.
• The change of guard will also free Bezos, to an extent, from those pesky questions as Amazon faces a torrent of regulatory scrutiny, pushback from workers and criticism from activists.

• Max Verstappen clinched his fifth win of the season at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, extending his advantage in the Formula One championship to 32 points over Lewis Hamilton. He leads the defending champion 5-3 for wins; 5-2 in pole positions.
• Hamilton dropped from second place to fourth late on after going too wide on a turn and rolling over a kerb, damaging the floor of his car. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who clinched the fourth podium of his career on the same track where he secured his first last year.
• It was another crushing success for Verstappen at the Red Bull ring, his team’s home track and with thousands of Dutch fans cheering on his 15th career win. He also won last weekend in Austria at the Styrian GP.

Uttarakhand. Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday took oath as the 11th chief minister of Uttarakhand — its youngest-ever CM. The 45-year-old replaced Tirath Singh Rawat, whose four-month tenure came to an end amid uncertainty over the Election Commission holding bypolls in the state. Rawat, a BJP MP, had to get elected as an MLA within six months of taking office to continue in his post.