Daily Current Capsules
12 and 13 January 2023

Voice of Global South Summit

What's the NEWS

 

• Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar led the Foreign Ministers' session of the Voice of Global South Summit on Jan 12
• India is hosting the two-day Voice of Global South summit on January 12th and 13th.
• This "Voice of Global South Summit" under the theme "Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose" envisages bringing together countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform on a variety of issues.
• The Voice of Global South Summit, a new initiative of the Indian government which started weeks after it took on the presidency of the G20, brought together the leaders of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guyana, Mozambique, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam for the inaugural session.
• More than 120 countries have been invited to this summit.

 

Know! about Global South

 

• Global South refers to the developing and the less-developed countries of the world.

 

 

Harvest Festivals of India

What's the NEWS

• Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has greeted fellow citizens on the eve of Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Magha Bihu, Pongal, Uttarayan, Pausha Parbon and other festivals.
• These festivals represent different cultures but unite under one country - India.
• All the festivals are loosely related to one single premise - crops, but vary depending on the part of the country it is celebrated in.

 

How this festival is celebrated across state with different names

• It goes by its standard all-India name, ‘Makar Sankranti' in Odisha, Maharashtra-Goa, Andhra-Telengana, Kerala and most of the north India.

It is also called as -

• Paush Parbon in Bengal,
• Pongal in Tamil Nadu,
• Uttarayan in Gujarat,
• Bhogali Bihu in Assam,
• Lohri in Punjab and Jammu,
• Maghi in Haryana and Himachal.
• Makar Sankramana in Karnataka,
• Saen-kraat in Kashmir.
• Sukaraat in Madhya Pradesh,
• Khichdi Parwa in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

 

Know! more about these festivals
Lohri

• Lohri is celebrated a day before Makar Sankranti, where people pray and celebrate around a bonfire.
• The festival is primarily celebrated in Northern parts of India
• Lohri is also termed as the festival of harvest wherein farmers celebrate folk songs culture and mark the end of sowing season.

 

Makar Sankranti

• It is celebrated across India in different cultural forms, with great devotion and fervour.
• It is a festival day in the Hindu calendar, in reference to deity Surya (sun).
• Makar Sankranti follows Lohri by a day, and is a popular festival in most parts of the country, but the festivity is at its prime, mainly in North India.
• Makar Sankranti marks the end of the winter with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.
• It is known by various names in different parts of the country.

Pongal

• Makar Sankranti is followed by Pongal.
• Pongal is a four day long harvest festival celebrated in India which is associated with the tradition of crop harvesting.
• This festival usually falls in the month of January when crops like rice, turmeric and sugarcane are harvested.
• The festival is widely celebrated in Tamil Nadu.
• This year, Pongal will be celebrated from 14 January to 17 January.
• Originated as a Dravidian Harvest festival which was celebrated as Thai Un and Thai Niradal.

Magh Bihu

• Magh Bihu is when the annual harvest takes place in Assam.
• People celebrate Rongali Bihu to mark the beginning of the Assamese new year and the end of the harvest season.

Uttarayan

• Uttarayan is a Hindu festival in celebration of the winter solstice and the transition to springtime, as well as the harvest.
• In some places, Uttarayan is celebrated with kite flying, and the name Uttarayan is sometimes used as the name of a kite festival, notably in the Indian state of Gujarat.
• Uttarayan is sometimes called Makar Sankranti.

 

Rajmata Jijau

What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister, has paid tributes to Rajmata Jijau on her Jayanti and said that her name will always be a part of our history for mentoring a great person like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

 

Know! about Rajmata Jijabai Shahaji Bhosale

• January 12, 1598 - June 17, 1674 )
• She was the mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj , the founder of the Maratha Empire .
• She is referred to as Rajmata, Rashtramata, Jijabai or Jijau.
• Jijabai's father was Lakhuji Jadhav of Sindkhed and mother's name was Mhalsabai.
• The Jadhavs were descendants of the Yadav dynasty of Devagiri .
• Jijabai was married to Shahaji Raja at Daulatabad .
• Jijabai was known for her virtue, bravery and vision.
• She was also a skilled horse rider.
• She could wield a sword very skillfully.

 

Samudrayaan Mission

 

What's the NEWS

• As a part of Samudrayaan Mission undertaken by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, India aims to send three persons to 6000 meters below sea level.
• India's ushering into an era of "Blue Economy" which is going to play a major part in building India's overall economy during the years to come.

 

Know! about the Mission

• A vehicle called MATSYA will carry three persons to a depth of 6000 meters for exploration of deep-sea resources like minerals.
• This mission, is expected to be realized in the next three years.
• MATSYA 6000 is being designed and developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• It has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety.
• Manned submersible facilitates the direct observation by the human in deep ocean in exploring mineral resources rich in nickel, cobalt, rare earths, manganese etc. and collection of samples, which can be used for analysis.
• The Centre had approved the Deep Ocean Mission at a total budget of ₹4,077 crore for five years.

India's Maritime Position

• India has a unique maritime position, a 7517 km long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382 islands.
• The mission aims to boost the central government's vision of ‘New India' that highlights the blue economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.

 

Viscose Fibre

What's the NEWS

• The Association of Man-made Fibre Industry of India (AMFII) has appealed to the Union Finance Ministry to accept the recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) on the levy of anti-dumping duty (ADD) on imports of Viscose Staple Fibre from Indonesia.

 

Know! about Viscose Fibre

 

• Viscose is a type of rayon.
• In the 19th century it was known as artificial silk
• The term "rayon" came into effect in 1924.
• The name "viscose" is derived from the way this fibre is manufactured; a viscous organic liquid used to make both rayon and cellophane.
• Viscose is made from tree wood pulp, like beech, pine, and eucalyptus
• Viscose can also be made from bamboo
• As a manufactured regenerated cellulose fibre, it is neither truly natural (like cotton, wool or silk) nor truly synthetic (like nylon or polyester) - it falls somewhere in between.
• Chemically, viscose resembles cotton, but it can also take on many different qualities depending on how it is manufactured.
• It is versatile, Highly absorbent and Inexpensive fibre.

 

 

Digital India land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP)

What's the NEWS

• The Union government has informed the Supreme Court that significant progress has been made in the computerisation of land ownership records, as cadastral maps of 35% of over six lakh villages have so far been geotagged.

 

Digital India Land Record Modernisation Programme (DILRMP)

 

• It is a Central Sector scheme that has been extended to 2023-24, to complete its original targets as well as expand its ambit with a slew of new schemes.
• In 2008, two schemes viz, Computerisation of Land Records (CLR) and Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA&ULR) were merged into a modified scheme named DILRMP.
• It is being implemented by the Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development.
• It attempts to build upon the commonalities that exist in the arena of land records in various States to develop an appropriate Integrated Land Information Management System (ILIMS) across the country.
• The ILIMS integrates all the processes and lands records databases with the banks, financial institutions, circle rates, Registration Offices and other sectors.

 

National Youth Day

 

What's the NEWS

 

• Prime Minister of India inaugurated the 26th National Youth Festival in Hubballi, Karnataka on 12 January 2023.
• Theme of the festival 2023: Viksit Yuva Viksit Bharat

 

Know! about National Youth Festival 2023

 

• The National Youth Festival is being held on National Youth Day, which is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, to honour and cherish his ideals, teachings, and contributions.
• Since 1985, the Indian Government is celebrating the birthday of Swami Vivekananda as National Youth Day.

 

Indian Skimmers

What's the NEWS

• Around 250 Indian Skimmers were sighted in Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary in a day during the Asian Waterbird Census-2023.

 

Know! about Indian Skimmers

 

• It is found in the coastal estuaries of western and eastern India.
• It occurs primarily on larger, sandy, lowland rivers, around lakes and adjacent marshes and, in the non-breeding season, in estuaries and coasts.
• About 20% of the total population of fewer than 2,500 birds nest along river Chambal.
• IUCN Protection status - Endangered

 

Know! about the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

 

• It is a wildlife sanctuary and estuary situated in Andhra Pradesh.
• Between this sanctuary area and the sea Hope Island blocks the direct confluence of the sea and Godavari. As a result, about 40% of the sanctuary is only sea backwaters and the rest of the area is intermingled with creeks and gets inundated with tidal waters.
• Flora: It has extensive mangrove and dry deciduous tropical forests. It is the second-largest stretch of mangrove forests in India.
• Fauna: It is home to the critically endangered white-backed vulture and the long-billed vulture.

 

 

White Tufted Royal Butterfly

What's the NEWS

• A team of butterfly observers and researchers have found White Tufted Royal Butterfly, a rare butterfly species at Kalliyad in Kannur district of Kerala.

 

Know! about White Tufted Royal Butterfly

 

• White Tufted Royal Butterfly is a rare species and is protected under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
• The wingspan of the butterfly is just 32-40 mm.
• Its larvae feed on Scurrula parasitica, a plant belonging to the Loranthaceae family.
• The species had been previously spotted in Agasthyakoodam in 2017 and the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in 2018.

 

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