Relevance IN - Prelims (about Nagoba Jatara + about Gond tribes)
What's the NEWS

• Nagoba Jatara is a tribal festival held in Keslapur village, Inderavelly Mandal Adilabad district, Telangana, India.
• It is the second biggest tribal carnival and celebrated by Mesaram clan of Gond tribes for 10 days.

• Thousands of Tribal people from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Karnataka, jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh belonging to the Mesaram clan offer prayers at the festival Nagoba.
• The 10-day festival has begun after tribal priests performed abhishekam to Nagoba idol at the temple in Keslapur with water fetched by them from river Godavari in Jannaram mandal, 70 km away from the village.
• One of the most important part of the jatara, which followed the maha puja, was ‘bheting' or introduction of the new brides in the clan to the clan god.
• The Gusadi Dance performance by dancers from the Gond tribe is a major special attraction of the event.

• The Gond are an Indian ethnic group.
• They speak Gond language which is a Dravidian language.
• They are one of the largest tribal group in India.
• They are spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra (Vidarbha), Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.
• They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe for the purpose of India's system of positive discrimination.
• They are an Adivasi group (indigenous people) of India

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the inaugural dialogue + important takeaways) + Mains (GS II Bilateral relations)

What's the NEWS

• The maiden Ganga Volga Dialogue (Track 1.5) held recently in Delhi was conceptualized during the October 2018 India-Russia Summit between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi.

Know! about the Dialogue (key takeaways)

• The Ganga-Volga Dialogue of Civilizations between experts from India and Russia addressed upon the existing and emerging spheres of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in matter relating to education, culture and civilization, entrepreneurship, innovation and trade routes, among other matters.
• The Ganga-Volta Civilizations Dialogue was organized by the Ministry of External Affairs of India in cooperation with Doctor Syama Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation.
• The dominant theme of the discussions was Connectivity.
• The Dialogue discussed the impact of a rapidly changing international situation on India-Russia relations.
• Special emphasis was placed on implementing the decisions agreed to at the 20th India-Russia Summit in Vladivostok in September 2019, including the utilization of the $1 billion Line of Credit extended by India for development of Russia's Far East by Indian companies.
• The role of the two major river systems of the Ganga and Volga in providing the framework for a host of activities including in culture and civilization, development of economic activity using riverine systems, and connecting people from the two river basins was highlighted.
• The significance of the focus on water, and on maritime issues, was put in the context of the political priorities of India and Russia.
• This included cooperation in the framework of India's SAGAR Indian Ocean policy, environmental issues including water conservation and management, and climate change.
• Discussions on the Indo-Pacific endorsed the inclusive framework of cooperation in the Indian and Pacific Oceans contained in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the Shangri-La Dialogue in June 2018, and the possible role of Russia as a partner of India in the Indian Ocean, including in developing the Blue Economy.

Know! the key terms associated with this dialogue
Russia's Far East

• At the fifth summit of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on September 4-6 in Vladivostok, Modi pledged a $1 billion Line of Credit for development of the Russian Far East.
• The Russian Far East stretches from Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake, to the Pacific Ocean and comprises roughly a third of Russia's territory.
• Although it is rich in natural resources including minerals, hydrocarbons, timber and fish, it is an economically underdeveloped region.
• The region faces several challenges, including a harsh climate, sparse population, increasing outmigration, poor infrastructure and lacking connectivity. These have contributed to keeping the Russian Far East largely underdeveloped.
• In 2015, Putin set up the EEF to draw investment into the Far East and to integrate the region with East Asian economies.
• 2019 is the first time that India has participated in the EEF
• India opened a consulate in Vladivostok in 1992, the first country in the world to do so.
• India and Russia are also looking to open a maritime route linking Vladivostok with the southern Indian city of Chennai.

The Shangri-La Dialogue

• The IISS Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) is a "Track One" inter-governmental security forum held annually by an independent think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) which is attended by defense ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific states.
• The forum gets its name from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where it has been held since 2002.

SAGAR Programme (Security and Growth for All in the Region)

• It is a maritime initiative which gives priority to Indian Ocean region for ensuring peace, stability and prosperity of India in Indian Ocean region.
• The term SAGAR is coined by PM Modi in 2015 during his Mauritius visit with a focus on blue economy
• The goal is to seek a climate of trust and transparency; respect for international maritime rules and norms by all countries; sensitivity to each other`s interests; peaceful resolution of maritime issues; and increase in maritime cooperation.

India, Bangladesh sign agreement to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road into 4-lane highway

Relevance IN - Prelims (geographical location of Ashuganj and the Akhaura ) + Mains ( GS II Bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to upgrade the 50.58-kilometre long road between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane highway.

Know! more about it

• The deal to upgrade the 39 km long road between Ashuganj river port to Dharhar area was signed between the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of Bangladesh and an Indian Company Afcons Infrastructure Limited.
• The RHD and an India-Bangladesh joint venture firm will take up the work of upgrading the remaining part of the road from Dharhar to Akhaura.
• The project is part of the dollar 2 billion second line of credit extended by India to Bangladesh in 2016.
• The project will boost connectivity between Bangladesh and North-eastern part of India which will facilitate sub-regional connectivity among South and South-east Asian countries.

Prelims Factoids
India's first e-waste clinic opens in Bhopal
Relevance IN - Prelims (about e-waste clinic and its objective)
What's the NEWS

• Country's first e-waste clinic is being opened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh today.

Know! more about it

• It would enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.
• The e-waste clinic is jointly setting up by the Central Pollution Control Board-CPCB and Bhopal Municipal Corporation-BMC.
• The e-waste clinic is being started on the basis of a three-month pilot project.
• If this project is successful, e-waste clinics will be established at other places in the country.
• Electronic waste will be collected door-to-door or could be deposited directly at the e-waste clinic.
• The CPCB will provide technical support to the clinic. The most interesting aspect of e-waste clinic is that the clinic has been prepared in junk low floor bus.

Prelims Factoids
40 buffaloes die of haemorrhagic septicaemia in Odisha's Kendrapara
Relevance IN - Prelims (about hemorrhagic septicemia)
What's the NEWS

• days due to suspected Sahana disease (hemorrhagic septicemia) in a number of villages located in the Garadapur block of Odisha's Kendrapara.
• Around 40 buffaloes have died within four days due to suspected Sahana disease (hemorrhagic septicemia) in a number of villages located in the Garadapur block of Odisha's Kendrapara.

Know! about Hemorrhagic septicemia

• It is a severe bacterial disease caused by certain strains.
• The disease is also spread through contact with infected animals, contaminated clothing, equipment, and through ingestion or inhalation of the bacteria
• Primary symptoms include swishing tails, reduced cudding, undigested food in faeces and reduced milk yield, he added.

Prelims Factoids
Third Global Potato Conclave at Gandhinagar in Gujarat
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the global potato conclave )
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Third Global Potato Conclave at Gandhinagar in Gujarat

Know! more about the conclave

• The four-day conclave will provide an opportunity to bring all stakeholders at one common platform.
• This will be a unique event to expose different stakeholders of the country to the frontiers of knowledge and innovations in potato research.
• Gujarat is one of the leading producers of Potato in the country.
• The Netherlands is the partner country of this conclave. About 100 foreign delegates of 14 different countries have confirmed their participation so far.
• This conclave is being organized by the Indian Potato Association (IPA) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR, Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla and International Potato Center, Lima, Peru.
• This mega event has three major components, which include the Potato Conference, the Agri- Expo and Potato Field Day.
• It will have 10 themes out of which eight themes are based on basic and applied research.
• The remaining two themes will have a special emphasis on potato trade, value-chain management and policy issues.

Know! the potato statics

• In the last eleven years, while the area under potato in India has increased by 19 percent, it has increased by about 170 percent in Gujarat.
• With a productivity of more than 30 tones per hector, Gujarat is holding the top position in India for the last decade.
• The state uses modern methods of agriculture like sprinklers and drip irrigation for cultivation.
• The state also has the best of the cold storage facilities and linkages and is a hub for major potato processing industries in the country.
  
  

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