PRELIMS NEWS
- National Bamboo Mission
The issue in news
Logo for the National Bamboo Mission released by the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
Main points
- The minister also inaugurated 22 bamboo clusters in 9 states of the country.
- The clusters are in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Karnataka.
- The restructured National Bamboo Mission was launched in 2018 for the holistic development of the complete value chain of the bamboo sector in India.
Note:-
- Keeping in consideration the importance of bamboo, the Indian Forest Act, 1927 was amended in 2017 to remove bamboo from the category of trees.
- As a result, now anyone can undertake cultivation and business in bamboo and its products.
National Bamboo Mission (NBM) Logo
- The logo was selected from among 2033 entries received on the MyGov platform from across the country.
- Sanskrit Grams Programme: Uttarakhand
The issue in news
The plan to develop ‘Sanskrit Grams’ across the state has been approved by the Uttrakhand govt.
Main points
Sanskrit Grams Programme:
- Under this programme people from two villages will be taught Sanskrit.
Selection of villages:
- The Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy, chaired by the Uttarakhand Chief Minister selected villages in a meeting.
- The decision to rename the academy as Uttaranchal Sanskrit Sansthanam Haridwar, Uttarakhand was alos taken in the meeting.
- The academy was established in 2002.
Implementation:
- The main focus will be on the school-going children so that they can learn the language from a young age. smaller sentences will be taught at first
- at first The programme will run will be implemented at the district level and then at the block level.
- previously, villages of Kimotha in Chamoli district and Bhantola in Bageshwar district were developed as Sanskrit villages.
More info:
- Sanskrit is the second official language in Uttarakhand after Hindi (Article 345 of the Constitution: Official language or languages of a State).
- Sanskrit is an old Indo-Aryan language.
- Classical Sanskrit, (close to late Vedic Sanskrit) as then used in the northwest of the subcontinent, was described in one of the finest grammars, the Aṣṭādhyāyī (“Eight Chapters”) composed by Pāṇini (c. 6 –5 century BCE).
- Sanskrit is written both in Devanāgarī script and in various regional scripts, such as Śāradā from the north (Kashmir), Bāṅglā (Bengali) in the east, Gujarātī in the west, and various southern scripts, including the Grantha alphabet, which was especially devised for Sanskrit texts.
- Sanskrit is a classical and an eighth schedule language.
- International Literacy Day
The issue in news
8 September is observed as International Literacy Day.
About the International Literacy Day:
- Initiated by UNESCO, the International Literacy Day has been observed annually since 1967.
- Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.
- The theme of the 2020 Literacy Day is “Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond,” especially on the role of educators and changing pedagogies.
- International Solar Alliance (ISA)
The issue in news
Five Petroleum and Gas sector PSUs to join the International Solar Alliance.
Main points:
- Five Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry will be joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA)’s Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (ISA-CSCA) as Corporate Partners.
- The five PSUs are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and GAIL (India) Limited.
- The move is significant as increasingly, Indian Oil & Gas companies are actively taking part in the clean energy transition.
- They are also making efforts to deploy solar panels across the value chain of their operations.
- The government has set a target of solarizing about 50% of fuel stations owned by public sector oil companies in the next five years.
- The logo portrays a bamboo culm in the centre of a circle composed of half an industrial wheel and half farmers, depicting the objectives of NBM appropriately.
- The green and yellow colours of the logo symbolise bamboo which is often termed as ‘green gold’.
- Rogan Art: Gujarat
The issue in news
Rogan art (hand painting on cloth) of Gujarat, is facing challenges due to the pandemic.
Main points
- Rogan means “Oil” in Persian. The word and the art form got incorporated to the land of Kutch around 300 years ago.
- This art is racticed by a lone Muslim family, the Khatris of Nirona Village, Gujarat.
Techniques used :
- It is a form of textile painting. bright paints manufactured form castor oil and natural colors are used .
Patterns used :
- Intricate motifs such as : peacocks, geometric flowers, the tree of life, etc. – are drawn by taking inspiration from the folk culture and history of the Kutch region.
Other Important Painting Styles of India:
- Warli Painting (Maharashtra)
- Kangra Miniature Painting (Himachal Pradesh)
- Thanjavur Painting (Tamil Nadu)
- Pattachitra Painting (Odisha)
- Kishangarh school of Painting (Rajasthan): The famous painting “Bani Thani” belongs to this style of painting.
- Madhubani Painting (Bihar)
- Kalamkari Painting (Andhra Pradesh)