National
14th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav 2023
⇒ The 14th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was held from February 25 to March 5, 2023 at Dr. Karni Singh Stadium in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
The objective of the festival is to preserve, promote and popularize the rich cultural heritage of the country.
Organized by:
Organized by the Union Ministry of Culture, the festival was inaugurated with a Shobha Yatra, in which artists from different states of the country participated in traditional dresses.
- The 9 days long festival was organized with the support of 7 regional cultural centers and various academies.
Governor of Rajasthan Kalraj Mishra and Union Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal also inaugurated the craft fair and various exhibitions on 25 Feb.
The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu graced and addressed the 14th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav in Bikaner, Rajasthan on February 27, 2023.
- Speaking on the occasion, the President said that festivals like Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav not only promote the art and culture of the country, but also strengthen the feeling of national unity. Such cultural events provide opportunities to people to know and understand our rich and prosperous culture and the characteristics of different regions.
Performances:
» Performances of about one thousand well-known artists from across the country based on folk dance, folk music, drama and Sufi music took place during the festival.
- Apart from this, sand sculpture, an exhibition based on crafts and other arts was also organized.
Annual Refit Conference 23 (ARC-23) and Annual Infrastructure & Indigenisation Conference 23
⇒ Indian Navy’s Annual Refit Conference 23 (ARC-23) and Annual Infrastructure & Indigenisation Conference 23 (AIIC-23) conducted on 23 and 24 February 2023 at Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam.
Chaired by:
The conference was held under the Chairmanship of VAdm Sandeep Naithani, Chief of Materiel (COM).
Discussion:
Refit plans, operational availability of ships/ submarines of the Indian Navy and the plans for augmentation of infrastructure to meet the growing requirements of the Indian Navy were discussed during the conference.
Highlights:
- During the AIIC meeting held on 24 Feb 23, progress of various Technical and Marine infrastructure projects was reviewed by the Chief of Materiel.
- The COM expressed satisfaction with the pace of the ongoing technical infrastructure projects aimed at the augmentation of repair and refitting facilities in the Indian Navy.
- Further, various Marine infrastructure projects including the creation of additional berthing space for future platforms planned to be inducted over the next 15 years were reviewed during the meeting.
- An exclusive session on indigenisation was also conducted during the conference, in line with the Government of India’s initiative of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
- The conference was attended by delegates from the Naval Headquarters, the three Naval Commands, the Tri-Services Andaman and Nicobar Command, Director General Naval Projects, Naval Dockyards, Repair Yards and Material Organisations of the Indian Navy.
International
Women 20 (W 20) India Summit 2023
⇒ The Women 20 Summit under the presidency of India took place on 14th – 16th June 2023 at Radisson Blu Resort Temple Bay, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India.
Theme:
The theme of this year’s W 20 summit was ‘Women-Led Development- Transform, Thrive and Transcend’.
- The summit consisted of an exhibition, a Janbhagidari event, 8 sessions and a closed-door meeting.
- Under India’s presidency, W20 is committed to ensuring increased grassroots-level participation and enhanced stakeholdership of citizens in the W20 process.
Janbhagidari:
» W20 India organized its Janbhagidari event on 14 June 2023. The summit began with a Janbhagidari event (Citizen’s Connect Program) on the theme of ‘The Journey of Empowerment’.
- During the event, transformational stories of women from across India were shared with the W20 international delegates.
- The Janbhagidari event also provided grassroots women of Tamil Nadu the platform for sharing their concerns, stories and questions with global women leaders and policymakers.
- Ms Bansuri Swaraj, Supreme Court Advocate, W20 India Delegate delivered the opening remarks followed by five grassroots women of India.
- The event was facilitated by the National Rural Livelihood Mission, Ministry of Rural Development, GOI and the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Inaugural session:
» The W20 India Summit began with the inaugural session on 15 June 2023. It began with the inaugural remarks of Dr Sandhya Purecha, Chair of W20 India.
- The inaugural session was attended by over 150 delegates comprising of W20 delegates from the G20 countries, representatives from International Organisations and knowledge partners of W20 India.
W20 Communique 2023:
» The W20 Communique 2023, which provides actionable recommendations to the G20 leaders to incorporate in the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, was released during the inaugural session.
- The Communique is a culmination of several months of multi-stakeholder collaboration, cooperation and communication that synthesizes the collective analysis, prioritization and vision of a diverse and influential group of women leaders from G20 countries.
- The W20 Communique 2023 proposes policy solutions in the area of women entrepreneurship, women leadership at the grassroot level, bridging the gender digital divide, education and skill development and climate change, all while encapsulating the spirit of women leading the change towards One Earth, One Family and One Future.
- The Communique has key recommendations on the five priority areas of W20 for the G20 Leaders to consider and incorporate in the Leaders’ Declaration.
» W20 also released a Compendium of Articles on several themes of Women-Led Development written by the delegates and knowledge partners of W20.
Exhibition:
The summit included an exhibition from grassroots entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu, organised and coordinated by the Department of Rural Development, Tamil Nadu.
- The inauguration of exhibition was done by Smt Smriti Irani, Minister of Women & Child Development, Government of India.
- The exhibition offered a platform for women entrepreneurs to showcase their skills, creativity, and innovation.
- The exhibition of Grassroots Entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu (SHGS) was from the following places in Tamil Nadu: Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore, Perambalur, The Nilgiris, Thanjavur, and Ramanathapuram.
- The exhibition also included stalls from W20 Argentina and W20 Indonesia which showcased organisations working on grassroots entrepreneurship.
On 15th June, three plenary sessions were conducted on the themes ‘Intersection between Women’s Health, Gender Equality, and Socioeconomic Development’, ‘Women-Led Climate Action’, and ‘Bridging the Gender Digital Divide’.
- Session 1 – The Road to Achieving the SDGs: The intersection between Women’s Health, Gender Equality, and Socioeconomic Development
- Session 2 – Safeguarding our Planet through Women Led Climate Action
- Session 3 – Transformation through emerging & frontier technologies-accelerating progress and bridging the gender digital divide
» The W20 First Respondent Framework was also released at the end of the first session.
Day 2: 16 June
» The Women 20 Summit saw an assertive start to its second day on 16th June beginning with an intriguing session on ‘Call to Action– Breaking the Glass Ceiling’.
Session 4 – Call to action – Breaking the Glass Ceiling
- The first session of the day on the theme ‘Call to Action– Breaking the Glass Ceiling’ was about taking quantifiable steps toward breaking the metaphorical glass ceiling for women in leadership and management roles.
This was followed by plenaries on ‘Economic Empowerment through Trade and Investment’, and ‘Investing in Services and Infrastructure for an Enabling Care Economy’.
Session 5 – Economic empowerment through Trade and Investment
- The session on “Economic Empowerment through Trade and Investment” highlighted how trade and investment play an important role in women empowerment and the importance of gender-sensitive trade policies. The session also explained the role of investment in promoting women’s entrepreneurship.
Session 6 – Investing in services and infrastructure for an Enabling Care Economy
- The session on the theme ‘Investing in Services and Infrastructure for an Enabling Care Economy’ focused on how most of the burden for care work falls on the shoulders of women and girls, and how care work is essential for the functioning of the economies.
Closing Session – Celebrating the power of Women Empowerment
- The summit ended with a session on ‘Celebrating the Power of Women Empowerment’.
- The final session for the day was about celebrating the power of women empowerment which emphasised that women empowerment is a celebration of strength, resilience, and progress.
The summit came to an end with the closing remarks of Dr. Sandhya Purecha, W20 Chair 2023, who thanked the W20 team and the esteemed delegates for their presence and meaningful participation in helping to deliver our honourable Prime Minister’s vision under India’s G20 Presidency.
About W 20:
» The Women 20 (W20) is the official G20 engagement group, created in 2015 under Turkey’s Presidency of G20, with the objective of focusing on gender equity.
- The primary objective of W20 is women’s empowerment and advocating for women’s rights, raising women’s voices in society.
India’s W20 agenda focuses on five key priorities:
- Women’s Entrepreneurship
- Grassroots Women’s Leadership
- Bridging the Gender Digital Divide
- Education and Skill Development, and
- Climate Change
Women-20 (W-20) Inception Meeting
2nd Women 20 (W 20) International Meeting
Sports
1st Snow Marathon in Bhaderwah
⇒ The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (North) in association with Real Sports India along with local administration, Amazing Bhaderwah Tourism Association (ABTA) organised the maiden 1st Snow Marathon in Bhaderwah, Jammu on 26 February 2023.
This first ever grand snow marathon event was organised to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence, G20 India Presidency, Dekho Apna Desh, Yuva Tourism Club and Fit India Movement besides boosting the spirit of marathon adventure among travellers and adventure enthusiasts across the country.
Key Points:
- This 1st Jammu Snow Run Safari was flag off by Shri Vishesh Mahajan, Deputy Commissioner/DM, DODA.
- Over 130 runners participated in the marathon from across the country.
- The marathon started from Guldanda and participants had the option of running 5Kms, 10 Kms and 25Kms.
- The District Development Council, District Administration, Indian Army, Bhaderwah Camus, University of Jammu extended their support during the event. Apart from this Marathon, many school students, teachers and school/college management were also invited as spectators.
- Ministry of Tourism is hoping to organise such events on a larger scale in coming years.