National
Delhi International Arts Festival at Kartavya Path
⇒ Ministry of Culture in collaboration with Prasiddha Foundation inaugurated Delhi International Arts Festival at Kartavya Path with the tagline – ‘Where Bharat Meets India’ on 16 December 2022.
- The festival was organised from 16th December to 30th December 2022.
Aim:
The aim of the festival was to celebrate the great Epics, the Warriors Who Fought for Our Freedom, and the many policy decisions and schemes instituted by our Government towards ‘Women Empowerment’, towards ‘Cleaning Our Holy Rivers’, towards keeping our Country ‘Clean and Free from Dirt and Disease’.
Events and performances:
- In the opening ceremony Kuchipudi dance performance choreographed by Jayarama Rao was performed.
- In the festival dance performances such as Kathak, Odissi along with theatre, classical musical performances and other cultural performances was organised.
- A series of events and performances was organised at various venues like Kartavya Path India Gate Lawns, Central Vista, Samvet Auditorium Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts Janpath, Amphitheatre Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts Janpath, etc in Delhi.
Defence Estates Day Function in New Delhi
⇒ Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh addressed the Defence Estates Day function in New Delhi on December 16, 2022.
- Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has called upon Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) to strengthen its internal legal system and gain expertise in state land revenue laws to effectively deal with unnecessary land related disputes.
- The Raksha Mantri appreciated the fact that the e-Chhawani software has been shortlisted for the Digital India Awards 2022 under the category of digital empowerment of citizens. He termed the achievement as proof that the software has played an important role in providing citizen centric services to the residents of cantonments.
- Shri Rajnath Singh pointed out that Ministry of Home Affairs has requested DGDE to conduct a survey for Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI). It is the first survey of land and buildings by DGDE outside Ministry of Defence, which will be started by DEO Delhi in collaboration with revenue authorities from Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
The event also witnessed the inauguration of SUVIDYA (Multilingual Cantt Board School Management Module) and BHOOMI RAKSHA (Encroachment Removal Module) by the Raksha Mantri.
SUVIDYA (Multilingual Cantt Board School Management Module):
Cantonment Boards operate and run various schools across 52 Cantonments in the country to impart quality education and various skills to students of the locality. There are 194 schools under Cantonment Boards with primary to Sr. Secondary level presently. To enhance ‘Ease of living’ for the citizens in Cantonment areas, School Management System has been implemented in these 194 schools.
The major online modules are:
- Online Admission
- Online Issuance of Transfer Certificate
- Online Homework and Assignments
- Online Grievance / Incident Reporting
- Online Notification
- Online Feedback and Suggestion
Keeping in view the requirements and suggestions of stakeholders, the functionalities of Suvidya has been enhanced by incorporating multilingual facility in six local languages other than English. These languages are Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Tamil.
BHOOMI RAKSHA (Land Encroachment Removal Module):
Ministry of Defence owns large tracts of land of approx 18 lakh acres both inside and outside Cantonments. The Armed Forces require large areas of land for various activities. The management of defence land lies with different defence organisations including DGDE/DEOs who are responsible for the protection under their respective management. The protection measures, inter alia, includes removal of encroachment from defence land.
For efficient and effective monitoring of removal of encroachment from defence land, DGDE has developed an Encroachment module under Real Time Record Management project. This will facilitate DEOs/CEOs to report encroachment cases to Estate Officers appointed under Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 who will be able to issue different notices and orders as per the Act for eviction of unauthorised occupants.
Raksha Mantri Excellence Awards:
Shri Rajnath Singh also gave away Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence for innovation and digital achievements in the fields of health, education and sanitation along with public service and land management.
- In 2020 and 2021, considering the COVID-19 situation, awards were not given to two categories namely Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence for Maintaining Centres for Divyang Children and for Improvement in the functioning of Cantt Boards Schools.
The categories in which awards were presented are:
» Swachha Chhawani Swastha Chhawani:
- Category A – Cantt Board, Delhi
- Category B – Cantt Board, Bareilly
- Category C – Cantt Board, Bakloh
» Digital Accomplishments: DEO, Delhi Circle
» Land and Record Management: DEO, Chennai Circle
» Improvement in Cantonment General Hospital: Cantonment Board, Allahabad
» Implementation of ‘e-Chhawani’ Project: Cantonment Board, Deolali
» Maintaining Centres for Divyang Children: Cantonment Board, Allahabad
» Improvement in the functioning of Cantt Boards Schools (Primary/Middle Schools): Cantt Board, Mhow
» Improvement in the functioning of Cantt Boards Schools (Secondary & Sr. Secondary Schools): Cantt Board, Jalandhar
International
United Nations Recognizes Namami Gange Initiative as one of the Top 10 World Restoration Flagships to Revive the Natural World
⇒ The United Nations (UN) has recognized Namami Gange initiative to rejuvenate India’s sacred River Ganga as one of the top 10 World Restoration Flagships to revive the natural world.
- The Award was received by Shri G. Asok Kumar, Director General, Namami Gange at a function in the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada on 14th December 2022, the World Restoration Day.
- Namami Gange was selected from over 150 such initiatives from 70 countries across the globe.
- They were selected under the banner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global movement coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
- It is designed to prevent and reverse the degradation of natural spaces across the planet. The recognized initiatives, including Namami Gange, will now be eligible to receive UN support, funding or technical expertise.
» Director General, Namami Gange, Shri G Asok Kumar said “The recognition of Namami Gange as one of the top-10 ecosystem restoration initiatives in the world bears testimony to the concerted efforts being made by the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Government of India for the restoration of the riverine ecosystem. I hope that our endeavours provide a roadmap for other similar interventions across the globe.”
- Shri Kumar also participated in a session in Montreal, Canada, organised by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Youth Task Force during the occasion.
- Shri Kumar thanked the World Restoration Forum, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Food and Agriculture Organization for giving the honour to India by selecting Namami Gange in the top 10 restoration programmes.
Other Points:
- Namami Gange Programme was started in 2014 after Shri Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister after recognizing the need to rejuvenate River Ganga and committed over 5 billion dollars to ensure that the river gets clean.
- Ganga is important for India as it is home to 40% of India’s population, 2500 species of flora and fauna and 8.61 billion sq km basin, which is home to over 520 million people. Ganga is also very important from spiritual point of view.
- The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has previously won the “Public Water Agency of the Year” in the Global Water Awards, 2019 by Global Water Intelligence 3.
- The documentary ‘Ganga: River from the Skies’ co-produced with National Geographic India, received awards under 3 categories- Best Documentary, Best Current Affairs and Best Natural History or Wildlife Programme- in the Asian Academy Creative Awards, 2022.
Important Day
National Minority Rights Day 2022
⇒ In India, the National Commission for Minorities has been observing the 18th December as the Minorities Rights Day every year.
Minority Rights Day upholds the right to freedom and equal opportunities for the minorities in India and creates awareness about their rights.
Theme:
The theme for Minorities Rights Day 2022 was centred around “All in 4 Minority Rights” as part of the commemoration of the 30-year anniversary of the UN Declaration being adopted.
Background:
- Minorities Rights Day was established in 1992 on December 18, when the United Nations adopted the UN Declaration.
- The United Nations on December 18, 1992 adopted and broadcast the Statement on the individual’s Rights belonging to Religious or Linguistic National or Ethnic Minorities.
The United Nations declared that:
“States shall protect the existence of the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity”.
About National Commission for Minorities:
- The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
- Six religious’ communities, viz; Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians have been notified in Gazette of India as minority communities by the Union Government all over India.