Rythu Bandhu Scheme:

The Rythu Bandhu scheme, also known as the Farmer's Investment Support Scheme (FISS), is a welfare programme for farmers started by the Telangana government in 2018.

 The objective of this scheme is two fold:

• To provide a timely cash grant for the initial investment needs of farmers
• To ensure that farmers do not fall into the debt trap.

 Under the scheme, financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre per farmer each season is directly transferred to each farmer's account.

• This financial support was distributed biannually, allocated for both the kharif and rabi harvests.
• The assistance can be used for the purchase of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, labour, and other investments in the field operations of Farmer's choice for the crop season.

Eligibility:

• The scheme is open to all resident farmers in the state who own land.
• Farmers cultivating the land in the forest, a majority of them from Scheduled Tribe communities and having a Record of Forest Rights (ROFR) document, are also eligible to receive benefits under the scheme.
• Farmers cultivating the land in the forest, a majority of them from Scheduled Tribe communities and having a Record of Forest Rights (ROFR) document, are also eligible to receive benefits under the scheme.
• It is the country's first direct farmer investment support scheme where cash is paid directly to the beneficiary

The Ibu volcano in Indonesia's North Maluku province erupted recently, prompting authorities to warn locals and tourists to stay away from the area.

About the Ibu Volcano:

• It is a stratovolcano located in the province of Maluku, East Indonesia.
• It is one of the most isolated and least accessible volcanoes in and Indonesia.
• It stands as high as 1,377 metres above sea level.

What is a Stratovolcano?

• The stratovolcano is a tall, steep, and cone-shaped type of volcano.
• Unlike flat-shield volcanoes, they have higher peaks. At their peak, stratovolcanoes usually have a small crater. The crater may be filled with water or ice, or it may contain a volcanic dome during a period of relative inactivity.
• Stratovolcanoes comprise the largest percentage (~60%) of the Earth's volcanoes, and most are characterised by eruptions of andesite and dacite, lavas that are cooler and more viscous than basalt.
• These more viscous lavas allow gas pressures to build up to high levels. Therefore, these volcanoes often suffer explosive eruptions.
• They are usually half lava and half pyroclastic material, and the layering of these products gives them their other common name of composite volcanoes.

In a key archaeological finding, the forest department of Satpura Tiger Reserve recently found a rock painting dating back 10,000 years, in Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram.

About the Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR):

Location:

• It is located in the Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh
• It is located in the Satpura ranges of the Central Indian Landscape.
• It lies south of the river Narmada
• Satpura, basically meaning "Seven Folds", forms a watershed between the Narmada and Tapti Rivers and is triangular in shape.
• It is part of the Deccan bio-geographic zone of India.
• It is part of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.
• STR is part of one of the largest tiger habitats in the world, extending over 10,000 sq. km along with the forest areas of Betul, Harda, Khandwa, and Melghat forest divisions.
• Corridor:
• It has corridor connectivity with Pench National Park.
• The habitat is also an important testimony to human evolution, as it houses more than 50 rock shelters that are almost 1500 to 10,000 years old.
• Geological formations include the Deccan trap series, Gondwanas, and Metamorphic rocks.

Flora:

• This reserve is largely made up of mixed forests with a sizable proportion of Sal and Teak.
• These mixed forests consist of tree species like jamun, baheda, palash, mahua, saja, bija, tendu, arjun, semal, salai, kusum, achar, etc.
• Twenty-six species of the Himalayan region and 42 species of the Nilgiri area are found.
• Hence, STR is also known as the northern extremity of the Western Ghats.

Fauna:

• Tigers, leopards, spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, chousingha, Indian gaur, blue bull, and jungle cats, along with co-predators, birds, reptiles, and fish, are also found.

The sale and consumption of meat, alcohol, and other intoxicants have been restricted around the Pashupatinath Temple area due to the Hindu festival of Bala Chaturdashi.

About the Pashupatinath Temple:

•          It is a Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupati, a form of Shiva.

Location:

• It is located on the bank of the Bagmati River on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal.
• In 1979, the temple was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Features:

• The temple complex includes 518 temples, buildings, and structures.
• The main temple is designed in the Nepalese pagoda xyle, with a tiered roof and plinth.
• It is a two-tiered structure with a gold-plated roof.
• The temple has two interior rooms where the Pashupatinath idol is placed.
• It is a cubic structure with four main doors, all covered with silver sheets.
• One of the most astonishing decorations of the temple is the huge golden statue of Nandi, Shiva's bull.

• What is a Pagoda?

• A Pagoda is a tower like, multistorey, solid or hollow structure made of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with a Buddhist temple complex, common in China, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia.
• The pagoda structure derives from that of the stupa, a hemispherical, domed, commemorative monument first constructed in ancient India.
• Pagodas are constructed around a central staircase and can have many forms.
• A pagoda has three sections: a base, a body, and a top, which often takes the form of a miniature pagoda.

An organisation of the Hatti community in Himachal Pradesh will organise a protest march on December 16 to press their demand for the implementation of a law giving the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the community.

About the Hatti community:

• The Hattis are a close-knit community who take their name from their traditional occupation of selling home-grown crops, vegetables, meat, and wool at small-town markets known as 'haats'.
• Hatti men traditionally don a distinctive white headgear on ceremonial occasions.
• The Hatti homeland straddles the Himachal-Uttarakhand border in the basin of the Giri and Tons rivers, both tributaries of the Yamuna.
• The Tons marks the border between the two states, and the Hattis living in the Trans-Giri area in today's Himachal Pradesh and Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand were once part of the royal estate of Sirmaur. Jaunsar Bawar was conquered by the British in 1814.
• The two Hatti clans, in Trans-Giri and Jaunsar Bawar, have similar traditions, and inter- marriages are common.
• They are governed by a traditional council called 'khumbli' which decides community matters.
• According to the 2011 census, members of the community numbered 2.5 lakh but at present population of the Hattis are estimated at around 3 lakhs.

What are their Demands?

• Tribal Status:

They are demanding Schedule Tribe status since 1967 when tribal status was accorded to people living in Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand, which shares a border with the Sirmaur district.

• Issue:

Due to topographical disadvantages, the Hattis living in the Kamrau, Sangrah, and Shilliai areas of Himachal Pradesh have lagged behind in both education and employment.