Current Affairs

 

Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 

• The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is given under two categories: 
• Bal Shakti Puraskar, and 
• Bal Kalyan Puraskar. 

Bal Shakti Puraskar: 

Recognition: 

• It is given by the Government of India every year to recognize exceptional achievements of children in various fields i.e., innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts & culture, sports and bravery. 

Eligibility: 

• A child who is an Indian Citizen and residing in India and is between 5-18 years of age. 

Award: 

• A medal, a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000, book vouchers worth Rs. 10,000, a certificate and citation. 

Background: 

• It was instituted in 1996 as the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement, renamed from 2018 as Bal Shakti Puraskar. 

Bal Kalyan Puraskar: 

Recognition: 

• It is given as recognition to Individuals and Institutions, who have made an outstanding contribution towards service for children in the field of child development, child protection and child welfare. 

Eligibility: 

• An individual who is an Indian Citizen and residing in India and should have attained the age of 18 years or above (as on 31st August of respective year). S/he should have worked for the cause of children for not less than 7 years. The institution should not be entirely funded by the government and should have been in the field of child welfare for 10 years and performing consistently in the field. 

Award: 

• Three awards are given in each of the two categories - Individual and Institution - along with cash prizes (Rs. 1,00, 000 and Rs. 5,00, 000 respectively). 

Background: 

• It was instituted in 1979 as the National Child Welfare Awards, renamed from 2018 as Bal Kalyan Puraskar.

 

 

Guruvayur Temple 

News: - 

• The Prime Minister, who is on a two-day visit to Kerala, offered prayers at Sreekrishna Temple, Guruvayur, recently.

 About: -

• Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Swamy Temple, also known as the Dwarka of the South, is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and the young form of Lord Krishna. 
• It is located in the small town of Guruvayur, in the Thrissur District of Kerala. 
• The earliest temple records date back to the 17th century, but other literary texts and legends indicate that the temple may be around 5000 years old. Features: Lord Krishna, or Guruvayoorappan, is the chief deity of this temple. 
• The temple is built in the traditional Kerala architectural style. 
• The central shrine is believed to have been rebuilt in 1638 C.E. 
• Structures like the Nalambalam (temple structure surrounding the sanctum sanctorum), Balikkal (sacrificial stone), and Deepasthambham (pillar of lights) are situated on the temple premises. 
• The wall of the sanctum sanctorum is decked with ancient 17th-century murals. 
• Another famous sight here is the Dwajasthambam. It is a flagstaff, around 70 feet tall, fully covered with gold. 
• One of the most popular offerings at Guruvayoor temple is Thulabharam, where devotees are weighed against bananas, sugar, jaggery, and coconuts equivalent to their weight on a giant pair of scales. 
• The temple is also noted for being home to a large population of captive male Asian elephants. 
• The Punnathur Kotta elephant sanctuary, where 56 elephants live, is very close to the temple.

Soligas and Yeravas 

News: - 

• The recently launched Forgotten Trails: Foraging Wild Edibles, authored by Malemleima Ningombi and Harisha RP, chronicled the foods that Soligas and Yeravas tribes forage from the forests. 

About Soligas and Yeravas: 

• Indigenous groups Soligas and Yeravas have been living in the Cauvery Basin and the surrounding hills of peninsular India for thousands of years. 
• Soligas, one of the oldest indigenous communities in the country, are the original inhabitants of Karnataka and live mostly in the Chamarajanagar and Mandya districts. 
• Honey is an important part of the diet for the Soliga people, who still forage large parts of their food from the biodiversity-rich Ghats. 
• They reside in the peripheral forest areas near Biligiri Rangana Hills and Male Mahadeshwara. 
• They are the first tribal community living inside the core area of a tiger reserve in India to get their forest rights officially recognised by a court of law. 
• Soligas use Silver cockscomb as a nutritious leafy green vegetable, as it is high in nutrients such as betacarotene and folic acids, and have vitamin E, calcium and iron. 
• Also, the scientific community has named a new genus (Soliga ecarinata) of wasp after this community. 

Yeravas 

• The Yeravas, on the other hand, came to the state from Wayanad district in Kerala and settled in Kodagu district of Karnataka. 
• Yeravas use more tubers than Soligas. Language: They speak their own language of Ravula. 
• Mushrooms become part of the Yerava diet during monsoon. Issues: The food that Soligas and Yeravas depend on for survival is now affected by changes in land use and shifting policies. Worse, traditional knowledge is steadily being lost as young people are migrating out.

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) 

• Telecom service providers have urged the Ministry of Finance to suspend the universal service obligation fund (USOF) levy until the existing corpus is exhausted. 

About: - 

• USOF was set up by an Act of Parliament in December 2003 by amending the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. 
• The objective of the USOF is to provide access to telecom services in a non-discriminatory manner to people in rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable prices, thereby bridging the rural-urban digital divide. 
• For commercially non-viable rural and remote areas, USOF provides subsidy support in the form of Net Cost or Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to incentivize telecom service providers for the expansion of telecommunications and broadband services in those areas. 

Funding Mechanism: 

• The USOF is funded through a levy on the revenue earned by telecom operators. 
• The government imposes a Universal Service Levy (USL) on the gross revenue of the telecom companies, which is a percentage of their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR). 
• This levy is collected and deposited into the USOF. 

Administration: 

• USOF is headed by the Administrator, USO Fund who is appointed by the Central Government, for the administration of the fund. 
• It is an attached office of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications. Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) 
• USOF officially launched the TTDF Scheme on October 1st, 2022. 
• The TTDF Scheme is aimed at domestic companies and institutions involved in technology design, development, and commercialization of telecommunication products and solutions to enable affordable broadband and mobile services in rural and remote areas.’ 
• This initiative helps to connect schools with varied volunteers from the Indian Diaspora, namely, young professionals, retired teachers, retired Government officials, retired professionals, NGOs, Private Sector and Public Sector Companies, Corporate Institutions, and many others. 
• Under the scheme, USOF is also targeting to develop standards to meet countrywide requirements and create an ecosystem for research, design, prototyping, use cases, pilots, and proof-of-concept testing, among others. 
• The scheme entails grant to Indian entities to encourage and induct indigenous technologies tailor-made to meet domestic needs.

Jagannath Temple 

News: 

• Recently, the Chief Minister of Odisha unveiled a sprawling heritage corridor around the Jagannath Temple in Puri. 

About: - 

• It is located in Puri, Odisha. 
• It is one of the most famous and sacred Hindu temples in the world. 
• It is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of the Hindu deity Vishnu. 
• It is believed to have been built during the reign of King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, in the 12th century. 

Architecture: 

• The Jagannath Temple is a striking example of Kalinga architecture, a distinct style prevalent in the Odisha region. 
• The temple’s main structure, the sanctum sanctorum, or the garbhagriha, houses the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra. 
• Ratha Yatra is a Hindu festival associated with Lord Jagannath held at Puri in Odisha.
• The most famous Rath Yatra festival begins on the second day of the bright half of the lunar month of Ashadha (June–July) and lasts for nine days.