ASSAM

Puppetry Art-form of Assam – Putola Nach

Assam currently made videos using the ordinary art known as “Putola Nach”. The art structure was once used to take the messages associated with COVID-19 to the public via social media.

Highlights:
♦ The videos were produced in collaboration with UNICEF. The names of the videos had been COVID Shatru (enemy), COVID Bibharat (confusion). These two had been launched in Assamese. Mama ro Mina ko COVID Katha (COVID Tale of Mama and Mina) was released in the language of Nepal.
♦ Putola Nach: It is a normal string puppet theatre from Assam in North East India. The other forms of puppetry & shadow theatre have disappeared now. The Putola nach is additionally called putala bhaona. Usually, Putola Nach is used to perform scenes from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha. These dolls are 1.5 metres tall. These dolls are made up of hollow wood or bamboo. Their heads are made of terracotta. Musical Instruments used in performing the artwork are dhol, harmonium, kansi, double reed wind instrument and a bell steel plate beaten with a stick. There were three one-of-a-kind patterns of string puppetry in Assam. They were said to be Kalaigaon in Northern Assam, Barpeta-Nalbari in western Assam and Majuli “island” in eastern Assam.
♦ Tholpavakoothu: It is a shadow leather-based puppet play. In February 2021, it used to be animated by way of a robot. It is an exceptional instance of integration of Dravidian and Aryan cultures. It is additionally called Olakoothu and Nizhalkoothu. The Musical gadgets used in the artwork are Chenda, Ezhupara and Maddalam. The Chief puppeteer of the art is regarded as “Pulavan

NORTH-EASTERN STATES

Most NE states not testing people from regions recording spike

As new variants of the novel coronavirus spread across the country, a sense of fear has returned among the people of the northeast as no state, except Manipur, has issued any order regarding mandatory testing for travellers from areas where a spike in cases has been recorded.

Silchar and Lilabari airports in Assam and Agartala airport in Tripura have already withdrawn mandatory testing orders. The other airports in Assam, too, plan to discontinue with such practices from March 1. As the Airports Authority of India strictly follows the recommendations of the respective state governments and district administrations so far as testing at airports are concerned, the statutory body also remains in a fix.

INTERNATIONAL

World Earth Day is on 22nd April

Each and Every year, World Earth Day is celebrated on 22 April. The first World Earth Day was once celebrated in 1970.

On World Earth Day, in 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by way of China, the United States and other hundred and twenty countries. In 2021, US President Joe Biden has invited leaders of forty top economies of the world including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jing Ping to the Leader’s Summit on Climate.

Equinox Earth Day is celebrated on March 20 (or 21) annually. It marks the arrival of spring in the Northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere. It is additionally known as Equinoctial Earth Day. The first Equinox Earth Day was once celebrated in 1970.

International Girls in ICT Day is Designated on 22nd April

International Girls in ICT Day marked yearly on the fourth Thursday in April. This year International Girls in ICT Day is located on twenty-second April 2021.

International Girls in ICT Day pursuits to inspire an international motion to amplify the illustration of girls and female in technology. Today, let’s recommit to the aim of equal get right of entry to for younger ladies and female to opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.
♦ The United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is highlighting the want to promote technological know-how career possibilities for women and ladies in the world’s fastest-growing sector.

NATIONAL

ISRO to Support RESPOND Programme

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has introduced that it will help eight joint research tasks mooted with the aid of the Space Technology Cell (STC), IIT-Delhi.

The ISRO has extended help to the projects underneath its RESPOND programme.

ISRO started out the RESPOND (Research Sponsored) programme in the 1970s, with the goal of encouraging academia to participate and make contributions in more than a few Space related lookup activities.

Under the Programme, ISRO presents a financial guide for conducting lookup and development things to do related to Space Science, Space Technology and Space Applications in Academic Institutions in India.

This is the flagship programme of ISRO to promote extramural research in rising areas of Space at Academia.

It appears to decorate the Academic base, generate human assets and infrastructure at the Academic Institutions to guide the Space Programmes.

India is on course to launch its first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, where Indian astronauts will spend time to habits space experiments. This bold mission will help the country prepare for future deep-space missions.

Additionally, RESPOND is collaborating in National Missions like the IMPRINT (IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology) programme and Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY).

IMPRINT Programme was launched in 2015 by means of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (now Ministry of Education). Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2015.

Sudarshan Sen Committee Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India has established a committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the work of the Asset Reconstruction Corporation (ARC) in the financial sector ecosystem and propose appropriate measures to enable them to meet the growing demand.

The team will review the existing legal and regulatory framework applicable to ARC and propose measures to improve the efficiency of ARC.

It will also review the role of ARC in addressing stressful assets, including those specified in the Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Law (IBC), and make recommendations to improve the liquidity and trading of securities returns.

Gender Bias and Inclusion In Advertising In India

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Geena Davis’s Gender Institute (GDI) in the media released a report entitled Gender Bias and Inclusiveness in Indian Advertising.

Research shows that although Indian ads are better than global benchmarks in terms of girls and women having equal performance on-screen and speaking time, their portrayal is problematic as gender stereotypes develop.

GDI is a non-profit research organization dedicated to researching gender representation in the media and advocating equal representation of women.

India has achieved gender equality in primary education and increased the female literacy rate from 54% in 2001 to 66% in 2011.

In the 2020 Global Gender Inequality Index, India ranked 108th out of 153 countries, an increase from 2015 (ranked 130th out of 155 countries).

India is one of the few countries where the mortality rate of girls under 5 is higher than that of boys. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Project, Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), Sukanya Samiridhi are some initiatives of India regarding girls.

APSC Notes brings Prelims and Mains programs for APSC Prelims and APSC Mains Exam preparation. Various Programs initiated by APSC Notes are as follows:-

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