Onam

Context:

• Onam festivities kick off with vibrant Atham pageantry

About Onam:

• Onam is the biggest festival in the Indian state of Kerala.
• Onam Festival falls during the Malayali month of Chingam (Aug – Sep) and marks the homecoming of legendary King Mahabali.
• Carnival of Onam lasts for ten days and brings out the best of Kerala culture and tradition.
• Of all these days, the first day Atham and the tenth day Thiruvonam are the most significant ones.
• Intricately decorated Pookalam, ambrosial Onasadya, breathtaking Snake Boat Race and exotic Kaikottikali dance are some of the most remarkable features of Onam – the harvest festival in Kerala.
• Pulikali, Kaikottikali, Kummattikalli, Kathakali, Thumbi Thullal besides several other folk arts and traditions can be seen on one platform called Onam.

Nehru Trophy Boat Race:

• Named after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, it is conducted on the Punnamda Lake, near Alappuzha, on the second Saturday of August every year.
• The port town of Alappuzha was the commercial metropolis of the erstwhile Travancore.
• For the people of each village in Kuttanad, a victory at this race for their village boat is something to be celebrated for months to come.
• The major attraction of the boat race is the competition of snake boats (chundanvallams or snake boats).
• The first race was an impromptu once conducted in 1952 in honour of Panditji who visited Alappuzha.
• On his return to Delhi in December 1952, Nehru donated a Silver Trophy, which is a replica of a snake boat placed on a wooden abacus.
• The 70th Nehru Trophy Boat Race has officially been rescheduled to 28th September, 2024.

Quad

Context:

• Quad leaders scheduled to meet in U.S. on September 21

News:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi to host the leaders of the U.S., Japan, and Australia ahead of UN meetings in USA.
• This is the first time India will host the Quad Summit, which was upgraded to the leadership level in 2021.

Agenda for the meet:

• “Maritime security, critical and emerging technologies, cyber security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, health security, climate change, counterterrorism, infrastructure and connectivity, and addressing the debt crisis through sustainable, transparent and fair lending and financing practices”

About Quad:

• Known as the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue’ (QSD), the Quad is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely United States of America (USA), India, Australia and Japan.
• One of the primary objectives of the Quad is to work for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
• The group met for the first time in 2007 on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
• It is considered an alliance of maritime democracies.

Formation:

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first to pitch the idea for the formation of Quad in 2007.
• Its origins can be traced back to the evolution of Exercise Malabar and the 2004 Tsunami when India conducted relief and rescue operations for itself and neighbouring countries and was later joined by the US, Japan and Australia.
• Australia’s withdrawal: Australia withdrew from the forum due to the political pressure from the Chinese government and in the wake of the growing conflict between the US and China in the Asia-Pacific region.
• In 2010, enhanced military cooperation between the US and Australia was resumed, leading to Australia’s comeback to the Quad’s naval exercises.
• In 2012, the Japanese PM emphasised the idea of Asia’s ‘Democratic Security Diamond’ comprising the US, Japan, India and Australia.
• It was in 2017 when the first official talks under the Quad took place in the Philippines.

Principles of Quad:

• The motive behind the Quad is to keep the strategic sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any military or political influence.
• It is basically seen as a strategic grouping to reduce Chinese domination.
• The core objective of the Quad is to secure a rules-based global order, freedom of navigation and a liberal trading system.
• The coalition also aims to offer alternative debt financing for nations in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The Quad leaders exchange views on contemporary global issues such as critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and infrastructure, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, climate change, pandemic and education.

Significance of Quad for India:

• It is believed that the forum strategically counters China’s economic and military rise.
• If Chinese hostilities rise on the borders, India can take the support of the other Quad nations to counter the communist nation.
• India can even take the help of its naval front and conduct strategic explorations in the Indo-Pacific region.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)

Context:

• NTCA letter on relocation from tiger zones draws ire

News:

• Apex tiger conservation authority asks 19 States to ‘prioritise’ removal of residents from core tiger zones.
• The “core zone” refers to the portion in a tiger reserve where tribals cannot live and activities such as hunting and collecting forest produce is banned. There is a concentric circle outside the “core zone” called the buffer zone where these restrictions are eased but regulated.
• There are 53 tiger reserves in India across 19 States.
• The Wildlife Act says that core zones are to be “inviolate” and these must be made so by coaxing residents to “voluntarily relocate” on “mutually agreed terms and conditions”.

About NTCA:

• It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it under the said Act.
• It consists of the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (as Chairperson), the Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (as Vice-Chairperson), three members of Parliament, Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests and other members.
• Project Tiger’ is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, providing funding support to tiger range States for in-situ conservation of tigers in designated tiger reserves.

Objectives:

• Providing statutory authority to Project Tiger so that compliance of its directives becomes legal.
• Fostering accountability of Center-State in management of Tiger Reserves, by providing a basis for MoU with States within our federal structure.
• Providing for an oversight by Parliament.
• Addressing livelihood interests of local people in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves.

Powers and functions:

• To approve the tiger conservation plan prepared by the State Government
• Evaluate and assess various aspects of sustainable ecology and disallow any ecologically unsustainable land use such as, mining, industry and other projects within the tiger reserves
• Lay down normative standards for tourism activities and guidelines for project tiger from time to time for tiger conservation in the buffer and core area of tiger reserves
• Approve, co-ordinate research and monitoring on tiger, co-predators, prey habitat
• Provide measures for addressing conflicts of men and wild animal
• Ensure critical support including scientific, information technology and legal support for better implementation of the tiger conservation plan
• The NTCA / Project Tiger conducts the country level assessment of the status of tiger, co-predators, prey and habitat once in four years, using the refined methodology, as approved by the Tiger Task Force.

Note: The Tiger Conservation Authority may, in the exercise of its powers and performance of its functions, issue directions in writing to any person, officer or authority for the protection of tiger or tiger reserves and such person, officer or authority shall be bound to comply with the directions.

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)

Context:

• IMEC will be cornerstone of global connectivity, add to growth: Jaishankar

About IMEC:

• On the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, Leaders of India, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE and US announced an MOU in September 2023 committing to work together to develop a new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
• The IMEC will comprise of two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Gulf and northern corridor connecting Gulf to Europe.
• The corridor will provide reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship to rail transit network to supplement existing maritime routes.
• It intends to increase efficiency, reduce costs, secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility, enhance economic cooperation, generate jobs and lower greenhouse gas emission, resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East (West Asia).
• The IMEC corridor, which aims at integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East involves multiple stakeholders and is at an incipient stage.
• The project’s physical infrastructure includes railway lines connecting the UAE to Israel via Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as electric cables to enhance digital connectivity and pipes for clean hydrogen export.
• This 21st century trade route will also feature undersea internet cables and pipelines to transport electricity and hydrogen to Europe and India, produced using renewable sources in the Arabian Peninsula.

Project Cheetah

Context:

• Process is time-taking, but Project Cheetah a success: Union Minister

News:

• The work on Project Cheetah has been a time-taking process but it has been a success, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said ahead of the project’s second anniversary.
• They (cheetahs) had to adapt and set themselves to the local system. We brought 20 cheetahs. Unfortunately, climatic conditions led to mortality. But in two years, we have 26 cheetahs, he said.
• Project Cheetah began with the reintroduction of eight cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh. As of now 25 cheetahs — 13 adults and 12 cubs — survive.
• The government is currently developing Gandhi Sagar wildlife sanctuary as the second home for the African cheetahs.
• Prey base of ungulates is being augmented in the protected area and the field staff also has its task cut out on the issue of relocating leopards, who are a competing predator of the cheetahs in the sanctuary.
• Meanwhile, the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Project Cheetah steering committee are also deliberating on finalising the source population for importing the next batch of cheetahs for the project.
• One of the key objectives of the project is to introduce eight to 14 cheetahs annually for five years, subject to availability.

About Project Cheetah:

• The Government of India has decided to introduce the Cheetah, the only large carnivore species that went extinct in Independent India.
• The Cheetahs for release into the selected sites in India are sourced from the ancestral South African cheetah and Namibian populations depending on the suitability and continued availability of animals.
• This international endeavor will not only strengthen the efforts for global conservation of the Cheetah but also the re-establishment of his species in its historical range.
• Bringing the Cheetah back to India has very vital and far reaching conservation consequences and aim to achieve the following ecological objectives:
• Re-establish the functional role of the Cheetah in representative ecosystems within its historical range.
• Here the cheetah will serve as a flagship to save not only its prey-base, but also other endangered species of the grassland and semi-arid ecosystems.
• Resources invested in these highly exploited and neglected systems will ensure better management and restore their ecosystem services for the country.
• Contribute to the global effort towards conservation of the Cheetah as a species.
• Additionally, Cheetah introduction is likely to improve and enhance the livelihood options and economies of the local communities.