1. Rising Sun Water Fest-2022 on ‘Umiam Lake’ ends in Meghalaya
Tags: Festivals State News
The first of its kind Rising Sun Water Fest ended on 5 November 2022 with a grand closing ceremony at Umiam Lake, Meghalaya showcasing the cultural heritage of the North eastern region.
The water sports and cultural extravaganza held from November 3-5 was aimed at encouraging the sports loving youth to take up water sports like Rowing and Sailing. It also aimed at promoting tourism in the North East.
Organizers of the Fest
The Rising Sun Water Fest was organised by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army in cooperation with the governments of Assam and Meghalaya.
The Festival was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma on 3 November.
The Chief minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma and Lt Gen RP Kalita, Army commander Eastern Command were the chief guests at the closing ceremony on 5 November.
Speaking on the occasion Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Assam and Meghalaya will work with the Indian Army to transform the Umiam Lake into a world-class venue for aquatic sports.
Umiam Lake
The Umiam Lake also known as Barapani Lake is an artificial lake which was created after a dam was built on the river Umiam in early 1960s. Umiam hydroelectric project supplies electricity to Meghalaya and Assam. The lake lies in the capital city of Meghalaya, Shillong.
State of Meghalaya
Meghalaya means the abode of clouds.
Meghalaya was created as an autonomous state within Assam in 1970 and achieved full statehood on January 21, 1972 by carving out hilly areas of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo.
It has the wettest region in the world, Mawsynram village near Cherrapunji. Mawsynram has recorded rainfalls of 700mm per year.
The capital of Meghalaya is Shillong which was made Assam's capital in 1874, remained so till January 1972,
Some of the famous cultural festival of Meghalaya
Nongkrem dance festival
Ka Pomblang Nongkrem dance, also popularly known as Nongkrem dance, is a five day religious festival of the Khasis tribe. It is celebrated during November month. Nongkrem Dance Festival is performed to appease the all-powerful Goddess Ka Blei Synshar for a rich bumper harvest and prosperity of the people.
Wangala Festival
The Wangala Festival is also known as the 100 drums festival. It is a most popular festival among the Garos tribes of Meghalaya. Wangala Festival is a harvest festival held in honour of Saljong, the Sun-god of fertility.
Behdienkhlam Festival
Behdienkhlam Festival is the most celebrated Cultural festival among the Pnars tribes. Behdienkhlam (chasing away the Demon of Cholera) is celebrated annually in July after the sowing period, the most important dance festival of the Jaintia tribes
2. Guyana President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali to be chief guest at 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention at Indore
Tags: Festivals National National News
Guyana President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali will be the chief guest at the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention. It will be held from 8th to 10th January 2023 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Important facts
Zaneta Mascarenhas, Member of Parliament of Australia, will be the guest of honour at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which will be held on 8th January 2023.
Last year, the 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference was organised on 9 January despite the Covid pandemic. The convention was held in virtual format.
The theme of the 16th Convention 2021 was “Contributing to Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.
The Young Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan was celebrated on January 8, 2021 with the theme "Bringing together Young Achievers from India and the Indian Diaspora".
17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention
The 17th PBD Convention is being organized from 08-10 January 2023 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh, in collaboration with the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
The 17th PBD Convention will be held in a physical format after a gap of four years.
The last PBD Convention in 2021 was held virtually during the Covid pandemic.
The theme of PBD Convention 2023 is "Diaspora: Reliable partners for India’s progress in Amrit Kaal”.
The PBD Convention 2023 will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 09 January 2023.
The Youth PBD will be held on 08 January 2023, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
On 10 January 2023, President Droupadi Murmu will confer Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards and preside over the Valedictory Session.
Organiser of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with a state government and an Industry body, either Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) or Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) . It is normally organised on 9 January.
Significance of 9 January
On this day in 1915 the greatest pravasi of India , Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915 from South Africa to India .
His ship SS Arabia docked in Bombay (now Mumbai) on 9 January 1915.To honour and celebrate the occasion the government of India decided to start Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in 2003.
3. Union Minister kishan reddy inaugurated the Ganga Utsav 2022 in New Delhi
Tags: Festivals National National News
The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism G Kishan Reddy inaugurated the Ganga Utsav 2022 on 4 November, 2022 in New Delhi.
Important facts
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti is organising Ganga Utsav.
It is organised on 4th November, 2022 at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi in two sessions.
G. Kishan Reddy was the Chief Guest in the morning session in the presence of the Minister for State, Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu.
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat presided over the evening session.
NMCG will take Ganga Utsav - Nadi Mahotsav 2022 to new heights through active participation of multiple stakeholders.
Objective of Ganga Utsav 2022
The main objective of Ganga Utsav 2022 is to celebrate our rivers and spread awareness on the importance of river rejuvenation across river basins in India.
It aims to organise similar events at more than 75 locations in different states to celebrate the Festival of Rivers of India.
Various activities of Ganga Utsav will take place on both physical and virtual platforms at the Centre, State and District level.
Background of the Ganga Utsav
Initially this festival was organised in the year 2017 as 'Ek Sham Ganga Ke Naam' involving limited stakeholders.
With the help of an international consortium like Indo-German cooperation, the event later evolved into 'Bal Ganga Mela' in the year 2018.
Bal Ganga Mela 2018 was organised in association with HCL Foundation.
In the year 2019, the event progressed into a carnival, which saw the participation of school students and youth.
The third edition of Ganga Utsav 2020 was organised through a three-day virtual medium.
Ganga Utsav 2021- Nadi Mahotsav was celebrated as part of the celebration of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.
4. 3rd National Tribal Dance festival comes to an end in Raipur, Chhattisgarh
Tags: Festivals State News
The third National Tribal Dance festival, organised by the Chhattisgarh government to promote tribal culture, folk dance, folk music, and folk art came to an end on 3 November 2022.
The three day (1-3 November) National Dance festival was held at the Chhattisgarh capital Raipur on the occasion of the 22nd foundation day of Chhattisgarh state. Chhattisgarh state was founded on 1 November 2000 after the bifurcation of Madhya Pradesh.
According to the 2011 census 30.62% of the population of the state were Scheduled Tribes.
Participants at the National Tribal Dance festival
In this year more than 1500 tribal performers from India and 10 other nations including Mozambique, Mongolia, Tonga, Russia, Indonesia, Maldives, Serbia, New Zealand, and Egypt, performed at the event.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated the festival on 1 November 2022.
National Tribal Dance Festival
To promote tribal culture Chhattisgarh organised the first national tribal dance festival from 27th December to 29th December 2019.
The second national tribal dance festival was organised from 28th October to 1st November 2021.
The third edition of this festival (NTDF) started from 1st of November on the occasion of 22nd foundation day of Chhattisgarh state. It concluded on 3 November 2022.
Some of the famous Tribal dance form of India
Some of the famous tribal dance forms of are India are Cheraw Bamboo dance from Mizoram, the Kalbelia dance from Rajasthan, Elelakkaradi dance from Kerala, Bhagoria from Madhya Pradesh, Chhau dance from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, Dhimsa from Andhra Pradesh, Shad Suk Mynsiem from Meghalaya,Santhali dance by the Santhal tribals from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.
5. Korean Film Festival begins in Dhaka
Tags: Festivals International News
A three-day festival of Korean films was inaugurated on 2 November in Dhaka, Bangladesh by State Minister of Cultural Affairs K M Khalid and the Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun.
Important facts
The festival began with the screening of the acclaimed film 'Escape from Mogadishu' directed by Ryu Seung-wan.
The film is based on real-life events during the Somali Civil War when the embassies of North and South Korea resorted to humanity and compassion to flee the country.
The film was selected as the South Korean entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.
The festivities began with a two-minute silence in memory of those killed in Seoul during a recent Halloween event.
The five films shown at the festival depict the life and history of Korea and its people.
A large number of students and young people came to participate in the film festival enthusiastically.
6. Saras Food Festival 2022 inaugurated by the Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste
Tags: Festivals place in news Person in news
The Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel, Faggan Singh Kulaste inaugurated the “Saras Food Festival 2022” in New Delhi on 28 October 2022. The Food Festival has been organized by the Union Rural Development Ministry from 28th October to 10th November, 2022 in New Delhi.
Women from self-help groups (SHG), formed under the flagship program ‘National Rural Livelihoods Mission’ of the Union Ministry of Rural Development are participating in this festival.
Speaking on the occasion the minister said that efforts are on to have at least 25% of all sales by women self-help groups through e-commerce portals annually.
He said that the Ministry has already signed agreements with e-commerce giants like Amazon, and Flipkart and there have been efforts by States/Union Territories in getting SHGs products registered on e-commerce platforms. e.g, Flipkart, Amazon and Meesho etc.
Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development said that there are about 8 crore 62 lakh women are members of SHGs and they have presence in 97% of Blocks, while 85 % of them are directly connected with the network of the Ministry.
7. Prime Minister Modi greets the nation on the occasion of Mahalaya.
Tags: Festivals
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people of India on the occasion of Mahalaya on 25 September 2022.
The festival of Mahalaya is observed in different parts of the country on 25 September 2022.
Mahalaya marks the end of Pitru Paksha Shradh (the 16-day lunar day period when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors/Pitrs) and the beginning of Durga Puja festivities.
Mahalaya is considered to be the day Goddess Durga defeated the demon Mahishasura.
8. Prime Minister Modi greets women of Telangana on the occasion of Bathukamma
Tags: Festivals State News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the women of Telangana on the auspicious occasion of Bathukamma on 25 September 2022.
Bathukamma ‘means ‘Goddess of Life’ and is celebrated during Dussehra.
It is a state festival of Telangana where women pay respects to nature by making large stacks of flowers, called Bathukamma.
Women decorate a special pot with seasonal flowers, fill the pot with offerings to the goddess, go in a procession, and later immerse the pot in a local pond.
State Symbol of Telangana
- The State Bird - Palapitta (Indian Roller or Blue Jay).
- The State Animal - Jinka (Deer).
- The State Tree - Jammi Chettu (Prosopis Cineraria).
- The State Flower - Tangedu (Tanner’s Cassia).
9. PM Modi greets Jewish people on Rosh Hashanah
Tags: Festivals
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 September 2022 greeted the Jewish people around the world and specially the people of Israel and its acting Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashanah.
Rosh Hashanah is being celebrated around the world from 25 -27 September 2022.
The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, actually means “Head of the Year in Hebrew language
According to the Jews, on this day God created Adam (first male) and Eve (first female) and thus human being came into being.
The place of worship of Jews are called synagogue,
They worship God as Yahweh.
Their Prophet: Moses.
The state of Israel is the only Jewish country in the world. There are around 15.2 million Jewish people in the world of which 46.2 % live in Israel.
After Israel the United States of America has the 2nd largest Jewish population in the world.
According to some estimates there are around 5000 Jews living in India.
