Shahi Litchi
- Shahi Litchi is mostly grown in Muzaffarpur and neighbouring districts in Bihar.
- It has recently got Geographical Indication Tag.
- It is known for its sweet, juicy, unique flavour and aroma.
- Other known GI from Bihar - Katrani rice, Jardalu mango and Magahi paan (betel vine).
Click here to know about Geographical Indication Tag.
Prakriti Programme
- The programme is launched by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
- It aims to promote awareness about forests and environment among the students of NVS and KVS.
- Its objective is to provide a platform to school children to learn practical skills for judicious use of resources and to mobilise a cadre of youths to conserve forests and the environment.
- It focusses upon stimulating interest and maintaining a balanced environment and acquiring skills that reflect care and protection towards forests, environment and society.
- ICFRE is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- The objective of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti is to provide modern quality education to talented children, predominantly from the rural areas, without regard to their family's socio-economic condition.
New Academy Prize
- The New Academy Prize is organised to fill the gap left by the cancellation of Nobel Literature Prize, 2018.
- The prize is given by the New Academy, non-profit organisation in Sweden.
- The organisation was founded to warrant that an international literary prize will be awarded in 2018.
- It is also a reminder that literature should be associated with democracy, openness, empathy and respect.
- The winner of the prize is Maryse Condé from Guadeloupe, a French overseas region in the southern Caribbean Sea.
- The academy will be dissolved in December after the grand celebration of winner.
Channar Revolt
- Kerala Chief Minister has recently recalled an iconic civil rights protest – Channar revolt.
- It was happened in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore in the early 19th century.
- It is also referred to as Marumarakkal Samaram - Protest to cover the upper body.
- It began when women from the Channar caste who had converted to Christianity sought to cover the breasts, a right only Hindu upper caste women were allowed to exercise.
- The diwan of Travancore state, Colonel Munro, issued an order favouring the demand.
- The upper castes (Nairs) refused to allow the order to be followed and attacked (Nadar Christian) women who sought to wear an upper garment.
- In the face of resistance from the upper castes, the order was even amended to say that Nadar Christian women could wear a jacket (blouse) that was different from the dress worn by Nair women.
- The revolt exposed the caste fault-line that ran deep in the kingdom of Travancore.
Source: The Indian Express, Economic Times
