Surajkundmela is an annual confluence of India's culture and folk traditions is taking place at Faridabad, Haryana.
It is a spectacular showcase of regional and international crafts, handlooms, traditions along with multi-cuisine food for the visitors.
The theme state for this edition is Uttar Pradesh.
The Mela is organized by the SurajkundMela Authority & Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs
Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the ‘RashtriyaVayoshri Yojana (RVY)'.
Its objective is to provide senior citizens belonging to BPL category, who suffer from age related disabilities, with such physical aids and assisted living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions.
The Scheme is entirely funded from the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund (SCWF).
Under the Scheme, assisted living devices such as walking sticks, elbow crutches, walkers/ crutches, tripods/ quadpods, hearing aids, wheelchairs, artificial dentures, spectacles are distributed to the beneficiary senior citizen.
Pradhan Mantri VayaVandhanaYojana
This scheme deals with senior citizen insurance scheme which promises assured annual return of 8% for 10 years.
The insurance is sold by Life Insurance of India for the citizens.
The Minimum age of entry is 60 years of age with no maximum limit.
Tiger Census
India’s tiger census has been commissioned by the union environment ministry’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The census will see coordination with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh in estimating the territorial spread of the animal in the subcontinent.
The Wildlife Institute of India, a Union Environment Ministry-funded body, has been tasked with coordinating the tiger estimation exercise.
Along with tigers, the survey also collects information on the prey population of deer and other animals.
The techniques used to estimate tiger population are Pugmark Technique, camera trapping and DNA finger-printing.
Vadnagar
Gujarat and the Centre are jointly developing the historical and ancient town of Vadnagar as a major tourist hub.
The projects cover Vadnagar’s famous Kirti Toran, Sharmishtha lake, Hatkeshwar Temple and archaeological sites.
The town full is of sites that are related to Hinduism and Buddhism
The famous Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang has visited the place around AD 640 and referred to it as Anandpur.
It is also the birth place of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Udhyagiri Caves
The Udayagiri caves, in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, contain some of the oldest Hindu temples and iconography, related to Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism.
They were built during the Gupta period (350-550 CE)
Though it is present north of Tropic of Cancer, it is believed that historically, on the day of summer solstice, the sun was directly overhead in this place, making Udhyagiri (Mount of sunrise) a place of worship.
It also houses some important Gupta age inscriptions.
Iconic Varaha Scultpure rescuing the earth symbolically represented by Bhudevi clinging to the boar's tusk as described in Hindu mythology is a salient feature of the place.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is a public interest research and advocacy organization based in New Delhi.
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has been ranked the top environment policy think tanks in India and 16th at the global level.
The rank was given by The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.
The CSE’s efforts are built around five broad programs
Communication for Awareness
Research and Advocacy
Education and Training
Knowledge portal
Pollution monitoring
CSE publishes the fortnightly Magazine ‘Down to Earth’.
