The convention for the safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage was adopted by UNESCO in the year 2003.
It acknowledges cultural heritage also encompasses tradition and living expression in addition to tangible places, monuments and objects.
The 12th session of Intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage is being held at South Korea.
In this session, the committee has added “Kumbh Mela” as an intangible heritage.
Kumbh Mela is the largest congregation of pilgrims in the planet, held once in every 12 years in 4 places - Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain and Nashik.
It represents a syncretic set of rituals related to worship and ritual cleansing in holy rivers in India.
It is the third inscription to the list in the two years following the addition of “Yoga” and “Norouz” last year
Other Intangible cultural Heritage from India
Ramlila- the traditional performance of the Ramayana
Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre
Tradition of Vedic Chanting
Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas.
Chhau dance
Kalbelia folk dance and songs of Rajasthan
Mudiyettu,ritual theatre and dance drama of kerala.
The Buddhist chanting of Ladakh
Sankirtana –the ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of Manipur
The traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab.
Yoga and Norouz
SAICON 2017
SAICON is the first international conference on sports medicine and sports sciences.
The 3-day conference is being organized by sports authority of India.
Its objective is to promote scientific temperament in the country and inspire students, researchers and educationists to take up sports science and research to the next level.
Up gradation in IUCN list
IUCN has recently upgraded the status of two kiwi birds from “Endangered” to “Vulnerable”.
The two species are the northern brown kiwi and the rowi kiwi.
They are flightless birds found in New Zealand.
The conservation of these species was taken care by the New Zealand government for the past 25 years under “Kiwi Recovery Plan”.
It mainly involved predator (dogs, feral cats) control which is the biggest threat for the survival of kiwis.
The plan also has community engagement and operation Nest Egg to improve the juvenile survival rates.
Kiwis lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any bird species.
The upgrade in the status came after the steady increase in its population.
Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)
Mission Indradhanush (MI) was launched to vaccinate children against life threatening diseases.
It focuses on unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children in the pockets of low immunization coverage in high risk and hard to reach areas.
IMI aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme.
IMI focus on 190 districts across 24 states with an objective of 90% full immunization coverage in those areas by Dec, 2018.
IMI was launched in Oct, 2017 at Vadnagar, Gujaarat.
Vaccines against Tuberculosis, Poliomyelitis, Hepatitis B, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus and Measles are provided in all covered areas.
In few selected states and districts, vaccines are also provided against Haemophilus influenzae type B and Japanese Encephalitis.
Operation Sahayam
It is an Indian Navy exercise for undertaking search and rescue operation and providing Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) in the south east Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep islands in the aftermath of Cyclone OCKHI.
