Why in news?

• ‘Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games’ component of KIS is specifically dedicated to the development and promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games in the country.
• KIS aims at infusing sports culture and achieving sporting excellence in the country thus allowing the populace to harness the power of sports through its cross-cutting influence.
• It is the flagship Central Sector Scheme of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.
• Following major Indigenous/traditional games have been identified:
• Mallakhamb, MP -It is a combination of Yoga, Gymnastics, and Martial Arts. Many types of Mallakhamb as Pole, Rope, Hanging, Niradhar (without support), on cane, on floating platform, Mallakhamb with weapons etc.
• Kalari payattu, Kerala -It is a form of Marital Art. It has different techniques like meipayattu (physical body exercise), vadipayattu (fight using sticks), valpayattu (fight using swords) etc.
• Gatka, Punjab -Traditional martial art form, that is historically associated with the Sikh gurus. Stick fighting between two or more practitioners, with wooden sticks (called Soti) intended to simulate swords.
• Thang ta, Manipur-Traditional martial art also called HUYEN LALLONG (“method of safe-guarding”).
• Yogasana -Describes a seated posture in yoga typically used for meditation, such as a basic cross-legged position. Examples: Padmasana (lotus pose), Siddhasana (perfect or accomplished pose), Vajrasana (thunderbolt pose) etc.
• Silambam, TN -Weapon-based Indian martial art, but also traditionally practised by the Tamil community of Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Why in news?

• Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL)has set up an Ink Manufacturing Unit named “Varnika” at Mysuru, Karnataka, with an annual ink manufacturing capacity of 1,500 MT to enhance the security of banknotes.
• Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBI. Shaktikanta Das (Governor of RBI) has dedicated “Varnika”, the Ink Manufacturing Unit of Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) to the nation.
• It is a boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative. It ensures that the entire requirement of banknote printing inks is produced in-house.
• This unit also manufactures Colour Shift Intaglio Ink (CSII)and meets the entire requirements of banknote printing presses in India, which has resulted in cost efficiency and self-sufficiency in banknote ink production.

Why in news?

• Max Verstappen(Red Bull – Netherlands) has won the Formula One 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Saudi Arabia.
• Charles Leclerc(Ferrari- Monaco) came second and Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari – Spain) came third.
• It was the second edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the second round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship.
• Lewis Hamilton managed to get a point on the board after coming 10th.

Why in news?

• The Stockholm Water Prize 2022 has been awarded by The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to Professor Wilfried Brutsaert for his innovative work in evaluating environmental evaporation.
• This prize is widely considered to be the Nobel Prize for Water.
• Professor Brutsaert was awarded this prize as he has developed methods for quantifying evaporation and the role it plays in the Earth’s energy balance that allows for accurate estimations of how precipitation can evolve.
• This method is of utmost importance to the exposed local communities across the world as they will need to predict daily water levels as well as water levels available in the future.
• Even though the award was announced on 22^ndMarch, this prize will be presented to Professor Brutsaert by Sweden’s King on 31^st August in Stockholm during the World Water Week (23^rd August to 1^st September). He will be receiving a glass statue along with 1 million Swedish krona which is equivalent to around USD 104,000.

About Stockholm International Water Institute

• SIWI is a not-for-profit, independent organization that aims to strengthen freshwater governance regionally, globally, locally, and nationally.
• This organization was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
• This organization performs research, provides advisory services, and builds institutional capacity in five areas of trans-boundary water management, water governance, the water-energy-food nexus, water and climate change, and water economics.

Why in news?

• IIT Kharagpur has launched PARAM Shakti, a Petascale Supercomputer.
• A supercomputer is a very fast computer used in advanced scientific applications.
• PARAM Shakti was developed under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
• NSM is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Science and Technology and implemented by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Indian Institute of Science (BSc), Bangalore.
• NSM envisages empowering our national academic and R&D institutions by installing a vast supercomputing grid comprising of more than 70 high- performance computing (HPC) facilities.

Why in news?

• Cadbury has cut the size of its chocolate product Dairy Milk sharing bar but kept the price same.
• Shrinkflation is basically a form of hidden inflation that involves reducing the size of a product while maintaining its sticker price.
• Rather than increase the price of a product, the company simply offers a smaller package for the same sticker price.
• Raising the price per given amount is a strategy employed by companies, mainly in the food and beverage industries, to stealthily boost profit margins.

Why in news?

• The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 for the inclusion of the Darlong community in the list of Tripura Scheduled Tribes.
• It proposes the “Darlong” community as a sub-tribe of “Kuki” in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Tripura.
• The tribal communities of Tripura include Tripuri or Debbarma, Reangs or Brus, Jamatia, Noatia, Uchoi, Chakma, Mog, Lushal, Kuki, Munda, Kour, Oram, Santhal, Bhul, Bhutia, Chaimar or Sermai, Garo, Khasi, Lepcha and Halam.
• The Halam community has several small tribal clans within it. Many of these are linguistically endangered groups like Bongcher, Karbongs etc.

Why in news?

• The Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has deferred its decision on a recommendation to remove the 1921 Malabar Rebellion martyrs including Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji and Ali Musliyar from the list of India’s freedom fighters.
• Earlier, a three-member panel brought out by the ICHR, is understood to have recommended the deletion as it felt that the 1921 rebellion was never part of the independence struggle but a fundamentalist movement.

About Malabar Rebellion or Moplah Uprising or Mapillah Revolt (1921)

• Reasons:
• The trigger of the uprising came from the Non-Cooperation Movement launched by the Congress in 1920 along with the Khilafat agitation.
• The anti-British sentiment fuelled by these agitations affected the Muslim Mapillahs (also known as Moplahs) of south Malabar region of
• New Tenancy Laws: After the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799 in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, Malabar had come under British authority as part of the Madras Presidency.
• The British had introduced new tenancy laws that tremendously favoured the landlords known as Janmis and instituted a far more exploitative system for peasants than before.
• The new laws deprived the peasants of all guaranteed rights to the land,share in the produce they earlier got and in effect rendered them landless.
• The Communal Angle: Most of the landlords were Namboodiri Brahmins while most of the tenants were Mapillah Muslims.
• The Revolt: Fuelled by the fiery speeches by Muslim religious leaders and anti-british sentiments, the Mopillahs launched a violent rebellion. Numerous actions of violence were reported and series of persecutions were committed both against the British and the Hindu landlords.
• Support: In the initial stages, the movement had the support of Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian nationalist leaders, but as it turned violent they distanced themselves from it.
• Collapse: By the end of 1921, the rebellion was crushed by the British who had raised a special battalion, the Malabar Special Force for the riot.
• Wagon Tragedy: In November 1921, 67 Moplah prisoners were killed when they were being transported in a closed freight wagon from Tirur to the Central Prison in Podanur. They died of suffocation. This event is called the Wagon Tragedy.

Why in news?

• The Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh celebrated a decade success of HNAP.
• HNAP, launched in 2011 as community-based hornbill conservation programme, operates in the forests outside Arunachal Pradesh’s Pakke Tiger Reserve.
• Hornbills are indicators of the health of a forest; they are seed dispersers and called as ‘farmers of the forest’.
• India is home to nine species, of which four are found in Western Ghats—Indian Grey Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill and the Great Hornbill.

Why in news?

• The International Labour Organization (ILO) elected Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo from Togo as its next Director-Ge neral (DG). He will take office on 1st October 2022 for five years.
• Gilbert F. Houngbo will become the 11th DG of ILO and the First African to hold the post of DG.
• He will succeed Guy Ryder from the United Kingdom (UK), who has held the office since 2012.
• He was elected by the ILO’s Governing Body, which consists of representatives of governments, workers and employers during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The ILO’s Governing Body is composed of 56 titular members (28 Governments, 14 Employers and 14 Workers) and 66 deputy members (28 Governments, 19 Employers and 19 Workers).

About International Labour Organization (ILO):

• Headquarters-Geneva, Switzerland
• Director-General- Guy Ryder (March 2022)
• Founded-1919 Members-
• 187 Member Countries