• The Sominsai festival, an ancient tradition deeply rooted in Japanese culture, has recently concluded its final celebration after a 1000 year legacy.
• At the heart of the festival was a display of fervor and tradition as hundreds of men engaged in spirited wrestling matches over wooden talismans.
• The secluded Kokuseki Temple in northern Japan’s Iwate region has decided to end the popular annual rite.
  • The temple opened in 729 AD.
• From next year, Kokuseki Temple will replace the festival with prayer ceremonies and other ways to continue its spiritual practices.
• The Sominsai festival, regarded as one of the strangest festivals in Japan, is the latest tradition impacted by the country’s ageing population crisis that has hit rural communities hard.

• The Henley Passport Index for 2024 has been released.
• The Henley Passport Index ranks nations based on the strength of their passports.
• The Henley Passport Index derives its rankings from data spanning the past 19 years, based on the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) specialized data, covering 199 different passports and 227 travel destinations worldwide.
• Rankings
  • France secured the top spot with its passport granting visa-free access to 194 countries.
  • Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain are the other countries that are standing alongside France on the top.
  • India’s passport ranking has slipped one place from last year, moving from 84th to 85th position.
  • Indian passport holders can travel visa-free to 62 countries.

• India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj, chaired the 62nd Session of the Commission for Social Development.
• With the priority theme of “Fostering Social Development and Social Justice through Social Policies to Accelerate Progress on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to Achieve the Overarching Goal of Poverty Eradication,” the session delved into critical global social challenges.
• Under India’s stewardship, four resolutions were successfully adopted. These included resolutions on
  • promoting care and support systems for social development,
  • the social dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, and
  • resolutions outlining priority themes for the 62nd and 63rd sessions of the Commission for Social Development.
• India’s appointment as Chair marked a significant milestone, marking the country’s first time holding this esteemed position within the Commission for Social Development since 1975.
• India welcomed Poland as the incoming Chair, entrusted with presiding over the 63rd session of the Commission for Social Development in 2025.

ABOUT THE COMMISSION

• The Commission is a functional body of the Economic and Social Council that serves as a vital intergovernmental platform to discuss and enhance international cooperation on social development matters.

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out successful firing trials of its in-house designed and developed SAMAR air defence missile system during Astrashakti 2023 exercise at Suryalanka Air Force Station in Andhra Pradesh.
• The SAMAR system was part of the exercise for the first time, and it successfully achieved firing trial objectives in different engagement scenarios.
• The air defence system SAMAR (Surface to Air Missile for Assured Retaliation), has been developed by a unit under IAF’s Maintenance Command.
• The system can engage aerial threats with missiles operating at a speed range of 2 to 2.5 Mach.
• The SAMAR system consists of a twin turret launch platform with the capability of launching two missiles in single and salvo mode depending upon the threat scenario.
• The system is credited with a maximum range of 10–12 km and is used against low-flying aerial targets.
• The SAMAR-1 system uses the IAF’s existing inventory of shelf-life-expired Russian Vympel R-73E infrared‐guided air-to-air missiles (AAMs) for the surface-to-air role.

• Haryana Chief Minister recently launched the ‘Van Mitra’ scheme and its portal to encourage community participation in tree planting activities in non-forest areas.
• The members of families with an annual income of less than Rs 1.80 lakh can register to become ‘Van Mitras’.
• The objective of this scheme is to directly involve the local public in increasing forest areas across the state, ensuring an increase in the survival rate of afforestation, and promoting tree planting in non-forest areas.
• Each van mitra will receive an incentive based on the maintenance of the plant and they can plant a maximum of 1,000 saplings.
• Any individual aged between 18 and 60 can become a van mitra.
• In the first phase of the scheme, the selection of 7500 van mitra will be done through the portal.
• A van mitra can choose non-forest land for tree planting in their village, town, or city.
  • If the planted tree grows on the van mitra’s own land, they will be considered the owner of the tree.
• Incentives
  • According to the scheme, in the first year, van mitras will be registered and they will be trained and tree planting will be done by them.
  • In the first year, van mitras will receive Rs 20 for each dug pit upon uploading geo-tagging and photograph of the pit on the mobile app.
  • After geo-tagging, van mitras will receive Rs 30 for each planted tree.
  • They will receive Rs 10 per living plant for the maintenance and security of trees planted.
  • Meanwhile, in the second year, van mitras will receive Rs 8 per living plant each month. In the third year, they will receive Rs 5 per living plant each month, and in the fourth year, this amount will be Rs 3 per living plant.

• Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have embarked on a project to continuously monitor and issue operational forecast alerts of rip currents.
• They intend to do this through a coastal video surveillance system, which will also provide information on complex coastal and nearshore processes.
• A preliminary research study for rip tides was done at RK beach in Visakhapatnam, which is known for the highest recorded number of drownings.

ABOUT RIP TIDES

• A rip current, sometimes incorrectly called a rip tide, is a localized current that flows away from the shoreline toward the ocean, perpendicular or at an acute angle to the shoreline.
• It usually breaks up not far from shore and is generally not more than 25 meters (80 feet) wide.
• Rip currents typically reach speeds of 1 to 2 feet per second.
  • However, some rip currents have been measured at 8 feet per second.
• If wave activity is slight, several low rip currents can form, in various sizes and velocities.
  • But in heavier wave action, fewer, more concentrated rip currents can form.
• Rip currents are one of the most well-known coastal hazards on beaches around the world.
• A rip current cannot pull a person down and hold him/her under the water.
• It simply carries floating objects, including people, out to just beyond the zone of the breaking waves.
• A person caught in a rip can be swept away from shore very quickly.
• The best way to escape a rip current is by swimming parallel to the shore instead of towards it, since most rip currents are less than 80 feet wide.

• IAF recently conducted Exercise Vayushakti at the Pokhran air-to-ground range near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
• Exercise Vayu Shakti-24 is based on the theme ‘Lightning Strike from the Sky’
• During the excercise, over 120 aircraft displayed the lAF’s offensive capabilities by day as well as by night.
• Targets included simulated enemy aircraft and targets on the ground, including runways, bridges, ammunition dumps, radar sites, terror camps, thermal power plants and ordnance factories, to ensure superiority in the battlefield.
• Fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000 and Hawk were used in the exercise.
• The Apache attack helicopter demonstrated its firepower in this event for the first time, by engaging targets with Air to Ground guided missiles, while Mi-17 helicopters engaged ground targets with rockets.
• India-made platforms such as the light combat aircraft Tejas, Prachand light combat helicopters, and Akash and Samar surface-to-air missile systems were among the elements featured in the exercise.
• The indigenous Air Defence Systems, Akash and SAMAR missile systems were also showcased, destroying multiple aerial targets.

• Arunachal Pradesh has become the first northeastern state to achieve 100% coverage under the Har Ghar Jal scheme providing functional household tap connection in every rural home.
• Arunachal now has joined the elite club of Goa, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana,Telengana, Puducherry, Gujarat, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh which have attained 100% coverage.
• The national average of the coverage is over 74%.

ABOUT HAR GHAR JAL SCHEME

• Har Ghar Jal Scheme is part of the Jal Jeevan Mission undertaken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• The Jal Jeevan Mission is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
  • Under JJM, a functional household tap connection is defined as having service levels of adequate quantity (55 liters per capita per day), of prescribed quality (as per BIS:10500 norms) on regular basis as per the schedule decided by the Panchayat/ Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC).
  • The programme will also implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation and rainwater harvesting.

• Symbols of Buddhist belief and faith, over 750 stupas, dotting the mountain landscape of Lahaul-Spiti district, are in a state of neglect with no agency or funds available to restore their lost glory.
• While some of these stupas, called ‘chortin’ in local language, are almost crumbling, others need a major refurbish as these religious symbols are an integral part of practically every village in Lahaul Spiti, where a majority of the population holds deep faith in Buddhism.
• The stupas, mostly white, are made of stone and mud and are adorned with colourful fluttering prayer flags and Mani stones with mantras carved on them.
• The locals take a ‘parikrama’ of the stupas for long life, well-being and prosperity of the area in general.
• The purpose of erecting a stupa could vary as it could be in memory of a spiritual guru or a lama (Buddhist monk), dead family members or dedicated to Lord Buddha, Trilokinath, Goddess Tara or some other deity.
• The stupas normally have gold, silver, precious stones like emeralds and corals inside them.
• The top is adorned with a sun and moon and could have religious writings inside it.

• Chief Minister of Sikkim recently launched Sikkim INSPIRES, a collaborative effort between the Government of Sikkim and the World Bank.
• It is aimed at fostering economic growth and inclusion.
• The programme focuses on providing better economic opportunities for women and youth through training and employment initiatives.
• It marks the first direct partnership between the State government and the World Bank.
• The initiative will engage nine government departments over the next five years to create an ecosystem for economic prosperity, emphasizing collaboration and capacity-building across various sectors.