• The Hakki Pikki tribal community is unhappy with the land allotted to them around Bannerghatta National Park near Bengaluru.
• The settlement on the edge of the Bannerghatta National Park has both Hakki Pikki and Iruliga tribals staying here

ABOUT HAKKI PIKKIS

• The Hakki Pikkis are traditionally a semi-nomadic tribe of bird catchers and hunters, who settled down in several parts of Karnataka.
• In Kannada, the word ‘Hakki’ stands for ‘bird’ and ‘Pikki’ stands for the verb ‘to catch’.
• The Hakki-Pikki community migrated from the northern India population, and is found in Karnataka.
• The population is predominantly found in Shivamogga, Davanagere and Mysuru districts of Karnataka.
• According to the 2011 census, the population of Hakki-Pikki is 11,892.
• The Hakki-Pikkis are said to be a matriarchal group.

LANGUAGE

• Despite being surrounded by Dravidian languages and living in southern India, the community speaks an Indo-Aryan language. Their mother tongue was designated ‘Vaagri’ by scholars.
• They communicate in ‘Vaagri’ at home but speak in Kannada when conducting daily business.
• UNESCO has listed ‘Vaagri’ as one of the endangered languages.

• The Nobel Prize for Literature 2023 has been awarded to Norwegian author Jon Olav Fosse, for his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable” .

ABOUT JON FOSSE

• Fosse writes in Norwegian Nynorsk, the least common of the two official versions of Norwegian.
• Born in 1959, Fosse first started writing novels, switching to plays in his 30s.
• He went on to become one of Norway’s most-performed dramatists, and is in fact counted among the most performed of living European dramatists.
• His work has been translated into more than 40 languages.
• Fosse has written around 40 plays, apart from novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry and essays.
• Famous works – A New Name: Septology VI-VII, I Am the Wind, Melancholy, Boathouse, and The Dead Dogs.

• The government had raised the subsidy amount for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries from ₹200 to ₹300 per LPG cylinder.
  • Ujjwala beneficiaries currently pay ₹703 per 14.2-kg cylinder as against the market price of ₹903. After the decision of the Union Cabinet, they will now pay ₹603.
• The Union Cabinet had in September approved the extension of PMUY for release of 75 lakh LPG connections over three years from financial year 2023-24 to 2025-26.
  • The 75 lakh additional Ujjwala connections will take total number of PMUY beneficiaries to 10.35 crore.

ABOUT PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA (PMUY)

• The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in May 2016 as a flagship scheme with an objective to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to the rural and deprived households which were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes, etc.
• Nodal ministry- Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
• The scheme provides a financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households.
• Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.
• Objectives-
  • Empowering women and protecting their health.
  • Reducing the number of deaths in India due to unclean cooking fuel.
  • Preventing young children from a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses caused due to indoor air pollution by burning fossil fuel.

• PM recently laid the foundation stone of ‘Veerangana Rani Durgavati Smarak aur Udyaan’ in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
• The ‘Veerangana Rani Durgavati Smarak aur Udyaan’ project is set to cost about Rs 100 crore.
• It will cover an expansive area of approximately 21 acres and will feature a 52-foot-high bronze statue of Rani Durgavati.
• The 500^th birth centenary of Rani Durgavati is being celebrated with great fervour

ABOUT RANI DURGAVATI

• Rani Durgavati was the ruling queen of Gondwana in the mid-16th century.
• She is remembered as a brave, fearless and courageous warrior who fought for freedom against the Mughals.
• She was born in 1524 in Mahoba’s Chandela dynasty.
• She married Dalpat Shah in 1542, the son of Gond King Sangram Shah, and ruled the kingdom of Garha-Katanga after the death of her husband in 1550 with great vigor and courage.
  • Adhar Kayastha and Man Thakur, two ministers, assisted her in running the government.
  • The Kingdom of Garha-Katanga included the regions of Narmada Valley and parts of Northern Madhya Pradesh.
• Rani Durgavati’s reputation was improved when Bajbahadur(ruler of Malwa province) tried to attack her but was soundly defeated.
• She valiantly but unsuccessfully defended her kingdom against attack by Mughals under Asaf Khan (on orders of Akbar).

OTHER FACTS

• Gond tribe is a prominent tribe in central India known for their rich cultural heritage and resilience.
• Chandelas were known for building the famous Khajuraho temples in the 11^th
• Government of India paid its tribute to the valiant Rani by issuing a postal-stamp commemorating her martyrdom, on 24th June 1988.

• Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)’s Biennial Report on Global Infrastructure Resilience: Capturing the Resilience Dividend was released recently.
• It provides a Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index (GIRI), the first publicly available and fully probabilistic risk model to estimate risk for infrastructure assets with respect to most major geological and climate-related hazards.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• Around 30% of the average annual loss is associated with hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis whereas 70% is associated with climate-related hazards like cyclones, floods, and storms.
• The risk is not spread equally across sectors with around 80% of the risk concentrated in the power, transport, and telecommunications sectors.
• The global average annual loss in infrastructure sectors and buildings is now in a range of $732– $845 billion taking into account climate change and that around 14% of 2021- 2022 global GDP growth is at risk.
• Annual investment required to address the infrastructure deficit, achieve the sustainable development goals, achieve net zero, and strengthen resilience by 2050 amounts to $9.2 trillion of which $2.84-$2.90 trillion must be invested in low-and middle-income countries.
• Around 67% of the global value of infrastructure assets is concentrated in high-income countries Low and Middle-Income Countries carry the highest relative risk to their infrastructure.

ABOUT COALITION FOR DISASTER RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE (CDRI)

• It is a global partnership of national governments, United Nations agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and academic and research institutions.
• It aims to increase the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development.
• India launched CDRI at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019 in New York.
• It is the Government of India’s second major global initiative after the International Solar Alliance, and it demonstrates India’s leadership in climate change and disaster resilience issues.
• Secretariat- New Delhi
• Members- 31 countries and 8 organisations(which include-)
  • 6 International Organisations: Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank Group, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), European Union, European Investment Bank.
  • 2 Private Sector Organisations: The Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies and Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment.

• India has said that it believes that any lasting resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can only be achieved peacefully through diplomatic negotiations.
• India thus supports Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group’s continued efforts for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

ABOUT OSCE MINSK GROUP

• The Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, spearheads the OSCE’s efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
• It is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States.
• The Group’s permanent members are Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Turkey, as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan.
• On a rotating basis, also the OSCE Troika is a permanent member.

ABOUT ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

• The OSCE’s origins date back to the early 1970s, to the Helsinki Final Act (1975) and the creation of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE)
• In 1994, the CSCE was renamed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to reflect more accurately changes witnessed.
• The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects.
• It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities.
• With 57 participating Statesin North America, Europe and Asia, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – is the world’s largest regional security organization.
  • India is not a member.
• All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.

ABOUT NAGORNO-KARABAKH

• Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region officially recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
• But its 2 lakh population is predominantly ethnic Armenian, having close cultural, social, and historical ties with Armenia.
• Basically, Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan.
• The Armenians are Christians, while Azeris are Muslims.
• The conclave is connected to Armenia through the 5-km Lachin Corridor.

• PM Modi recently inaugurated the country’s first high-tech sports training centre for Divyangjan in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
• It has been named Atal Bihari Training Center for Divyang Sports.
• It is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to training and nurturing athletes with disabilities.
• It houses world-class infrastructure and coaching staff to provide the best possible training environment for differently-abled athletes.
• It is an Autonomous body established by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

• Yak Churpi has recently received the GI tag from Arunachal Pradesh.
• The slightly sour and salty churpi is a naturally fermented cheese prepared from the milk of Arunachali yak.
• It has been a staple food for tribal communities in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Its nutritional profile, rich in protein, makes it a vital dietary source, especially in regions where fresh vegetables are scarce.

• A four-volume book, The Mahabharata:  Mewari Miniature Paintings by Allah Baksh was recently released.
• Employed by Raja Jai Singh of Udaipur, Allah Baksh had illustrated the Mahabharata with 4,000 Mewari miniature paintings.

ABOUT MEWAR MINIATURE PAINTINGS

• The Mewar school of miniature painting, renowned for vibrant colors and intricate narratives within a single frame, flourished from the 17^th to the 18^th
• It originated from south-central Rajasthan, parts of Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
• It is characterized by simple bright colour and direct emotional appeal.
• The Ragamala painted in 1605 A.D. is the earliest example of series of Mewar painting.
  • It was painted by the artist- Sahibdin.

• A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) occurred in the South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim,killing many and causing the rise of water levels in Teesta river.

ABOUT GLOF

• Retreating glaciers, like several in the Himalayas, usually result in the formation of lakes at their tips, called proglacial lakes, often bound only by sediments and boulders or moraines.
• A GLOF is a type of flood occurring when water dammed by a glacier or a moraine is released suddenly.
  • Moraine is a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a glacier, typically as ridges at its edges.
  • Unlike earthen dams, the weak structure of the moraine dam leads to the abrupt failure of the moraine dam bounding the glacial lake.

REASONS BEHIND GLOFS

• Glacial retreat increases meltwater.
• Cascading flood from upstream lakes.
• Geological Triggers as earthquakes can destabilize moraines.
• Landslides and ice avalanches.
• mass tourism, infrastructure boom etc.