RAJASTHAN
- Urbanisation fast killing Mandana folk art
- ð The folk art ‘Mandana’, that manifests the origin of ‘tantric’ and ‘scientific’ approach to the world and is pioneered by the rural women in Rajasthan is on the verge of extinction due to rapidly growing urbanization. Mandana designs, that also embody atomic constitution and tantric forms, are mainly drawn on the mud and crimson red soil smeared on premises of houses with white lime liquid (Khadiya) by the women in the villages of Rajasthan, especially on auspicious occasions like commencement of spring season, Deepawali, Holi, and births in the family.
- ð For preservation of metaphysical and scientific forms of Mandana art, firstly, appreciation and secondly, marketing need to be done.
INTERNATIONAL
- US, Israel withdraws from UNESCO
- The US and its ally Israel have announced they will withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization, accusing the body of “anti-Israel bias”.
- The US would establish an “observer mission” to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.
- The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.
Gk bit – UNESCO
- UNESCO’s headquarters is in Paris.
- This organization of the United Nations has been working since 1946.
- It is known for marking world heritage.
- Irina Bokova is the secretary General of UNESCO.
· SpaceX completes successful launch of recycled rocket Falcon 9
- SpaceX launched its recycled rocket Falcon 9 and landed it on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
- The main aims is to provide television coverage and communications capabilities to North America, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean.
- It is a “dual-mission” satellite for the US-based operator EchoStar and Luxembourg-based operator SES.
- This is the 18th successful landing of Falcon 9 rocket first stage.
- The Falcon 9’s first stage had previously flown on a cargo mission to the International Space Station in February 2017.
- India 100th on global hunger index
- India has a “serious” hunger problem and ranks 100th out of 119 countries on the global hunger index with a GHI score of 31.4, behind North Korea, Bangladesh and Iraq but ahead of Pakistan, according to a report.
- The country’s serious hunger level is driven by high child malnutrition and underlines need for stronger commitment to the social sector, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said in its report.
- India stood at 97th position in last year’s rankings.
- Central African Republic ranked last.
- Chile, Cuba and Turkey have a GHI score of less than 5 and have ranked as the best nations on the index.
· Amazon and Microsoft Ties up to Launch Deep Learning Platform
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft have teamed up to launch an open-source and deep learning interface ‘Gluon‘ that will help developers to deploy machine learning models across several platforms.
- The interface would give developers a place where they can prototype, build, train and deploy machine learning models.
NATIONAL
- INS Satpura, Kadmatt participates in Passage Exercise in Japan
- Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Kadmatt participated in Passage Exercise (PASSEX)with Japanese Marine href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNHT8lW-JmLC68rjBfZhdkg?sub_confirmation=1" target="_blank" class="youtube-subscribe-button"> Subscribe on YouTube