Karnataka celebrates Kanakadasa Jayanthi
Karnataka celebrated “Kanakadasa Jayanthi” on November 22, 2021 to pay tribute to Shri Kanaka Dasa, who was the 15th century poet, saint and social reformer.
Important Points
- On the occasion, Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai garlanded the photograph of Kanaka Dasa in Bengaluru.
- Kanaka Dasa had advocated social equality and justice through kirtans.
- Kaginele was the birthplace of Saint Kanaka Dasa. Government of Karnataka refurbished it, for the convenience of public visiting there.
Kanakadasa Jayanthi
This festival is celebrated by people of Karnataka and Kuruba community in Karnataka. It is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of saint Kanaka Dasa, every year. In tribute to him, Government of Karnataka has declared this day as state holiday. Year 2021 marked the 527-birth anniversary.
Kanaka Dasa
Kanaka Dasa was a Haridasa, and a renowned composer of Carnatic music, poet, musician and philosopher. He is famous for his keertanas and ugabhoga, compositions for Carnatic Music. He used simple Kannada language for his compositions. He was born in Baada village, near Bankapura. The saint was warrior at Bankapura fort.
Early work
Early works of the saint include poems like Ramadhyana Mantra, Narasimha stotra, and Mohanatarangini.
ABU – UNESCO Peace Media Awards 2021
Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU)-UNESCO Peace Media Awards 2021 were presented on November 17, 2021 at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Important Points
- In the award event, Doordarshan and All India Radio received multiple awards.
- Multiple awards showcased the excellence of Prasar Bharati in quality content creation, TV shows and Radio shows, to the world.
Winner
- Programme ‘DEAFinitely Leading the Way’ of Doordarshan won award under ‘Living Well with Super Diversity’ category.
- All India Radio’s programme called ‘Living on the edge – The coastal lives’ won award in ‘Ethical & Sustainable Relationship with Nature’ category.
Background
Awards were given by UNESCO in collaboration with ABU, under an initiative called ‘Together for Peace’ (T4P). This competition was open for TV, Radio and digital platforms.
‘DEAFinitely Leading the Way’ programme
This programme is about inspiring journey of a specially-abled child. The purpose of this programme is to motivate specially-abled persons to live their life with dignity. It was produced and directed by Programme Executive of Doordarshan Delhi, Mr. Pradeep Agnihotri.
‘Living on the edge – The coastal lives’
This series by All India Radio explores life for fishing communities who are living on the edge in Visakhapatnam. The series was devised and produced by Programme Executive of All India Radio, Delhi, Ms. Monika Gulati.
ABU-UNESCO T4P Media Awards
This award highlight and promote crucial role of ethical & independent journalism and citizens’ media literacy in order to build positive peace in human minds. Positive peace does not only mean absence of conflicts & war, but striving for equitable & fair societies having sustainable relations with the environment.
NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)
NASA is set to test a “Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) technology” in space, with the aim of speeding up space communications.
Important Points
- The LCRD will be launched on December 4, following a two-year delay.
- It will be launched into space by Department of Defence, onboard United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket during Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) mission.
- Mission will be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
- It will benefit “Artemis manned Moon-landing mission”, which is scheduled to be executed in 2025.
Importance
Laser technology in space will allow 10–100 times more data sent back to Earth, as against radio frequencies. This technology will also prevent overcrowding of radio frequency spectrum. LCRD is significant as NASA and commercial sector are planning several space missions using Artemis as well as Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme and planned Gateway space station.
Significance
Overcrowding of radiofrequency spectrum has increased since the number of mega-constellations of satellites in Low Earth Orbits have increased.
Testing laser technology
The laser technology mission will travel to the geosynchronous orbit at 22,236 miles, but won’t reach the moon. The test will be conducted for a period of at least two years.
Background
The plan for the laser mission was approved in 2011. However, in 2018 it got warning from ‘Government Accountability Office’ regarding some changes in its scope and design. Later, mission got postponed due to covid-19 pandemic induced restrictions.
SBI Ecowrap report
The Economic Research Department of State Bank of India (SBI) released its research report called SBI Ecowrap, proposing 5 significant agricultural reforms.
Importance
SBI published its report in the backdrop of withdrawal of three agricultural laws.
Proposed reforms
SBI has proposed following 5 agricultural reforms:
- Quantity Guarantee Clause: Instead of Minimum Support Price (MSP) as a price guarantee that farmers are demanding, government can ensure a “quantity guarantee clause” for a period of 5 years. This clause will make “procurement to production percentage of crops (which is being currently procured) being equal to last year percentage”, mandatory, along with safeguards in exceptional events such as floods, droughts etc.
- Floor Price Auction: Convert MSP to Floor Price of Auction on National Agriculture Market (eNAM). Though, this will not solve the problem completely because current data shows that average modal prices in e-NAM mandis are lesser than the MSP in all Kharif commodities.
- APMC infrastructure: Government must work for strengthening APMC market infrastructure, to reduce the monetary loss. As per SBI’s estimates based on a government report, monetary loss for cereals is around Rs 27,000 crore because of harvest and post-harvest losses.
- Contract Farming Institution: SBI proposes to establish Contract Farming Institution in India. The institution will have exclusive right to look after price discovery in Contract Farming. Contract farming has been instrumental across several countries by giving growers access to supply chains with market & price stability and technical assistance. For instance, in Thailand, market certainty (52%) and price stability (46%) were the factors due to which farmers involved in contract farming.
- Symmetric Procurement: SBI proposes to ensure a symmetric procurement in states. Procurement of cereals has been asymmetric, with top paddy producing states like West Bengal (First) and Uttar Pradesh (Second) have been witnessing minimal procurement.
