News In Short 6-2-2025

Kalbelia Community

Syllabus: GS1/Culture

Context

• A year-old night school in Ajmer’s Kishangarh tehsil is unlocking new opportunities for Kalbeliya women, providing them with access to education and empowerment.

About the Kalbeliya Community

• The Kalbeliya are a nomadic tribe from Rajasthan, historically known for snake charming, folk songs, and dances.
• They are divided into two main groups: Daliwal and Mewara, and are also referred to as Sapera, Jogira, Gattiwala, and Poogiwara.
• Despite being Hindu, the Kalbeliyas do not cremate their dead; instead, they bury them and place an idol of Shiva’s Nandi bull on the grave.
• The 12th and 13th centuries were considered the golden era for the community, as noted by Polish poet Jan Kochanowski. However, after Prithviraj Chauhan’s defeat by Muhammad Ghori, their prominence began to decline.
• The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 further disrupted their traditional snake-handling profession, forcing them into alternative livelihoods.

Kalbelia Dance: A Living Heritage – Kalbelia dance, also known as Sapera dance, is an integral part of Kalbelia culture and a symbol of their identity. – Both men and women participate: 1. Women wear flowing black skirts, twirl gracefully, and imitate serpent movements. 2. Men accompany them with musical instruments such as the khanjari (percussion instrument) and poongi (woodwind instrument), traditionally used for snake charming. – Dancers adorn traditional tattoo designs, intricate jewellery, and richly embroidered garments with mirror work and silver thread. – Recognized globally, Kalbelia dance was inscribed in 2010 on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Source: TH

State Emblem of India

Syllabus :GS 2/Governance 

In News

• The Union Home Ministry has noted the improper use of the State Emblem of India, specifically the omission of the motto “Satyamev Jayate”.

About State Emblem of India

• The State Emblem of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath.
  • The original Lion Capital features four lions mounted back-to-back on a circular abacus, resting on a bell-shaped lotus.
  • The abacus frieze has sculptures of elephant, galloping horse, bull, and lion, separated by Dharma Chakras.
• The adopted State Emblem (since January 26, 1950) shows three lions mounted on an abacus with:
  • A Dharma Chakra in the center.
  • A bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left.
  • Dharma Chakras at the extreme right and left.
  • The bell-shaped lotus was omitted in the adopted design.

• Motto: The motto “Satyamev Jayate” (meaning “Truth Alone Triumphs”) is written in Devanagari script below the profile of the Lion Capital, forming an integral part of the emblem.

Regulations

• The State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005, and the State Emblem of India (Regulation of Use) Rules, 2007 restrict the use of the emblem to specified authorities and purposes.
• Omitting the motto or displaying the incomplete design violates the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005.

Source  :TH

Tribhuvan Sahkari University

Syllabus: GS2/Governance 

In News

• The government introduced a Bill in Lok Sabha  to establish  the Tribhuvan Sahkari University, on the campus of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) in Gujarat.

About Tribhuvan Sahkari University

• Background: The current education and training infrastructure in the cooperative sector is fragmented and inadequate to meet the demand for qualified manpower.
  • The Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, announced plans for a National Cooperative University in 2021.
  • The university will be India’s first cooperative university, though countries like Germany, Kenya, Colombia, and Spain already have similar institutions.
• Focus  : The university will be declared an institution of national importance.
  • The university aims to provide technical and management education and training in the co-operative sector.
  • It will focus on promoting cooperative research and development and achieving global excellence.
• Key Features  : The university will be a specialized institution in the cooperative sector, offering education, training, research, and development to strengthen the cooperative movement in India.
  • It will have sector-specific schools such as dairy, fishery, sugar, banking, cooperative finance, cooperative marketing, etc.
  • It will use SWAYAM, a government e-learning platform, for online courses.

Do you know ? – The Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), founded by Dr. Verghese Kurien in 1979, will become one of the schools of the new university. – IRMA will be declared a Centre of Excellence for rural management, preserving its autonomy and identity within the university framework. – IRMA’s society will be dissolved once the Bill is legislated into an Act.

Source :IE

Jevons Paradox

Syllabus: GS3/ Economy, S&T

In News

• Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, highlighted the Jevons Paradox in the context of AI, noting that increased efficiency and accessibility of AI could lead to surging demand.

What is Jevons Paradox?

• Jevons Paradox states that when a resource becomes more efficient and cheaper to use, its overall consumption tends to increase rather than decrease.
• First observed by William Stanley Jevons in his 1865 book The Coal Question. He noted that improvements in the efficiency of steam engines, which used coal, led to increased coal consumption, not a decrease as one might expect.

How It Works: Key Factors

• Cost Reduction: When efficiency increases, operational costs decrease, making the resource more attractive.
• Higher Accessibility: Efficient technology allows more users and industries to adopt it.
• Economic Expansion:  Enhanced productivity can drive industrial and economic growth, leading to greater demand.
• Elastic Demand: When a resource is highly responsive to price changes, increased efficiency results in higher usage instead of conservation.

Examples of Jevons Paradox

• Energy Efficiency: More fuel-efficient cars reduce per-mile fuel costs, encouraging people to drive more, leading to higher total fuel consumption.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): As AI models become more efficient and affordable, their adoption skyrockets, increasing overall energy consumption in data centers.
• Water Conservation Technologies: Improved irrigation techniques can lead to expanded agriculture, increasing water use instead of reducing it.

Source: LM

GREAT Scheme

Syllabus: GS3/ Economy

In News

• The Ministry of Textiles, in its 10th Empowered Programme Committee meeting under the National Technical Textiles Mission, approved key initiatives, including funding for startups under the GREAT scheme.

Key Features of the GREAT Scheme

• It is an initiative under the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) by the Ministry of Textiles.
• Provides funding of up to INR 50 lakhs per startup.
• Focuses on critical areas like medical textiles, industrial textiles, and protective textiles.
• Encourages R&D, product development, and commercialization of innovative textile solutions.

Source: PIB

Beggar-thy-neighbour Policies

Syllabus :GS 3/Economy 

In News

• The concept of beggar-thy-neighbour policies is in the news primarily due to the rise of protectionist measures by major economies.

About Beggar-thy-neighbour Policies

• It refers to protectionist measures aimed at benefiting a country’s economy at the expense of others.
• Common examples include trade wars (imposing tariffs and quotas) and currency wars (depreciating a country’s currency to boost exports and discourage imports).

Origins – The term was coined by Adam Smith in his 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations. 1. Smith criticized mercantilists, who advocated protectionism, believing it would benefit one country while impoverishing others. 2. Smith supported free trade, believing it would enrich all countries involved in it.

Various Arguments 

• Proponents argue that these policies help important industries, protect jobs, and safeguard national security.
  • Central banks argue that depreciating a currency makes exports cheaper, boosting exports while making imports more expensive, leading to a trade surplus.
• Critics argue that such policies can make all countries poorer, especially when retaliatory measures are taken (e.g., tit-for-tat tariffs and devaluations).
  • The Great Depression was partly caused by retaliatory tariffs and competitive currency devaluations during the 1920s and 1930s.
• Recent concerns: Countries like China and Japan have been accused of devaluing their currencies to gain trade advantages, and the rise of populism (e.g., Trump’s tariffs) has raised fears of renewed protectionism.
  • These policies benefit domestic producers but harm consumers who face higher prices due to reduced competition.
  • Example: U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports help American producers but lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers.

Source :TH