PIB Summary- 4th April, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

New Year Festivals

Why in News?

The President of India greeted the people on the eve of “ Chaitra Sukladi, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Cheti Chand, Navreh and Sajibu Cheiraoba.”.

• These festivals of the spring season mark the beginning of the traditional new year in India.

Chaitra Sukladi:

• It is the start of the Vikram Samvat, widely known as the Vedic [Hindu] calendar’s new year.
• Vikram Samvat commemorates the day when Emperor Vikramaditya conquered the Sakas, invaded Ujjain, and declared the beginning of a new era.
• It is the first day of the waxing phase (in which the visible side of the moon gets bigger every night) of the moon in the Chaitra month, which is still followed in the northern parts of India (first month of Hindu calendar).

Gudi Padwa and Ugadi:

• People in the Deccan area, which includes Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra, celebrate these festivals. Festive food prepared with a blend of sweet and bitter flavours is a frequent practise in both festivals’ celebrations.
• A popular concoction includes jaggery (sweet) and neem (bitter), known as bevu-bella in the South and symbolising life’s joys and tragedies. Gudi is a Maharashtrian doll that is made at home. The gudi is made from a bamboo pole covered in green or red brocade. This gudi is displayed prominently in the house or outside a window or entrance so that everyone can see it.
• Mango leaf decorations known as toranalu or Torana in Kannada are used to decorate doors in households for Ugadi.

Cheti Chand:

• The Sindhi New Year is known as Cheti Chand. In Sindhi, the month of Chaitra is referred to as ‘Chet.’
• The day honours the birth anniversary of Sindhis’ patron saint, Uderolal/Jhulelal.

Navreh:

• It is the lunar new year celebrated in Kashmir, and the word ‘Navreh’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nav-Varsha.’
• It occurs on the Chaitra Navratri’s first day.
• On this day, Kashmiri pandits look at a bowl of rice, which is thought to represent wealth and fertility.

Sajibu Cheiraoba:

• It is the Meiteis’ (a Manipur ethnic group) big ritual celebration, which takes place on the first day of the Manipur lunar month Shajibu, which falls in April every year.
• On the festival day, residents organise a combined family feast during which traditional cuisines are served to local deities at the houses’ entrance gates.

Anti-Human Trafficking Cell

Why in News?

Recently, The National Commission for Women launched an Anti-Human Trafficking Cell.

About Anti-Human Trafficking Cell:

• The Cell has been set up with an aim of increasing awareness among law enforcement officials and to facilitate their capacity building.
• The Cell will conduct Gender Sensitization Trainings and Workshops in combating human trafficking for police officers and for prosecutors at regional, state and district level.
• The complaints related to human trafficking received by the Commission will be addressed by this cell.
• The Commission has observed that some of the major issues faced in combating trafficking include lack of rehabilitation for victims and insensitive attitude towards trafficked survivors and their families.
• Therefore, the Cell will improve monitoring mechanism and encourage government agencies regarding measures being adopted for prevention of trafficking and rehabilitation of victims.
• The Cell will also help survivors of trafficking in rebuilding their lives by providing them with need-based training and by organizing capacity building programs for them to prevent re-traumatization of victims.

Objective:
To improve effectiveness in tackling cases of human trafficking, raising awareness among women and girls, capacity building and training of Anti Trafficking Units and to increase responsiveness of law enforcement agencies.

About National Commission for Women:

• The National Commission for Women was set up as statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.
• It received a large number of complaints and acted suo-moto in several cases to provide speedy justice.
• It took up the issue of child marriage, sponsored legal awareness programmes, Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats and reviewed laws such as Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, PNDT Act 1994, Indian Penal Code 1860 and the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 to make them more stringent and effective.
• It organized workshops/consultations, constituted expert committees on economic empowerment of women, conducted workshops/seminars for gender awareness and took up publicity campaign against female foeticide, violence against women etc. in order to generate awareness in the society against these social evils.

Mission
To strive towards enabling women to achieve equality and equal participation in all spheres of life by securing her due rights and entitlements through suitable policy formulation, legislative measures, effective enforcement of laws, implementation of schemes/policies and devising strategies for solution of specific problems/situations arising out of discrimination and atrocities against women.

Vision
The Indian Woman, secure in her home and outside, fully empowered to access all her rights and entitlements, with opportunity to contribute equally in all walks of life.

Objectives:

• To review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women
• To recommend remedial legislative measures
• To facilitate redressal of grievances
• To advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.