Short Articles

Art & Culture 

Kashmiris celebrate warm pheran to beat freezing 40 days of Chillai Kalan

The 40-day harshest spell of winter, locally called ‘Chillai Kalan’, has been celebrated as ‘Pheran Day’ in the Kashmir Valley.

• Objective: to popularise the loose-and-long woollen gown worn to fight the biting cold as the minimum temperature hovers below sub-zero in Srinagar.
• The “Chillai Kalaan” is the forty-day period of harsh winter which begins on December 21 and ends on January 31 next year
  • In the Persian tradition, the night of December 21, the longest of the year, is celebrated as Shab-e-Yalda (night of birth) or Shab-e-Chelleh.
• Dozens of netizens from Kashmir named it the ‘Pheran Day’, after the long woollen gown worn during the winters in Kashmir.
• “The first day of ‘chillai kalan’ is to be celebrated as ‘World Pheran Day’,”
• The 40-day chillai kalan is followed by the ‘chillai khurd’ and ‘chillai bacha’, which sees a rise in day temperatures.

Art & Culture

Kerala set to host first International Beach Festival

The 'Spice Coast' in the far north of Kerala, better known as North Malabar, will bask in myriad colours and the pomp and splendour of the cultural extravaganza titled 'Bekal International Beach Festival' from December 24.

• The 10-day first international beach festival captures the wholeness and the essence of the district’s cultural and artistic uniqueness.
• Aim: revitalising the district’s development by showcasing its potential.
• Key-highlights:
  • A feast of cultural and musical nights,
  • Food festivals capturing the cuisine of Kasargod, exhibitions
  • Tour programmes

Art & Culture

Palm-leaf manuscript museum opens window to little-known history

A palm-leaf manuscript museum with modern audio-visual technology has been inaugurated at the renovated Central Archives, Fort in Kerala.

• Eight theme-based galleries where select manuscripts from one of the biggest palm-leaf collections in the country will be displayed.
• The museum will feature
  • rare collection of over 1 crore of palm-leaf manuscripts including administrative documents from the Venad era and political and social documents from Travancore, Kochi and Malabar.
  • manuscripts featuring ancient alphabets including Vattezhuthu, Kolezhuthu and Malayanma

Polity & Governance

Bill to amend ST list of Chhattisgarh passed in Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022.

• The Bill will amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, for the inclusion of the thirteen communities, in the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the State of Chhattisgarh.
• The government has identified 75 particularly vulnerable tribal groups, PVTGs, across the country.
  • Out of these only Nine were listed and the Government is working on the remaining communities.

Environment

PM2 elephant

PM2 elephant which was captured and relocated is acclimatizing to a new habitat in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

• PM 2 Makana elephant was caught in Gudalur (in Nilgiri District of Tamil N?du)
• Pandalur Makhna-2 (PM2), is called ‘Arisi Raja’ by Gudalur residents.
• These are called “maknha” as they are tuskless elephants.
• It is because of genetic disorders sometimes male elephants can't develop tusks at all.
• Such male elephants are known to be aggressive and dangerous.