ART AND CULTURE                                                                         

1. The natural and unexplored caves of Adivasis’ faith                           

2. 44,000-year-old cave art in Indonesia is ‘world’s oldest’                      

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                   

1. WDO to launch World Design Protopolis in Bengaluru                        

ECONOMY                                                                                          

1. Moody's cuts India's FY20 growth projection to 4.9% citing weak consumption                                                                                    

2. 'Avartansheel Kheti' changing lives with periodic, proportionate farming                                                                                                       

ART AND CULTURE

The natural and unexplored caves of Adivasis’ faith

GS PAPER - 01 ART AND CULTURE - Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Context :

• The Jangubai Cave Temple and the Kaplai Caves are considered as a pilgrimage site by aboriginal tribes like Gond, Pradhan and Kolam.

  • These caves are located at Maharashtra -Telangana border.

Kolam Tribe:

Gond Tribe:

Pardhan Tribe:

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

44,000-year-old cave art in Indonesia is ‘world’s oldest’

GS PAPER - 01 ART AND CULTURE - Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Context :

• According to a study published in the journal “Nature”, the oldest animal drawing has been found in Indonesia.

Key Findings :

• The painting has been discovered in a cave called Leang Bulu’Sipong 4 in the south of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It has been found to be 44,000 years old.

• It shows eight therianthropes, or humans with animal characteristics, appearing to chase and kill six animals such as the warty pigs native to the island, using what seem to be spears and ropes.

• Until now, the oldest rock art showing a character with the characteristics of an animal had been an ivory sculpture found in a cave in Germany. Thought to be dating back 40,000 years, it depicts a human body attached to a feline-like head.

• The Indonesian cave painting also provided some of the earliest evidence of human spirituality

                                                                                                                      Source :- Times Of India

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

WDO to launch World Design Protopolis in Bengaluru

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-  Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The World Design Organization is all set to launch its new global programme World Design Protopolis in Bengaluru.

World Design Protopolis:

• It is aimed at implementing holistic progress in mega cities across the world and thus making them sustainable.

• The project also aims to measure progress of city, attract investments and solve problems so that the city becomes a better place for citizens.

• The project will be of a five year duration.It will measure what they did in the city and how the city benefited and who benefited over a period of five years.         

                                                                                                       Source :- Business Standard

ECONOMY

Moody's cuts India's FY20 growth projection to 4.9% citing weak consumption

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Context :

• Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its 2019 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.6%.

More in the news :

• Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its 2019 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.6% which is lower than the 7.4% growth in 2018.

• The agency noted that India’s economic growth has decelerated since mid-2018, with real GDP growth slipping from nearly 8% to 5% in the second quarter (April-June) of 2019 and further slipping to 4.5% in July-September quarter.

• Moody’s Investors Service expects economic growth to pick up in 2020 and 2021 to 6.6% and 6.7%, respectively, but sees the pace of growth remaining lower than in the past.

Reasons for Slowdown :

• weakening economic growth were rural financial stress, low job creation and liquidity constraints.

• Consumption demand has decreased notably, with slow employment growth weighing on consumption. This has led to a weak demand side in the economy.

Concern :

• Moody’s has stated that the fiscal measures undertaken by the government, such as corporate tax rate cuts, bank recapitalization, infrastructure spending plans, support for the auto sector and others, do not directly address widespread weakness in consumption demand, which has been the chief driver of the economy.

                                                                                                 Source :- The Hindu ; Business Standard

Avartansheel Kheti' changing lives with periodic, proportionate farming

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY -  different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints;

Context :

• Recently,several farmers across the country have started adopting pioneering method of sustainable farming called Avartansheel Kheti.

Avartansheel Kheti :

• Avartansheel Kheti is based on the philosophy of A Nagraj who was a proponent of harmonious coexistence.

• The Avartansheel Kheti which is translated as Periodic proportionate farming involves dividing the land into zones for cereal crops, vegetables, fruiting trees and animal husbandry.

• The farming technique insists that farmers should produce food for themselves first and what remains after consumption should be sold in the market.

• This way,the farmer will never put harmful pesticides and fertilisers if they are growing for themselves.

More about the technique :

• Under this technique, the land is divided into three parts.Fruits and trees that grow in a forest are grown in one part.This helps earn additional income while the cost of labor to maintain this land is low.

• It also helps the farmer to create natural compost with dried leaves and cow dung which increases the fertility of soil.This eliminates the need of chemical fertilizers.

• The second part of land is used for rear livestock like cows, buffaloes.They can use the milk for their household and the excess can be sold outside.

• And the third of the land is used to grow crops for his home.The farmer can grow rice, pulses, vegetables, fruits, spices, oil among others.

• Thus, the farmer sustains his home first and after that, he will sell his surplus products in the market not in raw form but after being processed.

                                                                                                Source :- Down To Earth

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