🔆 GALLANTARY AWARDS :
✅ The awards are typically announced biannually – On Republic Day & Independence Day.
✅ Types -
1. War time gallantry awards : [ only awarded to the members of armed forces ]
🔸 Param vir chakra
🔸 Maha vir chakra
🔸 Vir Chakra
2. Peacetime Gallantry awards : [ awarded to both the members of armed forces and civilians ]
🔸Ashok chakra
🔸 Kirti chakra
🔸 Shaurya chakra
✅ Recommends (Twice in year)- Armed forces and Ministry of Home Affairs (for civilians) to The Ministry of Defence
✅ Announcement - Official gazette of Government of India
✅ Presented By - President
✅ The awards can be awarded posthumously.
✅ Other Gallantary Awards - Sena Medal, Nao Sena Medal, Vayusena Medal , Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal , Param Vishisht Seva Medal etc.

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Irula Tribe:

✅ Irulas are one of India’s oldest indigenous communities.
They are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
✅ They live primarily in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu, as well as in parts of Kerala and Karnataka.
✅ Language: Their language, Irula, is related to Tamil and Kannada, which are southern Dravidian languages.

Religious Beliefs:
✅The Irula people don’t have a definite god for them. They are pantheists who make provision for the presence of spirits in humans and objects.
✅Their main deity is a virgin goddess called Kanniamma, who is deeply associated with the cobra.

✅Irula houses are built together in small settlements or villages called mottas. The mottas are usually situated on the edges of steep hills and are surrounded by a few dry fields, gardens and forests or plantations.
✅Traditionally, they have been skilled hunters, gatherers and honey collectors, relying on the forest for their sustenance and livelihood.
They are specialists in traditional herbal medicine and healing practices.
✅ Irulas' knowledge of snakes and snake venom is legendary. Their expertise is often sought after in snake rescue and rehabilitation projects.
✅ The Irula Snake Catchers' Industrial Cooperative Society is a major producer of anti-snake venom (ASV) in the country. It supplies almost 80 percent of the venom that goes into making anti-venom in India.
✅ They use traditional knowledge and skills to catch snakes, extract venom, and release the snakes back into the wild without harming them.

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🔆 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) :

✅ Initially - Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) , 1973
✅ Renamed (2006) - PTGs as PVTGs by GOI
✅ Characteristics :
1. Preservation of pre-agricultural practices,
2. Economic Backwardness,
3. Decreasing or stagnant population growth
4. Relatively low levels of literacy in contrast to other tribal groups.
✅ Recognition - 75 tribal communities (across 18 states and UT of Andaman & Nicobar Island )
✅ Highest No. - Odisha (13), followed by Andhra Pradesh (12), Gujarat (8) and Tamil Nadu (6), while no PVTGs are found in the states of Punjab and Haryana.
✅ Tribal Welfare Initiatives : PM Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN), Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission etc.

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INDUS-X Summit:

✅It was launched in 2023 during the state visit of the Prime Minister of India to the USA.
✅Objective: To expand strategic technology partnerships and defense industrial cooperation between governments, businesses, and academic institutions in India and the US. 
✅INDUS X will be a defence innovation bridge, which will inter-alia, include Joint Challenges, Joint Innovation Fund, Academia engagement, Industry-startup connect, investment by private entities in defence projects, mentoring by experts and niche technology projects etc.
✅It will focus on advancing high-tech cooperation and fostering joint research, development and production opportunities in the defence sector. 
✅The initiative aims to explore possibilities for co-producing jet engines, long-range artillery and infantry vehicles.
✅The INDUS-X initiative is being steered by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) on behalf of Ministry of Defence and Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) under the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). 

🔆Tribal Art in India:

Diverse array of expressions reflecting lives, beliefs, and customs.
• Examples:
✅ Warli Art (Maharashtra) : Simple geometric shapes depicting harmony with nature.
✅ Gond Art (Central India) : Vibrant hues, intricate patterns, rich mythology.
✅ Madhubani Painting (Bihar) : Intricate motifs, bold colors, scenes from mythology.
✅ Pattachitra Art (Odisha) : Mythological narratives on cloth or palm leaves.
✅ Santhal Art (Eastern India) : Earthy tones, tribal motifs using natural materials.
✅ Saura Painting (Odisha) : Vibrant colors, geometric patterns, depicting deities and myths.
✅ Bhil Art (Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh) : Folkore, rituals, nature, animals, deities.
✅ Phad Painting (Rajasthan) : Stories of deities, heroes, and legends on large scrolls.
✅ Pithora Painting (Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh) : Ritualistic art for blessings.
✅ Toda Embroidery (Tamil Nadu) : Geometric patterns using natural materials.

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🔆Sarpanch Patis

✅Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has recommended for empowering elected women to remove ‘Sarpanch Patis’.
✅ World Economic Forum (WEF) will consider the participation of women at panchayat level to rank countries in its future global gender gap reports
✅ Women & men in India report 2022- 46% elected representatives at panchayat level are women.

▪️Problems faced by Women ERs :

✅ Low financial and digital literacy.
✅ Lack of adequate information about their rights and responsibilities.
✅ Inadequate managerial experience.
✅ Social barriers placed by traditional orthodox and parochial society etc.
✅Key recommendations
🔸 Training and capacity building to curb prevalent concepts like Sarpanch Pati or Pradhan Pati (husbands )
🔸 Financially empower women
🔸 Bring attitudinal change in both men and women.

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