Notes:
Ghumot, Goa’s indigenous traditional percussion instrument made from an earthen vessel, will be notified as a heritage musical instrument of Goa. The instrument was banned due to the use of the skin of the endangered monitor lizard for the drum membrane. In recent years, ghumot makers have started using goat skin instead. The ban is applicable to the use of any animal listed in the Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, and that the goat is not one of them. The Ghumot is part of religious and folk music of both Hindus and Christians in Goa. It is an essential instrument for the Ganesh festival, during arti and in Suvari Vadan orchestra that performs at Goan temples during spring. Ghumot is part of the Mando, a musical form of the Goan Catholics that combines elements of both Indian and Western music. It is also part of the Zagor folk dance and Dulpod.

Notes:
The book titled ‘Undaunted: Saving the Idea of India’ has been authored by former finance minister P Chidambaram, which was recently released by former vice president Hamid Ansari. The book claimed that fear rules the country today and there is a danger that the Constitution will be replaced by a document inspired by Hindutva. According to the author, an economy derailed can be put back on the rails and a society divided can be healed and united but one thing cannot be fixed if it is broken, and that is the Constitution and the constitutional values embodied in that document. At present, every value of the Constitution is under attack — freedom, equality, liberalism, secularism, privacy, scientific temper, etc.

Notes:
Meghalaya’s state animal – Clouded Leopard will be the official mascot for the 39th National Games 2022, which is coinciding with the 50th year of the creation of the state. This decision was taken at the first National Games 2022 executive committee meeting chaired by Meghalaya Sports and Youth Affairs Minister . Meghalaya will be the third northeastern state after Manipur and Assam hosted the National Games in 1999 and 2007, respectively. It had co-hosted the 2016 South Asian Games with its neighbouring state Assam. An estimated 14,450 athletes and officials are expected to visit Meghalaya during the 2022 National Games. Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is one of the wild cats that live throughout the forests of Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Since 2008, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Notes:
On 13th Feb, the 3rd Indo-German Environment Forum was held in New Delhi with the theme “Cleaner Air, Greener Economy”. The one-day event focuses on challenges, solutions and necessary framework conditions of air pollution control, waste management and circular economy as well as implementation of NDCs and SDGs based on Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 of UN respectively. Around 250 representatives of ministries, business and science as well as non-governmental organizations participated in the forum, which is organized by the two environment ministries in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The Forum provided a platform for the bilateral exchange of high-level policy-makers and other key players on international environmental and climate policy and cooperation between the two countries.

Notes:
The Rajasthan Assembly has recently passed two Bills which seek to end the minimum education criterion for panchayat and civic poll candidates. The House passed by voice vote the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Rajasthan Municipality (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The previous Vasundhara Raje-led government had introduced education criterion in 2015 which required a candidate to pass Class X for contesting zila parishad, panchayat samiti and municipal elections. Defending the bill, Panchayati Raj Minister Sachin Pilot stated that the previous Act was against the basics of the Constitution. Society cannot be divided on the basis of education. He further stated that education criterion should first be introduced for contesting Assembly and parliamentary elections.