21 November 2022
| Content Kashi Tami Sangamam Tipu Sultan loss and damage fund Great knot |
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‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’
Context-PM inaugurates ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
The objective of the programme is to celebrate, reaffirm and rediscover the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi – two of the country’s most important and ancient seats of learning.
The programme aims to provide an opportunity for people from all walks of life including scholars, students, philosophers, traders, artisans, artists etc. from the two regions to come together, share their knowledge, culture and best practices and learn from each other’s’ experiences.
The endeavour is in sync with NEP 2020’s emphasis on integrating the wealth of Indian Knowledge Systems with modern systems of knowledge. IIT Madras and BHU are the two implementing agencies for the programme.
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Tipu Sultan
Who was Tipu Sultan?
He was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and the eldest son of Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore.
In the wider national narrative, Tipu has so far been seen as a man of imagination and courage, a brilliant military strategist who, in a short reign of 17 years, mounted the most serious challenge the Company faced in India.
Contributions of Tipu Sultan:
- Fought the first Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69) at the age of 17 and subsequently, against the Marathas and in the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84).
- He fought Company forces four times during 1767-99 and was killed defending his capital Srirangapatnam in the Fourth Anglo Mysore War.
- Tipu reorganised his army along European lines, using new technology, including what is considered the first war rocket.
- Devised a land revenue system based on detailed surveys and classification, in which the tax was imposed directly on the peasant, and collected through salaried agents in cash, widening the state’s resource base.
- Modernised agriculture, gave tax breaks for developing wasteland, built irrigation infrastructure and repaired old dams, and promoted agricultural manufacturing and sericulture. Built a navy to support trade.
- Commissioned a “state commercial corporation” to set up factories.
Why there are so many controversies surrounding him?
- There are concerns raised against Tipu Sultan on nearly every historical figure, perspectives differ.
- Haider and Tipu had strong territorial ambitions, and invaded and annexed territories outside Mysore. In doing so, they burnt down entire towns and villages, razed hundreds of temples and churches, and forcibly converted Hindus.
- The historical record has Tipu boasting about having forced “infidels” to convert to Islam, and of having destroyed their places of worship.
- The disagreement then is between those who see the “Tiger of Mysore” as a bulwark against colonialism and a great son of Karnataka, and those who point to his destruction of temples and forced conversions of Hindus and Christians to accuse him of tyranny and fanaticism.
Conclusion and way ahead:
Placing a personality in binary terms, i.e. extreme good or bad is neither rational nor progressive.
- Historical perspectives should be critically analysed only to study from the past so as to live in a better present and build a better tomorrow.
- Attempts to see such narratives in political, communal or religious lines to create divisions in society should be vehemently opposed.
- It is improper to judge figures of the past by canons of the present. History should be used to teach people about tolerance and brotherhood rather than dividing based on communal lines.
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Loss and damage fund.
Context-COP27 forms loss and damage fund, new panel to decide its structure
“Loss and damage”
The phrase loss and damage refers to cost already being incurred from climate fuelled weather extremes or impacts like rising sea levels.
Report by 55 vulnerable countries estimated that their combined climate linked losses in the last 2 decades total 525 billion or 20% of their collective GDP. This could go up to 580 billion per year by 2030
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Great knot
Context-Great knot sighting untangles a migration mystery
Endangered Calidris tenuirostris (Horsfield, 1821), has found its way to Kerala’s coast, flying over 9,000 km for a winter sojourn.
The Great Knot is a medium-sized shorebird with a straight, slender bill of medium length and a heavily streaked head and neck.
Status- Endangered
This species breeds in north-east Siberia, Russia, wintering mainly in Australia, but also throughout the coastline of South-East Asia and on the coasts of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The Yellow Sea of North Korea, South Korea and China is a particularly important stop-over site on migration in both spring and autumn.