Today’s Highlights: Republic Day Tableaux, Kathak

Thought for the Day “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Today in History

Ø 1819: Spain sold Florida to the UnitedStates for 5 million. Ø1845: Serampore and Balasore were bought by the British East India Company fromthe Dutch East India Company. Ø 1948: Communist revolution in Czechoslovakia. Ø 1978: YashwantVishnu Chandrachud became the 16th Chief Justiceof India.

Birth Anniversaries:

Ø 1732: George Washington, an American politicalleader and the first presidentof the United States. Ø 1857: HeinrichHertz, a Germanphysicist. Ø 1857: Robert Baden-Powell, the Founder of the worldwideScout Movement. Ø1863: Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X, the maharaja of the Kingdomof Mysore. Ø 1885: Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, an Indian revolutionary. Ø1892: Indulal Kanaiyalal Yagnik, an Indianindependence activist. Ø 1906: Sohan Lal Dwivedi, an Indian poet, Gandhian, and freedom fighter. Ø 1913: Mirza Hameedullah Beg, the 15th Chief Justiceof India. Ø1922: Sayed HaiderRaza, an Indian painter.

Death Anniversaries:

Ø 1512: Amerigo Vespucci,an Italian merchant,explorer, and navigator, from whose name the terms America and Americas are derived. Ø 1944: KasturbaGandhi, an Indianpolitical activist, and wife of Mahatma Gandhi. Ø 1958: Maulana Abul Kalam, an Indian scholar, Islamic theologian, independence activist, and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Build a BetterVocabulary

1. AGITATION :(NOUN): (व्याकु लता): anxiety Synonyms: perturbation, disquiet Antonyms: calmness Example Sentence: She was wringingher hands in agitation. 2. ENTIRETY :(NOUN): (संपूर्णता): whole Synonyms: sum, total Antonyms: part Example Sentence: She would have to stay in her room for the entiretyof the weekend. 3. DREAD :(NOUN): (भय): fear Synonyms: apprehension, trepidation Antonyms: confidence Example Sentence: The thought of returning to London filled her with dread. 4. AGGRIEVED (ADJECTIVE): (क्रोधित): resentful Synonyms: affronted,indignant Antonyms: pleased Example Sentence: They were aggrievedat the outcome. 5. SHAMBLE (VERB): (फे र-बदल करना): shuffle Synonyms: lumber, totter Antonyms: run Example Sentence: He shambled off down the corridor.

Current Affairs

· Winter OlympicsGames 2022 In Beijing Concludes · World ThinkingDay Observed On 22nd February · Indian Businesses Rank 5th In Their ConcernFor Climate Change · Coal India Gets ‘India’sMost Trusted PublicSector Company’ Award · Mizoram And Arunachal PradeshFoundation Day: 20 February · A Book On Rabindranath Tagore Authored By Uma Das Gupta Released · Bihar’s SakibulGani Became 1st Player To Hit TripleTon On First-Class Debut · Philanthropist Bill Gates Conferred Hilal-E-Pakistan Honour To Eradicate Polio · Table TennisPlayer Manika Batra Joins AdidasAs Brand Ambassador · Hurun India Wealth Report:India’s Millionaire Households Rose 11% In 2021

Knowledge Update

How Republic Day tableaux are designed and selected Who manages the R-Day Parade? · The Defence Ministryis the responsible authority for the RepublicDay parade and the celebrations. · Around September, it invites all the states,the UTs, CentralGovernment departments, and a few constitutional authorities to participate in theparade through tableaux. Managing Tableaux · The Defence Ministry shares the basic guidelines about what all the tableaux can or should include. · The tableaux of two different states/ UTs cannot be too similar, as the tableaux, together, should showcase the diversity of thecountry. · The tableaux cannothave any writingor use of logos, exceptfor the name of the state/ UT/ department, which should be written in Hindi on the front, English on the back, and a regional languageon the sides. · The Ministry also asks the participants to use eco-friendly material for the tableaux, and avoid the use of plastic or plastic-based products. How are the tableaux selected? · The selection processis elaborate and time-consuming. · The Defence Ministry constitutes an expert committee of distinguished persons from fields like art, culture,painting, sculpture, music,architecture, choreography, etc. Process of selection (1) Submission of sketches · First, the submittedsketches or designsof the proposals are scrutinised by this committee, which can make suggestions for any modifications in the sketch or design. · The sketch should be simple, colourful, easy to comprehend and should avoidunnecessary detail. · It should be self-explanatory, and should not need any written elaboration. (2) Music and Visuals · If there is atraditional dance involved with the tableau, it should be a folk dance, and the costumes and musical instruments should be traditional and authentic. · The proposal should include a video clippingof the dance. (3) 3D Models · Once approved, the next stage is for the participants to come up with three- dimensional models for their proposals. · These are again examined by the expert committee for final selection, taking in view several criteria. · In making the final selection the committee looks at a combination of factors, looking at the visual appeal, impact on the masses, idea/ theme of the tableaux, degree of detail involved.

Do they have to be of a particular size?

The Defence Ministry provides each participant with one tractor and one trailer, and the tableau should fit on that. · The ministry prohibits use of any additional tractoror trailer, or even any other vehicleto be part of it. · However, the participant can replace their ministry-provided tractor or trailer with other vehicles,but the total number should not be more than two vehicles. · The tractor has to be camouflaged in harmony with the tableau’s theme, and the ministry stipulates a distance of around six feet betweenthe tractor and the trailerfor turning and manoeuvring. · The dimensions of the trailer on which the tableau will be placed is 24 feet, 8 inches long; eight feet wide; four feet two inches high; with a load-bearing capacity of 10 tonnes. · The tableaux shouldnot be more than 45 feet long,14 feet wide and 16 feet high from the ground. (Republic Day celebrations from this year will start on January 23 instead of January 24 to includethe birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.)

About Kathak

· Kathak is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. · The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in of ancient northern India known as Kathakars or storytellers. · The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word Katha which means “story”, and Kathakar which means “the one who tells a story”, or “to do with stories”. · Wandering Kathakars communicated stories from the great epics and ancient mythologythrough dance, songs and music. Its origin · Kathak dancers tell various storiesthrough their hand movements and extensive footwork,their body movements and flexibility but most importantly through their facialexpressions. · It evolved during the Bhakti movement, particularly by incorporating the childhood and stories of the Hindu god Krishna, as well as independently in the courts of north Indian kingdoms.

· Kathak is unique in having both Hindu and Muslim gharanas and cultural elements of these gharanas.

· Kathak performances include Urdu Ghazals and commonly used instruments brought during the Mughal period.

Major Gharanas

· Kathak is found in three distinct forms,called “gharanas”, named after the cities where

the Kathak dance tradition evolved– Jaipur, Banarasand Lucknow.

· While the Jaipurgharana focuses more on the foot movements, the Banaras and Lucknow gharanasfocus more on facial expressions and graceful hand movements.

Performance Details

· It involves both Nritta (pure dance) and Nritya (expressive dance).

· Stylistically, the Kathak dance form emphasizes rhythmic foot movements, adorned with small bells (Ghungroo) and the movement harmonized to the music.

· The legs and torso are generally straight, and the story is told through a developed vocabulary based on the gestures of arms and upper body movement, facial expressions, neck movements, eyes and eyebrowmovement, stage movements, bends and turns.

· The main focus of the dance becomes the eyes and the foot movements.

· The eyes work as a medium of communication of the story the dancer is trying to communicate. With the eyebrowsthe dancer gives various facial expressions.

· A Kathak performance can be solo, duo or team. In a technicalperformance, the speedand energy the dancers exchange with the audience increases in multiples, that is the tempo doubles or quadruples.

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