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Artistes perform as part of celebration after Deepavali, the festival of lights, was inscribed on the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, sparking celebrations to mark the earning of the coveted tag. (@MEAIndia/X via PTI Photo)
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Deepavali inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list
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Deepavali, India’s iconic festival of lights, has been officially inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The announcement was made on Wednesday during a key session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), currently being hosted at Red Fort here. This marks the first time India is hosting the ICH Committee session. “Deepavali commemorates the victory of good over evil, the triumph of light, and the unity and diversity of the Indian diaspora around the world, as well as all those who appreciate Indian culture. In the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the Indian belief that the whole world is one family — this festival celebrates our shared identity as a global family,” said Vivek Agarwal, Secretary, Union Ministry of Culture.
The 20th session of the panel is underway from December 8 to 13 at the Red Fort and is chaired by Vishal V Sharma, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of India to UNESCO. A total of 67 nominations submitted by nearly 80 countries will be examined during the course of the session. Delegates from around the world gathered in the capital to evaluate nominations that highlight traditions, practices and expressions cherished by communities globally.
Before Deepavali’s inclusion, India had 15 elements on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. These include Ramlila, Vedic chanting, Kutiyattam, Ramman, Chhau, Kalbelia, Mudiyettu, Buddhist chanting of Ladakh, Manipur’s Sankirtana, the Thatheras’ metal craft, yoga, Nawrouz, Kumbh Mela, Kolkata’s Durga Puja and Gujarat’s garba. With Deepavali added, India now has 16 elements on the list. The festival has been inscribed under the “Social practices, rituals and festive events” domain.
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Australia begins enforcing world-first teen social media ban
Australia on Wednesday became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access in a move welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticised by major technology companies and free-speech advocates.Starting at midnight (1300 GMT on Tuesday), 10 of the largest platforms including TikTok, Alphabet's YouTube and Meta's Instagram and Facebook were ordered to block children or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million) under the new law, which is being closely watched by regulators worldwide. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it "a proud day" for families and cast the law as proof that policymakers can curb online harms that have outpaced traditional safeguards.
BAN HAS GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS
The rollout caps a year of debate over whether any country could practically stop children from using platforms embedded in daily life, and begins a live test for governments frustrated that social media firms have been slow to implement harm-reduction measures. Several countries from Denmark to New Zealand to Malaysia have signalled they may study or emulate Australia's model.
Aditya-L1 joins global effort in landmark solar storm study: ISRO
India's first solar observatory Aditya-L1 played a key role in helping scientists decode why the strongest solar storm in more than two decades that struck Earth in May 2024 behaved so unusually, ISRO has said. Aditya-L1, which joined forces with six US satellites, including NASA's Wind, with its precise magnetic field measurements helped researchers to study the rare event simultaneously from multiple vantage points in space, it said.
According to a statement from ISRO, the solar storm, now called "Gannon's storm", which disturbed Earth's environment severely, involved a series of giant explosions on the Sun, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These CMEs are massive bubbles of hot gas and magnetic energy thrown out from the Sun into Space. When these bubbles hit Earth, they can shake our planet's magnetic shield and cause serious trouble for satellites, communication systems, GPS, and even power grids, the country's space agency said. In this regard, the space agency said that a team of Indian scientists has published a breakthrough study in the Astrophysical Journal Letters that possibly explains why the strongest solar storm which struck Earth in May 2024 in more than two decades behaved so unusually. "During the May 2024 solar storm, scientists discovered something unusual--the Sun's magnetic fields, which are like twisted ropes inside a solar storm, were breaking and rejoining within the storm," ISRO said.
According to the space agency, usually, a CME carries a twisted "magnetic rope" that interacts with Earth's magnetic shield as it approaches Earth. But this time, two CMEs collided in space and squeezed each other so firmly that the magnetic field lines inside one of them snapped and rejoined in new ways, a process called magnetic reconnection.
This sudden reversal of the magnetic field made the storm's impact much stronger than expected. Satellites also detected particles suddenly speeding up, indicating an increase in their energy, confirming the magnetic reconnection event, it stated. "For the first time, researchers could study the same extreme solar storm from multiple vantage points in space. Thanks to precise magnetic field measurements from India's Aditya-L1 mission, scientists were able to map this reconnection region," ISRO said.
Aditya L1 was the first space based Indian mission to study the Sun, and was launched in September 2023.
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