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Srinagar Chosen as Creative City by UNESCO
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has picked Srinagar among 49 cities as part of the creative city network under the Crafts and Folk Arts category.
- The inclusion of Srinagar in the creative city network for the arts and crafts has paved a way for the city to represent its handicrafts on the global stage through UNESCO.
- The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
- With latest addition of 49 cities, the total number of creative cities has reached 295 cities across 90 countries.
- Cities are designates in 7 creative fields: Craft, Folk Art, Media Arts, Film Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music.
- India now has total 6 cities in the UCCN List, the applications for which are routed through the Ministry of Culture.
These 6 Indian cities are:
- Crafts and Folk Arts:
- Srinagar (2021) & Jaipur (2015).
- Film:
- Mumbai (2019)
- Creative city of Music:
- Chennai (2017) & Varanasi (2015)
- Gastronomy:
- Hyderabad (2019)
PROOF App (Photographic Record Of On-Site Facility)
- In a bid to bring more transparency and accountability to the governance system, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Sinha launched the ‘PROOF’ app on 12 August 2021.
- The PROOF App will provide a complete pictorial view of the work along with its geographical coordinates i.e. latitude and longitude and user comments on work progress.
- ‘PROOF’ is a part of the Government’s endeavour to bring transparency in the governance system by enabling citizens to overview the works being executed, thus ensuring their active involvement in the development process.
- No bills shall be entertained in the treasury unless photographs of projects are uploaded.
Karkhandar Scheme
- The Jammu and Kashmir Government launched the Karkhandar scheme for the development of the Craft Sector in the Union Territory.
- The scheme will be taken up on a pilot basis by the Department of Handicrafts and Handloom, Kashmir.
- The people working in the Craft Sector are exploited and end up being trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and pessimism, which in turn, force them to abandon craft activity.
- The scheme will identify and impart skill upgradation training in crafts that are facing human resource crunches such as walnut wood carving, silver filigree, carpet, Kani shawl weaving, Khatamband and Papier Machie crafts.
- The aim of the this scheme is to transfer the skill set of the master craftsmen to the younger generation as this was a general observation that the skill transfer from the master craftsmen to the younger generation was happening at a snail’s pace.
- The manpower generated through various training programmes by the department in the form of trainees will now get an edge as the trainees will get training from the experienced trainers in nearby karkhanas and those trainers now can be National/ State/ Shilp Guru awardees/ Master crafts person of repute in their respective crafts.
- Under the scheme the meritorious trainees will be given RS 2000/month as honorarium etc.
- The trainer will get Rs 2000/month for each trainee and plus Rs 25000/- for logistics, raw materials etc.
“Elderline-14567” Launched In J&K
- Lt Governor Manoj Sinha in Sept 2021, launched the senior citizens national helpline “Elderline-14567” in Jammu and Kashmir.
- It will serve as a vital support system to comfort the distressed elderly through a dedicated decentralised call centre.
- Elder Line, the first Pan-India toll-free helpline number 14567 for senior citizens has been
- launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- The helpline number will provide free information and guidance on pension and legal issues.
- Due to the pandemic, the elderly population in the country has been facing many challenges.
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