Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 05 Jan 2023
18th National Scout Guide Jamboree
The Bharat Scouts & Guides (voluntary organisation) are hosting the 18th National Jamboree at Rajasthan from 4th January to 10th January, 2023 with the theme of “Progress with Peace”. The 1st National Jamboree was hosted by Andhra Pradesh in 1953-54.
The Jamboree is a national level gathering of the Scouts and Guides conducted once in 4 years or to mark special occasions. The Jamboree gives the Scouts and Guides an opportunity to interact with the youth from different states of India and from abroad.
About 35000 Scouts, Guides and Adult Leaders of the Organization from different corners of the country and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries are participating in this Mega Event.
Japan: The World’s Grayest Society
The Japanese government plans to increase financial incentives for families who opt to move out of Tokyo as the government attempts to reverse decades of demographic decline, economic migration and the lure of the world’s biggest metropolis.
The government will extend to families up to 1 million yen per child. The figure is more than triple the ¥300,000 on offer under an existing scheme in place since 2019. Those that take the money must embrace the provincial life for a minimum of five years or refund the state. The plan also has some other conditions that would need to be fulfilled strictly in order to avail and keep full benefits.
Read More: World’s Population
Wildlife Conservation Bond
In 2022, the World Bank has priced the world’s first wildlife bond, raising USD 150 million that will be partly used for the conservation of black rhinos in South Africa.
The Wildlife Conservation Bond is a first-of-its-kind, outcome-based, financial instrument that channels investments to achieve conservation outcomes measured in this case by an increase in black rhino populations. The program could be expanded to protect other wildlife species.
There are five rhino species globally (white and black rhinos in Africa, and the greater one-horned, Javan, and Sumatran), with most of the animals in South Africa and almost all of them are white rhinos as the number of black rhinos is decreasing day by day.
Read More: Rhinos
World Braille Day
Since 2019, World Braille Day is observed on the 4th January every year. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of human rights for blind and partially sighted people.
Braille (named after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. Braille is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font.
Braille is essential in the context of education, freedom of expression and opinion, as well as social inclusion, as per the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).