HISTORY- IMPORTANT PLACES, PERSONS IN NEWS • Basavanna rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals but Who was Lord Basaveshwara? introduced Ishtalinga necklace, with an image of the Shiva Linga to every person regardless Science Tech Art Culture | GS1: Arts & Culture of his or her birth. • As the chief minister of his kingdom, he Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important : introduced new public institutions such Prelims level : Lord Basaveshwara and his philosophy as the Anubhava Mantapa (or, the “hall Mains level : Six schools of Indian Philosophy of spiritual experience”) which welcomed men and women from all socio-economic Prime Minister has offered his homage to the Founder of Lingayat cult backgrounds. 12th-century social reformer Basaveshwara on • The traditional legends and hagiographic his birth anniversary. texts state Basava to be the founder of Back2Basics: Bhakti Movement the Lingayats. • The Bhakti movement refers to the theistic Vaishnavism and Shaivism are the two most • However, modern scholarship relying on devotional trend that emerged in medieval profound strands of Bhakti Movement in Indian historical evidence such as the Kalachuri Hinduism. history. Enlist all the Bhakti Saints and their inscriptions state that Basava was the • It originated in eighth-century south India theistic philosophy and teachings. Try to spot poet-philosopher who revived, refined and and spread northwards. the minute differences between them. energized an already existing tradition. • It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reaching its zenith Lord Basaveshwara His Philosophy between the 15th and 17th century CE. • Basaveshwara or Basavanna was an Indian • Basava’s Lingayat theology was a form of • It has traditionally been considered as an 12th-century statesman, philosopher, a poet qualified nondualism, wherein the individual influential social reformation in Hinduism, and Lingayat saint in the Shiva-focussed Atman (soul) is the body of God, and that and provided an individual-focused Bhakti movement and a social reformer in there is no difference between Shiva and alternative path to spirituality regardless of Karnataka. Atman (self, soul). one’s birth or gender • He lived during the reign of the Kalyani • Basava’s views finds places in Vedanta • Salvation which was previously considered Chalukya/Kalachuri dynasty. school, in a form closer to the 11th century attainable only by men of Brahmin, Kshatriya • He was active during the rule of both Vishishtadvaita philosopher Ramanuja. and Vaishya castes, became available dynasties but reached his peak of influence to everyone. during the rule of King Bijjala II in Karnataka, Famous works India . • Basavanna spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas. FESTIVALS, DANCES, THEATRE, LITERATURE, ART IN NEWS Raja Ravi Varma, the painter who helped Indians bring their gods home Science Tech Art Culture | GS1: Arts & Culture Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important : Prelims level : Europeanized school of painting in India • His most famous works include Damayanti Mains level : NA Talking to a Swan, Shakuntala Looking for Dushyanta, Nair Lady Adorning Her Hair, April 29 is the birth anniversary of the famed • Later, Varma studied oil painting with the and Shantanu and Matsyagandha. Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), British painter Theodore Jensen. remembered for giving Indians their western, Apart from Travancore, Varma also worked for His legacy classical representations of Hindu gods and other wealthy patrons such as the Gaekwad of • He continues to be regarded as the most goddesses. Baroda. important representative of the Europeanized school of painting in India. Raja Ravi Varma Major works • His 1873 painting, Nair Lady Adorning • Varma was born into aristocracy at • A prolific artist, Varma is believed to have Her Hair, won Varma prestigious awards Kilimanoor in the erstwhile Travancore state made around 7,000 paintings before his including Governor’s Gold Medal when it of present-day Kerala and was closely related death. was presented in the Madras Presidency and to its royal family. • Varma worked on both portrait and Certificate of Merit at an exhibition in Vienna. • At the age of 14, Varma was patronised landscape paintings and is considered among • In 1904, the British colonial government by Ayilyam Thirunal, the then ruler of the first Indian artists to use oil paints. awarded Varma with the Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Travancore, and went on to receive training • Apart from painting Hindu mythological Medal. in watercolours from Ramaswamy Naidu, the figures, Varma also made portraits of many • In 2013, a crater on the planet Mercury was royal painter. Indians as well as Europeans. named in his honour. INNOVATIONS IN SCIENCES, IT, COMPUTERS, ROBOTICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY [pib] HCARD robot to assist frontline COVID-19 healthcare warriors Science Tech Art Culture | GS3: Awareness In The Fields Of It, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-Technology, Bio-Technology, Pharma Sector & Health Science Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important : Prelims level : HCARD in automatic as well as manual modes Mains level : Technology assistance for COVID-19 containment of navigation. • This robot can be controlled and monitored HCARD, a robot, to assist frontline COVID-19 What is HCARD? by a nursing booth with a control station healthcare warriors has been developed by • The robotic device HCARD, an acronym having such features as navigation, drawer a CSIR lab. for Hospital Care Assistive Robotic Device, activation for providing medicines and food can help frontline healthcare workers in to patients, sample collection and audio- It is very unlikely to create a prelim question maintaining physical distance from those visual communication. on HCARD. However, developments as infected by the coronavirus. • The cost of this device is less than Rs 5 lakh such help in exemplifying the scientific • The device is equipped with various state- and the weight is less than 80 kilograms. developments which helped contain such of-the-art technologies and works both highly contagious outbreaks. MINORITY ISSUES - SC, ST, DALITS, OBC, RESERVATIONS, ETC. India’s reaction • The Centre reacted sharply to the USCIRF Religious Freedom and India report terming it “biased and tendentious” and rejected its observations. Science Tech Art Culture | GS1: Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism • The biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important : occasion, its misrepresentation has reached Prelims level : Not Much new levels. Mains level : Religious freedon in India • Major panellists of USCIRF dissented with the recommendation on India as being ‘too • The U.S. Commission on International • This is the first time since 2004 that India harsh’ and that ended up placing the country Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has has been placed in the CPC category. alongside what they termed as “rogue downgraded India to the lowest ranking, • The commission also recommended that nations” like China and North Korea. “countries of particular concern” (CPC) in its the U.S. government take stringent action • India regards the accusations as inaccurate 2020 report. against India under the “International and unwarranted and questioned the body’s Religious Freedom Act” (IRFA). “locus standi” in India’s internal affairs. Religious freedom in India has been a contested issue since decades. Recent moves What led India to lower its religious US’s religious activism: Unwelcomed by all by the govt. since the abrogation of Art. 370 freedom? • The US earlier this month has announced which triggered the riots in Delhi has left a big • India took a sharp downward turn in 2019 the launch of a 27-nation International scar on the secular fabric of India. due to concerns about the Citizenship Religious Freedom Alliance, which aim to Amendment Act, the proposed National adopt a collective approach in protecting What is PICS? Register for Citizens, anti-conversion laws and preserving religious freedom across the • It is a U.S. federal government commission and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. world. created by the International Religious • The report accuses India using its • Among the prominent countries to join the Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. strengthened parliamentary majority to alliance are Brazil, the United Kingdom, • Its principal responsibilities are to review institute national-level policies violating Israel, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Greece. the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom across India. • The USCIRF has been accused worldwide religious freedom internationally. • The panel reported harassment and violence of being biased towards focusing on the Accusing India of religious intolerance against religious minorities to continue with persecution of Christians and of being anti- • USCIRF has placed India alongside China, impunity, and engaged in and tolerated hate Muslim & Hinduphobic. It panels various North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. speech and incitement to violence against controversial personalities. • India was categorised as a “Tier 2 country” them. in last year’s listing..