UPSC Prelims News 3 December 2022

UPSC Prelims News of 3 December 2022

DigiYatra

Context: The Union government has introduced paperless entry in select airports under the DigiYatra initiative.

About DigiYatra:

• DigiYatra is a software that will use facial recognition to faciliitate entry inside airports. Passengers need not carry their ID card and boarding pass.
• In the first phase, it will be implemented across seven airports, namely Delhi, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada.
• Implementation: The initiative is implemeted by the DigiYatra Foundation, a joint-venture company whose shareholders are the Airports Authority of India and Bengaluru Airport, Delhi Airport, Hyderabad Airport, Mumbai Airport and Cochin International Airport.

Working of DigiYatra:

• Passenger’s facial features would be linked to the boarding pass and they can pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing.
• The entry of passengers would be processed automatically based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints – including entry into the airport, security check areas, aircraft boarding, etc.
• Procedure:
  • To avail the service, passenger has to register their details on the DigiYatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self image capture.
  • The boarding pass of the passenger has to be scanned, and the credentials are shared with airport authorities.
  • At the airport e-gate, the bar coded boarding pass has to be scanned by the passenger and the facial recognition system installed at the e-gate will check the passenger’s identity and travel document.
  • Once this process is completed, the passenger can enter the airport through the e-gate. Normal procedure has to be followed to clear security and board the aircraft.

UPSC Prelims News 2 December 2022

Hornbill Festival

Context: Vice President of India inaugurated the 23rd edition of the Hornbill Festival 2022 at Naga Heritage Village in Kisama, Kohima.

About Hornbill Festival:

• It is organized by the Government of Nagaland, to showcase Nagaland’s deep-rooted traditions and its rich cultural heritage in all its ethnicity, diversity, and grandeur.
• It is a tribute to the great Hornbill, which is an admired and revered bird by the Naga people, for its qualities of alertness and grandeur.
• It is a cultural extravaganza to revive, protect and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage.

About Hornbill

• There are about 62 hornbill species world-over.
• India is home to nine of them including the Great Hornbill, the Malabar Pied Hornbill and the Rufous-necked Hornbill.
  • Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh houses the highest density of hornbills across Asia.
  • Western Ghats alone are home to four of the nine hornbill species, of which the Great Hornbill is the most prominent.
• Significance: Hornbills play a vital role in forest regeneration and are therefore called ‘farmers of the forest’.
  • They are omnivores, but they have a preference for fruits, particularly figs.
  • They are known to disperse seeds and aid in the regeneration of tropical trees.

UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List

Context: Baguette — the staple French bread — was inscribed into the UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

What is a Baguette?

• The baguette is a long and thin loaf made of flour, water, salt and yeast, and is consumed as a staple in France.
• Some believe that it was invented by August Zang, a baker and an entrepreneur from Vienna in 1839, who introduced the world to the taste of crusty bread with softer insides, using a steam oven.
• It gained its official name in 1920.
• The history of the bread is uncertain, some also believe that Napoleon Bonaparte ordered thin sticks of bread for consumption by his soldiers as they could be carried from one place to another more conveniently.

About UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List:

• Intangible cultural heritage includes “oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge, and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.”
• The UNESCO’S list of Intangible Cultural Heritage was established in 2008 after the convention for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2003 came into effect.
• This list is made up of those intangible heritage elements that help to demonstrate the diversity of cultural heritage.
• India’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in the UNESCO list:

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