News in Shorts: 30 August 2024

Bonda Tribe

About Bonda Tribe:

• Bondas – They are one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) found in Odisha.
  • Other 12 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) found in Odish – They are Birhor, Chuktia Bhunjia, Didayi, Dongria Kondh, Hill Kharia, Juang, Kutia Kandha, Lanjia Soura, Lodha, Mankirdia, Paudi Bhuyan and Soura.
• Location: Malkangiri (Eastern Ghats Region).
  • About 12,000 Bondas live in 33 habitations under administrative jurisdiction of four gram panchayats in Malkangiri. 
• Language: Austro-Asiatic / Munda.
• Techno-Economic Stages: Shifting Cultivators.
• Religion: The Bondas are polytheists. They worship mostly the deities of nature.
• Socio-Cultural Features:
  • Bonda men wear a narrow strip of loin cloth.
  • Bonda women do not cover their upper bodies due to a taboo backed by legends.
  • Bonda women compensate by wearing heavy necklaces of beads and brass.
  • Women wear a short strip of loin cloth called ‘Nadi.’
  • Social order is maintained by traditional functionaries: Naik (village chief), Challan (organiser of village meetings), and Barik (village messenger).

SHe-Box Portal 

Features of SHe-Box Portal:

• Centralized Platform: For registering and monitoring complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace.
• Complaint Tracking: Allows women to file complaints and track their status.
• Timely Redressal: Ensures time-bound processing of complaints by Internal Committees.
• Significance:
  • Addressing workplace-related sexual harassment efficiently and securely.
  • Creating a safer and more inclusive work environment for women.
  • Complaints can be safely registered without personal information being publicly accessible.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Meet

SCO Chairmanship:

• Chairmanship: Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG). 
• India’s Chairmanship: India hosted the SCO Summit last year, organized in a virtual mode, and attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
  • However, Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend a meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa. 
  • It was the first Pakistani Foreign Minister to visit India in almost 12 years.

About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• Establishment: On June 15, 2001, in Shanghai.
• Members: Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• Observer Status: Afghanistan and Mongolia.

Vadhavan Port

Anout Vadhvan Port Project: 

• Aim: To be among the top 10 ports globally.
• Capacity: It will have a handling capacity of 23.2 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).
• Design: A world-class maritime gateway to boost India’s trade and economic growth.
• Salient Features:
• • Capable of catering to large container vessels and ultra-large cargo ships.
  • Offers deeper drafts and direct connectivity to international shipping routes reducing transit times and costs
  • Equipped with state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure, the port will feature deep berths, efficient cargo handling facilities and modern port management systems.
  • Incorporates sustainable development practices, adhering to stringent ecological standards.