CONTENTS
- Exercise SHAKTI
- Rabindranath Tagore
Exercise SHAKTI
Context:
The 7th iteration of the India-France Joint Military Exercise SHAKTI has begun at Umroi, Meghalaya.
Relevance:
GS III: Security Challenges
Exercise SHAKTI Overview
- SHAKTI is held biennially, alternating between India and France, with the previous edition taking place in France in November 2021.
- It aims to enhance joint military capabilities in conducting multi-domain operations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Mandate.
Composition of Contingents
- The Indian contingent comprises 90 personnel, primarily from the RAJPUT Regiment, with representation from other arms and services, as well as observers from the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.
- The French contingent consists of 90 personnel primarily from the 13th Foreign Legion Half-Brigade (13th DBLE).
Objectives and Focus Areas
- The exercise focuses on operations in semi-urban and mountainous terrain, aiming to achieve a high level of physical fitness and refine tactical-level operations.
- Key objectives include sharing best practices and promoting interoperability between the armed forces of both nations.
Tactical Drills
- Tactical drills will cover various scenarios, such as responding to terrorist actions, establishing joint command posts, and employing drones and counter-drone systems.
Promoting Cooperation and Bilateral Relations
- Exercise SHAKTI aims to strengthen camaraderie and cooperation between the armed forces of India and France, further enhancing bilateral defense cooperation and fostering friendly relations.
Rabindranath Tagore
Context:
PM has paid tribute to Gurudev RabindranathTagore on Tagore Jayanti (May 9th).
Relevance:
GS I- History
About Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore Ji
- The Rabindranath Tagore Ji was a Bengali poet, writer, composer, philosopher, music composer and choreographer, founder of a unique educational institution Visva Bharati and a painter.
- He reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Popularly known as ‘Gurudev’, he was born in an affluent Family.
- He was also called the ‘Bard of Bengal’.
- He was knighted by the British government in 1915, but he later renounced it protesting against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
- He was a widely travelled person and had been to over 30 countries in 5 different continents.
- He met many other eminent personalities like Albert Einstein, Romain Rolland, Robert Frost, G B Shaw, Thomas Mann, etc.
- He had spoken at the World Parliament for Religions in the years 1929 and 1937.
- The Tagore Ji’s birth anniversary is celebrated by Bengalis all over the word as Rabindra Jayanti.
- It is marked on the 25th day of the Bengali month of Boisakh (falls in early May in the Gregorian calendar), it is celebrated in Bangladesh also.
- A period of prolonged agony ended with Tagore’s death on 7 August 1941, aged 80.
Contributions of Gurudev Ji
- The Tagore Ji began writing poetry at the tender age of eight years old and at 16 years of age, Tagore released his first collection of poems under the pen name ‘Bhanusimha’.
- He became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature when he won the award in 1913 for his translation of his own work in Bengali, Gitanjali.
- In 1918, he founded the Vishwabharati University at Santiniketan.
- The Tagore JI is responsible for modernizing Bengali prose and poetry.
- His notable works include Gitanjali, Ghare-Baire, Gora, Manasi, Balaka, Sonar Tori, he is also remembered for his song ‘Ekla Chalo Re’.
- The Tagore Ji is said to have composed over 2000 songs and his songs and music are called ‘Rabindrasangeet’ with its own distinct lyrical and fluid style.
- He started the Rakhi Utsav where people from Hindu and Muslim communities tied colorful threads on each other’s wrists.
- His poems and songs infuse people with a feeling of patriotism and love for the motherland.
- His novels, dances, dramas, essays, dance-dramas and stories cover a wide range of topics from personal to political.
- The national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were composed by Tagore. (The India’s Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh’s Amar Shonar Bangla.)
- The Sri Lankan national anthem is also said to have been inspired by Tagore Ji.
