Traditional Konyak Dance Set to in Guinness World Record

• In the programme organized at Mon (Nagaland) during the Aoleang Monyu festival (around 5000 Konyak Naga women in their traditional attire attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest Traditional Konyak Dance’.
• The objective of the event was to preserve the cultural heritage of the region and the people and to promote tourism.
• The Konyak people, known mainly for their tradition of head hunting, are the largest of 17 officially recognized tribes in Nagaland.

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India Retained the Top Recipient of Remittances in 2018

• According to World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief; with the Indian diaspora sending 79$ billion back to their home country, India retained its position as the world’s top recipient of remittances in 2018.
• India was followed by China: 67$ billion and Mexico: 36$ billion.
• Remittances inflow had increased significantly from 62.7$ billion in 2016 to 65.3$ billion in 2017.

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Dream11 becomes India’s First Billion-Dollar Gaming Startup

• Dream11 has just become a billion-dollar startup following an investment from Steadview Capital in the range of $60 million.
• Few exciting developments have made Dream11 to be the India’s first gaming startup to join the elite club of privately-held startups.
• The term “Unicorn” refers to the tech startups with the market valuation of $1 billion.
• Headquartered at Mumbai, Dream 11 is founded by Bhavit Sheth & Harsh Jain in 2008.

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PM Modi Biopic Deferred by ECI

• The release of a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been deferred till further orders from the Election Commission.
• The ECI said that if in any movie, certified by the appropriate authority (censor board), there was such a violation, or a complaint was made in this regard, a committee set up by the Commission would examine it and suggest appropriate action.
• Exercising its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution, the EC has directed that any biopic material sub-serving the purposes of any political entity with potential to disturb the level playing field during the elections, should not be displayed during the MCC period.
• Article 324: Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission

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PM Narendra Modi Conferred Russia’s Highest State Honour

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the “Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle”, by Russia for exceptional services in promoting bilateral ties.
• The award is the highest civilian honor of the Russian Federation which was established by Czar Peter I of Russia in the 17th century.
• The award comes days after the United Arab Emirates announced conferring Modi with ‘The Order of Zayed ‘ in recognition of the “pivotal role” played by the Prime Minister in strengthening ties between the two nations.

International awards conferred upon Prime Minister Modi 1. Order of Zayed (UAE, 2019): for strengthening ties between the two nations 2. Seoul Peace Prize (South Korea, 2018): for ‘Modinomics’ for reducing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor 3. UN Champions of the Earth Award (UNO, 2018): the highest environmental honour of the United Nations 4. Grand Collar of the State of Palestine (Palestine, 2018): in recognizing his contributions in promoting relations between India and Palestine 5. Amir Amanullah Khan Award (Afghanistan, 2016): the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan 6. King Abdulaziz Sash Award (Saudi Arabia, 2016): the highest civilian honour of Saudi Arabia

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Telugu Poet K Siva Reddy Awarded Saraswati Samman 2018

• Telugu poet K Siva Reddy has been honoured with the prestigious Saraswati Samman, 2018 with a cash prize of 15 lakh rupees for his collection of poetry titled ‘Pakkaki Ottigilite’.
• Pakkaki Ottigilite, published in 2016, captures the responses of the poet over the years to social change, the evolution of his own self and his dynamic relationship with the world.

Saraswati Samman 1. It was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation. 2. It is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any 22 Indian language listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. 3. The inaugural award was given to Harivanshrai ‘Bachchan’ for his four volume autobiography, Kya Bhooloon Kya Yaad Karoon, Needa Ka Nirman Phir, Basere Se Door and Dashdwar se Sopan Tak.

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