CONTENTS

1. Bhagwan Birsa Munda
2. Software Technology Parks of India

Bhagwan Birsa Munda

Context:

The Jharkhand Governor and Chief Minister recently paid tribute to tribal icon Birsa Munda on his death anniversary.

Relevance:

GS I- History

About Birsa Munda

• Birsa Munda (also known as Dharti Aaba (Father of Earth)) was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe.
• He spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century, during the British Raj, thereby making him an important figure in the history of the Indian independence movement.
• The revolt mainly concentrated in the Munda belt of Khunti, Tamar, Sarwada and Bandgaon.

Birsait

• Having gained awareness of the British colonial ruler and the efforts of the missionaries to convert tribals to Christianity, Birsa started the faith of ‘Birsait’.
• Members of the Munda and Oraon community joined the Birsait sect and it turned into a challenge to British conversion activities.
• Further, he urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.

Munda Rebellion

• Munda Rebellion is one of the most important tribal movements led by Birsa Munda in the south of Ranchi in 1899-1900.
• The ‘Ulgulan’ or the ‘Great Tumult’ as the movement came to be called, aimed at establishing Munda Raj by driving out the British.
• The movement identified following forces as the cause of the misery the Mundas were suffering like The British Land policies destroying their traditional land system, Hindu Landlords and Moneylenders taking over their land, and Missionaries criticizing their traditional culture.
• On 3rd March, 1900, Birsa Munda was arrested by the British police while he was sleeping with his tribal guerilla army at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur (Jharkhand).
• The Munda Rebellion forced the colonial government to introduce laws so that the land of the tribals could not be easily taken over by dikus (Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908).
• It showed that the tribal people had the capacity to protest against injustice and express their anger against colonial rule.

Software Technology Parks of India

Context:

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) recently celebrated its 33rd Foundation Day.

Relevance:

Facts for Prelims

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI):

• Establishment: STPI was established and registered as an autonomous society under the Societies Registration Act 1860, in 1991, under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
• Objective: To implement Software Technology Park (STP) and Electronics Hardware Technology Park (EHTP) schemes, and to set up and manage infrastructure facilities.

Initiatives and Functions:

• Ecosystem Nurturing:
  • Nurturing the pan India start-up ecosystem through initiatives like Centres of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) and the Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS).
• Platforms:
  • Launched a networking and resource discovery platform called SayujNet.
  • Introduced the STPI Workspace portal (STPI-Workspace).
• Ananta:
  • Announced “Ananta,” a hyperscale cloud made by Indians for Indians.
  • Provides conventional Compute Infrastructure Services (IAAS) along with PAAS (platform as a service), SaaS (software as a service), and graphics processing unit (GPU) based services.

Reports:

• DeepTech Knowledge Report:
  • Released the report ‘Cutting-Edge Tech Forging India as a Software Product Nation’ to provide strategic insights into the current state of cutting-edge technologies in India.