DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

Makers of the famed bobble-head and roly-poly dolls are facing stiff competition from electronic toys and e-commerce platforms, besides a severe labour crunch and shortage of clay.

Introduced by - The craft was brought to Thanjavur by Maratha ruler Raja Serfoji in the early 19th Century.

• Types - Thanjavur dolls are primarily of two kinds, one is the bobble-head version, and the other is the tilting doll (roly-poly) version.
• The dancing girl, one variation of a bobble-head doll, once tapped on the head, bobs its head in response, which is due to the metal string that links the head of the doll to its stable base.

Made of - The doll is made of terracotta, papier-mache (a mixture of paper, glue, flour and water), plaster of Paris and other materials.

• A mixture of vandal mann (fine silt deposited by rushing streams of water), kali mann (clayey riverbed mud), and manal (loose aggregate) is required to make the dolls’ pedestals.

Thanjavur doll earned GI tag in 2009.

• Fungicide - Copper sulphate powder is added as a fungicide.
• Making - All the dolls have a lightweight body made of tapioca flour, papier-mache and plaster of Paris cooked and kneaded to the consistency of ‘roti’ dough.
• Each toy is made in halves, by pressing the rolled-out ‘doll dough’ into cement moulds, with liberal dusting of chalk powder.
• Dancing doll - The dancer dolls have a heavier pedestal-shaped feet section made of clay.
• The dancing doll has four sections (including the arms that are individually glued to the torso), each balancing on the other with the help of inner metal loop hooks that create the light bobbing movement.

The dancing dolls are one of four papier-mâché handicrafts certified by the Tamil Nadu State government. The others are the two-piece moulded idols, multi-jointed figurines, and wall-hanging panels.

• Roly-poly - The roly-poly toys, on the other hand, use a bowl-shaped clay base (shaped with moulds) that ensures that the doll remains upright.
• Paint - Once assembled, the dolls are sandpapered and hand-painted, with watercolours for the dancing doll and oil paints for the others.

The Chipko movement was a non-violent agitation in 1973 that was aimed at protection and conservation of trees.

Gandhian social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt, founder of the cooperative organisation Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh, led the first Chipko movement near the village of Mandal in 1973.

• The movement is an uprising against the felling of trees in Uttar Pradesh’s Chamoli district (now Uttarakhand) in 1973.
• The uprising originated in Chamoli district and in no time spilled onto other states in north India.
• The name of the movement chipko comes from the word embrace, as the villagers hugged the trees and encircled them to prevent being hacked.
• The Chipko movement can essentially be called a women's movement.

The trigger for the modern Chipko movement was the growth in development that Uttar Pradesh witnessed following the 1963 China border conflict.

Chipko Andolan

• The original Chipko andolan dates back to the 18th century when Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community started it.
• The incident includes the sacrifice of a group of villagers, who led by a lady named Amrita Devi, laid down their lives while protecting trees from being felled on the orders of then King of Jodhpur.
• After this incident, the king, in a royal decree, banned cutting of trees in all Bishnoi villages.
• The Chipko Andolan also stands out as an eco-feminist movement.

Sikki artisans suffer livelihood losses amid climate change & state apathy.

• Family - Zizanoides grass family.
• Scientific name - Chrysopogon zizanioides

Sikki finds mention in ancient Sanskrit texts such as the Ramayana, where it is referred to as viran, sugandhimool, ushir and nalad.

Tarai Region - This grass grows indigenously in the Tarai regions of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and has an average height of 3-4 feet and Sikki is also now grown to arrest soil erosion in hilly regions.

• The stem is used to make artefacts; the roots are used for extracting oil that is used both for perfumery and medicinal purposes.
• Sikki is used to make traditional items such as multipurpose baskets, ornaments, showpieces and many more utility items that are still considered valuable in rural India.

Sikki vermillion boxes that are considered auspicious are given as part of dowry to brides in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar.

• GI Tag - Sikki got the geographical identification tag in 2018 along with Makhana (aquatic fox nut) and the Madhubani paintings.

Unlike many plant-based products, Sikki items barely get mouldy or infested with fungi.

Sikki is locally known as Kaincha in the state of Odisha.

Mayurbhanj’s red ant chutney receives GI tag.

The Chutney

• Made with - The chutney is made with read weaver ants by the tribal people of Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.
• Other name - It is also known by the name Similipal kai Chutney.
• Making - Red weaver ants are collected from the nests along with their eggs and cleaned.
• After that, the chutney is prepared by mixing and grinding salt, ginger, garlic and chillies.
• Characteristics - The hot chutney has a pungent and sour taste and is appetizing.
• The savoury chutney is popular in the region for its healing properties and also deemed important for nutritional security of the tribal people.
• Medicinal values - Consuming the species can help boost the immune system and prevent diseases.
• The tribal healers also prepare a medicinal oil in which they dip the ants along with pure mustard oil.
• After a month, this concoction is used as a body oil for babies and to cure rheumatism, gout, ringworm and other diseases by the tribes.

Red Weaver Ants

• Other name - Red weaver ants are also known as kai pimpudi.
• Found in - The red weaver ants are indigenous to Mayurbhanj and are found in abundance in the jungles of every block area of the district, including in the Similipal Tiger Reserve, throughout the year.
• Nests - The red weaver ants form colonies with multiple nests in trees.
• Each nest is made of leaves stitched together with the silk produced by their larvae.
• They mostly lodge in trees like mango, sal, jambu and jackfruit.
• The nests are strong enough against wind and impermeable to water.
• Kai’s nests are usually elliptical in shape and range in size from single small leaf folded and bound onto itself to large nest consisting of many leaves and measure over half a metre in length.
• Families - The Kai families consist of three categories of members, workers, major workers and queens.
• Workers and major workers are mostly orange coloured.
• Workers are 5-6 millimetres long, major workers are 8-10 mm long with strong legs and large mandibles and queens are 20-25 mm long and greenish brown coloured.
• Diet - They feed on small insects and other invertebrates like beetles, flies and hymenopterans.
• They do not sting but have a painful bite into which they can secrete irritant chemicals from their abdomens.
• Bio-control agents - They are also recognised as bio-control agents because they are aggressive and will prey on most arthropods entering their territory.
• They protect a variety of tropical crops against insect pests, acting as an alternative to chemical insecticides.
• Nutritional values - Red weaver ants are found to contain valuable proteins, calcium, zinc, vitamin B-12, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, amino acids, among others.

• Centre appoints former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya as Chairman of 16^th Finance Commission recently.
• The Finance Commission of India is a constitutional body that allocates revenues between the central and state governments.

It was established in 1951 by the President of India under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution.

• A leap year has 366 days in a year as opposed to the regular 365 days.

The extra day is added to February, the shortest month of the year, as February 29.