As in every monsoon, Catholics in Goa will celebrate Sao Joao, the feast of St John the Baptist.
Note: The name typically sounds like a North-Eastern festival, but it is not.
What is Sao Joao and where is it celebrated in Goa?
In Goa, Catholics celebrate all the feasts of the Roman Catholic Church, which include the feast of St John the Baptist on June 24.
John the Baptist is the person who he had baptised Jesus Christ on the river Jordan.
Traditionally, there are spirited Sao Joao festivities in the villages of Cortalim in South Goa and Harmal, Baga, Siolim and Terekhol in North Goa.
However, over the years, pool parties and private Sao Joao parties in Goa have been a “complete package of merriment and joy” for tourists.
Course of celebration
The celebrations will include revellers sporting crowns made of fruits, flowers and leaves, and the major draw of the feast is the water bodies – wells, ponds, fountains, rivers – in which the revellers take the “leap of joy”.
Enjoyed by children and adults alike, the festival also includes playing the traditional gumott (percussion instrument), a boat festival, servings of feni, and a place of pride for new sons-in-law.
What does jumping into water bodies symbolise?
The youngsters in Goa celebrate this occasion with revelry and perform daredevil feats, by jumping into over flowing wells or rivulets.
The boys are found merrily jumping into the water to commemorate the leap of joy, which St John is said to have taken in the womb of his mother St Elizabeth when virgin Mary visited her.
Mo Bus, the bus service of Odisha’s Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) authority, has been recognized by the United Nations as one of 10 global recipients of its annual Public Service Awards for 2022.
Mo Bus service
The Mo Bus service was launched on November 6, 2018.
It aimed to ensure transformation of the urban public transport scenario in the city and its hinterland through use of smart technology, service benchmarking and customer satisfaction.
The buses are designed to integrate smart technologies such as free on-board Wi-Fi service, digital announcements, surveillance cameras, and electronic ticketing.
CRUT says that to increase women’s participation in the workforce, and to make women riders feel safer, it is committed to ensuring that 50% of Mo Bus Guides (conductors) are women.
What is the recent award?
The public transport service has been recognised for its role in “promoting gender-responsive public services to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)”.
The “impact” is that 57 per cent of the city’s commuters now use the Mo Bus, the UN said.
Mo E-Ride is estimated to reduce pollution by 30-50 per cent.
About UN Public Service Award
The UN describes its Public Service Awards as the “most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service”.
The first Awards ceremony was held in 2003, and the UN has since received “an increasing number of submissions from all around the world”.
It is intended to reward the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.
Through an annual competition, the UN Public Service Awards promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service.
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China is hosting the 14th BRICS summit in virtual mode. The focus of the summit will be centred on the conflict and the association’s future.
About BRICS
BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The BRICS Leaders’ Summit is convened annually.
It does not exist in form of an organization, but it is an annual summit between the supreme leaders of five nations.
The grouping was formalized during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of the UNGA in New York in September 2006.
The first BRIC Summit took place in 2009 in the Russian Federation and focused on issues such as reform of the global financial architecture.
South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.
South Africa subsequently attended the Third BRICS Summit in Sanya, China, in March 2011.
The Chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
Significance of BRICS
Economically, militarily, technologically, socially and culturally, BRICS nations represent a powerful bloc.
40 per cent of the world’s population: They have an estimated combined population of 3.23 billion people, which is over 40 per cent of the world’s population.
25 per cent of global GDP: They account for over more than a quarter of the world’s land area over three continents, and for more than 25 per cent of the global GDP.
Two fastest growing large economies: The grouping comprises two of the fastest-growing nations, India and China.
It has proved its mettle to an extent by establishing the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA).
How the Ukraine crisis creates challenges for the BRICS
The leaders of BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — will navigate the crucial dilemma of evolving a common stance on the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
The primary agenda of BRICS was rebalancing an international system dominated by the West.
However, the Ukraine crisis could act as a distraction from that primary agenda.
The geopolitical considerations of its members can come in the way of attaining the grouping’s original goal.
Target of economic warfare: Some of the BRICS members could be potential targets of the kind of economic warfare deployed by the West against Russia.
The West has so far not expected the BRICS countries to stringently adhere to its sanctions against Russia.
But it will be naïve to expect that they will persist with this attitude.
Way forward
1] Create institutional arrangement
Challenging the economic might of the West in the near future might be close to impossible.
Despite the group comprising China, India and Russia, intra-BRICS trade accounts for less than 20 per cent of global trade.
BRICS is far from having its own payment mechanisms, international messaging systems or cards.
The Ukraine crisis should drive home the need to create institutional arrangements that can cushion against similar financial turbulence in the future.
2] Recalibrate structure and expand
BRICS requires a recalibration of its structure and agenda.
Creating financial mechanisms and technological institutions could turn BRICS into a G20 for developing nations.
It’s time to revisit the idea of expanding the grouping by inviting new members.
This could also impart new vigour to the BRICS’s developmental goals.
3] Economic cooperation between India and China
Economic cooperation between India and China is vital for the success of any future BRICS endeavour.
The border conflict has created a mistrust of China in India.
In the current situation, New Delhi is unlikely to take an anti-West stance.
India, unlike China, is neither a UN Security Council member nor does it have major sticking points with the West.
At the same time, India is not a part of the Western camp.
That does open up the possibility of New Delhi taking a more proactive position in BRICS.
The two powers need to come together for the sake of global governance reform.
Conclusion
The Ukraine crisis could be an occasion for the leaders of BRICS nations to commit themselves to the original goal of the bloc. It’s an opportunity they shouldn’t let go of.
