National Youth Day is annually celebrated across India on January 12 to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu spiritual leader, Philosopher and reformer in India, whose contributions to India’s freedom movement and revival of nationalism were enormous.
- 12th January 2023 marks the 160th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
- On National Youth Day 2023, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated the 26th National Youth Festival (from 12th to 16th January 2023) in Hubbali, Karnataka.
- The theme of National Youth Festival 2023 is “Viksit Yuva-Viksit Bharat”.
Background:
i. In 1984, the Indian government declared the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda as National Youth Day to honour and recognise his teachings.
ii. The 1st ever National Youth Day was observed on 12th January 1985.
About Swami Vivekananda:
i. Swami Vivekananda, Originally known as Narendranath Dutta, a Hindu Monk, was born on 12th January 1863 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency (now Kolkata, West Bengal).
ii. He was not only a spiritual philosopher, but he was also a prolific thinker, an effective orator, and a passionate patriot.
iii. His Establishment- In 1897, he founded the Ramakrishna Mission (RKM), a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation, at the monastery of Belur Math on the Ganges (Ganga) River near Kolkata.
iv. He passed away on 13th October 1911 in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.
26th National Youth Festival:
The 26th National Youth Festival is organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MoYAS) in collaboration with the Government of Karnataka.
Logo and mascot of National Youth Festival 2023:
On 7th January 2023, Basavaraj Bommai, Chief Minister (CM) of Karnataka, released the logo and mascot of the 26th National Youth Festival.
- The logo was designed by Bansilal Ketki of Odisha, inspired by the national flower, the lotus.
- The mascot ‘Champi Chikka’, the elephant, was created by Inbam of Bengaluru
Key Points:
i. The festival is held annually to expose talented youth nationally, galvanising them towards nation-building.
ii. It combines diverse cultures from all parts of India on a common platform and connects the participants in the spirit of Ek Bharat and Shreshtha Bharat.
iii. The Youth Summit, which will take place during the Festival, will witness a plenary discussion on 5 themes drawn from Group of Twenty (G20) and Youth 20 (Y20) events, including.
- The Future of Work, Industry, Innovation and 21st Century Skills;
- Climate change and disaster risk reduction;
- Peacebuilding and Reconciliation; Shared future-youth in democracy and governance;
- Health & Well-being.
Events:
i. Yogathon, aiming to mobilise people from across 31 districts of Karnataka to do Yoga, will be held on 15th January 2023.
ii. During the event, 8 indigenous sports and martial arts will also be demonstrated by national-level performers.
iii. Other attractions of the event are Food Festival, Young Artist Camp, adventure sports, and the Know Your Army, Navy, and Air Force camps.
International Youth Day:
United Nations (UN)’s International Youth Day is annually observed across the globe on August 12 to raise awareness of the problems that youths around the world are facing.
About Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports:
Minister- Anurag Singh Thakur (Constituency- Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh)
Minister of State (MoS)- Nisith Pramanik (Constituency- Coochbehar, West Bengal)
