India announces new scheme to support traditional artisans

STORY: India announces new scheme to support traditional artisans DATELINE: Aug. 18, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:41 LOCATION: New Delhi CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of traditional artisans and craftspeople in India STORYLINE: The Indian government on Wednesday announced a new scheme worth 130 billion Indian Rupees (1.56 billion U.S. dollars) to provide financial support to traditional artisans and craftspeople engaged in small family businesses. One of the broad objectives of the scheme is to integrate these artisans and craftspeople in urban and rural areas of the South Asian country into both domestic and global value chains. The scheme is expected to cover 18 traditional trades, benefiting carpenters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, shoe smiths, masons, barbers, garland-makers, tailors, and fishing-net makers, among others. Besides credit support offered over a period of five years beginning fiscal year 2023-24, "the scheme will further provide skill up-gradation, toolkit incentive, incentive for digital t

Slovenians celebrate St. Gregory's day, welcome spring

STORY: Slovenians celebrate St. Gregory's day, welcome spring DATELINE: March 12, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:45 LOCATION: Ljubljana CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the celebrations STORYLINE: Children sent off candle-lit wooden miniature boats downstream in Ljubljana, Slovenia a day before St. Gregory's day which falls on March 12. St. Gregory's day is celebrated as the start of spring in Slovenia and symbolizes the release of light. The ritual came from the times long ago, when shoemakers, blacksmiths, and other artisans stopped using candles and were able to work by daylight, with the beginning of the spring. To celebrate it, they used to clean their workshops and place all the shreds into small baskets. Then, they lit those baskets and put them into the rivers. St. Gregory's Day is also named for the day when birds begin to mate, heralding the arrival of spring. Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ljubljana. (XHTV)

Eva Zazimalova, Eva Bartova, Jan Serak, Petr Soudek

Eva Zazimalova, Eva Bartova, Jan Serak, Petr Soudek

Czech Science Academy President Eva Zazimalova (second from right) and Institut of Biophysics of Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno director Eva Bartova (right) and blacksmiths and sculptors (from left) Jan Serak and Petr Soudek unveiled the new statue of DNA model outside Institute, Czech Republic, on Wednesday, February 13, 2019. (CTK Photo/Monika Hlavacova)