HORNBILL FESTIVAL

 
It is the biggest indigenous festival and the annual tourism promotional event of the Nagaland government. It is organized by the Government of Nagaland. It is celebrated every year in the first week of December.

Why?

• To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland.

More details:

• The Festival is named after the hornbill, the globally respected bird and which is displayed in folklore in most of the state’s tribes.
• The program unites all the people of Nagaland and showcases different traditional arts which include paintings, sculptures and wood carvings.
• It is the coming together of all the elements that make up the total Nagaland. The Hornbill festival is a collaborative celebration of all Naga tribes at one venue and has been coined as “Festival of Festivals”.
• The Festival is a tribute to the great “Hornbill” which is the most admired and revered bird for the Nagas, for its qualities of alertness and grandeur. The Majestic bird is closely identified with the social and cultural life of the Nagas, as reflected in various tribal folklores, dances and songs. The awe and admiration for the bird is symbolically displayed on almost all tribal traditional headgears worn during the festival and is indicative of the commonness of the Nagas.
• The Hornbill Festival of Nagaland is a cultural extravaganza to revive, protect and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage, while for the visitors to this event, it is a means for comprehensive understanding of the Naga People, their land and culture.
• Since 2007, International cultural troupes have been taking part in it and it is slowly turning out to be an international event.

Universal Account Number

The Universal Account Number (UAN) has been designed to be an umbrella number of a member for all his employment with different establishments in organized sector.

Why was it introduced?

• To provide one number to the Employees’ Provident Fund member for all his employments with different employers.

How will this help?

• Earlier, whenever Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) member changed his job, he had to transfer his Provident Fund accumulations to his new Provident Fund number. With the introduction of UAN number, now, member has to give his UAN number to his present employer for linking his previous Provident Fund accounts with his present Provident Fund membership.

This would benefit the members initially in the following ways:

• The member can get this updated Provident Fund balance through Universal Account Number (UAN) based member portal.
• The system would enable portability of Provident Fund accumulations when the details of bank account, Aadhar and PAN seeded in UAN database of member are verified by employer on change of job.
• The member would get message on his mobile number about the receipt of his PF contribution if he has registered his mobile number on Universal Account Number (UAN) based member portal.