National Youth Day

• 13 Jan 2021

Why in News

National Youth Day is held every year on 12^th January to observe the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

Key Points

• The day is also referred to as Swami Vivekanand Jayanti and was designated as the National Youth Day in 1984.
• 24^th National Youth Festival:
  
  • Celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the National Youth Festival is an annual gathering of youth with various activities including competitive ones.
  • Theme of 2021 Festival: ‘YUVAAH – Utsah Naye Bharat Ka”.
  • It will be celebrated from 12^th to 16^th January
  • It is organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India in collaboration with one of the State Governments.
  • As part of the National Youth Festival, the National Youth Parliament Festival (NYPF) has also been organized since 2019.
• National Youth Parliament Festival:
  
  • Objective:
    
    • To hear the voice of youth in this age bracket of 18-25 who are allowed to vote but cannot contest in elections.
    • To encourage the youth to engage with public issues, understand the common man’s point of view, form their opinion and express these in an articulate manner.
  • Organized by:
    
    • National Service Scheme (NSS) and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) under the aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
  • The first festival of the NYPF was organised from 12^th January to 27^th February, 2019, with the theme "Be the Voice of New India and Find solutions and Contribute to Policy”.
  • This is the second NYPF festival started in December 2020.

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

• He was born as Narendranath Datta on 12^th January, 1863.
• Introduced the world to the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga.
• He was the chief disciple of the 19^th-century mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
• Laid the greatest emphasis on education for the regeneration of our motherland. He advocated a man-making character-building education.
• Established the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. It is an organization which works in the area of value-based education, culture, health, women's empowerment, youth and tribal welfare and relief and rehabilitation.
• He died at Belur Math in 1902. Belur Math, located in West Bengal, is the headquarters of Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission.

Source PIB