20th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee
- India will host the 20th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage from 8 to 13 December 2025 in New Delhi.
About Intergovernmental Committee
- UNESCO defines Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) as the practices, knowledge, expressions, objects, and spaces that communities recognize as integral to their cultural identity.
- For the Safeguarding of ICH, UNESCO adopted the 2003 Convention on 17th October 2003 during its 32nd General Conference in Paris.
- Membership:
- It has 24 members who are elected for a term of four years.
- The election of new members takes place every two years during the ordinary session of the General Assembly of States Parties.
- India is currently a member of the committee (2022-2026).
150 Years of Vande Mataram
- Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee on 7 November 1875.
- Music composed by Rabindranath Tagore.
- Declared National Song on 24 January 1950.
- Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo started a newspaper titled “Vande Mataram.”
- Mahatma Gandhi adopted it as the national song in
- O. Chidambaram Pillai (VOC) inscribed the name “Vande Mataram” on a Swadeshi ship in 1907.
- Subramania Bharathi translated Vande Mataram into Tamil.
