National Youth Festival (NYF)

About National Youth Festival (NYF):

• Under the component ‘Promotion of National Integration’ of the National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development (NPYAD), a NYF is organised during the month of January every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda (12 January), which is celebrated as National Youth Day.
  • Every year since 1985, the Government of India observes January 12 as National Youth Day and the week commencing from that day, as National Youth Week.
• NYF is organized every year from 12th to 16th January.
• It is organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in partnership with one of the States/UTs which hosts the NYF. 
• The expenditure is shared between the Centre and the host State. 
• During the festival, various cultural programmes (both competitive and non-competitive), Youth convention, Suvichar, Exhibition, Adventure programmes, etc., are organized, and about 7500 youth delegates from different states/UTs take part in the festival.
• Thematic displays are also organized.
• NYF 2025:
  • The Theme of NYF 2025 is Innovation in Science and Technology.
  • NYF 2025 main event will be held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

Q1: Who was Swami Vivekananda?

Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta,was a Hindu monk and one of the most celebrated spiritual leaders of India. He was the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and a world spokesperson for Vedanta. He attempted to combine Indian spirituality with Western material progress, maintaining that the two supplemented and complemented one another. He believed that the path to self-purification is through helping others. Vivekananda represented Hinduism at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions convened during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After his first visit to the West, Swami Vivekananda went back to India and founded the Ramakrishna Order at Belur outside of Kolkata in 1897.

Source: NDTV