1) Ramappa Temple: also known as the Rudreshwara temple, is a Kakatiya style Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva, in Telangana.
- Constructed in 1213 AD by Recherla Rudra, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva. It is known as the Ramappa temple, after the sculptor. In 2021, the temple was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage.
- Earthquake-proof: Made out of clay mixed with acacia wood, chaff and myrobalan fruit, the bricks used in building the gopuram of the temple are light enough to float on water.
- Sandbox technique: the foundation pit is filled with a mixture of sand-lime, jaggery and black myrobalan fruit. This mix acts as a cushion in case of earthquakes.
- The temple’s many carved pillars which when gently hit, produces musical notes.
2) Prahari App: launched by Home Affairs ministry for BSF jawans, it is a great example of Proactive Governance. Now Jawans can get personal and service related information, housing, Ayushman-CAPF and leave related information on their mobile.
- Border Security Force (BSF): It is India’s border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1965.
- It comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. BSF contributes its personnel every year for UN Missions.
3) Pralay Missile: It is an indigenous short-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile. The missile will be India’s first tactical quasi-ballistic missile and will give the armed forces the capability to hit enemy positions and key installations in actual battlefield areas.
- The solid-fuel, battlefield missile developed by DRDO is based on Prithvi Defence Vehicle from the Indian ballistic missile programme.
- it has a range of 150-500 km and is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of about 350 kg to 700 kg
- The advanced missile has been developed in a way to be able to defeat interceptor missiles. It has the ability to change its path after covering a certain range mid-air.
4) Ethylene glycol: it is a colourless and odourless alcoholic compound that can be fatal if consumed.
- It is mostly used as an automotive antifreeze and as a raw material for manufacturing polyester fibres. Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol may be used by pharma companies as an alternative to non-toxic solvents such as glycerine or propylene glycol to cut costs.
- Uzbekistan’s health ministry has recently claimed India-made cough syrups contained ethylene glycol which led to the death of at least 18 children
5) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice): it will be Europe’s first dedicated robotic mission to Jupiter and is due to reach the planet in July 2031.
- The mission will enter into orbit around Jupiter and perform numerous flybys of its large icy moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
- After four years of moon flybys, Juice will then enter into orbit around Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System — becoming the first spacecraft ever to reach orbit around the moon of another planet.
