1) Centrally Protected Monuments: Recently, The Ministry of Culture reported to Parliament that 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments were missing.
- The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR Act) 1958 regulates the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites of national importance.
- The Act protects monuments and sites that are more than 100 years old, including temples, cemeteries, inscriptions, tombs, forts, palaces, step-wells, rock-cut caves, and even objects like cannons and mile pillars that may be of historical significance.
- The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Culture, functions under this Act.
2) Dieback Disease: The dieback disease is mainly caused by the fungi Phomopsis azadirachtae.
- The dieback disease affects leaves, twigs and the inflorescence of neem trees of all ages and it causes almost 100% loss of fruit production in severely infected trees.
- The dieback is a fungal disease but the neem trees are sometimes hit by insect infestation and the combination of both increases its impact.
- The appearance of symptoms starts with the onset of the rainy season and becomes progressively severe in the later part of the rainy season and early winter.
3) Rani Velu Nachiyar: born In Tamil Nadu, She was the first queen to fight against the British colonial power in India. She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai.
- She was trained in war match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam (fighting using the stick), horse riding and archery.
- She was a scholar in many languages like French, English and Urdu.
- In collaboration with Hyder Ali and Gopala Nayaker, she waged a war against the British and emerged victoriously in 1780.
- She proudly ruled Sivagangai for more than 10 years. During her reign, the queen also created a women’s only army called Udaiyaal.
4) Utkarsh 2.0: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched Utkarsh 2.0 from 2023-25, the second phase of its medium-term strategy for strengthening regulatory and supervisory mechanisms.
- The six vision statements are excellence in performance of its statutory and other functions, strengthened trust of citizens and institutions in the RBI, enhanced relevance and significance in national and global roles, transparent, accountable and ethics-driven internal governance, best-in-class and environment-friendly digital and physical infrastructure, and innovative, dynamic and skilled human resources will guide the strategy.
5) Sammed Shikharji Temple: It is believed that 20 out of 24 Tirthankars (Jain spiritual leaders) attained salvation at Sammed Shikharji, located on the Parasnath Hills Jharkhand. it is the biggest pilgrimage of the Jain community.
- It is important for both the Digambara and Swethambara sects of Jainism. The hill is known to be the highest mountain in Jharkhand. The Hill is named after Parasnath (the 23rd Tirthankar)
- Shetrunjay hill: Situated on the banks of the Shetrunji river around 164 feet above sea level, Shetrunjaya Hills in Gujarat are home to 865 Jain temples and are a holy place for Shwetambara Jains.
