1) Parshuram Kund Festival: It is a Hindu pilgrimage site situated on the Brahmaputra plateau in the lower reaches of the Lohit River in Arunachal Pradesh, India.
- Devotees and sadhus take a holy dip in its water each year on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, in January. It is also known as the Kumbh of the Northeast.
- Religious significance: It is dedicated to a mythological figure sage Parshuram. This popular festival attracts pilgrims from Nepal, from across India, and from nearby states of Manipur and Assam.
2) Manufactured sand: M-sand is a substitute of river sand for concrete construction and is produced from hard granite stone by crushing.
- Benefits: It can be dust free, the sizes of m-sand can be controlled easily so that it meets the required grading for the given construction. It is well graded in the required proportion.
- It does not contain organic and soluble compounds that affect the setting time and properties of cement, thus the required strength of concrete can be maintained.
- Usage of M-sand prevents dredging of river beds to get river sand which may lead to environmental disaster like ground water depletion, water scarcity.
3) Nazul land: Land or buildings in or near towns or villages which have escheated to the Government; property escheated or lapsed to the State. Escheat is the right of a government to take ownership of estate assets or unclaimed property in the event there are no heirs or beneficiaries.
- It includes the type of Government land used for nonagricultural purpose such as building, road, or any other public purpose or the nazul land which has potential for such use in future including such lands granted on long or short term lease or on no compensation agreement.
- Living on a land denoted as Nazul land is illegal unless you get it on lease.
4) Technical Textiles: They are functional fabrics that have applications across various industries including automobiles, civil engineering and construction, agriculture, healthcare, industrial safety, personal protection etc.
- The penetration level of technical textiles is low in India varying between 5-10% against the level of 30-70% in developed countries.
- National Technical Textiles Mission: approved in 2020 for four years period (FY 2020-21 to FY 2023-24) to position India as a global leader in Technical Textiles.
- It further aims to increase the domestic market size of technical textiles from USD 40 billion to USD 50 billion by 2024.
- It has four components: R&D; Development of the market for technical textiles; export promotion, and focus on education, training and skill development.
5) Sovereign Green Bonds: RBI for the 1st time will issue SGB of 5 and 10 year tenure worth 16000 cr.
- A sovereign green bond is a debt instrument issued by the central or state government to borrow money from investors.
- Green bonds are issued by companies, countries and multilateral organisations to exclusively fund projects that have positive environmental or climate benefits and provide investors with fixed income payments.
- The projects can include renewable energy, clean transportation and green buildings, among others.
