- Srimukhalingam Temple: Andhra Pradesh
- It is dedicated to Lord Shiva, known as Sri Mukha Lingeswara Swamy, housing 3 Ancient Temples at one Location.
- This temple is built in Kalinga architectural style on the banks of the Vamsadhara river.
2. Great Lakes: The Great Lakes of North America are five interconnected bodies of water straddling the US-Canada border. They are the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world.
The Great Lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The US-Canada border passes through Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Lake Michigan lies entirely in the US. They drain into the Gulf of St Lawrence in the North Atlantic through the St Lawrence River. Formed due to melting of glaciers.
3. Sun Temple at Modhera: Two sites in Gujarat have recently made it to the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites: Vadnagar, and the Sun Temple of Modhera, both in Gujarat.
- It was built in 1026-27 CE during the reign of Bhima I of the Solanki dynasty
- The temple complex is built in Maru-Gurjara style also known as Solanki style. This period was also known as the Golden Age of Gujarat.
- In front of the temple is the Kunda (sacred pond) now called the Ramakunda. There are 108 miniature shrines between the kund and the temple.
- Situated on the banks of Pushpavati River.
4. Vainu Bappu Observatory: is considered one of the most renowned observatories in India it is Located on Javadi Hills at Kavalur, Tamil Nadu. The 40-inch telescope was installed in 1972.
- The telescope in the observatory is under the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST)
- VainiBappu: He has played a significant role in astronomy with major discoveries like the presence of rings around the planet Uranus, a new satellite of Uranus, and the presence of an atmosphere around Ganymede which is a satellite of Jupiter.
5. Rock-cut relief sculptures of Unakoti: In Tripura, built during 8th to 12th CE.
- The vertical surface of the Unakoti hills was used by the ancient people to carve various mythological scenes such as the different iconographic forms of Siva, Ganesha, Uma-Maheshwara.
- The images found at Unakoti can be classified into two categories:
- Majestic rock-cut images on the vertical surface of the hill and fallen boulders.
- Loose sculptures of smaller and medium sizes scattered on the hill.
- The influence of Buddhism is also seen in the sculptures of the region. There are various depictions of Boddhisattavas, Buddha and Buddhist motifs also found here.
- It has been added to the UNESCO world heritage site tentative list.
6. Doklam: Donglang in Chinese, is an area spread over less than a 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between India, Bhutan and China.
It is surrounded by the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, Bhutan’s Ha Valley and Sikkim.
- Doklam is strategically located close to the Siliguri Corridor, which connects mainland India with its north-eastern region.
- The corridor, also called Chicken’s Neck, is a vulnerable point for India.
7. Nuclear power plants in India:
8. Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary: It is located in Andhra Pradesh.
- This Sanctuary comes under Project elephant – a Country wide Elephant Conservation Project taken up by Government of India.
- The only home for Asiatic elephants in the State of Andhra Pradesh.
- An 18-member herd of all female elephants from the forests of Gudiyattam and Pernambattu of Tamil Nadu are currently on the prowl in the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary zone in Chittoor district, apparently “in search of mates”.
9. Kumbhalgarh Fort: Kumbhalgarh is the second most important citadel after Chittorgarh in the Mewar region.
- The fort was built in the 15th century AD by Rana Kumbha and it surrounds Udaipur.
- It is the second-longest wall of the world after the Great Wall of China.
- The fort has also been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the group of Hill Forts of Rajasthan.It is strategically located on the western Aravalli hills.
- The fort contains seven fortified gateways and several Jain temples, as well as the Lakhola Tank, the most famous tank within the fort, which was built by Rana Lakha.
10. Kanger Valley National Park: It is located in the state of Chhattisgarh. The name of Kanger Ghati National Park is derived from the Kangar river.
- The most popular species in this area is Bastar Maina (The state bird of Chattisgarh). Bastar Maina, is a type of Hill maina which is capable of emulating the human voices.
- This National Park is home to three exceptional caves – famous for their amazing geological structures of Kutumbasar, Kailash and Dandak- Stellagmites and Stalactites.
- Tirathgarh Waterfall is located in Kanger Valley National Park.
11. Sri Venkateswara temple: It is a Vaishnavite temple in Andhra Pradesh.
- The temple is also known by other names like Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple, Tirupati Balaji Temple.The Temple is constructed in Dravidian architecture.
- The Temple is dedicated to Lord Sri Venkateswara, an incarnation of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared here to save mankind from trials and troubles of Kali Yuga.
- It is one of the richest temple in the world in terms of donations received and wealth.
- Tirupati Laddu: The renowned sweet, Tirupati Laddu which is enriched with dried fruits and nuts is a registered Geographical Indicator (GI).
12. Mount Semeru Volcano: Erupted recently triggering top alert status.
- It is located in Indonesia and is one of East Java Island’s tallest volcano.
- Semeru’s last major eruption was in December 2021.
- Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has erupted numerous times in the past 200 years.
13. Samruddhi Corridor: The Expressway will reduce the time taken to 839-km distance between Nagpur and Mumbai, to seven hours. This currently takes at least 17 hours.
- It passes through three wildlife sanctuaries: Katepurna wildlife sanctuary in Akola, Karanja-Sohol Black Buck sanctuary in Washim; and Tansa wildlife sanctuary in Thane.
14. SERBIA KOSOVO TENSIONS: Kosovo is a mainly ethnic Albanian territory that declared independence from Serbia in 20082002008.
- The Serbian government has refused to recognize Kosovo’s statehood and still considers it part of Serbia, even though it has no formal control there.
- Over 100 countries have recognized Kosovo’s independence, including the United States and most Western countries. Russia, China and five European Union nations have sided with Serbia.
15. Kanheri Caves: they are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments located within the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai.
- The name Kanheri is derived from ‘Kanhagiri’ in Prakrit and occurs in the Nasik inscription of the Satavahana ruler VasisthiputraPulumavi.
- The Kanheri caves comprise more than 110 different rock-cut monolithic excavations and is one of the largest single excavations in the country.
- These excavations were primarily undertaken during the Hinayana phase of Buddhism but also has several examples of the Mahayana stylistic architecture as well as few printings of the Vajrayana order.
16. Red sea: Bordering Countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti.
- Connected to the Indian ocean in south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.
- Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia.
17. Pennaiyar River Dispute:
