GUJARAT
First Buddhist Chaitya, more stupas excavated in Gujarat's Vadnagar
The Covid lockdown period has yielded a major treasure for the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI) team working at Vadnagar, the hometown of PM Narendra Modi. This includes a
fairly well-preserved structure believed to be a Chaitya, a shrine with a prayer hall, and two
stupas in the vicinity.
A team of ASI’s Excavation Branch V has been stationed in the ancient town since 2015 to
carry out cultural sequencing of the PM’s hometown. Work in season 2019-20 was primarily
focused on two spots – Amba Ghat on the banks of Sharmishtha Lake, and the vicinity of
grain godown near the railway line.
Experts associated with the project say the fresh discoveries further cements Vadnagar’s
stake as an important Buddhist centre in the past millennium. In the past decade, a Buddhist
structure, believed to be a nunnery, was unearthed by the state archaeology department.
INTERNATIONAL
1st Phase of Malabar Naval Exercise involving participation by India, US, Japan, Australia
begins
The 24th edition of the Malabar Naval Exercise is scheduled in two phases during the
current month.
The First Phase of the Exercise Malabar-20 involving participation by Indian Navy (IN),
United States Navy (USN), Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) and Royal Australian
Navy (RAN) commenced off Visakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal from.
Malabar series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as a bilateral Indian Navy- United
States Navy exercise.
Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force joined Malabar in 2015 and The 2020 edition will now
witness participation of the Royal Australian Navy in this joint maritime exercise.
Phase-2 of Malabar-20 is scheduled to be conducted in the Arabian Sea in mid-November
NATIONAL
UNESCO allots India’s Panna Tiger Reserve ‘Biosphere Reserve’ status
In Madhya Pradesh, the Panna Tiger Reserve has been included in the ‘World Network of
Biosphere Reserves’ list of the UNESCO.
Currently, Panna Tiger Reserve is home to 54 tigers.
This is the 12th biosphere reserve from India to be included in the ‘World Network of
Biosphere Reserves’, and third from Madhya Pradesh, after Pachmarhi and Amarkantak.
A biosphere reserve is where the international agency tries to reconcile the differences
between human activity and the preservation of biodiversity.
Every year, the status of UNESCO sets a few new sites that will come under its umbrella of
Biosphere reserves, while others are removed.
Indian Naval Ship Airavat reaches Port Sudan as part of ‘Mission Sagar-II’
Indian Naval Ship, Airavat reached Port Sudan as a part of Mission Sagar-II.
Indian government is providing assistance to Friendly Foreign Countries to overcome natural
calamities and COVID-19 pandemic, and towards the same INS Airavat is carrying a
consignment of 100 Tonnes of food aid for the people of Sudan.
Mission Sagar-II, follows the first ‘Mission Sagar’ undertaken in May-June 2020, wherein
India provided food and medicines to Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and
Comoros.
As part of Mission Sagar-II, INS Airavat will deliver food aid to Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti
and Eritrea.
Centre releases Rs 2,200 cr as first installment to 15 states for improvement of air quality
The Centre has released 2,200 crore rupees as the first installment to 15 states for the
improvement of air quality measures in their million-plus cities.
The amount has been released based on the recommendations of the 15th Finance
Commission.
This will help the beneficiary states to undertake air quality measures, including capacity-
building of the local bodies within their million-plus cities.
The states which have been given the amount include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West
Bengal.
Ganga Utsav-2020 begins virtually with COVID-19 precautions
The much-awaited Ganga Utsav-2020 began virtually amidst COVID-19 precautions.
Several programmes were also held in districts as a part of Ganga Utsav celebrations.
Ganga Task Force conducted an afforestation drive with NCC cadets and educational tour
for youth in the project area.
The Ganga Utsav is being organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga celebrating the
12th anniversary of declaring River Ganges as National river.
Academic Freedom Index
Academic Freedom Index(AFI) report provides a score to individual countries to specify the
level of academic liberation its universities and educational centres.
India has scored considerably low in the international index of academic freedom.
The index helps to define each country’s academic freedom level and the researchers
asserted that the primary goal behind this idea is to comprehend a university’s
attractiveness in addition to its infrastructure, research output, etc.
The maximum value of the index is 1.
India has an AFI of 0.352, comparable to the scores of Saudi Arabia and Libya.
Countries that scored higher than India are Pakistan (0.554), Brazil (0.466), Ukraine (0.422),
Somalia (0.436) and Malaysia (0.582).
At the bottom are North Korea (0.011), Eritrea (0.015), Bahrain (0.039) and Iran (0.116).
The AFI has eight components.
They are:
– Freedom to research and teaching
– Freedom of academic exchange and dissemination
– Institutional autonomy
– Campus integrity
– Freedom of academic and cultural expression
– Constitutional protection of academic freedom
– An international legal commitment to academic freedom under the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
– Existence of universities
Project Lion: Proposal identifies six relocation sites
The six new sites included are:
Madhav National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
Sita Mata Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan.
Mukunda Hills Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan.
Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh.
Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan.
Jessore-Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat.
Lion relocation has been discussed since 1995, when the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary was
identified as an alternate site.
The population of Lions in Gir has low genetic diversity, making it vulnerable to threats of
extension from epidemics.
Lions are found in Gujarat across 30,000 sq km called the Asiatic Lion Landscape (ALL).
The 2013 Supreme Court order directed Gujarat to relocate lions to the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife
Sanctuary.
Six new sites (except the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary) under Project Lion announced by
PM Narendra Modi on Independence day.
- GPSC Mains 2024 Tests and Notes Program
- GPSC Prelims Exam 2024- Test Series and Notes Program
- GPSC Prelims and Mains 2024 Tests Series and Notes Program
- GPSC Detailed Complete Prelims Notes