• The Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho Apna Desh Webinar series held its 85th webinar titled “Khajuraho-Temples of Architectural Splendour” recently.

Khajuraho Temples

• The temples at Khajuraho were built during the Chandella dynasty, which reached its apogee between 950 and 1050.
• Only about 20 temples remain; they fall into three distinct groups and belong to two different religions – Hinduism and Jainism.
• Built in sandstone, each temple is elevated from its environs by a highly ornate terraced platform, or jagati, on which stands the body, or jangha, whose sanctum is topped by a tower, or shikhara, of a type unique to Nagara.
• Khajuraho Group of Monuments is owned by the Government of India and managed by the Archaeological Survey of India through the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act (1958).

• India and Japan has recently participated in a webinar on De-carbonisation: Exploring the Hydrogen Prospects and Innovative Technologies.
• During the event, eminent experts, scientists, and technocrats from India and Japan discussed the most recent innovations, trends, concerns, and solutions adopted in the field of decarbonisation and promotion of Hydrogen based technologies.

Background

• 38% of India’s total installed electricity generation is based on renewables.
• This is about 136 Giga Watts now, and it is expected to reach a target of 175 GW by next year and 450GW by 2030.
• Hydrogen can play a critical role as a clean fuel in achieving this ambitious goal.
• Japan is the first country to formulate a basic hydrogen strategy.
• Hydrogen is included in the fifth Energy plan of Japan. 
• The country thus has a good ecosystem for R&D and commercialization, which could be used by the Scientific and Commercial Communities of the two countries. 
• India and Japan have strategic relationships, and this has to be elevated to a strategic partnership enabling sharing of knowledge without any inhibition on Hydrogen and utilization of H2 in future.

• Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 323, the first unit of the indigenously built ALH Mk III aircraft, was commissioned recently into the Indian Navy.

ALH Mk III

• It is the state-of-the-art multirole helicopter with Shakti engine.
• It was manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• The Mk III version of the ALH has an all glass cockpit and will be used for Search and Rescue, Special Operations and Coastal Surveillance.

Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)

Background

• Funding from angel investors and venture capital firms becomes available to startups only after the proof of concept has been provided.
• Similarly, banks provide loans only to asset-backed applicants. It is essential to provide seed funding to startups with an innovative idea to conduct proof of concept trials.
• DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry has created Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) with an outlay of INR 945 Crore to provide financial assistance to startups for Proof of Concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry, and commercialization.
• It will support an estimated 3,600 entrepreneurs through 300 incubators in the next 4 years.
• This would enable these startups to graduate to a level where they will be able to raise investments from angel investors or venture capitalists or seek loans from commercial banks or financial institutions.

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India and the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety signed an agreement on Technical Cooperation titled ‘Cities Combating Plastic Entering the Marine Environment’ at a virtual ceremony in New Delhi recently. 

Cities Combating Plastic Entering the Marine Environment

• This project is envisaged under the contours of the Joint Declaration of Intent regarding cooperation in the field of ‘Prevention of Marine Litter’ signed between Republic of India and Federal Republic of Germany in 2019.
• The project, aimed at enhancing practices to prevent plastic entering the marine environment,
• The project will be undertaken at the national level (at MoHUA), select states (Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and in the cities of Kanpur, Kochi and Port Blair for a period of three and a half years.
• The new project is envisaged to be another successful collaborative effort under the Indo-German Bilateral Development Corporation working on sustainable urban transformation.

Background

• Marine litter threatens ecosystems and adversely affects fishery and tourism industries around the globe.
• In addition to negative economic impact, it affects public health with increased concerns about micro-plastic and risk of particles entering the food chain.
• It is estimated that 15-20% of all plastics are entering oceans via riverine ecosystems of which 90% are contributed by 10 of the world’s most polluting rivers.
• Two of these river systems are located in India, namely Ganga and Brahmaputra.

Exotic Animals

• The term exotic does not have a set definition but it usually refers to a wild animal or one that is more unusual and rarer than normal domesticated pets like cats or dogs.
• These are those species which are not usually native to an area and are introduced to an area by humans.
• Illegally traded exotic animals are confiscated under Section 111 of the Customs Act, 1962 which is read with the provision of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Foreign Trade Policy (Import-Export Policy) of India.
• Also, Sections 48 and 49 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 prohibit trade or commerce in wild animals, animal articles or trophies.
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued an advisory to streamline and formalise the process of importing live exotic animals.
• Recently, the Delhi High Court directed the Centre to take a decision on framing rules to confer protection for exotic animals that are currently not under the purview of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Not all exotic animals are protected under Wildlife Protection Act.

Wholesale Price Index

• Wholesale Price Index is the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods.
• Some countries use WPI changes as a central measure of inflation.
• But now India has adopted new CPI to measure inflation.
• The primary articles are a major component of WPI, further subdivided into Food Articles and Non-Food Articles.
• The food Articles include items such as Cereals, Paddy, Wheat, Pulses, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk, Eggs, Meat & Fish, etc.
• The non-Food Articles include Oil Seeds, Minerals and Crude Petroleum
• The next major basket in WPI is Fuel & Power, which tracks price movements in Petrol, Diesel and LPG
• The biggest basket is Manufactured Goods - It spans across a variety of manufactured products such as Textiles, Apparels, Paper, Chemicals, Plastic, Cement, Metals, and more.
• The manufactured Goods basket also includes manufactured food products such as Sugar, Tobacco Products, Vegetable and Animal Oils, and Fats.

Right to Freedom of Movement

• It entitles every citizen to move freely throughout the territory of the country.
• Moreover, it is available only to the citizens and to shareholders of a company but not to foreigners or legal persons like companies or corporations, etc.
• Restrictions on this freedom can only be imposed on two grounds which are mentioned in the Article 19 of the constitution itself, namely, the interests of the general public and the protection of interests of any scheduled tribe.
• The entry of outsiders in tribal areas is restricted to protect the distinctive culture, language, customs and manners of scheduled tribes and to safeguard their traditional vocation and properties against exploitation.
• The Supreme Court held that the freedom of movement of prostitutes can be restricted on the ground of public health and in the interest of public morals.
• The freedom of movement has two dimensions, viz, internal (right to move inside the country) and external (right to move out of the country and right to come back to the country).
• Article 19 protects only the first dimension. The second dimension is dealt by Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty).
• Recently, the Union government told the Bombay High Court that making FASTag mandatory for all vehicles does not breach a citizen’s fundamental right to freedom of movement in any way.

International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)

• Every year, 18th April is celebrated as ‘International Day for Monuments and Sites’, also known as ‘World Heritage Day’.
• The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) established the day in 1982 and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved it in 1983.
• The aim of the Day is to create awareness about Heritage among communities.
• ICOMOS is a global non-governmental organization associated with UNESCO and located in Paris, France.
• Its mission is to promote the conservation, protection, use and enhancement of monuments, building complexes and sites.
• It is an Advisory Body of the World Heritage Committee for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention of UNESCO.

Centralised & Decentralised Payment Systems

• The centralised payment systems will include Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System and National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) system and any other system as may be decided by RBI from time to time.
• RTGS - It enables real-time transfer of funds to a beneficiary’s account and is primarily meant for large-value transactions.
• Real time means the processing of instructions at the time they are received and gross settlement implies that settlement of funds transfer instructions occurs individually.
• NEFT - It is an electronic fund transfer system in which the transactions received up to a particular time are processed in batches.
• It is generally used for fund transfers of up to Rs. 2 lakh.
• The decentralised payment systems will include clearing houses managed by RBI (Cheque Truncation System (CTS) centres) as well as other banks (Express Cheque Clearing System (ECCS) centres) and any other system as decided by RBI from time to time.