• Operation Safedsagar is the air operations conducted during the Kargil war 1999.

• The DRDO recently test-fired the new version of the Akash surface-to-air defense missile. (AKASH – MK -1S).
• Akash is the medium range multi-target engagement capable supersonic missile with a range of around 25 km and up to the altitude of 18,000 meters.
• The missile uses high-energy solid propellant for the booster and ramjet-rocket propulsion for the sustainer phase.
• The missile system is said to be highly mobile.
• Akash was developed as part of the Integrated Guided-Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) other than Nag, Agni, Trishul, and Prithvi missiles.

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
• This sub-regional organization came into being on 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand. 

• Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the flood plains of River Brahmaputra.
• It harbors the highest density of Rhino in the world and second highest concentration of Rhino in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.
• Dampa WLS – Mizoram
• Pakke WLS – Arunachal Pradesh
• Orang is not a designated wildlife sanctuary. It is a designated National Park (Rajiv Gandhi Orang NP).

• Lord Ripon remained India’s Viceroy from 1880-84.
• This liberal politician is known for many reforms in the internal administration of India.
• The most important events during this time were as follows:

1. The Vernacular Press Act was repealed in 1882
2. A Resolution in 1882 set off the institution of local self-government in India.
3. Hunter Commission came in 1882 for the purpose of education reforms.
4. The age for entry in the Civil Services was once again raised to 21 years.
5. The First factory Act was enacted in 1881
6. Introduction of Ilbert Bill in severely compromised state.

In 1902-03, a Police Commission was established for the Police reforms under Sir Andrew Frazer.

• Anyone living in the area, who is an adult, that is 18 years old or more, is a member of Gram Sabha.

• The European common adder, or European viper, a serpent often mentioned in works of literature, is a stout-bodied snake that is widely distributed across Europe and Asia.
• It even ranges north of the Arctic Circle in Norway.
• The Galápagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) is a penguin endemic to the Galápagos Islands.
• It is the only penguin that lives north of the equator in the wild.

• While the earliest Buddhist texts were orally composed and transmitted in Middle Indo-Aryan languages called Prakrits; Sanskrit gradually became the main language of Buddhist scriptures and scholasticism in India mirroring its rise as political and literary lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent.
• Sanskrit Buddhist literature refers to Buddhist texts composed in classical Sanskrit or Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.
• Sanskrit was the main language used by Indian Mahayana Buddhists and most major Mahayana sutras were composed in this language.
• The prominent Buddhist canon includes Tripitaka or three baskets. Other Buddhist literature includes Jatakas, Mahavamsa, Bodhivamsa etc.

• Open-loop systems emit hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, and boron.
• Hydrogen sulfide, which has a distinctive “rotten egg” smell, is the most common emission.

• The President of India is vested with three—absolute veto, suspensive veto and pocket veto.
• There is no qualified veto in the case of Indian President; it is possessed by the American President.