Short News In Table

September 5, 2023

Adopt a Heritage 2.0 programme

Recently, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) launched “Adopt a Heritage 2.0” programme.

ASI’s New Heritage Initiatives

‘Adopt a Heritage 2.0’ Program: ASI launched an upgraded version of the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ program in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism.
- Encourages corporate stakeholders to use CSR funds for enhancing historically important monuments.
- Includes 1,000 additional monuments for adoption.
Indian Heritage App: The app offers a comprehensive guide to ASI-monitored monuments.
- Provides details, images, on-site facilities, and geo-tagged locations.
E-Permission Portal: Simplifies and expedites the approval process for photography, filming, and developmental projects related to heritage monuments.
- Speeds up permission granting, streamlining operations.
Compliance with AMASR Act: The program aligns with The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, clearly defining permissible activities.

Exercise Trishul 2023

The annual training exercise, Trishul, of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Western Air Command (WAC) began on September 4.

About:

Location: Northern borders of India, encompassing areas adjacent to both Pakistan and China.
Objective: To assess and validate the operational preparedness of the command responsible for these sensitive northern regions.

Mangri Orang

The North East Regional Centre (NERC) of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (INGCA) staged “Malati Mem,” a multilingual play, in honor of Mangri Orang.

About Mangri Orang:

Mangri Orang, a tea plantation worker, was gunned down by British security personnel in 1921 for leading a fight against foreign liquor and opium
Mangri Orang, originally from central India, was known as “Malati Mem” among fellow plantation workers.
She is said to be the first female martyr of India’s freedom movement.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor said that cross-border payments can be made more efficient through adoption of digital currencies.

About Central Bank Digital Currencies:

It is the digital form of a country’s fiat currency.
A nation’s monetary authority, or central bank, issues a CBDC, which promotes financial inclusion and simplifies implementing monetary and fiscal policy.
CBDC, being a sovereign currency, holds unique advantages of central bank money viz. trust, safety, liquidity, settlement finality and integrity.
RBI is aiming to scale up the number of CBDC transactions to one million per day by the end of 2023.
- Currently, around 5,000-10,000 transactions are being done per day using retail CBDC

Stump-Tailed Macaques

5.6

The Delhi zoo now houses a new animal species – the stump-tailed macaque.

About Stump-tailed macaque:

Conservation Status:
- IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES): Appendix II
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule II
Commonly referred to as bear macaques due to their appearance.
Range and Distribution: Native to Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- In India, it is found only in the south of the river Brahmaputra in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and some other parts of the Northeast.
Distinctive Features
- Short Tails: Characterized by notably short tails.
- Facial Changes: Their faces turn redder as they age, and both males and females experience hair loss, resembling male pattern baldness in humans.