French tourist dies after falling from 9-feet-high platform inside Fatehpur Sikri fort

Fatehpur Sikri

• It is a city predominantly in red sandstone, situated at a distance of 37 km from Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
• It was founded in 1569 by the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and from 1571 to 1585, Fatehpur Sikri was the capital of the Mughal Empire.
• The Mughal capital was moved to Delhi in 1586 because of Fatehpur Sikri''s inadequate water supply.
• It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986.
• Architecture:
  • The structures in Fatehpur Sikri combine elements of Persian, Indian, and Central Asian styles.
  • The structures are made primarily of red sandstone, which gives the city its distinctive appearance.
  • It is enclosed by an 11 km long fortification wall interspersed with numerous gateways.
  • Notable buildings in the complex include:
    • **Jama Masjid:**It is home to the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India. It is known for its imposing structure, graceful arches, and intricately designed prayer hall.
    • Buland Darwaza: This colossal gateway, also known as the "Gate of Magnificence," is an iconic monument of Fatehpur Sikri. It was built to commemorate Akbar''s victorious campaign in Gujarat and is a grand example of Mughal architecture.
    • Diwan-i-Khas and Diwan-i-Aam: These are two prominent buildings within the complex. The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience) was where Akbar held private meetings, while the Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of Public Audience) was for conducting public affairs.
    • Panch Mahal: This five-storied palace is a unique structure with open pavilions on each level. It served as a place for relaxation and entertainment.

New Indo-European Language Discovered in Ancient City of Hattusa

Indo- European Languages

• The Indo-European Languages are a family of related languages that today are widely spoken in the Americas, Europe, and also Western and Southern Asia.
• The hypothesis that this was so was first proposed by Sir William Jones, who noticed similarities between four of the oldest languages known in his time: Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, and Persian.
• The common ancestral (reconstructed) language is called Proto-Indo-European (PIE), which is no longer spoken.
• There is disagreement as to the geographic location where it originated from, with Armenia and the area to the north or west of the Black Sea being prime examples of proposed candidates.
• The Indo-European family of languages is the second-oldest in the world, only behind the Afroasiatic family (which includes the languages of ancient Egypt and early Semitic languages).
• It has the largest number of speakers of all language families as well as the widest dispersion around the world.
• The various subgroups of the Indo-European family include:
  • Indo-Iranian languages (includes Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, Persian)
  • Italic languages (including Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages)
  • Germanic languages
  • Celtic languages
  • Baltic languages
  • Slavic languages
  • Illyrian languages (extinct)
  • Albanian language (and extinct cousins)
  • Anatolian languages (extinct; most notable was the language of the Hittites)
  • Tocharian languages (extinct tongues of Tocharians)
  • Greek language
  • Armenian language
• Some of the most commonly spoken Indo-European Languages in the modern world are Spanish, English, Hindustani, Portuguese, Russian, Punjabi, and Bengali.

Department of Fisheries is promoting Artificial Reef (AR) under PMMSY for rejuvenating coastal fisheries

Artificial Reefs (AR)

• An artificial reef is a manmade structure that may mimic some of the characteristics of a natural reef.
• These are engineering technology interventions used to rehabilitate and/or improve natural habitats, increase productivity, and manage aquatic resources, including habitat enhancement (FAO, 2015).
• Materials used to construct artificial reefs have included rocks, cinder blocks, and even wood and old tyres, which come in an infinite number of shapes and styles.
• The projects are being implemented with the technical support of the Fisheries Survey of India (FSI) and ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).
• Advantages of AR
  • It boosts marine biodiversity.
  • It encourages fish population growth.
  • It reduces pressure on natural reefs.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana

• It is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the country, with an estimated investment of Rs. 20,050 crores for its implementation during a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 in all States/Union Territories.
• What are the aims of the scheme?
  • It aims at enhancing fish production by an additional 70 lakh tonnes by 2024-25.
  • Increasing fisheries export earnings to Rs.1,00,000 crore by 2024-25.
  • Doubling the incomes of fishers and fish farmers, reducing post-harvest losses from 20-25%.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying

Cancel free movement regime along border with Myanmar, demands Manipur CM N Biren Singh

Free Movement Regime

• Under the FMR, all the hill tribes, whether they are citizens of India or Myanmar, can travel within 16 km on either side of the Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB).
• They can cross the border by producing a border pass with a one-year validity issued by the competent authority and can stay up to two weeks per visit.
• The FMR was implemented in 2018 as part of the Central government’s Act East policy.
• FMR is implemented by both governments for the people living along the IMB.
• This helps locals to get more culturally assimilated with trans-border villages through weddings, celebrating common festivals together and trans-border trade.
• It is a reflection of the physical, ethnic, linguistic, cultural and fraternal linkages among the trans-border villagers.
• Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB):
  • It runs for 1,643 km in the four states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
  • It runs from the tripoint with China in the north to the tripoint with Bangladesh in the south.
  • Assam Rifles is tasked with guarding the IMB.

Biologists in slow and steady race to help North America''s largest and rarest tortoise species

Bolson tortoises

• It is the largest and rarest land reptile, as well as the rarest of the six Gopherus species native to the North American Continent.
• Adult males are generally smaller than females in this species.
• The tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile that spends more than 95% of its time in a burrow that it constructs with its shovel-like front feet.
• All foraging, nesting and mating activities take place during the tortoise''s active season from roughly April to October.
• The average life span of a Bolson tortoise is not known but probably lies upward of a century.
• Distribution:
  • This species at present, is restricted to a relatively small area of the grasslands of north-central Mexico in the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango, where it exists in disjunct sub-populations.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered

Thousands on alert in Indonesia''s Java after Mt. Semeru eruption

Mt. Semeru volcano

• Itis an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia.
• It is located in a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australia plate subducts under the Eurasia plate.
• It is the highest mountain on the island of Java.
• The name "Semeru" is derived from Meru, the central world mountain in Hinduism, or Sumeru, the abode of gods.
• Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

Pacific Ring of Fire

• It, also known as the Circum-Pacific Belt, is a path along the Pacific Ocean characterised by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
• Its length is approximately 40,000 kilometres.
• It traces boundaries between several tectonic plates—including the Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, and Philippine Plates.

Scientists find ''missing ingredient'' for pink diamonds

Pink Diamond

• Pink diamonds, also known as fancy pink diamonds, are some of the rarest and most coveted gemstones in the world.
• Pink diamonds have uniquely bent crystalline structures.
• More than 90% of all the pink diamonds ever found come from a single mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
• All diamonds are found in pipelike volcanoes or in their eroded remnants.
• How did they form?
  • Around 1.8 billion years ago, Western Australia and Northern Australia collided in a cataclysmic event.
  • This impact is believed to have been the catalyst that transformed once-colourless diamonds into their pink variants.
  • Scientists found that at Argyle, diamonds crystallised deep in Earth’s interior were brought to the surface when a supercontinent, Nuna, began to break apart.
  • As continents break up, their edges stretch, allowing small pockets of diamond-rich magma to rise to the surface.

Nuna

• It is an ancient supercontinent that graced our planet’s surface.
• Scientists believe Nuna existed around 1.6 to 2.5 billion years ago, predating even the famous Pangea by a considerable margin.
• Researchers actively map Nuna’s formation by piecing together geological and paleomagnetic data.
• These clues suggest that Nuna brought together fragments of what we now identify as North America, northern Europe, and parts of Siberia.
• This supercontinent experienced multiple cycles of coming together and breaking apart. Each phase of assembly and dispersal reshaped the Earth’s surface.
• These changes gave rise to new geological formations, laying the groundwork for subsequent continents.
• One of the most intriguing findings about Nuna lies in its connection to Earth’s atmospheric evolution.
• As Nuna formed, volcanic activities increased. These volcanoes released vast amounts of carbon dioxide, playing a pivotal role in shaping the planet’s early atmospheric conditions and potentially influencing the course of life.

Madras HC quashes anti-smuggling Act case against practising lawyer, orders his release

COFEPOSA Act

• It was passed by the Parliament on 13th December 1974, to provide for preventive detention in certain cases for the purposes of conservation and augmentation of foreign exchange and prevention of smuggling activities and for matters connected therewith.
• Power to make orders detaining certain persons: The Central Government or the State Government or any joint secretary of central government and secretary of state government can order the detention of a person (including a foreigner), in case of-
  • Smuggling;
  • Abetting smuggling;
  • Transport, concealing, storing;
  • Harbouring persons involved in smuggling;
  • Dealing in smuggled goods;
• Any order by the State government is to be forwarded to the Central government within 10 days.
• Grounds for detention are to be communicated within 5 days to detenu. Delay of up to 15 days is allowed if the reason is given in writing.
• The detaining authority requires to satisfy the courts and also the detenu that he has acted in accordance with the laws with due consideration.
• High Courts can examine detention orders prior to execution. A detention order cannot be challenged at pre execution stage on the grounds of delay in execution.
• The order can be executed anywhere in India, similar to arrest warrants under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
• Advisory Boards:
  • Government should, within 5 weeks of the date of detention, make a reference to the Advisory Board.
  • Advisory Board to report within 11 weeks of the detention order. If satisfied, the detention period can be extended to one year.
  • If, in the opinion of the advisory board, there is insufficient cause for detention, the order is revoked, and the person is released.

Preventive Detention Laws in India

• National Security Act (NSA), 1980
• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) of 1967
• Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act, 1988
• Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980
• Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA)

Indian scientist Swati Nayak named World Food Prize''s Norman E Borlaug Award winner

Norman E. Borlaug Award:

• The award recognises exceptional scientists under 40 and someone who works in the field of food and nutrition security and hunger eradication.
• It is given in memory of the Nobel awardee and Green Revolution''s chief architect Dr Norman Borlaug.
• The award will honour an individual who is working closely and directly “in the field” or at the production or processing level with farmers, animal herders, fishers or others in rural communities in any discipline or enterprise across the entire food production, processing, and distribution chain.
• The award diploma incorporates the image of Dr. Borlaug at work in the fields of Mexico and a cash prize of $10,000.
• It is endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation and will be presented every October in Des Moines, Iowa, by the World Food Prize Foundation.
• Other Indian recipients: Aditi Mukherji (2012) and Mahalingam Govindaraj (2022).

Contributions of Swati Nayak

• She introduced Sahbhagi Dhan’, a drought-tolerant variety rice suitable for hilly uplands, and ‘BINA Dhan-11’, which is flood-tolerant.
• BINA-Dhan-11’, which contains a submergence-tolerant Sub1 gene identified from an indigenous land race of Odisha.
• The Sub1 gene has been incorporated into many existing popular high-yielding varieties such as ‘Samba Mahsuri’, ‘Swarna’ and ‘Ranjit’.
• There are, likewise, other drought-tolerant varieties, such as ‘DRR Dhan 42’ and ‘DRR Dhan 44’.

A Reminder As Water Level In Jhelum Drops Below Zero Mark

Jhelum River

• It is a river that flows in India and Pakistan.
• It is a tributary of the Indus River.
• The Jhelum (Vyeth in Kashmiri, Vetesta in Sanskrit and Hydaspes in Greek) is the main waterway of the Kashmir valley.
• It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab and passes through the Jhelum District in the North of Punjab province, Pakistan.
• Course:
  • Origin: It originates at the Verinag Spring at Anantnag, at the foot of the Pir Panjal range in the Kashmir Valley.
  • It then flows via Srinagar and Wular Lake prior to entering Pakistan.
  • The river makes a deep, narrow gorge on its way to Pakistan.
  • It joins the Chenab River near Trimmu, Pakistan.
  • Length: It has a total length of about 725 km (450 mi).
• Major Tributaries:
  • The largest tributary of the Jhelum is the Kishenganga (Neelum) River, which joins near Muzaffarabad and enters the Punjab province, Pakistan.
  • Kunhar River is the second largest tributary of the river, which connects Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan on the Kohala Bridge of Kanghan Valley.
  • Other tributaries include Sandran River, Bringi River, Arapath River, Watlara River, Lidder River and Veshaw River.