UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation Programme

• Since 2000, the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation Programme have been lauding the efforts of private individuals and organisations in successfully restoring, conserving and transforming structures and buildings of heritage value in the region.
• Recently the following places in India has received various awards under the program
• Sunder Nursery, Delhi was awarded with Award of Excellence, It is a 90-acre Mughal garden which has 20 heritage monuments and landscaped environments, it is partially attached to the Humayun’s tomb monument.
• Amar Singh College, Kashmir that received award of merit was established in 1913 by Maharaja Pratap Singh.
• Koothambalam at Guruvayoor Temple, Kerala received the Award of Distinction.
• Koothambalam means temple theatre is a closed hall for staging Koothu, Nangiar koothu and Koodiyattam, the ancient ritualistic art forms of Kerala.
• Koothambalams are said to be constructed according to the guidelines given in chapter 2 of Natyasastra of Bharata Muni

Legion of Merit Award

• The Legion of Merit was instituted in 1942 by former US president Franklin D Roosevelt.
• It is the only US military decoration that has distinct ranks, and the first US medal to be awarded to citizens of other nations.
• The award is conferred to members of the US military and foreign military members and political figures who have displayed exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.
• The previous Indian recipients of the award include Field Marshal KM Cariappa (1950) and Satyawant Mallana Srinagesh (1955), recently Indian PM Narendra Modi was conferred with this award.

Winter Solstice

• Winter Solstice means the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
• In the Southern Hemisphere, conversely, it was Summer Solstice, the year’s longest day.
• During this event the North Pole is most tilted away from the Sun.
• In Vedic tradition, the northern movement of the Earth on the celestial sphere is implicitly acknowledged in the Surya Siddhanta.
• It outlines the Uttarayana (the period between Makar Sankranti and Karka Sankranti). Hence, Winter Solstice is the first day of Uttarayana.

Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020.

• Recently, the Union Ministry of Power has promulgated rules laying down the rights of power consumers in the country through Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020.
• Electricity is a concurrent subject and the Centre has the power to make rules that have to be enforced by all.
• An automatic compensation mechanism under the rule, will be put in place which will include no supply to a consumer beyond a particular duration and certain number of interruptions in supply, which will be specified by the regulatory commission.
• The new connection has to be given within a maximum time period of seven days in metro cities, 15 days in other municipal areas, and 30 days in rural areas.

Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan

• Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan (1556 – 1627), popularly known as Rahim, was a poet who lived in India during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar.
• He was one of the nine important ministers (dewan) in his court, also known as the Navaratnas.
• Rahim translated Babar's memoirs, Baburnama from Chagatai language to Persian language.
• He had an excellent command over the Sanskrit language. In Sanskrit, he wrote two books on astrology, Khetakautukam and Dwatrimshadyogavali.
• His tomb was built by him for his wife in 1598 (the first Mughal tomb built for a woman), and his body was placed in it in 1627.

Dhokra Style Metal Work

• Dhokra is a non-ferrous metal casting style which uses the lost-wax technique.
• This style of metal casting has been in vogue in all parts of India for centuries.
• The dhokra products reflect the simplicity and motifs of tribal and folk life and make for excellent gifting options.
• Hence they are popular both in India and abroad.

• The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), along with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) India, has come up with a unique initiative — a “firefly bird diverter” for overhead power lines in areas where Great Indian Bustard (GIB) populations are found in the wild.

Great Indian Bustard (GIB)

• The GIB is one of the most critically threatened species in India, with fewer than 150 birds left in the wild.
• Power lines, especially high-voltage transmission lines with multiple overhead wires, are the most important current threat for GIBs in the Thar region, and are causing unsustainably high mortality in about 15% of their population.

Firefly bird diverters

• They are flaps installed on power lines.
• They work as reflectors for bird species like the GIB.
• Birds can spot them from a distance of about 50 metres and change their path of flight to avoid collision with power lines.
• The diverters are called fireflies because they look like fireflies from a distance, shining on power lines in the night.
• The selected stretch is opposite the Pokhran Field Firing Range, which offers a safe habitat to a breeding population of GIBs outside the Desert National Park Sanctuary in Jaisalmer.

• HelpAge India, an NGO that works for the care of elderly disadvantaged persons and senior citizens, recently received the UN Population Award, a first for an institution in India.
• The award was last conferred on an Indian 28 years ago, when it was awarded to JRD Tata as an individual laureate in 1992.

UN Population award

• Each year, the Committee for the United Nations Population Award honours an individual and/or institution in recognition of outstanding contributions to population and reproductive health questions and to their solutions.
• The Award was established by the General Assembly in 1981 and was first presented in 1983.
• It consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a monetary prize.
• The Committee for the United Nations Population Award is comprised of 10 UN Member States, with United Nations Secretary-General and UNFPA Executive Director serving as ex-officio members.

• Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Centenary Celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) recently through video conference.
• He also released a postal stamp commemorating the event.

Aligarh Muslim University

• In 1877, Sir Syed founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh and patterned the college after Oxford and Cambridge universities that he had visited on a trip to England. 
• By 1920 the college was transformed into the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

• Too many cattle are robbing the one-horned rhinos of Assam’s Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, referred to as ‘Mini Kaziranga’ for similar features, of their nutritious food.
• This has been confirmed by the death of two rhinos whose alimentary canals had a high load of worms because of nutritional stress caused by dry reeds and other such “junk food” of the wilderness, veterinarians said.

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary

• It 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.
• Besides rhinoceros, the other mammals found are Leopard, Leopard cat, Fishing cat, Jungle cat, Feral Buffalo, Wild pigs, Chinese pangolins etc.,
• It is an Important Bird Area altogether 375 species of both migratory and resident birds of 46 families have been recorded so far, with 14 listed in the Indian Red Data Book, 27 species of reptiles 9 species of amphibians have been recorded in the Sanctuary.