Mahakal Temple

• The temple is located in Ujjain in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
• There are 12 jyotirlinga sites in India, considered a manifestation of Shiva.
• 12 temples: Mahakal, Somnath and Nageshwar in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna in Andhra Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Bhimashankar, Triyambakeshwar and Grishneshwar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi, Baidyanath in Jharkhand, and Rameshwar in Tamil Nadu.
• Mahakal is the only jyotirlinga facing the south, while all the other jyotirlingas face east.
• The Mahakal temple finds a mention in several ancient Indian poetic texts.
• In the early part of the Meghadutam (Purva Megha) composed in the 4th century, Kalidasa gives a description of the Mahakal temple.
• It is described as one with a stone foundation, with the ceiling on wooden pillars.
• There would be no shikharas or spires on the temples prior to the Gupta period.
• The present five-storeyed structure was built by the Maratha general Ranoji Shinde in1734, in the Bhumija, Chalukya and Maratha styles of architecture.
• A century later, its marble walkways were restored by the Scindias.
• Ujjain is geographically situated at a spot where the zero meridian of longitude and the Tropic of Cancer intersect.

Sovereign Green Bonds (SGB)

• They are fixed-income instruments designed to finance projects that have been specifically earmarked as climate or environment-related.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issues the sovereign green bonds in line with global standards in India.
• The proceeds will be deployed in public sector projects which help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy.
• The issuance of green bonds is part of the Union Budget 2022-23 announcement.
• India is among 25 other countries to have issued bonds to exclusively fund climate sustainability and green infrastructure projects and initiatives.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) (Regulation) Act, 2021

• It defines ART procedures as all techniques that attempt to obtain a pregnancy by handling the sperm or the oocyte (the immature female egg) outside the human body and transferring into the reproductive system of a woman.
• This is open to married couples, live-in partners, single women, and also foreigners.
• ART procedures include gamete donation, intrauterine insemination, and in-vitro fertilisation or IVF.
• The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 (SRA) says the surrogate mother should be married and have a child of her own.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme

• It is one of the flagship programmes of the Government of India.
• It was launched to address the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) (0-6 years) and address other related issues of disempowerment of women.
• Recently the Centre has revised this scheme to include,
  • Skilling of girls
  • To increase  their enrolment in secondary education
  • To raise awareness about menstrual hygiene and
  • Promulgating elimination of child marriages

• It is a tri-ministerial, convergent effort of

• Ministry of Women and Child Development
• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
• Ministry of Human Resource Development

• The programme focusses on
  • Awareness and advocacy campaign
  • Multi-sectoral action in selected 161 districts (low on Child Sex Ratio)
  • Effective enforcement of Pre-Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act enabling girls' education.
• Objectives:
  • To prevent gender biased sex selective elimination
  • To ensure survival and protection of the girl child
  • To ensure education and participation of the girl child
  • To increase girl's participation in the fields of sports
• It would now include multi-sectoral intervention in 244 districts in addition to the existing 161 districts.
• The physical implementation of the scheme will happen under the leadership of Collector.
• Another 235 districts are to be covered through Alert District Media, Advocacy and Outreach.
• BBBP would thus cover all the 640 districts (as per census 2011) of the Country, to have a deeper positive impact on Child Sex Ratio.
• From 2021-22, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Ministry of Minority Affairs have also been added as partners.

United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC)

• Recently, PM inaugurated the second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC), in Hyderabad.
• It is convened by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM).
• It is organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations and hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Theme

• The Second UNWGIC Congress will focus on the theme “Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind”.
• It will reflect the importance of integrated geospatial information to support sustainable development and the well-being of society.
• It is to address environmental and climate challenges, embrace digital transformation and technological development, and catalyse a vibrant economy.
• The Congress will address the development and strengthening of integrated geospatial information management, its capacities and capabilities.
• India’s NavIC is indigenously developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).