• The 30th session of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series titled “Hidden Treasures of Chhattisgarh” was released recently.

Highlights of Chhattisgarh

• It is the 9th largest state in India.
• Being Central Eastern state of India, it borders 7 states, 44% of land covered by forest, 34% of tribal population.
• With 3 National parks, 11 Wildlife sanctuaries, 1 Bio-sphere reserve it is one of India’s greenest state and well connected with rest of the country by air, rail and road network.
• Some of the best waterfalls of country are in Chhattisgarh, few of them are Chitrakote, Amritdhara, Pawai, Machli etc.,
• Chhattisgarh is also blessed with three shaktipeeths Champaranya, Rajim and Sheorinarayan.
• Wrought iron, bell metal and terracotta are famous handicrafts of Chhattisgarh.

Places and Experiences

• Karkabhat – Megalithic burial site generally ignored by tourists.  Studies conducted in the area have identified 3 types of menhirs- Conical, pointed obliquely and bifurcated like a fish tail.
• Dipadih – Temple complex dating back to the 7th Century is probably the best kept archaeological secret of Chhattisgarh.  Excavated stone pillars have been erected along the path next to the entrance on which are exhibited the mythological creatures.
• Ghotul – It is both an ancient tribal system of education as well as the campus with its own system of hierarchs.
• Sonabai – Famous bas relief ornamentation works of Chhattisgarh got its roots when Sonabai made little toys for her son Daroga Ram to lull him to sleep.

Bastar

• It is one of the unexplored destinations which is in south of Chhattisgarh.
• Bastar region has spectacular scenic views, roads and hidden waterfalls.
• Kotumsar caves, which are largest series of caves after Meghalaya are in Chhattisgarh.
• Bastar Dussehra world’s longest festival which is celebrated for 75 days has a different story related to goddess Dhanteswari.
• Gond’s, Madiya, Muriaya’s are some of the tribes making Bastar as the land of indigenous tribes.
• Handicrafts history dates back to Harappan civilization the technique used is lost wax technique.
• Third largest lord Ganesha statue in the world which made of a single sand stone. Cave paintings with 12000 years of history are in Bastar region.

• National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), the two accreditation boards of the Quality Council of India (QCI) has recently organized a Webinar to commemorate the World Accreditation Day (WAD).
• The World Accreditation Day (WAD) is celebrated on 9th June every year to highlight as well as promote the role of accreditation in trade & economy.
• The theme for WAD 2020 is “Accreditation: Improving Food Safety”, as decided by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).

Quality Council of India (QCI)

• It is an autonomous body of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Govt. of India.
• It has been created jointly with Indian industry represented by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) & Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).
• The main objectives of QCI are (a) to establish and operate national accreditation structure (b) to monitor and administer the National Quality Campaign.

• The population of Asiatic Lions has shown a steady increase with a population of 674 individuals with an increase rate of 28.87% (one of the highest growth rate so far) from the previous growth of 27% during 2015 (523 lions).
• The distribution of the lions has increased from an area of 22000 sq. km in 2015 to 30000 sq. km in 2020 thus increasing the distribution area by 36%.
• Multiple strategies and interventions have been implemented in the Asiatic Lion Landscape that have majorly contributed to the current conservation success of the Asiatic lions viz. people’s participation, use of modern technology, wildlife health care including as import of CDV vaccine, habitat management, increase in prey base, human-lion conflict mitigation, etc.

Background

• Asiatic lions are present in Protected Areas and agro-pastoral landscape of Saurashtra covering nine districts in a sprawling expanse of over 30000 sq. km which is termed as the Asiatic Lion Landscape.
• The population estimation of Asiatic Lions is conducted at an interval of five years.
• The last population estimation exercise was conducted in May 2015 which pegged the lion numbers at 523, a 27% increase from the estimation of 2010.

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India recently launched food safety index of the year 2019-20.
• The states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharastra have topped the ranking.
• Among the smaller states, Goa topped the ranking followed by Manipur and Meghalaya. Among Union Territories Chandigarh, Delhi and Andaman islands topped the ranking.
• The Food Safety Index was released on World Food Safety Day under the theme Theme: Food Safety is everyone business.

The index was prepared based on five parameters as follows

1. Training
2. Capacity
3. Compliance
4. Food Testing Facilities
5. Human Resource and Institutional Data

• The Rajasthan Police has recently arrested two civil defence employees in Jaipur based on Military Intelligence inputs passed under the Operation Desert Chase.

Operation Desert Chase

• It is an anti-espionage operation that was started by the Military Intelligence in 2019.
• The Directorate of Military Intelligence (M.I.) is the Intelligence arm of the Indian Army. 

• The Coral Triangle Day, held every June 9 is a massive celebration of the Coral Triangle, the world's epicentre of marine biodiversity.
• It is envisioned to be an annual, open-sourced event that brings together individuals, organizations, and establishments on one special day of the year to shed light on ocean conservation and the numerous ways to protect and conserve the Coral Triangle.
• The first Coral Triangle Day was celebrated on June 9, 2012 in conjunction with World Oceans Day which is celebrated every year on June 8. 
• It is a multilateral partnership of six countries which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste.
• The Coral Triangle, the world's epicentre of marine diversity, is one of the 3 mega ecological complexes on our planet, together with the Congo Basin and the Amazon Rainforest.
• World's Largest 3D-Printed Reef was installed in the Maldives to repopulate the coral reefs.
• Live corals were transplanted within the reefs with the expectation that these corals will repopulate within few years.

• Recently, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the debt-ridden IL&FS to sell its 50% stake in the GIFT City to the Gujarat government.
• GIFT City is an integrated development area which includes Office spaces, Residential Apartments, Schools, Hospital, Hotels, Clubs, Retail and various Recreational facilities, which makes this City a truly “Walk to Work” City.
• GIFT City consist of a conducive Multi-Service SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and an exclusive Domestic Area.
• It  is a new Financial & Technology Gateway of India for the World.
• GIFT is attracting domestic and international financial services and IT/ITES sectors.
• GIFT City has two Zones: Domestic and Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
• All the domestic (Rupee denominated) transactions can be undertaken from GIFT domestic area.
• It has been designated as International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
• GIFT SEZ is the only place in India which is designated as IFSC.

• A group of senior lawmakers from eight democracies have launched a new cross-parliamentary alliance to counter what they say is the threat China’s growing influence poses to global trade, security and human rights.
•  The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Comprised of the US, Germany, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway, as well as members of the European parliament.
• The group aims to, construct appropriate and coordinated responses, and to help craft a proactive and strategic approach on issues related to the People’s Republic of China.
• It also aim to push for tough positioning against China, especially its handling of COVID-19 pandemic and its moves in Hond Kong. 

• Recently, a massive fire that erupted at leaking natural gas well in Baghjan oil field in Assam’s Tinsukia district.
• It is at an aerial distance of 900 metres from the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.
• It was drilled by Oil India Limited (OIL) in 2006.
• It is one of the most prolific gas reservoirs owned by OIL.

• Hope Mars Mission is all set to blast off on July 15 is now in their final preparatory stage.
• The Hope Mars Mission, also called the Emirates Mars Mission, spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates.
• It is the first planetary science mission led by an Arab-Islamic country.
• It is the first uncrewed, interplanetary satellite of the UAE.
• It will be the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers when it reaches the red planet's orbit in 2021. 
• It will help answer key questions about the global Martian atmosphere and the loss of hydrogen and oxygen gases into space over the span of one Martian year.