BIHAR
First hilltop monastery found in Gangetic Valley in Bihar
The first hilltop Buddhist monastery of the Gangetic Valley has been found at Lal Pahari in Lakhisarai.
The 11th-12th century common era (CE) monastery has some unique features rarely found elsewhere in the country and certainly not in Bihar. Besides wooden votive tablets found, it is the first Buddhist monastery which had a woman monk named Vijayashree Bhadra as its chief. She used to receive donations from Pala queen Mallika Devi. A large number of metal bangles have been found and all its cells had doors, something unusual for the Buddhist monasteries excavated so far, suggesting that either it was exclusively for woman monks or a mixed one.
The two burnt clay seals recovered from the site record the name Srīmaddharmahāvihārik āryabhikṣusaṅghasya (the council of monks of Śrīmaddhama vihāra). The language used is Sanskrit and the script is Siddhamātṛkā of about 8th-9th century CE.
The name is equally significant as it indicates how much prestige the Mahāyāna Buddhism enjoyed in early medieval Magadha.
INTERNATIONAL
Antarctic Iceberg A68 Becomes Cause For Concern For South Georgia Island
The giant Antarctic iceberg A68 has become a cause for concern for South Georgia Island. The giant iceberg A68 is the largest free-floating ice block in Antarctica, covering approximately 5,800 square kilometres.
The giant iceberg A68 is the largest free-floating ice block in Antarctica, covering an area of approximately 5,800 square kilometres. It has been drifting in the Atlantic Ocean since 2017.
In 2020, icebergs were pushed into the South Atlantic Ocean due to ocean currents. Since then, it has been drifting towards the remote sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, a British Overseas Territory (BOT).
These raises concern that icebergs may have an impact on the island’s abundant wildlife.
Icebergs travel with ocean currents and either get caught up in shallow waters or ground themselves.
NATIONAL
INCOIS launches web based ‘Digital Ocean’ app for information sharing
The Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Science & Technology, Dr.Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurated the web-based application “Digital Ocean”.
Digital Ocean is a first of its kind digital platform for Ocean Data Management.
It has been developed by Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) an autonomous organization under M/o Earth sciences.
Digital Ocean is a step towards Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India, to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy
Digital Ocean will serve as a one stop-solution for all the data related to the ocean.
DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory for Quantum Technologies – DYSL-QT
The DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory has developed a Quantum-based technology to generate Random Numbers.
DYSL-QT has developed a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG), which can detect random quantum events and convert them into a stream of binary numbers.
The laboratory has developed a fibre optic branch path based on QRNG.
QRNG based on branch path is based on the following principle: if a single photon is an incident on a balanced beam splitter, it will randomly adopt any beam splitter’s output path.
Since the path chosen by the photon is random, the randomness is converted into a series of bits.
RBI Trend and Progress Report Provides the Performance of The Banking Sector
The Reserve Bank of India’s trend and progress report provides information on the banking industry’s performance. This includes non-bank financial institutions and cooperative banks.
The report also provides views on the development prospects of India’s financial industry. The report is statutory compliance with the Banking Control Law of 1949.
The report stated that the ratio of total non-performing assets of commercial banks dropped from 9.1% in March 2019 to 7.5% in September 2020. COVID-19 provisions and dividend returns will help protect its balance sheet.
The ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets of fixed-term commercial banks increased from 14.3% in March 2019 to 15.8% in September 2020. This helps public sector banks to inject capital.
After losses in previous years, regular commercial banks’ net profit turned losses into profits in the 2019-20 fiscal year. The planned commercial banks consolidated their earnings after turning losses into profits in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
GoI launched the Global Pravasi Rishta Portal and Mobile app
The Indian government launched the global Pravasi Rishta portal and mobile application. The application is designed to connect the Indian diaspora all over the world. The Global Pravasi Rishta portal and mobile application will help connect the 31.2 million Indian diasporas scattered worldwide.
The Global Pravasi Rishta portal and mobile application will help connect the 31.2 million Indian diasporas scattered worldwide. It will establish a three-way communication between the Indian mission (meaning the embassy), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indian diaspora. Indian diaspora refers to the population scattered in India. (The diaspora is moving the people away from its indigenous territories on a large scale).
The Indian diaspora will use the application, and missions will also use the portal. So far, the ministry has no effective communication channels to establish contacts with Indian diasporas worldwide.
Cabinet Approved The Export Of The Akash Missile System
The cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently approved the export of Akash missile systems. Besides, a committee was established to approve the export of missile systems quickly.
The goal of the Indian government is to export $5 billion Akash missiles. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Akash missile has more than 96% local content.
The export of Akash missiles will help the Indian government achieve 25 billion U.S. dollars in defence manufacturing turnover by 2025.
The Indian Armed Forces will spend more than US$130 billion in capital purchases over the next five years. This will also help promote the defence manufacturing industry.
The Akash missile is a short-range surface-to-air local missile with a range of 25 kilometres.
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