Current Affair 1:

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

 

News:

The 19th NAM Summit was held under Uganda's leadership in Kampala. Uganda has taken over as chair from Azerbaijan, to run until 2027.

India has conducted once such summit in 1983, in New Delhi.

About:

In 1961, drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference of 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement was formally established in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold War confrontation. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.

India is a founding member of NAM. As a founding member of NAM, India remains committed to the purposes and principles of the Movement.

NAM does not have a permanent secretariat or a formal founding charter, act, or treaty. The summit usually takes place every three years.

Current Affair 2:

Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal)

 

News:

Read:

The primary objective of this Scheme is “to improve the management of groundwater resources in the water stressed areas of the selected States.” This will be achieved by implementing appropriate investments/management actions led by the community through convergence of various ongoing /new central and state schemes.

A four-tier institutional mechanism at National, State, District and Gram Panchayat levels with necessary linkages has been envisaged under the scheme as shown:

Current Affair 3:

Launch of “Alliance for Global Good- Gender Equity and Equality”

 

News:

India established the "Global Alliance for Global Good - Gender Equity and Equality" at the 54th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, gaining full support from WEF for promoting women's empowerment and gender equality.

The primary objective of this new Alliance is to bring together global best practices, knowledge sharing and investments in the identified areas of women’s health, education, and enterprise.

Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the alliance will be housed and anchored by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Centre for Women Leadership.

Current Affair 4:

Nagara Architecture of Ayodhya's Magnificent Ram Mandir

Nagara Architecture of Ayodhya's Magnificent Ram Mandir

The grand temple at Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya will follow the Nagara style of temple architecture. The basic form of a Hindu temple contains the following architectural elements:

Garbhagriha - the small room where the principal deity/deities of the temple reside

Mandapa - the portico or hall at the entrance of the temple generally designed to house a large number of people

Shikhara - the mountain like spire which can have different shapes from pyramidal to curvilinear

Vahana - the mount of the main deity placed generally in line of sight from Garbhagriha

In the Nagara style, the temple is generally constructed on a upraised platform called jagati. Mandapas are present in front of the Garbhagriha. These are adorned with the Shikhara, the tallest one being above the Garbhagriha.

Unlike the temples in south India, Nagara style does not usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways (South Indian temples often sport magnificent Gopurams). Generally, there is no water tank in the temple premises and the pradakshina patha is covered.

The temple will be a whooping 161-feet high and have three storeys. The temple will be designed according to the Vastushastra and Shilpishastra. All the calculations for different temple elements are highly specific.

The shikhara over the mandapas in the pictures of the Ayodhya Ram temple can be seen having a square base, and a rectilinear outline. This is called the phamsana-style shikhara. Note that the mandapa shikhara right at the entrance has an octagonal base.

This is what the main shikhara will look like from the inside:

The Ayodhya Ram temple will have five mandapas between the garbhagriha and the entrance- kudu mandapa, nritya mandapa, rang mandapa - in that order. The kirtan mandapa and prarthana mandapa will be on the either side.

The structure will have a total of 360 pillars.

Note: The chief architect of the temple is Chandrakant bhai Sompura, who designed the Akshardham temple in Gujarat. His grandfather Prabhakarji Sompura had designed the Somnath temple.

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