Short News Articles

History

1,300-yr-old Buddhist Stupa found in Odhisha

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has identified a 1,300-year-old stupa, in the middle of a mining site in Odisha’sJajpur district from where Khondalite stones were supplied for the beautification project around the 12th Century Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.

About:

• The stupa could be 4.5-metre tall and initial assessment showed it may belong to the 7 th or 8 th century.
• The stupa found is said to the part of Lalitgiri Buddhist site.
• The ASI has asked to stop the mining activity in the area for excavation of Khondalite stones.
• Khondalite stones were widely used in ancient temple complexes. The State government had come up with an ambitious plan to spend ?3,208 crore under the Augmentation of Basic Amenities and Development of Heritage and Architecture (ABADHA) scheme in three years to transform Puri into a world heritage city using these stones.

Polity and Governance

PM inaugurated Shivamogga airport

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Shivamogga airport at Sogane, Karnataka.

Key points:

• The new airport has a lotus-shaped terminal and has been developed at a cost of around ?450 crore.
• The passenger terminal building of the airport can handle 300 passengers per hour.
• Built on 775 acres of land, the airport has a 3.2 km long runway, and the passenger terminal has a built-up area of 4,320 sqft.
• The airport can handle aircraft ranging from the ATR 72 to the Airbus 320.
• It is considered the second largest airport in the State, after KempeGowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

Science and Technology

National Science Day 2023

The Government of India designated February 28 as National Science Day, to commemorate the announcement of the discovery of the “Raman effect”.

About Raman Effect:

• The Raman Effect was the discovery which won physicist Sir CV Raman his Nobel Prize in 1930.
• Conducting a deceptively simple experiment, Raman discovered that when a stream of light passes through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.
• This discovery was immediately recognised as ground-breaking in the scientific community, being the subject of over 700 papers in the first seven years after its announcement.

Significance of Raman Effect:

• The discovery would also find its use in chemistry, giving birth to a new field known as Raman spectroscopy as a basic analytical tool to conduct non-destructive chemical analysis for both organic and inorganic compounds.

National Science Day 2023:

• Theme: “Global Science for Global Wellbeing”, in light of India’s G20 presidency.
• Announced in: 1986 for the first time.

Art and Culture

Siang Unying Festival

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush attended the colourful Siang Unying Festival.

About:

• The colourful Siang Unying Festival – which is an important festival of the Adi community at Boleng, Arunachal Pradesh.
• The festival of Unying is celebrated to herald the season of cultivation, beginning of the Adi community’s New Year, arrival of spring seasons as well as a great way to strengthen the bond among the community.
• In this festival, it is customary for all male members of a family to go on a hunting spree (open season) and stay in the jungles for one week.
• When they return home they come back with various kills such as deers, birds, squirrels, fish etc.
• The children perform “Yakjong” (house to house) wearing colorful traditional attire and bless the house where they perform.