1. Lunar Exosphere
- The thin gaseous layer encompassing the Moon is the ‘Lunar exosphere’, due to the gas atoms present in it very rarely collide with each other, thus making up a very tenuous structure.
- Chandrayaan-2 currently orbiting the Moon has detected Argon-40 from an altitude of about 100 km in the lunar exosphere.
- It has been able to do that with the help of its Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) payload.
- Argon-40 also known as 40Ar is an isotope of the noble gas Argon.
- Argon is third most abundant gas in the Earth’s Atmosphere.
- According to ISRO, Argon-40 originates from the radioactive disintegration of Potassium-40.
2. India Justice Report
- Prepared by the Tata Trusts in collaboration with the Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has been released.
- This is the first-ever ranking of Indian states on justice delivery.
- The report has divided states on the basis of the population into two parts
- The large-medium states (Population 1 crore and above)
- The small states and Union Territories (Population less than 1 crore)
- Maharashtra has topped the list among large-medium States followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana.
- Goa leads the list of smaller states followed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
3. Kalapani
- Kalapani is a valley that is administered by India as a part of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. It is situated on the Kailash Mansarovar route.
- The Kalapani territory became the bone of contention between India and Nepal
- According to India, the historic Kalapani region forms part of the state of Uttarakhand.
- The Kali River in the Kalapani region demarcates the border between India and Nepal.
- The Treaty of Sugauli signed by the Kingdom of Nepal and British India (after Anglo-Nepalese War) in 1816 located the Kali River as Nepal’s western boundary with India. The discrepancy in locating the source of the river led to boundary disputes between India and Nepal, with each country producing maps supporting their own claims.
4. Dhrupad
- Traditionally, the dhrupad style of singing was performed with a tanpura and pakhawaj.
- The lyrics sung in Dhrupad are in a medieval form of Hindi and typically heroic in theme, or praise of a particular deity.
- It is a form of devotional music that traces its origin to the ancient text of Samveda and reached zenith at Mughal era particularly Akbar maintained Tansen who was specialized in Dhrupad as member of Navaratna
- One significant characteristic of Dhrupad is the emphasis on maintaining the purity of the Raga.
- Hindustani classical music is primarily vocal-centric. The primary vocal forms associated with Hindustani music are the Khayal, Ghazal, Dhrupad, Dhammar, Tarana and Thumri.
5. Thiruvalluvar
- Thiruvalluvar, also called Valluvar, was a Tamil poet-saint.
- He is believed to have lived between 3rd-4th century or 8th-9th century.
- He is thought to be linked to Jainism. However, Hindus have also claimed that Thiruvalluvar belonged to hinduism.
- Dravidian groups also count him as a saint, as he dismissed the caste system.
- He had contributed the Tirukkural or ‘Kural’ to the Sangam literature.
- Tirukkural is comprised of 133 sections of 10 couplets each is divided into three books: Aram (virtue), Porul (government and society), and Kamam (love).