It is Andhra Pradesh's shadow theatre which has a rich and strong tradition.
The puppets are large in size and have jointed waist, shoulders, elbows and knees.
They are colored on both sides and throw colored shadows on the screen.
The music is dominantly influenced by the classical music of the region.
The theme of the puppet plays are drawn from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas.
The skin of wild animals including the antelope and the spotted deer was used to make puppet.
Now the skin of Goats is used to make the puppets, as the hunting of deer is banned.
First Apex Conference for the CEOs of Smart Cities
Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairswill inaugurated the ‘First Apex Conference for the CEOs of Smart Cities ‘in Bhopal.
The conference is organized for providing a platform for cross learning and knowledge sharing among the Smart City CEOs.
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Smart City Special Purpose Vehicle (SPVs) have been instrumental in achieving transformational outcomes envisaged under the Smart City Mission.
The strategic components of area-based development in the Smart Cities Mission are city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (Greenfield development).
The Smart City Mission is flagship scheme of Union Government that will cover 100 cities and its duration is five years (2015-16 to 2019-20).
The focus of mission is on sustainable and inclusive development and set examples which can be replicated in other parts of the city and other cities.
Strategy 2030
Asian Development Bank is preparing Strategy 2030.
Its new long-term strategy, to respond to the changes brought about by a rapidly evolving Asia and the Pacific.
The new strategy builds on the 2014 midterm review of its current strategy—Strategy 2020.
It outlines a vision and key directions for ADB’s engagement with developing member countries until 2030.
It aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and other global commitments.
It identifies institutional reforms necessary to sharpen ADB's efficiency and effectiveness.
Under Strategy 2030, ADB will sustain its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, given the region’s unfinished poverty agenda, and expand its vision to achieve a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific.
Border Roads Organization
Border Roads Organization (BRO) is celebrated its Raising Day recently.
It is a leader in the arena of infrastructural development in the border areas of the country.
It is an organization under the Ministry of Defense.
The BRO consists of Border Roads Wing in the Ministry of Defense and the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF).
The BRO undertakes projects in India and friendly countries.
These projects typically include developing roads, bridges, and airfields in hostile environments shunned by private enterprises, whether due to security concerns related to hostilities, or because of environmental challenges.
Water ice hidden on the moon
A team from the Tohoku University in Japan found the mineral, called moganite, in a lunar meteorite discovered in a desert in northwest Africa.
It points to the presence of abundant hidden reserves of water ice under the surface of the moon.
It could be potentially useful for future human exploration.
Moganite is a crystal of silicon dioxide.
The mineral is known to form on the earth in specific circumstances in sedimentary settings from alkaline fluids.
It has never before been detected in samples of lunar rock.
The mineral formed on the surface of the moon in the area called Procellarum Terrane.
As water originally present in lunar dirt evaporated due to exposure to strong sunlight water remains as ice in the subsurface.
ISRO to source fuel component from NFL
National Fertilizer Ltd (NFL) has won an order from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to supply di-Nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4).
Nitrogen tetroxide forms an integral part of the liquid propellant used in launching space rockets.
N2O4 is a powerful oxidiser and an ideal liquid propellant component for satellite launch vehicles.
As the number of satellites launch are increasing, the demand for propellant is also increasing.
NFL is a Schedule ‘A’ and a Mini Ratna (Category-I) Company.
