A massive burial site of Harappan civilization has been found near Dholavira, Kutch district in Gujarat.
It is for the first time rectangular graves are found in Gujarat, so far only semi-circular and circular graves have been unearthed in Gujarat.
The rectangular graves each of varying dimensions contained skeletons that were oriented east-west with the heads positioned on the eastern side.
The presence of animal skeletons along with those of humans was also recorded in a few graves.
Instances of primary burial and secondary burial (when the remains of the primary burial are exhumed and moved to another grave) were found.
The remains of those who were possibly cremated were also found in a few graves.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) based in Stockholm is an independent international institute established in 1966.
It is dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
It releases the National Reports on Arms Exports to highlight the oversight of government implementation of arms export control policies.
According to a recent SIPRI report, India was the world’s second-largest arms importer from 2014-18, in the year 2009-2013 India was the largest arms importer.
Pinaka Extended Range Rocket
Pinaka is guided extended range rockets which can immobilize enemies from a 90Km distance, developed indigenously by DRDO.
Pinaka rocket launcher can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds.
Pinaka Mark I was extensively used by Indian Army in 1999 Kargil war to neutralize enemies on mountain tops.
The initial version of the Pinaka rocket had a range of 40km before it was developed into Pinaka Mark II, which had an enhanced range of 70-80 km.
Each Pinaka launcher has its own computer, allowing it to work independently and able to fire rockets in different directions, fire all rockets in one go or select few.
Reko Diq Mine
Reko Diq Mine is one of the world's biggest untapped copper and gold deposits located in Baluchistan, Pakistan.
Reko Diq area is buried at the foot of an extinct volcano near the frontier with Iran and Afghanistan.
It has estimated reserves of 5.9 billion tons of low-grade copper and gold reserves amounting to 41.5 million oz.
Sirsi Supari
Recently registrar of Geographical Indications accorded a GI tag, ‘Sirsi Supari’.
Sirsi Supari is an arecanut grown in Sirsi, Siddpaur and Yellapur taluks of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka.
The Totagars’ Cooperative Sale Society (TSS) Ltd, a Sirsi-based agri cooperative, is the registered proprietor of the GI ‘Sirsi Supari’.
‘Sirsi Supari’ is medium sized and round in shape, it has a somewhat ash coloured hard seed.
‘Sirsi Supari’ is unique in taste from areca nuts grown in other parts of the country due to the differences in the chemical composition of different areca nuts.
Wood Snake
A species of wood snake that wasn’t seen for 140 years has resurfaced in a survey conducted at the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary.
The wood snake is point endemic, which can be only found in Meghamalai forests and the Periyar Tiger Reserve landscape.
The scientific name of the species is Xylophis indicus, and it is uniformly dark brown in colour.
