A royal city named Fatehpur Sikri on the Vindhya hills (presently near Agra) was constructed by Akbar in 1569.
It served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585, and later used by the British as an army outpost.
The fortification hosts various structures namely,
Buland Darwaza - It is the main entrance to the palace at Fatehpur Sikri, believed to be the most iconic architectural accomplishment of Akbar’s reign.
Buland Darwaza means gate of magnificence, is the highest gateway in the world (54 meters from the ground level).
It was built in 1601 A.D. by Akbar to commemorate his victory over Gujarat.
Ibadat Khana (house of worship) - Akbar met with scholars and priests of every religion to have philosophical debates on religion.
Haram Sara - Akbar’s wife lived in this minor complex.
Shabistan-i-Iqbal - It is commonly known as JodhaBai’s palace, which has exquisite carvings, columns with beautiful mouldings, and brackets.
Only the emperor’s seven or eight main wives lived there.
Tuirial Hydro power
Tuirial Hydro Electric Project (60 MW) in Mizoram is being implemented by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation.
The project was started in 1998, which is the biggest power project located in Mizoram.
It is earth fill and gravity dam over Tuirial which is the first ever Central project to be successfully commissioned in Mizoram.
Ministry of Power has been partly funded the project under NLCPR-Central Scheme.
NLCPR
Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) for the North East region is provided by the Ministry of Development of north east region (DoNER).
The accumulations in NLCPR are utilized by the Ministry of DoNER under the two Schemes of NLCPR (State) and NLCPR-Central for which annual budgetary allocations are provided in the normal budgetary process.
Under the NLCPR (State) Scheme, priority projects of North Eastern States are being funded.
Under NLCPR-Central Scheme, funds are provided to Central Ministries for implementing projects of national and regional importance.
Alien Species
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has for the first time compiled a list of alien invasive animal species, totalling 157.
In which 58 are found on land and in freshwater habitats, while 99 are in the marine ecosystem, this number excludes invasive microbe species.
Alien species become ‘invasive’ when they are introduced deliberately or accidentally outside their natural areas, where they out-compete the native species and upset the ecological balance.
This compilation was announced on the sidelines of the National Conference on the Status of Invasive Alien Species in India, organised by the ZSI and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).
ITCOO
Cabinet recently approved Agreement with UNESCO on establishment of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography in Hyderabad.
It focuses on development of capacity for the countries on the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR), African countries bordering the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, small island countries under the framework of UNESCO.
Centre will provide assistance in areas of capacity building and training, knowledge sharing and exchange of information.
Operational oceanography
The operational oceanography is an activity of conducting systematic oceanographic studies towards providing information services to various sectors.
Such sector includes fisherman, disaster management, shipping, ports, coastal states, navy, coast guard, environment, offshore industries for conducting their day-to- day operations.
New projections on Antarctic
New research on the melting of Antarctic ice sheets has suggested a dramatically faster pace of melting than is currently believed to be occurring.
As per the study’s projection under a high greenhouse gas emission future the median global mean sea level could rise from ~80 cm to ~150 cm.
Without protective measures, by 2100 (rising seas will) submerge land currently home to more than 153 million people.
To scale the loss it is nearly four times the combined population of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, as per Census 2011.
Source: PIB, The Hindu, Indian Express, Business Standard
