India's rich cultural heritage has been recognized yet again by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The ancient Hoysala temples of Belur, Halebid, and Somnathapura in Karnataka have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Known as Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, these architectural marvels are a testament to India's historical grandeur.

This news comes just after Santiniketan in West Bengal received similar recognition.

The decision was taken during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee currently underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

The ancient Hoysala temples 

The ancient Hoysala temples are renowned worldwide for their architectural brilliance that reflects an era marked by profound artistic talent and spiritual devotion. Built between 11th-14th centuries during the rule of the Hoysala Empire, these temples are characterized by their detailed stone carvings and unique star-shaped architecture. They symbolize a period in Indian history when art and religion were intricately intertwined.

The Critical Raw Materials Act was voted on in the European Parliament during the September 11-14, 2023, plenary session in Strasbourg, France.

• It was approved with a large majority of 515 Members of the European Parliament (MEP) backing it.
• While 34 MEPs did not vote in favour, 28 withheld their votes.
• The European Union, the world's largest trading bloc, aims to reduce its dependence on China and increase its domestic capacity for critical minerals through this legislation.
• Metals and critical minerals are crucial for the green transition as they are used to manufacture solar panels, windmills, and electric car batteries.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, inaugurated 'Udaan Bhawan’ an integrated office complex at Delhi’s Safdarjung Airport in New Delhi.
Speaking at the event Mr. Scindia said, the new building epitomizes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’. Mr Scindia added that it not only meets the standards of the 21st century in terms of environment and sustainability but also has openness and all amenities to take care of all the requirements. 

• The Udaan Bhawan is well equipped with modern conference rooms, an AV system, IT infrastructure, a parking management system, a Yoga room, a creche facility, and an EV charging station.
• During the event, the Minister also launched the pilot e-wallet facility.
• As per the Ministry, the e-wallet will be, particularly, useful for processing of fees for various regulatory approvals in the Bharat Kosh portal. It will also act as a prepaid wallet that would enable registered users to add funds in advance. Initially, only NEFT/RTGS mode will be allowed for adding funds.

Shri Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting today unveiled “People’s G20”, an eBook on India’s G20 Presidency in New Delhi. The book was released in the presence of Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau Shri Manish Desai and other senior Officers of Ministry of I&B and PIB.

• The book presents a complete journey of India’s G20 Presidency. The book consists of three parts, the first part dealing with the monumental G20 Summit that was held between September 9-10, 2023 in New Delhi. The book encapsulates the structure and working of G20 and elaborates on the initiatives that have been taken under India’s Presidency of the grouping.
• The second part provides a summary of the meetings of various Working Groups under the Sherpa and Finance Track along with the meetings of the Engagement Groups that have been held across the country over the last year since India took over as the Chair.
• The last part of the eBook presents a photo essay of the Jan-Bhagidari events that were held across the country in the past year transforming India’s G20 Presidency into a people-powered movement.

The 2nd Edition of the Indian Navy’s Naval Innovation and Indigenisation (NIIO) Seminar – ‘Swavlamban 2023’ is scheduled to be conducted on 04 – 05 Oct 2023.

• In the maiden edition of the seminar, held in July 2022, the Hon'ble Prime Minister launched the 75 challenges for the start-ups/ MSMEs as a part of the 'SPRINT' initiative.
• The ‘SPRINT Challenges’, are aimed at giving a boost to the usage of indigenous technology in the Indian Navy, and the Navy is committed to developing at least 75 technologies/ products as part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.
• SPRINT is a collaborative initiative being undertaken in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) and stands for Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC). This initiative has received an overwhelming response with 1106 proposals.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla officially renames the old Parliament building, previously known as Parliament House, to ‘Samvidhan Sadan.’ This renaming follows the members’ relocation to a new complex and is formalized through an official notification by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Historical Significance

The renaming of the old Parliament building holds historical significance, highlighting its role in the formation of the Indian Constitution. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestion during a Central Hall speech prompted this decision, emphasizing the building’s importance in India’s democratic journey.

Contribution to Drafting the Constitution

The old Parliament building served as the venue for the Constituent Assembly’s sessions from December 9, 1946, to January 24, 1950, during which the Indian Constitution was drafted. It played a pivotal role in shaping India’s constitutional framework and democratic principles.

P-7 Heavy Drop Parachute System recently received a bulk order, a move slated to enhance the armed forces' paradropping capabilities.  ADRDE, a pioneer in the field of Aerial Delivery Systems, has designed and developed the Heavy Drop P-7 Parachute system to airdrop 9.5 Ton (Max all Up mass) class payload using IL 76 Aircraft.

• The P-7 heavy drop system comprises of Parachute system and Platform system.
• The parachute system is designed to air drop a payload ranging from 5 ton to 9.5 ton.
• The parachute system is three stage system. In the first stage Extractor parachute pulls out the payload from aircraft and then initiates twin canopy of auxiliary parachute system.
• Auxiliary parachutes pull and assist in deployment of main parachute and brake parachute system. The main parachute system is a cluster of five canopies. After deployment, the Main Para brings the payload to steady state and safe Rate of Descent. 

S&P Global Market Intelligence announced on Monday that India’s growth prediction for FY24 was raised upward to 6.6 per cent on the strength of strong growth in the April-June quarter.

Billy Miller, an Emmy-winning actor from Texas who was best known for appearing on the long-running soap operas “The Young and the Restless” and “General Hospital,” has died at age 43. He died in Austin, Texas.

• The actor died on Friday(15 Sept, 2023), just before his 44th birthday, on Sunday.
• “The actor was struggling with manic depression when he died,” Sparer’s statement reads.
• According to his biography, Miller was born Sept. 17, 1979, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. He attended college at the University of Texas at Austin.
• Miller won three Emmy awards, two for Outstanding Supporting Actor and one for Outstanding Lead Actor. All three were for his role as Billy Abbott on “The Young and the Restless.”
• Miller appeared in the 2014 film “Sniper” as well as the TV series “Suits” and “Ray Donovan.”

In a significant development for India's defence capabilities, the Indian Army has recently inducted 600 self-neutralizing anti-tank mines known as "Vibhav." These mines, designed and manufactured indigenously in collaboration with the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), offer enhanced mobility kill capabilities against enemy armoured vehicles.   

• The collaboration between the Indian Army and DRDO has resulted in the creation of 'Vibhav' as a point-attack anti-tank munition.
• This homegrown solution underscores India's commitment to developing its defence capabilities independently. 
• The 'Vibhav' anti-tank mine is crafted from state-of-the-art plastic, providing it with the necessary strength and durability to withstand the rigours of storage, handling, and deployment in diverse field conditions. This innovative munition represents a notable advancement in India's defence technology.  

The Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority has earmarked at least 6554 hectares of land for Aerotropolis around Noida airport being developed at Jewar along Yamuna Expressway. The authority has already decided to develop the aviation hub on 4,480 hectares of an area along Yamuna Expressway. 

• The Yeida in its 78th board meeting approved a proposal that earmarks 6,554 hectares of land for this ambitious project and now the authority will seek nod from the UP government.
• Once the UP government will give its green signal the authority will take this crucial project to the next stage, said officials.
• This project will boost not only residential development but also the industrial boom, also boasting state-of-the-art infrastructure to support a diverse range of themed developments

Scientists at Google DeepMind have built an artificial intelligence program AlphaMissense, that can predict whether millions of genetic mutations are either harmless or likely to cause disease, in an effort to speed up research and the diagnosis of rare disorders.

• The program makes predictions about so-called missense mutations, where a single letter is misspelt in the DNA code.
• Such mutations are often harmless but they can disrupt how proteins work and cause diseases from cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell anaemia to cancer and problems with brain development.
• The researchers used AlphaMissense to assess all 71m single-letter mutations that could affect human proteins. When they set the program’s precision to 90%, it predicted that 57% of missense mutations were probably harmless and 32% were probably harmful. It was uncertain about the impact of the rest.
• Based on the findings, the scientists have released a free online catalogue of the predictions to help geneticists and clinicians who are either studying how mutations drive diseases or diagnosing patients who have rare disorders.

A new elephant corridor report released by the central government showed a 40 per cent increase in elephant corridors across 15 elephant range states in India.

• The number of elephant corridors have increased to 150 against 88 registered by the Government of India in 2010. The elephant population in the country is estimated to be over 30,000.
• Elephant corridors can be described as a strip of land that enables elephant movement between two or more friendly habitats.
• The corridors were reported by respective state governments and ground validation methods were used to verify them, the report stated. 
• West Bengal has the most elephant corridors — 26 — amounting to 17 per cent of the total corridors, the report said.
• East central region contributed to 35 per cent, that is 52 corridors, while North East region was second largest with 32 per cent number meaning 48 corridors in total.
• Southern India registered 32, that is 21 per cent of the elephant corridors, while northern India was lowest with 18 corridors or 12 per cent.
• Majority of the corridors were noted to be within state boundaries and the intensity of the use of corridors has increased by 40 per cent. However, it showed that 19 per cent of the corridors, that is 29, showed a decrease in use while 10 others were seen impaired and demanding restoration for facilitating elephant movement.
• The decrease in corridor use is attributed to the habitat fragmentation, shrinkage and destruction

NASA reports that the summer of 2023 has officially become the hottest on record since temperature tracking began in 1880.

• This scorching summer, marked by extreme heatwaves in North America, Europe, Asia, and other regions, is primarily attributed to human-induced global warming, further intensified by the recurring climate phenomenon El Niño – a climate pattern disrupting normal Pacific winds and causing higher temperatures in regions like Canada and the U.S. West Coast.
• In August 2023, temperatures soared 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the summer average.
• This extreme heatwave severely impacted 57 million people in the southern and southwestern United States, reaching the highest level of severity.
• When examining temperature data for June, July, and August combined, these months were 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius) warmer than all previous summers, highlighting the escalating impact of global warming.