• The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), also known as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, was inaugurated recently.
• MTHL, India’s longest sea bridge covering 21.8 km out of which 16.5 km is over the sea, is expected to see the movement of more than 70,000 vehicles every day.
• It is a twin-carriageway six-lane bridge over the Thane Creek in the Arabian Sea.
• It connects Sewri in the island city of Mumbai to Chirle in Raigad district on the mainland.
• The project is expected to facilitate greater economic integration of Navi Mumbai with Mumbai, with benefits extending to Panvel, Alibaug, Pune, and Goa.

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted a successful flight-test of the New Generation AKASH (AKASH-NG) missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of
• It has validated the functioning of the complete weapon system consisting of the missile with indigenously developed Radio Frequency Seeker, Launcher, Multi-Function Radar and Command, Control & Communication system.

ABOUT AKASH-NG

• New Generation Akash is a Surface to Air Missile (SAM).
• It is a short-range surface-to-air missile developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• It has capability of intercepting highspeed, agile aerial threats in a range of around 80 km.
• It is driven by a novel engine — a dual pulse motor.
  • This allows the Akash to vary its speed and conserve fuel for a final furious burst towards the threat.

• State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest Bank has launched a special fixed deposit (FD) scheme.
• It has introduced SBI Green Rupee Term Deposit (SGRTD) scheme to mobilise funds to support environment friendly initiatives and projects.
• This deposit scheme is open to resident individuals, non-individuals, and NRIs.
• SGRTD offers investors the flexibility to choose from three distinct tenors: 1,111 days, 1,777 days, and 2,222 days.
• Senior Citizens/ Staff/ Staff Senior Citizens are eligible for an additional interest rate over the applicable rate for the public.
• Pre-mature withdrawal is
• Loan/ overdraft facility is also available against the deposit.

ABOUT GREEN DEPOSITS

• Green deposit means an interest-bearing deposit, received by the regulated entities (RE) for a fixed period the proceeds of which are earmarked for being allocated towards green finance
• The deposits raised under the framework are covered by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.

• The Himalayan Wolf has been assessed for the first time in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List.
• The animal has been categorised as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List.
• The Assessment has also flagged ‘continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat’ of Himalayan wolves.
• The study was based on population size estimate of 2,275-3,792 mature individuals.
  • India has 227-378 mature individuals in its section of the Himalayas.
• The Himalayan Wolf is a prominent lupine predator found across the Himalayas.
• Scientific name- Canis lupus chanco
• Its habitat consists of grasslands, rocky outcrops, and steep slopes.
• It has thick fur that varies from reddish to brown, grey and black in color.
• They typically hunt in small packs of up to six individuals.
• Threats
  • It is illegally hunted for trade in its fur and body parts including paws, tongues, heads, and other parts.
  • Increasing populations of feral dogs also poses a growing challenge.
• Protection status
  • IUCN’s Red List: Vulnerable
  • WPA 1972: Schedule I
  • CITES: Appendix I

• An official delegation from the Department of Science and Technology visited Hawai’i in the United States, to discuss “challenges” to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project.

About TMT Project

• The TMT has been conceived as a 30-metre diameter primary-mirror optical and infrared telescope that will enable observations into deep space.
• It is proposed as a joint collaboration involving institutions in the U.S., Japan, China, Canada, and India.
  • Indian participation in the project was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2014.
• It will be installed on Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii.
• TMT’s light-collecting primary mirror will be the largest in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Its 30 meter mirror will be composed of 492 individual 1.4 meter hexagonal segments aligned to form a single light collecting surface.
• TMT will support a state of the art adaptive optics facility and supporting suite of instruments to process and analyze the light coming from its impressive primary mirror.
• It will observe wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet to mid-infrared with up to 80 times more sensitivity of today’s largest telescopes.
• India’s Role
  • India is a Founder-Member country for this project at about 10% level.
  • India’s in-kind contributions towards the project include Hardware (Segment Support Assemblies, Actuators, Edge Sensors, Segment Polishing and Segment Coating), Instrumentation (First Light Instruments) and Software (Observatory Software and Telescope Control Systems).

• Prime Minister recently visited the Kalaram Mandir on the banks of the Godavari in the Panchavati area of Nashik.

ABOUT THE TEMPLE

• The Kalaram temple derives its name from a black statue of the Lord — Kala Ram translates literally to “Black Ram”.
• The sanctum sanctorum has statues of Ram, Sita, and Lakshman, and a black idol of Hanuman at the main entrance.
• The temple was built in 1792 with the efforts of one Sardar Rangarao Odhekar.
• It is said that Sardar Odhekar dreamt of a black-coloured statue of Lord Ram in the Godavari, and recovered the statues from the river and built the temple.
• The place where statues were found was named
• The main temple has 14 steps, which represent the 14 years of Lord Ram’s exile.
• It has 84 pillars, which represents the cycle of 84 lakh species that one has to complete in order to be born as a human.

IMPORTANCE OF PANCHVATI

• Panchavati has a special place in the Ramayana and, therefore, in the Hindu religion.
• Ram, along with Sita and Lakshman, spent the first few years of their 14-year exile in Dandakaranya, the dense forest in central India of which Panchavati was a part.
• The name Panchavati comes from the existence of five banyan trees in the area.
• According to the epic, Lord Ram, Sita, and Lakshman set up a hut here as the presence of five banyan trees made this region auspicious.
• It is from the Panchavati region that Ravan, the demon king of Lanka, abducted Sita after drawing her out of the secure zone created by Lakshman by deceit, and set off the chain of events that led to Ram’s journey southward to Lanka, and the Ramayana war.

MODERN HISTORY

• In 1930, B R Ambedkar and the Marathi teacher and social activist Pandurang Sadashiv Sane, known as Sane Guruji, led an agitation to demand access for Dalits to Hindu temples.
• The satyagraha at the Kalaram temple continued until

• General V.K. Singh (Retd), Union Minister of State, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Civil Aviation recently released the book ‘Sanskriti ke Ayaam’ written by Manorama Mishra.
• This book, written in Hindi language, has been published by the National Book Trust, India, working under the Ministry of Education (MOE).
• The book talks about Indian knowledge, tradition and culture.

• Manipur Chief Minister recently launched the College Fagathansi Mission at a grand function organised at the Moirang College, Bishnupur District.
• The mission had been taken up to develop infrastructures of colleges and provide better higher education facilities as a follow up initiative of School Fagathansi Mission.

• Sri Lanka’s Education minister Dr. Susil Premajayantha recently said that a new campus of IIT Madras would be started in Kandy in Sri Lanka.
• This initiative aligns with Sri Lanka’s vision for educational advancement and strengthens India’s internationalization efforts in the education sector.
• This venture follows IIT Delhi’s planned campus in Abu Dhabi and IIT Madras’ existing presence in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

• Indian Navy’s multi-national exercise, MILAN 24 is all set to be held in Visakhapatnam in Feb ‘24.
• MILAN 24 exercise would comprise two phases – ‘Harbour phase’ and ‘Sea phase’.
• The harbour phase, aims to promote cultural sharing amongst the participating Nations and the Sea phase includes ships with Maritime Patrol aircraft and submarines of Friendly Foreign Countries.
• MILAN is a biennial multi-national naval exercise which started in 1995 with participation of four foreign countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand) in consonance with India’s ‘Look East policy’.