• A quiet town, Chebrolu, in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, located near Vijayawada, is referred to by many as a land of temples.
• A general belief runs in the town that there are more than 100 small and big temples.
• Not all of the temples here have a ‘sikharam’ (tower).
• Most of them are one-roomed temples found in every corner of the town.
• Eastern Chalukya, Velanati Choda, Kakatiya, Pota Rajulu, and Paristchedi dynasties have all ruled this place.
• Of all, a cluster of four ancient temples is the highlight. All of them were built between the 9th and 12th century A.D.
• They are-
  • Chaturmukha Brahmeswara temple has a Sivaling and the four faces of Lord Brahma attached to it. The temple sits in the middle of a pond.
  • The Bhimeswara temple, built by the Eastern Chalukyan King Chalukya Bhima during the 9th century A.D., has two floors, a staircase and a huge Sivaling.
  • Nageswara Swamy, again a Siva temple, belonging to the 11th century A.D.
  • The fourth temple is Adikesava temple, built in the Cholan style of architecture. The temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, has pillars outside that have standing lion

• The National Cadet Corps (NCC) celebrated its 75^th anniversary
• The NCC in India was formed in 1948 with the objective to make up for a shortage of personnel in the Army.
• The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru presided over the function of raising the first NCC Unit at Delhi on the last Sunday of November 1948.
• Serving as the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces, it operates from its headquarters in New Delhi. Open to school and college students voluntarily, the NCC functions as a Tri-Services Organisation, encompassing the Army, Navy and Air Force.
• Cadets undergo fundamental military training, including small arms handling and drill exercises.
• The motto of the NCC, Unity and Discipline, encapsulates the values of duty, loyalty, dedication, and self-sacrifice.
• It stands as the largest youth organisation in the country, with a mission to build character, and leadership qualities and foster national integration.

• The Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare jointly launched a training programme for ‘Krishi Sakhis’ to promote natural farming.
• The programme was launched under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
• The initiative is aimed at training 50,000 ‘Krishi Sakhis’ to give them certification in a phased manner by the National Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (NCONF), a subordinate office of the MoA&FW as the Nodal institution.
• Training modules have been prepared by the NCONF and sent to the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) for the final review.

ABOUT KRISHI SAKHIS

• Krishi Sakhis are Community Agriculture Care Service Providers (CASPs).
• They are trained para extension professionals and practicing farmers at the grass root level.
• They encourage the adoption of environmentally friendly and economically viable agricultural methods by raising awareness.

• Providing relief to patients with rare diseases across India, the Union Health Ministry has made available generic drugs to support the care and treatment of four ailments– Tyrosinemia-Type 1, Gauchers Disease, Wilson’s Disease, and the Dravet-Lennox Gastaut Syndrome.
• This means that the cost of these drugs will be slashed by anywhere between 60 and 100 times of their current market value.

ABOUT RARE DISEASES

• A rare disease is a health condition of particularly low prevalence that affects a small number of people.
• WHO defines rare disease as often debilitating lifelong disease or disorder with a prevalence of 1 or less, per 1000 population.
• There are 6,000-8,000 classified rare diseases, but less than 5% have therapies available to treat them.
• It collectively afflicts 6-8% of the population in any country at any given time, so India could have 8.4 crore to 10 crore such cases, according to the Ministry.
• Nearly 80% of these diseases are genetic, which means that symptoms are seen, and require treatment, at an early age.

• The Prime Minister participated in Sant Mirabai Janmotsav, a program to celebrate the 525th birth anniversary of Sant Mirabai in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
• A commemorative stamp and coin were also released in honour of Sant Mira Bai.

ABOUT SANT MEERA BAI

• Meera Bai was a 16^th century Hindu mystic Bhakti poet and she was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna.
• Meerabai was the princess who was born on 1498 to Rajput King Ratan Singh, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
  • She was the only child.
• Meera got married in 1516 to Bhoj Raj, the son of Rana Sanga and prince of Mewar.
  • He was injured in 1518 in a conflict with the rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and due to this, he died in 1521.
• She expressed her deep love for Lord Krishna through soul-stirring poems (bhajans and padavali), which conveyed her spiritual yearning and intense longing for union with the divine.
• She wrote hundreds of songs and initiated a mode of singing the songs, a raga.
  • About 200-400 songs are accepted by scholars as being written by Mirabai; another 800-1000 have been attributed to her.
• She was the first to introduce Giridhara Gopala cult of Brindavan.
• She was a disciple of Saint Ravidas.

ABOUT BHAKTI MOVEMENT

• The Bhakti saints advocated for attaining God through devotion (bhakti) rather than adhering to rules, regulations, or societal structures.
• The movement originated in South India in the 7th and 10th CE, mostly in the poems of Alvars and Nayanars.
• It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reached its peak between the 15th and 17th century CE.
• The two schools of Bhakti saints were– Nirguna and Saguna School.
  • According to Nirguna school of thinking, God had no shape and lacked any characteristics.
  • The Saguna School, on the other hand, held that God manifests himself through incarnations like Rama and Krishna and has a specific shape, personality, and beneficial qualities.
• Other famous Bhakti saints include- Guru Nanak, Tulsidas, Kabirdas, Ravidas and Surdas

• The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to set up a fresh delimitation commission to ensure a proportional representation of the communities specified as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), as mandated under the Constitution.
• The directions were issued by a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra on a plea seeking a proportionate representation of the Limbu and Tamang tribal communities in the assemblies of Sikkim and West Bengal.
• The plea sought directions to the Centre, Election Commission and the two States to take steps for a proportional representation of the STs, as guaranteed
  • under articles 330 (reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the House of People) and
  • 332 (reservation of seats for SCs and STs in Legislative Assemblies of States) of the Constitution, to prevent a violation of Article 14 (equality before law).

ABOUT DELIMITATION COMMISSION

• Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body.
• The job of delimitation is assigned to a high power body. Such a body is known as Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission.
• Composition-
  • A SC judge (Current or retired) acts as Chairman
  • The Chief Election Commissioner of India or an Election Commissioner nominated by him/her.
  • Respective State’s Election Commissioner.
• In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952, 1963 , 1973 and in 2002.
• The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.
• These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this behalf.
• The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.

• India celebrates Constitution Day or Samvidhan Diwas on November 26^th.
• Earlier, this day was celebrated as Law Day but in 2015 the Indian government modified Law Day as Constitution Day.
• November 26 marks the day when India adopted its constitution in the year 1949.
• The Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950.
• BR Ambedkar, known for championing the cause of the downtrodden, was the head of the committee that finalised the draft of the Indian Constitution.
• The completion of the draft had taken 2 years, 11 months and 17 days.

• The 17th edition of the Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN is set to strengthen the longstanding ties between India and Nepal in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.
• It is an annual event and conducted alternatively in the two countries.
• The Indian Army contingent comprising of 354 personnel is being led by a Battalion from the KUMAON Regiment.
• The Nepal Army contingent is represented by Tara Dal Battalion.
• Aim of the exercise is to enhance interoperability in jungle warfare, counter terrorism operations in mountainous terrain and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief under United Nations Charter on peace keeping operations.

• The Bihar government has urged the Centre to incorporate the hiked reservation for deprived castes from 50 to 65 per cent in state government jobs and educational institutions in the 9th schedule of the Constitution, so that it is guaranteed immunity from legal scrutiny.
• The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution includes a list of Central and state laws that cannot be challenged in courts.
  • It was added by Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951.
• In 1992 Indra Sawhney v Union of India verdict, the Supreme Court had capped reservations for the backward classes at 50 per cent.

 I R COELHO V. STATE OF TAMIL NADU (2007) JUDGEMENT

• The nine-judge bench had delivered a unanimous verdict on January 11, 2007 in Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu and others case, upholding the ‘Basic Structure Doctrine’.
• The authority of the judiciary to review any such laws, which destroy or damage the basic structure as indicated in Art.21 read with Art.14, Art.19 and the principles underlying there under, are open to judicial scrutiny, even if they have been put in 9th Schedule after April 14, 1973.
• This case is popularly known as The Ninth Schedule Case.

• The Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) is a platform that will act as a ‘safety net’ for investors in case of technical glitches faced by a trading member or a stock broker registered with SEBI.
• It will provide investors an opportunity to close open positions and cancel pending orders in case of disruption at the stock brokers’ end.
• It is not meant for taking fresh positions or orders, but only to cancel the pending orders.
• IRRA has been jointly developed by all the stock exchanges – BSE, NSE, NCDEX, MCX and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE) and was launched by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• However, IRRA is not available for algo trading and Institutional clients.
  • Securities available for trading and settlement on a Trade-for-Trade basis will not be available for square-off.