• Vanadium, a critical raw material for many industrial applications, has been found in sediment samples collected from Gulf of Khambhat, which opens into the Arabian Sea off Alang in Gujarat.
• The war mineral is scarce in India.
• As per Geological Survey of India (GSI), it is the first report of vanadium occurrence in the offshore sediments of India.
• Rarely found in its pure form naturally, vanadium is present in over 55 different minerals, which makes its production costly.
• At Gulf of Khambhat, it has been found in a mineral called titanomagnetite, which is formed when molten lava cools rapidly.
• The vanadiferous titanomagnetite deposits in the Gulf of Khambhat were possibly drained from the Deccan basalts mainly through the rivers of Narmada and Tapi.
• Traces of the metal have so far been found in Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Maharashtra.
• Applications
  • Vanadium is a critical raw material for strategic sectors such as defence and aerospace.
    • For instance, vanadium containing alloys of titanium and aluminium are used in jet engine components and high-speed airframes.
  • The metal is also used for storing energy and in making critical electronic components.
  • It is used to make alloys that are resistant to corrosion, wear and high temperatures.
  • It is also used to make vanadium redox flow batteries, which are promising for large-scale energy storage.

• As certified by India’s World Records, 9-year-old Ojasvi Shekhawat from Una, became the youngest yoga instructor in the country.
• Around 3 lakh people around the globe have seen and followed her online yoga sessions.

• Akashvani Delhi celebrated the success of G-20 Summit held recently in New Delhi under the Presidency of Bharat and ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’ campaign in country’s first village Mana, District Chamoli, Uttarakhand.
• The village is located on the banks of the River Saraswati, just 3 km away from the town of Badrinath.
• People living here belong to Bhotia community.
• The place is related to the time of Mahabharata.

• ‘Operation Sajag’ was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) along the west coast.
• ‘Operation Sajag’ is a monthly, day-long drill that serves as a continuous feedback loop.
• The drill’s primary goals are to revalidate coastal security mechanisms and raise awareness among sea-going fishermen.

• 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’.
  • For this, 75 challenges were presented to startups and MSMEs.
• 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).

• Over 2300 crore rupees have been allocated for education of SC and OBC students since 2014.

ABOUT SHREYAS SCHEME

• Nodal ministry- Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• The umbrella scheme of “SHREYAS” comprises 4 central sector sub-schemes namely-
  • “Top Class Education for SCs”,
    • aims at recognizing and promoting quality education amongst students belonging to SCs, by providing full financial support.
    • The Scheme will cover SC students for pursuing studies beyond 12th class.
  • “Free Coaching Scheme for SCs and OBCs”,
    • Objective of the Scheme is to provide coaching of good quality for economically disadvantaged Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) candidates to enable them appear in competitive and entrance examinations.
    • The ceiling of the total family income under the scheme is 8 lakhs per annum.
    • 3500 slots are allotted per annum. The ratio of SC: OBC students is 70:30 and 30% slots are reserved for females in each category.
  • “National Overseas Scheme for SCs”
    • financial assistance is provided to the selected students from SCs; De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes; landless agricultural labourers and traditional artisan categories, for pursuing masters and Ph.D. level courses abroad.
    • Presently, 125 slots are allotted under the scheme.
  • “National Fellowship for SCs”
    • fellowship is provided to Scheduled Castes students for pursuing higher education leading to M.Phil/ Ph.D degrees in Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences in Indian Universities/Institutions/ Colleges recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC).

• From September 19, the ongoing special House session moved to the new Parliament building.
  • The old Parliament will be turned into a museum and called ‘Samvidhan Sadan’.

ABOUT PARLIAMENT BUILDING

• Designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker when the British decided to move their capital to New Delhi, the 164-pillared building first housed the Imperial Legislative Council (From January 18, 1927 to August 15, 1947).
• After Independence, it served as the Constituent Assembly of India, and once the Constitution was adopted and India became a republic, as the Parliament of India, housing the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

ABOUT CHAUSATH YOGINI TEMPLE

• A round and pillared structure in India pre-dates the Parliament by several centuries, and many believe it inspired the 20th century circular, colonnaded Parliament building.
• This structure is the Chausath Yogini temple in Mitaoli, in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.
• It was built around 1323 by King Devapala of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty.
• The Mitaoli temple is circular, with 64 chambers dedicated to the 64 yoginis, and a central shrine dedicated to Shiva.
• The 64 yoginis are believed to be powerful warriors and sorceresses.
• While most Hindu temples have a shikhara, or projecting dome, the Mitaoli temple, like other Chausath Yogini temples, is hypaethral, which means it has no roof.
• The Parliament-like pillars are on the inside of the stone temple complex.
• The central shrine has a slab with perforations, for excess rainwater to drain off.
• The temple has a diameter of 125 feet.

• Presently, Lithium production is an extremely resource-intensive and time-consuming process.
• A large majority of the lithium produced in the world is extracted from “brine reservoirs” located in salt flats.

• This method of production can require hundreds of square kilometres, and it often takes months or even years to produce lithium that can be used in batteries.
• University of Princeton engineers have developed a new string-based technology that could change that.

NEW TECHNIQUE

• The researchers used a set of porous fibres twisted into strings and engineered them to have a water-loving (hydrophilic) core and water-repelling surface.

• When one end is dipped in a salt-water solution, the water travels up the string because of capillary action.
  • This is the same process used by trees to raise water from roots to leaves.
• Then, the water evaporates quickly from the string’s surface. This leaves behind salt ions such as sodium and lithium.
• The water will continue to evaporate like this as the salts become increasingly concentrated, eventually forming sodium chloride and lithium chloride crystals.
  • This can be harvested relatively easily.
• Since lithium and sodium have different physical properties, they crystallise at different locations on the strings.
  • Sodium, with its low solubility, crystallises on the lower part, while the highly soluble lithium salts crystallise near the top.

ADVANTAGE

• The researchers estimate that it can cut the amount of land required by 90 per cent while accelerating the evaporation technique by more than 20 times.
• It will also allow us to look into new areas to extract lithium from. For example, defunct oil and gas wells and geothermal brines that are currently considered too small or too diluted for lithium extraction could become viable sources.

• India’s space agency, ISRO, is preparing to launch its first polarimetry mission, XPoSat, by the end of the year.
• The mission will study bright astronomical X-ray sources and provide vital information on the nature and behaviour of celestial objects.
• XPoSat is India’s first space mission to measure the polarisation of light and will help scientists understand emissions from black holes, neutron stars, and other challenging astronomical sources.
  • This will be the second polarimetry mission in the world, following NASA’s IXPE mission.
• The mission will carry two payloads —
  • POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) which will measure the polarimetry parameters including the degree and angle of polarization, in medium X-ray energy range of 8-30 keV photons of astronomical origin, and
  • XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) payload which will give spectroscopic information in the energy range of 0.8-15 keV.

ABOUT POLARIMETRY

• Polarimetry is a powerful tool that allows astronomers to infer information about celestial objects, from passing comets to distant galaxies.
• The polarimetry measurements add two more dimension to our understanding,
  • The degree of polarization is the proportion of an electromagnetic wave that is polarized while
  • the angle of polarization is the angle at which light of a certain polarization is perfectly transmitted through a transparent surface.
• It is an excellent diagnostic tool to understand the emission processes from astronomical sources.

• The unique architectural marvels of the 12^th century Hoysala era temples in Karnataka were recognized as the UNESCO World Heritage Site: 42nd in India and fourth site in Karnataka to get the world heritage tag.
  • Other 3 are- monuments at Hampi (1986) and Pattadakal (1987) along with the Ecological hotspot Western Ghats (2012).
• The 45^th session of the World Heritage Committee which met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia approved India’s recommendation of the ‘Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysals’ comprising three temples —
  • Channakeshava temple at Belur,
  • Hoysalesvara Temple in Halebidu in Hassan district and
  • Kesav temple at Somanathpur of Mysuru district as the latest addition to the list of World Heritage Sites.
• All three temples are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the nominations were entered as ‘The Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas’.

ABOUT THE TEMPLES

• The temples of Belur and Halebidu have been on UNESCO’s world heritage tentative list since 2014.
• The ensembles of the Hoysalas consisting of temples, shrines and associated structures, rich in innate carvings on the stone, are scattered across South Interior districts of Karnataka and have been globally acclaimed tourist destinations in Karnataka.
• The Hoysala-style architecture was created through a careful selection of contemporary temple features and those from the past to create a different identity from neighbouring kingdoms.
• The Hoysala temples are known for evolving a distinct style that is ornate with temple architecture following a stellate plan built on a raised platform.
• The material used in temple construction is choloritic schist which is also known as soapstone that are soft and amiable to carving.
• Shrines are characterized by-
  • hyper-real sculptures and stone carvings that cover the entire architectural surface,
  • a circumambulatory platform,
  • a large-scale sculptural gallery,
  • a multi-tiered frieze and
  • the sculptures of the Sala legend.
• The Hoysala rulers ruled over parts of Southern India from the 11th Century to the 14th Century with Halebidu (Dwarasamudra) as their capital.
  • The Hoysala era was considered an important period in the development of South Indian art, architecture and religion.
  • About 100 plus surviving temples are scattered across Karnataka till date.
• While the construction of the Chennakeshava temple at Belur in commenced during the period of king Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE and took 103 years to complete, the Hoysaleshwara temple was commissioned in 1121 CE while the Keshava temple at Somanathapur in Mysuru district was commissioned by Somanatha Dandanayaka during the regime of Narasimha III in 1268 CE.