• Bonalu is a popular festival celebrated in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This festivity is dedicated to Goddess Mahakali.
• Bonalu is celebrated in the month of Ashada, which falls in July-August. On the first day, which was July 3, this year, special puja and ceremonies are held to worship Yellamma, an avatar of Mahakali.
• Apart from Yellamma, during the Bonalu festival, the different forms of Mahakali are worshipped, including Mysamma, Dokkalamma, Pedamma, Pochamma, Yellamma, Poleramma and Ankalamma.

History and Significance

• The festival is dedicated to Goddess Mahakali. Basically, it’s all about thanking her for fulfilling the wishes of her devotees.
• The word “Bonam” signifies a meal or a feast in Telugu. During this, the devotees offer rice cooked with milk and jaggery in an earthen or brass pot, which is decorated with neem leaves, turmeric and vermilion.
• Women carry these pots on their heads to temples. The festival is celebrated with much excitement and religious fervour in the state.
• The festivity traces back to the 19th century. Reportedly, the twin cities Hyderabad and Secunderabad experienced an outbreak of deadly plague that claimed many lives. During that time, a military battalion from the state, which was deployed in Ujjain, prayed to Goddess Mahakali to help the people get rid of the plague. They also promised Mahakali that a temple will be constructed once the plague comes to an end.
• The devotees, as promised, built a temple for Goddess Mahakali.

• Unicorns are privately held, venture-capital backed startups that have reached a value of $1 billion.
• Indian-based entrepreneurs Pratik Gauri, Prateek Dwivedi, and web3 financier Vilma Mattila’s startup 5ire has become the country’s new Unicorn.
• The blockchain startup 5ire has raised 100 million in Series A funding from UK-based conglomerate SRAM & MRAM, which now makes 5ire valuation of $1.5 billion.
• 5ire was founded in August 2021, and after just one year, it has become the 105th unicorn in the country and the 20th this year. 5ire has now joined companies like Deal Share, Drawinbox, Xpressbees, and Mamaearth which has turned unicorn this year.
• The Blockchain company works on 5th generation blockchain system.
• It Becomes the world’s first and only sustainable unicorn born out of India, in just 11 months.
• 5ire earlier raised a funding of $21 million in its seed round at a valuation of $110 million with participation from both private and institutional investors like Alphabit, Marshland Capital, Launchpool Labs, and Moonrock Capital, among others.
• American venture capitalist Aileen Lee is credited with coining the term in 2013.

• Prime Minister to address the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) seminar ‘Swavlamban’ at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
• As a part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, NIIO, in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), aims at inducting at least 75 new indigenous technologies/products into the Indian Navy. This collaborative project is named SPRINT (Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through iDEX, NIIO and TDAC).
• The seminar aims to engage Indian industry and academia towards achieving self-reliance in the Defence sector.
• Sessions dedicated to Innovation, Indigenisation, Armament and Aviation will be held.
• The Seminar will also witness outreach to the Indian Ocean Region, in line with the government’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).

• In a historic milestone, India’s cumulative COVID19 vaccination drive has surpassed the 200-Crore milestone.
• As per reports shared by the Union government, a total of 2,00,00,15,631 doses have been administered across the country. This has been achieved through 2,63,26,111 sessions.
• According to the Health Ministry, it took the country almost nine months to reach the 100-crore vaccination mark and another nine months to touch the 200¬ crore milestone.
• The highest single¬ day vaccination record of 2.5 crore doses was achieved on September 17, 2021.
• Several systematic interventions were carried out for capacity building to carry out this nationwide exercise.
• Existing supply chain for storage and transport of COVID¬19 vaccines was leveraged and effective monitoring of vaccine distribution and efficient utilisation of vaccines and syringes were ensured at all times.
• The vaccination exercise was being carried out in a citizen¬ friendly approach through initiatives such as ‘Har Ghar Dastak’, workplace¬ and school¬based vaccination, vaccination of persons without identity documents, and near¬tohome and mobile vaccination centres.
• The Ministry said with 71% of the centres in rural areas and over 51% of the doses administered to women, the programme ensured geographical and gender equity

• Haryana is geared up to become the first State in the country to hoist tricolour at every house, government, private, industrial and educational buildings.
• For three consecutive days, every corner of the state of Haryana will be decorated with a tricolour to proudly remember the glorious history of India, under the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign being celebrated countrywide from August 13 to August 15, 2022.
• The Department of Information Public Relations and Languages has planned a detailed programme of creating awareness by utilizing websites and social media handles of the State Government.
• A plan has been made under which all State Government websites would carry banners linking to the Amrit Mahotsava website – Har Ghar Trianga corner.

• The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, has been ranked No. 20 — with a score of 60.43 — among all the engineering institutes of the country in the India Rankings 2022 that were announced by Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan.
• The institute climbed 39 positions to capture the 43rd rank in overall category of the rankings, which are conducted by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).
• In the research category, it was ranked No. 39.
• According to the Professor Laxmidhar Behera IIT-Mandi Director, “The significant improvements in the NIRF 2022 has been possible by the efforts of our faculty and students towards research, teaching, and other parameters.
• We will strive to keep our commitment to make IIT-Mandi relevant with our research for the local region, while also being of relevance to the country.
• The NIRF is an indigenous ranking framework for higher educational institutions which outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.

• Larsen and Toubro (L&T) conducted the first survey to repair damaged temples in the Govind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur district.
• The state government has envisaged a project of Rs 1,400 crore for the repair of the temples submerged in the Govind Sagar Lake that were built in 1963 after the construction of the Bhakra Dam on the Sutlej.
• According to Pankaj Rai, DC, Bilaspur, a team of L&T visited various sites. He added that a detailed project report would be prepared before starting this ambitious project.
• According to DC, Chief Minister had announced that Bilaspur town would be restored to its former glory and a provision of Rs 1,400 crore had been made for the purpose. He added that besides L&T, some international companies would also be roped in for the effective execution of the project.
• According to Rai, the project would not only beautify the old town but also bring alive historical art, culture and tradition. This would also make Bilaspur a new tourist destination.

• According to the IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva the global economic outlook has “darkened significantly” and could deteriorate further, citing Russia’s war in Ukraine and the rapid inflation it has caused, threatening widespread hunger and poverty.
• The warning comes just months after the IMF already cut its global growth forecast for 2022 and 2023.
• The Ukraine war hit as the world was struggling to recover from the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and has caused an acceleration of inflation that endangers the gains of the past two years.
• According to Kristalina Georgieva, the international crisis-lender is “projecting a further downgrade to global growth” in 2022 and 2023.
• The outlook remains extremely uncertain and the poorest is expected to suffer the most.
• The risk of social instability was also increasing due to food and energy prices rising.

• The boundary line shown on 29 topo-¬sheets by a high¬ powered committee in 1960 will be taken as the basis for the realignment of the Arunachal Pradesh¬ Assam boundary towards resolving decades of dispute. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu signed the Namsai Declaration for minimising the interstate boundary dispute involving 123 villages.

List of villages

• A list of these villages had been placed before a local commission by Arunachal Pradesh on December 26, 2007. Namsai is the headquarters of Namsai district in southern Arunachal Pradesh.
• According to the Declration,the boundary line delineated and signed on 29 toposheets by the High-Powered Tripartite Committee as notified boundary in 1960 would be taken as the basis for the realignment of boundary by both the States.
• Present¬day Arunachal Pradesh, which attained Statehood in February 1987, used to be the North East Frontier Tract, administered by the Governor of Assam as an agent of the President of India.
• It was renamed North East Frontier Agency and brought under the Central government’s control in 1954.
• According to the declaration, all border issues between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will be confined to those raised before the local commission in 2007.

12 committees

• Following the model for resolving the Assam¬ Meghalaya boundary dispute, both the States decided to constitute 12 regional committees each covering the districts on either side of the boundary for joint verification of the 123 villages.
• These committees will make recommendations to the respective State government keeping in view the historical perspective, administrative convenience, contiguity and people’s will, to delineate the interstate boundary.

• The auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima is observed on the Purnima tithi (15th day) in the Shukla Paksh (waxing phase of moon) of Ashadha month.

GURU PURNIMA: SIGNIFICANCE

• This day is commemorated to express our gratitude to our gurus for their dedication and selflessness in nurturing a child.
• On Guru Purnima, the special bond between students and teachers is celebrated .Teachers have the greatest influence on students’ lives.
• They not only transfer knowledge and teach co-curricular and extracurricular abilities, but they also help kids develop the morals and life skills that help them deal with the outside world.