• The Ministry of Culture celebrated the Telangana Formation Day (June 2^nd, 2014) at Golconda Fort.

ABOUT GOLCONDA FORT

• It is located in the western part of Hyderabad city.
• It was originally known as Mankal, and built on a hilltop in the year 1143.
• It was originally a mud fort under the reign of Raja of Warangal.
• Later it was fortified between 14th and 17th centuries by the Bahmani Sultans and then by the Qutub Shahi dynasty.
• Golconda was the principal capital of the Qutub Shahi kings (who ruled the region in 16th and 17th century).
• The fort finally fell into ruin in 1687, after an eight-month-long siege led to its fall at the hands of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
• Qutb Shahi Sultans developed the present architecture, a gigantic granite stronghold.
• The inner fort contains ruins of palaces, mosques and a hilltop pavilion, which rises about 130 meters high and gives a bird’s eye view of other buildings.
• Acoustical effects at Fateh Darwaza (Victory gate) are one among the many famous engineering marvels at Golconda.

• With a view to preventing any “alleged misuse” of the provision, the Law Commission of India, in its 279th report, has proposed retaining the law of sedition (Section 124A) with key amendments.
  • The Commission is currently headed by former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi.

ABOUT SEDITION

• The law defines sedition as any act or attempt to bring into hatred or contempt, or excite or attempt to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India by:
  • words, either spoken or written.
  • visible representation, or otherwise.
• It was introduced by the British colonial government in 1870 to suppress the freedom movement and punish those who spoke or wrote against British rule.
• Sedition is a cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offense, entailing life imprisonment as maximum punishment, with or without a fine.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON SEDITION

• Sedition being a colonial law not a valid ground for its repeal.
• It should be made punishable with life imprisonment or for a term up to 7 years or with a fine.
  • Currently, Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with sedition, has a punishment of a life sentence along with a fine or imprisonment which may extend up to three years along with a fine.
• The Union government should bring in model guidelines to prevent misuse of the sedition law.
• An FIR on sedition should be filed only after a preliminary inquiry and with the government’s permission by amending Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• The words ‘hatred’, ‘contempt’ and ‘disaffection’ should be replaced by ‘incitement to violence’ in Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with sedition.
• Amend Section 124A to align with Kedar Nath’s Case (1962) which underlines the presence of a tendency to incite violence as a precondition to invoke the clause.

• The Chanshal Pass, or Chanshal Valley links Dodra Kwar and Rohru in the Shimla district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
• The pass sits atop Chanshal Peak, which at 4,520 metres (14,830 ft) is the highest peak in the Shimla district.
• The pass remains open from May to november and is covered with snow for the rest of the year.
• Chanshal is a mountain range that cuts the Dodra Kawar Valley from the Rohru area. Its peaks reach 17,000 feet (5,200 m) and can be accessed from Chanshal Pass.

• World Milk Day is observed every year on 1^st June.
• It was created in the year 2001 by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) to promote the consumption and benefits of milk around the world.
• The theme of World Milk Day 2023 is “Showcasing how dairy is reducing its environmental footprint, while also providing nutritious foods and livelihoods.”

• Renowned Sanskrit scholar Ved Kumari Ghai passed away recently.
• Ghai was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, in 2001 for her contributions to Sanskrit literature.
• She was also a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, the highest literary award in India, in 1991 for her book “The Sanskrit Language”.

• The Maharashtra government has recently launched a new financial scheme aimed at providing support to farmers in the state.
• The scheme, known as Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana, was approved at a Cabinet meeting recently.

ABOUT THE SCHEME

• Under the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana, farmers in Maharashtra will receive an annual payment of Rs 6,000 in addition to the amount of Rs 6,000 that farmers already receive in instalments per year from the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.
• More than 1 crore farmers in Maharashtra are expected to benefit from the scheme.
• By providing direct financial assistance, the scheme intends to empower farmers and enable them to overcome challenges and invest in their agricultural activities.

• Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink has received US Food and Drug Association approval to begin human trials.
• Neuralink is making a Class III medical device known as a brain-computer interface (BCI).
• The device connects the brain to an external computer via a Bluetooth signal, enabling continuous communication back and forth.
• Working
  • The device itself is a coin-sized unit called a Link. It’s implanted within a small disk-shaped cutout in the skull using a precision surgical robot.
  • The robot splices a thousand tiny threads from the Link to certain neurons in the brain.
  • Each thread is about a quarter the diameter of a human hair.
• Benefits– the device could enable precise control of prosthetic limbs, giving amputees natural motor skills.
  • It could revolutionise treatment for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and spinal cord injuries.
  • It also shows some promise for potential treatment of obesity, autism, depression, schizophrenia and tinnitus.

• The United Arab Emirates has withdrawn from Combined Maritime Forces coalition.
• CMF is a multinational maritime partnership, that focuses on counter-narcotics, counter-smuggling, suppressing piracy, training
• It was established in 2001 with headquarters in Bahrain.
• CMF also respond to environmental and humanitarian incidents.
• Combined task forces of CMF include Maritime Security Operations outside Arabian Gulf, Maritime Security Operations inside Arabian Gulf, Red Sea maritime security
• CMF is commanded by a U.S. Navy Vice Admiral.
• 38 Member countries (before UAE exit)-
  • Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye, UAE, United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen.

• Union Cabinet has approved to establish a Regional Office of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in New Delhi.
• The approval enables India to play active role at multilateral organizations in postal sector with emphasis on South-South and Triangular cooperation.
• India will provide a Field Project Expert, staff and office set up for UPU’s regional office.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION

• UPU is one of the oldest international organization worldwide established in 1874 by Treaty of Berne.
• Members– 192 countries, including India (India joined UPU in 1876).
• It is the primary forum for cooperation between the postal sector entities.
• It sets the rules for international mail exchanges and makes recommendations to stimulate growth in mail, parcel and financial services

• Seven of eight earth system boundaries (ESBs) that are critical for stability of the planet’s health and survival of species have already been crossed, a new research paper by the Earth Commission published in Nature journal said recently, suggesting that the very future of humanity may now be at risk from the climate crisis.
• About ESBs
  • ESBs are scientifically quantified safe and just limits for climate, freshwater, biodiversity and different kinds of pollution.
  • By operating within these limits, we can maintain a stable and resilient planet with accessibility to necessary resources.
  • These are hard limits and even temporary overshooting of some of the boundaries can permanently damage the planet’s critical systems.
• The seven ESBs that have been crossed are:
  • climate (two local exposure boundaries— wet bulb temperatures of over 35 °C for at least 1 day of the year and extent of low-elevation coastal zones),
  • functional integrity,
  • and levels of surface water,
  • groundwater,
  • nitrogen,
  • phosphorus and
  • aerosols.
• The eighth, which has not been crossed, is under two heads.
  • In climate, 5 degree C warming is still “safe” but not ”just.”
    • “Safe and just” was crossed at 1 degree C.
  • The global annual mean interhemispheric aerosol optical depth (AOD) difference, a proxy for degree of air pollution globally has also not been crossed.
• India, along with other parts of South Asia, Europe, parts of Africa is a ESB transgression hotspot with the Himalayan foothills experiencing at least 5 ESB transgressions.