ANSWER: B

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: A

• The Andhra Pradesh government has unveiled the world’s tallest statue Dr BR Ambedkar.
• The statue has been erected at Swaraj Maidan grounds in Vijaywada.
• Andhra government has called it the, “Statue of Social Justice”.
• In comparison to Sardar Vallabhai Patel’s Statue of Unity (597 feet tall), the height of BR Amdekar’s statue is 206 feet.
• The Ambedkar statue that is 125-foot on an 81-feet pyramidical base making the statue complex 206-foot tall.
• The project incurred a cost of ₹404.35 crore and is spread over 18.81 acres.
• Alongside the statute, there will be six water bodies in the forecourt, a musical water fountain in the centre, and 3 sided peripheral waterbody for the pedestal building and greenery.

BRIEF ON DR B R AMBEDKAR

• Born on April 14, 1891, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar – popular among his followers as Babasaheb – was the chairman of the Constituent Assembly’s most crucial Drafting Committee that earned him the moniker Architect of the Indian Constitution.
• He died on December 6, 1956, months after he embraced Buddhism on October 14 that year.

ANSWER: A

• The 71^st plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was recently held in Shillong.

ABOUT NORTH EASTERN COUNCIL

• NEC is not a constitutional body, but a statutory organization established under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971, as amended in 2002.
• It is the nodal agency for the social and economic development of the North Eastern Region in India consisting of the 8 States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura.
• The Council comprises Governors and Chief Ministers of constituent States and three members nominated by the President.
• It works under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Development of the North-Eastern Region (MDoNER).
• Chairman- Union Home Minister
• HQ- Shillong

ANSWER: C

• Lake Retba, better known as Lac Rose (the Pink Lake), is located near Dakar, Senegal (West Africa).
• It sits in a depression with a shoreline 6.5 metres below sea level.
• The lake is isolated from the sea by about 1km of sand dunes.
• Its fresh water comes from the seasonal water table in the dunes, which are higher than the lake.
• Thus the sea provides most of the lake’s water and all of its salt.
• The lake’s waters are virtually devoid of life, with the exception of a few microscopic algae and bacteria.
• The Pink Lake is one of the main tourist destinations in the Dakar region, primarily because of the pink colour of its waters.
  • The pink coloration is due to the proliferation of halophilic green algae (living in a salty environment), Dunaliella salina, which contain red pigments.

ANSWER: B

• The Allahabad High Court held that the Union Government is bound by the Convention of (5 October 1961 )Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention) as India is a signatory to the same.
• The Court held that the government cannot disbelieve Apostille documents issued by countries signatory to the Apostille Convention.
• The Apostille Convention is intended to simplify the procedure through which a document, issued in one of the contracting states, can be certified for legal purposes in the other contracting states of the Convention.
  • These public documents include certificates of birth, marriage, and death, and educational documents among others.
• A certification under the Convention is called an apostille or Hague apostille.
• Non-member countries of convention require extra certification from the State of origin for document acceptance.

ANSWER: A

• Three northeastern states– Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur celebrated their 52nd Statehood Day.
• With the introduction of North-East Area (Re-organisation) Act 1971, Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya attained statehood on January 21, 1972.

ANSWER: C

• Goa has become India’s first state to launch Regenerative Tourism.
• The Goa government has introduced a new model for regenerative tourism, a scheme which will revolve around 11 spiritual sites or Ekadasha Teertha.
• The state’s tourism strives to utilise the potential of its history and heritage by involving the local communities.