ANSWER: B

• Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, the city of Mahakal will soon boast the world’s first Vedic clock which will be synced with the position of the Sun. This came after state higher education minister Mohan Yadav laid the foundation stone at the 300-year-old Jiwaji Observatory in Ujjain. The observatory was constructed by Maharaja Sawai Raja Jaisingh of Jaipur in 1719.
• The mega project is being taken up by the state government at an estimated cost of Rs 1.62 crore as the state government is working to restore the ancient glory of Ujjain. The minister said the (Vikramaditya) Vedic clock will be divided into 24 muhurats (hours).
• He said that there will be a dedicated mobile application for the readings of the Vedic Clock, and citizens will be able to use it on their smartphones, computers, televisions, and other devices. The Vedic Clock’s background graphics will depict Jyotirlingas, Navagrah, etc.

How does Vedic Clock works?

• This clock, in the place of 1 to 12, respectively – Brahma, Ashwinu, Triguna, Chaturveda, Panchapranaah, Shadrasaah, Saptarsayah, Ashtasiddhayah, Navadravyani, Dashadishah, Rudraah and Adityaah are written.
• Out of these, 12 Adityas, 11 Rudras, 8 Vasus and 2 Ashwini Kumars are counted among the famous 33 koti of god’s (deities) of Sanatan Dharma.

1. Brahma: Brahma is written in place of 1:00 o’clock, it means that Brahm is one and no one else – Ekobrahmdvityo nasti.
2. Ashwinu: Ashwinu is written in place of 2:00. Ashwini Kumar has two sons- Nasatya and Dastra. Nasatya represents sunrise and Drastya represents sunset.
3. Triguna: In place of 3:00 pm, it is written Triguna which means that there are three types of Gunas – Satoguna, Rajoguna and Tamoguna. Jiva and Prakriti are of three gunas.
4. Chaturveda: At the place of 4:00, Chaturveda is written, which means that there are four types of Vedas – Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. Vedas are the scriptures of Hindus and no other scripture.
5. Panchaprana: At the place of 5 o’clock it is written Panchapranah, which means that there are five types of Prana – Apana, Samana, Prana, Udana and Vyana. There are mainly five types of prana in the body.
6. Shadrasa: At the place of 6:00, it is written Shadrsa: It means that there are 6 types of rasa – sweet, amal, salt, bitter, tikta and kasaya.
7. Saptarshayah: In the place of 7:00, it is written Saptarshaya: It means that there are 7 sages – Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadwaja, Vishwamitra, Gautam, Jamadagni and Vashistha. There have been different Sapta Rishis in each era.
8. Ashtasiddhaya: In place of 8:00, it is written Ashta Siddhi: It means that there are eight types of Siddhis – Anima, Mahima, Laghima, Garima, Prapti, Prakamya, Ishitva and Vashitva.
9. Navdravyani: Navdravyani is written at the place of 9:00, which means that there are 9 types of funds – Padma, Mahapadma, Neel, Shankha, Mukunda, Nanda, Makar, Kachhap, Kharva.
10. Tenth: Dashdishah is written in the place of 10:00 o’clock, which means that the directions are 10 – East, West, North, South, Ishaan, Southwest, Vayavya, Agneya, Akash, Patal.
11. Rudra: In the place of 11:00 o’clock Rudra is written, it means that there are 11 types of Rudra- Kapali, Pingal, Bhima, Virupaksha, Vilohit, Shasta, Ajapada, Ahirbudhnya, Shambhu, Chand and Bhava. This is the form of God Shiva.
12. Aditya: At the place of 12:00 it is written Aditya: meaning that there are 12 types of Suns – Anshuman, Aryaman, Indra, Tvashta, Dhatu, Parjanya, Pusha, Bhaga, Mitra, Varuna, Vivasvan (Sun) and Vishnu (Vaman). He is the son of sage Kashyapa and Atiti who are gods.

ANSWER: D

• India joined 10 other countries for a “search and rescue” exercise planned within the International Fleet Review (IFR) off the coast of Japan over the weekend.
• The IFR was conducted on November 6 and 7.
• Unusually, from the Indian perspective, the Pakistan navy was also part of the exercise at sea. Japan had invited Pakistan for the exercise.
• China abstained from the IFR in spite of an invitation from Japan.
• A day after skipping the IFR, China today joined the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) in Yokohama.
• India has the status of an ‘observer’ at the WPNS and Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar is participating. About 30 countries are part of the symposium.
• This was not for the first time that the India and Pakistan militaries were together for a multi-nation forum or exercise. In 2019, armies of the two countries participated in a multi-nation exercise in Russia under the umbrella of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• Indian naval warships Shivalik and Kamorta were part of the IFR and will remain there for almost two more weeks for other engagements.
• The Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) said 11 countries — Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and the US — participated in search and rescue exercise.
• The Indian naval ships were part of a group that included ships from Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia, indicating that Pakistan was in another group.
• The exercise encompassed fire-fighting and medical evacuation drills.
• Japanese PM Fumio Kishida inspected the fleets at the IFR on board JMSDF carrier JS Izumo. Japan hosted the IFR for the first time in 20 years to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) this year.

ANSWER: D

• The Haryana Forest Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the “Trees Outside Forests in India (TOFI)” program in the state. The “Trees Outside Forests in India” program will enhance carbon sequestration, support local communities, and strengthen the climate resilience of agriculture.
• This initiative will bring farmers, companies, and other private institutions together to rapidly expand tree coverage outside of traditional forests in the state.

About Haryana Forest Department and USAID Launched TOFI Program.

• The Trees Outside Forests in India (TOFI) program will take Haryana’s State Action Plan on Climate Change forward and will build on Haryana’s progress and harness agroforestry to bolster the resilience of farming systems.
• The program will leverage India’s private sector to promote and scale tree-based enterprises and the sale of carbon credits, helping to create jobs and boost incomes.
• Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar informed that the TOFI program will further spur agroforestry and plantation campaigns outside of forests and help raise the income of the farmers while enhancing the green cover in the state.
• It will also support India’s Roadmap toward Carbon Neutral Economy by 2070.
• The Trees Outside Forests in India program was launched in September by Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Secretary Leena Nandan and U.S. Chargé d’ Affaires Patricia Lacina.
• The program will allocate up to $25 million over five years in seven states including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
• There will be implementation support from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (ICRAF).

ANSWER: D

• Reliance Industrieshas appointed K V Kamath as the Independent Director of the company for a period of five years. The Board of Directors has, at its meeting held, based on the recommendation of the human resources, nomination and remuneration committee considered and recommended to the shareholders for approval the appointment of Shri K. V. Kamath.
• KV Kamath has also been appointed as an Independent Director and non-executive Chairman for Reliance Strategic Investment Limited (RSIL). RSIL will be renamed as Jio Financial Services Limited (“JFSL”) and the scheme of demerger approved by the board of directors for demerger of the financial services business.

About the K V Kamath:

• Currently the Chairman of the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), Kamath has served as Chairman of Infosys.
• In 2015 he was appointed as the first President of the New Development Bank set up by the BRICS countries from where he retired in 2020.
• Under his leadership, ICICI Bank transformed itself into a diversified, technology-driven financial services group across banking, insurance and asset management in India, and a global presence.
• He retired as Managing Director and CEO in 2009 and continued as the Chairman of ICICI Bank till 2015.

ANSWER: B

• Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar will visit Cambodia from 11-13 November to represent India at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit.
• He will be accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
• Dhankhar will attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in Phnom Penh on 12 November. This year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations and is being celebrated as the ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
• On 13 November, he will participate in the 17th East Asia Summit which comprises the ten ASEAN member states (i.e. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam) and its eight dialogue partners- India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.
• During his visit, the vice president will also have bilateral engagements with the Cambodian leadership. On the margins of the summits, he will hold bilateral meetings with leaders from other countries as well.
• While returning from Phnom Penh, he will also visit Siem Reap to review the preservation and restoration work being undertaken by India at Cambodian heritage sites.

ANSWER: D

• Devtamura, a nondescript place in Tripura where panels of 15th-century rock carvings exist on the steep slopes of a hill along the banks of the Gomati river, is poised to welcome tourists, thanks to an initiative of the state government.
• The carvings have 37 sculptures of Hindu deities like Shiva, Ganesha, Kartikeya, Mahishasur Mardini, and Durga on the Kalajhari Hills.
• It is not known who carved the figures of gods and goddesses in this remote place inhabited by Jamatiya and Reang tribes.
• The chiselled wonder also known as Chabimura, 75 km from the state capital Agartala, had been pushed to obscurity by decades-old insurgency and a lack of proper infrastructures like roads and accommodation facilities.
• State Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said the tourism infrastructure of the state is being developed so that footfalls of visitors increase to the archaeological site at Devtamura.
• “Tourism brings together different cultures and creates good people-to-people relationships. We are attaching maximum importance to this sector and creating more infrastructure to increase footfalls of tourists”, he said.
• The state is witnessing a steady rise in the number of tourists after the coronavirus pandemic, the minister said.
• The complete stretch of 12 km between Amarpur, a sub-divisional town, to Devtamura in the Gomati district was recently widened, a tourist lodge was constructed and a boating facility was introduced to attract more visitors, Singha Roy said.
• One can reach the banks of the Gomati river in a car and then undertake the rest of the journey on boat.
• Historian Jahar Acharjee, who studied the carvings for his article on rock-cut sculpture, wrote that available evidence suggests that some soldiers, who were hiding in the area during a Muslim attack in the 15th century, had made them.
• The area also deserves to find a place in the tourists’ diary for its lush green vegetation dotted with beautiful bamboo-straw huts of tribals.
• The hill ranges are covered with thick jungles and the area is also an eco-tourism centre.
• The first panel measures 10.3 metre in (height), is spread over a length of 28 metre, and is south-facing. The monolith on which the carvings were done stands at an almost 90-degree angle.
• The area to the right of the panel extends up to 60 metre where some other sculptures existed. At present, some of them have been lost due to weathering and sliding of the rock panels.
• The second image of Mahishasur Mardini, about one km away from the first panel, stands at a height of over 10 metre from the river bed. It is the largest of all carvings and the locals worship the deity as Chakrak-Ma.
• The carving is 10.7 metre high and 7.7 metre wide. The face is round in shape. The rock cut image has ten arms and it is seen holding weapons in nine arms and the lower one is seen holding the hair of the demon king. The weapons are mostly indistinct due to erosion and the growth of weeds.

ANSWER: A

• Aiming to ensure legal protection for persons afflicted with HIV at the workplace, the Union Health Ministry has notified the HIV and AIDS Policy for Establishments, 2022 as provided under Section 12 of the HIV and AIDS (Prevention & Control) Act, 2017. The policy is applicable to all establishments as defined in the Act to eliminate HIV & AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in various workplace settings.
• The Model Policy needs to be adopted by all establishments that have carried out the production, supply, or distribution of goods or services for a period of twelve months or more. It is non-discrimination against people infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS and provides confidentiality to a person’s HIV status and related data. The establishment has also been mandated to set up a redressal mechanism in the form of a complaints officer.
• “The Model Policy imposes strict obligations on the establishment and the complaints officer to adopt data management policies and establish data management committees where the establishment collects HIV-related data,” said an official from the Ministry about the key features of the policy.
• “As per the policy, establishments with 100 or more staff must appoint a complaints officer to handle any grievances under the policy and appoint additional complaints officers for each office of such establishment having 100 or more staff. The model policy also imposes certain obligations on the complaints officer such as publishing annual reports, filing half-yearly action reports to the appropriate authorities, etc,” added the official.
• The Model Policy requires every State Government to appoint a state-level Ombudsman who will take care of all complaints made under the act while it will be mandatory on the establishments to conduct annual workshops and awareness programmes for all employees and orientation training for complaints officer(s).
• “So far 18 States/UTs have already notified the State Rules under the HIV and AIDS (Prevention & Control) Act 2017 and 25 States/UTs have appointed Ombudsman. Besides, over 1000 Complaints Officers have been designated at establishments in States/UTs”, informed Nidhi Kesarwani, Director of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) under the Union Health Ministry.
• India is committed to ‘Ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Sustained commitment and action are required at all levels to address the challenges ahead and achieve desired outcomes, added Alok Saxena, Additional Secretary & Director General, NACO.

ANSWER: C

• An Indian firm is planning to ferry tourists near space in a spaceship attached to a unique high-altitude balloon system by 2025.
• Inspired by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the Mumbai-based Space Aura Aerospace Technology Pvt Ltd company has begun to build a space capsule measuring 10 feet x 8 feet, which can carry six tourists besides the pilot into space at a time. However, the space capsule will remain within 35 km radius above the earth.
• The company presented a prototype of the space capsule named SKAP 1 at a science exhibition ‘Akash Tatva’ here, which got great response from scientists and common people alike.
• According to Space Aura founder and CEO Akash Porwal, the firm has set itself a target of 2025 for beginning its flight into space.
• Two places have been identified in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, from where the flight into space can be launched, and a decision in this regard will be taken soon, he said.
• The company is busy trying to achieve its target with the help of scientists from ISRO and TIFR, Porwal said.
• Equipped with all modern facilities, life saving and information systems, the space capsule will be propelled by a balloon filled with helium or hydrogen gas up to 30 to 35 kilometre above the sea level, where space tourists can witness the earth’s curvature and the blackness of space for around 1 hour, he said.
• The space balloon will slowly be deflated and a parachute will be unpacked to bring down the spaceship. At a definite point the space balloon will be detached from the space capsule and the tourists will be brought down safely.
• “Our objective is to attract space tourists to India by presenting to them a mix of space tourism and Indian culture,” Porwal said.
• “In comparison to Space X and Blue Origin, our company will help space tourists go to space at a much lower cost,” he said.
• Though the fare for a flight in the spaceship has not been decided, it is likely to be nearly Rs 50 lakh.

ANSWER: B

• The first voter of Independent India, Shyam Saran Negi (106), died . He had cast vote through postal ballot on November 2 due to his frail health for the 34th time for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha poll scheduled for November 12.
• Saran, who had been a symbol of democracy, died in the wee hours at Kalpa, his native place in Kinnaur. He was cremated with state honours.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed a rally at Sundernagar and Solan, paid tributes to Negi. “His spirit towards strengthening democracy was admirable and this time too he did not miss the opportunity to cast his vote. He always motivated everyone, especially the youth, to exercise their right to franchise,” said Modi in his address. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur too condoled his death.
• He earned the distinction of becoming the first voter of Independent India by virtue of being part of a polling team which cast its vote before others on October 25, 1951. Since elections could not be held simultaneously in Kinnaur with rest of the nation in February 1952 due to extreme cold and snow, polling was held before the onset of winters in the tribal areas, including Kinnaur.
• This time, too, he was keen to take part in the November 12 poll but due to his frail health, he cast postal ballot at his home in Kalpa on November 2.
• Negi would vividly recount that he cast his first vote at the Shonthong polling station as part of the poling party which had to trek long distances to conduct polling at Purvani, Ribba, Moarang and Nesong villages.

ANSWER: A

• The Lawrence School, Sanawar, along with its alumni association, The Old Sanawarian Society, is organising a Cyclothon Tour De Sanawar 2022, on the school premises on November 6.
• More than 150 cyclists, including students, amateurs, professionals and mountain bikers, from across North India will participate in the cyclothon sponsored by Hero Cycles.
• The first edition of the Tour-De-Sanawar cyclothon was held in

About The Lawrence School, Sanawar:

• Founded by Sir Henry and Lady Honoria Lawrence, Sanawar is believed to be the first co-educational boarding school in the world. On the 15th of April 1847, a group of 14 boys and girls camped at the top of the foothills of the Himalayas.
• The tradition of military training at Sanawar has always been strong and of such a high standard that several contingents of boys were enlisted from the School and sent straight to the battlefields of the Great War. In appreciation of this, the School was re designated in 1920 as the“Lawrence Royal Military School”.