Explanation:

• India and Bhutan took a major step forward for the construction of the 600 MW Kholongchhu project, their first hydropower joint venture project in Bhutan’s less developed eastern region of Trashiyangtse.

About the project:

• It will be a joint venture between Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), a Himachal Pradesh PSU, and the Bhutanese Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC).
• The Kholongchhu project is one of four additional projects agreed to in 2008, as a part of India’s commitment to help Bhutan create a total 10,000 MW of installed capacity by 2020.
• The inter-governmental agreement for the Kholongchhu project was signed after prolonged negotiations on the structure of the joint venture, in April 2014, and the foundation stone was laid when Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Thimphu a few months later.
• According to the agreement finalised, the construction for the Kholongchhu Hydro Electric Power (HEP) project will begin soon and be completed in the second half of 2025.
• It is the first time an India-Bhutan hydropower project will be constructed as a 50:50 joint venture, not as a government-to-government agreement.

Accelerate Vigyan’ Scheme:

• The primary objective of this inter-ministerial scheme is to give more thrust on encouraging high-end scientific research and preparing scientific manpower, which can lead to research careers and knowledge-based economy.
• Recognising that all research has its base as development of quality and well-trained researchers, AV will initiate and strengthen mechanisms of identifying research potential, mentoring, training and hands-on workshop on a national scale.
• The vision is to expand the research base, with three broad goals, namely, consolidation / aggregation of all scientific programs, initiating high-end orientation workshops, and creating opportunities for research internships for those who do not have access to such resources/facilities.

Components of Accelerate Vigyan:

1.ABHYAAS

• It is an attempt to boost research and development in the country by enabling and grooming potential PG/PhD students by means of developing their research skills in selected areas across different disciplines or fields.
• It has two components: High-End Workshops (‘KARYASHALA’) and Research Internships (‘VRITIKA’).
• This is especially important for those researchers who have limited opportunities to access such learning capacities/facilities/infrastructure.

2) SAMOOHAN

• Mission ‘SAMOOHAN’ marks the beginning of Accelerate Vigyan.
• It aims to encourage, aggregate and consolidate all scientific interactions in the country under one common roof.
• It has been sub-divided into ‘SAYONJIKA’ and ‘SANGOSHTI’.
• SAYONJIKA is an open-ended program to catalogue the capacity building activities in science and technology supported by all government funding agencies in the country.
• SANGOSHTI is a pre-existing program of SERB.

About Puri Jagannath Temple:

• The Jagannath Temple in Puri was called the “White Pagoda”.
• The temple is a part of Char Dham (Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri, Rameswaram) pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to make in one’s lifetime.
• When most of the deities in the temples of India are made of stone or metal, the idol of Jagannatha is made of wood which is ceremoniously replaced in every twelve or nineteen years by using sacred trees.
• The temple is believed to be constructed in the 12th century by King Anatavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
• The temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra or Chariot festival, in which the three principal deities (Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra) are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars
• Jagannath Puri temple is called ‘Yamanika Tirtha’ where, according to the Hindu beliefs, the power of ‘Yama’, the god of death has been nullified in Puri due to the presence of Lord Jagannath.

Explanation:

About CZA
The CZA is the body of the government responsible for oversight of zoos constituted under the section 38A of Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972.
The main objective of the authority is to complement the national effort in the conservation of wildlife.
Standards and norms for housing, upkeep, health care and overall management of animals in zoos have been laid down under the Recognition of Zoo Rules, 1992.
Roles & Functions
The Authority’s role is more of a facilitator than a regulator.
It, therefore, provides technical and financial assistance to such zoos which have the potential to attain the desired standard in animal management.
Primary function– grant of recognition and release of financial assistance.
It also regulates the exchange of animals of endangered category Listed under Schedule-I and II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act among zoos.
Exchange of animals between Indian and foreign zoos is also approved by the Authority before the requisite clearances under EXIM Policy and the CITES permits are issued by the competent authority.
The Authority also coordinates and implements programmes on capacity building of zoo personnel, planned breeding programmes and ex-situ research including biotechnological intervention for the conservation of species for complementing in-situ conservation efforts in the country.
Composition
Apart from the chairman, it consists of 10 members and a member-secretary.
Almost all of them are officials in the Environment Ministry and NGO experts are those who are wildlife conservationists or retired forest officers.

Explanation: The Champaran peasant movement was launched in 1917-18. Its objective was to create awakening among the peasants against the European planters. These planters resorted to illegal and inhuman methods of indigo cultivation at a cost which by no canons of justice could be called an adequate remuneration for the labour done by the peasants.