Where is West Bank Located?
 The West Bank is located to the west of the Jordan River.
 It is a patch of land about one and a half times the size of Goa, was captured by Jordan
after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
 Israel snatched it back during the Six-Day War of 1967 and has occupied it ever since.
 It is a landlocked territory, bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel to the south, west,
and north.
 Following the Oslo Accords between the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) during the 1990s, part of the West Bank came under the control of
the Palestinian Authority.
 With varying levels of autonomy, the Palestinian Authority controls close to 40 per cent
of West Bank today, while the rest is controlled by Israel.

Explanation:

Tillari Conservation Reserve
This area is known to serve as a corridor and even as a habitat for the population of tigers and elephants moving between the three states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The 38-km-long Dodamarg wildlife corridor that connects Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra to Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka frequently witnesses elephant and tiger movement.
Tillari will be the seventh corridor in the state to be declared as a ‘conservation reserve’.
Conservation Reserves in Maharashtra:
Maharashtra has 62 conservation reserves, of which 13 are in the western ghats.
Tillari is a reserve in western ghats.
It connects Mhadei sanctuary in Goa and Bhimgad in Karnataka.

Explanation:

The National Security Law
Under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong has to enact a national security law “to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, and subversion against the Chinese government.
When the Hong Kong government first tried to enact the law in 2003, the issue became a rallying point for the city-wide protests which occurred that year.
Since then, the government has steered clear of introducing the legislation again.
Beijing could now make the law applicable to Hong Kong by another route — by inserting the legislation in Annex III of the Basic Law.
The Chinese parliament is expected to vote on a resolution that will make way for the new law, which could be promulgated in Hong Kong.

Explanation:

United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT)

The UNCAT is an international human rights treaty, under the review of the UN and was adopted in 1984.
It aims to prevent torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the world.
The convention requires states to take effective measures to prevent torture in any territory under their jurisdiction and forbids states to transport people to any country where there is reason to believe they will be tortured.
Since the convention’s entry into force, the absolute prohibition against torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment has become accepted as a principle of customary international law.

Desiring to make more effective the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world.” The United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT) is the only legally binding convention at the universal level concerned exclusively with the erad- ication of torture.

India needs to ratify UNCAT
India signed the convention in 1997 but it remains among a handful of countries including Pakistan and China which are yet to ratify the convention.
India is in the company of 25 other nations which have not ratified.
The National Human Rights Commission had said custodial violence and torture are already “rampant” in the country.
About 1,731 people had died in custody in 2019 a/c to NHRC report.

Explanation:

The Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri is “the most iconic architectural accomplishment of Akbar’s reign. It incorporates almost all the essential features of Akbar’s architectural traditions: red sandstone, stone carvings, relief by inserting white marble, etc.” The construction of the Buland Darwaza was inspired by Timurid architecture. Along with Humayun’s Tomb, its monumentality reflects its Central Asian origins.

Asaf-ud-Daula’s rule saw a devastating famine, which created an economic crisis. The residents of Awadh were self-respecting people, so instead of handing out dole, the Nawab started a food-for-work programme. The famous Asafi Imambara, or Bara Imambara, of Lucknow was built to give employment and revenue to the public.

Instead of stones and marble, brick and lime were used. Stucco ornamentation (gajkari) was used to decorate the monuments, giving it a deep relief effect even on flat walls. Mother of pearl and shells deposited in lake beds were used in the stucco ornamentation to give a shine finer than marble. The local masons cleverly used the brick, with its small size and thickness, to form remarkably fine details on the wall and column surfaces.