Union Tourism Ministry has granted heritage status to the Castle Naggar (Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation's prime hotel in the Kullu valley).

Naggar was the capital of the former Kullu state for about 1460 years.

The castle was established by Raja Sidhi Singh in the 16^th century.

It bears traditional architecture called Kathloonmi, which uses a combination of stones and wooden beams.

India’s richest temple, the Venkateshwara (Tirupati) temple will continue to have the patent of its famous ‘laddu’. It is the decision by Geographical Indications Registry which also granted the laddu the status of Geographical Indicator of the Tirupati region.

What is a geographical indicator?

A Geographical Indication (GI) is a status given to certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g. a town, region, or country). The use of a GI may act as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, is made according to traditional methods, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its geographical origin.

What was the controversy over the laddu?

As per Tirumala tirupati Devasthanam, unscrupulous elements were selling their preparations as Tirupati laddu and wanted the laddu to be its patent with GI tag.

In the current context, the Geographical Indications Registry was convinced with the Tirumala tirupati Devasthanam’ s claim that the laddu is unique in its “preparation, quality and reputation”.

As per a group of researchers traces of Paleo- river has been found in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.

What is a Paleo-river?

It is an inactive river or water stream buried under sediment.

As per Mangal Panchayatam Parishad, the group doing research, the 65 million year-old river got buried under basaltic lava due to geological activities.

The river flowed in the same direction (East to West) as the Narmada.

Currently, the course of the Narmada is about 10 km from the site of the paleo-river, parallel to it.

A 300 crore compensation package for the violence hit people of Assam has been announced by the Prime Minister. The package includes Rs 100 crore for relief and rehabilitation in the worst affected districts.

What happened in Kokrajhar?

• There occurred clash b/w the local Bodo community and the Muslims. The violence erupted when two Muslims leaders were shot dead. After their death Muslims retaliated in rage which led to attacks and counter-attacks making it a large scale riot kind of situation.

What is the cause?

• Though the exact cause is still unknown, it is known that there has been tension b/w the ethnic Bodo tribe and the Muslims.
• The Bodo consider the Bengali speaking Muslims as immigrants and therefore oppose their settlement in the region.
• Illegal' migration has been a critical problem in North East as it has instilled fear among tribals that they will become a minority in their own state.

Assam has a history of some worst Hindu-Muslims riots and ethnic clashes. In 1983 riots in Neilly, thousands of Muslims were butchered in 1983.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on visit to Japan, has expressed his wish to develop Dholera SIR (Special Investment Region) as a model port city just like Kobe city in Japan.

Dholera- Dholera is a town in Gujarat. It is an ancient port-city in Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), 30 km. from Dhandhuka village of Ahmedabad district.

Kobe - Kobe is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately 30 km (19 mi) west of Osaka. It is also an ancient port established in 812 AD.