🔆 Six Sites in India’s UNESCO Tentative List

📍 Context
✅ India has proposed six culturally and naturally significant sites for inclusion in UNESCO’s Tentative List — a prerequisite for World Heritage nomination.

📍 1. Kanger Valley National Park (Chhattisgarh)
✅ Location: Bastar district
✅ Named after: Kanger River
✅ Features:
• Karst topography
• Limestone caves
• Tirathgarh Waterfalls

📍 2. Mudumal Megalithic Menhirs (Telangana)
✅ Located near: Krishna River
✅ Type: Megalithic astronomical observatory
✅ Key facts:
• Menhir = upright standing stone
• Age: ~3,500–4,000 years old

📍 3. Ashokan Edict Sites along Mauryan Routes
✅ Spread across multiple regions
✅ Includes:
• Major Rock Edicts
• Minor Rock Edicts
• Pillar Edicts
• Cave inscriptions
✅ Period: 3rd century BCE (Maurya Emperor Ashoka)

📍 4. Chausath Yogini Temples
✅ Locations: Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha
✅ Key features:
• 64 Yogini sculptures
• Linked to Tantric worship
• Mostly circular temples
• Exceptions (rectangular): Khajuraho, Badoh, Rikhiyan

📍 5. Gupta Temples in North India
✅ Architectural significance:
• Blend of Nagara + Dravida styles
• Buddhist and Hindu influences
✅ Structural features:
• Square plan
• Flat roof
• Circumambulatory path
• Low-height shikhara
✅ Materials: Sun-dried bricks, terracotta, sandstone

📍 6. Palace–Fortresses of the Bundelas
✅ Includes six sites:
• Garhkundar Fort
• Raja Mahal
• Jahangir Mahal
• Datia Palace
• Jhansi Fort
• Dhubela Palace
✅ Architecture:
• Fusion of Rajput and Mughal styles

#prelims
#art_and_culture

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National income

Financial market

🔆 CURRENT AFFAIRS – 16 MAY 2026

🔆 ECONOMY

📍 India’s Forex Reserves Rise Sharply
✅ Forex reserves increased by USD 6.295 billion to USD 696.988 billion
✅ Gold reserves saw major rise of USD 5.637 billion

📍 Wholesale Inflation Touches 8.3%
✅ India’s wholesale inflation rose to 8.3% in April 2026
✅ Highest level in nearly 3.5 years
✅ Driven mainly by fuel & power inflation

🔆 STATES

📍 Andhra Pradesh BharatNet Expansion Pact
✅ Digital Bharat Nidhi signed agreement with Andhra Pradesh for BharatNet expansion
✅ Project allocation: ₹2,432 crore
✅ Will cover 13,426 Gram Panchayats

📍 High-Altitude Irrigation Canal in Ladakh
✅ Vinai Kumar Saxena inaugurated Mahey Tokpo–Raldho irrigation canal
✅ Built above 14,000 feet in Changthang region

🔆 NATIONAL

📍 NHAI Launches Project Saksham
✅ National Highways Authority of India launched women-focused skill development initiative
✅ More than 80% beneficiaries are women

📍 ₹37,500 Crore Coal Gasification Scheme Approved
✅ Union Cabinet approved scheme for promotion of surface coal/lignite gasification projects
✅ Aim: Reduce imports of LNG, methanol & urea

📍 Mizoram Ginger Mission Launched
✅ Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched ₹189.79 crore mission
✅ Focus on GI-certified pharma-grade Mizo Ginger exports

🔆 AGREEMENTS & MoUs

📍 India’s First Mega Greenfield Shipyard
✅ MoPSW signed tripartite MoU for mega greenfield shipyard at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu
✅ Partners include HD KSOE, NSHIP-TN & SMFCL
✅ Project linked to Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047

📍 IEPFA–Prasar Bharati MoU
✅ MoU signed to strengthen investor awareness initiatives nationwide
✅ Awareness messages to be broadcast on Doordarshan channels

🔆 APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

📍 South Asian Weightlifting Federation
✅ Sahdev Yadav elected President of South Asian Weightlifting Federation

🔆 RANKS & REPORTS

📍 Global Forest Goals Report 2026
✅ Report jointly prepared by UN DESA & UNFF Secretariat
✅ Global forest area declined by over 40 million hectares during 2015–2025
✅ Major causes: agricultural expansion & climate pressures

📍 Henley Passport Index 2026
✅ India ranked 78th with access to 56 destinations
✅ Singapore retained top position

📍 LEADS 2025 Report Released
✅ Union Minister Piyush Goyal released LEADS 2025 Report
✅ Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram & Delhi classified as “Exemplars”

🔆 DEFENCE

📍 AI-Powered Combat Aircraft ‘Kaal Bhairava’
✅ India’s AI-powered combat aircraft Kaal Bhairava to be manufactured in Portugal
✅ Developed by Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace
✅ Part of Operation 777 initiative for globalising Indian defence manufacturing

🔆 ENVIRONMENT

📍 ZSI Discovers Two New Spider Species
✅ Zoological Survey of India discovered two new spider species in Nagaland
✅ Species named Psechrus ntu & Psechrus phenshunyu

#CurrentAffairs

Landmark Supreme Court Cases and their Verdicts

Mediaeval history shorts notes

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Westerlies

River landforms

Zones of earth

Biochemical cycle

Important Earthquake concept

Rock types

🔆Keywords in Preamble

Trick- DR. Sushant Singh Saini
was fond of JaLEBI

✅D- Democratic
✅R- Republic
✅S- Sovereign
✅S- Social
✅S- Secular
✅J-Justice
✅L-Liberty
✅E-Equality
✅B-Brotherhood-word used in the preamble is ‘fraternity’
✅I-Integrity


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🔆Bhakti Saint & their time period

✅Shankara (788 - 820 AD)
✅Ramanuja (1017-1137 A.D)
✅Basava (12th Century)
✅Madhva (1238-1319 AD)
✅Ramanada (15th century)
✅Kabir (1440-1510 AD)
✅Chaitanya (1468-1533 AD)
✅Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1538 AD)
✅Purandara (15th century)
✅Dadu Dayal (1544-1603 AD)
✅Surdas (1483-1563 AD)
✅Vallabhacharya (1479-1531 AD)
✅Shankaradeva (1499-1569 AD)
✅Mirabai (1498-1563 AD)
✅Haridas (1478-1573 AD)
✅Tulasidas (1532-1623 AD)
✅Namdeva (1270-1309 AD)
✅Jnanesvar (1275-1296 AD)
✅Eknath (1533-1599AD)
✅Tukaram (1608?- 1650AD)

#pre_revise

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Pollution and its impact on various organs