2-Oct-2018: Geological Survey chooses heritage locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka for UNESCO site status
In a first, an ancient circular lake created by a meteorite strike in Maharashtra and a hexagonal mosaic of basaltic rocks in an island off Udupi are poised to become global geoparks, under a Geological Survey of India (GSI) plan.
Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and St. Mary’s Island and Malpe beach in coastal Karnataka are the GSI’s candidates for UNESCO Global Geopark Network status.
An aspiring Global Geopark must have a dedicated website, a corporate identity, comprehensive management plan, protection plans, finance, and partnerships for it to be accepted. In mid-August, GSI moved ahead with the plan, setting a follow-up time frame of 100 days.
The Geopark tag is akin to that of a ‘World Heritage Site’ for historical monuments that can bring India’s famed geological features to the global stage.
Lonar lake is the only known meteorite crater in basaltic rock and is world famous. Lonar crater became a geo-heritage site in 1979. It is relatively young geologically, at just 50,000 years old. A meteorite estimated to weigh two-million-tonnes slammed into the Earth, creating a 1.83-km diameter crater where the lake formed. It is distinguished by a near-perfect, circular ejecta blanket, which refers to earth thrown up during the collision around it.
St. Mary’s Island, declared a national geo-heritage site in 1975, is estimated to be an 88-million-year-old formation that goes back to a time when Greater India broke away from Madagascar.
4-Feb-2019: Digitization of 2.83 lakh manuscripts consisting of 2.93 crore pages of manuscripts done under NMM
Ministry of Culture launched National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) in 2003 for documentation, conservation/preservation and digitization of manuscripts. Till date it has documented about 43.16 lakh Manuscripts in different scripts and languages.
For conservation and preservation of manuscripts, the cases are dealt on the basis of availability and accessibility. For conservation of manuscripts, NMM follows the guidelines prepared by National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow.
Till date 43.16 lakh manuscripts have been documented. Preventive conservation of 39275570 folios and curative conservation of 3656863 folios manuscripts has been done till date. Digitization of 2.83 lakh manuscripts consisting of 2.93 crore pages of manuscripts has been done.
29-Jun-2017: PM attends centenary year celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today attended the centenary year celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat.
He said Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts have the power to mitigate the challenges the world is facing today. it is essential, as a society, to stay connected to our history.
Speaking about cleanliness, Shri Modi said it must become a habit. He said this would be a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.
He urged people from all over the world to visit the Sabarmati Ashram.
Making a strong statement on cow vigilantism, the Prime Minister said, “We are a land of non-violence. We are the land of Mahatma Gandhi. No one spoke about protecting cows more than Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Yes. It should be done.”
However, he emphasized strongly that killing people in the name of cow worship (Gau Bhakti) is not acceptable. This is not something that Mahatma Gandhi would approve of. As a society, there is no place for violence; no person in this nation has the right to take the law in his or her own hands.
The Prime Minister urged people to work together and create the India of Mahatma Gandhi's dreams, which our freedom fighters would be proud of.
Sabarmati Ashram (also known as Gandhi Ashram, Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha Ashram) is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on the banks of the River Sabarmati. It was from here that Gandhi led the Dandi march also known as the Salt Satyagraha on 12 March 1930. Before starting the march to Dandi, Gandhiji declared that he will not return to the ashram before the independence of the country. The Ashram was started in all earnest with a two-fold purpose- one was to carry on the search for Truth, and the other was to create a non-violent group of workers, who would create a non-violent group of workers, who would organize and help to secure freedom for the country.