International Organizations, Defence, Books & Authors, World History

Notes:
Kalidasa was one of the gems of the court of Gupta king Chandragupta II (375–415 CE). The poems he wrote were usually of epic proportions and were written in classical Sanskrit. He wrote two epic poems called Kumara sambhava, which means birth of Kumara and the Raghuvamsha, which means dynasty of Raghu. There are also two lyric poems written by Kalidasa known as Meghadutta that stands for cloud messenger and the Ritusamhara that means description of the seasons. Meghadutta is one of the finest works of Kalidasa in terms of world literature. The beauty of the continuity in flawless Sanskrit is unmatched till date. The most famous and beautiful work of Kalidasa is the Shakuntalam. It is the second play of Kalidasa after he wrote Malavikagnimitra. The Shakuntalam tells the story of king Dushyant who falls in love with a beautiful girl Shakuntala, who happens to be the daughter of a saint.

Notes:
The book titled ‘The Emergency – Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour’ has been authored by Surya Prakash, the chairman of Prasar Bharati. The book has recently launched by Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The purpose of the book is to honor all those who fought for the restoration of democracy in the country in the mid-1970s.

Notes:
Buddhist monk Dhammapiya from Tripura has been elected as the new secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) in New Delhi. The IBC is a global Buddhist forum for preservation and development of heritage sites of the religion in India and other parts of the world.

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In 2011 UNESCO has become the first U.N. agency to welcome the Palestinians as a full member. The Palestinians got backing from two thirds of UNESCO’s members to become its 195th member.

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The Booker Prize is awarded annually to the best original novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Republic of Ireland, or Zimbabwe. It contributes greatly to promoting and acknowledging the literary work in English language and provides the authors a platform to showcase their talent to a larger audience.

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TRIPS stands for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. It is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The agreement sets down minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of intellectual property as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations.

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that is aimed to promote and regulate regulation of international trade between nations. It commenced its operations on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement.

Notes:
Among the given options, the junior most rank in the Indian Air Force is Flight Lieutenant. The rank hierarchy in the Indian Air Force from junior to senior among the listed ranks is as follows: Flight Lieutenant, Squadron Leader, Wing Commander, and Group Captain.

Notes:
Dhruva is India’s largest indigenous research and production nuclear reactor. It is an indigenously built 100MWt research reactor at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai. Operational since 1985, this heavy-water moderated and cooled reactor predominantly uses uranium as fuel. The reactor is used primarily for the production of weapons-grade plutonium for India’s nuclear deterrent program. Additionally, it is also used for research in materials science and to provide irradiation services.