About Exercise AL NAJAH:

• It is a joint military exercise between India and Oman.
• The exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 13th to 26th September 2024 at Rabkoot Training Area in Salalah, Oman.
• Exercise AL NAJAH has been held biennially since 2015, alternating between India and Oman. Last edition of the same exercise was conducted at Mahajan in Rajasthan.
• The Indian Army contingent comprising 60 personnel is being represented by a Battalion of the Mechanised Infantry Regiment.
• Aim of the Joint Exercise is to enhance joint military capability of both sides to undertake counter-terrorism operations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The exercise will focus on operations in the Desert environment.
• Tactical drills to be rehearsed during the exercise include Joint Planning, Cordon and Search Operation, Fighting in Built Up Area, establishment of Mobile Vehicle Check Post, Counter Drone and Room Intervention, among others. Combined field training exercises that simulate real-world counter-terrorism missions have also been planned.

About Saarthi App:

• It is a reference application designed to assist businesses in creating their own customised buyer-side apps.
• It supports network participants in building buyer apps with multilingual features.
• The app initially supports Hindi, English, Marathi, Bangla and Tamil, with plans to scale up to all 22 languages provided by Bhashini.
• Features: It includes real-time translation, transliteration, and voice recognition allow businesses to expand market reach, enabling companies to tap into new regions and increase customer acquisition.

What is Bhashini?

• It is India's Artificial Intelligence (AI)-led language translation platform.
• It seeks to enable easy access to the internet and digital services in Indian languages, including voice-based access, and help the creation of content in Indian languages.
• It aims to make Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing (NLP) resources available in the public domain to be used by -- Indian MSMEs, startups and individual innovators.
• This will help developers to offer all Indians easy access to the internet and digital services in their native languages.
• This online platform also has a separate ‘Bhasadaan’ section which allows individuals to contribute to multiple crowdsourcing initiatives and is also accessible via respective Android and iOS apps.

About Salt Pan lands:

• These are parcels of low-lying lands where seawater flows in at certain times and leaves behind salt and other minerals.
• This ecosystem is instrumental in protecting the city from flooding.
• According to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 2011, the ecologically sensitive salt pans fall under the CRZ-1B category, where no economic activity is allowed with the exception of salt extraction and natural gas exploration.
• Nationally, some 60,000 acres have been demarcated as salt pan lands, spread across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat and Karnataka.
• Andhra Pradesh (20,716 acres) boasts the largest expanse of such land, followed by Tamil Nadu (17,095 acres) and Maharashtra (12,662 acres).
• Ecological Significance: Salt pans, which, along with the mangroves, stop the city from flooding, also host various species of birds and insects.

What are Coastal Regulation Zones?

• The coastal land up to 500m from the High Tide Line (HTL) and a stage of 100m along banks of creeks, estuaries, backwaters and rivers subject to tidal fluctuations, is called the Coastal Regulation Zone.

About Sakthan Thampuran:

• Sakthan Thampuran, also known as Raja Rama Varma Kunjipillai or Rama Varma IX, ruled over the Cochin kingdom from 1790 to 1805.
• He was born in 1751 to Ambika Thampuran and Chendose Aniyan Namboodiri of the Cochin royal family, but was raised by an aunt who called him Sakthan, meaning ‘powerful’.
• Strategist and ruler
  • As an 18-year-old he advised his king to maintain friendly relations with both the Dutch and the English, who were vying for a larger share of trade in the region.
  • Sakthan is said to have orchestrated Mysore’s attempt to invade the Travancore kingdom, which had established relations with the English East India Company.
  • This would result in the Powney treaty which freed the Cochin kingdom from its allegiance to Mysore and helped formalise its relations with the British.
  • He ended the institution of the Yogiatirippads — the erstwhile spiritual heads of key temples of that time.
• He started the Thrissur Pooram in 1797 as an alternative to the Arattupuzha Pooram, then the largest temple festival in the state.

About Lion-tailed Macaque:

• The Lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) is an Old World monkey.
• One of the distinguishing features of this species is that males define the boundaries of their home ranges by calls.
• Overall, their communication system contains as many as 17 vocalisations. 
• Appearance
  • They are characterised by the grey mane around their face.
  • They are sometimes called bearded monkeys.
  • The magnificent Lion-tailed macaque is named due to its lion-like, long, thin and tufted tail. 
• Habitat
  • In the wild, these are only native to India.
  • It is a primate endemic to small and severely fragmented rainforests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Threat: The biggest threat to the overall population of this species is the destruction of their rainforest habitat. 
• Conservation status
  • IUCN:Endangered
  • CITES:Appendix I 
  • The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972:Schedule I

Why in news?

The 2nd Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation concluded with the adoption of Delhi Declaration. Delhi Declaration is a comprehensive framework aimed at enhancing regional cooperation, addressing emerging challenges, and fostering sustainable growth within the civil aviation sector.

The 2-day conference was organised by Ministry of Civil Aviation in collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It witnessed engaging discussions and presentations focused on shaping the future of aviation in the Asia Pacific region. 

What’s in today’s article?

• Indian aviation sector
• Key highlights of speech delivered by PM Modi

Indian Aviation Sector

• Size
  • India is now the world’s third-largest aviation market and is also among the fastest-growing major aviation markets globally. 
    • It is expected to overtake China and the United States as the world's third-largest air passenger market in the next ten years, by 2030, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
  • In FY24, airports in India pegged the domestic passenger traffic to be 306.79 million, a 13.5% YoY growth, and international passenger traffic to be 69.64 million, a 22.3% YoY growth, over the same period last year.
• Budget 2024-25
  • According to the documents of the budget for 2024-25, the Ministry of Civil Aviation will get an allocation of Rs. 2,357 crore (US$ 282 million).
• Policy decisions
  • The Indian government has approved 100% FDI via the automatic route for the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) sector.
  • NABH (NextGen Airports for Bharat) - Nirman is a government initiative to expand airport capacity more than five times to handle billions of trips a year, in the next 10-15 years.
  • AAI Startup Policy: Delivering a framework & mechanism for the interaction of AAI with internal and external stakeholders that catalyze innovation at airports and leveraging technology for addressing challenges and enhancing the delivery of services to passengers.
• Regulatory frameworks for the aviation sector
  • National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016 guides the Indian aviation sector.
  • Aviation policy is broad-based in India and is dealt with by the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the legal framework of the Aircraft Act 1934, and Aircraft Rules 1937.
  • The DGCA is the statutory regulatory authority which comes in for issues related to safety, licensing, airworthiness, and so on.
  • Airports Authority of India (AAI) manages and operates airports and provides air traffic management services.
  • Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is responsible for laying down standards and measures for the security of civil flights and airports.
  • Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) regulates tariffs and other charges for aeronautical services provided at major airports.
  • It also monitors performance standards of such services.
  • Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) aims to make air travel affordable and widespread by enhancing regional air connectivity through financial incentives, subsidies, and infrastructural support.

Key Highlights of speech delivered by PM Modi

• Emphasized on making the sector more inclusive for women
  • PM emphasized on making the sector more inclusive for women.
  • In India, 15% of the pilots are women which is more than the global average of 5%.
• India has become aviation inclusive
  • PM spoke about the transformation in the aviation sector in India in the last ten years and said from being aviation exclusive, India has become aviation inclusive.
  • He added that a growing number of lower middle class and middle class Indians even from smaller cities and towns are now travelling by air.
• Proposed the idea of International Buddhist Circuit
  • PM urged the participating members to connect all the holy places related to Lord Buddha across Asia and create an International Buddhist Circuit.
  • It will benefit the civil aviation sector, the travellers, related countries and their economies as well.
• India to become a leading aviation hub by the end of the decade
  • The number of airports has doubled in India in the past 10 years.
    • With enhanced air connectivity in tier two and three cities, many cities will become new centres of growth in India.
  • The India of the future will be among the most well-connected regions globally.
    • Airlines of India have placed orders for over 1,200 aircraft.
  • India is moving ahead with an aim to become a leading aviation hub by the end of the decade where the MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) industry alone would be worth $4 billion. 
• Hailed initiatives like regional connectivity scheme— Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN)
  • So far, 14 million people have travelled under the UDAN scheme. Lakhs of people have seen the inside of an aircraft for the first time due to this scheme.
• Affordable air taxis to become a reality in India
  • PM Modi said affordable air taxis will soon become a reality in India, bringing ease of travel in cities through advanced air mobility. 
• Use of drones in the agro sector
  • He also spoke about the government’s push towards using drones in the agro sector.
  • Through our drone didi scheme, we have prepared a large number of trained drone pilots.

Why in News?

During his recent visit to Germany, the External Affairs Minister of India paid a visit to the replica of Sanchi's Great Stupa's East Gate standing in front of Humboldt Forum Museum in Berlin.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What is a Stupa?
• The Great Stupa of Sanchi
• The East Gate of the Sanchi Stupa and its Replica

What is a Stupa?

• Meaning: In Buddhism, a stupa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (typically the remains of Buddha and other Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
• Origin: Stupas were pre-Buddhist burial mounds in ancient India. They had no religious significance and were simply memorials that were less elaborate and conspicuous than they are today.
• Structure:
  • 
• Development:
  • Expansion under Ashoka (250 BCE): According to Buddhist tradition, Emperor Ashoka recovered the relics of the Buddha from the earlier stupas and erected 84,000 stupas to distribute the relics across India.
  • Decorated stupas (from 125 BCE): Stupas were soon to be richly decorated with sculptural reliefs. For example, Bharhut (115 BCE), Bodh Gaya (60 BCE), Mathura (125–60 BCE), Sanchi (for the elevation of the toranas), etc.
  • Development in Gandhara (3rd century BCE - 5th century CE): Since Buddhism spread to Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan through Gandhara, the stylistic evolution of the Gandharan stupa was very influential.
• Significance: It is thought that the temple in the shape of a truncated pyramid may have derived from the design of the stepped stupas that developed in Gandhara. The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is one such example.

The Great Stupa of Sanchi:

• About:
  • Commissioned in the 3rd century BCE by Emperor Ashoka, it is the oldest stone structure in India and is considered one of the best-preserved groups of Buddhist monuments in the country.
  • It was built over the relics of Buddha and his two disciples - Sariputra and Maudgalyayan.
  • The most recent construction in Sanchi can be dated to as late as the 12th century CE, after which the site was abandoned.
  • British General Henry Taylor rediscovered the Sanchi Stupa in 1818 and Alexander Cunningham led the first formal survey and excavations at Sanchi in 1851.
  • The site was restored to its present condition by ASI director-general John Marshall in the 1910s with funding from the begums of nearby Bhopal.
  • It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989.
• Location: It is located on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh.
• Significance: It provides a broad and instructive field for researching the origins, development, and decline of Buddhist art and architecture in India.
• Gateways/ Toranas of the Great Stupa
  • While the original stupa was a plain hemispherical structure crowned by a chhatra (parasol), the 4 ornamental gateways or toranas (oriented to the four cardinal directions) were constructed in the first century BCE
  • These were constructed within a few decades of each other during the reign of the Satavahana
  • These gateways are made of two square pillars adorned with beautiful sculptures depicting scenes from the Buddha’s life (not the Buddha in his human form) and stories from the Jataka
  • The art impresses immensely by its rhythm, symmetry, visual splendour and exquisite treatment of the flower and plant elements. 

The East Gate of the Sanchi Stupa and its Replica:

• Features:
  • The upper architrave of the gate represents the seven Manushi Buddhas (previous Buddhas, with the historical Buddha being the latest incarnation).
  • The middle architrave depicts the scene of the Great Departure, when prince Siddhartha leaves Kapilavastu to live as an ascetic in search of enlightenment.
  • The lower architrave depicts Emperor Ashoka visiting the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.
  • Other decorative elements include the shalabhanjika (a fertility emblem represented by a yakshi grasping the branch of a tree), elephants, winged lions, and peacocks.
• Why is the East Gate the most famous of the Sanchi toranas in Europe?
  • There is a historical reason behind this. The East Gate was cast in plaster by Lieutenant Henry Hardy Cole for the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK) in the late 1860s.
  • Later, this cast was replicated and displayed all over Europe. The latest Berlin replica too traces its origin to this original cast.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Background (Context of the Article)
• About CSTT (Meaning, Purpose, Shabd Glossary, Process, etc.)

Background:

• In alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Indian government has taken steps to promote education in Indian languages.
• This includes technical education in disciplines like engineering and medicine. One of the major initiatives under this policy is the "AICTE Technical Book Writing and Translation" project, which aims to provide technical textbooks in 12 scheduled Indian languages.
• To further this mission, the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) plays a pivotal role in standardising technical and scientific terms in Indian languages.

What is CSTT?

• It was established in October 1961 with an objective to standardise scientific and technical terminology in Indian languages to ensure uniformity and clarity in communication.
• CSTT regularly publishes bilingual, trilingual, and multilingual glossaries, definitional dictionaries, and monographs.
• Additionally, it brings out quarterly journals like ‘Vigyan Garima Sindhu’ and ‘Gyan Garima Sindhu’.
• CSTT also focuses on the publication of university-level textbooks in Indian languages, collaborating with Granth Academies, textbook boards, and publication cells across the country.
• Its efforts extend to the publication of administrative and departmental glossaries used widely by government departments, institutions, research labs, and public sector units.

The ‘Shabd’ Glossary Platform:

• The CSTT has launched an online platform called ‘Shabd’, available at https://shabd.education.gov.in, which serves as a central repository for technical and scientific terms in Indian languages.
• This data server hosts all the glossaries compiled by CSTT in a digital, searchable format.
• Other institutions or agencies that prepare dictionaries can also upload their works to this platform, making it a one-stop solution for accessing standardized terminology.
• Users can search terms based on language, subject, and dictionary type, and provide feedback on the existing terminology.
• This dynamic platform aims to create a unified resource for technical terms across various disciplines.

The Process of Term Standardization:

• The terminologies on the 'Shabd' platform are prepared by Expert Advisory Committees consisting of subject matter experts, linguists, and language specialists.
• These committees identify equivalent terms in Indian languages for specific subject areas.
• Once finalized, these terminologies are used by institutions like Granth Academies, NCERT, NTA, AICTE, and various textbook boards.
• The platform currently offers terms derived from several reference materials, including definitional dictionaries and glossaries compiled by CSTT over the years.
• The ‘Shabd’ portal, launched in March 2024, has already received significant attention, with 1,36,968 hits from users across India and the world.
• This indicates growing interest in accessing and utilising standardized technical terms in Indian languages.
• Terms & Disciplines Covered:
  • As of now, the portal contains around 322 glossaries comprising 21,84,050 headwords. These terms span multiple disciplines, including:
    • Humanities
    • Social Sciences
    • Medical Sciences
    • Engineering
    • Agricultural Sciences
  • In addition, more than 60 subjects are covered, such as Journalism, Public Administration, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Psychology, Physics, Economics, Ayurveda, Mathematics, Civil and Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Political Science, Agriculture, Transport, Geology, Cell Biology, Forestry, and more.
• Future Plans:
  • Moving forward, CSTT plans to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies to accelerate the development of standardized terminology.
  • This will ensure that Indian languages continue to evolve with advancements in education and technology.

Conclusion:

• The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) is at the forefront of promoting education in Indian languages by standardizing technical terms across various disciplines.
• With the launch of the ‘Shabd’ platform and its commitment to using cutting-edge technologies, CSTT is helping India achieve its vision of accessible and effective education in regional languages, in line with the goals of the National Education Policy 2020.