Category: History

** 1,000 notified monuments to get pvt operators

“We are targeting about 1,000 historical sites or monuments across states to be placed under Monument Mitra schemes or some other variants.

The Union culture ministry is working on a plan to hand over about 1,000 notified heritage sites and monuments to private players or non-government organisations for maintenance under a special arrangement such as the Monument Mitra  (adopt a heritage) scheme.          

“We are targeting about 1,000 historical sites or monuments across states to be placed under Monument Mitra schemes or some other variants. We are working on it. This modal will help to spruce up several monuments such as Purana Quila and Safdarjung Tomb (in Delhi). They are not in very good state. Once improved, we can promote them for tourism promotion,” said a senior official.   

** Take pride in Tamil, says Modi

PM stresses language diversity of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that every citizen should be proud that the world’s oldest language, Tamil, is in India. Emphasising the importance of the mother tongue in his ‘M ann Ki Baat’ radio show, Mr. Modi said, “The mother and mother tongue, both together strengthen the foundation of life, lending it permanence. Just like we cannot abandon our mother, similarly, we cannot leave our mother tongue either.”

He said the country was proud to be associated with 121 forms of mother tongues, 14 of which are spoken by over one crore people in everyday life.

In 2019, Hindi was ranked third among the most spoken languages of the world. “Every Indian should be proud of this, too. Language is not just a medium of expression, but also serves to preserve the culture and heritage of society,” Mr. Modi said, highlighting the contribution of Surjan Parohi, a famous Hindi poet from Suriname, whose forefathers had gone there along with thousands of workers to earn a living.

** Tirupati celebrates its 892nd birthday

Saint Ramanuja laid stone for the temple city on February 24 in 1130

With garlands of mango leaves and saffron festoons crisscrossing the four roads encircling the Sri Govindaraja temple and plantain trees adorning either side of the road, the core area of the temple city wore a festive look on its 892 nd birthday on Thursday.

According to inscriptions, it was on February 24 in the year 1130 that Vaishnavite saint Bhagawad Ramanuja laid the foundation stone for the temple and the four Mada streets around the shrine, which became the first step towards building the township.

Feb 24th / Andhra Pradesh

** KSI to be first research, studies centre on Kashmir Shaivism

The Kashmir Shaiva Institute (KSI) will come up as the first research, studies and publications centre on Kashmir Shaivism, officials said on Sunday, February 21, 2022

The institute will be based in Jammu.

KSI Secretary, Vijay Kumar Kaul, told reporters that focus of the studies, research and teachings will be to enhance reach of the Shaiva philosophy “The Kashmir Shaiva Institute (KSI) will come up tomorrow in Jammu as first research, studies, teaching and publication centre of excellence across the globe on Kashmir Shaivism,” he said.

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** Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag finds his ancestral roots in Bihar

Purryag is scheduled to visit Wajitpur village in Punpun block of Patna district to get a feel of the place that his ancestors had left behind to sail to Mauritius decades ago.

Heads of foreign governments continue to discover their roots in Bihar . After the Prime Ministers of Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago, it is now the turn of Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag to visit the land of his forefathers in the state.

** Omani adventurer to release book on India at Muscat International Book Fair

Having visited over 70 countries and authored ten books on his travels, Omani mountaineer and adventurer Khalid Said al Anqudi has yet another literary work detailing picturesque India and its colourful traditions.

Titled Al Mahraja (The King), the book covers majestic mountains, customs and traditions and details of Anqudi’s adventures in India.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Anqudi said, “I wrote the book in 2021. It will be launched at the 26th Muscat International Book Fair starting on February 24.”

** 1200-year-old sculptures unearthed in Telangana’s Nalgonda district

Sculptures date back to 8th century, bear Pallava influence and have uncommon features

Rare sculptures with unique iconographical features dating back to the 8th century AD were found at Bhattugudem village of Peddavura mandal in Nalgonda district.

According to E. Sivanagireddy, archaeologist and CEO of Pleach India Foundation, sculptures of Brahma and Bhairava in front of the Kameswara temple of the village were found.

** The incredible story of Hicky’s Bengal Gazette and how it took on the establishment

Andrew Otis offers insights into Asia’s first printed newspaper that was published from Calcutta, the then capital of British India, and his research that led to his seminal book, Hicky’s Bengal Gazette: The Untold Story of India’s First Newspaper

** Global Skill Park in Bhopal to be named after Sant Ravidas, announces MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Along with this, Sant Ravidas Swa-rozgar Yojana, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Aarthik Kalyan Yojana and Mukhyamantri Anusuchit Jati Vishesh Pariyojana Vitta Poshan Yojana will be started to provide employment to the youths. Sant Ravidas community buildings will be constructed in scheduled caste dominated areas of every district of the state.”

Madhya Pradesh

** The wild oranges of India

The first oranges

Where did the citrus originate? Botanist Chozaburo Tanaka was an early proponent of the Indian origin of the citrus. An exhaustive study of the genomes of many citrus varieties concluded that the last common ancestor of all the varieties we see today grew about eight million years ago in what is now Northeast India (overlapping Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland and Manipur) and adjacent regions of Myanmar and Southwest China (Wu, et al, Nature (2018) 554, 311-316) This region is, famously, one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots. A biodiversity hotspot is defined as a region that contains at least 1,500 species of native plants, and has lost at least 70% of its vegetation. The Northeast corner has 25% of India’s forests and a large chunk of its biodiversity. Here you will find tribes such as the Khasi and Garo, and nearly 200 spoken languages. This area is also a rich repository of citrus genomes, with 68 varieties of wild and developed citrus found here today.