ARTS & CULTURE:
- The idol of Natesa is a rare sandstone idol in the 9th-century Prathihara form in Rajasthan.
- It is a magnificent portrayal of Lord Shiva.
- Beautiful representations of Nandi are seen behind the right leg of the Natesa symbol.
- This was probably from the Ghateswara Temple in Baroli, Rajasthan.
- In 2002, the Rajasthan Police launched an inquiry called "Operation Blackhole" against Vaman Ghiya.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
WTO to set up dispute panels against India
- The World Trade Organization ( WTO) has approved the proposal of Chinese Taipei and Japan to set up ICT tariff committees against India.
- The three committees were set up to deliberate on New Delhi's decision to charge 10 per cent customs duty on cell phones and certain other ICT goods for the first time in July 2017, which rose to 15 per cent last year.
- The EU, US, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada, Japan and Thailand have started discussions with India on the issue, saying that they are greatly impacted by the change.
- The Us, Japan and Taiwan seek a common commission to discuss specific disagreements. Nonetheless, India has rejected a common panel claiming that there are large gaps in grievances.
- Losing the conflict will render China the biggest winner because India imported $15.7 billion of software, telecommunications devices and computer hardware from that nation through the FY20.
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
Protesting is a fundamental right: UN
- The UN Committee affirmed that demonstrating peacefully, digitallyor in person is a basic human right.
- The Professional Specialists of the Human Rights Committee also released a fresh definition of the right to a free meeting.
- This offers detailed legislative guidelines about when and how it is implemented and even describes the duties of governments.
EDUCATION
- The Cabinet of the Union has endorsed a new National Education policy.
- It is the first legislative legislation on schooling in 34 years.
- A subcommittee headed by former ISRO Chairman K. In December 2018, Kasturirangan submitted a plan, which was made public and opened for input in May 2019.
- The draft regulation has been accepted. The Department of Human Resources and Training has been called the Department of Education.
- The 10 + 2 method can be split into 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 versions.
- This ensures that the first five years of school would be the foundation level. The next three years will be split into the preparatory period of grades 3 to 5. Then, there should be three years of high education (classes 6 to 8) and four years of higher education (classes 9 to 12).
DEFENCE
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
- The article analyzes the connection between the loss of biodiversity and the creation of zoonotic diseases.
- Dangerous viral illnesses (Ebola, Bird Flu, MERS, SARS, Nipah, etc.) have increasingly been passed from wild animals to humans.
- Although not yet proven, there is increasing consensus among experts that SARS-CoV-2 is a zoonotic virus.
