26th July 2024

Explanation - The British called him, ‘The Father of the Indian unrest’. He was given the

honorary title of 'Lokmanya', which means admired (or accepted) by the people. He is known as the 'Father of Swarajya' and made 'Swaraj' as a part of the independence movement and he was the strongest advocates of ‘Swaraj’ (self-rule).

Explanation - It is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Nandyal district in Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the Krishna River bank. It was built in 740 AD by Chalukya ruler Pulakes in II. The temple was originally located at the point where Tungabhadra and Krishna Rivers were merged, 10 km away from the current site. The temple was dismantled and built exactly rock-to-rock in the current site in 1979, as the original site was getting submerged due to the  onstruction of Srisailam Dam.

Features —

• Built in Nagara style, the temple is built on an elevated platform with a fortified wall around

the temple.

• The temple has a large hall with 12 pillars, followed by the sanctum.
• There is a circumambulatory path around the sanctum for pradakshinas.
• The ceiling has a large relief of Nagaraja, as seen in other Chalukya temples.
• The pillars in the hall have nicely engraved images of Lord Vishnu, Brahma, and Kumaraswarmy, and celestial couple.
• All four corners of the temple have crocodile carvings.

Explanation - It is a desert valley located in the southeastern part of California, United States of America. It is the lowest, hottest, and driest portion of the North American continent. It covers an area of 7,800 sq. km. It is estimated that about 1,425 sq. km of the floor of the valley is located below sea level. It is a rift valley or a graben that has been formed due to the sinking of a huge expanse of rock located between major block-faulted mountains running parallelly in the east and west. It lies in the Great Basin to the east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the northern part of the Mojave Desert. The Death Valley constitutes a major part of the Death Valley National Park as well as the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve. It is  ounded by the Grapevine, Funeral, and the Black Mountains of the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint and the Cottonwood Mountains of the Panamint Range on the west. The Valley features a diverse landscape that includes mountain peaks, canyons, sand dunes, salt flats, badlands, and volcanic craters. Portions of the great salt pan that forms part of the floor of the valley are the lowest land areas of the Americas. Located in the heart of the Death Valley National Park is an endorheic basin known as the Badwater Basin, is the lowest area in North America.

Highest point: Telescope Peak (3,366m) located in Panamint Range.

Explanation - Capital gains tax is applied to the profit made from the sale of assets such as stocks, bonds, and real estate. In many jurisdictions, including India, short-term capital gains are taxed at a higher rate compared to long-term capital gains to encourage long-term investment. Capital gains tax rates can vary depending on the type of asset and the holding period. For example, in India, long-term capital gains (on assets held for over a year) often benefit from lower tax rates compared to short-term capital gains. India provides various exemptions and deductions for capital gains, such as those under Section 54 for reinvestment in residential property and Section 54EC for investment in specified bonds.

Explanation - It is the National artificial intelligence Portal of India which was launched on 28th May 2020. It is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), National e-

Governance Division (NeGD) and NASSCOM. NeGD — In 2009, NeGD was created as an

Independent Business Division under the Digital India Corporation (a not-for-profit company set up by MeitY). NASSCOM — It is a not-for-profit industry association and the apex body for the IT and IT-enabled products and services sector in India. It is the single central knowledge hub on artificial intelligence and allied fields for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, professionals, academics, and everyone else.