UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

Earlier this month, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) announced it will return three historic bronze sculptures to the Government of India, acknowledging they were illegally removed from temple settings.

The Hakki-Pikki tribe is an important tribal community of Karnataka, known for its distinct culture, language, and traditional lifestyle, which sets it apart from other tribes.

India has submitted a proposal to UNESCO for the inclusion of Meghalaya's famous Living Root Bridges on the World Heritage List.

The President of India recently inaugurated Granth Kutir at Rashtrapati Bhavan, marking a significant step toward preserving and promoting India’s classical literary and manuscript heritage.

The "Somnath Swabhiman Parv" is being organized in Somnath from January 8th to 11th. The Government of India has decided to celebrate the "Somnath Swabhiman Parv" to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the first attack on the Somnath Temple, in order to convey the message of the continuity and vitality of Sanatan culture to our future generations.

In a major policy shift, the Government of India has decided to allow private sector participation in the core conservation of centrally protected monuments, a responsibility that has traditionally rested exclusively with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The Prime Minister has highlighted the thousand-year survival of the Somnath Temple as a symbol of India’s indomitable civilisational spirit, as the country commemorates Somnath Swabhiman Parv (1026–2026) — marking one millennium since the first documented destruction of the shrine and its repeated resurgence thereafter.

The Prime Minister inaugurated “The Light and The Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One”, an international exposition of the sacred Piprahwa relics in New Delhi. The event followed the successful repatriation of priceless Buddhist relics that had been taken out of India during the colonial era and were nearly auctioned abroad, highlighting India’s evolving strategy of heritage diplomacy and peace-based soft power.

The President of India recently attended the Centenary celebrations of the Ol Chiki script of the Santhali language in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, marking 100 years since the invention of the script.

The Indian Navy’s stitched sailing vessel INSV Kaundinya is set to undertake her maiden overseas voyage, marking a significant milestone in showcasing India’s ancient maritime traditions and seafaring heritage through a living naval experiment.