ANDHRA PRADESH
- Andhra Pradesh History : Eastern chalukyas
- Between 624 and 1323, a significant change came about in social, religious, linguistic and literary spheres of Andhra society. During this period the Telugu language, emerged as a literary medium subsuming the predominance of Prakrit and Sanskrit. As a result, Andhra achieved an identity and a distinction of its own. The Eastern Chalukyas were a branch of the Chalukyas of Badami. Pulakesin II conquered Vengi (near Eluru) in 624 and installed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana (624-641) as its ruler. His dynasty, known as the Eastern Chalukyas, ruled for nearly four centuries in all. Vishnuvardhana extended his dominions up to Srikakulam in the north and Nellore in the south. The Eastern Chalukyas occupied a prominent place in the history of Andhra Pradesh. Since the time of Gunaga Vijayaditya in 848, inscriptions show Telugu stanzas, culminating in the production of literary works in the coming centuries. Later in the 11th century, the Mahabharata was translated partly by the court poet Nannaya under the patronage of the then Eastern Chalukya ruler Rajaraja Narendra.
- Throughout this period and up to the 11th century, the Telugu language was written in old Telugu script. Al-Beruni (1000) referred to old Telugu script as ―Andhri‖ in his ―Kitab Al-Hind‖. The emergence of the Telugu script from the old Telugu script started around the 11th century and culminated in the 19th century. After a brief period of sovereignty under Gunaga Vijayaditya, the Vengi region again came under the Rashtrakuta rule and later the Kalyani Chalukya rule from the beginning of the 10th century to the 11th century, when the Cholas managed to wrest control from the Chalukyas. However by 1118, with the defeat of the Kulottunga Chola at the hands of Vikramaditya VI of the Kalyani Chalukya dynasty and the victory of Hoysala ruler Vishnuvardhana over the Cholas at Talakad, Vengi once again came under Chalukya rule. The Kalyani Chalukya power itself went into decline after the death of Vikramaditya VI. By the end of the 12th century, their empire was split into several local kingdoms, namely the Hoysala Empire, the Kakatiya Kingdom and the Yadavas.INTERNATIONAL
- Japan names new imperial era, set to begin on May 1, as ‘Reiwa’
- Reiwa’ will be the name for the new era when Prince Naruhito succeeds his father Emperor Akihito, whose abdication on April 30 will end the 31-year ‘Heisei’ era (Since 1989).
- While ‘Rei’ means “good” and “beautiful” as well as “order” or “command”, ‘Wa’ means “peace” or “harmony”.
- Japan imported the imperial calendar system from China about 1,300 years ago.
- Starting with the Meiji era (1868-1912), it adopted the practice of “one emperor, one era name.”
- US approves sale of 24 MH 60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters to India
- The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters to India at an estimated cost of 2.4 billion US dollars.
- It is considered the world’s most advanced maritime helicopter.
- The choppers will provide the Indian defence forces with the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions.
- Bolivia joins International Solar Alliance
- Bolivia has signed the framework agreement to join the International Solar Alliance.
- So far, 73 countries have signed the ISA Framework Agreement
- The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was unveiled by Prime Minister of India and French President at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, 2015.
- The idea was to form a coalition of solar resource-rich countriesto collaborate on addressing the identified gaps in their energy requirements through a common approach.
- India, with a target to produce 100 GWof solar energy by 2022, would account for a tenth of ISA’s goal.
- ISA is the first international body that will have a secretariat in India.
NATIONAL
- West Bengal, Maharashtra lead in small savings
- West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are among the top contributors to the national small savings, as per the latest finance ministry data on small savings up to December. Further, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh account for about 30% of the country’s total small savings kitty.
- The central government-run savings schemes, such as Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), National Savings Certificate (NSC) and time deposits, are offered by post offices and public sector banks.
- Interestingly, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh fared quite well with their citizens saving an impressive over Rs 24,300 crore, out of the country’s total net small savings of Rs 1.14 lakh crore. Bihar’s share in the overall savings kitty was a little over Rs 3,235 crore, Madhya Pradesh at Rs 3,670 crore, Rajasthan at Rs 5,000 crore, Uttar Pradesh at around Rs 10,980 crore and Chhattisgarh at Rs 1,646 crore. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh account for more than half (52%) of the total 27 crore poor in the country.
- Odisha contributed a good Rs 3,932 crore to the national small savings kitty.
- As compared to the poor states, ‘better-off’ states like Punjab and Haryana accounted for Rs 3,815 crore and Rs 4,264 crore in the overall net savings collections.
- Among southern states, Tamil Nadu is the topmost state with over Rs 8,931 crore net savings, followed by Karnataka at Rs 6,562 crore, Kerala at Rs 3,115 crore, Andhra Pradesh at Rs 3,057 crore and Telangana at Rs 1,423 crore.
- Hilly states like Himachal contributed Rs 2,629 crore and Jammu and Kashmir Rs 952 crore.
- Of the north eastern states, Assam had the highest net savings collections at Rs 1,742 crore. Tripura and Meghalaya were a distant second and third with savings of Rs 441 crore and Rs 151 crore, respectively.
- The interest rate on small savings ranged between 7.7% and 8.7%. While the interest rate on PPF and NSC is at 8%, Kisan Vikas Patra, Sukanya Samriddhi, Senior Citizens Savings scheme fetched 7.7%, 8.5% and 8.7%, respectively. For savings and time deposits, the rate of interest stands at 4% and 7%.
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