VINBAX – 2018:

• VINBAX is the military exercise between armies of India and Vietnam.
• It is the first ever such exercise boosting defence ties between the two countries.
• It is going to be held in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
• The joint exercise has been especially designed to enable and train officers from Vietnam in United Nations Peace Keeping Operations.

Meghadootam:

• Meghadootam (meaning cloud messenger) is a lyric love poem composed by Kalidasa about the 5th century AD.
• The poem recounts the expression of love by Yaksha to his wife at Alaka,Mt. Kailash through the cloud as a messenger.
• Most of the poem consists of a description of the landmarks, cities, and sights on the cloud’s journey to Alaka.
• Chhattisgarh state artistes performing dance based on Meghadootam in Republic day won prize in best tableau category.

• Kalidasa is a great Sanskrit poet who lived in the court of Chandragupta II around 4^th-5^th century AD.
• He wrote plays, poems such as

1. 3 plays – Malavikagnimitram, Abhijnanasakuntalam, vikramaorvasiyam
2. 2 epic poems – Raghuvamsa, Kumarasambhava
3. 2 minor poems – Ritusamhara, Meghadootam

Ramthal Marola project:

• Ramthal Marola project in Karnataka is the Asia’s largest drip irrigation project implemented with the help of technology from Israel firm.
• As a part of this drip irrigation scheme, every farmer will receive water through a cylinder installed in their respective farmlands.
• It also enables them to mix fertilisers and pesticides in the cylinder.
• The technology used in this project will also purify the wastage that flows in the backwaters of River Krishna.

INS Karanj:

• The Indian Navy has launched the third Scorpène class submarine Karanj.
• It has been constructed by shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) with collaboration of French shipbuilding major Naval Group (formerly DCNS).
• The submarine will undergo rigorous tests for the next one year before it is commissioned.

Nilgiri Marten:

• It is a vulnerable and little known carnivorous animal which is endemic to the Western Ghats.
• Nilgiri Marten looks like a civet or a mongoose and it most prefers higher altitudes.
• The present global population of the Nilgiri Marten is estimated below 1000.
• The animal is placed in schedule 2 of the part 2 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
• Recent studies shows that Nilgiri marten is thriving in the Pampadum Shola National Park located on the southern portion of Western Ghats.

Shola forests

• ‘Sholas’ are patches of evergreen tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests.
• It is found in Southern India, particularly in the regions of Nilgiri, Palani Hills and Annamalai Hills.

• The Western Ghats and associated ranges in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• The main varieties of Trees in this type of forest are Zenker, bishop wood, Indian mahogany, gular fig tree etc.

Udangudi Power Project

• Coal-based supercritical Udangudi thermal power project is set to come up in Thoothukudi district of southern Tamil Nadu.
• BHEL and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) had signed a MoU to develop this power project in 2007.
• The estimated Rs.100-billion project is to be funded by Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).