Current Affairs

1. ON 22ND JANUARY 2024, THE RAM TEMPLE IN AYODHYA WAS INAUGURATED, MARKING THE COMPLETION OF A 200-YEAR-OLD SAGA THAT PROFOUNDLY IMPACTED INDIA’S SOCIO-POLITICAL LANDSCAPE –

• The Ram temple has been designed in the Nagara Style of Temple Architecture.
• The story of Ram is popular from Laos, Cambodia and Thailand in Asia to Guyana in South America to Mauritius in Africa, making Ramayana Popular outside India.
• Originating in 1751 when the Marathas appealed for control of Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura, the movement gained momentum in the 19th century with judicial records dating back to 1822 mentioning a mosque on the birthplace of Lord Ram.
• Tensions escalated in 1855 with a violent clash near the Babri Masjid between Hindus and Muslims, leading to the capture of Janmasthan by Hindus.
• The year 1949 saw the placement of the idol of Ram Lalla in the mosque, sparking demands for a grand temple.
• In the 1980s, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) initiated a movement for the ‘liberation’ of Ram Janmabhoomi, Krishna Janmabhoomi, and Vishwanath shrine.
• Legal battles ensued, and in 1986, the locks of the Babri Masjid were opened, allowing Hindus to offer prayers.
• The following years witnessed significant events, including the foundation-laying ceremony in 1989 and the Rath Yatra led by LK Advani in 1990, leading to widespread riots.
• On 6th December 1992, a mob demolished the Babri Masjid, leading to political repercussions and legal proceedings.
• In 1993, Parliament passed the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, allowing the government to acquire the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land.
• In 2010, a special bench of the Allahabad High Court in its Ayodhya title suit judgment divided the land in a 2:1 ratio, with two-thirds of the 2.77-acre, including the garbha griha, going to litigants for a Ram temple – Shri Ram Lala Virajman and Nirmohi Akhara. One-third of the land was given to the Sunni Central Waqf Board.
• Legal proceedings continued, and in 2019, the Supreme Court awarded the entire disputed land to the Hindu petitioners for a Ram temple and allocated land for a mosque elsewhere.
• The culmination of this historic journey occurred on 5th August, 2020, when the Indian Prime Minister performed the Shilanyas of the Ram temple, establishing the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
• On 22nd January 2024, the Ram temple in Ayodhya, built in Nagara Style, was set to be inaugurated, marking the completion of a 200-year-old saga that profoundly impacted India’s socio-political landscape.

2. IRAN, PAKISTAN, AND THE BALOCH MILITANCY –

• Recently, the relationship between Iran and Pakistan has taken serious hits over Iranian missiles and drones that struck two alleged bases of the Jaish al-Adl (JAA), an anti-Iran Baloch militant group, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
• Pakistan reacted strongly to the “blatant breach” of its sovereignty and carried out its own cross-border missile strikes on alleged terrorist sanctuaries in Iran.
• The JAA came under the scanner of Indian security agencies following the abduction of an Indian, Kulbhushan Jadhav. The group allegedly traded Jadhav to Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
• Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, both countries were firmly allied to the United States and had, in 1955, joined the Baghdad Pact, later known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), a military alliance modeled on NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
• Iran provided material and weapons support to Pakistan during its wars against India in 1965 and 1971.The Shah of Iran expressed concern about the “disintegration” of Pakistan after the Liberation of Bangladesh.
• The Islamic Revolution in Iran led to the rise of an ultra-conservative Shiite regime under Ayatollah Khomeini. This was concurrent with Pakistan’s own Islamization under military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq.The two countries found themselves on opposite ends of the sectarian divide.
• Since 1979, has been a major reason for the Iranian distrust of Pakistan, which increased after 09/11 as Islamabad extended unqualified support to the US “War on Terror”.

3. JAPAN BECOMES FIFTH COUNTRY TO LAND ON THE MOON SUCCESSFULLY –

• Japan has marked a significant achievement in space exploration by becoming the fifth country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon.
• The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down near the Shioli crater, south of the lunar equator, utilizing precision technology that allowed it to land closer to its target site than any previous mission.
• Telemetry data confirmed that SLIM landed in its designated area after a four- month journey from the Tanegashima Space Centre.
• Despite the successful landing, a potential setback arose as the spacecraft experienced a power failure. The solar cells were not generating electricity, and SLIM was operating solely on its battery, which was estimated to last only a few more hours.
• Hitoshi Kuninaka, vice president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), stated that SLIM had been communicating with the ground station and responding to commands accurately.
• SLIM’s primary goal was to achieve an unprecedented landing accuracy of 100 meters, a significant improvement from previous missions. The spacecraft utilized vision-based navigation technology, imaging the lunar surface as it flew over, and quickly locating itself by matching images with onboard maps.
• SLIM employed an innovative two-step landing approach. Unlike previous crafts that landed on four legs simultaneously on a flat area, SLIM was designed to hit a 15-degree slope outside Shioli crater first with one leg at the back before stabilizing on the four front legs. Observers suggest that SLIM might have rolled during its touchdown, impacting its solar cells.
• Two small robots were intended to eject from SLIM before touchdown to capture images of the lander. Scientists hope to use SLIM’s specialized camera to search for a mineral called olivine in the Moon’s mantle. If SLIM can recover, it could contribute valuable data about the Moon’s history and chemistry.