Prelims Focus 2nd December 2025

02/12/2025

81 3 minutes read

Ellora Caves

In News: Scottish historian William Dalrymple, has called upon the Maharashtra government to put the lesser known heritage sites in and around Ellora caves into the limelight.

The Ellora Caves is one of the first UNESCO World Heritage sites in India and are located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra.
The cave complex was cut 600-1000CE during the reign of Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, and Yadavas.
Religious Pluralism: This complex has 34 large caves, 12 Buddhist, 17 Hindu, and 5 Jain caves, which manifest a rare inter-religious tolerance and art.

Hornbill Festival

In News: On the statehood day (1st December), the 26th Nagaland Hornbill Festival, the so called Festival of Festivals was inaugurated in the Naga Heritage Village, Kohima and the festival was held there.

The Hornbill Festival is held during the first week of December, every year at Kisoma, off the Kohima region, and is a vibrant cultural exhibition of all the Naga communities.
It was developed in 2000 as a means of increasing unity and maintenance of ethnicity.
It also presents the traditional and contemporary culture of Naga through presentation of music, craft, food and folklore.
It is situated at the Naga Heritage Village which strives to conserve the cultural practices to promote tourism and has seventeen indigenous Morungs (youth dormitories) all of which represent separate tribes.

Baikonur Cosmodrome

In News: Baikonur Site 31/6 was damaged by a Soyuz-2.1a rocket colliding with one of its service platforms, dropping into the flame trench, making crewed launches suspended during the Soyuz MS-28 mission.

Accidents have been witnessed at Baikonur, such as the Nedelin disaster of 1960.
Baikonur cosmodrome is a Kazakh spaceport which Russia is renting and using as the venue of its space launches.
This was constructed in the 1950s initially, as a missile test facility and later, as the headquarters of the Soviet space programme.
It has launch complexes, assembly buildings, tracking stations and housing.
It is able to accommodate the Proton as well as Soyuz rockets and cargo vessels that are to be used in the International Space Station.

World Summit on Disaster Management (WSDM) 2025

In News: The World Summit on Disaster Management (WSDM) 2025 was held from November 28 to 30, 2025, in Dehradun, India.

It served as a global platform bringing together scientists, policymakers, practitioners, and industry leaders from around 50 countries to foster dialogue, innovation, and collaboration for disaster risk reduction and resilience building.
The summit focused on five core thematic areas—Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Space—each addressing critical aspects of disaster resilience and management.
Key objectives of the summit included promoting community participation and stakeholder collaboration, enhancing climate literacy through education, sharing best practices and policies globally, leveraging emerging technologies for disaster preparedness, and empowering communities for climate adaptation.
The event featured panel discussions, technical sessions, paper and poster presentations, and interactive workshops led by global experts from government bodies, industry, and NGOs.

Hansa-3 (NG)

In News: The Hansa-3 (NG) is India’s first indigenous, next-generation two-seater ab-initio trainer aircraft designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru.

It serves as a cost-effective and advanced platform for pilot training, suitable for Private Pilot License (PPL) and Commercial Pilot License (CPL) courses.
The aircraft aims to support India’s aviation ecosystem by reducing dependence on foreign trainer aircraft and addressing the growing demand for trained pilots.
Key features of the Hansa-3 (NG) include an advanced glass cockpit for digital flight display, a fuel-efficient digitally controlled Rotax 912 iSc3 Sports engine with electronic fuel injection, a lightweight composite airframe, and a bubble canopy providing panoramic visibility and improved pilot comfort.
It has electrically operated flaps, an endurance of 7 hours, a range of 620 nautical miles, and a maximum cruise speed of 98 knots calibrated airspeed (KCAS).
The cabin width is 43 inches, enhancing cockpit comfort, and the aircraft’s stall speed is low at 42 KCAS, making it well-suited for training with stable and easy flying qualities.