News In Shorts

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced that the FIDE World Cup 2025 will be hosted in Goa, India.

About FIDE World Cup

• It is a major chess event organized by the FIDE, the international governing body for chess.
  • FIDE was constituted as a non-governmental institution in Paris in 1924, but is now headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Top three finishers qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament.

Jaismine Lamboria and Minakshi Hooda have won gold in the recently held World Boxing Championships, 2025.

 About World Boxing Championships 2025

• Held in Liverpool, UK.
• Featured both men’s and women’s events together for the first time.
• India won four medals: Golds by Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Minakshi Hooda (48kg) and Nupur Sheoran earning silver, and Pooja Rani adding a bronze.
• Kazakhstan topped the medal table.

He ruled Kamrupa (Assam) during the early 13th century.

• He belonged to the Khen Dynasty, tracing lineage to Narakasura. 
  • They worshipped Goddess Kamteswari  (an incarnation of Goddess Durga)
  • Khen rulers emerged as local chieftains after the fall of the Pala Dynasty.
    • The Khen dynasty marked the beginning of the Kamata Kingdom, also known as Kamru, Kamrud, Kamrupa, Kamata, Koch, or Koch Hajo.
• Key Contributions: 
  • Raja Prithu Rae defeated Bakhtiyar Khilji who attacked Kamrupa.
    • The Kanai Varasi rock inscription is proof of the destruction of the Turks. 
  • He pardoned prisoners of war and followed the principles of Dharma Yuddha.

Educate Girls NGO becomes first Indian organisation to win Ramon Magsaysay Award, in 2025.

About Ramon Magsaysay Award (Established, 1957):

• First Award: 1958. It is Asia’s highest honor, the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.
• Awarded: Annually.
• It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president, Ramon Magsaysay. 
• Recognises and honours: individuals and organisations in Asia, regardless of race, creed, gender, or nationality, who have achieved distinction and have helped others generously without aiming for public recognition.

PM launched the Gyan Bharatam Portal for preserving manuscripts.

It will help in digitizing India's manuscript heritage, making them easier to access and helping preserve cultural knowledge.

• In the Union Budget 2025-26, Gyan Bharatam Mission was announced for the survey, documentation, and conservation of India's manuscript heritage.

About Manuscript

• It is a handwritten composition on paper, bark, cloth, metal, palm leaf or any other material dating back at least seventy-five years that has significant scientific, historical or aesthetic value. 
• Lithographs (A technique involving drawing on a stone and then transferring the image to paper) and printed volumes are not manuscripts.
• India possesses 'memory of the world' with an estimated 10 million manuscripts in 80 ancient scripts like Brahmi, Kushan, Gaudi, Lepcha, and Maithili.
  • Of these, ~75% are in Sanskrit and 25% are in regional languages.
• Significance
  • Provide evidence of human activities.
  • Show devotion of ancestors to knowledge, science & learning despite centuries of destruction.
• Provides knowledge on different aspects of society like cultural, political, economic, etc. Example- Kautilya’s Arthashastra.