UPSC Prelims Facts - 20 March 2025 - Gokulam Seek IAS Academy

Table of Contents

Ana Sagar Lake

Supreme Court has directed the Rajasthan government to demolish the illegal Seven Wonders Park near Anasagar Lake

Location – Ajmer, Rajasthan
An artificial lake
Receives water from Luni river
Built by – King Arnoraja (also known as Ana), grandfather of Prithviraj Chauhan.
Mughal emperor Jahangir built the famous Daulat Bagh garden adjacent to the lake.

23rd edition of VARUNA has started.

FireSat project’s 1^st satellite successfully placed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Developed by – Google Research, Earth Fire Alliance, the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation and Muon Space.
Have an LEO constellation comprising 50 satellites.
Advantages – Provide high-resolution imagery to detect wildfires, and provide updates every 20 minutes, using AI, including the fire intensity.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the Drone Federation India (DFI), launched the NIDAR

Stands for – National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research
Part of – SwaYaan initiative (Focuses on capacity building for human resource development in Unmanned Aircraft Systems)
Aim – To inspire and engage India’s research communities to develop collaborative autonomous drones, addressing real-world challenges in the field of Disaster Management and Precision Agriculture.

A new global survey by The Future of Free Speech ranks India 24th out of 33 countries for free speech support.

Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) and Hungary and Venezuela show the highest levels of support for free speech.
Countries like Japan, Israel, and the U.S. have experienced significant drops in support for free speech since 2021.