CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The release quotes the Indian High Commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra as welcoming the decision by the Australian Government and the National Gallery to return the works.

Detailed explanation-2: -The National Gallery of Australia, in what can be considered one the single largest repatriation of art, has decided to return 14 artefacts of cultural significance to the Indian government.

Detailed explanation-3: -The antiquities Australia returned to India includes primarily sculptures and paintings executed in a variety of materials - sandstone, marble, bronze, brass and paper, the officials said.

Detailed explanation-4: -The returned artefacts include Shiva Bhairava, a 9th or 10th century sandstone sculpture from Rajasthan, the child saint Sambandar, a 12th century bronze statute from Tamil Nadu, and a painting of Shiva and Parvati from 1830-40 from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Bengaluru NGMA is run and administered as a subordinate office of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is one of the three National Galleries of Modern Art - the other two being in Delhi and Mumbai.