Page 7 - NIS English 01-15 Aug 2025

Proud moment...

12 forts of Maratha military heritage
included in the UNESCO list

India’s Maratha military heritage has now become a part
of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This heritage includes
12 grand forts, out of which 11 are located in Maharashtra
and 1 in Tamil Nadu. In the 47th meeting of the World
Heritage Committee, it was decided to include India’s
‘Maratha Military Landscape’ in the list. This is India’s 44th The National Consumer
heritage to be included in this list. In the last 10 years, 14 new
heritages have been included in it. After the announcement Helpline refunded Rs 7.14 CR
of UNESCO, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated If you have purchased a product and you
the whole country. Sharing pictures of his visit in 2014 to have a complaint about it, then instead
the fort of Raigad, which was the stronghold of the Maratha of going directly to the consumer court,
Empire, he said that every Indian is excited by this honour. you can also seek help from the National
I urge everyone to visit these forts and learn about the rich Consumer Helpline (NCH). In the last two
history of the Maratha Empire. These 12 forts included in months, the NCH has resolved more than
the heritage list were built by the Marathas between the end 15,000 such complaints. Out of this, 10,373
of the 17th century and the beginning of the 19th century. complaints were settled, and Rs 7.14 crore
Strategically, the fort was built on the sea coast and hilly areas. was refunded to the consumers. Of these,
the highest number of 8,919 complaints
Forts of Maharashtra were from e-commerce platforms, in which
Rs 3.69 crore was refunded. The NCH is an
Salher Fort Rajgad
n n initiative of the Department of Consumer
Shivneri Pratapgad
n n Affairs of the Government of India. This
Fort n Suvarnadurg
Lohgad helpline is providing services in 17 languages.
n n Panhala Consumers can send their complaints
Khanderi Fort
n through toll-free number 1915, Integrated
Fort n Vijay Durg Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM),
Raigad
n n Sindhudurg WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS (8800001915),
Gingee Fort of Tamil
n email (nch-ca@gov.in), the NCH app,
Nadu is also included consumerhelpline.gov.in, and the Umang app.

India is the fastest digital payment country in the world: IMF
India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI), which started as a pilot project with just 21
banks in 2016, is now covering a network of more than 600 banks and more than 85%
transactions
200 apps. The scope of UPI has grown in such a way that today more than 18 billion done through
transactions are taking place every month. It has surpassed all other electronic retail UPI in India
payment methods. In a recent report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has
also acknowledged it. The report says that India has now become the world’s
fastest digital payment country. During this time, there has been a decline in
the use of cash and debit/credit cards. The IMF study has also revealed that 50% of
UPI has become the world’s largest retail fast payment system on the basis of the world’s digital
number of transactions due to the interoperable platform, i.e., the direct facility of payments done
through UPI
payment on any other banking app.

August 1-15, 2025 || NEW INDIA SAMACHAR 5