QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 05 February 2018

Solution: d.

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/indias-growth-depends-on-northeastern-states/article22647763.ece;

Solution: b.

At the international event Advantage Assam, Mr. Modi said “Connectivity is key to developing the region, the reason why the government has adopted the motto of ‘transformation by transportation’ to change the face of the northeast.”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/indias-growth-depends-on-northeastern-states/article22647725.ece;

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Solution: d.

In addition to the points mentioned above, “…the British used military power on a gigantic scale. But this was not the only instrument they used. In large parts of present-day Uttar Pradesh, where big landholders and peasants had offered united resistance, the British tried to break up the unity by promising to give back to the big landholders their estates. Rebel landholders were dispossessed and the loyal rewarded. Many landholders died fighting the British or they escaped into Nepal where they died of illness or starvation.”

Themes in Indian History Part-III, NCERT Class XII;

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/alam-beg-martyr-of-sepoy-mutiny-wants-to-return-home/article22651852.ece;

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Solution: a.

Turkey’s “Olive Branch” operation was launched on 20 January to drive the Kurdish YPG militia out of Afrin (Syria).

“…Mr. Kaya, who has Kurdish and Turkish roots, believes the ongoing situation in Afrin ‘will not just kill innocent people’ but also ‘destroy many friendships’. ‘In fact, it’s an abuse of the olive branch, which is a symbol of peace,’ he said, referring to the code name of the operation…”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/tremors-of-afrin-attack-reach-europe/article22647875.ece;

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42934041;

Solution: b.

In what’s being hailed as a “major breakthrough” in Maya archaeology, researchers have identified the ruins of more than 60,000 houses, palaces, elevated highways, and other human-made features that have been hidden for centuries under the jungles of northern Guatemala.

Using a revolutionary technology known as LiDAR (short for “Light Detection And Ranging”), scholars digitally removed the tree canopy from aerial images of the now-unpopulated landscape, revealing the ruins of a sprawling pre-Columbian civilization that was far more complex and interconnected than most Maya specialists had supposed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42916261;

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/massive-mayan-ruins-found-in-guatemala/article22645692.ece;

Solution: a.

Remote sensors collect data by detecting the energy that is reflected from Earth. These sensors can be on satellites or mounted on aircraft (or on ships in the case of Sonar).

Lidar bounces a laser pulse (NOT radio wave) off a target and then measures the time (and distance) each pulse traveled. Those measurements reveal the relative heights of features on the ground struck by the laser pulses. These pulses can penetrate forest cover to record the shape of the ground below. That makes this technology especially valuable for mapping.

A LIDAR instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver. Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring LIDAR data over broad areas. Two types of LIDAR are topographic and bathymetric. Topographic LIDAR typically uses a near-infrared laser to map the land, while bathymetric lidar uses water-penetrating green light to also measure seafloor and riverbed elevations.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/remotesensing.html;

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lidar.html;

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-what-are-lidar-radar-and-sonar; Improvisation: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42916261;

Solution: c.

Udayagiri has 20 caves built during the Gupta period (300-550 CE).

This site has iconography related to Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism (Durga), as well as important inscriptions from the Gupta period. Of all the caves, cave number 5 is the most famous with its colossal and iconic Varaha sculpture which represents the story of the rescue of Bhudevi (Earth).

For a description of the Varaha sculpture, refer source: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/where-varaha-saves-the-earth/article22645921.ece;