The correct answer is Dynamo.

Key Points

• A dynamo is a device or generator which is used for converting mechanical energy into electrical.
  • It used rotating coils of wire and magnetic fields to convert mechanical rotations into a pulsing direct electric current.
• Dynamos were the first electrical generators which are capable of delivering power for industries, and many other electric-power conversion devices were based upon the principle of the dynamo.
• The dynamos lay the foundation upon which many other electric-power conversion devices were based, many of the devices like an electric motor, alternator and rotary converter.

Additional Information

• When we speak on a microphone, our voice (sound energy) is converted into electrical signals (electrical energy), which can be transmitted through a wire to a distance.
• In a photocell or photoelectric cell, optical energy is transformed into electric energy because light photons are being absorbed and photoelectric current is being produced.
• A battery is a device that converts chemical energy contained within its active materials directly into electric energy by means of an electrochemical oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction.

The correct answer is Shehnai.

Key Points

• Ustad Bismillah Khan used to play Shehnai.
• Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916 – 2006) (Real name is Qamaruddin Khan), was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the Shehnai.
• Shehnai is a musical instrument that is similar to the oboe (common in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.)
• He was felicitated with several awards including:
  • Padma Shri in 1961
  • Padma Bhushan in 1968
  • Padma Vibhushan in 1980
  • Bharat Ratna in 2001
• He also played the Shehnai at the 1st Republic Day celebration in 1950.
• On his 102nd birth anniversary, he was honoured by Google with a Google doodle.

The correct answer is Sutlej and Kali.

Key Points:

• The Kumaun Himalayas, in northern India's west-central region of the Himalayas, stretch for 200 miles (320 km) from the Sutlej River in the east to the Kali River.
• The range is located primarily inside the state of Uttarakhand, northwest of Nepal, and is made up of the Great Himalayas in the north and the Siwalik Range in the south.
• It reaches a height of 25,446 feet (7,756 meters) in Kamet, which is close to the Chinese border, and 25,646 feet (7,817 meters) at Nanda Devi, the range's highest peak.

Additional Information:

• Sutlej:
  • ​The longest of the five rivers that pass through Punjab, a historic crossroads in northern India and Pakistan, is the Sutlej or Satluj River.
  • The Satadru name for the Sutlej River is also used.  
  • It is the Indus River's easternmost tributary.
  • To offer irrigation and other utilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana, the Bhakra Dam was constructed around the river Sutlej.
• Kali: ​
  • The Kali River originates at Kalapani in the Himalayas.
  • It is also known as the Sharda River and Mahakali River.
  • The river flows through Nepal's western border with India and joins Ghaghra River, a tributary of the Ganges.
  • The Pancheshwar Dam and the Tanakpur Hydroelectric Project are built on river Sharda.
  • The tributaries of Sharda river are Chameliya, Ramgun in Nepal and Kuthi, Dhauli, Gori, Sarju, Ladhiya rivers in Uttarakhand.

The correct answer is Arunachal Pradesh.

Key Points

• Mopin a festival of the Galo tribe of Arunachal Pradesh is celebrated in April every year.
  • The Mopin festival is an important festival of the Galong tribe of Arunachal Pradesh which is celebrated in the month of Lumi (April) every year.
  • Mopin is thought to bring wealth and prosperity to households and to the Gallon community as a whole. It is also believed that the festival drives away evil shadows and spreads God’s blessing of universal happiness.

Additional Information

• Doljatra, also known as Dolyatra is a regional public holiday in the Indian state of West Bengal.
  • It may also be known as Dol Purnima in Assam and Odisha.
  • It is celebrated on the same day as Holi, the last full moon in the Hindu calendar, and also has the moniker 'Festival of Colours'.
• Ali-Aye-Ligang is a spring festival associated with agriculture, especially with the beginning of the Ahu paddy cultivation.
  • It is celebrated by the Missing or Mishing an indigenous tribe of Assam, India.
  • The festival marks the onset of sowing seeds.
• Me-Dam-Me-Phi is the most important Ancestor worship communal festival in the Ahom religion celebrated by the Ahom people on 31 January every year in memory of the departed.

During the medieval period, the major portion of India's export accounted for textile.

Key Points

• Medieval India had a highly developed trade and commerce system, both internal and external.
• A number of mercantile communities, such as the Bohras, Khatris, Karwanis, Sarrafs, and Dalals, played an important role in medieval society. 
• Hundis, or bills of exchange, were a common form of payment in medieval times.
• India imported silk, porcelain ware, camphor, cloves, wax, sandalwood, etc from China and South Asia and horses from places such as Bahrain, Muscat, Aden, Persia, etc.
• The Indian exports included aromatics and spices, cotton cloth, ivory, and precious and semi-precious stones, etc.
• Indian cotton textiles were the most important manufactured goods in world trade, which included calicos and muslins available unbleached and in a variety of colours.
• The cotton textile industry was responsible for a large part of the Mughal empire's international trade.
• India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century.

• By the early 18th century, Mughal Indian textiles were clothing people across the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.

​Thus, during the medieval period, the major portion of India's export constituted textile. 

The correct answer is Gross National Product.

Key Points

• Net National Product (NNP):
  • NNP is obtained by subtracting depreciation value (i.e. capital stock consumption) from GNP.
  • Net National Product (NNP) = Gross National Product − Depreciation.

Additional Information

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
  • It is the total money value of all final goods and services produced within the geographical boundaries of the country during a given period of time.
  • GDP = C + G + I
    • C = Consumption expenditure
    • G = Government expenditure
    • I = Investment expenditure
• Gross National Product (GNP):
  • It refers to the money value of the total output of production of final goods and services produced by the nationals of a country during a given period of time, generally a year.
• National Income (NI):
  • When NNP is calculated at factor cost (FC) it is called National Income.
  • The measure is calculated by deducting indirect taxes and adding subsidies in NNP at Market Price (MP).
  • In India, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the weighted average price of 676 items with the base year 2011-12.

The correct answer is Only I.

Key Points

• Iron:
  • ​Iron is an important part of haemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen to body tissues.
  • Iron is required to produce haemoglobin,
  • Without adequate iron, the human body can't produce enough hemoglobin for red blood cells.
• Sodium:
  • ​It is an electrolyte which is important for the functioning of muscles and the nervous system.
  • It also helps in maintaining the blood pressure of human beings.

Additional Information

• Iodine is necessary in the diet for the normal functioning of the thyroid gland.
• Iodine is the critical 'ingredient' for the production of thyroid hormones.
• The function of the thyroid gland is to take iodine, found in many foods, and convert it into thyroid hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroid cells are the only cells in the body that can absorb iodine.
• These cells combine iodine and the amino acid tyrosine to make T3 and T4.

The correct answer is Slash and burn.

Key Points:

• Shifting cultivation is also known as “slash and burn” agriculture.
• Shifting cultivation is practiced in the thickly forested areas of the Amazon basin, tropical Africa, parts of Southeast Asia, and Northeast India.

• Jhum cultivation is popular as shifting cultivation.
• Shifting cultivation is not only an age-old agricultural practice but also intrinsically related to the culture and identity of those practicing it.
  • Such an approach does not aim to make a profit from the agricultural surplus, judiciously used natural resources, and forests.
• Agricultural practice such as jhumming or shifting cultivation is based on the Asiatic mode of production.
• Shifting cultivation in the northeast region is a complex system of cultivation with a wide variation that depends upon the ecological variation in the area and cultural diversity among various tribal communities.
• Shifting cultivation has been considered by many as ecologically destructive.
  • They are referred to as the scourge of forests and the practice of shifting cultivation is looked upon as a major cause of soil erosion.
• Shifting cultivation is also held responsible for causing floods in the plains since topsoil erosion affects the valleys and results in the sedimentation of river beds.

Important Points:

List of local names of shifting cultivation:

Additional Information:

Dry Farming:

• Dryland farming or rainfed farming is the technique of doing agriculture without irrigation.
• Crops are grown without irrigation by accumulating the limited moisture available under them.
• Due to the lack of rainfall, constant efforts are made to maintain and increase the moisture content of the soil.
• Features of dry agriculture are that it is cultivated in those areas where there is a lack of moisture for about 8 months in a year.
• Jaisalmer and Barmer region of Rajasthan receives less than annual rainfall of about 20 cm.
• Water scarcity is a permanent problem in these areas.

Terrace farming:

• It is a method of soil conservation that is practised on hilly terrain.
• On steep slopes of a hill, broad flat steps or terraces are built so that level surfaces can be used to cultivate crops.
• They reduce surface runoff and soil erosion.

The correct answer is Amitabh Bachchan.

In News

• Amitabh Bachchan has been honoured with the Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar award, announced by the Mangeshkar family.

Key Points

• This award is instituted in memory of Lata Mangeshkar and is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the nation and society.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first recipient, followed by Asha Bhosle in 2023.
• A R Rahman will receive the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Puraskar for his contribution to Indian music.
• The award ceremony will also recognize various other individuals and organizations for their achievements and contributions in different fields.
• Hridaynath Mangeshkar will preside over the function, with the awards being felicitated by Asha Bhosle to the awardees.

Additional Information

Lata Mangeshkar:

• Birth Date: 28th September 1929
• Place of Birth: Indore, India
• Current Residence: Mumbai, India
• Other names: Queen of Melody, Nightingale of India
• Parent(s): Deenanath Mangeshkar (father)
• Shevanti Mangeshkar (mother)
• Occupation: Playback singer, music director, producer 
• Marital Status: Unmarried
• Awards     
  • National Film Awards
  • BFJA Awards
  • Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer
  • Filmfare Special Awards
  • Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Honours 
  • Padma Bhushan (1969)
  • Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1989)
  • Maharashtra Bhushan (1997)
  • Padma Vibhushan (1999)
  • Bharat Ratna (2001)
  • Legion of Honour (2007)
• Died: 6 February 2022.

The correct answer is Articles 20 and 21.

Key Points

• Article 20
  • Article 20 states that no citizen can be arrested by force without committing a crime and without violating the law.
• Article 21
  • Article 21 states that no citizen can be deprived of his right to personal liberty as mentioned in the constitution.
• Article 359 of our constitution states that articles 20 and 21 of our constitution cannot be eliminated under any circumstance, even during an emergency.

​​Thus, even during a National Emergency, the right to move any court for the enforcement of the rights conferred by Articles 20 and 21.

Additional Information