Kolam Tribe

• The Kolam tribe (or in their own language, Kolavar) is a scheduled tribe of Maharashtra. They also live in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. 
• They have a language of their own (Kolami) which belongs, like Gondi, to the intermediate group of Dravidian languages.
• They are monogamous and Hinduism is their religion.
• Recently in 2018, the Government has identified Katkaria (Kathodia), Kolam and Maria Gond as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in the State of Maharashtra.
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is administering the scheme "Development of PVTGs" for overall development of PVTGs. This scheme is flexible and enables the States to focus on areas that they consider are relevant to PVTGs and their socio-cultural environment.

• Recently, celebrations of the biennial Thakurani Jatra festival started in Berhampur, Odisha. Therefore, statement 1 is correct.
• The goddess is considered to be a family member of Desibehera, the leader of the Dera community, the weaver clan that has made Berhampur famous as the silk city. Therefore, statement 2 is correct.
• The first Thakurani Yatra was celebrated in April 1779. The festival goes on for 32 days.
• The goddess is considered to be a family member of Desi behera, the leader of the Dera community, the weaver clan that has made Berhampur famous as the silk city.

• The Foreign exchange reserves of India consist of Foreign Currency Assets, Gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and Reserve Position in the IMF/Reserve Tranche.
• India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.876 billion to $413.781 billion, aided by a rise in foreign currency assets.
• This surge in reserves was aided by the recent maiden dollar-rupee swap conducted by the RBI.
• Foreign exchange reserves are assets held on reserve by a central bank in foreign currencies. These reserves are used to back liabilities and influence monetary policy.
• These assets serve many purposes but are most significantly held to ensure that a central government agency has backup funds if their national currency rapidly devalues or becomes all together insolvent.

When Alivardi Khan died in 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the nawab of Bengal.

The Company was worried about his power and keen on a puppet ruler who would willingly give trade concessions and other privileges.

British practice of building settlements and large forts in Bengal was one of the reasons which led to this Battle. Therefore, statement 2 is correct.

So it tried, though without success, to help one of Sirajuddaulah’s rivals become the nawab.

An infuriated Sirajuddaulah asked the Company to stop meddling in the political affairs of his dominion, stop fortification, and pay the revenues.

After negotiations failed, the Nawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar, captured the Company officials, locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen, and blockaded English ships.

Then he marched to Calcutta to establish control over the Company’s fort there.

On hearing the news of the fall of Calcutta, Company officials in Madras sent forces under the command of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets.

Prolonged negotiations with the Nawab followed. Finally, in 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey.

The British conspired to defeat the Nawab Siraj Ud daullah in the Battle of Plessey. They conspired with Siraj-ud-Daulah's army chief Mir Jafar and promised him to make the Nawab of Bengal.

On the day of the battle, Mir Jafar did not participate with his soldiers. The nawab's much smaller army was defeated. Therefore, statement 1 is not correct.

• After Mir Jafar complained about British activities, Mir Qasim was installed in place of Mir Jafar.
• When Mir Qasim complained, he in turn was defeated in a battle fought at Buxar (1764), driven out of Bengal, and Mir Jafar was reinstalled.

Clive had managed to secure his support by promising to make him nawab after crushing Sirajuddaulah.

The Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory the Company won in India.

• Ahmad Sar Lake is located at Sarkhej Roza (Ahmedabad) In Gujarat. 
• Sarkhej Roza is a 15^th-century complex comprising a mosque and a tomb of Saint Ahmed Khattu Baksh.

• The rotation of the earth about its axis affects the direction of the wind. This force is called the Coriolis force after the French physicist who described it in 1844 i.e., the force exerted by the rotation of the earth is known as the Coriolis force. Therefore, statement 1 is correct.
• It deflects the wind to the right direction in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. The deflection is more when the wind velocity is high. Therefore, statement 2 is correct.
• The Coriolis force is directly proportional to the angle of latitude. It is maximum at the poles and is absent at the equator. Therefore, statement 3 is correct.
• The Coriolis force acts perpendicular to the pressure gradient force. The pressure gradient force is perpendicular to an isobar. Therefore, statement 4 is correct.
• The higher the pressure gradient force, the more is the velocity of the wind and the larger is the deflection in the direction of wind. As a result of these two forces operating perpendicular to each other, in the low-pressure areas the wind blows around it.
• At the equator, the Coriolis force is zero and the wind blows perpendicular to the isobars. The low pressure gets filled instead of getting intensified. That is the reason why tropical cyclones are not formed near the equator.

• NABARD came into existence on 12 July 1982 by transferring the agricultural credit functions of RBI and refinance functions of the then Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
• Its mission is to promote sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development through participative financial and non-financial interventions, innovations, technology and institutional development for securing prosperity.
• NABARD does not give direct loans but it gives loans to Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), State Cooperative Banks & Land Development Banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for further lending to agriculture and rural sectors.

• Warming and cooling of the Pacific Ocean are most important in terms of general atmospheric circulation.
• The warm water of the central Pacific Ocean slowly drifts towards the South American coast and replaces the cool Peruvian current. Such an appearance of warm water off the coast of Peru is known as the El Nino. Therefore, statement 1 is correct.
• The El Nino event is closely associated with the pressure changes in the Central Pacific and Australia. This change in pressure condition over Pacific is known as the southern oscillation. The combined phenomenon of southern oscillation and El Nino is known as ENSO. Therefore, statement 2 is correct.
• In the years when the ENSO is strong, large-scale variations in weather occur over the world. The arid west coast of South America receives heavy rainfall, drought occurs in Australia and sometimes in India and floods in China.
• This phenomenon is closely monitored and is used for long range forecasting in major parts of the world.

• Ease of doing business is an index published by the World Bank. It is an aggregate figure that includes different parameters which define the ease of doing business in a country.
• The Human Development Index (HDI) is released by United Nations Development Program. It was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.
• HDI is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions.
• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) a report jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. It is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels.

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
• These 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another.
• The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to transform our world:

GOAL 1: No Poverty

GOAL 2: Zero Hunger

GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being

GOAL 4: Quality Education

GOAL 5: Gender Equality

GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality

GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

GOAL 13: Climate Action

GOAL 14: Life Below Water

GOAL 15: Life on Land

GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

GOAL 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal