ANSWER: B

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: B

• The National Archives of India is the custodian of the records of enduring value of the Government of India.
• Established on 11 March, 1891 at Calcutta (Kolkata) as the Imperial Record Department, it is the biggest archival repository in South Asia.
• It has a vast corpus of records viz., public records, private papers, oriental records, cartographic records and microfilms, which constitute an invaluable source of information for scholars-administrators and users of archives.
• The Director General of Archives, heading the Department has been given the mandate for the implementation of the Public Records Act, 1993and the rules made there under, the Public Records Rules, 1997 for the management, administration and preservation of public records in the Ministries, Departments, Public Sector undertakings etc. of the Central Government.
• Located at the heart of New Delhi, the Department functions as an Attached Office of the Ministry of Culture.
• The NAI keeps and conserves records of the government of India and its organisations. It does not receive classified documents.

ANSWER: B

• A bomb cyclone is a mid-latitude stormin which the central pressure drops fast at one millibar per hour for at least 24 hours. However, the millibar readings can change based on where the storm is forming.
• This quickly increases the pressure difference, or gradient, between the two air masses, making the winds stronger. This process of rapid intensification has a name: bombogenesis.
• As the winds blow, the rotation of the Earth creates a cyclonic effect. The direction is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (when viewed from above).
• Formation:
  • A bomb cyclone is formed when the air of different air masses (cold, dry) comes together.
  • As the warm air rises, it creates a cloud system lowering air pressure and forming into a storm circulating counterclockwise around the low-pressure area.
• Characteristics:
  • The bomb cyclone will be characterised by cold winds, which are also expected to pick up, and wind chill temperatures could drop to dangerous lows far below zero — enough to cause frostbite within minutes.
  • The dangerous storm is expected to hit everyone east of the Rockies — around two-thirds of the country.

ANSWER: C

• Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was born on December 25, 1861, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He is known for his contribution to India’s education system and his role in the Indian Independence movement.
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was given the title of ‘Mahamana’ or great soul by Mahatma Gandhi,who considered him as an elder brother.
• In 2014, Pandit Malviya was posthumously conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.
• In 2016, the Indian Railways started the Varanasi-New Delhi Mahamana Express in the leader’s honour.

Major contributions:

• Banaras Hindu University: He played a key role in the Indian independence struggleagainst British rule and founded the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916. At the BHU, he served as Vice-Chancellor from 1919 to 1938.
• Hindu Mahasabha: Malaviya was one of the early leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha, and helped found it in 1906.He was a social reformer and a successful legislator, serving as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council for 11 years (1909–20).
• Scout and Guide: He was also one of the founders of Scout and Guide in India.
• ‘Satyamev Jayate’: One of the most famous slogans, ‘Satyamev Jayate’ was said by Pandit Malviya in the session of 1918when he was the President of the Indian National Congress.
• President of INC: Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was the President of Indian National Congress for four sessions (1909, 1913, 1919 and 1932). Pandit Malviya played a big role in the Civil Disobedience and Non-cooperation movement which were led by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Role in media:He was the chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946 and he also founded many Hindi and English newspapers, namely: The Leader, Hindustan Dainik, Maryada etc.
• Malaviya espoused free and compulsory primary education, opposed the system of indentured labour in the British Empire, and supported the nationalisation of railways.

ANSWER: C

• The Patriot is one of the most sought-after defence systems and has been deployed in 18 countries, including the U.S.
  • History:
    • Initially developed as a system to intercept high-flying aircraft by Raytheon Technologies, the Patriot was modified in the 1980s to focus on other threats such as ballistic missiles.
    • The programme’s roots can be traced back to the 1960s when the Pentagon was looking to replace the HAWK and Nike-Hercules air defence systems.
  • Currently, Patriot batteries can defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, jets and “other threats”, but it doesn’t offer protection against low-flying small drones.
  • A mobile Patriot system includes a control centre, a radar station to detect threats, missile launchers to take out those threats and other support vehicles.
  • It can launch different types of interceptor missiles:The older PAC-1 and PAC-2 interceptors used a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 missile has a more advanced hit-to-kill technology.
  • The Patriot system’s radar has a range of over 150 km and it can track over 50 potential targets at the same time.

ANSWER: A

• An organic solar cell consisting of a combination of an organic polymer and PCBM (an organic semiconductor) developed on steel substrates can potentially convert a steel roof into an energy-producing device.

Features:

• The devices consist of a blend of organic polymer PTB7 as a donor and PCBM as an acceptor.
• The devices were fabricated on opaque steel substrates with aMoO₃/Au/MoO₃top electrode. These electrodes offer higher optical transmission as compared to only metallic electrodes.
• The devices with multilayer electrodes showed a clear improvement in the photovoltaic performance by 1.5 times, as compared with those obtained with single-layer top metal electrodes of gold.

What is the DST-RCUK APEX project?

• It is a jointly developed programme of the Department of Science and Technology (Under the ministry of Science and Technology) and the Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK) focussing on reducing energy demand in the built environment.

ANSWER: C

• Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar stressed the need to create a Himalayan grid to solve the problems of the Himalayan states after inaugurating a three-day HIM Samvaad– “Trans Himalayan Conference on Localised Solutions and Implementation Strategy” organised at Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.
• Nauni University, Sewa International, Prakritik Kheti Khushal Kisan Yojana and Indian Ecological Society are jointly organising the conference.
• Arlekar said, “The Himalayan region has its own problems which need to be solved collectively. The Himalayan Grid could be considered on the same lines as the Coastal Guard Grid for the coastal regions.”
• “Natural calamities in the Himalayan regions could be solved through such platforms.”
• Vice-Chancellor Rajeshwar Chandel said natural farming had shown a potential to be a strong livelihood resource for the Himalayan farming communities.

ANSWER: C

• The Farmers First Project launched by Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University in the Baijnath area (Kangra district) has transformed the lives of farmers. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) had sanctioned the project in 2017.
• Under the project, the university had selected 500 farmers of Tara, Dharer, and Kandkosari villages of Dharer panchayat.
• Earlier, the farmers used to grow maize and barley for their own consumption.
• After the introduction of high-yielding varieties of early radish, early peas, cauliflower and chilies, the farmers earned good income in the past three years.
• It is for the first time that the farmers are selling vegetables in nearby markets of Baijnath and Palampur.
• On an average, farmers are earning Rs 10,000 per kanal and around 66 per cent farmers have been able to double their farm income.
• The farmers are collectively harvesting and transporting crops in a jeep to the market and marketing the crops themselves.

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C