Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Geography (Map based questions)) – August 14, 2020

Kanheri caves: Kanheri the Kanhasela, Krishnagiri, Kanhagiri of ancient inscriptions, is located north of Mumbai and was a major Buddhist centre.

• Kanheri is located in the island of Salsette and 6 miles from Thana.
• The Kanheri Caves demonstrate the Buddhist influence on the art and culture of India.
• Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit Krishnagiri, which means Black Mountain.
• They were chiseled out of a massive basaltic rock outcropping.

Belum caves: are located in Andhra Pradesh.

Barabar caves: The Barabar Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, mostly dating from the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), some with Ashokan inscriptions, located in the Bela Ganj Block of Gaya district, Bihar, India, 24 km north of Gaya.

• The caves were used by ascetics from the Ajivika sect, founded by Makkali Gosala, a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and of Mahavira, the last and 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Also present at the site are several rock-cut Buddhist and Hindu sculptures.

A contentious decision of the Udaipur Urban Improvement Trust to redefine and protect the boundaries of the famous Pichola and Fateh Sagar lakes at their “full tank level” has led to 30% shrinkage in their size and reduced their submergence area to 4.5 sq. km and 2.5 sq. km, respectively.

• The subsequent construction activities on the lakefront land have changed their ecological character of the once beautiful lakes.
• The increasing threat to the lake ecosystem in the City of Lakes, which is a globally renowned tourist destination.
• The entire lake system , comprising Pichola, Fateh Sagar, Swaroop Sagar, Badi and Udai Sagar, should be restored to the “maximum water level” with the erection of pillars and the lakefront be left undisturbed for nesting and breeding activities of local and migratory birds.

Originating at village Koom Kalan of Ludhiana (Punjab) and running for 47 kms till Walipur Kalan where it merges with River Sutlej, this stream carrying fresh water was earlier known as ‘Buddha Dariya’.

• Over the years, the name got changed to Buddha Nullah (drain) owing to the sewage, industrial and domestic waste that is dumped into it in the 14-km stretch within Ludhiana city municipal corporation limits beginning from Tajpur road.
• There are three major sources polluting Buddha Nullah – untreated sewage waste from Ludhiana city Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), untreated industrial effluents from 228 dyeing units, and 16 ‘outlets’, which are directly releasing sewage and industrial waste into the stream. Of these 16 outlets, 11 are “MC disposal points” through which the civic body is directly releasing untreated sewage waste into the stream.

Saranda and Chaibasa — in Jharkhand‘s West Singhbhum district had large iron ore reserves.

• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) will soon form a committee to explore the prospect of opening conservation or no-mining zone in Saranda and Chaibasa in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand for iron ore mining.
• Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM), which regulates mining in Chaibasa and the Saranda Sal forest area.

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to set up a major port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra with a total cost of ₹65,545 crore, including about ₹14,500 crore of GST.

This is part of the government’s plan to develop infrastructure projects with a cost of ₹100-lakh crore over the next five years.

The Natuna Islands is located in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province, the west side of the South China Sea.

The Island overlaps with China’s nine-dash line claim under which China argues that the waters around the Natuna islands are Chinese traditional fishing grounds.