Daily Quiz #7 UPSC Prelims Marathon – September 9, 2019

Explanation: The Communal Award, based on the findings of the Indian Franchise Committee (also called the Lothian Committee), established separate electorates and reserved seats for minorities, including the depressed classes which were granted seventy-eight reserved seats.

Explanation: In March 1931, a special session of the Congress was held at Karachi to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Six days before the session (which was held on March 29) Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed. Throughout Gandhi’s route to Karachi, he was greeted with black flag demonstrations by the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha, in protest against his failure to secure commutation of the death sentence for Bhagat and his comrades. While disapproving of and dissociating itself from political violence, the Congress admired the ‘bravery’ and ‘sacrifice’ of the three martyrs.
•The Delhi Pact or Gandhi-Irwin Pact was endorsed.
•The goal of purna swaraj was reiterated.
•Two resolutions were adopted-one on Fundamental Rights and the other on National Economic Programme- which made the session particularly memorable.

Explanation: The Nehru Report confined itself to British India, as it envisaged the future link-up of British India with the princely states on a federal basis. For the dominion it recommended:
•Dominion status on lines of self-governing dominions as the form of government desired by Indians (much to the chagrin of younger, militant section-Nehru being prominent among them).
•Rejection of separate electorates which had been the basis of constitutional reforms so far; instead, a demand for joint electorates with reservation of seats for Muslims at the Centre and in provinces where they were in minority (and not in those where Muslims were in majority, such as Punjab and Bengal) in proportion to the Muslim population there with right to contest additional seats.
•Linguistic provinces.
•Nineteen fundamental rights including equal rights for women, right to form unions, and universal adult suffrage.
•Responsible government at the Centre and in provinces.
•Full protection to cultural and religious interests of Muslims.
•Complete dissociation of State from religion.

Explanation: One of the most significant incidents in the life of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan was the construction of Taj Mahal. His beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal died while giving birth to their fourteenth child and the reason behind her death was stated to be postpartum haemorrhage. This left Shah Jahan devastated who then decided to build the world’s most beautiful monument in the memory of his wife. After many years of planning, hard work and immense sacrifices, the monument, which came to be known as the Taj Mahal was built.Today people from different parts of the world travel to India just to see this amazing white colored edifice which is also one of the most visited tourist destinations of India. Taj Mahal continues to beone of the Seven Wonders of the World!
Other Structures Built by Shah Jahan
The following monuments were also constructed by Shah Jahan during his rule:
•Red Fort or Lal Quila (Delhi)
•Sections of the Agra Fort
•Jama Masjid (Delhi)
•Moti Masjid or Pearl Mosque (Lahore)
•Shalimar Gardens (Lahore)
•Sections of the Lahore Fort (Lahore)
•Jahangir Mausoleum
•Takht-e-Taus
•Shahjahan Mosque (Thatta)

Explanation: Kalamkari is an ancient style of hand painting done on cotton or silk fabric with a tamarind pen, using natural dyes. The word Kalamkari is derived from a Persian word where ‘kalam‘means pen and ‘kari‘ refers to craftsmanship. This art involves 23 tedious steps of dyeing, bleaching, hand painting, block printing, starching, cleaning and more. Motifs drawn in Kalamkari spans from flowers, peacock, paisleys to divine characters of Hindu epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana. Centuries ago, folk singers and painters used to wander from one village to other, narrating stories of Hindu mythology to the village people. But with course of time, the process of telling tales transformed into canvas painting and that’s when Kalamkari art first saw the light of day. This colorful art dates back to more than 3000 B.C. According to the historians, fabric samples depicting Kalamkari art was found at the archeological sites of Mohenjo-daro. But, it was during the Mughal era when this style of painting got recognition. Mughals promoted this art in the Golconda and Coromandel province where skillful craftsmen (known as Qualamkars) used to practice this art, that’s how this art and the word Kalamkari evolved. Under the Golconda sultanate, this art flourished at Machilipatnam in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh and further was promoted during the 18th century, as a decorative design on clothing by Britishers in India. Till today, many families in Andhra Pradesh continue to practice this art and this has served as the prime source of livelihood for them, over the generations. Kalamkari art primarily use earthy colors like indigo, mustard, rust, black and green. Natural dyes used to paint colors in Kalamkari art is extracted for natural sources with no use of chemicals and artificial matter. For instance, craftsmen extract black color by blending jaggery, water and iron fillings which they essentially use for outlining the sketches. While mustard or yellow is derived by boiling pomegranate peels, red hues are created from bark of madder or algirin. Likewise, blue is obtained from indigo and green is derived by mixing yellow and blue together.