Daily Quiz #50 UPSC Prelims Marathon – December 30, 2019

Explanation: Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.
India has 38 World UNESCO heritage sites. Among which 30 are under the category of cultural sites, 7 natural and 1 mixed site.
Cultural (30)
•Agra Fort (1983)
•Ajanta Caves (1983)
•Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara at Nalanda, Bihar (2016)
•Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989)
•Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (2004)
•Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004)
•Churches and Convents of Goa (1986)
•Elephanta Caves (1987)
•Ellora Caves (1983)
•Fatehpur Sikri (1986)
•Great Living Chola Temples (1987,2004)
•Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986)
•Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (1984)
•Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987)
•Hill Forts of Rajasthan (2013)
•Historic City of Ahmadabad (2017)
•Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi (1993)
•Jaipur City, Rajasthan (2019)
•Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986)
•Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002)
•Mountain Railways of India (1999,2005,2008)
•Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (1993)
•Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat (2014)
•Red Fort Complex (2007)
•Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003)
•Sun Temple, Konârak (1984)
•Taj Mahal (1983)
•The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement (2016)
•The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (2010)
•Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (2018)
Natural (7)
•Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (2014)
•Kaziranga National Park (1985)
•Keoladeo National Park (1985)
•Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (1985)
•Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (1988,2005)
•Sundarbans National Park (1987)
•Western Ghats (2012)
Mixed (1)
•Khangchendzonga National Park (2016)

Explanation: The distant past when there was no paper or language or the written word, and hence no books or written document, is called as the Prehistoric period. It was difficult to understand how Prehistoric people lived until scholars began excavations in Prehistoric sites. Piecing together of information deduced from old tools, habitat, bones of both animals and human beings and drawings on the cave walls scholars have constructed fairly accurate knowledge about what happened and how people lived in prehistoric times. Paintings and drawings were the oldest art forms practiced by human beings to express themselves using the cave wall as their canvas.
Some of the examples of sites early rock paintings are Lakhudiyar in Uttarakhand, Kupgallu in Telangana, Piklihal and Tekkalkotta in Karnataka, Bhimbetka and Jogimara in Madhya Pradesh etc. Paintings found here can be divided into three categories: Man, Animal, and Geometric symbols. The richest paintings are reported from Vindhya range of Madhya Pradesh and their Kaimurean extension into U.P. There are two major sites of excellent prehistoric paintings in India:
(1) Bhimbetka Caves, Foothills of Vindhya, Madhya Pradesh.
(2) Jogimara caves, Amarnath, Madhya Pradesh.
The main value of Bhimbetka rock shelters (Madhya Pradesh) most certainly are not medieval and ancient paintings. More than 500 caves contain a lot more ancient artwork: up to 15,000 years old paintings and even more than 290,000 years old petroglyphs.
Caves though contain paintings from historical times up to the 14th century AD. Most paintings of this time show hunting scenes, Buddhist monks have added some drawings of deities as well. Ironically here medieval art has lower quality than the prehistoric art.

Explanation: Indian philosophy, the systems of thought and reflection that were developed by the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent. They include both orthodox systems, namely, the Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-Mimamsa (or Mimamsa), and Vedanta schools of philosophy, and unorthodox systems, such as Buddhism and Jainism. Indian thought has been concerned with various philosophical problems, significant among which are the nature of the world (cosmology), the nature of reality (metaphysics), logic, the nature of knowledge (epistemology), ethics, and the philosophy of religion.
•Samkhya is the oldest of the orthodox philosophical systems.
•The Yoga school, as expounded by Patanjali.
•The Nyaya school is based on the Nyaya Sutras, written by Aksapada Gautama.
•The Vaisheshika school was founded by Kanada.
•The main objective of the Purva Mimamsa school is to interpret and establish the authority of the Vedas.
•The Vedanta, or Uttara Mimamsa, school concentrates on the philosophical teachings of the Upanishads. Due to the rather cryptic and poetic nature of the Vedanta sutras, the school separated into six sub-schools, each interpreting the texts in its own way and producing its own series of sub-commentaries:
Advaita (of Shankrachrya), the best-known, which holds that the soul and Brahman are one and the same,
Visishtadvaita (of Ramanuja) which teaches that the Supreme Being has a definite form, name – Vishnu – and attributes,
Dvaita (which espouses a belief in three separate realities: Vishnu, and eternal soul and matter),
Dvaitadvaita (which holds that Brahman exists independently, while soul and matter are dependent),
Shuddhadvaita (which believes that Krishna is the absolute form of Brahman) and
Acintya Bheda Abheda (which combines monism and dualism by stating that the soul is both distinct and non-distinct from Krishna, or God).
•Nagarjuna, (flourished 2nd century CE), Indian Buddhist philosopher who articulated the doctrine of emptiness (shunyata) and is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Madhyamika (“Middle Way”) school, an important tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy.

Explanation: The accession of Lord Dalhousieinaugurated a new chapter in the history of British India. He functioned as the Governor-General of India from 1848-1856.
Administrative Reforms: Dalhousie’s chief aim was the consolidation of British rule in India. So he adopted the principle of centralization. For the newly acquired territories he devised the ‘Non-Regulation System” under which commissioners were appointed to deal with the administrative problems.
Military reforms: After the conquest of Punjab, Sindh and Avadh, the frontiers of the company were extended and the military interest of India was transferred to the North. Thus Dalhousie shifted the headquarters of the Bengal Artillery from Calcutta to Meerut.
Railway Reforms: Dalhousie introduced a new system of internal communication in India. He was the father of Indian Railways. Dalhousies’ famous Railway Minute of 1853 convinced the home authorities of the need of the railways and laid down the main lines of their development.
The Electric Telegraph: In 1852 Dalhousie introduced the Electric Telegraph System in India. The first telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra was opened in 1854, covering a distance of 800 miles.
Postal Reforms: The credit of establishing Postal Department also goes to Lord Dalhousie. In 1854 a new Post Office Act was passed.
Public Works Department: Before Lord Dalhousie, military boards were in charge of the construction of Public Works. Hence Civilian works were completely neglected by the military board. A separate Public Works Department was established by Lord Dalhousie. The Chief Works of this department was to construct roads, bridges and government buildings.
Social Reforms: Dalhousie abolished female infanticide which was prevalent among the Rajputs of higher castes.

Explanation: Famine had been perennial feature of Indian sub-continent during British Raj. The agrarian system as evolved from the British had a built-in system of destruction of agriculture. Apart from the traditional reasons of famine like a monsoon failure, natural calamities etc. the Economic Policy of British created a situation so that scarcity of food and recurrent famines became very frequent in India. The magnitude of famines that struck India during the colonial rule throws sufficient light on the fact that these famines were a man-made phenomenon.
Recurrent famine and huge loss of life due to hunger led the British Government to come under pressure in England. The devastating effects of 1876-78 famine compelled the British Government to do something substantial to check the recurrence of famines in India. Hence, they formed three commissions to evaluate the causes of the famines which are discussed below:
1. First Famine Commission
It was set up in 1878 under the Chairmanship of Sir Richard Strachey. The commission recommended state interference in food trade in the event of famine. India witnessed another major famine in 1896-97.
2. Second Famine Commission
It was constituted in 1897 under the Chairmanship of Sir James Lyall. This commission recommended the development of irrigation facilities.
3. Third Famine Commission
It was set up in 1900 under the Chairmanship of Sir Anthony (Later Lord) McDonnel to re-evaluate and recommend changes in report of the previous commission, based on the findings of the recent famine. This Commission recommended that the official machinery dealing with a famine must work around the year so that the scarcity of food grains could be controlled well in time.