Daily Quiz #66 UPSC Prelims Marathon – January 20, 2020

Explanation: During the 6th century BCE, an Indian physician named Sushruta – widely regarded as the ‘Father of Indian Medicine’ and ‘Father of Plastic Surgery’ – wrote one of the world’s earliest works on medicine and surgery. Sushruta lived in the ancient city of Kashi, now known as Varanasi or Banaras in the northern part of India.
Sushruta Samhita:
Sushruta is known for his pioneering operations and techniques and for his influential treatise ‘Sushruta Samhita’ or Compendium of Sushruta, the main source of knowledge about surgery in ancient India. Written in Sanskrit, the Sushruta Samhita dates back to the times before Christ and is one of the earliest works in the field of medicine. It forms the foundations of the ancient Hindu form of medicine known as Ayurveda and is highly regarded as one of the ‘Great Trilogy of Ayurvedic Medicine.’

Explanation: Alpana, the form of Rangoli practiced in Bengal, is a natural representation of the artistic sensibility of the people. Practiced usually by the womenfolk of the state, the art form represents an amalgamation of the past experience as well as the contemporary designs. Even though the basic designs are more or less same, new forms and new colors are being tried on a large scale. The changing moods of the seasons are also very much reflected in the Alpana designs of India. The patterns are made with the help of a small piece of cloth drenched in a blend of powdered rice.
Alpana designs are drawn with the help of rice-powder, diluted rice paste, powdered colors (produced from dried leaves), charcoal, burnt earth, etc. Materials like colored chalk, vermilion, flower petals, grains, etc, are also used to decorate the designs. The motifs usually comprise of sun, ladder, leg of goddess Lakshmi, owl, fish, betel, rice stem, lotus, plough, sindur box, etc. Presently, Alpana patterns seem to be influenced by Santiniketani style of art.

Explanation: The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The 246 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
Recently, Mumbai has been designated as Creative City of Films and Hyderabad as a Creative City of Gastronomy. Earlier, Indian cities like Chennai and Varanasi have been included in UNESCO Cities of Music while Jaipur has been included in the City of Crafts and Folk Arts.

Explanation: Swaraj Party was formed by Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjandas and was named as “Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party”in 1922.It also claimed to be an integral part of the Congress and professes its adherence to Non-Violence & Non-Cooperation Movement and decided to boycott the legislatures. One group led by C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru and Vithalbhai patel wanted that the congress should take part in the elections and wreck the working of legislatures from within. The other group which was led by Vallabhbhai Patel, C. Rajagopalachari and Rajendra Prasad, was opposed to this. They wanted the congress to be engaged in the constructive programme.

Explanation: Thus INTUC was born on May 3, 1947 as historic necessity, just before Indian attained independence. The constitution of INTUC was adopted in the second day’s proceedings of the conference, Mahatma Gandhi who was then in Delhi also blessed the new found trade union centre.
Acharya JB Kripalani, who was then President of the Indian National Congress inaugurated the Founding conference of INTUC which was presided over by Sardar Vallabhai Patel. Under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, the founding fathers in their wisdom preferred to let the INTUC have an independent identity with its own constitution, while at the same time functioning as an arm of the Congress.
Objectives of INTUC: To establish an order of society which is free from hindrance in the way on an all-round development of its individual members, which fosters the growth of human personality in all its aspects and goes to the utmost limit in progressively eliminating social political or economic exploitation and inequality, the profit motive in the economic activity and organisation of society and the anti-social concentration in any form.